JPH03213224A - Printed board holding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To execute work high accurately and efficiently by holding a board, supported from one side while locked in the other side, in a work position while inserting/removing a pin, being advanced/retracted to/from the board from a locking side. CONSTITUTION:A printed board Pb is held to a part loading position Lp by turning a swivel arm 4a to impede advancing of the printed board Pb, coming to be conveyed by conveying belts 2a, 2b, lifting a backup pin 7 to press upward the printed board Pb and stopping a rise of the backup pin 7 after both side parts of the printed board Pb are stopped by roofs 18, 19. When pin supporting members 11a, 11b are lowered to slide along sliding beds 12a1, 12b1, positioning pins 10a, 10b are lowered to advance each point end part into a positioning hole HL of the printed board Pb.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to an apparatus for holding an electric circuit board or the like in a working position.

[Prior art and its problems]

Conventionally, when chip-shaped electronic components (hereinafter referred to as chip components) such as IC1 capacitors and resistors are mounted on a printed circuit board, the printed circuit board is transported to a mounting work area by a line-type transport device such as a belt conveyor. In the mounting work area, the mounting work head picks up (picks up) the chip component from the component supply position and places it at a predetermined position on the printed circuit board. In this case, in order to mount the chip components at predetermined positions on the printed circuit board with high precision, the printed circuit board is positioned before component placement.

As a method for positioning a printed circuit board, a method using positioning pins as shown in FIG. 5 is often used. In this method, after the printed circuit board pb conveyed by the conveyor belt 51 is stopped by a stopper (not shown), a backup pin 52 is raised from below, and the printed circuit board pb is stopped by a stopper (not shown).
Place b from transport path sb to component loading position 1! Lift it to Lp.

A positioning pin 54 is set up at the end of the table 53 on which a large number of backup pins 52 are set up.The table 53 is lifted up by an air cylinder 55, and both pins 5
2.54 will rise at the same time. In this case, the position of the tip of the positioning pin 54 is set higher than that of the backup pin 52. Therefore, first, the positioning pin 54 enters the positioning hole HL formed in the printed circuit board pb, and then the backup pin 52 supports the back surface of the printed circuit board pb and lifts it up. At the component mounting position Lp,
The printed circuit board pb is locked on both sides of the front surface by a pair of top plates 56, 56, and a backup pin 5 supports the back surface.
2 and held in a predetermined position.

In the case of the above-described positioning method, it is difficult to evenly support the printed circuit board pb because the backup pins 52 cannot be arranged in the area where the positioning pins 54 are arranged. Furthermore, since the positioning pins 54 and the backup pins 52 are allowed to access the printed circuit board pb substantially at the same time, the printed circuit board pb is likely to be damaged if the positioning pins 54 cannot be inserted into the positioning holes HL due to transportation errors or the like.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, a method can be considered in which the positioning pin 61 is fixedly installed at the component mounting position Lp with its tip facing downward. According to this method, the printed circuit board pb can be evenly supported, but when the backup pin 62 is lowered and the printed circuit board Pb is returned to the original board transport path sb, the positioning pin 61 does not come out smoothly from the positioning hole HL. As shown by the two-dot chain line, the printed circuit board pb may be left caught on the positioning pins 61. For this reason, not only the electronic component mounting line is temporarily stopped and work efficiency is reduced, but also the positioning hole HL is enlarged, causing a problem in positioning in subsequent steps.

[Purpose of the invention]

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and provides a board holder that supports the board evenly and allows the positioning pins to be smoothly inserted and removed, thereby enabling work to be carried out with high precision and efficiency. The purpose is to provide equipment.

[Key points of the invention]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a substrate holding device that holds the substrate at a predetermined working position by inserting positioning pins into holes drilled in the substrate. The key point of the present invention is to include a clamping mechanism that clamps the positioning pin at the working position, and a pin drive mechanism that moves the positioning pin forward and backward from the locking side of the board and inserts and removes it into the hole.

