JP2000013094A - Storage rack and conveyer of printed board - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a storage rack suitable for thin printed board that does not bend printed boards, enables high-density storage and easy insertion/removal of printed boards, and a conveyer that has a simple structure to carry in and out boards. SOLUTION: The storage rack of this invention has bottom frames 3 of a rectangular sheet type, backrest frames 12 in a gate shape oscillatably attached to the bottom frames 3 at bottom ends on both sides, a stopper 9 to control the oscillation angles on both sides so that angles are the same on both sides in the direction of oscillating each backrest, reverse operation parts 14 formed by extending the bottom ends of each oscillating frame downwards from the oscillation axis, and a part to be detected 10 disposed longitudinally of the bottom frame at the same gaps as backrest frame disposition. The conveyer has a rack conveyer 33 intermittently carrying the storage rack longitudinally of the bottom frame, a lift conveyer 36 adjustable at an angle corresponding to the oscillation angle of the backrest frame of the storage rack, adjustable frames 43 positioned thereabove and claws 27 for reversing the backrest frame.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a rack for accommodating a plurality of printed circuit boards in an upright state, and a device for loading or unloading printed circuit boards to or from the rack, and particularly suitable for automatic handling of thin printed circuit boards. The present invention relates to a rack and a loading / unloading device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a rack for accommodating a large number of printed circuit boards in an upright state, a structure in which a plurality of parallel insertion grooves are provided in a flat bottom frame is known. The rack of this structure inserts and holds the bottom edge of the printed circuit board one by one in each insertion groove, and each printed circuit board is held simply by inserting the bottom edge into the bottom frame, so that storage and removal can be done. There is a feature that it is easy and it is also possible to take out the printed circuit board at random.

In order to hold a printed circuit board with a rack having such a structure, the printed circuit board itself needs to have some rigidity. However, with the recent miniaturization and high-density of electronic devices and devices, printed circuit boards used particularly for portable electronic devices have become extremely thin, having a thickness of 100 to several hundred microns. For this reason, in the rack having the above structure, the printed circuit board falls down and cannot be stored. In order to accommodate such a thin printed circuit board, there is provided a rack having the above-described conventional structure in which a slightly inclined backrest frame for holding the surface of the printed board inserted into the slit of the bottom plate is provided.

[0004]

However, when the backrest frame is provided, the characteristic of the rack having the above-described structure that the loading and unloading of the printed circuit board from the rack is convenient is lost. Especially when trying to store more printed circuit boards on a fixed size bottom frame, the space between the backrest frames becomes narrower, and when inserting the printed circuit board, the positional relationship between the printed circuit board and the rack is controlled with high accuracy. I have to do it. Especially when the printed board is thin, the printed board easily bends during handling, making it very difficult to insert the printed circuit board into the narrow gap between the backrest frames. A problem arises in that the structure of the device becomes complicated.

The present invention provides a printed circuit board which can be stored in a high density without bending even a thin printed circuit board, can easily insert and take out the printed circuit board, and can be carried in and out by a device having a simple structure. It is an object of the present invention to provide a storage rack and a device for loading or unloading a printed circuit board to or from the rack.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printed circuit board storage rack, comprising: a rectangular bottom frame; A gate-shaped backrest frame 12 pivotally mounted at a fixed interval P so as to be swingable about a support shaft 13, and the swing angle of each backrest frame around the pivot shaft is equal on both sides in the swing direction. Stoppers 9 and 9, a reversing operation section 14 formed by extending the lower end of each swing frame below the pivot shaft, and operation claws on both sides in the longitudinal direction of the bottom frame of the reversing operation section. 27, a space 11 allowing entry from below or from the side, and a detection portion 10 disposed in the longitudinal direction of the bottom frame at an interval equal to the interval between the backrest frames. Things.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for loading and unloading a printed circuit board for a storage rack according to the first aspect, wherein the rack conveyor 33 intermittently transports the storage rack of the first aspect in a longitudinal direction of the bottom frame. A lift conveyor 36 provided with hooks 42 rising on both sides of the rack conveyor at an angle corresponding to the regulated swing angle of the backrest frame of the storage rack according to claim 1, and a position above the lift conveyor 36 and around a lower side thereof. Frame 43 which reciprocates between the vertical angle of the lift conveyor and the horizontal position, and the rack conveyor 3
Backrest frame reversing claw 2 which advances and retreats from the lower side or side of 3
7 and a sensor 16 for detecting the detected part 10 of the rack according to claim 1.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the apparatus for loading and unloading a printed circuit board according to the second aspect, a positioning device for fixing the storage rack mounted on the rack conveyor 33 to a position where the backrest frame reversing claw 27 is advanced. The backrest frame reversing claw 27 which has advanced and is engaged with the reversing operation unit is driven a predetermined distance in a direction opposite to the transport direction A of the rack conveyor 33.

