JP2004055597A - Positioning table - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a positioning table which is capable of easily switching from a reference side to a pressing side and vice versa. <P>SOLUTION: Movable pins 116 and 116 for positioning a substrate 12 in Figure are provided as set movable in the directions, one of the pins 116 and 116 is made to function as a reference side as restrained from moving in a state, in which it is moved to stay at the end of an ellipse 118, and the other is moved toward the movable pin 116 on the reference side by a linear guide. Therefore, one of the movable pins 116 and 116 is optionally set as a reference side, corresponding to the positional relation of the side of the substrate 12, serving as a positioning reference, and the pin 116 is capable of easily switching from the pressing side to the reference side and vice versa. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a positioning table used for positioning a processing target when performing printing on a substrate or the like.
[0002]
[Prior art]
For example, in a thick-film screen printing apparatus used for manufacturing a thick-film circuit board or the like, a plurality of layers sequentially printed on a printing surface of a printing material such as a substrate are kept in a predetermined relative positional relationship in a plane direction. Need to be drunk. Therefore, a positioning pin including a plurality of fixed pins whose positions are fixed and a plurality of movable pins movable along the surface direction is provided on the mounting surface of the setter of the printing apparatus. When performing thick-film screen printing, the placed printing material is pressed against the fixed pin with a movable pin, so that two sides of the printing material are pressed against the fixed pin and stretched on the screen plate. The printed material is positioned so that the printed pattern on the screen and the printed material are at a fixed relative position. That is, the above-mentioned setter has the function of a positioning table, and the above-mentioned fixing pin is provided as a reference member that serves as a position reference when positioning.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, in the above-described positioning, two sides of the printing material pressed against the fixing pins are reference sides for determining a relative position with respect to the screen. However, for example, in the case of printing on a printing substrate in which a thick film pattern is provided on both sides, the planar positions of one and the other of the two reference sides are different between when printing on the front side and when printing on the back side. The relationship is reversed. For this reason, since they cannot use a common positioning mechanism, conventionally, two setters corresponding to the positional relationship between these two types of reference sides are prepared, the setter is changed, and the fixed pin (reference side) and the movable pin are moved. The positional relationship of the pins (pressing side) has been changed, and there has been a problem that a great deal of trouble is required for the change. Such a problem is not limited to the printing apparatus, but may similarly occur when it is desired to appropriately switch the reference side and the pressing side in a positioning table for various applications in which a processing target is positioned by being pressed against a positioning pin. .
[0004]
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a positioning table capable of easily switching between a reference side and a pressing side.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the gist of the present invention is to provide a mounting surface on which a processing target is mounted, and to set the processing target in a first direction and a second direction parallel to the mounting surface and crossing each other. By pressing along a direction and pressing against a first reference member and a second reference member provided respectively in front of the pressing direction, a positioning table for positioning and fixing at a predetermined position on the mounting surface. (A) a first positioning member and a second positioning member projecting from the mounting surface at a predetermined distance from each other in the first direction and movable respectively along the first direction; A) a movement suppressing device for suppressing movement of one of the first positioning member and the second positioning member in the first direction so as to function as the first reference member; No. And a moving device for moving towards the other of said first positioning member and the second positioning member to the first reference member for pressing the reference member is to contain.
[0006]
【The invention's effect】
With this configuration, both the first positioning member and the second positioning member for positioning the processing target in the first direction are provided so as to be movable in the first direction, but the movement is suppressed by the movement suppressing device. This allows one of the two to function as a first reference member, and the other device is moved toward the first reference member by the moving device. For this reason, one of the first positioning member and the second positioning member is arbitrarily used as the first reference member in accordance with the positional relationship of the side serving as the reference of the positioning of the processing target, so that the pressing side and the reference side can be easily switched. Can be. Therefore, for example, even when performing double-sided printing on a substrate, it is not necessary to change the setter in order to switch between the pressing side and the reference side of the positioning pins on the front side and the back side. And the manufacturing process is simplified.
[0007]
Other aspects of the invention
Here, preferably, the first positioning member and the second positioning member are movable within a predetermined movable range in the first direction, and the movement suppressing device is configured to move the first positioning member and the second positioning member. The movement is suppressed by stopping one of the member and the second positioning member at the end of the movable range. With this configuration, when the first positioning member and the second positioning member are moved in the first direction, a mechanism for stopping the movement at the end of the movable range can be used for suppressing the movement. There is an advantage that a mechanism for suppressing movement can be simply configured as compared with the case where the positioning member is fixed at an intermediate position of the above.
[0008]
In the case where the movement is suppressed by stopping at the end of the movable range as described above, preferably, the movement suppressing device includes the first positioning member and the second positioning member that function as the first reference member. The movement of one of the members is suppressed by setting the urging forces for urging one of the members toward the other to be different from each other by a predetermined value or more. With this configuration, when the biasing forces of the first positioning member and the second positioning member are set to different values in a state where the processing object is interposed between the first positioning member and the second positioning member, the relative positioning is performed. They are moved in a direction from one having a large urging force to the other having a relatively small urging force. Therefore, assuming that the biasing force differs by a predetermined value or more, depending on the size of the processing target, one of the relatively large biasing forces moves to the end of the movable range and stays there, or One of the biasing forces moves to the end of the movable range and stays there. In this case, one that moves to the end of the movable range is the reference side, and the other is the pressing side. Therefore, there is an advantage that the reference side and the pressing side can be more easily switched only by changing the urging force.
[0009]
Preferably, the urging force is based on a fluid pressure such as a hydraulic pressure, an air pressure, and a water pressure. In this case, there is an advantage that the reference side and the pressing side can be easily switched by a valve operation or the like.
[0010]
Preferably, the first positioning member and the second positioning member are movable pins that are moved in an elongated hole provided on the placement surface so as to extend along the first direction.
