JPH0148357B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an automatic plating apparatus for printed wiring boards that can plate printed wiring boards without requiring manual labor.

Conventionally, printed circuit boards were plated by hand by suspending and supporting one end of each board from the grip of a hanger, and then transporting the board to a plating tank for plating. There are problems in that it is time-consuming and requires many workers to attach to the gripping tool, resulting in extremely inefficiency and increased costs.

The present invention was completed with the aim of solving the above-mentioned problems and providing an automatic plating apparatus for printed wiring boards that can efficiently process a large number of boards without requiring human labor. Examples will be described in detail.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a transfer device equipped with a pusher 3 that receives printed wiring boards before being plated that are intermittently fed flat by a relay conveyor 2; A feed screw 6 that is rotated in forward and reverse directions by an attached motor 5;
A hanger 7 that is screwed together to move forward and backward, a lifting platform 10 that is attached to a piston rod 9 of a cylinder 8 attached to the hanger 7 and moves up and down, and a pedestal 18 that is suspended from the lifting platform 10. It is what it is. Further, the pusher 3 is attached to a lifting platform 10, and its pusher plate 11 is moved forward and backward in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the feed screw 6 by the operation of a cylinder 12. 13 is a roller device for feeding the substrate;
rollers are attached to a roller shaft 14, and gaps are provided between each roller. Further, a chain wheel 15 is attached to one end of the roller shaft 14, and the chain wheel 15 is driven by a chain 16 that is wound around a driving chain wheel and a driven chain wheel 15' of a motor 17 attached to the frame 4. The roller devices 13 are rotated in the same direction. Moreover, the pedestal 18 vertically installed on the lifting platform 10 of the hanger 7 is 3
plate-shaped stopper 18', and the stopper 1
8' and rotatably supports the small roller 19.
8' and the roller shaft 20 are 3 of the roller device 13.
It is located in the gap between the rollers. Reference numeral 21 denotes a transfer device that is disposed in parallel with the transfer device and is movable up and down to sequentially load and accommodate printed wiring boards pushed out by the pusher 3 into a storage box.
In the storage box 22 placed on the pedestals 30 and 30' of the storage box 22, a multi-stage shelf rod 23 for receiving the board I is stretched. The size is such that it can be extended outside. Also,
The pedestals 30, 30' of the transfer device 21 are moved up and down along the guide rails of the stands 34, 34 by threaded rods 31, 31 rotated by a motor 35, and the storage boxes 22 on the pedestals 30, 30' are moved up and down. It moves up and down by the distance between the shelves. 33 is the other threaded rod 31
This is an interlocking rod for transmitting the rotation of the motor 35 to the motor 35. 27 is a carrier, and the carrier 2
Reference numeral 7 denotes a reversing device 29 for holding and inverting the storage box 22 by 90 degrees, and a lifting device 2 for lifting and lowering the storage box 22.
6 and storage box 2 containing the board 1.
2 is raised, reversed, and then transferred to an automatic sizing conveyance device 37, which will be described later. Reference numeral 36 denotes a mounting table provided adjacent to the transfer device 21 to place the storage box 22 as necessary, and 37 an automatic sizing transfer device provided adjacent to the mounting table 36. The storage box 22 after being inverted and transported by the carrier 27 is transported by the storage box 22.
a base plate 38 with a locking pawl 39 on which the board is placed, and an engaging tooth portion 40 that engages with and disengages from the locking pawl 39 and has a pitch equal to the spacing between the many substrates accommodated in the storage box 22. The feed rod 41 with the
a cylinder 43 that is mounted on a base plate 42 that pivotally supports the feed rod 41 and moves the feed rod 41 forward and backward;
A piston rod 49 is attached to a bracket 48 of a base plate 47 provided with a guide 46 for guiding the base plate 47, and a cylinder 50 moves the base plate 47 forward and backward. It is a cylinder in which a piston rod is pivotally attached to the base end of a link 44 whose distal end is attached to the end of a feed rod 41 in order to remove the piston rod. This cylinder 52 is for intervening the upper end portion of the substrate 1 between the open movable piece and the fixed piece of a gripping tool 61, which will be described later. 54 is a guide rail provided on the fixed base 53 to guide the board 47;
Reference numeral 56 denotes a racking device provided adjacent to the automatic sizing conveyance device 37, and this racking device 56 includes a link 64 that presses a fixed piece of a gripper 61 made of a conductive material provided on a hanger 60 made of a conductive material.
and a cylinder 63' that pivots a link 64' that presses the proximal part of the movable piece of the gripping tool 61. Both cylinders 6
3, 63', the link 64 pivots when actuated;
64', the tip of the movable piece which is in pressure contact with the tip of the fixed piece by the elastic force of the spring 62 is opened against the elastic force of the spring 62. It is possible to simultaneously grasp or release one row of printed wiring boards, which are housed in large numbers. Reference numerals 65 and 65' are spindles for pivotally supporting the links 64 and 64' on the frame 59. Reference numeral 69 is a processing tank for plating printed wiring boards, and this processing tank 69 is used for degreasing and plating. There are 70 rows of treatment tanks for washing, plating, etc.
1 is a transport machine that transports a hanger 60 holding a substrate I to a processing tank 69, and a hanging fitting 72 for suspending the hanger 60 provided with a gripping tool 61 is attached to the transport machine 70 so as to be movable up and down. 75 is an upper and lower rack 7 attached to the lower surface of the base plate 38 and the upper surface of the base plate 42.
4,74' and a pinion that meshes with this.

