JPH05193731A - Circuit board stock apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent a shelf making vacancies like a comb losing teeth shelves as well as to conduit first-in first-out of circuit boards in immediate response to conveyance states thereof by making an elevation conveyor elevating the circuit boards one by one up to a specified position and disposing the conveyor, in front of a stock section including a rise/fall circular elevator. CONSTITUTION:A circuit board S is received by an elevation conveyor section 20 from the upper reaches of a conveyor 10, and is elevated up to a prescribed position. At a position adjacent to the elevation conveyor 20 is provided a stock section including a rise/fall circulation elevator 31 equipped with a plurality of equi-distantly spaced reception shelves 32. Then, calculation is made of which reception shelves 32 houses the circuit board S elevates by the elevation conveyor 20 should be accommodated after detection of a position for the uppermost reception shelf in which the circuit board S has been accommodated, or the next empty shelf. On the other hand, when the circuit board is produced on the lower reaches, the circuit board S accommodated in the reception shelf 32 located at a lower position of the circulation elevator 31 is delivered onto conveyor 40 in the lower reaches.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improvement of a circuit board stocking device for first-in first-out and first-out delivery of a circuit board taken in from an upstream transfer conveyor to a downstream transfer conveyor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a stock device of this type,
A stocker box with multiple stages of circuit board receiving shelves is arranged vertically between the circuit board infeed conveyor and outgoing conveyor so that it can be moved up and down above the conveyor surface. Gradually lowering it to feed the circuit board to the shelf, and at the time of sending out the circuit board, raise the stocker box as a whole until the receiving shelf located at the bottom is aligned with the sending conveyor surface and gradually remove it again. It has been proposed that the circuit boards be taken out one by one from the circuit board previously taken in by lowering them to the conveyor (Japanese Patent Publication Sho 63).
−13886).

Further, a receiving shelf for arranging an ascending circulation elevator and a descending circulation elevator in front of and behind the conveyor surface of a conveyor for sequentially feeding the circuit boards, and transferring the circuit boards to the respective circulation elevators on the conveyor. Are equipped with a fixed number of stages corresponding to each other, and equipped with a carrier mechanism that sequentially feeds circuit boards from the receiving shelf located on the upper stage side of the ascending circulation elevator to the corresponding receiving shelf of the elevator. A circuit board stocking device is also proposed in which a circuit board that is taken up by a receiving shelf located on the lower side of the elevator is transferred from a receiving shelf located on the lower side of the lower circulation elevator to a conveyor. -144308 publication).

[0004]

However, in the stock device as described in the above Japanese Patent Publication No. 63-13886, the circuit board accommodated in the stocker box is sent out from the conveyer to the post-process in the stocker box. Since it is necessary to move the entire unit upward from below the conveyor surface, it is difficult to deal with it immediately depending on the situation of the post process, and the attachment mechanism necessary to move the entire stocker box above and below the conveyor surface is required. It is unavoidable that it will be mechanically enlarged according to the installation.

Further, in the stocking apparatus as described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 144308/1990, when the stocked circuit boards are transferred to the transfer conveyor on the downstream side, the receiving unit located at the lowest stage of the descending circulation elevator is transferred. Since the circuit board is directly transferred from the shelf to the downstream side conveyor, it is possible to immediately deal with the situation of the post process. However, in order to realize this, it is necessary to always align the lowermost receiving rack of the descending circulation elevator that accommodates the circuit board with the downstream transport conveyor surface, but between the upstream and downstream transport conveyors. If there is a deviation in the timing of conveyance of the circuit board at either the ascending or descending circulation elevator, the receiving rack that does not store the circuit board between the receiving rack that stores the circuit board and the receiving rack, a so-called missing tooth The receiving shelves will be created. Such a shift in the transfer timing between the upstream and downstream transfer conveyors must be allowed as a matter of course because the stock device originally has a function as a buffer. However, when a missing tooth is generated in the receiving rack, the ascending or descending circulation elevator must be operated so as to pass through the receiving rack having such missing tooth, and its control becomes complicated.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to carry out first-in and first-out according to the carrying condition of the circuit board, and
It is an object of the present invention to provide a stock device in which drive control of the stock part is facilitated by preventing the receiving rack from missing teeth with a simple structure.

