KR102772921B1 - Apparatus for aligning materials to be transported - Google Patents

Abstract

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a transport material position alignment device that gradually reduces the transport speed of transport material transported through a conveyor and entering an alignment space to an alignment position, thereby preventing damage to the transport material caused by collision with a stopper due to the transport speed, and also enables the transported material to be stably transported to the alignment space without stopping, thereby eliminating interruption in the process.
To this end, the present invention comprises: a guide which receives material transported by a conveyor, moves in both directions by a cylinder, and drops the received material downward; a push unit which is located at the rear of the guide and pushes the rear end of the material transported into the guide toward the guide; and a stopper unit which is located at the front of the guide and contacts the front end of the material transported into the guide to decelerate and stop the material, thereby aligning it on the guide.

Description

{Apparatus for aligning materials to be transported}

The present invention relates to a transport material positioning alignment device, and more particularly, to a transport material positioning alignment device that enables transport material being transported at a speed through a conveyor to be transported to an accurate position and prevents damage by alleviating shock caused by speed when stopped at a transport position.

In general, the transported materials are transported via a conveyor and then subjected to post-processing such as inspection, or are automatically transported via a conveyor and loaded into a magazine or a loading box when loaded.

The transported material (hereinafter, the transported material is explained using PCB as an example) transported by the conveyor is automatically aligned when loaded into a magazine or a loading box, thereby facilitating post-processing or enabling proper loading into the loading box.

This alignment process of the PCB is performed automatically. As an example, in Publication Utility Model No. 20-1997-0064646 (Automatic Alignment Device for Printed Circuit Boards), as illustrated in FIG. 1, a flat belt (52) is installed to transport the PCB (51), support plates (53) are installed on both front and rear sides on one side of the flat belt (52), a plurality of spiral brushes (54) are rotatably installed on the inside of the support plate (53), and a stopper cylinder (55) is installed vertically in front of the spiral brushes (54) to support the PCB (51), a transport chain conveyor (56) is connected to one side of the support plate (53) to transport the PCB (51) whose position is aligned, and sensors (57)(57') are installed on both front and rear sides at the upper end of the stopper cylinder (55) to detect the PCB (51) whose alignment is completed.

According to this prior art, the PCB (51) conveyed through the flat belt (52) is drawn toward the spiral brush (54) at a speed and conveyed toward the chain conveyor (56) by the spiral brush (54). At this time, a stopper cylinder (55) is installed in front of the spiral brush (54) to limit the conveyance of the PCB (51) and thereby align it.

However, since the PCB (51) is transported at a speed by the spiral brush (54), the tip of the PCB (51) is damaged when it collides with the stopper cylinder (55) due to the transport speed.

Such damage has the disadvantages of reducing the production yield of PCBs, increasing manufacturing costs, and increasing the defect rate.

In addition, when the conveying force of the flat belt (52) is not constant, the PCB (51) is not completely conveyed to the upper side of the spiral brush (54), so it stops in the middle or is conveyed at an uneven speed, which has the disadvantage of making it difficult to perform the process smoothly.

<Prior art literature>

- Public utility model No. 20-1997-0064646

(Printed Circuit Board Automatic Alignment Device)

The present invention, which aims to solve the above-described problems, provides a transport material position alignment device that gradually reduces the transport speed of transport material entering an alignment space through a conveyor to an alignment position, thereby preventing damage to the transport material caused by collision with a stopper due to the transport speed, and also enables the transported material to be stably transported to the alignment space without stopping, thereby eliminating interruption of the process.

The transport material positioning alignment device according to the present invention for solving the above-described problem is:

A guide that receives material transported by a conveyor and moves in both directions by a cylinder to drop the received material downward;

A pushing unit located at the rear portion of the above guide and pushing the rear portion of the transported material flowing into the guide toward the guide;

It is characterized by comprising a stopper portion positioned at the front portion of the above guide and contacting the leading portion of the transported material flowing into the guide to decelerate and stop the transported material, thereby aligning it on the guide.

In addition, the conveyor is characterized by being equipped with a pinching roller so that the transported material can be fed into the guide at a constant speed.

