Technical Library | 2009-03-05 15:46:54.0
In a recent survey of 89 organizations conducted by Whataboutquality.com, respondents were asked what few key characteristics defined quality, in the eyes of their customer, the most popular response was: the product or service met my requirements. The next two most popular responses were: it worked like I expected and it was a good value, worth what I paid for it (...) So how do you continue to exceed customer expectations and simultaneously reduce costs? There are two paths to take. You can find and reduce the variation in your process and you can eliminate as much of the non-value-added waste in your operation.
Technical Library | 2013-11-21 12:01:11.0
Previous experimentation on a highly miniaturized and densely populated SMT assembly revealed the optimum stencil alloy and flux-repellent coating for its stencil printing process. Production implementation of the materials that were identified in the study resulted in approximately 5% print yield improvement across all assemblies throughout the operation, validating the results of the initial tests. A new set of studies was launched to focus on the materials themselves, with the purpose of optimizing their performance on the assembly line (...) Results of the prior tests are reviewed, and the new test vehicle, experimental setup and results are presented and discussed.
Technical Library | 2015-04-29 03:29:56.0
Statistical Appearance Modelling technology enables an AOI system to “learn real world variation” based on operator interaction with inspection task results. This provides an accurate statistical description of normal variation in a product. With modelling technology, the user does not have to anticipate potential defects as the system will “flag” anything outside the “normal production range”. And, since the system is programmed with real production variation, it is sensitive to small subtle changes enabling reliable defect detection. Autonomous prediction of process variation enables an AOI system to be set up from a single PCB with production-ready performance. Setup time can be
Technical Library | 2023-06-12 19:00:21.0
The SMT print process is now very mature and well understood. However as consumers continually push for new electronic products, with increased functionality and smaller form factor, the boundaries of the whole assembly process are continually being challenged. Miniaturisation raises a number of issues for the stencil printing process. How small can we print? What are the tightest pitches? Can we print small deposits next too large for high mix technology assemblies? How closely can we place components for high density products? ...And then on top of this, how can we satisfy some of the cost pressures through the whole supply chain and improve yield in the production process! Today we are operating close to the limits of the stencil printing process. The area ratio rule (the relationship between stencil aperture opening and aperture surface area) fundamentally dictates what can and cannot be achieved in a print process. For next generation components and assembly processes these established rules need to be broken! New stencil printing techniques are becoming available which address some of these challenges. Active squeegees have been shown to push area ratio limits to new boundaries, permitting printing for next generation 0.3CSP technology. Results also indicate there are potential yield benefits for today's leading edge components as well. Stencil coatings are also showing promise. In tests performed to date it is becoming apparent that certain coatings can provide higher yield processing by extending the number of prints that can be performed in-between stencil cleans during a print process. Preliminary test results relating to the stencil coating technology and how they impact miniaturisation and high yield processing will be presented.
Technical Library | 2021-05-06 13:48:05.0
In this paper most commonly occurring Bare PCB defects such as Track Cut, Track short and Pad Damages are detected by Image processing techniques. Reference PCB without having any defects is compared with test PCB having defects to identify the defects and x-y coordinates of the center of the defects along with radii are obtained using Difference of Gaussian method and location of the individual type of defects are marked either by similar color or different colors. Result Analysis includes time taken for the inspection of a single defect, multiple similar defects, and multiple different defects. Time taken is ranging from 1.674 to 1.714 seconds if the individual type of defects are marked by different colors and 0.670 to 0.709 seconds if all the identified defects are marked by the same colors.
