JP2004327696A - Retooling equipment of component mounter - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform retooling corresponding to the type of a substrate without requiring a host computer. <P>SOLUTION: A plurality of component mounters 3 are arranged along a substrate carrying line and each component mounter 3 is provided with means 11 and 13 for communicating information between an upstream side facility 12 and a downstream side facility 14, a mechanism 9 performing retooling corresponding to the type of the substrate, a means 16 for storing substrate information transmitted from the upstream side facility, and a means 15 for controlling the mechanism 9 to perform retooling of its own facility based on the substrate information stored in the storage means 16 and to transmit the substrate information to the downstream side facility 14 through the information communicating means 13 when a substrate mounting a component is carried out. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a changeover apparatus for a component mounter that automatically performs a changeover in accordance with the type of a substrate or the like on which components are mounted by the component mounter.
[0002]
[Prior art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as shown in, for example, Patent Document 1, in a process of assembling parts on a printed circuit board, a mounting machine that performs a setup change operation such as switching of various data necessary for production and adjustment of a conveyance rail width. It is possible to determine the completion of the production plan currently in production by using a means to know when to replace, and to control multiple mounting machines by configuring so that the mounting machine itself switches independently while referring to the production plan. There is known a mounting machine with an automatic setup change function that can reduce the load on a host computer to be controlled and reduce the signal exchange between the host computer and the mounting machine to shorten the setup change time. .
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
Patent No. 2885483 Specification
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
When the mounting machine itself is configured to switch independently while referring to the production plan as described above, the load on the host computer that controls and controls multiple mounting machines is reduced, and the mounting By reducing the exchange of signals with the machine, the time required for setup change corresponding to the change in the type of components mounted on the printed circuit board can be shortened to some extent, There is a problem that the equipment cost cannot be effectively reduced and the reliability of the setup change is low.
[0005]
That is, in the mounting machine disclosed in Patent Document 1, after the production of the printed circuit board is started, the mounting machine itself judges the completion of the production plan, and if completed, sweeps out the final printed circuit board in the mounting machine and removes the inside of the mounting machine. Is empty, the setup change such as control of the transfer rail is performed based on various data taken in advance from the host computer, and the end of the setup change is output to the host computer to output necessary data corresponding to the next production plan. It is configured to capture from a host computer. As described above, a high-level computer for controlling each mounting machine is required, so that there is a problem that the equipment cost is high, and the high-level computer is grasped by the fact that the board is dropped or removed during transportation. If the board information is different from the board actually conveyed to each mounting machine, there is a possibility that erroneous setup change may be performed, and the reliability of the setup change control is low. is there.
[0006]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and is directed to a component mounter that can appropriately perform a setup change corresponding to a type of a board with a simple configuration without requiring a host computer. The purpose is to provide a setup change device.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-described problem, the present invention provides a plurality of component mounters arranged along a board transfer line, and each of the mounters exchanges information between upstream equipment and downstream equipment. Information communication means for performing, a setup changeover mechanism for performing a setup changeover corresponding to the type of board, a storage means for storing board information transmitted from the upstream equipment, and a self-service based on the board information stored in the storage means. And a setup change control means for controlling the equipment so as to transmit the board information to the downstream equipment via the information communication means when unloading the board on which the components are mounted. .
[0008]
According to the configuration, the board information transmitted when the board is carried in from the upstream facility is stored in the storage means, and the setup changeover by the setup changeover mechanism is performed based on the board information stored in the storage means. Is performed, the setup change corresponding to the type of the board is performed in the own facility including the component mounters without the need for the host computer.
[0009]
In the setup changer of the present invention, when a board is not present in its own facility, a request for transmission of board information is made to the upstream facility, and a request for transmission of board information is made from the downstream facility. Preferably, the substrate information corresponding to the type of the new substrate to be transported to the downstream side is transmitted to the downstream equipment.
[0010]
According to the above configuration, when the transfer of the substrate to each facility is started at the start of operation or the like, when the substrate is loaded into the most upstream facility and the board information is read, the substrate is sequentially transferred to the downstream facility. By transmitting the information, the changeover corresponding to the type of the substrate is performed in all the facilities.
[0011]
Further, in the setup changer of the present invention, the setup information of the new board to be carried into the next facility is read out based on the board information transmitted from the upstream facility, and the setup information of the new board is read at the present time. When the setup information is different from the setup information, the setup change is preferably performed when the substrate existing in the own facility is unloaded.
[0012]
According to the above configuration, after unloading the substrate existing in the own equipment, before the new substrate is loaded into the own equipment, the setup change corresponding to the new substrate is quickly and appropriately performed. Become.
