GB1576365A

GB1576365A - Inserting assembly for automatically inserting parallel lead electronic components into openings in a printed circuit board

Info

Publication number: GB1576365A
Application number: GB41506/77A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: TDK Corp
Current assignee: TDK Corp
Priority date: 1976-10-06
Filing date: 1977-10-05
Publication date: 1980-10-08
Also published as: NL188554B; FR2367406B1; DE2744552B2; NL7710987A; FR2367406A1; NL188554C; DE2744552A1; DE2744552C3; CA1062893A

Description

(54) INSERTING ASSEMBLY FOR AUTOMATICALLY INSERTING PARALLEL LEAD ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS INTO OPENINGS IN A PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD (71) We, TOKYO DENKI KAGAKU KOGYO KABUSHIKI KAISHA, a Japanese Body Coryporate of 13-1 Nihonbashi 1-chome, Chuo-Ku, Tokyo-to, Japan, formerly of 14-6, Uchikanda 2-Chome, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo-to, Japan, do hereby declare the invention for which we pray that a Patent may be granted to us and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: The present invention relates to an inserting assembly in an automatic inserting machine for inserting electronic compounds such as parallel lead type consensers into lead receiving openings of a printed circuit board.

In the present specification, directionsx,y and z as applied to an electronic compound are defined as follows: Direction x: In a plane intersecting rectangularly two parallel leads of the electronic component, a direction of a line formed by connecting the two intersecting points of said plane and the two parallel leads.

Direction y: In the above-mentioned plane, a direction perpendicular to the direction x.

Direction z: A direction perpendicular to the abovementioned plane, namely a direction parallel to the above-mentioned leads of the electronic component.

When electronic components are inserted into a printed circuit board according to the conventional technique, an electronic component web carrier 3 formed by connecting many electronic components 17 in a line, as shown in Fig. 1, is wound on a reel 4, a number of such reels 4 are contained in a holding plate 2. as shown in Fig. 8. the electronic component web carriers 3 taken out from the respective reels 4 are guided to an inserting machine 1 and cut, and the separated independent electronic components 17 are held on the top end of an inserting assembly 10 and inserted into a printed circuit board on a table assembly 11. As shown in Figs. 9 and 10, the top end of the inserting assembly 10 comprises a lead guide 121 and a lead press 122 which are supported so that they open and close relative to each other.

The electronic component 17 is held at the portion of a lead 53 thereof by the top end of the inserting assembly 10 and an electronic element 64 is pressed by a push bar 114 brought down from above. In performing the inserting operation, the top end of the inserting assembly 10 is brought close onto a printed circuit board 19 as shown in Fig.

11-(a), and a lead receiving opening is located just below the lead 53 by movement of the table assembly 11 (see Fig. 8). Then, the push bar 114 is brought down and the electronic component 17 is pushed into the printed circuit board 19 as shown in Fig.

11-(b). A part of the lead 53 extending beyond the back face of the printed circuit board 19 is cut out by a lead cutting and bending assembly (not shown) operated on the side of the back face of the printed circuit board 19 and the remaining part of the lead 53 is bent by said cutting and bending assembly to fix the electronic component to the printed circuit board 19. Then, the lead guide 121 and lead press 122 are returned upwardly, but since they would hit the electronic element 64 in this state, as shown in Fig. 1 1-(c), the lead guide 121 and lead press 122 are moved apart against springs 145 and 182 and lifted upwardly in this state by actions of fulcrum pins 138 and 140, levers 139 and 141,rollers 137 and 143, a fixing pin 136 and a fixing plate 142. Accordingly, the lead guide 121 and lead press 122 are prevented from hitting the electronic element 64.

The state where the lead guide 121 and lead press 122 are opened to prevent them from hitting on the electronic element 64 is illustrated in a plan view in Fig. 12. Referring to Fig. 12, leads 53 of the electronic element 64 are first pressed and held in the directiony by the lead guide 121 and lead press 122 through grooves 230 and 231. In order to release this pressing and prevent impingement of the lead guide 121 and lead press 122 against the electronic element 64, the lead guide 121 and lead press 122 are moved apart in the directions y, whereby the state shown in Fig. 12 is attained. In order to attach a great number of electronic components at a high density on a limited area of the printed circuit board 19, it is necessary to minimize the distance m between one electronic component 17 and the adjacent electronic component 17' which has already already been inserted. However, since the lead press 122 is interposed between the adjacent electronic components 17 and 17' to surround the periphery of the electronic component 17, the shape of the electronic element 64 is limited. Namely, the electronic element 64 can have only a flat shape with a very small thickness t, and for example, only ceramic condensers can be employed as the electronic element 64 and thus the range of applicable elements is very narrow.

It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide an inserting assembly for electronic components in which the foregoing defects of the conventional inserting assembly are reduced or eliminated when holding and guiding members are opened.

the periphery of an electronic component to be inserted is not surrounded but one side in the direction is kept free. and the size of an adjacent electronic component in the direction y is not limited by the holding and guiding members, whereby it is made possible to handle electronic components including an electronic element having a large size and to insert not only flat ceramic condensers but also other various electronic elements differing in the shape and size. such as cylindrical chemical condensers. Mylar (Mylar is a Registered Trade Mark) condensers. peaking coils and resistors into printed circuit boards.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved inserting assembly for electronic components in which when electronic components are pressed in printed circuit boards. irrespective of their sizes.

occurrence of damage because of an excessive force imposed thereon or of only loose attachment because of too small a fastening force. is effectively prevented and when a variety of electronic components differing in the shape and size are inserted. the pressing force need not be adjusted for the respective components. whereby it is possible to handle many kinds of electronic components at a high efficiency and to perform the inserting operation automatically with ease.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an inserting assembly for electronic components in which the insertion density of electronic components can be markedly enhanced.

