Electronics Manufacturing News 2016

Uniform retention force ensures secure PCB assembly

An expanded line of card retainers from Elma Electronic provides uniform retention force across the entire length of the device to ensure printed circuit boards (PCBs) are held securely in place.  Now available in more length and profile options, the SureLock family of multi-segment, extruded aluminum retaining devices is ideal for rugged applications where PCBs slide into a channel in the cold plate assembly or enclosure. A simple turn of a screw expands the SureLock retainer to securely hold the card assembly in place, eliminating tooling costs in most implementations. An added benefit is a uniform retention force across SureLock’s entire length to continually protect cards subject to extreme shock and vibration, as typically found in rugged, harsh or otherwise challenging computing environments. For embedded electronics in mobile applications that require conduction cooling, SureLock not only holds cards securely in place, but facilitates heat transfer as well. Widely used in ruggedized military and defense applications, this growing family of PCB retainers is finding a home in other areas, including small form factor industrial systems, according to the company. The lightweight, aluminum construction not only makes the SureLock Series highly useful in compact, mobile applications, but also facilitates conduction cooling by transferring heat from a circuit card to a cold plate or to an enclosure’s extruded side walls.

Varitron installs second ACE selective soldering system

ACE Production Technologies, a leading supplier of selective soldering systems, is pleased to announce that Varitron Group has invested in a second KISS-103IL in-line selective soldering system. The KISS-103IL is a fully-configured SMEMA compatible selective soldering platform equipped with ‘Super Quick’ processing speeds and the unique dual solder nozzle systems enabling the use of multiple nozzle shapes within the same program. It comes standard with the ACE automated fiducial location and correction system that offers seamless fiducial recognition and true automated X-Y alignment and corrects any skew of the printed circuit board. The company said other innovative features include the new SWAK-OS machine operating software which is a revolutionary graphics-based programming and editing machine control system that features fast program loading and program recall with minimal operator intervention.  A major benefit of the SWAK-OS is the integrated board scanning function that automatically captures and saves an image of a printed circuit board to the selective soldering program.”

RNCS-AS thin film precision chips resist sulphur and moisture

Stackpole has developed a series of thin film precision chip resistors that are resistant to the effects of both sulfur and moisture. Typically thin film nichrome resistors have difficulty withstanding high humidity environments under low power. Stackpole’s proprietary materials and processing protects the nichrome element and performs as well under high humidity testing as much more expensive technologies such as tantalum nitride film chips. In addition, resistors that have printed palladium silver inner terminations are susceptible to contamination by sulfur causing resistors to open. Stackpole’s unique termination material and design minimize the effects of sulfur yielding a part that is ultimately extremely robust and reliable under a wide variety of environmental conditions. The RNCS-AS Series is AEC-Q200 qualified and is a good choice for applications requiring precision and accuracy under unknown or unpredictable operating conditions such as outdoor controls, security and surveillance, instrumentation, and test equipment.

Posalux presents new models for PCB production

Posalux , a player in high precision PCB production, is introducing a further-developed, newly designed and optically revised version of the Ultraspeed Mono, which offers drilling and milling in one station, on a small footprint and at great precision. The company is expanding the new model series with the Ultraspeed Trio for even more efficient and precise work at 3 stations in one machine. The Ultraspeed Duo is to follow in 2016.  With the Ultraspeed Mono, the Swiss company developed a machine optimized for small series and prototype development in 2012. In the years before that, its developers mostly focused on machines for large-series production. Their efforts were increasingly also aligned with the European and American markets, with the many operations for the production of small series, prototypes to medium-sized series.