FPC cable loading and unloading device

Abstract

The present invention relates to the technical field of material conveying, and specifically discloses an FPC cable loading and unloading device, which is suitable for moving FPC cables pressed by metal pressing plates in a material tray to a testing device for testing, and sorting the tested FPC cables according to the test results after the test. The FPC cables are flipped twice by a flipping material taking mechanism and a flipping material receiving mechanism, so that the FPC cables can be put back into the material tray with the front side facing up after the test, and the whole loading and unloading operation is mechanized, which is conducive to reducing labor costs and improving production efficiency.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of material conveying, and in particular to an FPC cable loading and unloading device. Background Art

[0002] The FPC cable is divided into the front and back sides, among which the gold finger is generally located on the front side. When the material is received, the FPC cable is generally placed in the material tray with the front side facing up. In order to prevent the FPC cable from being blown away, a metal pressure plate is usually placed above the FPC cable.

[0003] Before use, the FPC cable needs to be electrically tested. The current test operation is as follows:

[0004] ①The tester picks up the metal pressing plate, and then uses the suction head to suck up the FPC cable in the tray (the front of the FPC cable is facing up);

[0005] ②The tester removes the FPC cable from the suction head, and then manually places the FPC cable into the test equipment with the front side facing down;

[0006] ③The testing equipment performs electrical testing on the FPC cable;

[0007] ④After the test is completed, the tester takes out the FPC cable from the test equipment, puts it back into the tray with the front side facing up, and finally puts the metal pressing plate on it to complete the test operation.

[0008] In the above process, the FPC cable is facing up at the beginning, but it has to face down when it is put into the test equipment (so that the gold finger can be electrically connected to the test equipment). After the test is completed, the FPC cable has to be put back into the tray with the front side facing up. This process is very cumbersome, and there is no equipment on the market that can achieve this function, so it can only be done manually. However, manually loading and unloading FPC cables will greatly increase labor costs and have low work efficiency.

[0009] Therefore, it is necessary to develop an FPC cable loading and unloading device to realize the mechanized loading and unloading operation of the FPC cable during electrical testing, thereby reducing labor costs and improving production efficiency.

[0010] The above information disclosed in this Background section is included only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the present disclosure and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is currently known to a person of ordinary skill in the art. Summary of the invention

[0011] An object of the present invention is to provide an FPC cable loading and unloading device, which can realize the mechanized loading and unloading operation of the FPC cable during electrical testing, which is conducive to reducing labor costs and improving production efficiency.

[0012] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides an FPC cable loading and unloading device, comprising a conveyor belt for conveying a tray carrying an FPC cable and a metal pressing plate, wherein a front plate taking mechanism, a flip material taking mechanism, a first transfer mechanism, a flip material receiving mechanism, a transfer mechanism, a second transfer mechanism, a third transfer mechanism, a storage platform and a rear plate taking mechanism are sequentially arranged along the transfer path of the tray:

[0013] The front plate taking mechanism is used to take out the metal pressing plate in the tray and put the metal pressing plate back into the tray after the FPC cable in the tray is taken out;

[0014] The flipping and taking mechanism is used to take out the FPC cable in the tray and flip the FPC cable to a face-down position;

[0015] The first transfer mechanism is used to place the FPC cable on the flipping and picking mechanism into the test equipment with its front side facing down and to place the FPC cable that has passed the test into the flipping and picking mechanism with its front side facing down;

[0016] The flipping and receiving mechanism is used to flip the FPC cable to a front-facing position and then place the FPC cable into the transfer mechanism;

[0017] The second transfer mechanism is used to transfer the material tray together with the metal pressing plate to the storage platform;

[0018] The rear plate taking mechanism is used to take out the metal pressing plate in the tray and put the metal pressing plate back into the tray after the tray is fully loaded with the tested FPC cables;

[0019] The third transfer mechanism is used to place the FPC cable in the transfer mechanism into the tray with the front side facing up.

[0020] Optionally, the front plate-taking mechanism includes a front suction plate, a first linear drive mechanism that drives the front suction plate to move up and down, and a second linear drive mechanism that drives the front suction plate to move forward and backward along the feeding direction of the conveyor belt.

