Dynamic setup optimization for a pick-and-place machine with multiple feed lanes

Abstract

A method for manufacturing placement products (BP A, BP B) using a placement machine with a plurality of feed tracks comprises (a) manufacturing a first placement product (BP A) using a first positive selection of placement materials, which are fed to the production via a first positive selection of feed tracks, and not using a first negative selection of placement materials, which are assigned to a first negative selection of feed tracks; (b) changing the assignment between placement materials and feed tracks for the first negative selection from a first assignment to a second assignment, wherein the change is performed during the manufacturing of the first placement product (BP A); and (c) manufacturing a second placement product (BP B) using a second positive selection of placement materials.which are fed via a second positive selection of feed tracks, and a second negative selection of placement materials is not used, which are assigned to a second negative selection of feed tracks. During the production of the first placement product for the first and / or the second positive selection, the assignment between the respective positively selected placement materials and the corresponding positively selected feed tracks is changed. Alternatively or in combination, the change in assignment involves replacing a first placement material with a second placement material from the first negative selection, so that the first or second placement material is assigned to the feed track to which the second or first placement material was previously assigned. Furthermore, a placement machine and a computer program for carrying out the procedure are described.

Description

Technical area

[0001] The present invention generally relates to the technical field of placement technology. The present invention particularly relates to the loading of feed tracks of a placement machine with placement material, which is optimized with regard to the length of the required travel paths of a placement head of the placement machine. Specifically, the present invention relates to the following patentable subject matter: (a) A method for manufacturing placement products using a placement machine (b) A placement machine for manufacturing placement products by automatically placing (electronic) components on component carriers, (c) A computer program for manufacturing assembly products using a placement machine Background of the invention

[0002] The assembly of component carriers with electronic components is typically performed using placement machines. A placement machine has a placement head that (i) picks up electronic components at a pick-up position of a component feeder, (ii) transports them to a placement area of ​​the placement machine in which the component carrier to be assembled is located, and (iii) places the picked component on the component carrier at a predetermined placement position.

[0003] A placement machine typically has several feed tracks, each of which can accommodate a component feeder. This allows a single component type to be fed into a placement process via each feed track.

[0004] In most cases, the components to be assembled are held in a so-called component belt, which is wound on a spool. During assembly, the components are then transported one by one by the respective component feeder to the pick-up position via a timed movement of the component belt.

[0005] In some (modern) component feeders, the coil former and component belt are also integrated into the interior of the component feeder. This allows for a simple, automated process, for example, using a robot, to supply new electronic components at a feed track when components are used up, or to exchange a first type of component for a second type of component as needed. In this document, electronic components, possibly including the associated component feeder, are also referred to as assembly material.

[0006] In a conventional placement machine, the feed tracks are located on at least one side of a transport device, which transports component carriers to be assembled into a placement area of ​​the placement machine and transports at least partially assembled component carriers out of the placement area of ​​the placement machine. The feed tracks are spatially arranged one after the other along a transport direction of the component carrier transport device.

[0007] It is obvious that the loading of the various feed tracks with placement material influences the length of the required travel paths of the placement head. If, for example, all the electronic components required for a specific placement product (component carrier including the components mounted thereon) are fed to the corresponding placement process via adjacent feed tracks, then at least in one component feed area, i.e. in the spatial area in which the corresponding component feed devices are located, the travel path of the placement head required to pick up the relevant components is minimized. This applies in particular to a so-calledA multi-position placement head that can pick up several different components one after the other, transport the picked components together to the placement area, and then place the transported components one after the other at predetermined placement positions. The loading of the feed tracks with placement material is also generally referred to as the setup of the respective placement machine.

[0008] A setup therefore contains information about which placement material (component feeder and components in component tape on the reel) is placed on which feed track. In order to ensure efficient placement operations with high placement performance, the setup should be optimized prior to the production of a placement product so that all the placement material required for the respective placement product is located on feed tracks or in positions that allow the corresponding components to be picked up as quickly as possible, thus ensuring a fast and therefore efficient placement operation overall.

[0009] A setup that relates to only a single assembly product to be manufactured and is preferably optimized for this assembly product is referred to as a single setup. A setup that relates to several different assembly products, which are typically manufactured one after the other and which preferably have a certain similarity in terms of their assembly content, is referred to as a family setup. With a family setup, the attempt is made to distribute the assembly material among the various feed tracks in such a way that all of the assembly products in the respective family can be assembled or manufactured as efficiently as possible.

[0010] In a family setup, switching between different placement products can be accomplished simply by using the components from a different selection of placement material located on different feed tracks of the placement machine for a subsequent placement (production of the next placement product) after the production of one placement product has been completed. This requires no changes to the hardware components of the placement machine or the component feeders. In particular, it is not necessary to change the placement material assignment of the feed tracks. Placement material that is not used for the subsequent placement product remains on the relevant feed track.Within a family setup, a change in production from one placement product to another placement product can therefore be carried out particularly quickly and without any intervention by an operator of the placement machine in question.

[0011] However, a disadvantage of manufacturing placement products using a family setup is that, due to the partial unuse of placement material at individual feeder tracks, the setup may not be optimal for the individual placement products of the respective family. This means that at least one placement product is manufactured, at least partially, with placement material that is not located in the spatially optimal feeder track or position with respect to this placement product, with regard to short travel distances of the placement head. This increases the travel distance of the placement head and reduces placement performance.

[0012] WO 2009 / 062 524 A1 discloses a method for setting up a placement device. In this setting up method, in a feed area of ​​a plurality of feed devices, during processing of a type B production batch, feed devices, each with different components or placement material, are exchanged at free or unused feed device locations. Specifically, during processing of a type B production batch, those unused feed devices that were previously used for processing a type A production batch are exchanged for feed devices with components or placement material for future processing of a type C production batch.

