GB1589543A - Automatic component assembling apparatus - Google Patents

Description

(54) IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO AUTOMATIC COMPONENT ASSEMBLING APPARATUS (71) We, MATSUSHITA ELECTRIC IN DUSTRIAL CO. LTD., a Japanese body corporate of 1006 Oaza Kadoma Kadoma-shi, Osaka-fu, 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: This invention relates to apparatus for assemblying components on printed circuit boards.

According to the invention, there is provided apparatus for assembling components on printed circuit boards by inserting the leads or pins of each component into a corresponding set of apertures in each board, the apparatus comprising boardholding means having two parallel members extending in a predetermined direction supporting a row of printed circuit boards extending in said predetermined direction, first drive means for displacing the members in a direction perpendicular to the predetermined direction, second drive means for simultaneously displacing all the boards carried by the members in the predetermined direction, board-loading means located adjacent one end of the members for loading said boards one by one on to said members, board-receiving means located adjacent the opposite end of said members for receiving an assembled board when discharged from the members, a plurality of feed means located in a row alongside said board holding means, feed means each being selectively operable to feed a different type of component to an adjacent board when carried by said members to effect the insertion of the leads or pins of the component into a corresponding set of apertures in the board, and a numerical control unit for controlling the first and second drive means to effect displacement of the members in discrete steps so that when said members carry said boards each set of apertures in each board is brought into alignment with the feed means supplying a component having leads or pins destined for said set, the unit being arranged to effect the displacements by the first and second drive means in accordance with a predetermined programme to keep the total displacement of the boards substantially to a minimum.

According to the invention there is further provided apparatus for mounting components in predetermined positions on printed circuit boards, comprising support means for supporting boards on a single plane, spaced feed means for feeding different components into respective loading positions, means for displacing the support means in discrete steps in the said single plane in mutually perpendicular directions relative to the loading positions whereby to bring each said predetermined position in turn into alignment with a corresponding said loading position, means for causing a said component at a loading position when aligned with a said predetermined position to be taken from the loading position and secured to a said board in said predetermined position and a control unit for controlling the displacing means in accordance with a predetermined sequence such that the total movement of said support means required for a component to be secured in each of said predetermined positions in said boards is substantially a minimum.

Apparatus for assembling components on a printed circuit board and embodying the invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of the apparatus: Figure 2A is a fragmentary perspective view of a board displacement assembly of the apparatus of Fig. 1; Figure 2B is a cross-section through the assembly of Fig. 2A; Figure 2C is a longitudinal section through the assembly of Fig. 2A; Figure 3 shows a previously proposed method for mounting a resistor or the like on a board in spaced apart relationship; Figures 4, 5 and 6 are sectional views of an insertion chuck of the apparatus in different operative positions; Figure 7 is a section through a board carrying a resistor inserted by the chuck shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6; Figures 8, 9A, 9B, 10 and 11 are fragmentary views of a component-loading chamber and a magazine exchange assembly of the apparatus of Figure 1; Figure 12 is a plan view of the loading chamber and a magazine sensing assembly of the apparatus of Fig. 1; Figure 13 is a perspective view of an IC element feed assembly of the apparatus of Figure 1; Figures 14, 15, 16 and 17 are sectional view of parts of the assembly of Figure 13 in different operative states; Figure 18 is a plan view of the IC element feed assembly of Fig. 13; Figure 19 is a fragmentary section through a modified IC element feed assembly for use in the apparatus in place of that of Figure 13; Figure 20 is a perspective view of a lever arrangement of the assembly of Figure 19; Figure 21 is a plan view of the lever assembly of Fig. 20 in an operative position; Figure 22 is a plan view of the lever assembly of Fig. 20 in an inoperative or retracted position; Figure 23 is a fragmentary front elevation of the IC element feed assembly of Fig. 19; Figure 24 is a plan view of the assembly of Fig. 23; Figure 25 is a fragmentary perspective part cut away view of the feed assembly and a component take-up assembly of the apparatus; Figure 26 is front elevation of the takeup assembly of Figure 25; Figure 27 is a side elevation of the takeup assembly of Fig. 25; and Figure 28 is a perspective view of the take-up assembly of Fig. 25.

The apparatus for assembling components on a printed circuit board or panel as shown in Figure 1, a bed or frame 1 carrying a numerical control unit 2 controlled in accordance with instructions punched onto an endless loop punched tape 36. A loading device 3 is located at one end of the bed 1.

The loading device 3 is operative to feed panels 4 in succession from a stack onto an assembly line. Each board 4 has a printed circuit on one major surface thereof and defines a plurality of small holes or apertures for receiving leads of electronic components. A stacker or unloading device 5 is located at the other end of the bed or frame 1 for stacking assembled panels 6 and for delivering them to the next work station.

The assembly line is formed by a pair of parallel rails 11 and 12 (see Figure 2A) having horizontal guide grooves 153 and 152 for constraining the panels for slidable movement therealong and a pair of parallel Y-axis rails 13 and 14 slidably supporting the rails 11 and 12. A Y-axis pulse motor 15 is coupled to displace the rails 13 and 14. The pair of rails 11 and 12 can hdd up to four panels 7, 8 9 and 10 in a line and guide them when they are displace in the direction of the X-axis.

