Touch screen input apparatus for chip mounter, chip mounter including the same and method for controlling the chip mounter

A touch screen input apparatus including a plurality of touch screens, a chip mounter provided with the apparatus, and a method for controlling the chip mounter are provided which improve the capability of controlling the chip mounter. The touch screen input apparatus of a chip mounter comprises a plurality of monitors dispersedly disposed in the vicinity of the chip mounter to provide display screens for inputting the letter or numeral, a touch panel attached to each monitor for recognizing a touched coordinate on each display screen and outputting an electrical signal, priority order and release time controlling means for receiving the signals output from the touch panels and recognizing the order of generation thereof, and a multiplexer for receiving the signals output from the touch panels and sequentially selecting and outputting the input signals according to the order recognized by the priority order and release time controlling means. The touch screen input apparatus includes the monitors and the touch screen which are located at different places in order to control the chip mounter, thereby improving the operational capability of the chip mounter.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a touch screen input apparatus for a chip 
mounter, and more particularly, to an apparatus having a plurality of 
touch screens, a chip mounter including the same and a method for 
controlling the chip mounter. 
A chip mounter is an apparatus for mounting different-sized chip components 
on a printing circuit board (PCB). Control of the chip mounter requires an 
input of a numeral or a letter. The input apparatus includes a keyboard, a 
touch screen, etc. 
In a touch screen method, a letter, a numeral, or a switch is displayed on 
a monitor screen. When an operator touches a desired portion of the 
display with his or her finger, a touch panel and a touch controller which 
are installed in the vicinity of a monitor screen detect the coordinate of 
the touched portion and recognize the input content, thus obtaining the 
same effect as in using a keyboard or a switch as the input apparatus. 
A conventional touch screen input apparatus uses only one touch screen and 
a chip mounter employing the apparatus is difficult to operate when a 
mounting line thereof is long. For example, in a chip mounter such as a 
surface mounting device (SMD) line having a length of 10m or more, when an 
error is generated on the chip mounter, the operator must turn around the 
line and go up to a touch screen in order to solve the error, which causes 
time loss and inconvenience of manipulation. 
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional touch screen input apparatus includes: 
a controlling portion 10 which is operated by a predetermined program; a 
monitor controlling portion 12 for generating a video signal corresponding 
to a screen to be displayed on a monitor 16 according to an instruction of 
the controlling portion 10; a buffer 14 for supplying the video signal 
output from the monitor controlling portion 12 to the monitor 16; a touch 
panel 18 attached to the monitor 16, for detecting a touched coordinate of 
a display screen, converting the coordinate into an electrical signal and 
outputting the converted signal; a line driver 20 for transmitting the 
electrical signal output from the touch panel 18; and a touch controlling 
portion 22 for receiving the electrical signal transmitted by the line 
driver 20, converting it into a touch coordinate, and providing the result 
to the controlling portion 10. In general, a touch screen is constituted 
by the touch panel 18, the line driver 20 and the touch controlling 
portion 22. 
The apparatus shown in FIG. 1 includes a monitor and a touch panel attached 
thereto, so that a chip mounter can be controlled only from the place 
where the monitor 16 is positioned. Therefore, when a process line is 
long, the capability of operating the chip mounter is lowered. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
To solve the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to 
provide a touch screen input apparatus which allows easy manipulation of a 
chip mounter from different locations. 
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for 
effectively controlling the chip mounter provided with the above input 
apparatus. 
To accomplish the first object, there is provided a touch screen input 
apparatus comprising a plurality of monitors dispersedly disposed in the 
vicinity of the chip mounter to provide display screens for inputting the 
letter or numeral, a touch panel attached to each monitor for recognizing 
a touched coordinate on each display screen and outputting an electrical 
signal, priority order and release time controlling means for receiving 
the signals output from the touch panels and recognizing the order of 
generation thereof, and a multiplexer for receiving the signals output 
from the touch panels and sequentially selecting and outputting the input 
signals according to the order recognized by the priority order and 
release time controlling means. 
To accomplish the second object, there is provided a method for controlling 
a chip mounter comprising the steps of: displaying a screen showing a 
letter or numeral on a plurality of monitors; recognizing the order of 
generation of coordinate signals generated by touch panels attached to the 
plurality of monitors; selecting and outputting the coordinate signals 
output from the touch panels according to the order recognized in the 
recognizing step; and determining the touched letter or numeral from the 
coordinate signals output in the selection and output step, and 
controlling the chip mounter in response to the determined letter or 
numeral.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
Referring to FIG. 2, a touch screen input apparatus according to an 
embodiment of the present invention includes: a controlling portion 10, a 
monitor controlling portion 12, a monitor 16, a buffer 14, a touch panel 
18, a line driver 20 and a touch controlling portion 22, as in the 
conventional apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and further includes an extra 
buffer 54, an extra monitor 56, an extra touch panel 58, a multiplexer 62, 
and a priority order and release time controlling portion 60. 