[0011]
Preferably, the positioning table is a printing table provided in a printing apparatus. This facilitates thick-film printing on each of both sides of the substrate in the process of manufacturing a double-sided circuit board or the like.
[0012]
Further, the gist of the positioning method for achieving the above object is to use the positioning table according to any one of claims 1 to 3 to place an object to be processed on the mounting surface such that one surface thereof is an upper surface. A positioning method for sequentially positioning a first state positioned on a side and a second state positioned on a lower side, wherein (a) when positioning in the first state, the movement of the first positioning member is suppressed. (B) When positioning in the second state, the movement of the second positioning member is suppressed by biasing the second positioning member toward the first positioning member. The first positioning member is set to the reference side and the first positioning member is urged toward the second positioning member. With this configuration, even when the processing object is turned upside down and sequentially processed, a change in the positional relationship of the reference side due to the inversion can be handled by switching between the reference side and the pressing side. There is an advantage that changes and the like are unnecessary.
[0013]
Note that the positional relationship between the processing target object, the first positioning member, and the second positioning member may be determined so that the rotation axis when the processing target object is turned upside down intersects the first direction.
[0014]
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[0015]
FIGS. 1 and 2 are a front view and a plan view, respectively, for explaining the overall configuration of a printing apparatus 10 to which a printing method according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied. In the figure, a printing apparatus 10 has a printing unit 14 for performing screen printing on a substrate 12, a substrate transport unit 16 for transporting the substrate 12 along a path passing through the printing unit 14, and a printing position on the substrate 12 already. It comprises a positioning unit 18 for matching with a printed pattern and the like, a printing table 20 on which the substrate 12 is placed at the time of printing and the like.
[0016]
The printing unit 14 includes a screen plate 24 having a screen 22 on which a predetermined print pattern is formed, and a squeegee 26 and a scoop 28 that can be moved on the screen in the left-right direction in the drawing. The screen plate 24 is fixed at a fixed height position, for example, by holding a metal plate frame at four corners 30 at four corners thereof. The squeegee 26 and the scoop 28 are attached to a vertically movable supporting device 32 in FIG. 1 so that the squeegee 26 and the scoop 28 can approach and separate from the screen plate 24. The supporting device 32 is attached to a moving device 34, and is movable in a range over substantially the entire length of the screen plate making 24 in the left-right direction in FIG. The moving device 34 is composed of, for example, a ball screw, an air cylinder, and the like. Further, the squeegee 26 is configured to be able to move up and down with respect to the support device 32, and the relative height position with respect to the scoop 28 can also be changed.
[0017]
Therefore, the squeegee 26 and the scoop 28 are moved in the left-right direction in the figure while one of the desired squeegees is pressed against the screen 22, so that the thick-film printing paste supplied on the screen 22 is placed on the substrate 12. It is possible to apply or scoop up excess paste and send it to the squeezing start position (paste return). Note that the details of the configuration of the printing unit 14 are not necessary for understanding the present embodiment, and will not be described.
[0018]
The substrate transport section 16 includes a pair of rails 36 extending in the left-right direction in FIG. 2, and a motor 38 for driving a belt wound around a pulley (not shown) attached to the rail 36. It is provided with. The motor 38 is a servo motor or a stepping motor capable of intermittent rotation, and its rotary shaft is rotationally driven according to a command from a control device (not shown). The substrate 12 is sequentially sent one by one from the right side in the figure below the screen plate 24 of the printing unit 14 by, for example, intermittently driving the motor 38, where the thick film printing paste is applied. When the motor 38 is intermittently driven again, the motor 38 is sent out to the left in the drawing. A robot or the like (not shown) is provided before and after the substrate transport unit 16, and the substrate 12 processed in the previous process is placed on the rail 36 by the robot, and the printed substrate 12 is mounted on the rail 36. The robot picks up the rail 36 and sends it to the next process.
[0019]
The printing table 20 is configured to be movable in the horizontal direction in the drawing, that is, between the position shown in the figure and the position below the screen plate making 20 by being supported by the horizontal moving device 40. The horizontal moving device 40 is provided with an X direction adjusting device 42 and a θ (tilt angle) adjusting device 46. The X direction of the printing table 20 with respect to the horizontal moving device 40 (a direction perpendicular to a guide rail 54 described later) and Fine adjustment of the position in the θ direction (rotation angle about the vertical axis = inclination) is possible. Both the position in the X direction and the angle of inclination in the θ direction are fixed to the adjusted positions by a fixing mechanism such as a lock nut. The Y direction (the direction along the guide rail 54, that is, the direction orthogonal to the X direction) is finely adjusted, for example, by changing the position of the screen plate 24 in the Y direction. However, a Y-direction adjusting mechanism may be provided on the print table 20 and used.
[0020]
The positioning section 18 includes a pair of monitors 48, 48, and cameras 50, 50 and the like movable in the X and Y directions for photographing a desired position on the substrate 12. It is for correcting the relative position between the substrate and the substrate 12 positioned at a predetermined position on the printing table 20 so that a predetermined printing accuracy is obtained. In the positioning unit 18, an alignment mark (for example, a cross-shaped “register mark”) printed on the substrate 12 is photographed by the camera 50 and enlarged and displayed on the monitor 48, so that it can be used in the previous process. The magnitude of the relative deviation between the formed alignment mark and the alignment mark formed in the present process is confirmed, and by using the adjusting devices 42 and 46, an amount corresponding to the magnitude of the deviation is determined. The position of the print table 20 in the X and θ directions is adjusted. Further, the position of the screen plate 20 in the Y direction is adjusted by an amount corresponding to the magnitude of the shift. That is, the relative position between the substrate 12 and the screen plate 20 is corrected by adjusting the position of the printing table 20 in the X and θ directions, and is corrected by adjusting the position of the screen plate 20 in the Y direction. .
