Patent ID: 7710611

Claim:
A stencil printer apparatus for depositing a solder paste onto the surface of the electronic substrate, the stencil printer comprising: a frame; a stencil coupled to the frame, the stencil having a plurality of apertures; a dispenser coupled to the frame, the stencil and the dispenser being configured to deposit the solder paste onto the electronic substrate; an imaging system constructed and arranged to capture an image of the electronic substrate, the imaging system comprising: a camera element configured to capture the image of at least the portion of the surface of the electronic substrate, and a first illumination element comprising a long-wavelength light source configured to illuminate at least the portion of the surface of the electronic substrate by generating long-wavelength light, wherein the first illumination element includes an on-axis illumination element configured to generate the long-wavelength light substantially along a first axis that is generally perpendicular to the surface of the electronic substrate, and an off-axis illumination element configured to generate light substantially along a second axis that extends at an angle with respect to the first axis; and a controller coupled to the imaging system and configured to control movement of the imaging system to capture the image.