JPH0414897A - Electronic circuit assembly system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable time required for changing a stage to be reduced and required number of parts to be reduced by allowing a plurality of electronic parts retaining units to be mounted and including a plurality of pallets which can be inserted and extracted at a parts supply part of a parts-mounting machine. CONSTITUTION:A pallet 16 is provided with a plate-shaped pellet body 26, a plurality of tape cartridges 28 can be mounted to each, and each cartridge 28 can be set so that a reel 30 where a tape storing each one type of electronic parts in a row is wound can be removed. Also, a bracket 40 which is provided with a roller 38 which can be gear-locked to a member to be guided 34 which can be engaged to a guide rail 32 is mounted to a rear surface of the pallet body 26 and the pallet 16 can be fitted to the parts mounting machine 14 according to gear-lock between these members to be guided 34 and the guide rails 32 and 36 which are provided at the roller 38 and the parts-mounting machine 14 so that it can be removed. As a result, a retention unit can be exchanged for each pallet, thus allowing time required for changing stages to be reduced and the number of required parts to be reduced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a system for assembling electronic circuits by mounting electronic components on circuit substrates such as printed circuit boards.
In particular, it concerns improvements in the supply of electronic components.

2. Description of the Related Art A component mounting machine is used to assemble an electronic circuit by mounting a plurality of types of electronic components on a circuit substrate. The component mounting machine includes a base material holding device that positions and holds the circuit base material,
It is common to have a mounting device for mounting electronic components on a circuit substrate held by a substrate holding device and a component supplying device for sequentially supplying electronic components to the mounting device. The component supply device holds multiple electronic components of one type each.
A plurality of component holding units capable of sequentially supplying the electronic components are attached. Electronic components include components with lead wires that extend from the main body and leadless components that do not have lead wires extending from the main body.As a component holding unit, for example, a tape that holds multiple electronic components in a row is used. A tape cartridge in which electronic components are supplied one by one as the tape is wound onto a reel and the tape is rewound from the reel, and a car in which multiple electronic components are housed in a cylindrical container so that they can be taken out one by one). A tray or the like is used in which one electronic component is housed in each of a plurality of recesses in a ridge or shallow dish-shaped container.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention Conventionally, these component holding units have been attached to a support stand that is irremovably installed in each component mounting machine. Therefore, the number of component holding units that can be installed at one time is limited, and if it is necessary to assemble many types of electronic circuits with one component mounting machine, each time the electronic circuits to be assembled change, the number of component holding units that can be installed is limited. It is common for parts loading to be changed, and it takes a long time to change the setup, and during this time it is necessary to stop the parts loading machine, which inevitably lowers the operating rate.

The present invention changes the support stand of the component holding unit to a pallet that can be removed from the component mounting machine, and makes it possible to replace the component holding unit with the entire pallet, thereby shortening the time required for setup change, and Onboard aircraft pare 7
) was developed with the aim of reducing the required number of pallets and component holding units.

Means for Solving the Problem This problem consists of an electronic circuit assembly system that consists of (a) multiple component mounting machines each capable of mounting multiple types of electronic components onto circuit substrates, and (b) one type of electronic components each (C) A plurality of electronic component holding units that can hold a plurality of electronic components and sequentially supply the electronic components, and (C) A plurality of electronic component holding units that can be mounted and detachable from the component supply section of the component mounting machine. a plurality of pallets; (d) storage that is commonly provided to the plurality of component mounting machines and stores the plurality of pallets with electronic component holding units mounted thereon;
) This solution is solved by including a pallet conveying device that takes out any valent from the storage, conveys it, supplies it to each component mounting machine, and returns the used valant to the storage.

Function: In this system, component holding units that hold electronic components necessary for electronic circuits that are scheduled to be assembled within a certain period of time are loaded onto pallets in advance and stored in storage, and then each component mounting machine can load the components. When the holding unit needs to be replaced, the pallet transport device picks up the used pallet from the component supply device of the component mounting machine and returns it to storage, and also takes out a new pallet from storage and supplies the parts to the component mounting machine. All you have to do is hand it over to the supply device, and the setup change can be completed in a short time.

