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AssigneeElectro Scientific Industries, Inc.
InventorsKenneth S. Whiteman, John D. Stackpole
Estimating the term…
Replaceable component carriers (40) are adapted to be freely floating in belt apertures (74) and have alignment features (160), such as conical holes (170), mated to features (162), such as tapered pins (184), in processing stations to temporarily hold a carrier (40) and its components (10), such as resistors, in a fixed position during various processes, such as termination. The carriers (40) include a rigid substructure (50) and a more elastic coating (60) to provide receiving holes (46) that can be adapted to hold particular components (10). The carriers (40) can be replaced without removing the belt (72), whenever differently shaped holes (46) are desired or become too worn to reliably handle components (10), thereby reducing damage risk, replacement cost, and operational down time of the belt (72).
A carrier loading system for securing component carriers to a belt having carrier attachment features for association with the carriers and having drive features such that the belt is adapted to be moved by one or more belt translation mechanisms to pass through one or more electronic component processing stations, each carrier having multiple receiving holes, each receiving hole having a resilient edge that is adapted to resiliently hold one of the electronic components, comprising:
A method for automated loading of carriers onto belts having a carrier attachment feature for association with the carriers and having drive features such that the belt is adapted to be moved by one or more belt translation mechanisms to pass through one or more electronic component processing stations, each carrier having multiple receiving holes that each have a resilient edge that is adapted to resiliently hold one of the electronic components, comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.