SCHUNK Electronic Solutions is bringing two depaneling machines with large installation spaces onto the market: the SAR-1300-Mono-Smart and the SAR-1700. The machines mill and saw individual PCBs from a large PCB panel - the maximum panel size is 600 x 500 millimeters.

"Further developments in printed circuit board technology face new challenges for electronics manufacturers and lead to increasing requirements on depaneling machine technology", says Jochen Ehmer, managing director of SCHUNK Electronic Solutions. "Larger installation spaces are in demand, such as for separating large entire PCBs or long panels to be milled in strips. We meet this demand with the new models."

SCHUNK Electronic Solutions is the world's first manufacturer to design modular depaneling machines. The advantage for electronic manufacturers is they can buy a basic version of the machine and then retrofit it later – such as with additional milling modules, a camera system, or a robot arm that takes over the loading and unloading and reduces personnel costs. "The depaneling machines require a low initial investment and grow flexibly along with companies", says Ehmer. "Companies gain future security for the Industry 4.0 era, where you need to economically manage small batch sizes and frequent product changes."

Customers benefit from process reliability, low electricity consumption, and short cycle times. The SAR-1300-Mono-Smart achieves separation efficiency of up to four meters per minute, and due to the linear motor axes and modern control technology, the milling accuracy is +/-0.1 millimeter. The SAR-1700 achieves the milling speed of the SAR-1300-Mono-Smart and also saws with a speed of up to ten meters per minute. Even with this high performance, the machine is saving energy. The power consumption of the SAR 1700 is 800 watts, the SAR 1300 is only 700 watts, which approximately corresponds to a microwave.