Method and device for extracting electronic components from tubes and electronic component feeding device

#The present invention concerns a method and a device for extracting electronic components from tubes, as well as an electronic component feeding device comprising such a device.

#Electronic components are generally conditioned in tubes, generally of rigid antistatic plastic of globally rectangular section, offering good mechanical protection and in particular permitting their transport. In certain cases, the tube's profile is specifically adapted to the type of component it contains, for example to the shape and distribution of their pins. During their conditioning, the components are slid one after the other into a tube, in which they are held one behind the other. The tubes are closed at each extremity by a generally crude stopper designed to prevent the components from coming out.

#In order for them to be subsequently processed, for example by a testing line or by a printed circuit populating device, the components must be extracted from the tubes. This operation is generally performed by a feeding device that, after having extracted the electronic components from the tubes, transports them to a location from where they will for example be transferred onto the testing line or the printed circuit populating device.

#The present invention will be better understood by reading the description of a preferred embodiment illustrated by the FIGS. 1 to 6, in which:

#FIG. 1 shows a side view of a feeding device comprising an extraction device according to a preferred embodiment of the invention,

#FIG. 2 shows a top view of the device of FIG. 1,

#In a preferred embodiment, the extraction device of the invention is integrated in an electronic component feeding device designed to work with a processing line, for example a testing and/or conditioning line, articulated around a circular conveyor 9 (FIGS. 1 and 2). The feeding device extracts the electronic components 8 from the tubes 7 and makes them available to the circular conveyor 9. The circular conveyor 9 is equipped on its periphery of component-holders, for example aspiration nozzles 90, allowing the components 8 to be removed and transported to the other stations 99 of the processing line, partially represented in FIG. 2, such as for example testing, marking and/or conditioning stations.

#The feeding device, in the same manner as the other stations 99, is advantageously fastened onto a supporting plate 10 comprising for example fastening elements (not represented) designed to work with fastening elements on a fixed plate (not represented), preferably placed under the circular conveyor 9. The processing line is thus formed in a modular fashion by fastening around the circular conveyor 9, on the fixed plate (not represented), the different processing stations that constitute it. The position of each processing station relative to the conveyor 9 is determined precisely by the accurate location and the exact dimensions of the respective fastening elements.

#In a preferred embodiment, the inventive feeding device comprises a conveyor, preferably a linear conveyor 5, for transporting the electronic components 8 extracted from the tubes 7 towards a location from where they will be taken by the aspiration nozzles 90 of the circular conveyor 9. The linear conveyor 5 is for example a vibratory conveyor on which the electronic components 8 move under the effect of the vibrations of an electromagnetic or piezoelectric vibrator 55. The linear conveyor 5 comprises for example a base 50 fastened on the vibrator 55 and on which a rail is formed to guide the components' movement. The rail's profile is advantageously adapted to the type of components to be conveyed. It is preferably similar to the inner profile of the tubes 7. The base 50 is covered by a cover 51 preventing the components to involuntarily come off the rail. According to the configurations, the lower side of the cover 51 can also be profiled in order to contribute to guiding the components.