A screen printing method of the present disclosure includes: a step of performing printing of a first viscous fluid through a screen on the first circuit board using a first squeegee and a first holding member; and a step of performing printing of a second viscous fluid through the screen on the second circuit board using a second squeegee and a second holding member. As described above, in the printing of the first viscous fluid on the first circuit board and the printing of the second viscous fluid on the second circuit board, squeegees and holding members different from each other are used, and thus, the first viscous fluid and the second viscous fluid do not mix with each other. As a result, it is possible to perform printing of different types of viscous fluids on the first circuit board and the second circuit board.

Tooling for supporting workpieces during a printing operation, comprises a support tower comprising a base and a head, the head being positioned vertically above the base in use, the head being relatively moveable with respect to the base in a horizontal plane in use, the head having first and second support surfaces located at an upper end thereof, each of the first and second support surfaces being adapted to support a respective workpiece thereon, wherein the first support surface is relatively moveable with respect to the second support surface in a vertical direction in use between a printing configuration in which the first and second support surfaces are substantially coplanar in the horizontal plane, and a pre-printing configuration in which the first and second support surfaces are spaced in the vertical direction.

A printing apparatus including: a cleaning section including a cleaning member and configured to perform cleaning processing of a screen mask used in printing of a viscous fluid onto a print target; a cleaning member moving section configured to perform at least one of moving the cleaning member to and from a cleaning position and an exchange position, and unloading and loading of the cleaning member; and an exchange control section configured to control the cleaning member moving section to perform cleaning member exchange processing of exchanging the cleaning member.

There is provided a screen printer including: a squeegee device for spreading a cream solder over a mask having formed thereon a printing pattern configured of a plurality of through holes to force the cream solder through the printing pattern; a clamping device for holding a board that is conveyed to be placed under the mask; and a lift device for disposing the board with respect to the mask in relation to a vertical direction, wherein the clamping device includes a pair of clamping portions for holding the board therebetween from a width direction, wherein the pair of clamping portions includes individually detachable clamping members that are brought into abutment with lateral end faces of the board, and wherein the clamping members individually have two or more clamping surfaces that are brought into abutment with the board in such a way that the clamping surfaces can be converted.

Screen printer 10 is for screen printing solder paste 13 loaded on an upper surface of stencil 12 onto board S using one of first and second squeegees 71 and 72. Screen printer 10 is provided with a stencil frame holding rail that holds stencil frame 12a of stencil 12, pair of board holding members 36 and 38 that hold board S, raising and lowering table 16 that raises and lowers board holding members 36 and 38, and pair of stencil supporting members 50 and 52 that support stencil 12 from below at a portion outside a printing region of stencil 12 used for screen printing. Stencil supporting members 50 and 52 are provided independently from raising and lowering table 16. Therefore, the load applied to raising and lowering table 16 is reduced. Also, there is increased design freedom with respect to members and the like loaded on raising and lowering table 16.

A screen printer including a squeegee device to spread from above solder paste on a stencil; a clamp device to grip a board conveyed to a position below the stencil by a board conveyance member that is flat and provided with a board holding portion in a central opening portion, the clamp device gripping the board via the board conveyance member; a board supporting device to support the board from below and move the board in a vertical direction inside the clamp device; and a raising and lowering device to move the board supported inside the clamp device in the vertical direction and position the board at a printing position, and the clamp device is provided with a board printing guide member to be removably attached to an upper end of a pair of clamp members to sandwich the board conveyance member in a widthwise direction.

A printing screen method includes: providing at least one printing scraper assembly, wherein the printing scraper assembly has a printing scraper and a pressure sensing feedback system; placing at least one printing screen on a substrate; detecting and supplying a pressure value between the printing scraper and the printing screen during printing by the pressure sensing feedback system; and comparing the supplied pressure value and a predetermined pressure value, and changing the pressure between the printing scraper and the printing screen if a difference between the feedback pressure value and the predetermined pressure value is larger than a predetermined threshold. An imprinting apparatus implementing the printing screen method is also provided.

In a mask printing machine, a target through hole, which is at least one of multiple through holes formed on the mask, is imaged by an imaging device when the board is below the mask and is at a separated position that is separated from the mask, and when the board is at a contact position in which an upper surface of the board contacts a lower surface of the mask, respectively. Based on a captured image, when the board is at the separated position, and a captured image when the board is at the contact position, it is possible to acquire the movement state of at least one target through hole when the board is lifted from the separated position to the contact position.

Multi-operation tools for photovoltaic cell processing are described. In an example, a multi-operation tool includes a conveyor system to move a photovoltaic (PV) cell continuously along a conveyor path through a laser scribing station and an adhesive printing station. Furthermore, the PV cell may be aligned to a laser head of the laser scribing station and a printer head of the adhesive printing station in a single alignment operation prior to being laser scribed and printed with an adhesive in a continuous process.

A paste dispensing transfer system of a stencil printer is configured to print an assembly material on an electronic substrate. The transfer system includes a paste cartridge mechanism coupled to a print head assembly of the stencil printer, and a rotary indexing mechanism coupled to a frame of the stencil printer. The paste dispensing transfer system is configured to transfer a used paste cartridge from the print head assembly to the rotary indexing mechanism supported by the frame and to transfer a new paste cartridge from the rotary indexing mechanism to the print head assembly.