Patent GB-806523-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in apparatus for assembling electrical components on component receiving parts
IPC: H05K13/04
Filed: 1956-05-31
Abstract: 806,523. Assembly electrical components on circuit boards. ADMIRAL CORPORATION. May 31, 1956 [Sept. 9, 1955], No. 16845/56. Class 83 (2). Apparatus for assembling a component, particularly an electrical component such as a resistor, condenser, coil or tube socket, or a receiving part such as a base B, Fig. 1, comprises a conveyer track 21 passing through at least one component inserting station P, Q, R, S, T, a magazine M for the bases at one end of the track and from which the bases are discharged in succession on to the track which has a movable track section 79 at each station, and a component inserting mechanism adjustably mounted at each station for co-operation with an anvil disposed below the movable track section to secure the component to the base. Printed-circuit bases B contained in the magazine M, Fig. 1, are discharged successively therefrom by a reciprocating member 56 operated by a pneumatic motor 6 and having spring- biased fingers 62 which engage the left-hand edge of the bottom base in the magazine and feed it into opposite grooves 32, Fig. 20, in horizontal conveyer rails 28 supported by brackets 14 attached to a frame 7, Fig. 7 (not shown). The rails are adjustable to suit different widths of base. The bases are moved successively through a number of component inserting stations P, Q, R, S, T, Fig. 1, and are transferred between these stations by lugs 128 on a rail 129, Fig. 20, connected to the motor 6. At each station, conveyer rails 78, 79 are mounted for vertical movement whereby a base B arriving at the station is lowered. Thus, holes 114, 116, Fig. 22, in the base B pass over fixed locating pins 117, 118 and the points where a component or components are to be inserted are supported over an anvil or anvils 121. Springs 108, Fig. 21 (not shown) are used as brakes to stop the movement of the bases along the tracks. The rails 78, 79 with the base B carried thereby are moved vertically by cam plates 96 mounted on a horizontal rod 89 reciprocated by an air motor 87, Fig. 1. Each plate 96 has a cam slot 97 engaged by a follower pin 101 in a vertical post 98 secured to a plate 84 connected to the rails. Mechanism for inserting resistances or condensers at the stations comprises one or more inserter units 156 mounted on single or multiple unit support stands 139, 236 respectively, Fig. 20, on a baseplate 13. The stands permit full adjustment for the units. Each unit consists of a vertical support 154, Fig. 26, having a vertical slideway 163 for a reciprocating outer slide 166 which itself has a vertical slideway 171 containing an inner slide 168 detachably secured at 175 to a member 176 which is connected through an adjustable turnbuckle 174, Fig. 25 (not shown), to the piston-rod 173, Fig. 20, of a pneumatic motor 170. A single motor may operate simultaneously a number of inserter units 156 at one station by means of a cross-head 256, Fig. 20, connected by rods to the units. The components 157, Fig. 30, are fed by gravity down a magazine 191 pivoted at 202; Fig. 23 (not shown), to the support 154 and whose lower end 209 is swung into and out of the path of the slides by a follower 207 on the outer slide moving in a cam slot 206 attached to the magazine. During the upstroke of the two slides, which are normally connected to move as a unit by a ball 223 fitting in a hole in the outer slide and engaging in a detent in the inner slide, the lower end of the magazine 191 moves inwardly to position the leading component against a stop 212, Fig. 26, with its wire ends 159, Fig. 6, resting on dies 183. During the subsequent downstroke both slides move together whereby shear blades 188 on the outer slide 166 cooperate with the dies 183 to shear the wires to correct lengths. In an alternative embodiment, Figs. 62-66 (not shown), the wire ends are sheared to length as the components pass down the magazine 191, by pivoted shear blades 909, Fig. 63 (not shown), actuated by cams carried by the outer slide. The sheared-offends are discharged by shoots 189, 189c, Fig. 31 (not shown), and the remaining wires are then bent downwardly over the sides 209 of the magazine which is still supporting the component in position beneath the dies. The bent wire ends are retained in the grooves 171, Fig. 26, in the outer slide whose movement is subsequently stopped by an adjustable bolt 224 engaging a fixed stop 226. The ball 223 is then opposite a spring-loaded plunger 231 which is depressed by the ball moving out of its detent in the inner slide 168, and permits the latter to continue its downward movement to push the component wires through holes 4, Fig. 6, in the base and clinch them over by means of the anvil 21 against the printed conductors 3. A similar unit, Figs. 33-36 (not shown), is used for inserting coils. Another unit 272, Fig. 37, for fixing cross-over wires W1 in the base B, has a double slide 279, 280 similar to that of previous unit, to which wire is drawn through a guide tube 276 from a coil 273 by means of a spring-biased reciprocating slide 326 with a wire gripping finger 367 actuated by linkage 369, 304, 311 from the outer slide 279. A wire retainer having a release handle 349 prevents back feed of the wire. The leading end of the latter is sheared off by a cutting edge 385; the wire is then bent to U shape, inserted through holes in the base B and the ends clinched over by engagement with the cam surfaces of anvils 121. A further type of unit, Fig. 55, for inserting tube sockets 427 into the base B has a double slide assembly 437, 469 actuated by a pneumatic motor 434, Fig. 51 (not shown), and normally coupled together for common movement by means of a ball 441 as in the previous units. The sockets are stored in a magazine 442 pivoted at 446 so that the lower end thereof is movable towards and away from the slides. During the upstroke of the slides a follower pin 482 secured to the inner slide 437 and sliding in a cam slot 481 moves the lower end of the magazine towards the slide whereby the leading socket abuts against a stop 483. Meanwhile a spring-biased gate 462 projecting into the magazine has been raised. During the subsequent downstroke side ribs in the outer slide engage opposite grooves 431, Fig. 60 (not shown), in the socket; the magazine is then withdrawn and the inner slide 437 presses the socket legs 429 through holes in the base and clinches them outwardly by engagement with an anvil 489, Fig. 54 (not shown). A switch 510 in the circuit of the pneumatic motor is closed by pressure of a socket 427 against stop 483 whereby operation of the motor is prevented unless a socket is positioned correctly. The inner slide may have locating pins 522, Fig. 57 (not shown), for engagement in the pin-holes in the sockets. An electrical control system, Figs. 67, 68 (not shown), is described for the sequential operation of the various pneumatic motors through solenoid-actuated valves controlled by switches operated in sequence by cams on a shaft driven by an electric motor. Optional manual control of the component inserter units is provided by operation of a main change-over switch 821, Fig. 67 (not shown), and separate manual control switches 632, 667, 643, 671, Fig. 68 (not shown). Electrical interlocks are provided for preventing operation of an inserter unit at a station if the base B fails to be seated correctly on its anvil or for stopping the apparatus by means of the cam driving motor if a base is not transferred from the magazine M or has become jammed during transfer, if one of the components does not pass through the blank into engagement with its anvil and if the air pressure to the motors is less than a minimum value. Warning lights are used to indicate these faults. Specification 806,524 is referred to.