Tag: solder ball jet nozzle

A solder ball jet nozzle is a specialized tool used in the process of soldering electronic components onto printed circuit boards (PCBs).

During the soldering process, molten solder is applied to the surface of the PCB to form a strong electrical connection between the component and the board. However, this process can sometimes result in the formation of small spherical blobs of solder, known as solder balls. These solder balls can cause problems such as shorts, poor electrical connections, and other defects.

A solder ball jet nozzle is designed to remove these solder balls by blowing them away with a focused stream of compressed air. The nozzle is typically made of a durable material such as stainless steel and is designed to fit onto the end of a soldering iron or other tool.

The nozzle has a small opening through which the compressed air is directed at the solder ball. This focused stream of air can dislodge the solder ball from the surface of the PCB, preventing it from causing any further problems.

Solder ball jet nozzles come in a variety of sizes and shapes to suit different soldering applications. They are commonly used in the electronics industry to ensure high-quality soldering results and minimize defects.

Solder ball jet nozzle sometimes appear on printed circuit boards when the dome of molten solder moves between adjacent though-hole solder joints. This is caused by a “snapping” action as the solder nozzle moves along the pins commonly seen with multi-row connectors or similar type components. Solder ball jet nozzle should be minimized as much as possible to ensure defect free results.

Solder ball jet nozzle also form inside a diffuser or riser chimney as surface tension energy is released by solder splashing from solder agitation or turbulence. These solder ball jet nozzle often adhere to colder surfaces, such as the chimney or riser, as well as to the solder mask of the PCB as the mask is softened during preheating and soldering.

Solder agitation and turbulence should be avoided as splashing solder will attach to oxygen molecules and create solder dross, due to surface energy. A grooved or sleeved riser will force controlled drainage from the nozzle and is found to greatly decrease dross creation, while dramatically reducing solder ball jet nozzle formation.

Solder ball jet nozzle is a standard technology in hard disc drive manufacturing. Solder ball jet nozzle is also applied in other major applications such as cell phone camera assembly, wafer bumping and more.

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Jet (or Wave) soldering is similar to wave in that it’s uni-directional and provides the same benefits as wave. Its smallest solder diameter is 4mm, it requires minimal maintenance, and it is fairly low cost. The solder ball jet nozzle type you use will depend on the make-up of the board and the location of SMDs on that board.

For instance, a fairly large row of connectors/leads not in close proximity to SMD components could use a wide solder ball jet nozzle to swipe (or wave) the entire row at once. A small area closed situated to an SMD would require a very small solder ball jet nozzle to avoid disturbing the surface mount device.

Solder ball jet nozzles attack the board at about the same angle (7) as a Wave machine, and can deliver a high volume of solder using a tapered tip which guides solder roll-off in one direction returning unused solder back to the pot from its trailing edge. In this scenario, the direction of travel (board or nozzle) is very important.

Solder ball jet nozzles are long-lasting and usually cost only a few hundred dollars. Some boards can benefit from a custom solder ball jet nozzle to solder an area as quickly as possible in a dip or drag process, or even a min-wave.

Most lab-based electrospinning setups comprises of a solder ball jet nozzle for dispensing of the solution. Despite the emergence of solder ball jet nozzle-less electrospinning techniques especially in mass production electrospinning, nozzle-based electrospinning still retains some advantages such as better charge concentration and solder ball jet nozzle variations for improving electrospinning or fabricating hybrid fibers.

In most lab-based electrospinning setup, a hypodermic needle with a flat tip is used as the electrospinning solder ball jet nozzle. However, electrospinning may still proceed with other needle tip configurations. A flat tip is generally preferred as it provides a flat surface for the formation of a stable Taylor cone with little oscillation of the jet compared to chamfered tip needle [Ksapabutr et al 2005]. At higher feed-rate, it was found that a flat tip needle is more prone to generating multiple electrospinning jets compared to chamfered tip needle [Ksapabutr et al 2005]. Parameters such as solder ball jet nozzle diameter has been covered elsewhere and will not be covered here. Instead, other improvements and variations of nozzle design shall be discussed.

As a class, the coaxial solder ball jet nozzle is the most widely used design in electrospinning. While most commonly used for spinning core-shell nanofibers through injection of different solution through the core and shell of the solder ball jet nozzle, this design have also been used to inject solvent through the shell cavity to maintain spinnability of the solution (Read more).

Injection of solvent through the shell of a co-axial electrospinning setup was also found to affect the cross-sectional profile of the resultant fibers. When electrospinning Eudragit L100 nanofibers using conventional single solder ball jet nozzle, the fibers produced were found to have a flat/ribbon cross-sectional profile. This is attributed to the formation of a thin wall/skin due to rapid evaporation of ethanol on the surface of the electrospinning jet. Subsequent evaporation from the core of the electrospinning jet causes the thin wall to collapse and form flat fibers.

