Metal working – Plural diverse manufacturing apparatus including means for... – Binding or covering and cutting
Reexamination Certificate
1998-03-02
2001-02-27
Young, Lee (Department: 3729)
Metal working
Plural diverse manufacturing apparatus including means for...
Binding or covering and cutting
C029S563000, C029S564000, C029S711000, C409S132000, C409S164000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06192563
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to removing PC boards from a panel containing the PC boards. More particularly, the present invention relates to providing systems for receiving the panel from a feeder system, for depaneling the PC boards, and delivering the PC boards to a subsequent processing system that operate concurrently. The present invention also relates to providing a secondary vacuum to remove debris from the PC boards as the PC boards are delivered to the subsequent processing station.
PROBLEM
In today's society, most electronic devices, such as televisions and telephones, have at least one printed circuit board (“PC board”) in their circuitry. As the use of PC boards in electronic devices has increased, it has become necessary to be able to mass produce PC boards in order to mass produce the electronic equipment. A common method in the mass production of PC boards is to assemble multiple PC boards at one time in a single panel. By using a single panel, assembly equipment only has to manipulate a single panel to operate on multiple PC boards. This simplifies the processes required to produce the PC boards and reduces the time needed to produce each PC board.
Mass production of PC boards in a single panel requires that each individual PC board must be removed or depaneled from the panel before the individual PC boards can be integrated into the electronic equipment. The time needed to depanel individual PC boards from a panel is a critical factor in the production time of PC boards. In order to decrease the time needed to produce a PC board as well as electronic equipment, it is necessary to reduce the time needed to depanel individual PC boards from a panel.
In order to depanel PC boards from a panel, all connections between each individual PC board and the panel must be severed. Automated depaneling systems are commonly used to sever all of the connections between the individual PC boards and a panel. The individual PC boards are then moved by the automated depaneling system to a subsequent processing system or to a registration element which provides the individual PC boards to the subsequent processing system. It is a problem to reduce the time needed to depanel all of the individual circuit boards from a panel.
Depaneling individual PC boards from a panel of PC boards typically involves three separate processes in a depaneling system. The three processes are delivery of a panel, depaneling individual PC boards from the panel, and providing the individual PC boards to a subsequent processing system. In a typical depaneling system, the three processes occur sequentially. First, the panel is delivered to the depaneling system. Second, the individual PC boards are depaneled. Finally, the individual PC boards are provided to a subsequent processing system.
These three operations must be done sequentially because of the physical constraints of the depaneling system. A depaneling system typically includes a table, a router and a robotic arm. A panel is received by the system and placed on the table in a preprogramed or registered position. A robotic hand at an end of the robotic arm grips each individual PC board in the panel. The router or some other cutting equipment then severs all of the connections between each PC board and the panel. After all of the connections are severed, the robotic arm moves the individual PC boards to a registration nest or a subsequent processing system. The depaneling system is not ready to receive a subsequent panel until the robotic arm returns and is able to hold the PC boards from the new panel.
There is a long felt need in the art for a depaneling system having improved cycle time to increase the number of circuit boards per unit of time produced. This can be achieved by decreasing the idle time of a panel delivery system, a depaneling system, and a system for transporting the PC boards to a subsequent processing system. One possible method of decreasing the idle time of the depaneling system is to provide three processes that can operate concurrently. In order to perform the operations concurrently, it is necessary to provide a automated depaneling system in which each process can operate independently from the other processes.
A second problem in depaneling systems is defective PC boards caused by the ineffective removal of excess debris from the PC boards. Debris remaining on a PC board can cause a short in the circuitry of the board or other elements of a circuit containing the PC board or can cause misalignment of the PC board with connectors inside a device. The excess debris must be removed to prevent such defects.
One method for removing excess debris is to remove the debris using a vacuum during the severing of connections between the PC board and the panel. As of the connections between the individual PC boards and a panel are being severed by the depaneling system, a vacuum inside the depaneling is then moved across the PC boards. Excess debris remaining on the PC boards is removed by the vacuum. However, the vacuum is not always successful in removing all of the excess debris from the PC board. One reason for the ineffectiveness of the vacuum is the physical constraints of the depaneling system which may prohibit the movement of the vacuum across the entirety of each individual PC board. There is a need for a method for improving the removal of excess debris from PC boards removed from a panel.
SOLUTION
The above and other problems are solved and an advance in the arts is made by the provision of a depaneling system having walking clamps for receiving a panel from a feeder system; a movable registration nest for removing individual PC boards from a depaneling subsystem and for providing the PC board to a subsequent processing system; and a secondary vacuum for removing excess debris from PC boards removed from the depaneler. Cycle time of a automated depaneling system and removal of excess waste from PC boards is improved by the present invention. In accordance with the present invention, a subsystem for receiving a panel from a feeder, the depaneling subsystem for removing the PC boards from the panel, and a subsystem for removing the PC boards from the depaneler and providing the boards to a subsequent processing system may operate independently. This improves cycle time since each subsystem may perform its function concurrently with the other two subsystems and idle time of each subsystem is reduced. The three subsystems are able to operate concurrently because the three subsystems do not share common elements. A first subsystem does not have to wait for a common element in a second subsystem to complete a task before the common element is available to perform a task in the first system. Additionally, the present invention provides a secondary vacuum to remove excess debris from a PC board after the PC board has been removed from a panel.
In accordance with the present invention, a subsystem for receiving a panel in a depaneling system is provided by a pair of walking clamps. A first walking clamp and a second walking clamp are juxtaposed to each other and are spaced apart to allow the first walking clamp to clamp to a first side of a panel and the second walking clamp to clamp to a second side of the panel. A pneumatic motor moves the first and the second walking clamps linearly along a defined path between a feeder system and a depaneler.
The first walking clamp starts in a first position proximate the feeder system such as a cartridge, and clamps a first corner on a first side of a panel from the feeder system. The pneumatic motor moves the first walking clamp toward the depaneler to a second position pulling the panel out of the cartridge. The second walking clamp starts in a first position along a second side the panel when the first walking clamp is in the second position and clamps the second side of the panel. The first walking clamp releases the first corner of the panel after the second walking clamp has clamped the second side of the panel. The second walking clamp is then moved tow
Carr Douglas Patrick
Hill Kurt John
Duft, Graziano & Forest, P.C.
PMJ Cencorp LLC
Tugbang A. Dexter
Young Lee
LandOfFree
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