U.S. patent number 3,878,026 [Application Number 05/391,030] was granted by the patent office on 1975-04-15 for electrical component sequencer and taper.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Universal Instruments Corporation. Invention is credited to Michael D. Snyder, Frederick G. Tomko.
United States Patent |
3,878,026 |
Snyder , et al. |
April 15, 1975 |
Electrical component sequencer and taper
Abstract
An apparatus for removing electrical components from their
manufacturing strip and taping them to form a continuous sequential
group of components. The components are extracted as a group from a
plurality of supply stations by a plurality of spindles and
transported to a taping unit. The taping unit is driven by the
linear movement of the spindle carriage and includes a take-up reel
to receive the sequentially taped components.
Inventors: |
Snyder; Michael D. (Chenango
Bridge, NY), Tomko; Frederick G. (Vestal, NY) |
Assignee: |
Universal Instruments
Corporation (Binghamton, NY)
|
Family
ID: |
23544923 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/391,030 |
Filed: |
August 23, 1973 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
156/552; 156/562;
53/591 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H05K
13/0038 (20130101); Y10T 156/1734 (20150115); Y10T
156/1759 (20150115) |
Current International
Class: |
H05K
13/00 (20060101); B65b 015/04 (); B65h
005/26 () |
Field of
Search: |
;156/552,540,541,542,559,560,562 ;221/219 ;53/198R,200 ;206/330,331
;29/23R |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Van Horn; Charles E.
Assistant Examiner: Wityshyn; M. G.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Fidelman, Wolffe & Leitner
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An apparatus for sequencing electrical components having leads
extending from their bodies and taping said leads between ribbons
of tape comprising:
a support means;
a plurality of supply means attached to said support means for
storing a plurality of said electrical components;
taping means attached to said support means for taping said
component leads between ribbons of tape;
a plurality of transport means, one for each supply means, each
adapted to receive one electronic component from said supply means
and transporting said components from said supply means to said
taping means; and a transport support means supporting said
plurality of transport means for linear movement
simultaneously;
first drive means responsive to said transport means for driving
said taping means;
a second drive means for moving said transport means from said
supply means to said first drive means in a first linear direction;
and
a third drive means for moving said transport support means to and
from said supply means in a direction orthagonal to said first
linear direction.
2. An apparatus as in claim 1 wherein said first drive means
rotatably drives said taping means in response to linear motion of
said transport means in said first direction.
3. An apparatus as in claim 2 including a locking means for
preventing rotational movement of said taping means when said
transport means moves in a direction opposite said first
direction.
4. An apparatus as in claim 2 wherein said plurality of transport
means each comprise a housing, two component receiving means
pivotally mounted to said housing for receiving and holding an
electrical component therebetween, and a control means for
determining the pivotal position of said receiving means.
5. An apparatus as in claim 4 including a rotational drive means
connected to said housing for rotating a held component
90.degree..
6. An apparatus as in claim 5 wherein said component receiving
means each comprise at least one jaw having a plurality of grooves
in one face thereof adapted to receive said electrical component's
leads and an indented portion large enough to receive said
electrical component's body.
7. An apparatus as in claim 6 including a clamping means in said
housing and received in said jaw's indented portion for holding
said electrical component's body secure in said housing.
8. An apparatus as in claim 2 wherein each of said supply means
comprises:
a guide means for receiving a strip having a plurality of
electrical components attached thereto;
a strip drive means to move said strip through said guide means to
a component extraction station; and
wherein each of said transport means comprises component receiving
means for extracting a component from said strip.
9. An apparatus as in claim 8 wherein said guide means receives
said strip in a first vertical plane and presents said strip to
said extraction station in an orthagonal vertical plane, and
wherein said component receiving means extract said components in a
vertical plane and transport said components in a horizontal plane.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for removing
electronic components from their manufacturing strips and taping
them in sequence between continuous ribbons of adhesive tape with
equal spacing and having a check gap between preselected sequential
groups.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the field of electronic component insertion devices, there are
many machines which will insert components having axial leads. The
older machines include a bin storage taking one component at a time
and inserting it into a printed circuit board. The newer machines
utilize electronic components which are sequenced and taped and
then placed on a continuous roll to be fed into the newer insertion
machines. By taping components in sequence or order, the machine
can proceed without using a plurality of supply stages.
