The present invention relates to a substrate transportation apparatus for feeding substrates and discharging component-mounted substrates in component mounting operation in which a plurality of components are mounted on substrates and the substrates are offered as the component-mounted substrates, a component mounting apparatus equipped with the substrate transportation apparatus and a substrate transportation method in the component mounting operation.
Generally, this kind of component mounting apparatus has been known to have various structures. For instance, there is an apparatus with a structure as shown in
As shown in
Moreover, in a front portion (near side) of the slide table 237 on the base 234 as viewed in the drawing, a substrate transportation apparatus 241 for transporting the substrates 233 along the X-axis direction as viewed in the drawing is located, the substrate transportation apparatus 241 includes a loader 239 for transporting the substrates 233 from a right-side end portion of the base 234 along the X-axis direction as viewed in the drawing to the slide table 237 and for loading the substrates 233 onto the holding base 238 on the slide table 237, and an unloader 240 for transporting the substrates 233 from the slide table 237 to a left-side end portion of the base 234 along the X-axis direction as viewed in the drawing and for unloading the substrates 233 from the holding base 238 on the slide table 237.
Description will be given of the mounting operation in such a component mounting apparatus 231. A substrate 233 transported by the loader 239 is fed to the holding base 238 which is moved by the slide table 237 so as to be positioned between the loader 239 and the unloader 240, and is held by the holding base 238. Then, the substrate 233 held by the holding base 238 is moved by the slide table 237 so as to be positioned below the X-axis robot 236. At the same time, the component feed device 249 feeds a component 232 to the mounting head 235, and the mounting head 235 holding the component 232 is moved upward by the X-axis robot 236 for mounting the component 232 on the substrate 233. Such mounting operation is repeated so as to mount a plurality of the components 232 on the substrate 233. Then, the holding base 238 holding the substrate 233 with a plurality of components 232 mounted thereon is moved by the slide table 237 so as to be positioned between the loader 239 and the unloader 240, and the substrate 233 is transported and unloaded by the unloader 240.
Herein, a fragmentary enlarged cross sectional view showing a structure of the substrate transportation apparatus 241 in the component mounting apparatus 231 is shown in
As shown in
Further, as shown in
Next description discusses feed and discharge operation of the substrate 233 onto/from the holding base 238 in thus-structured substrate transportation apparatus 241.
First,
As shown in
Next, as shown in
Then, as shown in
Further, a timing chart for such feed and discharge operation of the substrate 233 is shown in
However, in such feed and discharge operation of the substrate 233 by the component mounting apparatus 231, the substrate 233B with the component 232 mounted thereon needs to be moved by the unloading arm 243 during the time points T5 and T6 shown in
Accordingly, in order to solve the problems noted above, an object of the present invention is, in substrate transportation operation for feeding substrates and discharging component-mounted substrates in component mounting operation in which a plurality of components are mounted on a substrate and the substrate is offered as a component-mounted substrate, to provide a substrate transportation apparatus capable of decreasing an influence of a time necessary for feeding and discharging the substrate on a stop time of the mounting operation for mounting the respective components so as to increase productivity, a component mounting apparatus equipped with the substrate transportation apparatus, and a substrate transportation method in the component mounting operation.
