Patent ID: 7302755

Claim:
A head assembly for a component mounter, the head assembly comprising: a base frame; a rotary housing rotatably mounted on the base frame, the rotary housing including a plurality of vertical holes therethrough; a plurality of nozzle spindles disposed in the vertical holes, each spindle of the plurality including a lower end having a nozzle for picking up electronic components, the plurality of nozzle spindles rotating about a central axis in response to rotation of the rotary housing; a housing rotating mechanism for rotating the rotary housing; a nozzle lifting mechanism including a nozzle driving unit and a clutch part that moves in response to the nozzle driving unit for simultaneously lowering more than one nozzle spindle of the plurality of nozzle spindles; wherein the clutch part comprises: a clutch shaft that moves up and down in response to the nozzle driving unit; and a clutch plate disposed at an end of the clutch shaft and having a surface area that is adapted to simultaneously contact two adjacent nozzle spindles when the rotary housing is oriented at a half index position and contact only one nozzle spindle when the rotary housing is oriented at a full index position.