With this configuration, when one board for printed wiring is sent flat by the relay conveyor 2 to the transfer device 1, the roller device 13 of the transfer device 1 is moved by the motor 17. Since the printed wiring board I is in a rotating state via the chain 16, the printed wiring board I sent onto the roller device 13 moves to the left in FIG.
It comes into contact with the plate surface of the stopper 18' of No. 8 and stops.
When this happens, the cylinder 8 of the hanger 7 is activated to raise the lifting platform 10 so that the board for printed wiring is received on the roller shaft 20 of the pedestal 18, and the pedestal 18 is placed on a predetermined shelf of the storage box 22. move to position. And cylinder 1 of pusher 3
2 to advance the pusher plate 11 of the pusher 3, the printed wiring board 1 received by the small roller 19 of the roller shaft 20 is pushed out toward the storage box 22 on the transfer device 21. It turns out. When the extrusion of the printed wiring board A is completed in this way, the motor 5 is activated, the feed screw 6 is rotated, and the hanger 7 is rotated.
is sent to the right by the length of the board width of the board A, and moves the pedestal 18 to the right, and the hanger 7
cylinder 8 to lower it to the old position. After that, the next board on relay conveyor 2 is transferred to transfer device 1.
It is moved onto the roller device 13 and stopped in contact with the plate surface of the stopper 18' of the pedestal 18 as described above.
Thereafter, the same operation as described above is repeated, and a large number of substrates are stored in a horizontal alignment on a predetermined shelf of the storage box 22 on the transfer device 21 installed in parallel with the transfer device 1. Ru. After the printed wiring board I is stored in the first shelf in this way, the motor 35 is activated, the threaded rods 31 rotate, and the storage box 22 is raised by the distance between the shelves and then stopped. , at the same time motor 5
By the reverse operation of the feed screw 6, the pedestal 18 of the hanger 7 is returned to the initial position at the left end in FIG. 3 and stopped. Then, the substrates on the relay conveyor 2 are transferred onto the roller device 13 of the transfer device 1, and from then on, the same operation as described above is repeated, and a large number of substrates are placed on the second shelf of the storage box 22. 2 are arranged and accommodated in sequence. Thereafter, the storage box 22 is raised one stage from the third shelf to the final shelf by the operation of the motor 35, and the large number of substrates are arranged horizontally on all the shelves of the storage box 22. be accommodated. In this state, the storage box 22 is held by the carrier 27, raised, and then reversed 90 degrees counterclockwise by the reversing device 29, so that the substrates in the storage box 22 are brought into an upright state, and the substrates are placed in the automatic sizing transfer device 37. It is moved directly above the base plate 38. Then, the storage box 22 is placed on the base plate 38 , and then the carrier 27 reaches directly above the mounting table 36 and stops, and the empty storage box 22 on the mounting table 36 is stopped.
2 and move it directly above the transfer device 21,
The storage box 22 is placed on the pedestals 30, 30'. On the other hand, the storage box 22 containing the printed wiring board in the upright state is placed on the base plate 38 of the automatic sizing transfer device 37.
When it is moved up, the cylinder 50 is actuated and the base plate 3
The substrate 8 and the base 47 have been moved to the racking device 56 side and are standing upright on the first shelf in the storage box 22, and the hanger 60 is suspended from the carrier 70
It comes to be located directly below the gripping tool 60 provided in the. Therefore, the two cylinders 63 and 63' of the latching device 56 are operated to open the links 64 and 6.
When the tip of 4' is pressed against the fixed piece and the movable piece of the gripper 61 made of a conductive material, the movable piece of the gripper 61 is opened. Then, automatic sizing conveyance device 3
The cylinder 52 of 7 is operated to raise the table plate 38 together with the base plate 42, the upper end of the printed wiring board is inserted between the opened gripping tools 61, and the cylinders 63 and 63' of the racking device 56 are reversed. When actuated, the movable piece of the gripping tool 61 is closed by the elastic force of the spring 62, and the printed wiring board stored in the first stage of the storage box 22 is gripped by the gripping tool 61. When the gripper 61 grips the upper end of the printed wiring board in this way, the carrier 7
0 is lifted, the gripping tool 61 which is provided on the hanger 60 made of a conductive material and is suspended from the hanging metal fitting 72 and grips the substrate I is removed from the racking device 56, and the conveyor 70 is moved. Then, the board A for printed wiring is transferred to the upper part of the processing tank 69 for the next process, and the hanging fitting 72 is lowered above the processing tank 69, and the board I suspended via the hanger 60 is subjected to a degreasing process. Put it in tank 69. When the degreasing is completed, the hanging fitting 72 is raised to lift the substrate 1 out of the processing tank 69. Then, the carrier 70 is moved again, the hanging fitting 72 is lowered, and the substrate is placed in the processing tank 69 for washing with water. After the washing is completed, the substrate A is lifted out of the processing tank 69 in the same manner as described above and placed in the processing tank 69 for the next step of plating, and the hanger 60 made of a conductive material is connected to the current terminal provided in the processing tank 69. If you turn off the power and turn on the hanger 6
The gripping tool 61 made of a conductive material attached to the substrate 1 is also energized, and the printed wiring board 1 is plated. While the substrate I is being transported to the processing tank 69, the feed rod 41 is rotated by the operation of the cylinder 45, and when the engagement teeth 40 that are engaged with the locking claws 39 are disengaged, the feed The rod 41 is the cylinder 43
As a result of this operation, the engagement tooth portion 40 is retracted by one pitch of the tooth profile. Then, by reverse operation of the cylinder 45, the locking pawl 39 is engaged with the engaging tooth portion 40 of the next tooth profile. In this state, if the cylinder 43 is operated again to advance the feed rod 41 by one pitch of the tooth profile, the base plate 38 will move forward by one pitch of the tooth profile, and the storage box 22 on the base plate 38 will move one pitch of the tooth profile. In other words, the second shelf in the storage box 22 moves forward by the distance between the substrates A for printed wiring.
Since the conveyor 70 that has returned from the 9 side comes to a stop immediately below the gripper 61 attached to the hanger 60 suspended from the hanger 72, the same action as described above is repeated and the storage is carried out. The printed wiring boards on all the shelves in the box 22 are sequentially gripped by the gripper 61, and are sequentially transported to the processing tank 69 by the transporter 70, where they are plated. When the board in the storage box 22 becomes empty, the base plate 38 is returned to the initial position where the locking pawl 39 engages with the base end of the engagement teeth 40 of the feed rod 41, and the base plate 38 and the substrate 47 are returned to their old positions by the operation of the cylinder 50. Then, the storage box 22 in which the board A for printed wiring is emptied is placed in the carrier 2.
7, if necessary, it is transferred to the transfer device 21 by the carrier 27 after being transferred onto the mounting table 36 or inverted by the reversing device 29,
The boards for printed wiring are stored in each shelf in the storage box 22 in a horizontal state again as in the first state described above. In addition, the board 1 is stored in the storage box 22, the storage box 22 is inverted, the board 1 is transported to the automatic sizing transfer device 37, and then the board 1 in the storage box 22 is held by the gripper 61, and the gripper 61 is The transfer of the attached hanger 60 to the processing tank 69 by the transfer machine 70 is automatically controlled according to a program using a computer, and the operation can be performed unmanned.

