Defect verification and marking system for use with printed circuit boards

Claim 1

A verification system for use in a printed circuit board (PCB) assembly line, for verifying and permitting repair of defects in a PCB bounded by peripheral edges, each of said defects having an address on an upper planar surface on the PCB, the system comprising: a base; a gantry apparatus affixed to said base including a positioning apparatus adapted to move in perpendicular directions in a locating plane in response to control signals: a table affixed to said base in registration with said gantry apparatus; a platen located on said table adapted to move only along a single axis from a first position extending from said base such that the PCB upper planar surface is misregistered relative to said positioning apparatus and unobstructed thereby to a second position in registration therewith in a plane parallel to said locating plane, said platen further adapted, at a surface thereof, to receive the PCB and including an alignment means to register with and fixedly hold the PCB at a preferred position thereon, said platen further configured relative to said base and said positioning apparatus to enable a worker to load, unload and repair said PCB on said platen in said first platen position and present command signals to said controller from a single worker position; an optical viewing assembly affixed to said positioning apparatus for providing electrical signal equivalents of an optical image of a selected location of the PCB when the PCB is on said platen in said preferred position and said platen is in said second position; and a controller for receiving signals identifying the PCB and selecting an associated data file from a computer memory means having signals therein indicative of the addresses of said defects on said PCB; said controller, in response to command signals, further for providing control signals to said positioning apparatus to position said optical viewing assembly at the address of a selected one of the defects and providing image signals in accordance with said optical viewing assembly electrical signal equivalents, said controller further including a means for initializing the system when said data file is received from said computer memory means such that, thereafter, said platen can be repeatably moved between said first and second positions without re-initialization.