JP3126008B2 - Printed circuit board transfer device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printed circuit board transport device around an assembling machine and a testing machine in a process of assembling and testing a printed circuit board in a magazine, and more particularly, to assembling using a plurality of assembling machines and testing machines. The present invention relates to a printed board transfer device suitable for easily automating and unmanned transfer of a magazine between a plurality of assembling machines and test machines when performing a test process.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an assembling machine for mounting electronic components on a printed circuit board, a stage for adjusting a hole position for positioning is provided as a stage before assembling the electronic components. By obtaining hole position correction data of the board, the insertion accuracy of the components is improved, so that the density of the printed board and the diameter of the through hole can be reduced. In this case, the stage has two stages, ie, a built-in stage and a stage for creating hole position compensation data, on both sides of the stage via an assembling machine. Therefore, the transport of the printed circuit board is supplied from one side of the assembling machine, and the discharge is performed from the side opposite to the supply side.

In order to improve work efficiency, a plurality of printed circuit boards of the same type are stored in a magazine rack and supplied to an assembling machine. Therefore, printed circuit boards of the magazine rack are assembled. Conveying devices for supplying to and discharging from the assembling machine are mounted on both sides of the assembling machine, that is, on the supply side of the assembling machine and on the discharge side opposite to the supply side, to assemble printed circuit boards. Have been done.

[0004]

In assembling a printed circuit board, a plurality of assembling machines are usually used, and a magazine is transported between the assembling machines to assemble the printed circuit boards in the magazine. However, as described above, conventionally, the supply side of the magazine in the assembling machine and the discharge side of the work end magazine are located on both sides thereof via the assembling machine. The transport route for transporting a magazine between assembly machines has become complicated, which has been a problem in promoting unmanned and automated magazine transport between assembly machines.

Further, at the start of the assembling work, it is necessary to put another magazine for receiving the printed circuit board, which has been completed with the assembling work, on the discharge side in advance, and it is necessary to carry out the carrying work for carrying the another magazine. When the other magazine is loaded into the discharge side, it is necessary to adjust the magazine width according to the type of the printed circuit board in the supply side magazine.
Such a work of adjusting the width of a magazine or a work of transporting another magazine for receiving, etc., has a large possibility of generating a waiting time at the start of the assembling work, and it is difficult to respond to automation and unmanned operation of each work. Had a point. This is a particularly serious problem when handling a large variety of small lot printed circuit boards.

Further, the fact that the another magazine is put in advance on the discharge side and the printed circuit board whose assembly work has been completed is received means that the printed circuit board is replaced from the supply side magazine with the another magazine. It is necessary to newly rewrite the information of the ID plate of the supply magazine including the various information such as the type, the number, and the process of the printed circuit board into the ID plate of the other magazine. This is a problem that complicates the information management system and makes it difficult to automate production management.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art,
A printed board transfer device capable of easily coping with automation and unmanned operation when performing a work of assembling printed boards in a magazine by using a plurality of assembling machines to transfer a magazine between the assembling machines. The purpose is to provide.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is to mount a predetermined assembly component on a printed circuit board which has not been assembled and stored in a magazine, and mount the mounted printed circuit board together with the magazine. In the printed circuit board transfer device for transferring to the assembling machine of the next process via the transfer means,
(1) A magazine accommodating a printed circuit board which has not been assembled is supplied through the transport means, and the magazine is supplied to a board transfer unit in the magazine via a magazine transport conveyor installed in parallel with the transport means. And (2) all the printed circuit boards in the magazine supplied to the board-in-magazine transfer unit are transferred via a cylinder that collectively presses the printed board in a direction orthogonal to the magazine transfer conveyor. And (3) a printed circuit board temporarily stored guide that can be temporarily moved up and down, and (3) the printed circuit boards stored in the printed circuit board temporary storage guide are sequentially supplied one by one. (4) After mounting the above components, the assembling machine discharges the mounted printed circuit board from the side opposite to the supply side; (5) a printed circuit board receiving section which temporarily moves the magazine, which has stored the lint board and becomes empty, by the magazine conveyor, and waits until all the mounted printed circuit boards are conveyed; A printed circuit board slide holding unit that receives and holds the mounted printed circuit board discharged from the assembling machine, and that can move to a position parallel to the magazine transport conveyor and opposed to the printed circuit board receiving unit; A printed circuit board lifting / lowering unit that receives the mounted printed circuit board at the moving position from the substrate slide holding unit and can move up and down a predetermined height from the position;
(7) an under-floor transport section, which is disposed at the lowest position of the printed board lifting / lowering section in a direction orthogonal to the printed board lifting / lowering section and has a length substantially the same as that of the assembling machine for transporting the mounted printed board; ) While receiving the mounted printed circuit boards conveyed from the underfloor conveying section while increasing the position while counting the number of the printed circuit boards one by one from the lowest position, receiving the mounted printed circuit boards every time the ascending is performed. A printed board elevating section having a built-in number counting function capable of raising and lowering to be supplied to the empty magazine waiting in the printed board receiving section; and (9) the standby receiving the same number of mounted printed boards as all the unprinted printed boards. And a magazine discharging transport unit for discharging the empty magazine to a transport unit that has supplied the magazine to the magazine supplying transport unit.

