JP2006286770A - Part holding section and part mounter - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a part holding mechanism which is highly versatile enough to hold a part from both the outside and inside of the part, as well as a part holding method, so as to eliminate unnecessary moving of a mounting head. <P>SOLUTION: Such a conventional idea that only a negative pressure air is utilized to drive the holder arm 35 of a mechanical chuck 3 is amended, and both a negative pressure air and a positive pressure air are introduced. The air to be introduced is switched to either thereof to change closing operation of the holder arm 35 to opening operation or opening operation to closing operation. A grasping force of a part 10 by the holder arm 35 during the switching operation is made nearly equivalent between the closing operation and the opening operation. Consequently, the pressure of the positive pressure air is increased, the diameter of a cylinder 36 operating the mechanical chuck 3 is made larger, the spring force of a spring 38 energizing the mechanical chuck 3 in one direction is enhanced, and the length of an arm of a lever assembly 33 operating the mechanical chuck 3 is changed, either of which is selected, or an optional combination thereof is selected. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a component mounting apparatus and a component mounting method for mounting a component such as an electronic component on a circuit board. More specifically, a component holding mechanism that grips and takes out a component supplied to the component supply unit and mounts the component on a circuit board, a component mounting apparatus including the component holding mechanism, and a component holding using the component holding mechanism The present invention relates to a method and a component mounting method.

  An example of the component mounting apparatus is shown in FIG. In the figure, a component mounting apparatus 1 takes out components from two component supply units 2 (2a and 2b) for supplying components to be mounted and component holding units 3 from each component supply unit 2, and supplies them to a circuit board 14. A mounting head 4 to be mounted, a robot 5 that transports the mounting head 4 to a predetermined position, a component recognition device 6 that captures an image of a component held by the component holding unit 3 and recognizes a deviation in position and angle, and a circuit board 14 Is provided with a substrate holding device 7 that carries in and holds and a control unit 9 that controls the overall operation.

  The component supply unit 2 includes a tray-type component supply unit 2a that arranges and supplies components on the component tray 8a, and a cassette-type component supply unit 2b that supplies components wound in a tape shape by the parts cassette 8b. included. Among these, large-sized components such as BGA (Ball Grid Array), QFP (Quad Flat Package), and capacitors are supplied from the tray-type component supply unit 2a, and chip-type components such as chip components are supplied from the cassette-type component supply unit 2b. Small parts are supplied.

  During the operation of the component mounting apparatus 1 configured as described above, the mounting head 4 is moved to a position facing the component supply unit 2 (2a or 2b) by conveyance of the robot 5, and the component holding unit 3 is used to perform the component. Take out. Thereafter, the movement of the mounting head 4 causes the component holding unit 3 to move to a position facing the component recognition device 6, and recognizes the holding state of the component including the position and angle deviation of the sucked component.

  During this time, the circuit board 14 is carried into the component mounting apparatus 1 and is regulated and held at a predetermined mounting position by the board holding apparatus 7. The mounting head 4 holding the component in the component holding unit 3 moves to a position facing the circuit board 14 by the conveyance of the robot 5. The board recognition device 15 mounted on the mounting head 4 captures an image of the circuit board 14, recognizes a position / angle shift, and transmits the recognition result to the control unit 9. The control unit 9 is loaded with NC data in which the mounting positions of the components mounted on the circuit board 14 are recorded in advance. Based on the state of the component input from the component recognition device 6 and the state of the circuit board 14 input from the substrate recognition device 15, the control unit 9 commands necessary correction for the position and angle of the component holding unit 3. .

  The mounting head 4 corrects the position and angle of the component based on the command and lowers the component holding unit 3 to mount the component 10 at a predetermined mounting position on the circuit board 14. The mounting head 4 that has finished mounting the component moves again to a position facing the component supply unit 2 by the conveyance of the robot 5, and repeats the operation so far. The circuit board 14 that has finished mounting all the predetermined components is carried out of the component mounting apparatus 1 by the board holding device 7, and then the next circuit board 14 is carried in and the operation so far is repeated.

  On the other hand, when the recognition result by the component recognition device 6 shows that the position and angle of the component held by the component holding unit 3 are large and mounting is difficult, or the recognized component is found not to be a predetermined component. The component holding unit 3 moves to a predetermined component disposal position based on a command to the control unit 9 without mounting the component on the circuit board 14 and discards the component.

