JP2000272750A - Carrying device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a board carrying device for efficiently inspecting works such as printed circuit boards. SOLUTION: A carrying device includes a holding portion 8 capable of changing a printed circuit board 4 to be held or released, a movable portion 10 for carrying the printed board 4 held by the holding portion 8 to a bearer 9, a guide portion 11 for movably holding the movable portion 10, a bearer operating means 12 for moving the bearer 9 up and down, a printed circuit board fixing portion for fixing/releasing the printed board 4 to/from the bearer 9 and an optical detector 15 for optically detecting the thickness of the printed board 4 held by the holding portion 8 in non-contacting relation.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a work (for example,
The present invention relates to a printed board transport device used for an inspection device for inspecting the appearance of a printed board for defective appearance.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the trend toward higher performance and higher density of electronic information equipment has become more rapid. Accordingly, high-density mounting of printed circuit boards is being pursued. Especially BGA
The shift to an area array terminal type package represented by (BallGrid Array) is abrupt. In accordance with such market trends, there is a need for a visual inspection device capable of inspecting defects on the external appearance of a printed circuit board of an area array terminal type package at higher speed and with higher accuracy.

The configuration and operation of a conventional printed circuit board appearance inspection apparatus will be briefly described below. The printed circuit board is loaded in a storage box called a cassette, and the cassette is mounted on an inspection device. The printed circuit board mounted on the inspection device is taken out of the cassette by the carrier and set on the carrier line. The set substrate is transported on a transport line to an inspection unit by a belt conveyor or the like. In the inspection unit, an image of the printed board is detected by the imaging unit, and the presence or absence of a defect on the board is inspected based on the image information (image). The printed circuit board having undergone the inspection is conveyed from the inspection unit by a belt conveyor or the like, and stored in another cassette different from the storage box.

By the way, since several tens of printed circuit boards are stored in a cassette in an overlapping state, the printed circuit board to be transported and the board immediately below it are in close contact with each other.
In some cases, two printed boards are taken out of the cassette at one time.

When two printed boards are conveyed to the inspection apparatus in a state of being overlapped, they are determined to be defective boards despite the fact that they have no defects, which causes a decrease in product yield.

[0006] One example of a transporter for addressing this problem is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. Sho 62-50155.
This transporter measures the thickness of a thin work (eg, the printed circuit board) each time the work is taken out of the cassette. That is, by performing the thickness measurement, the number of works taken out by the transfer machine is obtained. Then, the transfer device performs control to stop the transfer operation when two work pieces are taken out. further,
An alarm buzzer is provided to notify the worker of taking two pieces of work.

[0007]

However, the device described in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. Sho 62-50155 only informs the worker of taking two pieces of work, and the work of peeling off two works is difficult. , The operator has to do it.

Furthermore, in order to avoid a long-time stoppage of the transport line due to taking out two workpieces, the operator must always pay attention to the inspection apparatus. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a board transfer device for efficiently inspecting a work, for example, a printed board.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention relates to a transporting device for transporting a work to an inspection position of an inspection device, comprising a fixing means capable of switching between fixing and opening of the work. A moving means for moving a work fixed to the fixing means, a receiving table on which the work moved by the moving means is mounted, and a mounting means capable of switching between fixing and opening of the work with respect to the receiving table; Detecting means for detecting the thickness of the work fixed to the fixing means, and control means for controlling fixing and opening of the work by the fixing means and the mounting means based on the detection result of the detecting means.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. In the present embodiment, as an example, a description will be given of a transport device used in an appearance inspection device that assumes a printed circuit board as a work (inspection target).

The configuration and operation of an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a visual inspection device according to the present embodiment. 2 and 3 are perspective views showing the configuration and operation of the present embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a characteristic operation (operation in e2) described below in the present embodiment.

More specifically, FIG. 1 shows a section and a control system of a visual inspection device in a printed board conveying direction. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the operation of taking out the printed circuit board from the insertion cassette. FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state in which a printed circuit board (in the figure, a two-dot chain line) is fixed to a cradle together with an optical detector.

The configuration of the present embodiment is roughly divided into a printed board insertion section 1, a printed board inspection section 2, a printed board discharge section 3, and a control system 30. Printed circuit board 4
At the time of inspection, the printed board 4 moves on the belt conveyor 5 in the order of the printed board insertion unit 1, the printed board inspection unit 2, and the printed board discharge unit 3. Outside the belt conveyor 5 (both sides), guides (not shown) extending in the direction of transport of the printed circuit board 4 are provided to prevent problems such as misalignment and falling off of the printed circuit board 4. I have. In other words, it can be said that the belt conveyor 5 and the guide (not shown) constitute a transport line of the printed circuit board 4.