[0013] DE 11 2021 008 386 T5 discloses that, in an association between placement materials and feed tracks referred to as a comb-tooth arrangement, during the execution of a first production work, a component feeder is mounted on a mounting attachment section of a placement device as a preparation for a second production work, and further, a component feeder used for a subsequent third production work can be pre-arranged at a buffer attachment section near the placement device.

[0014] DE 10 2021 117 281 B3 discloses an automated guided vehicle for automatically exchanging a component feeding device.

[0015] The invention is based on the object of improving the placement performance of the respective placement machine by means of a suitable setup when manufacturing various placement products. Summary of the invention

[0016] This object is achieved by the subject matter of the independent patent claims. Advantageous embodiments of the present invention are described in the dependent claims.

[0017] According to a first aspect of the invention, a method is described for manufacturing placement products by means of a placement machine which has a plurality of feed tracks, wherein a type of placement material for the production of the placement products can be fed via each feed track. The described method comprises (A) manufacturing a first assembly product, wherein (i) a first positive selection of assembly materials is used, which are supplied via a first positive selection of feed tracks of the production (of the first assembly product), and wherein (ii) a first negative selection of assembly materials (for the production of the first assembly product) is not used, which are assigned to a first negative selection of feed tracks; (B) changing, for the first negative selection of placement materials, an assignment between placement materials and feed tracks from a first assignment to a second assignment, wherein the change is carried out during the manufacture of the first placement product; and (C) Manufacturing a second assembly product, wherein (i) a second positive selection of assembly materials is used, which are supplied to the production (of the second assembly product) via a second positive selection of feed tracks, and wherein (ii) a second negative selection of assembly materials (for the production of the second assembly product) is not used, which are assigned to a second negative selection of feed tracks. According to the invention, the second positive selection of feed tracks is different from the first positive selection of feed tracks, and the second assignment is different from the first assignment.

[0018] In this document, a placement product is understood to mean a specific type of placement product, which in practice typically comprises a plurality of individual placement products of this type. The first placement product described is a different type of placement product than the second placement product described. Typically, the two placement products differ in their placement content, i.e., in the number and / or type of (electronic) components mounted on the corresponding component carrier.

[0019] The described assembly product manufacturing process is based on the knowledge that, while the first assembly product is being manufactured, the allocation between (i) the unused assembly materials (i.e., the first negative selection of assembly materials) and (ii) the feed tracks not used at that time (i.e., the first negative selection of feed tracks) can be proactively changed such that, during the production of the second assembly product, the travel paths of a placement head of the placement machine can be reduced, particularly when picking up the components of the placement materials then used (i.e., the second positive selection of placement materials). The extent of the reduction naturally depends on the type and, in particular, on the similarity of the two assembly products with regard to the type of components required for production.Reducing the travel distances for the production of the second placement product advantageously leads to an increase in the production speed (of the second placement product) and thus to an overall increase in the placement performance of the respective placement machine. In this context, the term "placement performance" refers to the maximum number of components that can be placed by the placement machine within a given time unit.

[0020] To put it simply, in the described method, during placement operation (for the first placement product), a dynamic reassignment takes place between (i) currently unused placement materials and (ii) currently unused feed tracks. This new assignment is then preferably optimized with regard to short placement head travel paths during the production of the subsequent second placement product. The described reassignment means, in particular, that the currently unused placement materials are spatially rearranged or placed in new positions. This requires at least a temporary detachment or removal of one type of (currently unused) placement material from a specific (currently unused) feed track and a subsequent attachment or assignment of a second type of (currently unused) placement material to this specific (currently unused) feed track.

[0021] As already described in the introduction, a component placement product comprises a component carrier and the components mounted thereon. The term "component carrier" in this document can be understood to mean any type of media suitable for placement, in particular substrates or printed circuit boards. A medium suitable for placement, in particular a printed circuit board, can be rigid or flexible. It can also have at least one first rigid region and at least one flexible region. The term "electronic component" or "component" in this document can be understood to mean all elements suitable for placement that can be attached or mounted to a component carrier. The term "component" can include housed components and in particular unhoused components or chips.These include two- or multi-pin SMT components or other highly integrated flat, round, or other shaped components such as ball grid arrays, bare dies, flip chips, or individual parts such as semiconductor chips from a semiconductor wafer, which are further processed into finished components, particularly after structuring and dicing the wafer. The term "component" in this document can also include electrically non-active components such as electrical plugs or connectors, heat sinks, shielding elements, housing parts, etc.

[0022] According to one embodiment of the invention, the assembly materials comprise components and in particular electronic components.

[0023] The components can be contained in the placement material in various ways. Preferably, the components are located in a known manner in receiving pockets of a component belt, which is fed from a component feed device to a component pick-up position, from which the components can be picked up one after the other by a placement head of the placement machine. Alternatively, the components can also be contained in the placement material as bulk material. The components are then fed in a known manner by means of a bulk material conveyor, in particular via vibration.

[0024] According to a further embodiment of the invention, the placement materials further comprise component feeding devices.

[0025] In this embodiment, the (not yet populated) components of one type of component material are located in or on the respective component feed device. Preferably, the components are located in a known manner in a component tape wound on a coil former. Further preferably, the coil former, together with the component tape wound thereon, is located in a predetermined spatial area within (a housing) of the component feed device.

[0026] The described change in the assignment between placement materials and feed tracks from the first assignment to the second assignment is carried out in the embodiment described here in that, for at least one feed track, the relevant component feed device together with its not yet used components of a certain type is removed from this feed track and another or a new component feed device together with its associated components of a different type is placed on this feed track.

