JPH0315836B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a temporary storage device for substrates during a printed circuit board manufacturing process.

In recent years, various electronic devices have been developed and put into practical use, and the electronic components that make up these electronic devices are often soldered to printed circuit boards. For example, when the electronic device is a complicated one such as a computer, a large amount of printed circuit boards are used.

If we take a look at a part of this printed circuit board manufacturing process, we will see the following. In other words, patterning must be applied to a laminated insulating board with so-called through-holes formed on both the top and bottom sides of the copper foil, which is then patterned. It is necessary to go through the process of first making the surface rough, and then pasting a photosensitive film for patterning on the rough surface. Of course, this is not the only process for the printed circuit board, but for convenience of explanation, the process of roughening the copper foil surface will be referred to as the first process, and the process of pasting the photosensitive film will be referred to as the second process.

[Conventional technology]

In this way, even if you look at one type of printed circuit board manufacturing, it is necessary to go through multiple steps until it is completed, but when passing between each step, that is,
In the first step and the second step, the flow rate of the semi-finished substrate placed horizontally on the conveyor varies depending on each step, and in a certain step, for example, It is not uncommon for 40 sheets to be processed, but in the next process, only 20 sheets can be processed. Therefore, conventionally, when the processing speed of the second process is low, the number of sheets processed in the first process immediately before it is intentionally lowered, or
The processing speed of the first step is kept high, and the operator intervenes between the first step and the second step to artificially temporarily stock the substrate. I had to make adjustments to the processing speed.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

As long as such a situation exists, the latter method in particular is inefficient in that it requires a lot of manpower, which leads to high costs. Moreover, if the copper plate surface of the printed circuit board is touched even partially by human hands and gets dirty,
There is a problem in that the uniform adhesion of the photosensitive film in the second step is lost, resulting in defective products.

[Means to solve the problem]

The present invention provides a printed circuit board stocking device that eliminates the above-mentioned problems and does not require human labor. A receiving mechanism is formed on each conveyor, and a predetermined number of boards are temporarily stocked on the side closer to the second step with the printed circuit boards standing vertically between the two mechanisms. This is accomplished by a printed circuit board stocking device that is equipped with a rapid forwarding mechanism.

[Effect]

According to the printed circuit board stocking device, even if the processing speed of the first step is slower than the processing speed of the second step, the printed circuit board that is placed horizontally and sent on the conveyor in the fast forwarding mechanism is By the method described later, a large number of printed circuit boards are automatically arranged vertically and temporarily stored in a limited space, and when they are delivered to the dispensing mechanism, the printed circuit boards are automatically rearranged horizontally again. Since it can be sent out, it does not require a special dedicated operator, and work efficiency can therefore be improved, which is why it is practical.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a printed circuit board stocking device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view, and FIG. 3 is a detailed view of the main parts thereof. First, a pair of rails 1a, 1 are wound into an oval shape with a predetermined distance W between each other.
b are arranged in parallel, and each rail is fitted with a plurality of hangers 3, that is, grasping members, which slide while maintaining a perpendicular attitude to the rails by sandwiching the rails with bearings 2. There is. A first magnet 4a is attached to the bottom of each hanger, and a first magnet 4a is attached to a predetermined location of a belt 6 stretched across a pair of rollers 5 (only one of which is shown in FIG. 1). 2 magnets 4b are attached. Pulleys 7 are arranged at both ends of the roller 5, and as the roller 5 rotates in the direction of arrow A, the belt and roller also rotate in the same direction. Sensors 8a and 8b are attached to a fixed plate (not shown) that is fixedly arranged opposite to one end surface of the pulley, and the pulley 7 can be moved in and out of the pulley 7 by using a cam mechanism or the like to move the claw 9 in and out of the sensor. The mechanism for inserting and removing the claws 9 is arranged, for example, on four sides of the end face of the pulley 7, separated by 90 degrees. And hanger 3 is rail 1a, 1b
They are packed together in the area shown as D, but one of the four nails 9
When one of the loading and unloading mechanisms 10 10a faces straight down as shown in FIG. 3, the sensor 8a
detects this and fires the claw 9 in the direction of arrow G.
Then, the hanger 3' is held between the claws 9 and rotated 90° in the direction of arrow B.

