JP2006059981A - Component transfer apparatus, surface mounting machine, and component testing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a surface mounting machine which speeds up a component recognition process using bright lighting, and has a compact and reasonable configuration. <P>SOLUTION: The surface mounting machine includes a head unit 6 having a plurality of mounting heads 16 each of which sucks up a component P in a component supply position and mounts it on a print board. The head unit 6 is equipped with a movable imaging unit 20 which captures the image of the component P sucked by the head 16 for image recognition. The imaging unit 20 has a camera 24 which captures the image of the component P, and first and second lighting sections 26, 27 which project illuminating light upon image capturing. The first lighting section 26 projects such light to the component P that is emitted from a light source unit 30 which is located to be separated from the lighting section 26, and led through an optical fiber 32 to the lighting section 26. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a component conveying device configured to convey an electronic component such as an IC with negative pressure adsorption by an adsorption nozzle and to recognize an image of the adsorption state of the component during the conveyance, and a surface having the component conveying device The present invention relates to a mounting machine and a component testing apparatus.

  Conventionally, a head unit on which a mounting head is mounted is provided so as to be movable on the XY plane, and a chip component such as an IC is sucked from the component supply section onto the printed circuit board and conveyed to a predetermined position on the printed circuit board. Surface mounters configured for mounting are generally known.

In this type of surface mounter, it is required to mount components accurately and efficiently. In recent years, a plurality of mounting heads can be mounted on the head unit to suck a plurality of components at a time. In addition, an image pickup unit including a camera equipped with a CCD line sensor and an illumination device is provided in the head unit, and after picking up the components, the image pickup unit is attached to each mounting head during movement onto the printed circuit board. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-228707 proposes to perform suction displacement correction by imaging and recognizing a component suction state by each mounting head while relatively moving the components.
JP 2001-320200 A

  In this type of surface mounter, LED lighting or fluorescent lamp lighting is used as the illumination device for the imaging unit. However, in recent years, the demand for higher component recognition processing due to higher mounting speed has led to higher demand. For example, a large number of high-brightness LEDs are arranged around the camera (lens) in a double, triple, or large number to further reduce the imaging time per component using a luminance illumination device. Many lighting devices are used.

  However, in such an illuminating device including a large number of LEDs, the occupied space becomes large, and the degree of freedom in arrangement is limited. In addition, the imaging unit is increased in size and weight, which causes a problem in increasing the operation speed of the imaging unit for component recognition.

  In addition, a so-called component testing device is known in which electronic components are transported to a test device while being sucked by a suction head with a suction head, and various tests are carried out. It is necessary to use high-intensity illumination, and those having the same head unit structure (structure in which the imaging unit is mounted on the head unit) as in the surface mounter as described above have the same problem.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and in a surface mounter and a component testing apparatus, while achieving high-speed component recognition processing using high-intensity illumination, a compact and rational configuration has been achieved. The purpose is to do.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a component conveying apparatus according to the present invention has a movable head unit on which a plurality of component adsorption heads are mounted, and the component is adsorbed from the component supply position by the head unit. The part picked up by the head is picked up by an image pickup unit that is movably mounted on the head unit or a support member that supports the head unit during the transfer and transports to the target position. In the component transport apparatus configured to recognize an image, the imaging unit includes an imaging unit that images the component and an illumination unit that emits illumination light when imaging the component. The component is configured to irradiate a component with light guided through an optical fiber from an illumination light source arranged at a distance from the position. ).

  According to this component conveying apparatus, since the illuminating unit is simply provided with an optical fiber that occupies much smaller space than the LED or fluorescent lamp, the illuminating unit has a compact configuration. In addition, since the degree of freedom of arrangement of the illumination light source is increased, it is possible to configure the imaging unit as a whole while providing high-intensity illumination by arranging the illumination light source in a space with a margin.

  In this configuration, it is preferable that the illumination light source is mounted on the head unit, particularly when the imaging unit is movably provided with respect to the head unit.

