Europlacer has unveiled a high-speed, super-flexible placement platform. The pick & place manufacturer used productronica to reveal two complementary placement machines from its new Atom platform range.
Over five years in development, the Atom platform combines high-speed placement with placement flexibility and accuracy. With Pulsar pipette heads, each head features eight nozzles, which handle components from 01005 profiles up to 13 mm2 in size and delivering the same high accuracy.
The Atom 3 machine combines a pair of Pulsar heads, each on an independent axis, with a single Tornado turret head on a third axis for devices up to 99 mm2. Placement rates with this platform configuration are up to 65,000 components per hour. The Tornado head can be specified with 8 or 12 nozzles.
Where devices on boards do not exceed 13 mm2, customers can opt for the raw performance of the Atom 4 machine. It is equipped with four independent axes, each fitted with a high-speed Pulsar head. While delivering the same accuracies, it offers placement rates up to 104,000 components per hour.
All Atom platforms feature new robust X-Y gantries driven by advanced linear motors with linear encoders for positional accuracy. Precision is retained at the high acceleration speeds demanded by six-figure placement speeds by the deployment of synchronized X-axis linear motor drives at each end of the Y-gantry beam.
The platform has an on-machine inventory with 264 x 8 mm capacity and its design removes 40% fewer of those reels to accommodate a try sequencer. It is also the first to deploy the company’s patented conveyor that eliminates physical board stops. Instead, these are software programmable to determine the best stop position for optimum pick-to-place head travel paths, maximizing placement rates and throughput.
“We believe our new Atom platform is a game changer for customers and the wider surface mount industry,” says Andy Jones, Business Development Manager. “Now there’s no compromise between sustainable high placement rates and flexible mounting accuracy. Atom customers can have both – they can take advantage of placement speed and flexibility on one platform to restructure productivity in surface mount assembly. And thanks to our celebrated compatibility, they can use Atom machines in line with all other Europlacer platforms to balance loads and drive throughput.”