  FIGS. 7A and 7B show two types of component holding units 3 used for component mounting found in the prior art. Among these, the component holding part of Fig.7 (a) shows the suction nozzle 3a. The suction nozzle 3 a includes a mounting portion 21, a main body portion 22, and a suction portion 23. The mounting portion 21 is formed in a mounting structure known in the prior art that can be attached to and detached from the mounting head 4 with a single touch. A hollow hole 24 penetrates the main body portion 22 in the longitudinal direction, and negative pressure air (arrow 25) or positive pressure air can be supplied to the hollow hole 24 from the mounting head 4 located in the upper part of the figure. When taking out and holding the component 10, the suction nozzle 3 a makes the suction portion 23 abut on the surface of the component 10 to suck the component 10 by the action of negative pressure air indicated by an arrow 25, and when mounting it, The component 10 is separated from the suction portion 23 by the action of pressurized air and mounted on the circuit board 14. When discarding a defective component, the component 10 is separated from the suction portion 23 by the action of positive pressure air after moving to a predetermined component disposal position. As the positive pressure air that acts when mounting components, low pressure positive pressure air is used so that adjacent mounted components are not blown away. On the other hand, when the components are discarded, the components 10 can be reliably separated. A relatively high pressure positive pressure air is used.

  On the other hand, FIG. 7B shows a component holding portion 3b generally called a mechanical chuck found in the prior art (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The mechanical chuck 3 b includes a mounting portion 31, a main body portion 32, a lever assembly 33, and a holder arm 35. A cylinder 36 is provided in the main body 32, and a piston 37 is fitted in the cylinder 36. The piston 37 is always urged downward by a spring 38 in the drawing.

  When gripping the component 10 with the mechanical chuck 3b, the piston 37 resists the urging force of the spring 38 as shown by the arrow 25 by the action of negative pressure air supplied from the upper mounting head 4 (not shown). As a result of the ascending operation of the lever assembly 33 in conjunction with this movement in the direction indicated by the arrow 26, the holder arm 35 grips the component 10 from both sides. Next, when mounting components, the supply of negative pressure air is stopped, and the piston 37 is again urged downward by the action of the spring 38, the holder arm 35 is opened, and the component 10 is separated. During normal standby, the piston 37 is urged downward by the action of the spring 38, and the holder arm 35 is mounted on the mounting head 4 while being open.

  In the case of the mechanical chuck 3b, if the component is small, the component 10 can be gripped by the holder arm 35 from the outside as described above. For example, if the component 10 is large, such as a width exceeding about 20 mm, It may be difficult to grip the part from the outside due to space constraints. For this reason, in the prior art, the structure of the lever assembly 33 of the mechanical chuck 3b described above is changed, and the holder arm 35 is kept closed by the action of the spring 38 during normal standby, and negative when the component 10 is gripped. There is known a component holding portion that opens the holder arm 35 by the action of pressurized air and grips the component 10 from the inside. At this time, an engaged portion such as a groove or a recess that enables the holder arm 35 to be engaged from the inside must be provided on the component 10 side.

  The mounting head 4 selects whether the component holding unit 3 to be mounted according to the component 10 to be mounted is the above-described suction nozzle 3a or the mechanical chuck 3b. In general, the suction nozzle 3a shown in FIG. 7A is used when mounting small chip parts, and the mechanical chuck 3b shown in FIG. 7B is used when mounting large irregular parts. However, in addition to this, in consideration of various circumstances such as the shape of the component 10 (particularly the shape of the attracted surface and the gripped surface), the mounting position, and the state of the adjacent component, one of the component holding units 3 is selected. The suction nozzle 3a and the mechanical chuck 3b can be replaced with one touch by the above-described mounting / demounting structure of the mounting portion 31.

  FIG. 8 shows an air supply circuit 50 for supplying negative pressure air or positive pressure air to the mounting head 4 in order to operate these component holders 3 (the suction nozzle 3a or the mechanical chuck 3b). In the figure, a part of positive pressure air (compressed air) supplied from an air supply source 51 such as a compressor is led to a vacuum ejector 52 and a part is led to a blow circuit 53. Among these, the positive pressure air supplied to the vacuum ejector 52 is used to generate negative pressure air. This utilizes a negative pressure generated when positive pressure air is discharged, and is a conventionally known vacuum generation technique. The negative pressure air generated here is supplied to the component holding unit 3 via the control valve 54. Generally, the set pressure of the negative pressure air used in the component mounting apparatus 1 is about −80 kPa.

  On the other hand, the positive pressure air supplied to the blow circuit 53 is guided to the two pressure adjusting mechanisms 55a and 55b to generate two positive pressure airs having different pressures. In the illustrated example, the upper side is a positive air with a relatively high pressure of about 30 kPa, which is used when the parts are discarded by the suction nozzle 3a, and the lower side is a set pressure of about 10 kPa, which is also used when mounting the parts by the suction nozzle 3a. This is a relatively low pressure positive pressure air. All of these are guided to the control valve 56, and after either one is selected, it is further guided to the next control valve 57 and finally supplied to the component holding unit 3. All the control valves 54, 56, and 57 are controlled based on a command from the control unit 9 (see FIG. 6), and each of the negative pressure air, the low positive pressure air, and the high positive pressure air is selectively selected at an optimum timing. To the component holding unit 3.

