JP2003078287A - Method and apparatus for conveyance of board in component mounting machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method and an apparatus for the conveyance of a board in a component mounting machine wherein the production of the board can be continued without changing over its type even when a circuit board width is changed, and the board does not run up even when the board is conveyed continuously so that the productivity of the multikind and small quantity production of the board is enhanced. SOLUTION: In the board conveyance method for the component mounting machine 100, the board 12 received by a loader 16 is conveyed to a board fixation part 18, a component is mounted on the board 12 in the part 18, and the board 12 is then conveyed to an unloader 20. A plurality of pairs of parallel rails 14 used to convey the board 12 are arranged and installed in at least any one from among the loader 16, the part 18 and the unloader 20, the width between the respective rails 14 is changed, and boards 12 in different widths are conveyed simultaneously.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a board transfer method for a component mounter and a board transfer apparatus for mounting a component on a circuit board.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An electronic component mounter 200 includes a transfer head 2 positioned by an XY robot 210 shown in FIG.
Have twelve. The transfer head 212 includes a suction nozzle 214, and the suction nozzle 214 sucks an electronic component from a parts feeder 216 to which the electronic component is supplied, and the transfer head 212 moves to a mounting position of the electronic component on the circuit board 218. Carry and attach the electronic components to the circuit board 2
Mount on 18. In the electronic component mounter 200, the transport unit makes the circuit board 218 wait for the circuit board to be mounted next while the electronic component is mounted on the circuit board 218.
20, a board fixing section 222 for mounting electronic components on the circuit board 218, and an unloader section 224 for making the circuit board on which the electronic components are mounted stand by before being transported to the machine in the next step.
Consists of. Each of the loader section 220, the board fixing section 222, and the unloader section 224 has a carrying belt and a carrying rail for carrying the circuit board 218.
It is driven by a C servo motor (or an induction motor).

In this carrying section, when the circuit board enters from the previous process, the carrying-in operation is carried out.
A command is issued to the AC servomotor (or induction motor) of the loader section 220, and the motor drives the conveyor belt of the loader section 220 to carry in the circuit board. The circuit board carried into the loader section 220 is loaded into the loader section 2 when the circuit board 218 is present in the board fixing section 222.
Wait at 20. In addition, the circuit board 2 is attached to the board fixing portion 222.
If there is no 18, then it is carried into the substrate fixing portion 222. The carried-in circuit board 218 carries out the mounting operation of the electronic component as described above. Then, the circuit board on which the electronic components have been mounted is carried out to the unloader unit 224. In the transport unit that operates in this way, when the circuit board 218 to be transported has different board sizes between the previous circuit board and the subsequent circuit board, model switching is performed. For model switching, an operation of changing the rail width W is automatically performed by selecting data of a preset board size. This rail width adjustment control is performed by a pulse motor (or AC servo motor). When the rail width is set to the width of the next circuit board, the transfer operation becomes possible, and the transfer operation and mounting operation of the next board can be performed. Be started.

[0004]

For example, when an A board, a B board, and a C board are required to complete a certain product, conventionally, the A board, the B board, the C board, and the C board are all finished. After the production is completed, the process of assembling the product is started by using the A board, the B board, and the C board. Therefore, since the number of individual boards produced is large, the production interruption time for switching the model does not significantly affect the decrease in productivity. In recent years, products have tended to be produced in small lots of various kinds due to diversification of needs. Therefore, in the above product example, it is required to produce the A substrate, the B substrate, and the C substrate for each product. This is also to eliminate useless stock of each substrate. However, in the above-described conventional board transfer device, when the width of the circuit board is different, it is necessary to select a model switching program to perform automatic width adjustment control. Therefore, the mounting operation of the mounting machine is frequently interrupted, resulting in a significant decrease in productivity. Further, conventionally, in order to eliminate a loss in carrying circuit boards, a plurality of circuit boards are carried at the same time by bringing the front and rear boards into contact with each other and carrying them. For example, as shown in FIG. 16A, two circuit boards P and Q are continuously transported to the loader section 220 and simultaneously loaded into the board fixing section 222. As shown in FIG. 16B, when the circuit boards P and Q arrive at the board fixing portion 222, the arrival sensor 230 provided in the board fixing portion 222 detects the circuit board P, and the board fixing portion is detected by this detection signal. 22
Stop control of the second conveyor belt. However, such a board transfer method was effective for a circuit board having a thickness of 1 mm or more, but for a circuit board having a thickness of less than 1 mm, as shown in FIG. The board Q climbed onto the circuit board P and the circuit board P and the circuit board Q overlapped with each other. That is, in order to continuously convey a plurality of circuit boards between the same rails, there is a limitation on the thickness of the circuit boards, and it is impossible to uniformly control the conveyance.

The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and even if the width of the circuit board is changed, the production can be continued without the work of changing the model, and the electronic parts are prevented from being ridden even in the continuous transfer. An object of the present invention is to provide a board transfer method for a mounting machine and a board transfer apparatus for the same, thereby improving productivity in high-mix low-volume production.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a board mounting method for a component mounting machine, wherein a board received by a loader section is carried to a board fixing section, and the board is mounted. After mounting the parts on the board with the fixed part,
A board transfer method for a component mounter that transfers the board to an unloader section, wherein a pair of parallel boards for transferring the board to at least one of the loader section, the board fixing section, and the unloader section. A plurality of pairs of different rails are provided, and the width between the rails of each rail pair is changed to simultaneously convey substrates of different widths.

