Automatic crimping mechanism and method

Abstract

The invention discloses an automatic crimping mechanism, and the mechanism comprises a bearing module (1) which is used for bearing a to-be-tested product and leveling the to-be-tested product in the horizontal direction; the crimping module (2) comprises a three-axis driving device (21) and a crimping plug (22), and a movable mounting part of the three-axis driving device (21) is positioned at the lower end and is used for mounting the crimping plug (22); the bearing module (1) and the crimping module (2) are arranged in parallel, and the three-axis driving device (21) drives a probe of the crimping plug (22) to move to a position right above a connector of the to-be-tested product, and then presses the probe downwards and is connected with the connector. By means of the mode, under the condition that space limitation of existing equipment is large, the number of crimping mechanisms can be increased, and the production efficiency can be improved.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the field of large-size liquid crystal display panel comprehensive testing, in particular to an automatic crimping mechanism. BACKGROUND

[0002] FPC is flexible printed circuit board (flexible PCB), also known as "flexible circuit board", also known as "flexible circuit board" or "flexible circuit board". FPC generally uses high polymer material PI as substrate, which can be arbitrarily bent and flexed, and is used for repeated flexing and linking of small parts, such as the folding part of the flip phone, the part of the printer linking the print head, and various modules (such as the connection between the display module and the mainboard).

[0003] At present, with the size of electronic products becoming smaller and smaller, the technical demand of using FPC soft board to connect to PCB is also getting higher and higher, and the precision requirement is within ±0.05mm to meet the correct and good connection. Artificial operation is complicated and inefficient, and has no market production demand. FPC automatic crimping lighting is detected by AOI, and the current technology has specific requirements for installation space, and some special structures cannot be met. With the expansion of the use range of the automatic crimping mechanism required by customers, the current structure cannot meet the use requirements of some special structures and spaces, so a mechanism that can cope with some special application scenarios needs to be developed. SUMMARY

[0004] The purpose of the present application is to provide an automatic crimping mechanism that can increase the crimping mechanism and improve production efficiency under the condition of relatively large space limitation of existing equipment.

[0005] To solve the above technical problems, one technical solution adopted by the present application is to provide an automatic crimping mechanism, comprising, A bearing module for bearing a product to be tested and leveling the product to be tested in the horizontal direction; A crimping module comprising a three-axis driving device and a crimping plug, wherein the moving mounting part of the three-axis driving device is located at the lower end and the crimping plug is installed; The bearing module and the crimping module are arranged side by side, and the probe of the crimping plug is moved to the connector of the product to be tested by the three-axis driving device, and then pressed downward and connected.

[0006] The crimping module further comprises a correction device and a visual device, the moving mounting part of the three-axis driving device is installed with the crimping plug through the correction device, and the visual device is installed on the three-axis driving device and used for shooting the crimping point of the crimping plug and the connector of the product to be tested.

[0007] The bearing module comprises a lamp box and a jig, the jig is installed on the upper end of the lamp box and is fixedly connected through a leveling unit.

[0008] The three-axis driving device comprises a mounting plate, a first driving unit installed on the upper end surface of the mounting plate and moving in the X direction, a second driving unit installed on the moving end of the first driving unit and moving in the Y direction, the moving end of the second driving unit being located below the mounting plate, a third driving unit installed on the moving end of the second driving unit and moving in the Z direction, and the moving end of the third driving unit being installed with the correcting device.

[0009] The first driving unit comprises a first motor and a first transmission assembly fixedly installed, the first transmission assembly comprising a first transmission member and a sliding block assembled thereon, the rotating shaft end of the first motor being fixedly connected with one end of the first transmission member, the sliding block being installed with a first moving plate, and the first transmission member converting the rotating force of the first motor into a linear force for driving the sliding block and the first moving plate to move.

