A method of producing a conductive path on a substrate including depositing on the substrate a layer of material having a thickness in the range of 0.1 to 5 microns, including metal particles having a diameter in the range of 10 to 100 nanometers, employing a patterning laser beam to selectably sinter regions of the layer of material, thereby causing the metal particles to together define a conductor at sintered regions and employing an ablating laser beam, below a threshold at which the sintered regions would be ablated, to ablate portions of the layer of material other than at the sintered regions.

An apparatus simulates cable routing for determining signal integrity between electronic components within a computer chassis. The apparatus includes a base plate simulating a computer chassis base. The base plate includes a top surface. The apparatus further includes a plurality of reconfigurable mounting fixtures, each allowing temporary mounting of a printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) to a respective reconfigurable mounting fixture. Each of the plurality of reconfigurable mounting fixtures is temporarily mountable anywhere on the top surface of the base plate. The apparatus further includes a cable having a first end connector that allows a connection to a first PCBA, and a second end connector that allows a connection to a second PCBA.

A method and an apparatus relate to the insertion of one or more wires into a cavity of a fixture of a structure or component. The wire insertion apparatus includes a grommet, a gripper adapted to interface with the grommet, and at least a first vibrating element. The first vibrating element is connected to and vibrates one or more of the apparatus, the grommet, the gripper, the wire, and/or a component of the apparatus. Vibration, induced in any direction, enables the cavities to shift position during insertion relative to the contact, thus increasing the tolerance of the cavity, reducing the failure rate of wire insertion, and reducing total production time. The vibration breaks the static friction of the contact in the grommet or dielectric opening, creates the positive locating required to insert the contact in the grommet and/or dielectric, and/or pivots the contact.

A module installation assembly for installing a module into a socket of a land grid array includes a tool having a mounting bracket for connecting the tool to an adjacent fixture, an alignment member connected to the mounting bracket, and cavity defined at least partially by the alignment member. The cavity is substantially aligned with a socket of the land grid array such that the module is configured to pass through the cavity when being connected to the socket.

A wire insertion system includes a fixture, a first vibrating element connected to the fixture, and a gripper adapted to interface with the fixture and to support a plurality of wires, in which the gripper includes a body, at least one gripping member coupled to the body, and a second vibrating element connected to the gripper. The wire insertion system further includes a sensor coupled to the fixture, and a controller coupled to the sensor and in communication with the first vibrating element, the second vibrating element, and the gripper, and configured to vibrate the first vibrating element and the second vibrating element using signals from the sensor.

An apparatus for terminating a controlled-impedance cable using compliant electrical contacts to provide an interface to another device. The terminator includes a conductive ground block for securing the cable by its ground shield and providing a common ground. Once the cable is anchored in the ground block, the block face and cable ends are dressed to make a reliable electrical contact with the compliant signal contact that electrically connects the cable center conductor to the device. An insulating or conductive plate mounted to the ground block holds the signal contact and optional ground contacts that electrically connect the ground block to the ground plane of the device. The ground contacts surround the signal contact in a pattern that closely mimics the impedance environment of the cable. When using a conductive plate, the signal contact is insulated from the plate by an insulating centering plug or a non-conductive coating.

Systems and methods are provided for wire processing. In certain examples, a wire processing system may be disclosed. The wire processing system may include a wire transport, a processing station that may provide wire to the wire transport, a processing station that may move an electrical component threaded onto the wire, and a processing station that may move the electrical component to a position on the wire for further processing.

Systems and methods are provided for wire processing. In certain examples, a wire processing system may be disclosed. The wire processing system may include a wire transport, a processing station that may provide wire to the wire transport, a processing station that may move an electrical component threaded onto the wire, and a processing station that may move the electrical component to a position on the wire for further processing.

The press-fitting device has: a base; a rear surface plate; and a vertical operation section and mounts PF terminals having a shoulder section and a PF section to the member to be mounted. Provided on the vertical operation section are: an insertion path wherein a continuous PF terminal body formed by consecutive PF terminals is inserted; a movable feeding means that feeds the continuous PF terminal body along; a dividing means that divides the continuous PF terminal body into individual PF terminals; and a mounting means that mounts the PF terminals to the mounting member. A fixed feeding means is fixed to the rear surface plate in a static state relative to the vertical operation section, and restricts continuous PF terminal body movement that is in conjunction with the vertical operation section. The PF terminals are mounted to the mounting member by the vertical movement of the vertical operation section.

A wire harness manufacturing system includes a display unit, a wire cutting machine that draws an electric wire from a wire feed reel and cuts the electric wire to a predetermined length, a control unit that directs the display unit to display a wire laying image and wire work identification information for identifying a work regarding each electric wire, the wire laying image including a plurality of wire images showing the plurality of electric wire in the laid state and the wire work identification information being displayed in the vicinity of the corresponding wire image, and a memory unit that stores the wire laying image and work instruction information so as to correspond to the wire work identification information, the work instruction information including cut length of the electric wire. The control unit sends the cut length information to the wire cutting machine.