In this board mounting method for the component mounter, when boards of different widths are carried during the operation of the component mounter and the board width changes, the width between the rails of the rail pair is changed to change the width. Substrates of width can be transported at the same time. As a result, the production can be continued without changing the model and various substrates can be continuously transported, so that the transport time is not lost. Therefore, it is possible to improve the productivity of high-mix low-volume production.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a board mounting method for a component mounter, wherein, when a plurality of boards are carried between the pair of rails, one of the first board and the second board that are continuous in the front and rear is selected. It is characterized in that after the previous substrate is transported by the rail, the subsequent substrate is transported after a lapse of a predetermined time, and a predetermined length of space is formed between the previous substrate and the subsequent substrate.

In this board mounting method of the component mounter, the front board is carried and then the latter board is carried with a delay of a predetermined time. Therefore, a predetermined length of space is provided between the first board and the latter board. This can be ensured, and when a plurality of substrates are continuously conveyed on the same rail, it is possible to prevent the preceding substrate and the following substrate from overlapping. As a result, the reliability of continuous simultaneous transport of thin substrates is improved.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a board mounting method for a component mounter, wherein when the plurality of boards are carried between the pair of rails, the plurality of boards are sucked and held by a suction block. The plurality of substrates are conveyed together with the suction block.

In this board mounting method for the component mounter, a plurality of boards are sucked and held by the suction block and are transferred together with the suction block while being held, so that the plurality of boards are displaced or overlapped. Without, stable transport can be performed.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a board mounting apparatus for a component mounting machine, which carries a board received by a loader section to a board fixing section.
A board transfer device for a component mounter that transfers a board to an unloader section after the board is mounted on the board by the board fixing section, and is at least one of the loader section, the board fixing section, and the unloader section. A plurality of pairs of parallel rails that are arranged at the above positions to transport the substrate, and rail width changing means that moves the rails in parallel to change the width between the rail pairs. To do.

In the board transfer device of this component mounter, a plurality of pairs of parallel rails are arranged, and each rail is translated by the rail width changing means, so that the width between the rails of the rail pair can be changed. Therefore, the width between the rails can be changed according to the width of the board to be transferred, and boards of various different widths can be continuously and simultaneously transferred. This eliminates the need for model switching, which was necessary when transferring substrates of different widths, and allows various types of substrates to be transferred continuously, thus eliminating loss of transfer time. Therefore, it is possible to improve the productivity of high-mix low-volume production.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a board mounting apparatus for a component mounting machine, wherein the parallel rails are composed of a plurality of rail bodies divided in a board carrying direction.

In this board mounting apparatus of the component mounter, as the board moves from the upstream side in the carrying direction to the downstream side in the carrying direction, a plurality of parallel rail bodies arranged in the carrying direction are aligned with the width of the board. By changing the width between the rails, it becomes possible to continuously transfer substrates of different widths in one linear transfer path.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a board transfer device for a component mounting machine, wherein the parallel rails are rails arranged in multiple stages in a vertical direction perpendicular to the surface of the board.

In this board mounting apparatus of the component mounter, the plurality of rails arranged in a multi-tiered manner in the vertical direction can be changed to have different widths, and each of the boards having different widths can be changed to one of these rails. It is sorted and transported.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a board transfer device for a component mounting machine, wherein the parallel rails are a plurality of rails arranged in parallel with the board surface in a direction orthogonal to a transfer direction of the board. To do.

In this board mounting apparatus of the component mounter, a plurality of pairs of parallel rails arranged on a plane parallel to the board surface can be changed to different widths, and boards of different widths can be arranged in a plurality of pairs. One of the rails will be sorted and transported.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a board mounting apparatus for a mounter, wherein one end of the board is floated from the rail with respect to the board having both ends supported by the rail.
Substrate levitation means for interrupting the transfer force from the rail to the substrate is attached in the middle of the rail.

In this board mounter of the component mounter, when a plurality of boards are carried, the board other than the board to be carried is floated by the board levitation means to interrupt the carrying force from the rails to the boards. Then, it becomes possible to preferentially transport only the substrate to be transported.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a board mounting apparatus for a component mounting machine, which has a board suction surface parallel to a board surface of the circuit board on an upper surface below the rail pair, and the circuit board is held by the board suction surface. It is characterized by comprising a suction block which is held by suction and is arranged so as to be movable in the substrate transport direction of the rail pair.

In this board mounting apparatus of the component mounter, when a plurality of boards are carried, a plurality of boards are sucked and held by a suction block, and the suction block is carried while holding the plurality of boards. Stable transfer can be performed without causing misalignment or overlapping of the substrates.

[0024]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Preferred embodiments of a board transfer method for a component mounter and a board transfer apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an electronic component mounting machine provided with a substrate transfer device according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a control block diagram of the electronic component mounting device, and FIG. 3 is the transfer shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of a method of fixing the circuit board on the rail, and FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory view of the board transfer device shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, the electronic component mounter 100
A loader section 16, a board fixing section 18, at the center of the upper surface of the base 10.
The unloader unit 20 is provided with a pair of guide rails 14 for transporting the circuit board 12, respectively, and the circuit board 12 is moved to one end side by the synchronous drive of the transport belts provided on each of the pair of guide rails 14. Loader section 1
6 is conveyed to the board fixing portion 18 provided at a position where a component such as an electronic component is mounted, and from the board fixing portion 18 to the unloader portion 20 on the other end side. The board fixing portion 18 positions and holds the conveyed circuit board 12 to prepare for component mounting.

Y-axis robots 22 and 24 are provided on both sides of the upper surface of the base 10 above the circuit board 12, respectively.
An X-axis robot 26 is suspended between these two Y-axis robots 22 and 24, and the X-axis robot 26 can be moved back and forth in the Y-axis direction by driving the Y-axis robots 22 and 24. A transfer head 28 is attached to the X-axis robot 26 so that the transfer head 28 can move back and forth in the X-axis direction. As a result, the transfer head 28 can be moved within the XY plane. Each robot is configured, for example, by rotating a ball screw forward and backward by a motor so that a nut member screwed on the ball screw can advance and retract in the respective axial directions, and a member to be advanced and retracted is fixed to the nut member.

