Purpose: To provide a summary of component heights mounted on both sides of the board.
Components can be separated into groups according to their pitch size (the distance between centers of adjacent pads). Reviewing the distribution of pitch sizes provides an insight as to the level of technology of the board.
Purpose: To provide a review of the various rotations of each component type. This helps forecast the assembly time and design for an optimal cycle.
Purpose: To identify components smaller than the minimum value.
Purpose: To identify components longer than the maximum value.
Purpose: To identify locations where assembled board thickness (components on one or both sides and board thickness) is more than a set value.
Some components can only be placed on one side of the board. The purpose of this check is to identify components not on the correct side of the board.
Purpose: To identify components which are too close. Component spacing rules are essential in providing correct tolerances for assembly equipment. They are also important in allowing efficient rework. Distance between components heavily depends on component type, as well as the process employed (SMT reflow, flow solder, etc.).
Purpose: To identify components which are too close considering their height. This is especially important in repair processes where tall components cause difficulty in accessing the close components.
Not all component overlap is illegal. (SMT components can be placed under through hole components in some situations.) This category reports components partially or totally under other components. The same components are reported in ‘Comp. Spacing’ with a measurement value of zero when ERF variable v_split_c2c=No. Reporting such components in a separate category makes them easier to handle.
Report components that overlap other components. The overlap distance indicates how far a component should be moved to avoid overlapping.
Purpose: The distance between a component and the toeprint (pad) of an adjacent component is important to rework and soldering considerations. It provides a finer distinction than c2c (Component Spacing).
Purpose: To identify components (e.g. TAB, BGA) which should not have components or features on the opposite side because of heat dissipation considerations. Even though some small discrete components are allowed, the category provides a review mechanism.
Purpose: To identify through hole components which should never have components on the other side too close to their pins.
Purpose: To identify components with solder joints that are inspected by x-ray, and components on the other side of the board that could interfere with the inspection process.
Purpose: To identify components too close to the edge of the board. Milling and shearing equipment need physical space and may damage them if too close. The distance from the edge is typically smaller for low components, and larger for higher components.
Similar to ‘Rout Spacing (Low Comp)’. To identify components too close to the edge of the board with heights greater than pp_low_height. Milling and shearing equipment need physical space and may damage them if too close. The distance from the edge is typically smaller for low components, and larger for higher components.
Purpose: To identify components too close to the edge of the board because when two SMT passes are needed, the second pass may knock them off.
Purpose: To identify components too close to the edge of the board because when two SMT passes are needed, the second pass may knock them off.
Purpose: To identify components too close to the conveyed edge since the SMT process requires a minimal clearance on the board edges to be handled by the conveyor.
Purpose: To identify components too close to the non-conveyed edge.
Purpose: To identify components where silk screen legends are placed too close. Silk screen features must be kept a minimum distance away from components to avoid coming in contact with the solderpaste.
Purpose: To report components close enough to their RefDes’s in the silk screen layer. The component’s RefDes is a collection of silk screen features that draw the component name bearing Copper Text and Copper Text String attributes with the same value as the component name. When a reference designator is too far from the component, or does not exist at all, it becomes difficult to identify the component.
Purpose: To report components missing a RefDes.
Silk screen features used as RefDes indicators are usually found close to their relevant components. Where indicators exist outside the profile, they are probably mistakes in design.
Purpose: To identify RefDes’s which are misplaced or confusing. A RefDes is used to identify components on the board. Sometimes, the RefDes’s of two components are located in a way that is confusing (RefDes’s not in same order as component number). This could cause mistakes in assembly.
Silk screen features used as RefDes indicators are usually found close to their relevant components. Where multiple indicators exist, the farthest ones are probably mistakes in design.
Purpose: To ensure there is enough space between components of two different process areas. When multiple processes are carried out on the same side, a carrier is used to shield SMT devices (assembled first) while the board passes through the flow solder stage. The design must leave enough room between components of two different process areas for the wall of the carrier to pass.
Purpose: To ensure enough space between a component and the toeprints of another component in a different process area on the other side of the board. ‘Carrier Wall Spacing (Comp.)’ only reports distances between two components of different process areas on the same side. This category reports components too close to a through hole toeprint of a component on the other side of the board. Through hole components within a process area on the top must also have a process area on the bottom of the board.
Purpose: To ensure that plated through holes are not too close or under the carrier wall, since this adversely affects the sealing of the area protected by the carrier.
Purpose: To ensure that non-plated through holes are not too close or under the carrier wall, since this adversely affects the sealing of the area protected by the carrier.
Purpose: To ensure enough space between sensitive components and labels. Labels glued on the board (e.g. for barcoding) should be kept away from some fine-pitch components (e.g. soic). The existence of a label protruding above the board surface creates an uneven surface for the squeegee applying the solderpaste, and may cause uneven solderpaste application.
Purpose: To ensure that gold plating and other processes are adequately shielded from each other.
Purpose: To keep components away from mounting holes / tooling holes This ensures they are not knocked or sheared off.
If components near drill holes are too high, they can obstruct the solder flow to the hole.
If components near drill holes are too high, they can obstruct the solder flow to the hole.
If components near drill holes are too high, they can obstruct the solder flow to the hole.
Purpose: To ensure there are no holes under a certain type of component. Some components must not have any sort of drill underneath, especially small SMT (chip) components. They have a large placement tolerance and may end up with their terminators directly over the hole. The only holes allowed under through hole components are those of the component itself.
PTHs under components on the other side of their process area could serve as a bridge during the solder flow process. They should be checked. The only holes allowed under through hole components are those of the component itself, or drills with attribute Capped Via.
Purpose: To ensure there are no uncapped vias (a via not covered by solder mask) under a certain type of component. Uncapped vias used with wave flow soldering processes may result in bridging under components that cannot be visually inspected.
Purpose: To ensure there are no capped vias under a certain type of component.
Purpose: To ensure uniform solder fill on both chip terminators.
Purpose: To verify that during automatic assembly (from tape) of SMT components, there are not excessive rotations of the assembling arm to slow down assembly.
Purpose: To flag all THMT components oriented in such a way as to conflict with the “majority” orientation (largest number of THMT components of the same c_type oriented in a like manner) on the board. Since many THMT components are assembled manually, such opposite orientations may be a source of assembly faults.
Reports components which have the attribute Orientation Indication Required but not an indication of pin #1 on the silk screen or copper layer.
The orientation mark indicates the position of pin #1. If there is more than one mark, or if it is wrongly placed, the component will be placed improperly.
Purpose: To identify components lacking a square pad for pin #1’s toeprint. Polarity of THMT components is typically identified by square pads on the external signal layers.
Components that are located between tall components are difficult to repair.
Purpose: To avoid solder bridging between the exposed copper of a via and a component.
Purpose: To detect lines under zero, stand-off components such as discrete or rpack components, lying close to the board. Lines underneath can interfere with proper placement of such components.
Purpose: To detect copper material under a component and not detected in the ‘Trace Under Component’ category. ‘Trace Under Component’ detects only lines and arcs. ‘Copper Shape Under Component’ detects pads and surfaces.