Patent ID: 7640657

Claim:
A method of placing components on a printed circuit board by means of a component placement machine, the method comprising the steps of: in a first period of time: moving a first placement head to a desired X-Y position above a first feeder area; picking-up a component from the first feeder area using the first placement head; and moving a second placement head along a first Y-slide to a desired Y-position so as to prepare for the placement of a component previously picked up by the second placement head on the printed circuit board; in a second period of time following the first period of time: moving the second placement head to a desired X-Y position above the printed circuit board; and placing the component previously picked up by the second placement head on the printed circuit board; in a third period of time following the second period of time: moving the second placement head to a desired X-Y position above a second feeder; area; picking up a component from the second feeder area using the second placement head; and moving the first placement head along the first Y-slide to a desired Y-position so as to prepare for the placement on the printed circuit board of the component previously picked up by the first placement head in the first period of time; and in a fourth period of time following the third period of time: moving the first placement head to a desired X-Y position above the printed circuit board; and placing the component previously picked up by the first placement head on the printed circuit board.