[0021] Optionally, the flipping and retrieving mechanism comprises:

[0022] Two material taking suction plates arranged back to back;

[0023] A first rotary drive mechanism, the first rotary drive mechanism is used to drive the two material taking suction plates to turn up and down around the horizontal axis between the two material taking suction plates;

[0024] The third linear drive mechanism is used to drive the two material taking suction plates to move up and down.

[0025] Optionally, the first transfer mechanism and the third transfer mechanism are robotic arms.

[0026] Optionally, the flipping material receiving mechanism includes:

[0027] Two material receiving suction plates arranged back to back;

[0028] The second rotary drive mechanism is used to drive the two material receiving suction plates to flip up and down around the horizontal axis between the two material receiving suction plates.

[0029] Optionally, the transfer mechanism includes a transfer tool and a fourth linear drive mechanism that drives the transfer tool to move forward and backward along the feeding direction of the conveyor belt;

[0030] The fourth linear drive mechanism drives the intermediate transfer tool to reciprocate between the bottom of the material receiving suction plate and the bottom of the third transfer mechanism.

[0031] Optionally, the second transfer mechanism includes a transfer suction plate, a fifth linear drive mechanism for driving the transfer suction plate to move up and down, and a sixth linear drive mechanism for driving the transfer suction plate to reciprocate between the conveyor belt and the storage platform.

[0032] Optionally, it also includes a defective material box for holding FPC cables that fail the test and a retest material box for holding FPC cables that need to be retested.

[0033] The beneficial effects of the present invention are: providing an FPC cable loading and unloading device, which performs two FPC cable flippings through a flipping material taking mechanism and a flipping material receiving mechanism, so that the FPC cable can be put back into the material tray with the front side facing up after testing, and the whole loading and unloading operation is mechanized, which is beneficial to reducing labor costs and improving production efficiency. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0034] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative labor.

[0035] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the FPC cable loading and unloading device provided in the embodiment.

[0036] In the figure:

[0037] 1. Conveyor belt;

[0038] 2. Front plate taking mechanism; 201. Front suction plate; 202. First linear drive mechanism; 203. Second linear drive mechanism;

[0039] 3. Flipping material taking mechanism; 301. Material taking suction plate; 302. First rotary drive mechanism; 303. Third linear drive mechanism;

[0040] 4. The first transfer agency;

[0041] 5. Flipping material receiving mechanism; 501. Material receiving suction plate; 502. Second rotary driving mechanism;

[0042] 6. Transfer mechanism; 601. Transfer gear; 602. Fourth linear drive mechanism;

[0043] 7. Second transfer mechanism; 701. Transfer suction plate; 702. Fifth linear drive mechanism; 703. Sixth linear drive mechanism;

[0044] 8. Third transfer agency;

[0045] 9. Storage platform;

[0046] 10. Rear plate taking mechanism;

[0047] 11. Defective material box;

[0048] 12. Retest the material box. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0049] In order to make the purpose, features and advantages of the present invention more obvious and easy to understand, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the embodiments described below are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0050] In the description of the present invention, it is to be understood that when a component is considered to be "connected" to another component, it may be directly connected to the other component or there may be a centrally disposed component. When a component is considered to be "disposed on" another component, it may be directly disposed on the other component or there may be a centrally disposed component.

[0051] In addition, terms such as "long", "short", "inside" and "outside" indicating directions or positional relationships are based on the directions or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings and are only used to facilitate the description of the present invention. They do not indicate or imply that the device or component referred to must have this specific direction or operate with a specific direction structure, and should not be understood as a limitation of the present invention.

[0052] The present invention will be described in detail below in conjunction with the specific embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings. However, these embodiments do not limit the present invention, and any structural, methodological, or functional changes made by a person skilled in the art based on these embodiments are all within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0053] The present invention provides an FPC cable loading and unloading device, which is suitable for moving the FPC cables pressed by a metal pressing plate in a material tray to a testing device for testing, and sorting the FPC cables that have completed the test according to the test results after the test. The FPC cables are flipped twice by a flipping material taking mechanism and a flipping material receiving mechanism, so that the FPC cables can be put back into the material tray with the front side facing up after the test. The whole loading and unloading operation is mechanized, which is beneficial to reducing labor costs and improving production efficiency.