The above X-axis robot 26 and Y-axis robot 2
The transfer head 28, which is mounted on an XY robot composed of 2, 24 and freely moves on an XY plane (for example, a horizontal plane or a plane substantially parallel to the upper surface of the base 10), is, for example, a resistance chip or a chip capacitor. A plurality of parts feeders 30 as an example of a parts supply unit for supplying electronic parts such as ICs, or ICs such as SOP (“SOP” stands for Small Outline Package) and QFP (“QFP” stands for Quad Flat Package)
A desired electronic component is sucked by a suction nozzle 34 from a parts tray 32 as another example of a component supply unit to which a relatively large electronic component such as a connector and a connector is supplied, and the circuit board 1
It is configured so that it can be mounted at the two component mounting positions.
The mounting operation of such an electronic component is performed by the control unit 3 shown in FIG.
6 is stored in the storage unit 35, and is controlled by the control unit 36 based on a preset mounting program.

Here, the fixing mechanism of the circuit board 12 will be described. The guide rail 14 of the board fixing portion 18 is shown in FIG.
As shown in the cross section of the guide rail 14 in FIG.
And a guide plate 42 disposed at an interval above the thickness of the circuit board 12 above the transport surface of the transport belt 40. Further, the backup plate 44 is provided at a fixed position of the circuit board 12.
Are arranged so that they can be moved up and down. A large number of backup pin insertion holes for inserting the backup pins 46 are formed on the upper surface of the backup plate 44.
According to the fixing mechanism of the circuit board 12, as shown in FIG. 3A, the circuit board 12 is placed on the carrying surface of the carrying belt 40 in a state where the backup plate 44 is set at the lowered position, and the circuit board 12 is carried. The circuit board 12 is conveyed to a predetermined fixed position by driving the belt 40 by an AC servo motor (or an induction motor or a linear motor). Then, as shown in FIG. 3B, the backup plate 4 is attached to the circuit board 12 that has been transported to the fixed position.
4 is lifted, the tip of the backup pin 46 inserted in the backup plate 44 is moved to the circuit board 12
Push up. Then, the circuit board 12 is pressed by the guide plate 42 of the guide rail 14 and floats from the transport surface of the transport belt 40. As a result, the circuit board 12 is fixed to the guide rail 14.

Further, the guide rail 14 is constructed as follows in this embodiment. That is, the guide rail 14 generally extends in the X direction shown in FIG.
The rail bodies are arranged in parallel in rows, and one rail body group is arranged with the rail interval in the Y direction being variable. Each rail body group is composed of a plurality of rail bodies 50 divided into a predetermined length, and each rail body 50 is arranged so as to face each other in the Y direction. Therefore, each rail body 50
Changes the Y-direction interval between the pair of rail bodies facing each other so that a plurality of circuit boards having different widths can be simultaneously transported. Each of these rail bodies 50 is provided with rail width changing means 52 for moving the rail bodies in parallel for each pair to change the Y-direction interval, and each of the loader section 16, the board fixing section 18, and the unloader section 20. It is controlled individually by.

The rail width changing means 52 is, as shown in FIG. 1 as an example, a rail body 50 of one of the rail body groups.
To the pulse motor 54 using a ball screw-nut mechanism.
The rail width is changed by moving the rails. The configuration of the rail width changing means 52 is not limited to this, and other moving mechanisms such as a fluid pressure cylinder and a rack and pinion mechanism can be used.

According to the structure of the guide rails 14, the individual rail bodies 50 are driven by the pulse motor 54 in response to a command from the control unit 36, whereby the respective rail widths are changed. Specifically, the storage unit 35 of the control unit 36 stores the width of each production circuit board, searches the width data of each circuit board to be transported, and outputs the rail width control signal corresponding to the width data. The signal is sent to the pulse motor 54. As a result, the rail body 50, which forms a linear transport path arranged in the substrate transport direction, can change the rail width to an arbitrary pattern, and can simultaneously transport multiple circuit boards of different widths simultaneously. .

Next, a substrate transfer method using such a substrate transfer device will be described with reference to FIG. It should be noted that the circuit board 12 in the present description will be described assuming that the circuit boards A, B, and C have different widths. As shown in FIG. 4A, when the circuit board A is loaded into the loader section 16 of the guide rail 14 whose rail width is matched with the width of the circuit board A, the width of the rail of the board fixing section 18 is also changed. Adjusted to the width of A.
Next, as shown in FIG. 2B, the conveyor belt 40 (see FIG.
When the circuit board A is carried into the board fixing portion 18 by the driving of (see) and finishes passing through the loader portion 16, the rail width programmed in advance by the control portion 36 (the width of the circuit board B in the present embodiment). The rail width of the rail body 50 in the loader unit 16 is changed. The rail width change control is performed by sending a width control signal from the control unit 36 to the pulse motor 54. As a result, the rail width of the rail body 50 in the loader unit 16 is adjusted to the circuit board B, and the circuit board B can be carried into the loader unit 16.

Then, as shown in FIG. 2C, the rail width of the board fixing portion 18 is adjusted to the width of the circuit board B in a region not involved in supporting the circuit board A, and the circuit board B is fixed to the board fixing portion 18. Transport to. When the circuit board B passes through the loader section 16, the rail width of the rail body 50 in the loader section 16 is changed to the rail width preprogrammed by the control section 29 (the width of the circuit board C in this embodiment). As a result, the width of the rail body 50 in the loader section 16 is adjusted to the circuit board C, and the circuit board C can be carried into the loader section 16. Then, the rail width of the rail body 50 in the board fixing portion 18 is adjusted to the circuit board C in a region not involved in supporting the circuit boards A and B, and the circuit board C is conveyed to the board fixing portion 18. In this way, electronic components are simultaneously mounted on the respective circuit boards A, B, and C carried into the board fixing portion 18, and board production is performed.