A device for causing the movement of the panels 7, 8, 9 and 10 in the X-axis direction is shown in detail in Figures 2(A) and 2(B). A screw-threaded drive shaft 148 extends parallel to, and is mounted on, the rail 12. An X-axis pulse motor 16 is coupled to rotate the shaft 148. A screw-threaded block 149 screw-threadedly engages the drive shaft 148 and upon rotation of the shaft 148 is driven in the X-axis direction. A connecting rod 151 rigid with the block 149 extends through a horizontal slot 150 in the rail 12 and carries a support rod 154 which extends parallel to the rail 12 along the side thereof, facing the other rail 11. The support rod 154 supports four positioning hooks or pins 17 to 20 for engagement with the corresponding positioning holes in respective ones of the panels 7 to 10. There fore upon rotation of the X-axis motor 16 both in a clockwise and anticlockwise sense the panles 7 to 10 are reciprocated along the horizontal guide grooves 152 and 153 of the rails 12 and 11. The device for causing the movement in the Y-axis direction of the rails 11 and 12 on the guides 13 and 14 is substantially similar in construction to the device for causing the movement of the panels 7 to 10 in the X-axis direction.

Next referring particularly to Figure 2C, a device for loading a new panel onto the rails 11 and 12 and simultaneously unloading a completed panel 10 (that is, a panel complete with all of the required electronic components) from the rails 11 and 12 onto the stacker 5 will now be described. The positioning hooks 17 to 20 are movable vertically for engagement with and disengagement from the positioning holes in the panels 7 to 10. When the last electronic component is assembled on the panel 10, the X-axis motor 16 is driven to cause the supporting rod 154 and hence the positioning hook 17 to 20 to perform a forward stroke over a distance equal to the distance between the adjacent positioning hooks to wards the stacker 5. That is, the hook 17 is moved to the previous position of the hook 18. Thereafter the positioning hooks 17 or 20 are retracted downwards to release the panels 7 to 10, and retractable pawls 157 and 158 on an endless belt 156 driven by a pulse motor 155 move upwardly and engage the trailing edge of a new panel placed on the endless belt 156 from the loading device 3 and with the trailing edge of the completed panel 10. Thereafter the pulse motor 155 is energised so that the new panel is displaced into the first assembly position (previously occupied by panel 7) and the assembled panel 10 is unloaded into the stacker 5. The X-axis motor 16 is energised again during this period to cause the supporting rod 154 and hence the positioning hooks 17 to 20 to perform a return stroke back towards the loading device 3 through a distance equal to the distance between the adjacent hooks. Thereafter the positioning hooks 17 to 20 are moved upwardly again for engagement with the panels and the assembling operation is restarted.

Referring back to Figure 1, four head frames 21, 22, 23 and 24 are disposed in a row along the bed 1. The first head frame 21 carries a resistor feed assembly which feeds resistors 25 mounted in parallel on a tape. A resistor insertion chuck 26 takes each resistor in turn from the tape and inserts the leads of the resistor into corresponding holes or apertures of the panel 7.

Instead of the resistors any other electronic component such as a capacitor or a diode having a main body and leads extended axially from opposite ends of the main body can be used.

The second head frame 22 carries an IC element feed assembly including a plurality of elongate magazines 27 each loaded with a plurality of IC elements. The magazines extend vertically upwardly in a circular array on a disk 28. An IC insertion chuck 29 is arranged to withdraw an IC element from each magazine in turn and fit the leads of each element into predetermined holes or apertures of the panel 8 as will be described in more detail hereinafter.

The third head frame 23 carries an IF transformer feed assembly which is substantially similar in construction to the IC element feed assembly but includes a plurality of magazines 33 loaded with IF transformers mounted on a disk. A chuck 30 is arranged to withdraw an IF transformer from each magazine and then to insert the leads of the IF transformer into predetermined insertion holes or apertures in the panel 9.

The fourth head frame 24 carries a vari ab7e resistor feed assembly which is substantially similar in construction to the IC element feed assembly and which includes a plurality of magazines 31 each loaded with a plurality of variable resistors which are fed in succession to an insertion chuck 32 which in turn inserts the leads of each variable resistor received into predetermined insertion holes or apertures in the panel 10.

The X-axis and Y-axis motors 16 and 15, the loading device 3, the unloading device, the stacker 5 and all electronic component feed assemblies 21 to 24 including respective insertion chucks 26 to 32 are all driven and controlled in response to the instructions received from the numerical control unit 2 which in turn receives its instructions from the punched tape 36.

Thus in operation the first panel 10 is picked up by the loading device 3 and is placed in the first assembling position below the resistor feed assembly with both sides of the panel 10 engaging the horizontal guide grooves 152 and 153 of the rails 12 and 11 (see Fig. 2B). In response to control signals from the numerical control unit 2 the Xaxis and Y-axis motors 16 and 15 are driven both in the X-direction and the Y-direction so that the rails 11 and 12 are also displaced in both X- and Y-axis directions at predetermined instants and is a predetermined sequence so that a predetermined pair of insertion holes or apertures in the panel 10 are brought to the assembling position immediately below the resistor insertion chuck 26. Subsequently the panel is positioned in a similar manner at the second, third and fourth assembling positions under respective ones of the insertion chucks 29, 30 and 32.

The insertion chucks 26, 29, 30 and 32 are rotatable in a vertical plane as will be described in detail hereinafter. In operation when each insertion chuck 26, 29, 30 and 32 is in the upper position, it takes an electrical component from the corresponding feed assembly. Thereafter it is lowered into its lower position for inserting the leads of the component into the predetermined insertion holes or apertures in the panel which has just previously been brought to the insertion position immediately below the corresponding insertion chuck. An anvil 34 lies immediately below the insertion chuck 26 and has spherical concave recesses faced upwardly for receiving the leads of the resistor and to guide them when they are clinched into the panel.

