COLORADO SPRINGS, CO – A top stencil manufacturer has devised a process for eliminating wave soldering.
 
A recent paper authored by Photo Stencil vice president of technology Dr. Bill Coleman outlines a procedure called intrusive reflow, said to improve Pb-free material printing.
 
One objective of the study was to maximize the amount of solder paste printed into the through-hole. With proper squeegee speed and squeegee angle, 100% hole fill was achieved for 0.063"-thick boards and 85% hole fill for 0.093" -thick boards with a 0.006"-thick stencil. This reportedly resulted in good top and bottom fillets and continuous solder fill around the pins with a 0.006"-thick stencil for 0.063" and 0.093"-thick boards for resistors, DIPs and four-row header arrays.
 
X-rays of paste hole fill and cross-sections of through-hole pins after reflow are shown in the paper. To download the paper, visit www.photostencil.com/techpapers.htm. 
 
 

   
 
 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The head of the National Association of Manufacturers commended Chinese and American officials for progress in the latest round of joint economic talks.

NAM president John Engler called the second meeting of the Strategic Economic Dialogue, between Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and Chinese Deputy Prime Minister Wu Yi, a “breakthrough … in expanding passenger and cargo flights,” and “new cooperation in financing U.S. exports to China, new market access for the financial sector, increased cooperation in energy, and announcements of large purchases of U.S. products.”

Engler also applauded the nonconfrontational methods used by the Treasury Secretary. “This dialogue is all about direct and candid discussions on the opportunities and risks in our relationship,” he said. “Hank Paulson is trying cooperation and consultation rather than confrontation to get the job done, and we support his efforts. But we also need the dialogue to produce results.”

Engler noted the aim of the SED is to bring about structural change. “The Chinese leadership must recognize that the risk now lies in acting too slowly rather than acting too rapidly,” he said. “We are hopeful that the dialogue will result in faster actions by China to move away from export-led growth to domestic-led growth,” he continued.

“We all want to see a mutually beneficial relationship with China – one in which both U.S. and Chinese companies and workers can compete fairly, with assurances that global trade rules will be observed and enforced,” Engler said. “Our economies have a great deal at stake in our trade relationship, and the SED process is the best hope for achieving a win-win outcome.”

 

BANNOCKBURN, IL – April shipments of rigid PCBs were down 12.8% and bookings were off 11.8% year-over-year, IPC reported today.

Shipments of rigid and flex boards decreased 12% year-over-year, and orders dropped 8.5%. Year to date, shipments are down 9.1% and bookings are down 16.5%. Compared to March, April shipments were down 16.2% and bookings were off 15.3%. 

The combined industry book-to-bill ratio in April increased to 1.01, 1.28 for flex boards and 1.0 for rigid.

Year to date, rigid PCB shipments are down 9.9% and bookings are down 18.9%. Sequentially, rigid PCB shipments fell 15.5% and bookings decreased 12.6%. 

Flex circuit shipments were up 3% and bookings were up 68.9% compared to April last year. For the year, flex shipments are up 3.9%, bookings 30.1%. Flex shipments fell 25.1% and bookings were down 39.2% versus March.