JP7804032B2 - Component Mounting System - Google Patents

Description

This specification discloses technology related to a component mounting system configured by arranging multiple component mounters.

Generally, a component mounting line is composed of multiple component mounters arranged along a transport path for transporting circuit boards. Each mounter uses a suction nozzle to pick up components supplied from a feeder and mount them on a circuit board to produce component-mounted boards. If the feeder of one of the mounters breaks down during production, or if the suction nozzle becomes damaged or clogged, an abnormality such as component pickup failure will occur. When such an abnormality is detected, the mounter in question is stopped, and an operator replaces the feeder or suction nozzle before the mounter is restarted. Furthermore, feeders and suction nozzles become more susceptible to failure as they are used for a long time, so to prevent such failures, they must be periodically replaced and maintained.

In response to this, the component mounter in Patent Document 1 (JP 2002-190700 A) calculates the component pickup rate, mounting rate, component pickup position deviation amount, mounting position deviation amount, etc. for each feeder or suction nozzle during production, and monitors whether maintenance is required. When maintenance is required for a feeder or suction nozzle, that feeder or suction nozzle is displayed on the display, production is stopped, and an operator is prompted to perform maintenance on the feeder or suction nozzle.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-190700

However, when the display indicates that a feeder or suction nozzle needs maintenance, the operator must quickly and manually remove the feeder or suction nozzle from the mounter, attach a replacement feeder or suction nozzle, and resume production, which is a tedious process. Furthermore, if the operator is performing another task when the display indicates that a feeder or suction nozzle needs maintenance, they will not be able to immediately replace the feeder or suction nozzle, which will result in longer production downtime and reduced operating rates (productivity).

The component mounting system according to claim 1 includes a plurality of component mounters arranged along a transport path for transporting circuit boards, the component mounters mounting components onto the circuit boards;
a storage cabinet arranged alongside the component mounters in an arrangement direction of the component mounters, for storing replacement units that can be replaced with the component mounters;
The system is equipped with: a unit transport device that automatically travels between a work location away from the storage warehouse and the storage warehouse, loads the replacement unit, transports it to the storage warehouse, and returns to the work location with replaced units that have been collected from the multiple component mounters to the storage warehouse; and an automatic exchange device that moves in front of the storage warehouse, takes out a replacement unit from the storage warehouse, then moves in front of the component mounter that is to be automatically replaced, automatically exchanges the unit that needs to be automatically replaced for the replacement unit, and collects it.

In this configuration, a unit transport device that automatically travels between the storage facility and a work location remote from the storage facility transports a replacement unit to the storage facility, and then returns to the work location carrying replaced units that have been collected from multiple component mounters in the storage facility. This allows for efficient replenishment of replacement units and retrieval of replaced units between the work location and the storage facility. Furthermore, the automatic exchange device receives the replacement unit from the storage facility, moves in front of the component mounter that is to be automatically replaced, and automatically replaces the unit that requires automatic replacement in that component mounter with the replacement unit and retrieves it. This allows for efficient swapping of replacement units with replaced units between the storage facility and each component mounter, and allows efficient retrieval of replaced units removed from each component mounter.

The component mounting system according to claim 2 includes a plurality of component mounters arranged along a transport path for transporting circuit boards, the component mounters mounting components onto the circuit boards;
a storage facility for storing replacement units that can be replaced with the plurality of component mounters;
In a component mounting system provided with a plurality of component mounting lines,
a unit transporting device that automatically travels between a common work location located away from the storage warehouses of the plurality of component mounting lines and the storage warehouse in order to perform maintenance and repair of the replaced units that have been collected in the storage warehouses of the plurality of component mounting lines, loads the replacement units, transports them to the storage warehouses of the plurality of component mounting lines, and returns to the work location with the replaced units that have been collected in the storage warehouses of the plurality of component mounting lines on board;
and an automatic exchange device which moves in front of the storage, takes out a replacement unit from the storage, then moves in front of the component mounter to be automatically replaced, automatically replaces the unit that needs to be automatically replaced in the component mounter with the replacement unit, and collects it.