Here, the rail width control procedure will be described with reference to FIGS. The control unit 36 that inputs / outputs data also manages the number of circuit boards 12, and the set value of the circuit board size is stored in the storage unit 3 for each circuit board to be produced.
It is stored in 5. When the circuit board 12 is loaded into the board fixing portion 18, the control unit 36 causes the width of the rail body 50 of the loader unit 16 to correspond to the width of the circuit board 12 to be loaded next by a preset program. The rail width of the rail body 50 is automatically changed.

When the circuit board 12 is carried into the unloader section 20 after the mounting of the circuit board 12 on the board fixing section 18 is completed, the control section 36 causes a preset program to
The rail width of the rail body 50 of the board fixing portion 18 is changed according to the width of the next circuit board 12. As described above, the control unit 36 executes the rail width adjustment according to a program preset by the operation unit 56 of the electronic component mounting machine 100,
Automatic width adjustment control may be performed by communication from the previous process. That is, at the same time as receiving the instruction to carry in the circuit board 12 from the previous process, the width data of the circuit board 12 is also notified to the electronic component mounter 100, and the rail width control for the next circuit board 12 is performed by this width data. May be performed automatically.

As described above, according to the board transfer method using the board transfer device of the present embodiment, even if the circuit boards 12 having different widths are transferred during the transfer of the board and the board width changes, the rail By locally changing the rail width of the body 50, the circuit boards 12 having different widths can be simultaneously transported. As a result, the production can be continued without the work of switching the model. In addition, since various circuit boards can be transported without performing a model switching operation, it is possible to eliminate transport time loss. In addition, the portion where the guide rail is composed of the plurality of rail bodies 50 is the loader portion 16 and the board fixing portion 1.
8. In addition to the entire unloader section 20, if at least one of the parts is constituted by the rail body 50, the above effect can be obtained.

Next, a substrate transfer device according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing a substrate transfer device according to a second embodiment of the present invention in a plan view (a) and a side view (b), and FIG. 6 is a guide rail in a substrate fixing portion of FIG. FIG. In each of the following embodiments, the same members as those shown in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals, and duplicate description will be omitted.

The substrate transfer apparatus according to this embodiment is shown in FIG.
As shown in (a), a pair of parallel rails provided as a continuous, integrated product in the board fixing portion 18 is provided on the circuit board 1
A plurality of pairs are arranged in the vertical direction which is perpendicular to the surface of 2.
That is, a pair of rails are provided in parallel at positions having different heights in the vertical direction of the board fixing portion 18. In the present embodiment, the guide rail 14 is configured in a multi-stage shape including three stages of an upper rail 60, a middle rail 61, and a lower rail 62. The rail width of each step is shown in Fig. 6.
As shown in, the upper rail width W1> the middle rail width W2> the lower rail width W3 is set so that the upper rail width becomes wide so that the circuit board is not hidden by the rail when the electronic component is mounted. The rail width of each step can be automatically changed by a pulse motor or the like, as in the above-described embodiment.

Further, in the substrate transfer apparatus according to this embodiment, the upper rail 60, the middle rail 61, and the multi-tiered rails,
Substrate transfer parts 66 and 68 are arranged on the upstream side and the downstream side of the lower rail 62 in the transport direction. Each substrate transfer section 66, 6
As shown in FIG. 5B, the reference numeral 8 has an elevating table 72 for moving the transfer rail 70 up and down. The elevating table 72 arranged on the upstream side in the carrying direction moves the transferred circuit board in the vertical direction. Move to upper rail 60, middle rail 61, lower rail 6
The elevating table 74, which is capable of being supplied to any one of the two, and which is arranged on the downstream side in the transport direction, moves in the vertical direction, so that the upper rail 60, the middle rail 61, and the lower rail 62.
It is possible to receive the circuit board 12 from the.

Further, the transfer rail 70 of each substrate transfer section 66, 68 can automatically change its rail width by a pulse motor or the like, like the rails 60, 61, 62. . The pulse motor of the transfer rail 70 is also driven and controlled by the width data sent from the control unit 36.

Next, the substrate transfer operation of the substrate transfer device having such a structure will be described. The board transfer section 66 changes the rail width of the transfer rail 70 in accordance with the width of the circuit board conveyed from the previous step to the loader section 16, and the transfer rail 7 is moved.
0, the circuit board is placed, and the elevating table 72 is moved up and down to be supplied to the rails 60, 61, 62 of any stage of the board fixing portion 18. In this way, the rails 60, 6162 of each stage are
The rail width is changed according to the width of the circuit boards D, E, F to be loaded. In the present embodiment, the substrate transfer section 66
The circuit board D is carried into the upper rail 60 of the board fixing portion 18, the circuit board E is carried into the middle rail 61, and the circuit board F is carried into the lower rail 62. The circuit boards D, E, F are carried by the carrying belts (similar to FIG. 3) provided on the rails 60, 61, 62 of the respective stages, and are fixed at positions where they do not overlap in the vertical direction.

For example, when the circuit board D is carried in, the board transfer section 66 sets the rail width of the transfer rail 70 to the circuit board D.
And the circuit board D is received by the transfer rail 70. Then, the elevating table 72 moves up and down to position the circuit board D at the height of the lower rail 62, and the circuit board D is driven by the transfer belt of the transfer rail 70 to fix the board fixing unit 1.
Transport to 8 side. Next, when the circuit board E is carried in, the board transfer unit 66 automatically adjusts the rail width of the transfer rail 70 to the width of the circuit board E and receives the circuit board E on the transfer rail 70. Then, the lift table 72 moves up and down to move the circuit board E.
Is positioned at the height of the middle rail 61, and the circuit board E is driven by the transfer belt of the transfer rail 70 to fix the circuit board E to the board fixing portion 18.
To the side.