[0021]
FIG. 3 is a front view for describing in detail the support structure and the like of the print table 20 by the horizontal moving device 40, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IV-IV. A pair of guide rails 54, 54 are mounted on a gantry 52 of the printing apparatus 10, and the horizontal moving apparatus 40 moves the printing table 20 on the rail 54 to the position shown in FIG. A base 56 is provided which is slidable between the two positions shown. An adjustment table 60 is mounted on the base 56 and supported by a plurality of guides 58 so as to be relatively movable. The relative positions in the X and θ directions are adjusted by the adjustment devices 42 and 46. Note that the adjusting device 42 is omitted in FIG. 3 for convenience of description.
[0022]
An elevating device 62 for moving the printing table 20 up and down is attached to the adjusting table 60. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the adjustment table 60 and the elevating device 62 in plan view. 3 and 5, the elevating device 62 includes a pair of support plates 64, 64 suspended downward from the adjustment table 60, a plurality of guides 66 fixed to the inside of the support plate 64, respectively. A pair of elevating plates 70, 70 each having a pair of rails 68 guided by a guide 66, a connecting plate 72 interconnecting the elevating plates 70, 70 at their lower ends, and supporting plates 64, 64 at their lower ends. A cylinder 78 and the like are attached to the lower surface of a connecting plate 74 that is connected to each other at a portion, and the distal end of a piston rod 76 is attached to the connecting plate 72.
[0023]
Therefore, when the rod 76 is protruded from the cylinder 78, the lifting plates 70, 70 are pushed up via the connecting plate 72, and the printing table 20 supported thereby is raised to approach the screen plate 24. . Conversely, when the rod 76 is pulled in, the elevating plates 70, 70 are pulled down via the connecting plate 72, so that the printing table 20 is lowered and separated from the screen plate 24. When the rod 76 is fully retracted, the connecting plate 72 is lowered to the position shown by the dashed line in FIG. 3, and the print table 20 is moved below the position shown by the solid line below the position shown by the dashed line, that is, from the upper surface of the rail 36. It is lowered to a slightly lower position. As is clear from FIGS. 3 and 4, the bottom plate 80 provided at the lower end of the printing table 20 is positioned below the rail 36 even in the most raised state (upper end position). , They do not interfere with each other. In the present embodiment, paste is applied to the substrate 12 placed thereon at the upper end position of the printing table 20, and the substrate 12 is transported on the rail 36 at the lower end position.
[0024]
Since the upper ends of the lifting plates 70, 70 are attached to the lower end of the printing table 20, when the base 56 is moved on the rail 54, the lifting device 62 and the printing table 20 are moved. The whole is moved in a horizontal direction as one. As described above, the print table 20 is configured to be movable in both the vertical (up and down) directions and the left and right (horizontal) directions in FIG.
[0025]
In FIG. 3, the print table 20 indicated by a dashed line at the left end is a table position at the time of performing the print position adjustment by the position adjustment unit 18. In this case, as shown by the arrow A in the figure, the print table 20 is moved down to the middle height position, and then moved to the left in the figure.
[0026]
As described above, the print table 20 does not interfere with the rail 36 at the upper end position, but the upper surface of the print table 20 is lower than the upper surface of the rail 36 at the lower end position as shown in FIG. Located on the side. Therefore, in this state, mutual interference between the print table 20 and the rail 36 may occur. However, the print table 20 avoids the mutual interference by configuring the substrate mounting surface 82 in a shutter system. Hereinafter, the detailed configuration of the print table 20 will be described with reference to FIGS.
[0027]
FIG. 6 is a plan view of the print table 20, FIG. 7 is a right side view in FIG. 6, and FIG. 8 is a front view. The printing table 20 includes a central unit 84 located at the middle stage in FIG. 6 and a pair of shutter units 86 and 86 located above and below the central unit 84. All three units form a rectangle in plan view. are doing. The mounting surface 82 includes the mounting surfaces 82a and 82b of the units 84 and 86. The mounting surfaces 82a and 82b are substantially flat and are provided at the same height. Therefore, the entire mounting surface 82 is also substantially flat.
[0028]
The central unit 84 has the substrate 12 placed on the central portion in the longitudinal direction thereof, has an outer peripheral shape slightly larger than the size of the substrate 12, and has, for example, about 0.8 (mm). It has a recess 88 that is lower than the mounting surface 82 by a small depth dimension. The concave portion 88 has a sufficiently small unevenness on the mounting surface 82 so that when the substrate 12 is mounted thereon, the amount of protrusion from the mounting surface 82 is small, that is, when the substrate 12 is mounted. It is provided as follows. Also, inside the recess 88, there are provided six rectangular suction chambers 90 sufficiently deeper than that. The internal space of the suction chamber 90 is connected to a suction device (not shown), and the suction chamber 90 sucks and fixes the substrate 12 placed on the recess 88 or sucks through a through hole provided in the substrate 12. It is for. For example, the size is sufficiently larger than the range in which the through hole is provided. That is, the portion between the outline of the substrate 12 and the suction chamber 90 indicated by the dashed line in FIG. 6 corresponds to a margin of the substrate 12 on which the printing paste is not applied.
[0029]
Also, a pair of fixing pins 92, 92 is provided on one side of the right end in FIG. 6 of the recess 88, and the left-right direction in the figure is the longitudinal direction at the center of the opposite side. A matching slot 94 is provided at the boundary between the recess 88 and its surroundings. A linear guide 96 is provided on the back side of the mounting surface 82a of the central unit 84, and a movable pin 98 attached to one end of the movable block (slider) moves in the elongated hole 94 in the left-right direction in the figure. It is made to be made. The linear guide 96 is operated by, for example, air pressure or hydraulic pressure, and moves the movable pin 98 rightward in the drawing to press the substrate 12 placed in the recess 88 toward the fixing pins 92, 92. Things.
