Nov 12 2009
Royal Philips Electronics subsidiary Assembléon is showing its new high speed, high quality MCP screen printer at Productronica 2009 (November 10-13, Hall A2, Stand 477). Assembléon's MCP screen printer has an innovative head design with variable attack angle printing, allowing it to maintain constant solder pressure independent of the stencil thickness. The single-head system also allows easy setup, and reduces maintenance by half.
With a board cycle time as low as 11 seconds, it is the first stencil printer to match the high throughput of some of today's high-volume pick & place machines. It is the first printer to match their high quality, too, by reducing defect per million (dpm) figures by up to 50%. As a result, the MCP is ideal for high speed and high quality manufacturing, and is a perfect match for Assembléon's single-digit dpm A-Series equipment and high-quality, high-mix MC-Series.
High precision, high speed printing
Component miniaturization and reduced component interspacing are challenging even to modern screen printers. While maintaining high output, screen printers should be able to handle a wide mix of components, down to 01005, with small interspacing (down to 100µm). They should also adapt to PCB material trends such as Flexible Printed Circuits (FlexFoil).
The MCP has a flat-metal single-head squeegee to improve the speed and quality of printing. The squeegee’s variable angle print head significantly improves the repeatability of the paste deposition for 01005 components, even after a stencil cleaning. The squeegee maintains constant solder pressure and produces perfect solder shapes with stencil thickness down to 50 µm and half edging stencils with stencil steps of 30 to 50 µm. It is ideal for PCBs mixing 01005 (0.4mm x 0.2mm) types with larger component sizes.
The fast wet or dry vacuum cleaning system operates during the PCB transport cycle, minimizing the impact on tact time. All cleaning actions are performed with a minimum use of paper which, along with a significantly lower solder paste use, fits in well with Assembléon's drive towards greener manufacturing.
Higher yield and higher quality brings lower costs
The MCP also has a special feature that keeps the stencil from shifting during the print stroke, allowing better print repeatability on any board, even FlexFoil. To accomplish this, the stencil is secured on each side of the board during the print stroke, which holds the stencil in place and prevents it from sliding on the board.
Reducing the cost of quality has a high priority within manufacturing. Of all manufacturing defects caused by the soldering process, 87% are caused by soldering, and more than half of these are printer related. Costs can be significantly reduced and end-of-line yield increased by avoiding or finding defects as early as possible. The MCP’s high speed digital inspection camera scans the printed PCB, detecting excess or insufficient solder and bridging, and eliminating them from production.
Source: http://www.assembleon.com/