Note that when gripping a component with the mechanical chuck 3b, in the prior art, only negative pressure air of −80 kPa is used for gripping the component, and positive pressure air is not used. This is because the urging force of the spring 38 shown in FIG. 7B is used at the time of component mounting and component separation at the time of component disposal. Therefore, the positive pressure air supplied from the air supply circuit 50 shown in FIG. 8 to the component holding unit 3 is used only when the component is separated from the suction nozzle 3a, and the mechanical chuck 3b During the installation, no positive pressure air was supplied.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-340688

  However, there is still room for improvement in the component holding mechanism according to the prior art, particularly the component holding mechanism using the mechanical chuck 3b. Usually, in order to securely grip the component 10 to be mounted, a gripping force of about 250 g is required at a portion where the holder arm 35 engages with the component 10. This gripping force is obtained by introducing negative pressure air (set pressure of about −80 kPa) into the cylinder 36 as described above. When the mechanical chuck 3b is used, the plurality of holder arms 35 are closed to the opposite side and the pair of engaging portions of the component 10 are gripped from the outside, or the plurality of holder arms 35 are opened away from each other. Whether to hold the pair of engaging portions of the component 10 from the inside is selected. In either case, the negative pressure air is used. This is because high-pressure negative pressure air (about −80 kPa) is required to exert sufficient force for holding the above-described components, and the set pressure (about 30 kPa) of positive pressure air is considered to be insufficient. This is because, unlike the case of the suction nozzle 3a, the biasing force of the spring 38 can be used to separate the component 10.

  For this reason, a dedicated mechanical chuck 3b is required depending on whether the component 10 is gripped from the outside or the inside, and the mechanical chuck 3b is gripped by the outer gripping type or the inner gripping each time depending on the size of the component 10 or the like. It was necessary to replace it with a ceremony. The component holding units 3 such as the suction nozzle 3a and the mechanical chuck 3b are generally stored in the component holding unit tray 13 (see FIG. 6) of the component mounting apparatus 1, and an appropriate component holding unit 3 is selected as necessary. Yes. For this reason, when the mechanical chuck 3b is used, it is necessary to move the mounting head 4 to the component holding portion tray 13 and replace the mechanical chuck 3b depending on whether the component 10 is held on the outside or on the inside, thereby deteriorating the work efficiency. This causes a problem of lowering the facility operation rate.

  As described above, the present invention solves the problems in the prior art as described above, eliminates unnecessary movement of the mounting head by providing a highly versatile component holding unit and component holding method, and shortens the working tact time. The purpose is to improve the capacity utilization rate.

  The present invention makes use of both negative pressure air and positive pressure air that could be conventionally supplied by a component mounting apparatus, and makes it possible to grip a component from outside or inside using the same mechanical chuck. By eliminating the need to move the mounting head associated with the replacement of the component holder, the above-described problem is solved. Specifically, both the negative pressure source for sucking the component when holding the component by the suction nozzle and the positive pressure source for blowing the air when the component is discarded by the suction nozzle are used for opening and closing the holder arm of the mechanical chuck. More specifically, the following contents are included.

  That is, according to one aspect of the present invention, a mounting portion that is attached to and detached from a mounting head of a component mounting apparatus, a main body portion that includes a cylinder connected to a hollow hole of the mounting portion, and a fitting portion that is fitted in the cylinder. A piston, a lever assembly that operates in conjunction with the movement of the piston, and a plurality of holder arms that are attached to the lever assembly, and the plurality of holder arms that operate in accordance with the movement of the piston A component holding mechanism for gripping, wherein the holder arm grips a component by the action of positive pressure air introduced into the cylinder through the hollow hole.

  Another aspect according to the present invention includes a mounting portion, a main body having a cylinder, a piston, a lever assembly, and a holder arm, and a component that grips a component by the plurality of holder arms that operate according to the movement of the piston. A holding mechanism, wherein the plurality of holder arms are changed from a closing operation to an opening operation by opening an air introduced into the cylinder through the hollow hole between a negative pressure air and a positive pressure air. The present invention relates to a component holding mechanism that is switched from an operation to a closing operation, and a component holding force of the holder arm in the closing operation is substantially equal to a component gripping force of the holder arm in the opening operation.

  Still another aspect according to the present invention includes a mounting portion, a main body having a cylinder, a piston, a lever assembly, and a holder arm, and grips a component by the plurality of holder arms that operate according to the movement of the piston. A component holding mechanism, wherein the main body portion further includes an air passage that opens into a cylinder located on the opposite side of the hollow hole with respect to the piston, and the negative pressure air or the positive pressure introduced into the cylinder By switching the introduction of air between the hollow hole side and the air passage side, the plurality of holder arms are switched from the closing operation to the opening operation, or from the opening operation to the closing operation, and the holder arm in the closing operation The component holding force is substantially equal to the component gripping force of the holder arm in the opening operation.