In addition, the above push part

Rails installed forward and rearward;

A transfer block mounted on the rail so as to be able to move forward and backward;

A first cylinder that moves the above-mentioned transfer block forward and backward;

A driving pulley mounted on the above transfer block;

A motor that applies driving force to the above driving pulley;

A passive pulley positioned close to the above guide;

A belt that connects the driving pulley and the driven pulley to apply driving force;

A pusher coupled to the above-mentioned passive pulley and rotating forward and backward by the driving force transmitted through the driving pulley to avoid the transported material or to contact the rear end of the transported material;

A sensor that detects the transport status of the above transported material;

It is composed of a controller that controls the first cylinder and the motor according to the detection status of the above sensor;

The controller initially controls the first cylinder to move the transfer block backward and controls the motor to rotate the pusher backward to avoid the transfer object, and when it is determined that the transfer object detected by the sensor has stopped, the controller controls the first cylinder to move the transfer block forward and controls the motor to rotate the pusher forward to contact the rear end of the transfer object.

In addition, the above stopper part

A rail that is installed forward and rearward and has the rear portion extending upward toward the guide;

A transfer block mounted on the rail so as to be able to move forward and backward;

A second cylinder that moves the above-mentioned transfer block forward and backward;

A driving pulley mounted on the above transfer block;

A motor that applies driving force to the above driving pulley;

A passive pulley positioned close to the above guide;

A belt that connects the driving pulley and the driven pulley to apply driving force;

A stationary member that is coupled to the above-mentioned passive pulley and rotates forward and backward by the driving force transmitted through the driving pulley to avoid the transported object or to make contact with the leading edge of the transported object;

A speed sensor that detects the transport speed of the above transported material;

A contact sensor that detects the contact state of the transported material during the above stop;

It is composed of a controller that controls the second cylinder and the motor according to the detection status of the speed sensor and the contact sensor;

The controller initially controls the second cylinder to move the transfer block forward in the guide direction, and controls the second cylinder to move the transfer block backward according to the speed and contact of the transfer object detected by the speed sensor and the contact sensor, and controls the motor to rotate the motor to gradually reduce the speed of the transfer object backward during the stop period, thereby controlling the motor to gradually reduce the speed of the transfer object and stop it at the designated position.

The device for aligning transported materials according to the present invention as described above has the advantage of preventing a decrease in production yield due to damage to the transported materials by pushing and aligning the transported materials when they stop in an unaligned state on a guide for aligning the transported materials, and also gradually reducing the speed when the transported materials are flowing in at a high speed to align them in the correct position. In addition, it has the advantage of preventing the transported materials from stopping on the guide and thus stopping the process, thereby also increasing productivity.

Figure 1 is a diagram showing an automatic alignment device for a printed circuit board according to conventional technology.
Figure 2 is a diagram showing the planar structure of a transport material positioning alignment device according to the present invention.
Figure 3 is a diagram showing the frontal structure of Figure 2.
Figure 4 is a detailed diagram showing the structure of the push section.
Figure 5 is a drawing showing the structure of the stopper part in detail.

The above-mentioned objects, features and advantages are described in detail below with reference to the attached drawings, so that a person having ordinary knowledge in the technical field to which the present invention pertains can easily practice the technical idea of the present invention.

In describing the present invention, if it is determined that a detailed description of a known technology related to the present invention may unnecessarily obscure the gist of the present invention, the detailed description will be omitted.

The terms used in the present invention are selected from the most widely used general terms possible while considering the functions of the present invention, but these may vary depending on the intention of engineers working in the field, precedents, the emergence of new technologies, etc.

Additionally, in certain cases, there are terms arbitrarily selected by the applicant, and in such cases, their meanings will be described in detail in the description of the relevant invention.

Therefore, the terms used in the present invention should be defined based on the meaning of the terms and the overall content of the present invention, rather than simply the names of the terms.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings.

However, the embodiments of the present invention exemplified below may be modified into various other forms, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below.

The embodiments of the present invention are provided to more fully describe the present invention to those skilled in the art.

Fig. 2 is a drawing showing a planar structure of a transport material positioning alignment device according to the present invention, Fig. 3 is a drawing showing a front structure of Fig. 2, Fig. 4 is a drawing showing a detailed structure of a push part, and Fig. 5 is a drawing showing a detailed structure of a stopper part.

