Patent Publication Number: US-6336492-B1

Title: Mounting head apparatus and mounting method

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a mounting head apparatus for adsorbing and moving a sheet member to a position above a required object and placing the sheet on the object and a mounting method. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     In general, a so-called mounting head apparatus is employed to coat an object with a sheet member after the sheet has been registered to a predetermined position. The mounting head apparatus is employed, for example, when an adhesive sheet composed of an adhesive layer and a separable film is mounted on a portion for establishing the connection between a liquid crystal panel and a TAB. When an anisotropic and conductive adhesive sheet is mounted on a predetermined position of a flexible printed substrate, also a mounting head apparatus of the foregoing type is employed. 
     As shown in FIG. 1, the mounting head apparatus incorporates a head  101  for adsorbing a sheet member  100 , a moving means (not shown) for moving the head  101  and a vacuum pump  102  for generating adsorbing force for the head  101 . The head  101  has a plurality of adsorbing openings (not shown) formed in parallel with one another in one direction. Therefore, suction force is generated in the plural adsorbing openings owning to the operation of the vacuum pump  102  so that adsorption of the sheet member  100  is permitted. 
     In a state of the mounting head apparatus in which the sheet member  100  has been adsorbed by the head  101 , the moving means moves the head  101  to a position above an object  103  on which the sheet member  100  must be mounted. The mounting head apparatus is structured such that the head  101  holding the sheet member  100  adsorbed thereto is brought into contact with the object  103 . Then, generation of the adsorbing force is interrupted so that the sheet member  100  is mounted on the object  103 . 
     For example, an anisotropic and conductive adhesive sheet is allowed to adhere to a predetermined position of a flexible printed substrate as follows: the anisotropic and conductive adhesive sheet (hereinafter called an “ACF”) formed into a predetermined shape is allowed to adhere to the flexible printed substrate (hereinafter called a “FPC”) by the foregoing mounting head apparatus (temporal adhesion). Then, a heating head or the like is operated to allow the ACF and the FPC to completely adhere to each other (main adhesion). 
     The mounting head apparatus structured as described above enables the predetermined sheet member  100  to easily be mounted on a required position of the object  103 . Therefore, the operation for mounting the sheet member  100  has substantially been automated. 
     At present, reduction of sizes of electronic apparatuses incorporating FPC and so forth has caused the sizes of the FPC and so forth to be reduced. Hence it follows that also the foregoing sheet member, such as the ACF, must considerably accurately be mounted on an object on which the sheet member must be mounted and which has reduced size. 
     The foregoing mounting head apparatus has the structure that the suction force is generated in the plural adsorbing openings formed in one direction. Therefore, the sheet member  100  must have the size with which all of the plural adsorbing openings can be covered to realize sufficiently large force for adsorbing the sheet member  100 . That is, a portion of the adsorbing openings which does not adsorb the sheet member  100  deteriorates the effect of the negative pressure. Therefore, the force for adsorbing the sheet member  100  becomes insufficient. 
     To prevent the foregoing problem, a method may be employed with which change to a head  101  corresponding to a small sheet member  100  is performed. Another method may be employed with which a portion of the adsorbing openings is masked to correspond to the small sheet member  100 . The operation for changing the head  101  and that for performing masking are very complicated operations, causing the productivity to excessively deteriorate. Although each of the foregoing methods is able to generate the adsorbing force corresponding to the small sheet member  100 , there arises a problem in that the force for adsorbing a large sheet member  100  is insufficiently small when the large and small sheet members  100  are alternately mounted. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     To prevent the problems experienced with the conventional mounting head apparatus and the mounting method, an object of the present invention is to provide a mounting head apparatus and a mounting method each of which is capable of satisfactorily adsorbing any one of sheet members regardless of the size of the sheet member and accurately mounting the sheet member on a required position on an object. 
