DE20117562U1 - Leiterplattenabstreifer - Google Patents

Description

The present utility model relates to a printed circuit board stripper and, in particular, to a printed circuit board stripper which improves productivity and accuracy in the manufacture of printed circuit boards.

2. Description of the technical field

Printed circuit boards are now widely used in industry and in daily life, for example in computers, televisions, mobile phones and the like. These boards are manufactured in a machine that has a stripper that is used to assist in removing the printed circuit boards from the machine once they have been manufactured.

Figure 7 shows several known scrapers mounted side by side on a carrier (60), each scraper has a carrier plate (61) and a final model plate.

20 te (62) above the carrier plate (61). As can be clearly seen in Figure 8,

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the model plate (62) is formed with a plurality of upright bolts (70) which are inserted into the bores (63) within the plate (62).

A stack of circuit boards (71) is intended to be placed on the plate (62) and to be recovered thereon via bolts (70) extending through openings (72) of the plates (71). The circuit boards (71), after being however completed, must be stripped or separated from the pattern plate (62) by means of a sharp hand tool inserted at the interface between the pattern plate (62) and the bottom of one of the circuit boards (71).
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The use of the hand tool (80) leads to the problem that the circuit boards (71) can be scratched or even bent by the tool (80).

A more serious problem is that it takes a long time to strip or separate the circuit boards (71) from the pattern board (72), which means that the manual way results in unsatisfactory productivity in the production of the circuit boards (71).

Another problem is the low accuracy of the manufactured circuit boards (71) due to the fact that the hand tool (80) tilts the circuit boards (71) to be stripped, i.e. one side is at the top and the opposite side is at the bottom. With the inclined stripping, a sufficiently tight fit between the bolts (70) of the model plate (62) and the openings (72) of the circuit boards (71) is not possible. Therefore, the circuit boards (71) can move a little on the plate (62) during their manufacture and the possible movement certainly leads to a negative effect on the accuracy of the manufactured circuit boards (71).

Therefore, it is an object of the utility model to provide a printed circuit board stripper to reduce and/or prevent the aforementioned problems.

The object of the present utility model is to provide a printed circuit board stripper which improves productivity in the production of printed circuit boards.

A further object of the present utility model is to provide a printed circuit board stripper which improves the accuracy of the production of printed circuit boards.

Further objects, advantages and new features of the utility model will become clear from the following detailed description in conjunction with the attached figures.

In the figures

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of a printed circuit board stripper in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional front view of the circuit board stripper of Figure 1 showing a plurality of lift pins in their lowered positions;

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional side view of the circuit board stripper of Figure 1, also showing the lift pins in their lowered positions;

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional front view of the circuit board stripper of Figure 1, showing the plurality of lift pins in their raised positions;
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Figure 5 is a partially enlarged view of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the circuit board stripper of Figure 1, showing the stripper mounted on a carrier;
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Figure 7 is a perspective view of circuit board strippers of a conventional type; and

Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view of the circuit board stripper shown in Figure 7.

Referring to Figure 1, a circuit board stripper in accordance with the present invention includes a carrier plate (11) with a final pattern plate (12). The carrier plate (11) forms a plurality of first through holes (13), preferably in a regular arrangement, while the pattern plate (12) forms a plurality of second through holes (14) each aligned with the first through holes (13).

Referring to Figure 3, the pattern plate (12) is designed to support a base (41) which in turn supports a stack of circuit boards (50). The pattern plate (12) further comprises a plurality of upright bolts (40) which can extend through openings (42) of the base (41) and openings (51) of the circuit boards (50) to thereby retain the entire combination of the boards (50) and the base (41) on the pattern plate (12).

Below the sides of the support plate (11) a pair of opposing L-shaped guides (33) are formed for guiding and supporting a slider (30) which is movable below the support plate (11). In a very preferred embodiment the guides (33) are each formed with rows of rollers (35) which are rotatable about either horizontal or vertical axes (34) to provide smooth movement of the slider (30) with respect to the guides (33).
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Referring to Figure 2, the slider (30) has an upper surface formed with a plurality of slopes, each including a chute (32) connecting a depression (31) and a plateau (321). The slopes are disposed beneath aligned through holes (13, 14) of the support plate (11) and the plate (14).

A plurality of lifting pins (17) extend upwardly through the aligned through holes (13, 14) and are formed with corresponding base wheels (18) adapted to roll on the slopes of the slider (13).

Each of the base wheels (18) is held in contact with the slopes, i.e. the chute (32), the depression (31) and the plateau (321), by a compressed spring (16) mounted around the pin (17) and received in an enlarged lower portion (15) of the first through hole (13) of the support plate (11), as best shown in Figure 5.

