Cool-  I'm imagining it works a little like those toys where you push on one
side and the pins stick out the other side to create a form of your hand,
etc.  So when the first assy loads in, the pins are free to move down as far
as they are pushed, and then after being "positioned" like so, they are
locked in place for the remainder of the job.  That would help prevent
higher profile parts from getting damaged, but still allow support for them.
I can see how very warped pcbs would probably be an issue with this system,
esp if they are not consistently warped.

If that's not how it works, I probably just threw away a really nice patent
idea...  ;-)

The main thing with autoflex, to me, wasn't the lack of support on dense
pcbs so much as the odd assy that would allow a part to exert a sideways
pressure on a pin, preventing it from dropping when it should.  Pretty rare,
but an ic with an 0402 resistor right next to it could be a problem.  "Why
do we have all these cracked R49's?!!"

Thanks very much for the positive feedback- we ordered it without really
seeing it in action.

Best regards-  Bill C



-----Original Message-----
From: Earl Moon [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Monday, December 11, 2000 1:42 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [TN] formflex tooling


Worked with some folks having formflex. They seemed not to have any problems
but for some warped to hell and back panels.

It sure beat fine pitch autoflex, or even non fine pitch tooling. Also beat
hard tooling as dedicated to each part number.

Having worked with DEK on inherent autoflex problems, seeing the formflex in
operation made me a believer in the concept.

Earl Moon

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