Southern Machinery S7020 4-Head Odd Form Inserter: Automated Rice Cooker PCB Assembly

Product demo: the Southern Machinery S7020 inserting odd-form through-hole components on rice cooker control boards, with clinching.

A rice cooker control board looks simple, but it is a classic THT bottleneck: power terminals, connectors, transformer pins, relay and thermal-fuse leads — odd-form through-hole components that a standard radial or axial inserter cannot feed. Southern Machinery's S7020 Series PIN Eyelet Terminal Insertion Machine automates exactly this class of work. The demo video shows a 4-head S7020 configuration assembling rice cooker PCBs with clinching, turning a manual station into a repeatable, scheduled process.

What is this machine used for?

The S7020 is a THT (through-hole technology) auto-insertion machine for pin, eyelet and terminal-style odd-form components. It performs the full sequence automatically: component feeding (bulk or reel packaging via vibration bowl or reel feeder), orientation, insertion into plated through-holes, and clinching — bending the leads after insertion so components stay mechanically locked in place before soldering.

Buyers typically evaluate the S7020 when one of these is true:

Hand insertion of odd-form components is capping the throughput of a power board or appliance control board line.
Bent leads, missed holes or component damage during manual insertion are driving rework and wave-solder touch-up.
The board mix includes components — MOS packages, connectors, pin headers, eyelet terminals — that pick-and-place heads and radial inserters are not built to handle.

For rice cooker PCBs specifically, the machine handles the power-stage terminals and connectors that carry mains current and heat, where joint quality and mechanical retention genuinely matter. The standard published configuration uses two insertion heads; the 4-head arrangement shown in the rice cooker demo reflects Southern Machinery's practice of customizing head count and layout to the customer's board.

Typical applications

Rice cooker and kitchen appliance control boards — power connectors, terminal blocks, relay and thermal-fuse pins on boards that mix SMT control logic with THT power-stage parts. This is the scenario shown in the product demo.
Home appliance PCBs generally — air conditioner, microwave, induction cooker and electric kettle boards, where terminal and connector insertion has traditionally been manual.
Power supply and SMPS boards — MOS transistors, bridge rectifiers, pin terminals and connectors on adapters, inverters and vehicle power supplies.
LED driver and lighting boards — pin terminals, connectors and eyelets where mechanical and thermal reliability are critical.
High-mix EMS lines — any board set with odd-form pin, eyelet or terminal components that is still assembled by hand. Because programming is done online with visual correction, changeover between board types is a program swap rather than a station rebuild.

The S7020 supports 360° insertion angles in 1° increments and inward or outward clinching, which lets one machine adapt to different board layouts and retention requirements without a separate lead-forming step.

How it fits into a complete PCB assembly line

The S7020 is one station inside the Southern Machinery SMT/THT ecosystem, not a stand-alone gadget:

SMT side: solder paste printing, SPI and pick-and-place machines populate the surface-mount portion of the board; the S7020 takes over the through-hole odd-form components that placement heads cannot feed.
THT side: it complements the radial (S-3010B) and axial (S-4000) insertion families, covering the pin, eyelet and terminal components those machines cannot handle, alongside the S-7000 odd-form series.
Downstream: inserted boards move to wave soldering (S-WS450 or the lead-free dual-wave S-WS350B), where clinched leads guarantee the mechanical joint before solder wets. From there the line continues through AOI/SPI inspection, PCBA cleaning and board handling systems.

The practical benefit for a line designer: an auto inserter feeds the wave line at a predictable, steady rate, while hand insertion creates batch-to-batch variation that shows up later as touch-up and rework. On a rice cooker line running mixed appliance boards, the S7020's wide component range and visual programming make it a flexible fit for an EMS strategy serving multiple appliance customers.