[Embodiments of the invention]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an electronic component mounting line as an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are an elevational view and a side view, respectively, taken along arrows 1--2. In Fig. 1, a pair of guide rails 1a*1b are laid in parallel, and these guide rails 1a*
Transport bells 2a and 2b are stretched inside each of xb to form a substrate transport path sb. As shown in FIG. 3, the conveyor bells 2a and 2b are wound around six supporting protrusions 3a and 3b provided on the inner surface of the base 3 of each guide rail La5lb, and approximately half of their width is wrapped around each of the guide rails tastb. It protrudes from the inside surface. Therefore, the printed circuit board pb is guided by the inner surfaces of the guide rails 1a and 1b at both ends, and supported by the protrusion of the conveyor belt 2ae2b at both sides, and is conveyed in the direction of the white arrow T as the printed circuit board rotates. be done.

On the substrate transport path sb, three stoppers 4, 5, 6 are arranged at approximately equal intervals, and on the upstream side of each stopper 4, 5, 6 with respect to the substrate transport direction T, three stage W1. W2.
W3 is divided into sections.

In this case, work stages Wl and W3 at both ends are mounting work stages where chip components are actually mounted, but work stage W2 at the center is a stage where some chip components are mounted. This is a standby stage where the completed printed circuit board is simply put on standby.

Each work station at both ends W1. Since W3 has the same configuration, the configuration of the work station W1 on the upstream side with respect to the substrate transport direction T will be described, and the description of the work stage W3 on the downstream side will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 2, the stopper 4 is formed by connecting an air cylinder 4b to a swinging arm 4a serving as a stopper member. The swing arm 4a is rotatably supported by a shaft 4c, and one end thereof is connected to the tip of a piston loft 4 extending and contracting from an air cylinder 4b. In this case, the swing arm 4
A is vertically supported and its tip is moved freely between a board stop position which is extended to the board transport path sb and a component mounting position (described later) and a board bus position which is retracted upward and downward from the board transport path sb. Possibly supported. In FIG. 2, the swing arm 4
This figure shows a state where a has advanced to the board stop position.

A substrate push-up mechanism U is provided upstream of the stopper 4 described above. The substrate push-up mechanism U generally includes a table unit 8 having a large number of backup pins 7 erected thereon, and an air cylinder 9 for raising and lowering the backup pins 7. The backup pins 7 are arranged upright on the upper surface of the backup table 8a of the table unit 8, and are evenly distributed over substantially the entire area of the work stage W1. The backup table 8a is connected to the air cylinder 9 by joining the tip of a cylinder rod 9a to its support portion 8b. When the air cylinder 9 is actuated, the backup table 8a and its support portion 8b move up and down together, and the backup pin 7 passes through the board transport path sb and advances and retreats to the vicinity of the component mounting position Lρ.

As shown in FIG. 3, a positioning device for the printed circuit board pb being transported is installed on one side of the work stage Wl. As shown in FIG. 4, the positioning device generally includes a pair of positioning pins 10a, 10 that access the printed circuit board PB from above.
b, and pin support members 11a and 1lb that support them.
1 A slide unit 12 as 12 bb for slidably supporting each pin support member 11a, llb, and an air cylinder 13 for vertically moving the 710 a +Job, and connecting each pin support member 11a, 11b to the air cylinder. It consists of a link mechanism 14.

In FIG. 4(a), the air cylinder 13 and the link mechanism 14 are attached to a support board 15 that stands up below one of the guide rails 1b.

A sensor 13b is installed in the air cylinder 13 to detect the expansion and contraction state of the cylinder rod 13a.

The sensor 13b is connected to a CPU (not shown) of a central control unit C that controls the operation of the entire electronic component mounting line.

In this case, the output of the air cylinder 13 is
Since 0a and 10b are separated from the backup pin 7 and accessed from above to the printed circuit board pb,
The output is set to be small enough to simply raise and lower the positioning pins 10a and 10b.