[0054] See also Figure 1 In this embodiment, the FPC cable loading and unloading device includes a conveyor belt 1 for conveying a material tray, wherein the material tray contains an FPC cable facing upward and a metal pressing plate for pressing the FPC cable.

[0055] Furthermore, along the transfer path of the material tray, a front plate taking mechanism 2, a flip material taking mechanism 3, a first transfer mechanism 4, a flip material receiving mechanism 5, a transfer mechanism 6, a second transfer mechanism 7, a third transfer mechanism 8, a storage platform 9 and a rear plate taking mechanism 10 are sequentially provided.

[0056] Optionally, the FPC cable loading and unloading device further includes a defective material box 11 for containing FPC cables that fail the test and a retest material box 12 for containing FPC cables to be retested.

[0057] in:

[0058] The front plate taking mechanism 2 is used to take out the metal pressing plate in the tray and put the metal pressing plate back into the tray after the FPC cable in the tray is taken out;

[0059] The flipping and taking mechanism 3 is used to take out the FPC cable in the tray and flip the FPC cable to a face-down position;

[0060] The first transfer mechanism 4 is used to place the FPC cable on the flip material taking mechanism 3 into the test equipment with its front side facing down, and then place the FPC cable that has passed the test into the flip material receiving mechanism 5 with its front side facing down, place the FPC cable that failed the test into the defective material box 11, and place the FPC cable that needs to be retested into the retest material box 12;

[0061] The flipping and receiving mechanism 5 is used to flip the FPC cable to a front-facing position and then place the FPC cable into the transfer mechanism 6;

[0062] The second transfer mechanism 7 is used to transfer the material tray together with the metal pressing plate to the storage platform 9;

[0063] The rear plate taking mechanism 10 is used to take out the metal pressing plate in the tray and put the metal pressing plate back into the tray after the tray is fully loaded with the tested FPC cables;

[0064] The third transfer mechanism 8 is used to place the FPC cable in the transfer mechanism 6 into the tray with the front side facing upward.

[0065] Optionally, the front plate removal mechanism 2 includes a front suction plate 201, a first linear drive mechanism 202 for driving the front suction plate 201 to move up and down, and a second linear drive mechanism 203 for driving the front suction plate 201 to move forward and backward along the feeding direction of the conveyor belt 1.

[0066] In this embodiment, the structure of the rear plate taking mechanism 10 is the same as that of the front plate taking mechanism 2, so the structure of the rear plate taking mechanism 10 is not described in detail.

[0067] Optionally, the flipping material taking mechanism 3 comprises two material taking suction plates 301 arranged opposite to each other, a first rotating driving mechanism 302 and a third linear driving mechanism 303. The first rotating driving mechanism 302 is used to drive the two material taking suction plates 301 to flip up and down around the horizontal axis between the two material taking suction plates 301; the third linear driving mechanism 303 is used to drive the two material taking suction plates 301 to move up and down.

[0068] Optionally, the first transfer mechanism 4 and the third transfer mechanism 8 are robotic arms, and further, the first transfer mechanism 4 and the third transfer mechanism 8 are six-axis robotic arms.

[0069] In this embodiment, the flip material receiving mechanism 5 comprises two material receiving suction plates 501 disposed opposite to each other and a second rotation driving mechanism 502. The second rotation driving mechanism 502 is used to drive the two material receiving suction plates 501 to flip up and down around the horizontal axis between the two material receiving suction plates 501.

[0070] Furthermore, the transfer mechanism 6 includes a transfer conveyor 601 and a fourth linear drive mechanism 602 that drives the transfer conveyor 601 to move back and forth along the feeding direction of the conveyor belt 1; wherein the fourth linear drive mechanism 602 drives the transfer conveyor 601 to reciprocate between below the material receiving suction plate 501 and below the third transfer mechanism 8.

