JPS6056702A - Assembling device for electronic part kit - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to automated apparatus and, more particularly, to automated apparatus for making component kits for electronic printed circuit boards.

A primary object of the present invention is to provide an improved assembly apparatus.

Functionally, the present invention stores a plurality of parts, such as electronic parts, in a plurality of drawer-shaped containers, and takes out these parts one at a time to assemble a parts kit for use in manufacturing electronic printed circuit boards. It provides a means to be used for In the experimental model, each tray was labeled with a machine readable code, such as a bar code, indicating the parts stored in the tray. A plurality of trays are supported by a repositionable manual device such as a rotating carousel, and the carousel is rotated under the control of a digital computer to position one selected tray at a predetermined position. Identification of the parts stored in the drawer is achieved by machine reading a bar code on the front of the drawer. If the part identification is successful, the tray removal and insertion device removes the tray from the storage location and inserts into place an already used tray that is used to store a completely different type of part. Because it is possible to change the type or type of parts stored in any location each time a tray is removed, the control computer has a dynamic database of parts.
data base) is held, and the position of the currently flowing part is displayed.

The tray that has been taken out is transported to a position where the required number of parts can be taken out, if necessary. While part removal is being carried out, the next tray is removed from storage and the previously used tray is stored in the same location.

In the experimental model, the carousel can independently rotate in either direction at multiple height positions. Multiple storage boxes containing 90 trays stacked in five rows were used. The carousel is rotated by the control computer to collect the trays in the collection section. The trays are transported by elevator from storage to work stations where the parts kits are assembled.

Functionally, the present invention seeks to provide an apparatus for removing and assembling experimental model electronic components from storage to produce component kits for electronic printed circuit boards. More specifically, regarding the electronic components, all components are stored in standardized trays such as those shown at 20 in FIG. Standard tray 20 dimensions are 40.8cs+X 10.2cmX 2.54c+*
(16 inches x 4 inches x 1 inch).

For example, tray 2 is used to store shaft-shaped parts such as resistors.
Two notched rails 22 and 24 extending substantially vertically are attached to the bottom surface of the 0. The length of the leads of the parts to be stored is sufficient to suspend the parts between the rails 22 and 24 and to place the leads in approximately equally located notches in the rails 22 and 24. In FIG. 1, stored resistors 26, 28, 29, 3o and 32 are illustrated.

The front end of the trays 20 is provided with a handle portion 34 to permit removal of each tray from a standard storage bin, shown in cutaway view at 4o. (Details of the storage bins 4o will be discussed below.) The front portion of the handle 34 is a suitable location for marking a standard bar code 42 that uniquely identifies the components stored in each storage tray. be. The opposite end of the handle portion 34 of the tray 20 is
It may be rounded (curved) in the vertical or horizontal direction, or it may be inclined. (Here, the horizontal direction means a direction almost parallel to the bottom surface of the tray 20.) By making the tray rounded or inclined in this way, the tray can be placed in the groove of the storage box 40. When pressed, the automatic alignment function is obtained. That is.

If the tray is slightly misaligned in the horizontal or vertical direction or in both directions when inserted into the I-sea, the curved surface at the end of the tray 20 will come into contact with the edge of the groove and the force will push the tray 20 into the appropriate insertion position. is given.

A plurality of trays designated by reference numeral 20 as a typical shaped tray are stored in a row of storage boxes 40. Other examples of trays are shown at 20a-20f.

For example, if it is necessary to support a component such as a small capacitor or transistor that has one or more lead wires protruding from a common surface (referred to as a protruding component), a support other than the rails 22 and 24 may be used. We have to take control of the structure. An example of a structure suitable for this purpose is shown at 52 in FIG. The structure has an upper sheet member 54, preferably a sheet metal plate, having a plurality of circular openings, illustrated at 56. An elastic layer such as a silicone rubber layer indicated by reference numeral 58 is provided on the lower surface of the sheet-like member 54 . Support structure 52 is attached to the bottom surface of conventional storage tray 20 by any suitable technique.

The component is held in place by contacting the lead wire with the upper surface of the elastic layer 58 in the exposed portion of the opening of the sheet metal plate and applying sufficient force to force the lead wire to cling to the surface of the elastic layer 52. and stored in the support structure 52. Experiments have shown that the use of silicone rubber provides sufficient durability for repeated use of this type of structure. Other types of structures that can be suitably supported may be used.

