Product category:
PCB Assembly Equipment and Tools
News Release from: Ekra | Subject: Cyberscan
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 24 November 2003
Speedy inspection for printed boards
Cyberscan is a new option for all inline printers of Ekra's E and X series that allows 100% 2.5D post-print inspection accelerated by a factor of 120 during the printing process.
Cyberscan is a new option for all inline printers of Ekra's E and X series that allows 100% 2.5D post-print inspection (PPI) accelerated by a factor of 120 during the printing process This eliminates the need for a separate 2D inspection system in the production line
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 14 Nov 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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Cyberscan has been developed by Ekra in co-operation with the American company Cyberoptics and is based on Ekra's proven 2.5D post-print inspection system.
Two "line scan" sensors from Cyberoptics are integrated into the Ekra printer and take over the PPI functionality from a camera that has been used so far.
The new inspection method boasts a scan speed of 300mm/s.
Due to this high speed, it is viable to 100% inspect almost any board in volume production today.
In conventional post-print inspection the integrated camera measures the board optically, adjusts it and then carries out a 2.5D inspection after the print process.
As the camera only inspected specific points and not the complete board, in many cases an additional machine outside of the printer was necessary to perform a second, complete inspection of the board.
Cyberscan eliminates the necessity of such an additional machine.
This not only saves floor space in the production area, but also the costs of an additional inspection machine.
Cyberscan offers a full range of necessary and useful inspection functions.
For example, the stencil control avoids the uncontrolled blocking of the stencil apertures during the production process.
If the system discovers a blocked stencil aperture below an adjustable acceptance level it will automatically execute a stencil cleaning routine.
After cleaning the stencil is again tested to make sure that the problem has been solved.
After printing a control function measures the quantity of paste on the pads and detects if there are shorts between the solder paste fillets.
The system can handle changes in board colour and also recognises other types of material - such as silver-epoxy and SMD paste.
Program generation is very simple and done using the same interface as the Ekra 2.5D post-print inspection system.
All shipped and installed Ekra inline printers of the E and X series can be upgraded with the new inspection system.
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