Precision Ultrasonic Spray Fluxing System with Selective Fluxing Capability
Tek will be exhibiting at Apex Expo 2012 February 28-March 1 in San Diego, CA, booth 3700. On display will be Sono-Tek’s SonoFlux Servo WS, a fully automated reciprocating ultrasonic spray fluxing system that is designed for spraying water soluble/organic acid fluxes. All of the wetted materials, including the pumping system, liquid lines, fittings and ultrasonic spray nozzle are constructed with materials that are proven compatible with these very corrosive fluxes. The SonoFlux Servo WS incorporates Sono-Tek’s non-clogging ultrasonic spray nozzle with our high Impact controlled velocity air shaping technology for excellent through hole penetration without overspray. In addition, the SonoFlux Servo WS allows selective fluxing of pallets or full area coverage, with user-friendly programming and recipe storage controlled via a compact notebook using Windows®-based software. This versatile system is easily integrated with all major wave solder machines. The flexibility of selective area fluxing or full board width coverage combined with the ability to spray aggressive high solids fluxes without clogging makes the SonoFlux Servo WS an important tool for PCB manufacturers worldwide.
Sono-Tek Corporation is one of the originators of ultrasonic spray fluxing technology and continues to be the industry’s leader in ultrasonic spray fluxing systems, with a full line of spray fluxing systems to suit any PCB manufacturer’s needs. Visit www.SprayFluxing.com, http://www.sono-tek.com/electronics/page/sonoflux_servo for more information or email info@sono-tek.com.
To see a video of the SonoFlux Servo WS in action, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4FaT6aits0&list=UUsjBhCR_QQaYdmq2OuHkKAQ&index=34&feature=plcp
Sono-Tek Corporation, Milton, NY USA, is pleased to announce the launch of their new websites, www.Sono-Tek.com and www.SprayFluxing.com. A world leader in ultrasonic spray coating technology, Sono-Tek has upgraded and expanded its internet presence using the latest technology available for a more user friendly web experience.
This website change is a long term enhancement of the company’s internet capabilities and information structure, to support Sono-Tek’s rapid growth and product line expansion over the past decade. The previous website became limiting in its representation of Sono-Tek’s diverse technology offerings. A new user navigation menu has been incorporated to make it easier for visitors to find the information they need more quickly.
“We anticipate continued growth in many of the industries we serve, with our unique ultrasonic coating systems offering spray solutions that make next generation R&D as well as more efficient and cost effective high volume manufacturing possible for companies around the globe. This new website gives us growing room as needed to ensure our technologies are presented in the most comprehensive and accurate manner on the world wide web”, said Chris Coccio, Sono-Tek’s CEO.
Visit www.Sono-Tek.com or email info@sono-tek.com for more information.
MediCoat DCB Ultrasonic Spray System Applies Thin Film Durable Drug Coatings
Sono-Tek Corporation, Milton, NY USA plans to showcase a new drug eluting balloon coating system, the MEdiCoat DCB, at MD&M West, booth 1444 February 14-16 at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA.
The latest in a full line of precision medical device coating systems, the MediCoat DCB Balloon Coating System is a fully enclosed, sealed glovebox unit designed to coat common sizes and types of Drug Coated Balloons (DCB) that can be mounted onto catheters for the purpose of drug delivery during in vivo procedures such as angioplasty.
The MediCoat Balloon Coating System is fitted with either our MicroMist or AccuMist ultrasonic atomizing nozzles. These nozzles are proven for atomizing drugs such as Paclitaxel (Taxol), Rapamycin or Heparin in drug only or drug+polymer combinations.
Most organic solvents such as THF, acetone, DMAC, toluene, chloroform and polymers including urethanes, polycarbonates, silicones and styrenes are also applied using the MediCoat system, as well as lubricious coatings. Sono-Tek has extensive expertise coating implantable stents and other precision medical devices with these solutions. The low velocity soft spray and uniform, micron sized droplets generated with Sono-Tek nozzle systems provide superior adherence to balloon surfaces without any overspray, cracking, or peeling of the coating.
