Flex Cutting and Depaneling
When time to market is the driving force, fast alternatives to pilot production runs can be the key to success.
LPKF UV laser systems provide the flexibility, reliability and high precision that customers demand. By reducing product changeover time, increasing accuracy and eliminating tooling costs these systems simply produce a better product at a lower cost.
Laser cutting for flex circuits
There are many issues to be considered in the manufacture of state of the art products. The ability to cut complex shapes with a stress free process allows for more circuits on a single panel. Increasing the accuracy and reducing the burr formation are important factors in the manufacturing of sophisticated products. The flexibility of the LPKF UV laser production systems allow for a large number of designs to be processed in a short time.
Depaneling
Non-contact cutting with a laser means no mechanical stress on the boards or components, no debris, and no extra cost for tooling. The high position accuracy allows for component placement closer to the edge of a board. The laser beam is able to cut intricate shapes and also increase the net usable area on the panels.
Coverlayer cutting
The complex products of today and the future require the kind of higher density and finer detail possible with laser technology, including the ability to cut arbitrary shapes and smaller apertures. Coverlayer cutting in particular is much more precise with a laser than with conventional methods. Mechanical stress on the foil, die misalignment, and contamination of the work piece are all issues virtually eliminated by a laser process. Design changes are easy – modifying cutting instructions via programming is much simpler than rebuilding tooling.
The advantages:
- Stress-free cutting
- Fast changeover
- No shape limitations
- Reduction of tool costs
Economical
The LPKF UV laser systems work directly from CAD data and do require no specific tooling. In many cases, the amount of tooling costs that can be saved by using LPKF’s laser covers the original investment for the new system very quickly. The UV laser systems can pay for themselves in less than 10 months – depending on the tools needed per year. With easy handling and short changeover times, the LPKF UV laser systems offer economical solutions to compete in the on-demand world of today.
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