Technical Library | 1999-08-27 09:27:10.0
Conformal coating is a material that is applied to electronic products or assemblies to protect them from solvents, moisture, dust or other contaminants that may cause harm. Coating also prevents dendrite growth, which may result in product failure. This paper will discuss the variables that affect the application of conformal coatings, and review in detail those variables that impact the process of selective coating of printed circuit boards.
Technical Library | 2008-10-15 20:16:12.0
Solder paste dispensing is usually considered a slow process. Due to the speed advantages, screen printing is used to apply solder paste whenever possible. However, screen printing is not always an option. Leveraging the high speed of piezo drive technology opens the door to a broad range of solder paste dispensing applications. The ability to dispense dots under 300-μm diameter, even as small as 125 μm, enables BGA rework, small geometry deposits for miniaturized passive components, electrical connections in recessed cavities, and RF shield attach for handheld devices.
Technical Library | 2019-05-29 23:10:30.0
There are times when a PCB prototype needs to be built quickly to test out a design. In such cases where it is known early on that there will be multiple iterations or that a "one and done" assembly will be made that there will be some SMT assemblers who choose to hand print solder paste onto the board using a "frameless" stencil. In such cases where hand printing is used, the consistency of the printing technique has typically been in question. Furthermore, the effectiveness of both the nanocoatings as well as the higher end stainless steel materials, which have been heretofore studied in controlled printing environments, will be evaluated for their impact on the hand printing process.The purpose of the study was to determine the effectiveness of select nanocoating materials as well as certain high end stainless steel stencil materials as they relate to the manual SMT printing process. A variety of nanocoatings were applied to SMT metal stencils and solder paste volume measurements were taken to compare the effectiveness.
Technical Library | 2017-03-30 18:34:52.0
There are multiple methods, each with its associated benefits for given applications, for printing either solder paste or paste flux for BGA rework. Each of these methods is best-suited for a given situation, board layout and skill level of operators performing the BGA rework. This discussion will layout the various methods and present the specific circumstances for which the specific technique is most wellsuited. In addition, the pluses and minuses for each of the approaches will be discussed in detail.
Technical Library | 2008-05-07 17:54:58.0
Tracking goods through manufacturing was originally accomplished with pencil, paper and human input. Barcodes introduced an automated, machine-readable tracking mechanism that streamlined all types of manufacturing. But modern printed circuit board (PCB) assemblies are running into limitations because of barcode labels. And though barcodes and RFID tags will co-exist, the relatively large barcode labels have to find increasingly scarce real estate on high density boards.
Technical Library | 2021-11-26 14:34:07.0
The use of desiccant bags filled with Silica Sand and or Clay beads used in conjunction with a Moisture Barrier Bag to control moisture for storage of printed circuit boards has long been an accepted practice and standard from both JEDEC and IPC organizations. Additionally, the use heated ovens for baking off moisture using the evaporation process has also been a long#2;standing practice from these organizations. This paper on alternative drying methods will be accompanied by completed independent, unbiased tests conducted by Vinny Nguyen, an engineering student (now graduated) from San Jose State University. The accompanied paper will examine the performance levels of different technologies of desiccant bags to control moisture in enclosed spaces. The tests and equipment set were reviewed by an engineer and consultant to the Lockheed Martin Aerospace Division and the IPC - TM-650 2.6.28 test method was review by engineer from pSemi. The tests were designed to mimic performance tests outlined in Mil Spec 3464, which both IPC and JEDEC have adopted for their respective standards. The test examined variables including absorption capacity rates, weight gain and release of moisture back into the enclosed area. The presentation will also address and highlight: • Similarities of PCBs and Heavy Equipment as it applies to Inspections, Causes of Failure, Types of Corrosion and Moisture Collection Points. • Performance Attributes of Different Desiccant Technologies as it applies to shape, texture, change outs, labeling and regeneration. • Venn Diagram of Electromechanical Failure with the circles 1. Current 2. Contamination 3. Humidity Presentation Available
Technical Library | 2021-11-22 20:39:44.0
Quality control is a key activity performed by manufacturing companies to verify product conformance to the requirements and specifications. Standardized quality control ensures that all the products are evaluated under the same criteria. The decreased cost of sensors and connectivity enabled an increasing digitalization of manufacturing and provided greater data availability. Such data availability has spurred the development of artificial intelligence models, which allow higher degrees of automation and reduced bias when inspecting the products. Furthermore, the increased speed of inspection reduces overall costs and time required for defect inspection. In this research, we compare five streaming machine learning algorithms applied to visual defect inspection with real world data provided by Philips Consumer Lifestyle BV. Furthermore, we compare them in a streaming active learning context, which reduces the data labeling effort in a real-world context. Our results show that active learning reduces the data labeling effort by almost 15% on average for the worst case, while keeping an acceptable classification performance. The use of machine learning models for automated visual inspection are expected to speed up the quality inspection up to 40%.
Technical Library | 2018-10-18 15:41:45.0
One specific market space of interest to emerging printed electronics is In Mold Label (IML) technology. IML is used in many consumer products and white good applications. When combined with electronics, the In Mold Electronics (IME) adds compelling new product functionality. Many of these products have multi-dimensional features and therefore require thermoforming processes in order to prepare the labels before they are in-molded. While thermoforming is not a novel technique for IML, the addition of printed electronic functional traces is not well documented. There is little or no published work on printed circuit performance and design interactions in the thermoforming process that could inform improved IME product designs. A general full factorial Design of Experiments (DOE) was used to analyze the electrical performance of the conductive silver ink trace/polycarbonate substrate system. Variables of interest include trace width, height of draw, and radii of both top and bottom curvatures in the draw area. Thermoforming tooling inserts were fabricated for eight treatment combinations of these variables. Each sample has one control and two formed strips. Electrical measurements were taken of the printed traces on the polymer sheets pre- and post- forming with a custom fixture to evaluate the effect on resistance. The design parameters found to be significant were draw height and bottom radius, with increased draw and smaller bottom curvature radii both contributing to the circuits’ resistance degradation. Over the ranges evaluated, the top curvature radii had no effect on circuit resistance. Interactions were present, demonstrating that circuit and thermoforming design parameters need to be studied as a system. While significant insight impacting product development was captured further work will be executed to evaluate different ink and substrate material sets, process variables, and their role in IME.
Technical Library | 2023-06-12 18:33:29.0
This paper presents a real-time predictive approach to improve solder paste stencil printing cycle decision making process in surface mount assembly lines. Stencil cleaning is a critical process that influences the quality and efficiency of printing circuit board. Stencil cleaning operation depends on various process variables, such as printing speed, printing pressure, and aperture shape. The objective of this research is to help efficiently decide stencil printing cleaning cycle by applying data-driven predictive methods. To predict the printed circuit board quality level, a recurrent neural network (RNN) is applied to obtain the printing performance for the different cleaning aging. In the prediction model, not only the previous printing performance statuses are included, but also the printing settings are used to enhance the RNN learning. The model is tested using data collected from an actual solder paste stencil printing line. Based on the predicted printing performance level, the model can help automatically identify the possible cleaning cycle in practice. The results indicate that the proposed model architecture can predictively provide accurate solder paste printing process information to decision makers and increase the quality of the stencil printing process.
Technical Library | 2008-10-09 00:06:36.0
This article examines stamp soldering, a solution that provides consistent high quality by repeatedly applying accurate amounts of molten solder onto a printed circuit board using static volumetric solder stamps guaranteeing total flatness during the through-hole soldering process.
winsouce.jpg)