[0009]

The printed circuit board 5 is a backrest frame 1 adjacent to a rack.
It is held in a state of being inserted one by one into a gap formed between the two. The bottom frame 3 may be provided with a slit 6 for inserting the lower side of the inserted printed circuit board. The inserted printed circuit board 5 is held in a state where the lower side is supported by the bottom frame and the peripheral edge of the surface is supported by the inclined backrest frame.

From the state in which all the backrest frames 12 on the bottom frame are all inclined in the same direction, the inclination direction of the backrest frame is sequentially reversed from the backrest frame in the direction opposite to the inclination direction. it can. When the printed circuit board 5 is inserted between the backrest frames, the printed board and the backrest frame can be inverted in the tilt direction. The storage rack according to the present invention includes, at the lower end of the backrest frame, a reversing operation portion 14 extending downward from the pivot shaft 13 and a space 11 for allowing the backrest frame reversing claw 27 for operating the reversing operation portion to enter. Therefore, the tilting direction of the backrest frame can be reversed by operating the reversing operation section. Since the gap between the inverted backrest frame and the adjacent backrest frame before inversion has an upwardly open shape, the printed circuit board can be easily inserted into and removed from the gap in this state. Becomes possible.

If the printed circuit board is loaded and unloaded while the rack is intermittently moved at intervals corresponding to the intervals at which the detection sections 10 are disposed, the loading / unloading position of the printed circuit board can always be kept constant. The printed board loading / unloading device of the present invention includes a rack conveyor 33 that transports the rack in a longitudinal direction of the bottom frame at a distance corresponding to an arrangement interval of the detected parts. With this rack conveyor, the loading / unloading position of the printed circuit board on the rack can be made constant, and the lift conveyor 36 is arranged at this fixed loading / unloading position.

In order to invert one of the backrest frames at the portion moved to the loading / unloading position, a backrest frame reversing claw 27 is provided which moves forward and backward. The backrest frame is moved forward by a predetermined distance in the direction opposite to the transport direction of the rack, with the backrest frame reversing claw 27 advanced and the rack being stopped by the positioning device 28 with the backrest frame reversing claw 27 advanced. It is performed by

When the space between the adjacent backrest frames is opened at the loading / unloading position in this manner, the lift conveyor 36 locks both ends of the lower side of the printed circuit board to the hooks 42,
By ascending or descending, the printed circuit board is carried into or out of the opened gap.

The printed circuit board to be loaded or unloaded is placed in a horizontal position with its back surface supported by a lifting frame 43 located above the rack conveyor.
7 or another handling device, or transferred to a component mounting device, a soldering device, or the like.

[0015]

1 to 5 show an embodiment of a storage rack according to the present invention. The storage rack 1 of the present embodiment includes a rectangular plate-shaped bottom frame 3 with a short side wall 2 hanging down on a longitudinal side. On the upper surface of the bottom frame 3, slits 6 for inserting the printed circuit board 5 are provided at a constant pitch P in parallel with the short side of the bottom frame 3. A side plate 7 having an inverted L-shaped cross section is fastened to the outer surface of the side wall 2 by a bolt and nut. As shown in FIG. 4, a vertical groove 8 having the same pitch as the pitch P of the slits is provided in a thick portion of the upper half of the side plate 7, and is closed by the side wall 2 of the bottom frame to be described later. A through hole is formed through the lower end of the frame.
A square portion between the vertical groove and the vertical groove is chamfered at four corners to form a stopper 9 of the backrest frame. Bolt insertion holes for the bolts and nuts are provided at stoppers at two places at both ends and two places at the center. Stopper 9 is slit 6
The vertical groove 8 is located immediately below a line extending the intermediate line between adjacent slits. Circular holes 10 are formed in the lower half of the side plate 7 at the same pitch as the pitch P of the slits. The position of this circular hole is near the stopper 9. A space 11 extending along the longitudinal direction of the bottom frame is formed by the lower surface of the stopper 9 and the thin portion of the side plate 7.