[0071] Optionally, the second transfer mechanism 7 includes a transfer suction plate 701, a fifth linear drive mechanism 702 for driving the transfer suction plate 701 to move up and down, and a sixth linear drive mechanism 703 for driving the transfer suction plate 701 to reciprocate between the conveyor belt 1 and the storage platform 9.

[0072] In this embodiment, each of the linear drive mechanisms can be a telescopic cylinder, a rodless cylinder, an electric cylinder or a motor screw sliding assembly, etc.; each of the rotary drive mechanisms can be a brushed motor, a brushless motor or a rotary cylinder, etc.; specifically, the specific structures of the linear drive mechanism, rotary drive mechanism, testing equipment and robotic arm are not the focus of the present invention, so they are not elaborated in this embodiment.

[0073] The FPC cable loading and unloading device provided in this embodiment has the following working process:

[0074] S10: The conveyor belt 1 transports the material tray to the bottom of the material taking suction plate 301, and the second linear drive mechanism 203 extends to make the front suction plate 201 extend forward to the bottom of the material taking suction plate 301 and align with the metal pressure plate in the material tray;

[0075] Next, the first linear drive mechanism 202 extends to drive the front suction plate 201 to move downward and suck the metal pressing plate; finally, the first linear drive mechanism 202 and the second linear drive mechanism 203 retract in sequence to move the metal pressing plate away from the material tray;

[0076] At this point, the FPC cable in the tray is exposed and facing upwards;

[0077] S20: The third linear drive mechanism 303 drives the two material taking suction plates 301 to move downward at the same time, and the material taking suction plate 301 located at the bottom moves downward and sucks the FPC cable in the material tray;

[0078] Next, the first rotary drive mechanism 302 drives the two material taking suction plates 301 to rotate, so that the material taking suction plate 301 originally at the bottom turns to be at the top, and the FPC cable originally facing up turns to face up with its back side;

[0079] It should be noted that the material taking suction plate 301 originally located at the upper side is turned to be located at the lower side for the next material taking operation;

[0080] S30: After the flipping and picking mechanism 3 takes the FPC cable out of the tray:

[0081] S301: On the one hand, the first transfer mechanism 4 sucks the back of the FPC cable from top to bottom, and then puts the FPC cable into the test equipment from top to bottom. After the test is completed:

[0082] If the test result is unqualified, the first transfer mechanism 4 puts the FPC cable into the defective material box 11;

[0083] If the test result indicates that retesting is required, the first transfer mechanism 4 puts the FPC cable into the retesting material box 12;

[0084] If the test result is qualified, the first transfer mechanism 4 places the FPC cable on the material receiving suction plate 501 located above;

[0085] S302: On the other hand, the front plate taking mechanism 2 puts the metal pressing plate back into the material box, and the conveyor belt 1 directly transports the material tray carrying only the metal pressing plate downstream to the bottom of the second transfer mechanism 7;

[0086] The fifth linear drive mechanism 702 drives the transfer suction plate 701 to suck the material tray downward, and then the fifth linear drive mechanism 702 retracts, and the sixth linear drive mechanism 703 operates to transfer the material tray and the metal pressure plate to the storage platform 9;

[0087] Next, the rear plate taking mechanism 10 is activated to take out the metal pressing plate in the material tray on the storage platform 9;

[0088] S40: The second rotation driving mechanism 502 drives the two material receiving suction plates 501 to turn up and down around the horizontal axis between the two material receiving suction plates 501, so that the material receiving suction plate 501 originally on the upper side turns to be on the lower side, and the FPC cable originally facing upward with its back side facing upward becomes facing upward with its front side facing upward;

[0089] It should be noted that the material receiving suction plate 501 originally at the bottom is turned to be at the top, waiting for the next material receiving operation;

[0090] S50: The fourth linear drive mechanism 602 extends to drive the intermediate transfer jig 601 to move to the bottom of the FPC cable. Then, the material receiving suction plate 501 below breaks the vacuum to release the FPC cable, and the FPC cable falls on the intermediate transfer jig 601 with the front side facing up.

