Patent Publication Number: US-6911101-B2

Title: ACF tape feeder machine, and method for feeding ACF tape

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Art 
   This invention relates to an ACF (Anisotropic Conductive Film) tape feeder machine and a method for feeding ACF tape, suitable for use in feeding and bonding ACF on substrate plates, for example, suitable for use in a liquid crystal display panel fabrication process for bonding ACF on a transparent substrate plate of a liquid crystal cell for the purpose of mounting driver electronics thereon. 
   2. Prior Art 
   For example, driver electronics including a plural number of IC devices are connected to at least two side edges of a transparent substrate of a liquid crystal display panel. In some cases, the driver electronics are constituted by IC devices themselves. In some cases, IC devices are mounted on a film substrate to constitute driver electronics parts to be mounted on a transparent substrate or to be connected between a transparent substrate and a printed circuit board. 
   No matter which mounting method is employed, it is difficult to use solder in connecting electrodes on the side of the driver electronics parts to electrodes on the side of the substrate, which are formed in an extremely fine pitch. Therefore, ACF has been resorted to in the art in order to electrically connect the electrodes on the side of the driver electronics to the electrodes on the side of the substrate in a secure and reliable manner. ACF has conductive particles or grains dispersed in a binder resin with sticky and electrically insulating properties. After bonding AFC on a transparent substrate, driver electronics parts are bonded thereon by a TAB (Tape Automated Bonding) operation, and heat and pressure are applied thereto to electrically connect the electrodes on the side of the TAB-mounted electronics parts to the electrodes on the side of the transparent substrate through the conductive particles in ACF. 
   Generally, ACF is laminated to a predetermined thickness on one side of a liner tape through a releasing layer. The AFC tape is wound on a supply reel, and a fore end portion of the AFC tape is drawn out from the supply reel and bonded on a transparent substrate by the use of a bonding means. 
   The AFC tape which is wound on a supply reel is limited in length. Therefore, as soon as an AFC tape supply reel is consumed completely, it has to be replaced by a fresh supply reel. At an AFC tape feeding station, a supply reel is set on a reel support shaft, and, when consumed completely, dismantled therefrom and replaced by a fresh supply reel. The reel replacing job is not completed simply by setting a fresh supply reel on the reel support shaft. It also involves a job of drawing out a fore end portion of the AFC tape on the newly set supply reel and connecting same to a bonding means. Namely, actually the reel replacement job involves a tape end connecting job in addition to reel replacement. 
   Heretofore, the reel replacing and tape end connecting jobs have relied on manual labor of an operator despite the fact that these jobs are troublesome and time consuming. Especially, since the ACF tape has an adhesive surface on one side, an operator is required to pay great attention not to touch the adhesive surface. Namely, the operator has to handle the ACF tape very carefully in reeling off a fore end portion of the ACF tape from a fresh supply reel and connecting same to a bonding means even if it takes a relatively long period of time. 
   Of course, the operation of mounting driver electronics parts on a substrate is suspended during the reel replacement and the tape end connecting operation, resulting in great time losses. Besides, in order to minimize the time losses, the operator needs to watch the progress of a tape feeding operation and to replace a supply reel by a fresh one in a good timing, that is to say, as soon as the tape from one reel is completely consumed. Accordingly, the operator has to stand by exclusively for this purpose from well before a time point when tape supply from a currently operating supply reel comes to an end. As a result, the operational efficiency is deteriorated considerably by the reel replacements because the operator cannot do other jobs during each standby period. 
