Patent Application
20240237223
The present disclosure belongs to the technical field of printed circuit boards, and specifically relates to a method and system for generating jet printing data, an electronic device, and a storage medium.
In the field of surface mount technology, the application of solder paste through printing and coating is a crucial step in the production process. The quality of electronic assembly circuit boards is directly influenced by how well this process is controlled. At present, there are two main methods for applying solder paste: stencil printing and spray printing. Spray printing of solder paste is a novel technique in solder paste application. It allows for the spraying of a specific thickness and volume of solder paste onto both flat and uneven printed circuit boards. This method can apply the optimal amount of solder paste needed for specific components, thereby achieving highly reliable soldering. With the advent of 3D printed boards and Package on Package (POP) soldering, traditional stencil printing techniques are becoming less effective. Solder paste spray printing technology not only overcomes the limitations of traditional stencil printing on 3D printed boards and POP, but it also enhances the precision of solder paste application since it is able to spray a specific required amount of solder paste for specific components.
During product development, changes to the printed board are quite common. Using stencil printing can lead to increased costs and extended product development cycles due to the need for new stencils with each change to the printed board. In contrast, spray printing equipment eliminates the need for creating new stencils as it sprays solder paste directly onto the Printed Circuit Board (PCB), and all that's needed is an adjustment to the spray printing program, which not only reduces costs but also shortens product development cycles.
Therefore, how to quickly and accurately establish spray printing data during the solder paste spray printing process is a key technical issue and an important technical challenge in this field.
In light of the above problem existing in the related art, the present disclosure provides a method and system for generating jet printing data, an electronic device, and a storage medium.
The method comprises:
As an example, step 1 comprises:
As an example, step 1.3 comprises:
As an example, step 1 comprises:
As an example, step 2 comprises:
As an example, step 2.1 comprises:
As an example, step 2.2 comprises:
As an example, after step 2, the method further comprises:
As an example, the performing downscaling or upscaling processing on the highlighted region to obtain a downscaled or upscaled highlighted region comprises:
An embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a system for generating jet printing data, comprising:
An embodiment of the present disclosure further provides an electronic device, comprising a processor, a communication interface, a memory, and a communication bus, wherein the processor, the communication interface, and the memory complete communication with each other through the communication bus;
An embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a storage medium, storing a computer program, the computer program, when executed by a processor, implementing the steps of the method for generating jet printing data as in any of the above embodiments.
The present disclosure has the following beneficial effects:
According to the method for generating jet printing data of the present disclosure, the image scanning angle of each highlighted region in the pad pattern is first determined, then each highlighted region is scanned and filled to determine a jet printing path, and finally jet printing data is generated based on the jet printing path, so that a jet printing system can perform a jet printing operation using the jet printing data. Therefore, in the method for generating jet printing data of the present disclosure, only a bare PCB or a Gerber file is needed so that the jet printing data can be rapidly and accurately generated and provided to the jet printing system, thereby maximizing the speed for generating jet printing programs, increasing program quality, and operating efficiency.
The jet printing data finally formed according to the method for generating jet printing data of the present disclosure may be device instruction data directly or indirectly used by a jet printing device.
The present disclosure is further described in detail below with reference to the embodiments and the accompanying drawings.
The present disclosure is further described in detail below with reference to specific embodiments, but implementations of the present disclosure are not limited thereto.
Refer to
Step 1: obtaining a pad pattern, wherein the pad pattern comprises several highlighted regions, and each highlighted region is a region that needs to be printed.
For example, the pad pattern may be obtained in the following two manners, which are exemplary and not restrictive.
The first manner comprises step 1.1 to step 1.3.
Step 1.1: obtaining a to-be-jet-printed PCB image.
Specifically, a bare PCB is first fixed, then a photo of the bare PCB is captured using an industrial color camera, and then stored. The stored photo is the to-be-jet-printed PCB image.
Step 1.2: removing a screen-printing pattern from the to-be-jet-printed PCB image to obtain a first image.
