US 4,926,345 A · Robotic component lead trimmer

Abstract

A robotic lead trimmer employing a sensor probe guided over a printed wiring board by a robot to determine the contour of a printed wiring board and a lead trimming element guided by the robot to automatically follow the determined contour of the board during lead trimming to achieve tight trimming tolerances. The sensor probe in conjunction with a fixed sensor is employed to determine an offset factor related to dimensional variations in the lead trimming element in order to impart additional accuracy to the lead trimming operation. An air ionizer and blower are utilized to neutralize static charge and remove debris. The robotic lead trimmer may be enclosed and utilized in conjunction with a tooling shuttle which receives a printed wiring board and transfers it to within the working envelope of the robot.

Claims14

Dependent claims

Apparatus for trimming leads extending through a surface comprising:

first sensor means for contacting said surface and generating signals indicative of the contour of said surface;
trimmer means for trimming said leads;
and
means for mounting said first sensor means and said trimmer means and for receiving said signals, and for causing said first sensor means to contact said surface and generate said signals, and further responsive to said signals to cause said trimmer means to simultaneously track said contour and trim said leads;
wherein said means mounting said trimmer means and first sensor means includes means for compensating for variations in the height of said trimmer means, said means for compensating including second sensor means responsive to said first sensor means and said lead trimmer means to determine an offset between said first sensor means and said lead trimmer means.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Robotic component lead trimmer

Life of this patent

Robotic component lead trimmer

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims14