JPH0223452B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a magazine pitch feeding method, and more particularly to a magazine pitch feeding method suitable for pitch feeding a magazine that stores plate-shaped articles at a predetermined stacking pitch.

Generally, when processing and treating a large number of plate-shaped articles, in order to continuously supply the plate-shaped articles on the line and to store the plate-shaped articles after processing,
A magazine is loaded in which a fixed number of plate-shaped articles can be stacked and stored at the front and rear ends of the line, in order to improve work efficiency and protect the plate-shaped articles. Such an apparatus is particularly applied when a plate-shaped article is the object of precision machining. For example, in the semiconductor device manufacturing process, lead frames are subjected to pellet bonding and wire bonding, but the supply and receiving sides of these work lines are loaded with magazines that accommodate lead frames before and after processing. It is something that will be done. This magazine is shown in FIG. The magazine 1 is shaped like a box-shaped container with openings on the front and rear sides.
Storage grooves 3 are formed in multiple stages at a constant pitch P on the inner surfaces of opposing side walls 2, and lead frames 4 as plate-shaped articles can be stacked and stored in each storage groove 3.
As shown in FIG. 2, such a magazine 1 is loaded into a magazine holder 5 on the supply side of the line, and is arranged with one opening thereof facing the guide rail 6 at the tip of the line. Then, the lead frame 4 stored in advance in the magazine 1 is made to protrude by a certain length from the other opening by the extrusion means 7, and the lead frame 4, which is usually located at the lower end, is moved from the lead frame 4 on the lower end side to the guide rail 6 one by one by the feeding means 8. It is assumed that the information will be sent to Further, although not shown, at the end of the line, the lead frames are fed into the magazine one by one after the work has been completed.

By the way, when the lead frame 4 is fed into and out of the magazine 1, the height level of the guide rail 6 is constant, so each storage groove 3 of the magazine 1
It is necessary to match the height level of the guide rail to that of the guide rail. For this reason, a pitch feeding device for the magazine 1 is provided, and by lowering (or raising) the magazine 1 for each laminated pitch P, it is made to be on the same level as the guide rail 6, and the lead frame 4 is fed in and out. It is possible. In addition, on the entry side (and exit side) of the guide rail 6, as shown in FIG. is set up. The photo sensors 9A and 9B are capable of transmitting a signal indicating whether the lead frame 4 is being delivered (feeding in) or has been delivered (feeding completed) to the magazine holder vertical drive motor. That is, when the lead frame 4 is blocking the light from the photo sensors 9A and 9B, the magazine holder 5 is stopped, and when this is not the case, the magazine holder 5 can be lowered by one pitch.

Conventionally, this type of magazine pitch feeding device was
A feed screw rotatable by a motor is provided upright, and a nut member fixed to the magazine holder 5 is screwed onto the feed screw. In this case, from the viewpoint of ease of pitch feeding drive, a feed screw that matches the stacking pitch P of the magazine 1 is used,
By rotating the feed screw one turn or an integer number of turns using a motor, the magazine 1 is caused to perform an intermittent pitch feeding operation.

However, the conventional magazine pitch feeding device described above has the following problems. That is, the lead frames 4 to be stored in the magazine 1 have various sizes depending on the capacity of semiconductor elements, and the stacking pitch P of the storage grooves 3 in the magazine 1 is also changed accordingly. Therefore, if the stacking pitch P of the magazine 1 changes, the feed pitch also changes, and the feed screw must be replaced with one that matches the stacking pitch. As a result, in the past, many types of feed screws had to be prepared depending on the stacking pitch P of the magazine 1, and the work required to replace the feed screws resulted in a problem of deterioration of work efficiency. That's where it was. Such problems are common not only to magazines that house lead frames for semiconductor devices, but also to general magazines that house other plate-like articles that are fed in pitch.

Here, in order to solve the above conventional problems,
By providing a light-transmitting part that has the same pitch as the stacking pitch of the magazine on the operating plate that moves linearly by the same amount as the magazine in conjunction with the movement of the magazine, and by providing a photoelectric switch to detect the light-transmitting part. , a device that determines the stop point of the feed screw drive motor is conceivable. According to such a device, the stop point of the feed screw is determined by the transparent part of the actuating plate, so even if the stacking pitch of the magazine changes, it is only necessary to change the actuating plate with a different transparent part pitch. Often, the same lead screw can be used.

