Patent · US Expired

Process for wave soldering components on a printed circuit board in a temperature controlled non-oxidizing atmosphere

US5520320A · kind A · utility

11Cited by
10References
23Claims
0Family size

Assignees

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateApr 22, 1994
Grant dateMay 28, 1996
Priority date
Expiry dateApr 22, 2014

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH05K2203/111
  • WIPO fieldMachine tools
  • WIPO sectorMechanical engineering

Abstract

The present invention relates to a wave soldering process wherein an inert gas atmosphere is injected inside the wave soldering machine, the inert gas atmosphere having a temperature which might be controlled. Particularly, the atmosphere can be heated at the same or different temperatures before injection, for example in the preheating zones, in the machine. The atmosphere can also be cooled (or injected at ambient temperature) e.g. in the cooling zone. Various atmospheres can be used (similar or different from one zone to another). Also, maintaining the atmosphere under forced laminer flow conditions improves the quality of the solder joints. The thermal efficiency of the heat transfer between the atmosphere and the printed circuit boards is thus greatly enhanced, which means less solder defects, higher components density and decrease of energy consumption and inert gas flow rate.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.