After the resistor or resisors have been mounted on the panel 10, the panel is displaced along the assembly line onto the next assembling station. At the same time, the next panel 9 is loaded onto the supporting rails 11 and 12. The load is accomplished by means of rubber suction pads 35 and 35 of the loading device 3 which act to pick up the uppermost panel in the stack of panels 4 and places it on the endless belt 156 (see Fig. 2(C)). The hook 157 of the endless belt 156 engages with the trailing edge of the panel 9 and displaces it to the first assembling position where the positioning hook 17 engages the positioning holes of the panel 9 in the manner described above. Then the assembly of the resistor and IC element on respective panels 9 and 10, is started. In like manner, the subsequent panels 8 and 7 are loaded onto the assembly line while the panels 10 and 9 are passed to subsequent stations. Thus the panels 7 to 10 are supported in line on the rails 11 and 12 as shown in Figure 1.

In the apparatus described the various electronic components such as resistors, IC elements, IF transformers and variable resistors are sequentially mounted on the panels 7 to 10 at predetermined positions while the panels are displaced in the X and Y directions in such a way that their total displacement is reduced to a minimum. For example, assume that the insertion chuck 29 has just mounted an IC element on the panel 8 at a predetermined position thereof.

Then the X- and Y-axis motors 16 and 15 are so driven that the panel, for example panel 10, is brought to the insertion position below the variable-resistor insertion chuck 32 because the distance between this chuck 32 and the position on the panel 10 upon which the variable resistor is to be mounted is shorter compared with the distances between the electronic component mounting positions on the other panels 7, 8 and 9 and their corresponding insertion chucks 26, 29 and 30. It may appear that the panels 7 to 10 are displaced in random strokes and in random directions, but in practice the programme is so prepared that the required electronic components are mounted on the respective panels 7 to 10 with minimum displacements in the X- and Y-axis directions.

It should be noted that the resistor feed assembly is arranged to feed different types of resistor in a predetermined and recurring sequence so that all the resistors of each sequence are mounted in predetermined positions on each panel 7 by the insertion chuck 26. Furthermore the size of the insertion chuck is selected in accordance with the size of the electronic components to be assembled. Thus any standardized electronic components can be assembled by the assembly apparatus. In addition, the insertion chucks 26, 29, 30 and 32 are arranged to rotate about the Z-axis so that the electronic components can be mounted on the panels in any desired attitude as will be described in detail hereinafter.

The construction and mode of operation of the resistor insertion chuck 26 will now be described in more detail. It will be appreciated that while the insertion chuck 26 will be described in conjunction with the insertion of resistors the chuck is equally suitable for insertion of the components of similar external configuration, for example capacitors and diodes.

Whe mounting a resistor on a panel it can be mounted with its body in close contact with the panel but more often there is a need to mount the resistor so that its body lies spaced from the panel in order to facilitate the dissipation of heat from the body. To this end, tubular spacers 38 and 29 can be fitted on the leads of a resistor 40 as shown in Fig. 3, but it is preferable to avoid the use of such spacers if possible to simplify the assembly process.

As shown in Figures 4, 5 and 6, the resistor insertion chuck 26 is supported for vertical movement as well as for rotation about an axis extending parallel to the Yaxis. The chuck 26 includes an inner chuck 41 biased by a spring 63 and an outer chuck 42, the former being slidable within the latter. The outer chuck 42 has a pair of parallel legs 43 and 44, and the inner chuck 41 also has a pair of parallel legs 45 and 46 which slidably engage the legs 43 and 44. The legs 45 and 46 project from respective shoulders 47 and 48, which extend from opposite sides of a semicircular recess 49 in the main body of the chuck 41.

A die or forming block 50 has a pair of parallel downwardly extending legs 53 and 54. The distance between the outer surfaces of these legs 53 and 54 is shorter than the distance between the inner surfaces of the legs 45 and 46 of the inner chuck 41 to provide clearances when the two are brought into mating engagement for receiving leads 51 and 52 of the resistor 40 between the legs 45 and 43 and the legs 46 and 54.

In operation the resistor 40 is separated from its tape carrier and placed in a predetermined position below the die or forming block 50. In response to the control signal from the numerical control unit 2, the insertion chuck 26 is raised in the direction A. As the chuck rises the legs 43 and 44 of the outer chuck 42 engage the leads 51 and 52 of the resistor 40 to displace the latter toward the die or forming block 50.

When the leads 51 and 52 engage the legs 53 and 54 of the die or forming block 50, they are bent to extend along the legs 53 and 54. When the insertion chuck 26 completely fits over the die or forming block 50, the leads 51 and 52 are bent and clamped between the legs 53 and 54 of the die or forming block 50 on the one hand and the legs 43 and 44 of the outer chuck 42 and the legs 45 and 46 of the inner chuck 41 on the other hand as best shown in Fig. 5. Thereafter the downward stroke of the insertion chuck 26 starts. Since the leads 51 and 52 of the resistor 40 spring back outwardly and engage with the legs 43 and 44 of the outer chuck 42 and the legs 45 and 46 of the inner chuck 41, the resistor 40 moves down in unison with the insertion chuck 26. During the downward stroke the insertion chuck 26 rotates through 1800 about an axis extending parallel to the Yaxis so that the free ends of the leads 51 and 52 of the resistor 40 are now directed downwardly as shown in Fig. 6. As the insertion chuck 26 continues to move downwardly as indicated by the arrow B in Fig.

6, the legs 43 and 44 of the outer chuck 42 engage the upper surface of the panel 7 so that the further downward movement of the outer chuck 42 is prevented, but the inner chuck 41 continues to move downwardly so that the legs 45 and 46 and stepped portions 47 and 48 of the inner chuck 41 push the leads 51 and 52 into the predetermined insertion apertures 56 and 57 of the panel 7 or 57. When the stepped portions 58 and 59 of the leads 51 and 52 engage with the upper surface of the panels 7 or 57, the downward movement of the leads 51 and 52 is halted, the downward movement of the inner chuck 41 is stopped. The free ends of the leads 51 and 52 projecting from the insertion holes 57 and 56 are received in recesses 61 and 62 of an anvil 60 and clinched to the panel 57 as shown in Fig. 7.