Referring to Figures 4 and 5, the support plate (11) has a downwardly extending bracket (20) which carries a pneumatic cylinder (21). The cylinder (21) has a plunger (22) connected to the slider (30) via a connector (23) to move the slider (30) in a first direction and in an opposite second direction.

In this configuration, the circuit boards (50) can be lifted off the stripper according to the invention by moving the slider (30) in a leftward direction, as indicated by the arrow in Figure 4, that is, by retracting the plunger (22) of the pneumatic cylinder (21).

Movement of the slider (30) in this direction causes the rollers (18) on its surface to roll from the depressions (31) over the chutes (32) to the plateaus (321), thereby lifting all of the pins (17) which are then moved through the aligned holes (13, 14), abutting and lifting or elevating the pads (41) together with the stack of circuit boards (50) and evenly away from the pattern plate (12). The circuit boards (50) are then ready to be removed from the stripper as best shown in Figure 5.

While the plunger (22) of the pneumatic cylinder (20) is extended, the slider (30) is moved in a rightward direction as indicated by the arrow in Figure 2. This movement of the slider (30) causes the rollers

(18) roll along its surface again, but from the high areas (321) to the low areas (31) under the action of the compressed springs (16). This lowers the lifting pins (17) to their starting positions, as shown in Figures 2 and 3.
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Referring to Figure 6, the scraper according to the invention can be arranged together with others of the same type in series on a conventional support (10) with its support plate (11) over the entire width of the support (10), as in the case of the prior art.
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Based on the above description, it is noted that the utility model has the following advantages:

1. Improving the productivity of printed circuit board manufacturing (50):

Because the circuit boards (50) are stripped mechanically rather than manually, the stripping process can be completed more quickly, thereby improving productivity.

2. Improving the accuracy of PCB manufacturing (50):

Because the circuit boards (50) are lifted or raised uniformly, the diameters of either the openings (51) of the circuit boards (50) or the erected bolts (40) of the pattern plate (12) can be selected so that the bolts (40) fit snugly into the openings (51) to ensure the accuracy with which the circuit boards (50) are manufactured.

3. Protect the circuit boards (50) from scratching or bending:

Because the circuit boards (50) are stripped by the lifting pins (17), the circuit boards (50) are not scratched or bent by the hand tool (80), which is necessary according to the state of the art.
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However, it is to be understood that although a number of features and advantages of the present invention have been summarized in the foregoing description,

men with the details of the structure and function of the invention, that the disclosure is only illustrative and changes may be made in details, particularly as to shape, size and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention as a whole are indicated by the broad, general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed.

KS/he

Claims (6)

1. PCB stripper with:
a carrier plate ( 11 ) with a final model plate ( 12 ) for supporting circuit boards ( 50 ), the carrier plate ( 11 ) forms a plurality of first through holes ( 13 ), the model plate ( 12 ) forms a plurality of second through holes ( 14 ) which are aligned with the first through holes ( 13 ) of the carrier plate ( 11 );
a movable slider ( 30 ) below the support plate ( 11 ), the slider ( 30 ) having an upper surface formed with a plurality of slopes below the aligned through holes ( 13 , 14 ) of the support plate ( 11 ) and the model plate ( 12 );
a plurality of lifting pins ( 17 ) extending upwardly through the aligned through holes ( 13 , 14 ), each of the lifting pins ( 17 ) being formed with a base wheel ( 18 ) adapted to roll on a corresponding slope of the support plate ( 11 ) such that the lifting pins ( 17 ) are raised when the slider ( 30 ) is moved in a first direction and are lowered when the slider is moved in a second direction opposite to the first direction; and
a pneumatic cylinder ( 21 ) with a plunger ( 22 ) for moving the slider ( 30 ) in the directions. 2. The circuit board stripper of claim 1, wherein each of the slopes includes a chute ( 32 ) connecting a depression ( 31 ) and a plateau ( 321 ). 3. A circuit board stripper according to claim 1, wherein the carrier plate ( 11 ) has a pair of opposing guides ( 33 ) formed beneath the sides of the carrier plate ( 11 ) for guiding and supporting the slider ( 30 ). 4. A circuit board stripper according to claim 3, wherein each of the guides ( 33 ) is formed with rollers ( 35 ) to provide smooth movement of the slider ( 30 ) with respect to the guides ( 33 ). 5. A circuit board stripper according to claim 3, wherein the guides ( 33 ) are assembled in an opposing, L-shaped configuration. 6. The circuit board stripper of claim 1, wherein each of the first through holes ( 13 ) of the carrier plate ( 11 ) has an enlarged lower portion ( 15 ), and wherein a spring ( 16 ) is received in the enlarged lower portion ( 15 ) and mounted around one of the lifting pins ( 17 ) to keep the roller ( 18 ) in contact with the slope.