Electronic component mounting apparatus

A method for mounting electronic components in an electronic component mounting apparatus having a component supplying section for supplying electronic components, a head section movably mounted on a rotating table, a plurality of suction nozzle sections that are movable with and with respect to the head section, each suction nozzle section comprising a plurality of nozzle tip sections disposed around a rod section so as to be movable upwards and downwards, a motor section for driving the rod section to rotate about the central axis of the suction nozzle section, a cylindrical cam section concentric with the rod section so as to be rotatable selectively relative to and together with the rod section, the cylindrical cam section having a cam surface that controls height positions of the nozzle tip sections and a recess in a side face of the cylindrical cam section, and a stopper section provided on a side of the cylindrical cam section having an engaging section to selectively engage with said recess in the cylindrical cam section, the method comprising:

• causing the engaging section of the stopper section to engage with the recess in the cylindrical cam section, whereby the rotation of the cylindrical cam section is stopped and the rod section rotates in response to a motive force of the motor section;
• rotating the rod section while movement of the cylindrical cam section is stopped, so that a nozzle tip section to be selected is guided to a lower limit position of the upward and downward movements of the nozzle tip sections by the cylindrical cam section;
• releasing the engaging section of the stopper section from the recess in the cylindrical cam section to cause the nozzle tip section that has been selected to remain at the lower limit position;
• and
• rotating the rod section and the cylindrical cam section of the suction nozzle section together to enable control of the rotational position of the selected nozzle tip section.

An electronic component mounting apparatus comprising:

• a plurality of suction nozzle sections that pick up electronic components by suction and mount the electronic components onto an object;
• and
• a head section provided with a plurality of suction nozzle sections disposed about the outer edge of said head section, picking up and mounting of said electronic components being performed by said suction nozzle sections at predetermined stop positions of said head section, said head section being intermittently rotated between said predetermined stop positions;
• each of said suction nozzle sections comprising:
• a plurality of nozzle tip sections;
• a rod section that holds said nozzle tip sections so as to allow each of the nozzle tip sections to move upwardly and downwardly, said nozzle tip sections being disposed about an outer edge of the rod section;
• a motor section connected to the rod section, said motor driving said rod section to rotate about a central axis of the suction nozzle section;
• a cylindrical cam section concentric with the rod section and rotatable relative to the rod section, said cylindrical cam section having a cam surface configured to move each of said nozzle tip sections upwardly and downwardly;
• and
• a stopper section provided adjacent to a side surface of the cylindrical cam section, said stopper section configured to selectively engage said cylindrical cam section to stop rotation of the cylindrical cam section while permitting the rod section to rotate relative to the cylindrical cam section, a motive force of the motor being selectively transmitted to rotate said nozzle tip sections about the central axis and to translate said nozzle tip sections parallel to the central axis in association with disengagement and engagement of said stopper section with said cylindrical cam section.