I want to move to flex-rigid PCB design for our product, to eliminate need for the FFC cables we currently use.
I have found vendors providing this service but I cannot find any information on how to lay out gerber files.
My application had 3 rigid boards. The "mother" board has 4 layers, with 2 x 2 layer "daughter" boards, and single-layer interconnects which should be flexible.
Is there a standard for how to define this sort of design, i.e. which areas are rigid, and which are flexy?
PCB Design – How to Lay Out Gerber Files for Rigid-Flex PCBs
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Best Answer
Rigid-flex boards are still so outrageously expensive that vendors should be able to work with you to get a mutually acceptable solution.
Last time I did one, I used Altium which has specific features for rigid-flex but I think you could do it simply by laying out a multilayer board with internal (typically) layers designated as FPC. You could demarcate the rigid and flex areas on a mechanical layer just as you would define an outline. Of course the stackup has to be described fully, and any mechanical features such as stiffeners, so either a mechanical layer with a lot of text or a mechanical drawing. I used a proper mechanical drawing with tolerances, showing all the details. The stackup in my case had a core of a polyimide circuit with coverlays in the flex area and FR4 layers on either side in the rigid sections, but there are various possibilities depending on your vendor and budget.