Product category:
PCB Assembly Equipment and Tools
News Release from: Transition Automation | Subject: Permalex Paste Manager
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 11 January 2006
Squeegee system cleans up its act
An innovative self cleaning squeegee system offers end users relief from the widely reported problem of solder paste sticking to squeegees.
SMT printing is bound to change as we know it, not only because of the shift to lead-free process materials Transition Automation's release of an innovative self cleaning squeegee system offers end users relief from a widely reported problem: solder paste sticking to squeegees
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 8 Nov 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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The new invention, dubbed the "Permalex Paste Manager", scores a big plus for process maintenance by cleverly swiping the solder paste from the squeegee after each print stroke.
The benefits may seem obvious, however, Transition's own research has revealed some significant process improvements which were not expected.
"The main benefit we observe is that operators do not have to interrupt the printing cycle to 'manage' the solder paste inside the printer", states Mark J Curtin, President of Transition Automation.
"This system clips the solder paste from the squeegee in a very repeatable and controlled manner, and in doing so, improves the quality and location of the solder paste within the print area of the SMT stencil printer".
Additional benefits include the preservation of the rheology of the solder paste, and elimination of air bubbles which form due to dried whiskers and drips of solder paste which otherwise form and occur frequently.
As the solder paste remains mostly on the stencil surface, cycle change-over and clean up are greatly simplified, by not having to remove copious amounts of paste trapped to the squeegees.
compared with closed head "pump" printing systems which have been offered to address some of the same issues, the new Permalex Paste Manager contains many fewer parts, and does not occlude the printing action: users of this new system can view the quality of the printing directly, by observing the rolling action of the solder paste, and therefore can ascertain process quality real time, without having to guess what might be occurring internally, as happens with closed print systems.
By incorporating a patent pending cross linkage design, the system retrofits directly into dual squeegee printing systems with no additional hookups or process training or machine alteration.
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