The present invention is largely composed of a pair of guides (210, 220), a push part (300), and a stopper part (400).

In the present invention, the transport object is explained by using PCB (500) as an example, but this transport object is intended to align all transport objects that are easily damaged by impact, such as wafers, semiconductor packages, and camera modules.

The above guides (210, 220) are in the form of a pair of bars, spaced apart from each other and placed side by side so that a PCB (500) transported through a conveyor (100) is fed in and placed upward, and are moved in opposite lateral directions by a cylinder (230, 240) so that the PCB (500) placed upward falls downward and is loaded into a box, etc.

These guides (210, 220) are positioned so that the height of the upper surface is the same as the height of the upper surface of the conveyor (100) as in Fig. 4.

In addition, at the discharge end of the conveyor (100), i.e., at the rear portion facing the guide (210, 220), a pinching roller (110) is provided that contacts the upper surface of the conveyor (100) with elastic pressure by a spring (111), thereby allowing the PCB (500) being transported to move at a constant speed toward the guide (210, 220).

The above-mentioned push unit (300) is positioned at the rear portion of the guide (210, 220), that is, between the conveyor (100) and the guide (210, 220), and has a structure that pushes the rear portion of the PCB (500) so that the PCB (500) conveyed from the conveyor (100) can be completely conveyed to the upper portion of the guide (210, 220) and aligned.

That is, if foreign substances such as oil or dust with viscosity are present on the guide (210, 220), the rear end of the PCB (500) being transported may not be able to completely enter the guide (210, 220) and may stop between the conveyor (100) and the guide (210, 220).

Accordingly, the push unit (300) pushes the rear end when the PCB (500) stops so that it is completely transferred to the upper surface of the guide (210, 220) to achieve alignment.

To this end, the push unit (300) is equipped with a rail (310) installed forward and backward in the direction in which the PCB (500) is transported, and a transport rail (320) mounted on the transport rail (310) and transported in the forward and backward direction.

In addition, a first cylinder (330) is provided to move the above-mentioned transfer rail (310) forward and backward on the rail (310), a drive pulley (350) driven by a motor (340) is provided on the upper side of the transfer block (320), and a driven pulley (360) is provided on the lower side of the transfer block (320) at a portion close to the guide (210, 220), that is, above the front portion of the guide (210, 220).

Accordingly, the driving force from the driving pulley (350) is applied by the belt (370) to rotate the driven pulley (360), and the driven pulley (360) is equipped with a pusher (380) that protrudes outward, and the pusher (380) rotates together with the driven pulley (360) to contact the rear end of the PCB (500) and push it in the direction of the guide (210, 220) to transport it.

In addition, the above-mentioned transfer block (320) is equipped with a sensor to detect the transfer status of the PCB (500). The sensor may be equipped with an optical sensor, and senses whether the PCB (500) is detected between the conveyor (100) and the guide (210, 220) for a certain period of time.

These sensors are located at the lower front portion of the transfer block (320), that is, in front of the driven pulley (360), to detect the transfer status of the PCB (500), and the sensors may be installed anywhere to accurately detect the transfer status of the PCB (500).

A separate controller controls the first cylinder (330) and the motor (340) based on the results detected from these optical sensors to push the PCB (500) toward the guide (210, 220).

The above stopper part (400) is positioned at the front part of the guide (210, 220) and comes into contact with the front end part of the PCB (500) that is fed into the guide (210, 220) to gradually reduce the transport speed, thereby preventing damage due to impact and ensuring that the PCB (500) is aligned at an accurate position on the guide (210, 220).

This structure has the same structure as the push unit (300), but the directions are installed in opposite directions, and as shown in FIG. 5, it is installed forward and backward, and the rear part is extended to the upper side of the guide (210, 220), a transfer block (420) mounted on the rail (410) so as to be moved forward and backward, a second cylinder (430) that moves the transfer block (420) forward and backward, a driving pulley (450) mounted on the transfer block (420), a motor (440) that applies driving force to the driving pulley (450), a driven pulley (460) positioned close to the guide (210, 220), a belt (470) that connects the driving pulley (450) and the driven pulley (460) to apply driving force, and a belt (470) that is coupled to the driven pulley (460). It is composed of a stopper (480) that rotates forward and backward by driving force transmitted through a drive pulley (450) to avoid the PCB (500) or to contact the front end of the PCB (500), a speed sensor mounted on the transfer block (420) to detect the transfer speed of the PCB (500), and a contact sensor that detects contact of a transfer object with the stopper.

