Material or article handling – Load carried along a horizontal linear path – Having gripper means
Reexamination Certificate
2000-11-27
2002-12-17
Chilcot, Richard (Department: 2167)
Material or article handling
Load carried along a horizontal linear path
Having gripper means
Reexamination Certificate
active
06494667
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a component suction method and more particularly, to a method in various ways of usage for sucking components accommodated in components storage sections of a tape base and supplied to a predetermined position with a predetermined distance and mounting the components to electronic circuit boards, by way of vacuum suction with the use of descended nozzles.
BACKGROUND ART
A conventional sucking method will be described with reference to
FIGS. 14-21
. In a mounting apparatus in
FIG. 14
, a taping component (component assembly)
9
consists of component storage sections
9
c
for storing components
8
which are formed in a longitudinal direction of a tape base
9
a
with a predetermined pitch, and a covering film
9
b
for covering the storing sections
9
c
. The taping component
9
, which is wound around a reel
22
, is held by a tape cassette device
50
, taken out along an upper surface of a component feed guide
20
and sent to a component feed opening
40
of a retainer cover
30
over a front end part of the feed guide
20
. In the middle of the transfer, the covering film
9
b
is drawn out from a slit
24
notched from one side before the feed opening
40
of the retainer cover
30
, and the covering tape
9
b
is separated from the tape base
9
a
and taken up around a reel
36
. As a result, the component storage sections
9
c
in the tape base
9
a
are exposed. Although the tape base
9
a
is sent with exposed the component storage sections
9
c
to the component feed opening
40
, the component storage sections
9
c
are covered with the retainer cover
30
, and thus the components are prevented from popping outside and can be stably sent to the component feed opening
40
.
The retainer cover
30
has a shutter
32
for preventing the component
8
from popping outside unexpectedly. The shutter
32
is provided so as to, in accordance with the feed operation of the component
8
, open/close an upper surface of the component feed opening
40
. The shutter
32
is opened only when the component is to be taken out by a suction nozzle (nozzle)
7
or the like. Therefore, the component can be taken out in a proper posture by the suction nozzle
7
.
In the meantime, the suction nozzle
7
descends only when the component
8
is to be taken out, as shown in
FIGS. 16
,
17
, and
21
. The suction nozzle stops at a position in contact with an upper surface of the tape base
9
a
to vacuum-suck the component
8
. Thereafter, the suction nozzle
7
moves up to a predetermined position and detects whether the component
8
is sucked properly. The suction nozzle
7
then moves over a board
60
and mounts the component
8
to a predetermined position of the board
60
.
In the conventional sucking method described above, since a lower surface
7
a
of each suction nozzle
7
contacts the upper surface of the tape base
9
a
when the nozzle vacuum-sucks the component as shown in
FIG. 17
, the component storage section
9
c
is closed and the whole space is nearly equally reduced in pressure. A pressure difference between an upper and a lower surfaces of the component
8
is consequently small, that is, the applied force for floating the component
8
is small. In other words, a suction force of the suction nozzle
7
is decreased, and thereby a suction failure (e.g., a so-called standing suction shown in
FIG. 19
or a so-called mis-suction shown in
FIG. 20
, etc.) is caused. The component
8
cannot be stably sucked by the suction nozzle
7
. The same applies also to the case where the component
8
is pressed up from below by a push pin
10
at the component feed opening
40
, making it difficult for the suction nozzle
7
to suck the component
8
stably (FIGS.
19
and
20
).
FIG. 18
indicates a relation between a time and a distance of the lower surface
7
a
of the nozzle and the upper surface of the tape base
9
a
. The component
8
is sucked when the lower surface
7
a
of the nozzle moves from a point F to a point G. A time, t
1
which is allowed for the nozzle
7
to suck one component is approximately 0.005 sec. The time t
1
becomes shorter when a time after the component
8
is sucked before the component is mounted is required to be reduced, and thus suction failures are brought about more often.
Further, as the printed circuit boards are increasingly made more compact these days, mounting of micro components (1.0 mm long×0.5 mm wide×0.35 mm high or 0.6 mm long×0.3 mm wide×0.3 mm high components) is strongly required, which necessitates a reduced volume of the component storage sections
9
c
of. However, when these micro components are sucked, the force to float the component is hardly generated because of the micro size.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-described conventional issues and to provide a method for sucking a component stably by a suction nozzle.
In accomplishing this and other objects, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a component suction method comprising:
feeding one of components accommodated in component storage sections of a tape base to a predetermined component sucking position;
lowering a nozzle capable of sucking the one of the components supplied to the component sucking position;
stopping the nozzle with a predetermined distance from an upper surface of the tape base;
pushing an undersurface of the component up when the nozzle is stopped;
vacuum-sucking the component by the nozzle at a position where the nozzle is stopped; and
moving the component sucked by the nozzle to a predetermined position of a board after the vacuum-sucking.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a component suction method comprising:
feeding one of components accommodated in component storage sections of a tape base to a predetermined component sucking position;
lowering a nozzle capable of sucking the component supplied to the component sucking position;
stopping the nozzle with a predetermined distance from an upper surface of the tape base;
vacuum-sucking the component by the nozzle at a position where the nozzle is stopped; and
moving the component sucked by the nozzle to a predetermined position of a board after the vacuum-sucking.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a component suction method according to the first or second aspect, wherein the nozzle stops with a distance of 0.02-0.30 mm from the upper surface of the tape base.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a component suction method according to the first, second, or third aspect, wherein the position where the nozzle is stopped is obtained beforehand by calculating from a size of the tape base so that the nozzle stops with the predetermined distance from the upper surface of the tape base.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a component suction method according to the first, second, or third aspect, wherein a projecting part is provided at a lower surface of the nozzle, and a position where the projecting part contacts the upper surface of the tape base or is adjacent to the upper surface of the tape base is the bottom dead center of the nozzle.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a component suction method comprising:
feeding one of components accommodated in component storage sections of a tape base to a predetermined component sucking position;
lowering a nozzle capable of sucking the component supplied to the predetermined component sucking position;
stopping the nozzle at a position where the nozzle contacts an upper surface of the tape base or becomes adjacent to the upper surface of the tape base;
pushing an undersurface of the component up when the nozzle is at a bottom dead center or a position adjacent to the center;
vacuum-sucking the component by the nozzle at the bottom dead center or the position adjacent to the center; and
moving the component
Ando Takashi
Inoue Mamoru
Suzuki Hideo
Chilcot Richard
Matsushita Electric - Industrial Co., Ltd.
Rudy Andrew Joseph
LandOfFree
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