In spite of the high demand from the growing LED industry, very few new low or mid-volume pick-and-place machines have been launched in the last one year. This article feature three new models.
By Sneha Ambastha
In surface mount technology (SMT), pick-and-place machines play a very important role in positioning components of all types or surface mount devices (SMDs) on the printed circuit boards (PCB). Machines used for low to medium volume production are more prevalent globally because of their low cost, and because they cater to low to average production requirements. These are used for PCB assembly in electronics manufacturing services or by LED light manufacturers. Given below is a brief description of three of the latest machines available in the market today.
Model: JX350, Brand: JUKI, Manufacturer: Juki Corporation
Launched in 2015, the JX350 has a placement speed that is about 18 per cent more than Juki’s legacy products. It has a maximum placement range of 650mm in one clamp and 1200mm in two clamps. It has an improved diffusion lens-placing ability for LED production and a reduced beam weight, along with a revised head driven control compared to its predecessors. One key feature that JX350 has is its capability to handle a board size of up to 1500mm (approximately), which makes it suitable for long board production, as is required in the LED industry. Thus, the JX350 is aimed at the segment of the electronics manufacturing industry that has long board manufacturing requirements.
Key features
- Advanced placement speed of about 32,000CPH
- Has a reduced beam weight compared to its legacy products
- Improved productivity
- Comes with a developed screw-type nozzle that increases the capable component size to up to 25mm in diameter
- Can place about six larger components or diffusion lenses in one pass with high accuracy
- Provides an option to select either a mechanical or an electrical feeder
- Has the rear bank production capability that facilitates feeders, manual trays and Matrix Tray Server TR5S
Contact details: Praveen Madaan, Ph: 022-42291160/61/62, [email protected], www.juki.co.jp
India branch: Juki India Pvt Ltd
Technical specifications
USP: Improved productivity with advanced placement speed
Model: SM482, Brand: SAMSUNG, Manufacturer: Samsung Techwin
This improved version of the SM482 advanced flexible mounter was launched in January 
2016. It supports a maximum PCB size of about 1200mm x 510mm with reduced power consumption to a maximum of 3.5 kilo-volt-ampere (kVA). The SM482 supports the polygon recognition algorithm so as to provide an optimum solution for odd-shaped parts. It also maximises the customers’ operational convenience, owing to its ability to handle both pneumatic and electrical feeders.
One key advantage of the SM482 is its ability to achieve the highest placement speed among the same class of chip placers, as per company sources. In order to achieve this, the SM482 has a flying head mechanism with six spindles, which each carry an individual fly camera to keep this machine always in operation. This makes it more suitable for use in electronics manufacturing services (EMS) or in the lighting industry for 1200mm PCB support.
Key features:
- Achieves a high parts-placement speed of about 27,000CPH
- Has an electrically driven high-precision feeder with high speed
- Has a stable parts pickup feature along with minimum air consumption because of a vacuum pump
- Supports polygon recognition algorithm to provide an optimum solution for odd-shaped parts
Contact details: Pradeep Tandon, Ph: +91-9810001345, [email protected], www.samsung-smt.com
India branch: Samsung C&T India
USP: Achieves highest placement speed among the same class of chip placers, as per company claims
Model: EMS EAGLE 2015, Brand: EMS, Manufacturer: EMS Technologies Pvt Ltd
Launched in 2015, EAGLE is a pick-and-place machine made in India and available at a fixed price of ` 600,000. It has been developed with Japanese technology, with many parts like the feeders imported from Japan. Its accurate placement capability results in the percentage of discarded components being very low, which attracts customers when they compare the EMS EAGLE 2015 to the other Chinese machines available in the market. The present target audience for EAGLE mainly comprises LED manufacturers, but the developers are working on incorporating a new feature called vision correction. This will turn it into a general-purpose machine that can be used for all types of low to medium volume production.
Key features:
- Twin head placement machine capable of handling all standard chip packages
- Can be programmed to pick two components simultaneously and place them individually
- Has five stepper motors and dives to avoid any component from being dropped, and to provide optimum speed and reliability to the machine
- Capable of angular placement because of the continuous 360 degree rotation of the heads
Contact details: Ph: 020-32501000, [email protected], www.emstonline.com
India branch: EMST Marketing Pvt Ltd
USP: First pick-and-place machine manufactured in India
