Circuit Boards Soldered Together Using Non-Contact Method

A major manufacturer of power supplies was going into production with a new product that consisted of two circuit boards connected together, one above the other. Both boards were already populated with components so a quick, non-contact method of soldering was required. Also, a minimal footprint was needed to fit into their production environment.

Metro Automation designed a vision guided dual robot workstation that solders component leads to circuit boards using a Panasonic Soft Beam and automatic solder feeder. Components are delivered to the workstation in a palletized array. The workstation is integrated into an existing circuit board assembly line that runs unattended, except for occasional operator interaction.

All equipment is firmly mounted on a heavy-duty top plate that is attached to the machine base. The footprint of the machine is approximately 6 feet by 5 feet. The height is approximately 68 inches.

Positions of all actuators are verified using sensors. Pneumatic valves sensors and all other control functions are controlled using the robot controller. The control system is housed in an enclosure attached to the machine base. The machine includes an operator interface terminal for operation and control of the machine.

The machine consists of dual Adept Cartesian robot systems with vision. Each robot system rotates the lens and soldering assembly together when soldering. The system uses vision to locate the part, and then rotates about the center of the beam to orient the solder feed tube before approaching the board at each location.

The palletized product passes through the work cell by an edge guide style conveyor. The length of the conveyor is approximately 60 inches. The width of the conveyor section is manually adjustable for pallets ranging from 8 to 12 inches wide. The conveyor operates in an on-demand manner. The conveyor includes 4 stop positions. Two positions are used for the pre-heat and two positions for the soldering. The stops are pneumatically actuated and proximity sensors placed at each stop to identify a pallet in position.

Pallets consist of an anodized aluminum plate. The aluminum plate will be open in each circuit position to allow the pre-heat tooling to come in direct contact with the circuit.

The machine includes 2 pre-heat positions. The circuits will be transferred on the conveyor pallet through the workstation via the edge guide conveyor.

The pre-heater consists of a pneumatic guided slide with a heated plate attached to the slide. The pre-heater is located before each soldering position. The pre-heater is positioned between the conveyor rails. Interchangeable tooling plates are mounted to the heated plate. The tooling is raised slightly via the pneumatic slide and comes in direct contact with each circuit. The circuits will be held via vacuum through heater blocks.

Cartridge style heaters with adjustable temperature controllers are used to heat the heater plates. Cartridge heaters temperature controllers are sized with an upper limit of 400 F. In the heated work zone, the heater block is fitted with location pins. The locating pins provide accurate location of the pallet assembly.

After a pallet is pre-heated, it is indexed into the soldering position. A Panasonic Soft Beam and a Panasonic automatic solder feeder are used to solder pins to a circuit board. The Soft Beam System is unique in that it utilizes visible light focused through a magnifying lens to generate energy for soldering. The Soft Beam System includes non-contacting heating, power feedback control, localized energy irradiation, and programmable power variations.

During soldering, an extraction tube is connected to a port to facilitate the removal of heat and vapor.

The machine also includes dual cameras to watch the actual soldering operation to facilitate trouble shooting of the soldering process. The equipment consists of an ultra high-resolution color camera and monitor system with a camera mounted on each end effector.

The dual robot workstation integrated well into their existing line. Cycle time was reduced and quality was enhanced.

About Us | Automated Equipment | Automated Systems Capabilities/Services | BTP | BPO | Facilities | Metro News Careers | Map | Links | Contact Us | Home | Site Map © 2004 Metro Automation. All rights reserved.