[0007]

In order to solve such a problem, according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, an upstream side conveyer (10) for sequentially feeding a circuit board (S) in a substantially horizontal direction. ) And a downstream side transfer conveyor (40) for receiving a circuit board from the upstream side transfer conveyor,
In addition, an ascending conveyor section (20) for raising the circuit boards one by one to a predetermined position, a stock section (30) including an ascending / descending circulation elevator having a plurality of receiving shelves at regular intervals, and a lower position of the ascending / descending circulation elevator. Means for sequentially sending the circuit boards one by one in a substantially horizontal direction to the downstream side conveyor (40), a carrier mechanism for sending the circuit boards raised to the predetermined position to an empty receiving rack of the stock section, and the stock section A detection unit that detects the position of the uppermost receiving rack or the next empty receiving rack that houses the circuit board, and a unit that determines the predetermined position of the rising conveyor based on the information detected by the detecting unit. A circuit board stocking device is provided.

[0008]

According to the present invention, the circuit board (S) to be stocked has come to a position close to the rising conveyor section (20) of this stocking apparatus by the upstream side transfer conveyor (10), and the rising conveyor section ( 20) is a circuit board (S)
When it is ready to accept,
The circuit board (S) is received by the ascending conveyor section (20) from the upstream transfer conveyor (10), and after the receipt is completed, the circuit board (S) is raised to a predetermined position. A stock section (30) including an elevator circulation elevator (31) having a plurality of receiving shelves (32) at regular intervals is provided at a position adjacent to the ascending conveyor (20). Then, in this stock unit, the circuit board raised by the raising conveyor (20) is detected by the detection unit that detects the position of the uppermost receiving rack that houses the circuit board (S) or the position of the next empty receiving rack. The receiving shelf (32) in which (S) should be stored is calculated. As a result, from the rising conveyor (20) to the uppermost shelf (3) of the stock section (40).
The circuit board is delivered to 2).

On the other hand, when it becomes necessary to send out the circuit board on the downstream side, the sending-out work is started by the start signal. That is, the circuit board (S) accommodated in the receiving rack (32) at the lower position of the elevator circulation elevator (31) is sent to the downstream side conveyor (40) by the start signal.

[0010]

1 and 2 are schematic front views of a circuit board stocking device according to the present invention. FIG. 1 shows a state in which a rising conveyor is in a lower position, and FIG. 2 shows a state in which the rising conveyor is in an upper position. Show. FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view of the circuit board stocking device of the present invention taken along line III-III in FIGS. 1 and 2.

There is a specific work process on the upstream side of the upstream transfer conveyor 10, for example, a step of punching the circuit board S (not shown), and a downstream process on the downstream side of the downstream transfer conveyor 40, for example, a circuit. Assuming there is a substrate cleaning process,
The circuit boards S are intermittently conveyed in the horizontal direction from the upstream side transfer conveyor 10 to the downstream side transfer conveyor 40, and are temporarily stocked between them. In the illustrated embodiment, the upstream side conveyor 10 and the downstream side conveyor 40 are at the same height level, but this is not always necessary, and the height positions of the upstream side conveyor 10 and the downstream side conveyor 40 may be the same. There may be steps.

The circuit board stock device of the present invention is arranged between the upstream side conveyor 10 and the downstream side conveyor 40. This stock device roughly includes a rising conveyor unit 20 that receives the circuit board S from the upstream side transfer conveyor 10 and raises the circuit board to a predetermined position, and a circuit transferred at a position above the rising conveyor unit 20. The substrate S is housed and sequentially sent downward, and at the lower position, the circuit board S is sequentially sent to the downstream side transfer conveyor 40.

