JP6557867B2 - Electronic equipment assembly equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic device assembling apparatus that performs assembling work for mounting a mounted portion of a cable to a connector.

  In an electronic device such as a portable terminal, a flexible cable (hereinafter simply referred to as “cable”) such as an FPC for connecting functional modules such as a display device and a circuit board constituting the device is often used. In the assembling process for assembling these electronic devices, a connecting operation for mounting the mounted portion of the cable to the connector to be connected is performed. This connection work has been done manually by hand, but the connection work for such cables is a complicated work with fine alignment, so it is difficult to improve work efficiency. Automation has been proposed (for example, Patent Document 1).

  In the prior art shown in Patent Document 1, the operation of connecting the connector 3 provided on the cable with connector 1 to the mating connector 6 provided on the member 5 such as a substrate is performed by two robots, a first robot 10 and a second robot 20. It is done by a robot. That is, in a state where the cable 1 with the connector is sandwiched and fixed by the first robot 10, the connector 3 is imaged by the first camera 31 provided in the second robot 20 to obtain the position / posture. Next, after the connector 3 is gripped by the second robot 20 based on the obtained position detection result, the connector 3 and the mating connector 6 are imaged by the second camera 32 provided in the first robot 10, and these positions and The connector 3 is connected to the mating connector 6 while obtaining posture data and performing position correction based on these data.

JP 2005-11580 A

  By the way, with the miniaturization of electronic devices, connectors and cables used in these electronic devices are also becoming smaller and thinner. Taking Patent Document 1 as an example, the connector 3 of the cable 1 has been abolished, and the structure has been changed so that the end of the cable is directly inserted into the mating connector 6 and connected. When the conventional cable 1 with a connector is handled by a robot, the connector 3 having a size and rigidity that can be grasped by the robot hand can be grasped relatively easily. However, the end of the cable from which the connector 3 has been removed is thin and easily bent, and it is extremely difficult to hold the cable with the second robot 20 as shown in Patent Document 1. For this reason, the work of attaching the cable to the connector is actually dependent on manual work.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic device assembling apparatus capable of automating a connection operation of a flexible cable to a connector with equipment having a simple configuration and improving work efficiency.

Electronic device assembly apparatus of the present invention, a cable holding tool for holding a cable, and a robot unit, wherein the causing the cable holding tool is moved relative to the electronic devices, of the cable by actuating the robot part A control unit that mounts the mounted portion on the connector of the electronic device, and the cable holding tool includes a contact portion having a contact surface that contacts one side of the cable, and one side of the cable that contacts the contact portion. moving a suction section for holding by vacuum suction, the contact with the contact portion have a width direction regulating portion for regulating the position in the width direction relative to the suction portion of said cable, said control unit, said cable holding tool Then, the contact portion is brought into contact with the root portion of the cable in the standing posture close to the mounted portion, and the cable holding tool is brought close to the connector so as to connect the cable. One side of the table into contact with the contact surface, thereby vacuum suction the cable by the suction unit.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the connection operation | work to the connector of the cable which is easy to bend can be automated by the installation of a simple structure, and work efficiency can be improved.

The perspective view of the electronic device assembly apparatus of one embodiment of this invention Structure explanatory drawing of the head part integrated in the robot part of the electronic device assembly apparatus of one embodiment of this invention The perspective view of the electronic device (before cable attachment) used as the work object of the electronic device assembly apparatus of one embodiment of this invention The perspective view of the electronic device (after cable attachment) used as the work object of the electronic device assembly apparatus of one embodiment of this invention Structure explanatory drawing of the cable holding tool of the electronic device assembly apparatus of one embodiment of this invention Functional explanatory drawing of the cable holding tool of the electronic device assembly device of one embodiment of the present invention Shape explanatory drawing of the chuck | zipper which comprises the cable holding tool of the electronic device assembly apparatus of one embodiment of this invention, and a contact part Shape explanatory drawing of the chuck | zipper which comprises the cable holding tool of the electronic device assembly apparatus of one embodiment of this invention, and a contact part The block diagram which shows the structure of the control system of the electronic device assembly apparatus of one embodiment of this invention Operation explanatory drawing which shows the electronic device assembly method of one embodiment of this invention Operation explanatory drawing which shows the electronic device assembly method of one embodiment of this invention Operation explanatory drawing which shows the electronic device assembly method of one embodiment of this invention Operation explanatory drawing which shows the electronic device assembly method of one embodiment of this invention Explanatory drawing of the image for position recognition of the connector and cable in the electronic device assembly method of one embodiment of this invention Structure explanatory drawing of the modification of the cable holding tool of the electronic device assembly apparatus of one embodiment of this invention Structure explanatory drawing of the modification of the cable holding tool of the electronic device assembly apparatus of one embodiment of this invention

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. First, the overall configuration of the electronic device assembly apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The electronic device assembling apparatus 1 uses the electronic device 4 (see FIGS. 3 and 4) such as a portable terminal as a work target and connects the functional modules to each other by a belt-like cable such as a flexible printed board. That is, the electronic device assembling apparatus 1 has a function of automatically mounting a mounted portion formed at the other end of a belt-like cable having one end connected in advance to an electronic circuit to a connector on a circuit board.