   Especially, as a result of recent progresses and improvements in automatic mounting apparatus for electronic circuitry parts, there has been a trend toward speeding up the tact time of electronic parts mounting operations, consuming the ACF tape of each supply reel in a shortened period of time and as a result necessitating to replace the supply reel at a higher frequency. It is a paramount requisite to shorten the time period of the reel replacements in order to shorten a time period for mounting each electronic part. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   In view of the foregoing situations, it is an object of the present invention to make it possible to replace an empty ACF tape supply reel by a fresh reel and to connect a fore end portion of an ACF tape from the fresh supply reel to a bonding means of an ACF tape feeder machine quickly and smoothly, permitting to set a fresh supply reel in a stand by position at any time or in an arbitrary timing, irrespective of the progress of a current tape feeding operation. 
   It is another object of the present invention to make it possible to carry out a reel replacing job and a tape end connecting job separately in different timings, permitting to carry out a reel replacing job concurrently or in overlapped relation with an ACF tape feeding operation from other supply reel. 
   It is still another object of the present invention to make it possible to shorten the time for reel replacements and to permit an uninterrupted ACF taple feeding operation by the use of ACF tape supply reels each loaded with a limited length of ACF tape. 
   In accordance with the present invention, in order to achieve the above-stated objectives, there is provided an ACF (Anisotropic Conductive Film) tape feeder machine having an ACF bonding means adapted to draw out an ACF tape, with an ACF laminated on a liner tape, from a supply reel set in a feed position at an ACF tape feeding station, and to bond the ACF on substrate plate surfaces one after another over a predetermined length, characterized in that: the ACF tape feeding station is provided with a reel stand having at least two reel mount members for setting at least two ACF tape supply reels separately thereon; the reel mount members of the reel stand are connected to a switch means and switchable to and from an operating position for reeling out the ACF tape to the bonding means and a standby position. 
   Further, according to the present invention, there is also provided a method for feeding an ACF tape, comprising the steps of; providing at least two reel support members on a reel stand to support and set at least two ACF tape supply reels thereon, one in an operating position for reeling off an ACF tape and the other one in a standby positon; while an ACF tape from a supply reel in the operating position is being bonded on substrate plates by the use of a bonding means, replacing an empty supply reel in the standby position by a fresh ACF tape supply reel; as soon as the ACF tape supply reel in the operating position becomes empty, switching positions of the reel mount members to locate the reel mount member with the fresh ACF tape supply reel in the operating position; and drawing out an ACF tape from the fresh reel and connecting the same to said bonding means. 
   In this instance, the tape supply reels are set on reel mount members which are provided on a reel stand. Each one of the reel mount members is provided with at least one reel support shaft. Further, in order to make an automatic tape end connecting operation feasible, a tape end holder member is provided on each reel mount member thereby to grip a fore end of an ACF tape which is reeled off from a supply reel over a predetermined length. Alternatively, the tape end holder member may be arranged into the so-called cassette type which is provided integrally with the tape supply reel. In a case where a tape supply reel is mounted directly on a reel support shaft, the tape end holder member is provided on each one of the reel mount members of the reel stand. Otherwise, an adhesive medium may be used for holding a fore end portion of an ACF tape on the reel mount member. It is also possible to employ a chuck means for this purpose. Furthermore, the end holder member can be arranged to grip the liner tape smoothly. In this regard, it is preferable to employ a suction type end holder member because it is simple in construction and capable of holding and releasing a tape by smooth actions. A fore end portion of the ACF tape, which is gripped by the tape end holder member, has to be handed over to the bonding means. In a case where the tape end holder member is constituted by a mechanical chuck means, the handover can be made directly. However, it is also possible to provide a tape handover means which is arranged in such a way as to pick up an ACF tape from the tape end holder member on the tape supplying side and then hand over the tape to the bonding means. 
   As for the bonding means, it is possible to employ various mechanisms and systems which have been known in the art. For example, the bonding means can be largely constituted by a chuck member which is adapted to grip a fore end portion of ACF tape, a bonding roller adapted to press an ACF tape from above to bond an ACF side of the tape against a substrate plate. In this case, the bonding means is movable on and along a substrate plate. The liner tape of the AFC tape has to be peeled off after bonding the AFC on a substrate plate. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a peeler roller on the bonding means. In a case where the bonding means is provided with a chuck member for gripping a fore end portion of ACF tape, the tape handover means should preferably include a handover chuck member which is adapted to pick up an ACF tape from the tape end holder member and then hand it over to the chuck member of the bonding means. 
