Abstract:
A printed board drilling method and a printed board machining apparatus capable of improving machining quality, such as improving positional accuracy of holes and true roundness of machined holes, and improving work efficiency by minimizing a runout of the tip of a drill. An extension of the drill extending out of a spindle when the drill is held by the spindle is defined in advance per type or mode of use of each drill. One drill is selected among a plurality of drills corresponding to a shape of holes to be drilled in the printed board and the spindle holds the drill so that the selected drill extends out of the spindle by the extension corresponding to the selected drill. Then, the move of the spindle with respect to the printed board is controlled and the selected drill is rotationally driven by the spindle to drill the printed board.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to a printed board drilling method and a printed board machining apparatus for machining holes in a printed board by using drills. 
   2. Description of Related Art 
   The size of holes drilled in a printed board are required to be highly accurate in the depth direction. Japanese Patent No. 2559788 discloses a machining apparatus that calculates a distance between a head of a pressure foot and the tip of a tool in advance of machining and controls a feed distance of a spindle head based on that distance. This technology will be explained below. 
     FIG. 5  is a front section view of a main part of the conventional printed board machining apparatus. 
   As shown in  FIG. 5 , a printed board  1  is fixed on a table  2 . A ring  4  is attached around a drill  3 . The drill  3  is rotatably held by a spindle  6  through an intermediary of a collet  5 . An edge of the collet  5  forms one and same plane with a head of the spindle  6 . A spindle head  7  supports the spindle  6  as well as a pair of air cylinders  8 . The spindle head  7  is movable in the vertical direction in  FIG. 5  by means of a servo motor  9 . The height of the head of the spindle  6  from the surface of the table  2  is known in advance. 
   A pressure foot  10  is supported by rods of the air cylinders  8  and is urged downward in  FIG. 5  by the air cylinders  8 . First detecting means  11  disposed between the spindle head  7  and the pressure foot  10  detects a relative movement (distance) between the spindle head  7  and the pressure foot  10 . 
   Second detecting means  12  fixed on the table  2  detects the position of the tip (edge) of the drill  3  (from the surface of the table  2 , subtracting a length l 1  from the surface of the table  2  when the surface of the second detecting means  12  protrudes by the length l 1 ). The first detecting means  11  and the second detecting means  12  are connected with a calculating circuit  13 . A control circuit  14  is connected with the first detecting means  11  and the calculating circuit  13  and controls the servo motor  9 . 
   Next, operations of the conventional printed board machining apparatus will be explained. 
   In replacing the drills, the control unit  14  positions a new drill  3  above the second detecting means  12  and lowers the spindle head  7  by a distance defined in advance. 
   The spindle head  7  continuously descends even after when the head of the pressure foot  10  abuts against the second detecting means  12  and stops to move. The first detecting means  11  detects the relative movement between the spindle head  7  and the pressure foot  10 . When the spindle head  7  stops after descending by a predetermined distance, the second detecting means  12  detects the position where the tip of the drill  3  has reached, i.e., the height of the tip of the drill  3  from the surface of the table  2 . 
   The control unit  14  calculates a distance  12  from the tip of the drill  3  to the head of the pressure foot  10  from a difference between the relative movement of the spindle head  7  and the pressure foot  10  and the position where the drill  3  has reached. Then, the control unit  14  adds a machining depth  1   3  specified in advance with the distance l 2  and sets the relative movement of the spindle head  7  and the pressure foot  10  necessary for machining as a feed distance. 
   During machining, the control unit  14  compares the distance of the relative movement of the spindle head  7  and the pressure foot  10  when the pressure foot  10  abuts against the printed board  1  with the feed distance and when they become equal, stops or reverses the rotation of the servo motor  9 . 
   Because the control unit  14  thus detects the distance from the tip of the drill  3  held by the spindle head  7  to the head of the pressure foot  10  and controls the movement of the drill  3  from the start of the relative movement of the spindle head  7  and the pressure foot  10  to the end of machining based on the distance and the preset machining depth, it has been possible to drill accurately up to the machining depth l 3  defined in advance. 
