JP2009135215A - Board positioning device and method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the positioning precision of each circuit board while ensuring the positioning workability for simultaneously positioning a plurality of circuit boards. <P>SOLUTION: Upon the positioning operation for each circuit board 11, a sucking unit retainer 32 is moved up, each circuit board 11 is moved up to the height position of a board positioning plate 41 while the circuit board 11 mounted in each board mounting space 21 is sucked by each sucking unit 31 through an opening 23 formed in each board mounting space 21 of a palette 12, each circuit board 11 is idly inserted into each positioning hole 42 of the board positioning plate 41, and the height of the top face of each circuit board 11 is matched with the height of the top face of the board positioning plate 41. Thereafter, by moving the sucking unit retainer 32 substantially in the diagonal direction of the circuit board 11, each circuit board 11 within each positioning hole 42 is moved substantially in the diagonal direction to make two-side portion of each circuit board 11 abut the two-side portion of each positioning hole 42 to carry out the positioning thereof. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a substrate positioning apparatus and a substrate positioning method for simultaneously positioning a plurality of circuit boards placed on one pallet.

  In this type of screen printing apparatus, as described in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-162535), a pallet on which circuit boards are respectively placed in a plurality of board placement spaces is carried into a printing work position. A conveyor, a plurality of suction units respectively disposed below the respective substrate mounting spaces of the pallet carried into the printing work position, a substrate positioning plate disposed above the pallet, and the substrate positioning plate And an opening formed in each substrate mounting space of the pallet by raising the suction unit holding body that holds the plurality of suction units during the positioning operation of each circuit board. Each circuit board in a state where each circuit board is sucked by each suction unit through the board positioning plate The circuit board is positioned by being raised to a position and fitting each circuit board into each positioning hole formed in the board positioning plate, and then holding the positioning state of each circuit board The substrate positioning plate and the suction unit holder are integrally raised, the circuit boards and the substrate positioning plate are brought into contact with the lower surface of the screen mask, and a printed pattern is screened on the upper surface of each circuit substrate with cream solder or the like. I try to print.

  In this configuration, when a plurality of circuit boards are simultaneously fitted in a plurality of positioning holes of the board positioning plate, if a clearance (gap) between them becomes too small, a plurality of circuit boards are simultaneously fitted in the plurality of positioning holes. Since it becomes difficult to combine, a certain amount of clearance is required. However, since this clearance causes a positioning error of the circuit board, there is a drawback that if the clearance is increased in order to ensure the fitting workability, the positioning error of each circuit board increases.

Therefore, in the above-mentioned patent document 1, each positioning hole and each circuit board are formed by forming a tapered portion (induction part) for guiding each circuit board into each positioning hole on the lower surface side of each positioning hole of the board positioning plate. The plurality of circuit boards can be simultaneously fitted in the plurality of positioning holes while reducing the clearance between the two and the circuit board (positioning error of each circuit board).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-162535

  However, due to manufacturing variations in circuit board external dimensions, the clearance between each positioning hole and each circuit board is the minimum required for mating even if a tapered portion is formed on the lower surface of each positioning hole. It is necessary to form the circuit board so as to be larger than the clearance by the manufacturing variation of the outer dimensions of the circuit board. For this reason, when positioning a plurality of circuit boards at the same time, it is inevitable that a positioning error corresponding to the clearance formed larger by the manufacturing variation of the outer dimensions of the circuit board will occur. There is a drawback in that printing misalignment occurs in a printing pattern that is screen-printed on a circuit board, resulting in poor screen printing accuracy.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and the object thereof is to improve the positioning accuracy of each circuit board while ensuring the positioning workability of simultaneously positioning a plurality of circuit boards. It is an object of the present invention to provide a substrate positioning apparatus and a substrate positioning method.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a conveyor for carrying a pallet on which a circuit board is placed in each of a plurality of board placement spaces to a work position, and each board placement of the pallet carried to the work position. A plurality of suction units respectively disposed below the space, and a plurality of rectangular units disposed above the pallet carried to the working position and used for loosely positioning the plurality of circuit boards placed on the pallet. A substrate positioning plate in which a positioning hole having a shape is formed; a suction unit holder for holding the plurality of suction units; a suction unit holder lifting mechanism for moving the suction unit holder in the vertical direction; and the suction unit holder A positioning operation mechanism for moving the body in a substantially diagonal direction of each circuit board, the suction unit holder lifting mechanism, and the positioning Control means for controlling the operation mechanism, and when the positioning operation of each circuit board is performed by the control means, the first elevating mechanism is operated to raise the suction unit holder to mount each board on the pallet. Each circuit board is raised to a height position of the board positioning plate in a state where each circuit board is sucked by each suction unit through an opening formed in a placement space, and each circuit board is placed in each positioning hole. After being loosely inserted and stopped in a state where the height of the upper surface of each circuit board coincides with the height of the upper surface of the substrate positioning plate, the positioning operation mechanism is operated to move the suction unit holding body to each circuit. By moving the circuit board in a substantially diagonal direction, each circuit board in each positioning hole is moved in a substantially diagonal direction so that each circuit board is moved to the two sides of each positioning hole. It is obtained so as to position by abutting two sides of the substrate.