  The pressure of the negative pressure air introduced into the cylinder can be about −80 kPa, and the pressure of the positive pressure air can be about 30 kPa. The component gripping force by the holder arm is preferably about 250 g. In this case, the piston further includes a spring that urges the piston in a direction in which the cylinder volume on the side where the negative pressure air or the positive pressure air is introduced expands, and the spring is about 110 g to about 130 g with respect to the holder arm. It is preferable that a biasing force corresponding to the component gripping force is exerted on the piston.

  Next, still another aspect of the present invention includes a component supply unit that continuously supplies components, a mounting head that takes out components from the component supply unit and mounts them on a circuit board, and a robot that conveys the mounting head A component mounting device that takes out a component from the component supply unit using a component holding unit mounted on the mounting head and mounts the component at a mounting position of a circuit board held by the substrate holding device. The present invention relates to a component mounting apparatus including the component holding mechanism according to any one of the above.

  In yet another aspect of the present invention, the component is taken out from the component supply unit using the component holding unit similarly mounted on the mounting head, and the component is mounted at the mounting position of the circuit board held by the board holding device. The present invention relates to a component mounting apparatus comprising a control unit that controls to supply positive pressure air to the component holding unit during a component holding operation. In this case, it is preferable that the mounting head selectively mounts either a mechanical chuck type or a suction nozzle type component holder.

  According to still another aspect of the present invention, a plurality of holder arms provided on a mechanical chuck are engaged with at least a pair of engaged portions of components to be mounted from the inside or outside to hold the components. The present invention relates to a component holding method, characterized in that a positive pressure air is introduced into a cylinder provided in the mechanical chuck to operate the plurality of holder arms to grip the component.

  According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a component holding method for gripping a component by engaging a plurality of holder arms similarly provided on the mechanical chuck from the inside or the outside, and the mechanical chuck includes the method. By switching the air introduced into the cylinder between the positive pressure air and the negative pressure air, the operation is switched between the closing operation and the opening operation, thereby providing a substantially equal component gripping force between the closing operation and the opening operation. The present invention relates to a component holding method.

  Still another aspect according to the present invention is a component holding method for gripping a component by engaging a plurality of holder arms, which are also provided on the mechanical chuck, from the inside or the outside, for driving the holder arm. The negative pressure air or the positive pressure air introduced into the cylinder of the mechanical chuck is switched from one side in the axial direction to the other side opposite to the piston fitted in the cylinder. The present invention relates to a component holding method characterized by switching between a closing operation and an opening operation, and providing a substantially equal component gripping force between the closing operation and the opening operation.

  According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a component mounting method in which a component supplied to a component supply unit is taken out by a component holding mechanism, and the component is transported and mounted at a mounting position on a circuit board. The present invention relates to a component mounting method using the component holding method according to any one of the above. In this case, it is preferable to replace the suction nozzle and the mechanical chuck in accordance with the component to be mounted, take out the component, and mount the component.

  By implementing the present invention, it is possible to reduce the time required for replacement of the component holding unit, and it is possible to reduce the component mounting tact and improve the equipment operation rate. In addition, as a result of the reduction in the number of mechanical chucks, it is possible to obtain various merits that lead to cost reduction such as a reduction in capital investment and rationalization of inventory management.

  A component holding mechanism according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same components as those described in the related art are denoted by the same reference numerals. However, since all the component holding parts 3 according to the present embodiment are intended for the mechanical chuck 3b, in the following description, it is simply indicated as the mechanical chuck 3. In addition, a system that grips or separates a component by supplying negative pressure air and positive pressure air to the component holding unit is referred to as a component holding mechanism.

  1A and 1B show a mechanical chuck 3 according to this embodiment. 1A shows a standby state when the component 10 is gripped from the outside, and FIG. 1B shows a state where the component 10 is gripped. In both figures, the mechanical chuck 3 includes a mounting portion 31, a main body portion 32, a lever assembly 33, and a holder arm 35. The mounting portion 31 is a seal joint type attaching / detaching mechanism that is attachable to and detachable from the mounting head 4 (not shown), which is the same as that according to the prior art. A cylinder 36 is formed inside the main body 32, and negative pressure air and positive pressure air can be introduced into the cylinder 36 through a hollow hole 34 formed in the mounting portion 31.

  A piston 37 is fitted in the cylinder 36 so as to be movable along a longitudinal axis, and a spring 38 is mounted on the piston 37 to constantly urge the piston 37 downward in the figure. The downward movement of the piston 37 is restricted by a stopper (not shown). The lever assembly 33 includes a pair of left and right levers 41 and an arm plate 42 fixed to the lever 41. One end of each lever 41 is supported by a fixed fulcrum 43 in the main body 32, and the other end is supported by a movable fulcrum 44 provided at the lower end of the piston 37. A holder arm 35 having a high friction material such as rubber attached to a terminal is fixed to each arm plate 42, and the component 10 can be gripped by the pair of holder arms 35. At this time, both side surfaces of the component 10 constitute a pair of engaged portions when the component is gripped.

