US4769904A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Method and apparatus for handling leaded and leadless surface mountable components
Assignee: UI Holding Co
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Filing: 1987-05-11
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Granted: 1988-09-13
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Expires: 2007-05-11
Abstract
Abstract The present invention involves a method and apparatus for sequencing leadless and leaded surface mountable components, feeding them directly from a sequencer to chip placement heads, and placing them at selected locations on a circuit board. The chip carriers of an endless chain conveyor carry each component of the sequence of components to a chip placement head. Direct supply from a sequencer having the chip carriers and a series of individual programmably controlled dispenser heads provides for quick and flexible variation of the input sequence without manual intervention. A plurality of the chip placement heads are mounted on a turret assembly to facilitate continuous unloading of the chip carriers and orienting, centering, and squaring of the components prior to placement on a circuit board.
Inventors
- 👤 Richard Porterfield
- 👤 Stanley W. Janisiewicz
- 👤 Weibley J. Dean
- 👤 Douglas A. Biesecker
- 👤 Steven Pert
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-02 00:25
CPC Classifications
H; H05; H05K; H05K13/00; H05K13/04; H05K13/043; H05K13/02; H05K13/021; Y; Y10; Y10T; Y10T29/00; Y10T29/49; Y10T29/49002; Y10T29/49117; Y10T29/49124; Y10T29/4913; Y10T29/49144; Y10T29/53; Y10T29/5313; Y10T29/53174; Y10T29/53178
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 27
Claim 1
Independent Claim
167 words
A method of handling surface mountable electrical components and supplying said components to a pickup station in a preferred sequence, said components being generally parallelopiped in shape with a top, bottom, and sides, said method comprising the steps of: providing a plurality of component carriers attached to an endless conveyor, each of said carriers comprising a housing having a porous pad for receiving a component, and a clamp arm engageable with said component top surface to clamp said component on an upper surface of said porous pad and in order to provide that leadless and leaded types of said surface mountable components are equally clampable by said carrier; indexing said conveyor along a path of travel and presenting said carriers to feeder stations arranged along said path of travel; transferring said components individually from selected feeders of said feeder stations to selected ones of said carriers, according to a controller, in order to provide said preferred sequence; and conveying said sequence of components to said pickup station.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
167 words
A method of handling surface mountable electrical components and supplying said components to a pickup station in a preferred sequence, said components being generally parallelopiped in shape with a top, bottom, and sides, said method comprising the steps of: providing a plurality of component carriers attached to an endless conveyor, each of said carriers comprising a housing having a porous pad for receiving a component, and a clamp arm engageable with said component top surface to clamp said component on an upper surface of said porous pad and in order to provide that leadless and leaded types of said surface mountable components are equally clampable by said carrier; indexing said conveyor along a path of travel and presenting said carriers to feeder stations arranged along said path of travel; transferring said components individually from selected feeders of said feeder stations to selected ones of said carriers, according to a controller, in order to provide said preferred sequence; and conveying said sequence of components to said pickup station.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
81 words
A method as in claim 1, and further comprising the steps of: opening the clamp arm of a selected carrier during transferring of a component thereto from a corresponding selected feeder; applying vacuum to said component bottom via said porous pad in order to maintain said component on said pad prior to closing of said clamp arm; and closing said clamp arm onto said component top and clamping said component to said pad for securement of said component during said conveying.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
35 words
A method as in claim 2, and further comprising the step of: indexing said selected feeder during said transferring in order to position a next component for a subsequent transferring step according to said controller.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
158 words
A method as in claim 1, and further comprising the steps of: providing a turret assembly with a rotor having multiple chip placement heads indexable along a generally circular path of travel between said pickup station and a placement station; applying a vacuum to said porous pad of each carrier at said pickup station in order to retain a component thereon during opening of said clamp arm; opening said clamp arm of each carrier at said pickup station and engaging a component thereat with a pickup portion of a corresponding one of said chip placement heads; applying a positive pressure to said porous pad according to said engaging to positively assist in removal of a component therefrom by said pickup portion; removing said component from said carrier pad at said pickup station to provide a captured component; transporting said captured component to said placement station; and placing said captured component at a selected position on a circuit board.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
46 words
A method as in claim 4, and further comprising the step of: holding said clamp arm open during movement of a carrier away from said pickup station in order to prevent any interference between said clamp arm and said pickup portion of said chip placement head.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
91 words
A method as in claim 4, and further comprising the steps of: detecting replacement component requirements; moving said conveyor nonintermittently to position at least one of said carriers at a corresponding feeder station according to said requirements; transferring a replacement component from said corresponding feeder station to said one carrier; moving said conveyor nonintermittently to position said replacement component at said pickup station; picking up and transporting said replacement component from said pickup station to said placement station; and placing said replacement component at a corresponding position on said circuit board.