A representative example of the components is shown in FIG. 2, with one of the group of components shown being labeled 60.

The tray storage and support means is a storage box 62, shown at 62 in FIG. 3 and shown in a cutaway view at 40 in FIG. In the experimental model, storage box 62 has space to store 90 trays in 5 rows of 18 trays each. Each tray has an independent storage slot,
The front face of a typical slot is designated by reference numeral 64. As will be explained in more detail below, during use, the storage box 64 must be accurately positioned in order to remove and insert trays into the storage slots.

For accurate positioning, the top surface 66 of the storage box 62
, there are position indication marks 68 to 76 corresponding to each row of storage boxes.
There is. Preferably, the mark is placed at the top center of each row of storage trays, but could also be placed, for example, at the edge of each row of trays.

A partial cutaway view of a system incorporating a preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. A commercially available multi-level rotating carousel is placed in each height space of a plurality of bins of the type shown in FIG. In FIG. 4, the six levels or height positions of the carousel are indicated by reference numeral 80.
They are indicated by a to 80f. At each level 80a to 80f are located multiple storage boxes of the type shown in FIG.
The storage box located at level 80d is designated by reference numeral 82.

relative to the storage bin and the trays inside the storage bin by rotating the carousel at the height containing the tray to be collected until the storage tray to be collected is in front of one of the two elevators indicated by reference numeral 84. They can be close to each other in the vertical direction. The turntable mechanism 88 is moved to the position of the true stop surface of the tray to be collected using the assembled elevator or a device to be described later. Remove the tray gripping mechanism on the turntable from the /\handle 3 of the tray you are trying to remove.
4 (see Figure 1). Using the lift motion, the bottom surface of the tray is lifted above the holder 21 (see Figure 1) to lift the tray that is about to expand.

Slide the tray up to the top of the turntable mechanism,
Complete tray drawer.

After removing the tray from the storage box, rotate the turntable mechanism 88 approximately 180 degrees, insert the tray with the parts already taken out into the slot in order to assemble the parts kit, and perform the work procedure in reverse order. to remove the tray from the slot. In this way, two types of operation are performed on each stroke of the elevator. That is, the tray in which the next part to be used for parts kit assembly is stored is pulled out from the storage section, and the tray from which the parts have been removed is returned to the storage section. Since the above-mentioned tray withdrawal operation is a general one, i.e., an operation that allows trays to be taken out at any height of the carousel, it will be clearer if reference numbers are attached to the members of the specific stage. Since this would cause confusion, the explanation has been made without reference signs.

Following tray withdrawal from storage, the turntable mechanism is returned to the work station height shown in FIG. In the work stage, the tray 90, from which parts have already been taken out and used to assemble the parts kit, is slid onto the turntable mechanism 88, the turntable is rotated approximately 180 degrees, and the tray 90 is removed from the storage section during the tray drawing operation described above. Slide the loaded tray 92 to the work station platform. At the work station, the robot 94 removes the parts from the tray 92, cuts and bends the lead wires as necessary, and positions the parts, which have undergone appropriate preparation, in one or more parts 96a-96c. The above steps are continued until a predetermined number of predetermined parts are assembled into the parts killers 1-96a to 96c.

In order to simplify the explanation, the above explanation describes an example in which only one elevator is used. There is a second elevator 86, identical to elevator 84, which supplies parts to robot 94 in a similar manner, except that it is located on the opposite side. The operation of the two elevators 84 and 86 can also be modified such that one elevator carries a tray to robot 94 while the other elevator retrieves a tray for subsequent use. With this configuration, parts to be processed by the robot 94 can be continuously supplied,
It is possible to eliminate interruption time due to parts that cannot be processed by the robot 94.

A side view of the elevator, designated 84 and 86 in FIG. 4, is shown in FIG. 5, and parts of the elevator are shown in top view in FIG.

41 members 98 having a rectangular cross section are attached to the substrate 100 by explosion welding. A collar member 102 is placed around the rectangular member 98.
There is a rail 104 on the vertical surface opposite to the support bar 98.
and 106 are attached. Four substantially identical rolls 110-114 of wood are attached to the inner surface of collar 102 and engage opposite edge portions of rail 104. Similarly, four additional wooden rolls, indicated at the top by reference numerals 116 and 118 in FIG. 5, are engaged with rail member 106. With this configuration, the collar member 102 moves up and down along the indicating member 98.