Technical Library | 2020-11-19 20:35:26.0
Simultaneously with the first complex electronic circuits, the task of creating effective means of diagnosing and repairing them appeared. In previous decades, specialized programmable stands were used for diagnostics of serial electronic products, as well as various testers and probes for troubleshooting during their operation. But the dramatic increase in the density / cost factor, in parallel with the very rapid modification of electronic products, made programmable stands economically ineffective even in mass production. The use of traditional laboratory equipment (oscilloscopes, multimeters, etc.) requires power supply to the defective modules, which is often impossible and unsafe, since it can lead to failure of the working modules of the module. In addition, the use of this equipment requires documentation and highly qualified personnel. More automated and sophisticated signature analysis systems came to the rescue in solving this problem. A feature of these devices is that they allow you to test digital and analog assemblies without dismantling components and without supplying voltage.
Technical Library | 2020-10-08 00:55:22.0
This article presents the development of a stretchable sensor network with high signal-to-noise ratio and measurement accuracy for real-time distributed sensing and remote monitoring. The described sensor network was designed as an island-and-serpentine type network comprising a grid of sensor "islands" connected by interconnecting "serpentines." A novel high-yield manufacturing process was developed to fabricate networks on recyclable 4-inch wafers at a low cost. The resulting stretched sensor network has 17 distributed and functionalized sensing nodes with low tolerance and high resolution. The sensor network includes Piezoelectric (PZT), Strain Gauge(SG), and Resistive Temperature Detector (RTD) sensors. The design and development of a flexible frame with signal conditioning, data acquisition, and wireless data transmission electronics for the stretchable sensor network are also presented. The primary purpose of the frame subsystem is to convert sensor signals into meaningful data, which are displayed in real-time for an end-user to view and analyze. The challenges and demonstrated successes in developing this new system are demonstrated, including (a) developing separate signal conditioning circuitry and components for all three sensor types (b) enabling simultaneous sampling for PZT sensors for impact detection and (c)configuration of firmware/software for correct system operation. The network was expanded with an in-house developed automated stretch machine to expand it to cover the desired area. The released and stretched network was laminated into an aerospace composite wing with edge-mount electronics for signal conditioning, processing, power, and wireless communication.
Technical Library | 2019-09-24 15:41:53.0
This paper focuses on three different coating material groups which were formulated to operate under high thermal stress and are applied at printed circuit board manufacturing level. While used for principally different applications, these coatings have in common that they can be key to a successful thermal management concept especially in e-mobility and lighting applications. The coatings consist of: Specialty (green transparent) liquid photoimageable solder masks (LPiSM) compatible with long-term thermal storage/stress in excess of 150°C. Combined with the appropriate high-temperature base material, and along with a suitable copper pre-treatment, these solder resists are capable of fulfilling higher thermal demands. In this context, long-term storage tests as well as temperature cycling tests were conducted. Moreover, the effect of various Cu pre-treatment methods on the adhesion of the solder masks was examined following 150, 175 and 200°C ageing processes. For this purpose, test panels were conditioned for 2000 hours at the respective temperatures and were submitted to a cross-cut test every 500 h. Within this test set-up, it was found that a multi-level chemical pre-treatment gives significantly better adhesion results, in particular at 175°C and 200°C, compared with a pre-treatment by brush or pumice brush. Also, breakdown voltage as well as tracking resistance were investigated. For an application in LED technology, the light reflectivity and white colour stability of the printed circuit board are of major importance, especially when high-power LEDs are used which can generate larger amounts of heat. For this reason, a very high coverage power and an intense white colour with high reflectivity values are essential for white solder masks. These "ultra-white" and largely non-yellowing LPiSM need to be able to withstand specific thermal loads, especially in combination with high-power LED lighting applications. The topic of thermal performance of coatings for electronics will also be discussed in view of printed heatsink paste (HSP) and thermal interface paste (TIP) coatings which are used for a growing number of applications. They are processed at the printed circuit board manufacturing level for thermal-coupling and heat-spreading purposes in various thermal management-sensitive fields, especially in the automotive and LED lighting industries. Besides giving an overview of the principle functionality, it will be discussed what makes these ceramic-filled epoxy- or silicone-based materials special compared to using "thermal greases" and "thermal pads" for heat dissipation purposes.
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