Pallets are common to multiple component mounting devices, so even if the same pallet is used in multiple component mounting devices, only one pallet is needed if the pallets are used at different times.
The number of pallets to be prepared is smaller than that in the case where a dedicated barre/nod is prepared for each component mounting machine. Therefore, the number of electronic component holding units mounted on these pallets can also be reduced.

In addition, if each component mounting machine is equipped with a buffer storage that can store the fixed price number of pallets in addition to the component supply device, the pallet that will be used after the pallet currently in use will be stored in the buffer storage. Then, when you need to exchange valents, you can exchange used pallets with pallets from buffer storage. The pallet discharged from the component supply device to the buffer storage can be returned to the storage by the pallet transport device while electronic components are being mounted in the component mounting machine, and the pallet transport device transfers the pallet to the component mounting machine. The time required for setup changes is reduced by the time required for transportation between the storage and storage.

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to perform a setup change by replacing the component holding unit with the entire pallet, thereby reducing the time required for setup change and improving the operating rate of the component mounting machine. can.

What's more, by standardizing the pallet for multiple component mounting machines, it is possible to hold valent and electronic components in a single unit.

The required number of storage cards can be reduced, and the required storage area and equipment costs can be reduced.

In addition, there is no limit to the number of combs/nts that can be stored in storage, and parts loading machines, comb/nt conveying devices, etc. can be automated using computers, so for example, The electronic component assembly system can be operated unmanned by mounting the component holding units to be used on pallets in advance and storing them in storage, thereby improving production efficiency.

EXAMPLE Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view schematically showing the main parts of an electronic circuit assembly system according to the invention, and this system includes a plurality of screen printing machines 10. An adhesive applicator 12, a component mounting machine 14, a storage (not shown) for storing a large number of barre throats 16, racks 18, and screen frames 20, and the storage and the screen printing machine 10. Adhesive applicator 1
2 and a storage robot 22 that transports pallets 16 and the like between the parts mounting machine 14 and the parts mounting machine 14.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the pallet 16 includes a flat pallet main body 26, each of which can mount a plurality of tape cartridges 28 (for example, 30 pieces). Each tape cartridge 28 is wound with a tape containing one type of electronic components in a row, and a loop 30 can be set in a removable manner, and although not shown, the tape can be wound in parallel with the holding pitch of the electronic components. It is provided with a feeding mechanism for feeding and a balance peeling device for peeling off the cover tape, and is fixed to the valent main body 26 by a positioning pin and a fixing device (not shown). A guided member 34 that can fit into the guide rail 32 and a guide rail 3 are provided on the back surface of the pallet body 26.
A bracket 40 with an engageable roller 38 is attached to the pallet 16, and the pallet 16 engages the guided member 34 and roller 38 with guide rails 32 and 36 provided on the component mounting machine 14. Therefore, it can be removably mounted on the component mounting machine 14.

A retaining member 42 is further attached to the back surface of the pallet body 26, and a pallet moving device 112, which will be described later, is engaged with this engaging member 42 to move the pallet 16 along the guide rails 32, 36. .

The rack 18 accommodates printed circuit boards before or after mounting electronic components in multiple stages at regular intervals, and the screen frame 20 is a frame covered with a screen for screen printing.

The screen printing machine IO is a device that uses a screen frame 20 to apply adhesive to multiple points on a printed circuit board at once by screen printing.
Those described in the publication can be used. The adhesive applicator 12 is a device that uses a syringe equipped with an applicator nozzle to apply adhesive to predetermined locations on a printed circuit board at one point or multiple points at a time. Available for use. In addition, the component mounting machine 14 is equipped with a printed circuit board transport and positioning device that takes out printed circuit boards one by one from the rank 18, transports them, and positions them at a predetermined position, and a suction head that sucks and holds electronic components using a vacuum. a mounting device for mounting the printed circuit board onto the printed circuit board on the printed circuit board transfer and positioning device;
Supports the pallet 16 and supports the pallet 16
The device is equipped with a component supply device that positions the predetermined tape cartridge 28 above with respect to the mounting device and supplies electronic components one by one. As a component mounting machine, for example, the machine described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-269600 can be used.