The upstream side conveyor 10 has a position sensor 11 for detecting that the circuit board S sent in the direction of the arrow A has come to a position approaching the rising conveyor section 20, and a passage on the surface of the conveyor 10 is obstructed. A stopper 12 for stopping the circuit board S is provided. Ascending conveyor section 20
Is a horizontal feed belt 22 that is driven by a motor 21 to feed the circuit board S in the direction of arrow B.
The position sensor 23 that detects that the tip of the circuit board S sent by means of has reached a position approaching the predetermined position, and slows down the feed speed of the circuit board S by the horizontal feed belt 22, and stops the circuit board S at the predetermined position. It includes a stopper 24 and a cylinder 25 for raising and lowering the raising conveyor unit 20.

The cylinder 25 moves the entire lifting conveyor 20 from the position (lower position) shown in FIG. 1 where the carrying surface of the belt 22 is aligned with the carrying surface of the upstream carrying conveyor 10 to the predetermined rising position shown in FIG. The carrier mechanism (that is, the cylinder 26) moves the circuit board S completely in the direction of the arrow D to the stock portion 30 and immediately returns to the lower position shown in FIG. Is configured.

The stock section 30 is mainly composed of a lift elevator 31, and this lift elevator 31 is composed of two pairs of chains 34 in front, back, left and right as viewed from the direction when the circuit board S is fed in the direction of arrow D. A plurality of receiving shelves 32 having an L-shaped cross section, which is relatively long in the direction, are symmetrically arranged and a plurality of pairs are arranged at predetermined intervals. These chains 3
Reference numeral 2 is endless and is driven by a sprocket 35 via a motor 36.

As shown in FIG. 3, the width of the receiving rack 32 is constant in a normal work flow. That is, the width of the circuit board S to be handled is constant in at least one lot. Therefore, the width of the receiving rack 32 is fixed and used. However, although there are cases where circuit boards S having different widths are handled due to changes in lots or the like, in such a case, for example, by using a spline shaft (not shown) or the like, one of the pair of left and right chains 34 is connected to the other. In contrast, Figure I
As indicated by the arrow H in II, it is possible to appropriately adjust the width by moving so as to fit the width of the desired circuit board. Regarding the length of the circuit board S in the traveling direction, even if there are various lengths in the same lot, the circuit board S can be used as it is without adjustment.

Each time the circuit board S is sent by the cylinder 26 and accommodated in the receiving rack 32, the elevator 31 of the stock section 30 is driven so as to descend sequentially in the direction of arrow E by one pitch. The position of the lowermost circuit board S of the elevating elevator 31 coincides with the transport surface of the downstream transport conveyor 40, and when the information indicating that the next circuit board S is required in the downstream process is input. The cylinder 33 is driven so that the lowermost circuit board S is discharged onto the downstream side transfer conveyor 40 in the arrow F direction.

When the discharge of the circuit board S onto the downstream side conveyor 40 is completed, the elevator 36 is controlled by the motor 36 so as to descend by one pitch. When the circuit board S is sent to the downstream side conveyor 40 in the direction of arrow G,
A position sensor 41 that detects the rear end of the circuit board S is provided. That is, when the position sensor 41 detects the rear end of the circuit board S, it is determined that the discharge of the circuit board S is completed,
The elevator 31 moves down by one pitch.

Next, the operation of the circuit board stocking device described in the above embodiment will be described. The circuit board S is sent in the direction of arrow A on the upstream side conveyor 10,
When it comes to a position approaching the rising conveyor unit 20, its tip is detected by the position sensor 11. At this point, if the rising conveyor unit 20 is not ready to receive the circuit board S, that is, the rising conveyor unit 20 still has the circuit board S.
Or the vertical position of the rising conveyor unit 20 is higher than the initial position shown in FIG. 1, the circuit board S is stopped by the stopper 12 on the upstream side transfer conveyor 10 and is in a standby state. ..

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1, the vertical position of the rising conveyor unit 20 is at the position (lower position) where it is aligned with the upstream side conveyor 10, and the rising conveyor unit 20 holds the circuit board S. If not, the operation of the stock apparatus of the present invention is started as follows by the start signal from the upstream side. In the ascending conveyor section 20, first, the motor 21 is driven, whereby the horizontal feed belt 22 feeds the circuit board S in the direction of arrow B. When the front end of the circuit board S is detected by the position sensor 23, the feed speed of the horizontal feed belt 22 becomes slow, and the circuit board S is stopped at a predetermined position by the stopper 24. After the circuit board S is stopped by the stopper 24, the horizontal feed belt 22
Is also stopped.

