MACHINE FOR TRANSFERRING ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS ONTO ELECTRONIC CARDS WITH SENSORS ALONG THE CONVEYOR

Abstract

Disclosed is a machine for transferring electronic components onto electronic cards (4), including: a conveyor (1) on which the electronic cards (4) file past in succession, and sensors (3) disposed along the conveyor in such a way as to determine the position of the electronic cards (4) filing along the conveyor (1). The density of the sensors (3) along the conveyor (1) is sufficiently high such that an electronic card (4) does not leave the field of a sensor (3) before it has entered the field of another sensor (3), over at least a part of the length of the conveyor (1).

Claims

1. Machine for transferring electronic components onto electronic cards (4), comprising a conveyor (1) on which the electronic cards (4) are conveyed in succession, and sensors (3) arranged along the conveyor so as to determine the position of the electronic cards (4) advancing along the conveyor (1), wherein the density of the sensors (3) along the conveyor (1) is sufficiently high such that an electronic card (4) does not leave the field of one sensor (3) before entering the field of another sensor (3), for at least a portion of the length of the conveyor (1).

2. Transfer machine according to claim 1, wherein the portion of the length of the conveyor (1) comprises at least three, possibly at least four, sensors (3).

3. Transfer machine according to claim 2, wherein the portion of the length of the conveyor (1) comprises at least the transfer area or areas (12, 14) for transferring electronic components onto the electronic cards.

4. Transfer machine according to claim 3, wherein the portion of the length of the conveyor (1) also comprises at least the intermediate area or areas (13) between the transfer areas (12, 14) for transferring electronic components onto the electronic cards (4) and/or the portion of the length of the conveyor (1) also comprises the area (11) upstream of the first transfer area (12) and/or the area (15) downstream of the last transfer area (14) for transferring electronic components onto the electronic cards (4).

5. Transfer machine according to claim 1, wherein the density of the sensors (3) along the conveyor (1) is sufficiently high such that an electronic card (4) does not leave the field of one sensor (3) before entering the field of another sensor (3), all along the conveyor (1).

6. Transfer machine according to claim 1, wherein the density of the sensors (3) along the conveyor (1) is sufficiently high such that no portion of the electronic card (4) leaves the field of one sensor (3) before entering the field of another sensor (3), along at least a portion of the length of the conveyor (1) or along the entire length of the conveyor (1).

7. Transfer machine according to claim 1, wherein the sensors (3) are optical sensors.

8. Transfer machine according to claim 1, wherein the sensors (3) are sweep-activation sensors, with only one sensor (3) being activated at a time.

9. Transfer machine according to claim 1, wherein the sensors (3) are located along the conveyor (1), on the side or sides of the conveyor (1).

10. Transfer machine according to claim 1, wherein the sensors (3) comprise a strip of transmitters (31) located on one side of the conveyor (1) and a strip of receivers (32) located on the other side of the conveyor (1).

11. Transfer machine according to claim 10, wherein the strip of transmitters (31) is located below the conveyor (1) and the strip of receivers (32) is located above the conveyor (1), or vice versa.

12. Transfer machine according to claim 10, wherein each transmitter (31) is a non-collimated light transmitter and only one transmitter (31)/receiver (32) pair is operational at a time, with sweep activation of the transmitter (31)/receiver (32) pairs one after the other.

13. Transfer machine according to claim 1, wherein the distance between transmitters (31) and receivers (32) is variable, and a compensation function compensates for the corresponding variation in signal, using as reference the receiver or receivers (32) receiving the maximum signal.

14. Transfer machine according to claim 1, wherein the density of the sensors (3) is at least 10 sensors per meter along the conveyor (1).

15. Method for transferring electronic components onto electronic cards (4), comprising the use of a transfer machine according to claim 1 for determining the position and dimension of the electronic cards (4) along the conveyor (1) and/or for determining the position and dimension of the spaces between electronic cards (4) along the conveyor.

16. Method for transferring electronic components onto electronic cards (4), comprising the use of a transfer machine according to claim 15 where the size information for the electronic cards (4) is compared with the expected size in order to detect operational anomalies.

17. Method for transferring electronic components onto electronic cards (4), comprising the use of a transfer machine according to claim 15 where the dimension information for the space between two consecutive electronic cards (4) is used to detect operational anomalies.

18. Method for transferring electronic components onto electronic cards (4), comprising the use of a transfer machine according to claim 15 for increasing or decreasing the distance between two successive electronic cards, by combining the measurement of this distance with a speed differential between two successive conveyor sections.

19. Transfer machine according to claim 2, wherein the density of the sensors (3) along the conveyor (1) is sufficiently high such that an electronic card (4) does not leave the field of one sensor (3) before entering the field of another sensor (3), all along the conveyor (1).

20. Transfer machine according to claim 1, wherein the density of the sensors (3) is at least 15 sensors per meter along the conveyor (1).

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0042] FIG. 1 schematically represents a side view of an exemplary transfer machine according to prior art.

[0043] FIGS. 2A and 2B schematically represent plan views of an example illustrating the issues related to the stop position of electronic cards on a transfer machine according to prior art.

[0044] FIG. 3 schematically represents a side view of an exemplary transfer machine according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0045] FIG. 4 schematically represents a front view of an exemplary transfer machine according to an embodiment of the invention.

[0046] FIG. 5 schematically represents a plan view of an exemplary transfer machine according to an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION

[0047] FIG. 1 schematically represents a side view of an exemplary transfer machine according to prior art. The transfer machine comprises a conveyor 1 on which electronic cards 4 advance. Transfer heads 5 are responsible for taking electronic components from one or more electronic component dispensers (not shown) in order to place them onto the electronic cards 4 when the cards pass by the transfer heads 5.

[0048] The electronic cards 4 advance along the conveyor 1 in the direction and orientation of travel indicated by the arrow L. Sensors 2 are positioned along the conveyor 1 at certain locations, in particular to enable monitoring and stopping the cards at those locations.

[0049] The machine for transferring electronic components for mounting on the surface of the electronic cards 4 is often used on the production line, meaning that the various machines required for producing electronic cards 4, namely the screen printing machine, the oven, the transfer machine of the invention, and the test device, are placed one after another, with the electronic cards 4 passing through each of these.

[0050] The conveyor 1 is the element which circulates the electronic cards through all the machines and in particular through the transfer machine of the invention. The conveyor 1 thus traverses all the machines, and in particular the transfer machine.

[0051] The conveyor 1 may be divided into several areas or sections. The conveyor 1 comprises an optional upstream area 11 which is an infeed section 11, followed by a first transfer area 12 which is a first placement section, followed by an optional intermediate area 13 which is an intermediate section, followed by a second transfer area 14 which is a second placement section, followed by an optional downstream area 15 which is an outfeed section.

[0052] The upstream area 11 is where the electronic card 4 arrives from the machine preceding the transfer machine.

[0053] Transfer areas 12 and 14 present the electronic card 4 for placement, by the transfer heads 5, of the electronic components that the transfer heads 5 have taken from one or more electronic component dispensers (not shown in FIG. 1). Usually, the electronic card 4 is immobilized in position on these transfer areas 12 and 14 during placement of the electronic components.

[0054] When the transfer areas 12 and 14 are not contiguous, one or more intermediate areas 13 are provided for the passage of the electronic card 4 between two transfer areas 12 and 14 of the conveyor 1.

[0055] A downstream area 15 allows sending the electronic card 4, once the electronic components have been placed on it, to the machine which follows the transfer machine in the production line for electronic cards 4.

[0056] Each area 11 to 15 is equipped with a sensor 2 at a fixed position, for determining the stop positions or possibly the slowing of the electronic cards 4. Consequently, regardless of the length of the electronic card 4, its stop position for each area 11 to 15 will be fixed and will be determined solely by the position of the sensor 2 of the corresponding area. The only way to shift the stop position of the electronic cards is therefore to physically move the corresponding sensors 2. An example of incorrect or inadequate positioning is presented in relation to FIGS. 2A and 2B.