In this configuration, the work area and unit transport device are shared by multiple component mounting lines, so the same worker can replenish the storage facilities for multiple component mounting lines with replacement units and perform maintenance and repairs on replaced units that have been collected in the storage facilities for multiple component mounting lines at a common work area. This eliminates the need to provide a work area or unit transport device for each component mounting line, which allows multiple component mounting lines to be installed compactly within a factory and reduces the number of workers required to manage multiple component mounting lines, resulting in further labor savings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of a component mounting line according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the schematic configuration of the automatic exchange device and the component mounter. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the general configuration of a management system for a component mounting line equipped with an automatic exchanger. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a cassette type feeder. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a cassette-type suction nozzle replacement unit. FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a state in which the rotary nozzle station is removed from the cassette-type suction nozzle replacement unit.

One example is described below.

First, the configuration of the component mounting line 10 will be explained based on Figures 1 to 6.

The component mounting line 10 is configured by arranging multiple component mounters 12 along the transport direction (X direction) of the circuit boards 11. On the board carrying-in side of the component mounting line 10, there are installed a solder printer (not shown) that prints solder on the circuit boards 11, and a storage cabinet 19 that stores cassette-type feeders 14 (see Figure 4) and cassette-type suction nozzle replacement units 81 (see Figures 5 and 6). In this embodiment, the cassette-type feeders 14 and cassette-type suction nozzle replacement units 81 are automatically replaceable units.

As shown in Figure 2, each component mounter 12 is equipped with two conveyors 13 for transporting circuit boards 11, a mounting head 15 that holds interchangeable suction nozzles (not shown) that pick up components supplied from a cassette-type feeder 14 and mount them on the circuit board 11, a head moving device 16 that moves the mounting head 15 in the X and Y directions (left and right, front and back directions), and a display device 23 such as an LCD display or CRT.

Each component mounter 12 on the component mounting line 10 transports the circuit board 11 transported from the upstream component mounter 12 to a predetermined position on the conveyor 13 and clamps the circuit board 11 with a clamping mechanism (not shown). It then picks up components supplied from a cassette-type feeder 14 with the suction nozzle of the mounting head 15, moves the component from the suction position to an imaging position, images the component from below with a component imaging camera (not shown), determines the amount of misalignment of the component, and then corrects the misalignment before mounting the component on the circuit board 11 on the conveyor 13 to produce a component-mounted board.

Next, the configuration of the cassette type feeder 14 will be described with reference to FIG.
The cassette case 32 of the cassette-type feeder 14 is formed from a transparent or opaque plastic plate or metal plate, and its side portion (cover) can be opened and closed. A tape loading section 35 is provided inside the cassette case 32, into which a tape reel 34 around which a component supply tape 33 is wound is detachably (replaceably) loaded. A reel holding shaft 36 that rotatably holds the tape reel 34 is provided at the center of the tape loading section 35.

The cassette case 32 contains a tape feed mechanism 38 that feeds the component supply tape 33 pulled out from the tape reel 34 to the component suction position, and a top film peeling mechanism 39 that peels off the top film 40 (also called the cover tape) from the component supply tape 33 just before the component suction position, exposing the components within the component supply tape 33.

The tape feed mechanism 38 is composed of a sprocket 42 located near the lower part of the component suction position, a motor 43 that rotates the sprocket 42, and other components. The teeth of the sprocket 42 engage with tape feed holes formed at a predetermined pitch on one side edge of the component supply tape 33, causing the sprocket 42 to rotate, thereby feeding the component supply tape 33 to the component suction position.

The top film peeling mechanism 39 is composed of a tape presser 45 that presses down on the component supply tape 33 just before the component suction position and peels off the top film 40 from the top surface of the component supply tape 33, a top film feed gear mechanism 47 that pulls the top film 40 peeled off by the tape presser 45 in the direction opposite to the tape feed direction and feeds it into the top film recovery section 46 at the top of the cassette case 32, and a motor 48 that drives the top film feed gear mechanism 47.

A waste tape discharge passage 50 extends downward from the edge of the cassette case 32 facing the tape feed direction. This passage guides and discharges the waste tape 33a (in this embodiment, only the carrier tape from which the top film 40 has been peeled off) that has passed the component suction position and from which components have been removed. The outlet 50a of this waste tape discharge passage 50 is located below the center of the end face of the cassette case 32 facing the tape feed direction.

