JPS6362348A - Conveying arm - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To convey parts having different sizes with one pickup arm, by providing a two-stage structure of a part conveying arm, and arranging the side corresponding to a part having a large width, on the lower side. CONSTITUTION:First hooking parts 231a, which hold a part having a large width, are arranged at the lower side. Second hooking parts 231b, which hold a part having a small width, are arranged at the upper side. The operating range of the opening and closing of pawl pieces 230 are set in correspondnece with the part having the large width. Then the operating range of the opening and closing for the part having the smaller width can be set within the part having the large range. Therefore, the operating range of the opening and closing can be commonly used. The parts having the large width and the small width can be held by the operating mechansim having the same opening and closing range. Thus, the parts having the different sizes can be picked up with the common opening and closing mechanism. Independent opening and closing control mechansims are not required for the different parts.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Lifespan] This invention relates to a parts conveying arm, and in particular, it is incorporated into an automatic parts inspection device to sequentially supply parts to be inspected to a measuring section, and after the inspection is completed. I discharge the parts according to the inspection results.
This invention relates to a component transfer arm suitable for a C handler.

[Prior Art] Figure 7 shows the basic configuration of a conventional IC handler.
This is the main figure.

In the figure, A is a loader section that stores untested ICs and sequentially sends them out, and generally has IC magazines 1 stacked on top of each other. Inside one of the IC magazines, individual ICs are continuously arranged.

The ICs in the IC magazine 1 are sequentially guided by their own weight by guide rails into the preheating processing section B and are preprocessed to a temperature that meets predetermined inspection conditions. Preliminary treatment in this case includes preheating, precooling, etc.

The ICs that have passed through the preheating processing section B are similarly guided by guide rails and are sequentially lowered vertically downward in the measurement section C under their own weight, and are inspected by an automatic measuring device (inspection head, not shown).

After the inspection, the ICs slide under their own weight to the unloader section, but along the way, they are sorted and distributed by the sorting section E according to the inspection results, and are divided into multiple lanes set up in parallel. Multiple rows of magazines are slid down under their own weight and set on the unloader section Law 1b * le
It is stored in any one of t let IL Ig+1h.

[Problems to be solved] In the case of the natural fall method in which the guide rail Ruhi slides down by its own weight and descends, the IC itself is held down for heat treatment, measurement processing, etc. Since it is necessary to change the direction of the IC itself according to the direction of falling or falling, there is a drawback that the IC pins are easily bent or jammed.

In addition, when testing multiple ICs in parallel using guide rails, it is necessary to install guide rails corresponding to the number of ICs in parallel, which makes it difficult to control the mutual control timing of the ICs flowing in parallel, and the equipment The disadvantage is that it becomes larger.

Furthermore, since the rail width of the guide rail is fixed, it is difficult to inspect ICs of different sizes at the same time.If the size of the IC changes, the guide rail must be replaced with one that matches the IC size, or Dedicated lanes must be provided.

A forced conveyance system that does not use guide rails may be considered as a method to overcome these drawbacks, but in this case, in order to place the parts on the forced conveyance mechanism from loader 8I≦, there is a beam on the loader side. It is necessary to provide a component extraction mechanism for the pick-up arm cap. Moreover, when inspecting ICs of different sizes, there is a 7-piece system that prepares multiple pickup arms according to the sizes. In addition, the forced transfer mechanism side must be structured so that it can accommodate pickup arms of different sizes.
As a result, the disadvantages of using guide rails are not resolved very well, making it difficult to miniaturize the device and complicating conveyance control.

[Purpose of the Invention] Accordingly, the first object of the present invention is to solve the problems of the prior art, and to provide a parts transport arm that can transport parts of different sizes with one pickup arm. Our goal is to provide the following.

[Means for Solving the Problems] To achieve the above object, the component transport arm of the present invention is an arm that picks up and transports a plurality of parts with different widths, and is capable of picking up and transporting a plurality of parts with different widths. 1st to hold
and a second hook portion formed on the first hook portion for holding a small-width component, the claw is configured to open and close the pair of claw pieces. This method selectively grips either a large-width part using the handle or a part with a small front handle width.