[0013]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 schematically shows an example of a component mounting line to which a changeover device for a component mounting machine according to the present invention is applied. In the illustrated example, a bar code reading unit 1 is provided at the most upstream part of the component mounting line. The loaded conveyer 2 is installed, and three component mounters 3 are arranged downstream thereof along the board conveying direction. Each of the component mounters 3 includes a mounting means 5 such as a mounting head for mounting a small-sized component formed of an IC, a transistor, a capacitor, or the like on the substrate 4, a conveyor 6 for the substrate 4, A vision monitor 7 and a mounting machine operation monitor 8 are provided.
[0014]
As shown in FIG. 2, each of the component mounters 3 has a setup changeover mechanism 9 for performing a setup change corresponding to the type of the substrate 4, and a control unit 10 including a personal computer or the like. Each of the component mounters 3 is connected to the upstream component mounter 3 via the information communication means 11 or the upstream equipment 12 including the carry-in conveyor 2, and is connected to the downstream side via the information communication means 13. Is connected to the downstream equipment 14 composed of the component mounter 3.
[0015]
The control unit 10 stores a pre-input mounting control program and the like, and also stores a board information transmitted from the upstream facility 12 via the information communication means 11, and a storage means 16. The setup changeover mechanism 9 controls the setup changeover mechanism 9 so as to automatically perform setup changeover of its own equipment, and controls the board information to be transmitted to the downstream equipment 14 via the information communication means 13 at a predetermined time. Control means 15 is provided.
[0016]
The information communication means 11 and 13 are configured by a LAN (Local Area Network) using a coaxial cable or an optical fiber for connecting the control units 10 provided in the respective component mounters 3 to each other. Then, the board information transmitted from the upstream facility 12 via the information communication means 11, that is, the board ID information consisting of the barcode attached to the board 4, is read by the barcode reading means 1 of the carry-in conveyor. When the ID information is transmitted to the own equipment via the information communication means 11, control for storing the board ID information in the storage means 16 is executed by the setup changeover control means 15. The setup change control means 15 reads the board ID information stored in the storage means 16 when carrying out the board 4 in the own equipment to the downstream equipment 14, and transmits the board ID information to the information communication. It is configured to transmit to the downstream facility 14 via the means 13.
[0017]
The setup change mechanism 9 changes the installation interval of the board transfer conveyor 6 in accordance with the width dimension of the board 4 and the size of the board 4 in accordance with the control signal output from the setup change control means 15. In this case, a setup change such as changing the installation position of a backup pin (not shown) is performed. That is, based on the board ID information transmitted from the upstream facility 12, it is determined whether or not the setup information of the new board 4 to be carried into the next facility is the same as the setup information of the board 4 at the present time. When the setup change control unit 15 determines that the two setup information items are different from each other, the setup change is performed according to the control signal output from the setup change control unit 15 to the setup change mechanism 9. It has become so.
[0018]
The basic control operation executed by the setup change control means 15 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. When the control operation starts, first, the control program stored in the storage means 16 is read (Step S1), and the equipment is put into a standby state (Step S2). Next, after obtaining the next board ID information transmitted from the upstream facility 12 (step S3), the board ID information is stored in the storage unit 16 (step S4) and transmitted from the upstream facility 12. The setup information including the mounting program corresponding to the board ID information is read from the storage unit 16 (Step S5).
[0019]
Then, it is determined whether the setup information of the new board 4 corresponding to the board ID information read from the storage unit 16 is the same as the setup information at the present time (step S6). If NO is determined in this step S6 and it is confirmed that the setup information of the new substrate 4 is different from the current setup information, a control signal for instructing setup is output to the setup change mechanism 9. After performing the setup change (Step S7), the count value C of the counter for measuring the number of component mounting is cleared to 0 (Step S8). If the determination in step S6 is YES and it is confirmed that the setup information of the new substrate 4 is the same as the current setup information, the process proceeds to step S8 without performing the setup change. I do.
[0020]
Next, after outputting a permission signal for permitting the loading of a new board 4 to the upstream facility 12 (step S9), the board 4 is loaded into the own facility from the upstream facility 12 (step S10). It is fixed by the backup pin (step S11). After moving the suction head provided on the mounting machine head of the mounting means 5 to the component suction position (step S12), the suction nozzle is used to suck the component (step S13), and a component recognition camera is provided. The suction component is recognized based on the image captured by the image processing apparatus (step S14).
[0021]
The suction nozzle is moved to a component mounting position in which a correction amount according to the recognition result of the suction component is added (step S15), and after the component is mounted on the board 4 (step S16), the count value C of the counter is set. Is incremented by 1 (step S17). Based on the count value C, it is determined whether or not all components have been mounted on the board 4 (step S18). If NO is determined in step S18, the process proceeds to step S12 to perform the above control. repeat.