  According to this configuration, since the illumination light source is mounted on the head unit, the imaging unit can be reduced in weight and size, which is advantageous in driving the imaging unit at high speed.

  As one of the more specific configurations, the illumination unit is provided between the imaging unit and the imaging position of the component, and the plurality of optical fibers have their light exit ends in the illumination light irradiation direction. It can be set as the structure arrange | positioned in the said illumination part in the state which faced and was located in the circumferential direction (Claim 3).

  According to this configuration, it is possible to provide the appropriate illumination without unevenness to the components while consolidating the light emitting ends of the plurality of optical fibers and configuring the illumination unit to be compact.

  On the other hand, the surface mounter according to the present invention is a surface mounter for transporting a component supplied by a component supply unit onto a substrate positioned at a mounting work position and mounting the component at a predetermined position on the substrate. As a means for transporting a component from a substrate to a substrate, the component transport device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 is provided (claim 4).

  Further, the component testing apparatus according to the present invention is a component testing apparatus that performs various tests by conveying a component supplied in a component supply unit to a test unit, and as a unit that conveys the component from the component supply unit to the test unit, A component conveying device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 is provided (claim 5).

  According to these surface mounters or component testing devices, since the above-described component conveying device is provided, after picking up the component, the component can be quickly imaged under high-intensity illumination while moving the imaging unit at high speed. On the other hand, a rational configuration with a compact imaging unit is achieved.

  According to the component conveying device, the surface mounter, and the component testing device according to claims 1 to 5, the illuminating unit of the imaging unit is provided with an optical fiber that occupies a much smaller space than the LED or fluorescent lamp, Since the illumination light source can be arranged in a space with a margin, it is possible to reduce the size of the imaging unit while increasing the speed of the component recognition process using high-intensity illumination.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  1 and 2 schematically show a surface mounter according to the present invention (a surface mounter to which a component conveying apparatus according to the present invention is applied). As shown in the figure, on a base 1 of a surface mounter (hereinafter abbreviated as a mounter), a printed board transporting conveyor 2 is arranged, and the printed circuit board 3 is transported on the conveyor 2 to a predetermined level. It stops at the mounting work position.

  On both sides of the conveyor 2, component supply units 4 are arranged. These component supply units 4 are provided with multiple rows of tape feeders 4a. Each tape feeder 4a is configured such that small chip components such as ICs, transistors, capacitors, etc. are accommodated at predetermined intervals, and the held tapes are led out from the reels. As the parts are taken out, the parts are taken out intermittently.

  Above the base 1, a head unit 6 for component mounting is provided. The head unit 6 is movable over the component supply unit 4 and the mounting work position where the printed circuit board 3 is located, and the X-axis direction (direction parallel to the conveyor 2) and the Y-axis direction (direction orthogonal to the conveyor 2). Can be moved to.

  That is, a fixed rail 7 in the Y-axis direction and a ball screw shaft 8 that is rotationally driven by a Y-axis servomotor 9 are disposed on the base 1, and a head unit support member 11 is disposed on the fixed rail 7. And a nut portion 12 provided on the support member 11 is screwed onto the ball screw shaft 8. The support member 11 is provided with a guide member 13 in the X-axis direction and a ball screw shaft 14 driven by an X-axis servo motor 15, and the head unit 6 is movably held by the guide member 13. A nut portion (not shown) provided on the head unit 6 is screwed onto the ball screw shaft 14. The support member 11 is moved in the Y-axis direction by the operation of the Y-axis servo motor 9, and the head unit 6 is moved in the X-axis direction with respect to the support member 11 by the operation of the X-axis servo motor 15. ing.

  The Y-axis servo motor 9 and the X-axis servo motor 15 are provided with encoders 9a and 15a, respectively, so that the position of the head unit 6 is detected.

  A plurality of mounting heads 16 for mounting components are mounted on the head unit 6, and in this embodiment, six mounting heads 16 are mounted in a line at equal intervals in the X-axis direction.