  In this configuration, when each circuit board is fitted into each positioning hole of the board positioning plate (free insertion), even if a relatively large clearance exists, Each circuit board in each positioning hole is moved almost diagonally so that the two sides of each circuit board are brought into contact with the two sides of each positioning hole, so that the two sides of each positioning hole are used as a reference. Each circuit board can be positioned in a state where the clearance is reduced and there is substantially no clearance. Thereby, the positioning accuracy of each circuit board can be improved while ensuring the positioning workability of positioning a plurality of circuit boards simultaneously.

  In the present invention, the substrate positioning plate may be formed by a single plate, or the substrate positioning plate may be formed on a fixed plate in which a plurality of fixed-side positioning holes are formed, and on the upper surface or the lower surface of the fixed plate. A plurality of movable side positioning holes are formed in the movable plate so as to overlap with the plurality of fixed side positioning holes of the fixed plate, and the positioning operation mechanism The movable plate is integrally moved with the suction unit holder so as to move in a substantially diagonal direction of each circuit board, and at the time of positioning operation of each circuit board, two sides of each fixed side positioning hole of the fixed plate And the four sides of each circuit board are sandwiched and held by the two sides of each movable side positioning hole of the movable plate. It may be. In this way, the clearance of the four sides of each circuit board is reduced by the two sides of each fixed-side positioning hole of the fixed plate and the two sides of each movable-side positioning hole of the movable plate. Since each circuit board can be positioned in a state where there is substantially no, each circuit board can be positioned more reliably and accurately.

  Further, the present invention is configured such that each of the plurality of suction units is elastically supported so that each pad portion that sucks the circuit board can be horizontally rotated and displaced horizontally, and during the positioning operation of each circuit board, The pad portion that adsorbs each circuit board in each of the adsorption units by the pressing force that presses the two sides of each circuit board against the two sides of each positioning hole of the substrate positioning plate causes the two sides of each circuit board to It is good to comprise so that horizontal rotation displacement and / or horizontal shift | displacement displacement can be carried out until it contacts two sides of each positioning hole. In this way, even if the relative positions and orientations (angles) between each positioning hole and each circuit board vary from one circuit board to another, the two sides of each circuit board are positioned on the board. When pressing against the two sides of each positioning hole on the plate, the pressing force can automatically correct the position and orientation of each circuit board relative to each positioning hole independently for each circuit board. The circuit board can be positioned accurately at the same time.

  The present invention can be applied to various production apparatuses having a function of simultaneously positioning a plurality of circuit boards placed on one pallet. For example, when applied to a screen printing apparatus, each positioning hole of the board positioning plate The screen mask in the screen printing apparatus may be arranged above the board positioning plate so that screen printing can be performed on each circuit board positioned after loose insertion. In this case, after positioning each circuit board, while holding the positioning state of each circuit board, the board positioning plate and the suction unit holder are raised together to bring each circuit board and the board positioning plate into contact with the lower surface of the screen mask. It is preferable to print the print pattern on the upper surface of each circuit board.

  In this screen printing method, each circuit board and the board positioning plate are brought into contact with the lower surface of the screen mask to perform screen printing. Therefore, the board positioning plate serves to prevent horizontal displacement of each circuit board during screen printing. As well as receiving and supporting the screen mask on which the pressing force of the squeegee acts. This prevents the screen mask from being pushed down between adjacent circuit boards by the pressing force of the squeegee and deformed into a dent shape, thereby preventing the cream solder from being scraped off, and the circuit board to be tilted by the pressing force of the squeegee. Can be prevented.

  In the following, two embodiments 1 and 2, which are embodied by applying the best mode for carrying out the present invention to a screen printing apparatus, will be described.