Each screen printing machine 10 includes a first rack buffer 50 and a second rack buffer 52 that store a plurality of racks 18, and a first rack buffer 54 and a second rack buffer 56 that store a plurality of screen frames 20. Each adhesive applicator 12 is provided with a first rack buffer 6o and a second rack buffer 62, each storing a plurality of racks 18. Each component mounting machine 14 also includes a first rack buffer 64 and a second rack buffer 66 that store a plurality of racks 18, and a first frame pallet buffer 68 and a second frame balance buffer 70 that store a plurality of pallets 16. is provided.

Each first buffer 50, 54, 60, 64 and 68 is connected to the storage robot 22 on the pallet 16.
The rack 18 and screen frame 20 receivers are used to transfer and temporarily store them, and are arranged side by side on both sides of the travel path 74 of the storage robot/nod 22. On the other hand, each second banhua 52, 56.62.6
6 and 70 are the corresponding first buffer and screen printing machine 10. Adhesive applicator 12 and component mounting machine 1
A receiver for pallets 16 and the like is placed between the pallets 16 and 4, and is used to transfer pallets 16 and the like and store them.

Screen printing machine 10. The parts of the adhesive applicator 12 and the component mounting machine 14, including the second buffer 52, etc., are arranged at right angles to the row of the first buffers.

FIG. 4 shows the first pallet buffer 68 and second pallet buffer 70 in the component loading machine 14 and the component supply device 7.
6 is shown. The parts supply device 76 is connected to a first elevator 78. The second elevator 80° includes an upper conveyor 82 and a lower conveyor 84. The upper stage conveyor 82 accommodates three pallets 16, and positions any one of the tape cartridges 28 mounted on the central pallet 16 with respect to a suction head whose rotation is omitted. The pallet 16 is fed to the left in the figure by an upper conveyor 82 while supplying electronic components (in Figure 4, the pallet 16
(Since this is a rear view of the component loading machine 14, the pallet 16 is sent to the right when viewed from the front) and the second elevator 80.
is lowered, conveyed to the right by the lower conveyor 84, raised by the first elevator 78, and handed over to the upper conveyor 82 again. Since the pallets 16 are circulated and the lower conveyor 84 can accommodate four pallets 16, electronic components can be supplied from seven pallets 16.

The upper stage conveyor 82 is provided below the mounting device equipped with a suction head of the component mounting machine 14, and as shown in FIG. A supporting wall 9294 is provided. Of these supporting walls 92 and 94, the guide rail 36 is fixed to the upper end of one of the supporting walls 92 with a guide groove 96 opening toward the supporting wall 94, and the guide rail 36 is fixed to the upper end of the other side wall 94. 32 is fixed. Guide rail 3
2 consists of a cylindrical guide rod 9 supported by a trapezoidal pedestal 100, with both ends of the guide rod 98 (only one end is shown in the figure).

) has a tapered portion 10 whose diameter gradually decreases on the distal end side.
2 is formed. The ballen 1-16 is connected to the roller 3
8 engages with the guide groove 96, and the guided member 34 engages with the guide rod 98, thereby being guided along the - straight line. These guide rails 32 and 36 have a length that can accommodate four pallets 16, and the central part in the longitudinal direction is located below the loading device, and the pallet 16 in the center is A portion of the length capable of accommodating electronic components is used as a work area, and is used for moving a pallet 16 that supplies electronic components to a mounting device.

In addition, a portion adjacent to one side of the work area (the side adjacent to the first electric heater 78) is set as a standby area, and one pallet 16 that has not yet been supplied with electronic components to the mounting device is stored.
Be prepared to wait.

Further, a portion adjacent to the other side of the work area is set as an evacuation area, in which one pallet 16 that has finished supplying parts to the mounting device is evacuated.