According to the present invention there is provided a machine for automatically inserting parallel lead type electronic components into openings in a printed circuit board, the improvement comprising inserting means for receiving an electronic component at a predetermined position and inserting same into an inserted position, said inserting means including: a) a frame; ) driving means mounted on said frame; c) first slider means arranged to be driven by said driving means to undergo vertical movement; (d) second slider means capable of undergoing vertical movement in response to a movement of said first slider means; (e) lead holding and guiding means for holding and guiding parallel leads of a said electronic component, said lead holding and guiding means being capable of undergoing vertical movement with a movement of said second slider means, and said lead holding and guiding means including a pair of outer holding and guiding members and a pair of inner holding and guiding members, said pair of outer holding and guiding members being adapted to cooperatively engage said pair of inner holding and guiding members and thereby effect a guiding and gripping of the said electronic component parallel leads therebetween at said predetermined position, and (f) push bar means capable of undergoing vertical movement in response to a movement of said first slider means, said push bar means being adapted to engage said electronic component when same is guided and gripped by said lead holding and guiding means and to displace said electronic component parallel leads from said predetermined position to said inserted position under the guiding control of said lead holding and guiding means.

The present invention will now be described in detail, by way of example only, by reference to embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which drawings: figs. 1 to 7 illustrate the states of an electronic component at respective steps in a process wherein respective electronic components in an electronic component web carrier are separated and inserted into a printed circuit board; Fig. 8 is a front view illustrating an embodiment of an automatic inserting machine (used in both a conventional technique and that of the present invention); Fig. 9 is a perspective view illustrating an electronic component holding assembly according to a conventional technique; Fig. 10 is a sectional side view of the electronic component holding assembly shown in Fig. 9; Fig. 11 is a sectional side view illustrating the inserting process in the electronic component holding assembly shown in Fig. 9, wherein: a) indicates a position-setting step; b) indicates an inserting step and c) indicates an electronic componentaverting step.

Fig. 12 is a plan view illustrating step (c) in Fig. 11; Fig. 13 is a side view of an inserting machine according to a first embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 14 is a front view of an inserting assembly according to the embodiment of Fig. 13; Fig. 15 is a bottom view of the inserting assembly of Fig. 14 (but with a lead holding and guiding member omitted); Fig. 16 is a side view of the inserting assembly shown in Fig. 14; Fig. 17 is a sectional view of a sleeve and the surrounding portion thereof of the embodiment of Figs. 13 to 16; Fig. 18 is a sectional side view of a lower slider assembly of the foregoing assembly; Fig. 19 is a front view of the lower slider assembly of Fig. 18; Fig. 20 is a horizontal sectional view illustrating a part of the lead holding and guiding assembly and showing the section taken along the line 20-20 in Fig. 21; Fig. 21 is a view showing the section taken along the line 21-21 in Fig. 20; Fig. 22 is a view showing the section taken along the line 22-22 in Fig. 21; Fig. 23 is a view showing the section taken along the line 23-23 in Fig. 20; Fig. 24 is a view showing the section taken along the line 24-24 in Fig. 23; Fig. 25 is a view showing the section taken along the line 25-25 in Fig. 23; Figs. 26 and 27 are perspective views showing top end portions of outer and inner holding and guiding members, respectively of the foregoing embodiment; Figs. 28, 29 and 30 are views showing the sections taken along lines 28-28, 29-29 and 30-30, respectively, in Fig. 17; Fig. 31 is a sectional view illustrating the state where the holding and guiding members are opened and showing the section taken along the line 31-31 in Fig. 32; Fig. 32 is a view showing the section taken along the line 32-32 in Fig. 31, and Fig. 33 is a plan view showing the section taken along the line 33-33 in Fig. 31; Fig. 34 is a front view of a lead holding and guiding assembly according to another embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 35 is a sectional front view of the lead holding and guiding assembly shown in Fig.

34; Fig. 36 is a side view of the lead holding and guiding assembly shown in Fig. 34; Fig. 37 is a sectional side view of the lead holding and guiding assembly shown in Fig.

34; Fig. 38 is a view showing the section taken along the line 38-38 in Fig. 36; Fig. 39 is a perspective view illustrating the top end portions of outer holding and guiding members in the lead holding and guiding assembly shown in Fig. 34; Fig. 40 is a perspective view showing inner holding and guiding members of the lead holding and guiding assembly shown in Fig.

34, and Figs. 41 to 45 are perspective views showing operations in this embodiment.

As is shown in Figs. 1 and 2, electronic components 17, each comprising an electronic element 64 and parallel leads 53, are arranged at equal pitches in parallel to one another upon a long web base 65, and they are there fixed by an adhesive tape 66. Feed holes 32 are formed through the base 65 and tape 66. Thus, an electronic component web carrier 3 is formed.

There is first outlined the structure and function of the entire inserting machine of an embodiment in which electronic components 17 are automatically inserted into a printed circuit board 19 by using such electronic component web carrier 3.

Referring to Fig. 8, an inserting machine 1 and a reel holding board 2 are arranged in parallel and they are automatically operated according to a predetermined programme by an NC control apparatus (not shown) disposed separately. A plurality of reels 4 having electronic component web carriers 3, as shown in Fig. 1, wound thereon, are rotatably supported on shafts extending perpendicularly from the board surface. Electronic components wound on the respective reels 4 may be different in kind; for example, condensers and resistors may be wound on respective reels. Alternatively, electronic component web carriers 3 of condensers differing in their capacitance may be wound on the reels 4. The electronic web carriers 3 unwound from the respective reels 4 are guided horizontally and in parallel through guide rollers 5 and feed rollers 6, and are introduced into the inserting machine 1 through guides 7.

As shown in Fig. 13, the inserting machine 1 comprises a supply assembly 8, a transferring assembly 9, an inserting assembly 10, a table assembly 11 and a frame 12. The structure and functions of these constituents of the inserting machine 1 will now be outlined by reference to Figs. 1 and 8 to 13.

