JP2682505B2 - Positioning mechanism for circuit board transfer system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mechanism for positioning a circuit board at a predetermined position in a circuit board transfer system applied to a circuit board inspection apparatus or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a printed circuit board inspection device,
A mechanism is provided to position the conveyed printed circuit board at a predetermined position. This mechanism is roughly classified into two types, a pin fixing type and an outer shape fixing type. An example of the pin fixing type positioning mechanism is shown in FIG. 52 is a guide,
Reference numeral 53 denotes a belt, and the guide 52 and the belt 53
Extends in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. Belt 53 of 5
3a shows a forward side and 53b shows a backward side, and a printed circuit board (hereinafter simply referred to as a board) 51 is provided on the forward side belt 53a.
The side edge portion 51a of the substrate is placed, and the substrate 51 is conveyed in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. The substrate 51 is the guide surface 5 of the guide 52.
Guided by 2a.

The substrate 51 is positioned by inserting a pin 54 into the pin hole 51b. The pin 54 is attached to an arm 55, and the arm 55 is rotatable about a shaft 56. In the pin fixing type positioning mechanism, it is necessary to provide a pin hole in the substrate, and when the pin hole is not provided in the substrate, the external shape fixing type positioning mechanism is applied. Although not shown, this fixed-shape positioning mechanism is for positioning the board by pressing a jig onto one side or two adjacent sides of the board.

[0004]

In the above-mentioned fixed outer shape type positioning mechanism, since the jig is brought into contact with the substrate, the belt and the guide become obstacles to the jig. As one means for solving this problem, a pusher or puller is used to convey the substrates before and after the positioning mechanism, instead of using a belt. However, the conveyance of a substrate using a pusher or a puller has a problem that the mechanism and its handling are more complicated than the conveyance of a substrate using a belt in the whole process.

On the other hand, as another means, a belt is used to convey the substrate during the entire process, but the belt is escaped at the positioning mechanism. However, also in this case, there is a problem that an escape mechanism for letting out the belt is required, and the conveying system becomes complicated.
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a mechanism capable of positioning a substrate by an outer shape fixing method without complicating a conveyance system using a belt.

[0006]

In order to solve the above problems, a positioning mechanism for a circuit board carrying system according to the present invention comprises a belt for carrying a circuit board and a belt extending along the belt and carried by the belt. And a pair of guides for guiding the circuit board, wherein at least one of the guides is capable of projecting toward the guide on the opposite side, and is even and parallel to the carrying direction of the circuit board. A positioning member having a positioning surface made of a flat surface, and a drive mechanism for driving the positioning member to project. The positioning surface of the positioning member is aligned with the guide surface of the guide during transportation, and the positioning surface is positioned during positioning. The circuit board is characterized in that it projects from the guide surface and comes into pressure contact with the side edge portion of the circuit board to position the circuit board.

In the positioning mechanism of the circuit board carrying system of the present invention, the positioning member, which is a part of the guide, acts as a jig, and the belt does not become an obstacle to the operation of the positioning member. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide an escape mechanism for the belt, and the circuit board can be conveyed by the entire travel belt.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6. First, a circuit board transfer system will be described with reference to FIGS.
This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a plan view of the substrate transfer system, and FIG. 6 is a front view of the guide. This substrate transfer system is composed of a pair of guides 10R and 10L, and the interval between the guides 10R and 10L is adjusted in advance to the width of the substrate to be transferred.

The guides 10R and 10L are composed of a base 11, a guide rail 12, a belt 13, a pulley 14 and the like. Explaining the guide 10R, the guide rail 12 has a guide surface 12a and a belt support portion 12b. On the other hand, the belt 13 includes pulleys 14,
The belt 13a on the forward side has been hung over 14
Are supported on the belt support portion 12b, and the backward belt 13b passes below the belt support portion 12b. The backward belt 13b is wound around a drive pulley 15, and the drive pulley 15 is rotationally driven by a motor 16. Although the guide 10L has almost the same structure, the motor of the guide 10L is omitted in FIG.

The guide 10R has a positioning mechanism section 20. The details of the positioning mechanism section 20 will be described below.
The description will be made with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. Reference numeral 21 is a cylinder block, which is fixed to the base 11 (see FIGS. 1, 3, and 4). A cylinder 21a is formed in the center of the cylinder block 21, and the cylinder 21a opens toward the guide rail 12 (hereinafter referred to as the front). A piston 22 is housed in the cylinder 21a, and an opening of the cylinder 21a is closed by a cover plate 23 attached with screws 25, 25. The cover plate 23 has an insertion hole 23a.
The rod 22a of the piston 22 projects forward from 3a. A connector unit 24 is attached to the cylinder block 21 (omitted in FIG. 4), and compressed air is sent into the cylinder 21a through the connector unit 24. Reference numeral 24a is a connector for this compressed air, and 24b is a speed controller for adjusting the speed of the piston 22.

