AUTOMATED REWORK OF PRINTED-CIRCUIT BOARD ASSEMBLIES - METHODS AND PROCEDURES

In the last few years, although the number of rework stations availabl e on the market has grown considerably, the process of repair has not been fully automated due to the requirement for flexibility and becaus e most processes are complex, unlike printed circuit board assembly (P CBA), which is concerned with dedicated processes. In order to automat ically handle a variety of PCBs each of which may have different fault problems, an autonomous rework system capable of advanced sensing, in -process inspection and automatic planning is required. This paper pre sents automated rework methods and procedures which were developed to extend the capability of a robotic assembly cell so that it could perf orm rework and in-process inspection of single-sided PCBAs for a minim um batch size of one. It outlines detailed rework procedures for surfa ce mount (SM) and through hole (TH) components, summarizes the hardwar e requirements and the structure of the cell and evaluates the procedu res developed with regard to rework effectiveness.