Universal Instruments Corporation

Phillip A Ragard

Weibley J Dean

Charles E Johnson

Robert H Holmes

Roy M Whiting

Michael D Snyder

Henry J Soth

Crawford A Matson

Frank J Orzelek

Frederick G Tomko

David L Merithew

Keith Alan Young

Alan C Lewis

Robert C Shiptenko

Jack Schum

A linear axis (cantilevered beam) is longitudinally displaceable relative to its support which, in turn, is displaceable laterally along an overhead frame so as to provide X-Y positioning for pick and place spindles and similar tools which are attached to the beam. A particular structural combination for accomplishing this involves a low inertia servomotor driving a speed reducer which, in turn, directly drives a short endless timing belt which, in turn, intermeshes with and drives a toothed rack in order to provide reliable, with zero backlash, high accuracy X-Y positioning of the tools. Features of the structural arrangement allow the use of component parts requiring much less precision, and thus much less cost, of manufacture than prior art, zero backlash, linear axis positioning systems.

Zero backlash positioning system for a movable linear axis

A turret assembly is movable in X and Y and a turret of the assembly is rotatable to position a selected one of a plurality of spindles at a transfer station of the turret. The selected spindle is telescopic to pick a component from a supply point and to place the component at a placement point on a circuit board or the like. An assembly for squaring, centering, orienting, and/or testing a component being held by another spindle of the turret is actuated generally concurrently with extending of the selected spindle. Alternatively, the spindle at the transfer station may be retained in the retracted position during actuation of the squaring assembly. Much time is saved by loading components on the plurality of the spindles of the turret at one or more supply stations and then placing all of these components without the need for transferring back and forth between the supply and P.C. board.

Pick and place method and apparatus

A compact spindle assembly for surface mounting and insertion of electrical components comprises a unitary casing in which electric rotary and linear displacement motors are housed in order to provide for actuation of a vacuum nozzle and easily interchangeable tool assemblies such that components may be picked from a supply, squared and/or centered during transfer to a placement station, and placed at a particular position on a circuit board or the like.

Component pick and place spindle assembly with compact internal linear

Described is a machine for pre-gluing raw circuit surfaces of printed circuit boards (P.C. boards) at an adhesive station and properly positioning the P.C. boards at a placement station for placement of leadless electronic components (chips) onto the adhesive. A carousel provides program preselected vertical supply of taped components to a feeder assembly which feeds individual chips onto a nozzle of a turret-type vacuum head at a pick-up station. The turret-type head has four nozzles spaced 90.degree. apart about the central axis of the head. As the turret is rotated, a chip is transported by a nozzle, sequentially, from the pick-up station to a centering and testing station, a centering and orienting station, and a placement station. Located between the testing and orienting stations is a chip removal station for ejecting defective or inverted chips. Sensors are located at the adhesive and placement stations to detect defective P.C. boards so that they may be bypassed. A controller, such as a digital computer, provides additional monitoring and controls the operation of the machine.

Leadless chip placement machine for printed circuit boards

A feed assembly is engageable with feed holes spaced along the length of a taped supply of electrical components in order to index the taped components to a pick-up station and aid in transfer of the components from the tape to a turret-type vacuum head at the pick-up station. Cyclical actuation of the feed assembly actuates a cutter for that portion of the tape which has been emptied of the components.

Electrical components are processed faster and more reliably with an improved centering device. In one embodiment, thread slack is provided in the relatively slow adjuster used to preset a component processing machine to a particular insertion span, and a faster acting adjuster makes use of this thread slack to vary the preset span and center the component body in the machine.

Centering device for electrical components

Under direction of a machine controller, an endless chain conveyor is incrementally passed by a plurality of loader heads. The loader heads receive a series of components taped on a reel supplied substrate, sever individual taped components from the supply, and load the individual taped components onto clip carriers of the endless conveyor, on command, in a preferred sequence. The clip carrier mounted components are then indexed past a cutter assembly for trimming the lengths of the leads and removing the substrate, and a positioning disc assembly for positioning the components in the clip carriers before being passed to a rotary transfer assembly. The rotary transfer assembly removes individual components from the conveyor and rotates to an unload position above a linear loader, which laterally transfers the components from the rotary transfer to an insert head assembly. At the insert head assembly, the components are oriented and inserted by their leads into the holes of a printed circuit board for clinching by a clinch mechanism. Any components still left on the conveyor after it passes the rotary transfer assembly are removed by a chain unloader.

Sequencer loading head for high speed radial lead component sequencing

An apparatus is disclosed for intermittently feeding wire forward along a generally longitudinal axis, cutting and forming a front end of the wire at a first station into a jumper bridge for an electronic hybrid substrate and presenting the jumper bridge at a second station for removal from the apparatus. The apparatus has a housing comprising a wire guide for supporting and guiding said wire along the longitudinal axis; a first gripper for gripping and feeding the wire to the first station during a portion of a forward stroke; a second gripper for preventing rearward movement of the wire; means for delivering the jumper bridge from the first station to the second station and presenting it for removal at the second station; a cutter and former for cutting a specified length from the front end of wire and forming it into the jumper bridge; a driver for controlling the feeding of the wire to the first station, the cutting and forming of the wire into a jumper bridge, and the delivering of the jumper bridge from the first station to the second station; and an actuator for actuating the driver during the forward and reverse strokes, upon command.

Jumper bridge machine

An electronic component lead cutting and outwardly clinching mechanism for cutting the component leads that extend from the underside of a printed circuit board and for outwardly clinching the portions of the leads remaining after the cutting to the underside of the printed circuit board. The severed scrap portions of the leads fall into a scrap discharge chute to be carried away from the cutting and clinching mechanism. A lead detector is incorporated into the mechanism to detect the presence or absence of the leads during the shearing action.

Lead cut and outward clinch mechanism

In a centering device for electronic components equally spaced and traveling on a continuous conveyor, an actuator provided including a pair of pivoting, spring-loaded blades for positioning the bodies of the components before they are transferred from the continuous conveyor into a taping mechanism.

Taped belt electronic component centering device

In an improved machine wherein a plurality of component dispensers transversely deposit individual axial-leaded components on a moving conveyor belt in a preferred sequence for subsequent taping of the leads to form a belt of sequenced components, the rate of component deposition is increased although the linear velocity of the conveyer is decreased. Component leads are received in conveyor notches having a pitch distance which is a submultiple of the spacing between the component dispensers.

Component sequencing and taping machine

DIP components are released from storage in a generally vertical chute when a spring-biased first finger blocking the chute exit is pivoted away. A second finger presses laterally on a prong of the second lowest stored component and limits dispensing to a single component for each actuation of the first finger.

DIP component storage and dispensing magazine

An apparatus for placement of electronic components on a fluxed hybrid circuit substrate. In accordance with an automated program, the apparatus at a single work station places with high precision a plurality of chips of various types and physical and electrical sizes on a single substrate. Components are successively placed by a pair of hollow pick and placement spindles operating alternately and having motion in the X-Y planes. Precise location of stored chips is not required; the apparatus orients and centers each chip after selection and prior to placement.

Automated hybrid circuit board assembly apparatus

An electronic component lead cutting and clinching mechanism having means for operating substantially simultaneously on a plurality of aligned leads. The cutting edges are angularly oriented to align with the component leads and raised to a position adjacent the undersurface of the wiring board into which the component leads have been inserted. Pneumatic cylinders actuate the mechanism.

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Binghamton, NY, United States of America

Phillip A Ragard