The turntable mechanism 120 located inside the chain line 120 is attached to the collar member 102. A first portion of a drive chain 122 attached to the upper edge of the collar 102 extends in three directions and wraps around the intermediate sprocket, and a second end is attached to the upper end of the counterweight 126. Similarly, a second portion of drive chain 128 is attached to the bottom edge of collar member and extends downwardly to wrap around drive sprocket 130, with a second end attached to the bottom end of counterweight 126. . Drive sprocket by built-in drive motor or other suitable means)
Rotating 130 raises and lowers the turntable mechanism 120, which positions the storage tray in the operating position described above.

In the top view position of the turntable mechanism 120 shown in FIG. 6, the turntable is in a positional relationship pointing to the column 98 and the collar member 102. More specifically, a turntable support bracket 132 is attached to the collar member 102 and extends approximately 90 degrees outwardly from the support post 98. The turntable 134 is supported by a bearing support mechanism 136 (see FIG. 5) and rotates. motor 138 to pulley 1
Turntable 130 is mechanically driven by 40 and 142 and belt 144.

On the top surface of the turntable 134, there is a board with almost the same structure.
and second storage tray handling mechanisms 146 and 148 are supported. The drive motor 150 drives the lead screw 152, and the tray grip 160 is moved by the lead screw 152 to the lever 1.
54 and 156. A portion of the rails 154 and 156 are entirely located on the turntable 134 J:, and the rails 154 and 156 serve as support members for the tray. As shown in FIG. 6, tray gripper 160 is in the extended position. This extended position is available for inserting the storage tray into a storage bin or sliding the storage tray from the turntable 130 to a work station.

”-, except that it faces the opposite side, as explained in
Tray handling mechanisms 146 and 148 are of the same construction. Therefore, among the members of the tray grip 148, the same members are
The reference numerals used to designate the members of the tray handling mechanism 146 are indicated with the letter "a" enclosed.

The entire tray of one of the trays held by the tray gripper 160a is positioned on the turntable 134-1- and is supported by the rails 154a and 156a! A processing mechanism 148 of E is illustrated. This position corresponds to the position in which the tray is transported from the work station to the storage bin. A portion of the turntable mechanism is shown in dotted lines as it rotates to insert and pull the tray into and out of the storage bin.

FIG. 6A is a detailed illustration of the mechanism that actually engages the handle portion 34 of the tray 20 (see FIG. 1) to insert and remove the tray into and from the storage bin. Upper member 16
The lever mechanism 16 has a horizontal edge 162 extending from the drawer/\\\\\ door 34 (shown broken away) and a vertical surface 164 that contacts the front side of the drawer\\\\\\\ door 34.
6 rotates on bearing 168 to bring the sloping edge 170 of the lever mechanism into contact with the lower edge of handle 34. The lever mechanism 66 is connected to the bearing 1 by a motor 170.
Rotate around 68. This allows you to apply force in either direction as needed to pull the tray out of the storage box or insert it into the storage box.
I can do things. In the case of tray retention or release,
Lever mechanism 166 is rotated to allow member 1601 to move freely into position above handle 34 or rearward to lower the tray into the storage bin. death/
The system has 20 i-rays, which is necessary for the second generation.
When the tray is carried into or out of the storage box, the tray 1 moves unhindered above the holder 21 (see FIG. 1).

The main constituent members of the system are shown in a side view at -1 in Fig. 7.

Three storage bins located on one of the upper floors of the carousel are indicated by reference numerals 108-186. Only a portion of one height position of the carousel is shown, l,% l/X. Elevator 188 and elevator 90 are caro-
located adjacent to the cell.

The trays are removed from the storage bins by elevators 188 and 190 and transported to a work station where parts are removed from the trays, such as tray 194, by robot 192. The parts are first sent to a part preprocessing device for preprocessing to trim or bend the leads, if necessary, for final assembly. Perform other parts preliminary processing as necessary. After the component pre-processing process, one component is sent to a component kit. A representative example of the kit is designated by reference number 198.200.202.

When the parts are taken out from the tray 194, the tray 18g from which the parts have already been taken out is placed on the turntable 204 and returned to the storage section.

The position of the second elevator 190 shown is with the storage tray 205 partially pulled out from the storage box 184. If the tray being used is a storage tray 205, the storage tray 205 is fully pulled out onto the turntable mechanism 206, rotates the turntable mechanism 206 180 degrees, and the already used tray 208 is returned from the work station. is inserted into the slot after the storage tray 205 is pulled out.