Next, the cylinder 25 is driven to raise the entire lifting conveyor 20 in the direction of arrow C. In this case, in one embodiment, regardless of the accommodation status of the circuit board S in the stock section 30, the circuit board S is raised to a predetermined raised position, for example, a position aligned with the uppermost circuit board S. Such an embodiment is effective when there is not much deviation in the timing of the intermittent feeding operation between the upstream side conveyor 10 and the downstream side conveyor 40.

In another embodiment, the rising conveyor 20
So that the whole of the cylinder 25 moves to a predetermined rising position based on the result detected by the sensor mechanism described later.
Is driven. In this case, even if there is a large timing deviation in the intermittent feeding operation between the upstream side transport conveyor 10 and the downstream side transport conveyor 40, so-called tooth missing will not occur. That is, the uppermost receiving rack 32 in which the circuit board S of the descending elevator 31 of the stock section 30 is housed
The whole of the raising conveyor 20 is raised to a position corresponding to the empty receiving rack 32 located one above.

When it is confirmed that the lift elevator 31 of the stock section 30 is not in operation when the lift conveyor 20 reaches a predetermined lift position, the stopper 24 is opened and the horizontal feed belt 22 is driven by the motor 21. As a result, the circuit board S moves toward the stock portion 30 in the direction of arrow B.
Moved to the side. At this time, since the stock unit 30 itself does not have a feeding mechanism, as shown in FIG.
6 is driven, and the pusher at the front end pushes the rear end of the circuit board S into the predetermined receiving rack 32 of the elevator 31 in the direction of arrow D of the stock portion 20.

After it is confirmed by the sensor 37 (FIG. 4) that the circuit board S has been pushed to a predetermined position, the tip pusher of the cylinder 26 is pulled back to its original position, and the stopper 24 also returns to the closed position. Then, the cylinder 25 is driven and the entire ascending conveyor 20 is lowered to the original lowest position. As a result, the ascending conveyor 20 moves to the next circuit board S.
It will be in the waiting state for acceptance of.

On the other hand, after it is confirmed that the circuit board S has been completely transferred in the direction of the arrow D to the predetermined receiving rack 32 of the stock section 30, the motor 36 is driven and the elevator 3
1 is moved down in the direction of arrow E by one pitch (interval between the receiving shelves 32). As a result, the next circuit board S (that is, the circuit board S accommodated in the receiving shelf 32 at the lowermost position) is ready to be discharged.

As described above, since the position of the lowermost circuit board S of the elevator 31 coincides with the transport surface of the downstream transport conveyor 40, the next circuit in the downstream process (not shown). As shown in FIG. 5, the cylinder 33 is driven by the information indicating that the board S is required, and the pusher at the tip of the cylinder 33 causes the rear end of the circuit board S at the lowermost stage to move the rear end of the circuit board S in the direction of arrow F to the downstream side conveyer. Push it to the 40 side.

When it is confirmed by the stopper 41 that the circuit board S has been completely placed on the downstream side conveyor 40, the tip pusher of the cylinder 33 returns to its original position, and the circuit board S continues to be transferred to the downstream side conveyor 40. And is transported downstream. As a sensor for detecting the housing state of the circuit board S of the elevator 31 of the stock unit 30, a sensor (not shown) is individually arranged corresponding to the receiving rack 32 of each stage of the elevator 31, and a circuit is provided. The raising conveyor 20 may be raised to a position one position above the uppermost receiving rack 32 in which the substrates S are accommodated, but such a sensor may be provided for several upper stages, and You may make it perform the function of.

By repeating the above operation, the circuit boards S are sequentially transported from the upstream side to the downstream side, and the stock section 3
Stocked at 0. Even if a large deviation occurs in the transfer timing between the upstream side transfer conveyor 10 and the downstream side transfer conveyor 40, a so-called toothless receiving rack 32 that does not house the circuit board S does not occur in the middle. , Which efficiently functions as a buffer.

