Matsushita lead-free solders

Matsushita introduced its first lead-free solder minidisc player in October 1998, the MJ30. The minidisc player was assembled using surface mount technology and a Sn-Ag-Bi-Cu lead-free solder paste. For through-hole assemblies, the eutectic Sn-Cu alloy was selected. The company... 

FIG. 2 By the end of 2001, Matsushita Electric Industrial (MEl) Company had successfully introduced 151 products utilizing lead-free solder. (From Ref. 14.)... 

Matsushita Electric Industrial introduced Pb-free wave soldering to mass production of videocassette recorders (VCR) in 1999. The single-sided PWB assembled with Sn-Cu eutectic solder for a VCR is shown in Figure 12. In August 2000, Nissan Motors released a lead-free soldered, keyless entry component produced by wave soldering with a Sn-Ag-Cu alloy. 

The beneficial impact of converting the solder used on printed circuit board (PCB) assemblies is clear from data provided by several Japanese electronics manufacturers, who are among the first to convert their lines to lead (Pb)-free assembly. For example, Matsushita Electric (Panasonic) noted by the end of March 2003 that Pb-free solder was utilized in about 12,000 models manufactured in 22 domestic and 79 overseas facilities. Up to that point, Matsushita produced a total of about 70 million Pb-free solder PCB assemblies. In the prior year (2002), before completely switching over to lead-free, Matsushita utilized 2400 tons of solder for its products [40]. 

The minidisc player uses a proprietary Sn-Ag-Bi-X alloy, also used in Matsushita s phase change optical disk (PD) drives. Matsushita also began producing lead-free professional videotape recorders in August 1999, which used a Sn-Cu solder. The company also introduced lead-free headphone stereo sets manufactured in Taiwan. Additional product introductions included mobile phones, rice cookers, medical equipment, and personal computers. 

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