[0027] Preferably, for two feed tracks, the relevant component feeder, along with the associated (not yet populated) components, is simply exchanged. The described change in the assignment between placement materials and feed tracks from the first assignment to the second assignment can also comprise several such exchange processes, each involving two component feeders, along with the associated components. This allows any desired new assignment between a larger number of placement materials and a correspondingly larger number of feed tracks to be achieved "iteratively."

[0028] The use of placement material that includes not only the components to be mounted (possibly packaged in component tapes) but also a component feeder for each component has the advantage that the described change in assignment from the first assignment to the second assignment can be carried out particularly simply and reliably. This may be due in particular to the fact that the respective placement material, as a compact unit comprising the component feeder and the associated (not yet mounted) components, can be handled particularly easily, for example, by an operator.

[0029] According to a further embodiment of the invention, the change in the assignment between placement materials and feed tracks from the first assignment to the second assignment takes place in an automated manner, free from manual intervention by an operator.

[0030] The described automatic change of assignment can be carried out, for example, using a suitably configured robot. In order to be able to use this robot at different locations, for example at different placement machines on a placement line or on different placement lines each with at least one placement machine, the robot can be moved by means of an automated guided vehicle (AGV) on the floor of a hall in which the relevant placement machines are located. With such an AGV, placement material can also be picked up from a central warehouse or an intermediate storage area for placement materials and brought to a selected placement machine on a predetermined feed lane. Furthermore, placement material that is no longer required can be transferred (back) to such a warehouse using an AGV.

[0031] The use of an AGV, at least for assembly product production systems (assembly lines, placement machines, etc.) that already have or use such an AGV, has the advantage that the technology described in this document can be implemented with conventional assembly product production systems through a simple software adaptation. Hardware changes are not necessarily required.

[0032] It should be noted that for the described automatic change of the assignment between placement materials and feed tracks, not only a robot, but preferably a robot mounted on an AGV, can be used. An automatic change of assignment can in principle be carried out with any handling system capable of removing a placement material, and in particular a component feeder with the components contained therein, from one feed track and placing it on another feed track. Non-exhaustive examples of such handling systems are autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and handling devices that are attached to so-called overhead transport systems (OTS) and / or to so-called rail-guided vehicles (RGVs), or that can be moved along a placement machine with an OTS and / or an RGV.

[0033] According to a further exemplary embodiment of the invention, at least a subset of the placement materials of the first negative selection is at least a subset of the second positive selection. This has the advantage that at least one placement material or one type of placement material is used for the production of the second placement product, which is already present in a feed area of ​​the placement machine in the previous time window of production of the first placement product, in which feed area the aforementioned plurality of feed tracks are located. The product change from the first placement product to the second placement product can thus take place very quickly and, unless additional placement material has to be supplied from outside to at least one feed track, without interruption.

[0034] According to a further embodiment of the invention, a first sum of (i) the number of feed tracks of the first positive selection and (ii) the number of feed tracks of the first negative selection is equal to the total number of the plurality of feed tracks. Alternatively or in combination, a second sum of (i) the number of feed tracks of the second positive selection and (ii) the number of feed tracks of the second negative selection is equal to the total number of the plurality of feed tracks. This has the advantage that, when carrying out the described method, all feed tracks present on the placement machine are involved, thus maximizing the flexibility and options when carrying out the described change of the assignment from the first assignment to the second assignment. In other words, all feed tracks not used during the manufacture of the first placement product can be used for this change.Thus, with a view to reducing the travel distances of the placement head when picking up the components required for the second placement product, an optimized spatial arrangement of the corresponding placement materials for the second placement product can be achieved by a targeted rearrangement or re-sorting of placement material.

[0035] According to a further embodiment of the invention, during the production of the first placement product for the first positive selection of placement materials, an assignment between the respective positively selected placement materials and the corresponding positively selected feed tracks remains unchanged. Alternatively or in combination, during the production of the second placement product for the second positive selection of placement materials, an assignment between the respective positively selected placement materials and the corresponding positively selected feed tracks remains unchanged.

[0036] The "remain unchanged" described in this exemplary embodiment means, in concrete terms, that during the production of a placement product (here, the first placement product or the second placement product), the placement materials used for the placement of the respective placement product are not rearranged or re-sorted with respect to the feed tracks present on the placement machine (stationary). The placement operation of the respective placement product can thus be carried out completely uninterrupted with high efficiency and high placement performance. In any case, the high efficiency or high placement performance is not negatively affected by any spatial rearrangement or re-sorting of placement material not currently required.

[0037] According to the invention, during the production of the first assembly product for the first positive selection of assembly materials, an assignment between the respective positively selected assembly materials and the corresponding positively selected feed tracks is changed. Alternatively or in combination, during the production of the second assembly product for the second positive selection of assembly materials, an assignment between the respective positively selected assembly materials and the corresponding positively selected feed tracks is changed.

[0038] The "changing" described in this exemplary embodiment means, in concrete terms, that during the production of a placement product (here the first placement product or the second placement product), the positions or feed tracks at which the placement materials required for the respective placement product are provided to the placement process are changed. In other words, the respective (positively selected) placement materials are re-sorted, rearranged, and / or rearranged. While the process of rearranging could temporarily reduce placement performance somewhat, if a larger number of placement products of the respective type still need to be manufactured after such a rearrangement, and if the rearrangement offers time advantages for this production, particularly when picking up the respective components, this will generally result in an overall increase in placement performance.

