Automated Adhesive Dispensing System Simplifies Edge Sealing on PCB

Find Out How an Electronics Manufacturer Benefited from an Intuitive Tabletop Dispensing Robot and Fluid Dispenser

Sometimes even a simple application requires intuitive dispensing solutions to make it easier to train operators on a new process. This happened recently to an electronics manufacturer looking for an automated adhesive dispensing system for a new edge sealing application.

The manufacturer had already selected the adhesive, an edgebond adhesive, that would be used to improve board-level reliability of the wafer level chip scale packages (WLCSPs) on its printed circuit boards (PCBs). WLCSPs are generally used because they enable higher semiconductor content in a high-performing, small package that lowers cost of ownership for manufacturers.

Using the reworkable edgebond adhesive proved to be more cost efficient than reworkable underfill due to the fact that it eliminated process costs for board pre-heating and dwell time. It also reduced the risk of pad damage should rework be needed since it would not require removing underfill residue from the entire footprint of the WLCSPs (pictured below).

What the electronics manufacturer needed was a way to dispense the adhesive onto the corners of the chip-scale packages in a reliable, repeatable way. Here are some additional details about the application and how Nordson EFD fluid dispensing solutions helped this manufacturer achieve industry-leading process control.

Fluid Used

• Edgebond adhesive

Application Requirements

• Apply consistent amount of adhesive to the corners of WLCSPs
• Deposit weight target of 0.04 grams per chip
• Dispense time per chip of under 12 seconds
• Standard deviation of 0.001 grams or 3%

Solution

• Performus X100 fluid dispenser
• EV Series automated dispensing system

Results

Since the edgebond adhesive had to be dispensed directly from its Optimum syringe barrel packaging, we recommended our Performus X100 fluid dispenser to apply the material to the PCB.

Performus X100 dispenser features a 0-100 psi (0-7 bar) pressure regulator to handle a wide range of fluids. These pneumatic benchtop dispensers are easy to program in Teach, Timed, and Steady modes of operation.

Since the electronics manufacturer required a dispense time of under 12 seconds per chip, we recommended our EV Series automated dispensing system to automate the process.

By mounting the syringe barrel onto the robot bracket and using our EV robot’s intuitive vision-guided DispenseMotion software to program the edge sealing pattern onto the chip-scale packages on the PCB, the manufacturer was able to meet its process requirements.

The electronics manufacturer liked how easy it was to operate the Performus X100 fluid dispenser and to program the EV Series automated dispensing system.

We also showed the manufacturer the versatility of the system by demonstrating the edge sealing pattern using different robot speeds. You can see in the photograph below, the slower the speed of the robot, the thicker the line. And vice versa, the faster the speed of the robot, the thinner the line of adhesive you can apply.

Note that this demonstration was implemented while keeping the air pressure consistent at 30 psi to show how the deposit pattern can change by adjusting the robot speed only.

This automated adhesive dispensing system met the manufacturers exact application requirements and budget. It also simplified training for operators with intuitive features such as the robot’s simple camera and proprietary dispensing software that made the system easy to program.

If you have any questions about how to improve your dispensing process, don’t hesitate to email us at [email protected].