One end of an arm 14a is rotatably connected to the tip of the cylinder rod 13a via a pin 14b. Arm 1
4a is rotatably supported by a shaft 14c erected on the support board 15, and the other end is connected to one end of a connecting rod 14d extending in the horizontal direction. In this case, the connecting tool 14e fixed to one end of the connecting rod and the end of the arm 14a,
They are rotatably connected to each other via a connecting shaft 14f.

Similarly, the connecting tool 14g is fixed to the other end of the connecting rod 14d,
This connector 14g and a shaft 14h erected on the support board 15
The connecting arm 14j rotatably supported on the connecting shaft 1
4j, they are rotatably connected to each other.

The connection tl14d is a pair of pin support members 11a.

flb is slidably supported. Each pin support member 11
a and flb have the same configuration, so the configuration of the downstream pin support member 11a will be explained, and the explanation of the upstream pin support member 11b will be omitted. As shown in FIG. 3, the pin support member 11a has a substantially U-shape, and has a positioning pin 10 at the tip.
The vertical arm 11a2i supports the horizontal arm 1lal in a cantilever manner, and the slider 11a3 is fixed to the lower end of the vertical arm 11a2 and slidably fitted to the connecting rod 14d. This pin support member 11a is attached to the guide rail 1b via the slide unit 12a. In this case, a sliding plate 11a4 fixed to the inside of the vertical arm 11a2 and a sliding base 12a1 extending vertically on the outer surface of the slide unit 12a,
This is a fitting connection via a slide bearing. That is,
The slide unit 12a supports the entire pin support member 11a slidably in the vertical direction.

Of the pair of slide units 12a and 12b, the downstream slide unit 12a is attached to the guide rail 1b by a fixed handle 16 so as to be adjustable and movable. In this case, a sliding groove 1bl with a T-shaped cross section is recessed along the extending direction (board conveyance direction) of the guide rail 1b, and the foot portion 18a of the fixed handle 16 is passed through the sliding unit 12a, so that the sliding groove 11b is Insert it inside and fix it. A screw is carved on the circumferential surface of the fixed handle foot lea, and the foot lea is inserted into the nut 17 that is loaded into the sliding groove 1bl.
are screwed together, and the slide unit 12a is held between the root boss portion 18b of the fixed handle 16 and the outer surface of the guide rail 1b.

Therefore, by turning the fixed handle 16 in the loosening direction to weaken the clamping force, the slide unit 12a and the pin support member 11
a can be slid integrally along the sliding groove 1bl and the connecting rod 14d to adjust the position of the positioning pin 10a. Incidentally, since the upstream slide unit 12b serves as a reference side for positioning and is not moved in principle, it is fixedly installed without providing a fixed handle.

The positioning pins 10a and 10b are connected to the horizontal arm 11, respectively.
It is inserted through the tip of each of al and 1lbl. In this case, the tapered tips of each positioning pin 10a, 10b are made to protrude downward, and the head is attached to the horizontal arm 11a1.11.
bl is fixed in a state where it protrudes from each top surface. By making the head of each positioning pin 10a, 10b protrude upward in this way, the position of the positioning pin 10a can be easily adjusted according to the size of the printed circuit board, as shown in FIG. 4(a). can be implemented. That is, the printed circuit board P
b on the horizontal arm 11a1.1ibl, and the pair of positioning holes HL, HL are placed on the positioning pin 10a.

What is necessary is just to adjust the position of the positioning pin 10a on the downstream side so that it can be extrapolated to each protruding head of the pin 10b.

Each positioning pin 10a, 10b moves up and down to the component mounting position pb along with the vertical movement of each pin support member 11a, 11b, respectively. In this case, the robot moves up and down over the top plate 18, which is fixed on the guide rail lb.

The top plate 18 has an inner end protruding from the inner surface of the guide rail 1b by a width W. A top plate 19 is similarly provided on the guide rail la on the opposite side to ensure the protrusion width W.

With this pair of protrusion widths W and W, the above-mentioned substrate pushing mechanism U
Both sides of the printed circuit board pb pushed up by the back-up pin 7 and the top plates 18 and 19 are held in place.