As shown in FIG. 6, a pallet moving device 112 is provided between the support walls 92 and 94 of the upper container 82. Valent transfer device 112 includes a first carrier 114 and a second carrier 116. 1st. 2nd carrier 1
14 and 116 are slidably fitted into guide rails 118 and 120 provided parallel to the support walls 92 and 94, respectively, and are screwed into feed screws 122 and 124, respectively. These guide rails 118, 120 and feeders 122, 124 have a length extending from the standby area to the evacuation area, and the carrier 1.14
．． 116 are provided at intervals that allow them to pass each other, and feed screws 122 and 124 are connected to the drive motor 12.
6 and 12B respectively, the first. The second carriers 114, 116 are each independently reciprocated across the standby area 1 work area and the retreat area. Retaining protrusions 130 and 132 are respectively fitted into mutually opposing portions of these carriers 114 and 116 so as to be movable up and down. These engaging protrusions 1.30, 132
The upper end portion has a shape that can be engaged with the engaging member 42 provided on the lower surface of the pallet 16, and the carrier 114
, 116 (not shown), and is moved to an engagement position where it engages with the retaining member 42 and a disengagement position where it disengages from the engagement member 42. By moving the carriers 114 and 116 with the engagement protrusions 130 and 132 engaged with the engagement member 42, the pallet 16 is moved to the tape cartridge 2 mounted thereon.
The tape cartridges 28 are moved along a straight line along which the eight component supply sections are lined up, and the component supply sections of each tape cartridge 28 are sequentially positioned at the supply position directly below the suction head positioned at the component suction position.

The second elevator 80 is provided adjacent to the evacuation area of the upper stage conveyor 82, and as shown in FIG.
It is equipped with 40. This lifting platform 140 is slidably fitted into two guide rods 142 and 144 arranged in the vertical direction, and is also screwed into a screw shaft 146, which is rotated by a drive motor 148. It can be raised and lowered by being moved. The second elevator 8o is equipped with the same guide rails 32, 36 as the guide rails 32, 36 of the upper stage conveyor 82, and these guide rails 32, 36 constitute a continuous guide rail at the rising end position. There is. The pallet 16 is moved from the upper stage conveyor 82 to the second elevator 8o by a moving device equipped with a hydraulic cylinder, but illustration and detailed explanation are omitted.

The first elevator 7 and the lower conhair 84 are substantially similar to the second elevator 80 and the upper conhair 82, respectively. However, since the bullet moving device of the lower conhair 84 only needs to move the pad,
A plurality of hooks are attached to an endless chain, and as the chain rotates, the hooks engage with each pallet 16 and move the pallet 16.

The second valentine sofa 70 includes an upper conveyor 150 and a lower conveyor 152. Both conveyors 1
Both 50 and 152 are held-conhairs having a length capable of supporting a plurality of pallets 16 (three in Fig. 1 and four in Fig. 4, but in reality, about seven are desirable). The upper stage conveyor 150 transfers the pallet 16 to the lifting platform 140 where the first electric heater 78 is in the raised position, and the lower stage conveyor 84 is in the lowered position.
The pallet 16 is picked up from the pallet 40. Upper conveyor 150
A positioning device for positioning the guided member 34 and roller 38 of the pallet 16 with respect to the guide rails 32, 36 on the lifting table 140 is provided in a portion near the first electric hator 78. Further, a moving device for moving the pallet 16 from the former to the latter is provided between the upper conveyor 150 and the first elevator 78, and a moving device for moving the pallet 16 from the former to the latter is also provided between the lower conveyor 7152 and the IL elevator 78.
A transfer device is provided that transfers the data from the latter to the former.