This new tray 205 is carried to the robot 192,
The kits 198, 200 and 202 can be removed from the robot 192 in the same manner as previously described for supplying the parts.

Any suitable means, including automated equipment such as a robot, may be used to supply the trays or other suitable containers required for the parts kit to the work station.

The entire device described above is controlled by a digital φ computer. The carousel and elevator are equipped with appropriate detectors and controllers to feed data to the computer and perform necessary control functions. Robot '192 may be controlled by a separate computer according to conventional methods.

The relationship between the main detectors and control functions of the carousel and elevator and the computer controller 212 is shown in FIG. First, the operation of the primary detectors and controllers will be discussed in detail, and then their interrelationships will be described in connection with the storage tray drawer.

Each level of the carousel is oval shaped.

Therefore, in order to specify the reference position for positioning the storage boxes and trays at each level, it is necessary to attach some kind of reference symbol to each carousel. A carousel position reference symbol generator provides a fixed position reference representing each level of the carousel. This activation function is provided by a mark placed on the storage box and detected by a photocell. As the carousel rotates, one pulse is generated each time a mark passes the photocell. The midpoint of the carousel is detected by a signal generated by a carousel encoder, described below.

It is not necessary that each level of the carousel be exactly the same length, nor exactly the same speed. Because each bin and elevator must be placed in precise relative positions, a unique position signal must be generated for each level of the carousel. A carousel encoder 216 generates a unique position signal. To explain it functionally,
An encoder is attached to the carousel drive gearbox and generates 360 pulses for each revolution of the gearbox. By counting the number of pulses between two adjacent pulses of the signal generated by the carousel position reference symbol generator 214, an intermediate position on the circumference of the carousel can be determined by one pulse of the output signal of the carousel position reference symbol generator 214. can be determined in relation to the number of times.

The pulses of the output signal of the carousel position reference generator 214 do not allow the relative position of a particular tray to the elevator to be determined or measured with sufficient accuracy. Therefore, more accurate marks are required. This feature is
This is accomplished by final position brake control 218.

Below Margin Functionally, the carousel position reference signal generator 2
The i-ray is placed in the final position by counting 14 pulses of the output signal. The tray to be pulled out is about 30 minutes from the final position.
．． When it comes within 5c++ (13 inches),
Decrease the rotation speed of the carousel to approximately half of the normal rotation speed. Final position brake control when the selected tray comes within one tray width from the final position! Begin searching for a mark indicating the symmetrical tray from which the phototube forming part of 1218 draws. When the mark is detected, a signal is generated indicating that the tray is in the final desired position.

As previously mentioned, each tray is marked with a bar code indicating the components stored therein. These bar codes are read by a laser scanning scanner attached to the turntable mechanism. The bar code reader is designated by the reference numeral 220 and its output signal is connected to computer controller 212.

Control signals conveyed to the elevator drive motor, indicated at 226, are provided by computer controller 212. An encoder 222 in the elevator drive provides a position signal so that the computer controller can measure the position of the elevator at any time.

Appropriate means are required to prevent the carousel from being driven when a tray is being inserted or withdrawn.

It is also necessary to prevent the elevator from inserting or withdrawing trays while the carousel is moving. The elevator/carousel interface does this.

Once the tray to be pulled has moved to its final position at the front of the elevator, a computer-controlled brake stops the carousel in the proper position. This action is performed by a carousel motor/brake, generally designated 230.

A conventional CRT is used as display device 232 to display system data. All communications necessary for computer programming and computer operation occur through conventional terminals.

The operation of the system described above will be described beginning with the instruction or decision by computer controller 212 to withdraw a particular storage tray from a selected level of the carousel. After making the decision to pull out a particular storage tray, the next decision made is which elevator to use. After determining which elevator to use, the computer issues an instruction to the elevator motor rise/fall indicator of the selected elevator, and the elevator moves to the desired height. Based on the stored data, computer controller 212 has data identifying the location of each level of the carousel. Based on this data, the computer controller drives the carousel's drive motor at the appropriate level to rotate the carousel clockwise or counterclockwise, whichever direction requires the least amount of movement, to move the desired tray into the collection elevator. Position it in the forward recovery position. The carousel is about 30 meters from the elevator.
．． When approaching the 5 cm (13 inches) position, reduce the speed of the carousel drive motor. When one tray width below the elevator is reached, a phototube that detects a column mark is energized. When the row mark passes under the photocell, a signal is emitted from the photocell and the computer controller 212 activates the carousel motor/brake 2.
30 is driven, and the carousel stops at a predetermined position.