In order to accomplish the above-stated objects, the present invention is constituted as described below.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate transportation apparatus for transporting substrates through feeding substrates to a component mounting apparatus which mounts a plurality of components on the substrates and offers the substrates as component-mounted substrates, and through discharging the component-mounted substrates from the component mounting apparatus, comprising:
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the substrate transportation apparatus as defined in the first aspect, further comprising a control unit which is operable to control respective holding operations of the substrate feed holder and the substrate discharge holder, a movement operation of the holder moving unit and a movement operation of the substrate holding-and-moving device, and which controls the respective operations such as holding, by the substrate discharge holder, the component-mounted substrate from the substrate holding-and-moving device positioned at the third substrate position, discharging the component-mounted substrate from the substrate holding-and-moving device, moving the substrate holding-and-moving device to the second substrate position, feeding, by the substrate feed holder, the substrate to the substrate holding-and-moving device, moving the substrate holding-and-moving device to which the substrate has been fed to the substrate mounting region, and moving the component-mounted substrate held by the substrate discharge holder to the fourth substrate position.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the substrate transportation apparatus as defined in the first aspect, wherein the substrate holding-and-moving device is operable to move the held substrate in a direction along the substrate-transportation direction which is a direction along a surface of the substrate and in a direction almost perpendicular to the transportation direction.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the substrate transportation apparatus as defined in the first aspect, wherein the holder moving unit is operable to switch a speed or an acceleration of the movement depending on whether the substrate discharge holder is in a state of holding the component-mounted substrate or not, and
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the substrate transportation apparatus as defined in the fourth aspect, wherein the speed of the movement when the substrate discharge holder is in the holding state is a speed which allows to prevent components mounted on the component-mounted substrate from suffering displacement of mounted positions.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the substrate transportation apparatus as defined in the first aspect, wherein the first substrate position and the fourth substrate position share an identical height position, and the second substrate position and the third substrate position share an identical height position.
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided the substrate transportation apparatus as defined in the sixth aspect, wherein
According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the substrate transportation apparatus as defined in the seventh aspect, wherein the respective elevation units include two cylinder sections whose strokes are different from each other, the strokes of the respective cylinder sections being combined to achieve the vertical movement to the respective height positions.
According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a component mounting apparatus, comprising:
According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a substrate transportation method in component mounting operation for positioning substrates placed and held on a substrate holding base at a substrate mounting region and mounting a plurality of components on the substrates so as to offer the substrates as component-mounted substrates, in which the substrates are fed and discharged by using a substrate feed holder for releasably holding the substrates transported along a substrate-transportation direction and feeding the substrates to the substrate holding base, and a substrate discharge holder for holding the component-mounted substrates held on the substrate holding base and discharging the substrates from the substrate holding base so as to put the substrates in a state transportable along the transportation direction, comprising:
According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided the substrate transportation method in component mounting operation as defined in the tenth aspect, wherein the movement operation for moving the component-mounted substrate held by the substrate discharge holder to the fourth substrate position is completed after the mounting operation for mounting the components on the substrate fed to the substrate holding base is started in the substrate mounting region.
According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the substrate transportation method in component mounting operation as defined in the tenth aspect, wherein a speed or an acceleration of the movement of the component-mounted substrate held by the substrate discharge holder to the fourth substrate position is smaller than a speed or an acceleration of the movement when the substrate discharge holder is not in a state of holding the component-mounted substrate.
According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the substrate transportation method in component mounting operation as defined in the tenth aspect, wherein timing control is performed to hold, by the substrate feed holder, the substrate transported to the first substrate position so that almost as soon as the substrate holding base holding the component-mounted substrate is moved to and positioned at the third substrate position, the substrate feed holder holding the substrate and the substrate discharge holder are moved to and positioned at the height position at which the substrate holding base positioned at the third substrate position is avoidable.
According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the substrate transportation method in component mounting operation as defined in any one of the tenth aspect to the thirteenth aspect, wherein timing control is performed to hold, by the substrate feed holder, the substrate transported to the first substrate position based on a time necessary for mounting the respective components on the substrate positioned in the substrate mounting region and offering the substrate as a component-mounted substrate and a time necessary for holding, by the substrate feed holder, the substrate transported to the first substrate position and positioning the held substrate at a height position higher than the second substrate position in the component mounting operation.
According to the first aspect, the second aspect or the tenth aspect of the present invention, in the substrate transportation apparatus, when a component-mounted substrate is discharged, the mounting operation for mounting the respective components on a newly fed substrate is put in an executable state independently of and in parallel with the operation to move the component-mounted substrate to the unloader unit by the substrate discharge holder. Therefore, with a component mounting apparatus equipped with the substrate transportation apparatus, it becomes possible in the component mounting apparatus to reduce an influence of the operation for discharging the component-mounted substrates on a stop time of the mounting operation for mounting components on the newly fed substrates, by which the stop time of the mounting operation for mounting the components may be shortened, and productivity in the mounting operation of the components may be enhanced.
