Thanks Yordan & everyone else. (Bill, I still can't open your link...a common problem I had trying to open a PDF file where it uses an ActiveX component...more work for a rainy "maintenance" day) You are correct! Shortly after sending this e-mail off, I did more digging into specs & talking to our in-house assembly people. Appears we initially assumed this connector to come in the reel with the saddles DOWN, but they are mounted UP! This means we do NOT need any fixturing as I proposed. As long as the panel has a milled out pocket for the connector, the saddles (x2) will rest on the panel & hold the connector in place, during pick & place, then reflow, placing the pin datum at the same plane as the PCB connector pads. This is a Compact Flash (CF) 50 pin connector, single sided. We went with the saddles down because the left pin is numbered #1 & the right is #50, (in the AVX mech spec) so that led us to position it with the saddles down. The connector by itself is not polarized, but when you install it into the CF enclosure, it now becomes polarized to prevent the CF card from being installed upside down into the PC CF slot. We can install it this way, as long as we don't get hung up on the AVX spec denoting pin 1 being totally opposite from ours. I guess I should note that in the NOTES section of our assembly drawing so in case these stop working, down the road, some inspector doesn't flag the connector being reversed as the cause. Surprised that AVX does denote pin #'s on this connector as many don't. Not to is probably the safest way to go as its up to each user/application to number pins the way they want. They may just to confirm orientation for correct dimensions being read. The issues related to fixturing was noted & good points to consider. The margins on this product are not that lucrative so as to cover the additional costs of fixturing, manual preparation, etc. When I design PCB's I don't like to incur any additional or special handling, not to mention fixturing. I like to keep yields up & make the assemblers life easy, not to mention test & ongoing support & maintenance towards product end-of-life. Many thanks again. Regards TDK -----Original Message----- From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Yordan Venev Sent: Friday, January 06, 2006 4:30 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [TN] SMT Connector Assembly Question Terry, As per the data sheet provided on the AVX website (http://www.avxcorp.com/docs/Catalogs/5611.pdf), the single sided connector should have the side supports at the same Datum as the PCB Top side and contact pins plane. That should allow automatic P&P and reflow without additional support! If as you say, that's not the case then here is my experience what we used for a similar connector (it had the supports, but the PCB was not designed accordingly) - PCMCIA 68-pin, single sided. The support plate/frame was FR4 one milled appropriately. It had positioning pins, thus we used it trough the entire SMT process - paste printing, P&P assembling and reflow. The cons are: 1. The nest (if needed) for the PCB panel in the support plate must be milled very accurately. 2. The PCB panel must lay perfectly flat on the support plate (especially where the connector is situated). I suppose the PCB thickness is ~ 0.5 mm (0.020') and you may need to use tape to hold it down, especially during reflow. 3. During the reflow process deformation may occur due to the different expansion ratio (due to the different thickness) which will lead to not correct positioning of the connector. So, basically it's a tricky task! The best way is to take advantage as much as possible of the wetting force of the pins towards the PCB pads and provide just a little additional support to the connector. Best regards, Yordan Venev Manufacturing Manager ******************************************************** CENTILLION LTD. 7-th km Tzarigradsko shosse Blvd. ATM Center 1784 Sofia, BULGARIA Tel. :(+359 2) 974 47 51, 965 84 95, 965 58 85 Fax :(+359 2) 974 47 52 mail to: [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> www.centillion-bg.com <http://www.centillion-bg.com> -----Original Message----- From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Terry Kozlyk Sent: Thursday, January 05, 2006 6:34 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [TN] SMT Connector Assembly Question Technet; I have a fine pitch single sided 50 pin edge connector to assemble onto the edge of a PCB. It overhangs the PCB edge. This is a SMT which is pick & placed from a reel. Actually this is a single-sided 50 pin Compact Flash Connector from AVX Series 5611 Receptacle Connector. This PCB is panelized. This connector has 2 supports on each side but the support plane is at the same Datum as the PCB bottom side ( DATUM A). So the panel must have a milled out pocket for this connector to sit in. Question is; What is the best way to support this connector during pick & place, then into reflow? The pocket above is only a clearance & provides no support to hold the connector in place. The only thing I see now is having a bare FR4 panel underneath this PCB to provide support for the connector. Any thoughts are much appreciated. Regards Terry (TDK) --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8e To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815 ----------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8e To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815 ----------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8e To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815 -----------------------------------------------------