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Benefits of automatic adjustability: PCB magazines by cab in use at Endress+Hauser

PCB magazines by cab are in use at Endress+Hauser Wetzer since 16 years: in the electronics manufacturing, as intermediate buffer in production control and for the storage of the electronic flat modules. The stable and robust frame construction guarantees a long lasting use in production areas. In case of different PCB sizes, the magazines have to be constantly adjusted to the PCB width. cab is the only manufacturer to offer PCB magazines where after put on a loader the moveable rack wall adjusts fully automatically.

Benefits of automatic adjustability

Operation is as simple as it is functional: There is a coupling wheel attached on one of the lower threaded spindles resistant to rotation. The second part of the coupling is mounted on the loader‘s separate servo motor. When the magazine is put in the loader a contact is triggered and both halves of the coupling connect. At first the moveable rack wall moves to a defined reference point. Then it adjusts to the width of the feeding conveyor belt. It is not necessary to provide a bunch of pre-adjusted magazines. Also, the insertion of incorrectly adjusted magazines is avoided. For Endress+Hauser this means higher process reliability.

Clear requirements

With regard to production capacity, both the loading and unloading of the lines with PCBs must run errorfree. The weight should be little and edges not be too sharp so that the employees can carry the magazines without any risk. “Here in Nesselwang we run a mixture of different PCB sizes”, Harald Kraus, Head of Electronic Manufacturing at Endress+Hauser Wetzer, says. “Our goal was to simplify the settings.” So it was decided to have magazines of the cab series 800 introduced that can be integrated in all running processes. “Because of the automatic adjustment we do not need to worry about the width setting”, Gundolf Lippold, responsible for technical application in the SMD area, adds. “The boards are safely inserted from the line in the magazine. We are really satisfied with the magazines.”