Other

Electro Scientific Industries, Inc.

Martin J Twite, Iii

Douglas John Garcia

Vernon P Cooke

Steven David Swendrowski

Mitsuaki Tani

Malcolm Vincent Hawkes

Jeffrey L Fish

Evart David Shealey

Martin S Voshell

Hsang Wang

A high-speed handler for receiving a heap of randomly oriented parallel piped-shaped ceramic components, each component of the type having at least one set of metal terminations located on opposite edges thereof, presenting them in individual seats in controlled orientation for electrical parametric testing, and sorting them according to their test results, including a rotating feed wheel, mounted on a central shaft and defined by an outer rim concentric with the axis of the central shaft, the wheel inclined to the horizontal and including an upper surface on which to receive a heap of randomly oriented ceramic components, a plurality of radially-pointing, spaced-apart bosses extending upward and outward on the upper wheel surface terminating at component-sized cavities formed in the wheel adjacent the outer rim and arranged to receive therein a single ceramic component in specific orientation, a rotating carrier plate mounted planar to and spaced-apart from the feed wheel having an upwardly extending circular peripheral wall arranged in tangential adjacency and synchronous peripheral velocity with the feed wheel, the peripheral wall having formed therein a plurality of test seat notches in spaced-apart arrangement and adjacent alignment with the cavities in the feed wheel, the notches of a size and shape to receive a ceramic component therein with its opposed terminals facing inward and outward from the wall, first vacuum pressure device to draw the ceramic component radially from the cavity into the test seat notch and a second vacuum pressure device to hold the component in the test seat notch during further rotation of the carrier plate, a device for testing including at least one roller assembly arranged to contact the terminals of the ceramic components as they are moved in the test seat notches on the carrier plate, and a device for separately ejecting the ceramic components from the test seat notches and transferring them to separate locations according to their test results.

Electronic component handler

One or more concentric rings of component seats are rotatable about the rings' center. The seats are uniformly angularly spaced and the rings are incrementally rotated, the increment of rotation being the angular space between adjacent seats. The rings are inclined at an angle and a stream of components is poured onto the rings as they are rotating. Stationary fences adjacent to outboard sides of the seats, confine unseated components to tumble randomly, due to gravity, over empty seats passing through arcs of the rings' rotation paths. The random tumbling results in seated components. In the paths of the rotating rings are electrical contactors for coupling the components to a tester. Preferably there are five contactor stations to permit five different kinds of tests to be performed simultaneously. Tested components pass beneath an ejection manifold which defines a plurality of ejection holes which register with a set of seats each time the ring is rotated an increment. Ejection tubes are coupled to the ejection holes. The components are ejected from their seats by blasts of air from selectively actuated, respective pneumatic valves. Due to the blast of air and gravity, the ejected components travel down the tubes and are directed into sorting bins according to a tube routing plate. The stream of components can be selectively directed to each fence in response to a signal from a detector indicating that the fence is deprived of components. Sensors detect seated components that were not ejected by the ejection manifold.

Electrical circuit component handler

Growing community of inventors

San Diego, CA, United States of America

Martin J Twite, Iii