JPH0416406A - Magazine-shifting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve efficiency of supply and recovery works by enabling passage of a magazine through a space formed between transport means in delivery operation between a magazine container and the magazine transport means, and reducing the space in transport operation in a magazine-shifting device for storing IC devices. CONSTITUTION:For example, in the case of supplying magazines, a magazine container 1 is positioned so as to achieve an alignment between the push-up rod 31 of an elevating member 3 and the slot 11 of the bottom wall 10a of a container body 10 in the position of a transport means 2. Then, a pair of conveyor belts 27 and 27 of the transport means 2 are separated from each other so as to allow a magazine M to pass through them. And, the rod 31 is elevated by means of the elevating member 3, and the magazine on the uppermost stage is pushed up by the distance of one magazine from the upper surface of the container body 10. Then, the conveyor belts 27 and 27 are returned to their original positions after being supported by means of a magazine clamp plate 40, and the elevating member 3 is lowered, resulting in improvement of work efficiency.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Industrial Application Field 1] The present invention is used for supplying a magazine for storing an IC device to a loader section or an unloader section of an IC handler, or for collecting a magazine from the loader section or unloader section. The present invention relates to a magazine transfer device.

[Prior art] An IC is used in the loader section and unloader section of an IC handler.
A magazine that stores devices (hereinafter simply referred to as devices) is installed. That is, in the loader section, a magazine containing devices whose electrical characteristics are to be tested and measured is installed, and the devices are taken out from this magazine.
The test is performed by contacting the test head of the IC tester, and in the unloader section, the devices are classified based on the test results and re-stored in the magazine.

Therefore, in the loader section, it is necessary to supply a real magazine containing devices to be tested and to recover empty magazines from which devices have been ejected from the real magazine. Furthermore, in the unloader section, an empty magazine must be supplied to store the tested device, and the magazine containing the device must be recovered.

In order to reduce the frequency of such magazine supply and collection operations, magazine stockers have conventionally been provided in the loader section and the unloader section.

This magazine stocker has a pair of front and rear magazine posts in order to accommodate a large number of stacked magazines, and the magazines are taken in and out from the bottom of the magazine posts. To prevent this, a magazine separation mechanism is provided at the bottom of the magazine stocker provided for taking out the magazines, for separating and taking out the magazine located at the lowest stage from the others. In addition, in a magazine stocker provided to store a magazine, a magazine locking member that allows the magazine to be pushed up from below and stored therein, but prevents the stored magazine from falling downward. Or is provided.

[Problem to be solved by the invention 1 By the way, the above-mentioned magazine stocker is usually fixedly installed in the loader section or unloader section, and the magazines are stored one by one into this magazine stocker manually by an operator. You have to put it in and take it out again.

Moreover, there is a limit to the number of magazines that can be accommodated in the magazine stocker, and due to demands such as miniaturization of the overall IC handler configuration, it is not possible to secure space for installing too many magazine stockers, so it is difficult to set them all at once. There is a limit to the number of magazines that can be held.

However, in recent years, as IC technology testing and measurement equipment has become more efficient and faster, the work of supplying magazines to magazine stockers and collecting them from there has become more frequent. There is the inconvenience of having to do so.

Here, in automated machines such as IC handlers,
There is a strong desire to reduce manual labor as much as possible, and there is a strong desire to automate and streamline the above-mentioned magazine supply and collection operations.

The present invention was made in view of the above-mentioned problem, and its purpose is to supply magazines.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a magazine transfer device that can make collection work more efficient.

[Means for Solving the Problem] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a magazine container equipped with a magazine storage section that stores magazines in multiple rows and in multiple stages, and a magazine elevating mechanism provided in the magazine container. a magazine transfer means for transferring the magazine to and from the member and the magazine elevating member; and a magazine transfer means for transferring the magazine between the placement position of the magazine container and the loader section or the unloader section. When transferring the magazine between the magazine container and the magazine conveying means, the means are spaced apart from each other so that the magazine supported by the magazine conveying means can be inserted therethrough; This conveyor unit is characterized by being constructed with a pair of conveyor units that are displaced in a direction close to each other so that a magazine can be placed on top of the conveyor units.