After the tray to be collected is located at the front of the collection elevator, bar code reader 220 reads the bar code on the front of the tray to determine whether the desired part is on the tray. This data is sent to computer controller 212. When the computer controller 212 determines that the storage tray contains the desired parts, the tray drawer is moved to a position where the handle of the selected tray is grasped and pulled onto the turntable. Next, the turntable is rotated and the tray returned from the robot at the work station is inserted into the slot from which the tray was pulled out. The par code reader 220 is used to read the bar code of the inserted tray and update the data base of the computer controller 212 with data representing the tray inserted into the empty slot.

Issue a descending command to the elevator ascending φ descending drive motor to lower the selected tray to the robot position. After the elevator is lowered to the robot position, commands from the computer controller 212 actuate the tray extraction mechanism to move the storage tray to the work station's parts collection position. As previously described, the parts are retrieved from the tray and a new operating cycle as described above is initiated to retrieve the next storage tray for use.

As already mentioned, the operation of both elevators is the same.

Therefore, the two series of explanations regarding the first elevator can be directly applied to the second elevator. If both elevators are used, the computer controller 212 controls them co-ordinately so that parts are used by the robot with minimal delay.

Various modifications can be made to the system described above without changing the basic technical idea. For example, the present invention has been described in connection with a component kit assembly operation for making an electronic printed circuit board. The same technical idea can be applied to the storage of electric motor parts. Additionally, the components detailed for storing and restocking parts can also be used to supply parts to manual assembly stations.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the computer controller may be programmed to perform component handling in addition to assembling component kits. - For example, robots can also be used to transfer parts from one storage tray to another. All you have to do is count the number of parts inside the tray and insert them. The software can also be self-testing and maintainable.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 shows a storage tray and a broken storage bin. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the component support structure. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a storage box. FIG. 4 is a cutaway illustration of a system incorporating a preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a side view of the elevator. FIG. 6 is a two-sided view of the turntable. FIG. 6A is a partial explanatory diagram showing how to grasp the handle. FIG. 7 is a plan view of a system incorporating the present invention. FIG. 8 is a functional explanatory configuration diagram showing system control. 20.90.92...Tray 34...-Handle 40.62...Storage box 42...Par φ code 88...Turntable mechanism 98a-96c...Parts kit +80.182.184, 188...Carousel 186...Parts preprocessing device 2+2...Computer controller 214...Carousel position reference symbol generator 21B.
... Carousel encoder 218 ... Final position brake control 220 ... Bar code reader 222 ...
Elevator encoder 224...Elevator/carousel interface 226...Elevator motor up/down indicator 228...Tray drawer input/cut indicator 230...
...Carousel motor/brake 232...C
RT display 234...terminal

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A storage facility having a plurality of independently movable storage positions for storing standard parts storage trays, and a storage tray drawer/insertion facility whose position can be changed for pulling out and replacing storage trays. , a control device for controlling the position of the storage equipment and positioning the storage tray at a predetermined position; a control device for placing the drawer/insertion equipment in a position to pull out parts from the tray; and a control device for storing the parts to be used from the storage section. a control device for controlling the tray drawer equipment so as to pull out trays that have been removed, and a control device for inserting trays from which parts have already been taken out and used for assembling the kit into a storage position from which trays containing parts to be taken out have been pulled out; a control device disposed at the work station for positioning the storage tray drawer/insertion equipment at a work station and changing the position of the tray containing parts used for assembling the kit at the work station;
a device for taking out parts from the tray and placing the parts taken out from the tray on the kit; and a device for taking out the tray containing parts used for assembling the kit from the storage section and placing already used trays in the storage section. A mechanical assembly device for parts kits, characterized by comprising a repeating process control facility that continuously performs a return operation. 2. The storage facility comprises a multi-level carousel;
The patent device is characterized in that each level of the carousel is configured to rotate in both directions. 3. The repositionable storage tray drawer insertion equipment is configured to provide first and second oppositely oriented motor-driven tray insertion/removal equipment.
3. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that it has a turntable supporting the drawer grip. 4. Each of the storage trays has a handle portion and a bar code indicating the parts stored inside the tray. The device according to item 3.