[0029]

According to the present invention, as described above, the simple structure enables the first-in first-out and the first-out according to the transportation condition of the circuit board S, and the upstream-side transport conveyor 10 and the downstream-side transport conveyor 40. The circuit board S is not housed midway, even if there is a large deviation in the transport timing between the
The so-called missing tooth receiving rack 32 does not occur, the buffer function can be efficiently exerted, and the drive control of the stock portion can be appropriately coiled.
There is an effect.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of a circuit board stocking device of the present invention, showing a state in which a rising conveyor is in a lower position.

FIG. 2 is a schematic front view of the circuit board stocking device of the present invention, similar to FIG. 1, showing a state in which an ascending conveyor is in an upper position.

FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view of the circuit board stocking device of the present invention taken along line III-III in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an operation of a carrier mechanism for moving a circuit board from a rising conveyor to a stock section.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an operation of sending out a circuit board from an elevator circulation elevator of a stock section to a downstream side conveyor.

[Explanation of symbols]

 S ... Circuit board 10 ... Upstream conveyor 20 ... Ascending conveyor 22 ... Horizontal conveyor belt 25 ... Lifting cylinder 26 ... Pusher cylinder 30 ... Stock section 31 ... Lifting circulation elevator 32 ... Receiving shelf 33 ... Pusher cylinder 40 ... Downstream side Transport conveyor

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A circuit board (S) is disposed between an upstream side transfer conveyor (10) and a downstream side transfer conveyor (40) for sequentially feeding the circuit board (S) in a substantially horizontal direction, and receives the circuit board from the upstream side transfer conveyor, In addition, an elevator conveyor (20) for raising the circuit boards one by one to a predetermined position, and an elevator circulation elevator (3) provided with a plurality of receiving shelves (32) at regular intervals.
(1) and a means (3) for sequentially feeding circuit boards one by one from the lower position of the elevator circulation elevator to the downstream side conveyor (40) in a substantially horizontal direction.
3), and a carrier mechanism (26) for feeding the circuit board raised to the predetermined position to an empty receiving rack of the stock section,
A detection unit for detecting the position of the uppermost receiving rack containing the circuit board of the stock unit or the position of the next empty receiving rack; and means for obtaining the predetermined position of the ascending conveyor based on the information detected by the detecting unit. A circuit board stocking device comprising: 2. The transport surface of the upstream transport conveyor (10) and the transport surface of the ascending conveyor section (20) at the lowest position are at substantially the same level. Stock equipment. 3. The transport surface of the downstream transport conveyor (40) and the receiving rack (32) at the lowest position of the elevator circulation elevator (31) are at substantially the same level. The stock device according to 1. 4. The upstream transport conveyor (10) and the downstream transport conveyor (40) are characterized in that their transport surfaces are at the same height level. Stock device described in. 5. The stocking device according to claim 1, further comprising a sensor for detecting a housed state of the circuit board (S) of the receiving rack (32) of the ascending / descending circulation elevator (31). 6. A sensor for detecting the housing state of the circuit board (S) is provided corresponding to the receiving shelves (32) of all the stages of the elevator circulation elevator (31). Stock device according to item 5. 7. A sensor for detecting the accommodation state of the circuit board (S) is arranged corresponding to several stages of receiving shelves (32) at the upper position of the elevator circulation elevator (31). The stock device according to claim 5. 8. A circuit board (S) is arranged between an upstream side transfer conveyor (10) and a downstream side transfer conveyor (40) for sequentially feeding the circuit board (S) in a substantially horizontal direction, and receives the circuit board from the upstream side transfer conveyor, In addition, an elevator conveyor (20) for raising the circuit boards one by one to a predetermined position, and an elevator circulation elevator (3) provided with a plurality of receiving shelves (32) at regular intervals.
(1) and a means (3) for sequentially feeding circuit boards one by one from the lower position of the elevator circulation elevator to the downstream side conveyor (40) in a substantially horizontal direction.
A circuit board stocking device comprising 3) and a carrier mechanism (26) for feeding the circuit board raised to the predetermined position to the receiving rack of the stock section.