   The reel stand which supports the two reel mount members is connected to a switch means thereby to switch the reel mount members to and from an operating or tape supply position and a standby position. Therefore, each reel mount member is provided with a reel support shaft and a tape end holder member thereon. The two reel mount members are switched alternately from the operating to standby position and from the standby to operating position in an interlinked manner. In switching the positions of the reel mount members, they may be displaced in vertical or lateral directions. However, in order to replace supply reels constantly at the same position, it is preferred to couple the reel stand with a rotational shaft and to turn one of the reel mount members on the reel stand selectively into the operating position by turning the rotational shaft back and forth through a predetermined angle, for example, through 180 degrees. One supply reel is set in the operating or tape feeding position, while one or a plural number of supply reels may be set in a standby position or positions. For example, four reel mount members may be provided on an indexing rotational shaft with a positional phase difference of 90 degrees from each other. In this case, the supply reels on the four reel mount members are successively advanced into an operating position by an indexing rotation as soon as a supply reel in a preceding position is consumed completely, that is to say, three supply reels are held in standby positions while one supply reel is in the tape supplying operation. 
   The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the follow particular description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings which show by way of example some preferred embodiments of the invention. Needless to say, the present invention is not limited to the particular forms which are shown in the accompanying drawings for illustrative purposes. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a fragmentary outer view of a liquid crystal display panel, shown as an example of application of an AFC feeder (bonding) machine according to the present invention; 
       FIG. 2  is a schematic sectional view of a TAB mount portion of a liquid crystal display panel; 
       FIG. 3  is a schematic sectional view of an ACF tape; 
       FIG. 4  is a schematic illustration of an ACF bonding machine according to the present invention; 
       FIG. 5  is a perspective view of a bonding unit and a peeling chuck; 
       FIG. 6  is a schematic front view of a reel stand; 
       FIG. 7  is a schematic plan view of the reel stand in an operational phase of replacing a supply reel in a standby position; 
       FIG. 8  is a schematic illustration of a tape handover means; 
       FIG. 9  is a schematic side view of the tape handover means of  FIG. 8 ; 
       FIG. 10  is a schematic illustration explanatory of a first step of an ACF tape end connecting operation; 
       FIG. 11  is a schematic illustration explanatory of a second step of the ACF tape end connecting operation; 
       FIG. 12  is a schematic illustration explanatory of a third step of the ACF tape end connecting operation; 
       FIG. 13  is a schematic illustration explanatory of a fourth step of the ACF tape end connecting operation; and 
       FIG. 14  is a schematic illustration explanatory of a fifth step of the ACF tape end connecting operation. 
   

   DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
   Hereafter, the present invention is described more particularly by way of its preferred embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings. Firstly, reference is had to the outer view of a liquid crystal cell in  FIG. 1 , the sectional view of a TAB mount portion in  FIG. 2 , and the sectional view of ACF tape in FIG.  3 . 
   In  FIG. 1 , the liquid crystal cell  1  has liquid crystal sealed in a cell gap which is formed between two overlapped transparent substrate plates, for example, between two substrate plates of glass. Here, the two substrate plates  2  and  3  which constitute the liquid crystal cell  1  are referred to as a lower substrate  2  and an upper substrate  3 , respectively. Electrode patterns are formed on confronting inner surfaces of the lower and upper substrate plates  2  and  3  by printing or other suitable means, in groups each consisting of a plural number of electrodes as indicated by reference numeral  4 . In the case of the lower substrate plate  2 , for instance, groups of electrodes  4  are formed along at least two sides thereof. Each electrode group  4  of the lower substrate plate  2  is electrically connected to a group of electrodes  7  on the side of a driver electronics part  9  having an IC device  6  mounted on a wiring board film  5  and having electrode groups  7  and  8  of a predetermined number formed on the opposite sides of the IC device  6 . 
