Management system for managing visual inspection equipment

Abstract

To provide a management system allowing for shortening the time of external-appearance inspection in the manufacture of a product.SOLUTION: A management system is allowed to keep inspection-device management information indicative of an inspection order of external-appearance inspection devices. The management system is to acquire a first external-appearance inspection result of a first external-appearance inspection device in a first process of a first printed-circuit board product, make reference to the inspection-device management information and specify a second external-appearance inspection device in a second process later than the first process, generate inspection instructing information indicative of a component of the first printed-circuit board product in the second external-appearance inspection device and a detail of the external-appearance inspection of the component, based on the first external-appearance inspection result, and send the inspection instructing information to the second external-appearance inspection device in order for external-appearance inspection of the first printed-circuit board product.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a management system for managing a visual inspection device. [Background technology]

[0002] Background to the present disclosure is Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2007-281248. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2007-281248 discloses a semiconductor device manufacturing technology that reduces variations in the electrical characteristics and processing dimensions of semiconductor devices, enabling high-quality, high-yield manufacturing of semiconductor devices. Specifically, the publication discloses that "a semiconductor manufacturing system includes an inspection process 202 that measures wiring width by setting the length of a measurement area in the wiring direction to be at least 10 times the wiring width, a function (data collection unit 203) that collects inspection data from multiple inspection processes including the wiring width inspection process, a function (data analysis unit 204) that uses the inspection data to generate a prediction model of the electrical characteristics or processing dimensions of the semiconductor device and generates a control model from the prediction model, and a function (process control unit 205) that appropriately controls the processing conditions of a control process based on the inspection data and the control model from multiple inspection processes in the semiconductor device manufacturing process, thereby realizing a control method for the semiconductor device manufacturing process" (see Abstract). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-281248 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] As electronic components mounted on printed circuit boards become smaller, electronic component visual inspection systems are beginning to use high-resolution cameras to inspect these electronic components. Furthermore, as the number of items that must be evaluated for pass / fail on electronic components mounted on printed circuit boards increases, the image processing time within the electronic component visual inspection system also increases. Therefore, there is a need to select the inspection items required to determine pass / fail in electronic component visual inspection in order to shorten the inspection time.

[0005] However, in the past, in the visual inspections performed at each process from electronic component mounting to the completion of printed circuit boards, each visual inspection device held information defining the inspections it would perform for each electronic component. As a result, different visual inspection devices repeatedly performed the same inspection items on the same components. This resulted in a long inspection time in the manufacture of printed circuit board products, reducing the throughput of printed circuit board production. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] One aspect of the present invention is a management system that manages visual inspection devices that perform visual inspections for each of the different manufacturing processes in the manufacture of printed circuit board products, and includes one or more arithmetic devices and one or more memory devices.The one or more memory devices hold inspection device management information that indicates the inspection order of the inspection devices.The one or more arithmetic devices acquire a first visual inspection result of a first visual inspection device for a first process of a first printed circuit board product, refer to the inspection device management information to identify a second visual inspection device for a second process that follows the first process, generate inspection instruction information based on the first visual inspection result that indicates the components of the first printed circuit board product and the visual inspection contents of the components in the second visual inspection device, and send the inspection instruction information to the second visual inspection device for the visual inspection of the first printed circuit board product. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the time required for visual inspection in the manufacture of printed circuit board products. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 shows a schematic diagram of an example of the configuration of an inspection system in the manufacture of printed circuit board products. [Figure 2A] 10A and 10B are schematic diagrams illustrating examples of images captured by an image sensor of a visual inspection device. [Figure 2B] An example of defective electronic component mounting is shown below. [Figure 3A] 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of an example of the hardware configuration of an inspection management system. [Figure 3B] 10 shows an example of a program executed by the inspection management system. [Figure 4] 10 shows an example of the configuration of inspection process information. [Figure 5] 10 shows an example of the structure of examination information. [Figure 6] 10 shows an example of the configuration of determination condition information. [Figure 7] 10 shows an example of the configuration of inspection performance information. [Figure 8] 10 shows an example of the configuration of test instruction information. [Figure 9] 1 shows a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the printed circuit board inspection system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] In the following, when necessary for convenience, the description will be divided into multiple sections or examples, but unless otherwise specified, they are not unrelated to each other, and one is related to the other as a partial or complete modification, detail, supplementary explanation, etc. Furthermore, in the following, when the number of elements, etc. (including the number, numerical value, amount, range, etc.) is mentioned, it is not limited to that specific number, and may be more or less than the specific number, unless otherwise specified or when it is clearly limited in principle to a specific number, etc.