When the circuit board F is subsequently carried in, the board transfer section 66 automatically adjusts the rail width of the transfer rail 65 to the width of the circuit board F and receives the circuit board F in the transfer rail 70. Then, the elevating table 72 moves up and down to position the circuit board F at the height of the upper rail 60, and conveys the circuit board F to the board fixing portion 18 side by driving the conveying belt of the transfer rail 70. In this way, the circuit boards D, E, and F transported to the board fixing portion 18 are positioned so as not to vertically overlap the rails 60, 61, and 62 of the respective stages in the board fixing portion 18, and the heights of the respective boards are increased. Rail 60,61,62
The electronic head is mounted on each of the circuit boards D, E, and F by the transfer head 28 configured to be mounted on the circuit board.

According to the substrate transfer apparatus of this embodiment, as in the first embodiment, in addition to being able to transfer various types of substrates without switching models, a plurality of stages arranged in a vertical direction are provided. Rails 60, 61, 62 can be individually changed to different widths, and circuit boards D, E, F having different widths can be distributed to one of the rails 60, 61, 62 of a plurality of stages. Can be transported. Such a board transfer device is particularly effectively used for a relatively large-sized circuit board such as a computer board. That is, while the circuit board F is being carried in the upper rail 60 and is being mounted and operated, the carrying-in or carrying-out operation of another circuit board to the middle rail 61 and the lower rail 62 can be completed, and the operating time can be shortened. . That is, by carrying out the carrying / mounting operation on the circuit board on one of the rails on one stage and the carrying / manipulating operation on the circuit board on the rail on the other stage, the necessary operations are carried out at the same time as the carrying / mounting operation to improve the efficiency. Can handle well. In particular, for a large-sized circuit board having a long mounting time, the circuit boards at the other stages are not put on standby until the mounting operation is completed, and the mounting time can be shortened.

Next, a substrate transfer device according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram showing a substrate transfer device according to a third embodiment of the present invention in plan views (a) to (c), and FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a part of the guide rail 14. As shown in FIG. 7, the substrate transfer device according to the present embodiment has a plurality of parallel rails 8 in the substrate fixing portion 18.
0, 81, 82, 83 (four rails in this embodiment as an example) are arranged in a direction orthogonal to the circuit board transport direction.
A plurality of circuit boards are arranged parallel to the board surface. Similar to the above-mentioned embodiment, these rails 80, 81, 82, 83 are also moved in parallel (movement in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. 7) by a pulse motor etc.
The rail width between 2 and 83 can be changed automatically. Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the rails 81 and 82 are provided with two conveyor belts 40 and 40 so as to convey the circuit boards 12 and 12 on both sides.

Further, board transfer parts 86 and 88 are arranged on the upstream side and the downstream side of the board fixing part 18 in the carrying direction of the circuit board. Transfer rail 90 of each substrate transfer unit 86, 88
Like the rails 80, 81, 82 and 83, the rail width can be automatically changed by a pulse motor or the like. The pulse motor of the transfer rail 90 is also driven and controlled by the width data sent from the control unit 36.

Next, the substrate transfer operation of the substrate transfer device having such a configuration will be described. The circuit boards G, H, and I of various sizes are sequentially carried into the board fixing portion 18. The board transfer section 86 of the loader section 16 preliminarily determines the width data of the circuit board G in the previous step, and transfers the transfer rail 90 to the width of the circuit board G.
Change the rail width of. The board transfer part 86 is a circuit board G.
After being carried in, it is moved horizontally in order to establish connection with the board fixing portion 18. Then, the circuit board G is attached to the rail 8 of the board fixing portion 18.
It is carried in between 0 and the rail 81.

Then, the substrate transfer section 86 moves again to be connected to the previous process transfer. Then, the board transfer section 86 receives the circuit board H, moves horizontally in order to establish connection with the board fixing section 18, and carries the circuit board H between the rail 81 and the rail 82 of the board fixing section 18. To do. Further, the board transfer unit 86 moves again to connect with the previous process transfer, and the circuit board I
And horizontally move the circuit board I to fix the circuit board I.
It is carried in between the rail 82 and the rail 83. As described above, according to the board transfer device of the present embodiment, in the same manner as in the above-described embodiments, various types of boards can be transferred without switching models, and the same plane parallel to the surface of the circuit board 12 can be used. A plurality of parallel rails 80, 81, 8 arranged above
Each of the rails 2 and 83 can be changed to a different rail width, and the circuit boards 12 having different widths are distributed and transported to one of the transport paths of the plurality of rails.

In the substrate transfer apparatus according to this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7B, it is possible to dispose a plurality of substrate transfer units 86, 86 on the loader unit 16. In this case, While one of the substrate transfer units is operating, the other substrate transfer unit can receive the circuit board from the previous step, and a plurality of operations can be performed at the same time, so that the mounting time can be shortened.

Further, in the board transfer device according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7C, the board fixing part 18 is loaded by maximally loading a large number of circuit boards between the rails.
It is possible to mount more circuit boards G, H, and I at one time over the whole of the above, and it is possible to greatly improve the mounting efficiency. With this configuration, the effect is particularly great for small-sized boards, the transport loss is greatly reduced, and it is effectively used for small-sized boards on which, for example, mobile phone boards and voltage controlled oscillators (VCOs) are mounted.

Next, a substrate transfer method according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described. The present embodiment is the above-mentioned first
The present invention relates to a method of transporting a circuit board that is commonly applicable to the third embodiment. FIG. 9 is an operation explanatory view showing the substrate transfer method according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention in plan views (a) to (d). In the board transfer method according to this embodiment, when a plurality of circuit boards J and K are continuously transferred by the rails 92 arranged on the same straight line, the front circuit board J and the rear circuit board J that are continuous in the front and rear direction. After the previous circuit board J among the K is transported, the subsequent circuit board K is transported after a predetermined time elapses, and a predetermined length of space is formed between the previous circuit board J and the subsequent circuit board K.

