Light emitting diodes (LEDs) will continue to replace incandescent bulbs due to their environment-friendliness, energy-saving features and their cost-effectiveness. LEDs have now been widely accepted by the market, following a slew of government schemes to promote their use. The LED lighting market’s rapid development has led to an increase in demand for LED placement machines and LED production equipment. Here, we take a quick look at some of the latest machines.
By Deepshikha Shukla
LED lighting consists of a few major components like LED drivers, diffusers, the heat-sink, the LED array, LED chips, and the optic lens. The LED driver regulates the input current, the heat-sink regulates the LED chip’s temperature, and the lens controls the characteristics of the light output. An LED driver is a very key component, as light output is proportional to the current and greatly impacts the life of the LED lights. The heat-sink helps to remove internal heat within the LED junction, which improves the LED performance. Improper heat dissipation could lower the light output, and also result in a wavelength colour shift. The diffuser distributes light from LEDs on the edge of the screen, eliminating the hotspots and controlling the colour of the light.
There are different stages in the LED manufacturing process—from the epitaxial growth systems, reactors, and wafer characterisation to chip separation, the 3D printing of LEDs and solid-state lighting design materials, components, housings and more. These different stages require diverse manufacturing and assembly tools like the SMT pick-and-place machine, the automatic LED bulb assembly machine, the LED string making machine, etc. Manufacturing LED chips and modules for LED lamps involves the photolithography process, wafer processing, the dicing process, the moulding process, and much more. The LED manufacturing segment needs higher capacity machines in order to lower the cost of production.
To ensure consistent LED light output, the display and controls need to be protected from the extremes in climate. The use of the correct conformal coating and LED encapsulation can significantly improve reliability. It can mitigate the corrosive effects of the operating environment and extraneous contaminants, allowing the circuit’s integrity to be preserved.
Latest manufacturing equipment available for LED lights
| Model: CMLED 1215; Manufacturer: Chipmax Group |
Chipmax’s recently introduced LED high-speed pick-and-place machine is a versatile, compact, desktop model. It has high-quality nozzles specially designed for LEDs and driver components with multi-PCB assembly support.Key features:
Contact: www.chipmax.in |
| Model: Jaguar N300; Manufacturer: Shenzhen Jaguar Automation Equipment Co. Ltd |
This is an efficient, lead-free, safe and easy-to-operate wave soldering machine for the LED assembly line. It has an automatic power system, frequency converter controls, and an automatic board input system. The flux spray system uses a scanning spray nozzle, and  rodless pneumatic cylinders and PLC controls, which are accurate and reliable. The preheating system uses a three-stage powerful air system and excellent heat preservation. The tin heating furnace uses the two-step independent outer-heating control, and high-speed PID. It warms up quickly and eliminates the flaws that lead to stove tin explosions. With the time controller, switch functions can be preset, while the black box memory function maintains production management records to improve work efficiency.
Key features:
Contact: www.jaguarsmt.en.made-in-china.com |
| Model: CPM-II T; Manufacturer: Faroad |
This is an optical lens-placement machine meant for the PCB assembly line, for LED TV backlighting lens or pick-and-place machines. It has multiple functions as well as a unique servo system to deal with various demands based on daily production. It uses an industrial linear-scanning camera and a vision system. A high accuracy thermal compensation system can monitor placement precision in real-time, and modify the placement automatically.
Key features:
Contact: www.alibaba.com |
| Product: SDM-236; Manufacturer: Manncorp |
 This LED depaneler is designed to separate extra-long, V-grooved, aluminium panels and thick FR4 PCBs that are often difficult to cut. It is more than 2.3 metres long and allows more than ample space for handling long 1.2 metre substrates commonly used in the manufacture of LED lighting products. The platforms can also accommodate a 370mm panel width for greater versatility and throughput. It has three circular and motorised cutting blades capable of separating V-grooved aluminium boards. Due to its unique design, the distance between the blades and the progressive depth of each cut can be set independently. It is suited for medium to high-volume production and can separate individual strips up to 55mm wide. To ensure the quick and precise alignment of the score lines into the cutting blades, the height of the landing table and guide bar, and of the centre of the platform, can be adjusted.
Key features:
Contact details: www.manncorp.com |
| Product: iCoat-X5; Manufacturer: Anda Automation Pte Ltd |
This is an advanced, desktop conformal coating machine for LED PCB coating. There are  two-head configurations available for this high precision selective conformal coating machine. One is a single-head, three-nozzle structure with four-axis movement (X, Y, Z, U rotation) + 35° tilt. It is the most flexible work cell to handle demanding coating applications. The other has twin heads, a four-nozzle structure with three-axis movement (X,Y,Z) + 35° tilt to double the output, with four PCBs coated simultaneously for maximum productivity. It has PCs with LCD monitors, a keyboard and an adjustable-height mouse, auto dipping and a purging waste collection system, a 10-litre material tank, a PCB clamping system, a UPS system and voltage stabiliser.The machine’s optional features are:
Contact details: www.smtnet.com |
| Model: MA-05; Manufacturer: Meiao Mumbai Sales and Service |
This is a LED bulb-making machine. It can also be used for LED bulb inspection—through normal, high, low and fluctuating voltage. It tracks high-temperature zones to check for short-circuiting, capacitance bursts and black points. It also inspects the LED lamp cycling circuit, the aging of the chain boards holder, and the frequency control of the motor speed. The aging line can inspect 1680 pieces of LED bulbs at once. It can work 10 hours in a day with the aging time set for one hour with a maximum daily output of 16,800 LED bulbs. The MA-06 has a 1500W motor, WPS80 type 1:60 of speed reducer, and a 2HP island converter from a reputed firm. Its chain plate is of a cold rolled sheet with 140 plates, each with 12 bulbs.Contact: www.ledmachines.in |
