Abstract:
A method and system identify an orientation of a part to be packaged by a tape and reel machine. The method includes identifying a packing slot of the tape and reel machine. The method includes identifying the orientation of the part in the packing slot. The method includes determining whether the orientation of the part in the packing slot matches a predetermined orientation for the part. Additionally, the method includes generating an alert in response to determining that the orientation of the part does not match the predetermined orientation of the part.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) AND CLAIM OF PRIORITY 
       [0001]    The present application is related to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/521,277, filed Aug. 8, 2011, entitled “Tape and Reel Orientation System”. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/521,277 is assigned to the assignee of the present application and is hereby incorporated by reference into the present application as if fully set forth herein. The present application hereby claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/521,277. 
     
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0002]    The present disclosure is generally related to tape and reel machines, and more specifically, managing orientation of components within a tape and reel machine. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    Tape and reel machines are utilized to prepare components for use in a variety of applications. These machines depend on the accurate placement of the component. The failure of the proper placement of the component into a tape to reel machine can create significant problems. In order to overcome these problems, systems and methods are needed to ensure that components placed into a tape and reel machine are properly oriented. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0004]    A method and system identify an orientation of a part to be packaged by a tape and reel machine. 
         [0005]    In various embodiments, a method includes identifying a packing slot of the tape and reel machine. The method includes identifying the orientation of the part in the packing slot. The method includes determining whether the orientation of the part in the packing slot matches a predetermined orientation for the part. Additionally, the method includes generating an alert in response to determining that the orientation of the part does not match the predetermined orientation of the part. 
         [0006]    In various embodiments, a system includes a tape and reel machine, a packing slot operatively connected to the tape and reel machine; and a verification device operationally proximate to the packing slot. The verification device is configured to identify the orientation of the part in the packing slot, determine whether the orientation of the part in the packing slot matches a predetermined orientation for the part, and generate an alert in response to determining that the orientation of the part does not match the predetermined orientation of the part. 
         [0007]    In other embodiments, a method of visually verifying an orientation of a part to be packaged using a tape and reel machine is provided. The method includes receiving an image of the part in a packing slot. The method includes comparing the received image with a second image of a second part with a correct orientation to determine whether the orientation of the part in the packing slot is correct. Additionally, the method includes generating an alert in response to determining that the orientation of the part does not match the correct orientation. 
         [0008]    Before undertaking the DETAILED DESCRIPTION below, it may be advantageous to set forth definitions of certain words and phrases used throughout this patent document: the terms “include” and “comprise,” as well as derivatives thereof, mean inclusion without limitation; the term “or,” is inclusive, meaning and/or; the phrases “associated with” and “associated therewith,” as well as derivatives thereof, may mean to include, be included within, interconnect with, contain, be contained within, connect to or with, couple to or with, be communicable with, cooperate with, interleave, juxtapose, be proximate to, be bound to or with, have, have a property of, or the like; and the term “controller” means any device, system or part thereof that controls at least one operation, such a device may be implemented in hardware, firmware or software, or some combination of at least two of the same. It should be noted that the functionality associated with any particular controller may be centralized or distributed, whether locally or remotely. Definitions for certain words and phrases are provided throughout this patent document, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that in many, if not most instances, such definitions apply to prior, as well as future uses of such defined words and phrases. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]    For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure and the advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following brief description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and detailed description, wherein like reference numerals represent like parts: 
           [0010]      FIG. 1  illustrates tape and reel orientation system according to various embodiments of the present disclosure; 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  illustrates a block diagram of a system in which various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented; 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  illustrates an example of a wiring diagram connecting a verification device to a tape and reel machine according to various embodiments of the present disclosure; 
           [0013]      FIG. 4  illustrates a process of detecting whether there is an orientation error using an image according to various embodiments of the present disclosure; and 
           [0014]      FIG. 5  illustrates a block diagram of a data processing system that may be used in implementing various embodiments of the present disclosure. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0015]      FIGS. 1 through 5 , discussed below, and the various embodiments used to describe the principles of the present invention in this patent document are by way of illustration only and should not be construed in any way to limit the scope of the invention. Those skilled in the art will understand that the principles of the invention may be implemented in any type of suitably arranged device or system. 
