JP7793787B2 - Component mounting management device, component mounting system, and component mounting management method - Google Patents

Description

This invention relates to a technology for managing images captured by a component mounting machine that mounts components supplied by a component supply unit onto a board using a mounting unit.

As shown in Patent Documents 1 and 2, in a component mounter in which components supplied by a component supply unit are mounted on a board by a mounting unit, images of the components to be mounted on the board are captured as needed and saved in a management device. In this configuration, a problem arises in that the images saved in the management device put a strain on the storage capacity of the management device. Therefore, in Patent Document 1, when the capacity of saved images reaches its maximum storage capacity, images with lower priority are deleted in order. Furthermore, in Patent Document 2, images taken before and after a specific event are selectively saved.

WO2020/079753 JP 2012-169394 A

Another way to address the pressure on storage capacity is to delete images after a specified period of time has passed since they were captured. However, applying this control to images captured by a component mounter can cause the following problem. The primary purpose of saving images captured by a component mounter is to analyze the cause of mounting failures when mounting components on a board. In such cases, there are cases where images that would be useful for causal analysis are deleted and cannot be referenced because a specified period of time has passed since they were captured.

This invention has been developed in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and aims to reduce the pressure on storage capacity by erasing images after a predetermined period has elapsed since the images were captured by the component mounter, while also making it possible to prevent the erasure of images that are useful for analyzing the cause of component mounting malfunctions on the board.

The component mounting management device of the present invention comprises an image acquisition unit that acquires images from a component mounter, which includes a mounting unit that performs component mounting by mounting components supplied by a component supply unit onto a board and an imaging unit that captures images of components targeted for component mounting by the mounting unit; an image storage unit that stores the images acquired by the image acquisition unit; an information acquisition unit that acquires mounting operation failure information indicating a mounting operation failure in the operation of mounting the target component onto the board; an image deletion unit that erases the image from the image storage unit at a timing after a predetermined period has elapsed since the image was captured; and a protected image determination unit that determines, based on the mounting operation failure information, protected images to be excluded from deletion by the image deletion unit. The protected image determination unit determines, as protected images, images of defective components, which are components indicated as having a mounting operation failure by the mounting operation failure information. The image deletion unit leaves images determined to be protected images in the image storage unit after the timing, while erasing images not determined to be protected images from the image storage unit at the timing.

The component mounting system of the present invention comprises a component mounting machine having a mounting unit that performs component mounting by mounting components supplied by a component supply unit onto a board, an imaging unit that captures images of the components that have been mounted by the mounting unit, and the above-mentioned component mounting management device.

The component mounting management method of the present invention includes the steps of acquiring images from a component mounting machine that includes a mounting unit that performs component mounting by mounting components supplied by a component supply unit onto a board and an imaging unit that captures images of components targeted for component mounting by the mounting unit; saving the images acquired from the component mounting machine in an image storage unit; acquiring mounting failure information that indicates a mounting failure in the operation of mounting the target component onto the board; deleting the images from the image storage unit at a timing after a predetermined period has elapsed since the images were captured; and determining, based on the mounting failure information, protected images to be excluded from deletion from the image storage unit, whereby an image of a defective component that is indicated to be a mounting failure by the mounting failure information is determined to be a protected image, and images determined to be protected images are left in the image storage unit after the timing, while images not determined to be protected images are deleted from the image storage unit at the timing.

In the present invention (component mounting management device, component mounting system, and component mounting management method) configured in this manner, images acquired from the component mounter are stored in an image storage unit. Furthermore, mounting failure information indicating a mounting failure during the operation of mounting the target component on the board is acquired, and protected images to be excluded from deletion from the image storage unit are determined based on the mounting failure information. Images of defective components, which are components indicated to be defective by the mounting failure information, are determined to be protected images and remain in the image storage unit, while images not determined to be protected images are deleted from the image storage unit. This reduces pressure on storage capacity (capacity of the image storage unit) by deleting images a predetermined period after they are captured by the component mounter, while preventing the deletion of images that are useful for analyzing the cause of component mounting failures on the board.

The component mounting management device may also be configured so that the protected image determination unit determines images of related components that have a predetermined relationship with the defective component as protected images. In this configuration, the cause of the mounting malfunction can be analyzed by referring to images showing related components of the defective component.

Specifically, the component mounting management device may be configured so that related components are components other than the defective component that are mounted on the same board as the defective component. In such a configuration, the cause of the mounting malfunction can be analyzed by referencing images showing other components mounted on the same board as the defective component.

The component mounting management device may also be configured so that the mounting unit has multiple mounting heads capable of mounting components supplied by the component supply unit onto the board, and the related components are those mounted on the board immediately before and after the defective component by a mounting head that mounted the defective component onto the board. In this configuration, the cause of the mounting failure can be analyzed by referencing images showing other components mounted by the same mounting head as the defective component.

The component mounting management device may also be configured so that the mounting unit has multiple nozzles capable of mounting components supplied by the component supply unit onto the board, and the related components are those mounted on the board before and after the defective component by the nozzles that mounted the defective component onto the board. In this configuration, the cause of the mounting failure can be analyzed by referencing images showing other components mounted by the same nozzle as the defective component.

The component mounting management device may also be configured so that the component supply unit has multiple feeders each capable of supplying components, and the related components are those that were supplied consecutively with the defective component by a feeder that supplied the defective component. In this configuration, the cause of the mounting failure can be analyzed by referencing images showing other components supplied by the same feeder as the defective component.

The component mounting management device may also be configured so that the component supply unit has multiple component storage members, each of which stores components, supplies the components to be stored in the component storage members, and the related components are those supplied by the component supply unit from one of the multiple component storage members that stores the defective component. In this configuration, the cause of the mounting failure can be analyzed by referencing an image showing the components that were stored in the same component storage member as the defective component.

The component mounting management device may also be configured to further include a user operation unit that accepts a user request to protect an image, and the protected image determination unit determines that the image that is the subject of the protection request accepted by the user operation unit is a protected image. In this configuration, the cause of a mounting malfunction can be analyzed by referring to the image requested by the user.

Furthermore, when multiple target images, each of which has been captured by the imaging unit for a predetermined period of time, are stored in the image storage unit, the image deletion unit may be configured to create duplicate images in the image storage unit by duplicating images determined to be protected images from among the multiple target images, and then delete the multiple target images, thereby leaving the images determined to be protected images in the image storage unit after the timing, while deleting images not determined to be protected images from the image storage unit at the timing. With this configuration, multiple target images can be deleted at once, allowing image deletion to be carried out quickly. At this time, the protected images remain in the image storage unit as duplicate images. Therefore, the deletion of images that are useful for analyzing the cause of mounting malfunctions is suppressed.

The specific content of the mounting malfunction information can vary. For example, the component mounting management device may be configured so that the imaging unit captures an image of a component as it is being transported by the mounting unit toward the board for component mounting, the component mounter further includes a recognition processing unit that performs component recognition to recognize the components indicated in the image, and the information acquisition unit acquires information indicating components that failed to be recognized as mounting malfunction information.

Alternatively, the component mounting management device may be configured so that the information acquisition unit acquires, as mounting operation failure information, information indicating a defective mounting state of a component on a board, which is output by an inspection machine that inspects components mounted on a board.

The component mounting management device may be configured so that the image deletion unit deletes from the image storage unit any protected image that has been determined to be a protected image by the protected image determination unit and for a predetermined protection period. This configuration prevents protected images from remaining in the image storage unit and causing a load on the image storage unit's capacity.

According to the present invention, by deleting images after a predetermined period of time has elapsed since the images were captured by the component mounting machine, it is possible to reduce the pressure on storage capacity while suppressing the deletion of images that are useful for analyzing the cause of component mounting malfunctions on the board.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a component mounting system according to the present invention. 1 is a plan view schematically showing a configuration of an example of a component mounter according to the present invention; FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the component mounter of FIG. 2 . FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a tilt camera attached to a head unit. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of management information transmission executed by a component mounter. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of an electrical configuration of a management server. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of reception management executed by a management server. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of storage management executed by a management server. 10A and 10B are diagrams showing an example of retaining and erasing images stored in a storage unit. FIG. 10 is a plan view schematically showing a modified example of the head unit. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating the configuration of a component supply reel. 10 is a flowchart showing an example of a method for managing deletion of protected images.

Figure 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a component mounting system of the present invention. The component mounting system 1 in Figure 1 includes a component mounter 2 that mounts components onto a board, a board inspection machine 3 that inspects the board on which components have been mounted by the component mounter 2, and a management server 9 that manages the component mounter 2 and the board inspection machine 3.

The board inspection machine 3 inspects the mounting status of components mounted at mounting points on the board based on inspection images obtained by capturing images of the components. Examples of the mounting status of components include whether or not the component is misaligned with respect to the mounting point (land) on the board, or whether or not the component is floating relative to the board. In other words, if it is determined that there is no misalignment or floating, the board inspection machine 3 transmits an inspection result to the management server 9 indicating that the mounting status of the component at the mounting point being inspected is good. If it is determined that there is misalignment or floating, the board inspection machine 3 transmits an inspection result (mounting inspection error) to the management server 9 indicating that the mounting status of the component being inspected is poor. This mounting inspection error includes mounting point identification information that identifies the mounting point at which the component mounting status was determined to be poor.

Here, the mounting point identification information includes, for example, a board ID that identifies the board and the position of the mounting point on the board. The board ID can be obtained by, for example, capturing an image of the board ID attached to the board B when the board is brought into the board inspection machine 3 using a camera. In addition, the position of the mounting point can be obtained based on the board data Db.

In addition, publicly known technologies can be used as appropriate to determine whether or not a component is misaligned or floating. Furthermore, the specific content inspected by the board inspection machine 3 is not limited to the example shown here; it may be just misalignment or floating, or other items related to the mounting state of the component.

Figure 2 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of an example of a component mounter according to the present invention, and Figure 3 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the component mounter of Figure 2. In Figure 2 and the following figures, the horizontal X direction, the horizontal Y direction perpendicular to the X direction, and the vertical Z direction are indicated as appropriate. The component mounter 2 mounts small piece-like components E such as integrated circuits, transistors, and capacitors on a board B.

As shown in FIG. 3, the component mounter 2 includes a controller 200 that controls the entire device. The controller 200 includes an arithmetic processing unit 210, which is a processor configured with a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and RAM (Random Access Memory), and a storage unit 220 configured with a hard disk drive (HDD) or solid state drive (SSD). The controller 200 also includes a drive control unit 230 that controls the drive system of the component mounter 2. The arithmetic processing unit 210 controls the drive system via the drive control unit 230 to perform component mounting, which mounts a component E on a board B. The controller 200 also includes an imaging control unit 240 that controls the capture of component E by the component recognition camera 27 and the inclined camera 28 (described below), and a communication unit 250 that communicates with the management server 9. The component recognition image Ir captured by the component recognition camera 27 and the inclined view image Iq captured by the inclined camera 28 under the control of the imaging control unit 240 are transmitted to the management server 9 by the communication unit 250.