The above speed sensor may be installed at any location to detect the transport speed of the PCB (500), but it is preferable to install it near where the stopper (480) is installed.

Additionally, it is desirable that the contact sensor be installed during the stop (480).

Accordingly, the controller controls the second cylinder (430) and the motor (440) according to the transport speed and contact of the PCB (500) detected by the speed sensor and the contact sensor, thereby reducing the speed of the transported PCB (500) and aligning it at an accurate position on the guide (210, 220).

The operation of the present invention having such a structure is described.

1. Loading PCB (500)

The PCB (500) is transported toward the guide (210, 220) through the conveyor (100), and is aligned by being fed to the upper side of the guide (210, 220) at a constant speed by the pinching roller (110). When the alignment is complete, the cylinder (230, 240) operates to widen the gap between the guides (210, 220), so that the aligned PCB (500) falls downward and is loaded.

2. PCB(500) Push

Initially, the controller controls the first cylinder (330) so that the transfer block (320) of the pusher (300) moves backward along the rail (310) toward the rear, and also controls the motor (340) so that the pusher (380) folds upward to avoid the PCB (500), thereby causing the pusher (380) installed on the driven pulley (360) to rotate backward and become horizontally positioned.

If the rear end of the PCB (500) is not completely introduced to the upper side of the guide (210, 220) due to foreign substances while the PCB (500) is being transported to the upper side of the guide (210, 220) through the conveyor (100), the sensor provided in the transport block (320) detects this. For example, if the PCB (500) is detected even after a certain period of time, that is, the time for the PCB (500) to be transported from the conveyor (100) to the guide (210, 220), this means that the PCB (500) is not completely transported to the guide (210, 220). Accordingly, the controller drives the motor (340) to rotate the pusher (380) forward by the driving pulley (350) and the driven pulley (360) to maintain a vertical state, and also drives the first cylinder (330) to move the transport block (320) to the rail (310). It will advance forward from above.

Accordingly, the pusher (380) comes into contact with the rear end of the PCB (500) and pushes it, thereby completely pushing it into the upper part of the guide (210, 220).

At this time, the transfer block (320) is transferred on the rail (310) to a position where the front portion of the pusher (380) matches the rear portion of the guide (210, 220) when the pusher (380) is rotated vertically, and the transfer block (320) gradually reduces the transfer speed to a stop position so that the PCB (500) can be accurately placed and aligned on the upper surface of the guide (210, 220).

3. PCB(500) Stopping

The PCB (500) that is transported to the upper side of the guide (210, 220) by the conveyor (100) or the push unit (300) is transported at a speed, so if it collides with the stopper unit (400) at that transport speed, damage occurs.

That is, although deceleration is achieved by the push unit (300), there may be a case where the PCB (500) collides with the stopper unit (400) at a speed due to inertia even when the pushing of the push unit (300) is stopped.

Accordingly, the controller initially controls the second cylinder (430) to position the transfer block (420) at the rear portion of the extended rail (410) so that it is positioned at the rear portion along the rail (410), that is, above the front portion of the guide (210, 220), and at the same time, controls the motor (440) to rotate the driving pulley (450) and the driven pulley (480) so that the stopper (480) is positioned vertically.

Thereafter, the speed sensor detects the transport speed of the PCB (500) flowing into the upper side of the guide (210, 220), and the contact sensor detects the state in which the tip of the PCB (500) is in contact during the stop (480).

Accordingly, when the contact sensor detects that the PCB (500) is in contact with the stop zone (480), the controller controls the second cylinder (430) according to the transport speed of the PCB (500) detected by the speed sensor to initially move the transport block (420) backward at the detected transport speed and gradually decelerate it, and at the same time, controls the motor (440) to gradually decelerate it while rotating the stop zone (480) backward at a speed lower than the transport speed, thereby decelerating it so that the impact can be relieved more precisely.

At this time, the stop gap (480) must be positioned so that the final rotation position toward the rear remains in contact with the leading edge of the PCB (500).

