Apparatus for feeding chip components

Abstract: An apparatus for feeding chip components includes a component container for containing many chip components in bulk, a first component reservoir for storing the chip components in bulk. The component container is attached to the first component reservoir. The apparatus further includes a second component reservoir provided under the first component reservoir for two-dimensionally storing the chip components in a space so that the chip components are not overlapped in their thickness direction, and a component alignment path provided under the second component reservoir for one-dimensionally aligning the chip components. The apparatus further includes an alignment palate having first and second alignment portions. The first alignment portion is provided between the first component reservoir and the second component reservoir for two-dimensionally aligning the chip components and letting the chip components move down by their own weight. The second alignment portion is provided between the second component reservoir and the component alignment path for one-dimensionally aligning the chip components and letting the chip components move down by their own weight. A device moves out the chip components on the component alignment path to a predetermined position.

Description: The present invention relates to an apparatus for feeding chip components and a cartridge type component container, and in particular to an apparatus for feeding chip components which feeds the chip components contained in a component container in bulk while aligning such components in a line. The apparatus and the cartridge type component container may be applied to an automatic mounting device for mounting chip electronic components. Description of the Related Art Various kinds of chip components are mounted on a print circuit board. An automatic mounting device transfers such chip components to the print circuit board and then mounts the chip components on the board. A chip component feeder has been used to feed the chip components to the automatic mounting device. Various kinds of the chip component feeders such as a vibration type, a rotating type, an oscillation type and a belt type are known. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-280129 (the first prior art) discloses a chip component alignment and separation apparatus. The apparatus is provided with a chip component reservoir containing many ship components in bulk. The chip component reservoir includes a declined surface in its inside so that the chip components can move down by their own weight. The lowest end of the chip component reservoir is connected with a chip alignment opening, and an air nozzle opening is disposed near the chip alignment opening for ejecting high pressure air. The chip components at the lowest portion of the reservoir are blown upwardly by the high pressure air from the air nozzle opening, and then the chip components fall down by their weight and advance into the chip alignment opening. The cross section of the chip alignment opening is formed so as to have the same shape as that of the cross section of the chip component. Therefore, the chip components can align themselves in the chip alignment opening, and then the chip components are individually picked up by a pick up machine. Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-48596 (the a second prior art) discloses a container for containing electronic components. The container is provided with a body portion including a spiral path for containing the chip components therein. The chip components are contained in the spiral path in advance, and then the container is supplied. In the apparatus shown in the first prior art, whether or not the chip components can advance with sureness into the chip alignment opening depends mostly on the attitudes of the chip components while the components are falling down in the component reservoir. Therefore, the chip components can not advance into the chip alignment opening with certain possibility. As a result, in the conventional apparatus, it is difficult for the chip components to advance with sureness into the chip alignment path. Further, when it is necessary to determine the front and rear surfaces of the chip components, such determination is carried out after the chip components have advanced into the chip alignment opening and then the attitudes of the chip components are changed. As a result, according to the apparatus in the first prior art, the feeding speed is relatively low, the mechanical structure is complex, and therefore the cost is high. In the container shown in the second prior art, the chip components can be contained in the container with the front and rear surfaces being determined in advance. However, the width of the spiral path must be shaped so as to correspond to the widths of the various kinds of the chip components, and therefore many kinds of such containers have to be prepared. Further, the container can not contain many chip components in the spiral path thereof. As a result, the conventional container is high in cost and can not feed many chip components. US-A-2 828 888 discloses a feeding apparatus which feeds components randomly stored in a container one at a time. JP-A-08107293 discloses a feeding apparatus which feeds components randomly stored in a bulk container to an output path in which they all have the same orientation. The apparatus includes a chamber having a maximum depth corresponding to the smallest dimension of the component and reciprocating means in the chamber to align the components so that they have the same orientation in the output path. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for feeding chip components which can surely and effectively feed chip components in bulk. It is therefore another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for feeding chip components which can feed many chip components at a low cost and with a relatively simple structure. It is still another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for containing chip components whose front and rear surfaces are oriented so as to face to the respective same directions in advance and feeding such chip components. It is still another object of the present invention to provide a cartridge type component container which can contain chip component whose front and rear surfaces are oriented so as to face to the respective same directions in advance which is attached to an apparatus for feeding chip components. These and other objects are achieved according to the present invention in one aspect thereof by providing an apparatus for feeding the chip components comprising: a first component reservoir for storing the chip components in bulk; a second component reservoir, provided to communicate with the first component reservoir, for two-dimensionally storing the chip components in a space so that the chip components are not overlapped in their thickness direction; a component alignment path provided under the second component reservoir for one-dimensionally aligning the chip components, the component alignment path having a cross section which corresponds to the cross section of the chip components; first rotary alignment means provided between the first component reservoir and the second component reservoir for two-dimensionally aligning the chip components and moving the chip components from the first component reservoir to the second component reservoir; second rotary alignment means provided between the second component reservoir and the component alignment path for one-dimensionally aligning the chip components from the second component reservoir to the component alignment path; and means for moving out the chip components on the component alignment path to a predetermined position. In the accompanying drawing: Figure 1 is a partial front sectional view showing a chip component feeding apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 is a side sectional view showing the apparatus in Figure 2; Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view of Figure 2; Figure 4 is a perspective view showing a chip components; Figure 5 is a view showing how the attitude of the chip component is changed according to the embodiment of the present invention; and, Figure 6 is a perspective view showing a chip component attitude changing mechanism used in the embodiment of the present invention. The present invention will now be explained with reference to the preferred embodiment and the drawings. An embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to Figures 1 - 6. Figure 1 is a partial front sectional view showing a chip component feeding apparatus, Figure 2 is a side sectional view, Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view of Figure 2, Figure 4 is a perspective view showing a chip component, Figure 5 is a view showing how the attitude of the chip component is changed, and Figure 6 is a perspective view showing a chip component attitude changing mechanism. Referring to Figure 1, a chip component feeding apparatus 1 is provided with a housing 2. A chip component container 4 contains many chip components A, such as thousands to tens of thousands, in bulk. As the chip component container 4, for example, a bulk case for surface mounting devices explained in "EIAJ ET-7201" of the Standard of Electronic Industries Association of Japan (EIAJ) is commercially available. Examples of the chip component A are chip capacitors having, for example, a length (L=1.0mm), a width (W=0.5mm) and a thickness (T=0.5mm) and chip resistors having, for example, a length (L=1.6mm), a width (W=0.8mm) and a thickness (T=0.45mm). The chip capacitors are explained in "EIAJ RC-2322" and the chip resistors are explained in "EIAJ RC-2130". Figure 4 shows a chip resistor as an example of the chip component A. The chip component feeding apparatus 1 includes a first component reservoir 6 for three-dimensionally storing the chip components in bulk, a second component reservoir 8 for two-dimensionally storing the chip components in a space so that the chip components A are not overlapped in their thickness direction, and a component alignment path 10 for one-dimensionally aligning the chip components in a line. The cross section of the path 10 corresponds to the cross section of the chip component A. Within the housing 2 of the chip component feeding apparatus 1, the first component reservoir 6 is disposed within the upper portion of the housing 2, the second component reservoir 8 is located under the first component reservoir 6, and the component alignment path 10 is located under the second component reservoir 8. The chip component container 4 is attached on an upper opening 12 of the first component reservoir 6, and then the chip components A contained in the container 4 are supplied into the first component reservoir 6. As shown in Figure 2, a bottom portion 14 of the first component reservoir 6 is constructed to be declined so that the chip components A slip down thereon by their own weights, and the bottom portion 14 is connected to the second component reservoir 8. A first alignment rotating disc 16 is disposed between the first component reservoir 6 and the second component reservoir 8. As shown in Figure 3, one side surface 16a facing the reservoirs 6 and 8 of the first alignment rotating disc 16 is provided with four radially extending projections 16b (see Figures 1 and 3). The distance B (see Figure 3) between the projections 16b of the first disc 16 and the surface of the second reservoir 8 is less than the thickness T of the chip component A. The first disc 16 rotates in a counterclockwise direction so that the chip components A are forced to move upwardly. As shown in Figure 1, a bottom portion 18 of the second component reservoir 8 is constructed to be declined so that the chip components A slip down thereon by their own weight, and the bottom portion 18 is connected to the component alignment path 10 for aligning the chip components A in a line. As shown in Figures 1 and 2, a second alignment rotating disc 20 is disposed between the second component reservoir 8 and the component alignment path 10. The peripheral surface 20a facing both the second reservoir 8 and the component alignment path 10 of the second alignment rotating disc 20 is provided with high friction material such as a rubber or a high friction mechanism such as notch grooves. The second disc 20 rotates in a counterclockwise direction so that the chip components A are forced to move upwardly. A roller device 22 for conveying out the chip components is disposed under the component alignment path 10 within the housing 2 of the chip component feeding apparatus 1. The roller device 22 is composed of a first roller 22a disposed under the upstream portion of the path 10, a second roller 22b disposed under the downstream portion of the path 10 and a conveyor belt 22c connected with the first and second rollers 22a and 22b for conveying the chip components A. As shown in Figure 1, an automatic mounting device 24 is disposed above the downstream portion of the component alignment path 10. The automatic mounting device 24 includes a nozzle 26 for individually picking up the chip components A and an arm 28 for providing a predetermined timing of the chip component feeding apparatus 1, both of which are attached to extend downwardly. As shown in Figure 1, a driven roller 30 is provided within the housing 2 near the automatic mounting device 24. A lever 32, which is rotated in a counterclockwise direction by the downward motion of the arm 28, is connected through a drive mechanism (not shown) to the driven roller 30. The driven roller 30 is connected with the second disc 20 through a first drive belt 34, and the second disc 20 is respectively connected with the first disc 16 through a second drive belt 36 and with the first roller 22a of the roller device 22 through a third drive belt 38. The drive mechanism of the driven roller 30 is operated as follows. That is, when the lever 32 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction by the downward movement of the arm 28, the driven roller 30 together with the lever 32 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction and then the first drive belt 34 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction. On the other hand, when the arm 28 moves upwardly, the lever 32 returns back to its original position shown in Figure 1 and the driven roller 30 is not rotated together with the lever 32. In the embodiment of the present invention, as explained above, the driven roller 30 is driven at a predetermined timing by the upward and downward motions of the arm 28 of the automatic mounting device 24 and the rotating motion of the lever 32. However, in the embodiment, instead of using the arm 28 and the lever 32, the driven roller 30 may be driven at a predetermined timing by a cylinder mechanism (not shown) or a thin motor (not shown), both of which are disposed in the housing 2 of the chip component feeding apparatus 1. In operation, the component container 4 containing the chip components A in bulk is attached to the upper opening 12 of the first component reservoir 6, and then the chip components A in the container 4 are supplied into the first reservoir 6. The chip components A three-dimensionally stored in bulk in the first reservoir 6 slip down by their own weight along the declined bottom portion 14 of the first reservoir 6. At this time, the chip components A are sometimes excessively concentrated at the downward portion of the bottom portion 14 and as a result the chip components A can not fall into the second component reservoir 8. However, according to the embodiment, the excessively concentrated chip components A are forced to move upwardly by the upward motion of the projections 16b on the one side surface 16a of the first alignment disc 16. As a result, the excessive concentration of the chip components A is resolved and the chip components A, having a two-dimensional condition under which the chip components A are not overlapped in their thickness direction, slip smoothly downwardly by their own weight toward the second component reservoir 8. As explained above, the four projections 16b are provided on the one side surface 16a of the first disc 16. In the first embodiment, the number of projection 16b is determined so that the chip components A can be forced to move upwardly at least one time when the arm 28 of the automatic mounting device 24 moves downwardly and upwardly one time. Thereafter, the chip components A are two-dimensionally stored in the space of the second component reservoir 8 so that the chip components are not overlapped in their thickness direction, and then the chip components A slip down by their own weight along the bottom portion 18. At this time, the chip components A, being caught between the chip components A aligning on the bottom portion 18 of the second reservoir 8 and about to slip into the component alignment path 10 and the peripheral surface 20a of the second disc 20, are forced to move upwardly by the friction force caused between the chip components A and the peripheral surface 20a. As a result, a space between the second reservoir 8 and the path 10 is formed and therefore the chip components A slip soothly downwardly