Then, various information of the printed circuit board stored in the magazine is written in the magazine.
A configuration in which a D plate is attached is preferable.

The magazine supply transport unit reads an ID plate affixed to the magazine and prints the printed board temporary storage guide, the printed board slide holding unit, the printed board elevating unit, and the printed board in the underfloor transport unit. It is preferable to provide an ID reader that adjusts the width of the sheet and the width of each conveyor that conveys the printed circuit board.

Further, the guide for temporarily storing the printed circuit boards is moved up by the storage interval of the printed circuit boards every time when the mounted printed circuit boards are discharged by the assembling machine, and all the stored printed circuit boards are transferred to the assembling machine. After being supplied, it is good to be able to descend to the initial position.

[0012]

According to the above construction, a magazine containing printed circuit boards which have not been assembled through the transport means can be transported together with the magazines in the magazine via the magazine supply transport section and the magazine transport conveyor arranged in parallel with the transport means. It is supplied to the transfer unit and is transferred collectively to the printed circuit board temporary storage guide via the cylinder that collectively presses the position in the direction perpendicular to the magazine transport conveyor, and is temporarily stored. On the other hand, the magazine that has been emptied by storing all the printed circuit boards in the printed circuit board temporary storage guide is temporarily moved by the magazine transport conveyor and printed until all of the mounted printed circuit boards are transported. It is made to stand by in a substrate receiving part.

The printed circuit boards housed in the printed circuit board temporary storage guide are sequentially sent to the assembling machine in order from the top.
It is supplied one by one. The guide for temporary storage of printed circuit boards
Each time a printed circuit board is supplied to an assembling machine, the printed circuit board rises by the storage interval. After all the stored printed circuit boards are supplied to the assembling machine, the printed circuit board is lowered to its original position and the next magazine is not assembled. Can be stored.

When the mounting operation of the predetermined electronic components and the like is completed in the assembling machine, the mounted printed circuit board is discharged from the side opposite to the supply side, and is passed through a conveyor in parallel with the magazine transport conveyor and the printed circuit board. The sheet is conveyed to and held by a printed circuit board slide holding section movable to a position facing the receiving section. The held mounted printed circuit board is transferred to the printed circuit board elevating section at the moved position, descends from the position to the lowest position at a predetermined height, and is orthogonal to the printed circuit board elevating section at this position. It is transferred to an underfloor transporting section having the same length as the assembling machine arranged in the direction, and transported to a printed board lifting / lowering section with a built-in number counting function located at the lowest position. The printed circuit board elevating unit receives the mounted printed circuit boards conveyed while counting the number of the printed circuit boards one by one and raising the position, and receiving the mounted printed circuit boards each time the printed circuit board is received. To the empty magazine that is in standby.