  The component holding unit 3 configured as described above operates as follows. First, in the standby state of FIG. 1A, the piston 37 is urged downward by the action of the spring 38, and the pair of levers 41 coupled by the movable fulcrum 44 face each other by rotating about the fixed fulcrum 43. The pair of arm plates 42 and the holder arm 35 are maintained in a mutually open position. In this state, the mounting head 4 moves to the component supply unit 2 and lowers the component holding unit 3 at a position facing the component 10.

  Next, in FIG. 1 (b), negative pressure air acts on the mounting head 4 as indicated by an arrow 45, whereby negative pressure air is introduced into the cylinder 36 of the main body 32, and the piston 37 is attached to the spring 38. Rise against the power. As a result, the movable fulcrum 44 rises, so that the pair of levers 41 rotate about the fixed fulcrum 43, respectively, and the pair of arm plates 42 and the holder arm 35 are driven in the closing direction indicated by the arrow 46, and the parts Grip 10 It is preferable to secure about 250 g of the component gripping force (force applied toward the component 10) at this time. This force is determined by the cancellation of the piston suction force by the negative pressure air and the biasing force of the spring 38. The operation so far is the same as that according to the prior art.

  The mechanical chuck 3 according to the present embodiment can grip the component 10 even in the operation in the direction of opening the holder arm 35 using the same mechanism. 2 (a) and 2 (b) show this situation, and the mechanical chuck 3 shown in both figures is exactly the same as that shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b). Among these, FIG. 2A shows a standby state, and FIG. 2B shows a component holding state. In the standby state of FIG. 2 (a), negative pressure air indicated by an arrow 45 acts on the mounting portion 31, and as a result of the piston 37 rising against the urging force of the spring 38, the lever assembly 33 operates, and the holder arm 35 are closed in a direction approaching each other. As a result, the holder arm 35 can enter the recess 11 formed in the component 10.

  The mounting head 4 moved to a position facing the component 10 in this standby state lowers the mechanical chuck 3 and then supplies positive pressure air indicated by an arrow 47 into the cylinder 36 as shown in FIG. . As a result, the piston 37 is pushed down, and the lever assembly 33 is rotated from the state shown in FIG. 2A in the direction in which the movable fulcrum 44 descends. As a result, the pair of holder arms 35 open to each other as indicated by arrows 64. The concave portion 11 of the component 10 can be gripped from the inside. A pair of engaged portions when gripping the component 10 is formed in the recess 11. Even in this case, the holder arm 35 preferably secures a gripping force of about 250 g. The holding force at this time is brought about by the sum of the pressing force of the piston 37 by the positive pressure air 47 and the urging force by the spring 38.

As described above, the feature of the component holding mechanism using the mechanical chuck 3 according to the present embodiment changes the conventional idea in which positive air is not used at all because the pressure is insufficient. The positive pressure air is actively used for gripping parts. The following measures can be taken as means for compensating for the shortage of positive pressure air and obtaining a sufficient component gripping force.
(1) Supply higher pressure positive pressure air into the cylinder 36.
At present, the positive pressure air supplied to the component holding unit 3 is suppressed to about 30 kPa at the maximum for the purpose of discarding the component 10 sucked and held by the suction nozzle 3a (see FIG. 7A). . On the other hand, in the air supply circuit 50 shown in FIG. 8, by directing the positive pressure air from the air supply source 51 directly to the component holding unit 3 via the control valve without guiding it to the pressure adjusting mechanisms 55a and 55b, or By leading to another pressure adjusting mechanism, it is possible to use positive pressure air of higher pressure (up to about 500 kPa). However, such countermeasures require modification of existing facilities. On the other hand, the following content shown after item (2) can be a countermeasure that does not involve repair of equipment.
(2) The diameter of the cylinder 36 in the main body 32 and the diameter of the piston 37 fitted therein are enlarged.
Even though there are space constraints, it is not generally used to the limit. This is because if a high negative pressure air is used, the component gripping force can be sufficiently secured even if the diameter is relatively small. The expansion of the cylinder diameter is effective for increasing the pressing force in proportion to the square of the diameter.
(3) The length of each arm of the lever assembly 33 is optimized.
By adjusting the distance between the fixed fulcrum 43 and the movable fulcrum 44, and the distance between the fixed fulcrum 43 and the action point at the tip of the holder arm 35, the amount of movement of the holder arm 35 with respect to the stroke of the piston 37 is reduced, so that the component gripping force Can be strengthened. At this time, it is necessary to ensure the amount of movement of the holder arm 35 necessary for enabling the gripping of the component 10.
(4) Strengthen the biasing force of the spring 38.
As the biasing force of the spring 28, various specs can be considered, but at present, the biasing force of about 12 g in terms of the component gripping force is used. Conventionally, it has only been necessary to ensure an urging force that opens the holder arm 35 in order to simply separate the component 10. Therefore, it is easy to reinforce this up to several times as necessary to enable component holding. The increase in force when the piston 37 is pushed up against the urging force of the strengthened spring 38 can be dealt with by combining other measures listed here (for example, increase in the cylinder diameter).