A control device 52 is provided inside the cassette case 32, which controls the motor 43 of the tape feed mechanism 38 and the motor 48 of the top film peeling mechanism 39. In addition, although not shown, the cassette case 32 is also provided with a communication and power connector that connects to the communication and power connector on the component mounter 12.

Next, the configuration of the cassette-type suction nozzle replacement unit 81 will be described with reference to FIGS.
The cassette case 83 of the cassette-type suction nozzle replacement unit 81, like the cassette-type feeder 14, is formed of a transparent or opaque plastic plate or metal plate, and its side portion (cover) can be opened and closed. A circular, recessed nozzle station loading section 85 is provided within the cassette case 83, into which a disk-shaped rotary nozzle station 84 is detachably (replaceably) loaded. A drive shaft 86 (see FIG. 6 ) is provided at the center of the nozzle station loading section 85, facing inward in the width direction of the cassette case 83, and the center portion of the rotary nozzle station 84 is detachably connected to the drive shaft 86 in a rotationally transmissible manner. The rotary nozzle station 84 is configured to detachably hold a plurality of suction nozzles 87, which are radially arranged at a predetermined pitch around its outer periphery and can be replaced with suction nozzles of the mounting head 15 of the component mounter 12.

Meanwhile, a rotary drive device 88 that rotates the rotary nozzle station 84 is provided within the cassette case 83. This rotary drive device 88 is composed of a motor 89, which serves as the drive source, and a gear mechanism 90 that transmits the rotation of this motor 89 to the drive shaft 86.

A nozzle replacement opening 91 is formed on the top surface of the cassette case 83 at a position corresponding to the top end of the rotary nozzle station 84 (directly above the center of the rotary nozzle station 84), and the suction nozzle 87 is replaced between the rotary nozzle station 84 and the mounting head 15 of the component mounter 12 through this nozzle replacement opening 91. The cassette case 83 is provided with a shutter mechanism 92 that opens and closes the nozzle replacement opening 91. The shutter mechanism 92 is composed of a shutter plate 93 that slides along the nozzle replacement opening 91, a motor 94 that serves as a drive source, a feed gear 95 that converts the rotation of the motor 94 into linear motion, and a link member 96 that connects the feed gear 95 and the shutter plate 93.

When a suction nozzle 87 in a cassette-type suction nozzle replacement unit 81 set in the feeder setting section 24 of the mounter 12 is to be held by the mounter head 15 of the mounter 12, the mounter head 15 is moved above the nozzle replacement opening 91 of the suction nozzle replacement unit 81, and the shutter plate 93 of the shutter mechanism 92 is opened to expose the nozzle replacement opening 91. The rotary nozzle station 84 in the suction nozzle replacement unit 81 is then rotated appropriately to position the suction nozzle 87 to be replaced at the nozzle replacement opening 91. The nozzle holder (not shown) of the mounter 15 is then lowered to allow the suction nozzle 87 to be held by the nozzle holder of the mounter 15 through the nozzle replacement opening 33. The nozzle holder of the mounter 15 is then raised to remove the suction nozzle 87 from the rotary nozzle station 84.

When returning the suction nozzle held in the nozzle holder of the mounting head 15 to an empty slot in the rotary nozzle station 84 in the suction nozzle replacement unit 81, the rotary nozzle station 84 is rotated appropriately to position the empty slot of the rotary nozzle station 84 at the nozzle replacement opening 33, and the nozzle holder of the mounting head 15 is lowered to return the suction nozzle held in the nozzle holder of the mounting head 15 to the empty slot of the rotary nozzle station 84.

A control device 97 is provided inside the cassette case 83, which controls the motor 89 of the rotation drive device 88 and the motor 94 of the shutter mechanism 92. In addition, although not shown, the cassette case 83 is also provided with a communication and power connector that connects to the communication and power connector on the component mounter 12.