     FIG. 6  is a table showing stored contents of record of conventional tool data. Inputted in the tool data table Tb 2  stored within the control unit  14  are the Storage Areas (normally tools are stored one by one) of tools, i.e., drills in this case, Tool No., Diameter of Tool, Number of Revolution of Spindle, Cutting Speed and Life of Tool (allowable number of holes to be drilled) for example. As shown in the table, Tool No. identifies the diameter of the tool and each of the tools is specified by Storage Area. 
   Several thousands to several tens of thousands holes are drilled often in one printed board. Accordingly, a tool cassette for holding a plurality (several hundreds) of tools is disposed at one end of the table for mounting a printed board and holes of 0.1 to 6.5 mm for example are drilled by one printed board machining apparatus while replacing the tools in accordance to a tool holding command issued based on a machining program or the life of tools. 
   Presently, two kinds of drills having a shank of 3.175 mm and 2.00 mm in diameter are commercially sold for the printed board machining apparatus. A total length of the drill having the shank of 3.175 mm in diameter is 38.1 mm and that of the drill having the shank of 2.00 mm in diameter is 31.75 mm, regardless of their nominal diameter (diameter of cutting edge). 
     FIGS. 7A through 7C  explain conventional methods for holding the drill. 
   A first conventional method uses the ring  4  made of synthetic resin. The ring  4  is attached to the shank of the drill  3  so that a distance from its end face, i.e., the head of the spindle, to the tip of the drill  3  becomes equal to a drill extension (hereinafter referred to as ‘extension’) A defined in advance as shown in  FIG. 7A . The drill  3  attached with the ring  4  is held by a supply discharge post  21  shown by two dotted lines so as to allow the collet  5  to hold its shank. 
   A second conventional method is to position the drill  3  by abutting the rear end thereof to an end face of a stopper  20  within the collet  5  while holding its tapered face  3   t  in a supply discharge post  22  as shown in  FIG. 7B . The stopper  20  is positioned so that the extension becomes equal to A, i.e., the extension of the drill  3  held by the collet  5  is A. It is noted that when the nominal diameter of the drill is larger than that of the shank, the drill is held in the supply discharge post  21  while attaching the ring  4  to the shank in the same manner with the first method as shown in  FIG. 7C . However, it is the same with the method in  FIG. 7B  in that the drill is positioned by abutting its rear end to the stopper. In this case, a gap g (g&gt;0) is formed between the ring  4  and the head of the spindle  6 . 
   That is, the drill extension is set constant in every case regardless of the nominal diameter of the drills. It makes it easy to control the height of the tip of the drill to the surface of the workpiece when moving the drill  3  in the horizontal direction from the spot just machined to a next machining spot. 
   By the way, needs for drilling holes of very small diameter is increasing lately. In order to drill the holes of very small diameter, a spindle must be rotated at high-speed and a high-speed spindle (e.g., more than 300,000 revolutions/min.) has been put into practical use. 
   However, the higher the speed of the spindle, the more a runout z of the tip of the drill increases often as shown in  FIG. 8 . When the runout z of the tip of the drill becomes significant, not only the machining quality such as positional accuracy of holes and true roundness of drilled holes degrade but also the machining efficiency drops because drills are apt to be broken. 
   BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   It is therefore an object of the invention to solve the aforementioned problems by providing a printed board drilling method and a printed board machining apparatus that are capable of improving the machining quality and work efficiency by minimizing the runout of the tip of the drill. 
   According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for drilling holes in a printed board, having steps of selecting one drill corresponding to a shape of holes to be drilled in the printed board among a plurality of drills including those of different types or different modes of use, holding the selected drill by a spindle, and controlling a move of the spindle with respect to the printed board and rotationally driving the selected drill by the spindle. 