Though there are a large number of machines which will tape,
sequence and insert axial lead electronic components, there are
very few machines which will tape or sequence or insert electronic
components whose leads are not axial. Two major examples of
non-axial lead components are transistors and disc capacitors. An
example of a machine which will tape transistors for later use and
insertion in a machine is U.S. Pat. No. 3,616,089, dated Oct. 26,
1971 This patent is assigned to Universal Instruments Corporation,
the assignee of the present invention. This patent also exemplifies
the processing of loose electrical components from a bin to a
sequential tape. Further, a machine which will insert taped
non-axial lead components is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,636,624,
dated Jan. 25, 1972, which is also assigned to Universal
Instruments Corporation.
Electronic components, for convenience and component handling, are
presently being shown in some form of packaging. This form of
packaging is generally a manufacturing strip having the components
attached thereto as shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,135,375.
Because of the present state of the art of the electric component
shipping and packaging strips, there is a need for a machine which
can process the electronic components from the manufacturing strips
into a taped sequence of components for use in a standard
electronic component insertion devices of the prior art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is an apparatus for removing electrical
components from a manufacturing strip and taping them in a
continuous sequential group of components to be used in standard
electronic component insertion machines. A plurality of
manufacturing strips of electronic components present electronic
components in a vertical plane wherein a plurality of transport
means remove one electronic component apiece from the plurality of
manufacturing strips. The plurality of transport means are spindles
mounted to a single carriage which, upon removing the electronic
components from the manufacturing strip, rotate the electric
components and their leads 90.degree. from a vertical plane to a
horizontal plane. Each supply station for each manufacturing strip
contains individually controlled drive means responsive to a sensor
which detects the presence of electronic component at the
extraction position to individually control the drive means.
After extraction and rotation, the spindle carriage moves in a
horizontal plane in a direction orthagonal to the extraction motion
to a taping unit. There the linear movement of the spindle carriage
drives the taping unit so that the tapes and electronic components
are moved at the same speed and are taped with the same spacing as
that of the spindles. Once all the components have been taped, the
spindle carriage moves in the reverse direction and a locking means
prevents the taping unit from being driven by the reverse
motion.
The present apparatus includes a take-up reel and an interliner for
the tap components on the take-up reel. Below the extraction
station is included a bin and a cutter for cutting the
manufacturing strips into small pieces.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a device for
sequencing and taping electronic components which do not have axial
leads.
Another object is to provide a sequencing and taping machine which
extracts components from manufacturing strips.
A further object of the present invention is a common spindle
carriage which moves in two orthagonal directions in a horizontal
plane between the supply station and the taping unit.
Still another object of the present invention is the driving of the
taping unit by the spindle carriage so that the components are
taped at the same spaced interval as the spindles.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide
individual control and drive for the strip supply so that each
supply station will guarantee the presentation of a single
component to be extracted and taped without stopping the machine
for missing parts in the manufacturing strip.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present
invention will become evident from the following detailed
description of the invention when considered in conjunction with
the accompanying drawings.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a view of the electronic components taped in a
preselected sequence with a check gap;
FIG. 2 is a front view of the electronic component sequencer and
taper without the component strip supply unit;
FIG. 3 is a left side view of the electronic component sequencer
and taper without the component strip supply unit;
FIG. 4 is a top view of the electronic component sequencer and
taper without the strip supply unit and the tape supply;
FIG. 5 is a front view of the strip supply unit and the cutter
assembly;
FIG. 6 is a left side view of the strip supply unit of the tape
supply and the cutter assembly;
FIGS. 7a and 7b are a sectional side view and end view,
respectively, of the spindle assembly;
FIG. 8 is a top view of the spindle carriage;
FIG. 9 is a schematic of the drive assembly for the spindles in the
Y direction;
FIG. 10 is a left side view of the strip drive assembly;
FIG. 11 is a schematic of the pitchwheel drive assembly.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
FIG. 1 shows a segment 20 of sequenced and taped electrical
components 21 having non-axial leads 22 and 23. The leads 22 and 23
are taped or retained between continuous tapes 24, 25, 26 and 27.