[Function] For example, when the device is used as a magazine supply device, magazines are stored in a magazine container in an organized manner, and the magazine container is set at a predetermined position.

Then, the magazine lifting means is operated to raise the magazine accommodated in the magazine container. Next, the magazines in each row located at the top are simultaneously gripped by the magazine transfer means and taken out from the magazine container. At this time, the conveyor units in the magazine transport means are kept apart, and the magazine gripped by the magazine transfer means is raised to a position slightly above the transport surface of the magazine transport means. After that,
The conveyor units are displaced in a direction in which they approach each other, and the magazine is released from being gripped by the magazine transfer means. As a result, the magazines in each row of the above-mentioned top row are placed on the magazine conveying means separately from the others and are conveyed in a predetermined direction.

When the magazine is unloaded from the magazine conveying means, the conveyor unit is moved to the separated position and the magazine lifting member is operated to further raise the magazine installed above it by the height of one magazine. The uppermost magazine is gripped and taken out by activating the magazine transfer means and placed on the magazine conveyance means. By sequentially repeating this operation, magazines can be fed almost continuously.

On the other hand, when used as a magazine recovery device, the conveyor units in the magazine conveying means are held in a conveying state close to each other, and the magazines are sequentially fed onto this magazine conveying means, and the magazines are moved to the placement position of the magazine container. The upper part of the container will be carried in.

Therefore, when magazines corresponding to the number of rows accommodated in the magazine container have been conveyed to this position, the conveyance of the magazines is stopped and the entire magazine is chucked by the magazine transfer means. Thereafter, the conveyor unit constituting the magazine conveyance means is moved to a separated position, and the magazine chucked by the magazine transfer means is lowered and placed on the magazine lifting member. By sequentially repeating this operation, magazines can be stored in the magazine container in an organized manner one row at a time.

In this way, magazines are supplied and retrieved using a magazine container that can store significantly more magazines than a magazine stocker, so the magazine container needs to be replaced less frequently. As a result, the burden of manual work can be reduced. Further, if the magazine container itself is constructed so that it can be transported to a desired position by a transport means, the entire magazine supply and collection work can be automated.

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

First, FIG. 7 shows the appearance of the magazine M and the device D. As shown in the figure, the magazine M is made of a stick-like member, and the devices D can be stored in a line inside the magazine M.

Therefore, FIGS. 1 to 4 show the configuration of a magazine transfer device according to the present invention.

As is clear from the drawings, this magazine transfer device includes a magazine container 1 that accommodates a large number of magazines M in multiple rows and stages, and a magazine M that is taken out from this magazine container 1 to a loader section or an unloader section. The magazine conveying means 2 is provided. Also, magazine container 1
A magazine lifting means 3 and a magazine clamping means 4 are provided to transfer the magazine M between the magazine M and the magazine conveying means 2.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the magazine container 1 has a container body 10 made of a rectangular housing, and inside the container body 10, magazines M are stacked in multiple rows and in multiple stages. It is now being accommodated. As described later, on the bottom wall 10a of this container body]0,
A through hole II is provided through which the push-up rod 31 of the magazine lifting means 3 is inserted. In addition, the left and right side walls 10b,
A regulating wall 12 that protrudes upward by the height of one magazine M is provided in the middle portion of the magazine 10b.

Next, as is clear from FIG. 4, the magazine conveying means 2 has a pair of left and right conveyor belts 20, 20, and these conveyor belts 20 are formed as timing belts or the like, is the driving wheel 21.
21 and the driven wheels 22.22. The driving wheels 21.21 are connected to a spline shaft 24 which is rotationally driven by a motor 23, so that both driving wheels 21 are rotated synchronously. Further, the driven shafts 22, 22 are inserted through the support shaft 25 and are rotatably supported.

