LitePlacer.com forums

So I have just recently ordered the Liteplacer, but I think I have the correct understanding of it's operation.

I have been using a manual low cost pick&place machine for a long time and I 3d printed some trays that holds the smd tape in place for easier picking up with the needle.
There is nothing but a tight fit that holds the tape down, but with my manual p&p it has worked very well.

So I just sketched up a new version, with grooves that lets you connect them together.
My thought is that you can have different sizes (depending on tape width) and just connect them together so it makes up one "jigg", that easily can be placed at the same exact place in the LitePlacer each time.
With the 4 small dents I was thinking that you can color code it with some paint(how many holes are white, how many are black = id), so the vision system can identify the parts, or maybe the entiry jigg and load up the correct settings.

I guess some Z axis adjustments are needed, but might this be a working solution for easy swap between projects?

Hello ravng,

I like your idea with the dots for parts identification and single interchangable trays.

According to your desig study and my experience with 3D printing i think the long dovetail at the sides is not easy to manufacture. Also it will not be necessary to clamp the parts for such a long distance Two short dovetail parts would be neough. Next question - how to exchange one of this trays in a line of several of this trays?

I would suggest to align and fix the jigs from the top for easy exchange. MAybe just two pin's in a base plate are OK.

I am dreaming of prototype p&p jobs for PCB'S with more than 20 parts and therefore like the LitePlacer design for non spools. My thought is to build a big interchangeble tray with all of the components needed for some PCB's. So you can charge one of this trays while the other is used to do the job on the machine.

For this you need easy and cheap to build trays. I like what I have seen as card board design alread here. This can be done by hand with a cutter knife or with a laser cutter. Maybe one should use a Plexiglas or aluminum sub-table as base for this to archive an easy and secure to position base plate which is nicely flat and even too.

Rainer

Im kind of new to 3d printing, and you were correct, it was impossible to get the interlocking feature tight enough.
So I ended up printing a holder with the different parts I needed.
I also use different atmegas on my cards, and they come on trays. So I made a track for single ic's with correct spacing and circle markings to be like a valid tape. I hope this will work. Still have to put one and one ic on the tray, but I hope this will be better than manually feed it the ic.

My machine is almost assembled now (all mechanics done), so hopefully I get it working during the weekend.

Here is my first draft printout, where I forgot to make the groove for larger parts, but the 1206's fit's like a charm and has a good fit (there is a groove to hold them down as well.