JP2017105620A - Relay apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a relay apparatus that can surely deliver electronic components while making positions and postures of the components stable.SOLUTION: The relay apparatus comprises: a suction device 34 which sequentially suctions a head electronic component W first and then subsequent components of electronic components W which continuously move, so as to move the components to a holding position at which the electronic components W are held by a holding portion 21; a first pressing portion 31 which contacts the head electronic component W to stop the component at a stop position H1, and then allows the head electronic component W to move and thereby moves the component to a holding position H2; and a second pressing portion 32 that restricts movement of subsequent electric components W by pressing the next electronic component W following the head electronic component W at the holding position H2 to stop the next electronic component at the stop position H1.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a relay device that transfers electronic components from a supply device to a holding unit.

  Electronic parts are transported and delivered between various processing apparatuses in the manufacturing process and the mounting process. A parts feeder is known as an apparatus for conveying and supplying small electronic components to various processing apparatuses. Such a parts feeder generally includes a transport path for transporting electronic components and a vibration mechanism for continuously moving the electronic components by applying vibration to the transport path.

  In addition, a relay device is provided between the processing device that processes the electronic component and the parts feeder, and transfers the electronic component that has been transported along the transport path to the holding device. As such a relay device, as shown in Patent Documents 1 and 2, a device has been proposed in which electronic components are received one by one from a linear conveyance path using suction by air and picked up by a suction nozzle. Yes.

  In Patent Document 1, a subsequent electronic component to be picked up is separated from the electronic component to be picked up by stopping a subsequent electronic component from being picked up by a mechanical shutter. In Patent Document 2, an electronic component to be picked up and a subsequent electronic component are separated by an air curtain.

JP 2006-21928 A JP 2006-298578 A

  However, in recent years, electronic components have been reduced in size, and have reached sizes of 0603 (0.6 mm × 0.3 mm) and 0402 (0.4 mm × 0.2 mm) in the JIS standard. Such a miniaturized component has a large surface area for a small mass, and thus is easily displaced under the influence of vibration and airflow. For this reason, even if the relay device as described above is applied as it is, the direction of the electronic component is disturbed, the electronic component is skipped, or it is caught in the mechanism part, so that a mistake in delivery is likely to occur. Further, when the position and posture of the electronic component are unstable, it becomes difficult to separate the picked-up electronic component from the subsequent electronic component.

  The present invention has been proposed to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, and provides a relay device in which the position and posture of an electronic component are stable and can be delivered without error. It is aimed.

  In order to solve the problems as described above, the relay device of the present invention sequentially sucks from the leading electronic component among the continuously moving electronic components to the holding position where the electronic component is held by the holding unit. A suction device to be moved, a first pressing portion that is brought into contact with the leading electronic component and stopped at the stop position and then allowed to move to the holding position, and moved to the holding position, and the holding position A second pressing portion that holds the electronic component next to the first electronic component and stops the electronic component at the stop position.

  The first pressing portion may include a rod-shaped first rod that is driven by a driving device and has a tip that contacts and separates from the front surface in the traveling direction of the electronic component.

The holding position is provided with an opening through which an electronic component held by the holding portion passes.
You may have the opening / closing apparatus which opens and closes the said opening.

  A suction device that sucks and holds the electronic component at the holding position may be provided. The holding position may include an opening through which an electronic component held by the holding portion passes, and an opening / closing device that opens and closes the opening may be provided.

  A stop portion may be provided that is positioned in a certain direction in contact with the electronic component at the holding position.

  A stop portion for stopping the electronic component may be provided in contact with the electronic component that has come to the holding position, and the first rod may be inserted through the stop portion.

  The holding position is provided with an opening through which an electronic component held by the holding portion passes, and has an opening / closing device that opens and closes the opening. The opening / closing device includes a shielding position for shielding the opening, and the opening. The shutter may be moved between an open position and an open position, and the shutter may be attached to the first rod.

  The drive device may be an electromagnetic solenoid. The electronic component may have a size of 0.6 mm × 0.3 mm or less.

  According to the present invention, the first pressing portion temporarily stops the leading electronic component sucked by the suction device at the stop position and then moves it to the holding position. The position and posture of the electronic component to be used are stabilized. And since the 2nd holding | suppressing part hold | suppresses the next electronic component of the head and stops at a stop position, a head electronic component can be isolate | separated reliably. Therefore, electronic parts can be delivered stably without mistakes.

