Printed circuit board in a toaster - Research Paper Example

A toaster is a modern appliance used for toasting bread by converting electrical energy to heat energy which is then radiated to the bread (see appendix for a picture of one). In many households a toaster is a part of their breakfast or other meals as it easily and quickly prepares a toast as opposed to any other method you could use to prepare a toast. The device retails from as low as thirty bucks on Amazon therefore going by this its PCB cost would have to be quite low. In fact PCB production as per the Silver Circuits’ website (2011) is as low as 13 cents per square inch.

This can be attributed to the few parts that make it up and the reduction in cost when mass producing these boards. (See appendix for a sample PCB). For effective functioning of the PCB in a toaster the following product design specifications have to be considered. (These are based on the environment of operation and a toaster’s manufacturer requirement for its PCB). On electrical consideration first we should consider the dielectric constant otherwise referred to as permittivity. This is an undertaking of accumulation electrostatic lines made of flux in a dielectric. (WhatIs.com Website, 2011).

This depends on where the PCB is to be used, for instance in PCBs with many layers low values are preferred whereas those that are designed for RF circuits would have high values. In our case the toaster operates at low frequency and its PCB need not to be a multiple count one hence a value in between is good enough, however since the electric circuit in a toaster is a timer which uses capacitance the dielectric used to provide additional capacitance required. The second is loss tangent. This is usually a magnitude of how the dielectric component dissipates electromagnetic type of energy.

Though more sensitive at higher frequencies it should be as low as possible for correct operation. Thirdly the materials should not absorb a