[0057] Another disadvantage of this transfer machine is that, during the displacements of the electronic card 4, said card is no longer seen by any sensor 2 of the monitoring system of the conveyor 1, over a large portion of areas 11 to 15. If an incident occurs, for example a blockage or slowed movement or manual removal of the electronic card 4, the monitoring system will only have information indicating the non-arrival of the electronic card 4, systematically resulting in an error which is difficult to recover from. Similarly, if one electronic card 4 catches up to another one, there is a strong probability that this will not be seen by the monitoring system.

[0058] FIGS. 2A and 2B schematically represent plan views of an example illustrating the issues related to the stop position of electronic cards on a transfer machine according to prior art.

[0059] In FIG. 2A, the sensor 2 has been shifted so that the machine can accept cards of great length, up to the full length of the conveyor. A small electronic card 4 has been stopped at a stop position, on the transfer area 12 of the conveyor 1, which is not optimal relative to the arrangement of the electronic component dispenser 6 which is too far from the electronic card 4, which will result in a longer and more complex displacement of the transfer head responsible for taking electronic components from the dispenser 6 to place them on the electronic card 4.

[0060] In FIG. 2B, due to the ideal position of the sensor 2, the electronic card 4 has been stopped at a stop position, on the transfer area 12 of the conveyor 1, which is optimal relative to the arrangement of the electronic component dispenser 6 which is located right next to the electronic card 4, resulting in a short and simple to manage displacement of the transfer head responsible for taking electronic components from the dispenser 6 to place them on the electronic card 4.

[0061] The stop position of the electronic cards 4 has an impact on the performance of the transfer machine. Depending on the size or type of electronic card 4, the arrangement of the electronic component dispensers 6, or even the architecture and type of the transfer head or heads 5 used, the optimal stop position of the electronic card 4 for placement of the electronic components may vary.

[0062] In the case of a transfer machine to which numerous production changes are made, meaning to the conveyor 1 carrying electronic cards 4 which differ from one another because they have different sizes or because they are of different types, or because the position of the dispenser 6 has changed, the operator of the transfer machine needs to modify the stop positions of the electronic cards 4, which either is impossible because of the design of the transfer machine or is too tedious and/or takes too long to be truly effective. This is why, in practice, this type of displacement of the sensors 2 along the conveyor 1 is not implemented.

[0063] The lack of flexibility of the transfer machine shown in FIGS. 1 and 2A and 2B, which is disadvantageous, will be corrected by an embodiment of the invention presented in FIG. 3.

[0064] FIG. 3 schematically represents a side view of an exemplary transfer machine according to an embodiment of the invention. The transfer machine comprises a conveyor 1 on which electronic cards 4 advance. Transfer heads 5 are responsible for taking electronic components from one or more electronic component dispensers (not shown) to place them on the electronic cards 4 when they pass by the transfer heads 5.

[0065] As in FIG. 1, the conveyor 1 may be divided into several areas or sections. The conveyor 1 comprises an optional upstream area 11 which is an infeed section 11, followed by a first transfer area 12 which is a first placement section, followed by an optional intermediate area 13 which is an intermediate section, followed by a second transfer area 14 which is a second placement section, followed by an optional downstream area 15 which is an outfeed section.

[0066] The electronic cards 4 advance along the conveyor 1 in the direction and orientation of travel indicated by the arrow L. Sensors 3 are positioned along the conveyor 1, in particular for monitoring and stopping the electronic cards 4 at any desired location all along the conveyor 1.

[0067] The sensors 3, which are regularly distributed one after another in succession are arranged in the form of a strip 30 of sensors 3.

[0068] FIG. 4 schematically represents a front view of an exemplary transfer machine according to an embodiment of the invention. The direction of travel L of the electronic cards 4 on the conveyor 1 is perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 4. On one side of the conveyor 1 there is a strip of transmitters 31 which is placed on one of the uprights 16 of the conveyor 1, and on the other side of the conveyor 1 there is a strip of receivers 32 which is placed on the other upright 17 of the conveyor 1 and which is mounted facing the strip of transmitters 31. Each sensor 3 of FIG. 3 corresponds to a transmitter 31 and corresponding receiver 32 in FIG. 4.