As shown in FIG. 7, the first pallet holder on the 6th is equipped with upper and lower pallet storage sections 160 and 162, and the storage robot 22 is equipped with a fork device 16 supported on a lifting platform.
It is equipped with 4. The fork device 164 is connected to pallets 1-16.
The pallet 16 can be rotated 180 degrees around the vertical axis while supported, and has a fork that can be extended to either the left or right side. The used pallet 16 is removed from the pallet storage section 162. The conveyors 150, 152 of the second pallet buffer 70 extend to the first pallet buffer 68, and although the first and second pallet buffers are integrally constructed in this embodiment, the conveyor 150152 is connected to the second pallet buffer 68. 7
Instead of extending the distance to 0, a dedicated moving device using a hydraulic cylinder or the like as a driving source may be provided instead. In this way, the conveyors 150, 152 of the second pallet buffer 70
Even if the pallet buffer 68 operates, the pallet 16 of the first pallet buffer 68
Since the pallets do not move, the first pallet buffer 68 can be easily used as a temporary storage space for the pallets 16.

As shown in FIG. 7, the first rank buffer 64 is equipped with nine rank storage sections 170, and the storage robot 22 is equipped with two fork devices 172 that can be raised and lowered, and each fork device 172 can be placed in any rack storage section. The rack 18 is delivered to and from the rack 170. The storage robot 22 transfers the material 18 to and from the screen printing machine 10 and the adhesive applicator 12, and
The screen frame 20 is also transferred between the terminal and the terminal.

The storage robot 22 supports the screen frame 20 and the pallet 16 on a fork device 164 and transports it. In addition, among the nine rank storage units 170 of the first Ranokhanfa 50.6064, in FIG.
62 and 66, in which the rack 18 is transferred between the first rack buffer 50 and the second rack buffer 52, etc.
0 is used as a temporary storage space for the rack 18. The screen frame 20 is also transferred between the first frame buffer 54 and the second frame buffer 56.

This electronic circuit assembly system includes a line control computer 180 shown in FIG. It is controlled by a storage control computer 182 and a cell control computer 184. The cell control computer 184 controls the screen printing machine 10.
The storage control computer 182 is provided in each of the adhesive applicator 12 and the component mounting device 14 (the cell is commonly referred to as a cell) and controls the operation of these cells. , which controls the operation of the storage robot 22. The line control computer 180 controls the cell control computer 184 and the storage control computer 182, and its ROM stores various control programs. The flowcharts are shown in FIGS. 9 to 11. Line control computer 18
0 further includes the preparation support computer 186. Planning support computer 188. Production control computer 190 and C
It is also connected to the AD system 192 and the like, and controls the storage control computer 182 and cell control computer 184 based on information from these computers and systems. The preparation support computer 186 requests the parts warehouse 194 to deliver the necessary parts, and also sends the input/output device 196 to the pallet 16. Displays information to support organization of racks 18 and the like. The operator can perform the organizing work based on this information. Planning support computer 1
88 supports the work of formulating a production plan for efficiently assembling all the electronic circuits to be assembled using all the cells most effectively. 198 is an input/output device for inputting production orders together with or in place of the production control computer 190; express production orders are input from the input/output device 196;

The pallets 16 are organized in groups of up to seven pallets. The simplest organization of pallets 16 is the 12th
As shown in the figure, tape cartridges 28 containing all electronic components to be used for all electronic circuits that are scheduled to be assembled in a certain period of time, for example, in one day, are loaded onto an arbitrary pallet 16.

When assembling each electronic circuit, up to seven pallets 16 on which tape cartridge cartridges 28 necessary for assembling the electronic circuit are mounted are collected to form one group. Each number in FIG. 12 indicates the number of the hallet 16. This method of organizing the pallet 16 has the advantage of being simple and easy to organize, but it inevitably increases the number of pallet bodies 26 and tape cartridges 28 that must be prepared.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 13, a fixed part 206 is made up of a group of pallets 16 that are not replaced during the assembly of a certain number of electronic circuits, and a replacement part 206 is made up of pallets 16 that are replaced.
It is recommended that one group be made up of 8 and 8.

