Design and Validation of a Feeding System for the Systematic Production of Needle Beds

With the increasing quality standards of the electronic industry, especially in Printed Circuit Boards, the In-Circuit-Test Machines are becoming one of the most important systems on the production lines. Higher requirements are being set, pressing the In-Circuit-Test Machines production process to meet the necessary quality parameters, mainly precision and reliability. One of the possible approaches to update the manufacturing process of the In-Circuit-Test Machines is to automatize the process from a technological point of view. The automation of the process was divided into several sub-functions, one of them and the paper’s focus, the feeding system. To achieve a desirable solution, the problem was analyzed, several solutions were studied within the state of the art, and two original solutions were proposed to solve the problem. The decision process followed engineering criteria through simulation and efficiency parameters, and it culminated in the proposal of a final solution. A prototype for the final solution was tested, and the results were presented.