  By using any one of the countermeasures described above individually or in any combination thereof, the insufficient pressure of the current positive pressure air can be sufficiently compensated, and the required component gripping force even when the holder arm 35 is opened It is easy to obtain (about 250 g). As an example, the arm length of the lever assembly 33 is adjusted without changing any of the current negative pressure air pressure (about −80 kPa), positive pressure air pressure (about 30 kPa), and the diameter of the cylinder 36 (10 mm). The amount of movement of the holder arm is reduced by 30% (this reduction can be offset by increasing the stroke of the piston 37), and the biasing force of the spring 38 is increased by 500% to achieve the required component gripping force. Is possible. In particular, it is preferable to strengthen the contribution to the component gripping force by the biasing force of the spring 38 to about 110 g to about 130 g, which is about 9 to 11 times from the current about 12 g.

  In the example shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the same mechanical chuck 3 can be used to grip a part from the outside or a part from the inside. As described above, the conventional idea that only the strong negative pressure air is used for the operation of the holder arm 35 at the time of gripping the component is changed. In this embodiment, the negative pressure air is used for closing and opening the holder arm 35. In addition, positive pressure air is also actively used to switch between the negative pressure air and the positive pressure air so that one mechanical chuck 3 can be gripped from the outside or the inside.

  The air supply circuit 50 shown in FIG. 8 can be used as it is for supplying air when the component 10 is gripped using the positive pressure air shown in FIG. In FIG. 8, the control valve 56 is operated by a command from the control unit 9 (see FIG. 6) when gripping a component, and positive pressure air of about 30 kPa used only when the component is discarded by the suction nozzle 3a is mechanical chuck. 3 is supplied. Alternatively, positive air having a higher pressure introduced from the air supply source 51 may be directly supplied to the mechanical chuck 3 via the control valve.

  3A and 3B show another aspect of the mechanical chuck according to the present embodiment. In the figure, the mechanical chuck 30 is the same as that shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 except for the lever assembly 33a. In this mode, the operation is opposite to that shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and when the positive pressure air acts, the holder arm 35 closes and enters a standby state (FIG. 3A), and the negative pressure air acts. At this time, the holder arm 35 is opened and a component is held (FIG. 3B). Of course, when the component 10 is gripped from the outside, the standby state and the component gripping state are reversed.

  3A and 3B, the pair of levers 41a of the lever assembly 33a is supported at one end by a movable fulcrum 44a provided below the piston 37a, and the other end at the operating point. 48 is rotatably attached to the arm plate 42a. A pair of opposing arm plates 42a is rotatably attached to the main body 32 by a fixed fulcrum 43a. When the piston 37a is pushed down by the action of positive pressure air in the state of FIG. 3A, the lever 41a rotates, and the lever 41a pulls the pair of arm plates 42a toward each other. As a result, the pair of holder arms 35 fixed to each arm plate 42a are closed in a direction approaching each other to be in a standby posture. In the state of FIG. 3B, the piston 37a is pulled up by negative pressure air, the lever 41a rotates through the movable fulcrum 44a, and the pair of arm plates 42 are separated, whereby the holder arm 35 is in the direction indicated by the arrow 69. Open to the component gripping state.

  By changing the configuration of the lever assembly 33 in this way, negative pressure air and positive pressure air can be used arbitrarily in both the standby state and the component holding state. Whether negative pressure air or positive pressure air is used, the holder arm 35 can be given a substantially equal component gripping force, and either positive pressure air or negative pressure air can be used as a component. It is possible to arbitrarily select which is used for gripping from the outside of the part and which is used for gripping from the inside of the part.

  Next, a component holding mechanism according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 4A shows a standby state when the mechanical chuck 60 of the component holding mechanism according to the present embodiment grips a component from the inside, and FIG. 4B similarly shows a state where the component is gripped from the inside. ing. In both figures, the mechanical chuck 60 includes a mounting portion 61, a main body portion 62, a lever assembly 63, and a holder arm 65. The mounting portion 61 is the same as in the previous embodiment. A cylinder 66 is formed inside the main body 62, and the upper side in the longitudinal direction of the cylinder 66 is connected to a hollow hole 64 penetrating the mounting portion 61, and the lower side is connected to an air passage 68. Positive pressure air may be used.Hereinafter, negative pressure air is unified for ease of explanation).

  A piston 67 is fitted in the cylinder 66 so as to be movable in the axial direction, and the piston 67 is formed in a double-acting manner as is apparent from the drawing. That is, when the negative pressure air shown by the arrow 45 (FIG. 4A) acts on the piston 67 from the hollow hole 64, the piston 67 moves upward, and the piston 67 moves downward from the air passage 68 to the arrow 49 (FIG. 4). When the negative pressure air shown in (b)) acts, the piston 67 moves downward. The lever assembly 63 and the holder arm 65 are the same as in the previous embodiment.