As shown in Figure 1, an automatic exchange device 26 is installed at the front side of the component mounting line 10, which sets and removes cassette-type feeders 14 from the feeder setting section 24 of each component mounter 12. This automatic exchange device 26 also sets and removes cassette-type suction nozzle replacement units 81 from the feeder setting section 24 of each component mounter 12.

A stock section 71 is provided below the feeder setting section 24 of each mounter 12 to temporarily store multiple replacement feeders 14 and suction nozzle replacement units 81 to be set in the feeder setting section 24. The automatic exchanger 26 removes the feeders 14 and suction nozzle replacement units 81 to be replaced from the feeder setting section 24 of each mounter 12 and returns them to the stock section 71, and also removes the feeders 14 and suction nozzle replacement units 81 specified in the production job (production program) from the stock section 71 and sets them in the feeder setting section 24 of each mounter 12. At this time, if the replacement feeders 14 and suction nozzle replacement units 81 are not stored in the stock section 71 of the mounter 12, the automatic exchanger 26 receives the replacement feeders 14 and suction nozzle replacement units 81 from the storage 19, moves them to the mounter 12, and automatically replaces the replacement feeders 14 and suction nozzle replacement units 81, as described below.

On the front side of the component mounting line 10, guide rails 74 are provided that extend in the X direction across the entire component mounting line 10, allowing the automatic exchanger 26 to move left and right (X direction) along the arrangement of the component mounters 12. The automatic exchanger 26 moves between the most upstream storage 19 on the component mounting line 10 and the most downstream component mounter 12. The automatic exchanger 26 retrieves feeders 14 and suction nozzle replacement units 81 specified in the production job from the storage 19 and transports them to the stock section 71 of the specified component mounter 12, or retrieves used feeders 14 and suction nozzle replacement units 81 from the stock section 71 and collects them in the storage 19.

As shown in FIG. 3, the control devices 20 of each mounter 12 on the component mounting line 10 and the control devices 27 of the automatic exchanger 26 are communicatively connected to a production management computer 70 (management device) that manages the entire component mounting line 10 via a network 28 such as a wired LAN or wireless LAN, and the production management computer 70 manages the operation of each mounter 12 on the component mounting line 10 and the operation of the automatic exchanger 26.

Furthermore, the component mounting line 10 of this embodiment is equipped with a unit transporting device 76 (see Figure 1) that automatically travels between the work area where workers work and the storage 19. At the work area, the worker loads a replacement feeder 14 or suction nozzle replacement unit 81 onto the unit transporting device 76, which then transports it to the storage 19. The unit transporting device 76 then transfers the replacement feeder 14 or suction nozzle replacement unit 81 to the storage 19, and then loads the replaced feeder 14 or replaced suction nozzle replacement unit 81 that has been collected in the storage 19 onto the unit transporting device 76 and returns to the work area. The unit transporting device 76 is equipped with a unit transfer mechanism (not shown) that transfers the feeder 14 or suction nozzle replacement unit 81 between the storage 19 and the unit transporting device 76.

The production management computer 70 communicates with the unit transport device 76 via wireless LAN or the like, and also manages the operation of the unit transport device 76. In this embodiment, the work area where workers work and the unit transport device 76 are shared by multiple component mounting lines 10.

The control device 20 of each mounter 12 also functions as an operation monitoring device that monitors the operating status of the feeder 14 and suction nozzle replacement unit 81, which are automatically replaceable units of each mounter 12, and monitors whether maintenance or replacement due to a malfunction of these automatically replaceable units is required. In the following description, "automatically replaceable unit" refers to either the "feeder 14" or the "suction nozzle replacement unit 81."