[0030]
On the other hand, the shutter units 86, 86 are configured substantially point-symmetric about a normal passing through the center of the mounting surface 82, and have substantially the same structure as each other. As shown in the side view of FIG. 7, a pair of support plates 100, 100 are erected on the upper surface of the bottom plate 80, and a pair of air cylinders 102, 102 are mounted on the upper surface of the support plate 100. Have been. As shown in FIG. 8, the support plate 100 has a slightly smaller width dimension than the shutter unit 86, but the air cylinder 102 is disposed at one end (the right end in FIG. 8) and at the left end. A guide 104 is attached in a direction parallel to the air cylinder 102. A pair of rails 106 and 108, 106 and 108 respectively slidable in the guide and the guide 104 of the cylinder 102 are attached to the rear surfaces of the shutter units 86 and 86, respectively. Therefore, when the air cylinder 102 is operated, the shutter unit 86 is moved in the left-right direction in FIG. 7 while being guided by the guide 104 and the like.
[0031]
For this reason, the mounting surface 82 of the printing table 20 is configured such that the portion 82a on the central unit 84 and the portions 82b, 82b on the shutter units 86, 86 can be separated from each other. In the illustrated state, in which they are brought into close contact with each other by the operation of the air cylinder 102, they constitute one mounting surface 82 integrally, while in the state in which they are separated from each other, the mounting surface 82a A large gap is created between the mounting surfaces 82b and 82b. In this separated state, the end surface of the shutter unit 86 on the side of the central unit 84 is substantially on the inner wall surface of the support plate 100, that is, outside the rail 36, as indicated by the alternate long and short dash line for the left unit 86 in FIG. And the rail 36 is in an open state where no obstacle exists. Therefore, by moving the print table 20 up and down with the shutter open, the rail 36 and the mounting surface 82 are not brought into contact with each other, so that the upper end position shown by a solid line in FIG. Thus, the print table 20 can be moved up and down. The movable portion of the shutter unit 86 for opening and closing the shutter is located sufficiently above the rail 36 when the print table 20 is at the upper end position as shown in FIG. Interference does not occur. At the end of the mounting surface 82b of the shutter unit 86 on the mounting surface 82a side, a recess 88b having the same depth dimension as the recess 88 is provided, and the mounting surfaces 82a and 82b are in close contact with each other. Then, a recess that forms a rectangle in plan view is formed integrally with the recess 88. However, the suction chamber 90 is not provided in the shutter unit 86.
[0032]
Further, linear guides 110, 110 configured similarly to the linear guide 96 are attached to the center portions of the upper surfaces of the support plates 100, 100, that is, between the air cylinder 102 and the guide 104. As shown in the front view of FIG. 8, the linear guide 110 includes a rail 112 and a slider 114, and a movable pin 116 is provided on the slider 114. Like the movable pin 98, the movable pin 116 can be moved along a longitudinal direction in a long hole 118 provided in the shutter unit 86. In addition, the height position of the fixed pin 92, the movable pins 98, 116, and the like is set so as not to protrude above the mounting surface 82. That is, the print table 20 does not have a portion that is convex above the mounting surface 82, and a portion that is concave from the mounting surface 82 also includes the concave portion 88, the suction chamber 90, the movable pin 98, There are only the elongated holes 94 and 118 in which the 116 is moved, and the whole is substantially flat.
[0033]
The linear guides 110, 110 are both operated by hydraulic pressure or pneumatic pressure similarly to the linear guide 96, but the pressure medium flow paths 120, 122 are connected to the high pressure side (through a switching valve 124). (P _H ) flow path 126 and a low pressure side (P _L ) flow path 128. The switching valve 124 is, for example, an electromagnetic valve that is operated in accordance with a command from a control device 130 provided in the printing apparatus 10. By operating a switching switch provided on an operation panel (not shown), the flow path 120 A first state in which the flow path 122 is connected to the low-pressure side 128 on the side 126 and a second state in which the flow path 120 is connected to the low-pressure side 128 and the flow path 122 is connected to the high-pressure side 126 easily and instantly. Can be switched to The high-pressure side channel 126 is set, for example, to about 0.5 (MPa) which is the original pressure of a pressure generator (not shown), and the low-pressure side channel 128 is, for example, 0.2 (MPa), which is sufficiently lower than that. (MPa).
[0034]
The printing apparatus 10 configured as described above is, for example, a ceramic substrate made of alumina or the like having a thickness dimension of, for example, about 0.3 to 1 (mm) as shown in FIGS. When the circuit pattern 136 is formed on one surface (printed surface) 132, 134 of the substrate 12 to manufacture a thick-film circuit board, the wiring 138, the resistor 140, and the thick-film insulating layer that appropriately covers the circuit pattern 136 are formed. This is used to apply a thick film printing paste for forming the same to the surfaces 132 and 134 by using a thick film screen printing method.
[0035]
The wiring 138 is a thick film conductor containing, for example, copper as a conductor component, and has, for example, a thickness of about 5 to several tens (μm) and a width of about several tens (μm) to 1 (mm). Is formed by the thick film conductor. The resistor 140 is a thick-film resistor containing tin oxide or the like, and has an appropriate dimension so as to obtain a desired characteristic value, for example, a thickness dimension of about several tens (μm) and one side of 1-2. (Mm). These are all provided by applying a thick film printing paste in a predetermined pattern and then performing a heat treatment at a predetermined firing temperature according to the type of the paste. In addition, a terminal or the like of an electronic component is fixed to each end or intermediate part of the wiring 138, or a circular or rectangular land 142 for providing the resistor 140, or provided on the front surface 132 and the rear surface 134. And a through-hole land 144 for connecting the interconnects 138 to each other. The through-hole land 144 penetrates between the front surface 132 and the rear surface 134 and is provided in an annular shape around the through hole 146 having a circular opening shape, as shown in an enlarged view in FIG. The inner diameter of the through hole 146 is, for example, about 0.4 (mm).