For example, as shown in FIG. 14, among electronic components a to i used in electronic circuits A to H, electronic components that are commonly used in multiple electronic circuits (the character "common" is added in FIG. A tape cartridge 28 holding an electronic component used only in a specific electronic circuit is mounted on the pallet 16 of the fixing part 206. In addition, as shown in FIG. 15, all the electronic components used in assembling a plurality of electronic circuits are arranged in descending order of the number of used parts, and the tape cartridge 28 holding the electronic parts used in a certain number or more is attached to the fixed part. 206 pallets 1
A tape cartridge 28 holding electronic components whose number of used parts is less than a certain number may be mounted on the pallet 16 of the exchange section 20.

The parts 16 organized as described above are stored in a storage (not shown) together with a separately prepared rack 18 and screen frame 20, and are supplied to each component mounting machine 14 etc. by a storage robot 22 as needed. be done.

The process will be explained with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 9 to 11. Line control computer 180 executes the control program shown in the flowchart of FIG. 9 in parallel with the execution of other control programs. First, step St
(hereinafter simply referred to as 31; the same applies to other steps), it is determined whether or not there is a request to move the pallet 16, etc. from each cell such as the component mounting machine 14, that is, from each cell control computer 184, and if the request is If so, each cell or storage robot 22 is caused to execute the movement according to the request via the cell control computer 184 or storage control computer 182 in S2. Thereafter, in S3, it is determined whether or not the scheduled program execution has been completed, and if it has been completed, the electronic circuit assembly system is stopped, but if it has not been completed, S1 is executed again. Also, 3
If no movement request has been issued from each cell at the time of determination 1, movement for optimal placement of the pallet 16 and the like is executed in S4. Line control computer 180
In cases where movement requests are issued successively from multiple cells within a short period of time, it is not possible to quickly respond to the requests of each cell by moving the Straylobond 22 back and forth between each cell and the storage. In this case, the valent 16.0 that was taken from the cell in Straylobond 22. Place the rack 18 and screen frame 20 in the nearby empty pallet storage area 16.
It is designed to be temporarily placed at 0 etc. Therefore, while there is no request from each cell, the pallets 16 and the like temporarily placed on the Straylobond 22 are transported to the place where they were originally supposed to be transported. For this purpose, the line control computer 180 has a storage and an existence position memory that stores which pallets 16 etc. are located where in each cell, and when there is a movement request from each cell or a temporary storage of pallets 16 etc. in the Stray Lobond 22. It also includes a schedule table that stores a schedule for a move to be executed following the currently executed move when the transfer is performed.

The transport in S2 is performed according to the flowchart in FIG. First, in step 311, it is determined whether or not a request regarding the pallet 16 has been made based on the information in the schedule file, and if so, it is determined in step S12 whether or not it is a request or the discharge of the pallet 16. Ru. If the pallet 16 is to be ejected, it is determined in S13 whether or not the pallet 16 is free to be ejected based on the information in the location memory, and if it is free, the pallet 16 is ejected in S14. It will be done. If there is no vacant space, a discharge destination is secured in S15, and then discharge is performed.

The destination is secured by moving other pallets 16 at the destination to another location, or by searching for a destination to replace the designated destination.

If the determination result in step 312 is NO, it is determined in S16 whether or not the request is for the supply of pallets 16, and if so, in S17, the pallets 16 to be supplied are temporarily stored somewhere. If the result of the judgment is YES, 318
The pallet 16 is supplied. However, Baren) 1
If 6 is not in the storage Hayabusa, the assembly order is changed in 319. The cell requesting the pallet 16 is instructed to assemble another electronic circuit first.

A concrete example of the above-mentioned discharge and supply of the pallet 16 is shown in FIGS. 16 to 18. FIG. 18 is a time chart, and from the state shown in FIG. 16 where there is no pallet 16 in either the first pallet buffer 68 or the second pallet buffer 70, the used pallet A is discharged from the component loading machine 14, and a new pallet H is placed. 17th sourced from storage
The figure shows the simplest case. The consecutive numbers 1 to I5 in Figure 18 are shown in Figure 16 and 1.
The movements indicated by the arrows in Figure 7 are shown, and alpha vents A, E, and H in the figure indicate the movements of pallets AE and H shown in Figures 16 and 17, respectively. . Since the state of the movement is obvious at first glance, the explanation will be omitted.

