Patent ID: 8549999

Claim:
A screen printing machine comprising: a plurality of lanes arranged in a Y direction and each having a printing position at which solder is printed on a circuit board; a housing surrounding the printing position and having a replacement access port which opens in an X direction, the X direction being a direction in which the circuit board is transferred, the Y direction being a generally horizontal direction which is generally perpendicular to the X direction, and a Z direction being a generally vertical direction which is generally perpendicular to the X direction and the Y direction; and a plurality of transfer modules each including: a board transfer section that transfers the circuit board in the X direction and that is configured to be variable in dimension in the Y direction; and a back-up member transfer section disposed below the board transfer section in the Z direction, the back-up member transfer section being configured to allow a back-up member to be moved in the X direction and to allow the back-up member to be carried in and out in the X direction via the replacement access port, wherein the back-up member supports the circuit board from below at the printing position, a replacement part disposed in the plurality of lanes is replaceable from the replacement access port during a tooling change in which a type of the circuit board is changed, the replacement part being movably disposed in the plurality of lanes with respect to the housing, and the replacement part is one or more of (1) a screen mask disposed above the circuit board in the Z direction at the printing position, the screen mask having screen holes through which the solder passes, (2) a squeegee disposed above the screen mask in the Z direction at the printing position to squeeze the solder into the screen holes, and (3) the back-up member.