Method and apparatus for measuring the size of drops of a viscous material dispensed from a dispensing system

A dispensing system for dispensing material onto a substrate, the dispensing system comprising:

• a housing;
• an arm coupled to the housing and movable in two orthogonal directions;
• a dispensing apparatus, coupled to the arm, that dispenses a metered quantity of material having a volume;
• means for receiving the metered quantity of material on a first slide;
• means for placing a second slide on the material on the first slide wherein said means includes a pick-up assembly that places the second slide on the first slide;
• means for compressing the metered quantity of material between the first slide and the second slide;
• and
• a viewing system, coupled to the housing, that views the compressed material to provide information from which the quantity of material dispensed may be determined.

A method of dispensing a predetermined volume of material onto a substrate, the method comprising steps of:

• dispensing a quantity of material having a first volume;
• receiving the quantity of material on a first slide of a measuring apparatus the first slide being positioned in a recessed area of the measuring apparatus;
• compressing the quantity of material on the measuring apparatus using a pick-up assembly that positions a second slide over the first slide;
• and
• viewing the compressed material to provide information from which the first volume may be determined.