As shown in segment 20 and as will be explained in the more
detailed description of the present invention, sixteen electrical
elements or less are sequenced upon a strip having a check gap,
indicated as G, between sequential groups. The output yield of the
machine may vary depending upon the number of parts in the
sequence.
Using a base sixteen sequence, sequences of less than sixteen parts
in length may be taped; however, the maximum output yield of the
machine will be diminished. For example, an eight part sequence
will require one complete machine cycle to tape eight parts since
the two eight part sequences plus a check gap therebetween will sum
to seventeen. Thus, using an eight part sequence, the efficiency of
the machine would be cut in half. With a seven part sequence,
however, two complete sequences plus a separating check gap
(summing to fifteen) may be taped in one machine cycle, giving the
yield of fourteen/sixteen or 87.5 percent of the maximum yield
using a sixteen component sequence length.
OVERALL STRUCTURE
FIGS. 2-6 show the overall structure of the present sequencer and
taper, which extracts electrical components from their
manufacturing strips and tapes them in sequence. The sequencer and
taper consists of a base frame 28 and tabletop 29 with a vertical
support structure 30 running longitudinally down the machine,
projecting upward.
Behind the vertical support structure 30 is mounted the strip drive
assembly 31 for powering the strip transport mechanism which moves
the cardboard manufacturing strips in which the electrical
components are carried from the source or supply station 32 to an
electrical component support or extraction station 33. Bolted to
the tabletop 29 is a removable supply structure 34 which supports
and positions 16 spools 35 of cardboard strip-mounted components.
This supply structure 34 may be removed to facilitate running
unspooled components. The spools 35 are positioned side-by-side in
two rows of eight; one row on the side of the vertical supply
support plate 36 towards the operator; and one row on the rear side
of the vertical support plate 36. Mounted on the supply structure
34 which also holds the spools are sixteen strip-twist sections 37
which provide the vertical drop through which the cardboard strip
is passed while being twisted 90.degree. such that the cardboard is
presented edgewise to the operator side of the machine, with the
heads of the components 21 protruding from the cardboard towards
the operator. At the top of strip-twist section 37 are strip
entrance guides 37'.
Leaving the strip-twist section 37, each strip enters a guide 38
and has been closed to a distance therebetween equal to the
distance between the individual transport spindles, which is also
the distance desired between the respective electrical elements in
the taped sequence. At the lower end of strip guide 38 is an
electrical component drive section 39 which is motor driven as will
be explained more fully in the description of FIG. 10, until an
electrical component 21 is at component extraction position. Each
electrical component drive section 39 is individually controlled by
an individual selection assembly 40 which is responsive to a part
sensor or microswitch 41, to cause the electrical component drive
section 39 to drive the strips until the microswitch 41 senses or
determines the presence of an electrical component in an extraction
station or position 33. Once the electronic component is removed
from the strip, the strip is driven further downward until an
electrical component is in the extraction station. The strip moves
down through an opening in the table top surface 29 and into the
strip twist and cutter section 42. There it is cut into pieces or
short lengths and dropped into a basket or bin 42'. The vertical
support structure 30 which extends towards the right side, as seen
in FIG. 2, supports the pitchwheel drive section 43, the taped
components guide 44, the tape skew rollers 45, the tape guide
rollers 46, taped component guide roller 47, and the take-up reel
48, take-up drive control dancer 49, and interliner spool 50. On
the back side of structure 30 are supported tape spools 51 and the
drive for the take-up spool.
A plurality of spindles 52, which as shown in the present
embodiment is sixteen, are mounted upon a common spindle carriage
53 which moves along a horizontal table top surface 29 in two
orthagonal directions, i.e., X and Y. The X direction is to the
right in FIGS. 2 and 5, and the Y direction is to the left in FIGS.
