Apparatus for cutting and removing dry film photoresist from printed wire boards

Apparatus for cutting and removing from a laminated board having a base and outer layers, said base having an opening through it and the outer layers overlaying said opening comprising:

• a base plate having an upper planar surface;
• a lower hollow cutter having cutting edges, said cutting edges substantially defining a closed figure in a lower cutter plane;
• means for mounting the lower cutter on the base plate so that the lower cutter plane is substantially parallel to and spaced above the planar surface of the base plate a distance substantially equal to the thickness of an outer layer of said laminated board overlaying an opening;
• a lower plunger having a top surface mounted for movement within said lower cutter, said lower plunger having an extended position and a retracted position, the top surface of said lower plunger when in its retracted position projecting above the lower cutter plane;
• a cutter head mounted on the base plate at a substantially fixed distance above the upper surface of the base plate;
• an upper hollow cutter having cutting edges, said cutting edges defining a closed figure in an upper cutter plane;
• means for mounting said upper cutter on said cutter head for linear reciprocal movement between a retracted position and an extended position, said upper cutter plane when the upper cutter is in its extended position being substantially parallel to and spaced from the lower cutter plane a distance substantially equal to the thickness of the base of a laminated board;
• an upper plunger having a lower surface mounted for linear movement in said upper cutter between a retracted position and an extended position;
• means for biasing said upper plunger to is extended position so that its lower surface projects below the upper cutter plane;
• cutter actuating means for moving the upper cutter from its retracted to its extended position;
• plunger actuator means for causing said lower plunger to move from its retracted to its extended position, said plunger adapted to force segments of the outer layers overlaying the opening of the laminated board severed by the upper and lower cutters when such a board is placed between said cutters with the opening in the base within the figures defined by the cutting edges of the upper and lower cutters, and placing said segments in contact with the lower surface of the upper plunger;
• and
• means for causing the segments of the outer lamination layers severed by the cutters to adhere to the lower surface of the upper plunger.

Apparatus for cutting and removing segments of photoresist layers overlaying tooling holes in a PWB blank comprising:

• a base plate having an upper planar surface;
• a lower hollow cylindrical cutter having a circular cutting edge, said cutting edge substantially defining a lower cutter plane;
• means for mounting the lower cutter on the base plate so that the lower cutter plane extends above the planar surface of the base plate a distance substantially equal to the thickness of a layer of photoresist;
• a lower plunger having a top surface mounted for movement within said lower cutter, said plunger having an extended position in which the top surface of the plunger extends above the lower cutter plane a distance greater than the thickness of the PWB blank, and a retracted position in which said top surface projects above the lower cutter plane a distance greater than the thickness of a layer of photoresist in the PWB blank;
• a cutter head mounted on said base plate at a substantially fixed distance above the upper surface of the base plate;
• an upper hollow cylindrical cutter having a circular cutting edge, said cutting edge defining an upper cutter plane;
• means for mounting said upper cutter on said cutter head for linear reciprocal movement between a retracted position and an extended position in which said upper cutter plane is spaced from the lower cutter plane a distance substantially equal to the thickness of a printed wire board blank;
• an upper plunger having a lower surface, said upper plunger being mounted in said upper cutter for linear movement between a retracted position and an extended position;
• means for biasing said upper plunger toward its extended position in which its lower surface extends a predetermined distance below the upper cutter plane;
• cutter actuating means for moving the upper cutter from its retracted position to its extended position to excise segments of photoresist layer overlaying a tooling hole of a PWB blank placed between the upper and lower cutters;
• plunger actuator means for causing said lower plunger to move from its retracted to its extended position to force the severed segments of the photoresist layers together and against the lower surface of the upper plunger;
• and
• means for causing the segments to adhere to the upper plunger when the upper cutter is moved to its retracted position.

Apparatus for cutting and removing segments of photoresist layers overlaying tooling holes of PWB blank, said tooling holes having a circular cross section, a center, and a diameter, the layers of photoresist being of a substantially equal thickness and said PWB blank having a substantially uniform thickness comprising:

• a base plate having an upper planar surface;
• a lower hollow cylindrical cutter having a circular cutting edge having a diameter and a center, said cutter edge substantially defining a lower cutter plane;
• means for mounting the lower cutter on the base plate so that the lower cutter plane extends above the planar surface of the base plate a distance substantially equal to the thickness of a layer of photoresist;
• a lower planar having a top surface mounted for linear movement within said lower cutter, said plunger having an extended position in which the top surface of the plunger extends above the lower cutter plane a predetermined distance, and a retracted position in which the top surface of the lower plunger projects above the lower cutter plane a distance greater than the thickness of a layer of photoresist;
• a cutter head movably mounted on said base plate at a substantially fixed distance above the upper surface of the base plate for movement from a first position to a second position;
• an upper hollow cylindrical cutter having a circular cutting edge having a diameter and a center, said cutting edge defining an upper cutter plane;
• means for mounting said upper cutter on said cutter head for linear reciprocal movement between a retracted position and an extended position in which said upper cutter plane is spaced from and substantially parallel to the lower cutter plane at a distance substantially equal to the thickness of a PWB blank;
• an upper plunger having a lower surface, said upper plunger being mounted in said upper cutter for linear movement from a retracted position to an extended position;
• means for biasing said upper plunger toward its extended position in which its lower surface extends a predetermined distance below the upper cutter plane;
• cutting actuating means for moving, when the cutter head is in its first position, the upper cutter from its retracted position to its extended position to excise segments of photoresist layers overlaying a tooling hole of a PWB blank placed between the upper and lower cutters with the center of a tooling hole substantially lying on a line through the centers of said upper and lower cutting edges, the diameter of the upper and lower cutting edges being substantially equal and greater than the diameter of the tooling hole;
• plunger actuator means for causing said lower plunger to move from its retracted to its extended position to force the severed segments of the photoresist layers together and against the lower surface of the upper plunger;
• means for causing the segments to adhere to the upper plunger with the upper cutter is moved to its retracted position;
• means for moving said cutter head from its first position to its second position;
• disposal means formed in said base plate substantially directly under the upper cutter when said cutter head is in its second position;
• and
• means for causing the segments adhering to the upper plunger to be discharged into said disposal means.