The supply of the mounted printed circuit boards to the empty magazine is continued until the number of mounted printed circuit boards received in the magazine is equal to the number of unprinted printed circuit boards initially stored in the empty magazine. For this reason, in the magazine that is full, the mounted printed circuit boards are stored in the same state as the original state in which the printed circuit boards that have not been assembled are stored. This full magazine is discharged to the transporting means which supplied the magazine to the magazine supply transporting section via the magazine discharging transporting section.

As described above, it is possible to supply a magazine that has not been assembled and to discharge the magazine after the assembly is completed on the same side of the assembling machine and from the same direction. It can be simplified and unmanned.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the entire configuration of a printed board transport device, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a magazine containing a plurality of printed boards used in the apparatus of FIG. 1, and FIG.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a layout of a plurality of assembling machines when the device of FIG.

In this embodiment, in a printed circuit board assembling operation for assembling electronic components on a printed circuit board by a plurality of assembling machines, a plurality of printed boards of the same type are stored in a magazine, and a plurality of assembling machines are stored in the stored state. And a printed circuit board assembling operation for assembling the printed circuit board while transporting the printed circuit boards.

In FIG. 2, the magazine 1 has a fixed printed board guide 1a and a movable printed board guide 1b for accommodating a plurality of printed boards 2 of the same type. The movable printed board guide 1b is moved in accordance with the size, and the printed board 2 can be stored in the same direction by adjusting the width. Reference numeral 3 denotes an I affixed to the side surface of the fixed-side printed circuit board guide 1a.
Printed circuit board 2 stored in magazine 1 with D plate
Are written. By reading the ID plate 3, it is possible to obtain information such as the product name, the number, the process path, and the insertion error of the printed circuit boards 2 stored in the magazine 1.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 5 denotes a magazine for receiving the magazine 1 shown in FIG. 2 containing a printed circuit board 2 which has not been assembled through transport means (not shown), and supplying the received magazine 1 to a connected conveyor. A supply transport unit, 6 is a magazine transport conveyor connected to the magazine supply transport unit 5, 7 is a substrate transfer unit in the magazine connected to the magazine transfer conveyor 6, and 8 is a substrate transfer unit in the magazine. 7 all the printed circuit boards 2 in the magazine 1
Are collectively pressed in a direction orthogonal to the magazine transport conveyor 6 and are transferred to a vertically movable printed circuit board temporary storage guide 9. Reference numeral 10 denotes the printed circuit board 2 stored in the printed circuit board temporary storage guide 9,
An assembling machine supply cylinder that supplies one by one to the assembling machine 13 in the same direction as the collective transfer cylinder 8, and an assembling machine supply 11 that conveys each printed circuit board 2 supplied through the assembling machine supply cylinder 10. It is a conveyor. Here the assembling machine 13
Is a so-called pass-through type assembling machine that performs a predetermined assembling operation of electronic components and the like on the printed circuit board 2 supplied from one side and discharges the printed circuit board 2 after the completion of the assembling operation from the side opposite to the supply side. Is used.