   An ACF tape  10  is used for mounting the driver electronics part  9   11  on the lower substrate plate  2  with the electrode group  7  on the side of the driver in an electrically connected state the electrode group  4  on the side of the substrate plate. As seen in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , ACF has conductive particles  10   b  uniformly dispersed in a binder resin material  10   a  with sticky and electrically insulating properties. The conductive particles are smaller in size than the intervals between individual electrodes in the electrode group  7  on the side of the driver and in the electrode group  4  on the side of the substrate plate. The ACF is interposed between the lower substrate plate  2  and the driver electronics part  9 , and, after softening the binder resin  10   a , pressure is applied to the lower substrate  2  and the driver electronics part  9 , reducing the thickness of the ACF  10  almost to the grain size of the conductive particles  10   b  and thereby bringing the conductive particles into contact with electrodes  4   a  and  7   a  of the electrode group  4  on the side of the substrate plate and the electrode group  7  on the side of the driver to establish electrical connections therebetween. Upon hardening the binder resin  10   a , the driver electronics part  9  is securely fixed to the lower substrate plate  2 . 
   As clear from  FIG. 3 , ACF  10  is laminated on a liner tape  11  and provided in the form of an ACF tape  12 . The laminated layer of ACF  10  is releasable from the liner tape  11 . Therefore, the liner tape  11  can be peeled off when the ACF  10  is bonded on and fixed to the lower substrate plate  2 . As a result, the ACF layer  10  of the ACF tape  12  is bonded on the lower substrate plate  2 . 
   As shown in  FIG. 4 , the ACF tape  12  is wound on a supply reel  13 , and reeled off therefrom and bonded on the lower substrate plate  2 . The liquid crystal cell  1  is mounted on a carriage table  14  with a positioning mechanism, and delivered to an ACF bonding station  15 . Guide rollers  16  are provided at suitable positions along a tape supply route to be taken by the ACF tape  12  from the supply reel  13 . These guide rollers  16  are held in engagement with the ACF tape  12  on the side of the liner tape  11 . 
   Provided in the course of a tape supply route, taken by an ACF tape which has been drawn out by the guide rollers  16 , is a half cutter means  17  which serves to remove the ACF  10  over a predetermined length and at predetermined intervals. 
   Further, in  FIG. 4 , shown at  18  is a bonding means and at  19  a collecting means. The bonding means  18  is composed of a roller assembly unit including a bonding roller  20 , guide rollers  21  and  22  which are located on the upstream and downstream sides of the bonding roller  20  and a peeling roller  23 , and a drawing chuck member  24 . All of just-members are mounted on a carriage block  25 . As seen in  FIG. 5 , the carriage block  25  is moved back and forth by a horizontal transfer unit, including a guide rail  26   a  and a drive means  26   b , to reciprocate to and from predetermined initial and end positions. The carriage block  25  can be stopped at any aimed position in the course of its horizontal stroke. The collecting means  19  is provided for collecting the liner tape  11  which is peeled off the ACF  10  after bonding the latter on the lower substrate plate  2 , and composed of a peeling chuck member  27  and a collecting box  28 . The collecting box  28  is adapted to collect the peeled liner tape  11  by suction force. 
   The bonding roller  20  and the guide rollers  21  and  22  of the bonding means  18  mounted on a lift means  29  and thereby moved to and from a lower position at which the ACF tape is brought into abutting engagement with the lower substrate plate  2  and an upper receded position away from the lower substrate plate  2 . The peeler roller  23  which is located downstream of the bonding roller  20  in the travel direction of the ACF tape  12  is fixedly retained in position in the vertical direction. Opened between the guide roller  22  and the peeler roller  23  is a gap space to permit passage of a handover chuck member  46  which will be described hereinlater. 