[0022]
If YES is determined in the above step S18 and it is confirmed that the mounting of all the components is completed, the board ID information is transmitted to the downstream equipment 14 at this time (step S19). (Step S20), and when the unloading permission signal is output, the substrate 4 is unloaded to the downstream facility 14 (Step S21). Then, it is determined whether or not the component mounting work has been completed (step S22). If the determination is NO, the process proceeds to step S3 to repeat the above control, and also determines YES in step S22. At this point, the control operation ends.
[0023]
A transmission / reception control operation of the board ID information, which is periodically executed asynchronously with the basic control operation, will be described with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG. When this control operation is started, it is first determined whether or not the board 4 is present in the own equipment (step S31). If the determination is YES, the downstream equipment 14 requests transmission of the board information ID. It is determined whether or not there is (step S32). In addition, when it is determined as NO in the above step S31 and it is confirmed that the substrate 4 does not exist in the own equipment, after outputting the request signal for requesting the upstream equipment 12 to transmit the substrate ID information, (Step S33), the process proceeds to step S32.
[0024]
Then, when it is determined as YES in the above step S32 and it is confirmed that there is a request for transmission of the board information ID from the downstream equipment 14, the board ID information stored in the storage unit 16 in the own equipment, That is, the board information corresponding to the type of the new board 4 to be carried out to the downstream facility 14 is read out and transmitted to the downstream facility 14 (step S34), and then the process returns.
[0025]
As described above, a plurality of component mounters 3 are disposed along the transport line of the substrate 4, and information for communicating information between the upstream facility 12 and the downstream facility 14 is provided to each of the component mounters 3. Communication means 11 and 13, a setup changeover mechanism 9 for performing a setup change corresponding to the type of the board 4, a storage means 16 for storing board information including a board ID and the like transmitted from the upstream facility 12, and a storage means The control unit controls the setup changeover mechanism 9 so as to perform setup changeover of its own equipment on the basis of the board information stored in the board 16, and when the board 4 on which the components are mounted is unloaded, through the information communication unit 13, Since the equipment 14 is provided with the changeover control means 15 for controlling the transmission of the board information, it does not require an upper-level computer for controlling the plurality of component mounters 3 and can control the same in its own equipment. It is possible to properly perform the setup change corresponding to the type of the plate 4.
[0026]
That is, the board information transmitted when the board 4 is carried in from the upstream facility 12 is stored in the storage unit 16 of the own facility, and the current setup information and the setup information are stored based on the board information stored in the storage unit 16. Next, when it is confirmed that the setup information corresponding to the type of the new board 4 to be carried into the own equipment is different, the setup change mechanism 9 is operated to support the new board 4. Since the setup change is performed, the setup change corresponding to the new board 4 can be appropriately executed without the need for a host computer. Therefore, there is an advantage that component mounting equipment suitable for high-mix low-volume production can be manufactured at low cost, and the component mounting operation can be efficiently performed by this component mounting equipment.
[0027]
In the above embodiment, when the substrate 4 is not present in the own equipment, the upstream equipment 12 is requested to transmit the substrate information, and the downstream equipment 14 is requested to transmit the substrate information. Next, since the board information corresponding to the type of the new board 4 to be transported to the downstream equipment 14 is read from the storage means 16 and transmitted to the downstream equipment 14 (see FIG. 4), when starting operation, When the transport of the substrate 4 to each facility is started at the time when the board 4 is loaded into the most upstream facility, in the example of FIG. By sequentially transmitting the board information to the three component mounters 3, all equipment (the component mounters 3) can perform a setup change corresponding to the board information, and thereby the board can be transferred to its own equipment. 4 is carried There is an advantage that it is possible to quickly perform the component mounting at the time of the.
[0028]
Further, in the above embodiment, when the mounting operation of the components on the board 4 is started, the board 4 located in the own facility is carried out to the downstream facility, and then, based on the board information transmitted from the upstream facility 12. Next, the setup information of the new board 4 carried into the own equipment is read out, and it is determined whether or not the setup information of the new board 4 is the same as the setup information at the present time. In a different case, the setup changeover mechanism 9 is operated to perform the setup change, so that the mounting work corresponding to the new board 4 to be carried into the next facility can be quickly and appropriately executed. .
[0029]
When the new board information is output from the upstream facility 12, it is determined whether or not the setup information of the new board 4 is the same as the current setup information. It is determined whether or not the substrate 4 is present, and when it is confirmed that the two setup information is different in a state where the substrate 4 is present in the own equipment, when the substrate 4 is carried out to the downstream equipment 14, The setup change mechanism 9 may be operated to perform the setup change. According to this configuration, before the new substrate 4 is carried into the own equipment, the preparation work for the setup change corresponding to the new substrate 4 can be performed. There is an advantage that the setup change operation can be performed more quickly after being carried out.
