Variable-pitch pick and place device

A variable-pitch pick and place device for moving electronic devices, the pick and place device comprising:

• a support structure;
• a plurality of electronic-device grippers for picking up electronic devices;
• a pantograph linkage coupled to the grippers and the support structure so as to maintain an even spacing of the grippers and for varying the spacing of the grippers along a given axis, the pantograph comprising a series of mechanical parallelograms formed by rigid beams linked together, wherein the pantograph linkage is coupled to the support structure via a link positioned at a point within the middle third of the length of the pantograph, the link being structured to preserve the position of said point relative to the support structure in the direction along said axis.

A pick and place device for removing electronic devices from one holder and placing them in another holder, the device comprising:

• a plurality of electronic-device grippers arranged in a row for picking up said electronic devices from said one holder and placing said electronic devices on said other holder;
• a frame supporting said plurality of grippers from movement, in a first direction along the row;
• a linkage mechanism for adjusting for a difference in electronic device spacing between said one holder and the other holder during a picking and placing operation, the position of the linkage mechanism in the first direction relative to the frame being fixed at a given location along the linkage mechanism by a link between the linkage mechanism at the given location and the frame, the position in the first direction along the linkage mechanism of the given location being within the length of the row of grippers.

A pick and place device for removing electronic devices from one holder and placing them in another holder, comprising:

• a plurality of electronic-device grippers arranged in a row for picking up said electronic devices from said one holder and placing said electronic devices on said other holder;
• and
• a linkage mechanism connected to said grippers for adjusting for a difference in device spacing between said one holder and the other holder during a picking and placing operation, wherein the linkage mechanism comprises a scissors mechanism comprising a number of parallelograms formed by linked beams, the linked beams positioned such that a scissors motion of the scissors mechanism occurs along a vertical plane.

A pick and place device for removing electronic devices from one holder and placing them in another holder, the device comprising:

• a plurality of electronic-device grippers arranged in a row for picking up said electronic devices from said one holder and placing said electronic devices on said other holder;
• a frame supporting said plurality of electronic-device grippers moveably along the row;
• a linkage for adjusting the spacing between said grippers to accommodate for a difference in electronic device spacing between said one holder and the other holder during a picking and placing operation, the linkage structured to provide equal spacing between each respective gripper and to maintain the center of the row of grippers at a fixed position relative to the frame.

A device for moving electronic devices from a holder having a first pitch to a holder having a second pitch different from the first pitch, the device comprising:

• a plurality of electronic-device gripper mechanisms;
• and
• a pantograph linkage comprising beams linked to other beams at pivot points at respective end portions thereof, said beams also being linked to other beams at crossover points at respective middles thereof, the linkage being coupled to at least a plurality of said gripper mechanisms, at least some of the gripper mechanisms coupled to the pantograph linkage being linked to the pantograph linkage by links each located midway between one of the crossover points and one of the pivot points.