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  • Digg It - What Are Gerber Files For Printed Circuit Boards-And Who Needs Them?

    When an electronics design engineer has completed their circuit design for an application, the next step towards completing the product design is to enter the schematic details into a computer based schematic capture program. The schematic capture program, which is usually part of an Electronic Design Automation, EDA
    According to USFDA, a combination product is one composed of any combination of a drug and device; biological product and device; drug and biological product
    or Computer Automated Design, PCB CAD, software design package, will create a net list from the completed schematic that details every electrical connection between each electronic component.

    This net list is used by the printed circuit board or PCB designer in the process of designing the printed circuit board with
    ; or drug, device, and biological product and fixed dose combination would include two or more combinations of drug.

    Examples of combination products may in
    he EDA or PCB CAD software. The finished printed circuit board will provide the physical assembly and interconnection platform for the various electronic components required by the schematic.

    The printed circuit board is made up of one or more conductive layers of copper plating that is etched to form the component p
    lude drug-coated devices, drugs packaged with delivery devices in medical kits, and drugs and devices packaged separately but intended to be used together.

    ads and interconnection traces and one or more layers of insulating material such as epoxy-filled fiberglass to separate the conductive copper layers and to provide the mechanical strength for the board.

    A single layer board would have components on the top side of the board and connecting traces on the bottom side o
    here is enormous increase in the number of combination products entering the market in the recent years. Combination products have proven advantages but fixe
    the board. A double layer board could have components on the top side only or have components on both the top and bottom sides of the board along with connecting traces on both sides of the board. A multilayer board would have both top and bottom sides with components and traces along with a number of internal layers
    d dose combinations are still in the process of convincing regulatory authority on their advantages over the single ingredient formulations.

    Combination pro
    used for interconnections and for voltage and ground plane layers.

    The EDA or PCB CAD program provides the detailed information about the completed board design in a series of data files for each conductive layer, such as top, bottom, and any internal layers. The Gerber File format, named after the Gerber Scientific
    ucts have become life saving products for the pharmaceutical companies who doesn’t have many innovative molecules in their product pipeline and have been inc
    Instruments Company, a pioneer in photoplotter manufacturing, is the standard format for these data files.

    The original Gerber format conformed to the EIA RS-274D standard and consisted of a command file for each conductive layer and a tool description file. The command file consisted of a series of short commands, e
    easingly used in the product life cycle management. Even the companies having product patents are trying to extend their product life cycle through the combi
    ach followed by a set of X and Y coordinates, which would provide a photoplotter with the information to create a graphic representation. These command files became known as the Gerber files. The tool description file, or aperture file, defined the trace line widths and dimensional data for all of the pads and geometr
    nation products and maximize the revenues. But the companies involved in this practice are overlooking that they are burdening the patients both economically
    c shapes on the layer.

    These data files of computer generated information for the printed circuit board design are then sent to a printed circuit board fabrication company to have the physical boards manufactured. The Gerber files contain all of the information necessary for the computer controlled machines at the pr
    and physically. They need to rightly judge the benefits of the combination products and they have to even look at the risks involved when combining the produ
    inted circuit board, PCB, fabrication houses to etch the copper layers to create the component pads and connection traces, drill all required holes, and cut the board to the required size.

    Since a PCB may have from one to many conductive layers, the older Gerber format EIA RS-274D always assumed a set of command file
    ts. Some of the combination products were well accepted by physicians while others suffered. Companies involved in development of combination products are fi
    , one for each PCB layer, and one tool description file, or aperture file. A standard for the aperture files was never established so every EDA or PCB CAD software product had its own version of the aperture file format. If the printed circuit board fabrication house could not read the aperture file format as sent, th
    ding difficulty in defining their combination products and facing various challenges from selecting a combination to marketing it.

    Following aspects would a
    n the aperture information would have to be re-entered manually.

    The newer Gerber format conforms to EIA RS-274X and this format includes the aperture information in the file headers as embedded information for each command or Gerber file. This newer format is often called X-Gerber. With all of the aperture informati
    dd to the challenges in developing combination products:

    Which markets to tap where the combination products can do fairly well?
    Which combination prod
    on included within the header fo the file, each X-Gerber file provides all of the information required to fabricate the related portion of a PCB layer.

    The file names for the Gerber files should be descriptive enough for the pcb fabricator to understand which board and board layer that each file applies to,such as me
    cts are meaningful and rational?
    Which therapeutic categories to select?
    Which Combinations can address unmet needs of the patients?
    Do combin
    bdtop.gbr as a file name. The standard process is to include with each set of files for a board design a special readme.txt type text file that defines each file name and its application for the board design. The board vendor will use this readme.txt text file as the starting point for the board manufacturing process.
    tions increase the patient compliance?
    What would be the developing cost?
    How to tackle the risks encountered during combination product developmen


    Gerber file extensions are often .GBR, .GBX, or .ART. Sometimes extensions such as .TOP and .BOT or .SMT and .SMB are used instead of the .GB_ type extensions. Often the file extension for a type of file, top, bottom, silkscreen, paste, inner layer, is controlled by the EDA or PCB CAD software package or is selectab
    t?

    As combination products don't fit into the traditional categories of drugs, medical devices, or biological products, the USFDA is in the process of devel
    e within the package. This variation in the extensions makes the inclusion of the readme.txt file as a requirement in the overall file package for the board vendor.

    The list of files for a board design will include the silkscreen for the top and sometimes the bottom layers if components are mounted on both sides, com
    ping new procedures for reviewing their safety, efficacy and quality.

    Professional from academic institutions, pharmaceutical industries, health care indust
    ponent placements for the top and sometimes the bottom layers, solder screen paste files for surface mount applications, drill drawings, solder mask files, panel drawings, pad master top and pad master bottom, etc.

    For instance, for a double sided, 2 layer, pcb, the Gerber files will consist of two positive Gerber la
    y and representatives from various regulatory agencies are working out to design the regulatory requirements for manufacture and sale of combination products
    ers, top and bottom, aperture file,if not in the RS-274X format, NC Excellon drill file, Drill Tool List file, Silkscreen file for each side with components, solder mask files for top and bottom, and top and bottom screen paste files for surface mount boards where applicable. A four layer board would have all of these
    .

    As there is an increasing trend of the combination products companies manufacturing such products should be able to tackle the problems involved in the de
    files plus two inner layer files and a six layer board would have all of these files plus four inner layer files.

    At Innovative Circuits Inc., we interface with PCB fabrication houses for our own board designs as well as board designs provided by our customers for whom we are providing board assembly services. Thus
    elopment. They need to be wiser in analyzing the market trends and the regulatory requirements.

    Companies that provide selfless information through particip
    e are very familiar with Gerber files and their purposes and functions. But we also realize that countless other people in other organizations who are involved in ordering raw boards or board assembly services will see or hear the term Gerber files without having any knowledge of the term, and this article if for them


    tion in industry events and feedback to regulatory authorities would be able to face the challenges and will be successful in developing combination products

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