  The operation of the mechanical chuck 60 configured as described above is as follows. In FIG. 4 (a), the negative pressure air is introduced into the hollow hole 64 of the mounting portion 61 from the side of the mounting head 4 (see FIG. 6) positioned above, whereby the piston 67 rises. By operating, the pair of holder arms 65 are closed, and a standby state is established. Next, in FIG. 4B, similarly, negative pressure air is introduced from the mounting head 4 side to the air passage 68 side, whereby the piston 67 descends and the lever assembly 63 rotates in the opposite direction to the previous case. Then, the pair of holder arms 65 are opened as indicated by an arrow 69, and the component is held. It will be understood that the standby state and the component gripping state are opposite when the component 10 is gripped from outside.

  FIG. 5 shows an air supply circuit 70 used in the present embodiment. The difference is that a control valve 71 is added to the conventional air supply circuit 50 shown in FIG. The control valve 71 operates according to a command from the control unit 9 and can selectively supply negative pressure air to a cylinder on either side of a mechanical chuck 60 (FIG. 4) having a double-acting piston 67. is there.

  In addition, although the example shown in FIG. 4 shows the mechanical chuck 60 of the type which grips components using negative pressure air, it is also possible to use positive pressure air by a similar mechanism. In this case, when the pressure of the positive pressure air is insufficient, various countermeasures such as the increase of the compression pressure, the increase of the cylinder diameter, and the change of the arm length of the lever assembly 63 described above can be applied. In this case, the air supply may be controlled by connecting the control valve 71 shown in FIG. 5 to the blow circuit 53 side to control the supply of positive pressure air.

  In the example shown in FIG. 4, the holder arm 65 is closed when the piston 67 is raised. However, as in the case illustrated in FIG. 3, when the piston 67 is lowered by changing the configuration of the lever assembly 63. Of course, the holder arm 65 can be closed.

  As mentioned above, although the component holding mechanism of each embodiment concerning the present invention was explained, the present invention is the component holding method using the component holding mechanism, and the component mounting device using the component holding mechanism or the component holding method, A component mounting method is also included. Among these, the component holding method according to the present invention is characterized in that the component can be gripped from outside or inside by selectively supplying negative pressure air or positive pressure air to the mechanical chuck. . The component mounting apparatus according to the present invention includes the mechanical chuck and the air supply circuit described in each embodiment, and the control unit can control the air circuit according to the standby state and the component holding state of the mechanical chuck. It is set as the control part provided with the program which becomes. In addition, unlike the prior art, the control unit is capable of supplying positive pressure even during component suction. It is preferable that the component holding part can be selectively used by replacing the suction nozzle and the mechanical chuck according to the component.

  The component holding mechanism, the component holding method, the component mounting apparatus and the component mounting method using the same according to the present invention can be widely used in the industrial field of component mounting for mounting components such as electronic components on a circuit board. .

It is side surface fragmentary sectional view which shows the component holding mechanism of embodiment concerning this invention. FIG. 10 is a side partial cross-sectional view showing another operation of the component holding mechanism shown in FIG. 1. It is a side surface fragmentary sectional view which shows the other aspect of the components holding mechanism shown in FIG. It is a side surface fragmentary sectional view which shows the component holding mechanism of other embodiment concerning this invention. 5 is an air supply circuit for supplying negative pressure air and positive pressure air to the component holding mechanism shown in FIG. 4. It is a perspective view of the component mounting apparatus which can implement the component holding mechanism concerning this invention. It is a side fragmentary sectional view which shows two types of components holding mechanisms by a prior art. It is an air supply circuit for supplying negative pressure air and positive pressure air to the component holding mechanism by a prior art.

Explanation of symbols

1. 1. component mounting device; 2. parts supply unit; 3. Parts holding part (mechanical chuck), 8. mounting head; Control unit, 10. Parts, 14. Circuit board, 21. Mounting part, 22. Body part, 23. Adsorption part, 24. Hollow hole, 31. Mounting part, 32. Body part, 33. Lever assembly, 35. Holder arm, 36. Cylinder, 37. Piston, 38. Spring, 41. Lever, 42. Arm plate, 43. Fixed fulcrum, 44. Movable fulcrum, 50. Air supply circuit, 51. Air supply source, 52. Vacuum ejector, 53. Blow circuit, 54. Control valve 55a, 55b. 56. Pressure adjustment mechanism Control valve.