   The ACF bonding machine is generally arranged as described above. The carriage block  25  is located at an initial position in the proximity of the supply reel  13 . At the initial position, the ACF tape  12  is gripped by the drawing chuck member  24 , and, while the ACF tape  12  is being gripped by the drawing chuck member  24 , a bonding operation is started from this position to bond ACF  10  on the lower substrate plate  2  of the liquid crystal cell  1 . In this instance, by the half cut means  17 , ACF  10  has been peeled off from the chuck portion of the ACF tape  12  to be gripped by the drawing chuck member  24 . Thus, it is the liner tape  11  that is actually gripped by the drawing chuck member  24 , and there is no possibility of the drawing chuck member  24  coming into direct contact with ACF  10 . 
   The carriage block  25  is moved forward to a bonding start position where the bonding roller  20  starts to bond ACF  10  on the lower substrate  2  of the liquid crystal cell  1 . Then, the lift means  29  is actuated to lower the bonding roller  20  and the front and rear guide rollers  21  and  22  until the ACF tape  12  is abutted on the lower substrate plate  2 . At this time, normally the carriage block  25  is temporarily held at rest. However, if desired, the lift means may be actuated during movement of the carriage block  25 . The carriage block  25  is then put in travel, letting the bonding roller  20  and the front and rear guide rollers  21  and  22  move along the surface of the lower substrate plate  2 . At this time, by the bonding roller  20 , ACF  10  of the ACF tape  12  is bonded on the lower substrate plate  2  under a predetermined pressure. 
   As soon as the bonding roller  20  is displaced to an end position of the ACF bonding operation on the lower substrate  2 , the carriage block  25  is stopped. Then, the peeling chuck member  27  is actuated to grip the ACF tape  12 . Since the ACF  10  had already been peeled off at a position forward of the bonding means  18 , at this time it is the liner tape  11  that is gripped by the peeling chuck member  27 . After this, the drawing chuck member  24  is opened to release the ACF tape  12 . In this state, the carriage block  25  is moved toward the initial position. The peeler roller  23  is engaged with that side of the liner tape  11  where a releasing layer is formed, and located in a spaced position from the lower substrate plate  2 . Therefore, the liner tape  11  is peeled off ACF  10  which has been bonded to the lower substrate plate  2 . As soon as ACF  10  is completely separated from the liner tape  11 , the bonding roller  20  and the guide rollers  21  and  22  are lifted up by the lift means  29 , and then the drawing chuck member  24  is closed to grip the liner tape  11  which has been separated from the bonded ACF  10 , and at the same time the peeling chuck member  27  is opened to release the tape. 
   After the above operation, the machine becomes ready for starting an ACF bonding operation on a next liquid crystal cell  1 . Therefore, as soon as a fresh liquid crystal cell  1  is delivered on the transfer table  14 , the machine is operated to repeat the above-described operation. As the carriage block  25  is moved to reel off the ACF tape  12  and the ACF  10  is bonded by the bonding roller  20 , the peeled and used portion of the liner tape  11  is fed forward and collected into the collecting box  28  by suction force. 
   As the ACF bonding operation is repeated continuously, sooner or later the ACF tape  12  on the supply reel  13  is totally consumed. In order to continue the bonding operation, the consumed supply reel has to be removed and replaced by a fresh supply reel. At time time, after setting a fresh supply reel in position at the tape feeding station, it becomes necessary to draw out a fore end of an ACF tape  12  from the fresh reel as far as the bonding means  18  and to chuck it on the drawing chuck member  24 . According to the present invention, the reel replacing and the tape end connecting operations can be completed very smoothly. By nature, the reel replacement and the tape end connection are different jobs. Namely, what is involved are a job of replacing a consumed reel by a fresh reel, and a job of drawing a fore end of an ACF tape  12  from the fresh reel and getting the fore tape end chucked on the drawing chuck member  24  of the bonding mechanism  18 . Therefore, the jobs for the reel replacement and the tape end chucking are performed in different timings and by the use of different means. 
