US 12,543,271 B1Granted

Dual pump system and method to control wavesolder contact length

AssigneeIllinois Tool Works Inc.

InventorJonathan M. Dautenhahn

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Abstract

A wave soldering station of a wave soldering machine includes a flow duct positioned in a reservoir of a solder pot, and a core frame supported by the flow duct. The wave soldering station further includes a first pump to deliver solder material to a first chamber, a second pump to deliver solder material to a second chamber, and a wave soldering nozzle assembly supported by the core frame. The wave soldering nozzle assembly includes a solder distribution baffle to create a solder wave, and an exit wing coupled to the core frame and configured to move from a lowered position to enable increased solder flow and a raised position to decrease flow of solder material. The first pump, the second pump and the exit wing are configured to control the flow of solder through the solder distribution baffle to vary a contact length of the solder wave.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A wave soldering machine to perform a wave soldering operation on a printed circuit board, the wave soldering machine comprising:

a housing;
a conveyor coupled to the housing, the conveyor being configured to deliver a printed circuit board through the housing;
a wave soldering station coupled to the housing and the conveyor, the wave soldering station including
a solder pot having a reservoir of solder material,
a flow duct positioned in the reservoir of the solder pot,
a core frame supported by the flow duct, the core frame including a first chamber and a second chamber,
a first pump configured to deliver solder material to the first chamber,
a second pump configured to deliver solder material to the second chamber, and
a wave soldering nozzle assembly supported by the core frame, the wave soldering nozzle assembly having a solder distribution baffle configured to create a solder wave, and an exit wing coupled to the core frame and configured to move from a lowered position to enable increased solder flow and a raised position to decrease flow of solder material;
and
a controller coupled to the wave soldering station to control the operation of the first pump and the second pump and to control the movement of the exit wing to control the flow of solder through the solder distribution baffle to vary a contact length of the solder wave.

8 more elements

A wave soldering station of a wave soldering machine configured to perform a wave soldering operation on a printed circuit board, the wave soldering station comprising:

a solder pot having a reservoir of solder material;
a flow duct positioned in the reservoir of the solder pot;
a core frame supported by the flow duct, the core frame including a first chamber and a second chamber;
a first pump configured to deliver solder material to the first chamber;
a second pump configured to deliver solder material to the second chamber;
and
a wave soldering nozzle assembly supported by the core frame, the wave soldering nozzle assembly including
a solder distribution baffle configured to create a solder wave, and
an exit wing coupled to the core frame and configured to move from a lowered position to enable increased solder flow and a raised position to decrease flow of solder material,
wherein the first pump, the second pump and the exit wing are configured to control the flow of solder through the solder distribution baffle to vary a contact length of the solder wave.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.