Vision systems for PCB manufacturing in Japan

Current vision systems in Japanese printed circuit board (PCB) manufacturing lines are described. Vision systems have been introduced into almost every level of PCB manufacturing in Japan. They include mask pattern inspection machines, PCB pattern inspection machines, surface-mount device (SMD) mounters with visual positioning, mounted SMD visual inspection machines, soldering inspection machines, and assembled PCB visual inspection machines. Most of these vision systems were integrated successfully and achieved significant benefits. Rapid development of SMDs necessitated the development of new types of mounters and visual inspection systems.<<ETX>>