Apparatus for cutting and removing dry film photoresist from printed

Abstract

Apparatus for cutting and removing layers of photoresist overlaying tooling holes in a printed wire board blank. A lower cutter is mounted on a base so that its cutting edge projects above the upper surface of the base a distance substantially equal to the thickness of a layer of photoresist. A cutter head is mounted on the base for movement parallel to the upper surface of the base. An upper cutter is mounted on the cutter head for movement by a cutter actuator to cause the upper and lower cutters to sever segments of layers of photoresist overlaying a tooling hole of a PWB blank positioned between them. Each cutter is provided with a plunger movable within their respective cutters. The upper surface of the lower plunger, when the lower plunger is retracted, projects above the lower cutting edge of the lower cutter; and the upper plunger is biased downwardly so that its bottom surface projects below the cutting edges of the upper cutter. As a result the plungers stress the photoresist layers overlaying a tooling hole prior to the upper and lower cutters engaging them. A plunger actuator then moves the lower plunger toward the upper plunger pressing the severed segments together and against the upper plunger. The upper plunger has a conduit connected to a source of vacuum to cause the two segments, which adhere to one another, to adhere to the upper plunger. The upper cutter is retracted and the cutter head moved to place the upper cutter over a disposal opening in the base. The conduit is then connected to a source of compressed air to discharge the segments into the disposal opening.