[Function] In this way, the claws of the component transfer arm have a two-tiered structure, and the side corresponding to the larger width component is placed at the bottom, so that by aligning the claws with the larger width side, parts with a smaller width can be transferred. Components can be picked up with almost the same operation as when the width is large, and there is no need to provide multiple pickup arms.

As a result, there is no need to use a dedicated guide rail or the like for parts of different sizes, the device does not become large, and transport control becomes simple.

Therefore, if applied to an IC handler, it is possible to realize a handler that eliminates the need for falling transport using guide rails, etc., eliminates the need to change the direction of the component itself, and almost never jams or bends the pins of the component. Even when multiple parts with different types must be processed in parallel, it is easy to inspect and process multiple parts at the same time.
The size of the device itself does not need to be increased too much.

[Example 1] Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1(a) is an explanatory diagram of the claw of the pickup arm of an IC handler according to an embodiment to which the component transport arm of the present invention is applied, and FIG. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the handling operation for supplying ICs to the IC handler, and FIG.
The figure is a side sectional view, FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b) are explanatory diagrams of the loader section, FIGS. 5(a) and (b) are side sectional views and front sectional views of the packet transport mechanism, and FIGS. Figure 6 (aL
(b) and (C) are explanatory diagrams of packets.

Note that in each of these figures, the same parts are indicated by the same reference numerals.

2 and 3, 10 is an IC handler, 2 is an IC loader section thereof, 3 is a packet transport mechanism section that receives IC supply from the IC loader section, stores and transports the IC, and 4 is an IC handler. A constant temperature bath enveloping the transport path of the packet transport mechanism section 3; 5 a measuring section that receives parts supplied from the packet transport mechanism section 3 and inspects the components; 6 a measurement section that transports the inspected ICs to the packet transport mechanism section 3; a sorting section 8 that receives the data from the storage section 7, transports it almost horizontally, and stores it in the rack of the storage section 7 according to the inspection results;
5a is a rack that is attached to the loader section 2 and the storage section 7 and stores test parts (ICs in this case), and 5a is a rack that is attached to the loader section 2 and the storage section 7
This is a test head that is installed in the IC and measures the electrical characteristics, etc. of the IC.

Here, the loader section 2 includes a rack mounting table 21 and a linear feeder 22 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4(a).
, a pickup arm 23 (see FIG. 1(b)), and an elevator mechanism 24 that is provided under the rack mounting table 21 and moves the rack mounting table 21 up and down. In the figure, there are three racks 8), and a rack 8 is mounted on each rack mounting table 21 of each IC loading mechanism 20.

The rack 8 has a plurality of IC storage grooves 81, 81 . ... are formed continuously, and individual ICs (here, PGA type ICs and hybrid ICs as an example) 9 are placed in the grooves 81 in the groove direction and in the vertical direction with their pins facing upward. They are stored in a continuous array. And Fig. 4(b)
The push-out pawl 82 shown in the cross-sectional view is moved horizontally along the groove 81 by a pawl feeding mechanism 83 at a pitch corresponding to the width of the parts. The groove 81 in which the pawl 82 moves is located at a position that coincides with the feeding surface of the rail 22a of the linear feeder 22. The movement of the push-out claw 82 by one pitch is controlled by a control signal from a control section (not shown) each time the push-out claw 82 is sent out. Further, the claw feeding mechanism 83 is
As shown in FIG. 4(b), a crank-shaped push-out pawl 82
As shown in Fig. 4(a), the belt 8
5 and is driven by a pulley 86, and slides on a horizontal shaft 84 to horizontally move.

Therefore, one of the ICs 9 to be supplied to the packet transport section 3 side is pushed out onto the rail 22a of the linear feeder 22 according to the movement of the push-out claw 82 by one pitch, and the linear feeder 22 causes the tip of the IC9 to be pushed out onto the rail 22a of the linear feeder 22. It is transported to the pickup position P. The IC sent out by this
9 is set at the tip part pickup standby position.

