Striving to have to most flexible and accurate Pick & Place machine available in its range, DIMA is proud to announce the successful upgrade for their Hybrid Pick & Place Systems making it capable to handle 0201 components.

Being able to handle as many different components shapes and sizes available in today’s market has always been the challenge for the DIMA Hybrid Pick & Place machines. Especially for those companies that have small to medium production series of many different kind of PCB’s a flexible Pick & Place machine is a must. Not only short changeover times but also the capability to handle almost every available component is important. The Hybrid Pick & Place machine could already handle components ranging as small as 0402 up to 42 x 42 mm large components. Even 16mm high components and 0.4mm fine pitch components are being handled without problems. By introducing a special feeder and pick up tool the Hybrid Pick & Place is now capable of accurately handling 0201 components. Handling the 0201 component introduces a few new issues into a pick and place machine. The smaller dimension and lower mass of an 0201-device compared even to its 0402-cousin hold the key to the likely increase in defect rates. Because the nozzle is almost the same size as the component, there is a higher probability of miss-picking the com-ponent from the paper tape. Moreover, the components can also move significantly, relative to their size, in the tape, unless the tolerance between the pocket dimen-sions and part dimensions are tightened. Also, electrostatic effects resulting from separating the cover foil from the paper tape have a greater tendency to displace the lightweight components before it can be picked. Finally since the smaller com-ponent dimensions allow closer spacing on the PCB, placement resolution must be almost twice as high for 0201s as for 0402s. DIMA has succeeded in overcoming all these points of attention for the Hybrid Pick & Place machine utilising a new feeder that uses the same body as a standard 8mm feeder but with much better and more accurate index steps. Compared to the standard 8mm feeder this new feeder uses 6 times more micro steps with a step repeatability of 30 micron. Furthermore a spe-cial pick up tool has been developed to accurately pick up and place the 0201 com-ponent allowing interspacing of 150 micron. Integration of this new feeder and tool will be possible not only on a new Hybrid Pick & Place machine, but DIMA also of-fers the possibility to upgrade all the Hybrid Pick & Place machine of their existing customers.

During Nepcon 2006 in Birmingham (May 9 – 11) and during SMT 2006 in Nürnberg (May 30 – June 1), DIMA SMT Systems will live demonstrate the new Hybrid Pick & Place capabilities.

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