A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
First, the configuration of the screen printing apparatus will be described.
As shown in FIG. 1, conveyor belts 13 and 14 for carrying a pallet 12 on which a plurality of circuit boards 11 are placed to a printing work position of a screen printing apparatus are provided on an upper portion of a fixed side plate 15 and a movable side plate 16. The upper parts are supported via belt receivers 17 and 18, respectively.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the pallet 12 is formed with a plurality of rectangular recess-shaped substrate placement spaces 21 for storing a plurality of circuit boards 11 one by one at predetermined intervals. The clearance with each circuit board 11 is set in consideration of the fitting workability of each circuit board 11 and the manufacturing variation of the outer dimensions of the circuit board 11 (that is, the circuit board having the largest size within the manufacturing variation range). The clearance necessary for fitting 11 is secured). An opening 23 is formed on the bottom surface of each substrate mounting space 21 except for the substrate receiving surface 22 at the four corners thereof, and the circuit board 11 in the substrate mounting space 21 is viewed from below through the opening 23. It is made to adsorb | suck and raise by the adsorption | suction unit 31 mentioned later.

  As shown in FIG. 1, conveyor rails 24 and 25 for guiding the pallet 12 in the conveying direction are fixed to the upper end of the fixed side plate 15 and the upper end of the movable side plate 16, respectively. In this case, the fixed side plate 15 is fixed to the transport unit base 26, while the movable side plate 16 is slid in the direction (Y direction) orthogonal to the conveyor belts 13 and 14 by the feed screw mechanism 27. Thus, the feed screw mechanism 27 is driven by a motor 28.

  Under each substrate placement space 21 of the pallet 12 carried into the printing work position, an adsorption unit 31 that adsorbs the circuit board 11 with air suction force (vacuum) is arranged. The suction unit holding body 32 that holds the plurality of suction units 31 is arranged in a substantially diagonal direction of the substrate mounting space 21 (almost of the circuit board 11) by a slide guide 34 (see FIG. 3) fixed on the suction unit lifting / lowering base 33. It is configured to be moved in the diagonal direction). As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, each suction unit 31 can be horizontally rotated and displaced by a ball plunger 60 in which a pad portion 57 that sucks the circuit board 11 is biased by a spring 59 with respect to the unit body 58. It is elastically supported so that it can be displaced. In this case, three or more ball plungers 60 are assembled at equal intervals on the peripheral side surface portion of the pad portion 57.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the suction unit holding body 32 is connected to the movable side plate 16 by fitting the connecting pin 35 and the elongated hole 36, and interlocked with the movement of the movable side plate 16 in the Y direction. The suction unit holder 32 is configured to slide along the slide guide 34 in a substantially diagonal direction (a substantially diagonal direction of the circuit board 11) of a positioning hole 42 of a substrate positioning plate 41 described later. Such a connecting structure portion between the suction unit holding body 32 and the movable side plate 16 can be raised and lowered with respect to the movable side plate 16 in accordance with the raising and lowering of the suction unit holding body 32. As described above, the mechanism for moving the suction unit holding body 32 in the substantially diagonal direction of the circuit board 11 by the movement of the movable side plate 16 in the Y direction corresponds to the positioning operation mechanism in the claims.

  The suction unit lift 33 is moved in the vertical direction (Z direction) along the lift guide 39 fixed to the transport unit base 26 by driving the feed screw mechanism 38 by the motor 37. The suction unit holder 32 on the table 33 is configured to move in the vertical direction. Thus, the mechanism for moving the suction unit holding body 32 in the vertical direction corresponds to the suction unit holding body raising / lowering mechanism referred to in the claims.

  On the other hand, a substrate positioning plate 41 is disposed above the pallet 12 carried into the printing work position. The board positioning plate 41 is formed with a plurality of rectangular positioning holes 42 (see FIG. 6) for loosely inserting and positioning the plurality of circuit boards 11 placed on the pallet 12. The size of each positioning hole 42 is formed to be larger than the size of the substrate mounting space 21 of the pallet 12 by the positioning error of the pallet 12 at the printing work position, and each substrate mounting space of the pallet 12 is directly below each positioning hole 42. The circuit board 11 in 21 is configured to be surely positioned.