  In FIG. 1, a work stage 3 is provided on the upper surface 2 a of the base 2, and the work stage 3 positions and holds a work target electronic device 4. Here, with reference to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the electronic device 4 to be worked will be described. 3 shows a state before the cable is attached to the connector, and FIG. 4 shows a state where the cable is attached to the connector.

  In FIG. 3, the electronic device 4 is an in-vehicle electronic device provided with a display device, and the circuit board 12 that is the main body of the electronic device 4 is carried into the work stage 3 while being held by the substrate carrier 11 for handling. The The circuit board 12 has a rectangular shape, and a plurality of electronic components 12 a are mounted on the upper surface of the circuit board 12. On one side of the circuit board 12, a belt-like cable 15 with one end 15a connected to an electronic circuit (not shown) provided on the circuit board 12 is in a posture with the other end 15b facing upward. It is installed.

  A connector 13 is provided at a position facing the side to which the cable 15 is connected on the mounting surface of the circuit board 12. A mounted portion 15c (see FIG. 12) formed on the other end portion 15b opposite to the one end portion 15a of the cable 15 is mounted on the connector 13. In the connector 13, a terminal row for connection is formed on the terminal surface 13 b (see FIG. 11) on the bottom surface of the mounting portion 13 a to which the mounting portion 15 c is to be mounted. The mounting portion 15 c is inserted into the connector 13. In the mounted state, the wiring pattern 15d (see FIG. 12) formed on the mounted portion 15c contacts these terminal rows.

  The connector 13 includes a swing portion 14 (see also FIG. 11) that constitutes a lock mechanism in order to prevent the mounted portion 15c from being dropped. The swing part 14 swings with respect to the connector 13 and is provided so as to be freely opened and closed. FIG. 3 shows a state in which the electronic device 4 is carried into the work stage 3 before the attached part 15c is attached to the connector 13. As shown, the swing portion 14 is pushed down and is in a locked state.

  When mounting the mounted portion 15c to the connector 13, the connector mounting operation is performed in a state where the swing portion 14 is raised and the lock is released. Then, as shown in FIG. 4, after the attached portion 15c is attached to the connector 13, the lock is enabled again. That is, the swing portion 14 is pushed down to be in a closed state, and the mounted portion 15c is pressed by the swing portion 14 to prevent the dropout.

  In FIG. 1, the work stage 3 can be moved up and down and rotated in a horizontal plane. In the mounting work of the cable 15 for which the electronic device 4 is a work object, the work stage 3 is moved up and down to move the electronic device. 4 is positioned at a predetermined working height. Further, by rotating the work stage 3, the side where the cable 15 to be worked in the electronic device 4 is aligned with a predetermined work position by the robot unit 5 described below.

  A corner post 2b is erected on the corner portion of the upper surface 2a of the base 2, and a horizontal gantry 2c is erected on the upper end portion of the corner post 2b. An operation panel 10 having a touch panel is arranged on the side surface of the gantry 2c. An instruction input for an operation or operation instruction for the robot unit 5 is executed by a touch operation input via the operation panel 10. The operation panel 10 has a display function, and a notification when an abnormality or malfunction occurs in the cable mounting operation by the electronic device assembly apparatus 1 is displayed on the operation panel 10. As for the coordinate system of the electronic device assembly apparatus 1, when viewed from the front of the electronic device assembly apparatus, the horizontal direction is the X axis, and the X axis is perpendicular to the front-rear direction. The Y axis, the X axis, and the Y axis are up and down. The axis perpendicular to the direction is taken as the Z axis.

  On the lower surface of the gantry 2c, a fixed base portion 6 incorporating a drive mechanism of the robot portion 5 described below is disposed. The fixed base portion 6 incorporates six servo drive mechanisms that operate individually, and each servo drive mechanism individually drives the six link members 7 extending downward from the fixed base portion 6. The lower end portion of the link member 7 is coupled to the base portion 8. In the above configuration, the fixed base portion 6, the link member 7, and the base portion 8 constitute the robot portion 5.

  Here, the robot unit 5 is a 6-degree-of-freedom type parallel link robot having six link members 7 that individually operate, and the lower end portions of the six link members 7 extending downward from the fixed base unit 6 are: The cable 15 is coupled to the base portion 8 of the head portion 9 which is a work unit for performing a mounting operation of mounting the cable 15 on the connector 13. As shown in FIG. 2, the link member 7 is coupled to the base portion 8 via the universal joint 7a. With this configuration, the robot portion 5 can cause the base portion 8 to perform a movement operation with six degrees of freedom. It has become.

  A cable holding tool 20 and a connector lock tool 30 are attached to the base unit 8 that is moved by the robot unit 5, and further includes an imaging unit 40 and an illumination 46. The cable holding tool 20 has a function of holding the cable 15 to be attached to the connector 13, and the connector lock tool 30 is used to release or enable the lock mechanism provided in the connector 13. .

