Metal working – Means to assemble or disassemble – Means to assemble electrical device
Reexamination Certificate
2001-01-31
2002-11-12
Arbes, Carl J. (Department: 3729)
Metal working
Means to assemble or disassemble
Means to assemble electrical device
C029S564600, C029S564200, C029S845000, C029S838000, C029S837000, C901S040000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06477766
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an axial type electronic component inserting method and apparatus for automatically inserting lead wires of an axial type electronic component into specified holes of a board.
As shown in
FIG. 11A
, axial type electronic components are assembled with their pairs of lead wires
2
a
and
2
b
extending from electronic component bodies
1
a
arranged at regular intervals of d
1
as taped at both ends of the lead wires
2
a
and
2
b
by tapes
3
a
and
3
b
. It is known that such an assembly of axial type electronic components
1
taped at regular intervals as described above is subjected to an inserting process by an apparatus as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 1-305600 and so forth.
A component supplier
4
as shown in
FIG. 12
retains such an assembly of axial type electronic components
1
, and it is provided with cutters
5
a
and
5
b
for cutting the tapes
3
a
and
3
b
that are taping the lead wires
2
a
and
2
b
of the axial type electronic components
1
.
Taped end portions including the lead wires of the assembly of the axial type electronic components
1
retained by the component supplier
4
are grasped and pulled by chuck pieces
6
of a component carrier
7
, and the tapes
3
a
and
3
b
are cut by the cutters
5
a
and
5
b
of the component supplier
4
, so that one axial type electronic component
1
is taken out.
The axial type electronic component
1
that has been taken out is grasped by the chuck pieces
6
by their end portions, and then carried by the component carrier
7
to an inserting position.
A component inserter
11
as shown in
FIG. 13
receives the axial type electronic component
1
from the component carrier
7
in the inserting position, cuts both the ends of the lead wires
2
a
and
2
b
including the lead taping portions of the axial type electronic component
1
, bends the extending lead wires
2
a
and
2
b
at both the ends to a desired width, and inserts the extreme end portions of the lead wires into specified holes of a board.
In the prior art shown in
FIGS. 12 and 13
, component inserting processes have been successively performed by reciprocating one component carrier
7
between the component supplier
4
that retains the axial type electronic components
1
and the component inserter
11
that inserts each axial type electronic component
1
.
Furthermore, according to the Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 1-305600, its component carrier is constructed so that it can mount another chuck piece for grasping even a radial type electronic component in addition to the axial type electronic component.
According to the above-mentioned conventional construction, it has been very difficult to reduce the insertion cycle because the axial type electronic component supplying and inserting operations are executed alternately one after another. In other words, since the axial type electronic components are fetched or taken out one by one, there is a process in which the component carrier returns as unloaded. This has occupied a great part of the component insertion cycle time, and has been problematic lately when mass production is required in a short time.
Furthermore, in the case of a component grasping device for grasping even a radial type electronic component in addition to the axial type electronic component as disclosed in the Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 1-305600, there is the issue that the device cannot manage axial type electronic components having different tape intervals (taping intervals) (e.g., a tape interval of 26 mm and a tape interval of 52 mm as indicated by d
2
in FIG.
11
A).
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an axial type electronic component inserting method and apparatus capable of improving an axial type electronic component inserting efficiency and managing axial type electronic components having different tape interval specifications.
In accomplishing these and other aspects, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an axial type electronic component inserting method for inserting into specified holes of a board a pair of lead wires of each of axial type electronic components while a plurality of chucks grasping each of the axial type electronic components are intermittently moved to a component supplying position and a component transferring position, respectively, the pair of lead wires extending from a main body of each the electronic components belonging to an assembly of electronic components which are connected by a tape as arranged at regular intervals, each of the chucks comprising protruding grasping pieces having first grasping grooves and second grasping grooves, the first grasping grooves grasping, with their inner surfaces, end portions of each of the first kind of the axial type electronic components whose taped portions are of a larger tape interval, the second grasping grooves grasping, with their inner surfaces, end portions of each of the second kind of the axial type electronic components whose taped portions are of a smaller tape interval than the larger tape interval, a depth of each of the first grasping grooves being slightly smaller than a depth of each of the second grasping grooves.
The method comprises:
a first process for
taking out one of the axial type electronic components from a component supplying device for retaining the assembly of axial type electronic components connected by the tape while one of the chucks grasps end portions of the assembly at the component supplying position while preventing the second grasping grooves from contacting the lead wires of each of the first kind of the axial type electronic components grasped by the first grasping grooves when each of the first kind of the axial type electronic components are grasped by the chuck; and
a component delivering process for
moving to a component inserting device the chuck which has already grasped the axial type electronic component through the first process, and
delivering the axial type electronic component to the component inserting device from
the chuck,
wherein the first process and the component delivering process are simultaneously executed.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the axial type electronic component inserting method as defined in the first aspect, wherein the first process includes, before the component taking-out step, a step of stopping one of the chucks at the component supplying position and a step of grasping by the stopped chuck the end portions of the assembly of axial type electronic components in the component supplying device for retaining the assembly of axial type electronic components connected by the tape, and also includes, after the taking-out step, a step of cutting the tape which connects the assembly of axial type electronic components so as to separate each axial type electronic component.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the axial type electronic component inserting method as defined in the second aspect, wherein the component delivering process includes:
a second process for
moving to the component transferring position the chuck which has already grasped the axial type electronic component in the first process, and
delivering the grasped axial type electronic component to a component transferring device; and
a third process for:
delivering the axial type electronic component to the component inserting device from the component transferring device which has already grasped the axial type electronic component through the second process.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the axial type electronic component inserting method as defined in the third aspect, further comprising:
a fourth process for:
inserting both ends of the lead wires or the component which has already been received by the component inserting device into the specified holes of the board, and
bending the lead w
Imai Kiyoshi
Kinoshita Hiromi
Watanabe Hideaki
Yokoyama Dai
Arbes Carl J.
Matsushita Electric - Industrial Co., Ltd.
Trinh Minh
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