JP2006142243A - Component sorting apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To follow high speed inspection at an automatic inspection device by quickly sorting chip components when sorting the chip components after inspecting the chip components by the automatic inspection device based on inspection results. <P>SOLUTION: This apparatus is provided with a component passing part 10 having an opening for passing inspected chip components 3; and a sorting block 12 having a lot of containing holes 11 opened on the upper face 20 thereof for sorting the chip components 3 passing through the opening to respective containing parts, according to the inspection results. The opening of the component passing part 10 is relatively moved fore-and-aft and right and left in a state of being kept close to the upper face 20 of the sorting block 12, and is positioned above the containing holes 11 according to the inspection results. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a component distribution device for distributing inspected components to respective storage units according to inspection results.

  Recently, electronic devices such as mobile phones and digital cameras have been increasingly reduced in size and functionality. For this reason, a large number of electronic components are mounted at high density, and miniaturization is progressing particularly for chip components such as resistors, capacitors, and light emitting diodes. These chip components are inspected at high speed for their electrical characteristics and appearance by an automatic inspection device, and the components are sorted according to the inspection result and accommodated in each accommodating portion.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an apparatus for distributing chip parts after being inspected at high speed by an automatic inspection apparatus to each housing portion, for example, the apparatus described in Patent Document 1 is known. This chip component sorting apparatus is provided with a disk-shaped rotating body in which a large number of receiving holes are arranged in a circle, and the chip component that has been inspected while intermittently rotating the rotating body is used as the inspection result. In this manner, the suction holes are sequentially sucked and stored in the corresponding predetermined accommodation holes.

However, in the conventional chip component sorting apparatus, since it is necessary to align while rotating the disk-shaped rotating body according to the test result of each chip component, it takes time to sort and the automatic test device There was a risk that it could not keep up with high-speed processing in
JP 2002-28578 A

  Therefore, the problem to be solved by the present invention is to be able to quickly process the sorting according to the inspection result of the chip parts and to follow the high-speed processing in the automatic inspection apparatus.

  In order to achieve such an object, a component sorting apparatus according to the present invention includes a component passing portion including an opening through which an inspected component passes, and each accommodating portion of the component that has passed through the opening according to the inspection result. And a sorting block in which a large number of receiving holes are provided on the upper surface, and the opening of the component passage portion is moved relatively back and forth and left and right in a state of being close to the upper surface of the sorting block. It is characterized by being positioned above the accommodation hole according to the result.

  Here, the component passage portion includes, for example, a swing mechanism that swings the opening portion in one direction, and a slide mechanism that slides the opening portion in another direction orthogonal to the swing direction. In another example, a swing mechanism for swinging the opening in one direction is provided, and a slide mechanism for sliding the upper surface in another direction perpendicular to the swing direction of the opening is provided for the sorting block. Features.

  In the component sorting apparatus of the present invention, the component passing portion and the sorting block are relatively moved back and forth and left and right, so the sorting time is shortened compared to the conventional method, and high-speed processing in the automatic inspection device is achieved. The distribution of parts can be followed.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of a component sorting apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows a state in which a component sorting apparatus 1 according to the present invention is attached to a chip component automatic inspection apparatus 2. This automatic inspection device 2 is an inspection device for inspecting the electrical characteristics of micro-shaped electronic components, for example, chip components 3 such as resistors, capacitors, and light-emitting diodes, and a circle for conveying the chip components 3. A plate-like turntable 4 and a plurality of component transport stands 5 arranged on the upper surface of the turntable 4 are provided. Further, the automatic inspection apparatus 2 is provided with a feeder 6 that extends straight toward the turntable 4 and a supply device 7 for transferring the chip components 3 from the tip of the feeder 6 to the component carrier 5 one by one. Has been.

  After the chip component 3 is placed on the component transport table 5, the rotary table 4 is gradually transported by intermittently rotating and the electrical characteristics thereof are inspected at the position of the component inspection unit 8. In this inspection, for example, when the chip component 3 is a light emitting diode, the brightness, light emission color, and the like when light is emitted are inspected as electrical characteristics. After the inspection is completed, the chip component 3 is again placed on the component carrier 5 and conveyed to the position where the component distribution device 1 is attached, and then the component distribution is performed by the high-pressure air blown from the chip blowing device 9. It is sent out into the device 1.

