IP Library Granted Patent US 12693655
Granted Patent B2
US 12693655 · App. 18/547,519 · Granted Jul 28, 2026

Maintenance device

Inventors: Yusuke Yamazaki (Chiryu, JP); Yuji Kawasaki (Nagoya, JP)
Assignee: FUJI CORPORATION
G05B19/4155H05K13/02H05K13/081G05B2219/39241
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12693655
App. No.
18/547,519
Granted
Jul 28, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

A maintenance device is applied to a bulk feeder including a feeder main body section, a track member, a vibration device, and a cavity group, and includes an initialization section and a vibration force control section. When the use time of the bulk feeder elapses a predetermined time, the initialization section returns a supply component existing in the cavity group toward a receiving region, and sets the cavity group to an initialization state in which the supply component does not exist in the cavity group. The vibration force control section increases the vibration force to be applied by the vibration device to the track member in the initialization section as compared with a case where the supply component is returned from the supply region toward the receiving region in order to adjust the number of the supply components conveyed to the cavity group when a board product is produced.

Claims (36)

1 . A maintenance device applied to a bulk feeder including

a feeder main body section,

a track member that includes a receiving region that is provided in the feeder main body section and receives a supply component which is a part of multiple supply components discharged from a component case in which the supply components are accommodated in a bulk state and supplied to a component mounter, a supply region where the component mounter can collect the supply component, and a conveyance path on which the supply component is conveyed between the receiving region and the supply region,

a vibration device that is provided in the feeder main body section and vibrates the track member to convey the supply component on the conveyance path between the receiving region and the supply region, and

a cavity group that is provided in the supply region and includes multiple cavities in which one component of the supply components conveyed from the receiving region to the supply region is to be accommodated,

the maintenance device comprising:

an initialization section configured to return the supply component existing in the cavity group toward the receiving region, and set the cavity group to an initialization state in which the supply component does not exist in the cavity group as much as possible every time use time of the bulk feeder elapses a predetermined time; and

a vibration force control section configured to increase a vibration force to be applied to the track member by the vibration device in the initialization section compared with a case of returning the supply component from the supply region toward the receiving region in order to adjust a number of the supply components to be conveyed to the cavity group when a board product is produced.

2 . The maintenance device according to claim 1 , further comprising:

an imaging section configured to cause an imaging device to image the cavity group set to the initialization state by the initialization section; and

a determination section configured to perform image processing on image data of the cavity group acquired by the imaging section to determine whether there is a removal target object that is at least one of a foreign matter remaining in the cavity group and the supply component fitted in a cavity of the cavity group.

3 . The maintenance device according to claim 1 , wherein

the component mounter includes a judgement section that judges whether the supply component can be collected by the component mounter for each of the multiple cavities of the cavity group before the component mounter starts collecting the supply component of the cavity group when a board product is produced, and

the initialization section sets the cavity group to the initialization state when a number of non-collectable cavities, for which the judgement section judges that the supply component cannot be collected by the component mounter continuously by a predetermined number of times for a same cavity,

exceeds a predetermined allowable number.

4 . The maintenance device according to claim 1 , wherein

the component mounter includes a judgement section that judges whether the supply component can be collected by the component mounter for each of the multiple cavities of the cavity group before the component mounter starts collecting the supply component of the cavity group when a board product is produced, and

the initialization section sets the cavity group to the initialization state when a number of collection fail cavities, for which the judgement section judges that the supply component can be collected by the component mounter for a same cavity and the component mounter attempts to collect the supply component but cannot collect the supply component continuously by a predetermined number of times, exceeds a predetermined allowable number.

5 . The maintenance device according to claim 2 , further comprising:

a guide section configured to guide maintenance of the cavity group when the determination section determines that there is the removal target object and maintenance of the cavity group is required.

6 . The maintenance device according to claim 5 , wherein

the guide section determines that maintenance of the cavity group is required when the number of target cavities determined by the determination section to have the removal target object exceeds a predetermined allowable number.

7 . The maintenance device according to claim 5 , wherein

the guide section determines that maintenance of the cavity group is required when a throughput of the component mounter is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value.

8 . The maintenance device according to claim 5 , wherein

the guide section guides a position of the cavity having the removal target object in the cavity group.

9 . The maintenance device according to claim 8 , wherein

the bulk feeder is installed in a predetermined slot among multiple slots of a component supply device of the component mounter, and

the guide section indicates a slot position at which the bulk feeder requiring maintenance of the cavity group is installed.

10 . The maintenance device according to claim 8 , wherein

an address is assigned to each of the multiple cavities of the cavity group, and

the guide section indicates the address of the cavity having the removal target object.

11 . The maintenance device according to claim 2 , wherein

the removal target object is a white electrode member which is the foreign matter and has a portion of at least a part of an electrode of the component peeled off,

each of the multiple cavities of the cavity group is colored in a black color, and

the determination section performs binarization processing on the image data of the cavity group acquired by the imaging section to determine whether there is the removal target object.