JPH0147919B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] The present invention is used in a device (hereinafter referred to as a handler) for measuring and sorting workpieces such as semiconductor integrated circuits to supply the workpieces to a measuring section or to store the measured workpieces. The present invention relates to improvements in a magazine feeding device that feeds magazines to predetermined positions.

Conventional magazine supply devices sequentially take out and use the lowest magazine among multiple magazines stacked and stored above, and the lowest magazine is placed directly on the transfer rail. However, it was only possible to provide one magazine stock section that was stacked one above the other.

On the other hand, the amount of magazines stored in the magazine stock section of the handler increases due to labor saving and speeding up of measurement, and the magazine stock section, which only has one unit, is insufficient to supply magazines. This has resulted in problems with the smooth operation of the handler. For this reason, there was a demand for an increase in the stock amount of the magazine, but in order to increase the stock amount with only one magazine stock section, the magazine stock section had to be extended upward. The structure has the disadvantage that it is difficult to perform operations such as reinforcing the magazine, so in practice it has been almost impossible to increase the stock amount.

The present invention was made to eliminate these drawbacks, and by arranging up to three magazine stock units in parallel, each of which has the same height as the conventional one, the total stock amount is increased to three times that of the conventional one. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a multi-type magazine feeding device that can feed magazines with the same amount of effort as conventional ones.

Next, the present invention will be explained in detail according to examples and with reference to figures. FIG. 1 is an external view of a handler incorporating the magazine feeding device of the present invention, in which A is a work supply section, B is a measurement section, and C is a work storage section.
The magazine feeding device of the present invention is mainly incorporated in the workpiece feeding section (loader) of A. 2 to 10 show the magazine feeding device of the present invention used as a loader, and will be described in detail based on this embodiment.

In the figure, main columns 5 are erected in pairs on a base 4, facing each other and separated by the length of the magazine 1. The number of pairs can be up to three. Each main pillar has a pole 11, and a magazine storage groove 12 is recessed in the opposing inner surface of the pole by a pair of plate-like members 12a and 12b extending in the vertical direction, and the upper end is provided with a pivot point on the outer surface. The magazine stock section 2 is constituted by the supported swinging pawl 7. On the one hand, the lower part of the swinging claw has a claw part 14 that passes through an elongated hole 13 drilled in the pole 11 and projects into the magazine storage groove, and on the other hand, the lower part of the swinging claw projects in the opposite direction to the claw part, and has a distal end thereof. A claw drive pin 6 protrudes downward. As shown in FIG.
They are placed with more distance than their duty. This swing claw is normally held in a position where the claw portion 14 projects into the magazine storage groove 12 by a spring 40.

Transfer grooves 20 for two magazine transfer tables 8 are bored in the base 4 near the inside of the main column 5 in a direction substantially perpendicular to the magazine stock portion 2. Below this groove 20, on the back surface of the base, two slide shafts 23 are fixed to the base in parallel with the groove 20. A housing 10 is attached to this slide shaft via a slide bearing 22 so as to be able to freely slide along a slide shaft 23, and the housing 10 is attached to the top surface of the housing through a transfer groove 20 of a magazine transfer table 8 and is attached to a base 4. The magazine transfer table 8 is fixed to the housing 10 via a member protruding from the upper surface. As shown in FIG. 2, the upper surface of this magazine transfer table 8 has a smooth magazine receiving surface 9 and a magazine insertion groove 37 that is concavely in contact with this surface 9 adjacent to the extending direction of the groove 20. ing. The magazine transfer table 8 having such a configuration has one slot in each groove 20.
These two magazine transfer tables 8 are connected by one connecting rod 24 on the lower surface of each lower housing 10 to form an integral unit.

A rotation shaft 15 is attached to the base 4 on the outside near each main pillar 5.
A claw swinging pin 16 is protruded from the upper end thereof, and is engaged with the claw driving pin 6 of the swinging claw 7. On the other hand, a swing arm 17 is fixed to the lower end, and the outer rotation shafts 15 of the opposing main columns 5 are respectively connected by diagonally arranged rods 18. The operations of the swing claws 7 are interlocked. These drives are driven by the drive arm 17 of one rotation shaft 15.
This is done by a cylinder 28 provided between the base 4 and the base 4.