Claim 8
Independent Claim
168 words
An apparatus for handling surface mountable electrical components and supplying said components to a pickup station in a preferred sequence, said components being generally parallelopiped in shape with a top, bottom, and sides, and comprising: a plurality of component carriers attached to an endless conveyor, each of said carriers comprising a housing having a porous pad for receiving a component and a clamp arm engageable with said component top surface to clamp said component on an upper surface of said porous pad and in order to provide that leadless and leaded types of said surface mountable components are equally clampable by said carrier, for conveying said preferred sequence of components to said pickup station; means for indexing said conveyor along a path of travel and presenting said carriers to feeder stations arranged along said path of travel; and means for transferring said components individually from selected feeders of said feeder stations to selected ones of said carriers, according to a controller, in order to provide said preferred sequence;
Claim 9
Independent Claim
168 words
An apparatus for handling surface mountable electrical components and supplying said components to a pickup station in a preferred sequence, said components being generally parallelopiped in shape with a top, bottom, and sides, and comprising: a plurality of component carriers attached to an endless conveyor, each of said carriers comprising a housing having a porous pad for receiving a component and a clamp arm engageable with said component top surface to clamp said component on an upper surface of said porous pad and in order to provide that leadless and leaded types of said surface mountable components are equally clampable by said carrier, for conveying said preferred sequence of components to said pickup station; means for indexing said conveyor along a path of travel and presenting said carriers to feeder stations arranged along said path of travel; and means for transferring said components individually from selected feeders of said feeder stations to selected ones of said carriers, according to a controller, in order to provide said preferred sequence;
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
84 words
An apparatus as in claim 7, and further comprising: means for opening the clamp arm of a selected carrier during transferring of a component thereto from a corresponding selected feeder; means for applying vacuum to said component bottom via said porous pad in order to maintain said component on said pad prior to closing of said clamp arm; and means for closing said clamp arm onto said component top and clamping said component to said pad for securement of said component during said conveying.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
32 words
An apparatus as in claim 8, and further comprising: means for indexing said selected feeder during said transferring in order to position a next component for subsequent transferring according to said controller.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
166 words
An apparatus as in claim 7, and further comprising: a turret assembly with a rotor having multiple chip placement heads indexable along a generally circular path of travel between said pickup station and a placement station; means for applying a vacuum to said porous pad of each carrier at said pickup station in order to retain a component thereon during opening of said clamp arm; means for opening said clamp arm of each carrier at said pickup station and engaging a component thereat with a pickup portion of a corresponding one of said chip placement heads; means for applying a positive pressure to said porous pad according to said engaging to positively assist in removal of a component therefrom by said pickup portion; means for removing said component from said carrier pad at said pickup station to provide a captured component; means for transporting said captured component to said placement station; and means for placing said captured component at a selected position on a circuit board.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
45 words
An apparatus as in claim 10, and further comprising: means for holding said clamp arm open during movement of a carrier away from said pickup station in order to prevent any interference between said clamp arm and said pickup portion of said chip placement head.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
97 words
An apparatus as in claim 10, and further comprising: means for detecting replacement component requirements; means for moving said conveyor nonintermittently to position at least one of said carriers at a corresponding feeder station according to said requirements, transferring a replacement component from said corresponding feeder station to said one carrier, and moving said conveyor non-intermittently to position said replacement component at said pickup station for subsequent picking up and transporting of said replacement component from said pickup station to said placement station and placing of said replacement component at a corresponding position on said circuit board.
