DE102010033235A1 - Method for rebuilding fitting device for transport apparatus of electronic components, involves adjusting length of connecting cables for placement head, and modifying placement portals of fitting device - Google Patents

Abstract

An insertion site added to one mounting site (120d) is removed or a mounting head is mounted on a different side at the movable cross-structure. A placement head (128) is placed in the fitting device, and the modified paths are allocated. The length of connecting cables (252c) is adjusted for placement head. All placement portals (120a-120c) of the fitting device (200) are modified.

Description

The invention relates to a method for converting a first equipping device for equipping component carriers with electronic components to a second equipping device for equipping component carriers with electronic components.

In placement devices for equipping substrates with components, the component carriers are transported via a transport path by means of a transport device into a placement region of the placement device. Side of the transport path supply devices for providing the components are arranged. An insertable head of the placement device that can be moved by a positioning system picks up the components from the feeders, moves them into the placement area in which the component carrier to be assembled is provided, and sets the components on the component carrier. The positioning system has, for example, a stationary longitudinal guide, a cross member movable on the stationary longitudinal guide and a carriage movable along the cross member, on which the placement head is mounted.

In order to realize an efficient equipping of larger placement orders, several placement devices are usually interconnected in a placement line by a common transport device. For example, in connection with changed types of assemblies to be produced, it may be advantageous if at least one placement device is rebuilt in terms of optimized placement performance (power adjustment) of the entire assembly line or an optimized assembly accuracy for certain components. Another reason for a conversion of a placement device may, for example, be the desire to be able to react more flexibly and faster to changed delivery requests for populated assemblies. However, a conversion of a placement device is often very time consuming.

In particular, there are placement devices such as the placement machines of the Siplace X series from Siemens ( www.siplace.com ), which have no so-called portal modularity. This means that a relatively simple removal or addition of a placement head together with its cross member (often referred to as portal) is not possible. Each type of placement machine or machine is equipped with a certain number of placement heads and thus determined as a type. If, for example, you want to expand an existing machine type X3 to machine type X4, this is not so easy.

The invention has for its object to provide a method for converting a placement, which is carried out in a simple manner and which leads to a high-quality converted Bestückvorrichtung.

This object is solved by the subject matter of the independent patent claim. Advantageous embodiments of the present invention are described in the dependent claims.

According to one aspect of the invention, a method for converting a first placement device for mounting component carriers with electronic components to a second placement device for mounting component carriers with electronic components is described. The first placement device comprises (a) a carrier with a stationary longitudinal guide and (b) at least one loading portal with (b1) a movable cross member attached to the stationary longitudinal guide and (b2) a placement head movable along the movable cross member. The second placement device comprises (a) the carrier with the stationary longitudinal guide and (b) at least one loading portal with (b1) a movable cross member attached to the stationary longitudinal guide and (b2) a placement head movable along the movable cross member. The inventive method comprises changing the Bestückungsportalkonfiguration of the first placement device, wherein at least one placement portal is added, at least one placement portal is removed or at least one placement on another side is mounted on its movable cross member and wherein compared to the first placement device in the second Placement device associated with at least one placement head modified travel paths. The method according to the invention also has an adaptation of the length of connection cables for the at least one mounting head to the changed travel paths and calibration of all mounting portals of the second mounting device.

The described insertion automatic conversion method is based on the finding that after the calibration of all placement portals, a converted second placement device is produced, which is completely identical to a newly manufactured placement device of the same type as the second placement device. This standard components can be used for the operation of the converted second Bestückvorrichtung, which can also be used for a new, ie produced without conversion second mounting device. This is especially true for operating software, so that the same software can be used for the converted second placement device, which Usually also used for a newly manufactured second placement device.

The described calibration of the entire converted second placement device thus creates a machine which is completely compatible with a newly manufactured machine. This can be used in the operation of the converted machine on components and software, which were originally developed or manufactured for newly manufactured second placement devices. This advantageously no special solutions of hardware and software for the converted second placement device are required.

The adaptation of the length of connection cables depending on the travel paths of the respective placement head is preferably just so that the length just as long as we required but as short as possible. For this purpose it may be necessary to use cable fittings adapted to the second placement device or cable tractors.