Next, a link mechanism for driving the magazine transfer table 8 will be explained. The cylinders serving as the driving source are composed of three cylinders, a main cylinder, a sub cylinder, and a sub cylinder arranged on the back surface of the base 4. Among these, the main cylinder 25 has its body 25a fixed to the base 4, and the rod 2
5b only reciprocates in a straight line. The tails of the bodies 26a, 27a of the sub- and sub-cylinders 26 and 27 are pivotally supported on the base 4, so that they can swing. As shown in FIG. 6, the rods 25b and 26b of the main and sub cylinders 25 and 26 are pivotally supported at both ends of the main connecting rod 29. As shown in FIG. The pivot point of the main connecting rod 29 on the main cylinder 25 side is a reference fulcrum a, and the pivot point on the sub cylinder 26 side is a primary fulcrum d. Further, a main fulcrum b is provided on the reference fulcrum side from the center of the main connecting rod 29, and this main fulcrum b and the rod 27b of the slave cylinder 27 are connected to the sub connecting rod 30.
Connect with. Here, the rod 27 of the slave cylinder 27
The pivot point between b and the sub-connection rod 30 is defined as a secondary fulcrum e. An action fulcrum c is provided on the sub-connection rod 30 between fulcrums b and e at both ends. At this working fulcrum c, the connecting rod 24 of the magazine transfer table 8 is connected directly or indirectly.

The operation of this link mechanism will be explained with reference to FIG. Reference fulcrum a, primary and secondary fulcrums d and e
are at points 0a, 0d, and 0e, respectively, then the action fulcrum c is located at point 0c. Next, the reference fulcrum a, 2
When only the primary fulcrum moves from 0d to 1d while the secondary fulcrum e remains the same, the action fulcrum c moves from 0c to 1c. From this state, when a moves from 0a to 1a and d moves from 1d to 0d, c moves from 1c to 2c. Furthermore, when d moves from 0d to 1d, c becomes 2
Move from c to 3c. When a and d return to 0a and 0d and e moves to 1e, c moves from 3c to 4c. When d moves from this state to 1d, c moves from 4c to 5c. Furthermore, a becomes 1a, d
When moves to 0d, c moves from 5c to 6c. Next, when d moves to 1d, a, d, and e are all aligned to 1a, 1d, and 1e, and c moves from 6c to 7c. In this way, by combining the operations of the three cylinders, the action fulcrum c can be moved to any position in the eight divisions from 0c to 7c. Note that due to the swinging of the secondary and secondary cylinders 26 and 27, accurate division as shown in Fig. 6 cannot be performed, but the main and secondary connecting rods 2
9, 30 are sufficiently long, the length between the main fulcrum b and the action fulcrum c is p, the length of the sub-connection rod 30 (the length between the main fulcrum b and the secondary fulcrum e) is l, Reference fulcrum a
If the length between the main fulcrum b and the main fulcrum b is set as P:l:m=8:28:7, accurate division can be achieved. In addition, by appropriately selecting : and :, the stroke of action fulcrum c can be adjusted to exactly 8
It is also possible to divide the strokes, and conversely, it is also possible to provide a difference between the strokes. In addition, by omitting the slave cylinder 27 and the subsidiary connecting rod 30 and using the main fulcrum as the working fulcrum, it can be divided into four parts. Further, by appropriately selecting each cylinder, the number of divisions can be changed between cylinder strokes.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the magazine lifter 21. The lift arm 33 is equipped with a magazine gripping part 39 having a U-shaped cross section at its tail end, and the other end is connected to the rod of the lift cylinder 38 through a rotation shaft. By the operation of the lift cylinder 38, the lift arm 33 can swing about the rotation axis from a horizontal position to an upwardly inclined position at the tail end. This angle of inclination is such that the end of the magazine 1 on the rotating shaft side is in contact with the work rail 32 and is maintained in a straight line therewith.

As shown in FIG. 8, the magazine 1 used in this device is formed into a rectangular tube shape by bending or extruding sheet metal as shown in FIG. has been formed.

Next, the operation of this device will be explained. First, the magazines 1 filled with workpieces are stored and stacked in the magazine stock section 2. At this time, the claw part 1 of the swinging claw 7
4 protrudes into the magazine storage groove 12 and fits into the lower opening groove 34 of the lowest magazine 1 to lock all the magazines stacked above. The lowermost magazine 1 is directly locked by the claw part 14
A gap for at least one magazine is provided between this and the magazine insertion groove 37 of the magazine transfer table 8, and this space forms the magazine transfer space 3.

