Patent ID: 6935019

Claim:
A method for mounting a plurality of electronic components on a circuit board, said method comprising the steps of: selecting one of a plurality of nozzles via a moveable transfer head, each of said plurality of nozzles capable of being secured to said transfer head and capable of picking up a select set of said plurality of electronic components; storing said plurality of nozzles in a nozzle stocker having at least three compartments, each of said plurality of nozzles being stored in one of said compartments; storing mounting data in a memory device, said mounting data comprising a predetermined mounting sequence for the plurality of electronic components to be mounted on the circuit board; storing nozzle stock position data identifying which of said compartments of said nozzle stocker stores which of said plurality of nozzles; and controlling the operation of said movable transfer head in accordance with said predetermined mounting sequence, wherein said predetermined mounting sequence is designed such that when a currently selected nozzle attached to said movable transfer head is replaced in the compartment of said nozzle stocker corresponding to said currently selected nozzle, the next nozzle to be selected by said movable transfer head is in an adjacent compartment of said nozzle stocker.