That is, at the time of loading the circuit board, the previous circuit board J is transported and timer management is performed, and the loading operation of the subsequent circuit board K is started. As a result, a predetermined length of space is formed in advance between the first circuit board J and the second circuit board K. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 9A, in the loader unit 16, a board stopper 94 for stopping the preceding circuit board J and a board stopper 95 for stopping the succeeding circuit board K are projected from the rail 92, The circuit boards J and K are stopped at the positions of these board stoppers 94 and 95, respectively.

Next, as shown in FIG. 9B, the board stopper 94 for stopping the circuit board J is released, and the circuit board J is conveyed to the board fixing portion 18. At this time, the control unit 36 (see FIGS. 1 and 2) that controls the transport operation starts the timer count. On the other hand, on the rail 92 of the board fixing portion 18, a board stopper 96 for stopping the circuit board J is projected from the rail 92 at the downstream end in the transport direction.
Then, the timer count is a predetermined time (for example, 50 ms).
(About 100 ms), the board stopper 95 that stops the circuit board K is released and the circuit board K is conveyed to the board fixing portion 18. As a result, as shown in FIG. 9C, the circuit board J is conveyed through the board fixing portion 18, and
The circuit board K is conveyed to the rear of the circuit board J with a predetermined gap. Then, after the circuit board J has passed the position of the board stopper 98, the board stopper 98 is projected from the rail 92. Then, as shown in FIG. 9D, the circuit board J stops at the position where it abuts the substrate stopper 96, and the circuit board K also comes into contact with the substrate stopper 98 and stops. As a result, the two circuit boards J and K are conveyed at a predetermined interval, and the front circuit board J and the rear circuit board K are prevented from overlapping.

Next, a substrate transfer method according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described. The present embodiment is the above-mentioned first
The present invention relates to a method of transporting a circuit board that is commonly applicable to the third embodiment. FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram showing a substrate transfer device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention in plan view, and FIG.
FIG. 11 is an enlarged side view of a main part of FIG. 10. As shown in FIG. 10, the substrate transfer apparatus according to the present embodiment has a loader unit 16
The substrate detection sensors P1 and P2 and the substrate ejection sensor Q1
And the substrate stoppers R1 and R2, and the substrate fixing unit 18 includes the substrate detection sensors P3 and P4, the substrate ejection sensor Q2, and the substrate arrival sensor S1 that integrally move up and down. And R4. further,
A substrate holder 102 and a substrate separating cylinder 104 are arranged in the unloader section 20.

As shown in FIG. 11, the board separating cylinder 104 is provided with a pusher 106 having a drive shaft 106a for expanding and contracting in a direction perpendicular to the board surface of the circuit board 12, and a lifting plate 108 is mounted on the drive shaft 106a. It is fixed. Further, the substrate holder 102a provided on the side of the elevating plate 108 ascends together with the elevation of the elevating plate 108. When the board separating cylinder 104 is driven in the unloader unit 20, the elevating plate 108 moves up to move the elevating plate 10 of the circuit board 12.
Lift up the 8 side. Then, the circuit board 12 (similar to FIG. 3) is transported by suspending both sides on the transport belt.
However, it is not in contact with the conveyor belt on the lifting plate 108 side. On the other hand, the side part opposite to the lifting plate 108 side is
The circuit board 12 is pressed by the circuit board presser 102b, and as a result, the circuit board 12 is stopped in place, because the transfer force from the transfer belt is blocked.

In this board transfer device, as shown in FIG. 10, first, when the transferred circuit board L1 is detected by the board detection sensor P1 in the loader section 16, the board stopper R1 is projected upward. The circuit board L1 is stopped. Next, when the subsequent circuit board M is detected by the board detection sensor P2, the board stopper R2 is projected upward to stop the circuit board M1. In order to ensure the carrying / stopping operation, a separate board detecting sensor is provided upstream of the board detecting sensors P1 and P2 in the carrying direction, and when the board detecting sensor detects a circuit board, the carrying speed is controlled to be slow. It may be configured to. In the board fixing portion 18, the above-mentioned fourth
As described in the embodiment, the loaders 16 supply the circuit boards L2 and M2 with a time lag. Here, after confirming the substrate discharge from the loader section 16 by the substrate discharge sensor Q1, the substrate arrival sensor S1
Detects the circuit board L2, the board stoppers R3, R4
Is controlled so that the detection signals from the substrate detection sensors P3 and P4 are output and at the same time, the signals are projected upward. As a result, the circuit boards L2 and M2 can be mounted on the board stoppers R3 and R at once.
4 is stopped and stopped.

Then, the unloader section 20 temporarily stocks the circuit boards L3 and M3 supplied from the board fixing section 18, and controls the carrying operation as described above. That is, the subsequent circuit board M3 is stopped from being conveyed on the conveyor belt of the unloader unit 20, and only the preceding circuit board L3 can be preferentially conveyed. That is, it is possible to change the transfer timing of the circuit boards L3 and M3 suspended on the same transfer belt, and the board separating cylinder 104 preferentially transfers only the previous circuit board L3 among the front and rear circuit boards L3 and M3. You can do it.

According to the substrate carrying apparatus of this embodiment, when a plurality of circuit boards are present on the same carrying belt, the boards (the latter circuit boards) other than the board (the first circuit board L3) to be the carrying target. By floating M3) by the board separating cylinder 104 that is a board floating means, the carrying force from the rail to the circuit board M3 can be interrupted, and only the previous circuit board L3 that is the carrying target can be carried preferentially. It will be possible. With such a configuration, conventionally, the vibration of the conveyor belt and the stopper that occurs when the circuit board M3 that is not to be conveyed is brought into contact with the stopper and is on standby is eliminated.