     To achieve the above-mentioned object, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mounting head apparatus for adsorbing and moving a sheet member to a position above an object on which the sheet member must be mounted and mounting the adsorbed sheet member on the object, the mounting head apparatus comprising an adsorbing portion having a plurality of adsorbing openings formed at the leading end thereof; a connection chamber to which the adsorbing portion is joined and which is formed into a space for connecting the base portions of the plural adsorbing openings to one another; dividing means disposed in the connection chamber and arranged to divide the internal space of the connection chamber into a plurality of sections; and pressure reducing means connected to the connection chamber and arranged to reduce the pressure in the connection chamber, wherein adsorbing force is generated from a portion of the plural adsorbing openings in a predetermined region when the dividing means divides the inside portion of the connection chamber at a predetermined position and the pressure in at least either of the divided connection chambers is reduced by the pressure reducing means. 
     The mounting head apparatus according to the present invention and structured as described above incorporates the dividing means which is capable of dividing the connection chamber at a required position. The mounting head apparatus reduces the pressure in at least either of the divided connection chambers to generate adsorbing force. At this time, the dividing means of the mounting head apparatus determines the dividing position in the connection chamber according to the size of the sheet member which must be adsorbed. As a result, the mounting head apparatus according to the present invention is able to generate the adsorbing force from the adsorbing openings formed in a predetermined region according to the size of the sheet member. Thus, the mounting head apparatus is able to adsorb a sheet member having a predetermined size. 
     To achieve the foregoing object, according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mounting method arranged to adsorb and move a sheet member to a position above an object on which the sheet member must be mounted and mount the adsorbed sheet member on the object, the mounting head method comprising the steps of: using a mounting head apparatus incorporating an adsorbing portion having a plurality of adsorbing openings formed at the leading end thereof, a connection chamber to which the adsorbing portion is joined and which is formed into a space for connecting the base portions of the plural adsorbing openings to one another, dividing means disposed in the connection chamber and arranged to divide the internal space of the connection chamber into a plurality of sections, and pressure reducing means connected to the connection chamber and arranged to reduce the pressure in the connection chamber; causing the dividing means to divide the inside portion of the connection chamber at a predetermined position; and causing the pressure reducing means to reduce the pressure in at least either of the divided connection chambers so that adsorbing force is generated from a portion of the plural adsorbing openings in a predetermined region, and the adsorbing force is used to adsorb the sheet member. 
     The mounting method according to the present invention and structured as described above causes the dividing means to divide the connection chamber at a required position. Moreover, the pressure in at least either of the divided connection chambers is reduced to generate adsorbing force in predetermined adsorbing openings to adsorb the sheet member. Therefore, the method according to the present invention arranged to adjust the dividing means to control the position at which the connection chamber is divided is able to generate adsorbing force from a portion of the plural adsorbing openings in required region. Thus, the foregoing method enables the region in which the adsorbing force is generated to be adjusted according to the size of the sheet member so that the sheet member is adsorbed. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a conventional mounting head apparatus; 
     FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing an ACF-sheet mounting apparatus incorporating a mounting head apparatus according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 3 is a partial cross sectional view showing an essential portion of the mounting head apparatus according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 4 is a partial cross sectional view showing an essential portion of the mounting head apparatus when it is viewed from a side position; 
     FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view showing a head portion; 
     FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view showing an essential portion of an ACF sheet; 
     FIG. 7 is an enlarged perspective view showing a temporal receiving portion of the ACF-sheet mounting apparatus; and 
     FIG. 8 is a cross sectional view showing another head portion of the mounting head apparatus according to the present invention. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Embodiments of a mounting head apparatus and a mounting method according to the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. 
     An example of the mounting head apparatus according to the present invention is a mounting head apparatus  1  structured as shown in FIG.  2  and arranged to mount an anisotropic and conductive adhesive sheet on a predetermined position of a flexible printed substrate. Note that the mounting head apparatus and the mounting method according to the present invention are not limited to the foregoing apparatus. The present invention may be applied when an adhesive sheet is sandwiched between a liquid crystal panel and a TAB as a step of manufacturing a liquid crystal image display apparatus. 
     An ACF-sheet mounting apparatus shown in FIG. 2 is constituted by the mounting head apparatus  1 , a supply portion  3  for drawing an anisotropic and conductive adhesive sheet (hereinafter abbreviated as an “ACF sheet”)  1   a  from a supply reel  2 , a cutting portion  4  for cutting the ACF sheet  1   a  supplied from the supply portion  3  to have a predetermined length, a temporal receiving portion  5  for holding the ACF sheet  1   a  cut by the cutting portion  4  and a table  7  on which an object  6 , on which the sheet must be mounted and which is hereinafter simply called an “object  6 ”, is secured. That is, the ACF-sheet mounting apparatus is constituted by the mounting head apparatus  1 , the supply portion  3 , the cutting portion  4 , the temporal receiving portion  5  and the table  7 . 
     The ACF-sheet mounting apparatus  1  incorporates a moving means  8  which is capable of moving the mounting head apparatus  1  in any one of directions X, Y and Z shown in FIG.  2 . The mounting head apparatus  1  can be rotated in a direction indicated with an arrow W shown in FIG.  2 . As a result, the ACF-sheet mounting apparatus is able to move the mounting head apparatus  1  to a required position. 
     As shown in FIG. 3, the mounting head apparatus  1  incorporates a head portion  14  having an adsorbing portion  11 , which has a plurality of adsorbing openings  10   a  formed at a leading end  10  by drilling, a connection chamber  12  to which the adsorbing portion  11  is joined and which is formed into a space in which base portions  10   b  of the plural adsorbing openings  10   a  are connected to one another and a piston head  13  which is a dividing means disposed in the connection chamber  12  and which divides the inside portion of the connection chamber  12  into a plurality of sections. Moreover, the mounting head apparatus  1  incorporates a heat insulation member  15  to which the head portion  14  is joined, a joining portion  16  for joining the heat insulation member  15  and the head portion  14  and a damper portion  17  for damping force which is exerted in the direction Z. In addition, a mount-head-side shaft  19  and a moving-means-side shaft  20  of the mounting head apparatus  1  are connected to each other through joints  18   a  and  18   b.    
     Moreover, the mounting head apparatus  1  incorporates a pair of exhaust pipes  21   a  and  21   b  joined to the connection chamber  12  and a pressure reducing means (not shown), for example, a vacuum pump, connected to the pair of exhaust pipes  21   a  and  21   b . It is preferable that one vacuum pump is joined to each of the pair of the exhaust pipes  21   a  and  21   b . Thus, the pressure of the internal portion of the connection chamber  12  can individually be reduced by the pair of the exhaust pipes  21   a  and  21   b . 
     In addition, the mounting head apparatus  1  incorporates a piston shaft  22 , which has an end joined to the piston head  13 , and an electric piston operating unit  23  joined to another end of the piston shaft  22  and arranged to cause the piston shaft  22  and the piston head  13  to integrally perform piston actions. 
     In the mounting head apparatus  1 , the adsorbing portion  11  has a plurality of partition walls  24  disposed between the leading end  10  and the connection chamber  12 . That is, the adsorbing portion  11  has a plurality of cylindrical connection holes  25  each of which has a depth which reaches the leading end  10 . The partition wall  24  is disposed between the adjacent connection holes  25 . Thus, the partition walls  24  are formed at substantially the same intervals in a direction in parallel with a direction in which the adsorbing openings  10   a  are formed. Moreover, the connection holes  25  connect the leading end  10  and the connection chamber  12  to each other. Hence it follows that the adsorbing portion  11  structured as described above is formed such that the plural adsorbing openings  10   a  open in the surface of the bottom of each of the connection holes  25 . 
     As shown in FIG. 4, the adsorbing portion  11  has a pair of heaters  26  disposed in parallel with the direction in which the leading end  10  are formed. The pair of the heaters  26  are able to heat portions around the adsorbing openings  10   a , that is, the leading end  10 . 