Here, one rack 8 is removably attached to a rack mounting table 21, and as the rack mounting table 21 is moved up and down by an elevator mechanism 24, the rack 8 is moved up and down, and the IC 9 in the groove 81 is moved up and down. When all of them are discharged, the tenth groove 81 is successively positioned from the lower groove 81 to a position where the bottom surface thereof coincides with the feed direction of the rail 22a of the linear feeder 22. In addition, 25.25 is the number of parts vertically penetrating both ends of the rack 8, which is one fall prevention pin, is held suspended, and its tip side coincides with the surface of the rail 22a of the linear feeder 22. The groove 81 located at the position is not blocked (the number of parts corresponds to the length of the fall prevention pin 25).

The IC loading mechanism 20 is composed of the rack 8, its elevator mechanism 24, a pawl feeding mechanism 83, a rack mounting state detection/positioning guide mechanism 26, etc., and here three of them are arranged in parallel in the loader section 2. In the initial state, I
In the rack 8 of the C loading mechanism 20, the bottom surface of the groove 81 under the - layer corresponds to the top surface of the rail 22a, and when the IC is sent out from this groove 81 and the groove 81 becomes empty, the groove 81 is stacked. It can be lowered by one pitch.

That is, when the ICs in the groove 81 of a certain rack 8 become empty, the rack 8 moves below the elevator fi+llI24, and the bottom surface of the groove 81 in that one reaches the rail 2.
It is located at the position of the -L plane of 2a.

Now, the IC 9 sent out from the rack 8 and waiting at the tip of the rail 22a of the linear feeder 22 is shown in FIG.
) and the pickup arm 2 as shown in Fig. 5(a).
The claw 231 of No. 3 descends in an open state and is gripped by closing, and the packet 31 of the packet transport mechanism section 3 is grasped.
are sequentially transported on the rail 22a to each storage position. Then, the claws 231 are opened and the ICs 9 are set in their respective storage openings 32. Here, the storage opening 32 is
Four packets are provided in one packet 31, as shown in FIG.
), the four ICs 9 are connected sequentially from the end of the packet 31.
is stored in the storage opening 32. Therefore, the four ICs 9 are intermittently fed out one by one from the rack 8 at a timing that matches the handling time of the pickup arm 23, and transported to the standby position P at the tip of the linear feeder 22, where they are sequentially delivered by the pickup arm 23. A total of four ICs 9 are picked up one by one from the linear feeder 22 and transported to a bucket 31 .

As shown in FIGS. 1(a) and 1(b), the claws 231 are formed on a first hook portion 231a formed to hold the IC9 having a large width, and on one of the first hook portions 231a. It consists of a pair of claw pieces 230 and a second hook portion 231b for holding a small width IC. 232 is a spring that biases the claw 231 of the pickup arm 23 in the direction of closing the second hook portion 23;
The rack is stretched between the claw pieces 230, 230 at the upper part of 1b. Also, 233°233 is
This is a cam surface that rotates the claw 231 in the opening direction, and is provided on the cam plate 236. Here, a roller 23 is provided on the cam surface 233 on the side opposite to the end hook side of the claw piece 230.
4.234 engages to form an opening/closing mechanism on the tip end side of the claw.

235. 235 is a rotation fulcrum provided approximately in the center of each of the two claw pieces 230 of the claw 231, and each claw piece 230 is sandwiched between a base 237 and a fixing plate 238 and pivoted by a pin. It is.

Here, the base 237 and the cam plate 236 are the cam plate 23
6 is a fixed side, and the base 237 is relatively moved up and down by a vertical movement mechanism (not shown). When the base 237 is in the raised position, the rollers 234, 2
34 mutually rotate inward, the distance between them narrows, and the tip of each claw piece 230 opens (on the other hand, when in the downward state shown in FIG. 1(b), the distance between the rollers 234 and 234 decreases are open and the tips of each claw piece 230 are in a closed state, and the IC 9 is gripped in this state.

