JP4685529B2 - Circuit board inspection equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a circuit board inspection apparatus configured to be able to execute a predetermined electrical inspection on a circuit board.

As this type of circuit board inspection apparatus, a circuit board inspection apparatus disclosed by the applicant in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-13190 is known. This circuit board inspection apparatus includes a substrate mounting table, a substrate fixing plate, and a probe, and is configured to be able to perform an electrical inspection on a circuit board. In this case, the board fixing plate is an inspection member for fixing the circuit board to the board mounting table by magnetic force, and is configured by a magnet sheet. When inspecting a circuit board using this circuit board inspection apparatus, first, after placing the circuit board on the board mounting table (inserted into the board insertion hole), the board fixing plate is placed on the circuit board. Place (insert into the fixing plate insertion hole). In this case, the substrate fixing plate is attracted to the substrate mounting table, and the edge of the back surface of the substrate fixing plate presses the edge of the circuit board against the substrate mounting table. For this reason, the circuit board is securely fixed to the board mounting table.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-13190 (page 3-4, FIG. 2-4)

  However, the above circuit board inspection apparatus has the following problems to be improved. That is, in this circuit board inspection apparatus, in order to securely fix the circuit board to the mounting table, the board fixing plate is placed on the circuit board. However, since this circuit board inspection apparatus is not provided with a mechanism for transporting the substrate fixing plate, an attachment / detachment mechanism, etc., it is necessary to manually perform the work of placing and removing the substrate fixing plate. Therefore, in this circuit board inspection apparatus, for example, when electrical inspection is continuously performed on a plurality of circuit board inspection apparatuses, it is necessary to repeat this manual operation, and it is difficult to improve inspection efficiency. There is a problem.

  The present invention has been made in view of the problems to be improved, and a main object of the present invention is to provide a circuit board inspection apparatus capable of improving inspection efficiency.

In order to achieve the above object, the circuit board inspection apparatus according to claim 1 includes a mounting table having a mounting portion on which the circuit board can be mounted, and is configured to perform predetermined electrical inspection on the circuit board. A circuit board inspection apparatus comprising: a transport mechanism that transports a sheet-like or plate-shaped inspection member used for the electrical inspection to the placement section, wherein the transport mechanism is a predetermined distance from the placement section. For traction that is slidably disposed on a rail attached to the mounting table along a direction from a first position that is spaced apart to a second position above the mounting portion, and that is installed along the rail. A first slide portion that is slid by pulling by a belt, and is slidably disposed on the rail and connected to the first slide portion via a spring member, and accompanying the slide of the first slide portion The second slide portion to be rided and the inspection member are configured to be fixed and movable to the second slide portion via a connecting arm so as to be movable along the direction from the second position toward the mounting portion. A state in which the inspection member is separated from the upper surface of the mounting table from the first position toward the second position, the fixed portion being connected and a traction mechanism that pulls the traction belt. And the inspection member is transported from the second position toward the mounting portion.

Further, the circuit board inspection apparatus according to claim 2, wherein, in the circuit board inspection apparatus according to claim 1 Symbol mounting, the traction mechanism is configured by an air cylinder.

  According to the circuit board inspection apparatus of the first aspect, since the operation of arranging the inspection member can be automated by providing the conveyance mechanism that conveys the inspection member to the mounting portion of the mounting table, the inspection efficiency is sufficient. Can be improved. In addition, the inspection mechanism is conveyed from the first position toward the second position, and the conveyance mechanism is configured to convey the inspection member from the second position toward the placement section. Since the inspection member can be retracted to the first position separated by a predetermined distance, it is possible to reliably prevent a situation in which the placement operation of the circuit board on the placement portion is hindered by the inspection member. . In addition, by conveying the inspection member while being separated from the upper surface of the mounting table, it is possible to reliably prevent contact between the upper surface of the mounting table and the inspection member.

