CONTINUOUS MONITORING OF SMT LINES

 

If you need continuous process analysis on SMT lines and other automatic lines, this system is for you!

Product Features

  • Measurement of electrostatic potential

  • Humidity measurement

  • Temperature measurement

  • Measurement sampling at t=100ms (recommended 300ms)

  • Remote access and monitoring of multiple production processes

  • Data analysis capability

  • Automatic alarm generation and notification of relevant services upon exceeding set values

  • Small sensor that can be installed in most production processes

Modern electronics production is becoming increasingly complex, with a high level of specialization. The same applies to ESD protection. How can we support process engineers during the design of SMT line processes? Unfortunately, it is standard practice that during machine purchase and line configuration, the ESD Coordinator is not part of the team, and even less often does he or she have process knowledge and machine construction familiarity to identify risks for ESD-sensitive components (ESDS).

Below, I would like to present typical SMT line behavior in different configurations:

  1. SMT lines without prior verification and older type lines

  2. SMT line made by top machine manufacturers and in the "top" configuration

  3. SMT line modified and adapted for products containing class 0 components

For the measurement, a proprietary continuous ESD monitoring system dedicated to automatic SMT lines was used. A set of three sensors measuring the generated potential difference on products "on the fly" was used for the analysis.

Fig. 1: Generated potential difference on the product in a classic SMT line.

In the above, we see a high generation of electrostatic charge on PCB/PCBA at different stages of production on the SMT line. We can easily identify which machines are the biggest charge generators and pose the most significant threat to the product. In this specific example, we see that the generated electrostatic charge reaches even 5000V. Using analyses over an extended period, we know precisely where we should focus first to improve our ESD protection.

Next, let's verify the "top" configuration (2024). Additionally, all individual machines installed in the line underwent detailed verification before start-up.

Fig. 2: Generated potential difference in the "top configuration" SMT line.

It is clear that there is a significant difference between a typical SMT line (Fig. 1) and a top-tier set-up. The generated charge drops almost by an order of magnitude to about 550V. But is this enough to produce safely?

Therefore, let's go a step further and build a line adapted for production with class 0 ESDS components. To do this, we introduce "minor" modifications to the SMT line and obtain such a result:

Fig. 3: Generated potential difference in an SMT line adapted for class 0 components.

The graph above shows a significant improvement. The generation of electrostatic charge in this specific case was reduced to a Vmax = 46V.

If you are interested in building such a system, please contact us:

updated: 2024-10-02