     The connection chamber  12  of the mounting head apparatus  1  is formed by drilling substantially the central portion of a metal block in the form of a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape into a substantially cylindrical form so that an internal space  27  is formed. Then, one side surface of the metal block is drilled to have a predetermined width so that a groove  28  is formed through which a portion of the internal space  27  is exposed to the outside. Moreover, a pair of openings are so formed in the other side surface of the connection chamber  12  as to reach the internal space  27 . Thus, a portion  12   a  for connecting the pair of the exhaust pipes  21   a  and  21   b  to each other is formed. 
     The connection chamber  12  and the adsorbing portion  11  are integrated with each other so that the head portion  14  is formed. In the head portion  14  formed by integrating the connection chamber  12  and the adsorbing portion  11  with each other, an upper surface  24   a  of the partition walls  24  is positioned in the groove  28  of the connection chamber  12 . Thus, the internal space  27  and the adsorbing openings  10   a  are connected to one another through the connection holes  25  so that an integrated space is formed in the head portion  14 . 
     The piston head  13  and the piston shaft  22  are disposed in the connection chamber  12 . As shown in FIG. 5, the piston head  13  incorporates a columnar member  29 , which has a diameter somewhat smaller than the inner diameter of the cylindrical internal space  27  formed by drilling, and a sealing member  30  wound around the columnar member  29 . The columnar member  29  has an outer groove  31  formed in the outer surface thereof and having a predetermined depth. The sealing member  30  is wound in the outer groove  31  formed in the outer surface of the columnar member  29 . 
     It is preferable that the sealing member  30  is made of an elastic material, such as rubber. The sealing member  30  wound around the outer groove  31  has a thickness with which the diameter including the sealing member  30  is made to be larger than the diameter of the columnar member  29 . Therefore, the sealing member  30  wound around the outer groove  31  projects over the outer surface of the columnar member  29 . In a state in which the sealing member  30  has been wound around the outer groove  31 , the diameter of the piston head  13  is somewhat larger than the inner diameter of the internal space  27 . 
     Hence it follows that the piston head  13  is press-fit into the internal space  27 . The piston head  13  is disposed in such a manner that the side wall which constitutes the internal space  27  and the sealing member  30  are brought into hermetic contact with each other. Moreover, the upper surface  24   a  of the partition walls  24  facing the groove  28  and the sealing member  30  are brought into hermetic contact with each other. Thus, the inside portion of the internal space  27  is divided into two spaces by the piston head  13 . 
     As shown in FIG. 6, the ACF sheet  1   a  for use in the ACF-sheet mounting apparatus is formed by sequentially laminating a separable film  35 , an adhesive layer  36  and a protective layer  37 . After the protective layer  37  has been removed, the ACF sheet  1   a  is cut to have a predetermined length, and then the ACF sheet  1   a  is mounted on a predetermined position of the flexible printed substrate. 
     As shown in FIG. 2, the supply portion  3  of the ACF-sheet mounting apparatus incorporates a supply reel  2  around which the ACF sheet  1   a  has been wound, a plurality of guide rollers  38  along which the ACF sheet  1   a  drawn from the supply reel  2  is moved, a conveyance roller  39  and a pressurizing roller  40  for holding the drawn ACF sheet  1   a  under a predetermined pressure, a separator block  41  disposed in the rear of the conveyance roller  39  and the pressurizing roller  40  to remove the protective layer  37  from the ACF sheet  1   a  and a take-up reel  42  for taking up the protective layer  37  separated by the separator block  41 . 
     The ACF sheet  1   a  is wound around the supply reel  2  in such a manner that the protective layer  37  of the ACF sheet  1   a  is the inner layer. Therefore, in the supply portion  3 , the ACF sheet  1   a  runs along the guide rollers  38  and so forth in such a manner that the protective layer  37  is positioned in the lower position. Since the ACF sheet  1   a  runs along a plurality of guide rollers  38 , a predetermined tension can be obtained. 
