Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture – Surface bonding means and/or assembly means therefor – Means joining flexible indefinite length or endless bodies...
Patent
1995-02-27
1997-07-01
Sells, James
Adhesive bonding and miscellaneous chemical manufacture
Surface bonding means and/or assembly means therefor
Means joining flexible indefinite length or endless bodies...
206582, 206813, B31F 506
Patent
active
056434014
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a splicing aid for connecting component belts, preferably belts which house electronic SMDs (Surface Mounted Devices) and which feed the components to "pick-and-place" component handlers or the like, the belts having regularly spaced guide holes in a lateral track.
Printed circuit boards are usually fitted with components, in particular with electronic SMDs, using automatic component fitting machines operating according to the so-called "PICK-AND-PLACE" principle. To permit a high fitting speed, the components are ready made in belts, for example with so-called plastic blister packing or in stable cardboard strips having recesses, and are fed to the pick-and-place component handler head. With such belts, the machine can be continuously operated for the most part. However, problems frequently occur at the end of the belt, when the end of a first belt has to be connected to (i.e., "spliced to") the start of a second belt.
Splicing aids have been proposed in which one belt end and one start of a belt are fixed with their guide holes in pins. Splicing is then achieved by laying a first adhesive strip underneath the abutting belt sections and by laying a second adhesive strip above the abutting belt sections. Adhesive strips of this kind are constructed, for example, as special adhesive strips with divided carrier material having guide holes with the grid dimensions of the pins of the aid.
Unfortunately, the previously known device is comparatively awkward to handle. Consequently, in practice the component belts are frequently connected (spliced) manually without an aid. However, faults are inevitably associated with manually produced splices because of imprecise grid dimensions, because of a laterally protruding adhesive strip and/or because the belts become twisted or angled with respect to one another.
The object of the present invention is to provide a splicing aid for connecting component belts which does not require additional aids and which permits the component belts to be connected in a practical way.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The above mentioned object is achieved with a splicing aid according to the present invention which provides a carrier with at least two parallel tracks, one track of which has knobs with the same grid dimension as the guide holes of the belt, and the other track has a detachable adhesive strip. Preferably, the knobs and the adhesive strip are located on the same surface side of the carrier. The carrier of the present invention comprises a material which is suitable for having knobs punched into it, in particular relatively strong paper or plastic. With such a splicing aid, precise grid dimensions and a laterally exact seating of the adhesive strip is always ensured if the aid is properly used.
Preferably, with a splicing aid according to the present invention, applying two parallel tracks with adhesive strips on the carrier for arrangement on both sides of the belt is also possible. Here, a bending fold or a thinning in the material is already present in the carrier between the two tracks with adhesive strips. In this way, application of the splicing aid is further simplified and thus permits a more rapid connection (splicing) of the end of one belt and the start of another belt. At the same time, knobs may be present with the same grid dimension as the guide holes of the belt on both tracks of the carrier adjacent to, and outside of, the adhesive strips. Such a symmetrically designed splicing aid further facilitates its use for belt component splicing.
The splicing aid according to the present invention can advantageously be used for component belts which comprise stable paper or cardboard with recesses in which the components are inserted. Moreover, the splicing aid according to the present invention can also be used with belt material made of plastic, and in particular wider belts with embossed pockets, i.e. so-called "blister packs". For example, both ends of the belts can be pressed, pocket in pocket, after two
REFERENCES:
patent: 2994362 (1961-08-01), Hall
patent: 3082866 (1963-03-01), Kessman
patent: 3475263 (1969-10-01), Kapilow et al.
patent: 3546046 (1970-12-01), MacQueston
patent: 3914491 (1975-10-01), Takahashi
patent: 4180431 (1979-12-01), Gelardi
patent: 4254865 (1981-03-01), Pacey et al.
patent: 4390389 (1983-06-01), Bunas et al.
patent: 4398982 (1983-08-01), Witerski et al.
patent: 5078828 (1992-01-01), Marglin
Hierl Robert
Schulze-Kahlayss Rainer
Sells James
Siemens Aktiengesellschaft
LandOfFree
Splicing aid for connecting component belts does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Splicing aid for connecting component belts, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Splicing aid for connecting component belts will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-593667