More specifically, after the component-mounted substrate moved to the third substrate position by the substrate holding-and-moving device is delivered from on the substrate holding-and-moving device to the substrate discharge holder, the substrate discharge holder is not moved while the substrate holding-and-moving device is moved to the second substrate position so as to be able to receive the new substrate at the second substrate position. Eventually, an operation which is executed thereafter, i.e., the movement operation for moving the new substrate to the substrate mounting region by the substrate holding-and-moving device, and the transfer operation for transferring the component-mounted substrate to the unloader unit by the substrate discharge holder may be respectively performed in parallel with each other without being influenced by each other's operation. This make is possible to solve the problem, as shown in the component mounting apparatus equipped with a conventional substrate transportation apparatus, that the movement operation for moving the new substrate to the substrate mounting region by the substrate holding-and-moving device is limited by the transfer operation for transferring the component-mounted substrate to the unloader unit by the substrate discharge holder. Therefore, it becomes possible to shorten a stop time of the mounting operation of the components in order to feed and discharge the substrates in the component mounting apparatus, thereby making it possible to provide the substrate transportation apparatus capable of enhancing the productivity of the component mounting apparatus.
According to the third aspect of the present invention, the substrate transportation apparatus is provided with the substrate holding-and-moving device which is capable of holding the substrate and which is capable of moving the held substrate in a direction along the substrate-transportation direction in a direction along the surface of the substrate and in a direction almost perpendicular to the transportation direction. This allows selective movement of the substrate to the substrate mounting region, the second substrate position and the third substrate position, making it possible to achieve the aforementioned effects.
According to the fourth aspect, the fifth aspect or the twelfth aspect of the present invention, the holder moving unit may switch a speed or an acceleration (hereinbelow referred to as a speed or the like) of the movement depending on whether the substrate discharge holder is in a state of holding the component-mounted substrate or not. The speed or the like of the movement when the component-mounted substrate is in a held state is set slower (smaller) than a speed or the like of the movement when the component-mounted substrate is not in the held state, by which during the movement operation for moving the component-mounted substrate to the unloader unit by the substrate discharge holder, it becomes possible to prevent respective mounted components from being displaced from mounted positions due to vibration and the like generated by the movement, allowing execution of discharge operation of the substrate while quality of the component mounting apparatus is maintained.
Particularly, such a movement operation for moving the component-mounted substrate by the substrate discharge holder at the slow speed or the like can be performed independently of and in parallel with the mounting operation for mounting the components on the newly fed substrate, which makes the effects by the respective aspects more efficient.
According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effects by the respective aspects, it further becomes possible to easily move the substrate holding-and-moving device, which delivered the component-mounted substrate to the substrate discharge holder at the third substrate position, from the third substrate position to the second substrate position for receiving the new substrate from the substrate feed arm at the second substrate position because the second substrate position and the third substrate position share an identical height position. Moreover, since the first substrate position and the fourth substrate position share an identical height position, the substrate feed arm and the substrate discharge arm can share the same structure.
According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the respective height positions in the vertical movement of the substrate feed holder and the substrate discharge holder are controllable in four level height positions. Consequently, compared to, for example, the case where the vertical movement is controllable only in two level height positions, it becomes possible, through execution of the vertical movement in a phased manner, to prolong a time period during which the vertical movement operation can be performed in parallel with other operation such as the movement operation of the substrate holding-and-moving device, thereby making it possible to reduce a time necessary for the practical vertical movement operation. This allows substantial reduction of a time necessary for feed and discharge operation of the substrates, allows reduction in a stop time of the component mounting operation in order to feed and discharge the substrates, and further allows increase in productivity in the component mounting operation.
According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, the respective elevation units have two cylinder sections whose strokes are different from each other, and therefore the strokes of the respective cylinder sections may be combined to achieve the vertical movement of the substrate feed holder and the substrate discharge holder to the respective four-level height positions.
According to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, the movement operation for moving the component-mounted substrate held by the substrate discharge holder to the fourth substrate position, i.e., the transfer operation to the unloader unit, is completed after the mounting operation for mounting the components on the substrate fed to the substrate holding base is started in the substrate mounting region. This makes it possible to reduce a stop time of the mounting operation of the components for the discharge operation of the component-mounted substrates, thereby making it possible to provide the substrate transportation method capable of enhancing the productivity in the component mounting operation.
