Component location device and method for surface-mount printed circuit boards
US4985107A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 1, 1988 |
| Grant date | Jan 15, 1991 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 1, 2008 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
- CPC primaryY10T156/1744
- WIPO fieldAudio-visual technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Electrical circuit components such as integrated circuit chips with plural closely-spaced mounting feet/terminals are mounted on surface-mount connection pads on a printed circuit board very simply and easily by mechanical means. An alignment pattern member having very precisely located holes matching the array of pads on the printed circuit board is used. The feet of the component first are fitted into the holes in the pattern to orient and locate them accurately, then the pattern and the component are separated from one another, and the component is placed with the feet on the pads. Preferably, the component is picked up with a vacuum pick-up device to remove it from the pattern, an is lowered onto the pads of the circuit board by the same mechanism. In an alternate embodiment, the printed circuit board and the pattern are secured to a sliding table which removes the pattern from beneath the vacuum pick-up device and moves a printed circuit board into position underneath the vacuum pick-up devices, which then lower the components onto the pads. Advantageously, the pattern member is made with a stencil used to apply solder paste to the pads.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.