Hello John, the current TM220A/240A has no option to define a user defined feeder. (and you can't update the operating system!) The pockets in front are sequential addressed by the machine and you need a constant pick up position to do a custom vibration feeder. Second problem is to have a signal to switch the vibration motor on and of if a part was picked from the feeder. But the best solution is to buy a TM245P as Tonny introduced.
yes you can order both machines already we planned to ramp up in 08/2015. The machines have a lead time between 3 and 6 weeks.
Both versions are availiable now.
VP-2000D max. 36 x 8mm feeders, build in tray option, 240 x 270mm working area VP-2500D max. 51 x 8mm feeders, build in tray option, 360 x 320mm working area
first of all not all Chinese machines are copies of your machine. The only 2 I know are CHMT36 and the TVM802B. These machines have the same technology for feeder construction and drag mechanics.
TVM802B:
So why don't you punish Whenzou Yingxing Import&Export the reseller of this copy machine?
And don't forget the technologies you use are invented in Germany in the late 70's so you copied these methods too. (because patents protection runs out here) But finally you copied the tape trough feeder mechanics too from other manufacturers. (yes you have a patented motor design)
You stopped hothotsmt on Aliexpress because of allways bad and unfair chinese business to stop resellers of your machine. The SMT50 and SMT500D are stopped too but they have different design. We will sell our VP-2000 and VP-2500 starting in 08.2015 in Europe and China too!
I think the comparsion of all the machines availiabe on the market will show neoden machines are good machines but the technology is limited and the really important things are not improved until now!
Your drag mechanics and feeder design is not precise enough to place small components without alignment. Even the TMP245 is not able to adjust parts smaller than 2x2mm square. The vibration problems of TM240 machines is now solved in TMP245 and it is impressive to see the mounting speed and accuracy placing big parts using mechanical alignment. Nice feature is the swinging motor on every tape feeder line to move only the adressed tape. And the user defined north feeder is nice too. I think your new machines are well constructed and you don't need unfair methods to protect.
Here is a placement result of TMP245 done in the neoden office in Hangzhou: you can clearly see the alignment problems because not all parts are precise in the middle of a tape pocket.
To compare here is the result of my TM240:
So finally I think neoden should be more open and don't try to control the market.
UPDATE:
Hardware: The TMP245 is a stepper motor driven machine but has some nice things to improve accuracy like continous index gaps on each axis to have more reference points. It's very fast and has some mounting points to fix the machine on the table. I think the resistive touch panel is not precise enough for user input. The PCB fixture is done by magnetic plates and pins on the working area. No feature to adjust the Zero point of the PCB before placement it need to be mechanical aligned or placement file need to be edited. One disadvantage is the nozzle can't be rotated by 360 degrees only +/-180 so the part can't be continous rotated while axis movement to compensate the force moving the component under the nozzle while axis movement.
Software: Some nice Software features are now embedded you can disable board placement for each board in a panel. It is possible to enable mechanical alignment for parts bigger than 2x2mm by entering X and Y size of the component and enabling alignment function. No import function for popular PNP file formats you need to import using PC software to build a compatible file. You can start placement at every component number.
Drag mechanics: I dislike the drag mechanics done by a simple solenoid like TM240 machine you have a lot of tolerances in X and Y direction while dragging. The pin has no precise guiding. One advantage is the machine can pick up two parts on a single drag operation.
Adjustment: You need to adjust the component pick up position without laser guide same problem on TM240. Everbody can imagine how precise this is. A vision based machine use the top camera to do. You can use the cross laser pointer to adjust and check every position inside working area.
Feeder: Cool design for tape forwarding a single motor for each tape can be driven to pull the tape. It's mounted on a profile and fixed by a screw. Easy to mount using a single screw. The vibration feeder are a big advantage too. But the price increases a lot if you add north feeder and vibration feeder.
Yes I visited you together with Sunny. The TMP245P is a big improvement against the TM240. I write a review soon. Mia knows me too because I was one of the first overseas customers for TM240 machine.
I am now back from China. I visited Neoden, Qihe and our manufacturer Yusheng. This weekend I write a report about the features of TM245P, TVM802, and our new machines.
First of all we are releasing our new SMT500D in January.
