assembly panel toolkit

• Support for new drawing type: Panel Drawing

• Automatic array creation (step and repeat) of PCBs on a panel drawing in eitherspread sheet mode or auto-calculate which fits as many PCBs as possible on apanel using imported intelligent PCB design data

• Contains all functions commonly used when creating a panel drawing. The toolpallet allows you to quickly place top, bottom, drill pattern, or custom panelarrays on a drawing, as well as drill charts, note blocks, mill and V-score details.Greatly reducing the time needed to produce an assembly panel document.

• Allows you to place drill and coordinate charts reflective of all the PCBs containedin a panel to define components, hole sizes, locations, symbols, and quantitiesfor the entire panel. All of the formatting capabilities of the single instance PCBdrill and coordinate chart are also supported for panels. In addition, any pinningholes added to the panel are automatically included in the drill chart. Coordinatecharts or the panel can be exported in CSV format to drive pick and placemachinery.

• Automatic NC milling definition allows you to define the route path around a PCBwithin a panel as well as the break out tabs. Once defined you can automaticallyapply the NC milling to all the PCBs within the panel as well as merge togetherroute information for one unified NC milling path.

• Panel Drawing Detail Wizards use the existing PCB and NC milling data to automatically depict Mill tab and V-score details.

• Exportation to CAM350 allows you to export a panel definition for further postprocessing of the panel for Gerber, and/or NC Drill and Mill extraction.

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Assembly Panel Toolkit

Assembly Panel ToolKit

BluePrint offers panel drawing elements and tools that simplify thepanel documentation process, helpingyou panelize single boards into arraysor sub-panels.


The Panel Drawing PaletteOn the left side of the BluePrint application you will find the Tool Palettes. Tool Palettes are organized byfunction and contain drawing elements that you candrag and drop onto your drawing sheet. Using thePanel Drawing palette you can quickly create and position arrayed panels, fiducials, pinning holes, webroutes, mill tabs, score lines, details and associated drill charts.

Create a Pinning HoleA Pinning Hole is typically a drill and can be displayedas a drill symbol or a circle representing the drill size.BluePrint installs with a library of Pinning Holes. Youcan also create your own pinning hole using BluePrintʼsCreate Drill tool and save it to the library with a specified name.

Create a FiducialFiducials, also known as circuit pattern recognitionmarks, allow automated assembly equipment to accu-rately locate and place parts on boards. A fiducial inBluePrint is typically represented by a circle, but can becreated as any shape. BluePrint installs with a libraryof fiducials. You can also create your own fiducialusing BluePrintʼs drafting tools and BluePrintʼs MakeFiducial command.

Create a PanelCreating a Panel in BluePrint is simple. Just as youwould drag and drop a top-side view, you can drag anddrop a top-side, bottom-side, drill, or board outlinepanel. A 2x2 panel is automatically created on yoursheet based on the imported CAD data.

Auto-calculate Placement of the BoardImagesBluePrint supports two modes for creating arrayedboard images. In Auto-calculate mode, BluePrint willgenerate values based on the manual setting of corre-sponding values. For instance, you can manually setthe number of board images in the X and Y axis andBluePrint will automatically calculate the Panel Size taking into account the board dimensions, border andboard image spacing. A preview window on the Formatdialog displays the auto-calculated board images inreal-time. This is very helpful when trying to determinehow to maximize the panel space. BluePrint also

supports a Spreadsheet mode which allows the user to specify the exact placement, rotation and format foreach PCB image.

Add Pinning Holes to PanelAdding pinning holes to the panel is easy. Simply selectthe Pinning Holes tab on the Format Panel Drawing dialog and then select the Add button. The Add PinningHole dialog will appear. Select the pinning hole youwant from the library list and then set the position onthe panel. You can add as many pinning holes as you need.

Add Fiducials to PanelAdding fiducials to the panel is just as easy as addingpinning holes. Simply select the Fiducials tab on theFormat Panel Drawing dialog and then select the Addbutton. The Add Fiducials dialog will appear. Select theFiducial you want from the library list and then set theposition on the panel. You can add as many fiducials as you need.


Add WebrouteWeb routes represent the path that a router bit wouldmake after it has run around the edge of an individualboard. BluePrint can automatically create a web routefor a board in the panel. You can add Mill Tabs to theweb route. You can copy and paste web routes fromone board to others. You can also merge overlappingweb routes on the panel. To add a web route you simply select a board in the panel and execute the Add Webroute command from the context menu.

Add Mill TabsMill Tabs represent the remaining material once a routerbit has run around the edge of the individual board.These tabs are what hold the board to the panel whilethe board is assembled. BluePrint installs with a libraryof Mill Tab styles. You can create your own Mill Tabsusing BluePrintʼs Mill Tab Manager and add and deletethem from BluePrintʼs library. To add a Mill Tab to aweb route you simply drag and drop the Mill Tab draw-ing element from the Panel Drawing palette or you exe-cute the Add Mill Tab command and specify the posi-tion.

Copy Web Route Parameters to all BoardImagesOnce you complete the web route and mill tab definitionfor a single board in the panel, you can copy that webroute to all board images in the panel with a single con-text menu command.

Merge Web RoutesBluePrint will automatically cleanup overlapping routesand mill tabs and remove “islands” created by theMerge Web Route command.


Dimension the PanelAll of BluePrintʼs dimensioning tools are available to youwhen dimensioning the panel. You can dimension froman origin and automatically snap to the panel, mill tabs,drills, components, pads, etc…

What Else?Panel Drill Chart – Drag and drop a drill chart thatautomatically populates with a complete panel count,including pinning holes.

Panel Drawing Notes – Drag and drop your PanelNoteblock.

Mill Tab Detail – Drag and drop a Mill Tab detail thatcorresponds to the Mill Tabs on your panel.

Route and Arc Segments – Leverage BluePrintʼsRoute and Arc segments to mitre panel corners andcreate panel rails.

Score Lines – Drag and drop horizontal and verticalscore lines onto your panel.

Panel Coordinate Chart – Drag and drop a panelcoordinate chart which will automatically populate withcomponent positions for the entire panel.

assembly panel toolkit

Documents