Complex and Irregular PCB Shapes

Many PCB designers give little thought to the actual shape of their boards until they come to their first design that requires a complex or irregular board outline, as opposed to a more standard Rectangular PCB or Round PCB. These unconventional designs normally come about when the finished product is to be housed in an enclosure that is itself irregularly shaped, and Bittele’s PCB Customer Service Experts commonly receive questions from clients on this topic. These questions come to us because many other Turnkey PCB Assembly service providers will add a surcharge and/or additional Turnaround Time to their PCB quotations for complex and irregularly shaped PCBs; rest assured, Bittele shows no such preferential treatment where PCB shape is concerned.

The effect of irregular shapes in PCBs is similar to the differences between Round and Rectangular boards: a more standardized shape simply allows for more surface area with the same overall dimensions. Once you have submitted your PCB Design Files for official quotation, your account manager with Bittele with measure the dimensions of the Board Outline layer of your Gerber Files. Dimensions are measured at the widest and longest points of the PCB, so the most effective shape to maximize area is a simple rectangle.

That being said, there is no disadvantage to using an irregular or complex shape as far as Bittele’s PCB Assembly Process is concerned. Our experienced production engineers make use of sophisticated software to perform PCB Panelization for your project in the most efficient manner possible, and this is true for every project that passes through our facilities. We provide this panelization as one of our Standard PCB Services, so you never have to worry about additional panelization costs based upon the shape of your board. A more standard shape will simply afford you more room to route traces and place components, while a complex or irregular shape might necessitate larger dimensions to house the same number of components.

At Bittele, we understand that PCB Fabrication and PCB Assembly require a lot of consideration and planning on the part of our clients, so please allow us to take at least this one concern off your plate. When you partner with Bittele, you can be sure that your designs will develop into the highest quality PCBs in the fastest possible turn times, at the lowest possible cost, regardless of the shape of your board outline.

For any further questions regarding complex and irregular PCB shapes, you can Contact Us directly at any time! We can be reached over email at sales@7pcb.com, or toll free at 1-888-812-1949.