[0010] This system may be a physical computer system (one or more physical computers), or a system built on a group of computing resources (multiple computing resources) such as a cloud platform. The computer system or group of computing resources includes one or more interface devices (including, for example, a communication device and an input / output device), one or more storage devices (including, for example, a memory (main memory) and an auxiliary storage device), and one or more processors.

[0011] When a function is realized by a program being executed by a processor, the specified processing is performed using a storage device and / or an interface device, etc., as appropriate, and therefore the function may be considered to be at least a part of the processor. Processing described using a function as the subject may also be processing performed by a processor or a system having that processor. A program may be installed from a program source. The program source may be, for example, a program distribution computer or a computer-readable storage medium (e.g., a computer-readable non-transitory storage medium). The description of each function is an example, and multiple functions may be combined into one function, or one function may be divided into multiple functions.

[0012] An inspection management system according to an embodiment of the present specification manages a plurality of visual inspection devices in a manufacturing process of printed circuit board products. Visual inspection of printed circuit board products involves, for example, inspecting whether the soldering of electronic components mounted on the printed circuit board is correct. Visual inspection involves inspecting whether the mounted electronic components are correct and whether the electronic components are positioned correctly.

[0013] An inspection management system according to an embodiment of the present specification makes it possible to avoid unnecessary inspection time due to duplicate inspection items for the same component. The inspection management system stores information that uniquely associates the inspection target with the inspection result when performing the visual inspection of electronic components in each process. The inspection management system stores judgment conditions that specify a feedback method for the inspection results of the electronic component visual inspection device to the subsequent process.

[0014] The inspection management system acquires the inspection results of the inspection target, compares them with the judgment conditions, and transmits inspection instruction information for the next process for the specific electronic component to the electronic component visual inspection device. The visual inspection device determines the inspection items for the inspection target based on the inspection instruction information transmitted from the inspection management system.

[0015] Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of an example of the configuration of an inspection system used in the manufacture of printed circuit board products. The inspection system includes multiple visual inspection devices 30 and an inspection management system 10 that manages the visual inspection devices 30. In Fig. 1, one of the multiple visual inspection devices is designated by the reference numeral 30 as an example.

[0016] Each of the multiple appearance inspection devices 30 includes an image sensor and a control device. The control device determines the quality of the printed circuit board or the quality of the electronic components mounted on the printed circuit board (the quality of the printed circuit board product) based on an image taken immediately after the corresponding manufacturing process of the printed circuit board product. The manufacturing method for printed circuit board products includes multiple processes, and the manufacturing line includes manufacturing equipment corresponding to the processes. The printed circuit board product is a product in which electronic components are mounted on a printed circuit board.

[0017] The manufacturing method of a printed circuit board product includes, for example, a solder paste printing process, a component mounting process, a solder paste melting process, a component insertion process, and a flow soldering process, in that order. The solder paste printing process prints solder paste for mounting electronic components on the printed circuit board. The component mounting process places the electronic components on the printed circuit board on which the solder paste has been printed.

[0018] The solder paste melting process (reflow process) involves heating and melting the solder paste and then cooling and solidifying it to solder electronic components placed on a printed circuit board. Component insertion and flow soldering involves soldering external components such as connectors to the board by insertion and flow soldering.

[0019] The visual inspection device 30 includes a storage device 301, which stores inspection information 303 that is referenced to perform a visual inspection of a printed circuit board product immediately after (in the middle of) a target manufacturing process. The inspection information 303 includes inspection items and inspection parameters for performing a visual inspection of the printed circuit board product.

[0020] For example, the visual inspection device 30 in the solder paste printing process performs a printing inspection to check whether the solder paste is printed properly. The visual inspection device 30 in the component mounting process performs a mounting inspection to check whether the electronic components are properly installed on the printed circuit board. The visual inspection device 30 in the solder paste melting process performs a solder inspection to check whether the soldering of each electronic component is proper.

[0021] FIG. 2A schematically shows an example of an image captured by an image sensor of a visual inspection device. Image 251 schematically shows a top-view image of an electronic component mounted on a printed circuit board. Image 252 schematically shows a side-view image of an electronic component mounted on a printed circuit board. Electronic component 231 is joined to pad 233 by solder part 235. In FIG. 2A, one pad and one solder part are indicated by symbols as an example. FIG. 2A shows electronic component 231 that has been properly soldered. Top-view image 251 shows the component code "105" printed on electronic component 231.