Claims (15)

A mounting part that is attached to and detached from the mounting head of the component mounting apparatus, a main body part that includes a cylinder connected to a hollow hole in the mounting part, a piston that is fitted in the cylinder, and a movement of the piston. In a component holding mechanism that includes a lever assembly that operates, and a plurality of holder arms attached to the lever assembly, and that grips a component by the plurality of holder arms that operate according to the movement of the piston.
The component holding mechanism, wherein the holder arm grips a component by the action of positive pressure air introduced into the cylinder through the hollow hole. A mounting part that is attached to and detached from the mounting head of the component mounting apparatus, a main body part that includes a cylinder connected to a hollow hole in the mounting part, a piston that is fitted in the cylinder, and a movement of the piston. In a component holding mechanism that includes a lever assembly that operates, and a plurality of holder arms attached to the lever assembly, and that grips a component by the plurality of holder arms that operate according to the movement of the piston.
By switching the air introduced into the cylinder through the hollow hole between negative pressure air and positive pressure air, the plurality of holder arms change from the closing operation to the opening operation, or from the opening operation to the closing operation. Switched
A component holding mechanism in which the component holding force of the holder arm in the closing operation is substantially equal to the component gripping force of the holder arm in the opening operation. A mounting part that is attached to and detached from the mounting head of the component mounting apparatus, a main body part that includes a cylinder connected to a hollow hole in the mounting part, a piston that is fitted in the cylinder, and a movement of the piston. In a component holding mechanism that includes a lever assembly that operates, and a plurality of holder arms attached to the lever assembly, and that grips a component by the plurality of holder arms that operate according to the movement of the piston.
The main body further comprises an air passage that opens into a cylinder located on the opposite side of the hollow hole with respect to the piston,
By switching the introduction of negative pressure air or positive pressure air introduced into the cylinder between the hollow hole side and the air passage side, the plurality of holder arms change from the closing operation to the opening operation, or from the opening operation. Switched to closed operation,
A component holding mechanism in which the component holding force of the holder arm in the closing operation is substantially equal to the component gripping force of the holder arm in the opening operation.   The component holding mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the pressure of the negative pressure air introduced into the cylinder is about -80 kPa and the pressure of the positive pressure air is about 30 kPa. .   The component holding mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a component gripping force by the holder arm is about 250 g.   The component according to claim 1, further comprising a spring that urges the piston in a direction in which a cylinder volume on the side where the negative pressure air or the positive pressure air is introduced expands. Retention mechanism.   The component holding mechanism according to claim 6, wherein the spring exerts an urging force corresponding to a component gripping force of about 110 g to about 130 g on the holder arm on the piston. In a component holding method for gripping a component by engaging a plurality of holder arms provided on a mechanical chuck from the inside or the outside with at least a pair of engaged portions facing components to be mounted,
A component holding method, wherein the plurality of holder arms are operated to grip a component by introducing positive pressure air into a cylinder provided in the mechanical chuck. In the component holding method for gripping the component by engaging a plurality of holder arms provided in the mechanical chuck from the inside or the outside with at least a pair of engaged portions facing the mounted component,
Switching between the closing operation and the opening operation by switching the air introduced into the cylinder of the mechanical chuck between positive pressure air and negative pressure air;
A component holding method, wherein a component gripping force substantially equal between the closing operation and the opening operation is provided. In a component holding method for gripping a component by engaging a plurality of holder arms provided on a mechanical chuck from the inside or the outside with at least a pair of engaged portions facing components to be mounted,
The negative pressure air or the positive pressure air introduced into the cylinder of the mechanical chuck for driving the holder arm is moved from either side in the axial direction to the piston fitted in the cylinder. Switching between the closing operation and the opening operation by switching to the other side,
A component holding method, wherein a component gripping force substantially equal between the closing operation and the opening operation is provided. A component supply unit that continuously supplies components, a mounting head that takes out components from the component supply unit and mounts them on a circuit board, and a robot that transports the mounting head, and holds components mounted on the mounting head In a component mounting apparatus that takes out a component from the component supply unit using a unit and mounts the component on the mounting position of the circuit board held by the board holding device,
A component mounting apparatus comprising a control unit that controls to supply positive pressure air to the component holding unit during a component holding operation. A component supply unit that includes a component supply unit that continuously supplies components; a mounting head that takes out the component from the component supply unit and mounts the component on a circuit board; and a robot that conveys the mounting head. In a component mounting apparatus that takes out a component from the component supply unit using and mounts the component on the mounting position of the circuit board held by the board holding device,
8. The component mounting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the component holding mechanism is the component holding mechanism according to any one of claims 1 to 7.   The component mounting apparatus according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the mounting head selectively mounts a component holding unit of either a mechanical chuck type or a suction nozzle type. In the component mounting method of taking out the component supplied to the component supply unit by the component holding mechanism, transporting the component and mounting it on the mounting position of the circuit board,
A component mounting method using the component holding method according to any one of claims 8 to 10. The component mounting method according to claim 14, wherein the suction nozzle and the mechanical chuck are replaced in accordance with a component to be mounted, the component is taken out, and the component is mounted.

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