Thereafter the insertion chuck 26 is moved upwardly, leaving the resistor 40 firmly mounted on the panel 57.

As shown in Fig. 7, the resistor 40 thus mounted on and clinched to the panel 57 has its main body spaced from the panel 57.

Thereafter the leads 51 and 52 are soldered to the copper strip conductors printed in the panel 57.

The magazine type component feed assembly will now be described with reference to Figs. 8 to 12. A magazine 64 (see Fig. 9) is divided into two storage chambers by a vertical partition wall 65, and a plurality of such magazines 64 are equiangularly mounted spaced around the perimeter of a drum 66 between circumferentially extending inner and outer magazine retaining walls 67 and 68.

A disk 74 rigid with a feed ring 71 is carried by a shaft 69 which also carries a drum 66 in such a way that the ring 71 lies immediately below the bottoms of the magazines 64 held between the inner and outer walls 67 and 68 of the drum 66. The feed ring 71 has a plurality of equiangularly spaced feed ports 72 each extending from the upper face of the ring 71 and communicating with both the inner and outer circumferential surfaces of the feed ring 71.

The depth of each feed recess 72 is substantially equal to the height of a component 73 stored in the magazine 64, and the width of the feed recesses 72 in the circumferential direction is slightly greater than the width of the chamber in the magazine 64. The components 73 loaded in the magazines 64 drop under their own weight into these feed recesses 72.

Prior to the assembling operation, the disk 74 and hence the feed ring 71 are relatively angularly adjusted so that the feed recesses 72 will receive electronic components 73 from the lefthand chamber in each of the magazines 64 as shown in Fig. 9A as will be described in more detail hereinafter, and the drum 66 and the feed ring 71 are rotated together in discrete steps so that the components 73 can be withdrawn in succession as each feed recess 72 arrives at the unloading station (see Fig. 12). As soon as each electronic component 73 is withdrawn from the recess 72 by the chuck 79 at the unloading station, the next component drops into the then empty recess 72. When the drum and the feed ring have rotated through a number of revolutions equal to the number of the electronic components 73 loaded in each chamber in the magazine 64, the lefthand chamber will then be empty. Thereupon the feed ring 72 is rotated through a predetermined angle in a manner to be described in detail hereinafter so as to align the feed recesses 72 with the righthand chamber in each magazine 64 as shown in Fig. 9B. Then the electronic components 73 can continue to be supplied to the chuck 79.

Next the device or mechanism for rotating the feed ring 71 through a predetermined angle relative to the drum 66 so as to align the feed recesses 72 of the feed ring 71 with either the righthand or lefthand chamber of each magazine 64 will now be described. A pin 70 projecting downwardly from the drum 66 slidably engages a cranked groove 78 (see Fig. 10) in the upper surface of a sliding block 77. The block 77 slidably engages a pair of parallel guide blocks 75 and 76 secured to the disk 74. In operation when the sliding block 76 is moved from the position shown in Fig. 10 where the pin 70 is located at the radially inner end of the groove 78 to a position where the pin 70 is located at the radially outer end of the groove 78 the cam action between the pin 70 and the groove will cause the drum 66 or the disk 74 and hence the feed ring 71 to rotate through a predetermined angle corresponding to that between the radially inner and outer ends of the groove 78. That is, when the drum 66 is rotated in the direction A in Fig. 9A, the base of the lefthand feed chamber of each magazine 64 is in line with its corresponding feed recesses 72, but when the drum 66 is rotated in the direction B in Fig. 9B the base of the righthand chamber of each magazine is brought into line with a corresponding feed recess 72.

Next referring to Fig. 11, a roller 88 is rotatably supported by a pin 87 on the underside of the sliding block 77. The pin 87 projects through a radially extending elongate slot 89 in the disk 74. At one point during each rotation of the disk 74, the roller 88 engages a recess 86 in an upright engaging member 85. The lower end portion of the member 85 is connected to the radially inner end of a connecting rod 83. The radially .outer end of the connecting rod 83 is connected to an air cylinder 84. When the air cylinder 84 is energized in response to a control signal with the roller 88 in engagement with the recess 86 of the engaging member 86, the sliding block 77 is radially displaced to effect the relative angular displacement between the drum 66 and the feed ring 71 in the manner described above.

A device or system for controlling the energisation of the air cylinder 84 and hence the rotation of the drum 66 or the feed ring 71 will now be described, with reference to Figure 12. A light emitting element 81 and a photoelectric cell 82 are so disposed that the light emitted from the light emitting element 81 is directed at the photoelectric cell 82 through the feed recess 80 next to the unloading station 72 at the front of the chuck 79. The presence of an electronic component in the recess 80 blocks the light path. As the drum 66 and the feed ring 71 rotate to feed the electronic components one by one to the insertion chuck 79, the lefthand chambers of each magazine 64 is progressively emptied of components. When the recess 80 at the position next to the unloading position is empty, the photoelectric cell 82 receives light from the light emitting element 81, and the output signal from the cell 82 is transmitted to the control unit 2. Then immediately after the electronic component in the feed recess 72 at the unloading position or station has been taken by the insertion chuck 79, the control unit generates the control signal for energizing the air cylinder 84 (See Fig. 11) to effect relative angular displacement between the drum 66 and the feed ring 71. Continuity in the supply of the electronic components 73 is thus maintained.

A pin 90 projects radially outwardly from the disk 71 so as to actuate a microswitch 91 when the last feed recess 72 (that is, the recess which feeds the last electronic component from the lefthand chamber to the chuck 79) is at the unloading position. The control units 2 then only generates the control signal for energizing the air cylinder 84 only when the outputs are simultaneously produced from both the photo cell 82 and the microswitch 91.

