Our new Flex production line
State-of-the-art technology, diverse possibilities, highest quality
Series processing of the flexible boards takes place in-house on our new high-end production line. The new flex strip park is capable of assembling the plasma-metallised base boards in the reel-to-reel process. Thanks to state-of-the-art machinery and high processing speeds, production can be realised on a large industrial scale. The special feature of the flex line is that all kinds of flex materials can be processed there. Starting with the standard flex material polyimide over wallpaper or paper up to very cheap plastic (PET).
The LUMITRONIX® production line allows for serial assembly of the base material, which is available in roll form. These rolls are clamped at the beginning of the line and always kept tight by clamp holders – also called hitch feeders – to ensure that further processes such as coating with solder paste and the mounting of LEDs and other components can proceed trouble-free. After the assembly, the flexible boards are soldered in an infrared oven and are subsequently electrically and optically inspected by a system. Afterwards, the flex boards can be separated into individual lengths or cut into different patterns by oscillating knives. Using a special printer, it is also possible to print the flexible PCBs in colour and thus individualise them.
Compared to rigid PCBs, FPCs have several advantages. Due to their flexible base material, they can be used individually and, thanks to their low weight, they offer luminaire manufacturers in particular more freedom in terms of design. In addition, completely different dimensions can be realised with regard to length. Compared to rigid PCBs made of FR4 or aluminium, flex PCBs are more cost-effective and can be exposed to high dynamic and mechanical loads without being damaged.
Processing the FPCs in the form of rolls with a length of 50 to 100 m also results in lower storage and transport costs.
Furthermore, large manufacturers benefit from this form of PCBs, as they can process them immediately and automatically on their own production line.


Production in reel-to-reel process
State-of-the-art technology - unique in Europe
With our state-of-the-art Flex production line, existing projects based on rigid PCBs can be converted into flexible solutions to achieve design advantages. In addition, groundbreaking new developments can now go into series production in a reel-to-reel process. The line is suitable for all types of flexible base materials such as polyimide (PI), PET or paper.
- Ultra-modern machinery park
- 600 mm image length with endless repeatability
- Substrate widths of 150 mm – 500 mm
- Thicknesses from 10 μm – 150 μm.
- Traceability thanks to lasered barcode
- Highest process reliability through full automation
- ISO certification
Line Control
With Line Control, we have full monitoring of the line and the production
process and can react immediately in the event of a problem.
- Control of the transport systems and devices
- Start/stop of the individual machines via SMEMA
- Handling of production batches and individual processing fields
- Monitoring of spoolers and buffers
- Control of the winding and unwinding units
- Data tracing packages for traceability


Unwinding
- Roll weight up to 150 kg
- Diameter of roller seat 76 and 153 mm
- Quick-change unit for substrate roll pick-up
- Joining unit for infeed conveyor
- Roller blade for optimum substrate separation
- Pneumatic hold-down mechanism
Laser inscription
- Freely programmable XY gantry system
- Ink-jet printing system for marking all kinds of
individual customer requirements such as: Barcodes, batch numbers,
customer item numbers, logos, counters, etc. - Precise design with linear motors and digital encoder system
- Camera for precise positioning
- Repeatability < 10 μm


Soldering paste printing
More than half of all defective solder joints are due to paste printing.
Our fully automatic solder paste printer from the market leader DEK
is the basis for our high process reliability. With the Hawk-Eye paste inspection
we verify to within a few μm whether the solder paste is present and has been precisely applied.
- Process-safe printing method for an optimal soldering result
- Cycle time of only a few seconds
- Automatic stencil feeding and positioning with drip protection
- HawkEye inspection
- Squeegee head pressure control
- Cyclone high-speed underside cleaning
- Highest pressure accuracy of 20 μm at 6 sigma
Assembly
- Special transport unit
- High placement speed of 52,500 components/h (according to IPC)
- Wide range of components ( 01005 – 27 x 27 mm with maximum
component height of 8.5mm) - High accuracy of 34 μm at 3 sigma
- Total capacity of 120 x 8 mm slots


Infrared soldering
- Infrared heating elements
- Positionable soldering chamber for different image lengths
- Zone temperature measurement and control with separately controllable heating elements
- Soldering process monitoring and control according to standardised reflow profiles
- Solder vapour extraction
Automatic visual inspection
Defects in the serial production can be detected with the integrated
3D visual inspection. Missing or incorrectly assembled, twisted and
misaligned, as well as contaminated components are reliably detected.
- Light-up tests with the aid of customised
contacting adapters - Material tightening unit for optimal substrate positioning
- Best possible measurement coverage at high resolution
- Permanent process monitoring


Precision cutting
The precision cutting module for separating the substrate
enables curved shapes and linear cutting.
- Freely programmable XY cutting system
- Precise construction with linear motors
- Repeatability ±50 μm
- Linear and free-form cutting possible
- Ultrasonic-excited cutting blade for long service life
and best possible cutting results - For all common films and substrates
- Camera for precise positioning of the cutting head
Winding up
- Cutting and splicing function
- Set-up trolley for quick reel changes
- Pick-up of individual strips on individual reels
or substrate width up to 500 mm - Joining unit for conveyor belt
- Roller blade for optimum substrate separation
- Pneumatic hold-down mechanism