Now, if the determination result in S16 is No, the pallets 16 are circulated in S20. Since the only requirements for valent 16 are discharge, supply, and circulation, circulation occurs when neither discharge nor supply occurs. The circulation of the pallet 16 means that the pallet I6 that is discharged from the lower container 152 of the second pallet buffer 70 via the first pallet buffer 68 is once received by the storage robot 22, and then immediately transferred to the second pallet buffer via the first pallet buffer 68.
This is to supply the pallet to the upper stage conveyor 150 of the pallet buffer 70, and is executed when a pallet 16 that has been used in a certain cell is to be used again in the same cell.

In addition, if the result of the Sll determination is No, 3
In step 21, it is determined whether or not a request regarding the rack 18 has been made, and if so, in steps S22 to S30, the above S12 is executed.
The rack 18 is moved in the same manner as in steps 320 to 320. On the other hand, if the determination result of S21 is No, 531
In step S32 to S40, it is determined whether or not a request regarding the screen frame 20 has been made.
The screen frame 20 is moved in the same manner as in steps 2 to S20.

After any of the above movements has been performed, or if no movement has been requested, it is determined in step 34 whether or not there is an interrupt request.

Work in this system is generally performed in a predetermined order, but if an emergency is required, an unscheduled electronic circuit can be assembled by inputting an interrupt request from the input/output device 196. Then, it is determined whether or not this interrupt request has been made. If an interrupt request has not been made, one execution of the pallet 16 etc. in response to the cell request will be completed, but if an interrupt request has been made,
In S42, it is determined whether the interrupt request needs to be executed immediately, and if the result of the determination is YES, 343
Then, the process moves to a predetermined step to execute the movement according to the request. In addition, if it is not necessary to execute immediately, 3
At 44, data indicating that the requested movement should be performed is written to the appropriate position in the schedule table.

The optimum arrangement of S4 is performed by executing a control program shown in the flowchart of FIG.

First, in S51, it is determined whether or not the pallet 16 is to be moved. If it is the pallet 16, in S52, the destination to which the pallet 16 should originally be moved is the first barrel floor 68 of the cell or the storage pallet. It is determined whether the storage section is empty or not, and if it is empty, S
At 53, the pallet 16 is moved thereto. If the destination of Ballen 1-16 is not vacant at the time of determination in S52, S
In S54, it is determined whether or not there is a vacant temporary storage location to which the pallet 16 should originally be moved, which is closer than the current temporary storage location, and if it is vacant, the pallet 16 is moved there in S55. If the determination result of 354 is NO, S
At S56, it is determined whether the destination will become available after waiting for a relatively short predetermined waiting time, and if the result of the determination is YES, the waiting time is awaited at S57.

However, if the destination is not available during the waiting period, the pallet 16 is not moved and the process proceeds to step 872 to step S7.
After step 5 is executed, information regarding the next movement will be read from the schedule table.

If the determination result in S51 is NO, it is determined in S58 whether or not the item to be moved is rank 18, and if so, in steps 359 to S6,1, the above 352
- The movement of rank 18 is performed in the same manner as in S57. Further, if the determination result in S58 is No, the screen frame 20 is moved in S65 and thereafter.

Then, each time something is moved, or pallet 16. If neither the rank 18 nor the screen frame 20 is temporarily placed, S72 to S75 are executed in the same manner as S41 to S44.

As is clear from the above description, the system of this embodiment includes a screen printing machine 10. A plurality of adhesive applicator machines 12 and a plurality of component mounting machines 14 are each included, and each machine performs work related to which electronic circuit at what time so that electronic circuits to be assembled within a certain period of time can be assembled in as short a time as possible. What should be done is decided and executed. Therefore, necessary electronic circuits can be assembled efficiently and manufacturing costs can be reduced.

