Productronica 2005 preview

Citation

(2005), "Productronica 2005 preview", Soldering & Surface Mount Technology, Vol. 17 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/ssmt.2005.21917dac.001

Productronica 2005 preview

Productronica 2005 preview

Keywords: Electronics industry, Trade fairs

Universal Instruments, Hall A4, Stand 446

Industry-leading component placement specialist Universal Instruments will use Productronica 2005 to officially launch its innovative lightning rotary placement head. Lightning is a remarkable enabling technology that makes all platform lines a reality for medium to high volume assembly applications.

Universal's patented technology behind its Lightning head has been previewed behind closed doors to select industry professionals at recent trade events, but now the Lightning system will take centre stage at Productronica. Many Lightning heads are already in the field delivering fast and flexible production for some of the world's most progressive manufacturers.

The lightning head features 30 independently-controlled spindles with touchdown sense (Plate 1), auto Z update at pickup, and board Z-height mapping to compensate for possible board warpage and guarantee ideal placement force. Dual on-the-head optics allow Lightning to address an unsurpassed range of components from 01005 (one-quarter the area of 0201s) to 30×30 mm while supporting component pre-orientation to further enhance throughput and productivity. Lightning enables Universal's Genesis and AdVantis Platforms to place devices such as CSP, WSP, uBGA, and Melfs at full speed.

Plate 1 The lightning head from Universal Instruments

Currently, Universal's Genesis Platform can support up to two Lighting heads to provide a through put of 57,000cph, while the company's AdVantis Platform can deploy a single lightning head for 30,000cph performance. Both Platform configurations will be on display at Productronica.

Lightning is a key component in Universal Instruments' Optima Plus full line solution offer. Optima Plus draws on Universal's immense knowledge and substantial resources to deliver customised full line configurations tailored precisely to the present and future needs of manufacturers. Along with printers, reflow ovens, training, warranty and line-level software, Optima Plus includes placement equipment in which lightning's fast and fully flexible enabling technology is crucial for chipshooter throughput and fine pitch capability – either in a single machine or across machines within a configured line that benefit further from common platform architecture, interfaces and control software.