Patent ID: 7918641

Claim:
A tray handling mechanism handling trays from which electronic parts are fed comprising: a tray placing rack for storing trays in a plurality of steps and stores a tray accommodating electronic parts before inspection and a tray accommodating electronic parts after inspection in respective ones of the steps thereof; an empty tray rack which is located above the tray placing rack and has a first opening permitting the tray to pass therethrough in up and down directions and on which an empty tray emptied by taking out electronic parts from trays accommodating the electronic parts before inspection is held at or above the position of the first opening; a first tray handling robot provided facing a front face of the tray placing rack for putting one of the trays in and out from the tray placing rack so as to move one of the trays in up and down directions along the front face for putting one of the trays in and out from the steps in the tray placing rack; a second tray handling robot for putting one of the trays in and out from the tray placing rack; and a control unit which performs processes of feeding the empty tray on the empty tray rack from a lower side of the first opening by controlling the first tray handling robot or said second tray handling robot, taking out the empty tray placed on the empty tray rack from the bottom of the first opening as a tray for accommodating electronic parts after inspection by controlling the first tray handling robot or the second tray handling robot, and feeding the same in the tray placing rack by the first tray handling robot, wherein said tray placing rack further includes: a pair of opposed side plates which define a tray placing area therebetween; a plurality of pairs of tray support fittings which protrude in a spaced, vertical relationship from said opposed side plates, where said tray support fittings define tray placement locations for each of said steps and further including an interval between each of said tray support fittings to allow said first handling robot or second handling robot to set said tray on one of said pairs of tray support fittings; and a plurality of rollers, each disposed at a step to define a maximum entry point for said tray to be placed in said tray placing area, wherein said first handling robot further includes: an arm for moving said tray; and drive means for vertical motion and horizontal motion, where said arm is configured to move vertically relative to, and horizontally into and out of said tray placing area, wherein said empty tray rack further includes: a pair of oppositely disposed support pins configured to engage a bottom-most tray in a stack of trays; and drive means for moving said support pins horizontally towards and away from said bottom-most tray to support said stack of trays.