   This above-mentioned method further includes defining, in advance, an extension of each drill extending out of the spindle, when holding the drill by the spindle, per type or mode of use of each drill, and selecting one drill among the plurality of drills and holding the selected drill so that the selected drill extends out of the spindle by the extension corresponding to the selected drill. 
   Preferably, the height of the spindle with respect to the upper face of the table is determined based on the predetermined extension so that a distance between the upper face of the table for mounting the printed board and the tip of the drill becomes equal to a predetermined distance even when any drill is selected from among the plurality of drills when moving the drill held by the spindle in the horizontal direction with respect to the printed board. 
   The extension defined in advance may be determined based on a flute length of the drill or its nominal diameter. 
   According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a printed board machining apparatus having a plurality of drills including those of different types or different modes of use, and a spindle for rotatably holding one drill. Further, according to the second aspect of the invention, the printed board machining apparatus includes drill selecting and attaching means for selecting one drill corresponding to a shape of holes to be drilled in a printed board among the plurality of drills and for causing the spindle to hold the drill, and spindle moving means for controlling a move of the spindle with respect to the printed board, and drilling holes in the printed board by controlling the move of the spindle and by rotationally driving the drill held by the spindle. 
   In addition, the second aspect of the invention includes extension storage means for recording and storing the extension of each drill extending out of the spindle when the drill is held by the spindle per type or mode of use of each drill, wherein the drill selecting and attaching means reads the extension corresponding to the selected drill from the extensions recorded and stored in the extension storage means and causes the spindle to hold the drill so that the drill extends by the read extension when selecting the drill from the plurality of drills and causing the spindle to hold the drill. 
   Preferably, the printed board machining apparatus further includes a pressure foot, provided around the spindle and the drill held by the spindle, for pressing the vicinity of a hole to be drilled. Further, the printed board machining apparatus includes pressure foot positioning means for positioning the pressure foot so that a distance between the head of the pressure foot and the tip of the drill becomes equal to a predetermined distance even when any drill is selected among the plurality of drills, and sets a depth of the hole to be drilled by a feed distance of the spindle to the pressure foot when drilling holes in the printed board. 
   Preferably, the pressure foot positioning means positions the pressure foot so that the distance between the head of the pressure foot and the tip of the drill becomes equal to the predetermined distance when moving the drill in the horizontal direction from the position where machining has been finished to a next machining spot. 
   The pressure foot may be composed of a body and a head bush that can be attached to the body and which is pressed in contact with the vicinity of the hole to be drilled when drilling holes in the printed board, the head bush may be provided per shape corresponding to the extension of the drill extending out of the spindle and bush replacing means may be provided to replace with a head bush of the corresponding shape in accordance to the extension of the drill. 
   Preferably, the pressure foot includes the body having a spindle engaging hole portion slidably engaging with an outer peripheral face of the spindle, a storage space for storing the spindle when the spindle is forwarded, and an inner peripheral portion forming the storage space and having a suction port through which the storage space can be connected to suction means and a drill extension hole portion through which the drill can be extended. The inner peripheral portion of the body is formed so as to have a diameter larger than that of the outer peripheral face of the spindle to create a gap between the outer peripheral face of the spindle and the inner peripheral portion even when the spindle is stored. 
   The spindle may have abutting position setting means for freely setting position where an end of a holding side of the drill abuts and the extension of the drill extending out of the spindle may be set by setting the position where the end of the holding side of the drill abuts by the abutting position setting means. 
   Because the runout of the tip of the drill is practically proportional to the extension, the runout of the tip of the drill may be minimized by shortening the extension corresponding to the type and mode of use of each drill such as those whose nominal diameter is small or which are rotated at high-speed. As a result, the machining accuracy and machining efficiency may be improved. 
   Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, which are best understood with reference to the accompanying drawings. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIGS. 1A and 1B  are front views showing a main part of a printed board machining apparatus of the invention. 
       FIG. 2  is a table showing stored contents of record of a machining condition data table of the invention. 