Next, a substrate transfer device according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention will be described. The present embodiment is the above-mentioned first
The present invention relates to a method of transporting a circuit board that is commonly applicable to the third embodiment. FIG. 12 is an operation explanatory view showing the substrate transfer device according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention in side views (a) and (b). The board transfer device according to this embodiment is the loader unit 16 including the rail 110 similar to the rail 92 of the above-described fourth embodiment, but below the rail 110, the board suction surface parallel to the circuit board surface. A suction block 114, which has an upper surface 112 and which holds the circuit board by suction on the board suction surface 112 and is movable in the board transport direction of the rail 110 by the driving means, is provided.

In this substrate transfer apparatus, as shown in FIG. 12A, for example, when the circuit boards N and O are carried into the loader section 16 and stopped by the substrate stoppers 94 and 95, the lower suction block 114 is moved. The circuit boards N and O are suction-fixed to the board suction surface 112. The suction block 114 is connected to a vacuum pump or the like, and simultaneously sucks and fixes a plurality of circuit boards N and O onto the board suction surface 112 by the suction force of the vacuum pump. The suction block 114 is shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), the circuit boards N and O are suction-fixed and moved from the loader section 16 to the mounting position of the electronic component on the board fixing section 18 and the position of the unloader section 20. The suction block 114 performs a transport operation by any one of driving methods such as ball screw driving, belt driving, and linear motor driving.

According to the board transfer device having the suction block 114, when the plurality of circuit boards N and O are continuously transferred by the rails on the same straight line, first, the loader unit 1 is used.
In FIG. 6, the circuit board N, which is continuous in the front-rear direction, and the circuit board O, which has a width different from that of the circuit board N, are separated by the substrate stoppers 94 and 95 at predetermined intervals. Then, the circuit board N and the circuit board O are simultaneously sucked in the suction block 1 with the circuit board N and O spaced from each other.
After being held by suction on 14 and releasing the substrate stoppers 94, 95, each circuit board N, O together with the suction block 114 is conveyed to the substrate fixing portion 18 and the unloader portion 20. As a result, even when the thin circuit boards are continuously conveyed on the rails, it is possible to reliably prevent the circuit boards from overlapping each other.

Now, a method of correcting the position when mounting the electronic component by the board transfer device of the present embodiment will be described. With respect to the circuit boards N and O that are suction-fixed to the suction block 114 and positioned at the mounting position, the camera provided on the transfer head recognizes the correction marks for alignment provided on the circuit boards N and O, respectively. The position and inclination of each circuit board N, O is corrected. This correction processing is performed by the camera of the transfer head capturing the correction mark, and the controller 36 performing image processing on the captured image. Then, the control unit 36
Positioning correction processing is performed by mark recognition. Further, on the circuit boards N and O, component marks are provided at the respective electronic component mounting points in order to mount the electronic components more reliably.
The control unit 36 images the component mark with the camera of the transfer head, corrects the mounting position, and causes the transfer head to mount the electronic component at a predetermined position on the circuit boards N and O.

In each of the above-described embodiments, the guide rail is described as an example in which the change control is performed based on the width data from the control unit 36 which is stored in advance. A recognition mark indicating the width may be attached to the circuit board, the width data may be obtained by recognizing the recognition mark, and the width of the guide rail may be controlled based on the width data. By performing control based on such detection data, it is possible to surely adjust the rail width according to the width of the circuit board even when a circuit board other than the production plan is loaded.

Next, a substrate transfer device according to the seventh embodiment of the present invention will be described. The present embodiment relates to a circuit board mounting method for synchronously controlling each guide rail with respect to a circuit board mounting machine in which the guide rail is divided and electronic component mounting positions are provided at a plurality of positions. FIG. 13 shows the seventh aspect of the present invention.
FIG. 14 is a plan view of the substrate transfer device according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 14 is a view showing a state in which the guide rails of FIG. 13 are linearly connected. As shown in FIG. 13, the circuit board mounting machine according to the present embodiment has stages 120, 1 having guide rails for loading, setting, and unloading the circuit boards 12, 12 into the facility.
22, a parts feeder 30 for supplying tapped chip-shaped electronic parts, and a tray 124 for SOP and QF.
Parts tray 126 including a tray feeder for accommodating electronic components such as P and arranging required electronic components at the supply position
A component transfer head 130 for arranging electronic components from the parts tray 126 to the shuttle conveyor 128, and a predetermined mounting position for each circuit board 12, 12 by sucking the electronic components from the parts feeder 30 or the shuttle conveyor 128 by a suction nozzle. Transfer head 13 for mounting electronic components on
2,134 and these transfer heads 132,134
XY robots 136 and 13 that move freely on the Y plane
And 8 are provided.

In the above structure, the transfer heads 132, 1
Reference numeral 34 is freely moved on the XY plane by the XY robots 136 and 138 to suck the required electronic components from the parts feeder 30 or the shuttle conveyor 128 to the suction nozzle,
Electronic components are mounted at predetermined positions on the circuit board 12. The suction posture of the electronic component sucked by the suction nozzle is recognized by one of the recognition devices 140 and 142 having a component recognition camera, the posture is corrected, and the electronic component is accurately mounted at a predetermined mounting position on the circuit board 12. . Further, recognition cameras 144 and 146 are mounted on the transfer heads 132 and 134 for alignment with the circuit board 12, respectively.

In this electronic component mounter, the circuit board 12,
When mounting electronic components on 12, the stage 1 in FIG.
20 and 122 are separated from each other and independently
2 and 12 are implemented. That is, after mounting the circuit board 12 on the respective stages 120 and 122, the respective stages 120 and 122 are moved to the vicinity of the parts feeder 30 (state shown in FIG. 13). Then, each transfer head 13
The electronic nozzles are held by suction on 2,134 suction nozzles,
By recognizing the suction posture by the recognition devices 140 and 142,
The electronic component is mounted at a predetermined position on the circuit board while correcting the positional deviation.