[0036]
As shown in (c), the through hole 146 has a through conductor 150 made of a thick film conductor similar to, for example, the wiring 138 penetrating from the front surface 132 to the rear surface 134 on the inner wall surface 148. The through conductor 150 is formed by applying a thick-film copper paste on the through-hole 146 by using, for example, a thick-film screen printing method and firing it. The thickness dimension of the through conductor 150 on the inner wall surface 148 is, for example, about 20 to 40 (μm), and overlaps the through-hole land 144 at both ends in the axial direction, that is, at each of the front surface 132 and the rear surface 134. As a result, the wirings 138 provided on both sides 132 and 134 of the substrate are connected to each other via the through conductor 150.
[0037]
The operation of the printing apparatus 10 when manufacturing the substrate 12 having the above-described through holes 146 is described by referring to a process flow chart (FIG. 10) showing a main part of a printing process and an operation of the printing table 20 and the like at each stage of the process. Will be described below with reference to FIGS. 11 to 13, FIG. 15, and FIG.
[0038]
In the board sending step 152 illustrated in FIG. 10, for example, the board 12 placed on the right end of the rail 36 in FIG. 1 and the like is intermittently sent to the printing unit 14. FIG. 11A shows this stage. At this time, the printing table 20 is located below the rail 36 as shown in FIG. Therefore, the substrate 12 and the printing table 20 do not come into contact with each other in the process of feeding the substrate 12. As shown in FIG. 3, the printing table 20 is configured so that the mounting surface 82 is located slightly below the upper surface of the rail 36 when the printing table 20 is lowered most. In the following drawings, for convenience of explanation, it is illustrated as being located below the rail 36. When the printing table 20 is moved up and down, the central unit 84 and the shutter units 86 and 86 move integrally. However, in FIG. 11 and FIG. The unit 86 is omitted.
[0039]
Next, in the table lifting process 154, as shown in FIG. 11B, the print table 20 is raised toward the upper end position with the substrate 12 stopped at a position directly above the print table 20. Let me do. At this time, since the shutter unit 86 of the printing table 20 is in the open state separated from the central unit 84, it does not come into contact with the rail 36 during the ascent process. During this ascent process, the substrate 12 is pushed up by the central unit 84 and is mounted on the mounting surface 82 thereof.
[0040]
When the printing table 20 is completely lifted, in a shutter closing step 156, the shutter unit 86 is moved toward the central unit 84, the shutter is closed, and the mounting surfaces 82a and 82b are integrated into one The placement surface 82 is configured. FIGS. 12A to 12C are schematic diagrams illustrating this shutter closing operation. When the substrate 12 is moved above the printing table 20 as shown in (a), the printing table 20 is raised with the shutter units 86, 86 open. When the print table 20 is raised to the upper end position while pushing up the substrate 12 by the central unit 84, the shutter units 86, 86 are moved toward the central unit 84 as shown in FIG. When the print table 20 is raised, the edges (upper and lower ends in the figure) of the substrate 12 protrude from the mounting surface 82a of the central unit 84. In this manner, the shutter is closed and the mounting surface 82a is closed. , 82b are brought into close contact with each other to form a flat mounting surface 82 as shown in (c), and the entire substrate 12 is mounted on the mounting surface 82. That is, in the present embodiment, since the printing table 20 is of the shutter type, the substrate 12 is configured to be intermittently fed on the rails 36, but the substrate as shown in FIG. The substrate 12 is placed on the center of a substantially flat mounting surface 82 except that a recess 88 for mounting the substrate 12 and slots 94 and 118 for positioning are provided.
[0041]
Returning to FIG. 10, in the substrate positioning step 158, the substrate 12 is positioned at a predetermined position on the mounting surface 82. As shown in FIG. 13A, after the substrate 12 is mounted on the mounting surface 82, the movable pins 98 are moved toward the fixed pins 92, 92, and the movable pins 116, 116 are moved toward each other. Is performed by moving in the long holes 94 and 118, respectively. When the movable pin 98 is moved by operating the cylinder 96 shown in FIG. 6 described above, the substrate 12 is moved toward the fixed pins 92, 92 by being pressed by the movable pin 98, and One side of the substrate 12 is pressed against the pins 92, 92. In the present embodiment, this fixing pin corresponds to the second reference member.
[0042]
On the other hand, when the movable pins 116, 116 are moved by operating the cylinders 110, 110, the substrate 12 is pressed by both sides (up and down in FIG. 13A). , 110 are alternately connected to the high-pressure side channel 126 and the low-pressure side channel 128, so that the pressing forces are different from each other. In the figure, the difference in the pressing force is represented by the size of the arrow. Therefore, the one movable pin 116 to which a relatively high voltage is applied is moved toward the lower voltage side while pushing back the other movable pin 116 to which the low pressure is applied via the substrate 12. In the present embodiment, the high pressure side is set to about 0.5 (MPa) and the low pressure side is set to about 0.2 (MPa). It moves to the tip of the hole 118 and stops at that position. That is, the movable pin 116 on the high pressure side moves to one end of the elongated hole 118 which is a movable range, and is stopped there. Then, the movable pin 116 on the low voltage side is moved to a position where the substrate 12 is pressed against the movable pin 116 on the high voltage side. As a result, the substrate 12 as a whole is moved or pressed toward the upper right as shown by the arrow, and is positioned at the position shown in FIG.
