IN Brief:
- Hoenle’s bluepoint LED platform can control up to 20 independently deployed curing heads.
- Wavelength options cover 365nm, 385nm, and 405nm, with intensity reaching 20,000mW/cm².
- Programmable irradiation sequences and machine interfaces support automated bonding and encapsulation processes.
Hoenle has introduced a modular bluepoint LED-UV curing platform capable of controlling up to 20 compact irradiation heads through one touchscreen interface.
Five bluepoint base units can be combined with a common display, and each unit supplies as many as four LED heads. Curing points can therefore be distributed around an automated cell while power, timing, operating status, and process sequences remain under central control.
The platform is available at wavelengths of 365nm, 385nm, and 405nm. Five interchangeable lens options alter the irradiation field for different component sizes, adhesive geometries, and working distances, while maximum intensity reaches 20,000mW/cm² according to the selected head and optical configuration.
Output can be adjusted from 10% to 100%, and as many as six Process Flow Control programmes can store individual irradiation sequences. Separate heads or stations can consequently apply defined exposure times and power levels as assemblies move through a production cell.
Digital inputs and outputs are included alongside an analogue signal for power adjustment at each head, with an optional bus interface supporting wider machine integration. A dedicated safety-release circuit provides a defined means of disabling the LEDs when guarding, interlocks, or automated-cell safety conditions are not satisfied.
The detachable touchscreen can be mounted directly on a base station or positioned on the host machine. Power electronics can remain within an equipment cabinet while process selection, programme access, and operating status are presented at the guarded workstation.
Applications include spot curing of UV-sensitive adhesives in electronics, optics, and high-volume disposable medical-device production. Camera modules, optical assemblies, connector seals, component fixation, sensor packages, and catheter assemblies can all require a localised exposure that fixes a bond without heating the complete product.
Unlike Far-UVC emitters developed for disinfection, industrial curing sources are selected around photoinitiator response, optical access, irradiance, dose, and bond-line geometry. The wavelength must match the adhesive chemistry, while the emitted energy has to reach the complete region that requires polymerisation.
Replacing conventional lamps with LED sources permits faster switching and tighter control over when energy is applied. Concentrated wavelength bands also avoid some unwanted spectral output, while the bluepoint system specifies a typical LED service life above 20,000 hours under defined operating conditions.
Long source life does not remove the need for process verification, because LED output changes with operating temperature, age, contamination, optical condition, and working distance. Adhesive response can also vary with storage, material batch, dispensed thickness, pigmentation, substrate transmission, and shadowing from surrounding components.
A controlled curing sequence must therefore include measurement of irradiance at the workpiece, total delivered dose, wavelength, exposure time, and adhesive condition. High peak intensity cannot compensate for a poorly matched photoinitiator or a bond line that the light cannot reach consistently.
Controlling 20 heads from one interface allows machine builders to synchronise several local curing points without duplicating full controller hardware. Products containing multiple bonds can be cured sequentially or in parallel, while one cell may process several components simultaneously when fixture design and optical access permit.
Distributed heads require careful mechanical integration, including cable routing, bend radius, head cooling, fixture clearance, shielding, and replacement access. Where a head is mounted close to a moving axis or dispensing tool, mechanical stability and repeatable working distance become part of dose control.
Bonding processes are increasingly linking dispensing, placement, alignment, curing, and inspection within one automation sequence. Optical and medical assemblies may need to remain precisely constrained while an adhesive is fixed, making the relationship between motion control, exposure timing, and cure behaviour central to final dimensional accuracy.
The bluepoint platform gives equipment designers a scalable way to distribute LED-UV curing around an automated line while keeping recipes and safety functions within one control architecture. Reliable production will still depend on matching the source, lens, adhesive, geometry, and process window, rather than treating irradiation intensity as the sole determinant of a finished bond.