Specifically, Step 1.2 may be performed according to characteristics of the to-be-jet-printed PCB image. Usually, screen-printing patterns are white, pad patterns are bright or gold, and PCBs are green, red, black, cyan, orange, etc. Therefore, in Step 1.2, the screen-printing pattern may be removed by removing white parts of the total pattern, that is, white pixels are converted into black pixels.
Step 1.3: processing the first image by using image binarization and denoising algorithms, to obtain the pad pattern comprising the several highlighted regions.
Step 1.31: processing the first image by using a dilation and/or erosion algorithm, to obtain a second image.
Specifically, since particles such as dust may gather on the PCB during photographing, and corresponding small black spots may appear on the photo. The small black spots need to be removed. In addition, the PCB may have light reflections on its surface during photographing, which may cause small white spots to appear on the photo, and therefore denoising is needed. Therefore, the small black spots or small white spots on the first image may be removed by using the dilation and/or erosion algorithm, to obtain the second image.
Step 1.32: Removing, from the second image, white spots whose minimum bounding rectangle has a size smaller than a preset size or which have an actual area smaller than a minimum threshold area, to obtain the pad pattern.
Specifically, relatively large white spots in the second image are removed. If the size of the minimum bounding rectangle of a white spot is less than the preset size, this white spot is removed (for example, when the white spot is larger than a pixel and smaller than a solder pad, it is removed). If the actual area of a white spot is less than the threshold area, this white spot is also removed. The pattern with the white spots being removed is the pad pattern. Herein, a minimum bounding rectangle is the smallest rectangle that encompasses an entire white spot. The actual area of a white spot=a quantity of pixels of the white spot*area of a single pixel.
Preferably, the preset size is 0.07 mm*0.2 mm, wherein 0.07 mm is a width, and 0.2 mm is a length.
Preferably, the minimum threshold area Sthreshold=0.014 mm2.
The second manner comprises obtaining the pad pattern through a Gerber file.
Step 2: determining an image scanning angle of each of the highlighted regions in the pad pattern.
Specifically, step 2 may comprise step 2.1 to step 2.2.
Step 2.1: determining whether each single highlighted region of the several highlighted regions is a circle, wherein if yes, an image scanning angle of this single highlighted region is 0 degree, and if no, this single highlighted region is a polygon.
For each single highlighted region, if L0 is greater than or equal to W0, a length and width tolerance value T=(L0−W0)/L0. If L0 is less than W0, T=(W0−L0)/W0, it is determined whether T is less than or equal to a maximum threshold Tmax and whether an area ratio tolerance value T1 is less than or equal to a maximum threshold T1max. If T is less than or equal to Tmax and T1 is less than or equal to T1max (that is, T1≤ T1max), the single highlighted region is rotated by an angle n1 (rotated only once). If T2 is less than Tmax, the single highlighted region is a circle, and the image scanning angle of the single highlighted region is 0 degree, otherwise, the single highlighted region is a polygon. T1=|K−(π/4)|, K=(S/S0)*100, S0=L0*W0, L0 is a length of the single highlighted region in a horizontal direction, W0 is a width of the single highlighted region in a vertical direction, and S is an area of the single highlighted region. The area S of the single highlighted region=a quantity of pixels of the single highlighted region *an area of a single pixel, T2=|L1−W1|/L0, L1 is a length of the single highlighted region in the horizontal direction after being rotated by the angle n1, W1 is a width of the single highlighted region in the vertical direction after being rotated by the angle n1, and 0 degree<n1<90 degrees.
Preferably, Tmax=1%.
Preferably, the value of T1max is in a range of 0.01 to 0.05 (including the endpoints). That is to say, a person skilled in the art may choose a value from the range of 0.01 to 0.05 as the value of the maximum threshold T1max based on practical needs.
Preferably, n1 is 45 degrees.
It should be noted that, the single highlighted region may be rotated clockwise or counterclockwise.