Claim 15
Independent Claim
296 words
A method of handling surface mountable electrical components according to a controller and in order to effect placement of said components at selected positions on a circuit board, and comprising the steps of: providing a turret assembly having a fixed hub with positive and negative air pressures supplied to grooves in an outer periphery thereof and a rotor rotatable about said hub and having corresponding positive and negative air ductwork communicating with said grooves, said rotor comprising plural chip placement assemblies each having a tubular spindle and a valving rod; indexing said rotor in a generally circular path of travel between a pickup station and a placement station cyclically; setting a valving rod of a particular chip placement assembly to a first position in order to block communication of said ductwork with said tubular spindle corresponding to said valving rod; presenting said particular chip placement assembly to said pickup station and moving said spindle to engage one of said components at said station; shifting said valving rod to a second position during said spindle moving in order to apply a vacuum to said spindle, via said negative ductwork, for pickup and transport of said component from said pickup station to said placement station; transporting and presenting said component to said placement station and moving said spindle toward said circuit board for depositing of said component at said selected position on said circuit board; shifting said valving rod to a third position during said depositing, in order to switch communication of said spindle from said negative to said positive air pressure via said ductwork and to positively disengage said component from said spindle during said depositing; and resetting said valving rod to said first position and again presenting said particular chip placement assembly to said pickup station.
Claim 16
Independent Claim
296 words
A method of handling surface mountable electrical components according to a controller and in order to effect placement of said components at selected positions on a circuit board, and comprising the steps of: providing a turret assembly having a fixed hub with positive and negative air pressures supplied to grooves in an outer periphery thereof and a rotor rotatable about said hub and having corresponding positive and negative air ductwork communicating with said grooves, said rotor comprising plural chip placement assemblies each having a tubular spindle and a valving rod; indexing said rotor in a generally circular path of travel between a pickup station and a placement station cyclically; setting a valving rod of a particular chip placement assembly to a first position in order to block communication of said ductwork with said tubular spindle corresponding to said valving rod; presenting said particular chip placement assembly to said pickup station and moving said spindle to engage one of said components at said station; shifting said valving rod to a second position during said spindle moving in order to apply a vacuum to said spindle, via said negative ductwork, for pickup and transport of said component from said pickup station to said placement station; transporting and presenting said component to said placement station and moving said spindle toward said circuit board for depositing of said component at said selected position on said circuit board; shifting said valving rod to a third position during said depositing, in order to switch communication of said spindle from said negative to said positive air pressure via said ductwork and to positively disengage said component from said spindle during said depositing; and resetting said valving rod to said first position and again presenting said particular chip placement assembly to said pickup station.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
68 words
A method as in claim 13, and further comprising the steps of: rotating said spindle to provide gross orienting of said component about a longitudinal axis of said spindle; orienting centering fingers of a centerer according to said gross orienting of said component; and engaging said fingers with said component and centering and squaring said component upon said longitudinal axis during holding of said component on said spindle.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
112 words
A method as in claim 13, and further comprising the steps of: sensing a distance of travel of said spindle moving toward said circuit board, according to a thickness dimension of said component to be placed, whereby proper presentation of components of specifiable thicknesses is effectable; halting moving of said spindle toward said circuit board, upon not sensing a component dimension substantially equal to said thickness dimension, and thus aborting a chip placement step; and indexing said particular chip placement assembly to an eject station, prior to said resetting, shifting said valving rod to said third position and thus applying positive pressure to said spindle to eject any component from said spindle.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
47 words
A method as in claim 13, and further comprising the step of: shifting a nozzle relative to a tip of said spindle according to said controller and prior to said pickup station in order to adjust a cross-sectional area for applying said vacuum to different sized components.
Claim 20
Independent Claim
306 words
An apparatus for handling surface mountable electrical components according to a controller and in order to effect placement of said components at selected positions on a circuit board, and comprising: a turret assembly having a fixed hub with positive and negative air pressures supplied to grooves in an outer periphery thereof and a rotor rotatable about said hub and having corresponding positive and negative air ductwork communicating with said grooves, said rotor comprising plural chip placement assemblies each having a tubular spindle and a valving rod; means for indexing said rotor in a generally circular path of travel between a pickup station and a placement station cyclically; means for setting a valving rod of a particular chip placement assembly to a first position in order to block communication of said ductwork with said tubular spindle corresponding to said valving rod; means for presenting said particular chip placement assembly to said pickup station and moving said spindle to engage one of said components at said station; means for shifting said valving rod to a second position during said spindle moving in order to apply a vacuum to said spindle, via said negative ductwork, for pickup and transport of said component from said pickup station to said placement station; means for transporting and presenting said component to said placement station and moving said spindle toward said circuit board for depositing of said component at said selected position on said circuit board; means for shifting said valving rod to a third position, during said depositing, in order to switch communication of said spindle from said negative to said positive air pressure via said ductwork and to positively disengage said component from said spindle during said depositing; and means for resetting said valving rod to said first position and again presenting said particular chip placement assembly to said pickup station.
