Prism Wins Trans-Atlantic contract

Citation

(2008), "Prism Wins Trans-Atlantic contract", Circuit World, Vol. 34 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/cw.2008.21734dab.004

Prism Wins Trans-Atlantic contract

Article Type: Industry news From: Circuit World, Volume 34, Issue 4

St Ives (Cambridgeshire) based Prism Electronics Ltd (www.prism-electronics.com) has secured a contract to supply PCBs to a US manufacturer of niche industrial inkjet printers.

The US company’s latest product is an industrial inkjet printer which uses technology developed in the UK by Xennia of Letchworth, Hertfordshire.

Xennia undertook the initial design, engineering development work and production of prototype printers. It worked closely with Prism as a supplier of the PCB assemblies needed for the new printer. Once the product was ready for commercial-scale production in the USA, Xennia recommended Prism as a continuing supplier of PCB assemblies.

Prism has assisted the manufacturer take the prototypes into production, further developing the PCB assembly designs and ensuring that the electronics meet the requirements of worldwide standards such as the restrictions on hazardous substances (RoHS) directive.

The company is now planning to place more work with Prism, involving the company in further engineering and testing. VacuNest solves large area challenges with conformal substrate support technology. Electronics assembly process specialist Novatec has continued its trend of innovation with the latest evolution of the popular VacuNest shape memory board support system. Now, in addition to meeting the challenges of securely fixturing double-sided circuit board assemblies for printing, dispensing and component placement, VacuNest also delivers a next-generation solution for large area products such as backplane applications.

Ideal for large board products up to 450 × 450 mm such as advanced technology backplanes, solar and fuel cell panels and multiple substrate printing, VacuNest is designed to eliminate the problems associated with conventional dedicated or programmable pin tooling systems. Optimising manufacturing productivity and eliminating component damage, the shape memory tooling technology combines the advantages of machined, dedicated tooling fixtures and programmable pin designs in an easy-to-use system. Spreading support forces over the board, VacuNest ensures precise and flexible support in a wide range of environments.

“The latest large board VacuNest configuration is an important development for manufacturers working with large board products – who, like any other manufacturer in today’s critical electronics assembly industry, cannot afford to compromise on manufacturing productivity”, explains founder and General Manager Clement Kaiser. “Where existing systems can be costly and unreliable, often forcing component damage, VacuNest delivers repeatable, secure support for large board products – without exception. At Novatec, we’re constantly looking ahead to future-proof our customers’ processes and the latest VacuNest configuration does exactly this”.

Each VacuNest module consists of a pliable, anti-static chamber containing a foam former surrounded by polymer granules. The chamber can be rapidly profiled to match the contours of different populated board undersides. Under vacuum, that profile can be locked into place indefinitely without shrinkage. By releasing the vacuum, manufacturers can reset the nest as an elastic material brings the pliable anti-static chamber back to its original position. Available in a range of modular sizes and configurations, VacuNest is proven in use on a variety of printing, dispensing and pick and place technologies.