         [0016]      FIG. 1  illustrates a tape and reel orientation tape and reel orientation system  100  according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. In this illustrative embodiment, the tape and reel orientation tape and reel orientation system  100  includes a tape and reel machine  101  and a verification device  104 . During operation of the tape and reel machine  101 , a part  108  is placed into a packing slot  106  and secured by tape  102 . The verification device  104  ensures that the orientation of the part  108  placed into the packing slot  106  is correct prior to the attaching of the tape  102 . It is expressly understood that  FIG. 1  illustrates a plurality of placing slots and parts, and that the designation of the part  108  and the packing slot  106  is for the purpose of clarity. 
         [0017]    As will be described in more detail herein, the verification device  104  may be embodied as a scanner, an optical camera, a barcode reader, a charge detection device, a radio frequency identification (RFID) scanner, or any other device capable of determining the presence and/or orientation of the part  108  within the packing slot  106 . The verification device  104  is positioned such that it is in operational proximity with the part  108  such that the verification device  104  is effective in determining the orientation of the part  108  based upon the embodiment of the verification device  104 . 
         [0018]    As will be appreciated, parts (such as part  108 ) may be placed in packing slots by humans or mechanical devices. One problem is that orientation of the part placed into the packing slot may be incorrect. Therefore, prior to securing the part in the packing slot  106  with the tape  102 , verification device  104  may be used to determine if the proper part is in the packing slot  106  and/or the part is in the proper orientation. 
         [0019]    The verification device  104 , when embodied as a scanner, may use electrical or optical scanning to locate a specific point or area on the part  108  within the packing slot  106 . If the point or area on the part  108  within the packing slot  106  does not correspond to a known point or area, the part  108  may be incorrectly orientated within the packing slot  106 . 
         [0020]    The verification device  104 , when embodied as an optical camera, may generate an image of the part  108  within the packing slot  106  and compare the image with an image of the part in the proper orientation using an image recognition technique. This image recognition technique may compare the image of a part (in a known and correct orientation) with the part presently in the tape and reel machine. If comparison does not indicate a match with the correct orientation, the verification device  104  may indicate a failure of orientation. 
         [0021]    The verification device  104 , when embodied as a barcode reader, may use an optical beam to read a barcode affixed to the part  108  within the packing slot  106 . If the barcode does not correspond to a known barcode, the part  108  may be incorrectly orientated within the packing slot  106 . It is further understood that the verification device  104  may, in some embodiments, be designed to have a threshold for readability of a particular barcode. Therefore, a barcode may be read and determined to be within a particular quality threshold to be correct. Not only may the presence of the barcode be examined, but also the quality of the print on the barcode. This quality of print may also be determined by any of the other various methods of the implementation of the verification device  104  as described herein, including charge systems particularly when the label includes a conductive material on the face of the part  108 . 
         [0022]    The verification device  104 , when embodied as a charge detection device, may create a charge and detect the presence of a particular segment of conductive material on the part  108  within the packing slot  106 . The failure of the charge detection device to locate a particular charge in the packing slot  106  may indicate a failure of the presence or correct orientation of the part  108 . In addition, the use of the charge detection device may further enable a level of quality assurance of the part  108 , as the absence of a particular element within the part  108  may indicate a faulty element. 
         [0023]    The verification device  104  may also include a plurality of such devices, or a combination of such devices (as described previously) to provide multiple checks on the proper orientation and presence of the part  108  within the tape and reel orientation system  100 . It will be understood that other embodiments of the verification device  104  may be used with the present disclosure and the examples offered herein are intended for exemplary purposes only and are not intended to be limiting. 
         [0024]    Verification device  104  may be coupled to a warning light, a visual indicator, a computer device, an audio warning, or another device capable of transmitting an error signal indicating a problem with the orientation of the part  108  within the packing slot  106  to an operator of the tape and reel orientation system  100 . It is expressly understood that the verification device  104  may further automatically stop the tape and reel orientation system  100  from proceeding further and interrupt the tape and reel orientation system  100  from sealing the part  108  using the tape  102 . 