As I didn't see updates on your web until now, I searched on Taobao for your machine. It is priced at Yuan 29502.00 which translate to USD4700. I believe it is the same machine. Is there any reason for the price differences (international warranty, different quality made for international)?[/quote]
This machine couldn't released because the software had to many problems. Now the new machine software is finished and has an impressive speed using vision system. I show a sample video on our website wiki.smallsmt.com.
Our machines where produced meeting our requirements for international standards. We support you using the machines so we need to earn money too.
Hi Tonny, could you please answer some TM245 related questions: 1. How can I upgrade the machine operating system 2. Do you use servo drives 3. How can I align components like TQFP IC 4. If I want to place 0.5mm pitch parts is it possible to do precisely 5. How can I adjust the pcb zero point 6. Is it possible to use ther laser cross to adjust the pickup positions 7. How can I define tray feeder in the working area 8. what's your strategy to align simple parts like 0603 0r 0402 resistors and capacitors need for HF designs 9. If the machine fails to pickup or drag a feeder how can I solve the problem and restart at the last good position 10. Is there an option to disable some pcb in a panel design if the panel has some defect pcb's I don't want to use?
servo machines could have less vibrations and a higher speed. Most of the professional machines use servo drives and measurement system for higher precision. If you want to place BGA or MLF you can only adjust on TM245 using mechanics. The TM240 has no adjustment option.
You asked for the performance of SMT50 machine maybe better than TM240 because of less vibration than TM240 and have vision system for adjustment. The SMT50 Vision system works very good for angle correction but is not 100% precise in offset adjustment. Our new SMT500 has better vision system, higher speed than SMT50 and is in the same price range like TM245.
But the most advantage is the flexibility to define additional feeder or pickup points in the working area.
One nice thing for TM245 are the vibrational feeder but as I know you can't add user defined feeder positions.
To get the neoden machine running is easy and fast because it is preadjusted so you can run out of the box. Vision machines need some time for learning and adjustment.
If you have feeder problems you need to adjust the feeder pick up position but there is no camera or laser to help you to find the right position you need to change and recheck.
The biggest problem is the pcb alignment error because the outline is not very precise. For my TM240 I did a special holder and fix the boards in the working area using holes in the pcb because you have no fiducial recognition to adjust or realign the board position.
Next problem is on higher speeds you receive vibrations changing the component position under the nozzle while moving. I decreased the mounting speed and had less vibrations.
Finally I replaced my TM240 by SMT50 machine. After this step i lost some weeks for learning and adjustment to receive good results.
The service quality of Chinese companys is not on the level of European companys because they think you're a "one shop customer" never meet them again so they don't need to give you good service. Neoden Machines hae a good quality but I had some contacts with them reporting bugs and problems but newer received a solution. The worst thing was they can't update TM240 machines in the field so you never receive a fix for a software bug.
I'm also Python programmer, much time spending on KiCAD scripting, so I can cooperate with my knowledge. Porting to Python is also independent of the operating system, because that development platform exists in practically ever OS. Was this a correct guess is that communicate through the USB-RS?
The communication interface is a USB / serial interface for the motion controller and a USB CAN bus bridge for feeder and placement head.
But all of the vision processing is done by the PC software so maybe it is easier to port to linux by using the MONO project.
I hope to provide an API interface to add user custom functions.
But don't forget the NEODEN Machine has no vision system to align complex parts and the feeder system is fixed.
Maybe a perfect solution to place a lot of 0603 chips.
No way for TQFP and QFN chips Neoden can post some placement results to proof. I know TM240 machine and it's limits too. Very fast and a good solution for simple parts.
I'm interested to buy, but where ? If communication API will be available, then it will be allowable to adopt to Linux, which is available even on Raspberry Pi…
I am back from China now.
We are working hard on the release of the SMT600 machine because it's build complete in Germany.
The software is running on a Windows 7 / 8 based PC maybe possible to port to Linux too.
All the machine hardware is custom designed and modular. For the motion controller for X and Y axis we use a TinyG controller. Our placement had has an own controller with can bus interface and is exchangeable.
Our complete machine is upgradeable one or two heads, vaccuum pump inside, different type of feeders like drag- tray- and vibration feeders.
Servo motors for X and Y axis.
Low-cost or high end vision system using industrial grade cameras and optional on the fly vision system too.
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