According to the twelfth aspect or the thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effects by the respective aspects, it becomes possible to perform more efficient transportation of the substrates, thereby making it possible to provide the substrate transportation method capable of enhancing the productivity in the component mounting operation.
These and other objects and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with preferred embodiments of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Before the description of the present invention proceeds, it is to be noted that like parts are designated by like reference numerals throughout the accompanying drawings.
Hereinbelow, the embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
As shown in
In the component feed device 4 shown in
Further, the component feed device 4 includes a feed component displacement base 12 for placing the semiconductor wafer or the component tray selectively fed from the lifter unit 10 and offering the electronic components 2 in a state removable therefrom. It is to be noted that in the case where the semiconductor wafer is fed from the lifter unit 10, the semiconductor wafer is subjected to expansion operation on the feed component displacement base 12.
Further, the component feed device 4 includes an inverting head unit 14 which separately sucks and holds the electronic components 2 from the semiconductor wafer or the component tray selectively placed on the feed component displacement base 12 so as to move the electronic components 2 toward the mounting device 5 along the X-axis direction as viewed in the drawing and which inverts the sucked and held electronic components 2 in vertical direction.
Further, as shown in
It is to be noted that the mounting head unit 20 may be driven to be moved in vertical direction by a movement means such as voice coil motors and has a holding unit (unshown) structured so as to impart junction energy such as pressure energy, supersonic vibration energy and thermal energy to a junction portion between the electronic components 2 and the substrate 3 via the sucked and held electronic components 2, which makes it possible to impart the junction energy while the electronic components 2 are pressed against the substrate 3. Further, the X-axis robot 22 includes a movement mechanism (unshown) with use of, for example, a ball screw axis section and a nut section engaged with the ball screw axis.
Further, as shown in
As shown in
Next, description is given of the mounting operation for mounting the electronic components 2 on the substrate 3 in the electronic component mounting apparatus 101 having such a structure.
In the electronic component mounting apparatus 101 in
Meanwhile, the electronic component 2 removed in the state of being sucked and held by the inverting head unit 14 in the component feed device 4 is inverted and moved to the component feed position. Moreover, the mounting head unit 20 is moved to the component feed position by the X-axis robot 22 in the mounting device 5, and the electronic component 2 is delivered from the inverting head unit 14 to the mounting head unit 20. Then, the mounting head unit 20 in the state of sucking and holding the delivered electronic component 2 is moved toward above the substrate mounting region by the X-axis robot 22.
Then, alignment of the electronic component 2 sucked and held by the mounting head unit 20 with a position at which the electronic component 3 should be mounted on the substrate 3 held by the substrate holding base 28 is executed by movement of the XY table 26. After this alignment operation, vertical movement operation or the like of the mounting head unit 20 is performed so as to execute mounting operation for mounting the electronic component 2 on the substrate 3. In the case where the mounting operation of a plurality of the electronic components 2 is performed, the aforementioned respective operations are repeatedly conducted to achieve the mounting operation of a plurality of the electronic components 2.
Then, upon completion of the mounting operation of the respective electronic components 2, the substrate 3 with the respective electronic components 2 being mounted thereon is moved together with the substrate holding base 28 to the position between the loader 32 and the unloader 34 by the XY table 26, the substrate 3 is delivered from the substrate holding base 28 to the unloader 34, the substrate 3 is transported along the substrate transportation direction B by the unloader 34, and the substrate 3 is discharged from the electronic component mounting apparatus 101. The discharged substrate 3 is fed to, for example, another apparatus disposed adjacent to the electronic component mounting apparatus 101 for performing a processing sequence to the component mounting operation and the like, or is housed as a component-mounted substrate 3 in a substrate housing apparatus and the like.
Thus, in the electronic component mounting apparatus 101, the mounting operation for mounting the respective electronic components 2 on the substrate 3 are conducted. It is to be noted that after the substrate 3 with the respective electronic components 2 being mounted thereon is discharged by the unloader 34, another new substrate 3 is fed by the loader 32 so that respective electronic components 2 are mounted on respective substrates 3 that are to be fed in sequence.