   The fore end of the ACF tape can be connected either by drawing out the fore end of the ACF tape  12  from the supply reel  13  until it reaches the drawing chuck member  24  of the bonding mechanism or by drawing out a fore end of the ACF tape  12  of the reel  13  to a predetermined position and then moving the drawing chuck member  24  toward that position to grip the fore end of the ACF tape  12 . This tape connecting operation can be performed automatically. Besides, by nature, the tape connecting operation cannot be carried out until a currently used supply reel is completely consumed to an empty state, that is to say, the tape connecting operation has to be carried out in a timing which is restricted by operating conditions of the ACF bonding machine. 
   On the other hand, automation of the reel replacements is also possible but for this purpose it becomes necessary to install a robot or the like for automatically performing the jobs removing an empty reel and setting a fresh supply reel in position, in addition to the necessity for providing a place for stocking fresh reels. Therefore, an automatic ACF bonding machine necessarily becomes complicated in construction and larger in scale. Further, the robot is required to perform operations which involve extremely complicated actions. Therefore, it is more rational to replace tape supply reels anually by an operator. Besides, if a fresh supply reel can be held in a standby desired timing, irrespective of operating conditions of the ACF bonding position, it becomes possible to replace tape supply reels at any time machine. 
   In order to permit replacements of tape supply reels in a more casual or arbitrary timing, a supply reel stand  30  is arranged to support a couple of supply reels  13  thereon as shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 . The supply reel stand  30  is largely constituted by an upright reel mount member  31 , reel support shafts  32  provided on the opposite sides of the reel mount member  31  and adapted to support a tape supply reel  13  thereon, and guide rollers  33  (corresponding to guide rollers  16  in  FIG. 4 ) provided on each side of the reel mount member  31  to guide an ACF tape which is reeled off from the tape supply reel  13 . Further, a tape end holder member  34  is provided substantially at a foremost position in a tape travel path which is formed on the reel mount member  31  by the guide rollers  33 . In this instance, the tape end holder member  34  is provided with a suction hole  35  on the lower side thereof to grip a front side of a liner tape  11  by suction force. 
   As shown in  FIG. 7 , a pair of reel mount members  31  are supported on a reversing shaft  36  with 180 degrees phase difference from each other. Each one of these reel mount members  31  is securely fixed to the reversing shaft  36  on the back side, that is to say, on the side away from the front side on which the tape supply reel  13  is supported. This reversing shaft  36  is rotated back and forth through 180 degrees by a drive means which is not shown. 
   In the case of the particular embodiment shown in  FIG. 7 , the side labeled with “S” is a supply side which is being by a reel  13  currently in operation for supplying the ACF tape  12 , and the side labeled with “W” is a side being used by a fresh supply reel which is held in a standby state until the ACF tape  12  of the tape supply reel  13  on the other side “S” is completely consumed. Namely, in  FIG. 7 , a letter “S” or “W” is affixed to the reference numerals to distinguish the reel mount member and the tape supply reel on the supply side “S” from the counterparts on the standby side “W”. Further, the standby side “W” which is used for reel replacements is now in the process of reel replacement in FIG.  7 . 
   A consumed reel is replaced by a fresh reel in the manner as described below. For this purpose, a reel replacing operation is started with removal of a stopper  32   a  which is detachably fixed on the reel support shaft  32  on the side of the reel mount member  31 W, as shown in FIG.  7 . Then, an empty reel is removed, and a fresh reel  13 W is set in position on the reel support shaft  32  and locked in that position by attaching the stopper  32   a  again to the reel support shaft  32 . Before or at this stage of replacement, the ACF  10  is peeled off the fore distal end of the ACF tape  12  from the reel  13 W over a predetermined length. Thereafter, the AFC tape  12  is reeled off from the supply reel  13 W along the tape travel path around the guide rollers  33  on the reel mount member  31  until the fore end of the tape is sucked and gripped by the suction hole  35  of the tape end holder member  34 . 
