From through-hole to SMT, the production process for electronics is today completely automated. Hence, automatic board handling systems are required for smooth and fast operation
By Sneha Ambastha
Board handling systems are used to handle PCBs during their assembly process. There are various types of board handling systems available in the market today, which are used during the bulk assembly of PCBs by manufacturers in the consumer electronics, industrial electronics and electronics manufacturing services (EMS) sectors.
Below are some of the recently released board handling systems available in the market.
The various types of board handling systems
Loaders. These separate the PCBs from the rasterised magazines and load them onto a production line.
Unloaders. These unload the PCBs from the production line and load them into the rasterised magazines.
Conveyors. These are used to transport and buffer the PCBs between the process machines.
Turn units. These route the boards between the infeed and outfeed in a production line.
Board inverters. These turn the PCBs for top and bottom side processing without any manual intervention.
Destackers. These separate the PCBs from their batch and send them to the respective machine.
Buffers. These balance the flow of the board on a first-in-first-out (FIFO) or last-in-first-out (LIFO) basis.
Apart from the equipment discussed here, there are other machines too that help in board handling or management to enable a smooth production process. These include various software that enhance the board-handling capabilities of the equipment.
Model: SWT900, Brand: Samsung, Manufacturer: Samsung Techwin Co. Ltd
The recently launched SWT900 series of work tables automatically adjust their width and the conveyor’s speed. These work tables come with an ESD safety cover, along with a part rack. They have an added PCB buffer and can be used by all PCB manufacturers. An important feature is the product’s SMEMA interface.
Key features
- Comes with an adjustable conveyor speed
- Available in multiple working modes such as auto, pass and manual
- Enabled with changeable PCB stop position
- Its capability to build depends on its line settings
- Enabled with SMEMA machine interface
- It is dual line and has a function to adjust its width automatically
Technical specifications:
PCB dimensions:
1. Min: 50mm x 50mm
2. Max: 510mm x 800mm
PCB flow direction: As per customer requirements
Voltage: 100V – 220V
Machine dimensions (L x W x H): Max: 900mm x 850mm x 1630mm
Power: AC 100V~200V, 50Hz~60Hz
Machine weight: Max: 130kg
USP: Dual-line work table with SMEMA interface and multi-working mode (auto, pass and manual)
Contact details: Pradeep Tandon, Ph: +91-9810001345, tandon@samsung.com, www.samsung-smt.com
Indian branch: Samsung C&T India
Model: ϒS330 SL/SR, Brand: Aurotek, Manufacturer: Aurotek Corporation
Launched in January 2016, ϒS330 SL/SR is an inline PCB separator. Capable of automatically loading and unloading the PCB, it has an adjustable inlet conveyor and a Surface Mount Equipment Manufacturers Association (SMEMA) signal handshake (both upstream and downstream) to handle the boards as per process requirements. Its fourth axis servo motor reduces the cycle time and provides high accuracy. It can be used by customers from almost every industry such as automotive, mobile manufacturing, LEDs, consumer electronics, telecommunication equipment manufacturing, EMS, etc. The company claims to have installed over 100 such machines across India.
Key features
- Capable of automatic processing
- Has a two-way sliding work exchanger that limits the idle time
- Enables simultaneous loading and unloading to achieve the utmost output value
- Provides a user-friendly touch panel with 10X CCD camera to minimise the programming time
- Enabled with auto-fiducial mark-point check and cutting route auto-compensation to ensure cutting accuracy
- Enabled with automatic router bit check to prevent the bit breaking or incomplete cutting
- Has 7 axis and is servo motor controlled with each motor of power 200W
Technical specifications
PCB dimensions: 330mm x 330mm
PCB flow direction: Left to right and right to left
Cycle time: Depends on the number of points to be routed and the PCB’s thickness
Control time: Depends on the PCB
Voltage: 3-phase 415V, 50Hz
Power (max.): 5kW
Machine dimensions (W x D x H): 2010mm x 1101mm x 2310mm
Machine weight: 800kg
USP: Provides high accuracy and reduces the cycle time
Contact details: www.aurotek.com.tw
Indian distributor: iNETest Technologies Pvt Ltd, Pravin P. Joshi, Ph: +91-9960950444, pravin.joshi@inetest.co.in, www.inetest.co.in
Model: PULSE UNITR, Brand: ASYS, Manufacturer: ASYS Group
Recently launched, the PULSE UNITR is solution emerging within Industry 4.0 solutions from ASYS Group. The PULSE UnitR is designed for cross-line applications, is a multi-functional logistics robot that navigates independently during production and substantially contributes to productivity. It can complete different tasks in production, and save both time and effort. The company assures that the UNITR is ideally suited for deployment in complex environments. It features a clever ‘Drive Safe’ safety concept. This concept ensures driverless and anticipatory driving. Using integrated safety sensors, the UNITR detects obstacles early and stops the process depending on the situation, moves around objects, or automatically adjusts its speed. Having successfully launched PULSE, ASYS claims to be a pioneer into the introduction of mobile devices and transport robots into the production environment, to be a pioneer in the industry.
Key features
- Different transport modules can be exchanged automatically
- It allows prior teaching of the robot, which ensures safe collaboration between man and machine
- Designed for cross-line applications
- Based on an accurate reproduction of the entire production line
- Its visualisation can be extended with many useful features, using app extensions
USP: Suited for deployment in complex environments
Contact details: Ph: 011-41070801/2/3/4, Navneet.Bansal@asysgroup-asia.com, www.asys-group.com
Indian branch: ASYS Group India