Claim 21
Independent Claim
306 words
An apparatus for handling surface mountable electrical components according to a controller and in order to effect placement of said components at selected positions on a circuit board, and comprising: a turret assembly having a fixed hub with positive and negative air pressures supplied to grooves in an outer periphery thereof and a rotor rotatable about said hub and having corresponding positive and negative air ductwork communicating with said grooves, said rotor comprising plural chip placement assemblies each having a tubular spindle and a valving rod; means for indexing said rotor in a generally circular path of travel between a pickup station and a placement station cyclically; means for setting a valving rod of a particular chip placement assembly to a first position in order to block communication of said ductwork with said tubular spindle corresponding to said valving rod; means for presenting said particular chip placement assembly to said pickup station and moving said spindle to engage one of said components at said station; means for shifting said valving rod to a second position during said spindle moving in order to apply a vacuum to said spindle, via said negative ductwork, for pickup and transport of said component from said pickup station to said placement station; means for transporting and presenting said component to said placement station and moving said spindle toward said circuit board for depositing of said component at said selected position on said circuit board; means for shifting said valving rod to a third position, during said depositing, in order to switch communication of said spindle from said negative to said positive air pressure via said ductwork and to positively disengage said component from said spindle during said depositing; and means for resetting said valving rod to said first position and again presenting said particular chip placement assembly to said pickup station.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
71 words
An apparatus as in claim 17, and further comprising: means for rotating said spindle to provide gross orienting of said component about a longitudinal axis of said spindle; means for orienting centering fingers of a centerer according to said gross orienting of said component; and means for engaging said fingers with said component and centering and squaring said component upon said longitudinal axis during holding of said component of said spindle.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
119 words
An apparatus as in claim 17, and further comprising: means for sensing a distance of travel of said spindle moving toward said circuit board, according to a thickness dimension of said component to be placed, whereby proper presentation of components of specifiable thicknesses is effectable; means for halting moving of said spindle toward said circuit board, upon not sensing a component dimension substantially equal to said thickness dimension, and thus aborting a chip placement step; and means for indexing said particular chip placement assembly to an eject station, prior to said resetting, shifting said valving rod to said third position and thus applying positive pressure to said spindle to eject a component from said spindle according to said aborting.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
46 words
An apparatus as in claim 17, and further comprising: means for shifting a nozzle relative to a tip of said spindle according to said controller and prior to said pickup station in order to adjust a cross-sectional area for applying said vacuum to different sized components.
Claim 25
Independent Claim
100 words
An apparatus for transferring components between a loading station and an unloading station, and comprising: a transfer head having a nozzle means for holding a component by a vacuum; means for extending and retracting said transfer head selectively at said loading and unloading stations; means for pivoting said transfer head back and forth between said loading and unload stations; valve means, pivotal between negative, positive, and neutral positions, for applying air pressures to said nozzle means according to said extending, retracting, and pivoting of said transfer station; and means for pivoting said valve means at said loading and unloading stations.
Claim 26
Independent Claim
100 words
An apparatus for transferring components between a loading station and an unloading station, and comprising: a transfer head having a nozzle means for holding a component by a vacuum; means for extending and retracting said transfer head selectively at said loading and unloading stations; means for pivoting said transfer head back and forth between said loading and unload stations; valve means, pivotal between negative, positive, and neutral positions, for applying air pressures to said nozzle means according to said extending, retracting, and pivoting of said transfer station; and means for pivoting said valve means at said loading and unloading stations.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
35 words
An apparatus as in claim 21, and further comprising: means for detecting a displacement of said nozzle relative to said transfer head and sensing component presence and absence on said nozzle according to said detecting.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1991-09-13 | 1992-03-14 | 1992-09-13 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1995-09-13 | 1996-03-14 | 1996-09-13 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1999-09-13 | 2000-03-14 | 2000-09-13 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |