Patent ID: 7827677

Claim:
A component mounting apparatus, comprising: a component supply provided at a first station for supplying a component; a transport head for picking up the component at said first station from said component supply, transporting the component to a second station and turning the component upside down after receiving the component at the first station and before reaching the second station; a placement head for directly receiving the component from said transport head at said second station and then transporting the component to a third station; a substrate holder provided at said third station for holding a substrate, wherein the substrate is to be provided with the component from said placement head at said third station; a first imaging unit for recognizing the component when held by said placement head at said second station; and a second imaging unit arranged and operable to recognize the substrate when said placement head is directly receiving the component from said transport head at said second station; wherein said second imaging unit is provided independently from said placement head; and said second imaging unit is operable to pick up images of the substrate irrespective of a position of said placement head.