However, new problems arise when using a device using such an optical sensor.
In other words, the final translucent part of the actuating plate is detected, and the feeding and feeding of the plate-shaped article is completed, and the work with one magazine is completed, but after that, it starts the turning movement and is screwed into the same feed screw. Pitch feed must continue to be performed for the magazine loaded in the holder or the replaced magazine. At this time, the same actuating plate is used. During this return movement, the final stop position of the previous magazine and the first stop position of the next magazine are the same,
This becomes either the upper or lower edge of the terminal transparent part. The reason for this is that the feed screw stop signal is output at the moment the light emitted from the light projecting element crosses the edge of the transparent section. After the return movement, the second and subsequent stopping positions are at the opposite edge of the transparent portion. As a result, the initial pitch feeding distance immediately after the turn-back movement becomes smaller than the set pitch of the transparent portion, and an error of a distance approximately equal to the width of the transparent portion occurs. This means that after the folding movement, the levels of each storage groove of the magazine and the guide rail do not match, and the plate-shaped article cannot be sent out or fed in properly.

The present invention has focused on the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a magazine pitch feeding method that can provide error-free pitch feeding to the magazine even when a pitch feeding mechanism using an optical sensor is provided. do.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an actuating plate that moves in a linear direction by the same amount as the magazine in conjunction with the movement of the magazine. The optical sensor installed on the moving path of the magazine is activated to detect the point at which the feed screw should be stopped, and at the moving end of the magazine, it detects the point in time when the feed screw should stop moving beyond the width of the transparent part provided on the operating plate. The magazine and the actuating plate are configured to be moved back and forth after being applied to the magazine and the actuating plate.

Hereinafter, a specific embodiment of the magazine pitch feeding method according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

First, a magazine pitch feeding device using an optical sensor for carrying out this embodiment will be explained.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show the overall configuration of a magazine pitch feeding device to which this embodiment is applied. As shown in this figure, the pitch feeding device moves along a moving base 1 that is movable along a dovetail groove 11 formed on a machine base 10.
It has 2. This moving base 12 is a machine base 10
It is connected to a motor 13 installed at the end of the motor 13 via a crank (disc) 14 and a crank arm 15, and can be moved back and forth by the motor 13. A vertically raised feed screw 16 is attached to the moving base 12, and the lower end of the feed screw 16 is rotatably supported by a bearing 17. The upper end of the feed screw 16 is directly connected to a reversible motor 18 , and the motor 18 is installed on the top plate portions of a pair of guide frames 19 erected on the movable base 12 along the feed screw 16 . Thereby, the feed screw 16 can be rotationally driven by the reversible motor 18. The guide frames 19 have a U-shaped cross section, and by arranging the pair of guide frames 19 to face each other, openings are formed at the front and rear of the movement direction of the movable base 12.

The feed screw 16 is divided into an upper half and a lower half, with a right-handed thread 20 carved in the upper half and a left-handed thread 21 carved in the lower half. Such a feed screw 16 has a magazine 22 as a pitch feed target.
The first magazine holder 24 is attached to the right-hand thread 20 via a nut member 23, and the second magazine holder 24 is attached to the left-hand thread 21 via a nut member 25.
It consists of a magazine holder 26. This first and second
The magazine holders 24 and 26 each have a U-shaped holder body 2 that forms a loading space for the magazine 22.
7, 28, and on one side of the holder main bodies 27, 28 are lifting plates 31, 32 fitted into guide grooves 29, 30 provided along both opening edges of the guide frame 19. It is an integrated system. Therefore, each magazine holder 24, 26 is arranged on both sides of the feed screw 16. Elevating plate 3 of the first magazine holder 24
1 is about half the length of the feed screw 16 in this embodiment, and has a nut member 23 screwed onto the right-hand screw 20 attached to its upper end, and is integrated with the holder main body 27 by bending its lower end. There is. On the other hand, the elevating plate 32 of the second magazine holder 26 is also about half the length of the feed screw 16 in this embodiment, and has a nut member 25 screwed onto the left-hand screw 21 attached to its lower end. Here, each of the nut members 23 and 25 is set to be located at approximately the same distance from the center position of the feed screw 16. Also, the lower end storage groove 3 of the magazine 22 loaded in the first magazine holder 24 and the guide rail 6 (see FIG. 2) are made to be at the same level height at the position where both the nut members 23 and 25 are farthest apart. , and conversely, the lower end storage groove 3 of the magazine 22 on the second magazine holder 26 side and the guide rail 6 are also set to be at the same level height at the position where the nut members 23 and 25 are closest to each other. . Note that pressure springs 33 and 34 are provided on one side wall of the holder bodies 27 and 28, and the magazine 2 to be loaded is
2 is pressed against the other side wall to determine its position.