  By moving the base unit 8 by the robot unit 5, the cable holding tool 20 and the connector lock tool 30 can be moved relative to the electronic device 4 held on the work stage 3. In the mounting operation of mounting the mounted portion 15c of the cable 15 to the connector 13, the robot unit 5, the cable holding tool 20, and the connector lock tool 30 are operated by the control unit 51 (see FIG. 9).

  That is, the control unit 51 performs an operation of mounting the mounted portion 15 c of the cable 15 on the connector 13 by operating the robot unit 5. In this connector mounting operation, the control unit 51 operates the robot unit 5 to unlock or enable the connector 13 with the connector lock tool 30 and lock the cable 15 held by the cable holding tool 20. The operation of attaching to the connector 13 for which is released is executed.

  The robot unit 5 and the cable holding tool 20 constitute a cable attachment mechanism that holds the cable 15 and attaches it to the connector 13. The robot unit 5 and the connector lock tool 30 constitute a lock operating mechanism that releases or enables the lock of the connector 13. In the present embodiment, the configuration in which the cable holding tool 20 and the connector lock tool 30 are moved by the common robot unit 5 is shown. However, the configuration in which the cable holding tool 20 and the connector lock tool 30 are moved by individual drive mechanisms. It may be.

  A detailed configuration of the cable holding tool 20 will be described. In the base portion 8 shown in FIG. 2, an opening 8a is provided at the drive center indicating the center position of the plurality of universal joints 7a. An L-shaped bracket 25 is coupled to a lower surface in the vicinity of the side end portion that is separated from the opening 8a in the right direction by a bent stopper 26. The cable holding tool 20 is held on the lower surface of the fixing member 25 a extending in the horizontal direction in the bracket 25. The cable holding tool 20 includes a pair of chucks 23 that are opened and closed by an actuator 24 and a cable suction portion 21 that is coupled to the lower surface of the actuator 24.

  As shown in FIG. 5A, the actuator 24 is coupled to the lower surface of the fixing member 25 a, whereby the cable holding tool 20 is fixed and held on the lower surface side of the base portion 8. A chuck 23 is attached to each of the pair of moving arms 24 a extending from the actuator 24 in the lateral direction. By driving the actuator 24, the moving arm 24 a moves together with the chuck 23 in the opening / closing direction (arrow a direction).

  Between the pair of chucks 23, a contact portion 22 provided at the tip of the connecting portion 21 a extending from the cable suction portion 21 is located. When the contact portion 22 contacts one side (upper surface) of the cable 15 (see FIG. 12), the cable 15 can be held by the cable holding tool 20. Further, as shown in FIG. 5B, by driving the actuator 24, the chuck 23 moves away from the contact portion 22 (arrow b).

  The detailed shapes of the contact portion 22 and the chuck 23 will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIGS. 6A and 7A, the lower surface of the contact portion 22 is a contact surface 22a that comes into contact with one surface of the cable 15, and the contact surface 22a is adsorbed in communication with the vacuum suction hole 22c. The opening 22b is open. The vacuum suction hole 22c is connected to a vacuum suction source (not shown) via a suction path provided in the cable suction portion 21, and the vacuum suction hole 22c is connected with the cable 15 in contact with the contact surface 22a. Thus, the suction portion 22b is vacuum-sucked, so that the contact portion 22 holds the cable 15 by vacuum suction.

  Therefore, the suction opening 22b communicated with the vacuum suction hole 22c serves as a suction portion that holds the one surface of the cable 15 in contact with the contact portion 22 by vacuum suction. The suction portion is formed on the contact surface 22 a of the contact portion 22, and the pair of chucks 23 is disposed at a position sandwiching the contact portion 22. Thus, by arranging the contact surface 22a between the chucks 23 that sandwich the cable 15 from the width direction, the cable 15 can be stably held.

  Both side surfaces 22d of the contact portion 22 and the inner side surface 23c of the chuck 23 can be brought into contact with and separated from each other, and a lower end portion of the inner side surface 23c is provided with a projection 23b having a triangular cross section protruding inward. By driving the actuator 24 and moving the pair of chucks 23 in the closing direction as shown in FIG. 6 (b), the inner surface 23c of the chuck 23 and the contact portion as shown in FIG. 7 (a). The two side surfaces 22d of 22 are in a state of approaching or directly contacting with a predetermined fine gap.

  In this state, the inner side surfaces 23c of the pair of chucks 23 come into contact with the contact surfaces 22a and come into contact with both end surfaces of the cable 15 held by suction, thereby pinching the cable 15 in the width direction. Thereby, the position of the width direction with respect to the adsorption | suction opening part 22b of the cable 15 is controlled. That is, the pair of chucks 23 that sandwich the cable 15 in the width direction includes a width direction restriction portion that restricts the position in the width direction with respect to the suction opening 22 b (suction portion) of the cable 15 that contacts the contact surface 22 a of the contact portion 22. It has become. In this configuration, the pair of chucks 23 can be opened and closed by an actuator 24. As shown in FIG. 6B and FIG. When the distance is approaching, the position of the cable 15 in the width direction is regulated.