The drive wheel 21 and the driven wheel 22 are connected to each other by the left and right support plates 26.26. The driven wheel 22 and the support plate 26 constitute left and right conveyor units 27, and the conveyor units 27 are movable toward and away from each other along the spline shaft 24 and the support shaft 25. For this purpose, a cylinder 28.28 is connected to the support plate 26.26, and by operating this cylinder 28, the left and right conveyor units 27.27 are brought close to each other as shown in FIG. Then, when the magazine M is installed on top of it, the magazine transport position where the magazine M can be transported and the position where the magazine M can be transported are mutually
It is possible to move between the opening position and the retracted position between which the machining machine M can be inserted.

The magazine lifting member 3 includes a magazine support plate 30 provided inside the container body 10 of the macarine container 10, and a mechanism for driving the magazine support plate 30 up and down. The mechanism for this lifting/lowering drive is as follows:
It has a push-up rod 3I that can come into contact with and separate from the bottom surface of the magazine support plate 3o through a through hole 11 formed in the bottom wall 10a of the container body 1o, and this push-up rod 31 is a lifting platform connected to a ball screw 32. It is attached to 33. Therefore, by operating the ball screw 32,
The magazine support member 30 is designed to be driven up and down.

Moreover, this magazine support member 30 can be pitch-fed by the height of one magazine M.

Further, the magazine clamping means 4 includes the magazine elevating member 3.
A front and rear pair of clamp plates 40 and 40 are provided, each of which has a length capable of clamping all the uppermost rows of the machine machine M pushed up from the magazine container 1 at once. A clamp actuating cylinder 41 is connected to each of the cylinders. Therefore, by operating this clamp actuating cylinder 41, the clamp plate 40.
Clamping and unclamping can be performed by moving the clamps 40 toward and away from each other.

Further, the clamp actuating cylinder 41 is attached to the piston rod 42a of the elevating cylinder 42, and by operating this elevating cylinder 42, the clamp plate 40 changes the position of the magazine elevating member 3 on the magazine support plate 30, and
It is configured such that the magazine M can be transferred between the magazine container 1 and the magazine transport means 2 by being raised and lowered to a position slightly above the transport surface of the magazine transport means 2.

Therefore, a case will be described in which the loader section and unloader section of the magazine transfer device configured as described above are configured as a magazine supply device for supplying the magazine M.

When configured as a magazine feeding device in this way,
As shown in FIG. 5, a relay conveyance means 50 is connected to the magazine conveyance means 2, and a magazine transfer means 50 is connected to the forward end of the relay conveyance means 50 in the conveyance direction for feeding the magazine M to a loader section or an unloader section. 51 will be installed. Here, from the magazine conveying means 2 to the relay conveying means 50
When the magazines M are transferred to , it is necessary to separate the magazines M one by one before transferring them to the magazine transfer 51 because a plurality of magazines are connected. For this purpose, the relay conveying means 50 is equipped with a magazine separating means 52.

This magazine separation/separation means 52 has a leading magazine locking part 52a and a trailing magazine locking part 52b, and these re-inspection parts 52a and 52b are attached to both ends of a swinging lever 53 having a fulcrum 53a in the center. The swing lever 53 is driven to swing by a cylinder 54.

The magazine supply device is constructed as described above, and its operation will be explained next.

First, the magazines M are housed in multiple rows and stages in the container main body IO of the magazine container 1, and the magazine container 1 is placed in the position where the magazine conveying means 2 is provided, and the pushing rod 3 of the magazine lifting member 3
1 or the container body IO to a position that coincides with the through hole 11 provided in the bottom wall 10a. Then, the pair of conveyor units 27, 27 constituting the magazine conveying means 2 are moved to the retracted positions separated from each other.

In this state, the lifting table 33 of the magazine lifting member 3 is raised by the ball screw 32, and the lifting rod 3
1 pushes up the magazine support plate 30 to a state where the uppermost magazine of the magazines M installed thereon protrudes from the upper surface of the container body 10 by approximately the height of one magazine. Here, since the regulating wall 12 is provided on the side wall 10b of the container body 10, the magazine M pushed up in this way will not fall off in the left-right direction.
maintained in a stable state.