[0010] The second driving unit comprises a semi-enclosed bracket, the bracket comprising two vertical plates and a horizontal plate for fixedly connecting with the two vertical plates, the upper ends of the two vertical plates being fixedly connected with the first moving plates respectively, and a second transmission member being further installed therebetween, a second moving member being installed on the second transmission member and matching with the second transmission member, one of the vertical plates being installed with a second motor on the outer side surface, the rotating shaft of the second motor being connected with the second transmission member and driving the second moving member to slide on the second transmission member, and the third driving unit being fixedly installed on the second moving member.

[0011] The third driving unit comprises a lifting fixed plate fixedly connected with the second moving member, the lifting fixed plate being installed with a third motor and a third lifting assembly on the two side surfaces respectively, the third motor and the third lifting assembly being connected through a third transmission assembly, and the lifting end of the third lifting assembly being installed with the correcting device.

[0012] The third lifting assembly comprises a linear sliding rail installed on the side surface of the lifting fixed plate and a lifting base plate, and a vertical transmission screw rod; the transmission screw rod is connected with the third transmission assembly, the lifting base plate is fixedly connected with the sliding block of the linear sliding rail through a screw nut matched with the transmission screw rod; the correcting device is fixedly connected with the lifting base plate, and the third motor drives the third transmission assembly to rotate the transmission screw rod, thereby driving the correcting device to move up and down.

[0013] The third transmission assembly comprises a driving gear and a driven gear, the driving gear being installed on the rotating shaft of the third motor, the driven gear being installed on the transmission screw rod, and the driving gear and the driven gear being connected through a synchronous belt.

[0014] The leveling unit comprises a plurality of leveling screw holes arranged at the connection between the jig and the light box, leveling bolts are installed in the leveling screw holes, and the jig and the crimping plug are adjusted in parallel in the horizontal direction by rotating the engagement degree of the leveling bolts and the leveling screw holes.

[0015] The automatic crimping mechanism has the following advantages: 1. High-precision and high-success-rate automatic crimping Three-axis driving combined with visual correction: through a multi-stage positioning system of "three-axis driving device (coarse positioning) + visual device (fine detection) + correction device (fine adjustment)", the crimping point position is accurately aligned from millimeter level to micrometer level. This effectively overcomes the misalignment caused by part processing tolerance, assembly cumulative error, etc., fundamentally avoids damage to FPC and connectors during crimping, and significantly improves the one-time success rate and reliability of crimping.

[0016] 2. Improve production efficiency and automation level The mechanism completely realizes the full-process automation from alignment to crimping, replacing the traditional manual visual and manual operation, greatly shortening the crimping time of a single product.

[0017] The consistency of automatic operation is high, which avoids quality fluctuations and unstable production rhythm caused by personnel fatigue and skill differences, and is especially suitable for large-scale and batch production testing links, and the overall production efficiency is significantly improved.

[0018] 3. Stable structure, good rigidity and high motion precision The three-axis driving device adopts modular and hierarchical design (such as the first driving unit is fixed on the mounting plate, and the second driving unit is suspended through the semi-enclosed support), which is compact and stable, ensuring the rigidity and stability during motion, reducing shaking and deformation, and providing a mechanical basis for high-precision motion.

[0019] Each driving unit adopts the form of "motor + precision transmission component (screw rod / synchronous belt)", which has accurate transmission and small backlash, further ensuring the accuracy of point position control.

[0020] 4. Strong universality and applicability The mechanism is designed for "large-size liquid crystal panel", but its working principle and structure are also applicable to other display panels and all similar FPC / FFC automatic wiring occasions. By replacing the jig and adjusting the program, it can adapt to products of different sizes and specifications, has good universality and flexible production capacity, and reduces the cost of repeated investment in equipment.

[0021] 5. With reliable leveling mechanism, ensure the foundation alignment plane The independent leveling unit (leveling bolt and leveling screw hole) design in the bearing module ensures that the work surface of the jig bearing the measured product can be parallel to the movement plane of the compression joint. This is a crucial foundation calibration step, which eliminates the inherent deviation caused by equipment installation and product placement, and lays a solid foundation for subsequent precise alignment.