Sono-Tek is world renowned for supplying precision coating technology to the medical industry in several applications – including cardiac and peripheral implantable stent coatings, blood collection tube coatings, antimicrobial coating of surgical gauze, bandages, and medical textiles, and catheter and guide wire coatings. They have been providing precision medical coating machines for over 2 decades and have helped dozens of medical device manufacturers improve their quality and throughput, including validation documentation support. For more information, go to http://www.sono-tek.com/balloon-coating/ or email info@sono-tek.com.
Visit Sono-Tek at the 2011 Fuel Cell Seminar and Exposition, October 31st - Nov 3 in Orlando, FL, booth 627 to see what we mean. Sono-Tek’s precision ultrasonic coating technology is being used by some of the largest Fuel Cell manufacturers in the world to spray uniform thin film coatings of carbon black inks, ceramic slurries, or other catalyst suspensions onto fuel cell membranes such as Nafion and solid oxide fuel cell rods.
Sono-Tek ultrasonic coating systems provide highly durable, pinhole free catalyst coatings, with homogenous dispersion of platinum particles, creating the most effective surface area for maximum transport of reactants. This in turn has a direct effect on cell efficiency. Electrochemically active Pt surface area using ultrasonic atomization has been recorded as high as 71% of the total Pt particle surface area.
2011 marks the 35th anniversary of the founding of Sono-Tek Corporation, Milton, NY USA. The Company was started in 1975 by Dr. Harvey Berger, inventor of the ultrasonic nozzle. From modest beginnings during the oil crisis of the 1970s, we have continually developed our unique technologies and grown from being a company that only provided ultrasonic nozzles to a full coating solutions company. Our initial developments included fuel efficient nozzles for oil burners, but we quickly realized the unique capabilities of our ultrasonic nozzles would benefit manufacturers in a wide variety of industries. Our current worldwide offerings include spray fluxing systems for PCB manufacturing, XYZ coating platforms used in Solar and fuel cell manufacturing, precision medical device coating equipment, and various other industrial coating machines for glass, textile, and food applications.
The Company’s diversification plan into several industries has allowed steady growth for the past 6 years and counting. Sono-Tek has delivered over 10,000 ultrasonic coating systems around the world through the company’s history.
Dr. Christopher Coccio, Sono-Tek’s CEO, made the following statement regarding this historic milestone for the company, “Having worked with Sono-Tek for the past decade, I have seen the company and many of our products develop into industry standard methods for coating in several industries. The opportunities we find for implementation of our ultrasonic spray coating equipment continues to expand, and we see exciting potential in the years ahead”.
Sono-Tek plans to exhibit ultrasonic coating technology for thin film solar cell manufacturing at PV Taiwan 2011, October 5-7, at the Taipei World Trade Center in Taiwan.
Ultrasonic wet process equipment continues to gain momentum in the thin film solar manufacturing world as a viable, cost effective alternative to costly vacuum deposition processes. Sono-Tek offers a full line of equipment, from research and development to pilot line and high volume production equipment for applying active and buffer layer coatings onto CIGS and CdTe solar panels. Sono-Tek ultrasonic coating systems have also proven successful for depositing TCO layer chemistries in R&D and pilot line manufacturing.
Since ultrasonic coating systems all utilize the same core nozzle technology, scaling up from R&D to pilot line and high volume manufacturing is accomplished seamlessly. Proving process at the R&D level allows customers to optimize coating parameters at little cost, with the assurance that the same quality coatings will be achievable at high volume.
Sono-Tek Corporation – Milton, NY, will be exhibiting at the 2011 Fuel Cell Seminar & Exposition in Orlando, Fl, November 1st – November 3rd, in booth 627. Visitors can get a hands-on view of Sono-Tek’s ultrasonic nozzle technology and learn about our fully enclosed coating systems such as ExactaCoat FC for depositing carbon black suspensions onto PEMs, GDLs and SOFC fuel cells or other electrolyte substrates in fuel cell manufacturing processes.
