Component placement machine

• US 6,282,777 B1
• Filed: 12/22/1999
• Issued: 09/04/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 12/29/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Assembleon B.V.
• Original Assignee: US Philips Corporation (Koninklijke Philips N.V.)
• Inventors: Van De Rijdt, Johannes Hubertus Antonius
• Primary Examiner(s): Shoap, Allan N.
• Assistant Examiner(s): TRINH, MINH N
• Application Number:
  US09/469,329
• Time in Patent Office: 622 Days
• Field of Search: 297/40, 297/59, 297/41, 298/33, 298/46, 297/43, 297/42, 414/730, 414/728, 198/817, 198/346.1, 198/346.2, 198/586
• US Class Current: 29/740
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 13/0406 Drive mechanisms for pick-and-place heads, e.g. details relating to power transmission, motors or vibration damping
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/53178 Chip component
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/53183 Multilead component
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/53191 Means to apply vacuum directly to position or hold work part
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/53261 Means to align and advance work part

Abstract

In a component placement machine, a placement head (4) is driven by a linear motor (5). The stationary part (7) of the motor is attached to the machine frame (1) on which a PCB (8) is attached. The movable part (6) of the motor is connected to a slide (2) on which the placement head (4) is attached. During driving the placement head, reactive forces of the motor generate vibrations in the stationary part (7) of the motor and thus in the machine frame (20). This causes inaccuracies during the placement of components (9) on the PCB (8). To diminish this problem, the reactive forces are intercepted in a separate force frame (10) which is dynamically disconnected from the machine frame (1).

Claims

1. A component placement machine comprising

a machine frame (1, 20) over which printed circuit boards (8, 38) can be transported and on which the printed circuit boards can be fixed, which machine frame (1, 20) is provided with a guide member (3, 21) along which a slide (2, 22) can be moved,

a placement head (4, 36) for placing components (9, 37) on the printed circuit boards, which placement head is coupled to the slide,

a linear motor (5, 31) for driving the slide (2, 22) along the guide member (3, 21) in a drive direction (P, Y), which motor has a stationary part (7, 25) and a movable part (6, 24), which movable part is connected to the slide,

characterized in that the stationary part (7, 25) of the motor (5, 33) is attached to a force frame (10, 27) which is dynamically disconnected with respect to the machine frame (1, 20, characterized in that the force frame (10, 27) is dynamically disconnected with respect to the machine frame (1, 20), only in the drive direction (P, Y) of the slide (2, 22), and further characterized in that the force frame (10, 27) is dynamically disconnected with respect to the machine frame (1, 20), only in the drive direction (P, Y) of the slide (2, 22), and further characterized in that the force frame (10, 27) is coupled to the machine frame by means of leaf springs (11, 26) in such a manner that the leaf springs (11, 26) exhibit a small rigidity in the drive direction (P, Y) of the slide (2, 22) and a great rigidity in the other directions.

2. A component placement machine comprising:

a machine frame (1, 20) over which printed circuit boards (8, 38) can be transported and on which the printed circuit boards can be fixed, which machine frame (1, 20) is provided with a guide member (3, 21) along which a slide (2, 22) can be moved,

a placement head (4, 36) for placing components (9, 37) on the printed circuit boards, which placement head is coupled to the slide,

a linear motor (5, 31) for driving the slide (2, 22) along the guide member (3, 21) in a drive direction (P, Y), which motor has a stationary part (7, 25) and a movable part (6, 24), which movable part is connected to the slide,

characterized in that the stationary part (7, 25) of the motor (5, 33) is attached to a force frame (10, 27) which is dynamically disconnected with respect to the machine frame (1, 20), characterized in that a second slide (31) is present on which the placement head (36) is attached and which can be driven along an X-guide member (21) of the first slide (22) in a second drive direction (X) at right angles to the first drive direction (Y) of the first slide by means of a second linear motor (32), a movable part (33) of which is connected to the second slide (31), and a stationary part (34) of which is dynamically disconnected with respect to the first slide (22), characterized in that the stationary part (34) is dynamically disconnected with respect to the first slide (22) only in the drive direction (X) of the second slide (31), characterized in that the stationary part (34) of the second linear motor (32) is coupled to the first slide (22) by means of leaf springs (35), in such a manner that the leaf springs (35) have a small rigidity in the drive direction (X) of the second slide (31) and a large rigidity in the other directions.

3. A component placement machine comprising:

a machine frame (1, 20) over which printed circuit boards (8, 38) can be transported and on which the printed circuit boards can be fixed, which machine frame (1, 20) is provided with a guide member (3, 21) along which a slide (2, 22) can be moved,

a placement head (4, 36) for placing components (9, 37) on the printed circuit boards, which placement head is coupled to the slide,

a linear motor (5, 31) for driving the slide (2, 22) along the guide member (3, 21) in a drive direction (P, Y), which motor has a stationary part (7, 25) and a movable part (6, 24), which movable part is connected to the slide,

characterized in that the stationary part (7, 25) of the motor (5, 33) is attached to a force frame (10, 27) which is dynamically disconnected with respect to the machine frame (1, 20), characterized in that a second slide (31) is present on which the placement head (36) is attached and which can be driven along an X-guide member (21) of the first slide (22) in a second drive direction (X) at right angles to the first drive direction (Y) of the first slide by means of a second linear motor (32), a movable part (33) of which is connected to the second slide (31), and a stationary part (34) of which is dynamically disconnected with respect to the first slide (22), characterized in that a third slide (40) is present which can move along a guide member (39) of the force frame (27) in a direction parallel to the direction of movement (X) of the first slide (22), the first and the third slide being interconnected by means of the X-guide member (29), said third slide (40) being drivable by means of a third linear motor (41) the stationary part (43) of which is secured to the force frame (27), and the connection between the third slide (40) and the X-guide member (29) having a small rigidity in the direction of movement (X) of the second slide (22), and further characterized in that the connection between the third slide (40) and the X-guide member (29) is formed by a leaf spring (44) having a low rigidity in the X-direction and a high rigidity in the Y-direction.