Flexible circuit board shaping and positioning device and method

Abstract

The invention is suitable for the technical field of automation, and provides a flexible circuit board shaping and positioning device, the flexible circuit board shaping and positioning device comprises a carrier plate assembly and at least one shaping assembly, the carrier plate assembly is used for placing a flexible circuit board, and the shaping assembly is arranged on one side of the carrier plate assembly; the shaping assembly comprises a side pushing air cylinder, a shaping pushing block and a shaping block, the shaping block is arranged on one side of the shaping pushing block, the side pushing air cylinder is arranged on the other side of the shaping pushing block, and the side pushing air cylinder is used for pushing the shaping pushing block and the shaping block. According to the invention, the unilateral gap of the carrier plate assembly is widened, so that the flexible circuit board can enter a hole smoothly, then the position of the flexible circuit board is adjusted by the shaping assembly, and the positioning precision is ensured.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the field of automation technology, and in particular relates to a flexible circuit board shaping and positioning device and method. Background Art

[0002] The demand for flexible circuit board testing is increasing rapidly, and there are many types of tests, such as 5G communications, computers, mobile phones, wearable electronic devices, etc. The number of components integrated on flexible circuit boards has increased dramatically, such as chips, sensors, buttons, etc. For integrated flexible circuit boards (FPC, Flexible Printed Circuit), we need to test to know whether the components are functioning properly.

[0003] However, with the development of the electronics industry, the field of flexible circuit board technology has also moved forward, and flexible circuit boards have developed towards small, soft, and thin features. This has brought various challenges to the flexible circuit board testing industry. The existing technical difficulties are: flexible circuit boards are getting smaller and thinner, and are easy to deform, resulting in difficulty in positioning. Summary of the invention

[0004] The purpose of the embodiment of the present invention is to provide a flexible circuit board shaping and positioning device, aiming to solve the problem that the flexible circuit board is difficult to position due to its small size and thinness.

[0005] The embodiment of the present invention is implemented as follows: a flexible circuit board shaping and positioning device, the flexible circuit board shaping and positioning device comprises a carrier assembly and at least one shaping assembly, the carrier assembly is used to place the flexible circuit board, and the shaping assembly is arranged on one side of the carrier assembly; The shaping assembly includes a side thrust cylinder, a shaping push block and a shaping block. The shaping block is arranged on one side of the shaping push block, and the side thrust cylinder is arranged on the other side. The side thrust cylinder is used to push the shaping push block and the shaping block.

[0006] Furthermore, the shaping block includes a first shaping block and a second shaping block, the first shaping block and the second shaping block are arranged on one side of the shaping push block, and the pushing direction of the shaping block is neither parallel nor perpendicular to the side of the carrier assembly.

[0007] Furthermore, the shaping assembly also includes a hard limit block and an adjusting screw. The hard limit block is fixedly arranged on the carrier assembly, and the hard limit block is connected to the shaping push block via the adjusting screw.

[0008] Furthermore, the shaping assembly also includes a linear guide rail, which is slidably connected to the shaping push block.

[0009] Furthermore, the carrier assembly includes a shaping carrier and a support frame, the shaping carrier is arranged on the support frame, and the height of the support frame is adjustable.

[0010] Furthermore, the flexible circuit board shaping and positioning device also includes a camera assembly, which is arranged on the support frame and located below the shaping carrier plate, and is used to identify the QR code of the flexible circuit board.

[0011] Furthermore, the camera assembly includes a lens, a camera and a light source. The lens and the camera are arranged on the support frame and are located below the shaping carrier. The light source is fixedly arranged below the shaping carrier.

[0012] Another object of an embodiment of the present invention is to provide a method for shaping and positioning a flexible circuit board, the method comprising the following steps: Placing the flexible circuit board on the shaped carrier; Start the side push cylinder of the shaping assembly to push the shaping push block and the shaping block so that the shaping block is close to the shaping carrier plate; Controlling the shaping block to push the flexible circuit board from an inclined direction; According to the positioning gap of the flexible circuit board, adjust the adjustment screw on the hard limit block during the advancement process; After the adjustment is in place, the vacuum adsorption assembly on the shaping carrier is turned on; The camera component is used to scan and identify the QR code on the bottom of the flexible circuit board and transmit the data to the control module; The flexible circuit board is removed from the shaping carrier.