As the printed circuit board 4 to be inspected, for example, an area array terminal type package represented by a BGA (Ball Grid Array) is assumed. The types of defects of the printed circuit board 4 found by the appearance inspection include a deviation of the printed pattern, a shape defect of the pattern, and a pattern defect based on the amount of reflected light (luminance) from the printed pattern.

Next, the configurations of the printed board insertion section 1, printed board inspection section 2, printed board discharge section 3, and control system 30 will be described. The gist of the configuration of the printed board insertion section 1 is as follows.

The printed circuit board insertion section 1 includes an insertion cassette 6 on which the printed circuit board 4 before inspection is mounted, and an automatic insertion machine 7 for loading the printed circuit board 4 from the insertion cassette 6 onto the belt conveyor 5.

The automatic insertion machine 7 includes a fixing section 8 capable of switching between fixing and opening of the printed circuit board 4 by performing air suction (air chuck) by a suction section, and a printed circuit board fixed by the fixing section 8. A movable unit 10 for lifting the printed circuit board 4 out of the insertion cassette 6 and transporting the printed circuit board 4 to a receiving table 9 on which the printed circuit board 4 is mounted, and movably holding the movable unit 10 between the insertion cassette 6 and the receiving table 9. A guide portion 11 for moving the pedestal 9 up and down, a plurality of holes 13 provided in the pedestal 9, and air suction (air chuck) of the printed circuit board 4 through the holes 13. A printed circuit board fixing section 14 for fixing and releasing the printed circuit board 4 with respect to the receiving table 9 and an optical detector for optically detecting the thickness of the printed circuit board 4 fixed to the fixing section 8 in a non-contact manner. Consisting of 5.

The pedestal 9, the pedestal operating means 12, and the printed circuit board fixing portion 14 constitute a mounting means. Also,
The movable part 10 and the guide part 11 constitute a moving means. The cradle operating means 12 is composed of an air pump 16 fixed to the apparatus main body and a rod-shaped shaft 17 connected to the cradle 9, and the air pump 16 moves the rod-shaped shaft 17 up and down by compressed air, The cradle 9 moves up and down with this. The reference height of the vertical movement of the receiving table 9 is based on the height at which the printed board 4 of the belt conveyor 5 is placed. Further, the cradle operating means 12 is not limited to the above-described configuration, but may be a configuration using a lever provided with a plurality of rod-shaped members and operating this link by a motor or the like.

Next, the printed board inspection section 2 and the printed board discharge section 3 will be described. Printed circuit board inspection section 2
Is provided with a camera (CCD camera) for capturing an image of the printed circuit board 4 and an imaging unit including a lens.

The printed board discharging section 3 includes an automatic discharging machine 20 for picking up the printed circuit board 4 after the inspection from the belt conveyor 5 and a discharging cassette 21 for mounting the printed board 4 picked up by the automatic discharging machine 20. Consists of

The automatic ejector 20 has a configuration equivalent to that of the automatic inserter 7 except that it does not include the pedestal 9, the pedestal operating means 12, and the optical detector 15, and a detailed description is omitted. I do. The discharge cassette 21 has two board mounting areas, and is configured to sort the printed boards 4 according to the inspection result of the printed board inspection unit 2, that is, the presence or absence of a defect.

Next, the control system 30 will be described. The control system 30 is a computer (control unit 31) that controls the operation of the apparatus before, during, and after the inspection, and outputs the appearance image data of the printed circuit board 4 obtained by the imaging unit from the control unit (computer) 31. And an image processing unit 33 for detecting the presence or absence of a defect in the external appearance based on the external appearance image information of the printed circuit board 4.
And inspection order and defect information (defect contents) of the printed circuit board 4
And a storage unit 34 for storing the information in association with each other.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. The operations (operations) a) to f) described below are controlled by the control unit (computer) 31 described above.

A) The receiving table 9 is moved above the height of the belt conveyor 5 on which the printed circuit board 4 is placed. That is, the cradle operating means 12 moves the cradle 9 upward. b) The movable part 10 is arranged above the insertion cassette 6.
The movable section 10 is movable with respect to the guide section 11, and this movement is performed by a motor or the like. The fixed portion 8 is held by the movable portion 10 and is configured to move up and down with respect to the movable portion 10.
Is fixed to the fixing portion 8 and then pulled up from the insertion cassette 6. Then, the movable section 10 moves the printed board 4 to above the receiving table 9 (see FIG. 2).