The central standby stage W2 is not provided with a board lifting mechanism U or a positioning H holder, but is provided only with a stopper 5 for preventing the printed board pb from being conveyed. Since components are not mounted on the standby stage W2, there is no need to position the board.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, the stopper 5 is different from the stoppers 4.6 provided at the work stations Wl and W3 on both sides, and uses the piston rod 5b of the cylinder 5a as a stopper rod to advance and retreat into the substrate transport path sb. It has a simple configuration.

Next, the operation of the electronic component mounting line configured as described above will be explained.

In FIG. 1, the first printed circuit board pb is carried into the upstream work station Wl and positioned. In this case, as shown in FIG. 2, the stopper air cylinder 4b is operated to rotate the swing arm 4a to the substrate stopping position. This prevents the printed circuit board pb, which has been transported along with the rotation of the transport belts 2a*2b, from advancing. Next, the push-up air cylinder 9 is operated to raise the backup pin 7 and push up the printed circuit board pb as shown in FIG. Then, when both sides of the printed circuit board pb are locked by the top plates 18 and 19, the backup pin 7 is stopped from rising. As a result, the printed circuit board pb
It is held at the component mounting position Lp.

When the printed circuit board pb is held at the component mounting position Lp,
The positioning pins 10a and 10b are retracted to an upper position where they do not come into contact with the printed circuit board pb, as shown in FIG. 4(a). From this state, the positioning device positions the printed circuit board pb. First, the positioning air cylinder 13 is activated to extend the piston rod 13a,
Rotate arm 14a counterclockwise. As a result, as shown in FIG. 4(b), the connecting rod 14d is moved to the downstream side (
(left side in the figure), and the connecting arm 14 at the downstream end
1 also rotates counterclockwise. Since the arms 14a and 14i that support both ends of the connecting rod 14d rotate counterclockwise synchronously, the entire connecting rod 14d descends, and the pin support member 11a.

flb on each sliding base 1 of slide units 12a and 12b.
Slide down along 2a1.12bl.

By lowering the pin support members 11a and 11b, the positioning pins 10a and 10b are lowered, and their respective tips are attached to the printed circuit board p.
A positioning hole HL is drilled in b.

Enter HL. In this case, the positioning pins 10a, 1
Each tip of 0b is formed tapered, and the positioning hole HL on the downstream side (tip side) is formed into an elongated hole (see Fig. 1).
The positioning pins 10a can be used even if the position of the printed circuit board pb is shifted to the extent that the position remains the same.

10b tip can be inserted smoothly. When the insertion is completed, the position of the printed circuit board pb has been adjusted and positioned at a predetermined position.

As described above, when the positioning pins 10a and 10b can be inserted into the positioning holes HL and HL, the cylinder rod 13a of the air cylinder 13 extends normally, and the sensor 13b centrally controls the detection signal (for example, ON signal). Output to section C. Upon receiving this, the central control unit C determines that the positioning of the printed circuit board pb is completed, and carries out the next component mounting process.

For example, if a transport failure occurs such as transporting the printed circuit board Pb with the front and back reversed, then the positioning pin 1
0a and 10b are positioning holes HL.

Cannot be inserted into HL. Therefore, the positioning pins 10a and 10b only fall to the surface of the printed circuit board Pb and do not fall any further, so the operation of the link mechanism 14 also stops, and the cylinder rod 13a also stops without being extended to a predetermined position. There is. As a result, sensor 1
3b is not turned on, and an off signal is sent to the central control section C. Upon receiving this, the central control unit C determines that an error has occurred in the positioning, and operates a solenoid valve (not shown) installed in the pipe that sends air to the air cylinder 13 to stop the air supply. The drive unit is stopped and the component mounting work is interrupted, and an error message to that effect is displayed.

In the manner described above, a conveyance failure of the printed circuit board Pb can be accurately detected, and the inconvenience of mounting a chip component in an incorrect position can be prevented. Moreover, the positioning pin 10a,
Since the output of the air cylinder 13 that raises and lowers the positioning pins 10a and 10b is set to be as small as possible, the positioning pins 10a and
It is possible to prevent the inconvenience of bending or damaging the printed circuit board pb due to forcible pressing of the printed circuit board pb by the lOb.