In this state, the first conveyor shown in FIG. 3, which is in charge of the first process and located in front of the stocking device shown in FIG. 1, that is, in area A in FIG. When the printed circuit board 11a placed horizontally as shown above moves horizontally in the direction of arrow C, the edge 11' of the printed circuit board 11a is inserted into the hanger 3. Once this insertion is complete, a sensor (not shown) detects this and rotates the roller 5 approximately 90 degrees in the direction of arrow A.
In this state, as shown in FIG. 1, the printed circuit board 11a, which has been transported horizontally until now, is raised up by 90 degrees as shown as 11.
When the robot is placed vertically and this operation is completed, the sensor 8b detects this. This detection signal causes the claw to be drawn into the pulley 7 in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. 3, but at this time, one of the second magnets 4b attached to the belt 6 The belt 6 is attracted to the first magnet 4a at the bottom of the hanger that supports the vertically erected printed circuit board 11.
By moving in the two directions, the vertically erected printed circuit board 11 is also transferred in the direction of arrow A. The bearing 2 makes the transfer of the hanger 3 smooth in this case. If the printed circuit board transferred in the direction of arrow 2 is the first one, that is, 11b, then a sensor (not shown) placed at the position E on the rails 1b, 1a will act to cause the printed circuit board to be located at position E, also not shown. The printed circuit board 11b is stopped by the action of the stopping mechanism. In this case, the first magnets 4a and 4b are separated and separated, but the belt 6 continues to rotate in the direction of arrow N regardless of this.

Here, if there is no printed circuit board on the second process conveyor in the area shown as B, the sensor (not shown) attached to area B will not operate, but if the printed circuit board has already been transferred in area F. If the hanger is already stopped, this sensor is activated and the hanger, which has been stopped at position E, can be moved along the curves of the rails 1a and 1b. In this way, the printed circuit board 11b, which had been standing vertically at position E, is turned down in the direction of arrow H, becomes horizontal as shown as 11c, and is carried on the conveyor (not shown) in the second step. go.

If a printed circuit board stocking device having such a configuration is placed between the first step and the second step, the transfer speed of the printed circuit board in the first and second steps will be different. Since it can also be temporarily stored, work procedures can be significantly improved and human work can be made unnecessary.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, an operator does not touch a semi-finished printed circuit board with his/her hand and contaminate it, and as a result, there is no possibility of a scandal resulting in a defective printed circuit board. Moreover, since no human intervention is required, efficiency can be improved, and great practical effects can be expected.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a printed circuit board stocking device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view thereof, and FIG. 3 is a detailed view of the main structure. In the figure, 1a and 1b are rails, 2 is a bearing,
3, 3' are hangers, 4a, 4b are magnets, 5 is a roller, 6 is a belt, 7 is a pulley, 8a, 8b, 1
2 is a sensor, 9 is a claw, 10 is a claw insertion/removal mechanism,
11a, 11b, and 11c indicate printed circuit boards, respectively.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In an assembly line production mechanism for printed circuit board production, each piece of paper that is placed horizontally and transported in the first transport mechanism is interposed between the first and second transport mechanisms that have different printed board transport speeds. It has the function of grasping each printed circuit board one by one at its edges, and is equipped with a first magnet at the bottom of each board.Moreover, it is supported by two endless rails stretched in parallel and can slide freely. a pair of rollers connecting the first and second conveyance mechanisms along the endless rail, and in a positional relationship corresponding to the first magnet of the grasping member. An endless belt having a plurality of second magnets arranged therein, and a printed circuit board storage device for temporarily storing the printed circuit board held by the grasping member in a vertical state. .