  The substrate positioning plate 41 has its left end fixed to the conveyor rail 24 at the upper end of the fixed side plate 15 with a screw 43 or the like. The movable side plate 16 and the conveyor rail 25 located on the right end side of the substrate positioning plate 41 slide in the direction (Y direction) perpendicular to the conveyor belts 13 and 14 during the positioning operation of the circuit board 11 described later. The right end portion of the substrate positioning plate 41 is slidably received and supported by the sliding roller 44 on the conveyor rail 25. The substrate positioning plate 41 and the suction unit holder 32 can be exchanged according to the size and number of circuit boards 11 placed on the pallet 12.

  Further, when the conveyor rail 25 of the movable side plate 16 is moved in the direction approaching the fixed side plate 15 for the positioning operation of the circuit board 11 described later, the conveyor rail 25 of the movable side plate 16 moves to the pallet 12. In order not to hit, the conveyor rail 25 of the movable side plate 16 is formed with a relief recess 50 for escaping the pallet 12 during the positioning operation.

  The transport unit base 26 is mounted on a transport unit lift 51. The transport unit lift 51 moves in the vertical direction (Z direction) along the lift guide 54 by driving a feed screw mechanism 53 by a motor 52. It is configured to be. The conveyance unit base 26 is moved in the vertical direction by the vertical movement of the conveyance unit lift 51, and the substrate positioning plate 41 and the suction unit holder 32 are integrally moved in the vertical direction.

  On the other hand, a screen mask 55 is horizontally disposed above the substrate positioning plate 41, and a squeegee 56 is disposed above the screen mask 55.

  A method for simultaneously printing a printing pattern on a plurality of circuit boards 11 placed on the pallet 12 with cream solder or the like using the screen printing apparatus of the first embodiment described above will be described. The operation of each process described below is controlled by a control computer (control means) of the screen printing apparatus.

  First, the pallet 12 on which the circuit board 11 is placed in each of the plurality of board placement spaces 21 is carried into the printing work position by the conveyor belts 13 and 14 and stopped. The suction unit 31 is located immediately below each substrate placement space 21 of the pallet 12 stopped at the printing work position.

  Thereafter, in order to raise each suction unit 31, the motor 37 is operated and the feed screw mechanism 38 is driven to raise the suction unit lifting base 33, thereby raising the suction unit holding body 32 to raise each suction unit 31. The adsorption unit 31 is raised. As a result, the circuit boards 11 in the substrate placement spaces 21 are sucked by the suction units 31 through the openings 23 of the substrate placement spaces 21 of the pallet 12 and lifted right above the substrate placement spaces 21. Finally, each circuit board 11 is raised to the height position of the board positioning plate 41, each circuit board 11 is loosely inserted into each positioning hole 42, and the height of the upper surface of each circuit board 11 is set to the board positioning plate. The motor 37 is stopped in a state where it matches the height of the upper surface of 41.

  Thereafter, in order to position the circuit board 11 in each positioning hole 42 of the board positioning plate 41, the motor 28 is operated to drive the feed screw mechanism 27, whereby the movable side plate 16 is fixed to the fixed side plate 15. Move in the direction approaching. In conjunction with the movement of the movable side plate 16, the suction unit holding body 32 extends along the slide guide 34 on the suction unit lifting / lowering base 33 in the substantially diagonal direction of the positioning hole 42 of the substrate positioning plate 41 (substantially diagonal of the circuit board 11. ), Thereby moving each circuit board 11 sucked by each suction unit 31 in a substantially diagonal direction as indicated by an arrow in FIG. 6 and positioning each of the two sides of each circuit board 11 to each other. The two sides of the hole 42 are brought into contact with each other. As a result, each circuit board 11 is positioned in a state where there is substantially no clearance and the clearance is reduced with reference to the two sides of each positioning hole 42.

  In this case, each suction unit 31 is elastically supported so that the pad portion 57 that sucks the circuit board 11 can be horizontally rotated and displaced horizontally, and at the time of positioning operation of each circuit board 11, 2 of each circuit board 11. The pad portion 57 of each suction unit 31 causes the two sides of each circuit board 11 to become the two sides of each positioning hole 42 by the pressing force pressing the sides against the two sides of each positioning hole 42 of the substrate positioning plate 41. Since it is configured to be capable of horizontal rotation displacement and / or horizontal displacement displacement until it abuts, the relationship between the relative positions and orientations (angles) between the positioning holes 42 and the circuit boards 11 is the relationship of each circuit. Even if it varies from one board 11 to another, when pressing the two sides of each circuit board 11 against the two sides of each positioning hole 42 of the board positioning plate 41, the pressing force The position and orientation deviation of each circuit board 11 with respect to the positioning hole 42 can be automatically corrected independently for each circuit board 11, and all the circuit boards 11 can be simultaneously adjusted based on the two sides of each positioning hole 42. Positioning can be performed with high accuracy.

