Defining Panel by Customer
1. What is meant by Panel by Customer?
Panel by customer refers to situations where the customer supplies us with either a panel-specific drawing or Gerber files already arranged in panel format. This input is used directly to generate a panel that adheres strictly to the customer's design requirements. In some cases, the customer may create the panel independently due to specific needs related to the panel border or other features this too falls under panel by customer.
2. In what situations is a customer-provided panel applicable?
Panels provided by the customer are applicable in these scenarios:
When the customer shares Gerber files already arranged in panel format.
If the customer has provided us with the drawings for his panel requirements.
If the panel consists of special requirements and the customer has prepared the panel by themself.
3. Are border frames added to customer panels?
Yes, in general practice, a 5 mm panel border is suggested. This applies to both panels created by Partskeys PCB and those submitted by customers.
4. How is the number of unique designs on a panel determined?
You can determine the number of distinct designs on a panel by counting the number of different Gerber layouts merged within that single panel.
5. Can you give an example of how to count designs on a panel?
Sure! Below are a few examples that illustrate how to count unique designs on a panel based on the merged Gerber data.
Figure 1: The number of different designs in the above-given figure is 6.
Figure 2: The second figure consists of 3 different panels:
The number of different designs in Panel 1 is 1.
The number of different designs in Panel 2 is 4.
The number of different designs in Panel 3 is 5.
6. What types of Board separations are supported in Panel by customers?
V-cut or break routing separation method can be used if your customers provide outline-based shapes. Usually, the most recommended method for board separation in the case of panels with different designs is break routing.
Defining Panel by Partskeys PCB
7. What is the meaning of Panel ups?
Panel ups refer to the number of times the PCB will be copied in either the X or Y direction. For instance, if a customer wants a specific PCB to be duplicated twice in the X direction and thrice in the Y direction, the result for panel ups will be 2 X 3 = 6.
8. How does Partskeys PCB Market choose the Panel ups?
We recommend a panel designed by Partskeys PCB when the PCB size is less than 20 × 20 mm. And in that case, we take into account the panel size for which we can get the highest production panel usage.
9. What are the guidelines for panel borders?
The ideal recommendation for panel borders is a minimum of 5 mm panel border on all four sides, excluding a 2 mm gap for break routing.
10. What are the guidelines for choosing the distance between PCBs in a Panel?
The distance between PCBs in a panel will be 0 if the V-cut separation method is used, while the minimum distance required in the case of break routing method will be 2 mm. For small PCB sizes and round-shaped PCBs, we advise a 10 mm distance between PCBs in panels to provide adequate mechanical strength and better stability.
11. Which types of board separation are supported in the Panel by customers?
Customers can utilise V-cut or break routing methods to separate boards that are based on the outline shape. V-cut is typically leveraged for PCBs with rectangular shapes or when the component weight on the PCB is high. The break routing method is the ideal option if the PCB shape is not a perfect rectangle.
12. Give an example of a Partskeys PCB Panel separated with the break routing method.
The following image depicts how Partskeys PCB panels are separated using the break routing method:
13. Give an example of a Partskeys PCB Panel separated with the V-cut method.
The following image shows the separation of the Partskeys PCB panel using the V-cut method:
