Ymif Engineering is putting the finishing touches to FlexKlok

The stock market gadget for Electronics & Applications 2019 is the FlexKlok. During the E&A fair, visitors can collect the gadget in five steps. Ymif Engineering plays an important role in the development of the gadget. We spoke with Ton Wennen, director of Ymif Engineering, about the latest state of affairs surrounding the FlexKlok.

By: Dimitri Reijerman

An earlier design by Ymif serves as the basis for the FlexClock: “We made a trade fair gadget a number of years ago,” says Wennen. “That was the KompasClock, a clock with 24 functions. We continued to develop this further. The request came from FHI: would you like to release the KompasKlok again? Great, because we already had a lot of fun with that.”

Wennen continues: “We started looking at what we could change about the original design. Due to the changes, a large part has remained the same. Because we do complete product development, we also employ industrial designers who can create appropriate designs in CAD.”

“We looked at the form factor and asked the question: how can you easily place the gadget? This also resulted in the bending in the design, which is quite unique with only FR4. As far as I know, this has never been seen before because it is part of the electrical design and there are traces running through it. That gives the gadget a completely different perspective: what can you do with electronics and printed circuit boards?”

According to Wennen, most bends in PCBs are realized in a different way: “Usually it is flex printing that changes into a flexible piece, a relatively expensive process.”

Success of the Compass Clock

The predecessor of the FlexClock, then called KompasKlok, also earned Ymif a lot of attention after the fair: “When we made the compass clock, Estec came to us and they asked if we wanted to do this again for an open day. This was highly appreciated by the high-frequency specialists present. They work with equipment costing tens of thousands of euros, but were very enthusiastic about the possibilities with a simple processor.”

The development of the FlexKlok is now almost complete, says Wennen: “We are still doing a few small tests and we are making some adjustments to the printed circuit board. It can then be put into production. The production will be done by CDS, a subsidiary of Head electronics. The CE tests were successfully carried out last week at the Blue Guide EMC Lab in Belgium. This showed that we no longer need to make any adjustments. So we are going to prepare for production.”

The FlexKlok will be available in a limited edition of approximately 2,000 pieces in the run-up to the E&A trade fair.