The magazine feed assembly enables quick automatic switching from one chamber of the magazine to another so that the assembly operation can continue without interruption.

The IC element feed assembly will now be described with reference to Figures 13 to 17. IC elements are loaded into a plurality of magazines 17 which in turn are mounted in equiangularly spaced relationship around the periphery of a drum 92. The drum 92 is rotated in discrete steps to bring the magazines in succession into an unloading position 93 from where the insertion chuck 29 extracts the IC element and inserts the leads or pins thereof into predetermined insertion holes or apertures in the panel located above an anvil 94.

A device for dropping the IC elements from the magazine 27 is shown in Figure 14.

As the drum 92 is rotated, an engaging or pulling member (not shown) engages a disk 95 and pulls it outwardly. The free end of a pin 97 rigid with he disk 95 is thereupon released from the engagement with the underside of the lowermost IC element 96 in the magazine 27. As a result the lowermost IC element 96 drops under gravity into the unloading position as shown in Fig. 15. In order to prevent the IC element 96 from tipping over at the unloading position, a retaining member 93 is rotated from the position indicated by the broken lines to the position indicated by the solid lines for engagement with the upper half of the IC element 96. At the same time, a U-shaped clamping member 99 is rotated into an upright position to clamp those leads or pins of the IC element 96 which engage a supporting member 100. The leads or pins of the IC element 96 resile when they are clamped by the clamping member 99 so that the IC element 96 is securely held by the clamping member 99.

Thereafter a block 101 carrying a pin 104 normally biased toward the direction A under the force of a bias spring 103 and the retaining member 98 pivoted to the free end of the pin 104 is displaced in the direction A (see Fig. 15) away from the unloading positioin. At the same time the clamping member 99 starts to rotate in the direction indicated by th the direction opposite-to the direction A in Fig. 15) through the opening in the Ushaped clamping member 99 to lie directly above the IC element 96 which is still held clamped by the clamping member 99 as shown in Fig. 17.

Thereafter the insertion chuck 29 picks up the IC element 96 from the clamping member 99 and inserts the leads or pins of the IC element 96 into predetermined insertion holes or apertures of the panel. When the drum 92 is rotated through one more discrete step to bring the next magazine 27 into the unloading position, the empty damping member 99 is rotated in a clockwise sense into an upright position to clamp the next IC element 96 dropped into the unloading position as shown in Fig. 15.

During this rotation of the U-shaped clamp ing member 99, the base 101 and the retaining member 98 remains in the positions shown in Fig. 16 out of the way of the passage of the clamping member 99.

The prime mover (not shown) of the feed assembly rotates a timing belt 106 (see Fig.

16) which in turn rotates a rotary shaft 107 carrying a cam 106. The cam 106 acts to impart various motions to the block 101 and the clamping member 99 through respective connecting rods.

The modified IC element feed assembly shown in Figures 19 to 24 include a disk 109 supporting an annular raised guide 110 around its periphery. A transparent cover 125 is attached to the guide 110 (see also Figs. 23 and 24) in order to prevent IC elements from falling out of the magazine 27. A cylindrical magazine holder 111 is mounted on the disk 109 coaxially therewith for rotation in discrete steps in response to the signal from the numerical unit 2 (see Fig. 1), and a plurality of magazines 27 of rectangular cross-section are loaded with vertically arrayed IC elements 113 located between the magazine holder 111 and an outer frame or housing 112.

A plurality of pins 115, one for each magazine 27 extend through respective holes 118 in the outer housing or frame 112.

Each pin 115 is biased towards a corresponding magazine holder 111 by a spring 116 and carries a disk 117 at its radially outer end. The radially inner end of the pin 115 engages the lowermost IC element in each magazine 27 so as to prevent it from falling onto the guide 110.

Referring particularly to Figs. 20, 21 and 22, a pair of vertically spaced release levers 120 and 121 are mounted on a block or base 119 which in turn is securely mounted on the frame at a location spaced from the magazine holder 111. The release levers 120 and 121 have grooves 122 and 123 for engaging the disk 117 on each pin 115.

In operation, the magazine holder 111 carrying the plurality of magazines 27 is rotated in discrete steps in the sense indicated by the arrow A in Fig. 21 so that the disk 117 of the holding device passes through the passage defined by the grooves 122 and 123 of the release levers 120 and 121 as shown in Fig. 21. This passage is inclined at an angle relative to the tangent to the magazine holder 111 (see Fig. 21) and the inlet to this passage is located to lie in the path of the disks 117. The outlet of the passage is spaced radially outwardly from the inlet. Therefore as each disk 117 enters the passage, it engages with the grooves 122 and 123 of the relase levers 120 and 121 and is displaced radially outwardly against the bias of the spring 116 so that the inner end of the pin 115 disengages the lowermost IC element in the corresponding magazine 27 and consequently this Iowermost IC element drops onto the guide 110. The cover which prevents the IC element from falling off the guide 110 is transparent so that an operator can readily observe the IC elements on the guide 110. As the disk 117 exits from the passage, it will return to its initial position under the bias of the spring 116 until the inner end of the pin 115 engages another IC element and presses it against the magazine holder 111 to prevent it falling onto the guide 110. As the magazine holder 111 is rotated to discrete steps, the IC elements previously dropped on the guide 110 are displaced towards an unloading position.

Referring particularly to Figs. 23 and 24, at the unloading position there is a gap in the cover 125 and a lead or pin receiving pad 127 is located in a recess 126 in the guide 110. The IC element rest on the pad 127 with the lowermost pair of leads or pins abutting the pad 127. The reason why the molded portion of the IC element 113 is not made to abut the pad, is that the size including the width of the pair of leads or pins is standardized for most IC elements but the size of the molded portion is not.

