1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic component feeding apparatus for conveying electronic components by intermittent movement of a belt.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Heisei6-232596 has disclosed an apparatus for conveying chip components using a belt.
This apparatus has an endless belt wound around a pair of pulleys, a ratchet mechanism for intermittently moving a belt through a predetermined distance by driving one of the pulleys, and a lever mechanism for transmitting the power to the ratchet mechanism. When the power is transmitted to the ratchet mechanism by moving an operating portion of the lever mechanism in a predetermined direction, one pulley is turned through a predetermined angle in a predetermined direction by the ratchet mechanism, and the belt is moved through a predetermined distance in a predetermined direction by the turning of the pulley. Chip components, arranged in an orderly way on the belt, are conveyed in the same direction by the movement of the belt, and the foremost chip component is fed to a predetermined takeout position. The foremost chip component fed to the takeout position is taken out by using a suction nozzle. When the operating portion of the lever mechanism is moved again, the succeeding chip component is fed to the takeout position in the same way as described above.
The apparatus of this type has widely been used for a component mounter, component mounting line, and the like. In recent years, there has been demanded a mechanism which can respond to high-speed component takeout cycle, specifically a mechanism which can take out components in a very short cycle as short as 0.1 sec.
However, on the aforesaid apparatus, since the operating portion of the lever mechanism is directly connected to an driving portion of the ratchet mechanism, the speed at which the belt moves is substantially proportional to the speed at which the operating portion of the lever mechanism is moved. That is to say, if the operation speed of the operating portion of the lever mechanism is increased to respond to the high-speed component takeout cycle, the belt movement speed increases substantially proportionally, so that the chip components on the belt cannot follow the belt initial speed. Thereby, a slip occurs between the belt and the chip components on the belt, so that only the belt moves while the chip component is left, with the result that components cannot be conveyed satisfactorily by means of the belt.