Benchtop dispensing

A decade ago, PCAs comprised little more than a through-hole PCB with wave-soldered components. Today, modest electronics products can involve an array of surface mount, chip-scale, through-hole, and electromechanical technologies. Screen-printed solder paste and reflow/wave ovens no longer are sufficient to complete the build alone. This is where benchtop dispensing comes in. 

By focusing the discussion on valve and control options, it s easy to forget a critical component in benchtop dispensing — the needle. Optimizing precision dispensing capabilities of rotary valves in automated applications requires precision metal dispensing needles. Needles are available with internal diameters of 0.102 to 1.6 mm. 

There are few generic manufacturing processes that reach across diverse industries and applications such as benchtop dispensing. Because of equipment and software innovations, benchtop-dispensing technology can take its place as a process characterized by accuracy and repeatability. 

Cat 589ll/4, American Laboratory Trading, Inc, East Lyme, CT 06333. (B) A benchtop POLYTRON PT 3100 lab homogenizer. Source Kinematica Website, Kinematica AG, Dispensing and Mixing Technology. 

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