Metal working – Method of mechanical manufacture – Electrical device making
Reexamination Certificate
2002-02-11
2003-06-24
Arbes, Carl J. (Department: 3729)
Metal working
Method of mechanical manufacture
Electrical device making
C029S832000, C029S833000, C029S740000, C228S207000, C228S208000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06581282
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for mounting electronic components, which carry out a solvent transfer operation for transferring solvent such as flux, solder paste, or the like to electronic components requiring the transfer of the solvent at the time when the components are mounted to objects to be mounted such as boards or components.
Electronic component mounting apparatuses these days are required to mount electronic components speedily and correctly to electronic circuit boards, while improving mounting quality.
An example of a conventional electronic component mounting apparatus will be described below with reference to
FIGS. 14
,
15
, and
16
.
A conventional electronic component mounting apparatus
10
shown in
FIG. 14
comprises a board transfer device
4
for carrying in and out circuit boards, a front component feed device
32
a
and a rear component feed device
32
b
each having a plurality of component feed units, a head part
6
with a mechanism that can load desired suction nozzles
8
, move up and down, and rotate the loaded suction nozzles, a board recognition camera
9
, an XY robot
5
movable in X and Y directions, an electronic component image pickup devices
2
a
,
2
b
, and a solvent transfer unit
40
.
The above conventional electronic component mounting apparatus
10
operates in a manner as follows. The board transfer device
4
transfers a circuit board to a mounting position. The XY robot
5
moves the board recognition camera
9
over the circuit board thereby checking positions where electronic components are to be mounted on the circuit board. The XY robot
5
then moves the board recognition camera
9
over the front component feed device
32
a
and the rear component feed device
32
b
and recognizes components
33
to be caught. Subsequently, the XY robot
5
lets the nozzles
8
hold the electronic components
33
. The electronic components
33
sucked and held by the nozzles
8
are moved to the solvent transfer unit
40
, where the components
33
are moved down one by one so that flux
50
is transferred to each of the components
33
. Attitudes of the electronic components
33
held by the nozzles
8
are picked up by the component image pickup devices
2
a
,
2
b
and measured, thereby judging the result. When the measured result of the held attitudes of the components
33
is normal, the components
33
are corrected in position on the basis of the obtained image information. Thereafter the XY robot
5
is moved and the electronic components
33
are mounted onto the circuit board.
As shown in
FIGS. 14
,
15
, and
16
, in an example of the conventional equipment, the electronic component mounting apparatus
10
has the transfer unit
40
of a type which rotates a transfer saucer
40
b
to form an approximately uniform film thickness of the flux
50
. The operation of the prior art apparatus
10
after sucking the electronic components will be described in detail hereinbelow. The head part
6
having the nozzles
8
for sucking and holding the electronic components
33
is moved by the XY robot
5
to the solvent transfer unit
40
of the rotary transfer saucer type. The head part
6
, when reaching the solvent transfer unit
40
, lowers one of the plurality of sucked and held electronic components
33
to a transfer face of the transfer unit
40
, whereby the flux
50
is transferred to the electronic component
33
. After the electronic component
33
having the flux transferred thereto is moved up, the transfer saucer
40
b
is rotated by a motor
40
d
to make a thickness of the flux
50
approximately uniform with a blade
40
a
. Thereafter, the nozzle
8
sucking and holding the next electronic component
33
is moved by the XY robot
5
to a transfer position, and moved down to transfer the flux
50
. The process is repeatedly carried out for all components
33
. The head part
6
is moved to a desired mounting position after the flux
50
is transferred to all of the sucked and held electronic components
33
, where the electronic components
33
are mounted.
In the thus-constituted conventional electronic component mounting apparatus
10
with the solvent transfer unit
40
of a rotary transfer saucer type, the flux is transferred to only one electronic component
33
at a time although a plurality of the electronic components
33
are sucked and held. As such, the volatile content of the flux
50
transferred to a first electronic component
33
already volatilizes at the time when the flux is transferred to a last electronic component
33
, thus causing degradation in mounting quality. Mounting time is increased, which leads to deterioration in production efficiency.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the present invention is devised to solve these issues and has for its object to provide an apparatus and a method for mounting electronic components which can curtail a loss which would be brought about in a process wherein solvent is transferred to electronic components one by one.
In accomplishing these and other aspects, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic component mounting apparatus comprising:
a component feed device for feeding a plurality of electronic components;
an object support device for holding and positioning an object to which the electronic components are to be mounted;
a plurality of component holding members for holding the electronic components from the component feed device and mounting the held electronic components to predetermined positions on the object;
a component image pickup device for measuring attitudes of the electronic components held by the component holding members; and
a flux transfer unit, comprising: a solvent transfer part for forming a film of a flux to be transferred to the components; and a film-forming blade for forming the solvent film at the solvent transfer part, for transferring the solvent to the electronic components by bringing the components held by the component holding members into contact with the solvent film simultaneously after the solvent film is formed by relatively and linearly sliding one of the solvent transfer part and the blade.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic component mounting apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the solvent transfer unit has at the solvent transfer part a flat planar portion at which the solvent film is formed and has a driving part for relatively and linearly sliding one of the solvent transfer part and the film-forming blade, thereby regulating a film thickness of the solvent thereat through movement of the solvent transfer part or the blade thereby making the film thickness of the solvent approximately uniform.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic component mounting apparatus according to the first or second aspect, wherein the component feed device has cassette slots in which component feed cassettes, and the solvent transfer unit is capable of being inserted into one of the cassette slots of the component feed device to set the solvent transfer unit at the apparatus.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic component mounting apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein in the solvent transfer unit, one of the solvent transfer part and the blade is slid in accordance with a component take-out signal indicating that the component is taken out by the component holding member from a component feed cassette attached at a cassette slot of the component feed device.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic component mounting apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein the solvent transfer unit has the film-forming blade and a scraping blade for scraping unnecessary flux, and after the film of the flux is formed at the solvent transfer part by relatively and linearly sliding one o
Kabeshita Akira
Mori Kazuo
Okuda Osamu
Uchiyama Hiroshi
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