In the case of increasing the number of component portals (upgrade) by, for example, one or two, the first mounting device can, for example, have two or three component portals. The additional placement head is then mounted together with its movable cross member and possibly additionally required machine and control components on a stationary longitudinal guide of the second placement device. Thereafter, the expiration conditions for the operation of the second placement device, which include expiration conditions, for example changed travel paths for at least one placement head, changed stop positions, changed control inputs for the operating software and / or changed sensor query, can be adjusted.

In the case of reducing the number of placement portals (downgrade) by, for example, one or two, the first placement device can have, for example, four or three placement portals. In particular, the conversion from four to three loading portals currently seems to be the most interesting, since such a change in the placement portal configuration of the operators of placement machines is currently the most desired.

During a disassembly or a downgrade, other superfluous parts of the first placement device can be dismantled in addition to the surplus placement portal. In this case too, the run conditions for the operation of the second placement device, which run conditions include, for example, changed travel paths for at least one placement head, changed stop positions, changed control inputs for the operating software and / or changed sensor queries, can be adapted.

Both upgrading and downgrading can systematically (a) determine which parts are required for each type of remodeling and which therefore need to be additionally assembled or no longer needed and can therefore be dismantled, (b) determining the work sequences necessary for the conversion; and / or (c) specifying respective adjustment values for the new placement portal configuration and corresponding check runs for testing the second placement apparatus.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the method further comprises installing operating software on a control unit of the second placement apparatus, wherein the operation software is specific to the placement portal configuration of the second placement apparatus. This has the advantage that a standard software can be used to operate the converted placement device. In order to avoid possible software collisions and / or to save storage space in the control unit, prior to installing the operating software, an old operating software specific to the placement portal configuration of the first placement apparatus may be deleted.

According to a further embodiment of the invention, the method further comprises an adaptation of safety-relevant protection mechanisms, so that normal security requirements for the operation of the second placement device are met even with the second placement device. Safety-relevant protective mechanisms may be, for example, covers, limit switches, emergency stop switches and the like.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the method further comprises adjusting the number and / or type of electrical and / or electronic control components for motors required to operate at least one placement portal to the changed placement portal configuration.

The control components described may be, for example, an output stage and / or a drive unit (eg, gantry axis card) for the corresponding motor. The control components can be, for example, modules which are arranged, for example, in an electronics housing. In particular, with a change in the number of component portals, new control modules can thus be added (upgrade) or old control modules (downgraded) can be removed.

According to a further exemplary embodiment of the invention, calibration comprises (a) fitting a test plate with test components, (b) measuring the actual positions of the assembled components, (c) determining in each case a deviation between a measured actual position and an associated target position, and (d) storing the determined deviations in a memory of a control unit of the second placement device.

The stored in the memory deviations can then be used in subsequent equipping operations with the second Bestückvorrichtung that the respective motors of a placement portal are controlled so that these deviations are already compensated by the motor drive and thus a positionally accurate assembly of electronic components is guaranteed.

A deviation may include two deviation values, a deviation value for an x-direction and a deviation value for a y-direction perpendicular to the x-direction. In this case, both the x-direction and the y-direction lie within a placement plane, which is typically oriented parallel to the plane of the test plate.

Preferably, a deviation (in the x-direction and in the y-direction) is stored for each possible placement position. Likewise, by a suitable interpolation between adjacent deviation values a deviation can be determined in a simple way.

The test plate may be a component carrier or a replica of a component carrier. The test components may be electronic components or replicas of electronic components.

According to a further embodiment of the invention, the measuring of the actual positions of the assembled components is carried out with a mounted on a loading portal of the second placement device camera. This has the advantage that the measurement of the test plate equipped for test purposes can take place by means of the second mounting device itself and that no separate measurement of the test equipment in a special measuring machine is required.

In particular, the camera mounted on the placement portal can be a so-called printed circuit board camera, with which the position of the component carriers introduced into the placement area is measured in the usual placement operation.

