Guide path for electronic components

A guide rail for electronic components, especially for use in robots for electronic components. The guide rail comprises a vertical or inclined guide duct that is provided with a curved, undulating guide track along at least one section thereof in order to decelerate components as the components slide within the guide track.

This application is the U.S. national phase of International Application No. PCT/EP2007/010635, filed 6 Dec. 2007, which designated the U.S. and claims priority to German Application No. 10 2006 057 774.4, filed 7 Dec. 2006, the entire contents of each of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

The invention relates to a guide path for electronic components, in particular for use in handling robots electronic components.

In the case of handling robots for the automatic checking of electronic components, known as test handlers, the electronic components which are to be checked or have already been tested are moved on guide paths through the handling robot up to a sorting magazine or an output means. Frequently used for this purpose are vertically or obliquely arranged guide paths in or on which gravity causes the components to slide onward.

Guide paths of this type are known for example from DE 197 33 937 C1. Guide paths of this type conventionally have rectilinear guide channels. However, a consequence of this is that when the components fall freely or almost freely downward within the guide channels, the components can become damaged, in particular if large differences in height are bridged. Such damage generally takes the form of external mechanical damage such as, for example, damage to the component body or damage to the circuits, legs, etc. Damage to internal structures caused by very long delays is also possible. Extreme delays occur in particular when the components strike stopping means (stoppers, singulators, etc.).

US 2002/0027059 A1 and DE 92 16 115 U1 disclose guide paths for electronic components having a vertical or oblique first portion and a horizontal second portion connected to the first portion by means of a simple arc.

The invention is based on the object of providing a guide path of the type mentioned at the outset that, reduces as simply as possible the risk of damage to electronic components which fall or slide in guide channels and strike stopping means or are otherwise subject to extreme delays.

In the case of the guide path according to the invention, the guide channel has an undulating and/or rotated guide track at least over a portion of its length.

On account of the undulating and/or rotated course of the guide track, the components are repeatedly diverted within the guide channel, as a result of which the friction between the guide track and components is increased accordingly. This reduces in a simple manner the fall or slip speed of the components within the guide channel, so that the components strike stopping means or other delay means at a much lower speed than if the components fall or slide along in a rectilinear guide channel. This allows damage to the components to be reduced in a simple and effective manner. A further advantage is the fact that the guide paths having such a course of the guide track take up no more or only slightly more space than those having a rectilinear course, so that allowance is also made for the requirements for a compact design. In many cases, deflections of just one or more millimeters are sufficient to achieve the desired effect. Furthermore, of particular advantage is the fact that the guide path according to the invention is equally suitable for the braking of components which slide along in the guide channel either individually or en masse. The guide paths according to the invention can be used for receiving, forwarding, tempering, singulating, testing, sorting out, outputting and storing electronic components, in particular ICs.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the guide track undulates in a plane lying perpendicularly to the base-side or cover-side guide surfaces.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the undulating course of the guide track is formed by base-side and cover-side guide rails on which the base-side and cover-side guide surfaces are provided, these guide surfaces being at varying distances from the base of the guide channel along the guide channel. This allows the guide channel to be formed rectilinearly per se and the components to be moved back and forth in an undulating manner within the guide channel. The base-side guide rails can in this case be formed in one piece with the remaining base part of the guide path that delimits the guide channel on the base side. Alternatively thereto, it is however readily possible to form the base-side guide rails as separate components which are connected to the base part.

Alternatively thereto, it is also readily possible to form the guide channel in an undulating manner, in which case the base-side guide rails are expediently at a uniform distance from the base of the guide channel.

Furthermore, depending on the type of components, it is also conceivable to provide guide rails which do not protrude beyond the base of the guide channel but rather form the base in a planar manner over the entire width thereof.

According to an alternative embodiment, the guide track undulates in a plane lying parallel to the base-side or cover-side guide surfaces. In this case, the waves of the guide track extend, viewed from above looking onto the guide path, laterally toward the left and right.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the undulating course of the guide track is formed by arched track portions. This results in a very uniform delay of the components.

