Tool for connecting cover tapes

[rfe1]

Hello

I have a small prototype production and I frequently have to connect cover tapes to make component strips ready for my feeders.
All crimping tools I found so far are only crimping together the strip itself but not the cover tape.

Does anyone know something that is not a tape solution, as I think this is all quite flimsy.

I think those tapes could be melted together with a little bit of heat, is there any hand tool where I just put in 2 cover tapes and melt them together?

If there is not, would anyone be intereseted in having such a tool, I think i could make something like that.

Best Regards

[Accu-Sembly]

I would think the cover tape is too thin to melt together properly while still maintaining enough integrity to not break or jam in the feeder.

When we use splices, there's a piece of single sided adhesive tape you stick over the two halves.  It's thin like kapton so it feeds well, easy to apply, and rarely an issue.

[Kean]

Have you tried the commonly available cover tape extenders?

I've used these one from AliExpress.  https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006671504722.html

They work fine on my Neoden desktop and my larger PnP with CL feeders.  The only issue I've had is that the adhesive can weaken if you don't use enough parts to feed past the extender and it is left for weeks under tension.  In that case I just replace it, or add some extra splice tape.

[SMTech]

Hello

I have a small prototype production and I frequently have to connect cover tapes to make component strips ready for my feeders.
All crimping tools I found so far are only crimping together the strip itself but not the cover tape.

Does anyone know something that is not a tape solution, as I think this is all quite flimsy.

I think those tapes could be melted together with a little bit of heat, is there any hand tool where I just put in 2 cover tapes and melt them together?

If there is not, would anyone be intereseted in having such a tool, I think i could make something like that.

Best Regards

Existing splice tape solutions work perfectly well to join the cover strips of two pieces together with the notable exception of some plastic tapes that use a different cover tape&/adhesive and heat wouldn't solve that issue, it would be more likely to bond the tape and cover together. The key, as with the carrier tape and brass shim is in alignment, you have to get the tape in the right place, no overhanging the edge and no covering the sprocket holes. Your basic double splice tapes assist here by having alignment bumps in the peel off part. I have also seen some that come with a small dedicated jig and there are also some that come integrated with a brash splice shim so that the tool holds everything in just the right place.

Its actually fairly unusual (although I do it a lot)  to be slicing together short strips of tape as many feeders will have an issue with processing something like that. Splicing is actually intended for non-stop high-speed production where entire reels are joined together. There are now feeders that don't need this, they can have a hot spare reel on the same feeder they automatically feed in when the first one runs out.

If you can reduce the nuber of small strips of parts you buy, the only reason we do it is we do a lot of small batch and have clients who use expensive high tolerance parts.

[Doctorandus_P]

For prototyping, it's also common to mount sections of cut tape in fixed positions on the bed of the PnP machine.

I once thought of a feeder system where sections of cut tape are (semi) permanently glued to some flat strip (plastic, plywood whatever) and those strips are easily exchangeable in the machine. With 400 mm long strips, you can hold 100 parts, which is enough for prototyping. Add a bar code and human readable text to easily identify the strips. "Offline" storage of these strips can be done in a modified ordner. (Or you stick to the 310mm height (77 parts) of the ordner )

The notches on lego bricks are at 8mm pitch, so that is twice the pitch of SMD tape. You can have a (removable) lego build plate in a designated area of your PnP machine, and then glue lego strips at the bottom of your long strips.

Setting up the machine is then something like:

• Take the right strips out of the ordner (which has plastic sleeves with slots for the strips)
• Put them on your PnP machine in random order.
• Have the machine scan the bar codes.
• Count the number of parts you need, remove enough cover strip and cut the loose section with a knife.
• Have a way to enter into the machine how many empty slots there are on the strip (remembered from previous session, camera, or entered by hand, or navigating the PnP to the first full pocket.

You can have multiple strips with the same part number.

I've never had a PnP machine myself. I'm not sure how good this method would work.

[Mangozac]

Its actually fairly unusual (although I do it a lot)  to be slicing together short strips of tape as many feeders will have an issue with processing something like that. Splicing is actually intended for non-stop high-speed production where entire reels are joined together. There are now feeders that don't need this, they can have a hot spare reel on the same feeder they automatically feed in when the first one runs out.

If you can reduce the nuber of small strips of parts you buy, the only reason we do it is we do a lot of small batch and have clients who use expensive high tolerance parts.

I forget what brand of machines you have SMTech. Juki? I know Mycronic feeders are awesome for cut strips as they use that system where the feeder simply slices the cover tape off to the side rather than removing it completely. Very similar to the Feeder Fingers that can be retrofitted to many feeders models. Sadly they don't work for CL feeders though due to the way that the mechanics work but I have recently been wondering if there is a way that it could be done. The only downside is that it would require more extensive modification to the feeder itself.

We just use those Aliexpress stick on cover tape extenders.

[rfe1]

Ok thanks for your answers.
I use Essemtec Feeders.

I tried a few cover tape extenders already but for the 8mm tapes I think it's quite flimsy to accurately join the tapes together. If you are a bit misaligned the sticky part likes to stick somewhere on the feeder or the cover tape pull back mechanism.
Maybe I just have to do that more often but I imagine that some kind of melting tool would be more accurate and much faster.

[SMTech]

Ok thanks for your answers.
I use Essemtec Feeders.

I tried a few cover tape extenders already but for the 8mm tapes I think it's quite flimsy to accurately join the tapes together. If you are a bit misaligned the sticky part likes to stick somewhere on the feeder or the cover tape pull back mechanism.
Maybe I just have to do that more often but I imagine that some kind of melting tool would be more accurate and much faster.

I'm working with Essemtec feeders (CLM multilane cassettes)you need to align cover tape extenders them fairly accurately but that is not difficult with even just a little practice, it helps if you start the peel on the cut tape just a little bit with the top of something pointy. The other catch is that for whatever reason its quite easy to put a twist on the tape  so that the adhesive side, assuming any remains exposed, points downwards, at which point it will glue itself to the bracing bar before the take-off spool. This second issue is the more annoying as you either have to start the extenders exactly where the glue ends so that non is uncovered or double check you haven't put a twist on it when winding it round the take-off spool. Some cover tapes have the sticky peel off setup to reduce the chance of exposed glue, however for CLM at least you need longer ones anyway which reduces your choice.