C) The fixed part 8 is lowered with respect to the movable part 10, and the printed circuit board 4 (the two-dot chain line in FIG. 3) is placed on the pedestal 9. At the same time as the printed board 4 is placed on the receiving table 9,
The air is sucked and fixed to the receiving table 9. In addition,
At this time, the printed circuit board 4 is fixed by both the fixing part 8 and the receiving stand 9 (see FIGS. 3 and 4A).

D) The thickness of the printed circuit board 4 fixed to the fixing portion 8 and the receiving stand 9 is measured by the optical detector 15. By this thickness measurement, the number of printed circuit boards 4 carried to the receiving table 9 is determined (see FIG. 3).

Hereinafter, the operation of the apparatus will be described as e1) and e2) for each determination result of the thickness measurement. e1) When it is determined by the thickness measurement that the number of the printed circuit boards 4 is one, the printed circuit boards 4 are released from the fixing unit 8 and are fixed only to the receiving stand 9. The pedestal 9 descends below the belt conveyor 5 and releases the fixing of the printed circuit board 4. As a result, the printed circuit board 4 is placed on the belt conveyor 5.

E2) When it is determined from the thickness measurement that the number of the printed circuit boards 4 is two, the fixing portion 8 and the receiving stand 9 are relatively fixed in a direction in which the two are separated while the printed circuit board 4 is fixed. Move. That is, the fixing unit 8 moves upward, and the receiving table 9 descends below the belt conveyor 5. Alternatively, at least one of the fixing unit 8 and the receiving table 9 moves as described above. At this time, two printed circuit boards,
That is, the printed circuit board 4 fixed to the fixing portion 8 and the printed circuit board 4 fixed to the receiving table 9 act so as to peel off, and as a result, one printed circuit board 4 fixed to the receiving table 9 becomes a belt conveyor. 5 and the other is fixed to the fixing part 8 (FIGS. 1 and 4 (a),
(B)).

F) By the above operations e1) and e2), one printed circuit board 4 placed on the belt conveyor 5 is
It is transported along the transport line to the printed circuit board inspection unit 2, and its appearance is inspected. Then, the sheet is conveyed to the discharge cassette 21 by the automatic discharger 20 according to the inspection result (see FIG. 1). Note that the printed circuit boards 4 fixed to the fixing unit 8 are also sequentially inspected.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the thickness of the printed circuit board 4 is measured by the optical detector 15 and the case where the two printed circuit boards 4 are placed on the receiving stand 9 is described. Acts to peel off the two printed circuit boards 4, and as a result, one printed circuit board 4 is
Will be placed on the Then, one printed circuit board 4 placed on the receiving table 9 is inspected by the printed circuit board inspection unit 2 and then transported to the discharge cassette 21.

That is, according to the present embodiment, the printed circuit board 4 is prevented from being transported to the printed circuit board inspection section 2 in an overlapping state, so that the transport line is not stopped for a long time, and the printed circuit board 4 is not stopped. 4 can be inspected efficiently.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. For example, the present invention may be applied to a contact-type detector that sandwiches the optical detector 15 from above and below a work (the printed circuit board 4 in the embodiment). good.

The optical detector 15 detects the thickness of the work in a non-contact manner, and can prevent the work from being damaged due to unnecessary contact. However, it is difficult to consider that the light reflectance and transmittance of a plurality of workpieces measured at a time are all uniform, and thickness measurement due to light reflection and transmission includes unstable factors. Therefore, the optical detector cannot always stably measure the thickness of various kinds of works.

On the other hand, when the contact type detector is used, the thickness of various kinds of works can be constantly measured without being affected by the light reflectance and transmittance of the works. It becomes possible.

As described above, both the optical detector and the contact type detector have advantages and disadvantages.
The advantages of both can be used. For example, by fixing the optical detector and the contact type detector to a rotary or sliding type moving mechanism, the advantages of both can be obtained with one device. In addition, for example, a holder that simply supports the two detectors in a replaceable manner may be provided.