         [0025]      FIG. 2  illustrates a block diagram of a system  200  in which various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. The system  200  includes a verification device  202  (e.g., verification device  104 ) coupled to a backend validation device  208 , a tape and reel machine  204  (e.g., tape and reel machine  101 ) and a manual advance controller  206 . The verification device  202  and the backend validation device  208  may be coupled to an external system  210 . 
         [0026]    In some embodiments, the verification device  202  is positioned such that the verification device  202  can determine whether the part  108  is placed with the correct orientation into the packing slot  106 . During operation of the tape and reel machine  204 , the verification device  202  may detect a problem with the orientation or presence of the part  108  within the packing slot  106 . In the event of such a problem, the verification device  202  may send a signal to the tape and reel machine  204  to prevent the part  108  in the packing slot  106  from being sealed with the tape  102 . 
         [0027]    The detection of an incorrect orientation or other problem by the validation device  202  may further include the use of a backend validation device  208 . The backend validation device  208  may include one or more databases storing information relating to the image(s) of the part  108 , the barcode of the part  108 , or other suitable information useful for determining proper orientation and/or presence of the part. 
         [0028]    It is understood that the backend validation device  208  and the verification device  202  may include communications capabilities enabling the verification device  202  or the backend validation device  208  to report a potential problem with the orientation or presence of the part  108  to another system. External system  210  may further receive information from either or both of the backend validation device  208  and verification device  202  which may be used for any purpose, including record keeping and quality analysis. The external system  210  may further be used to track inventory and available parts used in conjunction with the tape and reel machine  204 . 
         [0029]      FIG. 3  illustrates an example of a wiring diagram  300  connecting a verification device to a tape and reel machine according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. The wiring diagram  300  illustrates one method of communicatively coupling the tape and reel machine  204  to the verification device  202 . The tape and reel machine  204  includes an input/output port  304  while the verification device  202  includes an input/output port  302 . For purposes of clarity and by the way of non-limiting example, the port  304  may be connected via a cable to the port  302 . 
         [0030]    The ports  302 ,  304  may be serial and/or parallel ports. One example of a serial port may be an RS232 port (as specified by Electronic Industries Association, published as “EIA232E—Interface Between Data Terminal Equipment and Data Circuit-Terminating Equipment Employing Serial Binary Data Interchange” in a standard publication which is hereby incorporated by reference). Any suitable standard (or non-standard) port(s) and communication protocol(s) may be utilized. 
         [0031]    It is also further contemplated that there may be an operational tool  306  (represented as a switch), such as a foot petal, a mechanical switch, a button, or other input, that may be implemented in the manual advance controller  206 . The operational tool  306  may be used to restart the reel and tape machine  204  in the event of an interruption of service. It is expressly understood that a relay  308  may also be positioned between the port  302  and the port  304 . The wiring diagram of  FIG. 3  illustrates a single direct connection between the port  304  and the port  302 , while there is a second connection between the port  304  and the port  302  through relay  308  which may be triggered by the operational tool  306 . One advantage of this arrangement is that in the event of a failure detected by the verification device  302 , the operational tool  306  may be used to restart the tape and reel machine  204 . 
         [0032]      FIG. 4  illustrates a process  400  of detecting whether there is an orientation error using an image according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the process  400  may be performed by the verification device  202 , the backend validation device  208  and/or external system  210  to detect an orientation and/or presence of the part  108  in the packing slot  106 . 
         [0033]    In block  402 , an image of the part  108  in the packing slot  106  is generated by the verification device  204  prior to the part  108  being sealed in the slot  106  by the tape  102 . In block  404 , the generated image is compared against one or more stored images, referred to as the known image(s). The known image(s) are images of the part in the correct orientation. The known image(s) may be stored in the verification device  202 , backend validation device  208  or the external system  210 . 
         [0034]    In block  406 , a determination is made by at least one of the verification device  202 , the backend validation device  208 , or the external system  210 , whether the orientation (or presence) of the part  108  in the packing slot  106  matches the known and stored image(s). If the images match, the part  108  is determined to be in the proper orientation. Then in block  408 , the tape and reel machine  204  continues processing to a next part, and the process  400  is repeated for the next part. 