[0022] 6. Z-axis drive design optimization, smooth movement The third drive unit (Z-axis) adopts the combination of linear slide rail and screw rod, and is driven by motor through synchronous belt / gear. This structure has strong bearing capacity, high guiding precision, and stable lifting movement, which ensures the uniform and controllable pressure during compression process, and avoids the impact on the precision connector.

[0023] In summary, the automatic compression mechanism successfully solves the industry pain points of poor precision, low efficiency, and easy damage in manual compression of large-size panel FPC through precise mechanical structure design, intelligent control of multi-sensor fusion, and automatic execution process, and provides reliable equipment support for realizing high-quality, high-efficiency, and high-automation display panel comprehensive process. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0024] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application or the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings needed to be used in the embodiment or prior art description. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments described in the present application, and for those skilled in the art, other drawings can also be obtained without creative labor on the basis of these drawings.

[0025] Figure 1 is a top view of an automatic compression mechanism of the present application; Figure 2 is a structural schematic diagram of an automatic compression mechanism of the present application Figure One ; Figure 3 is a structural schematic diagram of an automatic compression mechanism of the present application Figure Two ; Figure 4 is a structural schematic diagram of a compression device of an automatic compression mechanism of the present application Figure One ; Figure 5 is a structural schematic diagram of a compression device of an automatic compression mechanism of the present application Figure Two . DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present application clearer, the specific embodiments of the present application are described in detail below with reference to the drawings. The examples of these preferred embodiments are illustrated in the drawings. The embodiments of the present application shown in the drawings and described according to the drawings are merely exemplary, and the present application is not limited to these embodiments.

[0027] Here, it should also be noted that, in order to avoid obscuring the present application due to unnecessary details, only structures and / or processing steps closely related to the solutions according to the present application are shown in the drawings, and other details not closely related to the present application are omitted.

[0028] In addition, in the description of the present application, the orientations or positional relationships indicated by the terms "center", "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "inner", "outer", and the like are based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the drawings, and are merely for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, and therefore cannot be understood as indicating or implying that the devices or elements referred to must have a particular orientation, be constructed and operated in a particular orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as limiting the present application. In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are only for descriptive purposes and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0029] Please refer to Figures 1 to 5 The embodiments of the present application include: The automatic crimping mechanism of the present application is suitable for the comprehensive process field of large-size liquid crystal panels and other display panels, and is also suitable for all similar automatic wire insertion occasions of flexible products FPC / FFC, and is specifically applied to comprehensive testing of large-size liquid crystal display panels, and is more specifically applied to corresponding insertion of two U-FPC insertion areas and two connectors on a PCB.

[0030] The bearing module 1 is used to bear the measured product and to level the measured product in the horizontal direction; The crimping module 2 includes a three-axis driving device 21 and a crimping plug 22, and the moving mounting part of the three-axis driving device 21 is located at the lower end and installs the crimping plug 22; The bearing module 1 and the crimping module 2 are arranged side by side, the probe of the crimping plug 22 driven by the three-axis driving device 21 moves to the connector of the measured product directly above and then presses downward and connects with it. The bearing module 1 is used to bear the measured product (such as a liquid crystal panel) and to level it in the horizontal direction; the crimping module 2 is used to drive the crimping plug 22 to realize three-axis movement, and to realize high-precision alignment and crimping through vision and correction devices. The bearing module 1 and the crimping module 2 are arranged side by side to ensure that the crimping plug 22 can accurately move to the connector of the measured product directly above and perform the crimping operation. The crimping plug 22 of the present application is a customized component, the layout of its probe corresponds to the connector of the measured product one by one, and a contact force sensing element can be integrated inside to ensure that the crimping force is controllable.

[0031] The bearing module 1 comprises a lamp box 11 and a jig 12, which is installed on the upper end of the lamp box 11 and fixedly connected through a leveling unit 13. The jig 12 is used to fix the measured product, and the lamp box 11 provides backlight illumination to facilitate visual detection.