[0022] FIG. 2B shows examples of defective electronic component mounting. Side-view image 261 shows an example of a non-soldering defect, where one pad has not been soldered. Side-view image 262 shows an example of a chip-standing defect, where the electronic component is upside down. These are examples of defective soldering. Top-view image 263 shows an example of an upside-down inversion defect, where the electronic component is mounted upside down. Top-view image 264 shows an example of a misalignment defect, where the mounting position of the electronic component is outside the normal range. These are examples of incorrect placement of electronic components.

[0023] The inspection items of each visual inspection device 30 include one or more items. As described above, examples of inspection items include items related to arranged (mounted) electronic components and items related to the soldering of electronic components. Items related to arranged electronic components include, for example, whether electronic components are arranged (mounted) in specified positions (presence inspection), whether the correct type of electronic components are arranged (constant inspection), whether defect-free electronic components are arranged (component defect inspection), whether electronic components are arranged in the correct positions (misalignment inspection), and whether electronic components are arranged with the correct front and back sides (front and back inspection). Items related to soldering include inspecting whether the solder is properly applied so as to meet specified conditions (solder inspection).

[0024] Returning to Fig. 1, the inspection management system 10 manages and controls the appearance inspection of printed circuit board products (in the process of being manufactured) by a plurality of appearance inspection devices 30. Each appearance inspection device 30 performs the appearance inspection of the printed circuit board products based on instructions from the inspection management system 10. Each appearance inspection device 30 transmits the inspection results of each printed circuit board product to the inspection management system 10.

[0025] The inspection management system 10 holds inspection process information 110, inspection information 120, determination condition information 140, inspection result information 160, and inspection instruction information 180. The inspection process information 110 indicates the inspection sequence of a plurality of appearance inspection devices 30.

[0026] The inspection information 120 is information that the target appearance inspection device 30 references for appearance inspection, and is similar to the inspection information 303 held by the appearance inspection device 30. The inspection management system 10 prepares and transmits the inspection information 120 to each appearance inspection device 30. In FIG. 1 , the inspection information for one appearance inspection device 30 is indicated by the reference symbol 120, for example.

[0027] The inspection instruction information 180 indicates the appearance inspection items to be performed by each appearance inspection device 30. The appearance inspection device 30 performs the appearance inspection of the printed circuit board product based on the inspection information 303 it holds and the inspection instruction information 180 received from the inspection management system 10. In one embodiment of this specification, the inspection instruction information 180 indicates inspection items that should be omitted. The inspection performance information 160 indicates the inspection results of each appearance inspection device 30.

[0028] The judgment condition information 140 is information that is referenced to generate inspection instruction information 180 for each visual inspection device 30. Based on the inspection result information 160 and judgment condition information 140 of the visual inspection device 30, the inspection instruction information 180 for the visual inspection device 30 in the next process is generated. In one embodiment of the present specification, common judgment condition information 140 is referenced to generate the inspection instruction information 180 to be sent to multiple visual inspection devices 30. As will be described later, the judgment condition information 140 specifies whether or not an inspection of an inspection item in a subsequent process is necessary based on the inspection results of the inspection item in a previous process.

[0029] 3A is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of the test management system 10. The test management system 10 may have a computer configuration. It includes a processor 151, which is a computing device having computing performance, and a main memory device 152 that provides a memory area for storing programs and data executed by the processor 151. The main memory device 152 is, for example, a DRAM that provides a volatile temporary memory area.

[0030] Furthermore, the test management system 10 includes an auxiliary storage device 154 that provides a permanent information storage area using an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), flash memory, etc. The main storage device 152, the auxiliary storage device 154, and a combination thereof are each a storage device.

[0031] The test management system 10 further includes a communication device 153 that performs data communication with other devices, including other devices in the system, an input device 155 that accepts operations from a user, and an output device 156 that presents the output results of each process to the user. Examples of the input device 155 are a mouse and a keyboard, and examples of the output device 156 are a display device and a printer. These components can communicate via a bus. The number of each component of the test management system 10 is arbitrary, and some components, such as the input device 155 and the output device 156, may be omitted.

[0032] The functional units of the test management system 10 described with reference to Fig. 1 can be implemented, for example, by a processor 151 that executes a program including instruction codes. The program for realizing the functional units is stored, for example, in an auxiliary storage device 154. The program executed by the processor 151 and data to be processed are loaded from the auxiliary storage device 154 to the main storage device 152. The functions within the system may be implemented by circuits for specific functions instead of a processor that operates according to a program.

[0033] The test management system 10 may be a physical computer system (one or more physical computers) as shown in Fig. 3, or may be a system built on a group of computing resources (multiple computing resources) such as a cloud platform. The computer system or the group of computing resources includes one or more interface devices (including, for example, a communication device and an input / output device), one or more storage devices (including, for example, a memory (main memory) and an auxiliary storage device), and one or more processors.