[0091] The fourth linear drive mechanism 602 retracts, driving the intermediate transfer tool 601 to move below the third transfer mechanism 8;

[0092] S60: The third transfer mechanism 8 sucks up the FPC cable on the intermediate transfer jig 601 and transfers it to the tray of the storage platform 9. After the tray is fully loaded, the rear plate-taking mechanism 10 puts the metal pressing plate back into the tray to press the FPC cable that has passed the test.

[0093] It should be understood that although this specification is described according to implementation modes, not every implementation mode contains only one independent technical solution. This description of the specification is only for the sake of clarity. Those skilled in the art should regard the specification as a whole. The technical solutions in each implementation mode may also be appropriately combined to form other implementation modes that can be understood by those skilled in the art.

[0094] The series of detailed descriptions listed above are only specific descriptions of feasible implementation methods of the present invention. They are not intended to limit the scope of protection of the present invention. Any equivalent implementation methods or changes that do not deviate from the technical spirit of the present invention should be included in the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. An FPC cable loading and unloading device, characterized in that: It includes a conveyor belt for conveying a tray carrying an FPC cable and a metal pressing plate, wherein a front plate taking mechanism, a flip material taking mechanism, a first transfer mechanism, a flip material receiving mechanism, a transfer mechanism, a second transfer mechanism, a third transfer mechanism, a storage platform and a rear plate taking mechanism are sequentially arranged along the transfer path of the tray: The front plate taking mechanism is used to take out the metal pressing plate in the tray and put the metal pressing plate back into the tray after the FPC cable in the tray is taken out; The flipping and taking mechanism is used to take out the FPC cable in the tray and flip the FPC cable to a face-down position; The first transfer mechanism is used to place the FPC cable on the flipping and picking mechanism into the test equipment with its front side facing down and to place the FPC cable that has passed the test into the flipping and picking mechanism with its front side facing down; The flipping and receiving mechanism is used to flip the FPC cable to a front-facing position and then place the FPC cable into the transfer mechanism; The second transfer mechanism is used to transfer the material tray together with the metal pressing plate to the storage platform; The rear plate taking mechanism is used to take out the metal pressing plate in the tray and put the metal pressing plate back into the tray after the tray is fully loaded with the tested FPC cables; The third transfer mechanism is used to place the FPC cable in the transfer mechanism into the tray with the front side facing upward.

2. The FPC cable loading and unloading device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The front plate-taking mechanism includes a front suction plate, a first linear drive mechanism driving the front suction plate to move up and down, and a second linear drive mechanism driving the front suction plate to move forward and backward along the feeding direction of the conveyor belt.

3. The FPC cable loading and unloading device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The overturning and retrieving mechanism comprises: Two material taking suction plates arranged back to back; A first rotary drive mechanism, the first rotary drive mechanism is used to drive the two material taking suction plates to turn up and down around the horizontal axis between the two material taking suction plates; The third linear drive mechanism is used to drive the two material taking suction plates to move up and down.

4. The FPC cable loading and unloading device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first transfer mechanism and the third transfer mechanism are robotic arms.

5. The FPC cable loading and unloading device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The overturning material receiving mechanism comprises: Two material receiving suction plates arranged back to back; The second rotary drive mechanism is used to drive the two material receiving suction plates to flip up and down around the horizontal axis between the two material receiving suction plates.

6. The FPC cable loading and unloading device according to claim 5, characterized in that: The transfer mechanism includes a transfer tool and a fourth linear drive mechanism that drives the transfer tool to move forward and backward along the feeding direction of the conveyor belt; The fourth linear drive mechanism drives the intermediate transfer tool to reciprocate between the bottom of the material receiving suction plate and the bottom of the third transfer mechanism.

7. The FPC cable loading and unloading device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The second transfer mechanism includes a transfer suction plate, a fifth linear drive mechanism for driving the transfer suction plate to move up and down, and a sixth linear drive mechanism for driving the transfer suction plate to reciprocate between the conveyor belt and the storage platform.

8. The FPC cable loading and unloading device according to claim 1, characterized in that: It also includes a defective material box for holding FPC cables that fail the test and a retest material box for holding FPC cables that need to be retested.

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