  In this state, as shown in FIG. 7B, the lower surface 23a of the chuck 23 projects downward from the contact surface 22a of the contact portion 22 by a predetermined projecting dimension d. The both ends of 15 are inserted | pinched. Here, the projecting dimension d from the contact portion 22 of the pair of chucks 23 is appropriately set in the range of 1 to 3 times the thickness t of the cable 15. In the configuration in which the cable 15 is sandwiched between the projecting portions of the chuck 23 as described above, the lower surface 23 a is formed with the projecting portion 23 b projecting from the inner side surface 23 c to the contact portion 22 side. It is possible to prevent the cable 15 in the disconnected state from falling off.

  In the chuck 23 shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, an example is shown in which a protrusion 23b is formed at the lower end portion of the inner surface 23c so that the lower surface 23a protrudes toward the contact portion 22. However, such a protrusion 23b is not necessarily provided. Not required. That is, like the chuck 23 </ b> A shown in FIG. 8, the lower end portion of the inner side surface 23 c may be smooth. Also in this example, the lower surface 23a of the chuck 23A protrudes downward from the contact surface 22a of the contact portion 22 by a predetermined protrusion dimension d, and both end portions of the cable 15 are sandwiched between the protrusion portions. Here, the protruding dimension d of the pair of chucks 23 from the contact portion 22 is appropriately set within a range of 1 to 3 times the thickness t of the cable 15, as in the examples shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. .

  Next, the configuration of the connector lock tool 30 will be described. In FIG. 2, a shaft portion 33 extending obliquely downward in the outer direction is fixed to a lower surface on the left end side of the base portion 8 via a stopper 34. A rectangular block-shaped distal end portion 31 is attached to the distal end of the shaft portion 33, and claws 32 are projected from both end portions of the distal end portion 31. The shaft portion 33, the tip portion 31, and the claw 32 constitute a connector lock tool 30 that is used to unlock or enable the connector 13.

  As described above, the locking mechanism provided in the connector 13 is configured such that the mounted portion 15c is fixed to the connector 13 by opening and closing the swing portion 14 provided in the connector 13 so as to be tiltable by using the connector lock tool 30. Unlocking is performed. In order to release the lock of the connector 13 in which the swing portion 14 is pushed down in the connector 13 and the lock is effective, the robot portion 5 is operated and the lower surface of the swing portion 14 in the closed state and the connector 13 are pushed down. The claw 32 is inserted into the gap between them, and the shaft portion 33 is moved in this state, and the swing portion 14 is raised by the claw 32 (see FIG. 10B).

  Further, in order to enable the lock again after releasing the lock, the tip portion 31 is brought into contact with the swing portion 14 in the standing state from the upper surface side, and the swing portion 14 is pushed down by the tip portion 31 (FIG. 13D). )reference). That is, the connector lock tool 30 has a tip portion 31 that pushes down the swing portion 14 and a claw 32 that is used to raise the swing portion 14. In the present embodiment, a plurality of claws 32 are provided on the tip portion 31. It has a configuration.

  On the bracket 41 erected in the vicinity of the opening 8a on the upper surface of the base portion 8, an imaging unit 40 including an optical lens unit 42 and a camera 43 is disposed in a downward posture with the imaging optical axis 43a aligned with the drive center. Has been. The cable 15 held by the cable holding tool 20 is obtained by imaging the imaging unit 40 in a state where the robot unit 5 is operated and the head unit 9 is positioned above the electronic device 4 held on the work stage 3. The image of the mounted portion 15c and the image of the connector 13 mounted on the circuit board 12 can be acquired.

  A support member 44 is erected on the lower surface side of the base portion 8 so as to surround the opening 8a. An illumination holding plate 45 corresponding to the outer shape of the electronic device 4 is held at the lower end of the support member 44, and an illumination 46 made of a light emitter such as an LED is attached to the lower surface of the illumination holding plate 45. . When imaging by the imaging unit 40, the illumination 46 is turned on to illuminate the cable 15 and the connector 13 to be imaged. That is, the electronic device assembling apparatus 1 has a configuration in which the base unit 8 of the head unit 9 includes the imaging unit 40 that detects the mounted portion 15 c of the cable 15 and the illumination 46.

  The cable holding tool 20 and the connector lock tool 30 are arranged to face each other with the imaging optical axis 43a of the camera 43 of the imaging unit 40 interposed therebetween. With such an arrangement, it is possible to image both the cable 15 held by the cable holding tool 20 by the common imaging unit 40 and the connector 13 to be locked by the connector lock tool 30.

  Next, the configuration of the control system of the electronic device assembly apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 9, the control unit 51 is connected to the robot unit 5, the work stage 3, the imaging unit 40 (camera), the illumination 46, the actuator 24 (cable holding tool 20), the operation panel 10, and the notification unit 55.