Also, a first slide part which is slid by pulling the 牽 cited belts, a second slide portion which is slid along with the sliding of the first sliding portion, fixed connected to the second sliding portion via the connecting arm And a traction mechanism that pulls the traction belt, the conveyance mechanism is configured, so that two operations of conveyance from the first position to the second position and conveyance from the second position to the placement unit are performed in one operation. It can be executed with only one traction mechanism. Therefore, since the transport mechanism can be configured easily, the transport mechanism and thus the circuit board inspection apparatus can be configured at low cost.

Further, according to the circuit board inspection apparatus of the second aspect , since the air cylinder is used as a pulling mechanism for pulling the pulling belt, for example, compared with a configuration using a motor, low frequency and high frequency during operation are reduced. Occurrence can be kept low. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the influence of low frequency and high frequency during inspection.

  Hereinafter, the best mode of a circuit board inspection apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  First, the configuration of the circuit board inspection apparatus 1 will be described with reference to the drawings. A circuit board inspection apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 is an example of a circuit board inspection apparatus according to the present invention, and is configured to perform a predetermined electrical inspection on the circuit board 100 shown in FIG. 2, for example. . Here, as an example, the circuit board 100 is a four-chip circuit board, which is formed in a substantially rectangular shape, and a flat blank portion 101 on which no conductor pattern is formed has an outer peripheral edge portion and individual circuit boards. Formed between.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the circuit board inspection apparatus 1 includes a circuit board holding device (hereinafter also simply referred to as “holding device”) 2, an inspection unit 3, and a control unit 4. As shown in FIG. 3, the holding device 2 includes a table 11, a transport mechanism 12, a suction assisting sheet 13 (see FIG. 10), and an intake device 14 (see FIG. 1). The table 11 corresponds to the mounting table in the present invention, and is configured as a rectangular plate as a whole as shown in FIG. Further, the table 11 is formed with four openings 21, 21... Having a square shape in plan view and step portions 22 a, 22 a, and the like surrounding the outer peripheral portions of the openings 21, 21,. A mounting portion 22 is formed. In this case, the size of the step portion constituting the mounting portion 22 is defined such that the circuit board 100 can be mounted (fitted), and the upper surface of the circuit substrate 100 in the mounted state is the upper surface of the table 11. The depth is defined to be flush with each other (substantially flush), that is, substantially the same as the thickness of the circuit board 100.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, an intake passage 23 is formed in the table 11. In this case, the intake passage 23 communicates with the intake device 14 (see FIG. 1) via the intake pipe 14a, and air is sucked through the intake port 23a formed on the upper surface of the mounting portion 22. Thus, the blank portion 101 of the circuit board 100 placed on the placement portion 22 is sucked and the circuit board 100 is held. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, rails 24 a and 24 b (hereinafter also referred to as “rails 24” when not distinguished from each other) for sliding moving units 31 a and 31 b of the transport mechanism 12 described later are provided on the table 11. They are respectively attached along two opposing sides (upper and lower sides in the figure) (in a direction from the first position to the second position in the present invention).

  As shown in FIG. 3, the transport mechanism 12 includes moving units 31a and 31b (hereinafter, also referred to as “moving unit 31” when not distinguished), a belt 32, pulleys 33, 33,. 1), and the suction assisting sheet 13 is transported from a retreat position P1 (first position in the present invention: see FIG. 12), which will be described later, toward the mounting portion 22 of the table 11. As shown in FIG. 4, the moving unit 31 includes a first slider 41, a second slider 42, and a sheet fixing unit 43. The first slider 41 corresponds to the first slide portion in the present invention, and is slidably disposed on the rail 24. Further, the first slider 41 is fixed to the belt 32 at one end (upper end in the figure), and is slid in the direction of the arrow A3 or the arrow A4 shown in the figure by the pulling by the belt 32. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, a slope 41 b with which the bearing 43 b of the seat fixing portion 43 abuts is formed at the other end of the first slider 41.