Here, as shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, upper and lower limit detection means and pitch detection means are provided on the first magazine holder 24 side. First, an upper limit switch 35 is installed on the inner surface of one of the guide frames 19 to which the elevating plate 31 of the first magazine holder 24 is fitted.
and a lower limit switch 36 are attached. The upper and lower limit switches 35 and 36 are arranged at a predetermined distance apart within the vertical range of the first magazine holder 24, as shown in FIG. On the other hand, an upper input board 37 that operates each switch 35, 36
and a lower input board 38 are arranged adjacent to the elevator board 31. The mounting positions of both input plates 37 and 38 range from the input position to the upper limit switch 35 on the upper input plate 37 to the lower limit switch 36 on the lower input plate 38.
The distance to the input position is set to at least match the required vertical movement distance of the loading magazine 22. By this detection means, a detection signal is input to the motors 13 and 18 in order to switch the rotational direction of the feed screw 16 and move the movable base 12. In this case, an optical sensor may be used as the detection means.

On the other hand, on the opposite side of the guide frame 19, there is provided pitch detection means for outputting start and stop signals necessary for pitch feeding operation to the reversible motor 18. Specifically, the fourth,
As shown in FIG. 6, the first magazine holder 24 is attached to the elevating plate 31 and the loading magazine 2
2 and a photoelectric switch 4 provided on the inner surface of the guide frame 19.
Consists of 0. The actuating plate 39 is formed of a rectangular plate piece, and is attached by bolts or the like to the elevating plate 31 with its longitudinal direction facing the vertical direction. A large number of through holes 41 are formed along the outer edge of the actuating plate 39 so as to be arranged in a straight line parallel to the stacking direction of the magazines 22 at intervals P equal to the stacking pitch P of the magazines 22. The through holes 41 allow light to pass through from the photoelectric switch 40, and are provided in at least the same number as the storage grooves of the magazine 22, so that the entire pitch of the through holes 41 is
NP matches all pitches NP of the storage groove of the magazine 22. As a result, the magazine 22 and the actuating plate 3
9 has a one-to-one correspondence. Further, the photoelectric switch 40 is composed of a light emitting element and a light receiving element, and the actuating plate 39 is provided in the gap between the two elements.
The outer edge of the sleeve can be loosely inserted. In this case, the optical path of the photoelectric switch 40 passes through the through holes 41 arranged in the actuating plate 39.
The photoelectric switch 40 detects that the optical path matches the through hole 41, and sends this detection signal to the reversible motor 1.
It is electrically connected to the reversible motor 18 so that the rotation of the feed screw 16 is stopped by outputting the signal to the reversible motor 8 .

The operation of the pitch feeding device having such a configuration is as follows. As shown in FIG. 3, the nut member 23 of the first magazine holder 24 is installed at the upper limit position of the feed screw 16, and the nut member 25 of the second magazine holder 26 is installed at the lower limit position. The center of the magazine 22 is aligned with the guide rail (see FIG. 2). When the apparatus is started in this state, the motor 18 rotates in the forward direction, thereby moving the first magazine holder 24 downward and the second magazine holder 26 upward. Here, when the first magazine holder 24 starts moving downward from the upper limit position, the actuating plate 39 also moves downward together. When the photoelectric switch 40 detects the lowest through hole 41, a rotation stop signal is output to the reversible motor 18, and the rotation of the feed screw 16, that is, the movement of the magazine 22 is stopped. During this stop time, the feed-out operation of the lead frame is performed on the supply side of the processing line. A signal indicating that one lead frame has been sent out from the magazine 22 (signal indicating completion of sending out) is sent to the photo sensor (photo sensor 9 in Fig. 2).
A, 9B), the reversible motor 18 is restarted to move the next through hole 41 to the photoelectric switch 40.
The feed screw 16 is rotated until it is detected, and the magazine 22 is stopped intermittently according to the pitch P of the through hole 41. In this case, since the pitch P of the through hole 41 has a one-to-one correspondence with the stacking pitch P of the magazine 22, the magazine 22 is pitch-fed according to the stacking pitch P until it reaches the storage groove at the uppermost end. . When the lead frame delivery work on the first magazine holder 24 side is completed, the second magazine holder 26 has been raised to a height at which the lead frame can be delivered.