As is clear from the above description, the present invention is directed to pushing out a printed wiring board conveyed by a conveyor using a transfer device with a pusher and storing it horizontally in a storage box. The board is flipped 90 degrees for each storage box using a reversing device, and the board for printed wiring in the flipped storage box is made to stand upright, and its upper end is gripped by a gripper provided on the hanger to remove the board from the hanger. Since the printed wiring boards are transported to the processing tank by a conveyor, it is possible to reliably arrange the printed wiring boards in a single storage box in an orderly manner.Furthermore, by reversing the printed wiring boards in each storage box, The hanger and the gripping tool are made of conductive material, so by holding the hanger upright, it is easy to grip the printed wiring board in the plating bath. This allows plating to be carried out while being held in the hand, and has various advantages such as significant labor savings compared to conventional equipment, as well as the ability to process large quantities in a short period of time, resulting in significant cost reductions.

Therefore, the present invention is an automatic plating apparatus for printed wiring boards that solves the problems associated with the conventional automatic plating of printed wiring boards. It has a huge impact on the industry.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway side view showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway plan view, FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway front view of the transfer device, and FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway front view of the transfer device. 5 is a partially cutaway front view of the transfer device, FIG. 6 is a side view, FIG. 7 is a partially cutaway side view of the automatic sizing transfer device, and FIG. 8 is a partially cutaway side view of the automatic sizing transfer device. FIG. 9 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the hanger, and FIG. 10 is a partially cutaway side view of the racking device. 1: Transfer device, 2: Conveyor, 3: Pusher, 22: Storage box, 29: Reversing device, 60: Hanger, 61: Grip tool, 69: Processing tank, 70: Conveyor.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A conveyor 2 for plane-feeding substrates to be plated, and a pusher 3 located at the tip of the conveyor 2 for stopping the substrates being sent by the conveyor 2 and pushing the substrates into the storage box 22. A storage box 22 containing a printed wiring board pushed out horizontally by a transfer device 1 and a pusher 3.
A reversing device 29 for reversing 90 degrees, a hanger 60 equipped with a gripper 61 made of a conductive material that grips the substrate protruding from the upper end opening of the inverted storage box 22, and the hanger 60 are sequentially placed in the processing tank 69. An automatic plating apparatus for printed wiring boards, characterized by being equipped with a transporting machine 70 for transporting.