[0039] Preferably, certain time windows can be used for the rearrangement processes, during which at least one specific (positively selected) placement material is not used for the production of the current placement product. This can be the case, for example, if the placement head is currently picking up components from other component feeders for the next head cycles, or if a component carrier has just been fully assembled and the placement head must wait for the next component carrier to enter the placement area of ​​the placement machine. If such time windows are used for rearranging placement materials that are actually required for the current placement product, this rearrangement can also be carried out without affecting the resulting placement performance.

[0040] According to the invention, changing the assignment between placement materials and feed tracks from the first assignment to the second assignment comprises exchanging a first placement material from the first negative selection with a second placement material from the first negative selection. After the exchange, (i) the first placement material is assigned to the feed track to which the second placement material was previously assigned, and (ii) the second placement material is assigned to the feed track to which the first placement material was previously assigned. By simply exchanging two placement materials that are not currently in use, as described, the assignment between placement materials and feed tracks can be changed from the first assignment to the second assignment in a particularly simple manner.

[0041] Please note that the replacement of placement material described here can also be performed multiple times in succession using any placement material from the first negative selection. This allows an optimal spatial arrangement of the second positive selection of placement materials for the first negative selection to be achieved iteratively in good time before the second placement product is manufactured.

[0042] According to a further embodiment of the invention, changing the assignment between placement materials and feed tracks from the first assignment to the second assignment comprises at least one further placement material which is taken from a storage for placement material and assigned to a predetermined feed track on the placement machine.

[0043] The described inclusion of additional placement material from a warehouse can increase the flexibility in providing placement material for the second placement product. This applies in particular to the number of potentially available different types of placement material or different types of (electronic) components. The additional placement material can originate from a central warehouse or from an intermediate storage area for placement materials. Such a warehouse can be provided, for example, within a production hall in which several placement machines and preferably even several production lines are set up, wherein the production lines each have at least one placement machine and typically several placement machines connected in series. Transport from such a warehouse can preferably be automated using a robot on an automated guided vehicle (AGV).

[0044] According to a further embodiment of the invention, changing the assignment between placement materials and feed tracks from the first assignment to the second assignment comprises removing at least one placement material from the first negative selection of placement materials.

[0045] The described removal of at least one placement material results in at least one corresponding (previous) feed track being freed. This can facilitate the handling of the remaining placement materials from the first negative selection. An operator or a robot then only needs to handle one placement material from the first negative selection of the remaining placement materials at a given time to make the described change in assignment from the first assignment to the second assignment.

[0046] The described removal can preferably be carried out to the central warehouse or intermediate storage facility described above. This can also be carried out manually by an operator or, preferably, automatically by a robot on an automated guided vehicle (AGV).

[0047] According to a further embodiment of the invention, the method further comprises (A) changing, for the second negative selection of placement materials, a further assignment between placement materials and feed tracks from a further first assignment to a further second assignment, wherein the changing is carried out during the manufacture of the second placement product; and (B) manufacturing a third assembly product, wherein (i) a third positive selection of assembly materials is used, which are supplied to the production (of the third assembly product) via a third positive selection of feed tracks, and wherein (ii) a second negative selection of assembly materials (for the production of the third assembly product) is not used, which are assigned to a second negative selection of feed tracks. The third positive selection of feed tracks is different from the second positive selection of feed tracks (and preferably also different from the first positive selection of feed tracks). Furthermore, the further second assignment is different from the further first assignment.

[0048] In the embodiment described here, to put it bluntly, not just two placement products but three placement products are manufactured one after the other. In a manner similar to the method described above with only two placement products, the allocation between (i) the unused placement materials (i.e., the second negative selection of placement materials) and (ii) the feed tracks not used at that time (i.e., the second negative selection of feed tracks) can be proactively changed (still) during the production of the second placement product such that the travel paths of the placement head of the placement machine can be reduced during the production of the third placement product, particularly when picking up the components of the placement materials then used (i.e., the third positive selection of placement materials).A reduction in the travel distances for the production of the third placement product also advantageously leads to an increase in the speed of production (of the third placement product) and thus to an overall increase in the placement performance of the placement machine in question.

[0049] It should be noted that the process described here with three placement products can also be extended to a process for manufacturing more than three placement products.

[0050] According to a further aspect of the invention, a placement machine is described for manufacturing placement products by automatically placing component carriers with (electronic) components. The described placement machine comprises (A) a plurality of feed tracks, wherein a type of assembly material comprising a type of component for the production of the assembly products can be fed via a feed track; (B) a placement head which is configured (i) to pick up supplied components, (ii) to transport the picked up components into a placement area of ​​the placement machine, in which placement area the component carrier to be fitted is located, and (iii) to place the picked up components at a predetermined placement position on the component carrier; and (C) a data processing device configured to carry out a method of the type described above.

[0051] The described data processing device can be part of a (central) control system of the placement machine or of a placement line superordinate to the placement machine. The data processing device can be implemented using software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware.

[0052] According to a further aspect of the invention, a computer program is described for manufacturing assembly products using an automatic placement machine having a plurality of feed tracks, wherein a type of assembly material for manufacturing the assembly products can be fed via each feed track. The computer program, when executed by a data processing device, is configured to carry out the method described above.

[0053] For the purposes of this document, the mention of such a computer program is synonymous with the term "a program element, a computer program product and / or a computer-readable medium containing instructions for controlling a computer system in order to coordinate the operation of a placement machine in a suitable manner in order to achieve the effects associated with the method according to the invention.

[0054] The computer program may be implemented as computer-readable instruction code in any suitable programming language, such as JAVA, C++, C#, etc. The computer program may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium (CD-ROM, DVD, Blu-ray disc, removable drive, volatile or non-volatile memory, built-in memory / processor, etc.). The instruction code may program a data processing device or other programmable device to perform the desired functions. Furthermore, the computer program may be provided on a network, such as the Internet, from which it can be downloaded by a user as needed.

