DEVELOPMENT OF THE SURFACE-MOUNT ASSEMBLY PROCESS THROUGH AN ANGULAR BOARD ORIENTATION

This paper proposes a methodology to improve the process time required for the component placement process of the printed circuit board asse mbly with an X-Y positioning table. The methodology is applied to a pr eviously published subproblem as well as a real-life working board con figuration. Even with high speed assembly machines placing in excess o f 40000 components per hour (cph), process improvements are possible. Concentrating on the path planning portion is a valid method to increa se efficiency, but as the problem approaches optimality, the planning process essentially becomes counterproductive due to the time and effo rt required. This paper presents an algorithm for system time improvem ent for use after a board placement path is established. In order to t ake advantage of the machine's capability to move the positioning tabl e along each axis simultaneously, the board is physically rotated with respect to the positioning table. This paper steps through the theore tical development of a method to determine the proper angle of rotatio n, first for a regular 'rectangular' board configuration, and then for a more applicable 'general' configuration.