Note that both the base 237 and the cam plate 236 are moved up and down by another up and down movement mechanism, and the linear feeder 22
The IC 9 is picked up from the IC 9 and transported to the packet 31. In addition, when transporting ICs with different widths (sizes), depending on the corresponding size, it is necessary to
The claw 231 is positioned in the vertical direction so that the second hook portion 231a is positioned at the position of the IC, and in the case of a small width hook portion 231b, the -1 of the claw 231 is positioned so that the second hook portion 231b is positioned at the position of the IC. - A downward positioning is performed.

By the way, by setting the first hook portion 231a that grips a wide component on the lower side and the second hook portion 231b that grips a small width component on the upper side, the operating range of opening and closing of the claw piece 230 is reduced. If it is set according to a wide object, it becomes possible to set the range of opening/closing operation for grasping a part within the range of a large width object for a small width object. Therefore, the range of these opening/closing operations can be made common, and both large and small items can be gripped using almost the same opening/closing mechanism.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 1(b), it is possible to pick up parts of different sizes using a common claw opening/closing mechanism, and there is no need to provide separate opening/closing control mechanisms for each component.

Now, the IC9 carried by the pickup arm 23
When four ICs are set in one packet 31, the packet 31 moves forward by one, and the next empty packet 31 is positioned at the IC supply position corresponding to the linear feeder 22. Here, when all the ICs in the rack 8 of a certain IC loading mechanism 20 become empty, the elevator mechanism 24 is controlled to rise in response to a control signal from the control section, and the rack 8 moves upward to return to its original initial state. Return, pickup arm 2
3 moves to the next IC loading mechanism 20 position and its I
ICs are supplied from the rack 8 of the C loading mechanism 20, and the empty rack 8 is removed. A new rack 8 filled with ICs is then newly attached to the removed IC loading mechanism 20.

By the way, this packet 31 is shown in FIG. 5(a).

As shown in (b), a plurality of pieces are connected at both ends by endless chains 32a and 32b at predetermined intervals.

As shown in Figure 3, this chain 32 a +
32a is engaged with sprockets 33a and 33b provided at both ends of the packet transport mechanism section 3, and the packets are sequentially transported. That is, these constitute a chain transmission mechanism.

Therefore, packet 31 is connected to chain 32a.

The frame is supported by the front sprocket 32b.
3a is intermittently driven by the motor 34 to the timing belt 35.
, and each packet 31 is sent intermittently at a predetermined pitch.

Here, the packet 31 is made of a member such as a metal having good thermal conductivity, such as aluminum, and its shape is a square bar shape as shown in FIG. 6(a). Two storage openings 32 are provided at predetermined intervals, and screw holes 311, 311,
312°312 are opened on both end sides. This packet 31 has screw holes 311 and 312,
The chain 32a (32b) is fixed to each link 321 of the chain 32a (32b) by means of a screw pin via a bracket fixed to each link 321 so that the storage opening 32 is positioned perpendicularly to the conveying surface.

The storage opening 32 is located at I in FIG. 6(a) as seen in FIG. 6(b).
-■- of the same figure (a) seen in the I sectional view and Figure 6 (C)
■As shown in the cross-sectional view, there is a double stepped recess 310 and an H-shaped groove 315 on both sides of this recess 310 into which the claw 231 of the component handling arm is inserted. Groove 315 passes vertically through packet 31.

Of the recesses 310, the upper recess 313 and the lower recess 314 are formed with openings corresponding to the >11-sided shape of the larger-sized component, and each opening extends to the surface. As shown in FIG. 5(b), the chains 32a and 32b are arranged so that these openings face upward.
attached to. Then, different types of ICs are stored in either the upper recess 313 or the lower recess 314.