  Thereafter, in order to bring each circuit board 11 and the board positioning plate 41 into contact with the lower surface of the screen mask 55, the motor 52 is operated to drive the feed screw mechanism 53, thereby raising the transport unit lifting platform 51, While holding the positioning state of the circuit board 11, the board positioning plate 41 and the suction unit holder 32 are raised integrally so that each circuit board 11 and the board positioning plate 41 are brought into contact with the lower surface of the screen mask 55.

  In parallel with (or before and after) the substrate raising operation, the squeegee 56 is lowered onto the screen mask 55, and the squeegee 56 is moved along the upper surface of the screen mask 55, so that the plurality of circuit boards 11 are moved. Simultaneously screen-print the print pattern with cream solder or the like. At this time, each circuit board 11 and the board positioning plate 41 are brought into contact with the lower surface of the screen mask 55 to perform screen printing, so that the board positioning plate 41 prevents horizontal displacement of each circuit board 11 during screen printing. And the role of receiving and supporting the screen mask 55 on which the pressing force of the squeegee 56 acts from below. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the screen mask 55 from being pushed down between the adjacent circuit boards 11 by the pressing force of the squeegee 56 to be deformed into a hollow shape, and to prevent the cream solder from being scraped off. It is possible to prevent the substrate 11 from tilting.

  After screen printing, the transport unit lift 51 and the suction unit lift 33 are lowered to their original height positions, the substrate positioning plate 41 and the suction unit holder 32 are lowered to their original height positions, respectively. In the middle of the descending, when the printed circuit board 11 sucked by each suction unit 31 is returned into each substrate placement space 21 of the pallet 12, the suction by each suction unit 31 is released, and a plurality of The printed circuit board 11 is collected in each board placement space 21 of the pallet 12. In parallel with (or before and after) this operation, the movable side plate 16 is returned to the original position, and the horizontal position (XY direction) of each suction unit 31 is returned to the position before the positioning operation is started.

  Thereafter, the conveyor belts 13 and 14 are driven to carry out the pallet 12 from which a plurality of printed circuit boards 11 have been collected from the printing work position, and a new circuit board 11 placed thereon is replaced with the pallet 12. The pallet 12 is carried into the printing work position, and thereafter, the operation of each process described above is repeated, and the printing pattern is simultaneously screen-printed on the plurality of circuit boards 11 with cream solder or the like.

  According to the first embodiment described above, when each circuit board 11 is fitted (freely inserted) into each positioning hole 42 of the board positioning plate 41 during the positioning operation of each circuit board 11, the fitting workability thereof is achieved. Therefore, even if a relatively large clearance exists, each circuit board 11 in each positioning hole 42 is then moved in a substantially diagonal direction so that each circuit board 11 is placed on two sides of each positioning hole 42. Therefore, each circuit board 11 can be positioned in a state where there is substantially no clearance by using the two sides of each positioning hole 42 as a reference. Accordingly, the positioning accuracy of each circuit board 11 can be improved while ensuring the positioning workability for positioning the plurality of circuit boards 11 at the same time, and the printing accuracy when screen printing is simultaneously performed on the plurality of circuit boards 11 can be improved. Can be improved.

  In the first embodiment, the substrate positioning plate 41 is formed by a single plate. However, in the second embodiment of the present invention shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the substrate positioning plate 71 has a plurality of fixed-side positioning holes 72 formed therein. The fixed plate 73 and a movable plate 74 slidably provided on the upper surface of the fixed plate 73. A plurality of movable side positioning holes 75 are formed in the movable plate 74 so as to overlap with the plurality of fixed side positioning holes 72 of the fixed plate 73, and two side portions of each fixed side positioning hole 72 of the fixed plate 73 are formed. The positioning ribs 76 that come into contact with the two sides of the circuit board 11 are formed so as to be positioned in the movable side positioning holes 75 of the movable plate 74, and the upper end surface of each positioning rib 76 is flush with the upper surface of the movable plate 74. It is comprised so that it may become.

