A METHOD AND A DEVICE FOR MOVING, IN PARTICULAR REPLACING, SUBSTRATE BOARDS IN A COMPONENT MOUNTING MACHINE

Abstract: In an automatic mounting machine (1) for mounting electronic components on circuit boards (9), the circuit boards are placed on a movable Y-wagon (3). When feeding circuit boards to the machine and the Y-wagon and when transporting the circuit boards therefrom, simultaneously several circuit boards (9), which are located at each other, are transported as a train of boards or as one unit. Therefore circuit boards in the machine have their edges inserted in grooves (5) of the Y-wagon (3). Transport devices (11, 17) are provided having similar grooves (13, 19), so that several circuit boards (9) placed in a row can also be placed thereon. In feeding a row of new circuit boards, which have not been mounted, thus the transport devices (11, 17) are placed having their grooves aligned with the grooves of the Y-wagon (3). After that, a fluid cylinder (15) is activated on the transport device (11), where the row of the new circuit boards (9) is located, so that a projection on the end of the piston rod of the cylinder (15) will engage the rear, outer edge of the rearmost circuit board in the row. Thereby the circuit boards are displaced towards and into the grooves (5) of the machine. Another projection on the opposite end of the piston rod then pushes away the finished boards in a direction towards and over to the grooves of the other transport device (17). By means of the simultaneous displacement of several boards an increased velocity is obtained in the replacement of boards.

Description: A method and a device for πoving, in particular replacing, substrate boards in a coπponent πounting machine. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method and devices for handling circuit boards, in particular feeding and expelling circuit boards in mounting electronic components and similar items thereon in an automatic mounting machine or automaton. BACKGROUND Higher and higher requirements are posed on the velocity in mounting electronic components. An operation that is usually time consuming is the insertion of a circuit board in a holder at the mounting machine and replacement of a circuit board by a new, non mounted board, when the mounting of components on the first board is finished. The replacement or boards is conventionally made manually or by means of conveyor belts. PRIOR ART In IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin Vol. 27, No. 12, May 1985, pp. 6876 - 6877 an adaptable circuit board transportation system is disclosed where a circuit board 14 is transported from a carriage 12 on to transfer rails in an operation station 18. SUMMARY It is an object of the invention to provide a method and devices by means of which a replacement of boards can be rapidly made in a component mounting machine. This object is achieved by the invention, the more detailed features of which appear from the appended claims. When substrate boards, in particular circuit boards, are moved on, to or from a component mounting machine the boards are not conveyed one by one but in the shape of board trains, i.e. groups of boards placed closely at each other, where thus the inner, transverse edges of the boards are in contact with each other. In a replacement of boards thus simultaneously a row of circuit boards or generally substrate boards for some sort of components, e.g. 3 to 5 boards, that are located at each other, is replaced. They are pushed in the shape of a train or one unit in to a suitable place in the mounting machine, e.g. on a wagon belonging thereto that is laterally movable. In the same way the same number of boards in the shape of a board train is pushed away from the mounting machine. A suitably shaped arm or other suitable means can contact the outer edge of the outermost board in such a group of circuit boards on the mounting machine that are located at each other. In a preferred embodiment a displacement or actuating means is arranged only on a transport device that is placed at a side of the machine and that simultaneously displaces a packed group of boards in to the machine and a group of boards, the mounting of which has been finished, away from the machine. Such an actuating means can have rigidly connected arms which, when they are activated, come into contact with the outermost edge of a board in the board group comprising boards both on the transport device and on the machine. In some cases only the new group of boards must be acted on by a displacement means, so that the new group, at the outer edge that is opposite to the edge where the displacement means operates, comes into contact with an outer edge of a board in the group of circuit boards, for which the mounting has already been finished so that the two groups move as on unit, one group in to the mounting machine and the other group away from the mounting machine. As an actuation or displacement means preferably some conventional type of linear motor is used, such as fluid driven cylinder assembly. At the piston rod thereof then two projections or arms can be arranged for contacting two different groups or "trains" of boards, one group being located on the machine. It is also possible to use endless conveyor belts which engage with the lateral edges of the substrate boards, the lateral edges being those edges which are parallel to the transport direction. For guiding the circuit boards parallel grooves are required for receiving the edges of the circuit boards, the width or height of the grooves being adapted to the thickness of the circuit boards, in particular so that the width is less than double the thickness of the side edges of the boards, and that the distance of the grooves from each other is adapted to the width of the circuit boards. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will now be described by way of a non limiting exemplary embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a handling device for transport of substrate boards up to and from a component mounting machine, Fig. 2 is a side view of a component mounting machine comprising a handling device of the kind illustrated in Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view illustrating guide grooves, and Fig. 4 is a plan view of the component mounting machine of Fig. 2. DETAILED DESCRIPTION In Fig. 1 an automatic component mounting machine 1 is indicated in dotted lines, on the table of which an Y-wagon or Y-carriage 3 is mounted for a sliding movament in a transverse direction, the position of the Y-carrainge being accurately controlled by a control processor of the machine. The mount machine is also seen in Figs. 2 and 4 in an elevational view and a plan view respectively and it is preferably the type having a mount head, not shown, movable in one horizontal direction, the X-direction, perpendicular to the Y-direction and in a vertical direction, the Z-direction. On the top side of the wagon 3 grooves 5 are arranged in those side surfaces, that are directed inwards, of upstanding side parts 7. The length of the grooves 5 is sufficient for inserting several circuit boards 9 therein, these board being, as is conventional, assumed to have a basically rectangular shape having two large surfaces and two transverse edges or sides parallel to each other and two lateral edges or sides also parallel to each other. The distance of the grooves 5 from each other and in particular of their inner, bottom surfaces is adapted to the width of the circuit boards 9. Further the height or the width of the grooves 9 is sufficient for receiving a lateral edge of the substrate boards 9 but insufficient for the case that several circuit boards will be arranged simultaneously in the grooves on top of each other, i.e. the width of the grooves is less than double the thickness of the lateral edges of the boards, see also the fragmentary view of Fig. 3. In order to improve the sliding movement of the boards 9 in the grooves 5 small rollers, not shown, can be arranged in a suitable manner in the grooves. A front transport device 11 is provided with grooves in upstanding side parts. These grooves 13 are configured in the same way as the grooves 5 of the Y-wagon for receiving simultaneously several circuit boards 9 placed closely at each other. The transport device 11 is controllably movable in different ways, in particular so that its grooves 13 can be moved into alignment with the grooves 5 of the Y-wagon 3, that is it is movable in a direction perpendicular to the Y-direction. At the transport device 11 some sort of displacement means is provided for displacing the at least two circuit boards 9 located in the grooves thereof as one unit, the inner transverse sides of the circuit boards then being in contact with each other. The transport direction of the boards is thus from the front transport device to the machine 1 and the carriage 3 and therefrom to a rear transport device indicated at 17. The displacement means can be some type of fluid driven cylinder, as is indicated at 15 having one or advantageously two suitably shaped, upstanding arms on the piston rod, such as at the ends thereof. Such an arm can then come into contact with the outer transverse edge of the rearmost one of the circuit boards 9 and push all circuit boards that are located on the transport device 11 into the grooves 5 of the Y-wagon 3. Another arm can come in contact with the rear transverse edge of the outermost, rear circuit board in the group of boards, which are already placed on the Y-wagon 3. When the cylinder device 15 is suitably activated, the boards 9 which are located in the front transport device 11 can then be pushed out in the shape of a board train or as one unit from the grooves 13 thereon and in to the grooves 5 of the Y-wagon 3. The boards which are already located in the grooves 5 of the mounting machine, are then also displaced as one board train out from the Y-wagon 3. It is also possible to construct the actuation device 15 so that is has no arm for acting on the boards which are already located on the machine 1. In that case these circuit boards can be pushed away from their places, also as one unit or as a train of boards to the rear transport device 17, by being pushed by the front, far away board, in the group of boards which are already located on the front transport device 11. The rear transport device 17 can be configured in the same way as the front transport device 11 but is in Fig. 1 shown as having a somewhat modified construction. The upstanding parts 18 having the guide grooves 19 for receiving the board train are here thus not rectangular but extend in the shape of arms in towards the mounting machine 3. In the inner surfaces of the upstanding side parts 18 the grooves 19 are made which are configured in the same way as the grooves 5 and 13 of the Y-wagon 3 and the front transport device 11 respectively. They can, like the grooves 13 of the front transport device 11 , be moved into alignment with the grooves 5 of the Y-wagon 3. In the case where several circuit boards in some way as one unit are pushed out from the grooves 5 of the Y-wagon 3, they will then b inserted in the grooves 19 of the rear transport device 17. The mount machine 1 as depicted in Figs. 2 and 4 comprises a horizontal bar, shown generally at 20, along which a mount head, not shown, is movable. On both sides of the Y- 5 carriage 3 magazine sites 21 are provided, these also being movable in the Y-direction and accessible, like the boards places on the Y-carriage 3, by a pick-up device, not shown, on th mount head. The operation of the device described above is as follows. First individual boards 9 are placed in the grooves 13 on the front transport device 11. It can be made in the conventional 10 way such as by means of suitable conveyor belts, not shown, that are used in loading circuit boards in mounting machines for electronics. The inserted boards are packed to a board train so that they will be placed having their inner, transverse edges in contact with each other. The packing can be performed by a suitable control of the cylinder assembly 15, the rear ar of which can controllably be elevated for contacting the outermost, rear circuit board that is 15 inserted in the grooves 13. Some suitable stop device, not shown, which can also be controlled by the control system of the machine, can then be activated for stopping the front, outermost circuit board from falling out of the grooves 13. When the packing is finished, the grooves 13 on the front transport device 11 are aligned with the grooves 5 on the Y-wagon and the same alignment is made for the grooves 20 19 on the rear transport device 17. The cylinder assembly 15 together with its support arms is activated in a suitable way so that the rear arm comes into engagement with the outermost transverse edge of the rear circuit board in the grooves 13 of the transport device 11 and the front one comes into engagement with the outermost, rear transverse edge of the rear circuit board in the group of boards on the Y-wagon of the machine, which are located closely at 25 each other. Thereby the row of boards on the front transport device is moved as one unit or as a board train over to the grooves 5 of the Y-wagon and simultaneously, by means of the same movement of the movable element, i.e. of the piston rod, the boards located on the Y- wagon are transported as one unit away from the machine and into the grooves 19 of the rea transport device 17. After that the replacement of boards is finished and the boards on the Y- 30 wagon 5 are blocked in a suitable way in order that the machine 1 will be able to perform th intended mounting of components thereon.