As shown in FIG. 2, the component mounter 2 is equipped with a transport unit 21 that transports a board B in the X direction (board transport direction). This transport unit 21 has a pair of conveyors 211 arranged in parallel in the X direction, and transports the board B in the X direction using the conveyors 211. The spacing between these conveyors 211 is changeable in the Y direction (width direction), which is perpendicular to the X direction, and the transport unit 21 adjusts the spacing between the conveyors 211 according to the width of the board B being transported. This transport unit 21 transports the board B from the upstream side in the X direction, which is the board transport direction, to a predetermined work position 212, and transports the board B, on which components E have been mounted at the work position 212, from the work position 212 to the downstream side in the X direction.

This component mounter 2 is provided with a total of four component supply carts 22. Specifically, two component supply carts 22 are lined up in the X direction on each side of the transport section 21 in the Y direction. Each component supply cart 22 has multiple tape feeders 23 lined up in the X direction, and multiple component supply reels are arranged corresponding to the multiple tape feeders 23. Component storage tape is wound around the component supply reels. This component storage tape has multiple pockets arranged in a row, and components E are stored in each pocket. Each tape feeder 23 has a component supply position 231 at its tip on the transport section 21 side in the Y direction, and supplies components E in the component storage tape to the component supply position 231 by intermittently feeding the component storage tape pulled out from the component supply reel toward the transport section 21.

The component mounter 2 is also provided with a pair of Y-axis rails 241 extending in the Y direction, a Y-axis ball screw 242 extending in the Y direction, and a Y-axis motor My that rotates the Y-axis ball screw 242. An X-axis rail 244 is supported on the pair of Y-axis rails 241 so as to be movable in the Y direction and is fixed to the nut of the Y-axis ball screw 242. An X-axis ball screw 245 extending in the X direction and an X-axis motor Mx that rotates the X-axis ball screw 245 are attached to the X-axis rail 244. The component mounter 2 is also provided with a head unit 25, which is supported on the X-axis rail 244 so as to be movable in the X direction and is fixed to the nut of the X-axis ball screw 245. Therefore, the drive control unit 230 can rotate the Y-axis ball screw 242 using the Y-axis motor My to move the head unit 25 in the Y direction, or rotate the X-axis ball screw 245 using the X-axis motor Mx to move the head unit 25 in the X direction.

The head unit 25 rotatably supports the rotary head 26. This rotary head 26 has multiple (eight) nozzles N arranged at equal intervals around a circle, and each nozzle N picks up a component E. In contrast, the component mounter 2 has a Z-axis motor Mz that raises and lowers the nozzle N in the Z direction, and an R-axis motor Mr that rotates the nozzle N. The drive control unit 230 adjusts the height of the nozzle N using the Z-axis motor Mz, and adjusts the rotation angle of the nozzle N using the R-axis motor Mr.

In the component mounter 2, the drive control unit 230 executes control in response to commands from the calculation processing unit 210, thereby mounting the component E on the board B. That is, the drive control unit 230 moves the nozzle N using the X-axis motor Mx and the Y-axis motor My, thereby causing the nozzle N of the rotary head 26 to face the component E supplied to the component supply position 231 from above. Next, the drive control unit 230 lowers the nozzle N using the Z-axis motor Mz, thereby bringing the nozzle N into contact with the upper surface of the component E supplied to the component supply position 231, and then causes the nozzle N to pick up the component E. Furthermore, the drive control unit 230 raises the nozzle N using the Z-axis motor Mz. In this way, the rotary head 26 picks up the component E from the component supply position 231 using the nozzle N. Next, the drive control unit 230 moves the nozzle N using the X-axis motor Mx and the Y-axis motor My, thereby causing the component E to be picked up by the nozzle N to face the land on the board B from above. Furthermore, the drive control unit 230 adjusts the angle of the component E being picked up by the nozzle N relative to the land using the R-axis motor Mr, and then lowers the nozzle N using the Z-axis motor Mz, thereby placing the component E on the land of the substrate B.

The component mounter 2 also includes a component recognition camera 27 positioned between the two component supply carts 22 in the X direction, with the component recognition camera 27 facing upward. The component recognition cameras 27 are positioned on both sides of the transport unit 21 in the Y direction. In contrast, the nozzle N that picks up a component E from the component supply position 231 positions the component E from above toward the component recognition camera 27 before placing the component E on the board B. The component recognition camera 27 then captures an image of the component E being picked up by the nozzle N from below, thereby acquiring a component recognition image Ir. This component recognition image Ir is then stored in the memory unit 220 from the component recognition camera 27 via the imaging control unit 240. The calculation processing unit 210 also performs component recognition, recognizing the position of the component E based on the component recognition image Ir stored in the memory unit 220. Specifically, the calculation processing unit 210 recognizes the position of the component E relative to the nozzle N based on the position of the nozzle N at the time the component recognition image Ir was acquired and the position of the component E in the component recognition image Ir. The calculation processing unit 210 receives the encoder outputs of the motors Mx, My, Mz, and Mr from the drive control unit 230, and can thereby confirm the position of the nozzle N when the component recognition image Ir is acquired.

The component mounter 2 also includes an inclined camera 28 that captures images of components E supplied to the component supply position 231 and components E mounted on the board B from an obliquely upward direction. This will be explained with reference to Figure 4. Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of an inclined camera attached to a head unit. As shown in Figures 2 and 4, the inclined camera 28 is attached to the head unit 25, and the drive control unit 230 can move the inclined camera 28 integrally with the head unit 25 using the X-axis motor Mx and the Y-axis motor My. This inclined camera 28 captures an oblique view image Iq by capturing an image of the component E from a direction inclined by an angle θ with respect to the Z direction (obliquely upward). The imaging control unit 240 stores the oblique view image Iq captured by the inclined camera 28 in the memory unit 220.