In the supplying assembly 8, electronic component web carriers 3 fed into the inserting machine 1 are held, and according to an NC programme, a predetermined kind of an electronic component web carrier 3 is selected and is cut in succession into respective electronic components along the line A-A in Fig. 1, and these electronic components as shown in Fig. 3 are fed to the transferring assembly 9. In the transferring assembly 9 the electronic components fed from the supplying assembly 8 are gripped by a plurality of chucks 15 disposed around a rotary disc 14 rotating intermittently about an axis 13 inclined at 450 to the horizontal plane. While they are being transferred under rotation, excess leads below the line B-B in Fig. 4 are cut off by a cutter 16 (see Fig. 8) to form electronic components 17 as shown in Fig. 5. Then, the electronic components 17 are delivered to the inserting assembly 10 while they are held in the vertical state. In the inserting assembly 10, operations of gripping the received electronic components 17, pressing them down in the vertical direction and inserting the leads of the electronic components 17 into preformed holes (including, in the case of a head rotating type inserting assembly, an operation of rotating the electronic components 17 by 90" about a vertical axis according to the NC programme in addition to the foregoing operations) are preformed. In the table assembly 11, a printed circuit board 19 in which electronic components 17 are to be inserted is held on a table 18 and the table 18 is moved in the horizontal plane in the directionsx andy according to the NC programme so that preformed openings on the printed circuit board 19 are located just below the inserting assembly. Further, excess parts of leads of the inserted electronic components 17 are cut off along the line C-C in Fig. 6 by a cutting and bending member (not shown) in the table 18. and the top end portions of the leads are rectangularly bent on the back side of the printed circuit board 19 to fix the electronic components 17 as shown in Fig. 7.

The foregoing assemblies are attached to and held by the frame 2 to protect and support these assemblies. The foregoing automatic inserting machine is described in detail in the Complete Specification of our copending British Patent Application No. 13336/76 (Serial No. 1541326).

The inserting assembly 10 will now be described in detail.

One embodiment of the inserting assembly is illustrated in Figs. 14 (front view). 15 (bottom view in which a lead holding and guiding assembly 21 is omitted) and 16 (side view). The inserting assembly 10 comprises a frame 23 attached to a stand 22 fixed to the frame 12 in Fig. 13. upper and lower slider assemblies 24 and 25 supported on the frame 23, for independent movement, a lead holding and guiding assembly 21 rotatably supported on the lower slider assembly 25 on a vertical shaft thereof, and a push bar assembly 26 supported on the upper slider assembly 24 and lead holding and guiding assembly 21.

The upper slide assembly 24 is supported for vertical movement by means of a pistonand-cylinder 27, along a guide rod 28 mounted on the frame 23. On the upper slider assembly 24, there are disposed lower slider cams 29 and 30 for determining movement of the lower slider assembly 25, an opening and closing cam 34 for opening and closing outer holding and guiding members 31, 31 and inner holding and guiding members 33, 33 of the lead holding and guiding assembly 21, a sleeve cam 36 for determining movement of a sleeve 35 constituting a part of the push bar assembly 26, a chuck cam 37 for opening and closing chucks 15, and a clamp cam 39 for determining movement of a clamp 38 as shown in Fig. 17. In addition, lead holding and guiding assembly-rotating cams 43 and 44 for rotating the lead holding and guiding assembly 21 are disposed on a block 42 which is moved in the vertical direction together with the upper slide assembly 24 by a projection 41 held on a guide 40 as shown in Fig. 14.

The structures and functions of these cams will be described in detail hereinafter.

The lower slider assembly 25 is pivotably supported in the frame 23 so that a body 45 of the lower slider assembly 25, as shown in Figs. 14,16, 18 and 19, can slide in the vertical direction with respect to the frame 23. As shown in Figs. 18 and 19, the lead holding and guiding assembly 21 is rotatably supported in the body 45 at a position of a rotary sleeve 48 by bearings 46 and 47. A block 49 is mounted on the lower end of the rotary sleeve 48, and the outer and inner holding and guiding members 31 and 33 for holding the electronic component 17 by means of the leads 53 thereof are anchored on the block 49 and an operation rod 50 for operating these outer and inner holding and guiding members 31 and 33 is mounted on the block 49 slidably in the vertical direction.

A mechanism for sliding the lower slide assembly 25 in the vertical direction will now be described by reference to Fig. 14. A roller 55 of one lever of a bell crank 54 swingably attached to the frame 23 through a pin 51 bears against by a lower slider cam 29 arranged to move with vertical movement of the upper slider assembly 24. and the lower slider assembly 25 is moved in the vertical direction by a connection rod 56 rotatably attached to the other end of the bell crank 54.

Supposed that the right side is convex and the left side is concave in the state shown in Fig.

14, the shape of the cam 29 comprises a short flat portion 57 extending upwardly from the lower end of the cam 29, a convex portion 58, a long flat portion 59, a gradually concaved inclined face 60 and a flat portion 61. When the roller 55 moves on the inclined portion 60 in a direction so as to move the lower slider assembly 25 downwards, the body 45 of the lower slider assembly impinges on a stopper 92 mounted on the lower end of the frame 23 before the roller 55 falls in contact with the flat portion 61. A second lower slider cam 30 is disposed to prevent the lower slider assembly 25 from springing up by a repulsive force when it impinges on the stopper 92.

A mechanism for rotating the rotary sleeve 48 will now be described by reference to Fig.

14. The block 42 is disposed so that it can move horizontally with respect to the frame 23 (in the direction vertical to the sheet surface of Fig. 14, i.e. out of the paper). When the block 42 moves in a direction outwards of the paper, a roller 79 engages with the lead holding and guiding assembly-rotating cams 43 and 44, and when the block 42 moves in a direction inwards into the paper, this engagement does not take place. A bar 63 is supported so that it can slide in the vertical direction in the block 42, and the lead holding and guiding assembly-rotating cams 43 and 44 are disposed on the lower end of the bar 63. Fig. 14 illustrates the state where the roller 79 is pressed to the left by the lead holding and guiding assembly-rotating cam 44, and if the bar 63 is brought down relatively to the lower slider assembly 25, the lead holding and guiding assembly-rotating cam 43 hits on the roller 79 to press the roller downwardly to the right. A bell crank 80 is rotatably attached to the lower slider assembly 25 by means of a pin 81 and has the roller 79 on one end, the other end of the bell crank 80 being rotatably connected to a link 82. A pin 83 is mounted on the other end of the link 82 and is fitted in a U-shaped groove 86 of a lever 85 attached rotatably to the lower slider assembly 25 by means of another pin 84. Between the other end 85' of the lever 85 and a pin 87 of the lower slider assembly 25, a spring 88 is disposed to change over the falling position of the lever 85 to the left or right of the dead point of the lever 85 by utilizing said dead point of the lever 85 to form an over-centre device. As shown in Fig.