The IC element 113 on the pad 127 is carried to the insertion chuck 29 (see Fig.

1) and mounted on the panel.

When all of the magazines 27 are empty, new magazines can be loaded relatively quickly. During the replacement of the magzines, a lever 124 (see Figs. 21 and 22) is pivoted in the counterclockwise sense to displace the release levers 120 and 121 away from the magazine holder 111.

The electronic component feed assembly shown in Figures 25 to 28 is arranged to orientate an electronic component into a predetermined attitude upon being picked up from the magazine and placed at an unloading station.

Electronic components such as IF trans formers are loaded in a magazine 128, and a plurality of such magazines 128 are loaded vertically around the periphery of a drum 129 in equiangularly spaced relationship.

The drum 129 is rotated in discrete steps to bring the magazines 18 in turn into the unloading position where a take-up assembly transfers the IF transformer to an insertion chuck 130 which may be rotatable about an axis parallel to the Y-axis (see also Fig. 1). The insertion chuck 130 inserts the leads of the IF transformer into predetermined insertion holes or apertures of a panel and co-operates with an anvil 131 to clinch the leads to the panel. The take-up assembly can selectively rotate through, for example, an angle of 90" about the axis of the IF transformer during the transfer thereof to the insertion chuck 130.

The take-up assembly (see Figs. 26 to 28) includes a pair of upright supports or blocks 134 and 135 secured to the frame for supporting a rotary shaft 133. The shaft 133 carries a U-shaped holder or a yoke 136 which in turn carries a clamp 142 having a plurality of resilient clamping or gripping fingers 145. The gear 139 rigid with the rotary shaft 133 meshes with a segment gear 138 coupled to a connecting rod 137 so that when the connecting rod 137 is displaced in either direction A or B the segment gear 138 is caused to pivot about its pivot pin to rotate the gear 139 in either the sense A or B. Consequently the yoke 136 and hence the clamp 142 are angularly displaced between the vertical position shown in Fig. 26 and the horizontal position shown in Fig. 28.

A bevel gear 146 rigid with the clamp 142 at an end thereof remote from the gripping fingers 145, meshes with a bevel gear 147 carried by an inner shaft 140. The inner shaft extends coaxially with the rotary shaft 133, and is supported by the supporting blocks 134 and 135. The shaft 140 is rotatable independently of the shaft 133 and can be arrested by an arresting device 141 as will be described in detail hereinafter.

In operation when the connnecting rod 137 performs its forward stroke in the direction indicated by the arrow A, the gear 139 is rotated in the sense indicated by the arrow A, through the segment gear 138 so that the yoke 136 and the clamp 142 both pivot from the vertical position (see Fig. 26) to the horizontal position (see Fig. 28) to face an IF transformer in the unloading position.

Thereafter an ejector 144 is displaced radially outwardly to push the IF transformer 143 out of the unloading position towards the gripping fingers 145 of the clamp 142. Upon engagement with the transformer 143 the gripping fingers 145 grip or clamp the IF transformer 143.

When no rotation of the IF transformer 143 about its axis is required, the arresting device 141 is deactivated so that the free rotation of the inner shaft 140 is permitted.

Thus when the connecting rod 137 is displaced in the direction indicated by the arrow B, the segment gear 138 causes the gear 139 to rotate in the sense indicated by the arrow B so that the yoke 136 and hence the clamp 142 pivot from the horizontal position to the vertical position. Since the inner shaft 140 is allowed to rotate freely independently of the rotary shaft 133, the bevel gear 147 carried by the inner shaft 140 and meshing with the bevel gear 146 of the clamp 142 will not cause any rotation of the clamp 142 about its axis during its downward stroke.

When it is desired to rotate the clamp 142 and hence the IF transformer 143 clamped thereby about their axes through an angle, the arresting device 141 is activated in response to the control signal from the numerical control unit 2 (see Fig.

1) so that the inner shaft 140 is arrested; that is, the free rotation of the shaft 140 is prevented and consequently the bevel gear 147 carried by the inner shaft 140 is held stationary. As a result, when the clamp 142 pivots from the horizontal position to the vertical position, the bevel gear 146 carried by the clamp 142 and meshing with the bevel gear 147 carried by the inner shaft 140, is caused to rotate so that the clamp 142 and hence the IF transformer 143 held thereby are also caused to rotate through an angle about their axis. Thus the IF transformer 143 in the vertical position (see Fig. 26) is angularly displaced through for example an angle of 90" from the position of an IF transformer which had been brought to the vertical position without any rotation about its axis. The angle of rotation is dependent upon the gear ratio between the bevel gears 146 and 147.

In order to correctly control the angular position of the clamp 142 in the vertical position, a spring loaded click ball 148 is provided for engagement with a mating recess formed in the surface of the clamp 142.

The insertion chuck 130 is moved upward to take-up the IF transformer 143 in the vertical position and inserts the leads thereof into predetermined insertion holes or apertures of the panel.

