Vertically Mounting of a PWA to a PWA

I need ideas for mounting without a connector a small pwa daughter card vertically to another pwa. I have seen u shaped clips for the edge of the card which allow you to insert and wave solder the card into the mother board. How are these clips atomatically placed and soldered to the side of the card. Is this a secondary operation with it's own cell? Mass reflowed with the paste and other SMT devices? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks Dan Shea Sr. Mfg. Eng. The Foxboro Co. dshea@foxboro.com Tel: 508-549-2410

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I'm surprised there hasn't been a response to this. This technique has been around for some time, as it was used early on for memory boards and the like. The pins come on a reel with a carrier strip or strips. Machines are available from the manufacturers for high volume attachment, but for low volume, they can be cut into the right length and placed onto the board edge with minimal simple tooling. Some have solder inserts which allow reflow along with the rest of the SMT parts, but my experience has been with the type that are soldered as a secondary operation, which basically is fluxing and inserting into a solder pot. The entire row of pins, up to the fork, is dipped into flux and then into the solder. Takes a little dexterity, but does a fantastic job. After soldering, the carrier strip can be sheared off. A small benchtop metal shear works really well, with a simple fixture.

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