18, the pin 83 is attached to a rack 89 which is supported for horizontal sliding by a guide 90 mounted on the body 45, to rotate a pinion 91 engaged with the pin 83 and so turn the rotary sleeve 48.

A mechanism for holding electronic components in the lead holding and guiding assembly 21 will now be described by reference to Figs. 20 to 24. A pair of outer holding and guiding members 31 are swingably attached to the block 49 by means of pins 93, and presses 94 are attached to both the sides of the block 49. The presses 94 comprise stopper bolts 95 defining closed positions of the outer holding and guiding members 31 and springs 96 urging the outer holding and guiding members 31 towards each other in the closing direction. Inner holding and guiding members 33 are rotatably mounted on the outer holding and guiding members 31 through pins 97, and rollers 99 are mounted on the outer holding and guiding members 31 by means of pins 98. The top end portions of the outer holding and guiding members 31 are bent in the horizontal direction, and on the confronting inner faces of the top end portions of the outer holding and guiding members 31 and, as shown in Figs. 25 and 26, holding grooves 100 and conical faced guiding grooves 101 are formed therein. As in case of the outer holding and guiding members 31, the top end portions of the inner holding and guiding members 33 are horizontally bent, and as shown in Fig. 27, conical faced guide grooves 201 are formed in upper parts of the top end portions of the members 31 facing outwardly and confronting the holding grooves 100 in Fig. 25 and flat faces 202 are formed in said upper parts.

When the lead is inserted from above in the state as shown in Fig. 25, it is guided by the guide grooves 101 and 201 and so introduced into the holding grooves 100. Thus, the lead is held and gripped by the holding and gripping member constructed by the holding grooves 100 and flat faces 202. Accordingly, it is possible to move the inner holding and guiding members 33 in the direction y with respect to the outer holding and guiding members 31 while the lead is being held therein.

A cover having a guiding groove formed on the inside thereof is mounted on one surface of the block 49, and an operation rod 50 is supported in this guiding groove so that the rod 50 can slide in the vertical direction. An L-shaped lever 204 is formed on the top end of the operation rod 50, and the lower end of the rod 50 is bent in a reverse L-shaped form and, as shown in Fig. 24, the upper edge of the bent portion is formed into a mountainlike portion 205 including inclined faces 206 and side faces 207. Further, the top end of the bent portion has projections 208 as shown in Fig. 23 the top ends of the inner holding and guiding members 33 have two projections 209 and 210, and these projections 209 and 210 engage with the projections 208 to define the positions of the inner holding and guiding members 33. A click hole 211 is formed on the operation rod 50, and it constitutes a click stop mechanism together with ball 212 and spring 213 provided on the body 49.

The mechanism for opening and closing the inner holding and guiding members 33 and outer holding and guiding members 31 will now be described by reference to Fig. 14.

A roller 216 is mounted on a link 215 rotatably attached to the frame 23 through a pin 214 so that when the upper slider assembly 24 is brought down and an inclined face 217 of the opening and closing cam 34 bears against the roller 216 at the end of the descending stroke of the upper slider assembly 24, the link 215 is rotated to the right. A rod 218 is rotatably connected to the link 215, and the other end of the rod 218 is connected to a lever 219 pivotably attached to the frame 23. The other end of the lever 219 is connected to a striker 221 through a link 220. The striker 221 can slide in the vertical direction while being guided by a guide 222. As shown in Fig. 23, the striker 221 includes an upper striker 223 and a lower striker 224.

The push bar assembly 26 includes an upper push bar assembly and a lower push bar assembly. As shown in Fig. 17, the upper push bar assembly includes a sleeve 35 slidably supported on the upper slider assembly 24 for vertical movement. an upper push bar 225 slidably supported in the sleeve 35 by means of a bearing for vertical movement, stop plate 226 and coupling 227 attached respectively to the head and lower portion of the upper push bar. a spring 228 giving a downward bias to the coupling 227, and a clamp 38 pivotably supported by means of a pin 233 by a journal 229 attached to the sleeve 35. This clamp 38 has a roller 234 and a spring 235 and has a function of clamping and releasing a screwed portion 236 of the upper push bar 225. Cross-sections of the sleeve 35 and the surrounding portion thereof are illustrated in Figs. 28, 29 and 30.

The sleeve 35 is guided by a press 237.

As shown in Figs. 18 and 23. the lower push bar assembly comprises a lower push bar 238 with a pressing head 239; a flange 240. stop plates 241 and 242 and a screw 243 being provided on the top end of the lower push bar 238. The flange 240 is connected to the coupling 227 of the upper push rod assembly. The lower push bar 238 is supported by a bearing 244 so that it can slide vertically in the block 49. A concavity 245 suitable for pressing the head of the electronic component is formed on the lower face of the pressing head 239. The lower push bar 238 is arranged to rotate together with the rotary sleeve 48 and this rotation is arranged to occur relative to the coupling 227.

The mechanism for moving the push bar assembly 26 in the vertical direction will now be described by reference to Figs. 16 and 17.

The sleeve cam 36 is attached to the upper slider assembly 24. and a flat portion 246, an inclined face 247. a flat portion 248 and inclined faces 249 and 250 are formed in turn on the sleeve cam 36 passing from the lower end to the top and the sleeve cam 36 is arranged to move a roller 251. The roller 251 is disposed on one end of a bell crank 254 pivotably supported by a pin 253 in a journal 252 fixed to the frame 23, and the other end of the bell crank 254 is formed with a U-shaped slot 255 which cooperates with a pin 256 of the sleeve 35 so that the sleeve 35 is moved in the vertical direction with movement of the roller 251. If the positional relationship between the sleeve 35 and clamp cam 39 is as shown in Fig. 17, pressure is exerted upon the roller 234 and the top end of the clamp 38 is separated from the knurled portion 236 of the upper push bar 225 (screw-like convexities and concavities are formed on the surface of the knurled portion so as to obtain high friction). Accordingly, the movement of the bell crank 254 is transmitted to the coupling 227 through the spring 228, but relative movement is caused between the upper slider assembly and sleeve 35 and when the clamp cam 39 attached to the upper slider assembly 24 separates from the roller 234, the clamp 38 clamps the upper push bar 225 and the movement of the bell crank 254 is integrally transmitted to the coupling 227 directly without passage through the spring 228. Since the flange 240 integrated with the coupling 227 is not attached to the stop plate 241, the upper push bar 225 and lower push bar 238 are allowed to undergo relative movement by a distance corresponding to the cl holding and guiding member 31.