It will thus be appreciated that with IF transformers or other electronic components loaded in the same attitude in the magazine, their angular position can be changed during the transfer by the take-up assembly to the insertion chuck 130 to allow a design of printed circuit board having degrees of freedom.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:- 1. Apparatus for assembling components

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

Claims (10)

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. formers are loaded in a magazine 128, and a plurality of such magazines 128 are loaded vertically around the periphery of a drum 129 in equiangularly spaced relationship. The drum 129 is rotated in discrete steps to bring the magazines 18 in turn into the unloading position where a take-up assembly transfers the IF transformer to an insertion chuck 130 which may be rotatable about an axis parallel to the Y-axis (see also Fig. 1). The insertion chuck 130 inserts the leads of the IF transformer into predetermined insertion holes or apertures of a panel and co-operates with an anvil 131 to clinch the leads to the panel. The take-up assembly can selectively rotate through, for example, an angle of 90" about the axis of the IF transformer during the transfer thereof to the insertion chuck 130. The take-up assembly (see Figs. 26 to 28) includes a pair of upright supports or blocks 134 and 135 secured to the frame for supporting a rotary shaft 133. The shaft 133 carries a U-shaped holder or a yoke 136 which in turn carries a clamp 142 having a plurality of resilient clamping or gripping fingers 145. The gear 139 rigid with the rotary shaft 133 meshes with a segment gear 138 coupled to a connecting rod 137 so that when the connecting rod 137 is displaced in either direction A or B the segment gear 138 is caused to pivot about its pivot pin to rotate the gear 139 in either the sense A or B. Consequently the yoke 136 and hence the clamp 142 are angularly displaced between the vertical position shown in Fig. 26 and the horizontal position shown in Fig. 28. A bevel gear 146 rigid with the clamp 142 at an end thereof remote from the gripping fingers 145, meshes with a bevel gear 147 carried by an inner shaft 140. The inner shaft extends coaxially with the rotary shaft 133, and is supported by the supporting blocks 134 and 135. The shaft 140 is rotatable independently of the shaft 133 and can be arrested by an arresting device 141 as will be described in detail hereinafter. In operation when the connnecting rod 137 performs its forward stroke in the direction indicated by the arrow A, the gear 139 is rotated in the sense indicated by the arrow A, through the segment gear 138 so that the yoke 136 and the clamp 142 both pivot from the vertical position (see Fig. 26) to the horizontal position (see Fig. 28) to face an IF transformer in the unloading position. Thereafter an ejector 144 is displaced radially outwardly to push the IF transformer 143 out of the unloading position towards the gripping fingers 145 of the clamp 142. Upon engagement with the transformer 143 the gripping fingers 145 grip or clamp the IF transformer 143. When no rotation of the IF transformer 143 about its axis is required, the arresting device 141 is deactivated so that the free rotation of the inner shaft 140 is permitted. Thus when the connecting rod 137 is displaced in the direction indicated by the arrow B, the segment gear 138 causes the gear 139 to rotate in the sense indicated by the arrow B so that the yoke 136 and hence the clamp 142 pivot from the horizontal position to the vertical position. Since the inner shaft 140 is allowed to rotate freely independently of the rotary shaft 133, the bevel gear 147 carried by the inner shaft 140 and meshing with the bevel gear 146 of the clamp 142 will not cause any rotation of the clamp 142 about its axis during its downward stroke. When it is desired to rotate the clamp 142 and hence the IF transformer 143 clamped thereby about their axes through an angle, the arresting device 141 is activated in response to the control signal from the numerical control unit 2 (see Fig.

1) so that the inner shaft 140 is arrested; that is, the free rotation of the shaft 140 is prevented and consequently the bevel gear 147 carried by the inner shaft 140 is held stationary. As a result, when the clamp 142 pivots from the horizontal position to the vertical position, the bevel gear 146 carried by the clamp 142 and meshing with the bevel gear 147 carried by the inner shaft 140, is caused to rotate so that the clamp 142 and hence the IF transformer 143 held thereby are also caused to rotate through an angle about their axis. Thus the IF transformer 143 in the vertical position (see Fig. 26) is angularly displaced through for example an angle of 90" from the position of an IF transformer which had been brought to the vertical position without any rotation about its axis. The angle of rotation is dependent upon the gear ratio between the bevel gears 146 and 147.

In order to correctly control the angular position of the clamp 142 in the vertical position, a spring loaded click ball 148 is provided for engagement with a mating recess formed in the surface of the clamp 142.

The insertion chuck 130 is moved upward to take-up the IF transformer 143 in the vertical position and inserts the leads thereof into predetermined insertion holes or apertures of the panel.

It will thus be appreciated that with IF transformers or other electronic components loaded in the same attitude in the magazine, their angular position can be changed during the transfer by the take-up assembly to the insertion chuck 130 to allow a design of printed circuit board having degrees of freedom.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:- 1. Apparatus for assembling components