     A rotating means, such as a motor (not shown), is joined to the conveyance roller  39  in the supply portion  3 . Therefore, the conveyance roller  39  is rotated in a state in which the ACF sheet  1   a  is sandwiched between the conveyance roller  39  and the pressurizing roller  40 . Thus, the ACF sheet  1   a  can be drawn from the supply reel  2 . When a nip between the conveyance roller  39  and the pressurizing roller  40  is adjusted, the length of the ACF sheet  1   a  which must be drawn from the supply reel  2  can be controlled. 
     The separator block  41  is disposed in the rear of the conveyance roller  39  and the pressurizing roller  40  such that the separator block  41  is disposed adjacent to the protective layer  37  of the drawn ACF sheet  1   a . The separator block  41  separates the protective layer  37  of the running ACF sheet  1   a  from the ACF sheet  1   a . The separated protective layer  37  is taken up by the take-up reel  42 . The rotating apparatus, such as a motor, is connected to the take-up reel  42 . When the take-up reel  42  is rotated, the separated protective layer  37  can reliably be taken up. 
     The cutting portion  4  of the ACF-sheet mounting apparatus incorporates a cutter  45  for cutting the ACF sheet  1   a  and a control unit (not shown) for controlling the operation of the cutter  45 . Since timing at which the cutter  45  is operated is controlled by the control unit, the cutting portion  4  is able to cut the ACF sheet  1   a  at a predetermined position. 
     As shown in FIG. 7, the temporal receiving portion  5  has a temporal receipt frame  47  provided with a groove  46  having a width which is somewhat larger than the width of the ACF sheet la. When the ACF sheet  1   a  is supplied to the temporal receiving portion  5 , the ACF sheet  1   a  is introduced along the surface of the bottom of the groove  46 . Therefore, the ACF sheet  1   a  can be held in the temporal receiving portion  5  without any deviation in the position in the widthwise direction of the ACF sheet  1   a.    
     The size of the groove  46  is determined to permit introduction of the leading end  10  of the mounting head apparatus  1 . It is preferable that the temporal receiving portion  5  is provided with a cooling means for cooling the temporal receiving portion  5  to a degree with which formation of a tuck of the heaters  26  of the ACF sheet  1   a  can be prevented. A specific method of cooling the temporal receipt frame  47  will now be described. For example, an air-cooling apparatus, which is a cooling apparatus, may be provided for the inside portion of the temporal receipt frame  47  to blow cold air A to the bottom wall of the groove  46 , as indicated with an arrow A. The temperature and the quantity of cold air which must be blown as described above must be determined to correspond to the temperature to which the head portion  14  is heated, the thickness of the bottom wall and the type of the adhesive layer of the ACF sheet  1   a . In general, it is preferable that the temperature and the quantity are determined to lower the temperature of the surface of the bottom of the temporal receipt frame  47  to about 10° C. or lower. The cooling means may be a water-cooling-type cooling apparatus or an electronic cooling apparatus, as well as the air-cooling apparatus. 
     In the ACF-sheet mounting apparatus structured as described above, the ACF sheet  1   a  wound around the supply reel  2  is cut to have a predetermined size. Then, the mounting head apparatus  1  mounts the cut ACF sheet  1   a  on the object  6 . 
     Initially, the ACF sheet  1   a  is, in the supply portion  3 , sandwiched between the guide rollers  38  and the pressurizing roller  40 . Moreover, the ACF sheet  1   a  is routed to the plural guide rollers  38 . When the conveyance roller  39  has been rotated in the foregoing state, the ACF sheet  1   a  is drawn from the supply reel  2 . Since the ACF sheet  1   a  is routed to the plural guide rollers  38 , the ACF sheet  1   a  is able to move under a predetermined tension. 
