The present application is related to and claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 7-227125, incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic device mounting apparatus wherein a plurality of device supplying cartridges are disposed at each predetermined position of a cartridge mounting rack and electronic devices supplied from the device supplying cartridges are automatically continuously mounted.
2. Description of Related Art
In the conventional electronic device mounting apparatus of this type according to currently realized technology, a plurality of device supplying cartridges are disposed at each predetermined position of the cartridge mounting rack and electronic devices (surface mount devices) supplied from each device supplying cartridge are automatically continuously mounted. Concretely speaking, in the electronic device mounting apparatus, the cartridge mounting rack is divided into a plurality of lanes. At the setup time prior to startup of the apparatus, a specific device supplying cartridge is installed corresponding to each lane number. When the apparatus is operated, an electronic device is received from a specific device supplying cartridge according to the instruction of a controller. Then, that electronic device is mounted at a predetermined position on a substrate. Generally, necessary electronic devices specified by the controller are controlled according to lane numbers allocated to the cartridge mounting rack. For example, if an electronic device for the lane No. 50 is specified by the controller, the electronic device for the lane No. 50 is received and mounted on the substrate.
However, in the above mentioned electronic device mounting apparatus, if the device supplying cartridge is installed on a cartridge mounting rack different from a previously set lane number at the setup time prior to startup of the apparatus, incorrect electronic devices are mounted on the substrate. Currently, as a measure for preventing such an error at the setup time, indication of the number of the device supplying cartridge, visual confirmation by an operator, and confirmation by a work instruction sheet are conducted. However, since this method contains a problem in terms of its reliability and work efficiency, development of technology capable of preventing the error at the setup time securely has been demanded.
Therefore, the present invention has been proposed to solve the above problem and it is an object thereof to provide an electronic device mounting apparatus for preventing an error in mounting the device supplying cartridge at the setup time prior to startup of the apparatus and further for enabling mounting of proper devices.
Other objects and features of the invention will appear in the course of the description thereof, which follows.