It is a top view which shows the supply apparatus of the electronic component with which embodiment is applied. It is explanatory drawing which shows the initial state of embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the movement to the holding position of the electronic component of embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows fixation of the electronic component of embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the return to the initial state of embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows taking out of the electronic component of embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows return to the initial state of the operation | movement procedure of a holding | maintenance apparatus.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, the present embodiment is a relay device 3 that relays an electronic component between a transport path 11 of a supply device 1 that supplies the electronic component and a holding device 2 that holds the electronic component. FIG. 1 is a simplified plan view showing a supply device 1 and a holding device 2. 2-7 is sectional drawing which shows the structure and operation | movement of the relay apparatus 3. FIG.

[Electronic parts]
The electronic component to be relayed in the present embodiment is a component used for an electric product, and a semiconductor element or the like is packaged. Examples of the semiconductor element include discrete semiconductors such as transistors, diodes, capacitors, resistors, and integrated circuits. This embodiment is suitable for, for example, a fine electronic component of 0603 or less in the JIS standard. In 0603, the length of the long side of the rectangle on the top surface is 0.6 mm, and the width of the short side is 0.3 mm.

[Supply device]
As shown in FIG. 1, the supply device 1 is a parts feeder that supplies electronic components. The parts feeder is a device that combines a circular vibration parts feeder and a linear supply vibration feeder, and arranges electronic components in a row and continuously supplies them. The supply device 1 has a linear conveyance path 11. The conveyance path 11 guides the left and right direction and the up and down direction so that the movement of the electronic components is in a line. A transport end 11a of the transport path 11 is adjacent to a relay device 3 described later.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a blowout unit 12 is provided in the vicinity of the conveyance end 11 a of the conveyance path 11 in the supply device 1. The blowing unit 12 sends out the electronic component W by blowing air onto the electronic component W. The blowing part 12 has a blowing hole 12 a and a ventilation path 12 b provided immediately below the supply path 11 in the supply device 1. The blowout hole 12 a is provided in the vicinity of the conveyance end 11 a on the bottom surface of the conveyance path 11. The ventilation path 12b communicates with the blowout hole 12a and is connected to a pneumatic circuit including an air source via a tube (not shown).

[Holding device]
As shown in FIG. 1, the holding device 2 includes a holding unit 21. The holding unit 21 is a member that holds each electronic component W one by one. The holding unit 21 is, for example, a suction nozzle that extends vertically below the transport device T.

  The suction nozzle is a hollow cylinder having an opening at the lower end. The inside of the suction nozzle communicates with a pneumatic circuit including a vacuum generator (not shown) via a tube. For this reason, the suction nozzle sucks the electronic component W at the tip by the generation of the negative pressure by the vacuum generator, and causes the electronic component W to be detached from the tip by the vacuum break or the generation of the positive pressure.

  The holding portion 21 is provided so as to be movable in the vertical direction by a Z-axis mechanism (not shown). As the Z-axis mechanism, various types such as a cylinder, a cam mechanism using a cam and a spring, and the like can be applied.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the transport device T provided with the holding device 2 is, for example, a turntable that intermittently rotates by a predetermined angle around a rotation axis. A plurality of holding devices 2 are arranged around the rotation axis of the turntable at the same interval as the interval of intermittent rotation. A processing unit 4 that performs various types of processing on the electronic component W is disposed at a stop position around the turntable. The transport device T transports the electronic component W by intermittently rotating the turntable while holding the electronic component W by the holding unit 21. In addition, at each stop position in the intermittent rotation, the electronic component W is transferred from the relay device 3, and the processing by the processing unit 4 is performed.

[Relay device]
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the relay device 3 is provided on a delivery table B provided on the transport device T. The installation position of the relay device 3 is any one stop position of the holding device 2. The relay device 3 includes a first pressing portion 31, a second pressing portion 32, an opening / closing device 33, and a suction device 34.

  The first pressing portion 31 allows the movement of the top electronic component W after allowing it to stop at the stop position H1 in contact with the top electronic component W among the plurality of electronic components W that move continuously, Move to holding position H2. The stop position H <b> 1 is a position where the movement of the electronic component W is restricted before being held by the holding unit 21. The holding position H <b> 2 is a position where the electronic component W is held by the holding unit 21. An opening through which the electronic component W held by the holding unit 21 passes is provided above the holding position H2.

  The first pressing portion 31 includes a first rod 31a, a drive device 31b, and a stop portion 31c. The first rod 31 a is a rod-shaped member whose tip is in contact with and away from the electronic component W. The first rod 31a is provided in the horizontal direction, and the front end faces the front surface of the leading electronic component W.