Next, when receiving the magazine 1 from the magazine stock part farthest from the magazine lifter 21,
First, the main, sub and sub cylinders 25, 26, 2
7 is driven as explained in FIG. 5, and 1 in FIG.
When the magazine transfer table 8 is moved to position c, the magazine receiving surface 9 of the magazine transfer table 8 is located directly below the magazine stock section. At this time, the claw drive cylinder 28 is operated to rotate the left and right rotation shafts to drive the claw drive pin 6 engaged with the claw swing pin 16, and the swing claw 7 is moved to lengthen the claw portion 14. Pull it out from the hole 13 and release the lock of the magazine 1. At this time, the magazines 1 stacked on top fall about one magazine at a time and land on the slide surface 9 of the magazine transfer arm. Thereafter, the swinging claw 7 is operated in the opposite manner to the above to lock the second magazine 1 from the bottom with the claw portion 14. When the necessary cylinders are driven in the order explained in FIG. 5 after the above operations are completed, the magazine transfer table 8 moves from the position 1c to the position 0c in FIG. 3. In this case, of the pair of plate-like members 12a and 12b forming the magazine storage groove 12 of the magazine stock section 2, the lower edge S of the plate-like member 12a on the opposite side to the magazine lifter 21 is Magazine 1 is magazine transfer table 8
It protrudes downward from the top surface of the magazine 1 (1a in FIG. 4) when it is placed on the magazine receiving surface 9 of When the magazine 1 is moved, the lower edge S of the plate member 12a comes into contact with the magazine 1 and prevents the magazine 1 from moving. A relative sliding movement therefore occurs between the magazine receiving surface 9 and the magazine 1 placed thereon. Then, when the magazine transfer table 8 moves to the position 0c in Fig. 3,
Since the magazine insertion groove 37 of the magazine transfer table 8 is positioned directly below the magazine stock section 2, the lowermost magazine 1 falls into the magazine insertion groove 37 and is held within this groove 37. When the magazine 1 falls from above the magazine receiving surface 9 and is held in the magazine insertion groove 37, the lower edge S of the plate-shaped member 12a serving as the stopper is connected to the upper surface of the magazine 1 (see FIG. 4). 1a') and comes out of the magazine 1 transfer path, allowing the magazine 1 to be transferred by the magazine transfer table 8.

In this state, if the necessary cylinders are driven in the order explained in FIG. and is transferred to the position 6c in FIG. This 6c position is the magazine lift arm 33
The empty magazine 1 that was inserted into the magazine lift arm 33 when it was transferred to this position 6c is pushed out, and the newly transferred filled magazine 1 is inserted into the magazine lift arm 33. The magazine 1 is inserted so that the tail end of the magazine 1 enters the magazine gripping portion 39.

When this operation is completed, the lift cylinder 38 is operated and the lift arm 33 is tilted while holding the magazine 1, thereby connecting the work rail 32 and the magazine 1. At the same time as this connection, the work 31 filled in the magazine 1 slides down and is supplied to the work rail 32.

Since the workpieces supplied to the workpiece rail are successively measured and sorted, the workpieces in the magazine 1 slide down one after another, and the magazine 1 becomes empty. At this time, a workpiece detector (not shown) detects that the magazine 1 is empty, and the above-described operations are repeated to replenish the filled magazine 1. In this way, filled magazines are replenished one after another, so when the aforementioned farthest magazine stock section 2 (position 0c) becomes empty, the operation of each cylinder is regulated as explained in Fig. 5. Then, the magazine transfer table 8 is transferred to point 3C and the magazine receiving surface 9 is transferred.
is brought to point 2c, and a filled magazine is supplied from the magazine stock part 2 in the center of FIG. 37, and in this state, the magazine transfer table 8 is moved to the position 6c to supply the magazine 1 to the magazine lifter 21. Furthermore, when the central magazine stock section 2 becomes empty, the third magazine
The process moves to the nearest magazine stock section 2 (position 4c) in the figure. By replenishing the farthest, middle, and filled magazines until the nearest magazine stock section 2 becomes empty, the same operation as described above will be performed again when the nearest magazine stock section 2 becomes empty. Supply sources will be moved to the farthest areas.

Incidentally, after supplying the filled magazine to the magazine lifter 21, the magazine transfer table 8 immediately moves to the magazine stock section 2 that is currently being supplied and waits to receive the next filled magazine. 8
As shown in Figure b, if the magazine lifter 21 is set at the position 6c and the magazine lifter 21 is set at the position 7c, it will be easier to move the filled magazine to the magazine lifter 21 than when it is waiting directly under each magazine stock section 2. Feeding time can be saved.