Step 2.2: processing the single highlighted region based on a relationship between an initial area ratio K and a minimum initial area ratio Kmin if the single highlighted region is a polygon, and accordingly obtaining the image scanning angle of the single highlighted region.
Step 2.21: determining the relationship between the initial area ratio K and the minimum initial area ratio Kmin if the single highlighted region is a polygon, wherein if K is greater than or equal to Kmin, the single highlighted region is not rotated, in which case, if L0 is greater than or equal to W0, the image scanning angle of the single highlighted region is 0 degree, and if L0 is less than W0, the image scanning angle of the single highlighted region is 90 degrees, wherein if K is less than Kmin, the single highlighted region is rotated according to step 2.22.
Preferably, Kmin=90.
Step 2.22: rotating the single highlighted region by an angle n for each rotation (each rotation continues based on the previous rotation) and determining a relationship between an area ratio K1 and an minimum area ratio K1min for each rotation after the single highlighted region is rotated by the angle n, wherein if K1 is greater than or equal to K1min, the rotation of the single highlighted region is stopped, and magnitudes of L2 and W2 are determined; if L2 is greater than or equal to W2, the image scanning angle of the single highlighted region is a current rotation angle; if L2 is less than W2, the image scanning angle of the single highlighted region is the current rotation angle plus 90 degrees; if K1 is less than K1min, the single highlighted region continues to be rotated by the angle n; if after each rotation by the angle n, K1 remains less than K1min (that is, K1 is still less than K1min after rotation by 0 degree to 90 degrees (excluding 0 degree and 90 degrees) in total), a rotation angle corresponding to a maximum K1 is selected as the current rotation angle of the single highlighted region, and magnitudes of L2 and W2 are determined; if L2 is greater than or equal to W2, the image scanning angle of the single highlighted region is the current rotation angle; and if L2 is less than W2, the image scanning angle of the single highlighted region is the current rotation angle plus 90 degrees, wherein K1=(S/S1)*100, S1=L2*W2, L2 is a length of the single highlighted region in a horizontal direction after being rotated by the angle n for each rotation, W2 is a width of the single highlighted region in a vertical direction after being rotated by the angle n for each rotation, and 0 degree<n<90 degrees.
Preferably, K1 min=98.
Preferably, n may be 45 degrees, 15 degrees, 30 degrees, or 60 degrees, or n may be any angle selected from the range of 0 degree to 90 degrees based on practical needs.
It should be noted that, for a person skilled in the art, the angle n for each rotation may be varied adjustable.
Step 3: performing downscaling or upscaling processing on the highlighted regions to obtain downscaled or upscaled highlighted regions.
Specifically, for each single highlighted region, a relationship between M and 0 is determined. If M is less than 0, this single highlighted region is downscaled to obtain a downscaled highlighted region, and if M is greater than 0, this single highlighted region is upscaled to obtain an upscaled highlighted region. If M is 0, this single highlighted region does not need to be downscaled or upscaled, wherein M=K2*a quantity of pixels, and K2 is a positive value, a negative value, or 0.
As an example, the number of pixels by which the single highlighted image needs to be downscaled or upscaled can be further obtained based on M=K2*the quantity of pixels. Specifically, as an example, the number of pixels of the single highlighted region is increased (when M is positive) or reduced (when M is negative) by |M| based on an image outlining algorithm, to achieve upscaling or downscaling.
Further, when the single highlighted region is a circle, if an area S of the single highlighted region is in a range of 0 square millimeters to 0.5 square millimeters, K2=5%; if the area S of the single highlighted region is in a range of 0.5 square millimeters to 1 square millimeter, K2=0%; and if the area S of the single highlighted region is in a range of 1 square millimeter to ∞ square millimeters, K2=−5%. When the single highlighted region is a polygon, if the area S of the single highlighted region is in a range of 0 square millimeters to 1.0 square millimeter, K2=0%; if the area S of the single highlighted region is in a range of 1.0 square millimeter to 3.6 square millimeters, K2=−5%; if the area S of the single highlighted region is in a range of 3.6 square millimeters to 7.0 square millimeters, K2=−10%; and if the area S of the single highlighted region is in a range of 7.0 square millimeters to ∞ square millimeters, K2=−15%.