  The drive device 31b is a device that advances and retracts the first rod 31a in the horizontal direction. The driving device 31b can be, for example, an electromagnetic solenoid that moves the first rod 31a by energization from a power source (not shown).

  The stop part 31c is a member that stops the electronic component W in contact with the electronic component W that has come to the holding position H2. Moreover, the stop part 31c is a member which contacts the electronic component in the holding position H2 and is positioned in a certain direction. That is, the stop unit 31 c is fixed to the delivery table B and stops the progress of the electronic component W that has reached the holding position H. The stop portion 31 c is a rectangular parallelepiped block, and one side surface thereof is a stop surface that stops in contact with the electronic component W. The stop surface is an alignment surface that aligns the electronic components W in contact with the stop surface in a certain direction. Further, the first rod 31a is inserted through the stop portion 31c. That is, a hole through which the first rod 31a is inserted is formed in the stop portion 31c. This hole guides the horizontal movement of the first rod 31a.

  The second pressing portion 32 presses the electronic component W next to the leading electronic component W at the holding position H2 and stops it at the stop position H1. The second pressing portion 32 separates the next electronic component W from the leading electronic component W and restricts the movement of the subsequent electronic component W.

  The second pressing portion 32 includes a second rod 32a, a driving device 32b, and a facing portion 32c. The second rod 32 a is a rod-shaped member whose tip is in contact with and away from the electronic component W. The second rod 32 a is provided in the vertical direction, and the tip is opposed to the bottom surface of the electronic component W. The delivery platform B is formed with a hole through which the second rod 32a is inserted from below. This hole guides the vertical movement of the second rod 32a.

  The drive device 32b is a device that advances and retracts the second rod 32a in the vertical direction. The driving device 32b can be, for example, an electromagnetic solenoid that moves the second rod 31a by energization from a power source (not shown).

  The facing portion 32c is a member that sandwiches the electronic component W with the second rod 32a. The bottom surface of the facing portion 32c is a horizontal flat surface on which the upper surface of the electronic component W is in contact with and separated from, and the lower portion is a stop position H1.

  The opening / closing device 33 is a device that opens and closes the opening at the holding position H2. The opening / closing device 33 includes a shutter 33a and a support member 33b. The shutter 33a moves between a shielding position for shielding the opening and an opening position for opening the opening. The shutter 33a is a horizontal flat plate. The shutter 33a is attached to the first rod 31a. That is, the support member 33b fixes the shutter 33a to the first rod 31a between the stop portion 31c and the drive device 31b. Thereby, the shutter 33a moves together with the first rod 31a. When the first rod 31a moves the electronic component W to the holding position H2 and stops it at the stop portion 31c, the shutter 33a is in the shielding position. Then, when the first rod 31a further moves, the shutter 33a moves to the open position.

  The suction device 34 is a device that moves to the holding position H2 by sequentially sucking from the leading electronic component W among the electronic components W that move continuously. By the suction device 34, the electronic components W are sucked and held one by one at the holding position H2. The suction device 34 has a suction hole 34a and a ventilation path 34b. The suction hole 34a is formed at the boundary with the stop portion 31c at the holding position H2. The ventilation path 34b is a path communicating from the suction hole 34a to the outside of the delivery table B. The ventilation path 34b communicates with a pneumatic circuit including a vacuum generator via a tube. For this reason, the suction hole 34a sucks the electronic component W by the generation of the negative pressure by the vacuum generator, and stops the suction by the vacuum break or the generation of the positive pressure.

[Operation]
The operation of the present embodiment as described above will be described. The relay device 3 according to the present embodiment includes a direct drive motor that rotates the transport device T, a Z-axis mechanism that moves the holding unit 21 up and down, pneumatic circuits including electromagnetic valves, and drive devices 31b and 32b. In addition, the operation timing is controlled by sending electric signals to various processing units 4.

(Overall operation)
The operation of the entire inspection apparatus 1 will be described. First, the relay device 3 receives the electronic components W one by one from the transport path 11 and passes them to the holding unit 21. Details of this operation will be described later. The electronic component W held by the holding unit 21 is conveyed by one pitch of intermittent rotation of the conveying device T, and processing by various processing units 4 is performed at the stop position.

(Relay operation)
The relay operation of the electronic component W from the conveyance path 11 to the holding unit 21 by the relay device 3 will be described with reference to FIGS.