The ExactaCoatFC is a 3 axis programmable ultrasonic spray coating system specially designed for depositing carbon platinum catalyst ink and precious metal suspensions. With state-of-the-art customizable options including integrated heat and/or vacuum plate, camera/laser pointer, rod spinner/coater, ultrasonic dispersion pump and dual nozzle configurations, the ExactaCoatFC is a complete R&D and small volume production solution. Sono-Tek precision coating systems are known to provide significantly higher platinum utilization and active surface area coverage of catalyst inks due to the unique nature of ultrasonic atomization. Highly uniform, repeatable thin films have proven to be among the best quality fuel cell industry coatings. For more information regarding the ExactaCoat FC coating system, go to http://www.sono-tek.com/energy/page/exactacoat_fc or email info@sono-tek.com.
The ExactaCoat FC system provides uniform coatings of carbon black and other catalyst inks onto PEMs, GDLs, SOFC rods, and other electrolyte materials.
Sono-Tek Corporation held its annual shareholder meeting on August 18 in Milton, NY. The company’s CEO, Dr. Chris Coccio, along with officers and management, delivered a presentation and webcast showing the Company’s fiscal year 2011 highlights. Sono-Tek’s stock is traded on on the OTC Bulletin Board under the symbol SOTK.PK. Sono-Tek’s (SOTK) fiscal year runs from March 1st of any given year to February 28th of the following year. For more information regarding the annual shareholder meeting, go to http://www.sono-tek.com/corporate/subcategory/investors. To see the webcast, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M70YyDpJ_gM&feature=youtu.be.
Sono-Tek Corporation announces the addition of Karla Frisenda to our ultrasonic coating solutions sales team. Karla will be supporting our sales team and working with customers and distributors all around the world, providing ultrasonic spray solutions to the precision medical device coating and glass and textile coating industries. Karla has served in a sales support role for the past few years at Sono-Tek. We welcome her as she takes on a more active role in our ultrasonic coating sales group. Visit http://www.sono-tek.com/ for more information about our Ultrasonic Coating Solutions group.
Sono-Tek Coporation, Milton, NY, USA, plans to exhibit ultrasonic coating technology for spraying CIGs solutions and CdTe layer chemistries in thin film solar cell manufacturing at the 26th European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference (EU PVSEC) September 5-8, in Hall A4/B27b, in Hamburg, Germany.
As ultrasonic wet process spray gains popularity for use in thin film solar manufacturing, Sono-Tek remains at the forefront of companies offering these cost effective spray solutions. In particular, Sono-Tek has developed the ExactaCoat spray system for R&D applications, and the WideTrack system for pilot line and full production scale applications, both of which provide uniform thin film coatings of suspensions used in thin film solar manufacturing, and are easily integrated with existing lines.
Capital equipment costs for manufacturers using wet process ultrasonic spray technology are a fraction ofCVDand other vacuum deposition process equipment costs, making investment into new lines more feasible for emerging companies.
Further manufacturing cost savings achieved with ultrasonic spray include: seamless integration with inline high volume production lines versus slow batch processing, and high effective material transfer of very expensive rare elements used in CIGS and CdTe suspensions (up to 95%). The targeted, low velocity ultrasonic spray produces very little overspray. Independent control of process parameters such as drop size, flow rate, and deposition contributes to the highest possible uniformity with the flexibility to optimize morphology characteristics.
Sono-Tek’s patented ultrasonic nozzles, the core of all of the company’s coating equipment, are non-clogging precision atomizing devices, whose high frequency vibrations break up any agglomerations in solution throughout the entire coating process. This is particularly valuable when depositing cadmium-based suspensions where agglomerations can result in non-uniform distribution of particles and lower cell efficiency. Ultrasonic atomization creates a very stable process with highly repeatable thin films, and uniformities as low as +/-2%.
Sono-Tek ultrasonic spray systems are proven and currently in use at some of the largest solar cell manufacturers in the world. For more information on Sono-Tek’s ultrasonic coating systems for thin film solar manufacturing, visit http://www.sono-tek.com/energy/page/r&d_thin_filmor email info@sono-tek.com.