   One cycle of reel replacing operation is completed by the above described operations. Even during this reel replacing operation, the supply of the ACF tape  12  from the tape supply reel  13  on the reel mount member  31 S on the currently supplying side “S” is continued without being influenced by the reel replacement. Namely, the reel replacement can be carried out at any time point during a time period between start and end of the supply of the ACF tape  12  from the supply reel  13  on the side of the reel mount member  31 S. Accordingly, an operator can replace reels at any time and in an arbitrary timing. This means that the operator is no longer required to waste time for standing by and waiting for appropriate timings of reel replacements. In addition, supply reels can be replaced quickly in a facilitated manner, contributing to enhance the working efficiency of the operator all the more. 
   The supply of the ACF tape  12  from the tape supplying side “S” is continued even after the supply reel  13 W is set in position on the reel mount member  31 W on the standby side “W”. As soon as all of the ACF tape  12  on the reel  13 S on the reel mount member  31 S on the tape supplying side “S” is used up and collected in the collection box  28 , this is detected by a sensor (not shown), and, in response to a signal from the sensor, the reversing shaft  36  is turned around to reverse the positions of the reel mount members on the tape supplying side “S” and the standby side “W”, turning the tape supply reel  13 S on the reel mount member  31 S into the position on the standby side “W” while turning the tape supply reel  13 W on the reel mount member  31 W into the position on the tape supplying side “S”. Accordingly, after the reversal of reel positions, the reel mount member  31 S operates as the reel mount member  31 W on the standby side “W” while the reel mount member  31 W operates as the reel mount member  31 S on the supplying side “S”. However, in this state, it is not yet possible to supply the ACF tape  12  from the supply reel  13 S which has been turned into the tape supplying side “S”. The fore end of the ACF tape  12  has to be connected to the drawing chuck member by a tape end connecting operation. In order to perform this tape end connecting operation automatically, the bonding machine is provided with a tape handover means  40  as shown in  FIGS. 8 and 9 . 
   The tape handover means  40  is provided with a support member  41  which is located fixedly at a position which will not interfere with reversing actions of the reel stand  30 , travel path of the ACF tape  12  which is fed out from the supply reel  13 , and operational actions of the bonding means  18 . Mounted on the support member  41  are a lift drive cylinder  42 , a couple of slide guides  43 , and a couple of support rods  44  which are driven up and down by the cylinder  42  and respectively guided by the slide guides  43 . An actuator  45  is attached to the lower ends of the support rods  44  thereby to open and close a handover chuck member  46 . 
   Thus, as the handover chuck member  46  is closed by the actuator  45 , the ACF tape  12  is gripped between the upper and lower chuck portions  46   a  as indicated by solid line in FIG.  9 . On the contrary, when the handover chuck member  46  is opened, the upper and lower chuck portions  46   a  are swung open in the upward and downward directions, respectively, as indicated in phantom in  FIG. 9  to take receded positions away from the travel path of the ACF tape  12 . The support rods  44 , which support the assembly of the handover chuck member and the actuator  45 , is movable at least to and from an upper lifted position, a lowered position and at least one intermediate position. 
   By operation of the tape handover means  40  with the above-described arrangements, the fore end of the ACF tape  12  which is gripped by the tape end holder member  34  can be drawn out from the supply reel  13  and handed over to the drawing chuck member  24  of the bonding means  18 . In this instance, the ACF tape  12  is passed on the lower side of the bonding roller  20  and the front and rear guide rollers  21  and  22  and on the upper side of the peeler roller  23 , and gripped in the drawing chuck member  24 . Namely, by operation of the tape handover means  40 , the fore end of the ACF tape  12  is routed under and over the respective rollers in the manner just described, and handed over to the drawing chuck member  24  automatically without relying on manual labor. 