  The second slider 42 corresponds to the second slide portion in the present invention, and is slidably disposed on the rail 24. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the second slider 42 has a notch 42a formed at the center thereof, and the first slider 41 is configured to be movable in the notch 42a. Further, the second slider 42 is coupled to the first slider 41 via a coil spring (a spring member in the present invention) 42b. In this case, the second slider 42 is pulled in the direction of the arrow A3 together with the first slider 41 by being pulled by the first slider 41 via the coil spring 42b when the first slider 41 slides in the direction of the arrow A3. Can be slid. In addition, when the first slider 41 slides in the direction of the arrow A4, the first slider 41 abuts the one end surface 41a of the first slider 41 when the first slider 41 slides in the direction of the arrow A4. By being pressed in the direction of A4, the first slider 41 is slid in the direction of arrow A4.

  The sheet fixing portion 43 corresponds to a fixing portion in the present invention, and is configured to fix the suction assisting sheet 13 as shown in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 8, the seat fixing portion 43 is provided with arms (connecting arms in the present invention) 43a and 43a that are movable along the vertical direction (the directions of arrows A5 and A6 shown in both drawings). The second slider 42 is connected to the second slider 42. The bearing 43 b is attached to the seat fixing portion 43 so as to abut against the inclined surface 41 b of the first slider 41.

  The belt 32 corresponds to the traction belt in the present invention, and is constituted by a timing belt (toothed belt). Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the belt 32 is stretched around the pulleys 33, 33. In this case, a part of the belt 32 is constructed along the rails 24a and 24b. The pulleys 33, 33... Are respectively arranged at the corners of the table 11 to guide the belt 32. The air cylinder 34 corresponds to a traction mechanism in the present invention, and the slider 34a is shown by an arrow A1 shown in FIG. 3 by compressed air supplied from a compressor 35 (see FIG. 1) via air couplers 34b and 34c attached to both ends. Or slide in the direction of arrow A2. In this case, one end of the slider 34a is fixed to the belt 32, and the belt 32 is pulled along with the slide.

  The suction assisting sheet 13 corresponds to the inspection member in the present invention, and is a member for assisting the suction of the circuit board 100 to the mounting portion 22 when the circuit board 100 is inspected, as shown in FIG. The frame member 51 and the sheet 52 are provided. The frame member 51 is formed in a frame shape having an opening 51 a that is slightly larger than the circuit board 100. The sheet 52 is made of, for example, a soft resin, and an opening 52 a slightly smaller than the circuit board 100 is formed at the center, and the outer peripheral edge thereof is affixed to the frame member 51.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the inspection unit 3 includes a probe 61 and a moving mechanism 62, and performs a predetermined electrical inspection on the circuit board 100 under the control of the control unit 4. The control unit 4 controls the operation of the air cylinder 34 in the transport mechanism 12 by controlling the compressor 35. In addition, the control unit 4 controls the inspection unit 3 to execute a predetermined electrical inspection for the circuit board 100.

  Next, an inspection method for the circuit board 100 using the circuit board inspection apparatus 1 will be described with reference to the drawings. In the initial state, the slider 34a of the air cylinder 34 in the holding device 2 is located at the initial position P0 shown in FIG. 11, and the moving parts 31a and 31b are located at the initial positions P1a and P1b shown in FIG. And

  In this inspection, first, as shown in FIG. 11, the suction auxiliary sheet 13 is bridged over the sheet fixing portions 43 and 43 in the moving portions 31 a and 31 b of the transport mechanism 12, and both end portions of the suction auxiliary sheet 13 are sheet fixing portions. It fixes to 43 and 43, respectively. Next, the circuit board 100 is placed on the placement part 22 so that the upper surface of the placement part 22 (step part) in the table 11 and the back surface of the circuit board 100 face each other. In this case, since there is a flat blank portion 101 on which the conductor pattern or the like is not formed on the outer peripheral edge portion of the back surface of the circuit board 100, the circuit board 100 has the blank portion 101 and the upper surface of the mounting portion 22 separated from each other. Placed on the placement unit 22 in close contact. Here, as shown in the figure, the position where the suction assisting sheet 13 is fixed, that is, the retracting position P1 that is retracted until the suction assisting sheet 13 is transported is separated from the placement portion 22 by a predetermined distance. A situation in which the placement work of the circuit board 100 on the placement unit 22 is hindered by the suction assisting sheet 13 is reliably prevented.