[0013] The flexible circuit board shaping and positioning device provided in the embodiment of the present invention is designed for soft and slender flexible circuit boards. The traditional carrier board is funnel-shaped. Since the flexible circuit board is thin and soft, it is not easy to slide into the hole and may even get stuck, resulting in positioning difficulties. The present invention relaxes the single-side gap of the carrier board assembly so that the flexible circuit board can enter the hole smoothly, and then the shaping assembly is used to adjust the position of the flexible circuit board to ensure the positioning accuracy. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] Figure 1 A three-dimensional diagram of a flexible circuit board shaping and positioning device provided by an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 A side view of a flexible circuit board shaping and positioning device provided by an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 3 A top view of a flexible circuit board shaping and positioning device provided by an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 4 A three-dimensional diagram of a shaping assembly provided by an embodiment of the present invention; 100, carrier assembly; 110, shaping carrier; 120, support frame; 200, shaping assembly; 210, side thrust cylinder; 220, shaping push block; 230, shaping block; 240, hard limit block; 250, adjusting screw; 260, linear guide; 300, camera assembly; 310, lens; 320, camera; 330, light source; 400. Flexible circuit board. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0015] In order to make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the present invention more clearly understood, the present invention is further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention.

[0016] It can be understood that the terms "first", "second", etc. used in the present application can be used in this article to describe various elements, but unless otherwise specified, these elements are not limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish the first element from another element.

[0017] In the first embodiment, if Figure 1-3 As shown, a flexible circuit board shaping and positioning device is proposed, the flexible circuit board shaping and positioning device comprises a carrier assembly 100 and at least one shaping assembly 200, the carrier assembly 100 is used to place a flexible circuit board 400, and the shaping assembly 200 is arranged on one side of the carrier assembly 100; The shaping assembly 200 includes a side thrust cylinder 210, a shaping push block 220 and a shaping block 230. The shaping block 230 is arranged on one side of the shaping push block 220, and the side thrust cylinder 210 is arranged on the other side. The side thrust cylinder 210 is used to push the shaping push block 220 and the shaping block 230.

[0018] In this embodiment, a station for placing a flexible circuit board 400 is provided on the carrier assembly 100. There is at least one shaping assembly 200, which is arranged on the side of the carrier assembly 100. The number given in this embodiment is 2, and the flexible circuit boards on the two stations can be adjusted; the number of shaping assemblies 200 depends on the actual production, and only the preferred scheme is given here, and it is not specifically limited. The side push cylinder 210 is used to push the shaping push block 220 and the shaping block 230 laterally, thereby adjusting the position of the flexible circuit board 400. The traditional carrier is funnel-shaped. Since the flexible circuit board is thin and soft, it is not easy to slide into the hole and may even get stuck, resulting in positioning difficulties. The carrier assembly 100 needs to calculate the hole width and unilateral positioning gap according to the flexible circuit board to be shaped. At this time, the unilateral positioning gap is 1mm, which is conducive to the loading of the loading manipulator. In this embodiment, the unilateral gap of the carrier assembly 100 is relaxed, so that the flexible circuit board 400 can enter the hole smoothly, and then the shaping assembly 200 is used to adjust the position of the flexible circuit board 400 to ensure the positioning accuracy.

[0019] In an optimization scheme, if Figure 3 and 4 As shown, the structure of the shaping block 230 is specifically defined. The shaping block 230 includes a first shaping block and a second shaping block, the first shaping block and the second shaping block are arranged on one side of the shaping push block 220, and the pushing direction of the shaping block 230 is neither parallel nor perpendicular to the side of the carrier assembly 100.

[0020] In this optimization scheme, the shaping block 230 and the shaping push block 220 are both in the shape of long strips. The first shaping block and the second shaping block are parallel to each other. They can be perpendicular to the shaping push block 220 or parallel to the shaping push block 220. The shaping block 230 must form a certain angle with the side of the carrier assembly 100. Similarly, it must be neither parallel nor perpendicular to the side of the flexible circuit board 400. When pushing, the first shaping block and the second shaping block gradually approach the flexible circuit board 400, and continuously push the flexible circuit board 400 through the side, so that the shaping block 230 is pushed into place with two sides in contact with the flexible circuit board 400. In this way, the side push in one direction can shape the flexible circuit board 400 in two directions, which also allows the flexible circuit board 400 to be precisely positioned in the X and Y directions, thereby achieving the purpose of precisely positioning the flexible circuit board 400.