  The mounting head 16 is capable of moving in the Z-axis direction (vertical direction) and rotating around the R-axis (nozzle center axis) with respect to the frame of the head unit 6, and ascending / descending drive means using a servo motor as a drive source. And it is driven by the rotation drive means. Each mounting head 16 is provided with a suction nozzle 16a at its tip (lower end), and negative pressure is supplied to the tip of the suction nozzle from a negative pressure supply means (not shown). Parts are attracted by suction force.

  The head unit 6 is further mounted with an image pickup unit 20 for picking up images of the parts sucked and held by the suction nozzles 16a.

  FIG. 3 schematically illustrates the configuration of the imaging unit 20 in a cross-sectional view. As shown in this figure, the imaging unit 20 is mounted on a rail 6a fixed to the head unit 6 so as to be movable along the rail 6a in the X-axis direction, and a servo motor as a drive source. It is driven by an external driving means. The drive unit is configured such that, for example, the imaging unit 20 is moved in the X-axis direction when the imaging unit 20 is coupled to a screw shaft that is rotationally driven by a servo motor, in accordance with forward / reverse rotation driving of the screw shaft. Has been.

  The imaging unit 20 has a frame 22 that extends from the rear side (right side in FIG. 3) toward the front side of the head unit 6 and faces the arrangement portion of the mounting heads 16. The frame 22 is integrally provided with a camera 24, an illuminating device, and a mirror 28. By moving the mounting head 16 in the X-axis direction with the mounting head 16 set at the rising end position, the frame 22 is sucked by the suction nozzle 16a. The configured part P is configured to take an image from below.

  The camera 24 is integrally provided with a CCD line sensor and an imaging lens, and is fixed to the frame 22 so as to be directed obliquely downward (approximately 10 ° downward with respect to the horizontal plane) toward the front. The component image shown on the mirror 28 fixed at an angle of approximately 40 ° with respect to the horizontal plane is taken in front of the component image.

  The illuminating device has two types of illuminating units that irradiate illumination light from different directions with respect to the component P adsorbed and held by the adsorption nozzle 16a. Specifically, the first illumination unit 26 is provided between the mirror 28 and the camera 24 and irradiates the suction component P with the illumination light from directly below via the mirror 28, and is provided above the mirror 28. And a second illuminating unit 27 that irradiates illumination light obliquely upward from the radially outer side of the circle centering on the Z axis toward the suction component P.

  The first illumination unit 26 is led out from a light source device 30 disposed at a position away from the position, specifically, at a position in the upper rear part of the camera 24 and just behind the imaging unit 20. The light emitting ends 32a of the optical fibers 32 are fixed side by side (see FIG. 4). That is, the first illumination unit 26 is configured to irradiate the suction component P with light guided from the illumination light source accommodated in the light source device 30 through the optical fiber 32.

  A plurality of optical fibers 32 are led out from the light source device 30. These optical fibers 32 are led out from the light source device 30 to the rear side (right side in FIG. 3) and then reversed toward the front side, and are routed through the side portion of the camera 24 to the first illumination unit 26. As shown in FIG. 3, the middle part of the camera 24 is integrally bundled and divided into four bundles. Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the light emitting ends 32a are aligned in a line for each bundle so that the light emitting ends 32a are respectively directed in the illumination light irradiation direction and are arranged in the circumferential direction as a whole, more specifically, in the circumferential direction. In this state, it is fixed to the first illumination unit 26 (the optical fiber 32 in FIG. 3 shows a cross section taken along line BB in FIG. 4).

  As the illumination light source of the light source device 30, for example, a so-called high brightness light source such as a halogen lamp, a xenon lamp, a mercury lamp, or a high brightness LED is used.

  On the other hand, the second illumination unit 27 is provided with a plurality of high-brightness LEDs 34 in a doubled state.

