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TechNet E-Mail Forum <[log in to unmask]>, Hfjord <[log in to unmask]>
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Tue, 26 Feb 2008 20:59:02 +0100
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Joe, you should change name to Joy ! And found the company 'JoyToys', if not
already established.

Right you are
Vanish will soldering
Come will else
(Yoda)

But I don't think all soldering will be superseded by alternative methods. 

Solderfree connecting has indeed existed for decades:

Thickfilm hybrids with conductive adhesives, as you pointed out.

Trillions of semi chips have been scrubbed to the header.

YAG laser spot welded components

Vacuum metal deposition

Plasma metallization

Plating technologies

Chemical metal joining

Electron beam spot welding

Beamlead welding 

Amalgam technologies 

Electric discharge welding

Friction welding

Wire bonding

Gold stud bumping 

Ultrasonic technologies

Etc.

Who knows, maybe one of these technologies will be developed for mass
production of boards, or rather something that reminds of today's boards.

/Inge

-----Ursprungligt meddelande-----
Från: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] För Joe Fjelstad
Skickat: den 26 februari 2008 18:49
Till: [log in to unmask]
Ämne: [TN] Do it yourself Occam assembly

Greetings  folks, 
I have tried  to sidestep most of the controversy associated with Occam and

solderless assembly as much as possible to focus on getting projects  done.

However some controversy is, I suppose, good as it keeps  interest alive. As

Yogi Berra might have noted: "If it wasn't  controversial, everybody would
not 
stop to avoid talking about it"...  ;-) 
So I thought  it might be worth while to give everyone here a way to make 
their own Occam type  assemblies using legacy through hole components at
their 
desk in a matter of minutes. This will allow folks to form  their own
opinions 
as to the fundamental viability of the concept for the  future.   
This is  only for demonstration purposes but I trust it will open some
minds 
to the possibilities that exist in the fundamental concept. The following  
will work for one or more metal layers but designs should be kept simple
for 
practical reasons.  
1)   Obtain a piece of  corregated  cardboard box  (Option: draw your
circuit 
layout on the  surface) 
2)   Tape a piece of clear polyethylene (a  half a common sandwich bag will 
do) to the  cardboard 
3)    Place a second larger piece of card  board underneath to keep the desk

or other surface  clean 
4)    Clip the leads down slightly  (one can intuit for themselves how much 
to clip off)   
5)    Push the leads through the  polyethylene into the card board at (the 
polyethylene should seal the leads  reasonably well but there might be some 
small leakage to the card board) Pin  holes might be required as starters
for many 
leaded devices. Shorter clipped  leads will be easier. 
6)    Cut a hole in another piece of  cardboard that will encompass the 
components and provide a resin dam  wrap polyethylene around the exposed
edges  
(this step is  optional depending on size of the assemlby) 
7)    Mix up some 5 minute epoxy and  pour over components (try not to get 
too many bubbles  entrained) 
8)    Remove the assembly and trim the  leads as necessary 
9)    Using a silver ink pen (available  from some circuit equipment 
providers) draw your interconnections  between contacts 
10)  If  cross overs are required, use some nail polish at the
intersection. 
 It can be used for  cover coating if desired.  
11) Attach  battery and go have some fun. :-)  
Notes. 1)  If you want to include connectors, have  the mated portions in 
them in case some wicking occurs.   
2) Small batteries (or screw top battery holders) can be embedded if  
desired.  
3) Dome switches are a low profile choice. 
4) A piece of 100 mil center "bread board" without plated through  holes can

be used in place of the cardboard for greater placement  accuracy if that is

of interest. 
5) The  process will work for SMT devices as well but the devices need to be

kept  flat and a sanding step will likely be required to clean off resin
from 
contact surfaces.  
6)  The conductivity of silver ink is about 10% of copper so stay away from

high power designs. (keep it simple)      
This is  obviously not a production technology but it does provide a  simple

demonstration. I sent Steve Gregory a photo of a simple  assembly for those 
interested to view what such a simple assembly looks like and  he has kindly

consented to post it. Here is the  link: 
http://stevezeva.homestead.com/files/Through_hole_Occam_prototype.jpg .   
It  could also serve the needs of some hobbyists and could be a fun project 
for  anyone having children interested in electronics. 
While I  appreciate the skepticism of those who question the potential of  
solderless assembly, including many long time friends whom I respect and
hold  
dear. I trust that there will be some increase in acceptance  of the concept

with the data that we are in the process of  generating.     
It may  well be that the final versions of Occam assemblies will not look 
very  much like today's assemblies. They could well appear to look more like

metal jacketed bricks with interconnections on the surfaces to which other  
assembly elements (keyboards, displays, etc.) can be joined using other
solderless 
techniques such low profile connectors or conductive and/or  anisotropic 
conductive adhesives.  
The brick  like structure should also prove great for product design 
security.  Remember when Apple announced the I-Phone last year?  3 days
later there  
was a public tear down of the product design an everyone could see what was

going on. It will be much more difficult with the solderless brick
approach.   
Fortunately, wholesale change within the industry  is not required for the 
process as identified. The equipment, materials and  chemistry exist for
every 
process required.  More importantly,  there are some new materials and 
processes on the horizon that appear extremely  well suited to the
solderless 
approach. 
Another point  that needs to be addressed related to the process
environment. 
A number of  folks have registered alarm or at least concern at the thought 
of having plating  equipment under the same roof as pick and place equipment

(or vise  versa). To allay such concerns, one need only go to just about any
PCB 
shop  in the world to see precision equipment (drills, lasers and imaging  
equipment) under one roof with a plating shop. The process areas are
physically 
and environmentally separated of course. The PCB industry has  operated in 
such a fashion since the 1960s. 
Changing topics, I found the  following quote from a Test and Measurement 
World article from  October of last year. 
http://www.tmworld.com/article/CA6482921.html 
"In 1999,  Stig Oresjo, then of Agilent Technologies, conducted a major
study 
of  solder-joint defects on printed-circuit boards (PCBs). The study, which 
at the  time provided the most definitive data on the subject, involved 15 
companies and  more than 1 billion solder joints. Oresjo concluded  that
although 
companies claimed defect levels in the range of 75 to 150 defects  per
million 
opportunities (DPMO), the reality was 5 to 10 times that high."   
In Oresjo's original study, he found the  following defect distribution: 
1)         41% Solder Opens   
2 )        20% Shorts   
3 )        20% Solder Quality   
4 )         8% Placement   
5 )         8% Electrical   
6)          3% Other  
It  appears that almost 80% of the problems are related to soldering (90% if

the 8%  for placement is included but I am sure it is much better these
days.) 
The  8% electrical problems cited are, I assume, parts related problems of  
unspecified cause.  
While  on the subject of electrical failures, does anyone here have any data

on  how many components are damaged by the temperatures associated with the

soldering process? Also how many of the electrical failures might have been

caused by poor cleaning? I have heard a lot of anecdotal information but no

hard facts. I guess I am wondering, has there been an identified  and
measured 
effect of the lead-free assembly on first  pass product assembly yield
compared 
to tin-lead solder?   
I would  prefer an open forum answer to these questions but I realize that 
there might be  some discomfort so if anyone prefers to respond off line,
that 
is  fine.  Thanks in advance for any input on the  topic. 
Best wishes  to all and have some fun with the table top solderless  
assembly...  
Joe  



**************Ideas to please picky eaters. Watch video on AOL Living.      
(http://living.aol.com/video/how-to-please-your-picky-eater/rachel-campos-du
ffy/
2050827?NCID=aolcmp00300000002598)

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