Insertion holes 21b, 21b are formed at both ends of the cylinder block 21. These insertion holes 21
Rods 26 and 26 are axially movably inserted into the b and 21b from the rear. The rods 26, 26 are attached to the rear plate 29 by nuts 27, 27, respectively. Coil springs 28, 28 are mounted on the rods 26, 26. The coil springs 28 are interposed between the rear surface of the cylinder block 21 and the front surface of the rear plate 29, so that the rear plate 29 is attached to the rear of the cylinder block 21. It will be energized. The cutout portion 29a of the rear plate 29 is provided to project the connector unit 24 rearward.

An upper plate 31 is attached to the upper front surface of the rear plate 29 with screws 30 and 30. The screw 30 is inserted through the insertion hole 29b of the rear plate 29 to form the female screw hole 3 of the upper plate 31.
It is screwed into 1b. The upper plate 31 is also formed with a notch 31a so that the connector unit 24 does not hit. Bearing mounting plates 33, 33 are attached to the side surfaces of the upper plate 31 with screws 32 ,. 31
c and 31c are female screw holes into which these screws 32, ..., 32 are screwed (see FIG. 4). Roller bearings 34, 34 are rotatably attached to the lower end of the bearing attachment plate 33, and a small plate 35 attached on the base 11
It is configured to be able to roll on 35.

A step portion 31d is provided in the front portion of the upper plate 31, and a groove hole 31e and female screw holes 31f, ..., 31f are formed in the step portion 31d. An upper support plate 36 is provided on the upper surface of the step portion 31d, and a lower support plate 37 is provided on the lower surface of the step portion 31d.
Are fixed by screws 38, ..., 38, respectively. These screws 38 are inserted into the insertion holes 36b or 37b and screwed into the female screw holes 31f. Further, the upper support plate 36 and the lower support plate 37 are provided with notches 36a for inserting a key described later,
37a are formed.

A positioning plate 39 is sandwiched between the upper support plate 36 and the lower support plate 37. The positioning plate 39 is formed with slots 39a, 39a extending in the front-rear direction. Pins 37c projectingly provided on the lower support plate 37 are inserted into the slots 39a, 39a, and the positioning plate 39 serves as the upper support plate 36,
It is configured so that it can move a small distance in the front-back direction with respect to the lower support plate 37. On the rear surface of the positioning plate 39, the leaf spring storage portion 39 is provided.
b is provided and the leaf spring 40 is accommodated. This leaf spring 4
0 contacts the front surface of the upper plate 31, and biases the positioning plate 39 forward.

The front end surface of the positioning plate 39 is a positioning surface 39c which is a uniform surface parallel to the side surface of the substrate 1. The positioning surface 39c is located at the cutout portion 12c of the guide 12 and is a guide surface during transportation. Same as 12a. Positioning surface 3
Substrate guiding portion 39d is obliquely cut and formed on 9c. Reference numeral 41 is a key, and the notch 36a and the slot 31
e, it is inserted into the notch 37a. With this key 41,
The movement of the piston rod 22a is transmitted to the rear plate 29, the upper plate 31, the upper and lower support plates 36, 37 and the like. Further, since the key 41 contacts the front surface of the cover plate 23, the rear plate 29 and the like are prevented from dropping behind the cylinder block 21.
Conversely speaking, by removing the key 41, the rear plate 29
Etc. can be detached to the rear and easily disassembled.

A detection plate 42 is attached to the upper plate 31. The movement of the tip 42a of the detection plate 42 is detected by the photo sensor 4
3, it is possible to electrically detect whether or not the positioning plate 39 is in the positioning state. Next, the operation of the embodiment positioning mechanism will be described. In FIG. 5, the substrate 1 is conveyed from right to left in the drawing. When the substrate 1 is being transported, the rear plate 29, the upper plate 31,
The upper and lower support plates 36, 37 are in a retracted state. At this time, the positioning surface 39c of the positioning plate 39 is aligned with the guide surface 12a and guides the side edge portion 1a of the substrate 1. The board guiding portion 39d has a function of guiding the board 1 smoothly so that the board 1 does not stop when the corner 1b of the board 1 moves from the guide surface 12a to the positioning surface 39c and the corner 1b contacts the side surface 39e of the positioning plate 39. doing.

When the substrate 1 reaches a predetermined position, compressed air is sent to the cylinder 21a and the piston 22 moves forward [see (b) of FIG. 1]. At this time, the key 41 is pushed by the piston rod 22a, and the rear plate 29, the upper plate 31, and the upper and lower support plates 36, 37 are integrally moved forward. Initially, the positioning plate 39 also projects forward with the movement of the upper and lower support plates 36, 37, and the positioning surface 39c has the board side edge portion 1a.
Contact After that, even if the upper and lower support plates 36 and 37 move forward, the leaf spring 40 is elastically deformed, and the positioning plate 39
Does not move from that position. The positioning surface 39c is pressed against the substrate side edge portion 1a by the compressive force of the leaf spring 40, and the substrate 1
Are positioned by being sandwiched between the positioning surface 39c and the guide surface 12a of the guide 10L. By using the leaf spring 40, the force applied to the piston 22 is not directly transmitted to the positioning plate 39, a large force is applied to the substrate 1, and the substrate 1 is prevented from being damaged (in particular, the substrate is made of ceramic). If). Further, since the positioning surface 39c is a uniform surface, even if it is a thin plate such as the substrate 1, the substrate 1 is positioned with its wide uniform surface without bending or damaging the substrate 1. Can be fixed.