[0034] When a function is realized by executing a program by a processor, the defined processing is performed using a storage device and / or an interface device, etc., so the function may be considered to be at least a part of the processor. Processing described using a function as the subject may also be processing performed by a processor or a system including that processor.

[0035] The program may be installed from a program source. The program source may be, for example, a program distribution computer or a computer-readable storage medium (e.g., a computer-readable non-transitory storage medium). The description of each function is an example, and multiple functions may be combined into one function or one function may be divided into multiple functions.

[0036] FIG. 3B shows an example of a program executed by the inspection management system 10. The inspection management system 10 stores an inspection information generation unit 351 and an inspection instruction information generation unit 353. For convenience, FIG. 3B shows the programs 351 and 353 stored in the main memory device 152. The programs are stored in the auxiliary memory device 154 or other non-volatile memory device and loaded into the main memory device 152. The inspection information generation unit 351 generates and transmits inspection information 120 for each appearance inspection device 30 from CAD data. The inspection instruction information generation unit 353 generates and transmits inspection information 120 for each appearance inspection device 30.

[0037] FIG. 4 shows an example of the configuration of the inspection process information 110. The inspection process information 110 indicates the inspection execution sequence of the visual inspection device 30. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the inspection process information 110 includes an inspection order column 111 and an inspection device name column 112. The inspection process information 110 is set in advance in the inspection management system 10 and is stored, for example, in the auxiliary storage device 154. The inspection order column 111 indicates the inspection order of the visual inspection device 30. The inspection device name column 112 indicates the name of the visual inspection device 30. In this example, the visual inspection device name is an identifier that uniquely identifies the visual inspection device.

[0038] 5 shows an example of the configuration of inspection information 120. Inspection information 120 indicates information referenced during inspection by visual inspection device 30. Inspection management system 10 generates inspection information 120 for each visual inspection device from CAD data of the printed circuit board product, and transmits inspection information 120 to each visual inspection device 30. As described above, inspection information 120 is stored as inspection information 303 in storage device 301 of visual inspection device 30.

[0039] 5, the inspection information 120 includes board information 121 and mounting information 125. The board information 121 indicates the configuration of the printed circuit board of the printed circuit board product. The mounting information 125 indicates information about electronic components mounted on the printed circuit board.

[0040] 5, board information 121 includes an item column 122 and a content column 123. The item column 122 indicates items for defining the configuration of the printed circuit board, and specifically includes the printed circuit board name, board size X, board size Y, and board thickness. The printed circuit board name indicates the name of the printed circuit board, and in this example, indicates the type (model) of the printed circuit board.

[0041] The board size X and board size Y respectively indicate the lengths of the printed circuit board in two predetermined directions (X direction and Y direction) along the main surface (mounting surface) of the printed circuit board. In this example, the X direction and the Y direction are perpendicular to each other and are called, for example, the vertical direction and the horizontal direction. The board thickness indicates the thickness of the printed circuit board. The content column 123 indicates the values ​​of each item indicated in the item column 122.

[0042] 5, the mounting information 125 includes a component circuit number field 126, a component code field 127, an inspection library field 128, a component X coordinate field 129, a component Y coordinate field 130, and a component rotation angle field 131. The component circuit number field 126 indicates an identifier that uniquely identifies an electronic component mounted on the printed circuit board. The component code field 127 indicates the type of electronic component mounted on the printed circuit board.

[0043] The inspection library field 128 indicates an identifier of reference information for electronic component inspection, and indicates the inspection items of the electronic components and the parameters (such as tolerances) for the inspection of the inspection items. The component X coordinate field 129 and the component Y coordinate field 130 indicate the coordinates of the designated mounting position of the electronic component in the X and Y directions on the printed circuit board, respectively. The component rotation angle field 131 indicates the designated mounting angle of the electronic component between a reference direction along the top surface of the electronic component and a reference direction along the mounting surface of the printed circuit board.

[0044] 6 shows an example of the configuration of the judgment condition information 140. The judgment condition information 140 is reference information for determining the inspection content of a subsequent process based on the inspection results of a previous process. The inspection process information 110 is set in advance in the inspection management system 10 and is stored, for example, in the auxiliary storage device 154. In one embodiment of the present specification, the necessity of execution of a predetermined inspection item is determined for each component of a printed circuit board product.

