SMT pick and place vacuum hand picker

cults3d

Printing the mouthpiece from a soft material such as NinjaFlex or TPU will make it easier to hold. NEW: I added a model for a standalone pick and place tool with no vacuum pump needed. The tube is a flexible silicone aquarium airline from a pet store, and the filter is a universal 1/4" automobile fuel filter (trimmed to fit the airline). This design features a single piece handle for a vacuum hand picker for electronics SMT components, available in two versions: one with a release hole and one without. I'm using the latter version with a foot pedal and a 12V pneumatic valve for better release stability. The printed release hole is intentionally small; you can drill a larger one if desired or just print the no-hole version and drill a hole wherever you prefer. The handle is compatible with standard industrial blunt needles (available on eBay) and standard aquarium air hose (use silicone hose for better flexibility, such as "TopFin Silicone Airline Tubing"). The files labeled 'demo' show internal details; these are not the ones to print. I printed it on a Prusa i3V using PLA, 20% infill, 5 top, bottom, and vertical shells (in Slic3r) for better air tightness and no material support (otherwise you'll block the internal air passage). Air tightness is crucial for proper operation; test it by holding it underwater with the tip blocked and blowing into the hose. If you still see bubbles through cracks and holes, increase the number of shells, print slower, ensure you don't under-extrude, or fill the holes with glue (you can apply vacuum to push the glue into the holes). This is a base design; hopefully, others will improve on it. For example, forcing air to flow near the release hole for minimizing residual vacuum when released, adding a built-in adjustable valve for regulating desired lifting force, incorporating a built-in air filter or making this thing ESD safe. The source files include an Inkscape .svg file containing the spline contour of the handle, exported in DXF format using the Inkspace BetterDxf extension and required for proper compilation of the SCAD file.