When buying ICs in DIL-packages I always have to bend the pinrows "parallel" before fitting them in the IC-socket, if it is one IC I do this on the edge of the table, if there are a lot of ICs I use a tool I bought from Radio Shack (Tandy). Now here's my question: why do IC manufacturers bend the pins of their dil-packages in such a shape I have "to bend parallel" every package's pinrows afterwards to fit correctly in its socket?
nukeymusic
Its done for automated manufacturing machines that stuff boards.
Steve
When a PC board is manufactured, the stuffed-in chips 'spring back' to the slightly splayed configuration after insertion. The next step, with a wave of liquid solder pushing up from below, would dislodge those chips if they were simply loose in the holes.
Glue dots perform the same function on some assembly lines, and of course solder paste/IR reflow has replaced the wave-solder tank on others. Lots of places "stake" the chips (bend back two or more pins after insertion) because the splaying isn't always effective.
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