The piston-and-cylinder 27 is first operated to cause the upper slider assembly 24 to descend at a constant speed. During this downward movement, the respective members are caused to perform the following functions by various cams attached to this upper slider assembly 24.

At first, the roller 251 is loaded on the inclined face 247 of the sleeve cam 36 and the sleeve 35 is brought down. Since the inclination of this inclined face 247 is set so that the sleeve 35 makes the same movement as that of the upper slider assembly 24, there is thus caused no relative movement between the clamp cam 39 and roller 234 and the clamp 38 is kept in the state shown in Fig. 17 and performs no clamping action. Accordingly, when the bell crank 254 pushes down the sleeve 35, the upper push bar 225 gripping the sleeve 35 with the stop plate 226 and spring 228 is moved downwards together with the sleeve 35, and the lower push bar 238 suspended from the flange 240 through the stop plate 241 moves downwards under its own weight together with the upper push bar 225.

Then, the lower slider assembly 25 is raised up by the convex portion 58 of the lower slider cam 29 to lift the outer holding and guiding members 31 and inner holding and guiding members 33, and the leads 53 of the electronic component 17 are guided into the guide grooves 101 and 201 and they are held and gripped in the gripping portion between the holding grooves 100 and flat faces 202, whereby the electronic component 17 is held. During this period, the sleeve 35 is further brought down and the pressing head 239 of the lower push bar 238 falls in contact with the top of the electronic component 17.

Further, the bell crank 254 is rotated to bring down the sleeve 35, but the lower push bar 238 is not brought down any more because it bears against the top of the electronic component 17. However, when the coupling 227 is brought down until it abuts the screw 243, the sleeve 35 comes to push down the lower push bar 238 through the spring 228, and when the sleeve 35 is further brought down, the spring 228 is caused to yield and a force corresponding to this yielding is imposed on the electronic component 17. When the sleeve 35 is thus brought down to some extent, the roller 251 arrives at the flat portion 248 and the sleeve 35 is stopped. On the other hand, the upper slider assembly 24 continues the downward movement and therefore, the clamp cam 39 separates from the roller 234 and the clamp 38 is caused to clamp the upper push bar 225 by the force of the spring 235. Accordingly, the sleeve 35 is integrated with the upper push bar 225 and the spring 228 is locked in the compressed and dead state; internal forces are still active however between the movable claw 52 and fixed claw 67 and at the press head 239. Since the position of the flat portion 248, namely the position of stoppage of the sleeve 35, is always the same, although an electronic component of greater height comes into contact with the pressing head 239 at an earlier stage and causes the spring 228 to yield to a larger extent and thus to exert a larger spring force, it is possible by appropriate selection of a spring 228 of lower strength to attain an appropriate spring force for any of electronic components. Damage of the electronic components can thus be effectively prevented irrespective of kinds of the electronic components to be inserted. The position of the flat portion 248 is selected so that even when an electronic component having a smallest height is inserted, after slight yielding of the spring 228 the sleeve 35 is stopped.

Substantially simultaneously with the above operation, the lever 263 (Fig. 16) is moved by the upwardly inclined face 258 of the chuck cam 37 and the roller 73 is pressed by the striker 264 to open the movable claw 52 and fixed claw 67. At the same time, the force imposed on the electronic component 17 is released and the force of the spring 228 is kept in the completely dead state as the internal force. Then, the chuck 15 is withdrawn downwardly and the electronic component 17 is completely delivered to the outer and inner holding and gripping members 31 and 33. Striker 24 is returned in the reverse direction by the downwardly inclined face 259 of the chuck cam 37. The reason for this return is that there is arranged such a clearance that the striker 264 is prevented from hitting on the roller 73 when the rotary disc 14 rotates.

When the lead holding and guiding assembly 21 is rotated about the vertical shaft, after the striker 264 is withdrawn downwardly to such a point that adjacent portions of the striker 264 do not touch the rotating assembly 21, the lead holding and guiding assembly-rotating cam 43 moves the roller 79 and rotates the lead holding and guiding assembly 21 by means of the rack 89 and pinion 91 (see Fig. 18). This rotation is accelerated and assured by the spring 88 acting as an over-centre mechanism.

Then. the sleeve 35 and lower slider assembly 25 are similarly brought down by the inclined face 249 of the sleeve cam 36 and the inclined face 60 of the lower slider cam 29, whereby the push head 239 and the outer and inner holding and guiding members 31 and 33 are brought down while keeping the same clearance therebetween and while holding the electronic component 17 therebetween.

Just before the lower faces of the outer and inner holding and guiding members 31 and 33 come into contact with the printed circuit board 19, the lower slider assembly 25 abuts the stopper 92 and is stopped. At this point, the roller 55 does not reach the flat portion 61 but leaves a certain clearance. When the lower slider assembly 25 hits on the stopper 92, it has a tendency to rebound, but is pressed by the lower slider cam 30 and is thus prevented from so soing.

Since the sleeve 35 is further brought down, the electronic component 17 is pressed by the pressing head 239 and is caused to slide between the holding groove 100 and flat face 202. As a result, the ends of the leads 53 are inserted into openings of the printed circuit board 19. Then, the leads 53 are further pushed down and they are bent, as shown in Fig. 6, to form a stopper 265, and at the point where this stopper 265 hits on the printed circuit board 19, by the action of the limit switch, the movement of the bell crank 254 is ceased to stop the push head 239.

Then, cutting of excessive leads and bending of cut end portions are performed from the back surface of the printed circuit board 19 by a cutting and bending mechanism (not shown) and the leads and electronic component 17 are fixed as shown in Fig. 7.

