US3878026A

US3878026A - Electrical component sequencer and taper

Info

Publication number: US3878026A
Application number: US391030A
Authority: US
Inventors: Michael D Snyder; Frederick G Tomko
Original assignee: Universal Instruments Corp
Current assignee: Delaware Capital Formation Inc
Priority date: 1973-08-23
Filing date: 1973-08-23
Publication date: 1975-04-15
Anticipated expiration: 1992-04-15

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.

Description

United States Patent Snyder et al.

[451 Apr. 15, 1975 ELECTRICAL COMPONENT SEQUENCER AND TAPER Inventors: Michael D. Snyder, Chenango Bridge; Frederick G. Tomko, Vestal, both of N.Y. A

Universal Instruments Corporation, Binghamton, NY.

Filed: Aug. 23, 1973 Appl. No.: 391,030

Assignee:

US. Cl. 156/552; 156/562; 53/200 Int. Cl B65b 15/04; B65h 5/26 Field of Search 156/552, 540, 541, 542,

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Anspach 156/552 3,421,284 1/1969 Zemek 156/552 3,590,457 -7/1971 Gustetic 29/203 R 3,669,309 6/1972 Romeo 156/552 3,701,233 10/1972 Luckman, Jr. 53/198 R Primary ExaminerCharles E. Van Horn Assistant Examiner- -M. G. Wityshyn Attorney, Agent, or F irmFidelman, Wolffe & Leitner 57] 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.

9 Claims, 12 Drawing Figures WWEWR 1 5197s 3.878.025

SHEET 2 [IF 9 l NH 1/ mm wk PEJENTEUAPR 1 5197s SHEET 9 BF 9 FIG. 10

ELECTRICAL COMPONENT SEQUENCER AND TAPER 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 nonaxial 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, l972, 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 ofthe 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 andtheir leads 90 from a vertical plane to a horizontalplane. 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 quencer and taper without the component strip supply v 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. 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. I shows a segment 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. 7

OVERALL STRUCTURE F IGS. 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 ofa 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 maybe 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 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 posiear speed as the spindle carriage 53. By maintaining equal linear motion, the electrical components are taped with a separation equal to the separation be tween 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

partclamping jaws

57 and 58. Two pins 59 inserted at 90 to the slot provide thesupport 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 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). Asupport block 118 mounting and separating the two

rollers

116, 117 contains spring-loaded rolls 119 which push the middle section of the drive belt 1 15 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.

PITCHWI-IEEL 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 pitchvwheel 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 springloaded 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 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 assemblys 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 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 5 7 and 58 open and in the vertical position. Component clamp rod 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 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 15] 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. 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.

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 pluralityof 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 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 components leads and an indented portion large enough to receive said electrical components body.

7. An apparatus as in claim 6 including a clamping means in said housing and received in said jaws indented portion for holding said electrical components 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.

Claims

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.

5. An apparatus as in claim 4 including a rotational drive means connected to said housing for rotating a held component 90*.

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.