Then, the lifting cylinder 42 is operated to lower the clamp plate 40 of the magazine clamp means 4 to a position where it faces the front and rear end surfaces of the magazine M at the top of the magazine container I. In this state, the clamp actuating cylinder 41 is actuated to displace the clamp plates 40, 40 in a direction toward each other, thereby simultaneously clamping the entire magazine for one row located at the top. Thereafter, the lifting cylinder 42 is operated to raise the clamp plate 40 to a position slightly above the conveying surface of the magazine conveying means 2.

In this state, by operating the cylinder 28,
The pair of conveyor units 27, 27 are moved in a direction closer to each other and displaced to the conveying position. This causes the conhair belt 20.20 to be displaced inside the magazine M clamped by the magazine clamping means 4. Therefore, by releasing the clamping force applied to the magazine by the clamp plate 40, the seven coins are transferred onto the magazine conveying means 2. Therefore, the magazine M is transported by the magazine transport means 2 and sent to the relay transport means 50.

Then, in this relay conveyance means 50, by operating the magazine separation means 52, the magazine M at the foremost position is separated from the others. That is, the leading magazine is first locked by the leading magazine locking part 52a, and then the swinging lever 53 is swung by the cylinder 54, thereby locking the leading magazine by the leading magazine locking part 52a. At the same time, the next magazine is locked by the succeeding magazine locking portion 52b. As a result, the leading magazine is separated from the others and sent to the magazine transfer 51. After that, by releasing the locking of the magazine by the succeeding magazine locking part 52b, advancing the next magazine, and locking this magazine by the preceding magazine locking part 52a, the number of magazines is reduced to one. A pitch is sent. By sequentially repeating this operation, the magazines M are separated one by one and sent to the loader section or unloader section.

When one row of magazines M taken out from the magazine container 1 is transferred to the relay conveyance means 50, the conveyor unit 27 in the magazine conveyance means 2 is again displaced to the retracted position. At the same time, the magazine support plate 30 in the magazine elevating member 3 is raised by the height of one magazine. Then, the magazine clamping means 4 takes out the topmost magazine and places it on the magazine conveying means 2. By repeating this operation, the magazines M are taken out from the magazine container 1 almost continuously and placed in the loader section or It becomes possible to supply it to the unloader section.

Next, FIG. 6 shows a case in which this magazine transfer device is used, for example, as a magazine recovery device for recovering an empty magazine after discharging devices in a loader section.

When configured as a magazine recovery device, the magazine M sent out from the loader section is once sent to the relay conveyance means 60 and transferred from the relay conveyance means 60 to the magazine conveyance means 2. A stopper 61 is provided at which transition portion between the relay conveying means 60 and the magazine conveying means 2, and a stopper 62 is also provided at a position corresponding to the end position of the magazine container 1 in the magazine conveying means 2. Here, stopper 62
has a fixed stopper, and the stopper 51 is connected to the relay conveyance means 6.
This is a movable stopper that is movable between an operating position that stops the magazine M being conveyed along the angle and an inoperative position that allows the magazine M to pass through.

Therefore, the operation of this magazine recovery device will be explained.

First, the conveyor unit 2 in the magazine conveying means 2
7 is at the magazine transporting position, the magazines M are sequentially fed into the relay transporting means 60 from the loader section. At this time, the stopper 61 is in the non-operating position.

Here, when recovering the magazines, the magazines M are not fed into the relay conveying means 50 continuously, but at certain intervals.

The magazine M fed into the relay conveyance means 60 is transferred to the magazine conveyance means 2 and conveyed to a position where it abuts against the stopper 62. In this way, in the magazine conveying means 2, when the number of magazines M corresponding to one row accommodated in the container body 10 of the magazine container 1 is retained, the stopper 61 is displaced to the operating position, and the subsequent Pauses magazine feeding. At the same time, the magazine clamp means 4 is operated to clamp the magazine M staying on the magazine conveyance means 4.

