Component Mounter Inspection-Area Placement for Setting-Error Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing component mounting systems face human error risks due to manual component replenishment and type changes, leading to defective boards, and the installation of expensive characteristic checkers in each mounter to prevent these errors is costly.
Innovation Solution
A component mounter system with a product area and inspection area on the board, equipped with a target event detector, determiner, and inspection-required component installer, allows components requiring inspection to be installed in the inspection area, reducing the need for individual checkers in each mounter.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If manual component replenishment and type changes are performed by operators, then the component mounting system can operate flexibly, but human errors such as component setting errors occur leading to defective boards
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables self-service through the detector that automatically identifies component types and compares them with required components, eliminating the need for manual verification by operators. The mounter performs self-checking by detecting component presence and type, then automatically determining whether to mount or reject the component.
Solution Approach 2:
The detector provides feedback about component type and presence to the control unit, which then determines the appropriate action. This feedback mechanism ensures that only correctly identified components are mounted, preventing setting errors while maintaining operational flexibility.
2Reliability
If characteristic checkers are installed in each component mounter to inspect electrical characteristics, then component setting errors can be detected and prevented, but the system cost increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the inspection function from expensive characteristic checkers and implements a simpler detection mechanism within the mounter itself. The detector identifies component types and the control unit determines mounting suitability, separating the essential detection function from costly specialized inspection equipment.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses a cost-effective detector and control logic instead of expensive characteristic checkers. This cheaper detection approach is sufficient for identifying component types and preventing setting errors, eliminating the need for costly inspection equipment in each mounter.
3Reliability
If components are inspected by characteristic checkers before mounting, then defective components can be identified, but the production time increases due to additional inspection steps
Solution Approach 1:
The detector performs component identification in advance as components are fed to the mounter, before the mounting decision is made. This preliminary detection integrates seamlessly into the existing workflow without adding separate inspection steps, maintaining production speed while ensuring reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The detection and mounting functions are merged into a single integrated process. The detector and control unit work together with the mounter to perform both identification and mounting decisions in one continuous operation, eliminating separate inspection steps and maintaining high productivity.
Data Source
AI summary
There is provided a component mounter that conveys in a board having a product area in which a pattern electrode incorporated in an electrical product is disposed and an inspection area in which an inspection electrode for inspecting electrical characteristics is disposed, and conveys out the board after repeatedly executing an operation of picking up a component supplied by a component feeder and installing the component in the product area according to an installation sequence program, the device including: target event occurrence detector for detecting occurrence of an event that requires inspection of the electrical characteristics with respect to the component supplied by the component feeder; a determiner for determining whether or not the inspection area is vacant; and inspection-required component installer for installing the component picked up from the component feeder in the inspection area as an inspection-required component, in a case where the target event occurrence detector detects the occurrence of the event and the determiner determines that the inspection area is vacant.