Apparatus for assisting operator in performing manual operations in connection with component feeders

An operator assisting apparatus for assisting an operator of an electric-component supply device including a plurality of component feeders and a feeder support on which the component feeders are mounted at respective feeder-mounting positions, each of said component feeders accommodating a plurality of electric components of a specific kind and being arranged to successively supply the electric components one after another, the electric-component supply device being arranged to supply from the component feeders, the electric components to an electric-component mounting device which is arranged to mount the electric components on at least one printed wiring board, said operator assisting apparatus being arranged to assist the operator in performing at least one manual working operation selected from the group consisting of (i) an operation to mount each one of the component feeders on said feeder support, (ii) an operation to remove said each one of the component feeders from said feeder support, and (iii) an intermediate operation to be performed in connection with said each one of the component feeders, during a time period between moments of respective operations to mount and remove said each component-feeder on and from the feeder support, said operator assisting apparatus comprising:

• next-operation determining means for determining, based on an operating state of at least one of the electric component supply device and the electric component mounting device, the manual working operation which should be performed next by the operator, and the component feeder for which the determined manual working operation should be performed next, the determined manual working operation being one of the operation to mount the determined component feeder on the feeder support, the operation to remove the determined component feeder from said feeder support, and the intermediate operation in connection with the determined component feeder;
• at least one of (a) a position indicator operable to indicate at least one of (i) the feeder-mounting position at which the determined component feeder is to be mounted next on said feeder support and (ii) the feeder-mounting position at which the determined component feeder has been removed last from said feeder support, and (b) a feeder indicator operable to indicate at least one of (i) the determined component feeder which has been mounted last on said feeder support, (ii) the determined component feeder which is to be removed next from said feeder support and (iii) the determined component feeder on which said intermediate operation is required to be performed.