According to an alternative embodiment, the undulating course of the guide track is formed by rectilinear, parallel track portions which are offset in the lateral or depth direction and are joined together by obliquely arranged or arched track portions.

FIGS. 1 to 6show a guide path1having, as may be seen in particular fromFIG. 4, a central part2and also side parts3a,3barranged on both sides of the central part2.

The central part2consists of a rod-shaped basic element which has a rectangular cross section and has on its upper side a central recess3extending in the longitudinal direction. The recess4forms a guide channel13in which electronic components5, which are shown merely schematically inFIGS. 3 to 6, can slide along. The guide channel13is downwardly delimited (the term “downwardly” relates merely to the arrangement of the guide path1as illustrated inFIG. 4) by a base6and on both sides by lateral webs7of the central part2.

Two parallel base-side guide rails8, which are arranged laterally set apart alongside each other and the upper sides of which form the base-side guide surfaces9, protrude above the base6. The insides of the lateral webs7form lateral guide surfaces10laterally guiding the components5.

In the exemplary embodiment shown, the base-side guide rails8are formed in one piece with the central part2. It is however also readily possible to form said guide rails separately from the central part2, for example by clamping corresponding flat profiles between a multiple-part central part in such a way that they protrude beyond the base6into the guide channel13.

In order to prevent the components5from failing out of the guide channel13in the case of a perpendicular or oblique arrangement of the guide path1, the side parts3a,3bhave holding portions11which extend inward beyond the lateral webs7of the central part2and have at their free end guide rails15which partly overlap the components5. The guide rails15thus have cover-side guide surfaces12which in the exemplary embodiment shown oppose the base-side guide surfaces9and are set apart therefrom by a distance which is somewhat greater than the height of the components5, thus allowing the components5to slide freely within the guide channel13.

The interval between the lateral guide surfaces10, on the one hand, and the interval between the base-side guide surfaces9and the cover-side guide surfaces12, on the other hand, thus determines a guide track14for the components5.

This guide track14undulates, as may be seen fromFIGS. 2 and 3, at least over a portion of the length of the guide path1. In the exemplary embodiment shown, the guide track14is deflected in a plane lying perpendicularly to the base-side guide surfaces9or cover-side guide surfaces12. The undulating shape is in this case achieved as a result of the fact, that the degree by which the guide rails8protrude beyond the base6of the guide channel13varies along the guide channel13. The course of the cover-side guide surface12is in this case adapted to that of the base-side guide surfaces9, so the mutual distance remains at all times the same and the guide track14always has the same height.

As may be seen from.FIG. 2, in the exemplary embodiment shown, the undulating course of the guide track14is formed as a result of the fact that the guide track14has rectilinear track portions14a,which are set apart from one another in the longitudinal direction and extend relatively close to the base6of the central part2, and rectilinear track portions14bwhich are arranged therebetween, are set somewhat further apart from the base of the central part2and extend parallel to the track portions14a.The track portions14a,14bare joined together by means of oblique track portions14c.

FIG. 2shows that the guide channel13extends rectilinearly, although the guide track14moves back and forth within the guide channel13.

Alternatively thereto, it is however also possible for the entire guide channel to undulate and the guide track to extend parallel to the guide channel or to be formed by the guide channel itself.

Furthermore, it is by implication also possible for the guide track to undulate in a plane lying parallel to the base-side or cover-side guide surfaces9,12, wherein in this case the position of the lateral guide surfaces10would vary toward the left and right in the view according toFIG. 4. Furthermore, it is also possible to combine the latter lateral wave course also with a wave course in the depth direction, as illustrated inFIGS. 2 and 3.

Additionally or alternatively to a guide track14, which is deflected transversely to the fail direction, i.e. transversely to the2direction, it is also possible to reduce the fall speed of the modules5by rotating the guide track14, in particular about, the longitudinal axis thereof. A guide track of this type (not shown) is illustrated by the arrangement of components5that is shown inFIG. 7. As may be seen, in this case the components5are deflected, when they slide downward, by a correspondingly shaped guide track not only in the X direction (and optionally also in the Y direction) but rather additionally also about the longitudinal direction of the guide track.