Patent ID: 7416104

Claim:
A method of injection molding solder into a plurality of cavities in a non-rectangular mold, the method comprising: aligning a substantially curved fill head with a non-rectangular mold, wherein the substantially curved fill head is curved to match a curvature of a perimeter of the non-rectangular mold, wherein the non-rectangular mold includes a plurality of cavities and is a circular shape; and wherein aligning the fill head comprises: aligning the fill head along a radius of the non-rectangular mold, the fill head being slightly longer than a diameter of the non-rectangular mold, the fill head being configured to provide solder to the plurality of cavities bi-directionally; placing the fill head in substantial contact with the non-rectangular mold creating a squeegee effect across the non-rectangular mold; and providing rotational motion to the fill head while the fill head is in substantial contact with the non-rectangular mold, wherein providing rotational motion provides a relative rotation of substantially up to 360 degrees between the fill head and the non-rectangular mold to provide the solder into each cavity in the plurality of cavities; and the method further comprising: forcing solder out of the fill head toward the non-rectangular mold; providing the solder into each cavity in the plurality of cavities contemporaneous with each cavity being in proximity to the fill head; receiving temperature feedback from at least one thermocouple situated within the fill head; channeling a first gas about a first edge of the fill head, the first gas having a temperature above a melting point of the solder thereby maintaining the solder in a molten state as the solder and the at least first gas are in close proximity to one another; channeling a second gas about a second edge of the fill head, the second gas having a temperature below the melting point of the solder thereby substantially solidifying the solder within each cavity as the each cavity passes under the second region of the fill head with the at least second gas; and transitioning the fill head from the non-rectangular mold, the fill head passing over an adapter coupled to the non-rectangular mold, to an adjacent non-rectangular mold as the fill head transitions from the non-rectangular mold to the adjacent non-rectangular mold thereby preventing spillage of solder from the fill head that is transitioning, wherein transitioning the fill head comprises: retracting the solder back into the fill head by releasing a back pressure associated with forcing the solder out of the fill head.