[0032] The leveling unit 13 comprises a plurality of leveling screw holes arranged at the connection between the jig 12 and the lamp box 11, and leveling bolts are installed in the leveling screw holes. By rotating the engagement degree of the leveling bolts and the leveling screw holes, the jig 12 and the crimping plug 22 are adjusted to be parallel in the horizontal direction, so that they are kept parallel in the horizontal direction, thereby improving the crimping accuracy.

[0033] The crimping module 2 comprises a three-axis driving device 21, a crimping plug 22, a correction device 23 and a visual device 24.

[0034] The moving mounting part of the three-axis driving device 21 installs the crimping plug 22 through the correction device 23, and the visual device 24 is installed on the three-axis driving device 21 and used to shoot the crimping point position of the connector of the crimping plug 22 and the measured product, so as to realize position detection and alignment compensation.

[0035] The three-axis driving device 21 comprises a mounting plate 211, a first driving unit 212 installed on the upper end surface of the mounting plate and moving in the X direction, a second driving unit 213 installed on the moving end of the first driving unit 212 and moving in the Y direction, a third driving unit 214 installed on the moving end of the second driving unit 213 and located below the mounting plate 211, and the moving end of the third driving unit 214 is installed with the correction device 23. The three-axis driving device of the present application realizes the rapid and accurate movement of the crimping plug 22 in a large working space. Specifically, the first driving unit 212 of the X axis and the second driving unit 213 of the Y axis are responsible for moving the crimping plug 22 horizontally to the top of the target connector. The third driving unit 214 of the Z axis is responsible for driving the crimping plug 22 to perform vertical crimping and separation action.

[0036] The first driving unit 212 comprises a first motor 2121 and a first transmission assembly fixedly installed. The first transmission assembly comprises a first transmission member 2122 (such as a lead screw) and a slider assembled thereon. The rotating shaft of the first motor 2121 is fixedly connected with one end of the first transmission member 2122, and a first moving plate 2123 is installed on the slider. The first motor 2121 drives the first transmission member 2122 to rotate, and converts the rotary motion into the linear motion of the slider driving the first moving plate 2123 in the X direction.

[0037] The second driving unit 213 comprises a semi-enclosed support 2131 comprising two vertical plates and a horizontal plate for fixedly connecting the two vertical plates, the upper ends of the two vertical plates are fixedly connected with the first moving plate 2123, and a second transmission member 2132 (such as a lead screw) is further installed therebetween, a second moving member 2133 matched with the second transmission member is installed on the second transmission member, a second motor 2134 is installed on the outer side surface of one of the vertical plates, the rotating shaft of the second motor 2134 is connected with the second transmission member 2132 and drives the second moving member 2133 to slide on the second transmission member 2132, and the third driving unit 214 is fixedly installed on the second moving member 2133.

[0038] The third driving unit 214 comprises a lifting fixed plate 2141 fixedly connected with the second moving member 2133, third motors 2142 and third lifting assemblies are installed on the two side surfaces of the lifting fixed plate 2141, the third motors 2142 and the third lifting assemblies are connected through a third transmission assembly, and the lifting end of the third lifting assembly is installed with the correction device 23. The third driving unit 214 of the present application adopts a high-precision transmission scheme of “servo motor + synchronous belt + ball screw + linear guide rail”. The third motor 2142 transmits power to the vertically installed transmission screw rod 2145 through the third transmission assembly composed of a driving gear, a driven gear and a synchronous belt. The rotary motion of the transmission screw rod 2145 is converted into the linear motion of the screw nut matched therewith, and the screw nut is fixed with the lifting base plate 2144. The lifting base plate 2144 is fixed with the slider of the linear slide rail 2143, thereby ensuring the stability and rigidity of the motion. The correction device 23 is finally installed on the lifting base plate 2144.