  When the control unit 51 controls the robot unit 5, the work stage 3, and the actuator 24 of the cable holding tool 20, the cable mounting operation shown in FIGS. 10 to 14 is executed. That is, in the control process described above, the control unit 51 operates the robot unit 5 to unlock or enable the connector 13 by the connector lock tool 30, and locks the cable 15 held by the cable holding tool 20. The operation of attaching to the connector 13 for which is released is executed.

  In the execution process of this work, the control unit 51 controls the imaging unit 40 and the illumination 46 to execute an imaging process for detecting the positions of the mounted portion 15c of the cable 15 and the connector 13. An operation command for executing these processes is input via the operation panel 10, whereby the control unit 51 executes a predetermined control process. The notification unit 55 performs a process of causing the operation panel 10 to display a notification when an abnormality or failure occurs in the process of executing the cable mounting operation by the electronic device assembly apparatus 1.

  The control unit 51 also includes a cable position detection unit 52, a connector position detection unit 53, and a connector state confirmation unit 54 as internal control processing functions. The imaging unit 40, the cable position detection unit 52, the connector position detection unit 53, and the connector state confirmation unit 54 constitute an image recognition system included in the electronic device assembly apparatus 1 and have functions described below.

  The cable position detection unit 52 detects the position of the mounted portion 15 c based on a recognition screen obtained by imaging the mounted portion 15 c of the cable 15 held by the cable holding tool 20 by the imaging unit 40. Similarly, the connector position detection unit 53 detects the position of the connector 13 based on the recognition screen obtained by imaging the connector 13 to be mounted by the imaging unit 40. In the cable mounting operation for mounting the mounted portion 15 c to the connector 13, the control unit 51 controls the movement of the cable holding tool 20 by the robot unit 5 based on the position detection results of the mounted portion 15 c and the connector 13. The connector state confirmation unit 54 performs processing for confirming the state of the lock mechanism included in the connector 13 based on the image obtained by capturing the connector 13 by the imaging unit 40.

  And the connector state confirmation part 54 confirms the locked state of the connector 13 before the to-be-attached part 15c of the cable 15 is attached, As a result of the confirmation, the lock is effective or the work to attach the to-be-attached part 15c is hindered. When it is determined that the state is the state, the control unit 51 stops the mounting operation of the mounted portion 15c of the cable 15 to the connector 13 and notifies the operator by the notification unit 55. Further, the connector state confirmation unit 54 confirms the lock state of the connector 13 to which the mounted portion 15c of the cable 15 is attached, and if it is determined that the lock is not in a functioning state as a result of the confirmation. Then, the control unit 51 notifies the operator to that effect by the notification unit 55.

  As described above, the electronic device assembly apparatus 1 shown in the present embodiment has a function of mounting the mounted portion 15c of the belt-shaped cable 15 to the connector 13 of the electronic device 4 held by the work stage 3. A cable holding tool 20 for holding the cable 15, a robot unit 5 for moving the cable holding tool 20 relative to the electronic device 4 held on the work stage 3, and a cable by operating the robot unit 5. The control part 51 which attaches 15 to-be-attached parts 15c to the connector 13 is comprised.

  In the above configuration, the cable holding tool 20 includes a contact portion 22 that contacts one side of the cable 15, a suction opening 22 b as a suction portion that holds the one side of the cable 15 that contacts the contact portion 22 by vacuum suction, The cable 15 that contacts the contact portion 22 has a pair of chucks 23 as a width direction restricting portion that restricts the position in the width direction with respect to the suction portion. With such a configuration, the cable 15 having low rigidity and easy bending can be stably held with high positional accuracy. Therefore, even when the cable 15 having such characteristics is targeted, the connection work to the connector 13 can be automated by equipment having a simple configuration, and work efficiency can be improved.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 10 to FIG. 14, a cable mounting operation by the electronic device assembly apparatus 1 having the above-described configuration will be described. In this cable mounting operation, the mounted portion 15c provided on the other end portion 15b of the belt-like cable 15 with one end portion 15a connected to an electronic circuit and a root portion close to the one end portion 15a standing upward is connected to an electronic device. This corresponds to an electronic device assembling method that is automatically attached to the connector 13.

  FIG. 10A shows the state of the electronic device 4 before executing the cable mounting operation. That is, the cable 15 to be cable-attached is in a state in which one end portion 15a is connected to an electronic circuit (not shown) formed on the circuit board 12 in the electronic device 4, and a root portion near the one end portion 15a. 15 * stands upward from the edge of the circuit board 12, with the other end 15b facing upward. At this time, the attitude of the cable 15 rising from the circuit board 12 according to the degree of deformation of the cable 15 is not constant, and the attitude and position of the cable 15 in the air as shown in FIG. There are variations.

  FIG. 10B shows the unlocking of the connector 13 executed at the start of the cable mounting operation. In other words, in the electronic device 4 that has been carried onto the work stage 3 in the electronic device assembling apparatus 1, the connector 13 is in a state where the swing portion 14 is tilted and locking is enabled. For this reason, when starting the cable mounting operation, the connector locking tool 30 is used to erect the swing portion 14 in a state of being tilted at the connector 13 to release the lock.