[0069] Between the uprights 16 and 17 of the conveyor 1 are conveyor belts 18 and 19, respectively placed against the uprights 16 and 17, which support and transport the electronic card 4. The strip of transmitters 31 is located slightly below the level of the conveyor belts 18 and 19 as well as of the electronic card 4. The strip of receivers 32 is located slightly above the level of the conveyor belts 18 and 19 as well as of the electronic card 4.

[0070] The light beams 33, which travel from the transmitters 31 to the receivers 32, are either blocked by the surface of the electronic card 4, thus revealing the presence of an electronic card 4 at that level, or pass through the free space left between them, thus revealing the absence of an electronic card 4 at that level. These optical beams 33 are therefore beams for detecting the presence or absence of electronic cards 4 at their level. Due to the high density of these optical beams 33 because of the high density of the transmitters 31 and receivers 32, the monitoring system knows precisely where the electronic cards 4 are located all along their travel on the conveyor 1.

[0071] FIG. 5 schematically represents a plan view of an exemplary transfer machine according to one embodiment of the invention.

[0072] The strip of transmitters 31 comprises 8 transmitters E1 to E8, respectively placed opposite the receivers R1 to R8 of the strip of receivers 32. The dashed lines represent the light beams 33 which are blocked by each electronic card passing through the space between the transmitters E1 to E8 and the receivers R1 to R8, which is also the space between the conveyor belts 18 and 19.

[0073] In a first optional embodiment, the transmitters E1 to E8 are all laser light sources. In this case, since the light of the light beams 33 is perfectly collimated, each light beam 33 illuminates only the receiver, for example R4, corresponding to the transmitter, for example E4, which emitted it. All transmitters E1 to E8 can operate simultaneously and emit light continuously.

[0074] In a second embodiment which is preferred as it is less expensive than the first optional embodiment previously described, the transmitters E1 to E8 are all non-collimated light sources. In this case, since the light from the light beams 33 is not collimated, not only does each light beam 33 illuminate the receiver, for example R4, corresponding to the transmitter, for example E4, which emitted it, but also the neighboring receivers, for example at least receivers R3 and R5, possibly also receivers R2 and R6.

[0075] One solution to eliminate this disadvantage of optical pollution on neighboring receivers consists of turning on only one transmitter at a time, for example transmitter E4, so that only the corresponding receiver, for example receiver R4 , is illuminated by the light beam 33 emitted by transmitter E4, the received signal then being measured only at receiver R4. Next, only the paired transmitter E5 and receiver R5 will be activated, and so on. The use of relatively simple optoelectronic components makes it possible to carry out a rapid sweep activation of all transmitter/receiver pairs, namely, in succession, E1/R1, E2/R2, E3/R3, E4/R4, E5/R5, E6/R6, E7/R7, E8/R8, again E1/R1, and so on.

[0076] In a preferred embodiment, one side of the conveyor 1 is adjustable to accommodate varying widths of electronic cards 4, for example the upright 16 supporting conveyor belt 18. This adjustment, which consists of moving conveyor belt 18 closer to or further from conveyor belt 19, is represented by arrow F.

[0077] As a result, the distance between the transmitters 31 and receivers 32 is highly variable, which significantly affects the signal received by each receiver 32. An algorithm makes it possible to compensate for this variation by using the receiver or receivers 32 which receive the most signal as a reference, meaning those which do not have an electronic card in their field. Similarly, an initial calibration can compensate for variations in sensitivity between the various receivers 32 and between the differences in output from the transmitters 31.

[0078] In an optional embodiment, it is possible to know the position of the motors operating the conveyor belts 18 and 19, in particular if the motors are provided with position or speed sensors which then allow deducing the position by integration, or if the motors are stepper motors. When this motor position information is then combined with the information from the optical sensors 3, the position of each electronic card 4 along the conveyor 1 can then be estimated, again with both a high degree of confidence and a greater accuracy.

[0079] Of course, the invention is not limited to the examples and the embodiment described and shown, but is suitable for numerous variants accessible to those skilled in the art.