When mounting electronic components onto a printed circuit board unit, devices such as a mounter (mounting apparatus) and a reflow apparatus are used. Generally, in manufacturing line, a mounter mounts electronic components on a printed circuit board. After mounting the components on the printed circuit board, a reflow apparatus fixes the electronic components mounted on the printed circuit board using solder. In the manufacturing line, an amount of printed circuit board units that can be manufactured is determined depending on a mounter.
An example of processing by a mounter is described below. FIG. 19 illustrates a process in which a mounter mounts electronic components to a printed circuit board. As illustrated in FIG. 19, the mounter removes an electronic component 903 from a loading location 902 using a suction head 901 and mounts the electronic component 903 on a certain location of a printed circuit board 904. An operator loads electronic components to be mounted on a printed circuit board on the mounter before starting the manufacture of printed circuit board units. As illustrated in FIG. 19, two or more loading points in which an address is set is provided on the mounter, and the operator loads the electronic components on each of the loading points.
An operation in which an operator loads electronic components on a mounter by arranging the electronic components is described below. Description is provided for an example in which, using a mounter, a printed circuit board unit in which electronic components “a, b, c, d, e” are mounted thereon is manufactured in a plan A and, after that, a printed circuit board unit in which electronic components “h, i, b, k” are mounted is manufactured in a plan B. With reference to a list indicating electronic components to be used for plan A and plan B, the operator collects the electronic components stored in a warehouse and delivers the electronic components to a manufacturing site. The operator combines the delivered electronic component with a jig and stores the jig in a standby space because delivered electronic component has to be combined with a jig and for loading on the mounter. In addition, the operator repeats the operation to combine electronic components with a jig until the electronic components used for plan A and plan B are prepared, and stores the electronic components combined with the jig per plan unit.
After that, the operator loads electronic components for plan A on a mounter. In FIG. 19, the operator loads the electronic components on fixed loading points “1, 2, 3, 4, 5” of the mounter in order of electronic components “a, b, c, d, e”, respectively. That is, the operator loads the electronic components “a” on a loading point having the address “1” and loads the electronic components “b” on a loading point having the address “2”. In addition, the operator loads the electronic components “c” on an loading point having the address “3”, loads the electronic components “d” on an loading point having the address “4”, and loads the electronic components “e” on an loading point having the address “5”. Such arrangement is referred to as a “fixed arrangement” in which a combination of a loading point on the mounter and electronic components is uniquely determined for each plan.
After that, when starting manufacturing of printed circuit board based on plan B, the operator performs changeover operations to load electronic components used for plan B on specific loading points on the mounter. The operator generally removes all electronic components for a first plan loaded on the mounter and loads electronic components for a second plan that are combined with a jig, on the mounter each time the changeover operations are performed.
In changeover operations, the same type of electronic components for two or more plans may be used in common. For example, as the electronic components “b” are used for plan A and plan B, an operator loads the electronic components “b” that have used for plan A on the mounter after manufacturing of printed circuit board based on plan A is finished because the electronic components “b” are also to be used for plan B. As described above, the electronic components “b” are used in common among two or more plans, thereby reducing workload for the operator and reducing inventories of electronic components.
In addition, a mounter may determine combination of a loading point and electronic components. In such arrangement, combination of a jig and a component is stored in a memory provided on the jig in advance, and a mounter determines the combination of a loading point and an electronic component by reading information stored in the memory when the jig is loaded on the mounter. In addition, the mounter mounts the determined electronic component to an exact position of each printed circuit board. In such arrangement, an operator may load an electronic component on a loading point in the mounter having any address in the mounter. Such arrangement is referred to as an “optional arrangement”, in which a workload for an operator is reduced in comparison with the fixed arrangement.
When electronic components “a, b, c, d, e” are arranged in the optional arrangement, an operator may load each of the electronic components on each of the loading points “1, 2, 3, 4, 5” in order of “a, b, c, d, e”, or may loads each of the electronic components on the loading points “1, 2, 3, 4, 5” in order of “b, a, d, e, c”.
Related arts related to a mounting operation of electronic components are discussed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 10-209681 and Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 10-34459.
However, in the above-described way and others similar ways, problems existing including difficulty to perform changeover operations in which electronic components are loaded and removed on and from a mounting apparatus.
For example, when electronic components are arranged in the fixed arrangement, an operator selects electronic components with reference to the list and then loads the selected electronic components on a mounter. When electronic components to be loaded on a loading point having the address “1” are “a”, the operator selects the electronic components “a” from the groups of electronic components that have already loaded on the mounter in a prior plan or from a standby space, and loads the electronic components “a” on the loading point having the address “1”.
In addition, in the optional arrangement, an operator may loads a electronic component on any loading point of a mounter, and workload for an operator is reduced in comparison with the fixed arrangement. However, an operator needs to search electronic components to be reused each time the changeover operation is performed. For example, when the electronic component “b” is used in common among plan A and plan B, an operator has to search the electronic component “b” because it is difficult for the operator to identify the electronic component “b” based on the loading points of the electronic component. In addition, an operator needs to search electronic components to be removed from a mounter with reference to the list after a manufacturing based on plan A is finished even when the changeover operation is performed in the fixed arrangement or the optional arrangement.
When an operator loads electronic components on a mounter, the operator searches electronic components to be loaded from the electronic components stored in the standby space with reference to the list, one by one. In addition, the operator generally needs to search electronic components to be reused and electronic components to be removed from the mounter, from the electronic components loaded on the mounter with reference to the list after a plan currently being performed. It is difficult for an operator to perform loading and removal of the electronic components on and from the mounter because such changeover operations are complicated.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds