Abstract:
A novel feeder construction, and method of operation, that is easily interfaced to a variety of conventional pick-and-place machines and can readily and reliably feed components suspended from a carrier for pickup at a pickup location by the pick-and-place machine. In a preferred embodiment, the carrier with suspended components is fed in a line spaced laterally from the pickup location. The lead component when separated from the strip must then be moved laterally to the pickup location. By laterally spacing the carrier strip of components from the pickup location it is ensured that the feeder parts involved in separating the component from the carrier do not obstruct movement of the vacuum nozzle of the pick-and-place machine during the pickup operation and advancement of the carrier to present the next component.

Description:
[0001]    The invention is directed to an automatic feeder for strip-supported electrical components and its method of operation, and in particular for supplying discrete components from a supply of components supported from a continuous strip for pickup by any one of conventional pick-and-place machines.  
         BACKGROUND OF INVENTION  
         [0002]    Pick-and-place machines are well known and widely used in the populating of printed circuit boards or cards (PCBs) by components using surface mount technology (SMT). They offer the capability of precision in component placement, and speed in picking up a component from its source and placing it typically on a solder-paste covered pad on the PCB. Often the components are removed from small receptacles on a tape carrier. Nowadays, however, components are often supplied on a strip unreeled from a reel supplied to the PCB maker by the component supplier. U.S. Pat. No. 5,605,430 describes a feeder actuated by a pick-and-place machine for components connected to each other at their base to form a strip, which patent disclosure is hereby incorporated by reference. With this strip of components such as pins or posts, the beveled end of the pin or post which is adapted to be picked up the conventional vacuum nozzle of a standard pick-and-place machine, is positioned above its base and thus the beveled pickup end rises free of the base and free of adjacent components and when separated from its neighbor is ready for pickup. However, some suppliers supply components suspended by their beveled pickup end from a common carrier. In this case, the beveled pickup end is obstructed by the carrier. Moreover, even if the component can be separated from its carrier, the carrier may obstruct the vacuum nozzle when it arrives to pickup the separated component. The feeder described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,605,430 is incapable of feeding such a strip of components for automatic pickup by pick-and-place machines.  
         SUMMARY OF INVENTION  
         [0003]    A principal object of the invention is an automatic feeder for components suspended from a common carrier for pickup by a conventional pick-and-place machine.  
           [0004]    A further object of the invention is a low cost high speed automatic feeder compatible with various pick-and-place machines and easily capable of feeding various diameters and lengths of components such as pins or posts to the pick-and-place machine.  
           [0005]    Still another object of the invention is a method of separating components from a strip of components and making them available for pickup by a conventional pick-and-place machine.  
           [0006]    These objects are achieved in accordance with one aspect of the invention by a novel feeder construction that is easily interfaced to a variety of conventional pick-and-place machines and can readily and reliably feed components suspended from a common carrier after separation for pickup by the pick-and-place machine. In a preferred embodiment, the carrier with suspended components is fed along a path spaced laterally from the location where the component must be placed to be picked up by the descending pickup arm of the pick-and-place machine. The lead component when separated from the strip must then be moved laterally to the pickup location. By laterally spacing the carrier strip of components from the pickup location it is ensured that the feeder parts involved in separating the component from the carrier and carrying the separated component to the pickup location do not obstruct movement of the vacuum nozzle of the pick-and-place machine during the pickup operation nor advancement of the carrier to supply the next component.  
           [0007]    In accordance with another feature of the invention, the feeder parts that separate the lead component from the carrier and move it to the pickup location comprise a component-retaining means having a clamping surface and means for temporarily holding the separated component against the clamping surface between the time that the component is separated and the time that it is ready for pickup. The timing of the feeder operation is controlled such that the holding means releases the component and the element forming the clamping surface is moved away from the pickup location before the pickup arm with the engaged component departs the pickup location.  
           [0008]    In accordance with still another feature of the invention, the feeder parts are arranged such that the part that actually separates the lead component from the carrier accomplishes this by engaging the component near where it is connected to the carrier while simultaneously the part forming the clamping surface also engages a portion of the component further removed from its connection to the carrier to ensure a clean shearing without bending of the component from the carrier.  
           [0009]    As still another feature of the invention, the component-separating means comprises means for straightening the components on the strip before they have reached the separation position.  
           [0010]    The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and specific objects attained by its use, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated and described the preferred embodiments of the invention, like reference numerals or letters signifying the same or similar components. 
       
    
    
     SUMMARY OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0011]    In the drawings:  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 1 is a partial simplified top view of part of one form of a feeder in accordance with the invention;  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view of one form of a strip of suspended components that can be handled by the feeder in accordance with the invention;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 3 is a top schematic view illustrating several principal elements of the feeder of FIG. 1 in their positions before separating a lead component from the strip;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 4 is a top schematic view similar to FIG. 3 illustrating the same elements of the feeder of FIG. 1 when a separated component is waiting to be picked up;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 5 is a partial simplified end view from the right of FIG. 3 illustrating the lateral separation of the carrier strip and pickup location;  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 6 illustrates schematically in simplified form the combination of the reel supplying a strip of components to a feeder adjacent a pick-and-place machine;  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 7 illustrates schematically one form of indexing mechanism for advancing the component strip in a feeder in accordance with the invention;  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 8 illustrates schematically one form of component-separating mechanism for separating a component from the strip and the retaining mechanism for the separated component in a feeder in accordance with the invention;  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 9 is a perspective view from the rear of the mechanism of FIG. 8 but without the retaining mechanism;  
         [0021]    [0021]FIG. 10 is a perspective view from a different angle of just the component-separating mechanism;  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 11 is a perspective view of just the pin separating and part of the retaining mechanism;  
         [0023]    [0023]FIG. 12 is a perspective view from the front of just the component-separating and retaining mechanism;  
         [0024]    [0024]FIG. 13 is a perspective view from the front showing actuation of the component-separating and part of the retaining mechanism;  
         [0025]    [0025]FIG. 14 is a perspective assembly view from the rear with parts invisible from the rear shown separately. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0026]    The feeder of the invention is capable of handling components suspended from a common carrier. Pin examples are described and illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,451,174, whose contents are hereby incorporated by reference. FIG. 12 of that patent illustrates a carrier strip  75  having a pin  80  attached. The carrier is shown positioned below the pin for those instances where the pin beveled end, when separated from the carrier, is to be inserted into a hole in a substrate. For SMT components, however, where the base is to be placed on a pad, as illustrated in FIG. 11, and the vacuum nozzle pickup member of the pick-and-place machine will engage the beveled pin end to pick it up, it is preferred that the carrier position is inverted so that the pins are suspended from the carrier positioned above them. It will be understood that the feeder of the invention can also be readily adapted to handle a wide variety of SMT components, and a wide variety of SMT pins and posts of different configurations, and thus the claims are not to be limited to the pins specifically illustrated in the &#39;174 patent or used to illustrate the invention in the specific embodiment.  
         [0027]    One form of the feeder according to the invention is illustrated in FIG. 1 is for SMT stamped pins and is a self-contained high-speed precision electropneumatic mechanical apparatus which presents discrete separated SMT pins from a strip of pins suspended by their beveled end from a common carrier to a pickup location for a vacuum nozzle of a surface-mount pick-and-place machine. The pins are integral with the carrier, are homogenous, and are stamped from a continuous strip of material appropriate for the specific application, typically copper or a copper alloy. Several forms of such pins are sold by the assignee under the trademarked names MiniFoot surface mount pins. The feeder always holds or clamps the separated pin in the pickup location until the pick-and-place machine retrieves the pin, after which the feeder presents the next following pin from the strip into the vacant pickup location. The separated pin retainer is preferably comprised of a small V-block forming a clamping surface facing the pickup location and which block moves in a horizontal direction laterally to the pin and the carrier, and a rotating spring-loaded retaining lever directly opposite the clamping surface of the V-block which lever tightly presses the pin against the V-block clamping surface. The pin retainer cooperates with a pin separator which is used to shear the pin from its carrier support while the separated pin is simultaneously clamped to the V-block by the retaining lever, both the pin retainer and the pin separator engage the lead pin from the remote side of the carrier to where they have been moved before the carrier is advanced to provide a fresh lead pin. The operation will become clearer from the description that follows.  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 6 is a schematic view illustrating a feeder  10  according to the invention positioned adjacent a pick-and-place machine  100  having a pickup arm  102  from which a vacuum-operated pickup nozzle  104  is suspended. In the operation of a conventional pick-and-place machine, under computer control, the arm  102  swings out from the machine, moves vertically downwards along a descending axis toward a component held in some fashion below the descending nozzle at a pickup location, engages and picks up by suction or other means the engaged component, and then returns to place the component on a computer-directed site on a PCB, after which a new cycle begins repeating the above steps. The function of the feeder  10  is to supply automatically a fresh component at the pickup location after the previous component has been picked up. The feeder of the invention is adapted for use with a variety of different pick-and-place machines supplied by different vendors. The machines typically have different operating cycles and thus, for maximum speed, it is desirable to be able to adjust the feeder operating cycle to be compatible with each of the different machines. In the feeder of the invention, this is readily obtained because, as will be explained in greater detail below, the feeder uses a micro-controller which can be programmed to control the timing of the sequence of steps that the feeder employs to carry out its functions. In addition, the feeder is not physically actuated by the pick-and-place machine nor is it connected to the normal feeder actuating mechanisms of the machine. The only connecting relationships are optical sensors in the feeder for detecting the arrival of the pickup arm and the positioning of the feeder such that the pickup location is aligned with the descending axis of the pickup nozzle.  
         [0029]    The components are supplied in this case as a strip  11  from a reel  110  holding a supply of the components supported on a carrier. FIG. 2 illustrates a strip  11  of SMT pin-components  12  suspended from a common carrier  14  which are supplied from the reel  110  of FIG. 6. Each pin  12  comprises an elongated body having at its bottom a base  15  for surface mount on the PCB and having at its top where it is attached to the carrier a beveled end  16  (of reduced cross-section) which allows the pin to be readily separated from the carrier  14  by applying a pushing force transverse to the plane of the carrier. The carrier  14  is composed of connected segments  18 , each with an indexing hole  19 , connected to adjacent neighbors by a reduced cross-section link  20 , which allows the segment  18  to be readily separated from the carrier  14  also by applying a pushing force transverse to the plane of the carrier. The vacuum nozzle  104  must pickup the pin by its beveled end  16  so that at the PCB it can be placed base-down  15  on the chosen site. Therefore, the pin  12  must be separated from the carrier  14  to free up its beveled end  16  before it can be picked up by the nozzle  104 .  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 1 is a partial assembly view from the top of one form of feeder  10  according to the invention, which comprises a strip advancing means  20 , a component-retaining means  40 , and a component-separating means  60  mounted on a suitable support (not shown). FIGS.  3 - 5  illustrate the basic operations of the machine. The strip  11  is shown advancing step-by-step in the direction of the arrow  9  by an indexing wheel  22  with protuberances  24  engaging the holes  19  in the strip segments  18 . The strip is advanced until the lead pin  13  reaches a position opposite the pin separator and retainer  40 ,  60  which have been positioned as shown on the far side of the strip. By “far side” is meant the side of the strip plane furthest from the pickup location; in FIG. 3, the side above the strip  11 . By “near side” is meant the side of the strip plane nearest the pickup location; in FIG. 3, the side below the strip  11 . When the strip reaches the position shown in FIG. 3, under control of the controller, the parts  40 ,  60  on the far side of the strip move laterally (downward in FIG. 3) toward the pickup location during which the separator  60  engages the lead pin simultaneously with the pin retainer  40  shearing the lead pin  13  from the carrier and also shearing from the strip the scrap segment  17  left over when the previous pin was separated from that segment. The parts continue moving as shown by the vertical arrow  64  in FIG. 4 toward the pickup location and are now, as shown in FIG. 4, on the near side of the strip with the captured lead pin  13  held by the pin retainer  40 .  
         [0031]    The lateral separation of the plane of the advancing strip  11  from the pickup location  25  is illustrated in the end view schematically shown in FIG. 5. As will be noted, the pickup location  25  is aligned with the descending axis  26  of the pickup nozzle  104 .  
         [0032]    [0032]FIG. 7 illustrates one form of advancing means suitable for use in the feeder of the invention. It uses mechanical and pneumatic means, but it will be understood that the required action can be achieved by other well known means such as electrical by any kind of timer or preferably under control of controller (not shown). The action required is simply to rotate a vertical drive shaft  26  under control of a mechanical linkage and ratcheting device  28  activated by the, stroke of a pneumatic cylinder (not shown) whose piston is connected to a small pivoting block  30  by means of a pin. Each time the lever  30  is moved to the right in FIG. 7, the vertical shaft  26  rotates CCW, which in turn rotates CCW the indexing wheel  22  mounted on top and thus the strip  11  is advanced to the right one pitch distance (the center-to-center spacing of the strip holes  19 ).  