The backrest frame 12 is composed of a gate-shaped metal rod and a plastic tube covering the entire surface except for both ends thereof. Both ends of the metal rod pass through the vertical groove 8 and are positioned from above the space 11. It extends obliquely downward, and its extended end is located slightly above the lower side of the side plate. Both ends of the metal rod are pivotally supported by a split pin 13 provided between the middle position of the vertical groove 8 and the side wall 2, and the extended end projecting from the vertical groove 8 into the space 11 is provided on the back. Operation unit 1 for reversing the leaning frame
It is 4. When the reversing operation portion 14 of the backrest frame is in the normal rotation position (the solid line in FIG. 5) and the reversing position (the imaginary line in FIG. 5), the swing angle is regulated by the stopper 9. There is no risk of being closed. Rack 1
As shown in FIG. 1, the backrest frame 12 is normally in a state of being in contact with the stopper 9 on the same side and inclined in one direction, and the printed board 5 inserted into the gap 15 between the backrest frames is
The lower side is fitted in the slit 6, and the inclined surface is supported by the backrest frame 12.

FIGS. 6 to 8 show an embodiment of the loading / unloading device of the present invention. The carry-in / carry-out device includes outer flanged rollers 31 on both sides of the frames 29, 30.
Conveyor 32 and unloading conveyor 3 in which 32 are arranged side by side
4 is provided. The carry-in conveyor and the carry-out conveyor have different hook directions and control systems, and have almost the same structure. Therefore, the carry-in conveyor will be described below, and the carry-out conveyor will be denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted. A lift conveyor 36 having the same inclination angle (standing angle) as when the backrest frame 12 is inverted is provided downstream of the carry-in conveyor 33 on the left side in FIG. 6 in the transport direction A. The lift conveyor 36 has two upper and lower parallel shafts 3.
Sprockets 38, 38 are fixedly mounted on 7, 37, and a chain 39 is wound around the sprockets 38, 38. The lower shaft 37 is mounted on the frame 29 of the carry-in conveyor 33, and the upper shaft 37 is It is mounted on the upper end of the left column 41 of the frame. At two positions of the chain 39, two hooks 42 whose locking portions are directed in the rotation direction B are fixed at positions separated by two. On the upper shaft 37,
The base end of the raising / lowering frame 43 that swings between the inclination angle of the lift conveyor 36 and the horizontal position is provided. The raising and lowering frame is reciprocated by the air cylinder 40 fixed to the column 41. Lift conveyor 36 and tilting frame 4
A large number of free rotation rollers 44 and 45 are arranged at regular intervals in 3 and support one side of the printed circuit board. In addition,
The hook 42 of the lift conveyor 36 of the unloading conveyor has its locking portion directed in the direction opposite to the turning direction B, and the inclination angle (standing angle) of the lift conveyor 36 is equal to the inclination angle of the backrest frame before inversion. They are provided at the same angle.

A horizontal member 46 is provided on the left and right columns 41, 41, and a horizontal conveyor 47 is provided in parallel with the horizontal member. The horizontal conveyor 47 has a plurality of shafts 48 arranged in parallel with feed rollers arranged at regular intervals.
This is a position where no interference occurs when 3 falls down in the horizontal direction. A printed board processing device (not shown), for example, a component mounting device or a soldering device, can be disposed between the two horizontal conveyors 47, 47 shown in FIG. 6 to process the printed board.

FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 show a storage rack position detecting device and a backrest frame reversing device, which enable the automatic operation of the loading / unloading device. The position detecting device 16 is a light transmission type sensor including a light emitting device 17 and a light receiving device 18 arranged so as to cross on both sides of an outer flanged roller 32 on one side of the carry-in conveyor, and the transmitted light from the light emitting device 17 is , Are installed at a height that passes through the circular hole 10 of the side plate of the storage rack placed on the roller 32. Two sets of position detecting devices 16 are arranged in parallel. One set detects the presence or absence of a storage rack, and the other set detects the position of a circular hole. On the other hand, the reversing device 19 is arranged on the downstream side in the transport direction A between the frames 29 of the carry-in conveyor. On the bottom frame of the frame, two rails in the direction parallel to the transport direction A of the storage rack are arranged, and the motor 2
1 and a ball screw 22 connected to the drive shaft of the motor. A carrier 23 is mounted on the rails 20, 20, and a ball screw is screwed into a ball nut provided on the lower surface of the carrier. One vertical cylinder 24 and two guides 25 are arranged on the carrier 23 in parallel in the vertical direction, and the base end of an arm 26 whose tip extends toward the frame 29 is fixed to the rod end of the cylinder. . The distal end of the arm branches into a fork to form an operating claw 27, and the interval between the operating claws is large enough to loosely hold the operating portion of the metal rod of the backrest frame. On the upstream side and the downstream side of the reversing device, fixed pins 28 that can be retracted to prevent the rack from moving in the conveying direction or the opposite direction during the reversing operation.
Are provided apart from each other.

