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New Coating, Dispensing, and Printing Products
June 8, 2010 |Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
-- These new products include automatic conformal coating inspection; electrically conductive adhesive to replace solders and a dispensable thermal interface material; a line of coating cure ovens; a radiometer for light cure; fine-structure screen printer; a dispensing valve actuator. Automated Conformal Coat Inspection Systems
The FX-UV automated conformal coating inspection system identifies quality, consistency, and thickness of coatings under UV lighting, with the use of proprietary inspection algorithms. The FX-UV’s advanced inspection algorithms provide fast and completely automated inspection for coverage, selected areas of non-coverage, de-lamination, cracks and bubbles. With no programming required, the inspection set-up is fast and intuitive, typically requiring only a few minutes. A known good board is used by the system to learn the coverage and non-coverage areas. The automated inspection typically takes only a few seconds, with inspection results immediately displayed. These results can be stored and reviewed off-line at any time. The FX-UV also reads all common barcodes, stores images and inspection results for traceability. Nordson YESTECH, a subsidiary of Nordson Corporation (Nasdaq: NDSN), http://www.nordsonyestech.com
Electrically Conductive Adhesive for Photovoltaic, Automotive, and Membrane Switch Applications
An alternative to high-temperature solder processes, Hysol ECCOBOND CA3556HF is a silver-filled electrically conductive adhesive designed to offer fast cure at low temperature. The material suits high-throughput production processes and applications requiring high peel strength, such as the assembly of photovoltaic (PV) modules, automotive sensors and membrane switches that incorporate temperature-sensitive substrates. Fragile, thin, temperature-sensitive substrates are often subject to damage not only from the requisite soldering temperatures, but also from screen and stencil printing processes themselves. Hysol ECCOBOND CA3556HF resolves these issues with fast, low temperature curing. For c-Si cell production, Hysol ECCOBOND CA3556HF bonds the Ag and SnPbAg coated tabs and the c-Si cells. Thin film module manufacturers seeking a low-stress, fast cure electrical interconnection of cells with ribbons have also incorporated the material into their processes. Applications also include membrane switches, displays on temperature-sensitive substrates, automotive sensor, and RFID tag assembly. Other benefits of Hysol ECCOBOND CA3556HF include high peel and shear strength, stress minimization properties to compensate for CTE mismatches, fast cure for high throughput and a no-mix, one-part formula. Henkel Corporation, www.henkel.com/electronics
Electric Cabinet Oven for Coating Cure
Series CLD is a new line of standard electrically-heated cabinet ovens designed for use in a Class 100 cleanroom environment. They are typically utilized for drying coatings onto printed circuit boards (PCBs). The unit shown here has a maximum operating temperature of 260°C (500°F) and workspace dimensions of 36″W × 36″D × 39″H. Other capacities are available. A 20 KW total heat input is installed in Incoloy sheathed tubular heating elements. A 10000 CFM, 1-1/2 HP recirculating blower provides horizontal airflow across the workload, inside 4″ insulated walls. This Grieve Class 100 cleanroom oven features a Type 304, 2B finish stainless steel interior, with continuously welded seams, a #4 brushed finish stainless steel door cover and control panel face plate, an exterior finished with white epoxy paint and all safety devices required for handling flammable solvents, including explosion-venting door hardware. This oven includes a 30″ × 24″ × 6″ thick stainless-steel high-temperature HEPA recirculating air filter. In addition, Grieve equipped this unit with a digital indicating temperature controller and SCR power controller. THE GRIEVE CORPORATION, www.grievecorp.com
Radiometer for Consistent Light Curing
Although many UV and visible radiometers currently available have a wide range of sensitivity in the UVA through visible portions of the spectrum, their sensitivity levels may not effectively match at the specific narrow band frequencies emitted by LED curing systems. The new ACCU-CAL 50-LED radiometer addresses this condition and offers accurate intensity and dosage measurements for LED curing equipment. Consistent light-curing results require periodic monitoring of light energy intensity and dosage levels. The ACCU-CAL 50-LED radiometer is simple to operate and offers accurate measurement of curing energy. This radiometer can measure energy levels emitted from lightguides (3 mm, 5 mm, and 8 mm) and LED flood lamps. A spectral sensitivity range of 350 - 450 nm and intensity measurement from 1 mW/cm2 to 40 W/cm2 suit measuring LED curing-source energy levels. A photo-sensor assembly provides repeatable measurements and protection from high temperatures. The unit is CE Marked and available globally. DYMAX Corporation, www.dymax.com
Screen Printing of Fine Structures
The screen printing process with the SP900-S printer prints fine structures with high cross sections, an inexpensive, flexible, high-thickness-layer alternative to offset or flex printers. SP900-S can print structures that are only 50 µm in width and 40 µm or more in height. Using the SP900-S, solar cell manufacturers, and other industries that require thin lines with high electrical current capacity, can maximize the height/width ratio of the conducting traces. Narrow but high traces can be produced by printing multiple layers on top of each other until the desired height is reached, thanks to new printing control and vision, drive, and damping systems. The vision system on the SP900-S can use wafer-based and print-based alignment methods. Screen and substrate are positioned with an accuracy of ±8 µm to one another. The new process uses the same screen for the first and the second layers. For the second print, the screen is lifted up several micrometers or the substrate is lowered, depending on the printing machine. The printing head no longer regulates to a predefined printing pressure but to an exactly defined location in the vertical axis. In this way, the distance between the screen and the substrate is adjustable within microns. No more bleed out occurs and the print thickness is precisely controllable. The vertical axis of the SP900-S print head is equipped with a powerful, high-resolution stepping motor drive that positions the squeegee within a few microns. The same accuracy also is possible with the printing table vertical drive on which the substrate is mounted. Backbone squeegees have been introduced: a massive back plate restricts the squeegee's deformation so that only the front edge of the blade retains the flexibility that is needed for the printing process. The SP900-S features a special damping system that decouples the printing table from the outer frame and avoids vibration transmission. Essemtec, www.esssemtec.com
Dispensing Valve Actuator
The Backpack Valve Actuator cycles select EFD dispense valves 2-3× faster than previously possible. The faster valve actuation also makes it possible to produce the smaller fluid deposits required in the assembly of many of today’s advanced products, such as medical devices and portable electronics. Incorporating advanced miniature solenoid technology, the BackPack mounts the solenoid used to open and close the valve directly on the valve’s air cylinder, rather than on a separate fixture. This makes it possible to achieve valve actuation speeds as short as 5-6 milliseconds and cycle rates as high as 800 per minute. Nordson EFD, www.nordsonefd.com
Printable TIM
Loctite PowerstrateXtreme Printable (PSX-P) is a print-friendly thermal management product. Loctite PSX-P allows for thermal management materials to be deposited using traditional screen and stencil printing methodologies and is offered in both medium-dry and extended-dry versions to accommodate varying manufacturing conditions and requirements. The reliability and performance of PSX-P is consistent with that of Loctite PowerstrateXtreme phase-change films but its paste format enables the material thickness to be adjusted as required. Loctite PSX-P is applied as a paste and, once dry, yields a phase-change pad, thereby eliminating any grease-like pump out concerns. Loctite PSX-P’s extended-dry formula offers abandon time of two hours minimum, giving production specialists significant manufacturing flexibility. What’s more, the paste format of the material meets production requirements of high-speed or high-mix environments. Other proven advantages of PSX-P include its adaptability to deviations in surface flatness with the ability to fill any voids with varying thicknesses, simplified handling due to its room temperature dry state and improved reliability through the elimination of material migration or pump out issues. Henkel Corporation, www.henkel.com/electronics
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