   Now, the handover operation is explained with reference to  FIGS. 10 through 14 . In the first place, the handover chuck member  46  of the tape handover means  40 , which is in an opened state, is located in a position at the same height with the ACF tape  12  which is sucked on the tape end holder member  34  on the reel stand  30 . Then, the reversing shaft  36  is rotated through 180 degrees to reverse the positions of the two reel mount members, and, the handover chuck member  46  is actuated to grip the fore end of the ACF tape  12  which has been sucked on the tape end holder member  34  on the reel mount member  31 S of the tape supplying side “S”. At this time, the liner tape  11  alone is gripped by the handover chuck member  46  because the ACF  10  has already been peeled off from that portion of the ACF tape  12 . The suction grip of the tape end holder member  34  is then turned off to release the ACF tape  12 . 
   As soon as the ACF tape  12  is gripped and fetched by the handover chuck member  46 , the cylinder  42  is actuated to lower the handover chuck member  46 . At a lowered position, the ACF tape  12  is located at a level lower than the bonding roller  20  and the front and rear guide rollers  21  and  22  of the bonding means  18 , as seen particularly in FIG.  10 . From the position shown in  FIG. 10 , the carriage block  25  of the bonding means  18  is moved in the leftward direction in that figure, that is to say, in the backward direction relative to the travel direction of the ACF tape  12  to bring the handover chuck member  46  to a position between the guide roller  22  and the peeler roller  23 , as shown particularly in FIG.  11 . 
   The handover chuck member  46 , in the position of  FIG. 11 , is then moved upward into an upper lifted position whereupon the ACF tape  12  is oriented to run along the lower side of the bonding roller  20  and the front and rear guide rollers  21  and  22  and then rise to a level over the peeler roller  23  as shown particularly in FIG.  12 . Thereafter, the carriage block  25  is moved further in the leftward direction, displacing the peeler roller  23  forward past the position of the handover chuck member  46  and relocating the drawing chuck member  24  at a position forward of the handover chuck member  46 . At this time, the drawing chuck member  24  of the bonding means  18  is retained in an opened state, and the handover chuck member  46  is lowered to a position at an intermediate level between the upper and lower chuck portions of the drawing chuck member  24 . In this state, the carriage block  25  is moved further in the leftward direction, whereupon the handover chuck member  46  is passed through the drawing chuck member  24  as shown particularly in FIG.  13 . 
   Then, as shown in  FIG. 14 , the drawing chuck member  24  is closed to grip the ACF tape  12 , and succeedingly the handover chuck member  46  is opened to release the ACF tape  12 . As a consequence, the fore end of the ACF tape  12  from the supply reel  13 S is now gripped by the drawing chuck member  24 , that is to say, the ACF tape from the supply reel  13 S is now connected to the bonding means  18 . Thus, the machine is ready to start the operation of bonding the ACF  10  on a lower substrate of a liquid crystal cell. 
   As described above, the replacement of the supply reel  13 , which is necessary for the ACF bonding machine to continue the AFC bonding operation continuously in an uninterrupted manner, can be carried out in an arbitrary timing which is convenient to the operator, and a fore end of an ACF tape from a fresh supply reel is connected to the bonding means  18  automatically without requiring manual labor of an operator as soon as an ACF tape from a currently operating supply reel is completely consumed. The combination of the manual reel replacement and the automatic tape connecting operation makes it possible to carry out required jobs speedily and efficiently, suppressing time losses to a minimum. It becomes unnecessary for the operator to stand by and wait for reel replacement. Accordingly, in automatically mounting driver electronics parts on liquid crystal cells  1 , the operation can be carried out at an accelerated tact time, let alone improvements in working efficiency of the operator who is required to attend to various jobs.