         [0033]    [0033]FIG. 8 illustrates one form of the pin separator  60  and pin retainer  40  assembly of the invention. FIGS.  9 - 13  illustrate various details of the assembly. The pin separator  60  comprises a block  62  mounted in any suitable way for movement along a path  64  that preferably is transverse to the plane of the strip  11 . The path  64  is shown by the vertical arrow in FIG. 4 and by the double-headed arrow in FIG. 8. The separator comprises a shaft aligner  66  that is sized and positioned to engage the indexing hole  19  in the segment  18  supporting the lead pin  13  in order to precisely align that carrier segment with the pin separator. The separator further comprises an upstream protrusion  68  positioned to engage the side of the lead pin, which includes an axially-extending upstream toothed member or comb  70  which also embraces the two preceding pins  12  leaving however a gap at the rear between the back surface of the tooth and the pins to accommodate the lateral movement of the block  62  without the comb  70  contacting at its back surface the previous pins  12 . This assists in maintaining the alignment of the strip pins with the pin separator. The separator further comprises a downstream protrusion  72  which functions to shear off the scrap segment  17  (not shown in this view) left over on the strip when the preceding pin was separated.  
         [0034]    [0034]FIG. 9 is a view from the rear of the pin separator  60 . It also shows one way of actuating the pin separator, comprising a pneumatic cylinder (not shown) whose piston is connected to a lever  74  which is moved in the direction shown by the double-ended arrow. The end of the lever  74  forms a wedge cam  76  which drives a follower  78  connected to the block  62 . The block  62  is held in position against the wedge cam by friction so that the lateral position of the cam surface  76  controls the lateral position of the block  62 . As before, the cylinder is actuated by a suitable controller to function as will be described below in greater detail.  
         [0035]    The separator block  62  cooperates with a block  42  that forms part of the pin retainer  40 . The separator block  62  has a descending extension  80  (FIG. 11) forming a pushing surface  82  that is contacts a facing pushing surface  44  of the pin retainer block  42 . When the block  62  is advanced toward the pickup location ( 25  in FIG. 5) shown by the arrow in FIG. 8, it pushes the retainer block in the same direction. Similarly, when, as shown in FIG. 13, the retainer block is moved in the opposite direction (withdrawn), then it pushes the separator block  62  in front of it back to its pre-separation position on the far side of the strip. The retainer block has a clamping surface  46  formed by vertically-spaced V-grooves separated by a recess  47  facing the far side of the strip, the same side as that of the pin separator. The geometry is such that, as the pin separator protrusion  68  acting as a punch engages the far side of the lead pin  13  close to its connection to the carrier, a lower portion of the same lead pin  13  is simultaneously engaged by the V-grooves of the clamping surface  46 . At the same time, a pin-retaining lever  84  (FIGS. 8, 12) having a laterally-extending protrusion  86  that is sized to fit into the recess  47  separating the two V-grooves engages with a flat facing surface  48  the opposite side of the lead pin, so that the lead pin is now clamped between the V-grooves of the clamping surface  46  and the surface  48  of the retaining lever  84 . The latter is heavily spring-loaded  94  to ensure that the pin when separated is firmly held in the pin retainer. The separation is effected as the two blocks  42 ,  62  are simultaneously advanced toward pickup location, the spring-loaded lever  84  maintaining the clamping pressure on the retained pin as the combination moves along the path  64 . FIG. 12 shows schematically a conventional pneumatic cylinder  92  (shown schematically) whose piston when extended actuates a simple lever system which moves the spring-loaded lever  84  to its unclamping position. It also illustrates the spring  94  which maintains the clamping pressure.  
         [0036]    The mechanism so far described moves the pin retainer and separator from its pre-separation positions on the far side of the pin strip to where the separated pin  13  is aligned at the pickup location  25  with the descending axis  26  of the pickup nozzle, on the near side of the pin strip. After the pin has been retrieved by the pickup nozzle, described in more detail below, the assembly must then be moved back to its pre-separation positions on the far side of the pin strip, illustrated in FIG. 8. This is accomplished, in one form, by the extractor linkage shown in FIG. 13. This comprises a pneumatic cylinder  96  whose piston is connected to an L-shaped linkage  98  rotatably mounted on a post  99  and which is slidingly coupled  100  to a mounting  102  for the block  42  of the pin retainer  40 . When the pin separator  60  and the pin retainer  40  are advanced toward the pickup location, the linkage  98  simply rotates to a new position. But when the cylinder  96  is activated, the extended piston rotates the linkage CCW pushing the pin retainer and the pin separator to which it is coupled back to their pre-separation positions on the far side of the pin strip.  