Here, in the above structure, the mounting efficiency is improved by mounting the electronic components at two places. However, the size of the circuit board 12 that can be mounted is determined by the size of each of the stages 120 and 122.
The size is limited to the size that can be mounted in each area, and it cannot be transferred to a large circuit board that exceeds the sizes L ₁ and L ₂ of the stages 120 and 122. However, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 14, the guide rails of the stages 120 and 122 of the electronic component mounter are held in parallel and at the same width, and the guide rails are substantially connected to each other, Further, by synchronously controlling the stages 120 and 122, the stages 120 and 122 can be moved integrally in the Y direction. As a result, it is possible to carry in and carry out operations of the large circuit board 13, which is larger than the size of each of the stages 120 and 122, into and out of the apparatus. Further, in this case, components can be mounted on the substrate area that cannot be reached by one of the transfer devices, and the mounting tact can be improved.

[0068]

As described in detail above, according to the board transfer method of the component mounter and the board transfer apparatus of the present invention, at least one of the loader section, the board fixing section, and the unloader section can be provided. Since a plurality of pairs of parallel rails for transporting the substrate are arranged and the width between the rails of each rail pair is changed, even if substrates of different widths are transported and the substrate width changes during the substrate transport. The boards of different widths can be simultaneously transported, and the production can be continued without changing the model. As a result, the productivity of high-mix low-volume production can be improved, and since multiple substrates can be transported without switching models, transport time loss can be eliminated.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an electronic component mounting machine provided with a substrate transfer device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a control block diagram of an electronic component mounting apparatus.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a method of fixing the circuit board on the transport rail shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory view of the substrate transfer device shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing a substrate transfer apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention in a plan view (a) and a side view (b).

6 is a perspective view showing a guide rail in the board fixing portion of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a configuration diagram showing a substrate transfer device according to a third embodiment of the present invention in plan views (a) to (c).

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a part of the guide rail.

FIG. 9 is an operation explanatory diagram showing the substrate transfer method according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention in plan views (a) to (d).

FIG. 10 is a configuration diagram showing a substrate transfer device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention in a plan view.

11 is an enlarged side view of a main part of FIG.

FIG. 12 is an operation explanatory view showing the substrate transfer device according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention in side views (a) and (b).

FIG. 13 is a plan view of a substrate transfer device according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a state in which the guide rails of FIG. 12 are linearly connected.

FIG. 15 is a schematic configuration diagram of an electronic component mounting machine provided with a conventional substrate transfer device.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory diagram showing a boarding situation of a substrate in a conventional substrate transfer device.

[Explanation of symbols]

12 substrates 14 Guide rail 16 Loader section 18 PCB fixing part 20 Unloader section 50 rail body 52 Rail width changing means 60 Upper rail 61 Middle rail 62 Lower rail 80, 81, 82, 83 rails 94,95,96,98 Substrate stopper 104 Substrate separation cylinder (substrate floating means) 100 electronic component mounter 112 Substrate suction surface 114 adsorption block

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Satoshi Uchiyama             1006 Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric             Sangyo Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kazuo Kido             1006 Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric             Sangyo Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Koji Kodera             1006 Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric             Sangyo Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 3C030 DA01 DA23                 5E313 AA11 DD05 DD12 DD13 FG08

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A board transfer method for a component mounter, which transfers a board received by a loader section to a board fixing section, mounts a component on the board by the board fixing section, and then transfers the board to an unloader section. At least one of the loader section, the board fixing section, and the unloader section is provided with a plurality of pairs of parallel rails for transporting the board, and between the rails of each rail pair. The method of carrying a board of a component mounting machine, wherein the boards of different widths are simultaneously carried by changing the widths of the boards. 2. When transporting a plurality of the substrates between the pair of rails, of the preceding and succeeding preceding and succeeding substrates, the preceding substrate is conveyed by the rail and then predetermined 2. The board transfer method for a component mounter according to claim 1, wherein the subsequent board is transferred after a lapse of time, and a space having a predetermined length is formed between the previous board and the subsequent board. 3. When transporting the plurality of substrates between the pair of rails, the plurality of substrates are suction-held together in a suction block, and the plurality of substrates are transported together with the suction block. The board transfer method of the component mounter according to claim 1. 4. A board transfer device of a component mounting machine, which transfers a board received by a loader section to a board fixing section, mounts components on the board by the board fixing section, and then transfers the board to an unloader section. And a plurality of pairs of parallel rails that are arranged in at least one of the loader section, the board fixing section, and the unloader section to convey the board, and the rail pairs by moving the rails in parallel. And a rail width changing means for changing the width between the two. 5. The board transfer device for a component mounter according to claim 4, wherein the parallel rails are composed of a plurality of rail bodies divided in a transfer direction of the board. 6. The board transfer device for a component mounter according to claim 4, wherein the parallel rails are rails arranged in multiple stages in a vertical direction perpendicular to the surface of the board. 7. The board transfer of a component mounter according to claim 4, wherein the parallel rails are rails arranged in plural in parallel with the board surface in a direction orthogonal to a transfer direction of the board. apparatus. 8. A board levitation means for lifting one side of the board from the rail with respect to the board having both ends supported by the rail and carrying the board, and interrupting a carrying force from the rail to the board. The board transfer device for a component mounter according to claim 4, wherein the board transfer device is attached in the middle of the rail. 9. A circuit board suction surface parallel to the circuit board surface of the circuit board is provided below the rail pair, and the circuit board is suction-held by the circuit board suction surface in the board transfer direction of the rail pair. The board transfer device for a component mounter according to claim 4, further comprising a suction block disposed so as to be movable.