Zuken and UK-based Quadra Solutions have launched starturn, a part list management add-on tool for CADSTAR.
 
starturn offers four core areas of functionality to enhance post-design documentation within the desktop PCB design environment. This includes advanced export functionality for BOMs, enhanced drill drawing exports and report generation, assembly drawing creation and a new "where used" search capability. This tool allows designers to compile design-derived manufacturing and purchasing reports in minutes rather than hours.
 
BOMs can be exported into various file formats, including html, Microsoft Excel and XML, and for a fully tailored output, users can specify which design fields should be included.
 
Drill drawing functionality is more extensive in this tool. It will generate drill tables within the PCB design, eliminating the need to cut and paste from drill reports. Mark-up of drill holes can also be carried out various ways within the design.
 
Has improved assembly drawing generation. Circuit references, for example, can be sited in multiple places within the design, through the association of attributes. Searching for parts within the parts library is also more expansive, with functionality that allows a user to select any part and search within any file directory. This is useful when managing parts obsolescence.
 
Zuken, cadstarworld.com/starturn
 

XJIO expansion board improves test coverage and fault diagnosis on complex printed
circuits, checks power rail levels and can eliminate custom test jigs.

The board improves the test coverage for a Unit Under Test (UUT) by verifying the signals through to the external connections. In the event of a board failure, fault diagnosis times can be reduced by as much as half, as the board eradicates the need for loopbacks and cable swapping.

Has 208 digital and 16 analogue (8xADCs and 8xDACs) I/Os, provides customers developing JTAG and non-JTAG boards with a reusable alternative to traditional test fixtures.
 
“The XJIO board was developed predominantly for testing circuits with large amounts of digital I/O such as on network cards - particularly if the board has more outputs than inputs or vice-versa,” said Dominic Plunkett, CTO. “It features over 200 digital I/Os and this density can be expanded to many thousands by daisy-chaining the XJIO boards together using the reconfigurable external JTAG connector.”

Can be powered from USB, for quick and portable test setup. If more than 80mA of current is required, there is a connector for a standard 12V power supply. All connectors are standard IDC. Switches and LEDs enable additional test control.  
  
 XJTAG, xjtag.com

Tyco Electronics’ Global Application Tooling Division (GATD) designed a customized RFID inlay assembly system for Graphic Solutions International (GSI). The equipment will assemble semiconductor chips, surface-mount devices and printed batteries onto a continuous web of printed antennas, adding RFID capability to tags and labels.
 
Working closely with GSI to meet their specifications, Tyco provided a reel-to-reel system that allows GSI to mount flip-chips, SMDs and printed batteries onto printed antennas and conductive traces. The system is capable of the high-speed mounting of electronic components on a 6,000'+ roll of 20" wide material. After conductive printing, the roll is fed into the machine where components are added along with one or two printed batteries. Upon completion, the roll can be slit into individual streams and rolled, or supplied in production web width rolls for delivery. A typical circuit is inlaid with batteries, an RFID chip, and a printed antenna. The speed of this machine allows for production levels up to 26 million inlays per year.
 
The line can accommodate printed substrates from 0.002" (50 mm) to 0.005" (125 mm) thick, mount on continuous rolls with a repeat pitch of 0.8" (20 mm) and position chips to micron accuracy.
 
Tyco Electronics, tycoelectronics.com
Graphic Solutions International LLC, graphicsolutionsinc.com

The Feinfocus Cougar-SMT with CT can image complex components in 2-D and 3-D for quality assessment and process improvement.
 
Featuring a Feinfocus GUI, it includes a microfocus x-ray tube up to 160 kV, HDX-Ray real-time 16-bit image processing, digital flat panel detector and accelerated CT reconstruction and visualization. Provides feature recognition down to 1 µm, with total magnification up to 10,000X and True X-Ray Intensity (TXI) Control.
 
Users may add features such as BGA and die-attach void calculation modules, a more sophisticated manipulator system and a multifocus x-ray tube up to 160 kV. CT functionality is an available upgrade for existing systems.
 
