A device for automatically mounting a connector-housing with a contact-part attached to an electrical line includes a holder, a movable-gripper, an alignment-station, a camera, and a control-device. The holder fixes the connector-housing. The movable-gripper holds the contact-part and inserts the contact-part into a cavity of the connector-housing. The alignment-station includes an alignment-gripper that holds the contact-part and rotates the contact-part about a rotation-axis parallel to an insertion-direction. The camera determines an actual-rotational-position of the contact-part held by the alignment-gripper in relation to the rotation-axis. The control-device compares the actual-rotational-position with a predetermined-rotational-position based on the characteristics and arrangement of the connector-housing. The control-device further controls the alignment-gripper to perform a corrective rotational movement based on the result of the comparison.

A method of encapsulating a panel of electronic components such as power converters reduces wasted printed circuit board area. The panel, which may include a plurality of components, may be cut into one or more individual pieces after encapsulation with the mold forming part of the finished product, e.g. providing heat sink fins or a surface mount solderable surface. Interconnection features provided along boundaries of individual circuits are exposed during the singulation process providing electrical connections to the components without wasting valuable PCB surface area. The molds may include various internal features such as registration features accurately locating the circuit board within the mold cavity, interlocking contours for structural integrity of the singulated module, contours to match component shapes and sizes enhancing heat removal from internal components and reducing the required volume of encapsulant, clearance channels providing safety agency spacing and setbacks for the interconnects. Wide cuts may be made in the molds after encapsulation reducing thermal stresses and reducing the thickness of material to be cut during subsequent singulation. External mold features can include various fin configurations for heat sinks, flat surfaces for surface mounting or soldering, etc. Blank mold panels may be machined to provide some or all of the above features in an on-demand manufacturing system. Connection adapters may be provided to use the modules in vertical or horizontal mounting positions in connector, through-hole, surface-mount solder variations. The interconnects may be plated to provide a connectorized module that may be inserted into a mating connector.

A method of encapsulating a panel of electronic components such as power converters reduces wasted printed circuit board area. The panel, which may include a plurality of components, may be cut into one or more individual pieces after encapsulation. The mold may be used to form part of the finished product, e.g. providing heat sink fins or a surface mount solderable surface. Interconnection features provided along boundaries of individual circuits are exposed during the singulation process providing electrical connections to the components without wasting valuable PCB surface area. The molds may include various internal features such as registration features accurately locating the circuit board within the mold cavity, interlocking contours for structural integrity of the singulated module, contours to match component shapes and sizes enhancing heat removal from internal components and reducing the required volume of encapsulant, clearance channels providing safety agency spacing and setbacks for the interconnects. Wide cuts may be made in the molds after encapsulation reducing thermal stresses and reducing the thickness of material to be cut during subsequent singulation. External mold features can include various fin configurations for heat sinks, flat surfaces for surface mounting or soldering, etc. Blank mold panels may be machined to provide some or all of the above features in an on-demand manufacturing system. Connection adapters may be provided to use the modules in vertical or horizontal mounting positions in connector, through-hole, surface-mount solder variations. The interconnects may be plated to provide a connectorized module that may be inserted into a mating connector. Reuseable plates may be used instead of the heat sink panels. Alternatively the panel may be encapsulated in and separated from a re-useable mold after curing.

Disclosed are methods and systems of controlling the placement of micro-objects on the surface of a micro-assembler. Control patterns may be used to cause phototransistors or electrodes of the micro-assembler to generate dielectrophoretic (DEP) and electrophoretic (EP) forces which may be used to manipulate, move, position, or orient one or more micro-objects on the surface of the micro-assembler. A set of micro-object may be analyzed. Geometric properties of the set of micro-objects may be identified. The set of micro-objects may be divided into multiple sub-sets of micro-objects based on the one or more geometric properties and one or more control patterns.

A method of encapsulating a panel of electronic components such as power converters reduces wasted printed circuit board area. The panel, which may include a plurality of components, may be cut into one or more individual pieces after encapsulation with the mold forming part of the finished product, e.g. providing heat sink fins or a surface mount solderable surface. Interconnection features provided along boundaries of individual circuits are exposed during the singulation process providing electrical connections to the components without wasting valuable PCB surface area. The molds may include various internal features such as registration features accurately locating the circuit board within the mold cavity, interlocking contours for structural integrity of the singulated module, contours to match component shapes and sizes enhancing heat removal from internal components and reducing the required volume of encapsulant, clearance channels providing safety agency spacing and setbacks for the interconnects. Wide cuts may be made in the molds after encapsulation reducing thermal stresses and reducing the thickness of material to be cut during subsequent singulation. External mold features can include various fin configurations for heat sinks, flat surfaces for surface mounting or soldering, etc. Blank mold panels may be machined to provide some or all of the above features in an on-demand manufacturing system. Connection adapters may be provided to use the modules in vertical or horizontal mounting positions in connector, through-hole, surface-mount solder variations. The interconnects may be plated to provide a connectorized module that may be inserted into a mating connector.

An electronic component mounter is provided which easily detects penetrating portions. An electronic component mounter comprises a holding section configured to hold a board having a penetrating portion penetrating the board in a front-rear direction and into which a lead of an electronic component is inserted; a light section disposed on one face from among the front face and the rear face of the board when the board is held by the holding section and configured to irradiate a light beam, which is direct light or reflected light, on to the board; and a light receiving section disposed on the other face from among the front face and the rear face of the board when the board is held by the holding section and configured to receive the light beam via the penetrating portion.

A component chuck device moves a pusher member downward when negative pressure is supplied, and holds a posture of a component by causing the pusher member to abut with an upper face of the component that is gripped in a gripping mechanism. Then, the component chuck device releases gripping of the component when supply of negative pressure is stopped, and a lead of the component is inserted into a hole of a substrate while holding the posture of the component by moving the pusher member downward while remaining abutted with the upper face of the component.

A plurality of workpieces on which components are to be placed are lined up in a row and held by a workpiece holding body, and the workpiece holding body is placed on a carrier and is transported to a working position using a transport conveyor. After the workpiece holding body is chucked by a chuck portion, the workpiece holding body is separated from the carrier by linking an operation of lifting and lowering the chuck portion using a lifting-lowering mechanism and an operation of moving the carrier in a transport direction. The chuck portion which chucks the workpiece holding body is rotated by a rotation mechanism, postures of the plurality of workpieces which are held in the workpiece holding body are adjusted, and then, the components are placed on component placing parts using a placing head.

An electronic component mounting method for mounting a first board and a second board including, mounting a first set of electronic components on the first board allocated to first mounting heads; and mounting a second set of electronic components on the second board allocated to the second mounting heads and to the first mounting heads and the second mounting heads of the second lane dedicated mounters. By this, the mounting load is spread evenly across all the mounting heads, thus the idle time of mounting heads is reduced, improving the operating rate, meaning that panels are produced efficiently by the electronic component mounting method.

A method is presented that improves reliability for the mechanical electrical connection formed between a grid array device, such as a pin grid array device (PGA) or a column grid array device (CGA), and a substrate such as a printed circuit board (PCB). Between adjacent PCB pads, the method increases a spacing pattern toward the periphery of the CGA, creating a misalignment between pads and columns. As part of the method, columns align with the pads, resulting in column tilt that increases from the center to the periphery of the CGA. An advantage of the method is that the column tilt reduces the amount of contractions and expansions of columns during thermal cycling, thereby increasing the projected life of CGA. Another advantage of the method is that it reduces shear stress, further increasing the projected life of the CGA.