Specifically, in this embodiment, the lower recess 314 is
It is sized to accommodate an OJ type IC, and the upper recess 313 is a storage portion sized to accommodate a PGA type IC, especially a hybrid IC.

Note that the single-shaped groove 315 penetrating these depressions 313 and 314 is provided so that the center of its cross point almost coincides with the center of these depressions 313 and 314, and the presser pin 37 described later is attached to this packet. A cross groove 31 that penetrates the
Enter from below 5 and press and hold the IC9 to be measured.
L-ge1. Exit to Hi. This is the holding bottle passage hole for this purpose.

Now, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the packet transport mechanism section 3 stores the packets, including the chains 32a and 32b, in the thermostatic chamber 4, and is operated by a heater 41 provided at the bottom of the thermostatic chamber 4. heated.

Therefore, the IC 9 housed in the packet 31 is heated to a predetermined temperature during this feeding process.

Then, as shown in FIG. 5(b), when the packet 31 is sent to the bottom of the measuring section 5 and positioned at the measuring section 5, the driving of the sprocket 33a, which corresponds to the state where the intermittent feeding has stopped, is stopped. In this state, at the beginning of this stop period, the holding bottle 37 with a chuck is driven upward by the bottle pushing mechanism 36 using the direct-acting cam 36a disposed below the packet 31 corresponding to the measuring section 5, and the holding bottle 37 with a chuck is driven upward. The IC 9 is penetrated through the section 32 and pushed toward the measuring section 5 side with a pusher. The pin push-up mechanism 36 and the holding pin 37 are located below each storage opening 32, and four of them are arranged in parallel, and the chuck portion at the tip of the holding pin 37 is similar to the claw 23 of the pickup arm. It has a shape.

Here, the measuring unit 5 has a contact unit 51 (or socket 51) fixed from the ceiling side to the bottom side.
are provided so as to correspond to the positions of the respective storage openings 32, and as shown by the dotted line in FIG. connected. Then, the test head 5a coupled to the contact unit 51 pushes up and contacts the IC9, and a measurement process is performed.

In this way, the IC9 is supplied to the measuring section 5, and the measuring section 5 measures each IC9. When the measurement is completed, the horizontal bottle pushing machine 36 is lowered by the return movement of the linear cam 36a. Then, the holding pin 37 descends and the connection with the contact unit 51 is released. Each IC 9 is then returned to the original storage opening 32 of the packet 31. Note that, at this point, the chuck at the tip of the holding pin 37 is located below the bottom surface of the packet 31.

After that, the stop period of intermittent sending ends and the next sending state is entered, and the packet 31 is transferred to the chain 32a.

32b. and the next packet 31
is located below the measuring section 5, and the terminal of the next IC 9 is brought into contact with the contact of the contact unit 51, and a similar measurement is made. In this way, the IC is supplied to the measuring section 5.

Next, the IC 9 whose measurement has been completed is again stored in the packet 31 and the four ICs are transported together, and when they come to the component pickup position near the front sprocket 33a, they are placed in the packet 31 (see FIGS. 3 and 5). As shown in b), the classification section 6
The pickup arm 61 picks up each of the four ICs.
9 is taken out from the packet 31 and conveyed onto the belt 62a. Note that the pickup arm 61 has a similar configuration to the pickup arm 23, and 611 is a claw thereof.

Here, the pickup 61 of the classification section picks up the packet 31.
The working time for setting each of the four ICs into each of the storage openings 32 of the packet 31 and the four ICs from each storage opening 32 of the packet 31 here.
The working time for taking out each IC9 is as follows:
The time is shorter than the C measurement time, and the sending of packet 31 has stopped while IC9 is being measured! It is done while you are sleeping.