When the leads 53 are completely inserted in the openings of the printed circuit board 19 during the operation of inserting the electronic component 17. the inclined face 217 of the opening and closing cam 34 (Fig. 14) hits on the roller 216 to raise up the striker 221, whereby, as shown in Fig. 31, the lever portion 204 of the operation rod 50 is lifted up by the lower striker 224 of the striker 221.

Accordingly the projection 208 hits on the projection 209 so as to rotate the inner holding and guiding member 33, and the top end of the inner holding and guiding member 33 is deviated in the direction y to open the holding groove 100. At first. there is a small clearance between the mountain-like portion 205 of the operation rod 50 and the roller 99 as shown in Fig. 24. but when the operation rod 50 is lifted up to some extent and the inclined face 206 falls in contact with the roller 99 after the movement of the inner holding and guiding members 33 in the direction y. the outer holding and guiding members 31 begin to open and they open in the state where the side faces 207 are contacted therewith as shown in Fig. 32. If the lead holding and guiding assembly 21 is raised up in this state. it is possible to insert the electronic component 17 smoothly without any contact with the holding and guiding members.

This state is illustrated in a plane view of Fig. 33. The inner holding and guiding members 33 are first moved in the directiony and then. they are opened in the direction x together with the outer holding and guiding members 31 to form a large open space.

Further. on the right side of the axis x in Fig.

33, all the members holding the electronic component 17 (in this case, the outer and inner holding and guiding members 31 and 33) are completely opened. Accordingly, even if the distance m between the electronic component 17 and adjacent electronic component 17' is small, the size t of the electronic components 17 and 17' can be increased to a maximum so long as the electronic components 17 and 17' do not fall in contact with each other. Therefore, according to the present invention, not only flat electronic components such as ceramic condensers but also cylindrical and prismatic electronic components can be inserted. Thus, various electronic components such as chemical condensers, Mylar (Mylar is a Registered Trade Mark) condensers, peaking coils and resistors can be conveniently inserted into printed circuit boards according to the present invention.

Even when the size of the electronic component 17 is varied if the height hl, (Fig.6), from the end of the lead 53 to the lower end of the stopper 265 is kept constant, the stroke for inserting the lead 53 into the printed circuit board 19 is not changed.

Accordingly, even when various electronic components differing in height h2 from the lower end of the stopper 265 to the top are treated only a small force set by the soft spring 228 is changed, and the insertion is not influenced by the force of the spring 228 at all and electronic components differing in the height h2 can be inserted by the same force.

Further, since the insertion of the lead 53 is stopped by the limit switch at the point where the lower end of the stopper 265 hits on the printed circuit board 19, no large force is imposed on the electronic component and it is effectively prevented from being damaged.

Moreover, when various electronic components differing in size are inserted, no particular adjustment need be made for the respective electronic components, and therefore, automation of insertion of various kinds of electronic components can easily be accomplished.

Another embodiment of the lead holding and guiding assembly and push bar assembly employed in the present invention will now be described by reference to Figs. 34 to 45.

As shown in Figs. 34 to 37, a lead holding and guiding assembly 350 comprises a pair of outer holding and guiding members 352 pivoted on a block 348 by means of pins 351 and a pair of inner holding and guiding members 354 attached to the inner faces of the outer holding and guiding members 352 by means of pins 353. A compression spring 355 is arranged between the upper holding and guiding members 352 and they are urged apart by the spring 355 so that their top ends are opened. The degree of opening in the outer holding and guiding members 352 can be adjusted by a stopper bolt 356 disposed on the side of the block 348. Opening and closing cams 357 are disposed on the outer holding and guiding members 352 to cause opening and closing of the outer holding and guiding members 352. Each of the outer and inner holding and guiding members 352 and 354 has a vertical portion 352A or 354A extending substantially in the vertical direction and an inclined portion 352B or 354B extending downwardly and obliquely (about 45 ) from the vertical portion 352A or 354A. In each of the outer holding and guiding members 352, an inwardly bent L-shaped portion 352C is formed on the top end of the inclined portion 352B as shown in Figs. 38 and 39. A holding groove 358A and a guiding groove 359A are formed in the corner of the bent portion 352C. As shown in Fig. 40, a holding groove 358B and a guiding groove 359B are formed on a corner of the inclined portion 354B of each inner holding and guiding member 354 so that when the top end face of the inclined portion 354B comes into contact with the bent portion 352C, both the grooves 358A and 358B form a gripping hole 360 and both the guiding grooves 359A and 359B form a guiding face 361 along the entire peripheries thereof. Leads of an electronic component 17 delivered from a chuck mechanism 15 are received by the guiding face 361 and held by the gripping hole 360 as shown in Fig. 16.

Referring again to Figs. 34 to 37, an operation rod 362 (Fig. 36) is mounted on the block 348 so that it can slide in the vertical direction, and an L-shaped engaging portion 363 is formed on the top of the operation rod 362 and a spherical projection 364 (Figs.

34,35) is formed in the lower portion of the operation rod 362. The spherical projection 364 is arranged so that when it comes into contact with the inner faces of the opening and closing cams 357 for the outer holding and guiding members 352, it opens the outer holding and guiding members 352. Presses 366 for the outer holding and guiding members 352 are mounted on both the sides of the operation rod 362. respectively through pins 365, and spherical projections 367 for contacting the outer faces of the opening and closing cams 457 are formed on the inner face of each press 366. An extension spring 368 is arranged between the presses 366 for the outer holding and guiding members 352.

Since the extension spring 368 is arranged so that its elastic force is larger than the elastic force of the compression spring 355 arranged between the outer holding and guiding members 352. when the spherical projections 367 are kept in contact with the outer faces of the opening and closing cams 357, the outer holding and guiding members 352 are kept closed. Adjustment bolts 369 are disposed on the presses 366 for the outer holding and guiding members 352 for adjusting the bias on the members 352. Springloaded pins 370 are further mounted on the operation rod 362. These spring-loaded pins 370 engage with the inner holding and guiding members 354 and urge them in the closing direction, and these spring-loaded pins 370 are also arranged to operate the inner holding and guiding members 354 cooperatively with the vertical movement of the operation rod 362. A click stop mechanism comprising a ball 371 and a spring 372 is mounted on the block 348 to define vertical positions of the operation rod 362.

