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Who of you experts can tell me the history of SMT?

William

#18237

Who of you experts can tell me the history of SMT? | 23 November, 2001

Hi expert,

I'm doing a research on the SMT market and are in desperate need of some information on the history of SMT.

How did everything start? Was there life before SMT? What was the first stage?

All information on board handling and SMT is more than welcome!

Thank you for your unlimited expertise!

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#18241

Who of you experts can tell me the history of SMT? | 23 November, 2001

Hi William,

well I guess SMT was invented accidentally when for what reason ever (be CAD related or PCB shop related) those PCB�s with no drillholes at all appeared in the assembly. Ah, you know these fella�s who are never short of a quick solution, don�t waste their time with whining, argueing, blaming and so on, instead just made the best out of it cut or bent the leads and just soldered them to what they only had, the surface and sold the whole thing as new technology called what it was, Surface Mounted Technology. Nice and short story isn�t it ? Or was it due to agressive marketing of some via gurus who couldn�t live with the truth that vias in the PTH-age were rated as crutch and only necessary to conceal the layouters inability to disentagle all those connections of these fu..... more and more complex circruitry.

But serious, guess it started step by step with some parts being just cheaper with no leadmounting and the demand for more parts on a given space. Also the demand for more and easier automated processing of devices may have been a driving force. And really, ... with the "invention" of the PCB there also was a new part in electronics that made these things possible and therefore it seems to be more than logic (ehh..mmmh, could that be ...?) that things moved into that direction. Before with all that "chassis build" devices it just wasn�t even possible to do that. So as I would see it, the actual starting point is the PCB, the more important milestone in this context. I don�t know when it really started and where but from hearsay BGA�s and respective the mounting technology was already developed in the 60�th for example. Another hearsay points to Japan and their favour for small things. If you look deeper to this subject you may find that a lot of people and companies claim to have invented this whole stuff. What�s literature telling about that? I guess Dave will be able to give ample advice where to look and read.

If I�m retired it would be nice to tell my grandchilds ... and than I did this SMT thing that was actually invented in .. �hhh, mmh..heeyyy... ok will you come back before dark please ? ... ;-)

Good luck with your findings

Wolfgang (not long enough in this world to remember)

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#18265

Who of you experts can tell me the history of SMT? | 26 November, 2001

MYTH: SMT => Dirt => Beer => Girls

FACT: * Hybrid circuits in the 1960s that were used to conquer space where the genesis of today's SMT. * Japanese commecialized it to build better transitor radios * UIC & Dynapert fought it tooth and nail. UIC finally got the picture. The other never did.

Erzit the other way around [fact then myth]? Too much flux flumes.

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Michael Parker

#18275

Who of you experts can tell me the history of SMT? | 27 November, 2001

If you ever saw the movie "1943" with John Belushi you might remember the part where the Japanese were trying to get a stolen radio down the hatch on a sub. I believe that is when the genesis of making smaller parts began.

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CJN

#18351

Who of you experts can tell me the history of SMT? | 5 December, 2001

Not sure the exact birth of SMT, but I remember that move and it was 1941, not 1943, but who cares... Good luck on your quest for the birth of SMT...

:)

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Michael Parker

#18358

Who of you experts can tell me the history of SMT? | 6 December, 2001

I never was much good on remembering dates, must be the flux fumes!

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cmay

#18385

Who of you experts can tell me the history of SMT? | 10 December, 2001

William,

Just to start with, I am no expert, but I have a few books lurking.

According to one entry, Surface Mounted resistors stuck to circuit boards had been described in 1952 (Circuit World, Feb edition 1952, page 70) The first mention of a device with its terminals in contact with conductors on a circuit board occurs in a BRITISH PATENT in 1960. So, as you can see, it's us limeys who are to blame for all of this grief...if you can believe all that you read.

Regards,

Chris

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John ODonnell

#18427

Who of you experts can tell me the history of SMT? | 12 December, 2001

Pls call me and I will help where possible

John O'Donnell 603-433-2125

This message was posted via the Electronics Forum @

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#18429

Who of you experts can tell me the history of SMT? | 12 December, 2001

OK, here is the deal. I won't write a book but I have to correct the putz that said the birth of SMT was an accident. Actually the SMT machine replaced the poor bastards who had to place components by hand. Manufacturers were looking for a better way of building boards and cutting down production time. As far as the birth, someone else will have to help you there. Good luck!

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#18432

Who of you experts can tell me the history of SMT? | 13 December, 2001

You might search the forum for the author's name before you go calling him a putz.

In this case you'll find the source of (#1) a wealth of informative responses, and (#2) a sense of humor.

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