Specifically, the control device 20 of each mounter 12 monitors the automatically replaceable units, such as the feeder 14 tape feed time, suction nozzle flow rate, nozzle length, mounting head 15 axis operation time, and valve operation time, and determines whether maintenance or replacement of the automatically replaceable unit is necessary based on whether these values exceed a predetermined threshold. Alternatively, the control device 20 may monitor at least one of the following operating conditions of the automatically replaceable unit: failure, cumulative operating time, number of operations, error rate (e.g., the rate of component suction failure, the rate of incorrect suction nozzle replacement due to malfunction of the suction nozzle replacement unit 81, etc.), and number of errors, to determine whether maintenance or replacement of the automatically replaceable unit is necessary. For example, when the cumulative operating time, number of operations, error rate, or number of errors exceed a predetermined threshold (criteria) for each, it determines that the automatically replaceable unit needs to be replaced, and sends this information to the production management computer 70. As a result, the production management computer 70 moves the automatic exchange device 26 to the component mounter 12 that requires unit replacement, and has the automatic exchange device 26 automatically replace the automatically replaceable unit of that component mounter 12 with the replacement unit.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, a judgment criteria change unit (not shown) is provided that allows an operator to change the judgment criteria used by the control device 20 of each mounter 12 to determine whether an automatically replaceable unit requires maintenance or replacement due to a malfunction. In this way, for example, if the operator believes that there are too many replacements due to maintenance, the operator can change the judgment criteria to reduce the number of replacements due to maintenance, or if the operator believes that there are too many replacements due to malfunction, the operator can change the judgment criteria to increase the number of replacements due to maintenance. This allows the operator to change the judgment criteria to reduce both the number of replacements due to maintenance and the number of replacements due to malfunction. The judgment criteria change unit may be configured using an input device (not shown), such as a keyboard, mouse, or touch panel, connected to the control device 20 of the mounter 12.

Furthermore, if the control device 20 of each mounter 12 can predict when an automatically replaceable unit will require maintenance or replacement due to a malfunction, it will send information regarding the replacement of that automatically replaceable unit to the production management computer 70 in advance. Then, when the production management computer 70 receives information regarding the replacement of an automatically replaceable unit of a mounter 12 in advance from the control device 20 of that mounter 12, it moves the automatic exchanger 26 to or near that mounter 12 and places it on standby in preparation for the replacement of the automatically replaceable unit. In this way, the automatically replaceable units of each mounter can be replaced in a short time, reducing production downtime due to replacement and improving operating rates (productivity).

Furthermore, in order to prepare for the replacement of automatically replaceable units in each mounter 12, the production management computer 70 uses the period when the automatic exchanger 26 is not automatically replacing automatically replaceable units to move the automatic exchanger 26 to each mounter 12, store the replacement units in the stock section 71, and retrieve the replaced units from the stock section 71. This also allows for efficient replacement of automatically replaceable units in each mounter 12.

In the embodiment described above, the control device 20 of each mounter 12 monitors the operating status of the automatically replaceable unit to monitor whether the automatically replaceable unit requires maintenance or replacement due to a malfunction. When it determines that the automatically replaceable unit of one of the mounters 12 requires maintenance or replacement due to a malfunction, the production management computer 70 moves the automatic exchanger 26 to that mounter 12 and automatically replaces the automatically replaceable unit of that mounter 12 with a replacement unit. Therefore, when the automatically replaceable unit of one of the mounters 12 requires maintenance or replacement due to a malfunction, a worker does not have to replace the automatically replaceable unit of that mounter 12, thereby reducing the worker's workload. Furthermore, when the automatically replaceable unit of a mounter 12 requires maintenance or replacement due to a malfunction, the automatically replaceable unit can be quickly replaced by the automatic exchanger 26, which has the advantage of allowing production to be resumed early and preventing a significant decrease in operating rate (productivity).

Furthermore, the component mounting line 10 is provided with a storage facility 19 for storing replacement units to be replaced with automatically replaceable units of multiple component mounters 12. The automatic exchanger 26 receives replacement units from the storage facility 19 in accordance with instructions from the production management computer 70, moves to the component mounter 12 to be automatically replaced, automatically replaces the automatically replaceable unit of that component mounter 12 with the replacement unit, and then transfers the recovered replaced unit back to the storage facility 19. This allows for efficient interchange of replacement units with replaced units between the storage facility 19 and each component mounter 12, and allows for efficient recovery of replaced units removed from each component mounter 12.