     The protective layer  37  of the ACF sheet  1   a  is separated from the ACF sheet  1   a  by the separator block  41  so that a state in which the separable film  35  and the adhesive layer  36  are laminated is realized. Then, the ACF sheet  1   a  is supplied to the temporal receiving portion  5 . The ACF sheet  1   a  is cut to have a predetermined size in the cutting portion  4  formed between the supply portion  3  and the temporal receiving portion  5 . That is, the cutter  45  of the cutting portion  4  controlled by the control unit cuts the ACF sheet  1   a  at a predetermined position. Thus, the ACF sheet  1   a  having a predetermined size is supplied to the temporal receiving portion  5 . The ACF sheet  1   a  supplied to the temporal receiving portion  5  is brought to a state in which the separable film  35  is positioned in the upper portion and the adhesive layer  36  is positioned adjacent to the temporal receiving portion  5 . 
     As shown in FIG. 7, the ACF sheet  1   a  is introduced into the temporal receiving portion  5  along the surface of the bottom of the groove  46 . Therefore, the adhesive layer  36  of the ACF sheet  1   a  and the surface of the bottom of the groove  46  are brought into contact with each other. That is, when a predetermined length of the ACF sheet  1   a  has been supplied to the temporal receiving portion  5  of the ACF-sheet mounting apparatus, movement of the ACF sheet  1   a  owing to the rotations of the conveyance roller  39  is interrupted. Then, the cutter  45  of the cutting portion  4  is operated by the control unit so that the ACF sheet  1   a  is cut. The ACF sheet  1   a  cut to have an elongated shape is held in the temporal receiving portion  5  until the ACF sheet la is moved by the mounting head apparatus  1 . 
     Then, the ACF sheet  1   a  is moved from the temporal receiving portion  5  to a position above the object  6  by the mounting head apparatus  1 . 
     Initially, the electric piston operating unit  23  of the mounting head apparatus  1  moves the piston head  13  to a predetermined position. Specifically, the length (H 1  shown in FIG. 7) of the ACF sheet  1   a  supplied to a position above the groove  46  and the length (H 0  shown in FIG. 5) of a portion of the plural adsorbing openings connected to the connection chamber  12   a  and which generates the adsorbing force are made to be substantially the same. 
     In the mounting head apparatus  1 , only the vacuum pump connected to the exhaust pipe  21   a  of the exhaust pipes  21   a  and  21   b  is operated to produce a vacuum through the exhaust pipe  21   a . Thus, the pressure in a connection chamber  12   a  of the two connection chamber  12  divided by the piston head  13  is reduced. As a result, adsorbing force is generated from the plural adsorbing openings  10   a  connected to the connection chamber  12   a  of the connection chamber  12 . 
     Then, the mounting head apparatus  1  is operated arbitrarily in the directions X, Y, Z and W shown in FIG.  2 . Thus, the mounting head apparatus  1  is located in such a manner that the lengthwise direction of the ACF sheet  1   a  inserted into the groove  46  and the direction in which the adsorbing openings  10   a  are formed are made to be paralleled to each other. The mounting head apparatus  1  is moved in the direction Z (downwards) to bring the ACF sheet  1   a  and the leading end  10  into contact with each other. 
     As a result, adsorbing force from the adsorbing openings  10   a  of the mounting head apparatus  1  is used to cause the ACF sheet  1   a  to be adsorbed to the leading end  10 . In a state in which the ACF sheet  1   a  has been adsorbed, the mounting head apparatus  1  is moved to the directions X, Y, Z and W in FIG.  2 . Thus, the mounting head apparatus  1  is moved to a position above the object  6  secured to the upper surface of the table  7 . Then, the mounting head apparatus  1  is moved in the direction Z (downwards) in FIG. 2 so that the ACF sheet  1   a  is mounted on the object  6  under a predetermined pressure. As a result, the ACF sheet  1   a  is mounted on the object  6  such that the adhesive layer  36  is made contact with the object  6 . Specifically, exhaust from the exhaust pipe  21   a  is interrupted and the object  6  is pressed by the leading end  10  under a predetermined pressure. Thus, the ACF sheet  1   a  can be separated from the leading end  10 . 
     Since the damper portion  17  is provided for the mounting head apparatus  1 , contact of the leading end  10  with the object  6  is made under a required pressure. That is, the damper portion  17  of the mounting head apparatus  1  is able to absorb excessive shock. Therefore, the leading end  10  does not damage the object  6 . 