Reference numeral 14 denotes an assembling machine discharging conveyor 14 for discharging the printed circuit board 2 which has been assembled by the assembling machine 13.
Reference numeral 15 denotes a discharge printed circuit board receiving conveyor, and 16 denotes a printed circuit board slide holding unit that receives and holds the printed circuit board 2 sent through the discharged printed circuit board receiving conveyor 15, and is parallel to the magazine transport conveyor 6 and described later. It can move along the slide guide 17 to a position facing the printed circuit board receiving portion. Reference numeral 18 denotes a printed circuit board lifting / lowering unit that receives the printed circuit board 2 held by the printed circuit board slide holding unit 16 at the moved position, and is capable of moving up and down a predetermined height range. 1
Reference numeral 9 denotes an underfloor transport unit disposed at the lowest position of the printed board elevating unit 18, and receives the printed circuit board 2 from the printed board elevating unit 18 and conveys it to the printed board elevating unit 20. The underfloor transport section 19 has substantially the same length as the assembling machine 13 and is also used as a work table, so that workability is not reduced even when manual intervention is performed due to an insertion error or the like. Printed circuit board elevating part 2
Numeral 0 is arranged opposite to the printed board elevating unit 18 so as to be able to arbitrarily move up and down a predetermined height range, and has a number counting function. Reference numeral 21 denotes a magazine 1 emptied by storing all the printed circuit boards 2 in the magazine 1 in the printed circuit board temporary storage guide 9, and
A printed circuit board receiving section for temporarily waiting until the assembly work is completed receives the printed circuit board 2 having completed the assembly work from the printed circuit board elevating section 20 at the standby position. 2
Reference numeral 2 denotes a magazine, which has received all the printed circuit boards 2 that have been completely assembled by the printed circuit board receiving unit 21, and transfers the magazine 1 to the magazine supply transport unit 5 to a transport unit (not shown) that supplies the unassembled magazine 1. This is a transport section for discharging the magazine. Reference numeral 23 denotes an ID reader provided in the magazine supply transport unit 5, reference numeral 30 denotes a controller for controlling the entire apparatus, and reference numeral 31 denotes a terminal device for controlling the assembling machine 13, which is also connected to the controller 30.

In the printed circuit board transport device having the above-described configuration, when the magazine 1 containing the printed circuit boards 2 not yet assembled is supplied to the magazine supply transport unit 5 via transport means (not shown), the ID reader 23 Whether the printed circuit board 2 in the magazine 1 has predetermined contents,
The board information in the ID plate 3 attached to the magazine 1 is read. Next, the magazine 1 is transported to the in-magazine substrate batch transfer section 7 via the magazine transport conveyor 6.

The board information read by the ID reader 23 is transferred to the controller 30 and the terminal 31.
The controller 30 uses the board width information in the transferred board information to temporarily store the printed board guide 9, the assembly machine supply conveyor 11, the assembly machine discharge conveyor 14, the discharged printed board receiving conveyor 15, and the printed board slide. The conveyor width and board mounting width of the holding unit 16, the printed board elevating unit 18, the underfloor conveying unit 19, and the printed board elevating unit 20 are automatically adjusted. After the completion of the width adjustment, the magazine 1 in the substrate
All the printed circuit boards 2 are pushed out by driving the collective transfer cylinder 8 and are collectively stored in the printed circuit board temporary storage guide 9. For this reason, the empty magazine 1
The printed circuit board 2 which has been moved to the printed circuit board receiving section 21 via the board-in-magazine package transfer section 7 and the magazine transport conveyor 6 and which has been collectively stored in the printed circuit board temporary storage guide 9 at this position. After completing the assembling work through the steps described below, the apparatus is temporarily put on standby to receive it.

On the other hand, the non-assembled printed circuit boards 2 collectively stored in the printed circuit board temporary storage guide 9 are supplied one by one to the assembling machine 13 by the assembling machine supply cylinder 10. This supply is started when the magazine 1 is completely moved to the printed board receiving section 21. Before the supply, the printed board 2 stored in the uppermost stage of the printed board temporary storage guide 9 is mounted on the assembling machine 13. The printed circuit board temporary storage guide 9 is raised and stopped until the supply height position reaches the supply height. Then, the cylinder 1 for supplying the assembly machine
0, and first, the printed circuit board 2 stored in the uppermost stage is supplied to the assembling machine 13.