The sorting section 6 consists of a pickup arm 61, a belt conveyance mechanism 62, and a plurality of IC extrusion mechanisms 63 corresponding to the number of classifications.As shown in FIG.
Groove 62b that crosses in the transverse direction perpendicular to the conveying direction
It has a grooved belt 82a. Then, the IC 9 is stored in the groove 82b of the belt 62a, and the IC 9 is placed in the corresponding position of the rack 8.
By operating the pushing mechanism 63 and extending its pushing pin 83a, the IC 9 is pushed into the groove 81 of the rack 8 using the groove 62b of the belt as a guide. This allows IC9 to be classified according to the test results. In this case, instead of the grooved belt 82a, a packet having a transverse groove corresponding to the groove of the storage opening 32 of the packet 31 may be used for conveyance.

The packets in this case may be connected by chains like the packet 31, or may be fixed directly on the belt.

In addition, the control and timing of the vertical movement of the elevator mechanism 24, the control and timing of the opening/closing operation of the claw 231 of the pickup arm 23 and the claw of the pickup arm, and the push pin of the IC push mechanism of the sorting section. forward/backward movement control and its timing;
The reciprocating operation control and timing of the direct-acting cam 36a of the pin push-up mechanism 36 are determined and controlled by electrical signals from a control section incorporating a microprocessor, respectively.

By the way, the groove of the rail 22a of the linear feeder 22 is
The packet 31 has a stepped groove shape similar to that shown in FIG. 6(C) showing a longitudinal section, and the upper groove is a hybrid I.
The opening width corresponds to parts such as C, and the lower groove has an opening width of 11, which corresponds to parts such as SGO type IC. Therefore, simply by replacing the rack 8 with the IC loading machine side 20, different parts can be supplied to the packet 31, and different parts can be inspected. In this case, is the contact unit 51 of the measuring section capable of connecting these different parts?
The contact unit 51 is replaced each time according to the part to be measured.

As described above, the shape of the hook in the claw can be various, and is not limited to the examples. Moreover, various structures can be used for the opening/closing mechanism.

Although the embodiments mainly describe an IC handler, the present invention can of course be applied to a component transfer arm of a component handling device in general.

[Effects of the Invention] As can be understood from the above explanation, in this invention, the claws of the component transfer arm have a two-stage structure, and the side corresponding to the wider component is the lower side. By aligning the claws with the larger width side, it is possible to pick up small width parts with almost the same operation as for larger width parts, and there is no need to provide multiple pickup arms.

As a result, there is no need to use a dedicated guide rail or the like for parts of different sizes (the device does not become large and the transport control becomes simpler).

Therefore, if applied to an IC handler, it is possible to realize a handler that does not have to be transported by falling using guide rails, etc., does not need to change the direction of the parts themselves, and almost never jams or bends the parts bin. Even when a plurality of different parts must be processed in parallel, the plurality of parts can be easily inspected and processed at the same time, and the size of the apparatus itself does not need to be increased too much.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1(a) is an explanatory diagram of the claw of the pickup arm of an IC handler according to an embodiment to which the component transport arm of the present invention is applied, and FIG. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the handling operation for supplying an IC to an IC of an embodiment to which the present invention is applied.
3 is a side sectional view of the handler, FIGS. 4(a) and 4(b) are explanatory views of the loader section, and FIGS. 5(a) and 5(b) are side views of the packet transport mechanism. A sectional view and a front sectional view, FIGS. 6(a), 6(b), and 6(C) are explanatory diagrams of a packet, and FIG. 7 is an external view of a conventional IC handler. 1...IC handler, 2...IC rotor section, 3...
・Packet transport mechanism section, 4... Constant temperature chamber, 5... Measurement section, 6... Sorting section, 7... Storage section, 8... Rack, 9... IC, 10... IC handler, 20...I
C load mechanism, 21... Rack mounting table, 22... Linear feeder, 23... Pick up arm, 24... Elevator mechanism, 31... Packet, 32... Storage amount [1 copy, 81... Groove.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) An arm that picks up and transports multiple parts with different widths, including a first hook part that holds a large-width part and a small-width part formed on the first hook part. and a second hook portion for holding the nail, and selectively grips either the large-width component or the small-width component by opening and closing the pair of nail pieces. A parts transfer arm characterized by: