JP6754571B2 - Goods supply device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an apparatus for transporting and supplying minute articles.

Solder balls are used to electrically connect electronic components such as ball grid array (BGA) type semiconductor packages to mounting boards. Conventionally, an aligning plate in which a large number of holes for accommodating one solder ball are arranged has been used for aligning the solder balls. For example, a large number of solder balls are dropped on the alignment plate, and a rubber squeegee is rubbed on the alignment plate to allow the solder balls to enter the holes and remove excess solder balls to align the solder balls. be able to.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-294597

However, in the conventional method using the aligning plate, the solder ball may be bitten into the squeegee and the edge of the hole, causing chipping or cracking. In that case, there is a problem that the conduction characteristics of electricity are changed by reducing the volume of the solder balls.

To solve this problem, it is conceivable to supply the solder balls one by one using a bulk feeder or the like. The bulk feeder is, for example, a device that puts a target object into a hopper, guides it from the lower part of the hopper to a tunnel-shaped transport path, arranges it in a row, and transports and supplies it by air flow. The transported material that has reached the outlet at the end of the transport path is attracted to the pickup nozzle and is sequentially taken out. For example, Patent Document 1 describes a bulk feeder that transports chips by feeding square chips randomly stored in a cassette into a tunnel and vacuum-sucking the tip side (downstream side) of the tunnel. ..

However, the research by the present inventors has revealed that the conventional bulk feeder has a problem in improving the supply speed. When the time interval (pitch) for taking out by the pickup nozzle was shortened, the probability of failing to take out the transported object increased. The cause of this was not that the speed of the transport itself was slow, but that the transport to be taken out from the downstream end of the transport path interfered with the subsequent transport. That is, the transported objects that have been transported by aligning the transport paths reach the downstream end one after another and form a line without a gap, and when the first one is taken out, the next transported object is caught. It turned out to interfere with the removal.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above, and an object of the present invention is to provide an article supply device capable of transporting minute articles and supplying them at high speed.

For the above purpose, the article supply device of the present invention separates only the leading transported object by a rotating body at the downstream end of the transport path or the like and moves it to the take-out position.

The article supply device of the present invention has a transport unit for transporting a transported object and a rotating body provided at a downstream end of the transport unit. Then, the rotating body is rotatable around the rotation axis in a horizontal plane, and at least a part of the outer circumference is formed in an arc shape centered on the rotation axis, and the edge portion of the outer circumference formed in the arc shape. It is provided with an accommodating portion capable of moving to a receiving position communicating with the downstream end of the conveying portion at a certain rotation angle and receiving one of the conveyed objects. Then, in at least a part of the orbit of the accommodating portion due to the rotation of the article supply device, the upper part of the portion is open, or an outlet that can be opened and closed is provided above the portion. The transported object can be taken out from the accommodating portion.

Preferably, a plurality of the accommodating portions are formed at a constant indexing pitch. More preferably, the transported object can be taken out from two or more of the plurality of accommodating portions at the same time.

The entire outer circumference of the rotating body may be formed in a circumferential shape centered on the axis of rotation.

Further, the rotating body may be rotatable in one direction. Alternatively, the rotating body may be rotatable in both directions so that the accommodating portion reciprocates between the receiving position and the taking-out position.

Preferably, the accommodating portion includes a positioning mechanism for positioning the transported object accommodated in the accommodating portion. The positioning mechanism is a fixing vent that communicates with the decompression unit, and may have an opening on the bottom surface of the accommodating unit. Alternatively, the positioning mechanism may be a fixing ventilation portion that communicates with the decompression portion, and may have an opening on the wall surface of the accommodating portion on the rotation axis side.

According to the article supply device of the present invention, only the first one can be separated at high speed by the rotating body from the row of the transported objects that have reached the downstream end of the transport unit. The transported material separated in this way can be taken out by a pickup nozzle or the like without being interfered with by the subsequent transported material. Further, by accommodating and moving the conveyed object in the accommodating portion, the conveyed object is not caught between some members and damaged during the operation of the rotating body.

It is a top view which shows the use state of the article supply apparatus which is 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a side view which shows the use state of the article supply apparatus which is 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a vertical cross-sectional view along the transport path of the article supply device which is 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the AA cross section of FIG. It is a figure which shows the BB cross section of FIG. It is a DD sectional view of FIG. It is a CC sectional view of FIG. 3 and is the figure which shows the upper surface of the base member. It is a top view of the part including the rotating body of the article supply device which is 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a top view of the part including the rotating body of the article supply device which is 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a horizontal sectional view of the part including the rotating body of the article supply device which is 4th Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which illustrates the cross-sectional shape of the opening of the fixing ventilation part. It is a figure which shows the modification which provided the opening of the fixing ventilation part on the wall surface of the accommodating part.

The article supply device according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7. In addition, in order to facilitate the explanation, the scale of each figure is not accurate, and the gaps between the members are exaggerated.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, the article supply device 10 of the present embodiment is combined with the hopper 70 to convey and supply the solder balls 60 which are the conveyed objects. The solder balls are thrown into the hopper and guided from the lower part of the hopper to the transport path 20 which is the transport portion of the supply device. The solder balls are aligned in a row and transported downstream in the transport path by an air flow. The solder ball is moved to the outlet 50 provided on the side of the downstream end of the transport path by the rotating body 30 provided at the downstream end of the transport path, and is attracted to and taken out by the pickup nozzle 80.

The solder ball 60, which is a transported object, has a spherical shape. The size of the transported object is not particularly limited. However, when the transported object is large, the influence of interference between the transported objects becomes relatively small, and the significance of using the supply device of the present embodiment becomes small. From this, the size of the transported object is preferably 5 mm or less in diameter, more preferably 2 mm or less, and particularly preferably less than 1 mm. On the other hand, if the transported object is too small, it becomes difficult to process or manufacture the device. Therefore, the size of the transported object is preferably 10 μm or more in diameter. The diameter of the solder ball is often 100 μm to 800 μm. The feeding device of this embodiment is particularly suitable for transporting and supplying solder balls of such a size.

In FIGS. 3 and 4, the transport path 20 is formed in a tunnel shape by a groove formed in the base member 23 and a cover member 22 covering the upper surface of the groove. The cross-sectional shape of the tunnel may be circular or rectangular as shown in FIG. The size of the cross section of the tunnel is slightly larger than that of the solder ball 60. In order to transport minute articles at high speed, it is preferable to construct a closed system transport path in which the side surfaces and the upper and lower surfaces are regulated in this way. An air supply unit (not shown) is provided upstream of the transport path to generate an air flow from upstream to downstream in the transport path.

In FIGS. 3 and 5, a rotating body 30 is arranged at the downstream end 26 of the transport path 20. The rotating body can rotate counterclockwise in FIG. 5 in a horizontal plane about the rotation axis Z. The rotating body has a substantially disk-like shape, and the entire outer circumference thereof is formed in a circumferential shape centered on the rotation axis. The rotating body has an accommodating portion 31 capable of accommodating one solder ball on the upper surface of the outer peripheral edge portion. The accommodating portion is formed in a groove shape in which the outer peripheral side and the upper surface of the rotating body are open. The accommodating portions have a constant indexing pitch P and are formed at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, and in FIG. 5, 12 accommodating portions are formed on the entire circumference.

The accommodating portion 31 can receive one of the solder balls that has reached the downstream end 26 of the transport path as an extension of the transport path 20 at a certain rotation angle of the rotating body. This state is called "the accommodating part is in the receiving position". In FIG. 5, the accommodating portion 31a is in the receiving position.

It is preferable that the cross-sectional shape of the accommodating portion 31 perpendicular to the transport receiving direction is substantially the same as the cross-sectional shape of the transport path 20 formed in a tunnel shape. As a result, it is possible to prevent the transported object from being clogged or caught during acceptance.

The accommodating portion 31 moves below the outlet 50 at another rotation angle of the rotating body. The outlets are provided at three places pointed by the arrows in FIG. 5 at the same indexing pitch P as the accommodating portion. FIG. 6 shows a cross-sectional view of the rotating body passing through the rotation axis Z and one outlet 50. In FIG. 6, the opening provided in the cover member 22 is the outlet 50. The solder balls housed in the housing section 31j can be taken out by a pickup nozzle or the like through the take-out port 50. This state is called "the accommodating part is in the take-out position". In FIG. 5, the accommodating portions 31j, 31k and 31l are in the extraction position.

The number of outlets 50 is not particularly limited. The position of the outlet is provided above a portion of the circumferential orbit of the accommodating portion 31 that accompanies the rotation of the rotating body and is different from the receiving position. If there are multiple outlets, arrange the outlets so that the solder balls can be taken out from the multiple outlets at the same time. For example, in FIG. 5, by arranging the outlets at the same indexing pitch P as the accommodating portion, the solder balls can be taken out from the three outlets at the same time. A shutter that can be opened and closed may be provided at the outlet so that the shutter can be opened each time the solder ball is taken out.

When the accommodating portion 31 is at a rotation angle other than the receiving position, the outer peripheral side of the accommodating portion 31 is closed by the base member 23, so that the conveyed object is accommodated in the space where the side surface and the lower surface are restricted. By restricting other than the upper surface of the accommodating portion in this way, it is possible to stably hold the transported object in the accommodating portion and prevent it from jumping out of the accommodating portion even when the rotating body is operated at high speed.

In FIGS. 6 and 7, the rotating body 30 has a fixing vent 33 as a positioning mechanism for the solder balls. In the following, the "fixing vent" may be simply referred to as the "vent". The ventilation portion 33 has an opening 38 on the bottom surface of the accommodating portion, a vertical portion 34 extending downward in the rotating body from the opening, an arcuate groove 35 formed on the upper surface of the bottom surface member 24, and a bottom surface from the groove 35. It communicates with the decompression unit 37 through a vertical portion 36 extending downward in the member. FIG. 7 shows the upper surface of the bottom member, and the index line of the same accommodating portion as in FIG. 5 is shown by a broken line to help understanding. With this structure, the solder balls in the accommodating portion can be sucked into the opening 38 and fixed (positioned) while the accommodating portion moves from the receiving position to the taking-out position. As the decompression unit, a negative pressure tank, a vacuum pump, or the like can be used.

The diameter of the fixing vent 33 may decrease as it advances downward from the opening 38, that is, as it advances toward the inside of the rotating body. FIG. 11 shows an example of a cross-sectional shape in the vicinity of the opening of the ventilation portion. In FIGS. 11A to 11C, the inner wall surface 39 of the ventilation portion is formed in a mortar shape, and the diameter of the ventilation portion decreases downward from the opening 38. By forming the opening in the shape of a mortar or the like in this way, the ball received in the accommodating portion is attracted to the opening and fixed to the opening in a shorter time.

If the opening 38 of the fixing vent is too large, a solder ball will fit in and the resistance at the time of pickup will increase. From this, the diameter of the opening is preferably 0.8 times or less, more preferably 0.7 times or less the diameter of the solder ball. On the other hand, if the opening is too small, the force for fixing the solder ball is weak, and the solder ball may come off from the opening when the rotating body rotates. From this, the diameter of the opening is preferably 0.2 times or more, more preferably 0.5 times or more the diameter of the solder ball. When the entrance of the opening is formed in a mortar shape or the like as shown in FIGS. 11A to 11C and the solder ball comes into contact with the inner wall surface 39 of the fixing ventilation portion at a position lower than the bottom surface of the accommodating portion, the solder ball and the inner wall surface The diameter of the tangent circle with 39 is preferably 0.8 times or less, more preferably 0.7 times or less, preferably 0.2 times or more, and more preferably 0.5 times or more the diameter of the solder ball. ..

Next, the operation of the rotating body of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 3, 5, and 6.

When the rotating body 30 is at the rotation angle in the state shown in FIG. 5, the accommodating portion 31a is in the receiving position. The accommodating portion 31a receives one solder ball 60 from the downstream end 26 of the transport path 20 at the receiving position. The solder ball is positioned in the opening 38 of the fixing vent 33.

Next, the rotating body is rotated counterclockwise by the indexing pitch P of the accommodating portion. As a result, the accommodating portion 31b moves to the receiving position and receives one solder ball from the transport path.

Further, the rotating body is rotated counterclockwise by the indexing pitch P to move the accommodating portion 31c to the receiving position, and one solder ball is introduced.

Further, the rotating body is rotated counterclockwise by the indexing pitch P to move the accommodating portion 31d to the receiving position, and one solder ball is introduced. At this time, the accommodating portions 31a, 31b, and 31c have moved to the take-out position, and the solder balls in the accommodating portion are taken out by the pickup nozzle. While the accommodating portion moves from the receiving position to the taking-out position, the solder balls accommodated in the accommodating portion are attracted to the opening 38 and positioned.

In this way, the rotating body 30 is intermittently rotated by the indexing pitch P of the accommodating portion, and only the first one is separated (cut into one) one after another from the row of solder balls that have reached the downstream end of the transport path. By moving to the outlet, one solder ball can be supplied to the pickup nozzle. When the rotating body makes one rotation, it returns to the state shown in FIG.

The effects of this embodiment will be described below.

In the article supply device 10 of the present embodiment, among the solder balls lined up at the downstream end of the transport path, the first solder ball is separated by a rotating body and moved to the take-out port. There is no interference with the ball. As a result, even if the take-out pitch is shortened, failure is unlikely to occur, and the number of solder balls supplied per unit time can be increased.

Further, since the solder balls are accommodated in the accommodating portion and move, the solder balls are not caught between some members and damaged.

In addition, although the size of the accommodating portion has a slight clearance with respect to the size of the solder ball, the action of the fixing vent 33 improves the position accuracy of the solder ball in the accommodating portion, so that the pickup is successful. The rate increases. This is especially beneficial when the size of the solder balls is small. Further, it is also preferable to position the transported object by sucking air as in the present embodiment in that the transported object is less likely to be damaged.

Further, in the article supply device of the present embodiment, the outlets 50 are formed at the same indexing pitch P as the accommodating portion 31, and if a plurality of pickup nozzles are arranged in the same arrangement as the outlets, three outlets are provided. Three solder balls can be taken out at the same time. As a result, when the operation of the pickup nozzle controls the overall speed, the supply speed of the solder balls can be further improved.

Next, a second embodiment of the article supply device of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The article supply device of the present embodiment is different from the first embodiment in the number and arrangement of outlets, and the structure and function of other parts are the same as those of the first embodiment.

In FIG. 8, the article supply device 11 of the present embodiment has the same number of 12 outlets 50 as the storage unit 31. The outlet is formed with the same indexing pitch P as the accommodating portion. Then, in FIG. 5, when some accommodating portions (31j, 31k, 31l) are in the taking-out position, the other accommodating portion (31a) is in the receiving position, whereas in FIG. When the unit is in the take-out position, no containment unit is in the receiving position.

In FIG. 8, the solder balls are housed in the six housing parts. The rotating body is further intermittently rotated counterclockwise by the indexing pitch P to accommodate the solder balls in all the accommodating portions, and then the rotating body is rotated by P / 2 to move all the accommodating portions to the extraction position. In that state, all the solder balls can be taken out at the same time with 12 pickup nozzles arranged in the same arrangement as the outlet.

The effect of separating the transported objects one by one from the head of each transport path by the rotating body and the effect of fixing the transported objects in each accommodating portion by the fixing ventilation portion are the same as those in the first embodiment. is there.

Next, a third embodiment of the article supply device of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The article supply device of the present embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the upper part of the rotating body is open, and the structure and function of other parts are the same as those of the first embodiment.

In FIG. 9, in the article supply device 12 of the present embodiment, the three points pointed by the arrows are taken out positions 51. The number of take-out positions 51 is not particularly limited. The take-out position is provided at a portion of the circumferential orbit of the accommodating portion 31 accompanying the rotation of the rotating body and different from the receiving position. When there are a plurality of take-out positions, the take-out positions are arranged so that the solder balls can be taken out from the plurality of take-out positions at the same time. For example, in FIG. 8, since the upper parts of the three extraction positions where the accommodating portions are arranged at the same indexing pitch P are all open, by arranging the plurality of pickup nozzles in the same arrangement as the extraction positions, The solder balls can be taken out from the three accommodating parts at the taking-out position at the same time.

The effect of separating the transported objects one by one from the head of each transport path by the rotating body and the effect of fixing the transported objects in each accommodating portion by the fixing ventilation portion are the same as those in the first embodiment. is there.

Next, a fourth embodiment of the article supply device of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The article supply device of the present embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the shape of the rotating body is substantially a fan shape and the rotating body reciprocates like a pendulum.

In FIG. 10, the outer circumference of the rotating body 40 of the article supply device 13 is substantially fan-shaped, and the outer peripheral portion on the upper left side of the drawing is formed in an arc shape centered on the rotation axis. Three accommodating portions 31 are formed at a constant indexing pitch on the outer peripheral edge portion formed in an arc shape. Similar to the first embodiment, the outlets 50 are formed at three locations at the same indexing pitch as the accommodating portion. The structures and functions of the other parts are the same as those in the first embodiment.

The operation of the rotating body of this embodiment is as follows. A solder ball is introduced into the accommodating portion while the rotating body 40 is intermittently rotated counterclockwise by the indexing pitch P of the accommodating portion from the state shown in FIG. When the rotating body rotates to the position of 40a shown by the dotted line, the solder balls are taken out from the three outlets 50.