In addition, it should be noted that, before or after the image scanning angle of each single highlighted region is determined, Mark point positions may further be specified through the highlighted regions. An order of specifying the Mark point position and a manner of specifying the Mark point position may be adjusted according to practical needs.
Moreover, as an example, a nozzle diameter may be selected based on the actual jet printing device to be used. An order of selecting the nozzle diameter may be adjusted according to practical needs.
Step 4: scanning and filling downscaled or upscaled highlighted regions, to obtain a jet printing path.
Specifically, the downscaled or upscaled highlighted regions may be scanned and filled by using a dot filling algorithm or a line filling algorithm, and then the jet printing path is obtained through a scanning algorithm. The jet printing path is represented by the obtained scan, and an order is obtained through division of grid regions.
Specifically, the manner of scanning and filling as an example may be the dot filling algorithm or the line filling algorithm. The dot filling algorithm comprises filling a dot matrix at different image scanning angles based on the selected nozzle diameter, and the line filling algorithm comprises arranging and filling lines at different image scanning angles based on the selected nozzle diameter. For example, referring to
For dot filling, the jet printing path requires coordinates of each dot, while for line filling, motion positions of the filling comprise a start position and an end position of each scanning line.
It should be noted that, when one or more highlighted regions need to be downscaled or upscaled, the downscaled or upscaled highlighted regions need to be scanned and filled, to obtain the jet printing path.
Step 5: generating jet printing data based on the jet printing path.
Specifically, data obtained through the above conversion is processed into the jet printing data. The jet printing data not only comprises the jet printing path (that is, a nozzle motion trajectory), but also comprises: Mark point positions, jetting enabling and disabling instructions (i.e., instructions to enable and disable jetting), and a jet printing diameter (that is, a nozzle diameter); instruction data received and used by the jet printing device may be directly or indirectly formed by the jet printing data.
Therefore, in the method for generating jet printing data of the present disclosure, only a bare PCB or a Gerber file is needed so that the jet printing data can be rapidly and accurately generated and provided to the jet printing system, thereby maximizing the speed for generating jet printing programs, increasing program quality, and operating efficiency.
The data finally formed in the present disclosure may be device instruction data directly used by the jet printing device. In the present disclosure, the jet printing device may be one or more of an inkjet printer, an electrohydrodynamic (EHD) jet printer, a 3D printer, and a LaserJet printer.
This embodiment further provides a specific method for generating jet printing data based on the above embodiment. The method for generating jet printing data comprises the following steps:
S1: fixing a bare PCB and capture a photo of the bare PCB by using an industrial color camera.
S2: storing the photo captured by the industrial camera, wherein the stored photo is a to-be-jet-printed PCB image.
S3: obtaining a pad pattern, by:
S3.1: removing the screen-printing pattern from the to-be-jet-printed PCB image based on colors of the PCB image (exemplary colors: screen-printing pattern: white; pad: bright color; PCB: green), and removing white parts of the PCB image (for example, the white parts are converted to black).
S3.2: setting a value of bright pixels to 1, and set values of black and green pixels to 0 by using image binarization and denoising algorithms, wherein specifically, (1) is performed first, and then (2) is performed:
S4: specifying Mark point positions based on each of obtained highlighted regions, wherein the order of specifying the Mark point positions and determining the image scanning angle of each highlighted region is adjustable. For example:
A length L0 and a width W0 of each single highlighted region are obtained in a horizontal direction and a vertical direction, respectively, a bounding rectangle of the single highlighted region is obtained based on L0 and W0, and an area of the bounding rectangle is given by S0=L0*W0.
An area of the single highlighted region is given by S=a quantity of pixels*an area of a single pixel.
An initial area ratio is given by K=(S/S0)*100.