  When releasing the lock, first, the robot portion 5 is operated to move the connector lock tool 30 fixed to the base portion 8 (arrow d), and the tip portion 31 is moved to the side of the connector 13 to be unlocked. To be located. At this time, as shown in FIG. 10B, first, the distal end portion 31 is positioned at the end portion on the open side when the swing portion 14 swings in the connector 13 (see the distal end portion 31 indicated by a broken line). Next, the shaft portion 33 is moved obliquely upward in the state where the claw 32 is inserted into the gap between the lower surface of the swing portion 14 and the connector 13 (arrow e). As a result, the swing portion 14 is swung by the claw 32 that moves together with the shaft portion 33 so that the open end portion stands, and the connector 13 is unlocked.

  Next, a cable mounting operation for mounting the mounted portion 15c of the cable 15 on the connector 13 in the unlocked state in this way is executed. Here, the robot unit 5 is first actuated to move the cable holding tool 20 as shown in FIG. 11A (arrow f), and the cable holding tool 20 is moved relative to the root portion 15 * of the cable 15 in the standing posture. The contact portion 22 (see FIGS. 5 and 6) and the chuck 23 are brought close to each other. At this time, the pair of chucks 23 included in the cable holding tool 20 are in an open state, and the root portion 15 * can be guided between the pair of chucks 23.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 11B, the contact portion 22 of the cable holding tool 20 is brought into contact with the root portion 15 * of the cable 15 to hold the intermediate portion of the cable 15. Further, the cable holding tool 20 is moved closer to the connector 13 and the cable 15 is pushed down to the connector 13 side (arrow g). In this process, the cable 15 is drawn between the pair of chucks 23 and follows the contact surface 22 a of the contact portion 22. That is, as shown in FIG. 12A, the cable 15 is guided between a pair of open chucks 23, and the upper surface of the cable 15 is brought into contact with the contact surface 22a of the contact portion 22 (see FIG. 6). Let me.

  Next, the actuator 24 is driven to move the pair of chucks 23 in the closing direction (arrow i) as shown in FIG. 12B, and both end portions of the cable 15 are sandwiched by the chucks 23 so as to be positioned in the width direction. To regulate. At the same time, the cable 15 is sucked and held by the suction opening 22b formed on the lower surface 23a of the contact portion 22. At this time, the cable 15 is in a state in which the other end 15b protrudes from the chuck 23 by the first protruding length L1. The first protrusion length L1 varies individually depending on the degree of deformation of the cable 15 in the state shown in FIG.

  Then, the cable 15 pushed down in FIG. 11B is sucked and held by the suction opening 22b of the contact surface 22a provided in the cable holding tool 20, and the cable holding tool 20 in this state as shown in FIG. 11C. Is moved relative to the connector 13 (arrow h). At this time, the other end 15b of the cable 15 is in a state of protruding from the chuck 23 by the above-described first protruding length L1.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 13A, the cable holding tool 20 is moved with respect to the connector 13 (arrow k), and the other end portion 15 b of the cable 15 is temporarily positioned with respect to the connector 13. This temporary positioning is performed while adjusting the position of the cable holding tool 20 so that the other end portion 15b of the cable 15 is located in the imaging range where the camera 43 can image simultaneously with the connector 13.

  Here, the protrusion length L2 and the stop position of the cable holding tool 20 are set in advance such that the other end portion 15b is located in the above-described imaging range. At the time of this temporary positioning, as shown in FIG. 12C, the cable holding tool 20 is moved while sliding the suction holding surface of the cable 15 by the contact surface 22a so that such a protruding length L2 is realized. (Arrow j). That is, the cable holding tool 20 is slid relative to the cable 15 while the cable 15 is held by the cable holding tool 20, and the cable holding tool 20 is brought closer to the other end 15 b of the cable 15.

  Next, in this state, recognition processing for aligning the connector 13 and the other end 15b is performed. That is, the connector 13 and the other end 15b of the cable 15 temporarily positioned are imaged by the camera 43 of the image recognition system provided in the electronic device assembling apparatus 1. Thereby, the recognition image 40a shown in FIG. 14 is acquired. In the recognition image 40a, the chuck 23 of the cable holding tool 20 holding the cable 15 attached to the connector 13 together with the image of the connector 13 before the cable attachment in which the swing portion 14 constituting the lock mechanism is opened. The image which planarly viewed the front-end | tip part of has appeared. In the recognized image 40a, since the positional relationship between the imaging unit 40 and the cable holding tool 20 is fixed, the chuck 23 always appears at a fixed position that matches the image frame direction.

  On the other hand, the mounted portion 15c of the cable 15 held by the chuck 23 exhibits some positional deviation due to a position error or the like in the holding operation. Further, the connector 13 is also in a misaligned state due to a position holding error of the electronic device 4 in the work stage 3, a position error of the connector 13 in the electronic device 4, and the like. That is, the relative positional relationship between the connector 13 and the attached portion 15c attached to the connector 13 varies for each connector 13 to be attached.