[0039] The third lifting assembly comprises a linear slide rail 2143 and a lifting base plate 2144 installed on the side surface of the lifting fixed plate, and a vertically installed transmission screw rod 2145; the transmission screw rod 2145 is connected with the third transmission assembly, the lifting base plate (2144) is matched with the transmission screw rod 2145 through a screw nut and is fixedly connected with the slider of the linear slide rail 2143; the correction device 23 is fixedly connected with the lifting base plate 2144, and the third motor 2142 drives the third transmission assembly to rotate the transmission screw rod 2145, thereby driving the correction device 23 to perform lifting motion. The correction device of the present application is installed at the lifting end of the third driving unit 214. It usually integrates a high-resolution small rotary motor or a piezoelectric driver inside, can drive the crimping connector 22 to compensate in the pitch (Rx), roll (Ry) or horizontal (X, Y) micro-motion direction according to the deviation signal fed back by the vision system, and ensure that the probe and the connector socket reach the best alignment state.

[0040] The third transmission assembly comprises a driving gear and a driven gear, the driving gear is installed on the rotating shaft of the third motor, the lower end surface of the sliding block is provided with a transmission screw rod, the driven gear is installed on the lower end of the transmission screw rod, and the driving gear and the driven gear are connected through a synchronous belt to realize power transmission and lifting movement.

[0041] The visual device 24 is preferably a high-resolution industrial camera installed on the mounting plate 211 or the Y-axis support 2131 of the three-axis driving device 21, and its field of view covers the crimping station. The visual device 24 takes a picture before crimping, identifies the probe tip of the crimping plug 22 and the target position of the product connector through image processing algorithms, calculates the center offset and angular deviation of the two, and sends the compensation amount to the control system.

[0042] Working process 1. Feeding and leveling: the operator or the manipulator places the liquid crystal panel to be measured on the jig 12 of the bearing module 1 and fixes it. The jig 12 is leveled by the leveling unit 13.

[0043] 2. Visual positioning: the three-axis driving device 21 moves the crimping plug 22 to the vicinity of the pre-crimping position. The visual device 24 takes a picture to obtain the accurate positional relationship between the crimping plug 22 and the connector on the panel.

[0044] 3. Driving and correction: according to the visual positioning result, the control system first controls the three-axis driving device 21 to perform coarse positioning, and then moves the crimping plug 22 to the upper position of the connector. Then, the control system controls the correction device 23 to act, and precisely compensates for the remaining small angle and positional deviation.

[0045] 4. Perform crimping: after confirming that the alignment is correct, the third driving unit 214 drives the correction device 23 and the crimping plug 22 to press along the Z-axis smoothly until the probe is completely inserted into the connector socket, and the electrical connection is completed. The crimping process can monitor the pressure curve to ensure the crimping quality.

[0046] 5. Reset: after the test or operation is completed, the third driving unit 214 drives the crimping plug 22 to rise, and the three-axis driving device 21 moves it back to the safe position, waiting for the next working cycle.

[0047] In addition, it should be noted that in the present specification, “comprising”, “including” or any other variant thereof is intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or device including a series of elements not only includes those elements, but also includes other elements not explicitly listed, or further includes elements inherent to such a process, method, article or device. Without more limitations, the element defined by the statement “including a…” does not exclude the presence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article or device including the element.

[0048] It should be understood that, although the present specification describes only one embodiment, each embodiment contains only one independent technical solution, and the description of the specification is only for the sake of clarity, and those skilled in the art should consider the specification as a whole, and the technical solutions in each embodiment can be combined appropriately to form other embodiments that those skilled in the art can understand.

Claims

1. An automatic crimping mechanism, characterized in that, include, The bearing module (1) is used to support the product under test and to level the product under test in the horizontal direction; The crimping module (2) includes a three-axis drive device (21) and a crimping plug (22), wherein the movable mounting part of the three-axis drive device (21) is located at the lower end and the crimping plug (22) is mounted thereon. The carrier module (1) and the crimping module (2) are arranged side by side. The three-axis drive device (21) drives the probe of the crimping plug (22) to move directly above the connector of the product under test and then presses it down to connect with it.