Next, the rotating body 30 is rotated clockwise to return to the position shown in FIG. When returning the rotating body, a stopper pin (not shown) may be projected into the transport path to block the solder ball at the downstream end of the transport path so that the solder ball does not enter the empty accommodating portion 31.

The article supply device 13 of the present embodiment has an advantage in that the area occupied by the rotating body can be reduced as compared with the first embodiment. In addition, the effect of separating the transported object one by one from the head of each transport path by the rotating body and the effect of fixing the transported object in each accommodating portion by the fixing ventilation portion are the first and second embodiments. Is the same as.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of its technical idea.

For example, the transported object is not limited to the solder ball, but may be another article such as a ball for a minute bearing or a spacer for a liquid crystal display panel. Further, the shape of the transported object is not limited to a spherical shape, and may be another shape such as a rectangular parallelepiped. When the transported object has a shape such as a long rectangular parallelepiped along the transport path, the long side of the transported object is preferably 20 mm or less, more preferably 5 mm or less, particularly preferably 2 mm or less, and preferably 0. It is 05 mm or more.

Further, for example, in each of the above embodiments, the conveyed object is conveyed by the air flow, but the conveyed object may be conveyed by gravity by inclining the conveying path. Alternatively, the conveyed items may be conveyed by a vibration feeder, and the conveyed items may be discharged one by one from the outlet at the downstream end thereof.

Further, for example, an opening of the fixing ventilation portion may be provided on the wall surface of the accommodating portion on the rotation shaft side. As shown in FIG. 12, when the opening 98 of the fixing ventilation portion 93 is provided on the wall surface of the spherical transported object, the position (height from the bottom surface) of the opening 98 is changed according to the size of the transported object 60. There is a need to. Therefore, when the transported object is spherical, it is preferable to form an opening of the fixing vent on the bottom surface of the accommodating portion. On the other hand, when the transported object has a rectangular parallelepiped shape, it is preferable to form an opening of the fixing vent on the wall surface of the accommodating portion, and in order to fix the transported object to the opening more quickly, the wall surface of the accommodating portion on the rotation axis side. It is more preferable to form.

10 to 13 Goods supply device 20 Transport path (transport section)
22 Cover member 23 Base member 24 Bottom member 26 Transport path downstream end 30, 40 Rotating body 31, 31a, 31b, 31c, 31d, 31j, 31k, 31l Accommodating part 33 Fixing ventilation part 34 Fixing ventilation part in the rotating body Vertical part 35 Groove part on the top surface of the bottom member of the fixing ventilation part 36 Vertical part in the bottom member of the fixing ventilation part 37 Decompression part 38 Opening of the fixing ventilation part 39 Inner wall surface of the fixing ventilation part 50 Outlet 51 Extraction position 60 Solder ball (conveyed object)
70 Hopper 80 Pickup nozzle 93 Fixing vent 98 Opening of fixing vent P Indexing pitch of accommodating Z Rotating shaft

Claims (6)

It has a transport unit that transports spherical objects with a diameter of 5 mm or less, and a rotating body provided at the downstream end of the transport unit.
The rotating body
Can rotate in a horizontal plane around the axis of rotation,
At least a part of the outer circumference is formed in an arc shape centered on the rotation axis.
A housing portion that is located at the edge of the outer circumference formed in an arc shape and is capable of receiving one of the transported objects by moving to a receiving position communicating with the downstream end of the transport unit at a certain rotation angle.
The accommodating portion,
The outer peripheral side is closed by the base member when the rotation angle is other than the receiving position.
A positioning mechanism for positioning the transported object housed in the housing unit is provided.
The positioning mechanism is a fixing vent that communicates with the decompression unit, and has a circular opening on the bottom surface of the accommodating unit.
In at least a part of the orbit of the accommodating portion due to the rotation, the upper part of the accommodating portion is open, or an outlet that can be opened and closed is provided above the portion, so that the conveyed object can be taken from the accommodating portion. Can be taken out,
Goods supply device. A plurality of the accommodating portions are formed at a constant indexing pitch.
The article supply device according to claim 1. The transported object can be taken out from two or more of the plurality of accommodating portions at the same time.
The article supply device according to claim 2. The entire outer circumference of the rotating body is formed in a circumferential shape centered on the rotation axis.
The article supply device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The rotating body can rotate in one direction,
The article supply device according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The rotating body can rotate in both directions so that the accommodating portion reciprocates between the receiving position and the taking-out position.
The article supply device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

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