         [0037]    The precise sequence of events to effect this operation is as follows, taken in connection with FIG. 14 which shows several of the parts, actually integral with the feeder, separately for clarity.  
         [0038]    As the vacuum pick-up nozzle  104  of the machine descends vertically, when it reaches the pickup location  25  for the purpose of retrieving the pin  13  held by the pin retainer  40 , a first electronic sensor  120  integral to the feeder detects the presence of the nozzle and initiates a first release cycle including a preset time delay controlled by a PLC programmable logic controller  121  integral to the feeder so as to release the pin from its holding means when the nozzle has descended an appropriate distance onto the beveled pin end such that it then alone can support the pin.  
         [0039]    1. The first event of the release sequence is the energizing of a first solenoid-operated pneumatic valve  122  which pressurizes a first pneumatic cylinder  92  causing the retaining lever  84  to swing away from the pin held in the V-grooves of the retainer block  42  which releases the pin. The pin is now engaged and constrained by the nozzle  104 .  
         [0040]    2. The next event of the release sequence is the energizing of a second solenoid-operated pneumatic valve  124  which pressurizes a second pneumatic cylinder  96  connected by a mechanical linkage  98  to the V-block portion  42  of the pin holding means, which action causes the V-block  42  to withdraw (withdraw and advance are used with respect to the pickup location) laterally to the pin, in a horizontal direction, and toward the carrier. As the V-block withdraws along the path  64 , it pushes the component-separating device  60  which separated the pin from the carrier so that both the V-block  42  and component-separating device  60 , after this movement, are clear of the transport path of the pin and the carrier. The final positions of these parts during this step, called herein the pre-separation positions, is with the V-block  42  and the component-separating member  60  adjacent the far (opposite) side plane of the carrier. To avoid possible interference from the carrier or its supported pins, the path  64  extends below the suspended pins  12 .  
         [0041]    3. As the nozzle  104  rises after thus retrieving the pin  13 , the first sensor  120  changes state upon ceasing detection of the nozzle  104  and initiates a pin-separator second cycle which includes a second sequence of events controlled by the PLC to immediately present another pin to the pickup location.  
         [0042]    4. The first event in this second sequence is the de-energizing of the first valve  122 , causing the retaining lever  84  to return to its starting position adjacent to the near side plane of the strip of pins.  
         [0043]    5. The second event in this sequence is the energizing of a third pneumatic valve  126  which pressurizes a third cylinder  128  connected by another mechanical linkage and the ratcheting device  28  attached to the vertical drive shaft  26 . A horizontally-disposed wheel, the indexing wheel  22 , is fitted with appropriately designed protrusions  24  and affixed to the top end of the vertical drive shaft provides the means to advance the carrier, which are provided with holes  19  for the protrusions, the required predetermined distance to place the next lead pin in position for separation. Typically, the distance is the pin center-to-center spacing.  
         [0044]    6. A second electronic sensor  129  detects the completed stroke of this third cylinder  128 , causing the energizing of a fourth pneumatic valve  130  which pressurizes a fourth cylinder  132  connected by the single horizontally-disposed wedge shaped link  74  to the rear of the separator block  62 . That link  74  via the cam surface  76  causes the aforementioned component-separating device to advance in a direction toward the pickup location, in a horizontal direction laterally to the pin and the plane of the carrier, pushing the empty V-block  42  with it. The component-separating device contains an alignment means  66 , previously mentioned, which causes the lead pin  13  still on the carrier to become precisely positioned during this horizontal advancement. The component-separating device also contains the means  72  for breaking off the segment  17  of the carrier to which the previous pin was attached, causing that segment  17  to fall out of the feeder by gravity into a scrap box. With the component-separating device and the V-block moving as a unit, the component-separating device ultimately causes the lead pin  13  to be broken from the carrier and simultaneously positioned in the V-block  42 . As the lead pin  13  is breaking from the carrier, it comes into contact with the spring-loaded retaining lever which was following the movements of the V-block, thus clamping the pin against the block clamping surface  46 . A third electronic sensor  134  detects the completed stroke of this fourth cylinder  132 , causing the de-energizing of the second  124 , third  126 , and fourth  130  valves and the retraction of the third  128  and fourth  132  cylinders and the extension of the second cylinder  96  which causes the pin-holding means, i.e., the V-block, to position the held pin at the pick-up location  25  described above. Retraction of the third  128  and fourth  132  cylinders resets the respective aforementioned linkages to their normal positions. All actions of the second cycle are now complete and the pin  13  sits in its pin retainer at the pickup location  25  awaiting the arriving vacuum nozzle and the start of the first cycle.  