Key selection parameters

These are the published S7020 specifications from the Southern Machinery product page — use them as a checklist when comparing any pin/eyelet terminal insertion machine:

Throughput: 12,000 CPH (published spec)
Insertion heads: 2 standard; multi-head configurations (including the 4-head setup in the rice cooker demo) can be customized
PCB size: 380 mm × 280 mm standard; enlarged sizes customizable
Terminal thickness: 0.5 mm to 1.2 mm
Insertion angle: 360°, in 1° increments
Clinching: inward or outward
Feeding system: vibration bowl feeder or reel feeder; terminals accepted in bulk or reel packaging
Component spacing: minimum body distance between components ≥ 2 mm
PCB requirement: insertion hole approximately 0.5 ± 0.1 mm larger than the component lead
Accuracy: vertical error ≤ 0.8°; motion accuracy 0.001 mm/pulse
Programming: online visual programming with visual correction, Excel data import, USB interface or manual entry
Utilities and footprint: single-phase 220 V AC, 50/60 Hz, 2 kVA; equipment size 1700 × 1300 × 1600 mm; weight 1200 kg

Before committing to a machine, validate throughput, PCB envelope, terminal range, feeding options, clinch modes and programming workflow against your own boards and volumes. Those parameters — not the demo video — determine whether the machine fits your product mix.

ROI and quality perspective

From the buyer's perspective, the ROI case rests on three measurable items:

Labor reallocation. One machine replaces a hand-insertion station that typically needs multiple operators per shift. Those operators move to inspection, programming and line supervision instead of repetitive terminal insertion.
Quality consistency. Automated feeding, vision-aided programming and controlled clinching reduce bent leads, missed insertions and component damage. Fewer defects downstream mean less wave-solder touch-up, less AOI fallout and less scrap — a direct yield improvement on every board that passes through.
Throughput predictability. At the published 12,000 CPH, output is a number you can schedule around. When odd-form insertion stops being the pacing operation, the whole appliance or power board line runs faster.

For rice cooker and home appliance manufacturers, the combination of labor savings and reduced rework is the same cost driver that makes THT automation attractive across the EMS industry. Clinching adds a reliability bonus: components stay locked in place through handling and wave soldering, which matters for power-stage parts that carry current and heat.

FAQ

What is an odd form insertion machine used for?

An odd form insertion machine automates the through-hole placement of non-standard components — pin headers, eyelet terminals, connectors, MOS packages, transformers and relays — that standard radial or axial inserters cannot feed. It feeds, orients, inserts and clinches these parts into plated through-holes, replacing manual insertion before wave soldering.

What does clinching mean in THT insertion, and why does it matter?

Clinching bends the component leads after insertion so the part is mechanically locked to the PCB before soldering. Inward clinching bends leads toward the component body; outward clinching bends them away. Clinched components stay in place through board handling and wave soldering, improving joint integrity and reducing touch-up — important for power-stage parts on rice cooker and appliance boards.

What is the speed of the Southern Machinery S7020?

Southern Machinery publishes the S7020 at 12,000 CPH with two insertion heads as standard. Actual output depends on board layout, component mix and feeding setup, so validate against your own product before finalizing a line design. Multi-head configurations can be customized.

What components and PCB sizes can the S7020 handle?

The S7020 handles pin, eyelet and terminal components with terminal thickness from 0.5 mm to 1.2 mm, fed from bulk or reel packaging via vibration bowl or reel feeders. The standard PCB envelope is 380 mm × 280 mm, with enlarged sizes customizable. The insertion hole should be approximately 0.5 ± 0.1 mm larger than the component lead, and minimum spacing between components is 2 mm.

How does the S7020 reduce labor and rework costs?

Automating terminal insertion removes a repetitive manual operation, cutting the number of operators at the station and reducing defect-driven rework such as bent leads, missed holes and component damage. Southern Machinery positions THT insertion automation around labor reduction, throughput stability and yield improvement for EMS and appliance manufacturers.

Can the S7020 be customized for a specific board or head configuration?

Yes. Southern Machinery lists customization as a core feature — including enlarged PCB sizes, machine configuration and multi-head arrangements such as the 4-head setup shown in the rice cooker demo. Contact them with your board files and component list to confirm the configuration for your line.

Get the catalog and talk to an engineer

If odd-form insertion is throttling your rice cooker, appliance or power board line, put the S7020 on your shortlist. Southern Machinery — founded in 2011 in Shenzhen, China, serving 237+ global customers in SMT, THT and PCB assembly automation — can help you evaluate the machine against your actual boards.

Email: jasonwu@smthelp.com (Jason Wu, international sales)
Product catalog and documentation: https://file.autoinsertion.com
Product images and albums: https://ph.smthelp.com
Website: https://www.smthelp.com