Surface mounter for mounting a component on a substrate

A surface mounter comprising:

• a stage having a rectangular shape and including a side portion including a side edge of the stage and a mounting portion at which a component is to be mounted on a substrate;
• a substrate transferring device disposed on the stage to transfer the substrate to the mounting portion;
• a mounting head configured to mount the component on the substrate, the mounting head including:
• a shaft retainer including a through hole and a recess each extending in a thickness direction of the shaft retainer;
• a nozzle shaft passed through the through hole of the shaft retainer to be movable in the thickness direction of the shaft retainer;
• a pickup nozzle coupled to an end of the nozzle shaft and configured to receive a negative pressure to pick up the component and a positive pressure to release the component;
• a switching device configured to switch application of pressure to the pickup nozzle between the negative pressure and the positive pressure, the switching device including:
• a valve shaft disposed in the recess of the shaft retainer to be movable in an axial direction of the valve shaft;
• and
• a contact portion coupled to the valve shaft and disposed outside the recess, the contact portion including a first opposing section, a second opposing section, and a connecting section, the first opposing section and the second opposing section extending in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the valve shaft and being separated from each other in the axial direction of the valve shaft to be opposed to each other, the first opposing section being coupled to the valve shaft, the connecting section extending in the axial direction of the valve shaft and connecting the first opposing section to the second opposing section;
• a drive unit including:
• a movable portion configured to move in the axial direction of the valve shaft;
• and
• a cam follower coupled to the movable portion and disposed between the first opposing section and the second opposing section of the switching device;
• a component feeding device disposed on the side portion of the stage to feed the component to the mounting head;
• and
• a controller configured to:
• drive the substrate transferring device to transfer the substrate to a position at which the component is to be mounted on the substrate;
• move down the nozzle shaft to set the pickup nozzle at a position at which the component is to be supplied;
• move the movable portion of the drive unit upward so that the cam follower contacts the second opposing section of the switching device to move up the valve shaft to apply the negative pressure to the pickup nozzle;
• move the nozzle shaft to position the pickup nozzle adjacent to the substrate;
• and
• move the movable portion of the drive unit so that the cam follower contacts the first opposing section of the switching device to move down the valve shaft to apply the positive pressure to the pickup nozzle.