         [0035]    If, however, at block  406  the images do not match, the part  108  is determined to not be in the correct orientation, and in block  410 , the tape and reel machine  204  is stopped and a user is alerted to this fact. Upon correction of the orientation and/or placement of the correct part  108  in the packing slot  106 , the manual advance controller  206  may restart the tape and reel machine  204  to continue processing the replaced and/or reoriented part  108 . 
         [0036]    In other embodiments, instead of or in addition to determination of orientation, the verification device  202 , the backend validation device  208  and/or external system  210  may determine presence or absence of the correct part  108  in the packing slot  106 . The verification device  202 , the backend validation device  208  and external system  210  described above may be implemented on one or more computer systems (e.g., data processing system  500 ) with sufficient processing power, memory resources, and network throughput capability to handle the necessary functions described herein. 
         [0037]      FIG. 5  illustrates a block diagram of a data processing system  500  that may be used in implementing various embodiments of the present disclosure. The computer system  500  includes a processor  502 , which may be referred to as a central processor unit or CPU, that is in communication with memory devices including secondary storage  508 , read only memory (ROM)  510 , random access memory (RAM)  512 , input/output (I/O) device  506 , and network devices  504 . The processor  502  may be implemented as one or more CPU chips. 
         [0038]    The secondary storage  508  typically includes one or more disk drives or tape drives and is used for non-volatile storage of data and as an over-flow data storage device if RAM  512  is not large enough to hold all working data. Secondary storage  508  may be used to store programs that are loaded into RAM  512  when such programs are selected for execution. The ROM  510  is used to store instructions and perhaps data that are read during program execution. ROM  510  is a non-volatile memory device that typically has a small memory capacity relative to the larger memory capacity of secondary storage. The RAM  512  is used to store volatile data and perhaps to store instructions. Access to both ROM  510  and RAM  512  is typically faster than to secondary storage  508 . 
         [0039]    I/O devices  506  may include printers, video monitors, liquid crystal displays (LCDs), touch screen displays, keyboards, keypads, switches, dials, mice, track balls, voice recognizers, card readers, paper tape readers, or other well-known input devices. The network connectivity devices  504  may take the form of modems, modem banks, Ethernet cards, universal serial bus (USB) interface cards, serial interfaces, token ring cards, fiber distributed data interface (FDDI) cards, wireless local area network (WLAN) cards, radio transceiver cards such as code division multiple access (CDMA) and/or global system for mobile communications (GSM) radio transceiver cards, and other well-known network devices. These network devices  504  may enable the processor  502  to communicate with an Internet or one or more intranets. With such a network connection, it is contemplated that the processor  502  might receive information from the network, or might output information to the network in the course of performing the above-described processes. 
         [0040]    The processor  502  executes instructions, codes, computer programs, scripts that it accesses from hard disk, floppy disk, optical disk (these various disk based systems may all be considered secondary storage  508 ), ROM  510 , RAM  512 , or the network devices  504 . 
         [0041]    While several embodiments have been provided in the present disclosure, it should be understood that the disclosed systems and methods might be embodied in many other specific forms without departing from the spirit or scope of the present disclosure. The present examples are to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive, and the intention is not to be limited to the details given herein. For example, the various elements or components may be combined or integrated in another system or certain features may be omitted, or not implemented. 
         [0042]    Also, techniques, systems, subsystems and methods described and illustrated in the various embodiments as discrete or separate may be combined or integrated with other systems, modules, techniques, or methods without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Other products shown or discussed as directly coupled or communicating with each other may be coupled through some interface or device, such that the products may no longer be considered directly coupled to each other but may still be indirectly coupled and in communication, whether electrically, mechanically, or otherwise with one another. Other examples of changes, substitutions, and alterations are ascertainable by one skilled in the art and could be made without departing from the spirit and scope disclosed herein. 
         [0043]    It should be understood that although an exemplary implementation of one embodiment of the present disclosure is illustrated above, the present system may be implemented using any number of techniques, whether currently known or in existence. The present disclosure should in no way be limited to the exemplary implementations, drawings, and techniques illustrated above, including the exemplary design and implementation illustrated and described herein, but may be modified within the scope of the appended claims along with their full scope of equivalents.