by their own weight toward the component alignment path 10 and the chip components A are finally aligned on the path 10. Each time the automatic mounting device 24 moves downwardly, the nozzle 26 individually picks up the chip components A on the component alignment path 10. The arm 28 simultaneously moves downwardly to push down the lever 32. The rotating motion of the lever 32 rotates the driven roller 30 to a predetermined angle and then the rotating motion of the driven roller 30 drives the first, second and third driving belts 34, 36 and 38. Thus, the first disc 16, the second disc 20 and the roller device 22 are operated at a predetermined timing which is synchronized with the downward motion of the automatic mounting device 24. The first and second discs 16 and 20 respectively is rotated to respective predetermined angles, and the first roller 22a of the roller device 22 is also rotated to a predetermined angle. The rotating motion of the first roller 22a makes the chip components A on the conveyor belt 22c move toward the left side direction in Figure 1. Thus, the chip components A on the component alignment path 10 are individually conveyed out at a predetermined timing by the roller device 22 to a picking up position which is located just under the nozzle 26 of the automatic mounting device 24. In the embodiment, when the cross section of the chip component A is rectangular, the attitude of the chip component A has to be changed by 90 degrees in a direction perpendicular to the moving out direction of the chip components. Referring to Figures 4 through 6, when the chip components A are supplied to the automatic mounting device 24, a vacuumed surface 74 or a main surface of the chip component A must face upwardly. Therefore, the attitude, shown in Figure 5(a), of the chip component A supplied to the component alignment path 10 has to be changed by 90 degrees to the attitude, shown in Figure 5(b). Therefore, in the first embodiment, a component attitude changing mechanism 76 having a changing groove 78 is disposed in the declined portion of the upstream portion of the component alignment path 10 as shown in Figure 6. The component attitude changing mechanism 76 is made of a resin and the like. The chip components A are aligned in a line in the component alignment path 10 and then the attitudes of the chip components A are changed by 90 degrees in the direction perpendicular to the chip component moving out direction while the chip components A smoothly slip down by their own weight without receiving mechanical pressure in the changing groove 78 of the component attitude changing mechanism 76. As a result, since the mechanism 76 does not include moving parts, the structure of the mechanism 76 is simple and the manufacturing cost is low. Further, the mechanism 76 can be manufactured easily. The component attitude changing mechanism 76 having the changing groove 78 may be made of a resin mold. In this case, the complicated machining processes are not necessary.

Claims: An apparatus for feeding the chi9p components comprising: a first component reservoir (6) for storing the chip components in bulk; a second component reservoir (8), provided to communicate with the first component reservoir, for two-dimensionally storing the chip components in a space so that the chip components are not overlapped in their thickness direction; a component alignment path (10,108) provided under the second component reservoir for on-dimensionally aligning the chip components, the component alignment path having a cross section which corresponds to the cross section of the chip components; first rotary alignment means (16) provided between the first component reservoir and the second component reservoir for two-dimensionally aligning the chip components and moving the chip components from the first component reservoir to the second component reservoir; second rotary alignment means (20) provided between the second component reservoir and the component alignment path for one-dimensionally aligning the chip components from the second component reservoir to the component alignment path; and means (22) for moving out the chip components on the component alignment path to a predetermined position. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said components alignment path includes a component attitude changing mechanism (76, 78) for changing an attitude of the chip component to a predetermined angle. An apparatus according to claim 1 or 12, wherein the first rotary alignment means includes a first rotating alignment disc (16) which rotates in a space provided between the first component reservoir and the second component reservoir, and said second rotary alignment means includes a second rotating alignment disc (20) which rotates in a space provided between the second component reservoir and the component alignment path. An apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein said first component reservoir has a declined bottom portion on which the chip components move down by their own weight, and said second component reservoir has a declined bottom portion on which the chip components move down by their own weight. An apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the apparatus respectively comprises two of the first component reservoirs, the second component reservoirs and the component alignment paths. An apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the apparatus further comprises a single drive means (24) for driving the first rotary alignment means, the second rotary alignment means and the chip components moving out means.

Inventors: SHIMADA KATSUMI, SHIMADA, KATSUMI
Applicants: POP MAN CORP, POP MAN CORPORATION
Application year: 1997
Main classification: H05K13
IPC codes: H05K13, B65G47