The Customer Challenge!

A customer that is a major producer of electronic and fiber optic connectors, cable, and interconnecting systems; came to us for a new way to print lot codes on their circuit boards. They wanted to improve their process by reducing the number of operators needed to operate their current machinery and were also looking for a faster, simple, more efficient process. Our Dartronics Inc, Engineering team jumped into action and drew up a proposed system.

Proposed System: Dartronics Stand Alone CIJ Circuit Board Printing System

Major System Components:  

• • Squid CIJ Printers x Qty 2
  • Yamaha XY Electric Cartesian Robot
  • 180-Degree Pneumatic Rotary Indexing Table
  • Electrical Enclosure
  • Safety Relay with Two Buttons Start
  • Extruded Aluminum Frame Enclosure on Leveling Feet
  • Unitronics PLC Controller with Color Touch Screen HMI

System Cycle Time:  

• • About 5 seconds to print one circuit board.

Working Description:  

• • Operator would key in the lot number to be printed.
  • Operator would place one circuit board tray onto the rotary table and activate a two-hand button start.
  • The rotary pneumatic turntable will rotate 180° into the printing station.
  • In the printing station the Yamaha XY Electric Cartesian Robot would traverse and with the help of the attached two CIJ Print Heads; print all 10 up lot numbers on 20 locations on the circuit board.
  • While one board is being printed the operator would load another tray onto the rotary table and activate the two-hand button start.
  • The printed tray would return to the operator to be removed & operator places the next tray with the circuit board and activated the two-hand button start.
  • Cycle Continues unit all the circuit board are printed for that particular batch

Our Custom Solution:

Our custom-built stand-alone CIJ (Continued Inkjet) system was a success for our customer; it was a new and faster way to print lot codes onto circuit boards, and the new process allowed our customers to reduce their overhead. The new circuit printing system only needs one operator, whereas the customer’s previous machine required several. Most importantly, the operation of our new custom machinery can be mastered in four simple steps:

Step 1: Power on PLC touch screen controller.

Step 2: Select the home button to activate both linear slides and put the system into print mode.

Step 3: Click the print button on the Squid Ink CIJ (Continued InkJet) printer to print onto the boards as they pass by.

Step 4: Load the circuit board onto the unit and click both buttons within 1 second of each other as a safety feature to start the run. (Each circuit board must be loaded by clicking both buttons as a safety feature).

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CIJ Circuit Board Printing System In Action:

 

The Results:

After a few short weeks, our engineering team was able to build and test the custom stand-alone CIJ circuit printing system. We produced excellent samples, and the customer happily picked up the machinery for their facility.

 

For more info on the above project, or if you have one in mind, call and speak to our Engineers now for a free evaluation! Our expert team is here to help make your line simpler to operate, with faster speeds that will increase your ROI.  Take A Free Evaluation!. Email us at Sales@dartronics.com or Call Dartronics at +1 (800) 298-8936  for more info.