Thereafter, when the lower input plate 38 of the first magazine holder 24 inputs the lower limit switch 36,
The motor 13 is activated to send out the movable base 12 to center the magazine 22 in the second magazine holder 26 and the guide rail, and at the same time outputs an output to the reversible motor 18 to rotate the feed screw 16 in the reverse direction. As a result, the second magazine holder 26 moves downward and the first magazine holder 24 moves upward, making it possible to send out the lead frame from the second magazine holder 26 side. Here, the second magazine holder 26 is operated in the same manner as described above by the pitch detection means on the first magazine holder 24 side. In this case, the pitch P of the through holes 41 of the actuating plate 39 may be the same as the stacking pitch P of the magazines 22 loaded into the second magazine holder 26.

By the way, when the above-mentioned device is used, as described above, when the feeding operation is started from the magazine 22 on the second magazine holder 26 side after the feeding of the first magazine holder 24 from the magazine 22 is completed, the first feeding immediately after the return movement is completed. An error occurs in the pitch.
This occurrence state is shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B. FIG. 7A shows a state in which the actuating plate 39 has reached the lower end together with the first magazine holder 24. Detection light 42 at the time of stopping
Since a stop signal is output from the photoelectric switch 40 when the lead frame reaches the lower side of the through hole 41, the final lead frame is sent out from the magazine 22 on the first magazine holder 24 side at that position. Next, the lead frame is sent out from the second magazine holder 26 side, but since the same actuating plate 39 is used, the previous stopping position of the magazine 22 becomes the first lead frame sending position, as shown in FIG. (Detected light 42 indicated by a broken line in the figure). Then, the actuating plate 39 is reversed and moves up to enter the pitch feeding operation, so that the detection light 42 is transmitted to the through hole 4 at the second and subsequent detection points.
This is the position where the top side of 1 is reached. As a result, immediately after the return movement, the feed pitch becomes shorter than the set pitch P by x (through-hole diameter a - detection light diameter).
In this case, since the detection light 42 can be captured as a point, the error amount x is approximately equal to the diameter a of the through hole 41.

Therefore, the inventor has found that when converting from downward movement to upward movement, or from upward movement to downward movement, it is sufficient to move the magazine and the actuating plate excessively toward the moving end side. . That is, as shown in FIG. 7C, after the feeding operation from the first magazine holder 24 side is completed, the actuating plate 39 is moved by at least an amount equivalent to the approximate diameter of the through hole 41 (more precisely, the error amount x). Then, if the feeding operation from the second magazine holder 26 side is performed using this position as the starting point for turning back, as shown in FIG.
It will be sent by regular Pitz P. here,
If such an excessive movement is performed, the forward process and the backward process will deviate by a distance equivalent to approximately the diameter of the through hole 41 as a whole. The reason for this is that in the previous process, the detection light
2 is detected at the lower side (or upper side) of the through hole 41, and in the return process, it is detected at the upper side (or lower side). This is the first magazine holder 2
4 and the second magazine holder 26 to the feed screw 16, each stop position in both the reciprocating process can always match the lead frame feeding and feeding height levels. .
Specifically, it is sufficient to position only the nut members 25 on the second magazine holder 26 side away from the center of the feed screw 16 by the diameter a of the through hole 41. .

A specific embodiment of the present invention using the pitch feeding device will be described below with reference to FIG. 8th
In the figure, a magazine loaded into the first magazine holder 24 is shown as 221, and a magazine loaded into the second magazine holder 26 is shown as 222.

First, the state in which the delivery of the lead frame R is started from the first magazine 221 is when the detection light 42 reaches the lower side of the lowest end through hole 41 of the actuating plate 39, as shown in FIG. 8A. . At this time, the first
Lead frame at the lowest position in the magazine 221
It is assumed that R ₁ and the insertion height level L into the guide rail 6 (FIG. 2) are the same. In this state, the lead frame R ₁ is sent out from the magazine 221. The uppermost lead frame _R6 of the second magazine 222 is set at a position lower than the level L by the width a of the through hole 41.

Next, the lead frame is removed from the magazine 221.
After R ₁ is pulled out, the first magazine 221 is lowered by one pitch P, as shown in FIG. 8B, but at this time, the second magazine 222 is also simultaneously raised by the same pitch P. Next, as shown in C, after pulling out the lead frame R ₂ , remove the first magazine 22.
1 by one pitch, and at the same time the second magazine 22
2 by the same pitch. Repeat this up to lead frame _R3 at the top position.