       FIG. 3  is a side view of a main part of a printed board machining apparatus according to a third embodiment of the invention. 
       FIG. 4  is a section view taken along B-B in  FIG. 3 . 
       FIG. 5  is a front section view of a main part of a conventional printed board machining apparatus. 
       FIG. 6  is a table showing stored contents of a record of a conventional tool data table. 
       FIGS. 7A through 7C  explain conventional methods for holding drills. 
       FIG. 8  explains a runout of the tip of a drill. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   Modes for carrying out the invention will be explained below in connection with first through third embodiments. 
   First Embodiment 
     FIGS. 1A and 1B  are front views showing a main part of a printed board machining apparatus of the invention and  FIG. 2  is a table showing stored contents of record of a machining condition data table of the invention. It is noted that the same components or functions as those in  FIG. 5  are denoted by the same reference numerals and an overlapping explanation thereof will be omitted here. 
   As shown in  FIGS. 1A and 1B , a spindle head (spindle moving means)  7  supports a first cylinder (pressure foot positioning means)  8  through an intermediary of a second cylinder (pressure foot positioning means)  25 . A pressing force of the second cylinder  25  is fully greater than that of the first cylinder  8 . A stroke of the second cylinder  25  is L (8 mm here). 
   A pressure foot  10  is composed of a body  10   a  and a head bush  10   b  that is removably attached to the body  10   a.    
   As shown in  FIG. 2 , data showing Extension A per type and mode of use of drills is added to a tool data table (extension storage means) Tb 1  stored within a control unit  14  (see  FIG. 5 ) in addition to data in the conventional tool data table Tb 2  (see  FIG. 6 ). As shown in the table, the extension A is set at 12 mm when the nominal diameter (tool diameter) is 0.2 mm or less and is set at 20 mm when the nominal diameter exceeds 0.2 mm in the present embodiment. It is noted that normally a flute length is 5 mm or more in case of a drill whose nominal diameter is 0.3 mm, the flute length is about 4 mm in case of a drill whose nominal diameter is 0.2 mm, and the flute length is less than 3 mm in case of a drill whose nominal diameter is 0.1 mm. It is noted that the data shown in the table in  FIG. 2  is just exemplary data and the invention is not limited to such data. 
   Operations of the invention will be explained below. 
   It is noted that in the present embodiment, a ring  4  is attached to a shank of the drill  3  such that a distance from its end face to the tip of the drill  3  becomes equal to the predetermined drill extension A as shown in  FIG. 1 . 
   By being instructed to hold the drill, the control unit (drill selecting and attaching means)  14  refers to the tool data table Tb 1  to obtain the extension A of the specified drill. Then, after replacing the drill, it carries out machining while extending a rod of the second cylinder  25  as shown in  FIG. 1A  when the extension A is 20 mm. It is noted that the tip of the drill is positioned above the head of the pressure foot by a distance LP in this case. 
   It carries out machining by contracting the rod of the second cylinder  25  as shown in  FIG. 1B  when the extension A of the specified drill is 12 mm. The tip of the drill is positioned above the head of the pressure foot by the distance LP also in this case. 
   It is noted that when the extension A of the drill is 12 mm, a servo motor  9  is controlled so that a distance between the tip of the drill and the surface of the printed board when moving from a certain machining spot to a next machining spot becomes equal to that of the case shown in  FIG. 1A . Thereby, it becomes possible to prevent an air-cut time from increasing. 
   Still more, the control unit  14  controls the spindle head  7  based on the extension A in the tool data table Tb 1  to determine the height of the spindle  6  to the upper face of the table  2  so that a distance between the upper face of the table  2  for mounting the printed board  1  and the tip of the drill  3  becomes equal to a predetermined distance at any time even when any drill  3  is selected. 