  The component sorting apparatus 1 uses the automatic inspection apparatus 2 to pass the inspection component passage part 10 provided with the sensor part 14 for detecting the passage of the inspected chip part 3 and the chip part 3 detected by the sensor part 14. A sorting block 12 for sorting according to the inspection result, and a plurality of receiving holes 11 arranged in the vertical and horizontal directions are formed in the upper surface 20 of the sorting block 12. The inspection component passage 10 and the distribution block 12 are supported by a frame 13.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the sensor part 14 of the inspection component passage part 10 has a block-shaped main body part 15 formed vertically and four pieces arranged along the outer peripheral surface of the main body part 15. Optical fibers 16a to 16d, and a fiber fixture 17 for fixing the optical fibers 16a to 16d to the main body 15. A circular through hole 18 is formed at the center of the main body 15 so as to penetrate vertically. The tip of a tube 19 extending from the automatic inspection apparatus 2 is connected to the upper end of the through hole 18. Yes. The shape of the through-hole 18 is formed in a square shape on the lower surface side of the main body portion 15.

  The fiber fixing member 17 includes a square holding plate 21 corresponding to the shape of the lower surface of the main body 15 and four guide plates 22 rising from the center of each side of the holding plate 21 along the outer peripheral surface of the main body 15. It consists of. A square hole having substantially the same size as the shape of the bottom surface of the through hole 18 formed in the main body 15 is formed in the center portion of the holding plate 21, and an opening through which the chip component 3 passes together with the through hole 18 of the main body 15. 23 is formed. Further, a gap portion 25 in which the optical fibers 16a to 16d are disposed is provided between the main body portion 15 and each guide plate 22, and the tip portions of the optical fibers 16a to 16d are disposed in the gap portion 25. The As shown in FIG. 3, the fiber fixing member 17 has four corners of the holding plate 21 fixed by screws 26. At this time, each optical fiber is interposed between the holding plate 21 and the lower surface of the main body portion 15. The strands 27 at the tip portions of 16a to 16d are sandwiched and fixed.

  The optical fibers 16a to 16d are used as transmissive optical fiber sensors in this embodiment. The four optical fibers 16a to 16d are bundles of thin glass or plastic strands 27, which extend from the photoelectric switch 28 installed at the base end of the fiber and are arranged along each outer peripheral surface of the main body 15. The Further, each of the tip portions of the optical fibers 16a to 16d constitutes a sensor detection unit, with two of the four ends facing each other as a set. The sensor detection unit can detect the passage of the chip component 3 by capturing the change in the amount of transmitted light when the chip component 3 that has passed through the tube 19 passes through the opening 23.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the inspection component passage portion 10 includes a horizontal shaft 31 stretched in the front-rear direction at the center of the frame 13, and a vertical shaft having an upper end connected to the horizontal shaft 31. 34, the sensor portion 14 is fixed to the lower end portion of the vertical shaft 34, and the tube 19 is disposed along the horizontal shaft 31. At this time, the lower surface of the fiber fixture 17 provided in the sensor unit 14 is opposed to the upper surface 20 of the distribution block 12 as shown in FIG. The horizontal shaft 31 is rotatably supported at both ends with respect to the frame 13 and one end is connected to the reversing motor 33 via a bearing 32. Therefore, as shown in FIG. When the reversing motor 33 is driven, the horizontal shaft 31 rotates in the forward and reverse directions, and the vertical shaft 34 swings accordingly, so that the sensor unit 14 performs a pendulum motion along the upper surface 20 of the sorting block 12.

  On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 5, the distribution block 12 is a quadrangular member having a curved upper surface 20, and is arranged in the vertical and horizontal directions on the upper surface 20. A large number of receiving holes 11 are provided. Each accommodation hole 11 penetrates to the lower surface side of the distribution block 12 and further communicates with a component accommodation portion (not shown) through a pipe 40. The number of openings of the accommodation hole 11 corresponds to the number of classification of electrical characteristics for distributing the chip components 3. Further, both ends of the sorting block 12 are supported by guide rails 41 spanned on the frame 13, and can be slid in the front-rear direction along the guide rails 41. This sliding movement is performed by a link member 43 that connects the distribution block 12 and the motor 42. The curved surface of the upper surface 20 of the sorting block 12 corresponds to the turning trajectory of the main body 15 attached to the lower end of the vertical shaft 34 of the inspection component passage 10 when the vertical shaft 34 is swung.