         [0045]    The significant features of this unusual procedure are (a) location of the strip of suspended pins in a plane laterally offset from the pickup location; (b) simultaneous engagement of the pin break-off member and the clamping surface with the far side of the lead pin; (c) lateral movement (advancement) of the component-retaining member with the separated lead pin together with the component-separating member from the offset plane of the strip toward the pickup location; (d) lateral movement (withdrawal) of the component-retaining member without the pin together with the component-separating member from the pickup location toward the offset plane of the strip to retrieve a new pin. This lateral withdrawal movement away from the pickup location after the vacuum nozzle  104  has engaged the pin is to restore the pre-separation positions of the two members, namely, both the component-retaining member  40  and the component-separating member  60  on the far (opposite) side of the carrier facing away from the pickup location, which is necessary to ensure that both the component-retaining member and the component-separating member will be clear of the advancing carrier strip containing the next following pin including the still-left-in-place downstream segment from which the lead pin was separated. Interference is also avoided by the return path extending below the carrier and pins. The PLC controller  121  is programmed so that the carrier is not advanced until after the pre-separating positions are attained as indicated by a fourth electronic sensor  136 . The offset position of the strip of suspended pins is necessary because the pin must be released from the carrier supporting it by its beveled end from above to free its beveled end so that it can be engaged by the vacuum nozzle.  
         [0046]    In the preferred embodiment, the controller is programmed so that the time delay that occurs between the time that the first cylinder  92  is actuated to swing the spring-loaded lever  84  away from the pin to release it and the time that the V-block starts to withdraw from the pickup location is sufficient so that when the nozzle  104  rises with the captured pin, the pin voyage is not interfered with. For example, the base  15  of the MiniFoot pins extends in several directions so care must be exercised that those extensions do not strike any feeder parts during their ascent. The appropriate timing of these steps avoids that problem, and is easily controlled by the appropriate timing programmed into the controller, as those skilled in this art will readily appreciate. Most commercial controllers allow the user to program numbers representing times into particular registers, and the controller as it executes its program knows to access certain registers to determine the timing of the outputting of control pulses from selected controller outputs connected to the different electronic valves described, which are also available commercially. As previously mentioned, other controllable devices such as electrical solenoids and others can also be substituted for the pneumatic actuating devices described. The use of this programmable controller thus makes it easy to customize the feeder to the particular pick-and-place machine used by the PCB maker.  
         [0047]    The electronic sensors employed can be of various known kinds. Preferably, convergent optical sensors are employed which combine an LED as IR beam generator and a photo-transistor as the beam detector. The first sensor, which is of this kind, thus has its beam always ON being detected. The arrival of the nozzle interrupts the beam signaling its arrival. When the nozzle departs, the detection of the beam signals its departure. Other kinds of sensors to perform the same functions can easily be substituted for that and the other sensors.  
         [0048]    An important feature of the invention is the comb  70  added to the pin-separating block. The pins on the strip can on occasion become bent in the plane of the pin strip. The comb  70  shown in FIG. 10, which is integral with the pin separating device, serves the purpose of straightening pins which may be skewed (bent at the top point where they join the carrier strip) along the direction of travel of the carrier. As the pins advance, the first comb pocket  69  is wider so as to start the straightening process with the angled sides of the teeth, the second pocket  71  is much narrower and further functions to position the pin vertically, and the V block itself serves as the final means to ensure the pin is straight. This process works very well and is capable of straightening pins which are skewed as much as 30 degrees or more to the vertical to provide a high degree of consistent pin positioning.  
         [0049]    It will also be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific components shown. Also, different shapes of the components are also considered within the scope of the invention so long as the shape allows for an end for pickup, which can be pointed as in a pin, or flat providing a area surface that allows vacuum pickup.  
         [0050]    Where the claims refer to the “first” or “second” paths, this is meant to refer, respectively, to the transport path followed by the strip of components, and the transverse path followed by the component-separating means and component-retaining means.  
         [0051]    While the invention has been described in connection with preferred embodiments, it will be understood that modifications thereof within the principles outlined above will be evident to those skilled in the art and thus the invention is not limited to the preferred embodiments but is intended to encompass such modifications.