  In the surface mounting machine configured as described above, when the printed circuit board 3 is carried into the mounting work position and the mounting operation is started, first, the head unit 6 moves to the component supply unit 4 and each mounting head 16 is moved. The parts are sucked by the above. Specifically, after the mounting head 16 is arranged above the target tape feeder 4a, the components in the tape are sucked by the suction nozzle 16a and taken out from the tape feeder 4a as the mounting head 16 moves up and down. Is done. At this time, the imaging unit 20 is disposed at a retracted position provided outside the mounting heads 16 as shown by a solid line or a two-dot chain line in FIG.

  When the component suction by each mounting head 16 is completed, the head unit 6 starts moving toward the printed circuit board 3 and the head unit 6 starts moving the imaging unit 20. Accordingly, each suction component P is imaged. Specifically, the imaging unit 20 moves in the X-axis direction while irradiating illumination light from either one or both of the first illumination unit 26 and the second illumination unit 27, so that the camera 24 (CCD line sensor) Images for each line of the suction component P in the main scanning direction (Y-axis direction) are continuously captured in the sub-scanning direction (X-axis direction). And all the adsorption | suction components P will be imaged when the imaging unit 20 moves over all the mounting heads 16. FIG.

  Thus, while the head unit 6 reaches the printed circuit board 3, each pickup component P is imaged by the imaging unit 20, and the pickup state (suction error) of the component is checked based on the imaging result, and the pickup error is In some cases, the target position is reset.

  Then, the head unit 6 is driven and controlled according to the set target position, so that the components attracted to each mounting head 16 are sequentially mounted on the printed circuit board 3.

  According to the surface mounter according to the present invention as described above, since the imaging unit 20 is provided with an illumination device having a high-intensity light source such as a high-intensity LED, the imaging unit 20 is moved at high speed after the components are attracted. However, each suction component P can be imaged quickly and satisfactorily.

  Moreover, the first illumination unit 26 on one side of the imaging unit 20 illuminates the light guided through the optical fiber 32 from the light source device 30 disposed at a position separated from the illumination unit 26 as described above. Since the light is provided as light, only the optical fiber having a small occupied space is arranged in the first illumination unit 26 to reduce the size of the illumination unit 26, while the light source device 30 has sufficient space. (In this embodiment, by arranging in the rear part of the head unit 6), the imaging unit 20 can be configured compactly as a whole. Therefore, it is possible to achieve a rational configuration in which the imaging unit 20 is made compact while achieving high-speed component recognition using high-intensity illumination.

  The mounting machine described above is a preferred embodiment of a surface mounting machine according to the present invention (a surface mounting machine to which the component conveying apparatus according to the present invention is applied), and its specific configuration is the same as that of the present invention. Changes can be made as appropriate without departing from the scope of the invention.

  For example, the configuration shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 may be used. That is, when the light source device 30 is flat, as shown in FIG. 5, the camera 24 is disposed substantially horizontally in the imaging unit 20, and the light source device 30 is substantially superimposed on the camera 24. May be arranged. For example, when it is better to place the camera 24 vertically in relation to the weight balance or the like, the camera 24 is placed side by side on the light source device 30 with the camera 24 facing downward as shown in FIG. By providing a mirror 29 below, the component image reflected by the mirror 28 may be further reflected by the mirror 29 and introduced into the camera 24.

  In the embodiment, the light source device 30 is mounted on the imaging unit 20, but may be mounted on the head unit 6, for example. According to this configuration, the camera 24 can be made lighter and more compact by the amount of the light source device 30, which is advantageous in driving the imaging unit 20 at high speed. In particular, when the light source device 30 provided with a cooling fan or the like for alleviating the temperature rise of the illumination light source is used, the light source device 30 is increased in weight and size correspondingly. It is preferable to mount 30 on the head unit 6 side.

  The imaging unit 20 is not limited to the one mounted on the head unit 6 as in the embodiment, and is mounted on the head unit support member 11 that supports the head unit 6 movably, for example. Also good. In this case, the light source device 30 may be provided on the head unit support member 11.