In the component mounter 2, the board data Db received by the communication unit 250 from the management server 9 is stored in the memory unit 220. This board data Db indicates the position at which component E is to be mounted on board B (in other words, the position of the land on board B), the type of component E to be mounted at that position, etc. The calculation processing unit 210 controls the drive control unit 230, the imaging control unit 240, etc. based on the board data Db, thereby mounting component E at the position on board B indicated by the board data Db (component mounting).

In parallel with the component mounting being performed in this manner, management information used to manage the component mounting is sent from the component mounter 2 to the management server 9. Figure 5 is a flowchart showing an example of management information transmission performed by the component mounter. Here, we will specifically explain a scene in which component E is mounted at a specified mounting point on board B.

In step S101, the calculation processing unit 210 uses the inclined camera 28 to capture an image of the component E at the component supply position 231 that supplies the component E to be mounted at the mounting point. This allows an inclined view image Iq of the component E to be captured before the component E to be mounted at the mounting point is picked up by the nozzle N. The calculation processing unit 210 transmits the captured inclined view image Iq to the management server 9 via the communication unit 250 (step S102). At this time, the calculation processing unit 210 associates mounting point identification information that identifies the mounting point at which the component E indicated by the inclined view image Iq is to be mounted with the inclined view image Iq and transmits it to the management server 9.

Here, the mounting point identification information includes, for example, a board ID that identifies board B and the position of the mounting point on board B. The board ID can be obtained by, for example, capturing an image of the board ID attached to board B using a camera when board B is loaded into the component mounter 2. In addition, the position of the mounting point can be obtained based on the board data Db.

When the nozzle N picks up a component E from the component supply position 231, the calculation processing unit 210 captures a component recognition image Ir of the component E using the component recognition camera 27 (step S103) and transmits the component recognition image Ir from the communication unit 250 to the management server 9 (step S104). At this time, the calculation processing unit 210 associates mounting point identification information, which identifies the mounting point where the component E indicated by the component recognition image Ir is to be mounted, with the component recognition image Ir and transmits it to the management server 9.

Furthermore, the calculation processing unit 210 performs component recognition based on the component recognition image Ir. If component recognition is successful ("YES" in step S105), the calculation processing unit 210 mounts component E, which is picked up by nozzle N, at the mounting point and captures an image of component E mounted at the mounting point using the inclined camera 28. As a result, an inclined view image Iq showing component E is acquired after component E is mounted at the mounting point. The calculation processing unit 210 transmits the thus captured inclined view image Iq to the management server 9 via the communication unit 250 (step S107). At this time, the calculation processing unit 210 associates mounting point identification information, which identifies the mounting point where component E shown in the inclined view image Iq is to be mounted, with the inclined view image Iq and transmits this information to the management server 9.

On the other hand, if component recognition fails ("NO" in step S105), the calculation processing unit 210 sends a component recognition error indicating that recognition of component E, which was the target of component recognition, failed to the management server 9 via the communication unit 250 (step S109). This component recognition error includes mounting point identification information that identifies the mounting point where component E, which failed to be recognized, was intended to be mounted.

After step S107 or S108 is executed, the process proceeds to step S109. In step S109, it is determined whether mounting has been completed for all mounting points on board B. Steps S101 to S108 are then repeated until mounting is complete ("YES" in step S109).

Figure 6 is a block diagram showing an example of the electrical configuration of the management server. The management server 9 is a computer equipped with a calculation unit 91, a memory unit 92, a communication unit 93, and a UI (User Interface) 94.

The calculation unit 91 is a processor composed of a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and RAM (Random Access Memory). This calculation unit 91 executes a predetermined management program to construct a reception management unit 911 and a storage management unit 912. The reception management unit 911 manages the reception of component recognition images Ir and oblique view images Iq from the component mounter 2, and the storage management unit 912 manages the storage of component recognition images Ir and oblique view images Iq by the memory unit 92.

The memory unit 220 is a storage device composed of a HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or SSD (Solid State Drive), etc., and stores board data Db that specifies the component mounting procedure in the component mounting machine 2, as well as component recognition images Ir and oblique view images Iq received from the component mounting machine 2.

The communication unit 93 receives the component recognition image Ir and the oblique view image Iq from the communication unit 250 of the component mounter 2. The component recognition image Ir and the oblique view image Iq received by the communication unit 93 are stored in the memory unit 92.

The UI 94 has input devices such as a keyboard, mouse, and microphone, and output devices such as a display and speakers. The UI 94 accepts user input through operation of the input devices, transmits the input to the calculation unit 91, and outputs information to the output devices based on instructions from the calculation unit 91. Note that the input and output devices do not need to be configured as separate entities; they may be configured as an integrated unit, for example, using a touch panel display.

Figure 7 is a flowchart showing an example of reception management performed by the management server. The reception management in Figure 7 is performed under the control of the reception management unit 911. In step S201, the reception management unit 911 monitors whether the communication unit 93 has received a component recognition image Ir or an oblique view image Iq from the component mounter 2. If the reception of the component recognition image Ir or the oblique view image Iq cannot be confirmed ("NO" in step S201), the process proceeds to step S203. On the other hand, if the reception of the component recognition image Ir or the oblique view image Iq is confirmed ("YES" in step S201), the reception management unit 911 associates the received image (component recognition image Ir or the oblique view image Iq) with the mounting point identification information received simultaneously with the image and stores it in the memory unit 92. The process then proceeds to step S203.