   It is noted that although the position of the head of the pressure foot  10  to the spindle head  7  is changed corresponding to the extension A of the drill in the present embodiment, it is also possible to prepare the head bush  10   b  having a different thickness (differs by 8 mm in this case) and to provide a head bush replacing device to replace the bush corresponding to the extension A, instead of providing the second cylinder  25 . In this case, the control unit  14  may control the spindle head  7  so that the distance between the upper face of the table  2  and the edge of the head bush  10   b  becomes equal to the predetermined distance when moving the drill  3  in the horizontal direction with respect to the printed board  1 . 
   The extension A may be changed just by changing the position for attaching the ring  4  to the drill  3  when the drill extension A is set by means of the ring as described above. 
   Second Embodiment 
   Next, a case of setting the drill extension A by means of a stopper (abutting position setting means)  20  within the spindle head will be explained. 
   In setting the drill extension A by means of the stopper  20 , position of the stopper  20  must be changed corresponding to the extension A of the specified drill. 
   In this case, the stopper  20  may be arranged so as to be movable in the axial direction or a member movable in the radial direction may be provided axially in front of the end face of the stopper  20  within the collet. The drill extension A may be shortened by moving the movable member to position the drill and the drill extension A may be prolonged by abutting the rear end of the drill against the stopper. 
   The invention is applicable also to a conventional spindle because the position of the stopper needs not to be changed by providing a drill whose whole length is short. 
   Third Embodiment 
   A third embodiment which is a partial modification of the first and second embodiments described above will be explained in succession with reference to  FIGS. 3 and 4 .  FIG. 3  is a side view of the main part of the printed board machining apparatus according to the third embodiment of the invention and  FIG. 4  is a section view taken along B-B in  FIG. 3 . It is noted that the same components with those in the first and second embodiments are denoted by the same reference numerals and an explanation thereof will be omitted here. 
   The printed board machining apparatus of the third embodiment has a guide mechanism (pressure foot positioning means)  100  instead of the second cylinder  25  described above. Still more, the pressure foot  10  is partially changed and is connected with a vacuum source (suction means) not shown through an intermediary of a joint  80  and a suction port  81  provided therein. 
   The guide unit  100  is composed of a base  50 , a servo motor  52 , a ball thread  54 , a ball nut  57 , link members, i.e. a nut seat  58 , a link bar  59  and a bar  61 , and others and freely moves the components from the first cylinder  8  (referred to simply as “air cylinder” hereinafter) to the pressure foot  10  in the vertical direction by means of first and second linear guide units  60  and  70 . The printed board machining apparatus of the present embodiment will be explained below in detail. 
   The base  50  is fixed to the spindle head  7 . The servo motor  52  is supported on a motor seat  51  fixed at the upper end of the base  50 . The control unit  14  controls a rotational angle of the servo motor  52  in the direction of arrow ω. The servo motor  52  is supported by the motor seat  51  so that an axial line of an output shaft  52   a  thereof runs in parallel with an axial line of the drill  3 . 
   The ball thread  54  is connected with the output shaft  52   a  of the servo motor  52  through an intermediary of a coupling  53 . The ball thread  54  is rotatably supported by a bearing  55 . The bearing  55  is supported by the base  50  through an intermediary of a support seat  56 . The ball nut  57  mating with the ball thread  54  is held by a nut seat  58 . The nut seat  58  is fixed to the link bar  59 . 
   A track  60   a  of the first linear guide unit  60  composed of the track  60   a  and a bearing  60   b  is fixed to the base  50  so that it runs in parallel with the axial line of the drill  3 . The link bar  59  is supported by the bearing  60   b . One end (left end) of a pair of bars  61  is fixed to the lower end of the link bar  59 . The air cylinder  8  is fixed to the other end of the bar  61 . 
   A track  70   a  of the pair of second linear guide units  70  composed of the track  70   a  and a bearing  70   b , respectively, is fixed to the spindle head  7  so that it runs in parallel with the axial line of the drill  3 . 
   Each of the air cylinders  8  is supported by the bearing  70   b . A piston rod  8   a  of the air cylinder  8  is connected to one end of a rod  72  through an intermediary of a joint  71 . The rod  72  is supported by a bearing  73  movably in the vertical direction in the figure. The pressure foot  10  is connected with the other end of the rod  72 . 