[0045] In the example of FIG. 6, the judgment condition information 140 indicates whether or not an inspection is necessary in the next inspection process based on the results of the inspection process. In the configuration example of FIG. 6, the judgment condition information 140 includes an inspection item column 141, an inspection result column 142, and a next process inspection necessity column 143. The inspection item column 141 indicates the inspection items that can be performed by the appearance inspection device 30. The inspection result column 142 indicates whether or not the inspection result of the inspection item is good. A good inspection result is represented as OK, and a bad inspection result is represented as NG.

[0046] The next process inspection necessity column 143 indicates whether or not the next process inspection is necessary for the inspection result (column 142) of the inspection item (column 141). For example, if the inspection result of the constant inspection is OK, constant inspection in the next inspection process is not necessary and is omitted. Conversely, if the inspection result of the constant inspection is NG, constant inspection in the next inspection process is necessary and is performed.

[0047] In the example of Figure 6, if the inspection results for the constant inspection, presence inspection, and misalignment inspection are OK, those inspection items are omitted in the next visual inspection, but if the inspection result is NG, the inspection is repeated. These are inspection items for electronic components placed on printed circuit boards. On the other hand, the solder inspection is repeated regardless of the inspection result of the previous solder inspection.

[0048] The constant inspection checks whether the type of electronic component placed at a specified position matches the specified type. The constant inspection can determine the type of electronic component placed, for example, by referring to the component type name printed on the electronic component. The constant calculation may also determine whether the rotation angle of the electronic component is within a specified range. The presence inspection checks whether the electronic component is placed at a specified position. The displacement inspection checks whether the amount of displacement of the electronic component from the specified position is within a specified range.

[0049] As described above, if the inspection results of the visual inspection device in the upstream process are good for at least some of the inspection items, the inspection by the intra-process inspection device in the downstream process can be omitted, thereby improving the manufacturing efficiency of printed circuit board products while suppressing an increase in the defective rate in the manufacture of printed circuit board products. As described above, by making it possible to omit some or all of the inspection items related to the electronic components to be placed and not omitting solder inspection, the occurrence of defective products can be more effectively suppressed. Using the judgment condition information 140, it is possible to specify any inspection item as an inspection item to be omitted.

[0050] In this example, the inspection results of the inspection items that are omitted in the inspection process are judged as "pass." Therefore, if an inspection item is judged as "pass" in any inspection process, the visual inspection is omitted in all subsequent inspection processes.

[0051] In another example, an inspection item that is judged as pass in an inspection process may be omitted from only some of the visual inspections that follow that inspection process, and may be performed in other parts. For example, an inspection item that is judged as pass may be omitted from the visual inspection of the next process, and may be performed again in the next visual inspection process. Inspection items for which post-process inspection can be omitted are not limited to the example shown in Figure 6. For example, if the inspection result is pass, solder inspection may also be omitted in the post-process, and visual inspections such as constant inspection and presence / absence inspection may always be performed repeatedly regardless of the inspection result.

[0052] In the above example, the determination condition information 140 is common to all printed circuit board product types. In another example, determination condition information 140 may be prepared for each different printed circuit board product type. This makes it possible to specify inspection items to be omitted depending on the product type.

[0053] Fig. 7 shows an example of the configuration of inspection performance information 160. The inspection performance information 160 indicates the inspection results of each printed circuit board product by the visual inspection device 30. The visual inspection device 30 generates inspection performance information indicating the inspection results of each printed circuit board product and transmits it to the inspection management system 10. Fig. 7 shows, for example, the inspection results of a solder inspection device or a mounting inspection device.

[0054] In the example of Figure 7, the inspection performance information 160 includes an inspection device name column 161, a printed circuit board name column 162, a serial number column 163, a component circuit number column 164, a component code column 165, an inspection item column 166, an inspection result column 167, and a judgment result column 168.

[0055] The inspection device name column 161 indicates the name of the visual inspection device that performed the visual inspection. The printed circuit board name column 162 indicates the name of the printed circuit board of the inspected printed circuit board product. The serial number column 163 indicates the serial number of the inspected printed circuit board product. The serial number of the printed circuit board product is an identifier that uniquely identifies the printed circuit board product.

[0056] The component circuit number column 164 indicates the component circuit number of an electronic component installed in the inspected printed circuit board product. As described above, the component circuit number is an identifier of an electronic component in the printed circuit board product. The component code column 165 indicates the component code of an electronic component installed in the inspected printed circuit board product. As described above, the component code indicates the type (model) of the component. The inspection item column 166 indicates the inspection item of the inspected electronic component.

