Altus Group Introduces New Quins Flex Series for Streamlined Electronics Inspection

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Altus Group, a leading distributor of capital equipment in the UK and Ireland, is pleased to announce the addition of the Quins Flex Series to their portfolio of optical inspection solutions for electronics manufacturing. With high-resolution imaging and flexible configurations, the Flex systems streamline quick setup inspections, first article examinations, and spot checks for enhanced efficiency.

The Quins Flex Series offers a range of advantages tailored to electronics manufacturing. It accelerates image acquisition, simplifying assembly verification and quality control procedures to enhance operational efficiency. This ensures that errors can be quickly and easily corrected, and only tested boards proceed to the soldering process. This results in substantial time and cost savings, as well as minimised quality-related repairs.

Quins Flex features a substantial headroom of over 400 mm, facilitating thorough inspection and ensuring a comprehensive verification process. In its THT variant, Quins Flex allows manufacturers to perform immediate and efficient inspections following assembly, helping to minimise errors and optimise overall productivity.

Quin's Flex provides a versatile solution that caters to a diverse range of inspection requirements, making it an indispensable tool for a wide spectrum of quality control needs.

The Quins Flex Series comprises an illuminated THT assembly station with a real-time reference display. The inspection process is easily initiated and can be executed through various methods, including alternating image inspection, MOI in Quins Easy Plus, or the innovative Automatic Inspection Process (AIP).

Quins Flex features a high-performance 20-mega pixel camera that enables fast image capture, and has specially designed LED lighting, ensuring uniform and consistent illumination to deliver precise image quality.

The Quins Flex Series includes two configurations - a table-top workstation ideal for manual optical inspection, and a conveyor belt-mounted version that seamlessly integrates with automated production lines. The conveyor belt model uses an external stopping mechanism to hold boards in a fixed position, enabling automated inspections triggered by product entry and exit. Both versions are available in THT and SMD configurations, offering varying resolution and image size options tailored to specific needs.

Joe Booth, CEO of Altus Group, shared his thoughts: "Our experience with Quins systems in the UK and Ireland has been highly positive, with numerous implementations across our CEM accounts. With the addition of Quin's Flex to our portfolio, addressing a new use case, I'm confident it will align well with our customers' needs. It's a sophisticated yet user-friendly tool, and I'm certain that our commitment to developing solutions tailored to customer needs will lead to even more successes in the future."

Klaus Kornhaas, CEO of Quins, added: "At Quins, we are dedicated to listening to our customers' needs and developing solutions, whether they involve software or hardware. The Quin's Flex embodies our commitment to innovation and precision. We are pleased to introduce this product ahead of Productronica, where it will be showcased, and we believe it will set new standards in electronics inspection."

Electronics manufacturers can leverage the specialised LED lighting integrated into the Quins Flex Series for optimum, uniform illumination without shadows. The SMD version features two oblique-light units, while the THT version includes two additional indirect top-light units, ensuring even illumination across the entire area, to enhance image quality.

For automated inspection, the Quins Flex Series can utilise Quins’ AIP software module. AIP automatically checks for correct component presence, position, and polarity by comparing assemblies to trained reference models, ensuring the highest level of quality control.

"The Quins Flex Series offers the configurability and performance for efficient manual or automated optical inspection," said Joe. "We are excited to add this innovative solution to our portfolio and believe it will strongly resonate with customers across our CEM accounts."