   Having the structure as described above, the guide unit  100  can position the pressure foot  10  at arbitrary position in the axial direction of the drill  3  (in the vertical direction indicated by an arrow Z in  FIG. 3 ) by rotating the servo motor  52 . Accordingly, it allows the extension to be set in multiple steps corresponding to types and modes of use of the drills. 
   Meanwhile, the pressure foot  10  is composed of the body  10   a  and the head bush  10   b  as described above. The body  10   a  is formed into a shape of a column having an outer peripheral face  10   e  and has a spindle engaging hole portion  10   d  that slidably engages with an outer peripheral face  6   b  of the spindle  6  at the upper part thereof. A gap between the spindle engaging hole portion  10   d  and the outer peripheral face  6   b  of the spindle  6  is very small, e.g., around 0.5 mm in diameter. 
   The pressure foot  10  has a storage space therein formed by an inner peripheral face (inner peripheral portion)  10   f  and a bottom part  10   k  thereof. The storage space  90  stores an extended part of the spindle  6  when the spindle  6  is moved downward. Still more, a joint  80  connected with a vacuum source not shown penetrates through and is secured from the outer peripheral face  10   e  to the inner peripheral face  10   f  so as to form a suction port  81  at the inner peripheral portion  10   f.    
   The inner peripheral face  10   f  is formed so as to have a diameter larger than that of the spindle engaging hole portion  10   d , i.e., to have the diameter larger than that of the outer peripheral face  6   b  of the spindle  6 . Thereby, when the spindle  6  is forwarded and is stored in the storage space  90 , there is a gap between the outer peripheral face  6   b  of the spindle  6  and the inner peripheral face  10   f . The pressure foot  10  is provided also with a drill extension hole portion  10   g  for passing and extending the drill  3  during machining through the bottom portion  10   k.    
   During machining, chips produced during machining are blown up by air flowing into the storage space  90  of the pressure foot  10  from a groove  10   c  provided at the head bush  10   b  through the drill extension hole portion  10   g  and are discharged quickly to the outside from the storage space  90  via the suction port  81  and the joint  80 . The dust collecting performance may be improved by disposing the joint  80  (suction port  81 ) at the upper side of the space as much as possible so that the upper end of the suction port  81  contacts with the lower end  6   a  of the spindle  6  when the tip of the drill  3  reaches to the machining end. 
   However, when the drill extension A is shortened as described above in the invention, the lower end  6   a  of the spindle  6  comes closer to the bottom portion  10   k  of the pressure foot  10  specifically when the tip of the drill  3  reaches to the machining end. If there is no gap between the outer peripheral face  6   b  of the spindle  6  and the inner peripheral face  10   f  for example, the performance for discharging the chips degrades because the suction port  81  is closed by the spindle  6  here. 
   However, it becomes possible to prevent the suction port  81  from being closed and thereby to reduce the degradation of the dust collection performance even when the distance between the lower end  6   a  of the spindle  6  and the bottom portion  10   k  of the pressure foot  10  is very small by constructing the pressure foot  10  so that the inner peripheral face  10   f  has the diameter larger than that of the outer peripheral face  6   b  of the spindle  6  to create the gap therebetween even when the spindle  6  is forwarded (when the spindle  6  is stored therein). 
   It is noted that the cases of changing the extensions A in the two steps, e.g., 12 mm and 20 mm, have been explained in the embodiments described above, the invention is not limited to that and extensions of finer steps may be set corresponding to types and modes of use of drills. 
   Still more, the case of applying the invention to the printed board machining apparatus having the pressure foot  10  has been explained in the embodiments, the invention is also applicable to a printed board machining apparatus having no pressure foot. 
   While the preferred embodiments have been described, variations thereto will occur to those skilled in the art within the scope of the present inventive concepts which are delineated by the following claims.