  Further, in the embodiment, the second illumination unit 27 in the imaging unit 20 has a configuration in which the LEDs 34 are directly arranged as in the related art, but the second illumination unit 27 also has the same configuration as the first illumination unit 26, that is, The light source device may be configured to guide light through an optical fiber and provide the light as illumination light. In this case, a plurality of optical fibers are used, and the light emitting ends 32a of these optical fibers in the second illuminating unit 27 surround the periphery of the optical path of the image light as shown in FIG. What is necessary is just to arrange so that it may be arranged on the circumference and it may be directed to diagonally upward toward the adsorption | suction component P from the radial outside of a circle.

  In addition, the light input end and the light output end 32a of the optical fiber 32 are provided with a shape characteristic, or a filter or a deflector is arranged to obtain a light condensing effect or a light diffusing effect. Optimum illumination according to the shape or the like may be obtained.

  In the above embodiment, an example in which the present invention is applied to a surface mounter has been described. However, the present invention can also be applied to a component testing apparatus that performs various tests on components such as an IC chip. is there. Although not shown, for example, it has a movable head unit on which a plurality of heads for picking up parts are mounted, and picks up the parts placed at the parts supply position by the heads and conveys them to the test apparatus. In addition, there is known an apparatus that performs image recognition of the suction state of each component by an imaging unit mounted on the head unit during the conveyance and corrects the suction displacement. It is conceivable to adopt the same configuration as that of the head unit 6 (imaging unit) of the above embodiment as the configuration of the unit. According to the component testing apparatus having such a configuration, as with the surface mounter described above, while achieving high-speed component recognition using high-intensity illumination, a rational configuration with a compact imaging unit is achieved. can do.

It is a top view which shows an example of the surface mounting machine (surface mounting machine to which the component conveyance apparatus which concerns on this invention is applied) which concerns on this invention. It is a front view which shows a surface mounting machine. It is a cross-sectional schematic diagram which shows the structure of the unit for imaging. It is the sectional view on the AA line of FIG. 3 which shows the arrangement | sequence of the output end of an optical fiber. It is a cross-sectional schematic diagram which shows the other structure of the unit for imaging. It is a cross-sectional schematic diagram which shows the other structure of the unit for imaging.

Explanation of symbols

16 Mounting Head 16a Adsorption Nozzle 20 Imaging Unit 24 Camera (Imaging Means)
26 1st illumination part 27 2nd illumination part 28 Mirror 30 Light source device 32 Optical fiber 32a Output end

Claims (5)

It has a movable head unit on which a plurality of heads for picking up parts are mounted. The head unit picks up the parts from the parts supply position and transports them to the target position. In a component conveying apparatus configured to image a component sucked by the head by an imaging unit movably mounted on a support member that supports the unit and to recognize an image of the suction state of the component,
The imaging unit includes an imaging unit that images a component and an illumination unit that emits illumination light when imaging the component, and the illumination unit transmits an optical fiber from an illumination light source that is spaced apart from the position of the illumination unit. A component conveying apparatus configured to irradiate a component with light guided through the component. In the component conveying apparatus according to claim 1,
An imaging unit is movably provided with respect to the head unit, and the illumination light source is mounted on the head unit. In the component conveying apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The illumination unit is provided between the imaging unit and the imaged position of the component, and the plurality of optical fibers are arranged in a state in which the light emission ends are directed in the irradiation direction of the illumination light and aligned in the circumferential direction. The component conveying apparatus characterized by being arrange | positioned at the part. In a surface mounter that transports a component supplied in a component supply unit onto a substrate positioned at a mounting work position and mounts it on a predetermined position on the substrate,
A surface mounting machine comprising the component conveying device according to claim 1 as means for conveying a component from the component supply unit onto a substrate. In a component testing apparatus for carrying out various tests by conveying the components supplied in the component supply unit to a test means,
A component testing apparatus comprising the component conveying apparatus according to claim 1 as means for conveying a component from the component supply unit to a testing unit.

Images