Method of continuously soldering small elements arranged generally in a line by a concentrated radiant energy source

Claim 1

In a method of successively soldering small elements arranged generally in a line by means of a substantially circular concentrated radiant beam source by successive heating of a region having a length equal to that of the line and a narrow width, the improvement comprising the steps of: intermittently moving said source along the line by predetermined increments; operating said source only while movement of said source along said line is stopped to apply radiant energy to the elements in successive circular heating zones along said line; interrupting operation of said source to interrupt application of said radiant energy to said elements while said source is moved along said line; and controlling the movement of said source along said line, as a function of the length of time of operating said source to apply said radiant energy and of the current of said source, such that the length of each said predetermined increment of movement is less than the diameter of said circular heating zones, and thereby partially overlapping said circular heating zones along said line.