Abstract: The research status and progress in the field of disassembling unit technologies, processes and equipment of printed circuit boards (PCBs) are reviewed According to the disassembly process order, the technical status and progress in five unit technologies are described, i.e. identification and location of components, unsoldering technology, mode of disassembling force application, separation of component and tin solder, collection and classification. On the basis of analysis of various disassembling processes and equipment, according to different goals and disassembly methods, four kinds of disassembly process and equipment are classified and discussed in detail, i.e. selective disassembling, simultaneous disassembling for material recycling, simultaneous disassembling for component function reuse, and hybrid disassembling. Finally it is pointed out that further research and development should be carried out in aspects of adopting new methods for disassembling unit technologies, analysis of PCB disassembly mechanism, and developing more economical, practical, environment-friendly and quick disassembling process and equipment.

Key words: Disassembly, Electronic component, Printed circuit board, Recycling, Waste printed circuit board