  The left end of the fixed plate 73 is fixed to the conveyor rail 24 at the upper end of the fixed side plate 15 with a screw 83 or the like. The movable side plate 16 and the conveyor rail 25 located on the right end side of the fixed plate 73 slide in the direction (Y direction) perpendicular to the conveyor belts 13 and 14 during the positioning operation of the circuit board 11 described later, and are thus fixed. The right end portion of the plate 73 is slidably received and supported by the sliding roller 84 on the conveyor rail 25.

  The movable plate 74 is configured to move integrally with the suction unit holding body 32 in a substantially diagonal direction of each circuit board 11 (a substantially diagonal direction of each positioning hole 72). Specifically, a connecting pin 77 is fixed upward on the conveyor rail 25 of the movable side plate 16, and the connecting pin 77 is slidably fitted and connected to a long hole 78 formed in the movable plate 74. . The long hole 78 of the movable plate 74 is formed so as to extend in parallel with the conveyance direction (X direction) of the circuit board 11.

  In order to move the movable plate 74 in a substantially diagonal direction (substantially diagonal direction of the circuit board 11) of the movable positioning hole 75 by moving the movable side plate 16 in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the circuit board 11 (Y direction), In the fixed plate 73, a long hole 79 extending in a substantially diagonal direction of the movable side positioning hole 75 of the movable plate 74 is formed, and a guide pin 81 fixed downward to the movable plate 74 slides in the long hole 79 of the fixed plate 73. It is movably fitted. Further, the fixed plate 73 is formed with a long hole 82 (or a notch) for enabling the connecting pin 77 to move in the Y direction as the movable side plate 16 moves in the Y direction.

  The board positioning plate 71 and the suction unit holder 32 can be exchanged according to the size and number of circuit boards 11 placed on the pallet 12. Other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment.

  A method for simultaneously printing a printing pattern on a plurality of circuit boards 11 placed on the pallet 12 with cream solder or the like using the screen printing apparatus of the second embodiment described above will be described. However, since the operations of the respective steps other than the positioning operation step of the circuit board 11 are the same as those in the first embodiment, the positioning operation step of the circuit board 11 will be mainly described.

  In the positioning operation step of the circuit board 11, the suction unit lifting / lowering base 33 is raised by operating the motor 37 and driving the feed screw mechanism 38, thereby raising the suction unit holding body 32 to move each suction unit 31. Raise. As a result, the circuit boards 11 in the substrate placement spaces 21 are sucked by the suction units 31 through the openings 23 of the substrate placement spaces 21 of the pallet 12 and lifted right above the substrate placement spaces 21. Finally, each circuit board 11 is raised to a height position of the upper surface portion (movable plate 74) of the board positioning plate 71, and each circuit board 11 is moved from each fixed side positioning hole 72 of the fixed plate 73 to the movable plate 74. The motor 37 is stopped in a state in which the height of the upper surface of each circuit board 11 is made to coincide with the height of the upper surface of the movable plate 74 by loosely inserting into each movable side positioning hole 75.

  Thereafter, in order to position the circuit board 11 in each movable side positioning hole 75, the motor 28 is operated to drive the feed screw mechanism 27, thereby bringing the movable side plate 16 closer to the fixed side plate 15. Move to. In conjunction with the movement of the movable side plate 16, the suction unit holding body 32 extends along the slide guide 34 on the suction unit lifting / lowering base 33 in the substantially diagonal direction of the movable side positioning hole 75 (almost diagonal direction of the circuit board 11). By sliding, the circuit boards 11 sucked by the suction units 31 are moved in a substantially diagonal direction (the direction in which the positioning ribs 76 of the fixed positioning holes 72 are positioned). The two sides are brought into contact with the positioning ribs 76 on the two sides of each fixed side positioning hole 72 of the fixing plate 73.

  Further, in conjunction with the movement of the suction unit holding body 32, the movable plate 74 slides in a substantially diagonal direction of the movable side positioning hole 75 (almost diagonal direction of the circuit board 11). Positioning is performed by sandwiching the four sides of each circuit board 11 by the positioning ribs 76 on the two sides of the fixed side positioning hole 72 and the two sides of each movable side positioning hole 75 of the movable plate. As a result, each circuit board 11 is positioned in a state where the clearance is reduced and the clearance is substantially eliminated with reference to the positioning ribs 76 on the two sides of each fixed-side positioning hole 72 of the fixed plate 73.