Next, a detailed structure of the substrate transportation apparatus 30 in such an electronic component mounting apparatus 101 will be described. It is to be noted that
As shown in
Moreover, as shown in
As shown in
Herein, a fragmentary cross sectional view along the cross section of the substrate transportation apparatus 30 orthogonal to the substrate transportation direction B is shown in
Further, as shown in
As shown in
More specifically, the vertical movement operation is performed such that the piston of the long cylinder section 42a is positioned at the upper end position of its stroke and the piston of the short cylinder section 42b is positioned at the lower end position of its stroke so as to position the loading arm 36 at an uppermost height position H4 of its vertical movement operation.
Further, the piston of the long cylinder section 42a is positioned at the upper end position of its stroke and the piston of the short cylinder section 42b is positioned at the upper end position of its stroke so as to position the loading arm 36 at a second highest height position H3 of its vertical movement operation.
Further, the piston of the long cylinder section 42a is positioned at the lower end position of its stroke and the piston of the short cylinder section 42b is positioned at the lower end position of its stroke so as to position the loading arm 36 at a third highest height position H2 of its vertical movement operation.
Further, the piston of the long cylinder section 42a is positioned at the lower end position of its stroke and the piston of the short cylinder section 42b is positioned at the upper end position of its stroke so as to position the loading arm 36 at a lowermost height position H1 of its vertical movement operation.
It is to be noted that as shown in
Further, in the present embodiment, the height position H4 is an example of the first retreat height position, the height position H3 is an example of the first height position, the height position H2 is an example of the second retreat height position (or an example of the height position enabling the substrate holding base 28 to retreat), and the height position H1 is an example of the second height position. Moreover, as shown in
It is to be noted that in one example of the relation among height dimensions of the respective height positions H1 to H4, assuming that the height position H1 as a reference height is 0 mmH, the height position H2 would be 20 mmH, the height position H3 would be 80 mmH and the height position H4 would be 100 mmH.
Moreover, as shown in
It is to be noted that the substrate transportation direction movement section 46 can move the loading arm 36 and the unloading arm 38 at a normal movement speed as one specified speed and also at a slow movement speed as another specified speed which is slower than the aforementioned specified speed selectively. For example, in the case where the component-mounted substrate 3 with the electronic components 2 already mounted thereon is moved in the state of being sucked and held by the unloading arm 38, the mounted electronic components 2 may suffer displacement from the mounted positions due to vibration and the like during the movement, and so in order to prevent such displacement from the mounted positions from occurring, the movement at the slow movement speed is performed selectively. In the case where the unloading arm 38 is not in the state of sucking and holding the component-mounted substrate 3, the movement at the normal movement speed is performed regardless of whether another substrate 3 is sucked and held by the loading arm 36. Thus, by using two kinds of movement speed as the situation demands, it becomes possible to achieve both quality preservation during the movement of the substrate 3 and reduction of a time required for the movement. It is to be noted that the case where the slow movement speed is set slower than the normal movement speed may be replaced with the case where an acceleration in the slow movement is set smaller than an acceleration in the normal movement.
Description is herein given of “the speed of the slow movement”. There are various kinds of method for mounting electronic components such as bare ICs on substrates, including a method in which electronic components and substrates are securely bonded by use of ultrasonic waves, heating and pressurization, and a method in which electronic components are temporarily fixed with the aid of flux or conductive paste and then in another step, permanent fixing processing such as batch reflow and paste hardening is performed to obtain secure bonding strength. In the bonding method involving temporary fixing of the electronic components, when the component-mounted substrate is moved in the state of being sucked and held by the unloading arm 38, displacement of the electronic components may occur due to vibration of the unloading arm 38, and the displacement of the electronic components may also occur due to acceleration at the start of the movement, speed reduction at the end of the movement, and stop of the movement. Further, a temporarily-fixed bonding face may be separated by vibration, resulting in failure of establishing normal electric connection after the permanent fixing processing.