[0043]
In the present embodiment, the amount of movement of one of the pair of movable pins 116, 116 on the high-pressure side is large, but the position is fixed to the tip of the long hole 118 regardless of the size of the substrate 12. It is. On the other hand, the movable pin 116 on the low voltage side is moved in a range until one side thereof is pressed against the movable pin 116 on the high voltage side according to the size of the substrate 12. Therefore, in this embodiment, one side pressed against the movable pin 116 on the high voltage side is located at a fixed position shown in FIG. 13B regardless of the size of the substrate. The pin 116 is on the positioning reference side (corresponding to the fixed pin 92), and the low pressure side movable pin 116 is on the positioning pressing side (corresponding to the movable pin 98). That is, although there is no fixed pin for positioning the substrate 12 in the up-down direction in FIG. 13, one of the two movable pins 116 functions as a fixed pin, so that there is no problem in positioning. In the present embodiment, the movable pin 116 on the reference side corresponds to a first reference member.
[0044]
The setting of the reference side (high-pressure side) and the pressing side (low-pressure side) is determined according to whether the side serving as the reference for positioning the substrate 12 is located above or below in FIG. Generally, when performing thick film screen printing on the substrate 12, two sides that are orthogonal to each other are set as positioning reference sides. In this embodiment, since the fixed pin 92, that is, the reference pin is fixedly located on the right side in the left-right direction in the drawing, one of the two reference sides must always be located on the right side in the drawing. However, since the paste is printed on both sides 132 and 134 of the substrate 12 having the through holes 146 to be printed according to the present embodiment, the direction in which the print surface 132 faces upward and the print surface 134 is mounted on the mounting surface 82 in two modes with the upper side facing upward. When the substrate 12 is placed upside down in this way, if the orientation is set so that one reference side is always located on the right side in the drawing, the other reference side will be on the lower side when one surface is located on the upper side. And when the other surface is on the upper side, it is on the upper side.
[0045]
At this time, in the present embodiment, as described above, the high pressure side and the low pressure side of the linear guide 110 can be switched by switching with the switching valve 124, and the reference side and the pressing side of the movable pin 116 can be changed. When printing on the surface 132, for example, when the lower movable pin 116 in FIGS. 6 and 13 is used as a reference side, the switching valve 124 is operated to If the located movable pin 116 is used as the reference side, printing can be performed on both sides of the substrate 12 without any need to exchange the print table 20 or the like. In this embodiment, the moving direction of the movable pin 116 is in the first direction, the moving direction of the movable pin 98 is in the second direction, one of the movable pins 116 and 116 is in the first positioning member, and the other is in the second positioning member. The long holes 118, the switching valve 124, and the control device 130 constitute a movement suppressing device, and the linear guides 110, 110 correspond to the moving devices. The movable range of the movable pin 116 is within the range of the length of the elongated hole 118, and the end of the movable range is the inner peripheral edge of the elongated hole 118 in the vertical direction in FIGS. In this embodiment, the processing target is the substrate 12.
[0046]
Incidentally, in the conventional printing setter 160 as shown in FIG. 14, fixing pins 162 and 164 are provided on two sides corresponding to the reference side of the substrate 12, respectively, and long sides are respectively provided on the other two sides facing them. Movable pins 170 and 172 that were moved in the holes 166 and 168 were provided. Therefore, since the reference side of the substrate 12 must always be located on the right side and the lower side, two positions for the front side and the back side are used for positioning when printing on the front side and the back side having different positional relations of the reference side. Since two print setters were prepared and the setters on the print table were replaced according to the printing surface, the replacement work reduced the printing efficiency.
[0047]
After the substrate 12 is positioned at the predetermined position on the mounting surface 82 as described above, in a paste application step 174, the squeegee 26 pushes down the screen 22 of the screen plate making 24, as shown in FIG. The squeegee 26 is slid in the direction of the arrow in the figure. As a result, a thick print paste for forming any of the components of the circuit pattern 136 is applied to the print surface 132 (or 134) of the substrate 12.
[0048]
FIG. 15 is a plan view of the screen plate 24 for explaining the movement of the squeegee 26 during the paste application (printing). The screen plate 24 has, for example, a plate frame that is sufficiently larger than the mounting surface 82 of the print table 20. The substrate 12 is placed at the center of the printing table 20, and the squeegee 26 slid in the direction of the arrow in the figure applies the paste to the entire printing area of the substrate 12 under as uniform conditions as possible. To this end, the screen 22 is moved while pressing the screen 22 over a wide range sufficiently outside the edge of the substrate 12. Therefore, in a range outside the substrate 12, the screen 22 is pressed against the mounting surface 82, but when printing is performed in such a manner, the screen 22 is brought into close contact with the central unit 84 as described above. When the shutter unit 86 is closed, the mounting surface 82 is substantially flat and has no irregularities. Therefore, in the printing apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, the screen 22 can hardly be damaged due to being pressed against the mounting surface 82.
[0049]
Incidentally, the conventional print setter 160 shown in FIG. 14 is always positioned at a fixed height below the screen plate 24, and is mounted on a rail 36 for intermittently transporting the substrate 12. It was arranged to straddle. The substrate 12 is fed by a not-shown claw provided on the rail 36, and the print setter 160 is provided with a notch 176 so that the claw can advance to the mounting position of the substrate 12. ing. Therefore, as is apparent from a comparison between FIG. 14 and FIG. 15, since the notch 176 is provided within a range in which the squeegee 26 can be slid, the notch 176 is pressed toward the substrate 12 by the squeegee 26. When the screen 22 is pushed into the notch 176, there is a problem that the screen 22 is easily damaged at the ridge. In addition, there is an inconvenience that a suction chamber 90 for vacuum suction cannot be provided in a portion where the cut 176 exists.