  For this reason, when the mounted portion 15c is inserted into the mounting portion 13a of the connector 13 and mounted, the recognition image 40a shown in FIG. 14 is recognized by the cable position detection unit 52 and the connector position detection unit 53 that constitute the image recognition system. By processing, position correction data for correcting such relative positional variation is obtained.

  That is, based on the images of the connector 13 and the cable 15 captured by the above-described image recognition system, the relative positional relationship between them is obtained. Specifically, the positions of the recognition points R1 and R2 for detecting the position of the mounted portion 15c are obtained, and the midpoint of the recognition points R1 and R2 is set as the representative point PM1 indicating the position of the mounted portion 15c. Further, the positions of recognition points R3, R4, R5 for detecting the position of the connector 13 are obtained, and the midpoint of the recognition points R4, R5 is set as a representative point PM2 indicating the position of the connector 13.

  Thereafter, the cable 15 is attached to the connector 13. That is, based on the positional relationship obtained by the above recognition process, the cable holding tool 20 is moved relative to the connector 13, and the mounted portion 15 c of the other end portion 15 b is mounted on the connector 13. In this mounting operation, the cable holding tool 20 holding the cable 15 is aligned so that the representative points PM1 and PM2 have an appropriate positional relationship. That is, as shown in FIG. 13B, the cable holding tool 20 is moved (arrow m), and the mounted portion 15c of the cable 15 is inserted into the mounting portion 13a of the connector 13 of the electronic device 4 from a slightly oblique direction. . At this time, the swing portion 14 is in an upright open state, and does not hinder insertion of the mounted portion 15c.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 13C, the posture of the cable holding tool 20 is adjusted (arrow n), and the mounted portion 15c is set in a horizontal posture on the terminal surface 13b of the connector 13 (see FIG. 11A). Then, the wiring pattern 15d (see FIG. 12A) formed on the mounted portion 15c is brought into contact. After the cable 15 is attached to the connector 13 in this manner, an operation for enabling the lock of the cable 15 in the connector 13 is performed.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 13D, the connector lock tool 30 is brought close to the connector 13 to be locked (arrow o). Then, the tip 31 of the connector lock tool 30 is brought into contact with the swinging part 14 in an upright state from above, and the swinging part 14 is pushed down. As a result, the mounted portion 15c mounted on the mounting portion 13a is pressed down by the swing portion 14, and the cable 15 is prevented from falling off the connector 13.

  In the above electronic device assembling method, when the cable 15 held by the cable holding tool 20 is attached to the connector 13, the cable holding tool 20 is moved relative to the connector 13 to move the other end of the cable 15. 15b is temporarily positioned with respect to the connector 13, and a relative positional relationship between the connector 13 and the other end 15b of the temporarily positioned cable 15 is obtained based on an image captured by the image recognition system. The cable holding tool 20 is moved with respect to the connector 13 on the basis of this, but these work operations are not necessarily required, and the position accuracy of the cable 15 and the connector 13 to be worked, and the allowable position error. These may be omitted depending on the working conditions.

  In the above-described embodiment, the cable 15 to be worked is the belt-like cable 15 in the state where the root portion 15 * close to the one end 15a stands upward, but this condition is not necessarily essential. The intermediate portion of the cable 15 may be held by the cable holding tool 20.

  As described above, the electronic device assembling method described above is the electronic device assembling method in which the mounting portion 15c of the cable 15 is attached to the connector 13 of the electronic device 4 by the electronic device assembling apparatus 1 having the above-described configuration. For the electronic device 4 that has been carried in, the connector 13 is first unlocked using the connector lock tool 30, then the cable 15 is held by the cable holding tool 20, and the cable holding tool 20 is moved to move the cable 15. The mounted portion 15 c is mounted on the connector 13 of the electronic device 4, and the connector lock tool 30 enables the connector 13 to be locked.

  In the electronic device assembling apparatus 1 having the above-described configuration, the cable holding tool 20 and the connector lock tool 30 are mounted on the base unit 8 that is moved by the robot unit 5. In the electronic device assembling method described above, the connector 13 is locked. The operation from the release to the activation is performed by the robot unit 5. With such a configuration, it is possible to automate the assembly of the electronic device 4 having the connector 13 with the lock mechanism and improve the working efficiency.

  In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 to 8, a pair of chucks 23 arranged with the contact portion 22 interposed therebetween as a configuration of the width direction restricting portion for restricting the position in the width direction of the cable 15 contacting the contact portion 22. Although the configuration example in which the actuator 24 is opened and closed by the actuator 24 has been shown, the width direction restricting portion may be configured without using the chuck 23 that performs the opening and closing operation as in the modification examples shown in FIGS. 15 and 16.