Consequently, such a slow movement speed is used to prevent the problem from occurring. For example, normal movement is performed with a speed of 400 mm/s and an acceleration time of 0.1 s (an acceleration of 4000 mm/s2), whereas slow movement is performed, in the case where the component mounting apparatus is held, with a speed of 100 mm/s and an acceleration time of 0.1 s (an acceleration of 1000 mm/s2). Under such movement conditions, assuming that a movement distance of the unloading arm 38 is 250 mm, an amount of time required for completing the movement operation would be about 0.7 s in the normal movement and about 2.6 s in the slow movement.
Next, planar positional relationship among a feed position, a discharge position and the like of the substrate 3 when the substrate 3 is fed and discharged with use of the substrate transportation apparatus 30 will be described with reference to a schematic explanatory view shown in
As shown in
First, a first substrate position P1 among the four substrate positions, which is positioned at the far left as viewed in the drawing, is a position at which the substrate 3 transported by the loader 32 is temporarily on standby in a feedable state while its both end portions are supported by the respective transportation rails 32a. The substrate 3 in the state of being positioned at the first substrate position P1 is removable through suction and holding by the loading arm 36. A fourth substrate position P4 which is positioned at the far right as viewed in the drawing is a position on which the substrate 3 that is transported and discharged by the unloader 34 is positioned, i.e., a position on which the substrate 3 is positioned while its both end portions are supported by the respective transportation rails 34a. The substrate 3 is transferred in the state of being sucked and held by the unloading arm 38, by which the substrate 3 can be positioned on the fourth substrate position P4.
Moreover, as shown in
Next, a block diagram showing a main structure of a control unit 50 included in thus-structured substrate transportation apparatus 30 is shown in
Further, the arm movement control section 53 includes a loading arm vertical movement control section 53a for controlling the vertical movement operation of the loading arm 36, and an unloading arm vertical movement control section 53b for controlling the vertical movement of the unloading arm 38. In these sections, feed and discharge of compressed air to/from the long cylinder sections 42a, 44a and the short cylinder sections 42b, 44b are controlled. Further, the arm movement control section 53 includes a substrate transportation direction movement control section 53c for controlling the movement operation of the substrate transportation direction movement section 46.
Thus-structured control section 50 allows the respective operations to be associated with each other so as to achieve comprehensive control operation.
Description is now be given of the operation of thus-structured substrate transportation apparatus 30 to feed (or load) the substrate 3 and to discharge (or unload) the substrate 3 with the electronic components 2 mounted thereon. It is to be noted that control of the following respective operations in the substrate transportation apparatus 30 is comprehensively performed while being associated with each other by the control unit 50.
As shown in
After that, the loading arm 36 is moved upward to the height position H4 and the substrate 3A is removed from the first substrate position P0. At the same time, the loading arm 36 is moved to the height position H4 above the second substrate position P2 and the unloading arm 38 is moved to the height position H4 above the third substrate position P3 integrally by the substrate transportation direction movement section 46 (time point T2 to T3). Then, the substrate 3A in the state of being sucked and held by the loading arm 36 is moved downward and positioned at the height position H2, and the unloading arm 38 is also put in the state of being moved downward to the height position H2 (time period H4).
Meanwhile, in the substrate mounting region P0, mounting of the respective electronic components 2 on the substrate 3B is completed (time period T5), and the substrate 3B in the state of being held by the substrate holding base 28 is moved by the XY table 26 to the third substrate position P3 (time period T6).
Then, as shown in
Next, as shown in
Then, as shown in
Meanwhile, as shown in
It is to be noted that repeated and sequential execution of the above-stated feed operation of the substrate 3A and the discharge operation of the substrate 3B makes it possible to sequentially feed the substrate 3 to the electronic component mounting apparatus 101 and to sequentially discharge the substrate 3 on which the mounting operation has been performed in the electronic component mounting apparatus 101.
