Metal working – Means to assemble or disassemble – Means to assemble electrical device
Reexamination Certificate
1997-07-15
2001-01-30
Rosenbaum, I Cuda (Department: 3729)
Metal working
Means to assemble or disassemble
Means to assemble electrical device
C029S741000, C029S832000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06178620
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic component feeding apparatus for feeding electronic components to an electronic component mounting apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
Electronic components in the form of chips constituting electronic circuits (hereinafter referred to as electronic components) have recently come into wide use, and as there have been more and more various types of electronic components, the number of type and quantity of electronic components mounted on one electronic circuit has been increased. Such a variety of electronic components are mounted in certain combinations onto a printed circuit board with the use of an electronic component mounting apparatus. To feed the electronic components to the electronic component mounting apparatus at desired timings, an electronic component feeding apparatus is desired to operate at a high speed and to be highly reliable.
A conventional electronic component feeding apparatus will be explained by referring to
FIGS. 4
to
6
.
Referring to
FIG. 4
, component feeder units
1
of the conventional electronic component feeding apparatus conveys electronic components assemblies
2
intermittently in a direction of (b) at regular intervals of a given pitch by reciprocating pivotal movements of a feed lever
4
, each of the electronic components assemblies
2
accommodating a row of electronic components
7
held on a tape-like carrier (FIG.
6
). A plurality of component feeder units
1
are loaded on a component supply table
3
in such a way that the component supply units
1
can be moved in a direction of (a) to be transferred to a feeding position (d) shown in FIG.
5
. The feed lever
4
of the component feeder unit
1
which is brought to locate at the feeding position (d) is driven by a transmission mechanism
41
.
The component feeder unit
1
includes a frame structure
31
having a mounting unit for anchoring it to the component supply table
3
, and a loading unit
32
for loading the tape-like electronic components assembly
2
thereon, and a guide
36
for guiding the electronic components assembly
2
. The feed lever
4
is pivotally mounted around an axial point
34
on the frame structure
31
and is driven by the pressing action of the transmission mechanism
41
for swinging motion between a lower limit of a pressing roller
42
of the transmission mechanism
41
and an upper limit thereof defined by an upper stopper (not shown). The component feeder unit
1
is further provided with a reel-out unit
33
for intermittently feeding the electronic components assembly
2
in the forward direction (b) via a link
37
by the reciprocating motion of the feed lever
4
and a separating unit
38
for peeling off and taking up a covering tape
20
(
FIG. 6
) from the electronic components assembly
2
. A tape holder
5
retains the electronic components assembly
2
from lifting up after separation of the covering tape
20
, and prevents the electronic components
7
from popping out therefrom, having a shutter
6
disposed at its tip where the electronic components
7
are picked up, which opens and closes in synchronism with the reciprocating swing motion of the feed lever
4
.
The feed lever
4
has a spring (not shown) upwardly urging a contacting portion
16
at the upper end of the feed lever
4
, by which the feed lever
4
remains in pressed contact with the upper stopper when the contacting portion
16
is disengaged from the pressing roller
42
. The stroke of the reciprocating swing motion of the contacting portion
16
between its upper and lower limits is the length of an effective stroke which is defined by the pitch for intermittently feeding the electronic components assembly
2
in the forward direction (b). The component supply table
3
carries a plurality of the component feeder units
1
, each having different effective strokes of the feed lever
4
.
The transmission mechanism
41
comprises a driving arm
43
for swinging movements along a direction of (e), the pressing roller
42
mounted at the distal end of the driving arm
43
for pressing down the contacting portion
16
of the feed lever
4
, and a driving means (not shown) for carrying the driving arm
43
to reciprocate in a swing motion at a predetermined swinging angle. The pressing roller
42
is driven at a constant stroke of the pressing motion.
The procedure of feeding the components in such an electronic component feeding apparatus will now be explained.
Referring to
FIGS. 3 and 4
, the effective stroke of each feed lever
4
is preliminarily set corresponding to respective feeding pitch of the electronic components assembly
2
for conveying the electronic components
7
. The effective stroke for each feed lever
4
is differently set in respective component feeder unit
1
by adjusting the position of the stopper which defines the upper limit, while the lower limit is set to be a fixed position of the lower dead point of the pressing roller
42
for all the component feeder units
1
. In particular, the upper limit of the feed lever
4
is set to a higher position for a component feeder unit
1
having a greater feeding pitch, i.e., the effective stroke, as can be seen from the vertical motion of the feed lever {circle around (
2
)} shown by a double-dotted chain line in FIG.
3
. And the upper limit of the feed lever
4
is set to a lower position for a component feeder unit
1
having a shorter effective stroke, as can be seen from the vertical motion of the feed lever {circle around (
1
)} shown by a solid line in FIG.
3
.
As the pressing roller
42
is lowered, it comes into direct contact with the contacting portion
16
of the feed lever
4
located at its upper limit and presses it down by the length of the effective stroke until its lower limit. When the feed lever
4
is returned upward by the yielding force of the spring together with the pressing roller
42
, the electronic components assembly
2
is advanced by the predetermined pitch along the direction (b). The electronic components assembly
2
is guided into the tape holder
5
, after its covering tape
20
is peeled off at the separating unit
38
before the shutter
6
. The lower limits of the pressing roller
42
and the feed lever
4
are set to be identical for all the component feeder units
1
, as described above and as can be seen from the vertical motion of the pressing roller {circle around (
1
)}{circle around (
2
)} shown by solid and broken lines in FIG.
3
.
The operation of the shutter
6
is linked to the vertical movements of the feed lever
4
, and the shutter
6
opens and closes as the feed lever
4
descends and ascends, respectively. A nozzle C of the electronic component mounting apparatus B is lowered as the shutter
6
opens and picks up an electronic component
7
under the opened shutter
6
by a sucking action. The nozzle C is lifted before the shutter
6
is closed and transfers the electronic component
7
to a mounting position for mounting it on a printed circuit board A.
While the pressing roller
42
stays at its upper dead point, the component supply table
3
conveys the component feeder unit
1
loaded with a desired type of electronic components
7
to the feeding position (d). By repeating these actions, the electronic component feeding apparatus supplies a set of electronic components
7
to the electronic component mounting apparatus B according to a predetermined program.
When the transmission mechanism
41
is placed in operation, specifically when the descending pressing roller
42
comes into direct contact with the contacting portion
16
of the feed lever
4
, a certain amount of vibration is generated caused by the impact of collision. The amount of vibration depends greatly on the rate of the pressing roller
42
hitting against the contacting portion
16
. The speed is, however, fixedly set irrespective of types of the component feeder units
1
having different sizes of components and feeding pitches as shown in FIG.
3
.
The electronic com
Hata Kanji
Kitamura Naoyuki
Yoshida Yoshihiro
Chang Rick Kiltae
Cuda Rosenbaum I
Matsushita Electric - Industrial Co., Ltd.
Price and Gess
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