When releasing the positioning, if the compressed air is shut off, the rear plate 29, the upper plate 31, and the upper and lower support plates 36, 37 are integrally retracted by the urging force of the coil springs 28, 28 [FIG. 1]. (A)]. At this time, the piston 22
Is also pushed by the key 41 to return, and the positioning plate 3
9 also moves backward until its positioning surface 39c is aligned with the guide surface 12a. When releasing, the positioning surface 39c
Is a uniform surface, the substrate 1 can be smoothly transported as a guide as with the guide surface 12a.

The bearing mounting plate 33 and the roller bearing 34 support the upper plate 31 in the vertical direction when the upper plate 31 and the like move forward and backward, and the clearance between the lower surface of the positioning plate 39 and the belt 13a is set to a predetermined value. Hold on. Upper plate 31,
Regarding the upper and lower support plates 36, 37 and the positioning plate 39, only the rear end portion of the upper plate 31 is fixed to the rear plate 29 among them, so that the positioning plate 39 may be lowered by its own weight. is there. On the other hand, if there is no clearance between the lower surface of the positioning plate 39 and the belt 13a, the belt 13a rubs against the positioning plate 39, which is not preferable. However, this clearance cannot be positioned unless the clearance is smaller than the thickness of the board 1. For example, some ceramic substrates have a very thin thickness of about 0.3 mm, so the above clearance is 0.3 mm.
Must be strictly controlled with a smaller value. Therefore, in order to manage this clearance, the bearing mounting plate 33 and the roller bearing 34 are used.

In the positioning mechanism portion 20 of this embodiment, unless compressed air is sent, the positioning surface 3 of the positioning plate 39
9c only has a function as the guide surface 12a. Therefore, for example, the pins 54, the arms 55, the shafts 56, and the like as shown in FIG. 7 may be provided side by side, and either the external shape fixing method or the pin fixing method may be selected to position the substrate. When selecting the pin fixing method, it is necessary to provide a member (not shown) for pressing the substrate so that the substrate does not float upward when the pin is inserted into the pin hole of the substrate.

[0021]

As described above, the positioning mechanism of the circuit board carrying system of the present invention is capable of projecting toward the guide on the opposite side to at least one of the guides, and is parallel and uniform in the carrying direction of the circuit board. A positioning member having a positioning surface made of a flat surface and a drive mechanism for driving the positioning member to project, and the positioning surface of the positioning member is aligned with the guide surface of the guide during transportation, and when positioning,
Since this positioning surface projects from the guide surface and positions the circuit board by pressing against the side edge of the circuit board, positioning can be performed without providing an escape mechanism, and the entire circuit board can be transported. It has the advantage that it can be done with a travel belt.

Further, since the positioning surface of the positioning member is a uniform surface parallel to the side surface of the circuit board, even if the board is a thin plate, the board is not bent or damaged. This has the advantage that the circuit board can be positioned and fixed on a wide uniform surface. Further, since the positioning surface is a uniform surface, when the positioning is released, the circuit board can be smoothly transported as a guide, like the guide surface of the guide.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1A and 1B are a vertical cross-sectional view (a) when a positioning mechanism of a circuit board transfer system according to the present invention is being carried, and a vertical cross-sectional view (b) when it is positioning.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a part of the positioning mechanism in a cutaway manner.

FIG. 3 is a rear view showing a part of the positioning mechanism in a cutaway manner.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the positioning mechanism.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a circuit board transfer system including the positioning mechanism.

FIG. 6 is a front view of a guide of the circuit board transport system.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a positioning mechanism of a conventional circuit board transport system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Circuit Board 10R, 10L Guide 12a Guide Surface 13, 13a, 13b Belt 21 Cylinder Block 22 Piston 39 Positioning Plate 39c Positioning Surface

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A circuit board carrying system comprising a belt for carrying a circuit board and a pair of guides extending along the belt for guiding the circuit board carried by the belt, wherein at least one of the guides is provided. On the other hand, a positioning member that has a positioning surface that is capable of protruding toward the guide on the opposite side and that is parallel to the conveyance direction of the circuit board and has a uniform surface,
A driving mechanism for driving the positioning member to project, and the positioning surface of the positioning member is aligned with the guide surface of the guide at the time of conveyance, and the positioning surface projects from the guide surface at the time of positioning, and is positioned on the side edge portion of the circuit board. A positioning mechanism for a circuit board transfer system, which positions the circuit board by pressing.