When it is confirmed that the printed circuit board 2 on which the electronic components have been assembled by the assembling machine 13 has been discharged to the assembling machine discharging conveyor 14, the printed circuit board temporary storage guide 9 stores the printed circuit board 2. Then, the printed circuit board 2 of the next stage is supplied to the assembling machine 13 through the assembling machine supply cylinder 10. By repeating this operation,
All printed circuit boards 2 in the printed circuit board temporary storage guide 9
Are sequentially supplied to the assembling machine 13. By detecting the empty swing with the cylinder 10 for supplying the assembling machine, it is detected that the printed circuit board 2 has completely disappeared in the printed circuit board temporary storage guide 9. Subsequently, the printed circuit board temporary storage guide 9 is lowered to the initial position before being raised, and the printed circuit board collective supply from the next magazine is waited.

The assembly of the electronic parts is completed by the assembling machine 13,
Printed circuit board 2 discharged to assembly machine discharge conveyor 14
Is transported to the printed board slide holding unit 16.
When it is confirmed that the printed board 2 has been conveyed to the printed board slide holding section 16, the printed board slide holding section 16 moves to the position of the printed board elevating section 18 along the slide guide 17. When this movement is completed, the printed board 2 on the printed board slide holding unit 16 is transferred to the printed board lifting unit 18. When this transfer is confirmed, the printed board elevating unit 18 descends to the position of the underfloor conveying unit 19. When the lowering is completed, the printed board 2 is supplied from the printed board elevating section 18 to the underfloor transport section 19, and the supplied printed board 2 is transferred to the printed board elevating section 20 by the underfloor transport section 19. Subsequently, when it is confirmed that the printed circuit board 2 has been transported to the printed circuit board elevating section 20, the printed circuit board elevating section 20 ascends, and the assembling work is completed in the magazine 1 waiting in the printed circuit board receiving section 21. The printed board 2 is supplied.

The supply of the assembled printed circuit board 2 to the magazine 1 waiting in the printed circuit board receiving section 21 is as follows.
The number of sheets supplied is counted by a built-in number counting function while changing the amount of rise of the printed board elevating section 20 for each supply, and the number of stored printed circuit boards in the ID plate 3 attached to the magazine 1 is calculated. The magazine 1 waiting in the printed board receiving section 21 from the printed board elevating section 20 continues until the number of the received printed boards 2 becomes equal. The fact that the numbers of both have become the same confirms that all the printed circuit boards 2 in the magazine 1 have been assembled. For this reason, the standby magazine 1 is provided with the magazine supply transport unit 5.
It is possible to store the assembled printed circuit board 2 in the same state as the initial state in which the unassembled printed circuit board 2 supplied to is stored. Therefore, there is no need to use any other magazine at all, and there is no need to transfer data in the magazine between magazines, and it is possible to easily handle a case where printed boards of a large variety of small lots are handled. Next, the magazine 1 containing all the printed circuit boards 2 is transported to the magazine discharge transport unit 22,
It is sent to the assembling machine of the next process via a not-shown conveying means.

Through the above steps, the assembled printed circuit board 2 can be stored in the magazine 1 at the time of the initial supply in which the unprocessed printed circuit board 2 is stored, in the same state as the supply state. At the same time, the supply and discharge of the magazine 1 to and from the assembling machine 13 can be performed on the same side of the assembling machine 13 and from the same direction.

As shown in FIG. 3, the supply and discharge sides of the magazine are limited to one side of the assembling machines 13a to 13d by using the printed board conveying apparatus of the present invention. This makes it possible to carry the magazine 1 between a plurality of assembling machines by using the linear and simplified unmanned carrying means 32.
And can be arranged in a space with no waste.

In the above embodiment, the case where a plurality of assembling machines 13 are used has been described. However, each of the plurality of assembling machines 13 or a plurality of assembling machines 13 and a plurality of testing machines are mixed. It is needless to say that the same operation and effect are obtained also between the spaces.

