Patent Description:
In prior art, soldering a complicated product in high precision is a very difficult task. At present, in order to solder wires onto hundreds of tiny pins or pads on a circuit board, a soldering worker has to use magnifying glass. However, even under the assistance of the magnifying glass, the soldering worker still takes a lot of time, sometimes several days, to solder a complicated circuit board product. Furthermore, the soldering worker cannot perform the soldering in high precision.

In a laser soldering system in the prior art, the wire is generally gripped and held directly by a finger-typed gripper. However, during soldering, the finger-typed gripper only can grip and hold both sides of the wire, and cannot press the wire downward directly from the top of the wire with respect to the circuit board. Thereby, the wire cannot be tightly and reliably pressed on a pad on the circuit board, it may cause a pseudo solder joint, decreasing the soldering quality of the product.

Laser soldering systems of the art are, for instance, disclosed in <CIT> or <CIT>.

The present invention has been made to overcome or alleviate at least one aspect of the above mentioned disadvantages.

According to an object of the present invention, there is provided a laser soldering system capable of effectively preventing a pseudo solder joint from occurring on a product.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the object is a wire, the product to be soldered is a circuit board, and the target location is a pad on the circuit board.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the gripper is configured to position the wire, so that a center line of the wire is aligned with a center line of the respective pad.

According to another exemplary embodiment not forming part of the present invention, the transparent member protrudes from the presser, and has an arc recess surface matched with and directly pressed on a top surface of the wire.

According to another exemplary embodiment not forming part of the present invention, the transparent member is provided in a slot formed in the presser, the wire is positioned between opposite sidewalls of the slot, and the transparent member directly presses on the top of the wire against the circuit board.

According to another exemplary embodiment not forming part of the present invention, the sidewalls of the slot are made of thermal insulation material, so as to prevent heat from being transferred from one pad being currently soldered to another pad adjacent to the one pad.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the laser soldering system is configured to pre-arrange the wires on the respective pads of the circuit board before accurately positioning the wires by the gripper.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the laser soldering system is configured to apply a welding wire to the product during soldering.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the moving system is a multi-freedom robot.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the gripper and the presser both are removably mounted on an installation plate, and the installation plate is fixed on an end arm of the robot.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the transparent member is an elastic member.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the laser soldering system automatically performs a soldering work under the control of a program.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a laser soldering system, comprising: a vision system; a moving system; a laser source configured for heating a soldering flux to solder an object onto a target location on a product to be soldered; and a gripper mounted on the moving system and capable of gripping the object and placing the object accurately on the target location under the guidance of the vision system, wherein the gripper is provided with a transparent member configured to directly press on the top of the accurately positioned object against the product, so as to hold the position of the object during soldering the object onto the product, and wherein a laser beam from the laser source transmits through the transparent member and heats the soldering flux.

In the laser soldering system according to the above various embodiments of the present invention, the transparent member directly presses on the top of the wire against the pad. Thereby, the wire can be tightly and reliably pressed on the pad and tightly contact the pad during soldering. Thereby, it can effectively prevent a pseudo solder joint from being occurred on the product, improving the soldering quality.

Furthermore, in some embodiments, the laser soldering system automatically performs a soldering work under the control of a program, greatly increasing the efficiency and the precision to solder the complicated product.

The above and other features of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:.

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described hereinafter in detail with reference to the attached drawings, wherein the like reference numerals refer to the like elements. The present disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiment set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that the present disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the concept of the disclosure to those skilled in the art.

According to an embodiment not forming part of the present invention, there is provided a laser soldering system, comprising: a vision system; a moving system; a laser source configured to heat a soldering flux to solder an object onto a target location on a product to be soldered; a gripper mounted on the moving system and constructed to grip the object and place the object accurately on the target location under the guidance of the vision system; and a presser mounted on the moving system and constructed to press the accurately positioned object against the product to hold the position of the object during soldering the object onto the product. The presser has a transparent member for directly pressing on the top of the object. A laser beam from the laser source transmits through the transparent member to heat the soldering flux.

<FIG> show a laser soldering system according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in <FIG>, the laser soldering system mainly comprises a vision system (not shown), a moving system <NUM>, a laser source <NUM>, a gripper <NUM> and a presser <NUM>.

In an embodiment, the vision system may comprise at least one camera. The laser source <NUM> is configured to heat a soldering flux to solder an object <NUM> onto a target location <NUM> on a product <NUM> to be soldered.

As shown in <FIG>, the gripper <NUM> is mounted on the moving system <NUM> and constructed to grip the object <NUM> and place the object <NUM> accurately on the target location <NUM> under the guidance of the vision system.

The presser <NUM> is mounted on the moving system <NUM> and constructed to press the accurately positioned object <NUM> to hold the position of the object <NUM> during soldering the object <NUM> onto the product <NUM>.

As shown in <FIG>, the presser <NUM> has a transparent member <NUM> for directly pressing on the top of the object <NUM> with respect to the product <NUM>. A laser beam emitted from the laser source <NUM> transmits through the transparent member <NUM> to heat the soldering flux, so as to solder the object <NUM> onto the respective target location <NUM> on the product <NUM> to be soldered.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, as shown in <FIG>, the object <NUM> is a wire, the product <NUM> to be soldered is a circuit board, and the target location <NUM> is a pad on the circuit board.