In step S203, the reception management unit 911 monitors whether the communication unit 93 has received a mounting inspection error from the board inspection machine 3 or a component recognition error from the component mounter 2. If the reception of an error cannot be confirmed ("NO" in step S203), the process returns to step S201. On the other hand, if the reception of a mounting inspection error or component recognition error is confirmed ("YES" in step S203), the reception management unit 911 stores the received error (mounting inspection error or component recognition error) in the memory unit 92. As described above, the error received from the component mounter 2 or board inspection machine 3 includes mounting point identification information that identifies the mounting point where the error occurred.

Figure 8 is a flowchart showing an example of storage management performed by the management server. The storage management in Figure 8 is performed under the control of the storage management unit 912. In step S301, it is determined whether there are any images (component recognition images Ir or oblique view images Iq) stored in the memory unit 92 that are candidates for deletion for which a predetermined period of time has passed since the image was captured. Note that this predetermined period can be set by the user, for example, by operating the UI 94.

If a candidate image for deletion exists in the storage unit 92 ("YES" in step S301), the storage management unit 912 determines whether the candidate image for deletion is a protected image that is not subject to deletion from the storage unit 92 (step S302). Specifically, an image (component recognition image Ir or oblique view image Iq) showing a component E to be mounted or already mounted at a mounting point where at least one of a component recognition error and a mounting inspection error has been indicated is determined to be a protected image. In FIG. 5, the pre-pickup oblique view image Iq sent in step S102 and the component recognition image Ir sent in step S104 correspond to images showing a component E to be mounted at a mounting point, and the post-mounting oblique view image Iq sent in step S107 corresponds to an image showing a component E already mounted at a mounting point.

If the image to be deleted is a protected image (YES in step S302), the storage management unit 912 leaves the protected image in the memory unit 92 after a predetermined time has elapsed since the protected image was captured (step S304), and removes the protected image from the management of the storage management unit 912. Specifically, the protected image can be removed from the management of the storage unit 92 by moving it to a memory area in the memory unit 92 that is different from the memory area managed by the storage management unit 912, or by setting a flag to prohibit erasure of the protected image. On the other hand, if the image to be deleted is not a protected image (NO in step S302), the storage management unit 912 deletes the protected image from the memory unit 92 (step S303).

In the management server 9 according to the embodiment described above, images Ir and Iq (component recognition images Ir or oblique view images Iq) acquired from the mounter 2 are stored in the storage unit 92 (image storage unit) (steps S201 and S202). A component recognition error or mounting inspection error (mounting operation failure information) indicating a mounting operation failure during the operation of mounting the target component E on the board B is also acquired (steps S203 and S204). Then, among the images Ir and Iq stored in the storage unit 92, protected images to be excluded from deletion from the storage unit 92 are determined based on the component recognition error or mounting inspection error (step S302). That is, images Ir and Iq of defective components, i.e., components E for which a mounting operation failure is indicated due to a component recognition error or mounting inspection error, are determined to be protected images and remain in the storage unit 92 (steps S304 and S305). Meanwhile, images Ir and Iq not determined to be protected images are deleted from the storage unit 92 (step S303). This makes it possible to reduce the pressure on storage capacity (the capacity of the memory unit 92) by deleting the images Ir and Iq after a predetermined period of time has passed since they were captured by the component mounter 2, while also preventing the deletion of images Ir and Iq that are useful for analyzing the cause of malfunctions in mounting component E on board B.

The component recognition camera 27 (imaging unit) of the component mounter 2 also captures a component recognition image Ir, which is an image of the component E being transported by the head unit 25 (mounting unit) toward the board B for component mounting (step S103). The calculation processing unit 210 (recognition processing unit) of the component mounter 2 also performs component recognition to recognize the component E indicated by the component recognition image Ir. In response to this, the communication unit 93 (information acquisition unit) of the management server 9 acquires a component recognition error indicating the component E for which component recognition failed as mounting operation failure information indicating a mounting operation failure. This configuration is advantageous in analyzing the cause of the component recognition failure.

The communication unit 93 (information acquisition unit) of the management server 9 also acquires mounting inspection errors indicating a defective mounting state of component E on board B, output by the board inspection machine 3 (inspection machine), which inspects component E mounted on board B, as mounting operation failure information indicating a mounting operation failure. This configuration is advantageous in analyzing the cause of a failure to mount component E on board B.

In the above embodiment, the component mounting system 1 corresponds to an example of a "component mounting system" of the present invention, the component mounter 2 corresponds to an example of a "component mounter" of the present invention, the four component supply carts 22 correspond to an example of a "component supply unit" of the present invention, the head unit 25 corresponds to an example of a "mounting unit" of the present invention, the component recognition camera 27 or the inclined camera 28 corresponds to an example of an "imaging unit" of the present invention, the management server 9 corresponds to an example of a "component mounting management device" of the present invention, the storage management unit 912 corresponds to an example of an "image erasing unit" of the present invention, the storage management unit 912 corresponds to an example of a "protected image determination unit" of the present invention, the memory unit 92 corresponds to an example of an "image storage unit" of the present invention, the communication unit 93 corresponds to an example of an "image acquisition unit" of the present invention, the communication unit 93 corresponds to an example of an "information acquisition unit" of the present invention, the board B corresponds to an example of a "board" of the present invention, the component E corresponds to an example of a "component" of the present invention, and the component recognition error and the mounting inspection error correspond to an example of "mounting operation failure information" of the present invention.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made to the above as long as they do not deviate from the spirit of the invention. For example, the execution mode of the storage management in Figure 8 may be configured as follows. In other words, the judgment in step S301 is actually performed at a predetermined judgment cycle. Therefore, during that judgment cycle, a predetermined period of time may pass since each image was captured for multiple images. In other words, in step S301, there may be multiple images that are candidates for deletion. In such a case, the retention and deletion of images stored in the memory unit 92 may be performed as follows.

