As adhesive equipment becomes more automatic, systems are specifically designed to handle particular applications like automotive, electronics and packaging.

"Basically, if we have an adhesive product in the marketplace, we need to have a dispensing system to go along with it," said Jim Rispoli, a product engineer with Henkel Loctite Corp. of Rocky Hill, Conn. "Machines operate using pressure/time controls that dispense with very tight liquid quantity tolerances."

Cyanoacrylates and UV-curing product usage is becoming more automated, using faster equipment throughout all industries that use adhesives, Rispoli said. Equipment must control the flow amount of liquids to very precise levels. Based on analysis of a dispensed amount, a new type of measuring instrument can instantly determine if the bond is correct.

The company's Signature Series fluid waveform analyzer monitors dispense points at the end of adhesive nozzles to precisely detect changes in flow. Some causes of high or low flow are broken or clogged nozzles, low or high pressure, and air bubbles. In many applications, reduction or increase in flow ruins the parts being bonded. Nozzles might quit dispensing altogether.

The fluid waveform analyzer transmits data to a computer's graphical user interface from a detector at the nozzle, showing the electronic "signature" of a pressure waveform, which is compared to the standard for the job. According to Rispoli, this new technology represents a sophisticated departure from visual inspection techniques.

Another company, East Providence, R.I.-based EFD, Inc., specializes in automatic dispensing for electronic assembly and medical assembly, applications that demand extreme accuracy in the amount of adhesive applied.

The company recently introduced a microprocessor-controlled assembly fluids dispenser that operates using compressed air. According to director of marketing Terrence Woldorf, controlling air pressure, time of dispense and the size of the dispensing tip create extremely accurate, repeatable deposits as small as .008 in. diameter.

"The machine is used in a wide range of applications from critical medical devices to filling a color in an electronic badge," Woldorf said. "Automotive and aerospace companies use them widely because they handle all types of assembly fluids, from pastes to cyanoacrylates."

Of course, ultra-controlled droplets save time and money in the assembly process and reduce rejected parts, he said. "The human response is that if a little bit is good, a lot is better, but it is just the opposite with cyanoacrylates adhesives," Woldorf said. "When the air pressure replaces muscle power, the system is far more controlled and parts get the same amount of fluid on every cycle."