Chip feeder for chip mounter

A chip feeder for a chip mounter, wherein a plurality of chips held in a tape are fed from a tape feeding portion to a chip takeout portion of the chip mounter, comprising:

• a tape feeding means for feeding intermittently the tape sealed with a protective tape to the chip takeout portion at predetermined pitch intervals;
• a protective tape peeling means for peeling the protective tape from the tape fed intermittently by the tape feeding means, said protective tape peeling means comprising a protective tape take-up means for taking up and peeling said protective tape from said tape by every predetermined length, a protective tape guiding member which turns back the protective tape in a direction reverse to a feeding direction and guides the protective tape peeled off to the take-up means with end tip of the protective tape guiding member contacting with the protective tape, said protective tape guiding member moving in the feeding direction together with said tape when the tape is fed and moving in the direction reverse to the feeding direction immediately before said chip is taken out by the chip takeout means;
• and
• a chip takeout means for taking out the chip from the tape from which the protective tape has been peeled, said peeling means peeling off the protective tape sealing the chip during a descent of said chip takeout means to a chip takeout position immediately before the chip takeout means takes out the chip when the tape is in a stationary state.