Tuesday, May 25, 2010

SMT Tours REStronics ORPRO Vision Inspection Open House

(May 25, 2010) — REStronics New England recently hosted an open house at their Billerica, MA showroom to demonstrate and discuss SPI and AOI. Inspection technology from ORPRO Vision was used to perform live PCB inspection demos.

The ORPRO Vision systems available for visitor demos included the Symbion S36 Plus component and post-solder AOI; Symbion P36 Plus 2D/3D solder paste deposition inspection (SPI) system; and the Spectrum prototype table-top AOI system.

Kenneth Lunde of ORPRO Vision presented “AOI for Defect Detection vs. AOI for Process Controls” during the open house. He discussed ways for electronics assembly to include post-paste and component inspections, and why this visual inspection benefits the bottom line. “Opinions regarding AOI are that it’s a tool to capture and report component defects incurred during the assembly process. AOI is an effective tool for this purpose when used at a post-soldering stage,” Lunde noted, saying that such implementations are intended as a “safety net to ensure that no defects are shipped out the back door.” Why use AOI before the soldering process? Lunde said that, without solder paste inspection (SPI), all the possible solder level defects proceed down the line unchecked. “If most issues are solder specific, then pre-solder inspection is not your best value placement for test. On the other hand, if most defects observed are component-level defects, then testing solder joints may not be the best option. It is a question of support time.” Lunde also compared the value of 2D SPI sampling to true 100% paste inspection, which functions as a process control. When SPI is implemented with AOI inline with SPI post-deposition and AOI pre-reflow, all data collected reflects process events, he added. Lunde reviewed the uses for AOI pre- and post-reflow, and what component- and solder-level defects can be captured. “There is a not a best solution for every line. It can be the application of AOI or SPI alone. It can be the implementation of both technologies,” he said. Assemblers should ask themselves: Where are the issues today? Where will they be in the days to come? and base their inspection strategy on their answers.

Meredith Courtemanche, executive editor

For more information, visit http://www.orprovision.com/ or http://www.restronics.com/. Read more about inspection on http://www.smtonline.com/ in our Inspection center.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

After the Show: APEX Deals Announced

(May 11, 2010) — A few companies announced equipment sales and new customers from the show floor at IPC APEX EXPO, held in April 2010 in Las Vegas. (Check out our Twitter archive for a few of the sales announcements from ASYS Group Americas and others, http://twitter.com/SurfaceMount). Following the show, however, many more are announcing completed sales initiated at the exhibition. Here are a few of the partnerships; add your own in the comments section.

Aqueous Technologies Corp. sold a Zero-Ion g3 Ionic Contamination (Cleanliness) Tester to Vu Nguyen of Consysis (San Diego). The Zero-Ion g3 is designed to test electronics assemblies for ionic contamination. It automatically removes and detects contamination on an electrical assembly or bare board and provides quantitative contamination measurements. The Zero-Ion g3 uses a dynamic technology that provides automatic regeneration of the machine’s test solution, maintaining a high degree of test solution sensitivity. The Zero-Ion meets the requirements of military and commercial cleanliness testing standards including MIL 2000A, IPC test method 001, MIL-C-28809, MIL-P-55110 and IPC TM650-2.3.26. The Zero-Ion also has been determined to be 3.7 times more sensitive than the manual resistivity of solvent extract (R.O.S.E.) test. The Zero-Ion performs cleanliness tests automatically and features a Windows PC-based control platform with a 15" LCD touchscreen interface. http://www.aqueoustech.com/

Lenthor Engineering, a California-based designer, manufacturer and assembler of rigid-flex and flex PCBs, purchased a new Orbotech Discovery OLB Automated Optical Inspection (AOI) system. This new and improved AOI system by Orbotech boasts shorter set up times, faster scan times, and more accurate results, with the easiest user interface available. The user’s continuous access to the panel at all times during the scanning process allows for immediate, in-process repair of defects for maximum AOI throughput with the least false positive results. http://www.lenthor.com/

Aqueous Technologies Corp. sold a Trident III automatic defluxing and cleanliness testing system to Advance Circuit Technology of Rochester, NY. The Trident Series represents the next generation of lead-free-compatible, fully automatic post-reflow defluxing systems. Kevin Buckner, Aqueous Technologies’ sales manager sold the system to ACT’s Bob Kajfasz. Trident III is capable of removing all flux residues including rosin, no-clean, and water-soluble. Both leaded and lead-free flux residues may be removed using the system, and it is equipped with an automatic chemical injection system that automatically adds a programmable volume of defluxing chemical to the wash water. Trident III is equipped with a closed-loop wash solution recycling system. Wash solution is heated automatically and sprayed onto the assemblies. At the end of the wash cycle, the wash solution is directed back to the holding tank for subsequent reuse. It has a real-time cleanliness tester, and rinse water is sprayed onto the assemblies until the desired cleanliness level is achieved. All rinse water is directed through the pre-drain filtration system and then sent to drain. Assemblies are dried via the onboard convection and radiant forced air drying system. http://www.aqueoustech.com/

Chris Dodd of MIRTEC Corp. sold a 5 megapixel (MP) MV-7xi in-line AOI system to Aeroflex of Colorado Springs, CO, on the last day of the show. The MV-7xi in-line AOI system is configured to provide 1 high-resolution color digital top-down camera and 4 of the same fitted as side-view cameras. The Quad Angle Lighting System provides 4 independently programmable zones for optimal illumination of inspection areas. The Intelli-Scan Laser System provides lifted lead detection for gull wing devices, four-point height measurement capability for co-planarity testing of BGA and CSP devices, and enhanced solder paste measurement capability. A comprehensive Package Type Library provides simple “Drag and Drop” component programming. The Automatic Teaching Tool (ATT) software provides automatic teaching of component locations using CAD centroid data. http://www.mirtecusa.com/

Did you make a purchase, or a sale, at the IPC APEX EXPO 2010 in Las Vegas? Tell us about it in the Comments Section below.