After the positioning of the printed circuit board pb is completed, mounting of electronic components is started. At this upstream work station Wl, components are mounted, for example, in about half the area of the printed circuit board pb.

When half-mounting of the electronic components is completed, the positioning air cylinder 13 is operated to remove the pin support member 11a.

flb is raised and the positioning pins 10a, 10b are pulled out from the positioning holes HL, HL. At this time, the printed circuit board pb
Since both sides of the locating pin 10a are locked by the top plates 18 and 19, the positioning pin 10a can be pulled out smoothly. Therefore, the inconvenience of enlarging the positioning holes HL, HL is prevented, and positioning in subsequent operations can be performed accurately. It should be noted that the link mechanism 14 operates in the opposite manner to that at the time of pin insertion described above.

Next, the air cylinder 9 of the board lifting mechanism U is activated, the backup pin 7 is lowered to the original retracted position, and the printed board pb is moved onto the conveyor belt 2a.

2b. Next, the stopper air cylinder 4b is operated to rotate the swing arm 4a to the substrate pass position. As a result, the printed circuit board pb is transferred to the conveyor belt 2a.
, 2b are rotated and conveyed to the downstream side.

The printed circuit board pb, which has electronic components mounted on about half its area and has been transported to the downstream side, waits for a predetermined time at the central standby stage Ron W2, and is then transported to the downstream work station W3. At the downstream work station W3, electronic components are mounted on the remaining half area of the printed circuit board pb by the same operation as at the upstream work station W1, and then the electronic components are discharged to the downstream side.

At the upstream work station Wl from which the printed circuit board pb was carried out, the next printed circuit board pb is immediately carried in, and the same operation is carried out to mount electronic components in half the area. Thereafter, similar operations are repeated to efficiently and accurately mount electronic components onto a large number of printed circuit boards pb.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, and it goes without saying that various modifications can be made within the technical scope of the present invention.

For example, the present invention can be widely applied not only to a component mounting line for printed circuit boards, but also to a process in which assembly and other work operations are carried out in a so-called assembly line.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, the board is supported from one side and locked by the other side to be held in a working position, and the positioning pin is moved forward and backward from the locking side with respect to the board. As a result, the board can be accurately and evenly supported at a predetermined position, and the positioning pin can be smoothly inserted into and removed from the positioning hole of the board. Therefore, work can be carried out with high precision and efficiency, and it is possible to reliably prevent the inconvenience of enlarging the positioning hole and hindering positioning in subsequent processes when the board gets caught in the positioning pin. Become.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a plan view showing an electronic component mounting line as an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is an elevational view taken along arrows - -, showing the electronic component mounting line, and Fig. 3 is a plan view showing the electronic component mounting line. 4(a) and 4(b) are front views showing each stage of the positioning operation in the electronic component mounting line, and FIGS. 5 and 6 show a conventional board holding device, respectively. FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view. 1a, 1b...Guide rails 2a, 2b...Transport belt 4.5.6...Stopper 7.52.62...Backup pin 9...Pushing air cylinder 10a, job, 54. 61-Positioning pin 11a, 1
1b...Pin support members 12a, 12b...Slide unit 13...Positioning air cylinder 13a = Cylinder rod 13b-...Sensor! 4...Link kitei thin 16...Fixed handle 18.19...Top plate C...Central control unit L...Positioning device pb...Printed circuit board Lp...Component mounting position sb ...Substrate transport path U...Substrate push-up mechanism Wl, W3...Work station W2...Waiting stage Gint Fig. 3

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a substrate holding device that holds the board at a predetermined working position by inserting positioning pins into holes drilled in the board, a holding mechanism that supports the board from one side and locks the board from the other side to hold the board at the working position. and a pin drive mechanism that moves the positioning pin forward and backward from the locking side of the board and inserts and removes it into the hole.