The summary of the present embodiment is as follows. (1) In a transport device for transporting a work (printed board 4 in the present embodiment) to an inspection position of an inspection device, a fixing means capable of switching between fixing and opening of the work, and the work is fixed to the fixing means. A moving means for moving the work, a receiving table on which the work moved by the moving means is mounted, and mounting means capable of switching between fixing and opening of the work with respect to the receiving table; Detecting means for detecting the thickness of the work fixed to the means, and control means for controlling fixing and opening of the work by the fixing means and the placing means based on a detection result of the detecting means. Transport device. (2) The fixing means includes a first suction means for fixing the work by air suction, and the placing means includes a second suction means for fixing the work to the receiving table by air suction. The transfer device according to the above (1), characterized in that: (3) The transfer device according to (2), wherein the placing unit includes a pedestal operating unit that moves the pedestal up and down. (4) The transport device according to (3), wherein the first and second suction units and the cradle operation unit are controlled by the control unit. (5) The detecting means is an optical detector that optically measures the thickness of the work (1).
The transport device according to any one of (1) to (4). (6) The detecting means contacts the work,
The transport device according to any one of (1) to (4), wherein the transport device is a contact-type detector for measuring the thickness. (7) The detector is an optical detector that optically measures the thickness of the work, a contact detector that measures the thickness of the work by contacting the work, The transfer device according to any one of (1) to (4), further including: a moving mechanism for switching between the contact type detector and the contact type detector.

According to the above (1) to (4), the work can be inspected efficiently without the transport line being stopped for a long time. Further, according to the above (5), it is possible to detect the thickness (number) of the work without contacting the work, and it is possible to prevent the work from being damaged due to unnecessary contact.

Further, according to the above (6), it is possible to stably measure the thickness of various types of works. Further, according to the above (7), the advantages of the optical detector and the contact detector can be obtained at the same time. In other words, the optical detector can prevent damage to the workpiece, and the contact detector can stably measure the thickness of various types of workpieces. From another viewpoint, it is possible to select a detector suitable for measuring the thickness of the work.

[0039]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a transfer device capable of efficiently inspecting a work.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the configuration and operation of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the configuration and operation of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an operation of one embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 printed circuit board insertion unit 2 printed circuit board inspection unit 3 printed circuit board discharge unit 4 printed circuit board 5 belt conveyor 6 insertion cassette 7 automatic insertion machine 8 fixing unit 9 cradle 10 movable unit 11 guide unit 12 cradle operating means 13 hole 14 printed circuit board Fixed unit 15 Optical detector 16 Air pump 17 Bar-shaped shaft 20 Automatic ejector 21 Discharge cassette 30 Control system 31 Control unit 32 Monitor 33 Image processing unit 34 Storage unit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI theme coat ゛ (reference) H05K 3/00 H05K 3/00 VF term (reference) 2F065 AA24 AA30 AA49 BB02 BB15 CC01 DD06 FF42 JJ03 JJ09 JJ26 NN20 PP11 PP12 PP15 QQ23 SS02 SS13 TT01 TT03 2F069 AA42 AA46 AA60 BB14 CC06 DD15 DD16 GG01 GG04 GG11 GG27 GG68 GG78 HH30 MM03 MM23 PP07 3C033 BB03 BB10 HH14 HH26 NN01 NN07 DC10 GB07 GA10 KD22 KD27 KE04

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A transport device for transporting a work to an inspection position of an inspection device, wherein a fixing means capable of switching between fixing and opening of the work, a moving means for moving the work fixed to the fixing means, A receiving means on which the work moved by the moving means is placed; a mounting means capable of switching between fixing and releasing the work with respect to the receiving base; and a thickness of the work fixed to the fixing means. And a control unit that controls fixing and opening of the work by the fixing unit and the placing unit based on a detection result of the detection unit. 2. The fixing means includes a first suction means for fixing the work by air suction, and the placing means includes a second suction means for fixing the work to the pedestal by air suction. The transport device according to claim 1, wherein the transport device includes: 3. The transport apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the placing means includes a pedestal operating means for moving the pedestal up and down. 4. The transfer device according to claim 3, wherein the first and second suction units and the cradle operation unit are controlled by the control unit. 5. The transfer device according to claim 1, wherein the detection unit is an optical detector that optically measures the thickness of the work. 6. The conveyance according to claim 1, wherein the detection unit is a contact-type detector that measures the thickness of the workpiece by contacting the workpiece. apparatus. 7. An optical detector for optically measuring the thickness of the work, a contact detector for measuring the thickness of the work by contacting the work, and an optical detector for detecting the thickness of the work. The transport device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a moving mechanism for switching between the detector and the contact type detector.