Figure 9 shows an example of the retention and deletion of images stored in the memory unit. Step S401 in Figure 9 shows multiple deletion candidate images Id(1) to Id(4) stored in the memory unit 92. Of these deletion candidate images Id(1) to Id(4), deletion candidate image Id(3) is a protected image. Therefore, in the storage management of Figure 8, it is determined that a predetermined period of time has passed since each of these deletion candidate images Id(1) to Id(4) was captured (step S301), and of these deletion candidate images Id(1) to Id(4), deletion candidate image Id(3) is determined to be a protected image (step S302).

In step S402, the storage management unit 912 copies the protected image Id(3) to create a copy image Ic of the protected image Id(3) in the memory unit 92. Then, in step S403, the storage management unit 912 simultaneously erases the deletion candidate images Id(1) to Id(4) from the memory unit 92. As a result, the deletion candidate images Id(1), Id(2), and Id(4) other than the protected image Id(3) are erased from the memory unit 92 (step S305), while leaving the protected image Id(3) in the memory unit 92 (step S304).

In other words, in the example of FIG. 9, multiple deletion candidate images Id(1) to Id(4) (target images), which are images captured by the component recognition camera 27 or the inclined camera 28 a predetermined period of time ago, are stored in the storage unit 92 (image storage unit). In this case, the storage management unit 912 (image erasure unit) creates a duplicate image Ic in the storage unit 92 by duplicating image Id(3), which is determined to be a protected image among the multiple deletion candidate images Id(1) to Id(4) (step S402), and then erases the multiple deletion candidate images Id(1) to Id(4) (step S403). As a result, image Id(3), which is determined to be a protected image, remains in the storage unit 92 after the predetermined period has elapsed (step S304), while images Id(1), Id(2), and Id(4), which are not determined to be protected images, are erased from the storage unit 92 after the predetermined period has elapsed. In particular, multiple deletion candidate images Id(1) to Id(4) can be deleted collectively from the storage unit 92, enabling rapid image deletion. At this time, the protected image Id(3) remains in the storage unit 92 as a duplicate image Ic. Therefore, deletion of the image Id(3), which is useful for analyzing the cause of a mounting malfunction, is suppressed.

In the above embodiment, the board inspection machine 3 stores the component recognition image Ir and the oblique view image Iq received from the component mounter 2 in the memory unit 92. However, the images transmitted from the component mounter 2 to the management server 9 and stored in the memory unit 92 do not have to be both the component recognition image Ir and the oblique view image Iq; only one of these images may be transmitted. Alternatively, an image of a type different from the component recognition image Ir and the oblique view image Iq may be captured by the component mounter 2 and transmitted to the management server 9. Specifically, a side-view image of the component E being picked up by the nozzle N captured from a horizontal direction by a side-view camera may be acquired by the component mounter 2, and the side-view image may be transmitted from the component mounter 2 to the management server 9 and stored in the memory unit 92. The management server 9 can perform reception management (FIG. 7) and storage management (FIG. 8) for such side-view images in the same manner as described above.

The type of head included in the head unit 25 is not limited to the rotary type described above and may be, for example, an inline type as shown in FIG. 10 . FIG. 10 is a plan view schematically illustrating a modified head unit. This head unit 25 has multiple mounting heads 261 aligned in the Y direction. A nozzle N (not shown in FIG. 10 ) is attached to the lower end of each mounting head 261. The mounting head 261 picks up a component E using the nozzle N, thereby transferring the component E from the component supply position 231 to the board B. Furthermore, in the example of FIG. 10 , the component mounter 2 is provided with a scan camera 29, which is attached so as to be movable in the Y direction relative to the head unit 25. This scan camera 29 is a side-view camera that moves in the Y direction and captures horizontal images of the components E picked up by each nozzle N to obtain side-view images. Therefore, the management server 9 can perform reception management ( FIG. 7 ) and storage management ( FIG. 8 ) for the side-view images transmitted from the component mounter 2, as described above.

In addition, the images that the storage management unit 912 determines to be protected images in step S302 are not limited to the images Ir and Iq of the component E (defective component) for which an error has been indicated, as described above. Therefore, the storage management unit 912 may also determine to be protected images the images Ir and Iq of related components, i.e., components E that have a predetermined relationship with the defective component. In such a configuration, mounting malfunctions can be analyzed by referring to the images Ir and Iq showing the related components of the defective component.

Specifically, the related component may be a component E other than the defective component that is mounted on a board B on which the defective component is mounted. In this configuration, images Ir and Iq showing other components E (related components) mounted on the same board B as the defective component are determined to be protected images. Therefore, the state of the related components shown in these images Ir and Iq can be referenced to analyze the cause of the mounting malfunction.

Furthermore, when using a head unit 25 (mounting unit) having multiple mounting heads 261 that mount components E supplied by the component supply cart 22 (component supply unit) onto a board B, the related components may be components E mounted on board B immediately before and after the defective component by one of the multiple mounting heads 261 that mounted the defective component onto board B. In this case, among the components E mounted by the mounting head 261 that mounted the defective component, a predetermined number (one or more) of components E mounted immediately before the defective component and a predetermined number (one or more) of components E mounted immediately after the defective component are treated as related components, and images Ir and Iq representing these components E (related components) are determined to be protected images. Therefore, the cause of the mounting failure can be analyzed by referring to images Ir and Iq representing other components E mounted by the same mounting head 261 as the defective component.