[0050]
Returning to FIG. 10, in mass production in which the substrate 12 is sequentially fed to the printing unit 14, the shutter unit 86 is separated from the central unit 84 by the operation opposite to the shutter closing step 156 in the shutter opening step 178. Then, the rail 36 is opened. Next, in a table lowering step 180, the print table 20 is lowered to the lower end position, and in a substrate sending step 182, the substrate 12 coated with the paste is sent out from the printing unit 14. The fed substrate 12 is sent to a drying step by, for example, a robot (not shown). FIG. 11D shows a stage in which the print table 20 has been lowered to the lower end, and the substrate 12 to be subsequently fed is made to stand by to the right. Since the rails 36 are provided so as to extend toward the positioning unit 18, the printed substrate 12 is sent toward the positioning unit 18. However, at this time, since the print table 20 is in the printing unit 14 and the rail 36 is exposed in the alignment unit 18, there is no problem in the operation when the robot sends to the drying process. In addition, as a result of the positioning unit 18 and the destination of the substrate 12 being provided at a spatially common position, the entire printing apparatus 10 is relatively small.
[0051]
On the other hand, at the time of position adjustment for adjusting the relative position between the substrate 12 and the screen plate 24 positioned on the mounting surface 82 so as to obtain a predetermined printing accuracy, as shown in FIG. Is applied, the printing table 20 is lowered to a middle position between the screen plate 24 and the rail 36 in a table lowering A step 184. FIG. 16D shows this stage. At this time, the shutter unit 86 of the printing table 20 is kept closed, that is, kept in close contact with the central unit 84. Even in this state, the relative position between the rail 36 and the shutter unit 86 is maintained at the above-mentioned position. Mutual contact (interference) cannot occur until the rails 36 have the positional relationship shown by the dashed line in FIG. The print table 20 shown in FIG. 16D is at such a height position.
[0052]
Next, in the table retreating step 186, the print table 20 is retreated, that is, moved horizontally, to the positioning unit 16. FIG. 16E shows the position after the evacuation is completed, and the screen plate 24 is not positioned above the print table 20. In the inspection / position adjustment step 188, the cameras 50, 50 positioned above the print table 20 at the position shown in FIG. 16E are moved in the X direction and the Y direction, that is, in two directions orthogonal to each other. The print pattern at a predetermined position on the substrate 12 is photographed by being moved, and is displayed on the monitors 48 and 48. Thereby, based on the relative position of the register marks (not shown) formed on the substrate 12, the magnitude of the deviation between the screen plate 24 and the substrate 12 in the printing unit 14 from the original relative position is inspected. The relative positions and the like of the print table 20 with respect to the base 56 are adjusted by the adjusting devices 42 and 46 and the like so that a predetermined relative position accuracy is obtained according to the size.
[0053]
After the position adjustment is completed as described above, in the table return step 190, the print table 20 is moved in the direction opposite to the direction shown in FIG. 16D to return to the position immediately below the screen plate 24. . FIG. 16F shows a state after the return. Thereafter, in the shutter opening step 192, the shutter unit 86 is retracted in the direction away from the central unit 84 to open the shutter, and in the table lowering B step 194, the print table 20 is lowered to the lower end position, thereby making it possible to perform alignment. The operation of each mechanism is completed.
[0054]
As described above, in the present embodiment, the print table 20 is configured to perform different operations during mass production and during alignment, so that only the lifting operation is performed during mass production, and the print table 20 moves in the horizontal direction during alignment. Let me do. The substrate 12 used for positioning may be sent out from the printing unit 14 as in the case of mass production, or may be removed from the printing unit 14 manually by a positioning operator. The operation of the printing apparatus 10 during mass production described above is actually performed after such alignment has been performed. Further, the operation at the time of the alignment may be performed at any time during mass production in order to confirm printing accuracy.
[0055]
Here, according to the present embodiment, the movable pins 116 for positioning the substrate 12 in the vertical direction in FIGS. 6 and 13 are both provided so as to be movable in that direction. By suppressing the movement in the state where it has been moved to one side, one of them is made to function as the reference side, and the other is moved toward the movable pin 116 on the reference side by the linear guide 110. Therefore, it is possible to easily switch between the pressing side and the reference side by setting one of the movable pins 116, 116 as the reference side arbitrarily according to the positional relationship of the side serving as the reference for positioning the substrate 12.
[0056]
Further, according to the present embodiment, the movable pins 116, 116 are movable within a predetermined movable range in the vertical direction in FIG. 6 and the like, that is, within the range of the length of the elongated hole 118. Since the movement is suppressed by stopping at the end of the movable range, the mechanism for stopping the movable pin 116 at the end of the movable range can be used as it is for the movement suppression. There is an advantage that a mechanism for suppressing the movement can be easily configured as compared with the case where the movable pin 116 is fixed at the intermediate position of.
[0057]
In the present embodiment, the mechanism for stopping the movable pin 116 at the end of the movable range as described above uses the biasing force of the movable pins 116, 116, that is, the pressure supplied to the linear guide 110 for driving them. Therefore, there is an advantage that the movement can be suppressed only by operating the switching valve 124. In the above description, one of the relatively large urging forces, that is, the movable pin 116 on the high-pressure side is moved to the tip of the long hole 118 and stopped there, and the movable pin 116 becomes the reference side. The reference side is determined by the relative relationship between the distance between the elongated holes 118 and the size of the substrate 12. That is, if the low-voltage movable pin 116 is moved to the rear end before the high-pressure movable pin 116 moves to the front end of the long hole 118, the low-voltage movable pin 116 Always stops at a fixed position irrespective of the variation in the size of the substrate 12, and this is the reference side.
[0058]
Further, according to the present embodiment, when printing is performed on the substrate 12 using the print table 20, when printing is performed on the printing surface 132 of the substrate 12, one of the movable pins 116, 116 is in contact with the reference side. When printing is performed on the back surface, that is, the printing surface 134, the other side of the movable pins 116 is used as a reference side, so that printing with double-sided printing is performed such that the top and bottom of the substrate 12 are reversed at any time during the process. There is an advantage that the process can be easily performed.