(initial state)
In the initial state, as shown in FIG. 2, the tip of the first rod 31a is in a position in contact with the front surface in the traveling direction with respect to the leading electronic component W that has come to the stop position H1. The second rod 32a does not protrude to the stop position H2 and is in a position where it does not contact the electronic component W. The shutter 33a is at a shielding position that shields the opening at the holding position H2.

  The plurality of electronic components W supplied from the supply device 1 are moved in a line along the transport path 11 by the vibration of the supply device 1. For this reason, the leading electronic component W comes into contact with the tip of the first rod 31a and temporarily stops at the stop position H1.

(Move to holding position)
From the initial state, as shown in FIG. 3, suction by the suction device 34 is started and air blowing by the blowout unit 12 is started. Then, the first rod 31a allows the electronic component W to advance by the suction of the suction device 34, advances the electronic component W by one piece, and moves it to the holding position H2. The electronic component W is attracted to the suction hole 34a and positioned in a certain direction in contact with the stop surface of the stop portion 31c.

  At this time, the shutter 33a of the shielding part 33 also moves. However, the shielding state that shields the opening of the holding position H2 is maintained. For this reason, it is possible to prevent the electronic component W from flying due to vibration or airflow. The front surface of the leading electronic component W that moves is in contact with the first rod 31a that moves in the same direction. For this reason, the movement is stable and the displacement in position and direction is small.

(Fixed at the stop position)
Next, as shown in FIG. 4, the second rod 32 a rises, and the tip thereof pushes up in contact with the electronic component W next to the leading electronic component W. The pushed up electronic component W rises and its upper surface comes into contact with the facing portion 32c. For this reason, the electronic component W is clamped and fixed between the second rod 32a and the facing portion 32c. Since the electronic component W is lifted and fixed in this manner, it is separated from the leading electronic component W. Further, the movement of the subsequent electronic component W is regulated by the fixed electronic component W.

(Release holding position)
As shown in FIG. 5, when the first rod 31a further moves in the traveling direction of the electronic component W, the shutter 33a moves and comes to an open position where the opening above the holding position H2 is opened. And the holding | maintenance part 21 descend | falls and hold | maintains the upper surface of the electronic component W in the holding position H2. At this time, since the next electronic component W is fixed by the second rod 32a and the facing portion 32c, displacement and displacement of the electronic component W due to suction of the holding portion 21 are prevented.

(Removal of electronic parts)
Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 6, when the holding portion 21 is raised, the leading electronic component W is raised and taken out from the holding position H2. And the electronic component W hold | maintained at the holding | maintenance part 22 is processed by the various process units 4, being conveyed by the conveying apparatus T. FIG.

(Return to initial state)
After the relay operation as described above, as shown in FIG. 7, the first rod 31a moves in the direction opposite to the traveling direction of the electronic component W and presses against the electronic component W fixed at the stop position H1. . At the same time, the second rod 32a descends and leaves the electronic component W. Thereby, the movement of the electronic component W by the vibration of the supply apparatus 1 and the blowing of the air by the blowing part 12 maintains a stop state. Therefore, it returns to the initial state shown in FIG.

[Function and effect]
In this embodiment, among the electronic components W that move continuously, the suction device 34 that moves the electronic components W to the holding position where the electronic components W are held by the holding unit 21 by sequentially sucking from the leading electronic components W, and the leading The first pressing part 31 that allows the leading electronic component W to move to the holding position H2 after being stopped at the stop position H1 in contact with the electronic component W, and the leading electron at the holding position H2 A second pressing portion 32 that restricts the movement of the subsequent electronic component W by pressing the electronic component W next to the component W and stopping the electronic component W at the stop position H1 is provided.

  Thus, since the first pressing portion 31 stops the leading electronic component W at the stop position H1 and moves it to the holding position H2, the electronic component W to be held is hardly affected by vibration and airflow. The position and posture of the are stable. In particular, it is possible to prevent flying by suction by the suction device 4. And since the 2nd holding | suppressing part 32 hold | suppresses the top next electronic component W and stops at the stop position H1, the top electronic component W can be isolate | separated reliably. Therefore, the electronic component W can be delivered stably without mistakes.

  The first pressing portion 31 has a rod-shaped first rod 31 a that is driven by the driving device 31 b and has a tip that contacts and separates from the front surface in the traveling direction of the electronic component W. For this reason, the space in the width direction orthogonal to the traveling direction of the electronic component W is small, and the processing unit 4 and the like can be installed compactly without obstructing.