  The contact portion 27 shown in FIG. 15A has the same function as the contact portion 22 in FIG. That is, the lower surface of the contact portion 27 is provided with a contact surface 27a that contacts and holds one surface of the cable 15 in the cable mounting operation by the cable holding tool 20, and the contact surface 27a is adsorbed in communication with the vacuum suction hole 27c. The opening 27b is open. With the cable 15 in contact with the contact surface 27a, the suction opening 27b is vacuum-sucked through the vacuum suction hole 27c, whereby the contact part 27 holds the cable 15 by vacuum suction. Therefore, the suction opening portion 27b communicating with the vacuum suction hole 27c serves as a suction portion that holds the one surface of the cable 15 contacting the contact portion 27 by vacuum suction. The suction part is formed on the contact surface 27 a of the contact part 27.

  As shown in FIG. 15A, a pair of projecting portions 27d projecting downward from the contact surface 27a is provided at the side end of the contact surface 27a. The inner side surfaces 27e of the protrusions 27d are provided in parallel, and the distance b1 between the side surfaces 27e shown in FIG. 16A is determined based on the dimension in the width direction of the cable 15 to be held. Thus, as shown in FIG. 15 (b), the positions of the side end surfaces of the cable 15 to be held can be regulated by the side surface 27e.

  That is, in the embodiment shown here, a pair of protruding portions 27 d protruding from the contact surface 27 a is a width direction restricting portion that restricts the position in the width direction of the cable 15 contacting the contact portion 22. It should be noted that at least a part of each side surface 27e of the pair of protruding portions 27d only needs to be parallel to one direction (longitudinal direction of the cable 15), and is necessarily provided in parallel over the entire range of the contact surface 27a. There is no need.

  In the contact portion 27, a tapered surface 27f is formed at the end portion on one side of the vacuum suction hole 27c so that the dimension between the side surfaces 27e on the end surface is an opening dimension b2 larger than the distance b1. The tapered surface 27f has a function as an introduction portion that guides the cable 15 to the holding position when the cable 15 is held by the contact portion 27.

  That is, when the cable 15 is held by the contact portion 27, first, the introduction portion in which the tapered surface 27f is formed on the contact surface 27a is brought close to one surface (suction holding surface) of the cable 15, and the side of the cable 15 is moved by the tapered surface 27f. The cable 15 is brought into contact with the entire range of the contact surface 27a while guiding the end surface. Also in this case, as shown in FIG. 16B, the protruding dimension d of the pair of protruding portions 27 d from the contact surface 27 a of the contact portion 27 is in the range of 1 to 3 times the thickness t of the cable 15. Select from and set. Even when the contact portion 27 having such a configuration is used, the thin and flexible cable 15 can be stably held with high positional accuracy, and the same effect as the embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 to 8 can be obtained. .

  The electronic device assembling apparatus of the present invention has an effect of automating the connection work of a flexible cable to a connector with equipment having a simple configuration, and can improve work efficiency, and the assembly work for mounting the cable to the connector This is useful in the field of electronic equipment assembly.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Electronic device assembly apparatus 3 Work stage 4 Electronic device 5 Robot part 8 Base part 13 Connector 14 Swing part 15 Cable 15a One end part 15b Other end part 15c Mounted part 20 Cable holding tool 21 Cable adsorption part 22 Contact part 22a Contact surface 22b Suction opening 23 Chuck 27 Contact part 27a Contact surface 27d Projection part 30 Connector lock tool 31 Tip part 32 Claw

Claims (9)

And the cable holding tool that holds the cable,
A robot unit for relatively moving the cable holding tool against electronic devices,
A controller that attaches the attached portion of the cable to the connector of the electronic device by operating the robot portion;
The cable holding tool is
A contact portion having a contact surface that contacts one side of the cable;
A suction part that holds the one side of the cable in contact with the contact part by vacuum suction;
Have a width direction regulating portion for regulating the position in the width direction relative to the suction portion of the cable in contact with the contact portion,
The control unit moves the cable holding tool to bring the contact portion into contact with a base portion near the mounted portion of the cable in a standing posture, and causes the cable holding tool to approach the connector so that one side of the cable An electronic device assembling apparatus , wherein the cable is brought into vacuum contact with the suction part .   The electronic device assembling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the width direction restricting portion is a pair of chucks that sandwich the cable in the width direction.   The electronic device assembly according to claim 2, wherein the pair of chucks are openable and closable, and operate in a closing direction to regulate a position in the width direction of the cable when the distance between the pair of chucks is approaching. apparatus. The suction part is formed in the contact part,
The electronic device assembling apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the pair of chucks are arranged at positions sandwiching the contact portion.   The electronic device assembling apparatus according to claim 4, wherein a protruding dimension of the pair of chucks from the contact portion is 1 to 3 times a thickness of the cable. The width direction restricting portion is a pair of protruding portions protruding from the contact portion,
The electronic device assembling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the distance between the side surfaces of the pair of protrusions is determined based on a dimension in the width direction of the cable.   The electronic device assembling apparatus according to claim 6, wherein at least a part of each side surface of the pair of projecting portions is parallel to one direction.   The electronic device assembling apparatus according to claim 6, wherein a protruding dimension of the pair of protruding portions from the contact portion is 1 to 3 times a thickness of the cable.   The electronic device assembling apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the suction part is formed in the contact part.

Images