[0055] The described method can be implemented both by means of a computer program, ie software, and by means of one or more special electronic circuits, ie in hardware, or in any hybrid form, ie by means of software components and hardware components.

[0056] It should be noted that embodiments of the invention have been described with reference to different subject matter. In particular, some embodiments of the invention are described with method claims, and other embodiments of the invention are described with a device claim. However, it will immediately become clear to those skilled in the art upon reading this document that, unless explicitly stated otherwise, in addition to a combination of features belonging to one type of subject matter, any combination of features belonging to different types of subject matter is also possible.

[0057] For a better understanding of the invention, concrete implementations of the invention disclosed in this document are described below. First, a standard approach (I) for implementing the invention is described. Then, two advantageous extensions (II) and (III) of this standard approach are described. (I) Standardized approach

[0058] The standard approach described here assumes that the placement products to be manufactured are part of a placement product family. Based on commonalities in the placement materials required for the various placement products, a software planning tool calculates which placement products can be reasonably manufactured using a family setup described above.

[0059] In the standard approach, the placement product family consists of at least two placement products, a placement product BP A and a placement product BP B. These require two sets of placement materials for their production, a placement material set BM A and a placement material set BM B. Furthermore, the standard approach described here assumes that a quantity of placement material from the placement material set BM B that determines the placement performance is not contained in the placement material set BM A. First, the placement product BP A is to be manufactured.

[0060] The standard approach described here can be recommended with the following steps. 1. A software-supported production planning tool analyzes which assembly product will be produced next. In this case, it should be assembly product BP B. This requires the assembly material set BM B. 2. A software-supported optimization tool determines which feed tracks for the placement material set BM B represent the ideal spatial positions with regard to short travel distances of the placement head when picking up the relevant components. The current setup of the placement material set BM A within the family setup is taken into account. The optimization tool determines a corresponding reorganization plan. 3. Optional step: Based on the cycle time for the production of the placement product BP A, the optimization tool calculates the order in which the placement material BM B should be reordered or reordered. Reordering or reordering operations that have the greatest impact on the placement performance of the respective placement machine are performed with higher priority. 4. The rearrangement plan is sent to a control computer, which controls a robot to handle and automatically rearrange the placement materials. 5. The robot rearranges the relevant placement materials based on the rearrangement plan. Ideally, this occurs without affecting other tasks assigned to the robot in connection with the operation of the placement machine or a higher-level placement line.

[0061] The reordering of the placement material set BM B must be carried out and completed before the start of production of the placement product BP B, i.e., during the production time of the placement product BP A. Since the placement material set BM B is not yet in use, the reordering of the placement materials of the placement material set BM B has no impact on the placement performance of the respective placement machine. (II) Extension 1Rearrangement of currently required assembly materials

[0062] The steps described above can also be used to rearrange or reorder placement materials within the family setup that are currently being used to manufacture a placement product. In this case, the rearrangement of the currently required placement materials could affect the performance of the respective placement machine. However, such a rearrangement would only be appropriate if the rearranged positioning of the currently required placement materials or a new assignment between the currently required placement materials and the feed tracks of the placement machine is more beneficial for the resulting placement performance than the loss in placement performance caused by the rearrangement.

[0063] For the rearrangement of placement materials required for the current placement product described here, time windows can be used in which at least one specific placement material is not being used. This can be the case, for example, if the placement head is currently picking up components from other component feeders for the next head cycles, or if a component carrier has just been fully assembled and the placement head must wait for the next component carrier to enter the placement area of ​​the placement machine. If such time windows are used for a rearrangement of placement materials required for the current placement product, this rearrangement can also be carried out without affecting the resulting placement performance. (III) Extension 2Rearrangement of assembly materials in a warehouse

[0064] The steps described above can also be applied to optimize a family setup that is not currently being used by a placement machine and is located, for example, in a warehouse. Such a warehouse can, in particular, be an intermediate storage facility located near the respective placement machine or near the respective placement line.

[0065] For example, a placement material set C1 from a family setup C can be used for the current production of a placement product. Furthermore, a plurality of placement materials with a family setup D can be stored (side by side) in the warehouse. Based on a production plan, a placement material set D1 must be used after placement material set C1 for the production of the next placement product. In this case, the method described above can be used to optimize the placement material set D1.

[0066] After a transition from family setup C to family setup D, the placement machine can produce the next placement product with maximum placement performance using placement material set D1.

[0067] Further advantages and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following exemplary description of currently preferred embodiments. Short description of the drawing Fig. 1 shows a placement machine according to an embodiment of the invention. Fig. Figure 2 illustrates the production of two assembly products using a well-known stationary family armament. Fig. 3 illustrates a production of two placement products using a dynamic setup optimization according to an embodiment of the invention. Detailed description

[0068] It should be noted that in the following detailed description, features or components of different embodiments that are identical or at least functionally equivalent to the corresponding features or components of another embodiment are provided with the same reference numerals or with reference numerals whose last two digits are identical to the reference numerals of corresponding identical or at least functionally equivalent features or components. To avoid unnecessary repetition, features or components already explained with reference to a previously described embodiment will not be explained in detail later.

[0069] Fig. Figure 1 shows a schematic representation of a placement machine 100 for assembling component carriers or printed circuit boards 190 with electrical components 192. The placement machine 100 has a frame structure or chassis 102. Two stationary support rails 132 and 133 are attached to the frame structure 102, each extending along a y-direction. The two support rails 132, 133 are part of a positioning system 130 and are referred to in this document as stationary component 132 and further stationary component 133, respectively.

