Glassboro, NJ — Essemtec, a leading manufacturer of surface mount technology production equipment, announces that it will exhibit the PANTERA-XV SMD placement system in booth907 at the upcoming IPC Midwest exhibition & conference, scheduled to take place September 24-25, 2008 in Schaumburg, IL.

The PANTERA–XV SMD placement machine directly addresses prototyping and production runs in mid-sized quantities. The PANTERA-XV provides high placement accuracy and speed, a broad application range, high reliability and very low maintenance costs, as well as very short changeover times and excellent cost-performance ratio.

The PANTERA–XV placement machine handles the entire SMD range from 0201s to 50 x 50 mm QFPs with a fine pitch of 0.4 mm. Designed for the assembly of complex printed boards and fast changeover, the machine offers a large number of feeder slots (up to 108) in a small footprint of less than 1 square meter. All intelligent tape and stick feeders will be recognized automatically, regardless of the feeder slot being used. This provides for a very fast and error-free changeover process. The tape feeders are motorized and the transport speed is programmable. Also, 0201 chips can be reliably placed at a placement speed rated up to 4500 cph.

A further highlight of the system is increased precision, provided by the application of more accurate measuring systems. The resolution of the magnetic linear measuring system is 1 micron; the mechanism is not prone to dirt particles and dust and, therefore, provides high reliability and accuracy. For alignment, an integrated laser system measures small ICs and chip components "on the fly," and a bottom-up vision system is used for fine-pitch ICs or BGAs. Additionally, another vision system is installed for the automated correction of PCB positions as well as for the teach-in of component locations.

The PANTERA–XV placement machine can be customized to match the assembly task by a multitude of options. Just one example of many is the optional dispensing system for solder paste and adhesive that reduces the cost for stencils in prototyping and also allows for higher flexibility. A further example of the optional flexibility is the exchange of the universal standard magnetic PCB holder system.

The graphic-based software concept supports an extremely easy machine operation so that usage and programming can be quickly learned. Also, programming is a painless task: CAD data of layout software can be directly converted in an appropriate assembly program. In the case that such a data set is not available, the components can be placed manually (i.e. virtually) by means of an integrated camera.

The PANTERA–XV SMD placement machine is designed for the flexible assembly of small and mid-sized production volumes. With its solid construction and high reliability, the equipment can be used efficiently for larger production quantities.

With this machine, users also have access to Essemtec’s remote maintenance system and to the MyEssemtec.com user portal on the Internet. Of great importance for the customers’ decision and production planning is the save-investment program: in the case that the production requirements might change over time, Essemtec guarantees a fair price for the used machine, based on its age, in return for a faster piece of equipment. The existing assembly programs still can be used and the machine/user software is identical. Additionally, Essemtec offers attractive solutions for financing and service.