It is then determined whether the single highlighted region is a circle. If L0 is greater than or equal to W0, a length and width tolerance value is given by T=(L0−W0)/L0. If L0 is less than W0, T=(W0−L0)/W0. It is then determined whether T is less than or equal to 1% and whether an area ratio tolerance value T1=|K−(π/4)| is less than or equal to 0.05. If T is less than or equal to 1% and T1 is less than or equal to 0.05, the single highlighted region is rotated by a rotation angle of n1 (n1 is in a range of 0 degree to 90 degrees, excluding 0 degree and 90 degrees, preferably 45 degrees). In this case, the single highlighted region is rotated only once, to obtain a length L1 and a width W1 of the rotated single highlighted region in a horizontal direction and a vertical direction, respectively, and T2=|L1−W1|/L0. It is then determined whether T2 is less than 1%. If T2 is less than 1%, the single highlighted region is a circle, and the corresponding image scanning angle is 0 degree. Otherwise, the single highlighted region is a polygon.
If the single highlighted region is a polygon, a relationship between the initial area ratio K and 96 is determined. If K is greater than or equal to 96, the single highlighted region does not need to be rotated, and magnitudes of L0 and W0 are determined. If L0 is greater than or equal to W0, it is determined that the image scanning angle is 0 degree. If L0 is less than W0, it is determined that the image scanning angle is 90 degrees. If the initial area ratio K is less than 96, the single highlighted region starts to be rotated.
The single highlighted region is rotated to obtain a rotated single highlighted region, with a length L2 and a width W2 in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction, respectively. One bounding rectangle is obtained for each rotation the single highlighted region is rotated by a rotation angle of n, and a length and a width of this bounding rectangle correspond to the rotated single highlighted region (a range of the rotation angle n: 0 degree to 90 degrees, excluding 0 degree and 90 degrees). The rotation angle within this range is preferably 45 degrees, 15 degrees, 30 degrees, and 60 degrees. If the above angles cannot preferably satisfy an area ratio, rotation is performed based on n degrees for each rotation (the rotation angle n for each rotation is adjustable based on practical needs).
The area ratio is given by K1=(an area S of the single highlighted region/an area S1 of the bounding rectangle obtained through rotation of the single highlighted region)*100.
The area S1 of the bounding rectangle obtained through rotation of the single highlighted region=the length L2*the width W2.
It is then determined whether the area ratio K1 is greater than or equal to 99. If yes, the rotation of the single highlighted region is stopped, a current rotation angle is obtained, and magnitudes of L2 and W2 are determined, in which case, if L2 is greater than or equal to W2, the current rotation angle is the image scanning angle, and if L2 is less than W2, it is determined that the image scanning angle is the current rotation angle plus 90 degrees. If the area ratio K1 is not greater than or equal to 99, the single highlighted region continues to be rotated. If area ratios corresponding to 0 degree to 90 degrees (excluding 0 degree and 90 degrees) are all less than 99, a maximum corresponding angle of K1 is taken as the current rotation angle and the magnitudes of L2 and W2 are determined, in which case, if L2 is greater than or equal to W2, the current rotation angle is the image scanning angle, and if L2 is less than W2, it is determined that the image scanning angle is the current rotation angle plus 90 degrees.
S5: performing downscaling or upscaling processing on the highlighted regions to obtain downscaled or upscaled highlighted regions.
Shape: a circle and a polygon.
The area S of the single highlighted region is obtained, and K2 is obtained based on the area S.
The area S of the single highlighted region is obtained, and K2 is obtained based on the area S.
As an example, the number of pixels by which the single highlighted image needs to be downscaled or upscaled can be further obtained based on M=K2*the quantity of pixels. Specifically, as an example, the number of pixels of the single highlighted region is increased (when M is positive) or reduced (when M is negative) by |M| based on an image outlining algorithm, to achieve upscaling or downscaling.
S6: selecting a nozzle diameter.
S7: scanning and filling the downscaled or upscaled highlighted regions, and obtain a jet printing path through a scanning algorithm.
Dot filling algorithm: filling a dot matrix at different image scanning angles based on the selected nozzle diameter.