In the apparatus shown in FIG. 2, reference numerals 10 to 22 represent the 
same components as indicated by reference numerals 10 to 22 in FIG. 1. 
The priority order and release time controlling portion 60 recognizes the 
order in which electrical signals are output from the first and second 
touch panels 18 and 58, and determines the effective time (release time) 
of each electrical signal. 
The multiplexer 62 sequentially selects and outputs the electrical signals 
from the first and second touch panels 18 and 58 according to the order 
recognized by the priority order and release time controlling portion 60. 
The operation of the apparatus shown in FIG. 2 will now be described in 
detail. A monitor controlling portion 12 generates a video signal 
corresponding to a screen to be displayed on the first and second monitors 
16 and 56 according to an instruction of the controlling portion 10 which 
is operated by a predetermined program. The video signal output from the 
monitor controlling portion 12 is transmitted through the first and second 
buffers 14 and 54 and displayed on the first and second monitors 16 and 
56. 
When the first and second monitors 16 and 56 are touched, the first and 
second touch panels 18 and 58 output the touched coordinates as electrical 
signals. 
The electrical signals output from the first and second touch panels 18 and 
58 are transmitted to the priority order and release time controlling 
portion 60 and the multiplexer 62. The priority order and release time 
controlling portion 60 recognizes the order in which the electrical 
signals being input thereto are generated, controls the selection output 
of the multiplexer 62 according to the recognized order, and controls the 
effective period (release time) of the electrical signals. 
The multiplexer 62 sequentially selects and outputs the applied electrical 
signals according to the control of the priority order and release time 
controlling portion 60. The electrical signals output from the multiplexer 
62 are supplied to the controlling portion 10 through the line driver 20 
and the touch controlling portion 22. The controlling portion 10 
recognizes the touched coordinate from the electrical signals and controls 
the operation of a chip mounter according to the recognized touched 
coordinate. 
When a user touches a specific point on a screen displayed on the first 
monitor 16, the first touch panel 18 recognizes the coordinate and outputs 
an electrical signal. The priority order and release time controlling 
portion 60 receives the electrical signal, determines that the first 
monitor 46 was touched, and outputs an instruction for the electrical 
signal generated from the first touch panel 18 to be output to the 
multiplexer 62. 
When the user touches a specific point on a screen displayed on the second 
monitor 56, the second touch panel 58 recognizes the coordinate and 
outputs an electrical signal. The priority order and release time 
controlling portion 60 receives the output electrical signal, determines 
that the second monitor 56 was touched, and outputs an instruction for an 
electrical signal generated from the second touch panel 58 to be output to 
the multiplexer 62. 
When the first and second monitors 16 and 56 are simultaneously touched, 
only the electrical signal generated from one of the touch panels is 
output according to a predetermined priority order, e.g., priority of the 
first monitor 16. 
FIG. 3 shows the external appearance of a chip mounter including the 
apparatus shown in FIG. 2. As can be seen from the drawing, the first and 
second monitors 16 and 56 and the touch screens are installed on the front 
and rear sides of the chip mounter, respectively. As described above, 
since the touch screens are located at different portions of the chip 
mounter, it is possible to control the chip mounter from different places. 
FIG. 4 is a flowchart outlining a process for controlling the chip mounter 
including the apparatus shown in FIG. 2. The process outlined in FIG. 4 
includes: a displaying step 400; a recognizing step 410; a 
selectively-outputting step 420; and a controlling step 430. First, in the 
displaying step 400, a letter or a numeral is displayed on the screens of 
the first and second monitors 16 and 56. Here, the displayed screens are 
generated from the monitor controlling portion 12 according to the 
instruction from the controlling portion 10 of FIG. 2. 
In step 410, the order in which coordinate signals generated from the first 
and second touch panels 18 and 58 is recognized. In general, the 
recognition is carried out according to the order of generation. However, 
when the coordinate signals are simultaneously generated, the recognition 
is carried out according to a predetermined priority order. 
In step 420, the coordinate signals generated from the first and second 
touch panels 18 and 58 are selected by the multiplexer 62 to be output 
according to the order recognized in the recognizing step 410. 
In step 430, the touched letter or numeral is recognized from the 
coordinate signals output in the selective outputting step 410, and the 
chip mounter is controlled in response to the letter or numeral selected. 
As described above, the touch screen input apparatus according to the 
present invention includes the monitors and touch screens which are 
located at different places in order to control the chip mounter, thereby 
improving the operational capability of the chip mounter.