Technical Library | 2013-12-05 17:09:03.0
The functionality of electronic devices continues to increase at an extraordinary rate. Simultaneously consumers are expecting even more and in ever smaller packages. One enabler for shrinking electronics has been the flexible circuit board that allows the circuit board to fit a wide variety of shapes. Flexible printed circuits (FPC) have the capability to be very thin and can have unpackaged components directly attached using surface mount technology (SMT) and flip chip on flex technologies. Bare die can also be thinned and attached very close to the circuit board. However one caveat of high density flexible circuit boards with thin die is that they can be very fragile. The use of back side films and underfill can protect the die making circuits more robust. For underfill to work well it requires good adhesion to the circuit board which can mean that flux residues under the die normally must be removed prior to underfilling.
Technical Library | 2011-06-29 14:44:52.0
High yields in the stencil printing process are essential to a profitable SMT assembly operation. But as circuit complexity continues to increase, so do the challenges of maintaining a successful solder paste deposition process. To help assemblers address
Technical Library | 2016-06-23 13:24:56.0
Proper assembly of components is critical in the manufacturing industry as it affects functionality and reliability. In a heat sink assembly, a detailed manual process is often utilized. However, an automated fixture is used whenever applicable.This paper will illustrate the use of strain gauge testing and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) as a simulation tool to evaluate and optimize the heat sink assembly process by manual and automated methods. Several PCBAs in the production line were subjected to the manual and automated assembly process. Strain gauge testing was performed and FEA models were built and run. Results were compared with the goal of improving the FEA model. The updated FEA model will be used in simulating different conditions in assembly. Proposed improvement solutions to some issues can also be verified through FEA.
Technical Library | 2018-03-28 14:54:36.0
Six decades of legacy experience makes the specification and production of screens and masks to produce repeatable precision results mostly an exercise in matching engineering needs with known ink and substrate performance to specify screen and stencil characteristics. New types of functional and electronic devices, flex circuits and medical sensors, industrial printing, ever finer circuit pitch, downstream additive manufacturing processes coupled with new substrates and inks that are not optimized for the rheological, mechanical and chemical characteristics for the screen printing process are becoming a customer driven norm. Many of these materials do not work within legacy screen making, curing or press set-up parameters. Many new materials and end uses require new screen specifications.This case study presents a DOE based method to pre-test new materials to categorize ink and substrate rheology, compatibility and printed feature requirement to allow more accurate screen recipes and on-press setting expectations before the project enters the production environment where time and materials are most costly and on-press adjustment methods may be constrained by locked, documented or regulatory processes, equipment limitations and employee experience.
Technical Library | 2016-07-14 18:21:29.0
Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) and Printed Electronics (PE) both describe conductor/substrate combinations that make connections. Both PCB and PE technologies have been in use for a long time in one form or another with PCBs currently the standard for complex, high speed electronics and PE for user interface, complex form factor or other film based applications. New and innovative applications create the opportunity for promising structures. Taking advantage of the PCB shop's capability as well as the material set can help create these structures and indeed PE materials can find use in more traditional PCBs. New materials and new uses of existing materials open up many possibilities in electronic interconnecting structures. PCB manufacturers have a complex manufacturing infrastructure, well suited for both additive and subtractive conductor processing. While built around rigid material processing (flex PCB being the exception), there are opportunities for PE substrate processing. As electronics devices are applied to more and more parts of our lives, we need to continually push for better solutions. Fit, function, manufacturability, and cost are all important considerations. Crossing the PCB/PE boundary is a way to meet the challenge.
Technical Library | 2012-04-09 14:08:18.0
As the electronics assembly industry evolves, printed circuit board (PCB) features and surface mount technology (SMT) components continue to get smaller and smaller. This miniaturization shrinks the process window at print, placement, and reflow, increasi
Technical Library | 2008-01-16 18:25:55.0
The consumer's interest for smaller, lighter and higher performance electronics products has increased the use of ultra fine pitch packages, such as Flip Chips and Chip Scale Packages, in printed circuit board (PCB) assembly. The assembly processes for these ultra fine pitch packages are extremely complex and each step in the assembly process influences the assembly yield and reliability.
Technical Library | 2023-12-18 20:41:20.0
This review of inert atmosphere for the electronics assembly processes will look at the benefits and attempt to close the gap on some of the misconceptions of using inert gases for electronics assembly. We will look at the reasons for using nitrogen and the cost benefits that come with the use of this inert atmosphere gas. As part of this review we will be explain the needs assessment and when you should use an inert atmosphere for your assembly process. Case studies will be provided to demonstrate the benefits of an inert atmosphere in the electronics assembly process area.
Technical Library | 2010-03-18 14:02:03.0
Selecting products that have been qualified by industry standards for use in printed circuit board assembly processes is an accepted best practice. That products which have been qualified, when used in combinations not specifically qualified, may have resultant properties detrimental to assembly function though, is often not adequately understood. Printed circuit boards, solder masks, soldering materials (flux, paste, cored wire, rework flux, paste flux, etc.), adhesives, and inks, when qualified per industry standards, are qualified using very specific test methods which may not adequately mimic the assembly process ultimately used.
Technical Library | 2021-08-04 18:46:25.0
The process of printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) involves several machines, such as a stencil printer, placement machine and reflow oven, to solder and assemble electronic components onto printed circuit boards (PCBs). In the production flow, some failure prevention mechanisms are deployed to ensure the designated quality of PCBA, including solder paste inspection (SPI), automated optical inspection (AOI) and in-circuit testing (ICT). However, such methods to locate the failures are reactive in nature, which may create waste and require additional effort to be spent re-manufacturing and inspecting the PCBs. Worse still, the process performance of the assembly process cannot be guaranteed at a high level. Therefore, there is a need to improve the performance of the PCBA process. To address the aforementioned challenges in the PCBA process, an intelligent assembly process improvement system (IAPIS) is proposed, which integrates the k-means clustering method and multi-response Taguchi method to formulate a pro-active approach to investigate and manage the process performance.
Midwest Circuit Technology provides Carbide Router Bits and End Milling Cuters for use in PCB Depaneling equipment. We have over 35 years of supplying tools and machining experience in drilling, Routing, Test Fixture manufacture.
114 Barrington Town Square
Aurora, OH USA
Phone: 13309956900
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