In this case, the test plate in the converted second placement device is preferably equipped with replicas of components. The replicas can have defined markings. The test plate is provided near the markings with local reference marks of high registration. Serving as a spatially resolving sensor PCB camera of the second placement device is successively moved over the markers and the reference marks. In each case there is a marker and a reference mark in the detection field or touchpad of the camera. Further details of this preferred calibration method can be found in the European patent specification EP 0 968 637 B1 ,

Further advantages and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following exemplary description of a presently preferred embodiment. The individual figures of the drawing of this application are merely to be regarded as schematic and not to scale.

1 shows a first to be converted placement device, which has a total of four equipping portals, each with a cross member and a movable on the cross member placement head.

2 shows a second converted placement, which has only three loading portals.

It should be noted that the embodiment of the invention described below represents only a limited selection of possible embodiments of the invention.

In the 1 shown first to be installed placement device 100 has a stationary elongate carrier 110 on, on which a first longitudinal guide 111 and a second longitudinal guide 112 are formed. At the first longitudinal guide 111 are two equipping portals, a first equipping portal 120a and a second loading portal 120b , each with a movable carriage 122 appropriate. At the second longitudinal guide 112 are also two loading portals, a third loading portal 120c and a fourth assembly portal 120d , each with a movable carriage 122 appropriate. The loading portals 120a . 120b . 120c and 120d each have one on the carriage 122 attached cross member 124 on, which can be made for example of a carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP).

Along the longitudinal direction of each cross member 124 There is a linear guide, not shown, in which a carriage 126 along the longitudinal direction of the respective cross member 124 can be moved. At the sled 126 each is a placement head 128 which has one or more grippers 130 having. This allows components 190 from a feeder 140 taken and on a component carrier 195 be set up (pick & place principle).

According to the embodiment shown here, the placement is a so-called. Turret, in which the gripper 130 are arranged radially projecting on a rotor. Of course, other placement heads such as (a) a so-called. Matrix head, in which a plurality of grippers are aligned parallel to each other, (b) equipped with a single gripper placement or (c) a so-called cone head be, in which the gripper on the Surface of a rotatable cone are arranged.

Furthermore, according to the embodiment shown here, each placement portal also has a printed circuit board camera 135 on, which together with the placement head 128 can be moved. With the circuit board camera, the position can be measured by a introduced into the respective placement area to be assembled component carrier in a known manner.

The first fitting device to be rebuilt 100 also has power and compressed air supplies, with which in particular the placement heads 128 and not shown linear motors for moving the carriage 126 be energized. The placement heads 128 are further supplied in a known manner by the power and compressed air supplies with compressed air, so they, for example by means of a Venturi nozzle arrangement for temporary gripping of components 190 generate necessary negative pressure. How out 1 can be seen, is a first power and compressed air supply 150a via a first supply line designed as a cable tow 152a with the first equipment portal 120a connected. Furthermore, a second power and compressed air supply 150a via a trained as a cable tow second supply line 152a with the second equipment portal 120a connected. A third power and compressed air supply 150a is via a designed as a cable drag third supply line 152a with the third loading portal 120a connected. There is also a fourth power and compressed air supply 150a via a trained as a cable tow fourth supply line 152a with the fourth equipment portal 120a connected.

The first fitting device to be rebuilt 100 also has a control unit 160 on, which controls the entire assembly operation and thereby, for example, the traversing movements of the various placement portals coordinated in a suitable, so that in particular there are no collisions between the loading portals 120a and 120b and between the assembly portals 120c and 120d comes. In the control unit 160 Accordingly, a suitable operating software is installed which for the Bestückungsportalkonfiguration the first to be installed placement device 100 (with four placement portals) is specific.

2 shows a second converted placement device 200 , which by a conversion of the first to be installed placement device 100 originated. How out 2 The fourth loading portal became apparent 120d along with this assembly portal 120d associated components (fourth power and compressed air supply 150d , fourth supply line 152d ) away.

At the second converted placement device 200 is the third assembly portal 120c assigned a significantly enlarged Verfahrbereich, which is located between the two upper feeders 140 extends. As a result, the third supply line also became 152c away and through a third supply line 252c replaced. The other apparatus components of the first placement device 100 were taken over unchanged and therefore will not be described again in detail at this point.