[0021] In an optimization scheme, if Figure 3 and 4 As shown, the structure of the shaping assembly 200 is specifically defined. The shaping assembly 200 further includes a hard stop block 240 and an adjusting screw 250 . The hard stop block 240 is fixedly disposed on the carrier assembly 100 , and the hard stop block 240 is connected to the shaping push block 220 via the adjusting screw 250 .

[0022] In this optimization scheme, during the movement of the side thrust cylinder 210, the adjusting screw 250 installed on the hard limit block 240 can be adjusted so that the shaping block 230 can be pushed out to different distances, and different distances are produced between the positioning edges in the hole of the shaping block 230 and the carrier assembly 100, thereby achieving different positioning accuracies. According to the working conditions, it can be adjusted to single-sided positioning ranging from 0.05mm to 1mm.

[0023] In an optimization scheme, if Figure 3 and 4 As shown, the structure of the shaping assembly 200 is specifically defined. The shaping assembly 200 further includes a linear guide rail 260 , and the linear guide rail 260 is slidably connected to the shaping push block 220 .

[0024] In this optimization scheme, the shaping push block 220 is installed on the linear guide rail 260. In this embodiment, the number of the linear guide rails 260 is 2, which is conducive to ensuring the straightness of the movement of the shaping block 230, thereby ensuring the angle of the positioning edge in the hole of the shaping block 230 and the carrier assembly 100.

[0025] In an optimization scheme, if Figure 1 As shown, the structure of the carrier assembly 100 is specifically defined. The carrier assembly 100 comprises a shaping carrier 110 and a support frame 120, the shaping carrier 110 is arranged on the support frame 120, and the support frame 120 is height-adjustable.

[0026] In this optimization scheme, the hole of the shaping carrier 110 is used to place the flexible circuit board 400, and the hole width and the single-side positioning gap are calculated according to the flexible circuit board to be shaped. The height of the support frame 120 can be achieved by changing the height of the support column according to the height of the loading and unloading manipulator, and the implementation method is not limited to cylinder adjustment, lead screw structure adjustment, etc. The shaping carrier 110 is installed on the support structure, which is conducive to the mutual cooperation between the shaping carrier 110 and the shaping component 200 to ensure the adjustment accuracy.

[0027] In an optimization scheme, if Figure 2 As shown, the structure of the flexible circuit board shaping and positioning device is specifically defined. The flexible circuit board shaping and positioning device also includes a camera assembly 300, which is arranged on the support frame 120 and located below the shaping carrier 110, and is used to identify the QR code of the flexible circuit board 400. The camera assembly 300 includes a lens 310, a camera 320 and a light source 330, and the lens 310 and the camera 320 are arranged on the support frame 120 and located below the shaping carrier 110, and the light source 330 is fixedly arranged below the shaping carrier 110.

[0028] In this optimization scheme, the camera assembly 300 includes three parts: a camera 320, a lens 310 and a light source 330. Its main feature is that this scheme has strong compatibility and can scan QR codes on different flexible circuit boards. The scannable code forms include paper QR codes, steel sheet laser QR codes, and ink QR codes.

[0029] The technical features of the above-described embodiments may be arbitrarily combined. To make the description concise, not all possible combinations of the optimization schemes in the above-described embodiments are described. However, as long as there is no contradiction in the combination of these technical features, they should be considered to be within the scope of this specification.

[0030] In the second embodiment, a flexible circuit board shaping and positioning method is provided. The method is applied to the flexible circuit board shaping and positioning device described in the first embodiment, and the flexible circuit board shaping and positioning method includes the following steps S1 to S7: Step S1, placing the flexible circuit board 400 on the shaping carrier 110; Step S2, starting the side push cylinder 210 of the shaping assembly 200 to push the shaping push block 220 and the shaping block 230, so that the shaping block 230 is close to the shaping carrier plate 110; Step S3, controlling the shaping block 230 to push the flexible circuit board 400 from an inclined direction; Step S4, adjusting the adjusting screw 250 on the hard stop block 240 during the advancement process according to the positioning gap of the flexible circuit board 400; Step S5, after adjusting to the right position, start the vacuum adsorption assembly on the shaping carrier 110; Step S6, using the camera assembly 300 to scan and identify the QR code at the bottom of the flexible circuit board 400, and transmitting the data to the control module; Step S7 , removing the flexible circuit board 400 from the shaping carrier 110 .