Further, there is shown a specific example of the respective time periods in the time chart, in which assuming that the movement operation is performed with a movement distance in the time period T2 to T3, the time period T8 to T9, and the time period T11 to T13 being 250 mm, a movement speed in the time period T2 to T3 and the time period T8 to T9 being 400 mm/s, and an acceleration time in these time periods being 0.1 s (an acceleration being 4000 mm/s2), the time period T2 to T3 and the time period T8 to T9 are respectively about 0.7 s, and the time period T11 to T13 is about 2.6 s. Also, a time for completing the operations from the time period T5 to T12 is about 5 s.
Description is now given of an embodiment according to a modified example of the method for feeding and discharging the substrate 3 in the electronic component mounting apparatus 101 in the present embodiment.
As shown in the timing chart in
In such a substrate transportation apparatus 30, at the first substrate position P1 in the loader 32, the substrate 3 positioned thereat is subjected to a preheat treatment as a treatment for smoothing the mounting operation of the electronic components 2 that is performed after this. Such a preheat treatment is achieved by disposing, as shown in
However, during a duration of time from the time T4 to T6, i.e., during a standby time, the substrate 3 is already removed from the first substrate position P1, and therefore it is impossible to apply the preheat treatment thereto. Consequently, though the standby time will not inflict a direct influence on a stop time of the mounting operation of the electronic components 2, longer standby time causes the temperature of the substrate 3 which has been subject to preheat treatment and is in the state of being preheated to drop. In such a case, when the substrate 3 is reheated during the mounting operation of the electronic components 2, a time necessary for the reheating operation is prolonged, which may prevent smooth mounting operation.
In order to solve such a problem, in the present modified example, the standby time T4 to T6 is designed to be shortened.
More specifically, first, a time during which the substrate 3A positioned at the first substrate position P1 in the loader 32 in
Meanwhile, in the electronic component mounting apparatus 101, a time period necessary for the mounting operation of the electronic components 2 performed on respective substrates 3 is measured in sequence, and a smallest time period is updated as a component mounting time period Tb. It is to be noted that respective operations including setting (or storing) of the substrate feed preparation time period Ts and updating of the component mounting time period Tb are performed, for example, in a mounting control unit (unshown) included in the electronic component mounting apparatus 101. Moreover, later-described control on the respective operations based on these substrate feed preparation time period Ts and component mounting time period Tb is executed in the mounting control unit. The mounting control unit and the control unit 50 in the substrate transportation apparatus 30 are connected to each other so that the control operations can be executed comprehensively while being associated with each other.
Comparing the component mounting time period Tb and the substrate feed preparation time period Ts makes it possible to calculate an optimum duration of time during which a newly fed substrate 3 is on standby at the first substrate position P1, the preheat treatment is applied to the substrate 3, and the substrate 3 is removed in the state of being sucked and held by the loading arm 36. For example, a duration of time during which the substrate 3 is on standby at the first substrate position P1 and is subjected to the preheat treatment may be calculated based on an equation: (component mounting time period Tb)−(substrate feed preparation time period Ts).
Thus, the component mounting time period Tb and the substrate feed preparation time period Ts are measured, and based on the measurement result, an optimum duration of time during which the substrate 3 is on standby at the first substrate position P1 and is subjected to the preheat treatment is calculated, so that a standby time during the time period T4 to T6 in
Description is now given of an embodiment according to another modified example of the method for feeding and discharging the substrate 3 in the electronic component mounting apparatus 101 in the present embodiment.
In the above-described present embodiment, the electronic component mounting apparatus 101 is used when a width of a widely-used substrate 3, that is a linear dimension along the substrate transportation direction B, is around 250 mm. Therefore, the dimensions between the loader 32 and the unloader 34 are determined so that the aforementioned feed and discharge method can be applied to such a substrate 3 with a width of about 250 mm. Further, the disposition of the respective holding nozzles 36a of the loading arm 36 and the disposition of the respective holding nozzles 38a of the unloading arm 38 are determined so as to surely hold the substrate 3 with such a size.
In this modified example, description will be given of a feed and discharge method of substrates in which even a width size of the substrate 3 is larger than 250 mm, operation for feeding and discharging the substrate 3 is executable.