[0057] The inspection result column 167 shows the inspection results for each inspection item (column 166) of each electronic component to be inspected, which is indicated in the component circuit number column 164. The inspection results are the pass / fail judgment results of the electronic component mounting by the visual inspection device. The judgment result column 168 shows the judgment results by the inspector for the inspection items of the electronic components for which the visual inspection device 30 has made a fail judgment (NG judgment). A pass judgment is represented by OK, and a fail judgment is represented by NG. Components that have been judged as fail are repaired by a person. The fail judgment results are presented to the inspector by a display device of the visual inspection device 30. The judgment results by the inspector are input, for example, via an input device included in the visual inspection device 30.

[0058] Fig. 8 shows an example of the configuration of inspection instruction information 180. The inspection management system 10 generates the inspection instruction information 180 based on the inspection result information 160 of the immediately preceding inspection process and the judgment condition information 140. The inspection instruction information 180 is transmitted from the inspection management system 10 to the visual inspection device 30, and includes instructions regarding the content of the visual inspection to be performed by the visual inspection device 30. In the example of Fig. 8, the inspection instruction information 180 indicates inspections that should be omitted in the visual inspection of the target printed circuit board product.

[0059] In the example of FIG. 8, the inspection instruction information 180 includes a printed circuit board name column 181 , a serial number column 182 , a component circuit number column 183 , a component code column 184 , an inspection item column 185 , and an inspection necessity column 186 .

[0060] The printed circuit board name column 181 indicates the name of the printed circuit board of the printed circuit board product that is the target of the instruction. The serial number column 182 indicates the serial number of the printed circuit board product that is the target of the instruction. The component circuit number column 183 indicates the component circuit number of the electronic component that is the target of the instruction. The component code column 184 indicates the component code of the component that is the target of the instruction. The inspection item column 185 indicates the inspection item that is the target of the instruction. The inspection necessity column 186 indicates whether or not the inspection item of the component on the printed circuit board product that is the target of the instruction is to be inspected.

[0061] As described above, the inspection instruction information 180 specifies components and inspection items that do not require visual inspection. In the example of Fig. 8, the inspection instruction information 180 specifies that the inspection item "constant inspection" is to be omitted in the inspection of the component "R03" mounted on the printed circuit board product "PCB0001, S01."

[0062] In the target component inspection of the target printed circuit board product, the visual inspection device 30 omits the inspection of the inspection item specified by the inspection instruction information 180 among the inspection items specified by the inspection information 303 via the inspection library. The visual inspection device 30 records the inspection result of the omitted inspection item as good in the inspection performance information 160 (inspection result).

[0063] In the example shown in FIG. 8, the inspection instruction information 180 specifies the inspection items to be omitted for each electronic component. Alternatively, the inspection instruction information 180 may specify the inspection items to be performed. This makes it possible to indicate the inspection items to be omitted. In this way, the inspection instruction information 180 specifies the inspection contents for each component in the appearance inspection by the appearance inspection device 30.

[0064] Fig. 9 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the printed circuit board inspection system in the manufacture of one type (model) of printed circuit board product.

[0065] The inspection information generation unit 351 of the inspection management system 10 acquires CAD data for the type (model) of printed circuit board products to be manufactured, generates inspection information 120 for each of the appearance inspection devices 30 from the CAD data, and transmits it to each of the appearance inspection devices 30 (S10). The destination appearance inspection devices 30 are specified by the inspection process information 110.

[0066] The production line manufactures different types (models) of printed circuit board products. Therefore, inspection information 120 is generated for each type of printed circuit board. The inspection information generation unit 351 transmits the generated inspection information 120 to the corresponding appearance inspection device 30. The appearance inspection device 30 stores the received inspection information 120 as inspection information 303.

[0067] In the following, steps S11 to S16 are performed for each printed circuit board product of the printed circuit board product type. In the first inspection process, the visual inspection device 30 performs a visual inspection of the printed circuit board products (in the middle of production) on the production line in accordance with the inspection information 303. Components determined to be defective in the visual inspection are inspected by a human and repaired as necessary. The visual inspection device 30 stores the inspection results and the human judgment results in the storage device 301, and further transmits the inspection performance information 160 indicating these to the inspection management system 10 (S11). The inspection performance information 160 is generated for each printed circuit board product.

[0068] The inspection management system 10 receives inspection performance information 160 from the appearance inspection device 30 of the first inspection process and stores it in the auxiliary storage device 154 (S12). The inspection instruction information generation unit 353 of the inspection management system 10 generates inspection instruction information 180 for the appearance inspection device 30 of the next process based on the received inspection performance information 160 and judgment condition information 140 (S13). The appearance inspection device 30 of the next process is indicated in the inspection process information 110.