As described above, according to this embodiment, by appropriately selecting the drive cylinder, the magazine transfer table 8
can be stopped at 8 locations, so up to 3 magazine stock sections 2, each of which requires 2 stopping locations for the magazine transfer table 8, can be installed in parallel, which is 3 times faster than the conventional example. This means that the magazine stock amount can be secured. As a result, the magazine 1 can be easily replenished, which has the great advantage of saving labor and speeding up the work.

Next, a case where the link mechanism is divided into four parts will be explained. In this case, two cylinders, a main cylinder 25 and an auxiliary cylinder 26, are used, and the rods of both cylinders are connected by a main connecting rod 29. FIG. 10 shows this state, and the movement of the action fulcrum provided at an appropriate position on the connecting rod can be divided into four parts. On the other hand, as is clear from Figure 9,
The magazine transfer table 8 is made longer than the distance between the magazine stock parts 2, and after the magazine receiving surface 9 of the magazine transfer table 8 is supplied with the magazine 1 from the magazine stock part 2 at points a, b, and c. When the magazine transfer table 8 moves in the direction of the magazine lifter 21 with one magazine loaded on it, the magazine 1 on the magazine receiving surface 9 slides into the magazine insertion groove 37 and is held in the groove 37 when the magazine lifter 21 is moved. be transported to the location.

According to the present invention, with the above-described configuration, a space for magazine transfer is formed between the lowest magazine 1 and the base 4 in each magazine stock section 2. Even if the magazine is filled in the magazine 1, the magazine 1 unloaded into the magazine transfer space 3 can be transferred to the workpiece supply position without any problem, and a plurality of magazine stock sections 2 can be arranged in parallel. . As a result, the magazine stock amount and magazine supply amount are dramatically increased compared to the prior art, and magazine replenishment becomes extremely easy.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of a handler using the present invention.
Fig. 2 is a partially cutaway perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 3 is a plan view, Fig. 4 is a partially cutaway front view, and Figs. 5 and 6 are explanatory diagrams of the link mechanism. , FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the magazine lifter, and FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of the moving status of the magazine, in which a shows a link mechanism in which the stop position is eight points, and b shows a link mechanism in which the stop position is four points. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of the movement status of the magazine, in which the link mechanism has four stop positions. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the four-point link mechanism. 1...Magazine, 2...Magazine stock section,
3... Magazine transfer space, 4... Base, 7... Rocking claw, 8... Magazine transfer stand, 9... Magazine receiving surface of magazine transfer stand, 20... Movement groove of magazine transfer stand, 21... ...Magazine lifter, 33...
Lift arm, 37...Magazine insertion groove.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. The workpieces are sequentially supplied from a magazine filled with workpieces made of semiconductor integrated circuit elements, etc., the workpieces are measured and sorted, and the measured and selected workpieces are stored in an empty magazine. This is a magazine feeding device for a device configured to A plurality of magazine stock sections arranged in parallel, and the lowest magazine among the many magazines stacked and stored in these magazine stock sections, are placed between the lowest magazine and the base. A swinging pawl that releasably locks the magazine in such a manner as to form a magazine transfer space that allows the magazine to be transferred; a smooth magazine receiving surface that is movable along the groove on the base and receives the lowest magazine that is released from the swinging claw and falls; and this magazine receiving surface. The magazine is provided with a magazine insertion groove recessed adjacently in the direction parallel to the movement direction on the upper surface thereof, and with the magazine held in the magazine insertion groove, the magazine is passed through the magazine transfer space to the workpiece supply position. When the magazine transfer table is moved with the magazine placed on the magazine receiving surface, it comes into contact with the magazine and prevents the magazine from moving, thereby preventing the magazine from moving. causing relative sliding between the magazine receiving surface and the magazine receiving surface to cause the magazine to fall into the magazine insertion groove;
When moving the magazine transfer table with the magazine held in the magazine insertion groove,
provided in the magazine stock portion so as to be in a non-contact state with respect to the magazine to allow the magazine to be transferred by the magazine transfer table;
a mechanism for dropping the magazine into the magazine insertion groove; a link mechanism provided on the lower surface of the base and connected to the magazine transfer table through a groove cut in the base; and a link mechanism for driving the link mechanism. Then, move the magazine transfer table from a position where the magazine receiving surface is directly below the magazine stock part to a position where the magazine insertion groove is directly below the magazine stock part, and then move it to the workpiece supply position. A magazine feeding device characterized by comprising a driving cylinder for moving the magazine.