In the illustrated embodiment, the gripper <NUM> is configured to grip the object <NUM> and place the object <NUM> accurately on the target location <NUM> under the guidance of the vision system, so that a center line of the wire <NUM> is aligned with a center line of the respective pad <NUM>.

As shown in <FIG>, the transparent member <NUM> protrudes from the presser <NUM>, and has an arc recess surface matched with and directly pressed on a top surface of the wire <NUM> against the pad <NUM>.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the transparent member <NUM> may be formed as an elastic member. In this way, it can protect the wire <NUM> from damage. Furthermore, the elastic transparent member <NUM> may more reliably hold the wire <NUM> on the pad <NUM>.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, before accurately positioning the wires <NUM> by the gripper <NUM>, a plurality of wires <NUM> to be soldered are pre-arranged on the respective pads <NUM> of the circuit board <NUM>, for example, by manual or machine.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the soldering flux may be a conductive paste pre-printed on the product <NUM>, an alloy solder pre-melt or fused on the product <NUM>, or a welding wire applied to product <NUM> during soldering.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the moving system <NUM> may be a multi-freedom robot, for example, a <NUM>-freedom robot.

As shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, the gripper <NUM> and the presser <NUM> both are removably mounted on an installation plate <NUM>, and the installation plate <NUM> is fixed on an end arm <NUM> of the robot <NUM>.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the laser soldering system automatically performs a soldering work on a complicated product under the control of a program pre-stored in the moving system <NUM>. Compared with soldering the complicated product by manual, it greatly increases the efficiency and the precision for soldering the complicated product.

<FIG> is an illustratively enlarged view of a presser of a laser soldering system according to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

The laser soldering system shown in <FIG> is different from the laser soldering system shown in <FIG> only in the configuration of the presser. Thereby, hereafter it will only describe the presser of the laser soldering system according to the second embodiment shown in <FIG>.

As shown in <FIG>, the transparent member <NUM> is provided in a slot formed in the presser <NUM>. The wire <NUM> is positioned between opposite sidewalls <NUM> of the slot, and the transparent member <NUM> directly presses on the top of the wire <NUM> against the product <NUM>, for example, a circuit board.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the sidewalls <NUM> of the slot are made of thermal insulation material, so as to prevent heat from being transferred from one pad being currently soldered to another pad adjacent to the one pad. In this way, it can protect the soldering flux on the another pad, adjacent to the currently soldered pad, from being disadvantageously affected by the heat generated during soldering the current pad.

<FIG> is an illustratively enlarged view of a gripper of a laser soldering system according to a third exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

In the laser soldering system according to the third embodiment shown in <FIG>, the presser <NUM> specially for pressing the wire in the laser soldering system according to the first embodiment shown in <FIG> is omitted.

As shown in <FIG>, the gripper <NUM> is integrated with a transparent member <NUM>, instead of individually providing a special presser. After the gripper <NUM> is constructed to grip the object <NUM> and place the object <NUM> accurately on the target location <NUM> under the guidance of the vision system, the transparent member <NUM> is constructed to directly press on the top of the accurately positioned object <NUM> with respect to the product <NUM>, for example, a circuit board, so as to hold the position of the object <NUM> during soldering the object <NUM> onto the product <NUM>. A laser beam from the laser source <NUM> transmits through the transparent member <NUM> and heats the soldering flux.

In the third embodiment shown in <FIG>, since the transparent member <NUM> is integrated on the gripper <NUM>, the presser specially for pressing the wire is omitted, simplifying the structure of the laser soldering system.

It should be appreciated for those skilled in this art that the above embodiments are intended to be illustrated, and not restrictive. For example, many modifications may be made to the above embodiments by those skilled in this art, and various features described in different embodiments may be freely combined with each other without conflicting in configuration or principle.

Although several exemplary embodiments have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes or modifications may be made in these embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention which is defined in the appended claims.

As used herein, an element recited in the singular and proceeded with the word "a" or "an" should be understood as not excluding plural of said elements or steps, unless such exclusion is explicitly stated. Moreover, unless explicitly stated to the contrary, embodiments "comprising" or "having" an element or a plurality of elements having a particular property may include additional such elements not having that property.

Claim 1:
A laser soldering system, comprising:
a vision system;
a moving system (<NUM>);
a laser source (<NUM>) for heating a soldering flux to solder an object (<NUM>) onto a target location (<NUM>) on a product (<NUM>) to be soldered; and
a gripper (<NUM>) mounted on the moving system (<NUM>) and configured to grip the object (<NUM>) and place the object (<NUM>) accurately on the target location (<NUM>) under the guidance of the vision system,
wherein the gripper (<NUM>) is provided with a transparent member (<NUM>) configured to directly press on the top of the accurately positioned object (<NUM>) against the product, so as to hold the position of the object (<NUM>) during soldering the object (<NUM>) onto the product (<NUM>), and
wherein a laser beam from the laser source (<NUM>) transmits through the transparent member (<NUM>) and heats the soldering flux.