2. The automatic crimping mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that, The crimping module (2) also includes a correction device (23) and a vision device (24). The movable mounting part of the three-axis drive device (21) is mounted on the crimping plug (22) through the correction device (23). The vision device (24) is mounted on the three-axis drive device (21) and is used to capture the crimping points of the crimping plug (22) and the connector of the product under test.

3. The automatic crimping mechanism according to claim 1, characterized in that, The carrier module (1) includes a light box (11) and a fixture (12). The fixture (12) is installed on the upper end of the light box (11) and fixedly connected by a leveling unit (13).

4. The automatic crimping mechanism according to claim 2, characterized in that, The three-axis drive device (21) includes a mounting plate (211), a first drive unit (212) mounted on the upper surface of the mounting plate and moving in the X direction, a second drive unit (213) moving in the Y direction mounted on the moving end of the first drive unit (212), the moving end of the second drive unit (213) being located below the mounting plate (211), a third drive unit (214) moving in the Z direction mounted on the moving end of the second drive unit (213), and the correction device (23) mounted on the moving end of the third drive unit (214).

5. An automatic crimping mechanism according to claim 4, characterized in that, The first drive unit (212) includes a first motor (2121) and a first transmission assembly fixedly mounted thereon. The first transmission assembly includes a first transmission member (2122) and a slider mounted thereon. The shaft end of the first motor (2121) is fixedly connected to one end of the first transmission member (2122). The slider is equipped with a first moving plate (2123). The first transmission member (2122) converts the rotational force of the first motor (2121) into a linear force that causes the slider to drive the first moving plate (2123) to move.

6. An automatic crimping mechanism according to claim 5, characterized in that, The second drive unit (213) includes a semi-enclosed bracket (2131), the bracket (2131) includes two vertical plates and a horizontal plate for connecting and fixing the two vertical plates. The upper ends of the two vertical plates are respectively fixedly connected to the first moving plate (2123), and a second transmission component (2132) is installed between them. A second moving component (2133) matching the second transmission component is installed on the second transmission component. A second motor (2134) is installed on the outer side of one of the vertical plates. The rotating shaft of the second motor (2134) is connected to the second transmission component (2132) and drives the second moving component (2133) to slide on the second transmission component (2132). The third drive unit (214) is fixedly installed on the second moving component (2133).

7. An automatic crimping mechanism according to claim 6, characterized in that, The third drive unit (214) includes a lifting fixing plate (2141) fixed to the second moving part (2133). A third motor (2142) and a third lifting assembly are respectively installed on the two sides of the lifting fixing plate (2141). The third motor (2142) and the third lifting assembly are connected through a third transmission assembly. The correction device (23) is installed at the lifting end of the third lifting assembly.

8. An automatic crimping mechanism according to claim 7, characterized in that, The third lifting assembly includes a linear slide rail (2143) and a lifting base plate (2144) mounted on the side of the lifting fixed plate, and a vertically mounted transmission screw (2145); the transmission screw (2145) is connected to the third transmission assembly, the lifting base plate (2144) cooperates with the transmission screw (2145) through a screw nut, and is fixedly connected to the slider of the linear slide rail (2143); the correction device (23) is fixedly connected to the lifting base plate (2144), and the third motor (2142) drives the third transmission assembly to rotate the transmission screw (2145), thereby driving the correction device (23) to perform lifting and lowering movements.

9. An automatic crimping mechanism according to claim 8, characterized in that, The third transmission assembly includes a driving gear and a driven gear. The driving gear is mounted on the shaft of the third motor. A transmission screw is mounted on the lower end face of the slider. The driven gear is mounted on the lower end of the transmission screw. The driving gear and the driven gear are connected by a synchronous belt.

10. An automatic crimping mechanism according to claim 3, characterized in that, The leveling unit (13) includes a plurality of leveling screw holes provided at the connection between the fixture (12) and the light box (11). Leveling bolts are installed in the leveling screw holes. By rotating the engagement between the leveling bolts and the leveling screw holes, the fixture (12) and the crimp plug (22) are adjusted to be parallel in the horizontal direction.

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