Furthermore, a unit transporter 76 is provided that travels between the work location where the worker works and the storage facility 19. At the work location, the worker loads a replacement unit onto the unit transporter 76, which then transports it to the storage facility 19. The unit transporter 76 then transfers the replacement unit to the storage facility 19, and the replaced unit that has been collected in the storage facility 19 is then loaded onto the unit transporter 76 and returned to the work location. This allows workers to efficiently replenish replacement units and perform maintenance and repairs on the collected replaced units at work locations away from the storage facility 19. However, the present invention may omit the unit transporter 76, and have workers manually replenish replacement units to the storage facility 19 and collect replaced units from the storage facility 19.

In addition, in this embodiment, the work area and unit transport device 76 are shared by multiple component mounting lines 10, so the same worker can replenish replacement units in the storage 19 of multiple component mounting lines 10 and perform maintenance and repairs on replaced units collected from multiple component mounting lines 10 at a common work area. This eliminates the need to provide a work area and unit transport device 76 for each component mounting line 10. This allows multiple component mounting lines 10 to be installed compactly within a factory, and reduces the number of workers required to manage multiple component mounting lines 10, resulting in further labor savings. However, the present invention may also provide a separate work area and unit transport device 76 for each component mounting line 10.

In this embodiment, the control device 20 of each mounter 12 is configured to function as an operation monitoring device that monitors the operating status of the automatically replaceable unit and monitors whether the automatically replaceable unit requires maintenance or replacement due to a malfunction. However, an external computer such as the production management computer 70 may also be used as the operation monitoring device to centrally monitor the operating status of the automatically replaceable units of multiple mounters 12.

Furthermore, the automatically replaceable units of each component mounter 12 are not limited to the feeder 14 and suction nozzle replacement unit 81. For example, if the component mounter 12 holds a mounting head 15 in an automatically replaceable manner, the mounting head 15 may also be an automatically replaceable unit. Furthermore, if the mounting head 15 holds a chuck for gripping components in an automatically replaceable manner with the suction nozzle, the chuck may also be an automatically replaceable unit.

In addition, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and it goes without saying that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, such as changing the configuration of the component mounting line 10, changing the configuration of the automatic exchange device 26 or unit transport device 76, or changing the configuration of the feeder 14 or suction nozzle exchange unit 81.

10...Component mounting line, 11...Circuit board, 12...Component mounter, 14...Cassette-type feeder, 15...Mounting head, 16...Head moving device, 19...Storage, 20...Component mounter control device (operation monitoring device), 24...Feeder setting unit, 26...Automatic exchange device, 70...Production management computer (management device), 71...Stock unit, 76...Unit transport device, 81...Cassette-type suction nozzle exchange unit, 87...Suction nozzle

Claims (2)

a plurality of component mounters arranged along a transport path for transporting circuit boards, the component mounters mounting components onto the circuit boards;
a storage cabinet arranged alongside the component mounters in an arrangement direction of the component mounters, for storing replacement units that can be replaced with the component mounters;
a unit transporting device that automatically travels between a work location distant from the storage and the storage, loads the replacement unit, transports it to the storage, and returns to the work location with replaced units that have been collected from the multiple component mounters to the storage;
an automatic replacement device that moves in front of the storage warehouse, takes out a replacement unit from the storage warehouse, then moves in front of the mounter that is to be automatically replaced, automatically replaces the unit that needs to be automatically replaced in the mounter with the replacement unit, and collects it. a plurality of component mounters arranged along a transport path for transporting circuit boards, the component mounters mounting components onto the circuit boards;
a storage facility for storing replacement units that can be replaced with the plurality of component mounters;
In a component mounting system provided with a plurality of component mounting lines,
a unit transporting device that automatically travels between a common work location located away from the storage warehouses of the plurality of component mounting lines and the storage warehouse in order to perform maintenance and repair of the replaced units that have been collected in the storage warehouses of the plurality of component mounting lines, loads the replacement units, transports them to the storage warehouses of the plurality of component mounting lines, and returns to the work location with the replaced units that have been collected in the storage warehouses of the plurality of component mounting lines on board;
an automatic replacement device that moves in front of the storage warehouse, takes out a replacement unit from the storage warehouse, then moves in front of the mounter that is to be automatically replaced, automatically replaces the unit that needs to be automatically replaced in the mounter with the replacement unit, and collects it.