Flex PCB ribbon cable for Game & Watch

No idea, but as far as I can tell, is more or less as thin as a paper sheet. So maybe I should go for a 0.11mm?

Just done a little bit of investigation and while I couldn’t find details of the exact Nintendo in question I found something similar. It looks like there is a spring loaded mechanism that simply pushes the flexible PCB against pads on the main PCBs in each half of the case so the thickness is probably not so critical.

What will be critical is the hole sizes and positions of the holes relative to the edge connectors and to each other to control the length of the flex PCB around the bend of the case.

Hope it works for you :+1:

Having designed and patented Connectors (and being a former Director of Engineering for a division of JAE - Kicad library has many JAE connectors) and specifying many for usage, I recommend:

  1. Getting out a Caliper and measuring the thickness of the existing flex pcb

  2. Read the Specification for the Connector(s) that are going to Mate to the Flex

  3. Connectors are designed for specific FLEX/PCB thickness and if you don’t meet that requirement, you may suffer insufficient ‘Normal’ force to maintain long-term contact. Or, may have too much Normal force, which leads to degradation of Normal force (like stretching a RubberBand or Spring beyond it’s ‘Elastic’ limit).

Look up FPC connectors on Digikey, Mouser, etc and read the Spec’s - especially the part about Contact, Retention, Number of Insertions/Withdrawls…

How about vibration… etc…

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Ok, I measured with a caliper and I get 0.07mm thick.

Regarding the specs about the connectors, is hard to tell. In one hand, there is a 40 year in between the production of the game and watch machines. And in the other hand, there is no connector per se. The flat cable sits on the LCD screen directly. Here I attach an image of the screen and the “connector” is in red:

imagen

there should be some kind of foam between the LCD and the flex pcb.
If yes the foam is a zebra strip

There is an elastomeric connector between one LCD and the mobo. But this machines have two screens and the second (or top) one is connected in one side of the cable directly to the mobo and in the other side, directly to the LCD. I know it’s weird, but that’s how there were maid.

There is just a piece of rubber (not conductive) that pushes the cable against the mobo or LCD. Here is a picture to illustrate it:

imagen

Sometimes we just have to go with what commonsense tells us.

PCB’s aren’t too expensive and the first one often shows what needs to change (consider it a ‘Prototype’)…

Totally agree. I will go for that prototype and we’ll see.

If it work, I’ll share it here so every one con do it for themselves.

Thanks a lot for all your help

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Just in case JLCPCB propose flex PCB since quite recently, it might be worth checking if the price is cheaper or not

FYI - More trouble and perhaps Cost, than it’s worth so, I’m not suggesting you do this (link to Homemade Flex) - it’s just something ‘Geeks’ (like me) do for fun and self-fulfillment

I’ve made a number of items (usually Touch/Contact Switches) with this stuff…

That’s what I wanted to do in first place. As the ribbon cable it’s quite simple, I thought that I can etch a copper foil. But then I came across the threads in this forum and discovered the prices to make them in a professional way and decided to give it a try. And also learn how to do it in KiCAD.

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Well, the flex has arrived today just a few minutes ago. They both look very very good. This weekend I will test them and I hope they work well.

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This weekend I’ve installed both model of the flex cables and both work beautifully. Perfect fit and perfect image. I never thought it could work at first attempt. I’m very happy with the results. And that’s thanks to all of you that helped me with your comments. Here I put two pictures of the result.

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They are very simple FPC boards. So they should not cost you much.

@kingcrediepcb

If you must use this forum to promote your PCB business, please read the thread before replying.

@cocaleru 's project was completed, including flex. PCBs some months ago.

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Addition for the next project:
Flex PCB’s are very sensitive to cracking due to stress riser points. For some time KiCad has the ability to put fillets in corners of PCB tracks, and this will improve the longevity of the flex PCB, especially when it is being bent a lot.

OK. Thanks for your remind. I will pay attention not to join the previous old topic.