[0069] In one embodiment of this specification, the inspection instruction information generation unit 353 refers to all inspected parts and inspection items in the inspection record information 160, and extracts combinations of parts and inspection items that have been judged as pass. As described above, inspection items for which inspection has been omitted are judged as pass.

[0070] The inspection instruction information generation unit 353 identifies inspection items that do not require inspection in the next process if the result is a pass judgment, by referring to the judgment condition information 140. Among the combinations of parts and inspection items that are judged to be pass, the inspection instruction information generation unit 353 includes in the inspection instruction information 180, as combinations that do not require inspection, the combinations of inspection items and parts for which the judgment condition information 140 instructs that inspection in the next process is not required.

[0071] Note that if an inspection item to be inspected by the visual inspection device 30 will not be performed in a subsequent visual inspection, information about that inspection item does not need to be included in the inspection instruction information 180. The inspection instruction information 180 may be generated from information only about some of the components that are set in advance. The inspection instruction information 180 may be generated from information only about some of the inspection items that are set in advance. The inspection instruction information 180 may be generated for only some of the printed circuit board products.

[0072] The judgment condition information 140 may refer to the results of human judgment in addition to the inspection results. For example, if the human judgment result is a pass / fail judgment, it may be specified that the next inspection process is unnecessary. Because humans are prone to error, the final defect rate can be more effectively reduced by referring only to the inspection results of the visual inspection device 30.

[0073] Next, the inspection instruction information generation unit 353 transmits the generated inspection instruction information 180 to the visual inspection device 30 for the next process indicated by the inspection process information 110 (S14). Upon receiving the inspection instruction information 180, the visual inspection device 30 skips the inspection of the components and inspection items indicated by the inspection instruction information 180 and performs the visual inspection indicated by the printed circuit board product inspection information 303 (S15). Components determined to be defective in the visual inspection are inspected by a human and repaired as necessary. The visual inspection device 30 stores the inspection results and the human judgment results in the storage device 301, and further transmits inspection performance information 160 indicating them to the inspection management system 10.

[0074] The inspection management system 10 stores the inspection result information 160 in the auxiliary storage device 154. The inspection instruction information generation unit 353 refers to the inspection process information 110 and determines whether the received inspection result information 160 is the inspection result information 160 from the visual inspection device 30 of the final process (S16). If the determination result is NO (S16: NO), the flow returns to step S13. If the determination result is YES (S16: YES), the inspection in the manufacture of the printed circuit board product ends.

[0075] As described above, one embodiment of the present specification performs a mounting inspection to check whether electronic components mounted on a printed circuit board are mounted in the correct position and whether the components are mounted correctly, and a soldering inspection to check whether the mounted components are soldered correctly. By excluding some inspection items determined to be non-defective in the mounting inspection from the inspection items performed in the soldering inspection, unnecessary inspection time can be reduced, thereby shortening the electronic component inspection time. The above-described inspection management method can also be applied to managing visual inspections in the manufacture of products other than printed circuit board products.

[0076] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and includes various modifications. For example, the above-described embodiments have been described in detail to clearly explain the present invention, and the present invention is not necessarily limited to those including all of the described configurations. Furthermore, it is possible to replace part of the configuration of one embodiment with the configuration of another embodiment, or to add the configuration of another embodiment to the configuration of one embodiment. Furthermore, it is possible to add, delete, or replace part of the configuration of each embodiment with other configurations.

[0077] Furthermore, the above-mentioned components, functions, processing units, etc. may be realized in part or in whole by hardware, for example, by designing them as integrated circuits. Furthermore, the above-mentioned components, functions, etc. may be realized in software by a processor interpreting and executing a program that realizes each function. Information such as the programs, tables, and files that realize each function can be stored in a memory, a recording device such as a hard disk or SSD (Solid State Drive), or a recording medium such as an IC card or SD card.

[0078] In addition, the control lines and information lines shown are those that are considered necessary for the explanation, and do not necessarily show all the control lines and information lines in the product. In reality, it can be assumed that almost all components are interconnected. [Explanation of symbols]

[0079] 10 Inspection Management System 30 Visual inspection equipment 110 Inspection process information 120 Test Information 140 Judgment condition information 151 processors 152 Main storage 154 Auxiliary storage 155 Input Device 156 Output Devices 160 Inspection Results Information 180 Inspection Instruction Information 303 Test Information 351 Inspection Information Generation Unit 353 Inspection instruction information generation unit

