Metal working – Method of mechanical manufacture – Electrical device making
Patent
1992-11-12
1994-06-21
Arbes, Carl J.
Metal working
Method of mechanical manufacture
Electrical device making
29338, 29564, 295641, 29840, 209573, 414786, H05K 330, B23P 2300
Patent
active
053218850
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a system for manufacturing printed circuit boards and a method of manufacturing the same, and more particularly, to a system and a method for the manufacture of the printed circuit boards suitable for effectively manufacturing different kinds of printed circuit boards in small numbers.
2. Related Art
Electronic equipment such as communication equipment generally comprises printed circuit board units (or electronic circuit packages) loaded into a shelf and consisting of printed circuit boards and electronic components mounted thereon. In the field of making industrial products such as communication equipment, particularly, the diversification of the customers' needs requires a flexible manufacture of the printed circuit boards, which inevitably leads to an increase in kinds of printed circuit boards and to a demand for the establishment of the way of effectively manufacturing different kinds of such products in small numbers.
A typical production control system includes a conveyance means such as a driverless, automatic conveying vehicle travelling between a plurality of processing or manufacturing cells or units (processing equipment) and storage units for storing products, a process controller for controlling the processing units, a conveyance controller for the control of the conveyance means, and a host computer which interchanges information with the above-mentioned controllers and issues instructions to the controllers in accordance with a work planning and a process sequence. The production control system called FMS (Flexible Manufacturing System) presents a production system capable of coping with a flexible manufacture and executing desired operations while passing a variety of products between the processing cells in accordance with the predetermined procedure.
The conventional methods of manufacturing printed circuit boards include an in-line system in which the processing units are placed in series by way of conveyors, and a parallel line system in which the processing units are arranged in parallel and the printed wiring boards are loaded into or unloaded from the processing units by means of the automatic conveying vehicles.
FIG. 1 schematically shows a conventional in-line system having a plurality of processing cells or units 1a and 1b linked in series by conveyors 2. A rack 3 containing a plurality of printed circuit boards on which electronic components are to be mounted, is loaded onto the conveyor 2 through a loader 4, and is conveyed by the conveyor 2 in the direction shown by arrow A. In the processing cells or units 1a and 1b, the printed circuit boards are removed from the rack 3 for the predetermined operations, and then are passed into the downstream processing units by conveyor 2. The printed circuit boards which have been thus completed through the variety of processing steps are discharged by an unloader 5.
FIG. 2 diagrammatically shows a conventional parallel line system having a plurality of processing cells or units 6a, 6b, . . . , 6n arranged in parallel along which a conveyance passage 7 extends. An automatic conveying vehicle 8 travels on the conveyance passage 7. A loader/unloader 9 designed to load and unload the rack 3 containing a plurality of printed circuit boards is provided on each of the processing cells or units 6a, 6b, . . . , 6n.
The rack 3 containing a plurality of printed circuit boards is mounted on the automatic carrying vehicle 8 through the loader 4, and brought into any one of the processing cells or units 6a, 6b, . . . 6n by way of their respective loader/unloaders 9 in accordance to a working procedure. In the processing cells or units 6a, 6b, . . . 6n, the printed circuit boards are dispensed from the rack 3 to undergo a predetermined operation and returned into the rack 3. The printed circuit boards are then transferred to the subsequent processing cells or units 6a, 6b, . . . , 6n on the basis of the working scheme. After the completion of all the proce
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patent: 4348276 (1982-09-01), Tateishi et al.
patent: 4667403 (1987-05-01), Edlinger et al.
patent: 4674181 (1987-06-01), Hamada et al.
patent: 5117555 (1992-06-01), Hunt et al.
patent: 5193268 (1993-03-01), Ono et al.
Furukawa Satomi
Hino Toshikatsu
Kobayashi Masakazu
Suzuki Shozo
Arbes Carl J.
Fujitsu Limited
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