First, a perspective view showing a structure of a loading arm and an unloading arm supporting such operation is shown in
As shown in
As shown in
Description is now given of feed and discharge operation of the substrate 3 in such a substrate transportation apparatus 31 with reference to schematic explanatory views shown in
As shown in
After that, the loading arm 37 is moved upward to the height position H4 and the substrate 3C is removed from the first substrate position P0. At the same time, the loading arm 37 is moved to the height position H4 and the unloading arm 39 is moved to the height position H4 above the third substrate position P3.
Meanwhile, in the substrate mounting region P0, mounting of the respective electronic components 2 on the substrate 3D is completed, and the substrate 3D in the state of being held by the substrate holding base 28 is moved by the XY table 26 to the third substrate position P3.
Then, as shown in
Next, as shown in
Then, as shown in
Meanwhile, as shown in
It is to be noted that repeated and sequential execution of the above-stated feed operation of the substrate 3C and the discharge operation of the substrate 3D makes it possible to sequentially feed the substrate 3 to the electronic component mounting apparatus 101 and to sequentially discharge the substrate 3 on which the mounting operation has been performed in the electronic component mounting apparatus 101.
In each of the aforementioned embodiments, description has been given of the case where the substrate-transportation direction 3 is the substrate transportation direction B that is a direction facing leftward in the X-axis direction in
According to the above embodiments, the following various effects can be achieved.
First, in the electronic component mounting apparatus 101, when the substrate 3 with the respective electronic components 2 being mounted thereon is discharged, the mounting operation for mounting the electronic components 2 on a newly fed substrate 3 can be performed in parallel with and independently of the movement operation for moving the substrate 3 to the unloader 34 by the unloading arm 38 whose transportation speed is limited to be slow in order to prevent displacement of the mounted respective electronic components 2 from the mounted positions from occurring. Therefore, in the electronic component mounting apparatus 101, it becomes possible to reduce an influence of the operation for feeding and discharging the substrate 3 on a stop time of the mounting operation for mounting the electronic components 2 on the fed substrate 3, which allows reduction in the stop time of the mounting operation and increase in productivity in the mounting operation of the electronic components 2.
More specifically, based on the timing chart shown in
Particularly during the movement operation of the component-mounted substrate 3B to the unloader 34, the movement speed of the unloading arm 38 is limited to the slow movement speed in order to prevent the respective mounted electronic components 2 from being displaced from the mounted positions, and therefore as described above, allowing the respective operations to be performed independently of and in parallel with each other is effective for increasing the productivity.
Further, the above effects may be achieved by providing the electronic component mounting apparatus 101 with the XY table 26 which is capable of moving the substrate holding base 28 that can hold the substrate 3 to the substrate mounting region P0, the second substrate position P2 and the third substrate position P3, and by minimizing the movement operation of the unloading arm 38 which is in the state of sucking and holding the component-mounted substrate 3B till the new substrate 3A is fed to the substrate holding base 28.
Further, in the substrate transportation apparatus 30, the loading arm elevation unit 42 for separately moving the loading arm 36 and the unloading arm 38 in vertical direction includes the long cylinder section 42a and the short cylinder section 42b as two cylinders whose strokes are different from each other, so that the respective vertical movement height positions of the loading arm 36 and the unloading arm 38 can be controlled in four level height positions. Thus, the vertical movement height position is controllable in four level height positions, and therefore, compared to, for example, the case where the vertical movement is controllable only in two level height positions, it becomes possible, through execution of the vertical movement in a phased manner, to prolong a time period during which the vertical movement operation can be performed in parallel with other operation, thereby making it possible to reduce a time necessary for the practical vertical movement operation. This allows substantial reduction of a time necessary for feed and discharge operation of the substrate 3, allows reduction of a stop time of the component mounting operation in order to feed and discharge the substrate 3, and further allows increase in productivity in the component mounting operation.
It is to be noted that, by properly combining the arbitrary embodiments of the aforementioned various embodiments, the effects possessed by them can be produced.
Although the present invention has been fully described in connection with the preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be noted that various changes and modifications are apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications are to be understood as included within the scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims unless they depart therefrom.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2002-347755 | Nov 2002 | JP | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
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PCT/JP03/15144 | 11/27/2003 | WO | 5/17/2005 |