A cordless, hand held soldering iron operable with a control station providing wireless temperature control functionality and a charging station.

A smartphone, tablet or mobile computer based soldering system control method and apparatus to allow a user or supervisor of users to monitor and control the operating parameters of soldering devices or measuring device. The control method and apparatus has features for cartridge management, temperature calibration and control, user performance and wireless interactive control. The control method may interactively control soldering devices connected directly to a power supply and optionally soldering device components of a soldering system that includes a control station to provide power to the soldering device.

The present application discloses a soldering apparatus including a driving portion for moving a soldering iron to perform soldering on a surface of an electronic board including soldering regions. The soldering regions have a base region and at least one replication region existing at a position different from the base region. The replication region has an arrangement pattern that is the same as an arrangement pattern of a soldering position in the base region. The soldering apparatus includes an input portion for receiving input of positional relationship data, which represents a positional relationship between the base region and the at least one replication region, and for receiving base pattern data, which represents the arrangement pattern of the soldering position in the base region. The soldering apparatus includes a controller which causes the driving portion to move the soldering iron based on the base pattern data and the positional relationship data in a soldering operation.

A melting tool control apparatus comprises a drive mechanism, a melt processing assembly configured to perform a melt process, a receiving module that receives input of three-dimensional coordinate information of a first point where the melt process is to be performed and input of a position information indicating a position different from the first point, and a process control module configured to control the melt processing assembly to perform the melt process when the distal end is at the first point.

A sleeve soldering device has a displacement sensor and a heat flux sensor. The displacement sensor detects a physical quantity related to a pressure from a heated sleeve heated by a heater onto an electric board when the heated sleeve presses the electric board. The displacement sensor detects a physical quantity related to a deformation amount of the electric board due to thermal energy from the heater. The heat flux sensor detects a physical quantity related to a heat transfer amount from the heater to the electric board when the heated sleeve is pressed to the electric board. A control part compares each of detection values obtained from the displacement sensor and the heat flux sensor with a respective judgment reference so as to detect whether each detection value satisfies the respective reference.

A soldering apparatus comprises a soldering mechanism and a management unit. The management unit converts operation history of the soldering mechanism into a numerical value, compares the numerical value to a predetermined threshold value, and generates a notifying signal if the numerical value exceeds the predetermined threshold value. The notifying signal may result in cessation of operation of the soldering mechanism. The notifying signal may result in a visual and/or audio reminder to the operator to inspect or replace a part of the soldering mechanism. With the management unit, the operator need not guess or rely on personal experience to determine when to perform an inspection or replacement. Reliance on personal experience can be error prone and lead to inefficiency. The management unit may reduce the possibility of soldering with a degraded soldering tip or other part, which may have an adverse effect on soldering quality.

A smart soldering iron tip of a handheld soldering iron comprises a hollow cylindrical base; a pointed distal end; and a proximal end with an ID feedback device, which when read provides authentication information on the smart soldering iron tip.

A smart soldering iron tip of a handheld soldering iron comprises a hollow cylindrical base; a pointed distal end; and a proximal end with an ID feedback device including a conductive material coating, which when read provides authentication information on the smart soldering iron tip.

A soldering iron including an iron main body; and an iron tip having a leading end configured to fuse solder, the iron tip including an iron tip main body of a thermal conductive material; a heater configured to heat the iron tip main body, and a temperature sensor configured to detect a temperature of the leading end side of the iron tip, wherein, a first hole part accommodating the heater and a second hole part accommodating the temperature sensor are formed independent of each other inside the iron tip main body.

The invention is directed to a control station for a soldering system capable of operating with various types of soldering devices, including various soldering tip configurations, and a program and database of operating parameters that the control station utilizes to identify preferred or optimal power delivery settings for each type of soldering tip size, type of solder and type of work to be soldered so as to have the soldering control station generate and display a suggestion as to the power level settings and requirements for the optimum soldering conditions to users.