Sep 20, 2012 
More and more often electronics manufacturers have to deal with large, heavy or very thin boards which frequently require support pins for the placement process in order to prevent warping or vibrations. With its SIPLACE Smart Pin Support, ASM Assembly Systems provides a hardware-software combination that simplifies this previously cumbersome and complex support pin placement process for all boards. The newly developed pin picker picks up the support pins from the magazine during the placement process. It then places them, in their pre-programmed positions, quickly and accurately on the lifting plate. SIPLACE Smart Pin Support thus eliminates another error-prone and expensive manual process from their production and helps to make production processes more flexible.
SIPLACE Smart Pin Support makes another troublesome task a thing of the past: Very large, heavy or sensitive circuit boards must frequently be supported by special support pins during the placement process in order to ensure the best possible placement quality. This job had to be performed manually. And since it was important to take sensitive components on the underside of the board into account, the work had to be highly accurate and took a lot of time. In addition, the line had to be at a complete standstill.
Integrate support pins into the placement process
SIPLACE Smart Pin Support turns what used to be a time-consuming activity into a fixed, automated part of the placement process. The first step involves defining the support pin positions in the placement program. The software identifies potential collisions with components on the underside of the board, making correct pin placement easy. During the placement process, the pin picker picks up the required pins and sets them down in the predefined position with pinpoint accuracy. Before the pins are placed, the assigned spot on the lift table is cleaned with compressed air in order to remove possible contamination. Additionally, after placement the pcb position recognition camera inspects the pin’s position which, if needed, can then be readjusted.
"With SIPLACE Smart Pin Support we are automating a process that used to take a lot of time for our customers. It finally makes the reliable placement of support pins possible with no manual contact whatsoever. The special SIPLACE Pin Picker takes over most of the work. The time savings make the whole production line more efficient. Our customers will soon see the results on their bottom line," says Jetulla Avdilli of the SIPLACE team.
