Component mounting machine and safety device thereof

Details Component mounting machine and safety device thereof Component mounting machine and safety device thereof

1999-09-24

2002-01-15

Hughes, S. Thomas (Department: 3726)

Metal working

Means to assemble or disassemble

With randomly actuated stopping or disabling means

C029S706000, C029S741000, C074S612000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06338192

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a component mounting machine comprising a safety device thereof for securing operators's safety in component mounting machines for mounting components on objects to be mounted, such as boards.
In recent years, component mounting machines have been required to assure a high level of safety for operators, as typified by E.C. standards. As prior art of the safety device for component mounting machines, there have hitherto been known, for example, those shown in
FIGS. 8 and 9
showing appearance views of mounting machines. The prior art safety devices for component mounting machines mentioned above are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 8
shows a conventional component mounting machine having a taped component feed section that can feed taped pickup-target components one by one, and a tray feed section that feeds components arrayed on trays. The mounting machine includes a safety device which is provided for use primarily in Japan.
In
FIG. 8
, denoted by reference numeral
101
is a side cover of the mounting machine, having an opening
101
a
for a board transfer unit
102
that transfers and positions the board. There is at the opposite side face a similar cover. Inside the covers, although not shown, a nozzle unit for vacuum-picking up components, an up-and-down drive shaft for moving the nozzle unit up and down, a component transfer head on which the nozzle unit is mounted, and an X-Y robot unit for positioning the component transfer head back and forth, right and left, are driven by a control unit at high speed in order to mount components onto, the board.
Numeral
103
denotes a tray component feed section
103
with a cover. Numeral
104
denotes a taped component feed section. In this taped component feed section
104
,
105
is a component feeder unit platform, which allows a plurality of component feeder units (not shown) to be set thereon. Denoted by
106
is a cover that covers above the component feeder units, preventing the operator from putting the hand to the inside of the cover from above the component feeder units. Denoted by
107
is a safety fence, showing the operator a safety region. The nozzle unit sucks and takes out a component from the component feeder units set on the platform
105
. In this case, when replacement of one of the component feeder units due to an exhaustion of the components in the component feeder unit is required, the platform
105
is moved in a direction of arrow A. This region is a region the nozzle unit cannot reach, allowing the operator to perform the replacement work safely while the mounting machine continues operating.
As another prior art example,
FIG. 9
shows a conventional safety device for component mounting machines, which device meets primarily European safety standards. Its difference from the prior art example of
FIG. 8
is that the component feed section of the component feeder units is all covered with covers
110
,
111
. In this case, as in the mounting machine shown in
FIG. 8
, when replacement of one of the component feeder units is required, it has been conventional practice that the covers
110
,
111
, or
112
are opened, causing the machine operation to be halted. Upon completion of the replacement work, the cover(s) are closed, causing the machine to begin operation again.
However, the constitutions shown above have had the following issues.
Referencing first the mounting machine of
FIG. 8
, as described above, when replacement of the component feeder unit is required, the platform
105
is moved in the direction of arrow A. In this case, however, with the opening
107
defined between the platform
105
and the component feeder unit, if the operator has put the hand in the opening
107
beyond the safety fence
106
, the operator's safety would be impaired.
The other mounting machine of
FIG. 9
has had an issue that because the whole machine including the whole of the component feeder units is covered with the covers, the mounting machine is increased in size, causing an increased installation area of the mounting machine as a whole.
There has been another issue that because opening the cover causes the machine to halt for assurance of the safety, it is impossible, for example, to verify the operating state of the component feeder units while opening the cover, which inevitably makes it impossible to replace the component feeder unit while the machine is kept operating.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is therefore to provide a component mounting machine which is capable of solving the above-described issues and which allows the whole machine including the whole of the component feeder units not to be covered with cover(s). Thus, the mounting machine does not need to be increased in size, and an increased installation area of the mounting machine as a whole is not necessary, without impairing the worker's safety.
In accomplishing these and other aspects, according to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a component mounting machine which comprises a component feeder unit, a component feed section, a nozzle unit, a robot unit, a control unit, and an opening/closing cover.
The component feeder unit has a component accommodating part for accommodating components, a feed-out part for feeding the accommodated components one by one, and a component takeout part enabled to take out the fed components. The component feed section has a plurality of the component feeder units is set thereon. The nozzle unit takes out the component from the component feed section and mounts the component onto an object to be mounted, and the component accommodating part is set outside a movable range of the nozzle unit. The robot unit drives the nozzle unit, and the control unit controls operations of the nozzle unit and robot unit. The opening/closing cover shuts off (isolates) the component takeout part and the component accommodating part from each other in its close state, and includes an upper cover for swinging on a fulcrum of a machine upper portion, a sub-cover for swinging on a fulcrum of a front end portion of the upper cover, and a guide mechanism for regulating operation of the sub-cover. The guide mechanism regulates movement of the sub-cover when the sub-cover moves together with the upper cover so that the sub-cover does not interfere with a movable part of the nozzle unit. When the component feeder unit is set on the component feed section and the subcover is moved to a closed position, the component takeout part of the component feeder unit is covered with the sub-cover while the component accommodating part of the component feeder unit is exposed. Thus, the movable pail of the nozzle unit and the component accommodating part of the component feeder unit are isolated so that there is no space through which a foreign object such as the operator's hand can enter to the movable part of the nozzle unit.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a component mounting machine according to the first aspect, further comprising an opening/closing cover sensor for detecting the closed state of the opening/closing cover, and a detection sensor for detecting that an operator's hand etc. ti the component feed section. The control unit stops an operation of the component mounting machine when the opening/closing cover sensor detects that the opening/closing cover is not in the closed state thereof or when the detection sensor detects that the operator's hand etc. ti the component feed section.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a component mounting machine according to the second aspect, wherein the detection sensor is a sensor for passing detection light through voids common to the plurality of set component feeder units, and for detecting that the operator's hand etc. enters the component feed section due to the detection light being blocked when the operator's hand etc. enters

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