Line filling algorithm: arranging and filling lines at different image scanning angles based on the selected nozzle diameter.
Motion positions: comprising a start position and an end position of each scanning line.
Dot filling: requiring coordinates of each dot.
S8: generating jet printing data, wherein data obtained through conversion in S1 to S7 is processed into the jet printing data, and the jet printing data comprises: Mark point positions, a nozzle motion trajectory, jetting enabling and disabling instructions, a jet printing diameter, and device instruction data directly formed by the jet printing data.
In addition, the pad pattern as an example may also be obtained through a Gerber file, and then S4 to S8 are performed to form the jet printing data.
Referring to
The system for generating jet printing data provided, as an example, may perform the above method embodiments with similar implementation principles and technical effects.
Refer to
The memory 1103 is configured to store a computer program.
The processor 1101 is configured to implement the steps of the above method during execution of the computer program.
The processor 1101 is configured to implement the following steps during execution of the computer program.
Step 1: obtaining a pad pattern, wherein the pad pattern comprises several highlighted regions.
Step 2: determining an image scanning angle of each of the highlighted regions in the pad pattern.
Step 3: scanning and fill each of the highlighted regions based on the corresponding image scanning angle, to obtain a jet printing path.
Step 4: generating jet printing data based on the jet printing path.
The electronic device of the present disclosure may perform the above method embodiments with similar implementation principles and technical effects.
This embodiment provides a computer-readable storage medium, storing a computer program. The computer program, when executed by a processor, implements the following steps.
Step 1: obtaining a pad pattern, wherein the pad pattern comprises several highlighted regions.
Step 2: determining an image scanning angle of each of the highlighted regions in the pad pattern.
Step 3: scanning and filling each of the highlighted regions based on the corresponding image scanning angle, to obtain a jet printing path.
Step 4: generating jet printing data based on the jet printing path.
The computer-readable storage medium provided as an example of the present disclosure may perform the above method embodiments with similar implementation principles and technical effects, and details are not described herein again.
A person skilled in the art should understand that the embodiments of the present disclosure may be provided as a method, an apparatus (a device), or a computer program product. Therefore, the present disclosure may be in the form of hardware-only embodiments, software-only embodiments, or embodiments combining software and hardware, which are all collectively referred to as “modules” or “systems”. Moreover, the present disclosure may be in the form of a computer program product implemented on one or more computer-readable storage media (comprising but not limited to a disk memory, a CD-ROM, an optical memory, and the like) that comprise computer-usable program code. Computer programs are stored/distributed in suitable media, are provided together with other hardware or as a part of hardware, or may be distributed in other manners, for example, through the Internet or another wired or wireless telecommunications system.
In the description of the present disclosure, it should be noted that, the terms “first” and “second” are merely used for description and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of indicated technical features. Therefore, a feature limited by “first” or “second” may explicitly or implicitly comprise one or more of the features. In the descriptions of the present disclosure, the “plurality of” means two or more, unless otherwise definitely and specifically defined.
In the description of this specification, the description of the reference terms “an embodiment”, “some embodiments”, “an example”, “a specific example”, “some examples,” and the like means that specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics described in combination with the embodiment(s) or example(s) are comprised in at least one embodiment or example of the present disclosure. In this specification, schematic descriptions of the foregoing terms are not necessarily directed at the same embodiment or example. In addition, the described specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics may be combined in a proper manner in any one or more of the embodiments or examples. In addition, a person skilled in the art may integrate and combine different embodiments or examples described in this specification.
The above content is a further detailed description of the present disclosure in combination with specific preferred implementations, but it should not be considered that the specific implementation of the present disclosure is only limited to these descriptions. Various simple derivations or replacements may further be made by a person of ordinary skill in the art to which the present disclosure belongs without departing from the concept of the present disclosure, and shall fall within the scope of the present disclosure.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 202110552417.9 | May 2021 | CN | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/CN2022/086006 | 4/11/2022 | WO |
