Flexible flat cable, or FFC, is any type of electrical cable that is both flat and flexible, with flat solid conductors. Flexible flat cables are a type of flexible electronics. However, the term FFC usually refers to the extremely thin flat cables often found in high-density electronic applications such as laptop computers and cell phones.
Sometimes the term FPC (Flexible Printed Circuit) is even used inaccurately for any type of FFC; however, this is more accurately used to describe etched or printed circuits that contain components and are built on a flexible material. ffc is usually a straight connection without any components.
FFC is a miniaturized form of ribbon cable, which is also flat and flexible. The cable typically consists of a flat and flexible plastic film base with multiple flat metal conductors bonded to a single surface. Typically, each end of the cable has a stiffener to make insertion easier or to provide strain relief. The stiffener makes the end of the cable slightly thicker.
Flexible flat cables are used in place of round cables to facilitate cable management, especially in highly flexible applications. They typically take up less space than round cables, often provide better EMI/RFI rejection, and eliminate wire coupling problems. In addition, they are lighter in weight and more flexible because the wires are protected individually rather than wrapped multiple times in different materials like round cables.
