Increasing solder hole-fill in a printed circuit board assembly

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9986649-B2
Application number	US-201715420195-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 31, 2017
Priority date	Aug 8, 2014
Publication date	May 29, 2018
Grant date	May 29, 2018

Abstract

An apparatus for increasing solder hole-fill in a printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) are provided in the illustrative embodiments. In the PCBA comprising a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) and the device, a pin of a device is caused to move in a first direction, the pin occupying a hole in the PCB, the hole being filled to a first distance by a solder material. By causing the pin to move, the solder material is drawn into the hole up to a second distance that is greater than the first distance. The pin is allowed to move in a second direction, to return the pin to an initial position in the hole. Allowing the pin to move in the second direction keeps the solder material at a third distance, wherein the third distance is greater than the first distance in the hole.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for increasing solder hole-fill in a Printed Circuit Board Assembly (PCBA), comprising:
a lifter component configured to be coupled to the PCBA for causing, in the PCBA, a pin of a device to move in a first direction, the PCBA comprising a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) and the device, the pin occupying a hole in the PCB, the hole being filled to a first distance by a solder material,
the causing the pin to move resulting in drawing the solder material into the hole up to a second distance, wherein the second distance is greater than the first distance; and
a release component coupled to the lifter component for allowing the pin to move in a second direction, wherein the move in the second direction returns the pin to an initial position in the hole, and wherein the allowing the pin to move in the second direction keeps the solder material at a third distance, wherein the third distance is greater than the first distance in the hole, and wherein the release component is configured to remain coupled to the device during the move in the second direction.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
a controller component for repeating, the causing, the drawing, and the allowing a number of times at a first frequency, wherein the repeating causes the solder material to reach a threshold distance into the hole.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
a heat-activated mechanism, the heat activated mechanism causing the move in the first direction responsive to detecting a first temperature, and the heat activated mechanism allowing the move in the second direction responsive to detecting a second temperature.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the first temperature is a result of the solder material filling the hole in a filling operation, and wherein the second temperature is a result of a cessation of the filling operation.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
an electro-mechanical mechanism, the electro-mechanical mechanism causing the move in the first direction responsive to a first current flow, and the electro-mechanical mechanism allowing the move in the second direction responsive to a second current flow.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the second current flow is a cessation of a flow of electrical current.

7. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the first current flow is a flow of electrical current in a first current flow direction and the second current flow is a flow of the electrical current in a second current flow direction.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the allowing occurs while the solder material remains in a molten state.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the third distance is equal to the second distance.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the third distance at least equals a threshold distance.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the causing the pin to move is responsive to the first distance being less than a threshold distance.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the move in the first direction comprises moving the pin away from the solder material.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
a heating component for heating a portion of the PCB to a first temperature, wherein the first temperature is less than a temperature of the solder material in a molten state, the portion of the PCB occupying a side of the PCB that is opposite a second side of the PCB, the solder material being applied to the PCB on the second side.

14. The apparatus of claim 1 , the device comprising a plurality of pins, the plurality of pins including the pin.

15. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the causing the pin to move in the first direction moves the pin from the initial position of the pin in the hole to a first position of the pin in the hole.

Assignees

• IBM
• Int Business Machine Corporation

Inventors

• Hugo Stephen M
• Kelly Matthew S

Classifications

• H05K2203/306

  Lifting the component during or after mounting; Increasing the gap between component and PCB · CPC title

• H05K2203/1509

  Horizontally held PCB · CPC title

• H05K2203/044

  Solder dip coating, i.e. coating printed conductors, e.g. pads by dipping in molten solder or by wave soldering · CPC title

• H05K3/3468

  Application of molten solder, e.g. dip soldering · CPC title

• H05K3/3447 Primary

  Lead-in-hole components · CPC title