  Subsequently, the circuit board inspection apparatus 1 is operated. At this time, the intake device 14 starts intake, and air is sucked from the intake port 23 a of the mounting portion 22 through the intake path 23 in the table 11. For this reason, the blank portion 101 of the circuit board 100 is attracted to the upper surface of the mounting part 22, and the circuit board 100 is fixed to the mounting part 22. Next, the control unit 4 controls the supply of air by the compressor 35 and operates the air cylinder 34. In this case, the controller 4 slides the slider 34a of the air cylinder 34 in the direction of the arrow A1 shown in FIG. 11 by supplying air from the air coupler 34c side. Along with this, the belt 32 is pulled, and the first slider 41 of the moving unit 31 whose one end is fixed to the belt 32 is moved in the direction of the arrow A3 shown in FIG. At this time, as shown in FIG. 4, the second slider 42 is pulled by the first slider 41 via the coil spring 42b and attached to the second slider 42 via the second slider 42 and the arms 43a and 43a. The sheet fixing portion 43 is slid together with the first slider 41 in the direction of arrow A3. Thereby, the adsorption | suction auxiliary | assistant sheet | seat 13 currently fixed to the sheet | seat fixing | fixed part 43 and 43 is conveyed along the rails 24a and 24b (along the direction which goes to the 2nd position from the 1st position in this invention).

  In this case, as shown in FIG. 4, the second slider 42 is attracted to the first slider 41 by the elastic force of the coil spring 42b, and the one end surface 41a of the first slider 41 and one surface 42c of the second slider 42 contact each other. It touches. In this state, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the bearing 43 b of the seat fixing portion 43 is positioned on the upper side (the right side in FIG. 5) of the one end surface 41 a of the first slider 41, and the lower surface ( The back surface is positioned above the upper surfaces of the first slider 41 and the second slider 42, that is, the upper surface of the table 11. For this reason, the suction assisting sheet 13 fixed to the sheet fixing portion 43 is conveyed in a state of being separated from the upper surface without contacting the upper surface of the table 11.

  Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 12, when the suction assisting sheet 13 is conveyed to an intermediate position P2 (second position in the present invention) located above the placement portion 22 in the table 11, the stopper screw of the table 11 is used. The leading end surface of the second slider 42 abuts on the leading end of 11a. Next, when the belt 32 is further pulled, as shown in FIG. 7, the first slider 41 is further moved in the direction of the arrow A3 in the notch 42a against the elastic force of the coil spring 42b. Accordingly, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, while the bearing 43b is in contact with the inclined surface 41b of the first slider 41, the sheet fixing portion 43 and the suction assisting sheet 13 are moved in the direction of the arrow A5 by the dead weight (the second in the present invention). Move in the direction from the position toward the placement unit). Accordingly, the suction assisting sheet 13 is transported from the intermediate position P2 to the placement unit 22 (the upper surface of the circuit board 100 placed on the placement unit 22). In this case, for example, even if the circuit board 100 is warped and a gap is generated between the upper surface of the mounting portion 22 in the table 11 and the blank portion 101 of the circuit board 100, the gap is caused by the adsorption assisting sheet 13. Since it is blocked, the blank portion 101 of the circuit board 100 is reliably adsorbed to the upper surface of the mounting portion 22, and as a result, the circuit board 100 is securely fixed to the mounting portion 22.

  Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 7, the control unit 4, when the other end surface 41 c of the first slider 41 comes into contact with the other surface 42 d constituting the notch 42 a of the second slider 42, Stop supplying. Next, the control unit 4 controls the inspection unit 3 to move the probe 61 to a predetermined position on the circuit board 100 with respect to the moving mechanism 62 and to inspect the circuit board 100. In this case, since the circuit board 100 is securely fixed to the mounting portion 22, the inspection of the circuit board 100 is accurately performed. Subsequently, when the inspection of the circuit board 100 is completed, the control unit 4 controls the compressor 35 to supply air to the air cylinder 34 from the air coupler 34b side, so that the slider 34a of the air cylinder 34 is shown in FIG. It is slid in the direction of arrow A2. At this time, the belt 32 is pulled, and the first slider 41 of the moving unit 31 is moved in the direction of the arrow A4 shown in FIG. 7 in the notch 42a.

  Accordingly, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the sheet fixing portion 43 and the suction assisting sheet 13 are moved upward while the bearing 43 b is in contact with the inclined surface 41 b of the first slider 41. As a result, the suction assisting sheet 13 is transported to the intermediate position P2 while being separated from the upper surface of the circuit board 100. Next, when the belt 32 is further pulled, as shown in FIG. 4, one end surface 41a of the first slider 41 comes into contact with one surface 42c of the notch 42a, and the first slider 41 causes the second slider 42 to move along the arrow A4. By being pressed in the direction, the second slider 42, the sheet fixing portion 43, and the suction assisting sheet 13 are slid together with the first slider 41 in the direction of the arrow A4. Subsequently, the control unit 4 controls the compressor 35 to stop the supply of air to the air cylinder 34 when the slider 34a of the air cylinder 34 is located at the initial position P0 shown in FIG. As a result, the suction auxiliary sheet 13 fixed to the sheet fixing portions 43 and 43 is conveyed to the retracted position P1. In this case, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the upper surface of the sheet fixing portion 43 is located above the upper surfaces of the first slider 41 and the second slider 42. For this reason, the suction assisting sheet 13 fixed to the sheet fixing portion 43 is conveyed in a state of being separated from the upper surface without contacting the upper surface of the table 11. Hereinafter, when the inspection for the other circuit board 100 is repeatedly performed, the other circuit board 100 is placed on the placement portion 22 and the circuit board inspection apparatus 1 is operated.

  As described above, according to the circuit board inspection apparatus 1, since the conveyance mechanism 12 that conveys the adsorption assisting sheet 13 to the placement unit 22 is provided, the operation of arranging the adsorption assisting sheet 13 can be automated. Can be sufficiently improved. In addition, the conveyance mechanism 12 is configured to convey the suction assisting sheet 13 from the retracted position P1 toward the intermediate position P2 and to convey the suction assisting sheet 13 from the intermediate position P2 toward the placement unit 22. Since the suction assisting sheet 13 can be retracted to the retracted position P1 that is separated from the placement part 22 by a predetermined distance, the placement work of the circuit board 100 on the placement part 22 is hindered by the suction assisting sheet 13. The situation can be surely prevented. Further, by transporting the suction auxiliary sheet 13 while being separated from the upper surface of the table 11, it is possible to reliably prevent the upper surface of the table 11 and the suction auxiliary sheet 13 from contacting each other.

  Further, according to the circuit board inspection apparatus 1, the first slider 41 that is slid by the pulling of the belt 32, the second slider 42 that is slid along with the sliding of the first slider 41, and moves in the vertical direction. Since the transport mechanism 12 includes the sheet fixing portion 43 that is connected to the second slider 42 via the arm 43a and the air cylinder 34 that pulls the belt 32, the retreat position P1 is changed to the intermediate position P2. The two operations of the transfer and the transfer from the intermediate position P2 to the placement unit 22 can be executed by only one air cylinder 34. Therefore, since the transport mechanism 12 can be configured easily, the transport mechanism 12 and, consequently, the circuit board inspection apparatus 1 can be configured at low cost.