Features a small footprint (approx. 1 x 1 m), low system weight (approximately 1,450 kg) and convenient front- and side-door service access.
 
 
COMET, comet.ch

 

 










 

ALPHA OM-338 PT lead-free no-clean solder paste is said to offer unparalleled pin testability, while allowing high print speeds and delivering excellent throughput and yield.
 
“Lead-free pastes have an inherent difficulty with pin test yields… [but] OM-338 PT has proven to be a very promising innovation,” said Mitch Holtzer, global product manager. “Alpha OM-338 PT is targeted to both EMS and OEM customers using in-line circuit testing. It was developed to reduce the number of false negatives recorded when pin probes are used, resulting in increased throughput and yield.”
 
In addition to excellent pintestability with virtually no residue on pins, it offers high print speeds (up to 150 mm/sec., on 12 mil squares and 10 mil circles), compatibility with both Rheopump and Pro-Flow, electrical reliability (passes IPC, Bellcore and HP requirements), clear, colorless flux residue yielding excellent joint appearance, and low voiding and anti-slumping characteristics.
 
Cookson Electronics, newalphaproducts.com

BP Microsystems will highlight the Helix, the latest addition to its automated device programmer family, at the upcoming SMT/Hybrid/Packaging exhibition in Nuremberg, Germany. Also on display: ISP-PRO socket module and manual programming systems.

The Helix desktop automated system comes with two precision-designed tube input and output handling systems. Integrated in the handler are two 7^th Generation programming sites with FX socket module capability. This allows for programming up to four devices simultaneously per site. Can handle MSOP, SOIC, PLCC, SSOP and TSSOP. A tray-only version will be available at a later date. 
 
ISP-PRO socket module was designed to provide in-circuit programming solutions. Manual programmers can be connected to the board via a cable interface using the socket module.
 
The latest manual device programmers feature high-speed USB 2.0 standard bus for improved communication speed.
 
BP Microsystems, bpmicro.com
SMT/Hybrid/Packaging Hall 9, Stand 9-532
 

ESSEMTEC will display the HLX Series, a high-performance placement system series for flexible SMT manufacturing at SMT/Hybrid/Packaging on May 30 to June 1.
 
The series features production speeds up to 22,000 cph and a large feeder capacity (192 tape and stick feeders). 16 JEDEC trays can be used without loss of any feeder space. The series is comprised of the HLX8100 and HLX8200. Can be changed over during operation-- without standstill. On-the-fly setup modification ensures maximum machine load even with small productions series. Linear drives are maintenance-free, fast and precise. They position the placement heads precisely in the x- and y-axes. During placement, the board is fixed.
 
“Collect & Place” method enables high-placement performance. HLX8100 comes with one placement head with four vacuum nozzles and HLX8200 has two placement heads with a total of eight nozzles working in parallel. Cognex Vision (SMD4) enables precise, fast alignment, and checking of components. With transparent lighting, illumination is independent of component type and image analysis is reliable.
 
All feeders are exchangeable and refillable during operation. The systems are optimized immediately after every feeder change.
 
Are laid out for rugged, long-term operation at three-shift workdays. The chassis and wear-resistant linear drives allow for high acceleration of placement heads. The gantry system permits the simultaneous operation of two placement heads in parallel. While one head retrieves four components, the other uses this time slot for placement.
 
 
ESSEMTEC, essemtec.com
SMT/Hybrid/Packaging Hall 7, Stand 203

VacuNest Shape Memory Tooling combines the benefits of a custom tooling plate with the versatility of pins. An antistatic membrane covers a foam former surrounded by polymer granules. Place a golden board onto the modules, press down, pull a vacuum and the memory of the board shape profile is held. The chambers are profiled to the shape of the underside of the board ¾ on activation of the vacuum this shape is now held. Simple, secure and a custom board support is created within seconds. The shape will be held for weeks/days/months until the vacuum is released, whereupon the modules return to their original form, awaiting a new set up for the next version of board.
 