As illustrated in the foregoing embodiment shown in Figs. 14, 16 and 18 and as shown in Fig. 37, a striker 221 is mounted on the frame 23, and is movable vertically to operate the operation rod 362. An opening and closing cam 34 is integrally formed on an upper slider assembly 24 and a link 215 having on one end thereof a roller 216 contacting the opening and closing cam 34 is mounted on the frame 23. The other end of the link 215 is connected to one end of a lever 219 pivoted on the frame 23 by means of a rod 218, and the other end of the lever 219 is connected to the striker 221 through a link 220. In this arrangement, when the upper slider assembly 24 is located at the uppermost position, the striker 221 is located at a lower position, and when the upper slider assembly 24 is brought down by a considerable distance with travel of the rollers 216 along the inclined face of the opening and closing cam 34, the striker 221 rises up to lift up the L-shaped engaging portion 363 of the operation rod 362 (Fig. 36).

As shown in Figs. 36 and 37, a lower push bar 324 passes through the block 348 and a push bar sleeve 387 is slidably located within the lower end of the lower push bar 324, and a sleeve cover 389 is attached to the push bar sleeve 387 through a pin 388. Further, a compression spring 390 arranged to urge the pin 388 downwardly is disposed in the push bar sleeve 387 (Fig. 37). Namely, the push bar sleeve 387 is urged downwardly by the compression spring 390 and contraction and extrusion occur in the region C. Owing to this contraction and extrusion, the lower push bar 324 can be brought down until the sleeve cover 389 comes into contact with the top end of the lead holding and guiding assembly 350. Accordingly, it is possible to perform insertion irrespective of the size of the electronic component supported by the lead holding and guiding assembly 350.

As in the foregoing embodiment, the lead holding and guiding assembly 350 is arranged so that it can rotate together with the block 348 with the lower push bar 324 as its centre of rotation so as to accomplish changeover of the inserting direction.

Operations of the above-mentioned sec ond embodiment will now be described by reference to Figs. 14, 16, 17, 18, 41 and 45.

As the cylinder 27 is operated and the upper slider assembly 24 is brought down, the bell crank 254 is turned to the left by the inclined face 247 of the sleeve cam 36 and the sleeve 35 is brought down, whereby the lower push bar 324 is driven downwardly as indicated by an arrow D in Fig. 41 through the spring 228 and coupling 227. The roller 55 coming into contact with the lower slider cam 29 separates from the flat portion 57 of the lower slider cam 29. Accordingly, the bell crank 54 is slightly rotated to the right, whereby the lower slider assembly 25 is raised up and the lead holding and guiding assembly 350 moving vertically together with the lower slider assembly 25 is driven upwardly as indicated by an arrow F (Fig. 41). Accordingly, the electronic component 17 held by the chuck mechanism 15 is pressed by the sleeve cover 389 and the leads 53 of the electronic component 17 are guided in and held by the gripping holes 360 between the outer holding and guiding members 352 and inner holding and guiding members 354. During the foregoing inserting operation. owing to buffer actions of the springs 228 and 390. the electronic component 17 is prevented from being damaged and insertion of the electronic component 17 is accomplished under an appropriate pressing force.

When the upper slider assembly 24 is further brought down. the bell crank 254 is further turned to the left by the inclined face 249 of the sleeve cam 36 and also the sleeve 35 is brought down. At this point. since the upper push bar 225 is clamped by the clamp 38. the movement of the sleeve 35 is transmitted to the lower push bar 324 through the upper push bar 225 and coupling 227. Simul taneously. since the bell crank 54 is turned to the left by the inclined face of the lower slider cam 29, also the lower slider assembly 25 is brought down. Since the inclined face 249 of the sleeve cam 36 and the inclined face of the lower slider cam 29 are arranged so that the speed of descent of the sleeve 35 is equal to the speed of descent of the lower slider assembly 25. both the lower push bar 234 and the lead holding and guiding assembly 350 are brought down as indicated by arrows G and H in Fig. 42. and the leads 53 of the electronic component 17 are inserted into the printed circuit board 19.

Then. by the action of the opening and closing cam 34. the link 215 is turned to the right and the striker 221 is lifted up. At this moment, the operation rod 362 mounted on the block 348 is driven upwardly. and the inner holding and guiding members 354 engaged with the spring pins 370 are turned as indicated by arrow 1 in Fig. 43 to release the grip upon the leads 53.

The downward movement of the lower push bar 324 is continued for a while as indicated by an arrow J in Fig. 44 even after stopping of the lead holding and guiding assembly 350, whereby the leads 53 are inserted into the printed circuit board 19 sufficiently deeply.

Since the push bar sleeve 387 inserted in the lower push bar 324 is extended and contracted in the region C shown in Fig. 37, the degree of push exerted by the lower push bar 324 can easily be set, and a variety of electronic components differing in shape and size over a broad range can be inserted. Especially, electronic components having a very small outer shape, such as straight lead ceramic condensers, can be inserted conveniently.

Then, the inner faces of the opening and closing camc 357 of the outer holding and guiding members 352 are pressed by the spherical projections 364 on the top end of the operation rod 362, and the outer holding and guiding members 352 are outwardly opened as indicated by an arrow K in Fig. 44.

When the operation rod 362 further rises, the engagement between the outer holding and guiding members 352 and the presses 366 therefor is released and the extension spring 368 has no further action upon the outer holding and guiding members 352.

Accordingly, the outer holding and guiding members 352 are further opened in a direction indicated by an arrow K by the action of compression spring 355.

After the foregoing operations, as indicated by arrows L and M in Fig. 45, both the lower push bar 324 and the opened lead holding and guiding assembly 350 are returned to the rising positions. Thus, a series of operations for inserting the electronic component 17 into the printed circuit board 19 have been completed.

