Hello,
in PCBNew I want to do solderable pins. Currently those look like this:
Now, those pad’s are not solderable at the side. How do I make sure, those pads are solderable?
Any input is highly apprechiated. Thank you.
Michael
This is not natively supported (neither by kicad nor by old gerber standard).
You should contact your pcb-manufacturer how he wants data for such a demand.
Look for topics like edgeplating / sideplating.
For instance: One of my used pcb-sources (multi-pcb) demands that the copper extends over the edge.cuts-outline as a sign for wanted sideplating: https://www.multi-circuit-boards.eu/en/pcb-design-aid/drills-throughplating/pcb-sideplating.html (feature not used by me, so can’t say anything about good/bad results).
An out of the box idea . . . perhaps you could make a pad whose hole is the shape of the outside of your “pin” and make it THP, you would have to cut off the excess when you got the PCB made.
The word sideplatine seems to open doors. That’s what I was looking for.
I use JLCPCB.
I found the following instructions:
They recommend slots or a lot of vias. Intiuitivly, lot’s of vias should be the easiest solution and should be widely supported.
Is there a possibility to do curved slots in kicad?
Make a custom through hole plated pad
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You might encouter a mechanical issue:
Looking at the first picture, the three PCB-pins attach to the pcb in a sharp 90deg angle. Any router bit has a radius > 0, so this is not machinable. See what smalest radius your fab house offers. That radius affects how deep you can plug in to the corresponding jack.
A smaler radius btw increases the risk of cracks.
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I guess the question is really “why do you want to do that?” having plating on both sides will allow you to solder the module to the carrier board. I just started using a power supply module that does what you’re doing, they only plate the top-bottom like your picture and it works fine. The only thing they do a little different is put a rather large via at the “bottom” of the pin. That’s probably to keep the copper of the pin from peeling off during handling or shipping.
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You just mark these locations and indicate that you want to metallize the edges. So your factory will metallize the sides, so there will be solderable.
You can refer to the attached picture.
Not sure this is an option for the OP . . .
Your answer is not meet Michael’ requirement.
Michael said those pad’s not solderable at the side, so slot or vias can not help Michael to settle the problem.
Linda
Sorry for the crude drawing, I only have MS Paint at the moment . . . extend the board (the green square), make a hole/slot the shape between the black and red . . . and make it THP
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This would require a special routing operation before plating. Going to be an expensive special
I’ve designed several connectors and terminals (have patents) and lot’s of history in this field.
What you show with the PCB terminals is something I would Not do for other than Custom, minimal number of Matings and minimal application warranty.
But, another approach is to use Stock ‘Slotted Terminal Pins’. They are Not designed for what you want but, sometimes applying Non-Standard hardware works out well. Thus, you might consider this…
Here’s one Example of a Slotted Terminal Pin (designed for the Pin to be soldered into THT). But, cleverness of use might be what would be far better than messing with breakable fingers on a PCB…
Search for similar Slotted Terminal that will fit onto PCB with your desired PCB thickness and Pin diameter… Something you can slip onto the PCB’s Edge…
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I wouldn’t do it either, but it’s what the OP wanted . . . it was meant to be a possible suggestion to achieve what was wanted without spending lots of cash on special options with the fab house.
A custom PCB with Side contact plating and machining will be more expensive than Stock Slotted Terminal… Here’s a brief catalog page…
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I didn’t have any of these style Terminals but, I do have a Lathe and CNC Mill… And, had ten minutes to spare for some fun… Did not detail it out (no finish work, just rough proto)…
EDIT-ADDED: Too hot to be outside (100F) so spent a few minutes creating a simple approach to making the PCB Pins (as posted at top of page). Did only enough to convey that it can be done (independent of whether Yes/No vendor can/will do side plating…) Last image…
Nice.maybe a problem though that there is a offset under the pcb? Wondering though why not castellated edges?
If one needed custom hardware then it would probably make sense to have stamped/laser cut sheet metal parts that get attached to side of component.these would be even custom made be cheap as hell.
No offset on bottom - what’s shown is the way I threw it together without much interest in making it pretty/useful…
Stamping dies are expensive - I’ve shelled out $8,000 to $15,000 for some that we didn’t make ourselves…
Castellated - well, they can be used in a similar fashion as the THT’s shown… Different ways to do things…
Stamping dies are expensive
Not really, depends on shape. If you need a small run, of small items with relatively simple shapes, you can 3D print them for a few dollars in plastic. You can go up to 1.5 mm steel with this method if you need the stamp to shear. If you can laser/waterjet cut the die forms then you can go up to 4 mm easily. As a bending die the 3d print lasts for a few thousand cycles if designed correctly. But when shearing it does lose corners pretty quickly so maybe 200-400 stamps.
Cant demo this because the workshops are closed for summer so out waterjet and lasers are offline at the moment.
I use 2mm raster 2x20 pin header with 0.8mm thick PCB inserted between connector pins to put one PCB vertically on the other occupying only 2x20 pin header area.