3 and 4. The X and Y axes are orthagonal and form a plane parallel
to the table top surface 29. The carriage 53 is shown in a home
position, i.e., to the front and left side of the table top surface
29. The carriage moves in a Y direction towards the back of the
table to a position indicated in phantom as 52', wherein it engages
the electrical component 21 at their extraction station. The
spindle carriage 53 is then retracted to a midway position which is
indicated in phantom as 52", thereby extracting the component from
its cardboard manufacturing strip and moving it to the taping unit.
Drive cylinder 54 moves the carriage in the X direction to the
right to the taping unit.
When the first spindle 52" reaches the taping unit, the linear X
motion of the spindle carriage 53 drives the pitch wheel drive
section 43 so that the tape and the periphery of the pitchwheel are
moving at the same linear speed as the spindle carriage 53. By
maintaining equal linear motion, the electrical components are
taped with a separation equal to the separation between the
spindles 52. As will be explained more fully in reference to FIG.
11, the pitch wheel drive section 43 includes a locking means to
prevent rotation of the pitchwheel drive 43 during the reverse X
motion of the spindle carriage 53 when the carriage returns to its
original or home position once the sixteen components have been
sequentially taped.
SPINDLE ASSEMBLY
The spindles 52, shown in cross-section detail in FIGS. 7a and 7b,
consist partially of a cylindrical body of housing 54 with a bore
55 running longitudinally through it. The cylindrical body 54 has a
slot 56 at the component end running across the face thereof to
provide a nest for the component recieving means or part-clamping
jaws 57 and 58. Two pins 59 inserted at 90.degree. to the slot
provide the support for the jaws and allow them to pivot.
The jaw 58 has two channels or grooves 60 in which the leads of the
electrical components lie during extraction from its manufacturing
strip and transporting to and through the taping unit. The jaws 57
and 58 each have two indented or decreased width sections, 61 and
62. At the rear of the cylindrical body 54 is a groove 75 into
which a locking plate fits, preventing any movement of the spindle
body in the bearings on the spindle carriage. A spur gear 63 is
pressed into the rear end of the cylindrical body and secured to it
by two pins 64. As will be discussed in detail in FIG. 8, the spur
gear is driven to cause the cylindrical body 54 to rotate the
electrical component from a vertical to a horizontal plane.
Contained within the body is a component clamp rod 65, the forward
end of which is shaped such that when it is retracted, the jaws 57,
58 are cammed open and when the clamp rod is extended, the jaws 57,
58 are free to close. A collar 66 with two slots 67 rides on the
component clamp rod 65 and is constrained by a pin 68 pressed into
the component clamp rod 65 to travel back and forth. The collar 66
is stopped by the pin contacting the ends of the slots. Also
contained within the cylindrical body 54 is a chamber 69, a collar
spring 70, and a clamp spring 71. The collar spring 70 exerts
pressure between the chamber end and the collar 66 and the clamp
spring 71 exerts pressure against the end 72 of the component clamp
rod 65 and the end of the push rod 73.
The push rod 73 extends through the spur gear 63 at the rear of the
cylindrical body and is pinned to the chamber at 74. Thus, by
extending the push rod 73, the chamber 69 moves forward, carrying
with it the component clamp rod 65. As the chamber moves forward,
the collar 66 moves with it until the bevelled front edge of the
collar contacts the after end of the jaws 57, 58 and causes them to
close. When the jaws are closed, the component clamp rod 65, in its
free position would be forward in the jaws far enough to clamp the
smallest diameter component. If a large diameter component is in
the jaws, the component clamp rod 65 is free to move back in the
jaws compressing the clamp spring 71.
SPINDLE CARRIAGE ASSEMBLY
The spindle carriage assembly 53 is made up of two subcarriage
assemblies to be signified as the X assembly and the Y assembly,
which moves the spindles 52 in the two orthagonal directions
previously discussed.
