The sharp, custom performance motorcycle in the center of the booth led the theme for Yamaha’s IPC/Apex Expo 2018 exhibit, “Revs Your Heart”, and there was much to quicken the pulse at the booth this year, judging from the many attendees swarming around the performance assembly technology arrayed around the perimeter of the exhibit.
Total line solution concept, streamlining and interconnecting all stages of SMT PCB assembly, was evident in the integration and interconnected equipment stations tied together with a single goal, to boost productivity and quality for the customer.
Booth visitors came to see the latest in printing, high-speed mounting, high-resolution optical inspection, 3D assembly, and inline robotics. The company’s unique solutions to future challenges, including 3D-MID assembly, and machine to machine (M2M) communications features of Factory Tools 4.0 were also on display.
Highlights of the show and garnering a lot of attention this year were the YSi-V HS2 hybrid Automated Optical Inspection (AOI) system and ALF or Auto-loading feeder.
The AOI system offers faster inspection speed, higher precision, and enhanced capacity and performance for specular components. Development of the YSi-V 12M Type HS2 targeted faster processing through improved image processing hardware and image inspection algorithms; as a result, it has achieved more than 25 % increase in 3D inspection speed when compared to the existing model and delivers a significant speed increase of up to 40 % for printed circuit boards (PCBs) with high component mounting density.
ALF, the Auto-Loading Feeder, is the first mainstream auto-loading feeder and now has an installation base of over 500 units in the US. It revolutionizes feeding tape components by eliminating reliance on user skill and incorporates the company’s proprietary tape opening method. With this feeder, any operator can easily supply tape components by merely inserting the tape itself without the need for splicing or complex routing of the tape through the feeder, and all without stopping the machine or interrupting production.
The 3D-MID (Molded Interconnect Devices) solution places SMD components on three-dimensional substrates. This addresses the developing industry demands to build high-density products. The company demonstrated the 3D-MID function on the iPulse M20 hybrid mounter, which also performs conventional SMT placement. This feature delivers a space-efficient solution that makes 3D assembly cost-effective even for low-volume work like prototyping or small batches.
The latest Factory Tools 4.0 suite provides real-time performance and feeder-status monitoring. These M2M capabilities deliver production data directly to the line supervisor’s desktop monitor or mobile device anywhere in the factory, along with database-driven traceability and statistical process control (SPC). In total, the suite contains over 20 applications covering setup, programming, monitoring, and traceability down to component and nozzle level.