  The second pressing portion 32 is driven by the driving device 32b, and sandwiches the electronic component W between the second rod 32a and the rod-shaped second rod 32a whose tip is in contact with and away from the bottom surface of the electronic component W. It has a facing part 32c. For this reason, the space in the width direction perpendicular to the traveling direction of the electronic component W is small, and the space below the transport path 11 and the holding portion 21 can be used effectively.

  The holding position H2 is provided with an opening through which the electronic component W held by the holding unit 21 passes, and has an opening / closing device 33 that opens and closes the opening. For this reason, when the electronic component W moves, it is prevented from coming off from the holding position H2. In particular, it is prevented from jumping out from the holding position H2 during suction by the suction device 4.

  The electronic component W sucked and held at the holding position H2 by the suction device 34 is in contact with the stop portion 31c positioned in a certain direction. For this reason, the electronic components W held by the holding unit 21 are aligned in a certain direction.

  Moreover, the 1st rod 31a is penetrated by the stop part 31c. For this reason, the movement of the first rod 31a is guided and the installation space can be reduced. Further, the shutter 33a is attached to the first rod 31a. For this reason, it is not necessary to separately provide a mechanism for moving the shutter 33a, and installation space and cost can be saved.

  Since the drive devices 31b and 32b that drive the first rod 31a and the second rod 32a are electromagnetic solenoids, high-speed movement in accordance with movement of the electronic component W can be realized. In addition, the electromagnetic solenoid is suitable for a very short distance and saves installation space.

  Furthermore, even if the electronic component W is a size of 0603 or less that is likely to be displaced by airflow or vibration, according to the present embodiment, it can be stably and reliably relayed as described above. That is, for example, a relay device suitable for the electronic component W having a size of 0603 or 0402 can be configured.

[Modification]
As the holding part 21 of the electronic component W, in addition to a suction nozzle that sucks and releases the electronic component W by generating and breaking vacuum or generating positive pressure, an electrostatic chucking method, a Bernoulli chuck method, or an electronic component W is mechanically used. A chuck mechanism may be arranged to be sandwiched between the two.

  As the driving devices 31b and 32b for driving the first rod 31a and the second rod 32a, various devices such as a cylinder and a servo mechanism using a servomotor can be applied.

[Other Embodiments]
As described above, each embodiment and modification of the present invention have been described, but various omissions, replacements, changes, and combinations can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and modifications thereof are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Supply apparatus 11 Conveyance path | route 11a Conveyance end 12 Outlet part 12a Outlet hole 12b Ventilation path | route 2 Holding | maintenance apparatus 21 Holding | maintenance part 3 Relay apparatus 31 1st press part 31a 1st rod 31b Drive apparatus 31c Stop part 32 2nd press part 32a Second rod 32b Driving device 32c Face-to-face portion 33 Opening / closing device 33a Shutter 33b Support member 34 Suction device 34a Suction hole 34b Ventilation path 4 Processing unit T Conveying device

Claims (9)

Among the electronic parts that move continuously, a suction device that moves the electronic parts to the holding position where the electronic parts are held by the holding unit by sequentially sucking from the leading electronic parts;
A first pressing portion that contacts the leading electronic component and stops at the stop position, and then allows the leading electronic component to move to the holding position; and
A second pressing portion that holds the electronic component next to the leading electronic component at the holding position and stops the electronic component at the stop position;
A relay apparatus comprising:   2. The relay device according to claim 1, wherein the first pressing portion includes a rod-shaped first rod that is driven by a driving device and has a tip that contacts and separates from a front surface in the traveling direction of the electronic component. The second pressing portion is driven by a driving device, and a rod-shaped second rod whose tip is in contact with and separated from the bottom surface of the electronic component;
The relay device according to claim 1, further comprising a facing portion that sandwiches an electronic component between the second rod and the second rod. The holding position is provided with an opening through which an electronic component held by the holding portion passes.
The relay device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising an opening / closing device that opens and closes the opening.   5. The relay device according to claim 1, further comprising a stop portion that is positioned in a certain direction in contact with the electronic component at the holding position. A stop part for stopping the electronic component is provided in contact with the electronic component coming to the holding position,
The relay device according to claim 2, wherein the first rod is inserted through the stop portion. The holding position is provided with an opening through which an electronic component held by the holding portion passes.
An opening and closing device for opening and closing the opening;
The opening / closing device has a shutter that moves between a shielding position that shields an opening and an opening position that opens the opening,
The relay device according to claim 2, wherein the shutter is attached to the first rod.   The relay device according to claim 2, wherein the driving device is an electromagnetic solenoid.   The relay device according to claim 1, wherein the electronic component has a size of 0.6 mm × 0.3 mm or less.

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