[0070] Attached to the two stationary components 132 and 133 is a movable support rail 140, which extends along a longitudinal axis 140a, which, in the coordinate system used here, runs parallel to the x-direction. In the context of the technology described here, the movable support rail is referred to as the movable component 140. The movable component 140 is movable along the y-direction, driven by drive motors (not shown) designed as linear motors. The corresponding direction of travel is indicated by a double arrow "Y."

[0071] Attached to the movable component 140 is an assembly component 134, which may, for example, be a carriage mounted on a linear guide (not shown) and can be moved along the x-direction by means of another linear motor (also not shown). The corresponding direction of travel is indicated by a double arrow "X." A placement head 125 is attached to the assembly component 134 in a known manner.

[0072] The two stationary components 132, 133, the movable component 140 and the mounting component 134 together with the Fig. 1, the linear motors and linear guides, which are not shown, represent the positioning system 130 with which the placement head 125 can be moved or positioned within the xy plane.

[0073] The component carriers 190 are assembled in an assembly area 110. Before assembly, the component carrier 190 to be assembled is transported into the assembly area 110 by means of a transport device 112, for example a conveyor belt. After at least partial assembly with components 192, the component carrier 190 is transported away by means of the transport device 112. The corresponding transport directions are shown in Fig. 1 each marked with an arrow T.

[0074] As already mentioned above, the placement head 125 is attached to the assembly component 134. By appropriately controlling the linear motors (not shown), the placement head 125 can be moved between component pick-up positions 116 of a component feed system 114 and the placement area 110. According to the exemplary embodiment shown here, the component feed system 114 has a total of ten component feed devices 115, each of which sequentially conveys a type of component 192, packaged in a component belt, to the respective component pick-up position 116.

[0075] According to the embodiment shown here, the component feed devices 115 each have an interior space. The associated components 192 are located, packed in a component belt (not shown), which is also Fig. 1 coil former, not shown, is wound in this interior space. Each component feeder 115, together with the components 192 accommodated therein, thus represents a compact, manageable unit. As already mentioned above, the entirety of a component feeder and the components 192 accommodated therein is referred to in this document as assembly material BM.

[0076] A data processing device 118, which controls the placement process, is communicatively coupled to the various linear motors and the placement head 125 via data lines (not shown). During a placement process, the placement head 125 is moved to the component pick-up positions 116, where components 192 are picked up. The placement head 125, together with the picked-up components 192, is then moved to the placement area 110, where the components 192 are placed on the provided component carrier 190. The placement head 125 is then moved "empty" back to the component feed system 114, where components 192 are picked up again.

[0077] As from Fig. 1, the placement machine 100 also has two cameras. A first stationary camera 120 is used to measure the components 192 picked up by the placement head 125. For this purpose, the placement head 125 is positioned above the camera 120 so that the picked components 192 come into the detection range of the camera 120. During this component measurement, for example, the exact angular position of a picked or held component 192 can be measured. When placing the respective component 192, a deviation in the angular position can be compensated in a known manner by appropriately rotating a component holding device, so that the respective component 192 is placed on the component carrier 190 in a correct angular position.

[0078] A second camera 122 is used to precisely measure markings applied to the top side of the component carrier 190 to be assembled. This allows the exact spatial position of the component carrier 190 within the assembly area 110 to be detected and taken into account when positioning the placement head 125 to ensure that the components 192 are actually placed exactly at a specific target position on the component carrier 190. According to the exemplary embodiment shown here, the second camera 122 is attached to the placement head 125 and is moved together with the placement head 125 to measure the markings on the component carrier 190.

[0079] The placement materials BM, i.e. the component feed devices 115 together with the associated components 192, which are designed as easily handleable units, are re-sorted or rearranged by a robot 150 according to the technology described in this document during the manufacture of a current placement product, i.e. a component carrier 190 which is at least partially populated with components 192. This re-sorting or rearranging is carried out with a view to the most efficient manufacture of a next placement product, which is to be manufactured after the completion of the current placement product. A placement product is to be understood as a specific type of placement product, which in practice typically comprises a plurality of individual placement products of this type. According to the exemplary embodiment presented here, only such placement materials BM are re-sorted or rearranged during the said re-sorting or rearranging.on feed tracks of the placement machine 100 which are not used for the production of the current placement product.

[0080] Fig. Figure 2 illustrates the production of two placement products using a well-known stationary family setup. The illustration is based on a placement machine (not shown) with, for example, seven feed tracks, each of which is coupled to a component feeder. Of course, the technology described in this document can also be implemented with a placement machine with any other number of feed tracks.

[0081] The component feeders are again designed to have an interior space containing the components to be mounted, as explained above. The corresponding mounting materials (component feeders + components) are designated by the reference symbols BM 1, BM 2, BM 3, BM 4, BM 5, BM 6, and BM 7.

[0082] Fig. 2 shows on the left side the production of a first assembly product BP A. In this case, a first component carrier or a first printed circuit board 290a is populated with components made of the assembly materials BM 1, BM 2 and BM 3. For a better overview, the assembly materials BM 1, BM 2 and BM 3 are shown in Fig. 1 shown in grey and in the legend of Fig. 1 is referred to as “BMactive”. The assembly materials BM 2, BM 4, BM 5 and BM 6 not used for the production of the first assembly product BP A are Fig. 1 are shown in white and are shown in the legend of Fig. 1 is referred to as “BMpassive”.

[0083] For placement, the first component carrier 290a is moved into an elongated placement area of ​​the placement machine by means of a transport device TP. This elongated placement area extends along the entire extent of the seven placement materials BM 1 to BM 7 along the transport direction of the transport device TP indicated by the arrow.