  Thereafter, in order to bring each circuit board 11 and the upper surface (movable plate 74) of the substrate positioning plate 71 into contact with the lower surface of the screen mask 55, the motor 52 is operated to drive the feed screw mechanism 53. 51, the substrate positioning plate 71 and the suction unit holding body 32 are integrally raised while holding the positioning state of each circuit board 11, and each circuit board 11 and the board positioning plate 71 are integrally raised. Then, each circuit board 11 and the movable plate 74 of the board positioning plate 71 are brought into contact with the lower surface of the screen mask 55 to perform screen printing.

  In the second embodiment described above, the positioning ribs 76 on the two sides of each fixed-side positioning hole 72 of the fixed plate 73 and the two sides of each movable-side positioning hole 75 on the movable plate 74 4 of each circuit board 11. Since each circuit board 11 can be positioned in a state where the clearances of the side parts are reduced and the clearances of the four side parts are substantially absent, each circuit board 11 can be positioned more reliably and accurately.

  In the second embodiment, the positioning ribs 76 are formed on the two sides of each fixed-side positioning hole 72 of the fixed plate 73. However, when the movable plate 74 is thinner than the thickness of the circuit board 11 (for example, In the case where the thickness of the movable plate 74 is about half of the thickness of the circuit board 11), the positioning ribs 76 may not be formed on the two sides of each fixed-side positioning hole 72 of the fixed plate 73. Positioning can be performed by sandwiching the four sides of each circuit board 11 by the two sides of each fixed-side positioning hole 72 of the fixed plate 73 and the two sides of each movable-side positioning hole 75 of the movable plate 74.

In the second embodiment, the movable plate 74 is disposed on the upper surface side of the fixed plate 73. On the contrary, the movable plate may be disposed on the lower surface side of the fixed plate.
Further, the present invention is not limited to the screen printing apparatus, and can be applied to various production apparatuses having a function of simultaneously positioning a plurality of circuit boards placed on one pallet.

  In addition, the present invention provides a positioning operation mechanism that moves the suction unit holder 32 and the movable plate 74 in a substantially diagonal direction of the circuit board 11, a suction unit holder lifting mechanism that moves the suction unit holder 32 in the vertical direction, Needless to say, various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the invention, such as a mechanism for moving the substrate positioning plates 41 and 71 and the suction unit holder 32 integrally in the vertical direction. Yes.

It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view for demonstrating the structure of the whole screen printing apparatus of Example 1 of this invention. It is a partial top view of a pallet. It is the figure which looked at the adsorption | suction unit holding body and its peripheral part from upper direction. It is an expanded vertical sectional view explaining the support structure of the pad part of an adsorption | suction unit. It is the figure which looked at the pad part of the adsorption unit from the lower part. FIG. 3 is a partial plan view of a substrate positioning plate for explaining a positioning operation of the circuit board according to the first embodiment. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view for demonstrating the structure of the whole screen printing apparatus of Example 2 of this invention. FIG. 10 is a partial plan view of a substrate positioning plate for explaining a positioning operation of the circuit board according to the second embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Circuit board, 12 ... Pallet, 13, 14 ... Conveyor belt, 15 ... Fixed side plate, 16 ... Movable side plate, 21 ... Substrate mounting space, 23 ... Opening part, 24, 25 ... Conveyor rail, 26 ... Conveying unit base, 27 ... Feed screw mechanism, 28 ... Motor, 31 ... Suction unit, 32 ... Suction unit holder, 33 ... Suction unit lift, 34 ... Slide guide, 35 ... Connecting pin, 37 ... Motor, 38 ... Feed screw mechanism, 41 ... Substrate positioning plate, 42 ... Positioning hole, 44 ... Sliding roller, 51 ... Transport unit lift, 52 ... Motor, 53 ... Feed screw mechanism, 55 ... Screen mask, 56 ... Squeegee, 57 ... Pad 58, unit body, 59 spring, 60 ball plunger, 71 substrate positioning plate, 72 solid Side positioning hole, 73 ... Fixed plate, 74 ... Movable plate, 75 ... Movable side positioning hole, 76 ... Positioning rib, 77 ... Connecting pin, 78 ... Long hole, 79 ... Long hole, 81 ... Guide pin, 84 ... Sliding roller

Claims (8)