[0030]
In addition, the board 4 is configured to be able to be held at a plurality of locations of the transport conveyor 6 provided in the component mounter 3, for example, at three locations, ie, a loading standby position, a component mounting position, and an unloading standby position. When the loading and unloading control of the board 4 to the machine 3 and the component mounting control by the component mounting machine 3 are configured to be executed at different timings, that is, asynchronously, the loading and unloading of the board 4 to the component mounting machine 3 are performed. By performing the unloading and the component mounting operation in parallel, the time required for the component mounting operation can be effectively reduced.
[0031]
That is, in the setup changer of the component mounter 3, the storage unit 16 provided in the control unit 10 is provided with a plurality of storage units for storing the board information of the boards 4, respectively. By managing the component information while sequentially rewriting the board information stored in each storage unit in association with each other, the loading / unloading control of the board 4 with respect to the component mounting machine 3 and the mounting control of the component are individually executed. Thus, work efficiency can be improved by reducing work loss time. In this case, as shown in FIG. 5, an ID information display screen 8a for displaying the board ID information of each board 4 held on the transport conveyor 6 is provided on the mounting machine operation monitor 8 or the like. The present position of the substrate 4 is changed by sequentially moving the display position of the substrate ID information from the carry-in standby position to the component mounting position and the carry-out standby position in accordance with the movement of the substrate 4. There is an advantage that a person can be accurately recognized in real time.
[0032]
Further, by operating the setup change mechanism 9 in response to the control signal output from the setup change control means 15, the setup change such as changing the installation interval of the conveyor 6 is automatically executed. In the case where the setup information corresponding to the type of the new substrate 4 to be carried into the next facility is different from the setup information at the present time, a control signal output from the setup change control unit 15 is replaced with the above embodiment. In response to this, a notifying means such as a notification buzzer or a notification lamp is operated, and based on the notification, the operator drives the setup changeover mechanism 9 by manual operation, or performs a setup change such as replacing a tape feeder for supplying components. May be performed.
[0033]
Further, the bar code reading means 1 provided on the most upstream carry-in conveyor 2 reads the board ID information composed of the bar code attached to the board 4 to obtain the board information. The operator operates the input means to input the board information, or reads the setup instruction attached to the board 4 using the reading means provided in each facility, so that the board information sequentially transferred is read. It may be configured to obtain.
[0034]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, a plurality of component mounters are provided along a board transfer line, and each of the mounters has information for communicating information between an upstream facility and a downstream facility. Communication means, a changeover mechanism for performing a changeover corresponding to the type of the board, a storage means for storing the board information transmitted from the upstream equipment, and an own equipment based on the board information stored in the storage means. A set-up control means is provided for controlling the transmission of the board information to the downstream equipment via the information communication means when the board on which the components are mounted is carried out and the board is mounted. There is an advantage that the setup change corresponding to the type of the board can be appropriately executed by the inexpensive component mounting equipment without the need for a host computer that controls and controls the machine.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a front view showing an example of a mounting line to which a changeover device for a component mounter according to the present invention is applied.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a specific configuration of a control unit provided in the component mounter.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a basic control operation executed in the control unit.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a transmission / reception control operation of board ID information executed in the control unit.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an ID information display screen.
[Explanation of symbols]
3 Component mounting machine 4 Substrate 9 Setup change mechanism 11, 13 Information transmission means 12 Upstream equipment 14 Downstream equipment 15 Setup change control means 16 Storage means

Claims (3)

A plurality of component mounters are arranged along the board transfer line, and each mounter has an information communication means for communicating information between the upstream equipment and the downstream equipment, and corresponds to the type of the board. A setup change mechanism that performs setup change, a storage unit that stores board information transmitted from the upstream equipment, and a setup change of own equipment based on the board information stored in this storage means, and mounting of parts. And a setup change control means for controlling the board information to be transmitted to the downstream equipment via the information communication means when the board is unloaded. If the board does not exist in the own equipment, it requests the upstream equipment to transmit the board information, and if there is a request for transmission of the board information from the downstream equipment, then the downstream equipment 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the board information corresponding to the type of the new board to be conveyed is transmitted to downstream equipment. Based on the board information transmitted from the upstream equipment, the setup information of the new board to be carried into the next equipment is read out. If the setup information of the new board is different from the current setup information, the self setup is performed. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the changeover is performed after unloading the substrate existing in the equipment.

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