Ultimately, by precisely reducing the speed of the PCB (500) according to the transport speed through the backward movement of the transfer block (420) and the backward rotation of the stop block (480) and then aligning it on the guide (210, 220), the impact is prevented or alleviated, thereby preventing damage to the PCB (500).

While specific portions of the present invention have been described in detail above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that such specific descriptions are merely preferred embodiments and that the scope of the present invention is not limited thereby.

Accordingly, the substantial scope of the present invention will be defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

100 : Conveyor
110 : Pinch roller
210,220 : Guide
230,240 : Cylinder
300 : Pushbu
310 : Rail
320 : Transfer block
330 : Cylinder 1
340 : Motor
350 : Drive pulley
360 : Passive pulley
370 : Belt
380 : Push time
400 : Stopper part
410 : Rail
420 : Transfer block
430 : Cylinder 1
440 : Motor
450 : Drive pulley
460 : Passive pulley
470 : Belt
480 : Stop interval
500 : PCB

Claims (5)

delete delete A guide that receives material transported by a conveyor and moves in both directions by a cylinder to drop the received material downward;
A pushing unit located at the rear portion of the above guide and pushing the rear portion of the transported material flowing into the guide toward the guide;
It is composed of a stopper part, which is located at the front part of the above guide and contacts the leading part of the transported material flowing into the above guide to align the transported material on the guide by slowing down and stopping it;
The above push part
Rails installed forward and rearward;
A transfer block mounted on the rail so as to be able to move forward and backward;
A first cylinder that moves the above-mentioned transfer block forward and backward;
A driving pulley mounted on the above transfer block;
A motor that applies driving force to the above driving pulley;
A passive pulley positioned close to the above guide;
A belt that connects the driving pulley and the driven pulley to apply driving force;
A pusher coupled to the above-mentioned passive pulley and rotating forward and backward by the driving force transmitted through the driving pulley to avoid the transported material or to contact the rear end of the transported material;
A sensor that detects the transport status of the above transported material;
It is composed of a controller that controls the first cylinder and the motor according to the detection status of the above sensor;
A transport material positioning alignment device characterized in that the controller initially controls the first cylinder to move the transport block backward and controls the motor to rotate the pusher backward to avoid the transport material, and when it is determined that the transport material detected by the sensor has stopped, the controller controls the first cylinder to move the transport block forward and controls the motor to rotate the pusher forward to contact the rear end of the transport material.
A guide that receives material transported by a conveyor and moves in both directions by a cylinder to drop the received material downward;
A pushing unit located at the rear portion of the above guide and pushing the rear portion of the transported material flowing into the guide toward the guide;
It is composed of a stopper part, which is located at the front part of the above guide and contacts the leading part of the transported material flowing into the above guide to align the transported material on the guide by slowing down and stopping it;
The above stopper part
A rail that is installed forward and rearward and has the rear portion extending upward toward the guide;
A transfer block mounted on the rail so as to be able to move forward and backward;
A second cylinder that moves the above-mentioned transfer block forward and backward;
A driving pulley mounted on the above transfer block;
A motor that applies driving force to the above driving pulley;
A passive pulley positioned close to the above guide;
A belt that connects the driving pulley and the driven pulley to apply driving force;
A stationary member that is coupled to the above-mentioned passive pulley and rotates forward and backward by the driving force transmitted through the driving pulley to avoid the transported object or to make contact with the leading edge of the transported object;
A speed sensor that detects the transport speed of the above transported material;
A contact sensor that detects the contact state of the transported material during the above stop;
It is composed of a controller that controls the second cylinder and the motor according to the detection status of the speed sensor and the contact sensor;
A transport material position alignment device characterized in that the controller initially controls the second cylinder to move the transport block forward in the guide direction, and controls the second cylinder to move the transport block backward according to the speed and contact of the transport material detected by the speed sensor and the contact sensor, and controls the motor to rotate the motor to gradually reduce the speed of the transport material backward during the stop period, thereby controlling the motor to gradually reduce the speed of the transport material and stop it at the original position.
A transport material positioning alignment device according to any one of claims 3 to 4, characterized in that the conveyor is equipped with a pinching roller so that the transported material can enter the guide at a constant speed.