  A tip blowing device 9 is disposed at the proximal end portion of the horizontal shaft 31. This chip blowing device 9 is for feeding the chip component 3 after the inspection by the automatic inspection device 2 to the component sorting device 1, and has a laterally leading tip nozzle 46 and air leading to the tip nozzle 46. A passage 47 and a trumpet-shaped receiving port 48 facing the tip nozzle 46 are provided. The high-pressure air supplied from the air source (not shown) to the air passage 47 is blown out from the tip nozzle 46, so that the chip component 3 placed on the component conveying table 5 is blown off toward the receiving port 48. The receiving port 48 and the sensor part 14 of the inspection component passing part 10 communicate with each other by a tube 19 piped along the horizontal shaft 31, and the chip component 3 blown into the receiving port 48 is placed inside the tube 19. Is then blown into the predetermined accommodation hole 11 from the opening 23 of the sensor unit 14, and the passage of the chip component 3 is detected at that time. The position of the receiving hole 11 in the sorting block 12 in which the chip component 3 is classified is based on the electrical characteristics of the chip component 3. Upon receiving the calculation processing by the computer, the distribution block 12 slides in the front-rear direction to determine the front-rear position, and at the same time, the sensor unit 14 moves in the left-right direction along the upper surface 20 of the distribution block 12 by the swing of the vertical shaft 34 The left and right positions are determined by moving to. In this way, the blowing position of the chip component 3 is determined, and the chip component 3 blown out from the opening 23 into the predetermined accommodation hole 11 is stored in the predetermined component accommodation portion through the pipe 40.

  6 to 8 show a second embodiment of the component sorting apparatus according to the present invention. In the component sorting apparatus 50 according to this embodiment, when the inspected chip components are distributed from the test component passage unit 10 to the distribution block 12, the sorting block 12 remains fixed and the test component passage unit 10 is moved back and forth. The sensor unit 14 is aligned with a predetermined accommodation hole 11 by applying a sliding motion in the direction and a rotational motion in the left-right direction.

  Specifically, the tube 19 piped between the sensor part 14 of the inspection part passage part 10 and the chip blowing device 9 has a double structure, and the tube 19 is attached to be extendable. That is, the tube 19 is composed of an inner tube 19 a fixed to the guide block 58 of the frame 13 on the tip blowing device 9 side, and an outer tube 19 b attached to the slide block 51 and the horizontal shaft 31. In this structure, 31 bearing portions 61 are slidably supported on guide rails 52 fixed to the frame 13. Inside the slide block 51, the inner tube 19a and the outer tube 19b have a double structure, and when the slide block 51 slides, the outer tube 19b slides along the outer peripheral surface of the inner tube 19a to expand and contract. ing.

  An upper end portion of the vertical shaft 34 is connected to an intermediate portion of the horizontal shaft 31. And the sensor part 14 provided in the front-end | tip of the said outer side tube 19b is attached to the lower end part of this vertical shaft 34, Since this sensor part 14 consists of a structure similar to the said 1st Embodiment, detailed description Is omitted. The slide block 51 is also connected to a cam mechanism 54 driven by an actuator 53, and slides in the front-rear direction with respect to the frame 13 by the function of the cam mechanism 54. The cam mechanism 54 is provided with a block body 56 provided with a long hole 55 and a guide pin 57 that moves in the long hole 55 in order to guide the movement of the slide block 51 in the front-rear direction.

  Therefore, the slide mechanism 51 and the lateral shaft 31 move in the front-rear direction on the guide rail 52 by the cam mechanism 54, and the outer tube 19b attached to the slide block 51 is moved along the outer periphery of the inner tube 19a. It will extend along the surface. As shown in FIG. 8, the sensor unit 14 moves between the distance x2 in conjunction with the slide block 51 sliding in the front-rear direction between the distance x1. Since the slide block 51 and the sensor unit 14 are connected via the horizontal shaft 31 and the vertical shaft 34, the distances x1 and x2 are the same distance. Further, the distance x2 is set corresponding to the distance moved between the receiving holes 11a and 11b at the front and rear ends of the sorting block 12.

  On the other hand, as described in FIG. 5 of the first embodiment, the rotation of the inspection component passage unit 10 in the left-right direction is such that the vertical shaft 34 swings, so that the sensor unit 14 moves along the upper surface 20 of the distribution block 12. In this embodiment, the component sorting apparatus 50 is compact because it is driven by the reversing motor 33 disposed on the side of the frame 13. The driving force of the reversing motor 33 is transmitted to the sensor unit 14 via a pulley 62 and a driving belt 63 attached to one end of the horizontal shaft 31. As in the first embodiment, the distribution block 12 is a square member having a curved upper surface 20, and the upper surface 20 is provided with a large number of receiving holes 11 arranged in the vertical and horizontal directions. It has been.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, the inner tube 19a and the outer tube 19b of the double structure, and the pipe 40a that communicates each receiving hole 11 of the sorting block 12 and the component receiving portion (not shown) have an inner peripheral surface. Is preferably made of a coated metal material. This is because, for example, when a chip part with a metal foot protruding from the body is passed through the tube or pipe, the inner surface is scraped with the metal foot if the tube or pipe is made of a soft material. This is because the shavings may adhere to the chip part and deteriorate the quality. Such a problem does not occur if the inner peripheral surface is a coated metal material. Therefore, depending on the outer shape of the chip component to be inspected and the material of the surface, the component sorting apparatus 50 according to this embodiment may be effective. In the present embodiment, the tubes 19a and 19b have a double structure and can be expanded and contracted, so that even if the inspection component passage portion 10 is slid in the front-rear direction or rotated in the left-right direction, the sorting operation is not hindered. On the other hand, since the distribution block 12 remains fixed, there is no problem even if many pipes 40a piped from the lower surface of the distribution block 12 are made of a metal material.

  In any of the above-described embodiments, the case where the chip component passes through the opening 23 of the sensor unit 14 has been described as being detected. However, the opening 23 may be passed through without detection. In the above embodiment, the distribution of the chip components has been described. However, the present invention can also be applied to the distribution of components other than chips.

It is a top view which shows the whole shape of the components distribution apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a side view which shows the whole shape of the said components distribution apparatus. It is a perspective view which shows the sensor part of a test | inspection components passage part. It is the sectional view on the AA line in FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows the positional relationship of the pendulum movement of a sensor part, and a distribution block. It is a top view which shows the whole shape of the components distribution apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a side view which shows the whole shape of the said components distribution apparatus. It is the elements on larger scale of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Component distribution apparatus 2 Automatic inspection apparatus 3 Chip component 10 Inspection component passage part 11 Accommodating hole 12 Distribution block 14 Sensor part 19 Tube 19a Inner tube 19b Outer tube 20 Upper surface 23 Opening part 31 Horizontal shaft 33 Reverse motor 34 Vertical shaft 42 Motor 43 Link member 50 Parts distribution device 53 Actuator 54 Cam mechanism

Claims (6)

A component passage portion having an opening through which the inspected component passes;
A sorting block having a plurality of accommodation holes opened on the upper surface for distributing the parts that have passed through the opening to each accommodation unit according to the inspection result;
A component sorting apparatus, wherein the component passing device is positioned above a receiving hole corresponding to an inspection result by moving the opening of the component passing portion relative to the front, rear, left and right in a state of being close to the upper surface of the sorting block. . The component distribution according to claim 1, wherein the component passage portion includes a swing mechanism that swings the opening in one direction and a slide mechanism that slides the opening in another direction orthogonal to the swing direction. apparatus. The component passage portion includes a swing mechanism that swings the opening in one direction, while the sorting block includes a slide mechanism that slides the upper surface in another direction orthogonal to the swing direction of the opening. The component sorting apparatus according to claim 1. 2. The component sorting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an upper surface of the sorting block is formed in a curved shape along one direction in which an opening of the component passing portion swings. The component distribution device according to claim 1, wherein the component passage portion includes a multi-structure tube that guides the component to the opening, and the tube expands and contracts between the tubes following the sliding movement of the opening. The component sorting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a sensor for detecting the passage of the component is disposed around the opening in the component passing portion.

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