[0031] In this embodiment, this method is suitable for automatic loading and unloading equipment. In step S1, the loading manipulator can load the shaping carrier 110. At this time, the side push in the shaping component 200 is in a retracted state. The single-side positioning gap of the product in the hole of the shaping carrier 110 is 1mm on one side, which is a state that is very easy to put in, avoiding overlapping caused by the small gap of the shaping carrier 110 or failure of blanking caused by product deformation. In step S3, the first shaping block and the second shaping block gradually approach the flexible circuit board 400, and continuously push the flexible circuit board 400 by the side, so that the shaping block 230 is pushed into place with two sides in contact with the flexible circuit board 400, so that the side push in one direction can shape the flexible circuit board 400 in two directions. In step S4, the adjustment screw 250 on the hard limit block 240 can be adjusted during the advancement process to adjust different product positioning gaps, so as to achieve different accuracy requirements. In step S5, when the adjustment is in place to achieve the positioning accuracy of the flexible circuit board 400, the carrier vacuum suction is turned on to make the product in a relatively static state. In step S6, the camera is turned on to scan the code while executing step S5, and the flexible circuit board 400 is identified one-to-one, which is conducive to the one-to-one correspondence of the data after the test. In step S7, the unloading robot can unload the shaping carrier 110.

[0032] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions and improvements made within the spirit and principles of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A flexible circuit board shaping and positioning device, characterized in that: The flexible circuit board shaping and positioning device comprises a carrier assembly and at least one shaping assembly, wherein the carrier assembly is used to place the flexible circuit board, and the shaping assembly is arranged on one side of the carrier assembly; The shaping assembly includes a side thrust cylinder, a shaping push block and a shaping block. The shaping block is arranged on one side of the shaping push block, and the side thrust cylinder is arranged on the other side. The side thrust cylinder is used to push the shaping push block and the shaping block.

2. The flexible circuit board shaping and positioning device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The shaping block comprises a first shaping block and a second shaping block, wherein the first shaping block and the second shaping block are arranged on one side of the shaping push block, and the pushing direction of the shaping block is neither parallel nor perpendicular to the side of the carrier assembly.

3. The flexible circuit board shaping and positioning device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The shaping assembly further comprises a hard limit block and an adjusting screw. The hard limit block is fixedly arranged on the carrier assembly, and the hard limit block is connected to the shaping push block via the adjusting screw.

4. The flexible circuit board shaping and positioning device according to claim 3, characterized in that: The shaping assembly also includes a linear guide rail, which is slidably connected to the shaping push block.

5. The flexible circuit board shaping and positioning device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The carrier assembly comprises a shaping carrier and a support frame, the shaping carrier is arranged on the support frame, and the height of the support frame is adjustable.

6. The flexible circuit board shaping and positioning device according to claim 5, characterized in that: The flexible circuit board shaping and positioning device also includes a camera component, which is arranged on the support frame and below the shaping carrier plate, and is used to identify the two-dimensional code of the flexible circuit board.

7. The flexible circuit board shaping and positioning device according to claim 6, characterized in that: The camera assembly comprises a lens, a camera and a light source. The lens and the camera are arranged on the support frame and are located below the shaping carrier. The light source is fixedly arranged below the shaping carrier.

8. A method for shaping and positioning a flexible circuit board, characterized in that: The flexible circuit board shaping and positioning method comprises the following steps: Placing the flexible circuit board on the shaped carrier; Start the side push cylinder of the shaping assembly to push the shaping push block and the shaping block so that the shaping block is close to the shaping carrier plate; Controlling the shaping block to push the flexible circuit board from an inclined direction; According to the positioning gap of the flexible circuit board, adjust the adjustment screw on the hard limit block during the advancement process; After the adjustment is in place, the vacuum adsorption assembly on the shaping carrier is turned on; The camera component is used to scan and identify the QR code on the bottom of the flexible circuit board and transmit the data to the control module; The flexible circuit board is removed from the shaping carrier.

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