Surface mounter

A surface mounting apparatus for mounting components on a substrate comprised of a conveyor section for transferring substrates along a path extending in a first direction, a pair of feeder stations for supplying a plurality of components, each of said feeder stations being disposed on a respective opposite side of said path, a carriage assembly extending generally in said first direction along said path and between said feeder stations, said carriage assembly carrying a pair of mounting heads on opposite sides thereof, each of said mounting heads including at least one pickup device for picking up a component from the feeder station at the respective side of said conveyor section, said mounting heads being supported for movement relative to each other and to said carriage assembly in the first direction, and a single translational means positioned transversely between said feeder stations for moving a substrate transversely to the path of said conveyor section between said feeder stations so that one of said mounter heads is placing the picked up component on said substrate while the other of said mounter heads is simultaneously picking up another component from the respective feeder station for subsequent deposit on the same substrate on the single translational means.