The Y assembly shown in detail in FIG. 8 consists of the supporting
structure 78 to hold the sixteen spindles 52, as well as carrying
the mechanisms to rotate the spindles and open their jaws. The
spindles 52 must rotate 90 degrees from a jaws vertical position at
which the spindles extract the electrical components from their
manufacturing strip, to a jaws horizontal position at which the
electrical components are taped. To accomplish this, a spindle
rotation pinion gear 79, which is mounted on the Y supporting
structure 78 is rotated by means of a spindle rotation air cylinder
80 which is connected to pinion gear 79 by pin 81. Extending
transversely from spindle rotation cylinder 80 is an arm 82 which
comes in contact with microswitches 83 and 84, which sense the
fully extended or retracted position of the spindle rotation
cylinder 80. The microswitches are connected to a central control
unit which controls the supply of air of the spindle rotation
cylinder. It should be noted that activation of microswitches 83
and 84 represents the spindle jaws' vertical and horizontal
positions, respectively.
The spindle pinion 79 meshes with a spindle rotation drive rack 85
which is secured to a spindle rotation rack 86. When the spindle
pinion 79 is rotated by spindle rotation cylinder, the spindle
rotation drive rack 85 and spindle actuator rack 86 move to the
right, causing the sixteen spindles 52 to rotate through 90.degree.
simultaneously. The jaws 57 and 58 on the spindles 52 are opened
and closed by the jaw opening cylinder 89, secured to the underside
of Y supporting structure 78, actuation of which causes a pushrod
actuator bar 88 to move, which drives the sixteen pushrods 65
simultaneously. The jaw opening cylinder 89 has a plate 90 pinned
at 91 thereto, which is secured to a slide 92 which moves along rod
93 secured by brackets 94 to the underside of Y support structure
78. The slide 92 extends through a slot 95 in the Y support
structure 78 and is secured to pushrod actuation bar 88 by a
transverse member 96. An L-shaped 97 extends from the slide 92 and
comes in contact with microswitches 98 and 99, which sense the open
or closed position of the spindle jaws.
The Y assembly has four bushings 103 secured to its underside which
receive two rods 104 which are secured to the X assembly support
structure 105. similarly, the X assembly support structure 105 has
four bushings 106 secured to the underside thereof, which receive
two rods 107 which are secured to the table top 29. The spindles 52
may be moved therefore in the Y direction by movement of a Y
assembly drive and in the X direction by the movement of an X
assembly drive. Y assembly drive is shown schematically in FIG. 9,
and consists of two cylinders 108 and 109, each of which may be
operated independently. This gives the Y assembly four discreet
positions, i.e., 52, 52', 52" and one position not used, given by
the full extension or retraction of two cylinders in various
permutations. Cylinder 108 is pinned at 110 to the Y supporting
structure 78 and at its other end to a connecting rod 111 which is
pivotally fixed to the X assembly. The other end of connecting rod
111 is pinned to one end of cylinder 109, whose other end is
secured to the X assembly at 113. The X stage, as previously
described, is driven by cylinder 54, which is secured to the table
top 29 and attached to the underside of X stage at 114.
STRIP DRIVE ASSEMBLY
The strip drive assembly 31 consists of sixteen electrical
component drives sections 39, each having a driven rubber endless
belt 115 stretched over a pair of rollers 116 and 117, the latter
(117) having the driven roller. The belt face presses one side of
the manufacturing cardboard component strip, the other side of the
strip being in contact with a metallic guide wall (not shown). A
support block 118 mounting and separating the two rollers 116, 117
contains spring-loaded rolls 119 which push the middle section of
the drive belt 115 away from the support block, thus lowering
friction and giving a degree of compliance to the "sandwich" area
between the belt surface and the metallic guide, through which the
strip passes. The driven roller 117 has a toothed clutch face 120
protruding out the back of the roller to be selectively engaged and
driven by the selection assembly 40.