To produce round fibers, Yu et al (2014) injected solvent through the shell of a co-axial solder ball jet nozzle during electrospinning such that it delays the evaporation from the surface of the main electrospinning jet which allows smoother mass transfer of the solvents from the core to the atmosphere. This delay also enables more stretching of the electrospinning jet and thus smaller diameter fibers can be produced. Another use of the coaxial design is to allow incorporation of air jet surrounding the core spinning solder ball jet nozzle to facilitate and improve jet initiation.

Selective solder ball jet nozzle systems provide industry leading thermal transfer at the point of soldering. This produces superior solder joints lessening the need for top-side preheat; saving time, money, and reducing the risk for component damage.

All solder ball jet nozzle systems are easy to program and operate the programming software provides a simple interface for off-line or online rapid programming. For example; import a scanned image or Gerber data, select solder ball jet nozzle type and solder points to generate a selectivesolder ball jet nozzle program in just minutes.

In the laser spray tin welding system, the tin balls are transported from the tin ball box to the solder ball jet nozzle. After being heated and melted by the laser, they are sprayed from the special solder ball jet nozzle and directly cover the pad without additional flux or other tools. Solder ball spray welding is adopted, with high welding precision, and there are requirements for temperature or soft board connection welding area. During the whole process, the solder joints are not in contact with the main body of the soldering, which solves the electrostatic threat caused by the contact during the soldering process.

The laser spray tin welding system has the following characteristics:

1. The laser processing precision is high, the spot is small, the processing time is controlled by the program, and the precision is higher than that of the traditional process.

2. Non-contact processing, no contact with static electricity caused by welding, can be processed in parts that are not easy to be welded by conventional methods.

3. The small laser beam replaces the soldering iron head, which is also easy to process when there are other interference objects on the surface of the workpiece

4. Local heating, small heat affected zone; no static threat.

5. Laser is a clean processing method, easy to maintain and easy to operate. Repeated operation stability is good.

6. Six-axis working platform, equipped with synchronous CCD positioning and monitoring system, automatic clamping, automatic judgment of whether there is a workpiece, can ensure welding accuracy and yield.

7. The laser spray tin welding system does not need flux and other tools, which ensures the cleanliness of processing.

8. The heating speed is fast and the positioning is accurate, which can be completed within 0.2 seconds.

9. The diameter of the solder ball can be as small as 50μm, which is suitable for high-precision soldering.

10. The yield of solder is higher than that of ordinary automatic soldering machines.

11. With a visual positioning system, it is suitable for assembly line production.

Studies have been conducted to show the effects of Pd film thickness on the solder ball jet nozzle joint reliability. The subject of the survey was electroless Ni/Pd/Au plating on an Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu (SAC305) solder ball jet nozzle joint. The study used a solder ball jet nozzle shear test.

After multiple reflow cycles, the Pd film thickness between 0.05-0.02 microns was the optimum for solder joint reliability. Studies have also shown that solder ball jet nozzle joints are more reliable when using 0.02 micron thick electrodes.

This result is even better than that obtained using electroless Ni/ Au plating.

The study also shows that the shape and thickness of the intermetallic compounds (IMCs) determine a solder ball jet nozzle’s reliability. In particular, the degree of adhesion at the dendrite layer of the IMCs/solder interface immensely influenced a solder ball jet nozzle’s reliability.

It was also shown that (Cu, Ni, Pd)6Sn5 IMCs containing minute Pd yield excellent solder ball jet nozzle joint reliability mainly because Pd inhibited the growth of IMC.

A solder ball jet nozzle for connecting or disconnecting solder joints between head bonding pads of in a hard disk drive, includes a solder ball jet nozzle body including a tip, the tip disposed at a distal end of the solder ball jet nozzle body and configured to deliver or reflow a solder ball in proximity to head bonding pads; and a central duct disposed along a central axis of the solder ball jet nozzle body and configured to convey the solder ball to or from the tip.

The tip includes a front face facing to a trailing edge of a slider, a back face facing to a top surface of a suspension supporting the slider, and two side faces adjacent to the front face and back face respectively, and at least one interference-free structure is provided at two adjacent faces of the tip at least, thereby no interference happens between the tip and elements adjacent to the slider during the operation.

In the laser spray tin welding system, the tin balls are transported from the tin ball box to the solder ball jet nozzle. After being heated and melted by the laser, they are sprayed from the special solder ball jet nozzle and directly cover the pad without additional flux or other tools.

Solder ball spray welding is adopted, with high welding precision, and there are requirements for temperature or soft board connection welding area. During the whole process, the solder joints are not in contact with the main body of the soldering, which solves the electrostatic threat caused by the contact during the soldering process.