     In the mounting head apparatus  1 , the leading end  10  is heated to a predetermined temperature by the pair of the heaters  26 . Therefore, the adhesive force of the adhesive layer  36  is generated so that the ACF sheet  1   a  is reliably and temporarily secured to a predetermined region of the object  6 . 
     As described above, the head portion  14  of the mounting head apparatus  1  of the ACF-sheet mounting apparatus is heated so that the ACF sheet  1   a  is heated and allowed to adhere to the upper surface of the object  6 . Specifically, heating and adhesion are performed at about 40° C. to about 150° C. When the pair of the heaters  26  are operated to perform heating and adhesion, it is preferable that the heaters  26  are always turned on in place of an operation that the heaters  26  are turned on only when the heating and adhesion are performed. Thus, the heating and adhesion efficiency can be improved. If the heaters  26  are always turned on, heat of the heaters  26  is conducted to the ACF sheet  1   a  when the ACF sheet  1   a  held by the temporal receiving portion  5  is adsorbed. Thus, there is apprehension that the ACF sheet  1   a  is allowed to undesirably adhere to the temporal receiving portion  5 . When the temporal receiving portion  5  is cooled as described above, the foregoing problem can be overcome. 
     The mounting head apparatus  1  is structured such that the position of the piston head  13  is controlled so that the inside portion of the connection chamber  12  is divided at a required position. Specifically, the mounting head apparatus  1  is structured such that the sealing member  30  of the piston head  13  is so positioned as to be made contact with the upper surface  24   a  of the partition walls  24 . Therefore, the inside portion of the connection chamber  12  is divided into spaces. At this time, the position at which the connection chamber  12  is divided is determined according to the size of the ACF sheet  1   a  held by the temporal receiving portion  5 . As a result, the mounting head apparatus  1  is arranged such that adsorbing force is generated from the adsorbing openings  10   a  in the region corresponding to the size of the ACF sheet la. Hence it follows that the ACF sheet  1   a  can reliably be adsorbed. 
     In particular, the mounting head apparatus is able to reliably adsorb the ACF sheet  1   a  if the length of the ACF sheet  1   a  with respect to the length of the adsorbing openings  10   a  in the direction in which the adsorbing openings  10   a  are formed is ¼ or shorter. The conventional mounting head apparatus having no dividing means has been operated such that ¾ or more adsorbing openings  10   a  does not adsorb the ACF sheet  1   a  and generates adsorbing force when the length of the ACF sheet  1   a  with respect to the length of the adsorbing openings  10   a  in the direction in which the adsorbing openings  10   a  are formed is ¼ or shorter. In the foregoing case, the portion not smaller than ¾ of the adsorbing openings  10   a  which does not adsorb the ACF sheet  1   a  encounters deterioration in the negative pressure effect. 
     On the other hand, the mounting head apparatus  1  according to this embodiment can be operated such that the generation of the adsorbing force from the portion which does not adsorb the ACF sheet  1   a  is inhibited. Therefore, a very small ACF sheet  1   a  can be adsorbed with the conventional adsorbing force. 
     When the mounting head apparatus  1  mounts a plurality of ACF sheets  1   a  having different sizes, the position of the piston head  13  is sequentially changed according to the size of the ACF sheet  1   a  which must be mounted. Thus, the ACF sheet  1   a  having the different sizes can reliably be mounted. 
     When the length of one of the ACF sheets  1   a  is substantially the same as that of the leading end  10  and the length of the other ACF sheet  1   a  is relatively short, the piston head  13  is initially located according to the length of the other ACF sheet  1   a . Therefore, the pressure in the divided connection chamber  12   a  is reduced through one of the exhaust pipes  21   a . Thus, adsorbing force with which the ACF sheet  1   a  can be adsorbed can be generated from predetermined adsorbing openings  10   a . When the pressure is reduced by using the pair of the exhaust pipes  21   a  and  21   b , the pressure of the overall inside portion of the connection chamber  12  can be reduced. As a result, adsorbing force can be generated from all of the adsorbing openings  10   a . Thus, adsorbing force with which the other ACF sheet  1   a  can be adsorbed can be generated. 