[0059]
As described above, the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention can be implemented in other embodiments.
[0060]
For example, in the embodiment, the case where the present invention is applied to the print table 20 of the printing apparatus 10 has been described. However, an apparatus that needs to position and process a processing object having a reference side such as the substrate 12 is required. In the above, the present invention is similarly applied to an exposure apparatus and other various apparatuses as long as the positional relationship of the reference side can be changed.
[0061]
In the embodiment, the fixed pin 92 corresponding to the second reference member is provided in the direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the movable pins 116, 116, but the movable pin 98 is provided instead of the fixed pin 92. Thus, the configuration may be such that the movable pin can be switched between the reference side and the pressing side in both directions.
[0062]
In the embodiment, one of the movable pins 116, 116 is moved to the end of the movement range to suppress the movement. However, the linear guide 110 is mechanically stopped, or another method is used. One of them may be stopped.
[0063]
In the embodiment, one of the movable pins 116 and 116 on the reference side is set at a pressure of about 0.5 (MPa), and the other on the pressing side is set at a pressure of about 0.2 (MPa). However, these values are appropriately changed within a range where the reference side and the pressing side can be switched.
[0064]
In addition, in the embodiment, the reference side and the pressing side are configured to be switched in the vertical direction in FIG. 6 and the like. 12 is determined by the rotation axis at the time of inversion. That is, in the embodiment, it is assumed that the substrate 12 is rotated around a rotation axis parallel to the moving direction of the movable pin 98, and the substrate 12 is rotated around a rotation axis parallel to the moving direction of the movable pin 116. In such a case, the configuration may be such that the left and right directions can be switched.
[0065]
Further, in the embodiment, the case where the first positioning member and the second positioning member are constituted by the movable pins 116 and 116 has been described. However, the first positioning member and the second positioning member may have the size and shape of the processing target. For example, an appropriate one such as a rod shape, a plate shape, and a block shape is used.
[0066]
Further, in the embodiment, the movable pins 116, 116 are provided on the shutter units 86, 86 which are brought into close contact with the central unit 84. However, as shown in FIG. The present invention can be similarly applied to a case where one member is used.
[0067]
Further, in the embodiment, the case has been described in which the present invention is applied to the printing apparatus 10 in which the printing table 20 uses the horizontal movement and the elevating operation properly according to the process. However, the present invention implements only the elevating operation. The present invention is similarly applied to a printing apparatus in which the substrate 12 is sent intermittently, a printing apparatus in which the printing table 20 is reciprocated between the mounting position of the substrate 12 and the printing position, and the like.
[0068]
Although not specifically exemplified, the present invention can be variously modified without departing from the gist thereof.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a front view showing a printing apparatus provided with a printing table which is an embodiment of a positioning table of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a plan view of the printing apparatus of FIG.
FIG. 3 is a front view for explaining a print table driving mechanism of the printing apparatus in FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a view showing a cross section taken along line IV-IV in FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a plan view of the table driving mechanism of FIG. 3;
FIG. 6 is a plan view for explaining in detail a configuration of a print table provided in the printing apparatus of FIG. 1;
FIG. 7 is a right side view of the print table of FIG. 6;
FIG. 8 is a front view of the print table of FIG. 6;
9A is a perspective view showing an example of a through-hole board on which wiring and the like are formed by the printing apparatus in FIG. 1, and FIG. 9B is an enlarged view of a through-hole provided in the board. It is a figure and (c) is cc sectional drawing in (b).
FIG. 10 is an example of a process flow chart when printing is performed on the substrate of FIG. 9;
FIGS. 11A to 11D are schematic diagrams for explaining an operation when a printing process is sequentially performed on a large number of substrates using the printing apparatus of FIG. 1;
FIGS. 12A to 12C are schematic diagrams for explaining the operation of a print table when performing the printing process shown in FIG. 11;
FIGS. 13A and 13B are schematic diagrams for explaining a positioning operation of a substrate on a print table when performing the printing process shown in FIG. 11;
FIG. 14 is a plan view illustrating the structure of an example of a conventional print table.
FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram illustrating movement of a squeegee in the printing process illustrated in FIG. 11;
FIGS. 16D to 16F are schematic diagrams for explaining the operation of the print table subsequent to the step shown in FIG. 11C in the case of performing print position alignment.
[Explanation of symbols]
10: Printing device 12: Substrate 20: Printing table 110: Linear guide 116: Movable pin 118: Slot 124: Switching valve 130: Control device

Claims (3)

A mounting surface on which the object to be processed is mounted, the object to be processed being pressed in a first direction and a second direction which are parallel to the mounting surface and intersect with each other, and are respectively provided in front of the pressing direction; A positioning table for positioning and fixing at a predetermined position on the mounting surface by pressing against a first reference member and a second reference member,
A first positioning member and a second positioning member that are protruded from the mounting surface at a predetermined distance from each other in the first direction and are respectively movable along the first direction;
A movement suppressing device for suppressing movement of one of the first positioning member and the second positioning member in the first direction so as to function as the first reference member; A moving device for moving the other of the first positioning member and the second positioning member toward the first reference member in order to press against the first positioning member. The first positioning member and the second positioning member are movable within a predetermined movable range in the first direction,
The positioning table according to claim 1, wherein the movement suppressing device suppresses the movement by stopping one of the first positioning member and the second positioning member at an end of the movable range. The movement suppressing device is configured such that biasing forces for biasing one of the first positioning member and the second positioning member functioning as the first reference member toward the other have values different from each other by a predetermined value or more. 3. The positioning table according to claim 2, wherein one of the movements is suppressed.

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