Mould-integrated mechatronic fixture for error compensation in injection over-moulding of optoelectronic devices: Presentation held at 20th Euspen's International Conference & Exhibition, virtual online web-conference, 8th - 12th June 2020, was planned to bel held in Geneva

Optoelectronic devices consist of electrical and optical components that are usually manufactured separately and assembled subsequently. To further enhance functional quality and at the same time shorten the production process, a new approach combines both steps by over-moulding the electric components with the lens material using injection moulding. During this process, aligning the electric components (e.g. LEDs) towards the lens geometry is a critical factor allowing for only very small tolerances. The accuracy of positioning the functional components on the printed circuit board (PCB) often does not fulfil the requested demands so that there is a need for compensating misalignment errors. For that purpose, a mould-integrated mechatronic fixture was developed, allowing for measurement-based alignment of optoelectronic components towards lens geometries within the injection-moulding tool. Principle concepts were derived incorporating functional requirements as well as boundary conditions for mould integration, resulting in a 3-DOF mechatronic fixture based on a compliant mechanism with piezo actuators. Model-based dimensioning and design of the prioritized principle as well as capabilities of the developed system will be discussed within the paper.