[0031]

As described above, the present invention makes it easy to automate the operation of assembling printed circuit boards in a magazine when a plurality of assembling machines are used to transport a magazine between the assembling machines. This has the effect of being able to respond to unmanned operations.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an overall configuration of a printed board transport device.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a magazine containing a plurality of printed circuit boards used in the apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a layout of a plurality of assembling machines using the apparatus of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Magazine, 1a ... Fixed-side printed circuit board guide, 1b
… Movable-side printed circuit board guide, 2… printed circuit board, 3…
ID plate, 5: transport section for magazine supply, 6: magazine transport conveyor, 7: batch transfer section for substrates in magazine, 8 ...
Bulk transfer cylinder, 9: Guide for temporarily storing printed circuit board, 10: Cylinder for supplying assembly machine, 11: Conveyor for supplying assembly machine, 13: Assembly machine, 14: Conveyor for discharging assembly machine, 15: Receiving printed circuit board receiver Conveyor, 16 ... Holder for printed circuit board slide, 17 ... Slide guide,
18, 20: printed circuit board elevating unit, 19: underfloor transfer unit, 21: printed circuit board receiving unit, 22: magazine discharge transfer unit, 23: ID reader, 30: controller, 31: terminal device, 32: unmanned transfer means .

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor, Kenji Shimozono, 216 Totsuka-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside Hitachi, Ltd. Information and Communication Division (72) Inventor, Ryoji Sohara 216 Totsuka-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa, Inc. (56) References JP-A-61-105853 (JP, A) JP-A-63-213354 (JP, A) JP-A-5-186014 (JP, A) 9332 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B65G 1/00-1/20 B65G 60/00 H05K 13/02

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A printing method in which predetermined assembly parts are mounted on a printed circuit board that has not been assembled and stored in a magazine, and the mounted printed circuit board is transported together with the magazine to an assembling machine in the next step via a transport unit. In the board transfer device, (1) a magazine containing printed circuit boards not yet assembled is supplied via the transfer means, and the magazines are collectively transferred through a magazine transfer conveyer installed in parallel with the transfer means. (2) a cylinder for transporting all the printed circuit boards in the magazine supplied to the board-in-magazine batch transfer section in a direction perpendicular to the magazine transport conveyor; And a vertically movable guide for temporarily storing a printed circuit board which is transferred and temporarily stored via the printed circuit board. An assembling machine that sequentially receives the printed circuit boards placed one by one, mounts predetermined components on the supplied printed circuit boards, and discharges the mounted printed circuit boards from the side opposite to the supply side; The magazine that has been emptied by storing all printed boards in the printed board temporary storage guide is temporarily moved by the magazine transport conveyor, and waits until all of the mounted printed boards are transported. And (5) a printed circuit board which receives and holds the mounted printed circuit board discharged from the assembling machine, and which can be moved to a position parallel to the magazine transport conveyor and opposed to the printed circuit board receiving section. A slide holder, and (6) a pre-loader that receives the mounted printed circuit board at the moving position from the printed circuit board slide holder and moves up and down a predetermined height from the position. (7) an underfloor, which is disposed at the lowest position of the printed board elevating section in a direction orthogonal to the printed board elevating section and has substantially the same length as the assembling machine for transporting the mounted printed circuit board; And (8) receiving the mounted printed circuit boards conveyed from the underfloor conveying section while raising the position while counting the number of sheets one by one from the lowest position, and receiving the mounted printed circuit boards. A printed circuit board lifting / lowering unit having a built-in up / down number counting function for supplying an empty magazine which is on standby to the printed circuit board receiving unit every time the printed circuit board is received; and (9) the same number of mounted prints as all the printed circuit boards which have not been assembled. And a magazine discharge transport unit that discharges the standby magazine that has received the substrate to the transport unit that supplies the magazine to the magazine supply transport unit. PCB conveying apparatus characterized. 2. The printed board transport device according to claim 1, wherein the magazine is attached with an ID plate on which various information of a printed board stored in the magazine is written. 3. The printed circuit board temporary storage guide,
Each time a printed circuit board mounted on the
All pre-presses that are raised by the interval
After the printed circuit board is supplied to the assembly machine, it returns to the initial position.
2. The printed circuit board carrying device according to claim 1, wherein the printed circuit board carrying device can be lowered.
Feeder.