According to the above-mentioned embodiment, since the operation of opening the outer holding and guiding members 352 in the lead holding and guiding assembly 350 is performed in two stages and since the necessary and minimum opening is forcibly accomplished by employing cam means and further opening is accomplished by an elastic force of the compression spring 355, even if the outer holding and guiding members 352 fall in contact with the subsequent adjacent electronic component when they are opened, they do not damage the adjacent electronic component at all. Therefore, the distance between two adjacent electronic components can be markedly reduced. Further.

since the top ends of the outer and inner holding and guiding members 352 and 354 are formed into inclined portions 352B and 354B extending downwardly and obliquely, even if a coaxial type electronic component has been inserted in advance in the vicinity of the insertion position. a subsequent elec tronic component can be inserted conveniently.

Still further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, by virtue of the feature that the push bar sleeve is disposed in the lower push bar and is urged downwardly by the spring and that the sleeve cover is mounted on the push bar sleeve so that the sleeve cover presses the electronic component, it is possible to insert with confidence a variety of electronic components differing in size and shape over a broad range, and there is further attained an advantage that electronic components having a very small outer shape can be inserted with confidence.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A machine for automatically inserting parallel lead type electronic components into openings in a printed circuit board, which comprises an inserting means for receiving an electronic component at a predetermined position and inserting same into an inserted position, said inserting means including: (a) a frame; (b) driving means mounted on said frame; (c) first slider means arranged to be driven by said driving means to undergo vertical movement; (d) second slider means capable of undergoing vertical movement in response to a movement of said first slider means; (e) lead holding and guiding means for holding and guiding parallel leads of a said electronic component, said lead holding and guiding means being capable of undergoing vertical movement with a movement of said second slider means. and said lead holding and guiding means including a pair of outer holding and guiding members and a pair of inner holding and guiding members, said pair of outer holding and guiding members being adapted to cooperatively engage said pair of inner holding and guiding members and thereby effect a guiding and gripping of the said electronic component parallel leads therebetween at said predetermined position. and (f) push bar means capable of undergoing vertical movement in response to a movement of said first slider means. said push bar means being adapted to engage said electronic component when same is guided and gripped by said lead holding and guiding means and to displace said electronic component parallel leads from said predetermined position to said inserted position under the guiding control of said lead holding and guiding means.

2. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said outer holding and guiding members has a holding groove and a conical faced guiding groove arranged above said holding groove and each of said inner holding and guiding members has a holding flat face and a conical faced guiding groove arranged above said holding flat face.

3. A machine as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said outer holding and guiding members has an inwardly bent L-shaped portion on a top end thereof, said L-shaped portion having a holding groove and a conical faced guiding groove arranged above said holding groove on a base portion thereof, and each of said inner holding and guiding members has a holding groove and a conical faced guiding groove arranged above said holding groove on a corner of a top end thereof, each of said inner holding and guiding members being pivotable on an inner side face of the corresponding outer holding and guiding member so that each of said top ends of the inner holding and guiding members falls in contact with the inner face of said L-shaped bent portion of a corresponding outer holding and guiding member.

4. A machine as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein said push bar means includes a sleeve capable of making a vertical movement in response to said first slider means, an upper push bar slidably supported in said sleeve, a spring interposed between said sleeve and said upper push bar, a lower push bar connected to a lower end of said upper push bar and a clamp mounted on said sleeve, for controlling a sliding movement of said upper push bar.

5. A machine as claimed in any preceding claim. wherein said lead holding and guiding means is adapted to be rotated about the vertical axis to effect angular reorientation of said electronic component prior to displacement of same to said inserted position.

6. A machine as claimed in claim 2, wherein said lead holding and guiding means includes hold releasing means for releasing the grip of said lead holding and guiding means.

7. A machine as claimed in claim 3, wherein said lead holding and guiding means includes a spring for urging open said outer holding and guiding members. an operation rod capable of making vertical movement and outer holding and guiding memberpressing members for defining the degree of opening of said outer holding and guiding members. the arrangement being such that, in use, said outer holding and guiding members can be forcibly opened by first movement of said operation rod and said pressing members can be released from said outer holding and guiding members by a second movement of said operation rod whereby said outer holding and guiding members can be opened under the influence of said spring.

8. A machine as claimed in claim 4, wherein said lower push bar sleeve inserted slidably in the lower end portion of said lower push bar, a spring for urging said push bar sleeve downwardly and a sleeve cover

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. tronic component can be inserted conveniently. Still further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, by virtue of the feature that the push bar sleeve is disposed in the lower push bar and is urged downwardly by the spring and that the sleeve cover is mounted on the push bar sleeve so that the sleeve cover presses the electronic component, it is possible to insert with confidence a variety of electronic components differing in size and shape over a broad range, and there is further attained an advantage that electronic components having a very small outer shape can be inserted with confidence. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A machine for automatically inserting parallel lead type electronic components into openings in a printed circuit board, which comprises an inserting means for receiving an electronic component at a predetermined position and inserting same into an inserted position, said inserting means including: (a) a frame; (b) driving means mounted on said frame; (c) first slider means arranged to be driven by said driving means to undergo vertical movement; (d) second slider means capable of undergoing vertical movement in response to a movement of said first slider means; (e) lead holding and guiding means for holding and guiding parallel leads of a said electronic component, said lead holding and guiding means being capable of undergoing vertical movement with a movement of said second slider means. and said lead holding and guiding means including a pair of outer holding and guiding members and a pair of inner holding and guiding members, said pair of outer holding and guiding members being adapted to cooperatively engage said pair of inner holding and guiding members and thereby effect a guiding and gripping of the said electronic component parallel leads therebetween at said predetermined position. and (f) push bar means capable of undergoing vertical movement in response to a movement of said first slider means. said push bar means being adapted to engage said electronic component when same is guided and gripped by said lead holding and guiding means and to displace said electronic component parallel leads from said predetermined position to said inserted position under the guiding control of said lead holding and guiding means.

disposed on a lower end of the push bar sleeve for pushing the electronic component in said inserted position.

9. A machine for automatically inserting parallel lead type electronic components into openings in a printed circuit board, substantially as hereinbefore described.

10. An inserting means for a machine according to any preceding claim, as defined in claim 1.

11. An inserting means for a machine according to any preceding claim, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figs 13 to 33 or by reference to Figs 34 to 45 of the accompanying drawings.

12. A printed circuit board having openings into which at least one parallel lead electronic component has been inserted by means of an inserting means according to claim 10 or 11, or by means of a machine according to any one of claims 1 to 9.