In order to take out the printed circuit boards stored in the rack one by one by the loading / unloading device and perform various processes, the storage rack is placed on the rollers 31 of the loading conveyor, and the rollers are rotated to rotate the first back. The reversing operation portion 14 of the backrest frame is positioned immediately above the operation claw 27, and the fixing pin 28 is advanced to fit the circular hole 10 to position the storage rack 1. By operating the vertical cylinder 24 of the reversing device, the reversing operation unit 14 is accommodated in the gap between the operation claws 27, and the motor 21 is rotated to move the carrier in a direction opposite to the transport direction A, thereby reversing the operation unit 14. Press with your fingernail to move the backrest frame 12
Is inverted. The inverted backrest frame 12 abuts the chamfer of the stopper and is held in the inverted state. Next, the backrest frame is turned over together with the printed board so that the printed board can be pulled up. If there is a risk that the backrest frame and the printed circuit board may come into contact with each other during the lifting, it is preferable that only the backrest frame be reversed again to the original state, and the adjacent backrest frame be V-shaped. The vertical cylinder 24 and the motor 21 are sequentially driven to move the arm back to the original position. Next, the cylinder 40 is actuated to raise the upright frame, the printed board is taken out of the storage rack by the lift conveyor, transferred to the upright frame, and the upright frame is horizontally lowered and delivered to the horizontal conveyor. In order to sequentially store the processed printed circuit boards in the storage rack on the unloading conveyor 34, the first backrest frame of the storage rack fixed at a predetermined position is tilted while being placed on the unloading conveyor. A V-shaped opening is formed, a printed circuit board is inserted therein, and the second backrest frame is turned over together with the inserted board. Such operations are repeated and stored.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of a storage rack of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the storage rack of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view of a reversing operation unit.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing a backrest frame, a side plate, and a bottom plate.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a reversing operation.

FIG. 6 is a side view of a loading / unloading device using a storage rack.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a carry-in conveyor and a lift conveyor.

FIG. 8 is a front view of a carry-in conveyor and a reversing device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 Bottom frame 9 Stopper 10 Circular hole 11 Space 12 Backrest frame 13 Split pin 14 Reversing operation unit 16 Position detecting device 19 Reversing device 27 Operation claw 33 Carry-in conveyor 36 Lift conveyor 42 Hook 43 Inverting frame A Transport direction P Interval

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A bottom plate (3) having a rectangular plate shape, and lower ends on both sides thereof can be swung about a pivot shaft (13) parallel to a short side of the bottom frame on both longitudinal sides of the bottom frame so as to have a fixed interval. (P), a gate-shaped backrest frame (12) pivotally attached at (P), and stoppers (9, 9) for regulating the swing angle of each backrest frame around the pivot shaft at the same angle on both sides in the swing direction. ), A reversing operation portion (14) formed by extending the lower end of each swing frame below the pivot shaft, and operation claws (27) on both sides in the longitudinal direction of the bottom frame of the reversing operation portion. A printed circuit board comprising: a space (11) that allows entry from below or from the side; and a detection portion (10) disposed in the longitudinal direction of the bottom frame at an interval equal to the interval between the backrest frames. Storage rack. 2. A rack conveyor (33) for intermittently transporting the storage rack of claim 1 in the longitudinal direction of the bottom frame, and a controlled swing of a backrest frame of the storage rack of claim 1 on both sides of the rack conveyor. Hook (4
Lift conveyor (36) with 2) and lift conveyor (36)
An elevating frame (43) reciprocatingly swinging between the vertical angle of the lift conveyor and the horizontal position around the lower side at the upper position of the
A backrest frame reversing claw (27) that advances and retreats from below or beside the side of the rack conveyor (33), and a sensor (16) that detects the detected part (10) of the rack according to claim 1. , Claim 1
A loading / unloading device for a printed circuit board for the storage rack described in the above. 3. A positioning device (28) for fixing a storage rack placed on a rack conveyor (33) to an advanced position of a backrest reversing claw (27). The print according to claim 2, wherein the backrest frame reversing claw (27) engaged with the portion (14) is driven for a predetermined distance in a direction opposite to the transport direction (A) of the rack conveyor (33). A substrate loading / unloading device.