A conveyor for carrying a pallet on which circuit boards are placed in a plurality of board placement spaces to work positions;
A plurality of suction units respectively arranged below each substrate placement space of the pallet carried into the work position;
A substrate positioning plate which is arranged above the pallet carried into the work position and in which a plurality of rectangular positioning holes for loosely positioning a plurality of circuit boards placed on the pallet are formed;
A suction unit holder for holding the plurality of suction units;
A suction unit holder lifting mechanism for moving the suction unit holder in the vertical direction;
A positioning operation mechanism for moving the suction unit holder in a substantially diagonal direction of each circuit board;
Control means for controlling the suction unit holder lifting mechanism and the positioning operation mechanism,
During the positioning operation of each circuit board by the control means, the suction unit holding body lifting mechanism is operated to raise the suction unit holding body, and through the opening formed in each substrate mounting space of the pallet. With each circuit board being sucked by each suction unit, each circuit board is raised to the height position of the board positioning plate, and each circuit board is loosely inserted into each positioning hole, and the upper surface of each circuit board is After stopping in a state where the height is matched with the height of the upper surface of the substrate positioning plate, the positioning operation mechanism is operated to move the suction unit holder in a substantially diagonal direction of each circuit board. The circuit boards in the positioning holes are moved substantially diagonally so that the two sides of the circuit boards are brought into contact with the two sides of the positioning holes. Substrate positioning device, characterized in that it is controlled to position. The substrate positioning plate includes a fixed plate in which a plurality of fixed side positioning holes are formed, and a movable plate that is slidably provided on an upper surface or a lower surface of the fixed plate. A plurality of movable side positioning holes are formed so as to overlap with a plurality of fixed side positioning holes of the plate,
The positioning operation mechanism is configured to move the movable plate integrally with the suction unit holding body in a substantially diagonal direction of each circuit board,
During the positioning operation of each circuit board, the four sides of each circuit board are sandwiched between the two sides of each fixed side positioning hole of the fixed plate and the two sides of each movable side positioning hole of the movable plate. The substrate positioning device according to claim 1, wherein the substrate positioning device is configured to be positioned and held in a position.   3. The substrate positioning device according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of suction units is elastically supported so that a pad portion for sucking the circuit board can be horizontally rotated and displaced.   A screen mask in a screen printing apparatus is disposed above the substrate positioning plate so that screen printing can be performed on each circuit board positioned after loose insertion in each positioning hole of the substrate positioning plate. The substrate positioning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: A conveyor for carrying a pallet on which circuit boards are placed in a plurality of board placement spaces to work positions;
A plurality of suction units respectively arranged below each substrate placement space of the pallet carried into the work position;
A board positioning plate disposed above the pallet loaded into the work position and formed with a plurality of rectangular positioning holes for loosely positioning a plurality of circuit boards placed on the pallet; ,
During the positioning operation of each circuit board, the suction unit holding body that holds the plurality of suction units is lifted and the circuit boards are moved by the suction units through openings formed in the board mounting spaces of the pallet. After each circuit board is raised to the height position of the board positioning plate in the sucked state, each circuit board is loosely inserted into each positioning hole and stopped, and then the suction unit holding body is attached to each circuit board. By moving in a substantially diagonal direction, each circuit board in each of the positioning holes is moved in a substantially diagonal direction, and the two sides of each of the circuit boards are brought into contact with the two sides of each of the positioning holes for positioning. A substrate positioning method. The substrate positioning plate includes a fixed plate in which the plurality of fixed-side positioning holes are formed, and a movable plate slidably provided on an upper surface or a lower surface of the fixed plate. A plurality of movable side positioning holes are formed so as to overlap with a plurality of fixed side positioning holes of the plate,
During the positioning operation of each circuit board, the movable plate is moved integrally with the suction unit holding body in a substantially diagonal direction of each circuit board, so that two side portions of each fixing side positioning hole of the fixing plate 6. The substrate positioning method according to claim 5, wherein the four sides of each circuit board are sandwiched and held by the two sides of each movable side positioning hole of the movable plate. Each of the plurality of suction units is elastically supported so that a pad portion for sucking the circuit board can be horizontally rotated and displaced horizontally.
During the positioning operation of each circuit board, a pad portion that sucks each circuit board of each suction unit by pressing force pressing the two sides of each circuit board against the two sides of each positioning hole, 7. The substrate positioning method according to claim 5, wherein horizontal displacement and / or horizontal displacement is performed until the two sides of each circuit board abut against the two sides of each positioning hole.   6. A screen mask in a screen printing apparatus is disposed above the substrate positioning plate, and screen printing is performed on each circuit board positioned after loose insertion in each positioning hole of the substrate positioning plate. 8. The substrate positioning method according to any one of 7 to 7.

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