The head unit 25 (mounting unit) also has multiple nozzles N capable of mounting components E supplied by the component supply cart 22 (component supply unit) onto the board B. Therefore, the related components may be components E mounted on the board B immediately before and after the defective component by one of the multiple nozzles N that mounted the defective component on the board B. In this case, among the components E mounted by the nozzle N that mounts the defective component, a predetermined number (one or more) of components E mounted immediately before the defective component and a predetermined number (one or more) of components E mounted immediately after the defective component are treated as related components, and images Ir and Iq representing these components E (related components) are determined to be protected images. Therefore, the cause of the mounting failure can be analyzed by referring to images Ir and Iq representing other components E mounted by the same nozzle N as the defective component.

The component supply cart 22 is also equipped with multiple tape feeders 23 (feeders), each capable of supplying a component E. Therefore, the related components may be components E supplied consecutively to and before and after the defective component by one of the multiple tape feeders 23, a component supply position 231 that supplied the defective component. In this case, among the components E supplied by one tape feeder 23 that supplies the defective component, a predetermined number (one or more) of components E supplied immediately before the defective component and a predetermined number (one or more) of components E supplied immediately after the defective component are treated as related components, and images Ir and Iq representing these components E (related components) are determined to be protected images. Therefore, the cause of the mounting malfunction can be analyzed by referring to images Ir and Iq representing other components E supplied by the same tape feeder 23 as the defective component.

The component supply cart 22 is equipped with multiple component supply reels (Figure 11) corresponding to the multiple tape feeders 23, respectively. Figure 11 is a diagram schematically illustrating the configuration of a component supply reel. A component storage tape 43 is wound around the component supply reel 41, and components E are stored in each of multiple pockets provided on the component storage tape 43. The tape feeder 23 then transports the component storage tape 43 pulled out from the component supply reel 41 toward the component supply position 231, thereby supplying components E to the component supply position 231. A reel ID 411 identifying the component supply reel 41 is attached to the side of the component supply reel 41. When loading the component storage tape 43 pulled out from the component supply reel 41 into the tape feeder 23 corresponding to that component supply reel 41, the user reads the reel ID 411 of the component supply reel 41 using a reader provided in the component mounter 2. The reel ID 411 thus read is associated with the tape feeder 23 (specifically, the feeder ID that identifies the tape feeder 23) that corresponds to the component supply reel 41 of the reel ID 411, and is transmitted from the component mounter 2 to the management server 9. This allows the management server 9 to confirm the reel ID 411 of the component supply reel 41 that stores the components E supplied by the tape feeder 23.

The related component may be a component E supplied by the tape feeder 23 from one of the multiple component supply reels 41 that contained the defective component. In this configuration, images Ir and Iq showing other components E (related components) supplied from the same component supply reel 41 as the defective component are determined to be protected images. Therefore, the cause of the mounting failure can be analyzed by referring to the state of the related components shown in these images Ir and Iq.

The UI94 (user operation unit) may also be configured to accept a user request to protect an image. In this case, the storage management unit 912 (protected image determination unit) determines that the images Ir and Iq that are the subject of the protection request accepted by the UI94 are protected images. In this configuration, the user can refer to the images Ir and Iq that have requested protection and analyze the cause of the implementation malfunction.

Furthermore, the storage management unit 912 can determine whether a pickup error has occurred in nozzle N picking up component E based on the magnitude of the negative pressure generated in nozzle N and a side view image of nozzle N. Therefore, the storage management unit 912 may determine a protection image in response to detection of the occurrence of a pickup error or a decrease in the pickup rate (in other words, an increase in the rate of pickup errors). Specifically,
The protected images may include all images of component E captured when mounting a component E that has experienced a suction error, all images of component E captured when mounting a component E with a suction rate lower than a predetermined rate, all images of component E that is picked up by a mounting head 261 when mounting a component E using the mounting head 261 with a suction rate lower than a predetermined rate, and all images of component E that is supplied by a tape feeder 23 with a suction rate lower than a predetermined rate when mounting a component E supplied by the tape feeder 23.

Alternatively, all images of component E on the same board B as component E for which the board inspection machine 3 has determined that a mounting inspection error has occurred may be determined to be protected images.

Furthermore, the user can analyze the cause of a mounting malfunction using the images Ir and Iq stored in the memory unit 92 while displaying the images Ir and Iq on the display of the UI 94. Such analysis can be performed from various perspectives, for example, as follows. In other words, if a mounting inspection error occurs in the board inspection machine 3, the user can visually check all images captured of the component E that caused the mounting inspection error, thereby performing analysis such as identifying abnormalities in the pickup posture or the timing of the introduction of foreign matter.

In addition, when the number of suction errors increases, the user can perform an analysis such as visually checking all images captured when a suction error occurred to confirm whether there are any problems with the splicing work. Here, the splicing work is the work of connecting the component storage tape 43 to be used next to the component storage tape 43 currently in use in the tape feeder 23.

In addition, when the mounting accuracy of component E on board B decreases, the user can perform an analysis to determine whether the pickup posture of component E is stable by visually checking all images of component E to see if there are any abnormal trends in the pickup posture.

In addition, when the suction rate of a particular mounting head 261 or tape feeder 23 decreases, the user can perform an analysis such as visually checking all images of component E taken while using the corresponding mounting head 261 or tape feeder 23 to confirm whether the suction posture of the component E is stable.

Therefore, the storage management unit 912 can be appropriately configured to determine that images that are useful for the above-mentioned specific analysis are protected images.

Figure 12 is a flowchart showing an example of a method for managing the deletion of protected images. The protected image deletion management of Figure 12 is performed by the storage management unit 912 for each image determined to be a protected image in the storage management of Figure 8. In step S501, it is determined whether or not an image for which a predetermined protection period has passed since it was determined to be a saved image is stored in the storage unit 92. If an image for which the protection period has passed exists (if "YES" in step S501), the image is deleted from the storage unit 92. This prevents protected images from remaining in the storage unit 92 and causing a load on the capacity of the storage unit 92.