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A method of moving, in particular replacing, substrate boards in a component mounting machine, in which components are mounted on substrate boards placed in the machine, characterized in that several substrate boards are placed in a row at each other having their opposite edges in contact with neighbouring substrate boards in the machine and that the boards are moved in the machine as one unit having the edges still in contact with each other during this movement, in particular the boards being fed to the machine and/or transported away from the machine as one unit having the edges still in contact with each other during this movement. 2. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that in the displacement of substrate boards, in particular in feeding and/or transporting substrate boards to or away from the machine respectively, an edge of an outer substrate board in the row is acted on in a direction towards the other substrate boards in the row. 3. A method according to one of claims 1 - 2, characterized in that in a replacement of a row of boards located on the machine by a row of boards located at another location on the machine or thereat a rigid actuating means is displaced, so that the surface thereon acts on an edge of an outer board in a row and another surface thereon acts on an edge of an outer board in another row. 4. A method according to one of claims 1 - 3, characterized in that in providing a new row of substrate boards to the machine, an outer board in this row is made to come in contact with the edge of an outer board in a row of substrate boards placed in the component mounting machine, whereby the new row of substrate boards abuts or pushes the row of boards in the machine away, when the new row is acted on for being provided to the machine. 5. A device for replacing substrate boards in a component mounting machine, in which components are mounted on substrate boards placed in the machine, characterized by grooves arranged in the machine for slidably receiving opposite, first edges of the substrate boards and having such a length that several substrate boards can be placed having their first edges inserted in the grooves and in a row at each other having the second opposite edges of the boards in contact with neighbouring substrate boards in the machine in those cases where a neighbouring board is located at the side of the board, and actuating means for moving boards received by the grooves in the machine as one unit. 6. A device according to claim 5, characterized in that the actuating means are arranged to act on an edge of an outer substrate board in the row of boards received in the grooves and in a direction towards the other substrate boards in the row. 7. A device according to one of claims 5 - 6, characterized by a transport device having grooves arranged in the same way as in the machine and movement means in the transport device for making the grooves therein aligned with corresponding grooves in the machine. 8. A device according to claim 7, characterized in that the transport device also comprises actuating means for displacing boards received in the grooves in the transport device as one unit. 9. A device according to claim 8, characterized in that these actuating means of the transport device are arranged to act on an edge of an outer substrate board in the row of boards received in the grooves and in a direction towards the other substrate boards in the row. 10. A device according to claim 8, characterized in that the actuating means of the transport device are arranged to also act as actuating means for displacing a row of boards received in the grooves in the machine as one unit. 11. A device for replacing substrate boards in a component mounting machine, in which components are mounted on substrate boards placed in the machine, characterized by grooves arranged in the machine for slidably receiving opposite first edges of the substrate boards, a transport device having grooves arranged in the same way as in the machine, movement means in the transport device for making the grooves therein aligned with corresponding grooves in the machine, and displacement means only arranged in the transport device for displacing boards in the transport device and in the machine when making a replacement of boards. 12. A device according to claim 11 , characterized in that the grooves in the machine and the transport device have such a length, that several substrate boards can be placed having their first edges inserted in the grooves and in a row adjacent each other and having the second opposite edges of the boards in contact with neighbouring substrate boards in the machine, in those cases where there is a neighbouring board at this side of the board. 13. A device according to one of claims 11 - 12, characterized in that the displacement means comprise actuating means for displacing boards received in the grooves in the transport device as one unit and in the machine. 14. A device according to claim 13, characterized in that these actuating means are arranged to act on an edge of an outer substrate board in the row of boards received in the grooves in the transport device and in a direction towards the other substrate boards in the row. 15. A device according to claim 13, characterized in that these actuating means are arranged to act on an edge of an outer substrate boards in the row of boards received in the grooves in the transport device and in a direction towards the other substrate boards in the row and simultaneously on an edge of an outer substrate board in the row of boards received in the grooves of the machine. 16. A device according to claim 15, characterized in that the actuating means comprise a rigid element comprising support arms projecting therefrom for engaging side edges of outer boards in the rows.

Inventors: JACOBSSON NILS, JACOBSSON, NILS
Applicants: JACOBSSON NILS, MYDATA AUTOMATION AB, JACOBSSON, NILS
Application year: 1995
Main classification: H05K13
IPC codes: H05K13