Bulk feeding of 0402 components from Siemens

Citation

(2000), "Bulk feeding of 0402 components from Siemens", Soldering & Surface Mount Technology, Vol. 12 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/ssmt.2000.21912bad.019

Bulk feeding of 0402 components from Siemens

Keywords Siemens, Feeders, Components

The ever increasing degree of component miniaturisation throughout the electronics industry also requires economic handling of the tiniest components during assembly. With their new bulk case feeder for SIPLACE machines, Siemens has proved that even the tiniest components, e.g. type 0402 - and eventually even smaller ones - can be conveyed to component insertion machines both economically and effectively. This procedure represents an especially economic alternative to tape feeders.

Bulk-case cassettes represent an intelligent solution for high-volume electronic production from many standpoints, e.g. they reduce the space requirement in the area surrounding the component insertion line, facilitate changes of speed, increase the throughput, and prevent waste. Especially with type 0402 components, the disproportion between the volume of the component and the packed volume is obvious in connection with taped components; roughly 50 per cent of the tape volume is waste. On the other hand, bulk-case cassettes can be re-used up to ten times. Furthermore, even if a tape can be spliced on in only one to two minutes including preparation, an empty bulk-case cassette can be replaced within 15 seconds by simply snapping on a new one. As with splicing, Siemens SIPLACE insertion machines can also be refilled outside of the machine protection area without downtime, thanks to a well-designed arrangement of the cassette.

The Siemens SIPLACE 0402 bulk case feeder consists of a basic body with control electronics and two component-specific feed rails. Once the cassette has been snapped on, the components fall into a funnel-shaped compartment of the rail and are marshalled into singles by pulsed compressed air. Following each pick-up process, the next component is conveyed to the pickup position within 30 milliseconds by a short pulse of compressed air. A single track is thus sufficient for so-called "runner components". A light barrier in the feed rail monitors the (component) level and activates the singling mechanism. The bulk feeder has no moving parts except for the component cover above the pick-up position.

Up to 50 percent of the non-productive area surrounding the insertion line is required for storing components. The use of cassettes instead of tapes has reduced the area requirement by a factor of 30. Supply of the lines is also considerably simplified by the compact packaging. In high-volume production, splicing is performed up to 80 times per shift. An 0402 bulk cassette contains 50,000 components, as opposed to 10,000 components per tape. This eliminates 80 percent of all refilling processes. In connection with higher pickup reliability due to exact component positioning, and since the pipette of the insertion head can no longer be contaminated by rubbed-off tape, line throughput can be increased by up to 4 percent. Moreover, the previous costs for disposal of packaging refuse are omitted, and the component price is thus lowered due to the savings on tape material.

For further information please contact: Magaret Lunn, Siemens Electronics Assembly Systems. Tel: +44 (0) 161 446 6645; Fax: +44 (0) 161 446 5280; E-mail: lunnma@plcman.siemens.co.uk; WWW: www.siemens-industry.co.uk