European Circuits recently purchased a new SMT Pick and Place machine which enhances our service offering on many levels.

Faster placement.
Finer tolerances.
Higher accuracy.
Errors are easier to monitor and rectify.
Ultimately, this leads to customer projects getting to market quicker!

Features of the BA385 Autotronik SMT Pick and Place Machine:
Strong and rigid mechanical design

Preloaded ball screws with a servo motor system provides high speed, repeatability and stability.

COGNEX® Alignment System “Vision on the fly”

The machine features COGNEX® vision processing and is head mounted for non-contact “Vison on the Fly” alignment. The machine assures high precision placement of the full range of SMDs, from the smallest 0201 devices through to odd-form components.

Bottom Vision Alignment System (Option)

A bottom vision camera is used for large components up to 150 x 100mm and devices with alignment features on their bottom side. Due to the additional bottom camera, the alignment of 01005 is guaranteed.

Smart Fiducial System

Beside the standard fiducial mark, either square a SMD PCB pad or plate-through hole also can be trained as fiducial mark.

Universal CAD Conversion

Beside the direct input of data by a teach-in camera, an optional CAD conversion program is available for direct transfer of CAD generated pick and place data.

Vision Inspection

Using built in software, the camera can automatically move and display the image on screen. We can also manually check the printing accuracy of solder paste, quality of the soldering, the accuracy of component placement, etc..

Auto Tape Feeder (KFTA)

The innovative design of the KFTA feeder bases and mounting hardware allows limitless flexibility in feeder combinations and arrangement schemes, as almost every feeder can be ordered, loaded, programmed and mounted independently.

Universal IC Tube Feeder

KFTB universal tube feeders use a vibration driven technique. It is able to handle IC-Sticks with max.50mm width.

Cut Strip Tape Holders

Cut strip holders is a handy accessory for presenting components that are supplied in short lengths of tape due to their low quantity of usage. It can also prevent the waste of components in sections of tape that are too short to be loaded into feeders.

Conveyor System

The conveyor system with SMEMA Interface and motor-driven-width-control speeds up the handling of PCB and in-line production.

Feeder Rack (FR-32K)

FR-32K is suitable for 32x 8 mm. KFTA Feeders or for 30 x 8mm.

Buffering Nozzle

The spring buffering design of the nozzle adjusts the placement pressure for different heights of components automatically.

Staff Training

As part of the installation process, staff underwent an intensive week long training program on the machine.

How is this impacting our service offering?

All these specs and gadgets sound great, but you may ask how does the machine actually perform in a medium volume, busy production line?

The answer is that it is helping us to save time, use smaller components, increase our accuracy and when errors do occur we are picking them up staright away, taking seconds to rectify!

We now have five SMT pick and Place machines and this new purchase has just added that bit extra to our already strong SMT capabilities.