on printed circuit boards by inserting the leads or pins of each component into a corresponding set of apertures in each board, the apparatus comprising boardholding means having two parallel members extending in a predetermined direction for supporting a row of printed circuit boards extending in said predetermined direction, first drive means for displacing the members in a direction perpendicular to the predetermined direction, second drive means for simultaneously displacing all the boards carried by the members in the predetermined direction, board-loading means located adjacent one end of the members for loading said boards one by one on to said members, board-receiving means located adjacent the opposite end of said members for receiving an assembled board when discharged from the members, a plurality of feed means located in a row alongside said board holding means, feed means each being selectively operable to feed a different type of component to an adjacent board when carried by said members to effect the insertion of the leads or pins of the component into a corresponding set of apertures in the board, and a numerical control unit for controlling the first and second drive means to effect displacement of the members in discrete steps so that when said members carry said boards each set of apertures in each board is brought into alignment with the feed means supplying a component having leads or pins destined for said set, the unit being arranged to effect the displacements by the first and second drive means in accordance with a predetermined programme to keep the total displacement of the boards substantially to a minimum.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least one of said feed means comprises an insertion chuck having an outer chuck defining a pair of parallel legs, and an inner chuck defining a pair of parallel legs which are shorter than the legs of said outer chuck, the inner chuck slidably engaging the outer chuck so that inner legs of the inner chuck are in sliding contact with the legs of said outer chuck, the inner faces of the legs of the inner chuck having inwardly stepped portions which extend to a central component receiving recess in the inner chuck and a die having a pair of parallel legs which co-operate with the legs of said outer and inner chucks to define clearance of predetermined configuration in which the leads of the component can be accommodated after forming whereby when said outer and inner chucks and said die co-operate with each other, to act on the component, the leads of the component are shaped in conformity with said clearances to provide a stepped portion in each lead, which stepped portion is destined in the assembled circuit board to rest on the face of the board and thereby hold the component proper spaced from the face of the board.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the feed means includes a disk having an annular outer circumferentially extending guide, a cylindrical magazine holder rotatably mounted on said disk coaxially therewith, an outer cylindrical frame disposed coaxially of said cylindrical magazine holder for rotation therewith, the space between the holder and the frame being arranged to receive and locate a plurality of magazines in equiangularly spaced relationship with the base of each magazine being spaced above the annular guide by a distance substantially equal to the length of each electronic component that the magazine is arranged to carry, and a plurality of component holding means one for each of said plurality of magazines, each holding means including a pin projecting through said outer cylindrical frame and supporting a disk at its radially outer end, means biasing the pin radially inwardly into a position in each its radially inner end portion is located to obstruct an opening in the base of a magazine when mounted on the holder thereby to prevent the lowermost electronic component in the magazine from being discharged from the magazine, and cam means located adjacent the locus of said disks when the magazine holder is rotated, the cam means defining a passage through which said disks pass when the magazine holder is rotated, the inlet and outlet of said passage being radially spaced from one another whereby as each disk passes along the passage it is radially outwardly displaced by a distance sufficient to cause the radially inner end portion of the corresponding pin to clear the opening in the base of the corresponding magazine and so allow the discharge of a component from the magazine onto the annular guide in an unloading position thereon.

4. Apparatus according to claim 2, including an anvil disposed below said insertion chuck to lie below a said board, the anvil having recesses arranged to be aligned with said insertion holes or apertures in said board, and control means for controlling the displacement of said insertion chucks to effect the downstroke of said outer chuck and to half the downstroke when the pair of parallel legs thereof engage the upper surface of said board and to effect the downstroke of said inner chuck in a sense to force lead ends of a component when present extending below said stepped portion through said set of insertion holes or apertures in said board and into engagement with the recess in said anvil, which recesses act to effect the clinching of the leads to the board.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least one of said feed means comprises a plurality of magazines, each magazine being divided into a plurality of vertical loading chambers by a plurality of vertical partition walls, each vertical loading chamber being arranged to accommodate a plurality of vertically stacked electronic components, a drum supporting said plurality of magazines in equiangularly spaced relationship, a disk mounted coaxially of said drum and having an annular circumferentially extending ring, the ring having a plurality of component-receiving recesses equal in number to the number of magazines carried by the drum, each componentreceiving recess being aligned with one of the vertical loading chambers of its associated magazine, means for rotating said drum and said disk in unison in discrete steps to bring each component-receiving recess in turn into an unloading position, and means for causing the relative rotation between said drum and said disk to cause each component-receiving recess to become aligned with another loading chamber of its associated magazine.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5, including a light-emitting element and a photoelectric cell arrangement located upstream of said unloading position to monitor each component receiving recess during the step prior to the recess being advanced to the unloading position, the arrangement responding to a said recess being empty to initiate said relative rotation between said drum and said disk.

7. Apparatus according to claim 3, including retaining means movable into a position in which such means can retain a said component in said unloading position, U-shaped clamping means rotatable into a vertically extending position in which it can clamp a said component when retained by said retaining means, means for displacing said retaining position out of the locus of movement of the clamping means when a component is clamped by the clamping means and for displacing the clamping means into a horizontally extending position when the component is released by the retaining means, a block carrying said retaining means moveable to overlie the Ushaped clamping means, when in its horizontally extending position, and a chuck for receiving said component from said Ushaped clamping means when the clamping means is in said horizontally extending position, said chuck being arranged to mount said electronic component on a said board while said U-shaped clamping means is returned to its vertically extending position.

8. Apparatus according to claim 5, including clamp means for clamping an electronic component brought to an unloading position, ejection means for ejecting an electronic component out of said unloading position into clamping engagement with said clamp means when in a component receiving position, a U-shaped holder carrying said clamp 'means, a pair of parallel supporting blocks carrying an outer rotary shaft rigid with the holder, an inner shaft extending coaxially of said outer rotary shaft for rotation relative to said outer rotary shaft, arresting means for locking the inner shaft against rotation, a first bevel gear rigid with said clamp means at end thereof remote from the end arranged to receive and clamp the said electronic component, a second bevel gear rigid with said inner shaft and meshing with said first bevel gear, and chuck means for receiving a said electronic component from said clamp means, when said clamp means is in a component release position, said chuck means being arranged to insert the leads of the said electronic component into a corresponding set of apertures in the board whereby when said inner shaft is permitted to rotate independently of said outer rotary shaft when the clamp means is moved from the component receiving position to the component release position said clamp means releases the electronic component to said chuck means, the clamp means being held against rotation about its axis, until the inner shaft is arrested by said arresting means, whereas the clamping means will rotate about its axis through a predetermined angle.

9. Apparatus for mounting components in predetermined positions on printed circuit boards, comprising support means for supporting boards on a single plane, spaced feed means for feeding different components into respective loading positions, means for displacing the support means in discrete steps in the said single plane in mutually perpendicular directions relative to the loading positions whereby to bring each said predetermined position in turn into alignment with a corresponding said loading position, means for causing a said component at a loading position when aligned with a said predetermined position to be taken from the loading position and secured to a said board in said predetermined position and a control unit for controlling the displacing means in accordance with a predetermined sequence such that the total movement of said support means required for a component to be secured in each of said predetermined positions in said boards is substantially a minimum.

10. An automatic component assembling apparatus substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.