Claims

1. A management system for managing visual inspection devices that perform visual inspections for different manufacturing processes in the manufacture of printed circuit board products, one or more computing devices; one or more storage devices; The one or more storage devices include: Inspection device management information indicating an inspection order of the visual inspection device; The judgment condition information is stored. the determination condition information defines a relationship between the inspection results of a plurality of appearance inspection items and whether or not an inspection is necessary in a subsequent appearance inspection process for each of the plurality of appearance inspection items; the plurality of appearance inspection items include an inspection item for components to be arranged on a printed circuit board and a solder inspection item, the judgment condition information associates a pass judgment of the inspection item for the component with no inspection required in the subsequent visual inspection process, associates a fail judgment of the inspection item for the component with the requirement for inspection in the subsequent visual inspection process, and associates a pass judgment and a fail judgment of the solder inspection item with the requirement for inspection in the subsequent visual inspection process; the one or more computing devices, Obtaining a first appearance inspection result of a first appearance inspection device in a first process of a first printed circuit board product; Identifying a second appearance inspection device for a second process subsequent to the first process by referring to the inspection device management information; generating inspection instruction information indicating components of the first printed circuit board product and details of the visual inspection of the components in the second visual inspection device based on the first visual inspection result and the judgment condition information; a management system that transmits the inspection instruction information to the second visual inspection device for visual inspection of the first printed circuit board product;

2. A management system according to claim 1, In manufacturing a plurality of printed circuit board products, the one or more computing devices Obtaining the appearance inspection result of the first appearance inspection device; generating inspection instruction information indicating components of the printed circuit board product and the contents of the visual inspection of the components in the second visual inspection device based on the visual inspection results of the first visual inspection device and the judgment condition information; a management system that transmits the inspection instruction information to the second visual inspection device;

3. An inspection system for performing visual inspections of different manufacturing processes in the manufacture of printed circuit board products, comprising: A plurality of appearance inspection devices; a management system for managing the plurality of visual inspection devices, the plurality of visual inspection devices, a first visual inspection device for the first process of the printed circuit board product; a second appearance inspection device for a second step subsequent to the first step, The management system holds judgment condition information, the determination condition information defines a relationship between the inspection results of a plurality of appearance inspection items and whether or not an inspection is necessary in a subsequent appearance inspection process for each of the plurality of appearance inspection items; the plurality of appearance inspection items include an inspection item for components to be arranged on a printed circuit board and a solder inspection item, the judgment condition information associates a pass judgment of the inspection item for the component with no inspection required in the subsequent visual inspection process, associates a fail judgment of the inspection item for the component with the requirement for inspection in the subsequent visual inspection process, and associates a pass judgment and a fail judgment of the solder inspection item with the requirement for inspection in the subsequent visual inspection process; the first visual inspection device transmits a first visual inspection result of the first printed circuit board product to the management system; the management system generates inspection instruction information indicating components of the first printed circuit board product and details of the visual inspection of the components in the second visual inspection device based on the first visual inspection result and the judgment condition information; the management system transmits the inspection instruction information to the second visual inspection device; The second visual inspection device performs a visual inspection of the first printed circuit board product based on the inspection instruction information.

4. An inspection system according to claim 3, the second appearance inspection device, maintaining inspection information indicating inspections to be performed on each component of the first printed circuit board product; an inspection system that performs a visual inspection of the first printed circuit board product, excluding inspection items instructed as unnecessary by the inspection instruction information;

5. A method for managing visual inspection devices that perform visual inspections for different manufacturing processes in the manufacture of printed circuit board products, comprising: The management system includes: Inspection device management information indicating an inspection order of the visual inspection device; The judgment condition information is stored. the determination condition information defines a relationship between the inspection results of a plurality of appearance inspection items and whether or not an inspection is necessary in a subsequent appearance inspection process for each of the plurality of appearance inspection items; the plurality of appearance inspection items include an inspection item for components to be arranged on a printed circuit board and a solder inspection item, the judgment condition information associates a pass judgment of the inspection item for the component with no inspection required in the subsequent visual inspection process, associates a fail judgment of the inspection item for the component with the requirement for inspection in the subsequent visual inspection process, and associates a pass judgment and a fail judgment of the solder inspection item with the requirement for inspection in the subsequent visual inspection process; The method further comprises: Obtaining a first appearance inspection result of a first appearance inspection device in a first process of a printed circuit board product; Identifying a second appearance inspection device for a second process subsequent to the first process by referring to the inspection device management information; generating inspection instruction information indicating components of the printed circuit board product and details of the visual inspection of the components in the second visual inspection device based on the first visual inspection result and the judgment condition information; transmitting the inspection instruction information to the second visual inspection device.

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