To a reliable assembly operation with the second converted placement 200 however, was the one for the placement portal configuration of the first placement device 100 specific operating software is uninstalled or deleted and one for the placement portal configuration of the second placement device 200 with three loading portals specific operating software in or on the control unit 160 Installed.

In order to avoid special solutions, in particular with regard to the new operating software, the second mounting device is 200 completely identical to a new, ie without conversion, manufactured second mounting device. This can be achieved, inter alia, that the converted second mounting device 200 completely recalibrated. This completes a calibration of both the first placement portal 120a as well as the second equipping portal 120b one.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

100

first to be installed placement device

110

stationary carrier

111

first longitudinal guide

112

second longitudinal guide

120a

first assembly portal

120b

second assembly portal

120c

third loading portal

120d

fourth assembly portal

122

carriage

124

crossbeam

126

carriage

128

placement

130

grab

135

Board camera

140

feeders

150a

first electricity and compressed air supply

150b

second power and compressed air supply

150c

third power and compressed air supply

150d

fourth power and compressed air supply

152a

first supply line / cable tow

152b

second supply line / cable tow

152c

third supply line / cable tow

152d

fourth supply line / cable tow

160

control unit

190

components

195

component support

200

second converted placement device

250c

Power and compressed air supply

252c

Supply line / Kabelschlepp

QUOTES INCLUDE IN THE DESCRIPTION

This list of the documents listed by the applicant has been generated automatically and is included solely for the better information of the reader. The list is not part of the German patent or utility model application. The DPMA assumes no liability for any errors or omissions.

Cited patent literature

• EP 0968637 B1 [0026]

Cited non-patent literature

• www.siplace.com [0004]

Claims (6)

Method for converting a first placement device ( 100 ) for equipping component carriers ( 195 ) with electronic components ( 190 ) to a second placement device ( 200 ) for equipping component carriers ( 195 ) with electronic components ( 190 ), wherein the first placement device ( 100 ) a carrier ( 110 ) with a stationary longitudinal guide ( 111 . 112 ) and at least one loading portal ( 120a . 120b . 120c . 120d ) with one on the stationary longitudinal guide ( 111 . 112 ) mounted movable cross member ( 124 ) and one along the movable cross member ( 124 ) moveable placement head ( 128 ) and wherein the second placement device ( 200 ) the carrier with the stationary longitudinal guide ( 111 . 112 ) and at least one loading portal ( 120a . 120b . 120c ) with one on the stationary longitudinal guide ( 111 . 112 ) mounted movable cross member ( 124 ) and one along the movable cross member ( 124 ) moveable placement head ( 128 ), the method comprising • changing the placement portal configuration of the first placement device ( 100 ), in which - at least one placement portal is added, - at least one placement portal ( 120d ) is removed or - at least one placement head is mounted on another side on its movable cross member and wherein compared to the first placement device ( 100 ) in the second placement device ( 200 ) at least one placement head ( 128 ) are assigned to changed travel paths, • adjusting the length of connecting cables ( 152c . 252c ) for the at least one placement head ( 128 ) to the changed travel distances, and • calibration of all placement portals ( 120a . 120b . 120c ) of the second placement device ( 200 ). Method according to the preceding claim, further comprising • installing operating software on a control unit ( 160 ) of the second placement device ( 200 ), wherein the operating software for the placement portal configuration of the second placement device ( 200 ) is specific. Method according to one of the preceding claims, further comprising • adapting safety-related protection mechanisms, so that also with the second placement device ( 200 ) usual safety requirements for the operation of the second placement device ( 200 ). The method of any one of the preceding claims, further comprising Adjusting the number and / or type of electrical and / or electronic control components for motors required to operate at least one mounting prong to the changed placement portal configuration. Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the calibration comprises - equipping a test plate with test components, - measuring the actual positions of the assembled components, - determining a respective deviation between a measured actual positions and an associated desired position, and Storing the specific deviations in a memory of a control unit ( 160 ) of the second placement device ( 200 ). Method according to the preceding claim, wherein the measuring of the actual positions of the assembled components is carried out with a mounted on a loading portal of the second placement device camera.

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