Advantages include: no risk damage to a component due to the pin/printing pressure, support forces evenly spread over the entire board, firm and precise support, ease of use, no dedicated tooling and short payback period, and the tool can be simply reset when a board version changes.
 
 
Can handle high-density boards and requires little to no lead-time.
 
Applys firm force consistently to the entire board. Guarantees board flatness and is not sensitive to solder paste contamination.
 
Novatec, novatec-eap.com
Booth 8-207

The 23" SP200 avi inline stencil printer is designed for medium and high throughput, high-mix applications.
 
Uses a “look down, look down” approach to vision alignment. Twin roving cameras mounted on independent X-Y gantries ensure accurate, repeatable precision alignment using fiducial marks or PCB/stencil features. This facilitates a “paste on stencil” inspection feature to determine if adequate paste is on the stencil before running the print cycle.
 
Selective Auto-Paste Dispense technology is fully programmable. The advanced intelligence of the twin camera vision system analyzes the stencil to see where paste is required, and the dispenser deposits it accordingly.
 
The user interface runs under a menu-driven, Windows XP application and is simple to operate. Incorporates comprehensive self-diagnostic capabilities, including production logging and automatic fault report generation
 
Data stored on the machine may be accessed remotely via a PC modem connection, allowing for “on the fly” troubleshooting. Automatic rail width adjust is standard to help with quick changeovers. Stencil loading is automatic; does not require adaptors for varying sizes of stencil frames.
 
Speedprint Technology, speedprint-tech.com
Hall 7, Stand 116 (with ANS-Answer Elektronik)

Simple Green Stencil and Misprint Cleaner reportedly combines effective results with a high level of user and environmental safety associated with Simple Green products. 

Michael Konrad, president, said, “Simple Green Stencil and Misprint Cleaner is simply the best solder paste remover we have ever seen. I have never before seen a stencil cleaning chemical clean so quickly and rinse so effortlessly.”

Is designed for use in immersion stencil cleaning systems such as ultrasonic stencil cleaners and is also available in a trigger spray for manual stencil cleaning applications. 

Offering lower health and safety risks than traditional solvent-based cleaners, and better cleaning efficiency than current aqueous-based cleaners, it complies with the most stringent (SCAQMD) VOC regulations when used as directed.
 
Aqueous Technologies Corp.,  aqueoustech.com

FLX500 is a self-contained, automated device programmer that fits on a desktop.  The system will be introduced at Nepcon UK and Semicon Singapore next week.
 
“Customers constantly share with us the costly problems they have with gang programmers – bent leads, blank devices, incorrectly programmed devices, high levels of scrap – but at the same time they often do not have the facilities, the operators, the time for training, or the physical space required for a sophisticated automated programming system,” said Megan Miller, director of marketing. “The FLX500 offers a solution that drastically reduces the errors and waste inherent in manual programming. The FLX500 is modular and expandable, it supports virtually all device packages, and it is ideally sized to fit almost anywhere.”
 
Enables ‘plug and program’ automated programming. Touch screen user interface is language independent, eliminating operator training and mistakes. Requires no special installation. Can be plugged into a standard wall outlet. Self-contained air supply eliminates the need for an external air system. Picks devices from tray media, places them in sockets for programming, and returns programmed devices to output trays.
 
Has FlashCORE precision programming technology, with high-speed programming for leading Flash and serial memory devices, NAND flash and programmable microcontrollers. Supports BGA, mBGA, CSP, PLCC, TSOP, QFP and others, with throughput over 500 devices/hr.
 
A flexible rental option allows EMS companies, for example, the flexibility needed to meet short-term or volatile contract requirements without a major capital investment.  
 
 
Data I/O Corp., www.dataio.com
 
NEPCON, UK
Booth G37 (with Accelonix)
 
Semicon, Singapore
Booth 928 (with TransTechnology PTE Ltd.)