  In addition, according to the circuit board inspection apparatus 1, by using an air cylinder as a pulling mechanism for pulling the belt 32, for example, generation of low frequency and high frequency during operation is kept low compared with a configuration using a motor. be able to. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the influence of low frequency and high frequency during inspection.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to said structure. For example, the example of inspecting the circuit board 100 having a plurality of pieces (four pieces in the above example) has been described above, but the circuit board is suitable for inspecting various circuit boards that are preferably held by suction using the suction auxiliary sheet 13. The inspection apparatus 1 can be used. In addition, the example in which the present invention is applied to the circuit board inspection apparatus 1 that uses the suction auxiliary sheet 13 at the time of inspection has been described above, but various circuit boards that use a sheet-like or plate-like inspection member other than the suction auxiliary sheet 13. The present invention can be applied to an inspection apparatus. Specifically, for example, the present invention is applied to a circuit board inspection apparatus of a type in which a magnetic sheet is placed on a circuit board placed on the placement section and the circuit board is fixed to the placement section by magnetic force. In this case, the inspection efficiency can be improved by transporting the magnetic sheet using the transport mechanism according to the present invention. Further, although the example using the air cylinder 34 as the pulling mechanism for pulling the belt 32 has been described above, a configuration using various drive devices such as a motor instead of the air cylinder 34 may be employed.

1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a circuit board inspection device 1. FIG. 1 is a plan view of a circuit board 100. FIG. 3 is a plan view of the holding device 2. FIG. FIG. 4 is a plan view of the moving unit 31 in a state where one end surface 41a of the first slider 41 and one surface 42c of the second slider 42 are in contact with each other. FIG. 6 is a side view of the moving unit 31 in a state where the upper surface of the sheet fixing unit 43 is located above the upper surfaces of the first slider 41 and the second slider 42. It is XX sectional drawing in FIG. FIG. 4 is a plan view of the moving unit 31 in a state where the other end surface 41c of the first slider 41 and the other surface 42d of the second slider 42 are in contact with each other. It is a side view of the moving part 31 in the state by which the sheet | seat fixing | fixed part 43 was moved to the direction of arrow A5. It is the YY sectional view taken on the line in FIG. FIG. 4 is a plan view of a suction assisting sheet 13. It is a top view of the holding | maintenance apparatus 2 and the circuit board 100 in the state in which the adsorption | suction auxiliary sheet | seat 13 is located in the retracted position P1. It is a top view of the holding | maintenance apparatus 2 and the circuit board 100 in the state in which the adsorption | suction auxiliary | assistant sheet | seat 13 is located in the intermediate position P2.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Circuit board inspection apparatus 11 Table 12 Conveyance mechanism 13 Adsorption auxiliary sheet 22 Placement part 24, 24a, 24b Rail 32 Belt 34 Air cylinder 41 First slider 42 Second slider 42b Coil spring 43 Sheet fixing part 43a Arm 100 Circuit board P1 Retreat position P2 Intermediate position

Claims (2)

A circuit board inspection apparatus comprising a mounting table having a mounting portion on which a circuit board can be mounted, and configured to perform a predetermined electrical inspection on the circuit board,
A transport mechanism for transporting the sheet-like or plate-like inspection member used for the electrical inspection to the mounting portion described above,
The transport mechanism is slidably disposed on a rail attached to the mounting table along a direction from a first position separated from the mounting unit by a predetermined distance toward a second position above the mounting unit. And a first slide portion that is slid by towing by a towing belt installed along the rail, and is slidably disposed on the rail and coupled to the first slide portion via a spring member. A second slide portion that is slid along with the slide of the first slide portion, and the inspection member are configured to be fixable and movably connected along the direction from the second position toward the placement portion. a fixed portion connected to the second sliding portion via the arm, is constituted by a traction mechanism for pulling the traction belt, the second position from the first position Conveys in a state of being spaced from the upper surface of the mounting table a selfish the inspection member, the circuit board inspection apparatus for transporting a member for the inspection toward the mounting table from the second position. The traction mechanism, the circuit board inspection apparatus according to claim 1 Symbol placement is configured to include an air cylinder.

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