In order to drive these rollers, a mechanism is employed as
follows: a selection assembly support block 121 is mounted to table
top 29 and supports a bushing 122 and worm-gear assembly comprising
a worm idler 123, a worm 124 and a worm gear 125. All the worm
gears 125 are connected to a single worm 124, which is driven
continuously by a single motor 126 through two pulleys 127 and a
timing belt 128 (see FIGS. 3 and 4). Extending through the center
of the bushing 122 and worm-gear 125 is a shaft 129, having a
toothed clutch face 130 at its forward end and a concave aft end
131. A spring 132 between the worm gear 125 and the concave end 131
of the shaft holds the clutch face 130 in its rearmost position
(disengaged from clutch face 120). The shaft 129 is keyed to the
bushing-worm gear assembly such that it rotates with the worm gear,
but is free to slide through it while rotating. Thus, when the
shaft 129 is pushed forward, the clutch faces 120 and 130 mesh and
the rotation of the worm gear 125 is transmitted to the belt-drive
roller 117. In order to push the shaft forward, a round-nosed
piston 132' is placed behind the concave face 131 of the shaft 129.
The pistons 132' are housed in a common support 133 which has a
plurality of pairs of forward and aft air ports 134, one for each
component supply station. There is an air tight fit between the
rounded nose position 132' and housing support 133 by O-ring seals
135. When air pressure is supplied to the aft air port, the piston
132' is driven forward, causing the belt drive to be actuated. The
individual operation of the air-driven pistons 132' are controlled
by sixteen part-sensor switches 41 for selectively turning each of
the sixteen drives on and off individually.
Above the drive-belt section, in the strip guide area, are
spring-loaded skew rollers 136 which, when strip material passes
by, forces the strip edge to contact the rear wall of the strip
guide 38. In loading the machine, the strip is hand-fed over the
skew rollers 136 until it contacts the drive belt 115. After that,
the strip is machine-driven whenever the drive roller 117 is
rotated. Approximately midway down the length of the drive belt
section, the lower lead 23 of a strip-mounted component 21 contacts
a microswitch actuator or part sensor 41. Actuation of this switch
stops the drive of the respective drive roller.
PITCHWHEEL DRIVE ASSEMBLY
The pitchwheel drive assembly 43 consists of the mechanism to
translate the linear motion of the X assembly support structure to
a rotation of the taping pitchwheel 137 such that parts will be
taped by the pitchwheel 137 at exactly the same rate that the
spindles 52 travel by the pitchwheel 137. Referring to FIG. 11, the
motion translation is accomplished by a gear rack 138 which is
attached to the support structure and meshes with one of two change
gears 139 and 139', mounted on a common shaft 140 which is
supported by vertical support structure 30. The second change gear
139' also meshes with the pitchwheel driver gear 141 which free
wheels on pitchwheel shaft 142. Fastened to the pitchwheel drive
gear 141 is one face 143 of an electromagnetic clutch 144 and the
other face 145 of the clutch 144 is keyed to the pitchwheel shaft
142. Also keyed to the pitchwheel shaft 142 is a detent gear 146
with seventeen detent positions. Above the detent gear 146 is a
pawl 147 which is driven into engagement with the detent gear 146
when the clutch 144 is disengaged. This pawl 147 will accurately
locate the pitchwheel 137 whenever it is driven into the detent
gear 146. The mechanism is such that when the clutch 144 is engaged
and the detent pawl 147 is out, the motion of the X assembly
support structure 105 causes direct rotation of the pitchwheel 137.
When the clutch 144 is disengaged and the pawl 147 is driven in to
detent gear 146, the motion of the support structure does not drive
the pitchwheel 137.
On top of the pitchwheel 137 is a pair of spring-loaded pressure
rollers 148 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) which apply the pressure needed to
press the tape over the leads of the components being carried by
the spindles 52. The pressure rollers 148 may be manually removed
from contact with the pitchwheel rollers 137' to facilitate loading
the machine with tape. At the exit of the pitchwheel taping point,
a horizontal guide 44 supports the taped components along their
route to the take-up spool 48, where interliner paper from spool 50
may be applied and the components wound in the usual way.