Then, the conveyor unit 27 constituting the magazine conveying means 2 is moved to the retracted position, and the magazine clamping means 4
lower. At this time, the magazine support plate 30 constituting the magazine elevating member 3 is raised to the upper surface position of the ci 42 magazine container 1, and the movement is carried out by Σ<. As a result, when the magazine clamping means 4 releases the magazine clamp, the magazine M is placed on the magazine support plate 30.

When this work is completed, the magazine clamp means 4 is raised, the magazine transport means 2 is moved to the magazine transport position, and the magazine support plate 30 is lowered by the height of one magazine. At the same time, the stopper 61
By displacing the magazine M to the non-operating position, the magazine M can be transported from the relay transport means 60 to the magazine transport means 2.

Therefore, every time the magazine M is fed into the magazine conveying means 2 by the number of columns corresponding to one column of the magazine container 1, the magazine clamping means 4 is actuated so that the magazines M can be accommodated in the magazine container l.

In this way, by using the magazine container 1,
It is now possible to accommodate a significantly larger number of magazines M than a magazine stocker in a small space, and this magazine container 1 is used to supply and collect magazines M. The frequency of replacing the container 1 can be reduced, and the burden of manual work is significantly reduced. It is also convenient for transporting and storing magazines. Furthermore, if the magazine container 1 itself is constructed so that it can be transported between each station using an appropriate transport means, it becomes possible to automate the entire magazine supply and collection work.

In addition, when manually loading the magazine M into the magazine container 1 or taking out the collected magazines M, it is easier than using a magazine stocker, and it is possible to use a machine separate from the handler. This task is further facilitated by the fact that it can be done at any location. Moreover, since the magazine container 1 from which the magazines have been collected can be used as it is for supplying magazines, the magazine handling work as a whole becomes extremely efficient.

[Advantageous Effects of the Invention 1] As detailed above, the present invention uses a magazine container that accommodates magazines in multiple rows and in multiple stages, and allows magazines for one row to be simultaneously carried out from this magazine container.
To significantly improve the efficiency of the work of supplying and collecting magazines in a loader section and an unloader section, and to reduce the burden of manual work. Furthermore, it has excellent effects such as making it possible to completely automate magazine loading and unloading operations.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 to 4 show an embodiment of the magazine transfer device according to the present invention. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the overall structure of the magazine transfer device, and FIG. Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of Fig. 1, Fig. 4 is an explanatory diagram of operation, Fig. 5 is a configuration explanatory diagram showing the case where the magazine transfer device is configured as a magazine feeding device, and Fig. 6 is a magazine transfer device. Seventh configuration explanatory diagram showing the case where the loading device is configured as a magazine recovery device
The figure is an external view of a magazine and an IC device. 1: Magazine container, 2: Magazine conveying means, 3: Magazine lifting means, 4: Magazine clamping means, 10: Container body, 20: Conveyor belt, 21: Drive wheel, 2
2: Driven wheel, 23: Motor, 24 Nispline shaft, 25
: Support shaft, 26: Support plate, 27: Conveyor unit, 28
Niji cylinder, 30: Magasin support plate, 31: Push-up rod, 32: Hall screw, 40: Franz plate, 41: Clamp operation cylinder, 42: Elevating cylinder, 50, 60
: Relay conveyance means, 51: Magasin transfer, 52:
Magazine lifting means, 61.62: Stopper.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A magazine container equipped with a magazine accommodating section that accommodates magazines in multiple rows and stages in a device for supplying a magazine that stores IC devices to the loader section or unloader section of an IC handler, or for recovering the magazine. , a magazine elevating member provided in the magazine container, a magazine transfer means for delivering the magazine to the magazine elevating member, and a magazine for transporting the magazine between the placement position of the magazine container and the loader section or the unloader section. and a conveying means, and when transferring a magazine between the magazine container and the magazine conveying means, the magazine supported by the magazine conveying means can be inserted at a distance from each other. A magazine transfer device characterized by comprising a pair of conveyor units that are displaced in a direction toward each other when conveying the magazine, so that the magazine can be placed on top of the conveyor units.