Eldon Industries, Inc.

William A Lawrence

Jack Gaines

Thomas A Koltuniak

A circuit board and component manipulation device includes a housing having a circuit board clamp located thereon for positioning a circuit board on the housing. Hot gas for soldering or desoldering operations can be directed to components on the circuit board from one or the other of both an upper gas duct and a lower gas duct, both of which are fed gas from a blower. Each of the ducts include an individual heater located therein so as to control heat input to the gas passing through the ducts. The upper duct terminates in a discharge head which includes a nozzle attached thereto. The nozzle includes an appropriate opening so as to receive a circuit component. The opening is surrounded by a skirt with the gas ducts then positioned outwardly from the skirt. By positioning the component within the skirt, the component is isolated from hot gas utilized for soldering or desoldering of the connectors of the component to an appropriate circuit board.

Circuit board and component manipulation device

An electrical solder pot has a base with a hollow interior. A housing member also having a hollow interior attaches to the top of the base. The housing member further includes an opening at its top. A threaded socket is fitted in the base so as to accept a heating element which is oriented vertically within the hollow interior of the combined base and housing member. The heating element includes a threaded connector positioned near the opening in the top of the housing and accepts a threaded solder container. The solder container attaches to the top of the heating element and is positioned above the opening in the housing. The heating element includes an internal thermal conducting member located within a tube with an appropriate socket connector on the tube so as to connect to the socket in the base. A monolithic burnt ceramic heater is positioned within a cavity in the thermal conducting member. A resistance element integrally formed in the ceramic element is electrically connected to the socket whereby heat passes from the resistance element to the thermal conducting member and then to the solder container.

Solder pot

An electric soldering iron includes an elongated metal housing tube enclosing a metallic heat conducting member having a first zone snugly fit within the housing and having a portion projecting out of the front end thereof for removably receiving a soldering tip. A second zone of the member extends rearwardly from the first zone and has a smaller cross section than the interior of the tube to create an insulating space therebetween. The heat conducting member is formed with an opening sized and shaped to receive the end of an elongated flat ceramic heater having embedded therein an electric heating element. The portion of the ceramic heater not located within the heat conducting member is surrounded and positioned by a refractory heat insulating tube abutting the rear end of the heat conducting member. The other end of the tube is closed by a male electrical terminal unit adapted to be removably connected to a female terminal unit at the front end of a soldering iron handle for mechanically attaching the heating unit to the handle and electrically connecting the heating element of the ceramic heater to power supply wires in the handle. Since the heat conducting member engages the housing tube only at the end where the tip is attached heat is preferentially directed to the tip. The space formed by the second zone of the heat conducting member and the provision of the refractory tube thermally insulates the housing tube form the ceramic heater and further reduces the transfer of heat to the handle.

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Palos Verdes Estates, CA, United States of America

William A Lawrence