Citation
(1998), "NAS solder and flux bearing leads offer world of advantages to European market", Assembly Automation, Vol. 18 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/aa.1998.03318aaf.001
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 1998, MCB UP Limited
NAS solder and flux bearing leads offer world of advantages to European market
NAS solder and flux bearing leads offer world of advantages to European market
From the beginning, one of the greatest challenges of electronic circuits assembly has been to devise a method to solder leads to substrates that produces excellent electrical and mechanical bonding ... with perfect consistency ... and at a reasonable cost. One way or another, traditional soldering methods such as hand or automatic dipping of components in hot solder and flux all fell short. They are all time-consuming and costly, and produce inconsistent results.
NAS developed the breakthrough concept including, mechanically attached to each lead clip, a slug containing a precise amount of solder and flux that can be easily reftowed and directed to the conductor pad. The result was the world's most reliable leads NAS patented solder and flux bearing leads, which provide consistent high-quality solder joints, quickly and economically. European manufacturers immediately found this unique solution for attaching leads to hybrid and PCB circuits offered a world of advantages, including:
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One-step assembly. The NAS solder and flux bearing lead can be simply pushed on to a substrate and reflowed with no intermediate operations required. This simple, one-step method of assembly and refiow is the key to reducing process costs substantially.
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Consistent high quality. NAS leads bear a uniform solder slug with a core of flux, which creates a perfect mechanical and electrical bond every time and a significantly more consistent, higher quality finished product.
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100 per cent solderability. The unique design of NAS "claw" type leads permits direct contact between the solder and conductor pad. This design makes unsoldered joints virtually non-existent.
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Reduced rejects. With conventional solder paste and dipping, the chance of bridging and wicking greatly increases as pitches become smaller. NAS leads eliminate this problem. In fact, NAS leads eliminate virtually all of the costly inspection and rework necessary with other methods.
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More flexible production. NAS leads allow greater flexibility in stacked and compound soldering operations.
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Adaptability to safe, local heating. The chances of damaging prepopulated components are greatly reduced, because NAS leads can be bonded to pads without raising the temperature of the rest of the board to the reflow point.
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Elimination of thermal mismatch and vibration failure. The spring action of NAS surface mount clip legs compensates for different rates of expansion between ceramic components and PCBs, and resists vibration failures.
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Significantly reduced costs overall. While NAS solder and flux bearing leads do cost more than conventional leads, their greatly reduced process costs result in a significantly less expensive finished product.
NAS also offers a line of economical lead attachment/in-line reflow machines that will allow customers to save even more time and money in circuits assembly, including machines that can be considered "six-foot factories" capable of handling the entire assembly and fellow process.
Most recently, NAS has introduced the newest member of its solder and flux bearing lead family to the European market a right-angle press fit pin that will radically reduce the cost of manufacturing memory modules and various daughter boards. NAS can supply the pin with any solder alloy necessary to meet customers' reflow temperature requirements. Various fluxes, including noclean, are also available.
NAS's flux bearing leads
Users of the new solder and flux bearing press fit pin both in the USA and in Europe report that it has allowed them to produce substantially higher yields at lower costs than previous methods of circuits assembly. NAS also offers several types of lead assembly machines for use with the new pin. These range from a simple, manual unit to complete semi-automatic lead insertion with localized hot-bar reflow.
NAS's full line includes solder and flux bearing leads and lead attachment machines suitable for through-hole and surface mounting of SIP, DIP, dual-row, ZIP and MCM circuits. Conversion to NAS leads is fast and easy, requiring no significant capital investment or specialized labor skills. For complete details, write NAS Electronics, 120-12 28th Avenue, Flushing, NY 11354, or call (718) 961 6757; Fax: (718) 539 9115.