[0084] These active placement materials BM 1, BM 2, and BM 3, used for the placement of the first placement product BP A, are not arranged directly adjacent to each other, in contrast to a production process not shown using a single setup described in the introduction to this document. As a result, the travel paths of the placement head of the placement machine when picking up the relevant components are somewhat longer than with a single setup.The travel paths can only be reduced somewhat by moving the first component carrier 290a to be assembled within the elongated assembly area by means of the transport device TP during the production of the first assembly product BP A to a position in which the total of the travel paths between (i) the three assembly materials BM 1, BM 2 and BM 3 on the one hand and (ii) the corresponding placement positions of the components on the first component carrier 290a on the other hand are as short as possible.

[0085] After the end of the production of the first assembly product A or more precisely after the end of the production of a predetermined number of first assembly products BP A, a production-technical transition takes place from the first assembly product BP A to a second assembly product BP B. The production of the second assembly product BP B is shown on the right side of Fig. 2. The transition from the first assembly product BP A to the second assembly product BP B is shown in Fig. 2 is indicated by "Δ". The configuration of the component feed system 114 or the placement machine, and thus the assignment between the individual placement materials BM 1 to BM 7 and the feed tracks of the placement machine, will not be changed according to the family configuration approach.

[0086] According to the exemplary embodiment presented here, the assembly materials BM 1, BM 4, and BM 6 are used for the production of the second assembly product BP B. The assembly materials BM 2, BM 3, BM 5, and BM 7 are not used for the production of the second assembly product BP B.

[0087] In order to keep the travel paths of the placement head as short as possible for the production of the second placement product BP B, the second component carrier 290b used for the second placement product BP B is moved within the placement area into the vicinity of the two placement materials BM 4 and BM 6 for placement.

[0088] Fig. Figure 3 illustrates the production of two placement products using dynamic setup optimization according to an embodiment of the invention. Production begins with the production of the first placement product BP A with the assembly of the first component carrier 290a. According to the embodiment shown here, the three placement materials BM 1, BM 3, and BM 7 are used for this purpose. These are also shown in Fig. 3 are shown in grey and are referred to as “BMactive” in the legend. The assembly materials BM 2, BM 4, BM 5 and BM 6 not used for the production of the first assembly product BP A are shown in Fig. 1 is shown in white or hatched. In order to ensure short placement head travels, the first component carrier 290a is positioned by the transport device TP as close as possible to the three active placement materials BM 1, BM 3, and BM 7 for its placement.

[0089] According to the exemplary embodiment shown here, the two white-illustrated placement materials BM 2 and BM 5 will not be used for the future production of the second placement product BP B. The two hatched placement materials BM 4 and BM 6 will be required for the future production of the second placement product BP B. In the legend of Fig. 3 they are therefore referred to as “BMnext”.

[0090] During the production of the first placement product BP A, the currently unused placement materials BM 2, BM 4, BM 5 and BM 6 are proactively re-sorted or rearranged in the component feed system 114 with a view to the upcoming production of the placement product BP B. This changes the assignment between the placement materials BM 2, BM 4, BM 5 and BM 6 and the corresponding feed tracks of the placement machine.

[0091] This rearrangement of only the unused assembly materials BM 2, BM 4, BM 5 and BM 6 is in Fig. 3 is indicated by “Δ1”.

[0092] After the end of the production of the first assembly product A or more precisely after the end of the production of a predetermined number of first assembly products BP A, the transition from the first assembly product BP A to the second assembly product BP B takes place. The production of the second assembly product BP B is on the right side of Fig. 2. The manufacturing transition from the first assembly product BP A to the second assembly product BP B is shown in Fig. 3 is indicated by “Δ2”. The setup of the component feeding system 114 or the placement machine and thus the assignment between the individual placement materials BM 1 to BM 7 (in Fig. 3 in sequence BM 1, BM 3, BM 7, BM 4, BM 6, BM 2 and BM 5) “Δ2” is not changed during this transition.

[0093] In order to minimize the travel distances of the placement head for the production of the second placement product BP B, according to the exemplary embodiment presented here, the active placement materials BM 1, BM 4 and BM 6 are rearranged or re-sorted in the component feed system 114 or at the feed tracks of the placement machine during the production of the second placement product BP B. Specifically, according to the exemplary embodiment presented here, the two placement materials BM 1 and BM 7 are exchanged. As a result, the active placement material BM 1 is located closer to the other two active placement materials BM 4 and BM 6. This rearrangement is in Fig. 3 is indicated by “Δ3”.

[0094] According to the exemplary embodiment presented here, starting with this rearrangement "Δ3," the second component carriers 290b to be assembled are placed somewhat further back within the assembly area along the transport direction of the transport device TP. This allows the placement head travel distances between the component feed system 114 and the placement positions on the second component carrier 290b to be reduced for the production of the second assembly product BP B.

[0095] It should be noted that the term "comprising" does not exclude other elements, and "a" does not exclude a plurality. Elements described in connection with different embodiments may also be combined. It should also be noted that reference numerals in the claims should not be construed as limiting the scope of the claims. REFERENCE SYMBOL: 100 placement machines 102 Frame structure / Chassis 110 assembly area 112 Transport device 114 Component feeding system 115 component feeding devices 116 component pickup positions 118 Data processing device / control device 120 stationary camera / component camera 122 movable camera / circuit board camera 125 placement head 130 Positioning system 132 stationary component / stationary support rail 133 additional stationary component / additional stationary support rail 134 assembly components 140 movable component / movable support arm 140a Longitudinal axis 150 robots 190 component carrier / printed circuit board 192 electronic components BM assembly material T Transport direction 290a first component carrier / first printed circuit board 290b second component carrier / second circuit board BM 1-BM 7 assembly materials (component feeders + components) BMactive placement materials used for the production of the current placement product BMpassive placement materials not used for the production of the current placement product BMnext placement materials used for the production of the next placement product BP A first assembly product BP B second assembly product TP transport device Δ Transition from the first assembly product to the second assembly product using different assembly materials (no change in setup) Δ1 Rearrangement of passive placement materials during the production of the first placement product Δ2 Transition from the first assembly product to the second assembly product using different assembly materials (no change in setup) Δ3 Rearrangement of the active placement materials during the production of the second placement product