The linear motion of the X assembly is limited by an adjustable
snubber 149. The snubber is adjustably secured to table top 29 and
has an elastomeric shock absorbing material 150 to receive the
lateral edge of the X assembly. The snubber may be positioned at
0.75 inch increments along the length of the X assembly travel path
to allow the taping of a sequence whose length is less than the
sixteen electro-component sequence used as an example in the
preferred embodiment. A limit switch 151 is located on the X
assembly to sense the end of the X assembly's rightward
movement.
TAPE SPINDLE ASSEMBLY
The present sequencer and taper mounts and supports the four 2-mile
tape spools 51 on the rear side of the vertical support structure
30. A spring loaded tensioner arm (not shown) provides a sprung
take-up system to reduce the load transmitted to the pitchwheel
drive due to the inertia of the tape spools. The tape is fed
through holes in the vertical support plate 30 to the front side of
the machine where the tape is run over rollers 45 to change the
direction of the tape such that it feeds into the taping section
properly.
CUTTER SECTION
The strip twist and cutter section 42 (not shown in detail) is
located below the table top surface 29 and consists of a set of
guides that will twist the empty cardboard strips approximately
55.degree., whereupon they will be cut by a single knife blade
actuated by a pneumatic cylinder. After being cut, the scrap will
drop into a scrap container 42' located beneath the machine.
SEQUENCE AND TAPER OPERATION
The machine operation starts with the X assembly at the left hand
position and the Y assembly at the position closest to the front of
the machine. The spindles shown in the 52 position in FIG. 4 have
their jaws 57 and 58 open and in the vertical position. Component
clamp rod 65 is in the rear position. Electrical components 21 are
in an extraction position at extraction station 33 such that
microswitches 41 prevent the part belt 115 from being driven. The
pitchwheel clutch 144 is disengaged and the pitchwheel locking pawl
147 engages detent gear 146. Worm 124 is driven by motor 126 and
the knife blade is in the retracted position. The machine cycle
proceeds with the Y assembly extending to its maximum forward
direction, as signified by 52', with the jaws enveloping the
component 21 and closing thereabout. The Y stage retracts to the
middle or taping position, signified as 52". The spindles 52 rotate
from a vertical to a horizontal position.
The part sensing switches 41 detect a missing part and cause the
air pressure to be supplied to the aft port 134 to move the rounded
nose piston 132 into engagement with clutch shaft 129 so that
clutch plates 130 and 120 are engaged to drive the drive roller 117
which in turn drives belt 115. The component drive mechanism
remains on until the part sensor 41 senses that a part is present
in the extraction position and disconnects the drive from drive
roller 117. The X stage then translates to the right to a point
where the first spindle is 0.75 inches to the left of the taping
pitchwheel center line. Pitchwheel locking pawl 147 is disengaged
from detent gear 146 and the pitchwheel clutch 144 engages, thereby
transmitting the linear drive of the X stage to the rotational
drive of the pitchwheel.
The X stage then proceeds at an increased rate of speed until
contacting the snubber 149 and switch 151 therein, indicating the
end of the stroke. In response to dancer roll 49, the take-up spool
motor turns on, taking up the taped components. Also, at this point
the pitchwheel locking pawl 147 is driven into engagement with
detent gear 146, locking it against further movement. Air pressure
is removed from the jaw opening cylinder 89 and the jaws are
opened. The Y stage retracts to the position closest to the front
machine and the jaws rotate to the vertical position. The X stage
retracts to the leftmost position of travel. The cutter assembly
twists the strips and cuts it into small pieces and returns to its
original position. At this point, the cycle is again repeated,
starting with the movement of the Y assembly to the extraction
station.
The operation of the sequencer and taper is controlled by an
electronic unit located at 152 (See FIG. 5). This unit receives
inputs from various sensors and thereby controls the various drive
units.
Although the invention has been described and illustrated in detail
using sixteen as a base, the present invention could be made using
any number for the base. The number of supply spools, spindles and
teeth on the detent gear would all correspond to the new base. The
base sixteen is by way of illustration and example only and is not
to be taken by way of limitation, the spirit and scope of this
invention being limited only by the terms of the appended
claims.
* * * * *