1... Component mounting system 2... Component mounting machine 22... Component supply cart (component supply unit)
25...Head unit (mounting unit)
27...Part recognition camera (imaging unit)
28...Inclined camera (imaging unit)
9...Management server (component mounting management device)
912...Storage management unit (image deletion unit, protected image determination unit)
92...Memory unit (image storage unit)
93...Communication unit (image acquisition unit, information acquisition unit)
B...Board E...Components

Claims (12)

an image acquisition unit that acquires an image from a component mounter that includes a mounting unit that performs component mounting by mounting components supplied by a component supply unit onto a board, and an imaging unit that captures an image of the component that has been subjected to the component mounting by the mounting unit;
an image storage unit that stores the image acquired by the image acquisition unit;
an information acquisition unit that acquires mounting operation failure information indicating a mounting operation failure in an operation for mounting the component to be mounted on the board;
an image erasing unit that erases the image from the image storage unit at a timing when a predetermined period of time has elapsed since the image was captured;
a protected image determination unit that determines, based on the mounting operation failure information, a protected image to be excluded from deletion by the image deletion unit;
the imaging unit captures the image of the component while it is being transported by the mounting unit toward the board for component mounting;
the component mounter further includes a recognition processing unit that executes component recognition to recognize components indicated by the image,
the information acquisition unit acquires, as the mounting malfunction information, a component recognition error, which is information indicating a component that has failed in the component recognition, and acquires, as the mounting malfunction information, a mounting inspection error, which is information indicating a defect in the mounting state of the component on the board and is output by an inspection machine that inspects the components mounted on the board;
the protected image determination unit determines the image of a defective component, which is a component for which the component recognition error or the mounting inspection error has been indicated, as the protected image;
The image erasure unit leaves the image determined to be the protected image in the image storage unit after the timing, while erasing the image not determined to be the protected image from the image storage unit at the timing. The component mounting management device described in claim 1, wherein the protected image determination unit determines the image of a related component that has a predetermined relationship with the defective component as the protected image. The component mounting management device described in claim 2, wherein the related components are components other than the defective component that are mounted on the board on which the defective component is mounted. the mounting unit has a plurality of mounting heads each capable of mounting the components supplied by the component supply unit onto the board,
3. The component mounting management device according to claim 2, wherein the related component is a component that was mounted on the substrate before and after the defective component by the mounting head that mounted the defective component on the substrate, among the plurality of mounting heads. the mounting unit has a plurality of nozzles each capable of mounting the components supplied by the component supply unit onto the board,
3. The component mounting management device according to claim 2, wherein the related component is a component that is mounted on the board consecutively with the defective component before and after the defective component by the nozzle that mounted the defective component on the board among the plurality of nozzles. the component supply unit has a plurality of feeders each capable of supplying a component,
3. The component mounting management device according to claim 2, wherein the related components are components that are supplied consecutively with the defective component before and after the defective component by the feeder that supplied the defective component among the plurality of feeders. the component supply unit has a plurality of component storage members each storing a component, and supplies the components to be stored in the component storage members;
3. The component mounting management device according to claim 2, wherein the related component is a component supplied by the component supply unit from the component storage member that stores the defective component, among the plurality of component storage members. a user operation unit that accepts a request from a user to protect the image;
The component mounting management device according to claim 1 , wherein the protected image determination unit determines the image that is the target of the protection request received by the user operation unit as the protected image. 2. The component mounting management device of claim 1, wherein when a plurality of target images, each of which is an image captured by the imaging unit for which the predetermined period of time has elapsed, are stored in the image storage unit, the image erasure unit creates a duplicate image in the image storage unit by duplicating an image determined to be a protected image from among the plurality of target images, and then erases the plurality of target images, thereby leaving the image determined to be a protected image in the image storage unit after the timing, while erasing the images not determined to be a protected image from the image storage unit at the timing. The component mounting management device according to claim 1 , wherein the image erasing unit erases a protected image from the image storage unit after a predetermined protection period has elapsed since the protected image determination unit determined the protected image to be a protected image. a component mounter including a mounting unit that performs component mounting by mounting components supplied by a component supply unit onto a board, and an imaging unit that captures an image of the component that has been subjected to component mounting by the mounting unit;
A component mounting system comprising the component mounting management device according to any one of claims 1 to 10 . acquiring the image from a component mounter including a mounting unit that performs component mounting by mounting components supplied by a component supply unit onto a board, and an imaging unit that captures an image of the component that has been subjected to the component mounting by the mounting unit;
storing the image acquired from the component mounter in an image storage unit;
an information acquiring unit acquiring mounting operation failure information indicating a mounting operation failure in an operation for mounting the component to be mounted on the board;
deleting the image from the image storage unit at a timing when a predetermined period of time has elapsed since the image was captured;
determining, based on the mounting malfunction information, protected images to be excluded from deletion from the image storage unit;
the imaging unit captures the image of the component while it is being transported by the mounting unit toward the board for component mounting;
the component mounter further includes a recognition processing unit that executes component recognition to recognize components indicated by the image,
the information acquisition unit acquires, as the mounting malfunction information, a component recognition error, which is information indicating a component that has failed in the component recognition, and acquires, as the mounting malfunction information, a mounting inspection error, which is information indicating a defect in the mounting state of the component on the board and is output by an inspection machine that inspects the components mounted on the board;
determining the image of a defective component, which is a component for which the component recognition error or the mounting inspection error has been indicated, as the protected image;
The component mounting management method includes leaving the image determined to be the protected image in the image storage unit after the timing, while erasing the image not determined to be the protected image from the image storage unit at the timing.