Electronics

Automated Assembly and Inspection Linefor Refrigerator Lights

Project Objectives

A coordinated production line integrating PCB handling, laser soldering, vision inspection, housing assembly, optical testing, labeling, film application, tray loading, and carton packaging.

The project was designed to connect refrigerator-light assembly, inspection, traceability, and packaging within one coordinated line while retaining only the manual tasks that were practical for the production process.

Automate PCB loading, depaneling, placement, and wire-to-PCB soldering.
Use vision inspection to verify solder joints, product appearance, and barcode information.
Integrate front- and rear-cover assembly with optical-performance testing and NG separation.
Extend automation through film application, tray loading, carton forming, sealing, and final conveying.

Our Solution

Process Flow

Front and rear lift units connect the upper and lower double-speed chains so fixtures can circulate through the line. Operators load the wire material at a two-position preparation station before the fixture enters the automated processes.

Automated PCB Handling and Soldering

PCB boards are stored and supplied automatically, depaneled to the required size, and placed into the circulating fixture by a four-axis robot. A CCD system locates the solder points and guides the laser-soldering mechanism to join the wires to the PCB.

Assembly, Testing and Traceability

The line assembles the front cover, PCB and rear cover, applies labels, checks optical performance with an integrating-sphere system, and performs appearance inspection and barcode scanning. NG products are separated at the relevant inspection stations.

Downstream Packaging

Qualified products receive protective film, are unloaded into trays, and proceed to manual carton packing. The downstream system includes carton erecting, barcode labeling, automatic case sealing, and flexible conveying.

Process Flow

The process moves from fixture preparation and PCB assembly to soldering, housing assembly, multi-stage quality inspection, traceability, and final packaging. Manual participation is limited to wire loading and carton packing.

System Layout

Zone	Functional Area	Main Operations
1	Fixture and PCB Preparation	Fixture circulation, manual wire loading, PCB storage, panel feeding, and automatic depaneling.
2	Soldering and CCD Inspection	CCD-guided laser soldering, solder-joint inspection, and automatic separation of detected NG products.
3	Housing Assembly	Automatic loading and assembly of the front cover, PCB, and rear cover.
4	Optical Testing and Traceability	Product labeling, integrating-sphere optical testing, appearance inspection, barcode scanning, and NG separation.
5	Tray Loading and Carton Packaging	Protective-film application, automatic tray loading, manual carton packing, carton forming, sealing, and downstream conveying.

Key Equipment Solutions

The following equipment functions are derived directly from the supplied project layout and process descriptions.

No.	Equipment Solution	Role in the Production Line
1	Fixture Circulation and Lift System	Connects the upper and lower double-speed chain conveyors and continuously returns assembly fixtures to the front of the line.
2	PCB Feeding and Automatic Depaneling System	Stores PCB panels, feeds them as required, separates individual boards, and loads the finished PCBs into the circulating fixtures.
3	CCD-Guided Laser Soldering Machine	Uses CCD vision to locate soldering points and guides the soldering mechanism to connect the wires to the PCB automatically.
4	Solder Joint CCD Inspection and NG Sorting	Inspects solder-joint appearance and fullness by comparing visual features, then automatically separates detected NG products.
5	Front and Rear Cover Assembly Machines	Loads the front and rear light covers from trays and assembles them with the soldered PCB. Each tray holds 42 products, and each feeder stores up to eight trays.
6	Automatic Labeling System	Applies identification labels to assembled refrigerator lights at designated positions before and after optical testing.
7	Integrating Sphere Optical Test and NG Sorting	Performs spectral testing on assembled products and automatically removes units that do not meet the specified optical requirements.
8	CCD Appearance Inspection and Barcode Scanning	Checks the product’s external appearance and scans its barcode to support quality control and production traceability.
9	Protective Film Application and Automatic Tray Loading	Applies protective film to the front cover and automatically places completed products into trays for downstream handling.
10	Carton Erecting, Sealing and Flexible Conveying System	Forms empty cartons, connects the manual packing station, seals packed cartons, and transfers finished cases through the downstream conveyor line.

Specification

Specification	Value	Notes
Application	Refrigerator Light Assembly	Automated assembly, soldering, inspection, labeling, tray loading, and carton packaging of refrigerator light products.
Designed Production Capacity	700–800 pcs/h	Reference throughput specified for the complete production line.
Compressed Air Supply	0.4–0.6 MPa	Required operating air pressure for pneumatic mechanisms throughout the line.
Power Supply	AC 220V / AC 380V	Different machines within the production line use the applicable power configuration.
Required Operators	2	Operators are responsible for manual wire loading and final carton packing.
Front-cover Tray Capacity	42 pcs per tray	Front light covers are supplied in dedicated trays for automatic loading.
Rear-cover Tray Capacity	42 pcs per tray	Rear light covers are supplied in dedicated trays for automatic assembly.
Tray Feeder Storage	8 trays per feeder	The front-cover and rear-cover feeders each support continuous supply from up to eight trays.
Quality Inspection	CCD Vision + Integrating Sphere	Includes solder-joint inspection, product appearance inspection, barcode scanning, optical testing, and OK/NG sorting.
Final Packaging	Tray Loading and Carton Packaging	Completed products are film-protected, loaded into trays, packed into cartons, labeled, sealed, and conveyed downstream.