Next, as shown in FIG. 8D, the first magazine 2
After the lead frame R ₃ at the uppermost position in the magazine 21 is pulled out, the magazine 221 is further lowered by a distance (a+b) larger than the diameter a of the through hole 41. This is the upper and lower limit switch 35 shown in FIG.
36 and the mounting positions of the upper and lower input plates 37 and 38 can easily be solved.
By this operation, the lead frame _R4 at the lowest position of the second magazine 222 is set at a position raised from the level L by an amount b. Simultaneously with the over-travel operation, the movable base 12 is moved by the motor 13 to align the center line of the second magazine 222 with that of the guide rail.

Thereafter, the lead frame is sent out from the second magazine 222, and this pitch feeding is performed by the same actuating plate 39 and photoelectric switch 40. That is, as shown in FIG. 8E, when the first magazine 221 is raised by b,
The lowest position lead frame of the second magazine 222
R ₄ is located at the height of the insertion level L.

After the lead frame _R4 is pulled out, the same F
As shown in , the second magazine 222 is lowered one pitch. Note that while the lead frame _R4 was completely pulled out, the empty first magazine 2
21 is replaced with something else. And 2
Pull out the lead frame _R5 from the second stage onwards, and
As shown in FIG. 3, the operation of feeding from the second magazine 222 is completed by pulling out the uppermost lead frame _R6 from the second magazine 222.

Moreover, after the final lead frame R ₆ is pulled out from the second magazine 222, the second magazine 222
2 is further lowered by a distance of (a+c) (this c may be the same distance as b), and the lowest position lead frame R ₇ of the newly loaded first magazine is lowered from the insertion level L to c as shown in H. It is set at a higher position. During this time, the first magazine 221 is moved to the delivery position by the movement of the moving base 12, and the lead frame is subsequently pulled out from the first magazine 221 (I).

Thereafter, it is sufficient to replace the second magazine 222 with another one while the lead frame _R7 is being pulled out and return to the first step.

In this way, according to this embodiment, the magazine 22
Even if the stacking pitch of the feed screw 1 is changed,
While taking advantage of the device's advantage of being able to easily change the pitch feed amount without changing the pitch feed amount, it is possible to eliminate errors that occur during return movement of pitch feed, so each storage in the magazine 22 can be more accurately adjusted. It is possible to match the level of the groove and the guide frame. Further, there is an advantage that the level difference that occurs during the reciprocating process can be eliminated by adjusting the attachment positions of the first and second magazine holders 24 and 26 to the feed screw 16 in advance.

As explained above, according to the present invention, the actuating plate moves linearly by the same amount as the magazine in conjunction with the movement of the magazine. The optical sensor installed on the moving path of the magazine is activated to detect the point at which the feed screw should be stopped, and at the moving end of the magazine, it detects the point in time when the feed screw should stop moving beyond the width of the transparent part provided on the operating plate. Since the magazine and the actuating plate are configured to be moved back after being applied to the magazine and the actuating plate, the same detection position can be fixed during the forward and backward processes.
This provides an excellent effect in that an error pitch feed can be applied to the magazine during return movement.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the magazine, Figure 2 is a side view showing the lead frame being sent out from the magazine.
3 is a vertical sectional view of the magazine pitch feeding device applied to this embodiment, FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line -- in FIG. 3, FIG.
The figure is a sectional view taken along the - line, Figures 7A and B are positional relationship diagrams of the actuating plates showing the error occurrence state by the same device, Figures 7C and D are positional relationship diagrams of the actuating plates according to this method, and Figure 8
Figures A to I show process diagrams of pitch feed positions illustrating the method. 16...Feed screw, 19...Guide frame,
22, 221, 222...Magazine, 23, 25
... Nut member, 24, 26 ... Magazine holder, 31, 32 ... Elevating plate, 39 ... Operating plate, 4
0...Photoelectric switch, 41...Through hole, 42...Detection light.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In a magazine pitch feeding method in which a magazine that stores plate-like articles at a predetermined stacking pitch is fed in pitch by intermittent rotation of a feed screw screwed into the magazine, the magazine is moved in conjunction with the movement of the magazine. The actuating plate, which moves linearly by the same amount as At the moving end of the magazine, after giving the magazine and the actuating plate an excess movement that is greater than the width of the transparent part provided on the actuating plate, the magazine and the actuating plate are turned back and moved. Features a magazine pitch feeding method.