Claims

[1] Method for manufacturing assembly products (BP A, BP B) by means of an automatic assembly machine (100) which has a plurality of feed tracks, wherein a type of assembly material (BMactive, BMpassive, BMnext) for the manufacture of the assembly products (BP A, BP B) can be fed via a feed track, the method comprising Manufacturing a first assembly product (BP A), where (i) a first positive selection of placement materials (BMactive) is used, which are fed to the production via a first positive selection of feed tracks, and wherein (ii) a first negative selection of placement materials (BMpassive) associated with a first negative selection of feed tracks is not used; Changing, for the first negative selection of placement materials (BMpassive), an assignment between placement materials (BMpassive, BMnext) and feed tracks from a first assignment to a second assignment, wherein the change is carried out during the production of the first placement product (BP A); and Manufacturing a second assembly product (BP B), where (i) a second positive selection of placement materials (BMnext) is used, which are fed to the production via a second positive selection of feed tracks and wherein (ii) a second negative selection of placement materials (BMpassive) associated with a second negative selection of feed tracks is not used; wherein the second positive selection of feed tracks is different from the first positive selection of feed tracks and where the second assignment is different from the first assignment, characterized bythat the method has at least one of the following features: wherein during the production of the first assembly product (BP A) for the first positive selection of assembly materials (BMactive), an assignment between the respective positively selected assembly materials (BMactive) and the corresponding positively selected feed tracks is changed and / or wherein during the production of the second assembly product (BP B) for the second positive selection of assembly materials (BMnext), an assignment between the respective positively selected assembly materials and the corresponding positively selected feed tracks is changed, and changing the assignment between placement materials (BMactive, BMpassive, BMnext) and feed tracks from the first assignment to the second assignment comprises exchanging a first placement material (BMpassive) of the first negative selection with a second placement material (BMnext) of the first negative selection, wherein after the exchange (i) the first placement material (BMpassive) is assigned to the feed track to which the second placement material (BMnext) was previously assigned and (ii) the second placement material (BMnext) is assigned to the feed track to which the first placement material (BMpassive) was previously assigned. [2] Method according to the preceding claim, wherein the assembly materials (BMactive, BMpassive, BMnext) comprise components (192) and in particular electronic components (192). [3] Method according to the preceding claim, wherein the placement materials (BMactive, BMpassive, BMnext) further comprise component feeding devices (115). [4] Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the changing of the assignment between placement materials (BMactive, BMpassive, BMnext) and feed tracks from the first assignment to the second assignment is carried out in an automated manner free from manual intervention by an operator. [5] Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein at least a subset of the placement materials (BMpassive) of the first negative selection is at least a subset of the second positive selection. [6] Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein a first sum of (i) the number of feed tracks of the first positive selection and (ii) the number of feed tracks of the first negative selection is equal to the total number of the plurality of feed tracks and / or wherein a second sum of (i) the number of feed tracks of the second positive selection and (ii) the number of feed tracks of the second negative selection is equal to the total number of the plurality of feed tracks. [7] Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein changing the assignment between placement materials (BMactive, BMpassive, BMnext) and feed tracks from the first assignment to the second assignment comprises at least one further placement material which is taken from a storage for placement material and assigned to a predetermined feed track on the placement machine (100). [8] Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein changing the assignment between placement materials (BMactive, BMpassive, BMnext) and feed tracks from the first assignment to the second assignment comprises removing at least one placement material from the first negative selection of placement materials (BMpassive). [9] Method according to one of the preceding claims, further comprising Changing, for the second negative selection of placement materials, a further assignment between placement materials and feed tracks from a further first assignment to a further second assignment, wherein the change is carried out during the manufacture of the second placement product; and Manufacturing a third assembly product, whereby (i) a third positive selection of placement materials is used, which are fed to the production via a third positive selection of feed tracks and wherein (ii) a second negative selection of placement materials assigned to a second negative selection of feed tracks is not used; wherein the third positive selection of feed tracks is different from the second positive selection of feed tracks and wherein the further second assignment is different from the further first assignment. [10] Placement machine (100) for manufacturing placement products (BP A, BP B) by means of an automatic placement of component carriers (190) with components (192), the placement machine (100) comprising a plurality of feed tracks, wherein a type of assembly material (BMactive, BMpassive, BMnext) comprising a type of component (192) for the production of the assembly products (BMactive, BMpassive, BMnext) can be fed via a feed track; a placement head (125) which is configured (i) for picking up supplied components (192), (ii) for transporting the picked-up components (192) into a placement area (110) of the placement machine (100), in which placement area (100) the component carrier (190) to be populated is located, and (iii) for placing the picked-up components (192) at a predetermined placement position on the component carrier (190); and a data processing device (118) configured to carry out a method according to one of the preceding claims. [11] Computer program for manufacturing assembly products (BP A, BP B) by means of an automatic assembly machine (100) which has a plurality of feed tracks, wherein a type of assembly material (BMactive, BMpassive, BMnext) for manufacturing the assembly products (BP A, BP B) can be fed via a feed track, wherein the computer program, when executed by a data processing device (118), is set up to carry out the method according to one of the preceding method-related claims.

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