In addition, when it becomes necessary to replace the electronic component holding unit, the entire pallet body is removed from the component mounting machine and replaced with a new one. Compared to the conventional method in which the holding unit is replaced, the time required for changeover is shortened, and the operating rate of the component mounting machine is improved. In addition, each cell is provided with a buffer storage that can store a certain amount of pallets 1-16, etc., and the pallets 16, etc. to be used next can be supplied to each cell in advance, as needed. Palette 16 from storage every time
The setup time is shorter than when the machines are transported, and the operating rate of each machine can be further improved.

Also, all Valent 16. Since the rack 18 and screen frame 20 are common to all machines, they can also be used efficiently, and fewer pallets need to be prepared compared to the case where pallets are prepared for each component mounting machine as in the past. The number of can be reduced, and from this point as well, the effect of reducing manufacturing costs can be obtained.

Furthermore, since the entire system is controlled by a computer, a certain amount of pallets 16 etc. can be prepared during the day.
Unmanned operation can be performed at night, making it possible to shorten the period required to manufacture electronic circuits, and
Equipment utilization efficiency improves, making it possible to reduce manufacturing costs.

Note that in this embodiment, one storage robot 2
2 functions as a transport device that transports not only the pallet 16 but also the rack 18 and screen frame 20. However, rank 18, which is transported frequently, is transported by a dedicated transport robot. It is also possible to use a transfer robot, and it is also possible to employ another transfer device.

Further, in this embodiment, the electronic circuit assembly system is configured including not only the component mounting machine 14 but also the screen printing machine 10 and the adhesive coating machine 12, but it is possible to configure the system by excluding these. Conversely, it also includes a curing furnace to harden the adhesive, a soldering furnace to solder the terminals of electronic components to the conductors of the printed circuit board, and a cleaning device to clean the electronic circuit after soldering. It is also possible to configure the system.

Other appropriate modifications based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art.

The invention can be practiced in modified forms.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view schematically showing the main parts of an electronic circuit assembly system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a front view of a pallet used in the system, and FIG. 3 is a bottom view thereof. FIG. 4 is a rear view of the component mounting machine in the above system. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing part of the upper conveyor and second elevator of the component mounting machine, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a pallet moving device of the upper conveyor. FIG. 7 is a front view showing the storage robot and the first pallet buffer and first rack buffer of the component mounting machine in the above system. FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the control device of the above system, and FIGS. 9, 10, and 11.
The figure is a flowchart 1 which shows only the parts deeply related to the present invention extracted from the control program stored in the control device. FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the organization of pallets in the above system. FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing another example of pallet organization, and FIGS. 14 and 15 are explanatory diagrams each showing how to determine a fixed part and a replaceable part in the pallet organization of FIG. 13. . FIG. 16 and FIG. 17 are explanatory diagrams showing the states before and after the movement of the valent, respectively, and FIG. 18 shows the movement of the pallet between the state in FIG. 16 and the state in FIG. 17. FIG. 10 Niscreen printing machine I2: Adhesive applicator 14:
Parts loading machine 16: Valent 18 Nirakku
20 Ni screen frame 22 Ni tray robot 26: Parent body 28: Tape cartridge nozzle 68: First pallet buffer 70: Second pallet buffer 76 Two parts supply device

Claims (1)

[Claims] A system for assembling electronic circuits by mounting electronic components on a circuit substrate, comprising: a plurality of component mounting machines each capable of mounting a plurality of types of electronic components on the circuit substrate; and one type of each component mounting machine. It is possible to mount multiple electronic component holding units that can hold multiple electronic components and sequentially supply those electronic components, and a plurality of these electronic component holding units.
a plurality of pallets that are removable from the component supply section of the component mounting machine; and a storage that is provided in common to the plurality of component mounting machines and stores the plurality of pallets with the electronic component holding unit mounted thereon. An electronic circuit assembly system including a pallet conveying device that takes out and conveys an arbitrary pallet from the storage, supplies it to each of the component mounting machines, and returns the used pallet to the storage.