     As described above, the mounting head apparatus  1  enables pressures of the divided portions in the connection chamber  12  to independently be reduced by different exhaust pipes  21   a  and  21   b . Therefore, when use of the exhaust pipes  21   a  and  21   b  is controlled, the region for generating adsorbing force can sequentially be changed. Hence it follows that the necessity of shifting the position of the piston head  13  can be eliminated to reliably mount the ACF sheets  1   a  having different sizes by controlling reduction in the pressure of each of the divided portions in the connection chamber  12 . 
     The foregoing mounting head apparatus  1  is structured such that the sealing member  30  of the piston head  13  is brought into contact with the inner surface of the internal space  27  and the upper surface  24   a  of the partition walls  24 . Thus, the connection chamber  12  is divided. Therefore, the mounting head apparatus  1  is enabled to obviate apprehension that a portion of the plural adsorbing openings  10   a  is closed by the piston head  13  and thus the adsorbing force cannot be generated. That is, when the piston head  13  is constituted by only columnar member  29  having a predetermined thickness as shown in FIG. 8, a region (indicated with symbol K shown in FIG. 8) from which adsorbing force cannot be generated always exists. In the foregoing case, there is apprehension that the mounting head apparatus  1  cannot uniformly adsorb the overall portion of a relatively long ACF sheet  1   a  in the lengthwise direction. 
     In order to improve the workability in an operation for allowing to adhere the ACF sheet la, the mounting head apparatus  1  according to this embodiment may be provided with a variety of additional means. The additional means are, for example, a camera for recognizing the position of the object  6  secured to the table  7  and a computer apparatus for moving the mounting head apparatus  1  in accordance with an image photographed by the camera. Thus, all of the steps for allowing the ACF sheet  1   a  to adhere to the object and the following steps to separation and removal of a separable film can completely be automated. 
     The adhesion of the sheet member which is performed by operating the mounting head apparatus according to this embodiment or adhesion of the sheet member which is performed by the mounting method according to this embodiment may be applied to a variety of sheet-shape adhesive agents. The present invention is not limited to the materials, thicknesses and so forth of the adhesive layer, the separable film, the protective film and so forth. For example, the present invention may be applied to an adhesive operation of a teflon sheet incorporating an adhesive layer, which has a thickness of about 5 μm to about 50 μm and which is made of anisotropic and conductive adhesive agent and a separable film having a thickness of about 10 μm to 100 μm, PET paper subject to a separating process and an anisotropic and conductive adhesive sheet composed of polypropylene film and so forth. 
     Also the object  6  is not limited particularly. The object  6  may be a rigid member made of liquid crystal panel glass or the like or a flexible member, such as a film substrate made of TAB or the like. 
     As described above, the mounting head apparatus according to the present invention has the dividing means which is capable of dividing the connection chamber at a required position. The pressure of at least either of the divided portions of the connection chamber is reduced to generate the adsorbing force. Thus, the mounting head apparatus according to the present invention enables only the adsorbing openings formed in a predetermined region to generate the adsorbing force according to the size of the sheet member. Hence it follows that the sheet member having a predetermined size can reliably be adsorbed. As a result, the mounting head apparatus is able to reliably mount a sheet member regardless of the size of the sheet member. 
     The mounting method according to the present invention is structured to operate the dividing means to divide the connection chamber at a required position. The pressure of at least either of the divided portions of the connection chamber to cause the adsorbing force from predetermined adsorbing openings to adsorb the sheet member. Therefore, the foregoing method is able to reliably adsorb the sheet member by adjusting the region from which the adsorbing force is generated according to the size of the sheet member. As a result, the sheet member can reliably be mounted on a predetermined position of the object on which the sheet member must be mounted. 
     Although the invention has been described in its preferred form and structure with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred form can be changed in the details of construction and in the combination and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.