US20090105868A1 - Method For Assembling A Customized Printed Circuit Board - Google Patents

Abstract

A system and a method are provided for assembling a customized printed circuit board having at least one electrical component. The system includes an input device for allowing a user to input predetermined information on the customized printed circuit board to be assembled. A central processing unit is operatively connected to the input device by a communications network, such as the internet. The central processing unit receives the predetermined information and generates assembly instructions in response to the predetermined information. A machine is operatively connected to the central processing unit for assembling the customized printed circuit board in response to the assembly instructions

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
• This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 60/606,024, filed on Aug. 31, 2004.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
• This invention relates generally to printed circuit boards, and in particular, to a system and method for assembling a printed circuit board in accordance with a customized order placed on a website.
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
• As is known, a printed circuit board (PCB) includes a thin plate on which electronic chips and/or other electronic components are placed. Typically, the thin plate is fabricated from an insulating board that has a plurality of conducting tracks acting as circuit connections between a plurality of pins extending from the board. The conducting tracks on the insulating board allow for the ready connection of a plurality of electronic chips and/or electrical components to the pins projecting from the insulating board to form a circuit for ready installation in a machine. It can be appreciated that printed circuit boards are used in a wide variety of sophisticated electronic equipment, such as computers, copiers, printers and the like.
• When designing sophisticated electronic equipment, manufacturers often utilize commercially available, mass-marketed PCBs in order to limit the costs associated with manufacturing the equipment. In many cases, the use of commercially available, mass-marketed PCBs is not possible. As a result, the manufacturers must design and produce custom PCBs to include in their products. However, customized PCBs are usually significantly more expensive than mass-marketed boards. In addition, there are often costs involved in evaluating various custom board designs and in obtaining cost estimates for each of the design alternatives. Further, there is often a significant time lag between the ordering and the delivery of a custom PCB. Consequently, there exists a need for a system and a method for quickly and reliably producing custom PCBs. There also exists a need for a method of assembling a PCB in accordance with customized specifications in a short turnaround time period. Further, there exists a need for quick and reliable method to quote a client a price for assembling a customized PCB.
• Therefore, it is a primary object and feature of the present invention to provide a system and method for assembling a customized printed circuit board that is simple to utilize and that reliably assembles the printed circuit board in accordance with a client's instructions.
• It is a further object and feature of the present invention to provide a system and method for assembling a customized printed circuit board that requires a shorter lead time than prior systems and methods.
• It is a still further object and feature of the present invention to provide a system and method for assembling a customized printed circuit board that quickly and reliably quotes an estimated price for the assembled, customized printed circuit boards to a potential client.
• In accordance with the present invention, a system is provided for assembling a customized printed circuit board having at least one electrical component. The system includes an input device for allowing a user to input predetermined information on the customized printed circuit board to be assembled. A central processing unit is operatively connected to the input device by a communications network, such as the internet. The central processing unit receives the predetermined information and generates assembly instructions in response to the predetermined information. A machine is operatively connected to the central processing unit for assembling the customized printed circuit board in response to the assembly instructions.
• The input device includes an electronic order form for facilitating the input of the predetermined information. The electronic order form prompts the user to enter the predetermined information. For example, the electronic order form may prompt the user for billing information, a bill of materials for the customized printed circuit board and/or a graphic image of the customized printed circuit board. The predetermined information defines a customer file. The central processing unit includes a processor and a memory storing a software program. The software program is operable to instruct the processor to import the customer file from the input device and to generate an assembly file that includes assembly instructions for the machine. The assembly instructions allow the machine to select the at least one electrical component and to locate the at least one electrical component on the printed circuit board. The assembly file is then downloaded to the machine.
• In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, a system is provided for assembling a customized printed circuit board having a plurality of electrical components. The system includes an input device for allowing a user to input predetermined information regarding the customized printed circuit board to be assembled. The predetermined information includes a list of the plurality of electrical components. A central processing unit is operatively connected to the input device by a communications network, such as the internet. The central processing unit receives the predetermined information and generates assembly instructions in response to the predetermined information. A carrier supports the plurality of components on the list. A machine is operatively connected to the central processing unit for assembling the customized printed circuit board from the plurality of components supported on the carrier in response to the assembly instructions.
• The carrier includes a base plate and a first strip plate mounted on the base plate for supporting a first set of the plurality of components thereon. The carrier may also include a second strip plate mounted on the base plate. The second strip plate supports a second set of the plurality of components thereon. A strip of tape may be used for affixing the plurality of components to the first strip plate.
• The input device includes an electronic order form for facilitating the input of the predetermined information. The electronic order form prompts the user to enter the predetermined information. The predetermined information includes billing information, a bill of materials for the customized printed circuit board, and/or a graphic image of the customized printed circuit board.
• In accordance with a still further aspect of the present invention, a method is provided for assembling one or more electrical components on a printed circuit board. The method includes the step of receiving a customer file from a remote user. The customer file contains a listing of the one or more electrical components to be assembled on the printed circuit board. An assembly file is generated for assembling the one or more electrical components on the printed circuit board. Thereafter, the printed circuit board is assembled in accordance with the assembly file.
• The step of assembling the printed circuit board includes the additional steps of placing the circuit board components on plate-type carriers and positioning the carriers in the vicinity of a circuit board assembly machine. Thereafter, the circuit board components are selected from the plate-type carriers for assembling the components on the printed circuit board. The assembly file is downloaded to the circuit board assembly machine prior to assembling the printed circuit board.
• It is contemplated for the method of the present invention to include the additional step of inputting predetermined information on the customized printed circuit board to be assembled. The predetermined information defines the customer file that is transmitted to a central processing unit over a communications network, such as the internet. The predetermined information includes billing information, a bill of materials for the customized printed circuit board and/or a graphic image of the customized printed circuit board.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
• The drawings furnished herewith illustrate a preferred construction of the present invention in which the above advantages and features are clearly disclosed as well as others which will be readily understood from the following description of the illustrated embodiment.
• In the drawings:
• FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a system for assembling a customized printed circuit board in accordance with the present invention;
• FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a method for assembling a customized printed circuit board in accordance with the present invention;
• FIG. 3 is a top plan view showing a strip of tape affixed to a strip plate and supporting the electrical components to be assembled on the customized printed circuit board;
• FIG. 4 is a top plan view showing a first embodiment of a strip plate for use in assembly of the customized printed circuit board;
• FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the strip plate ofFIG. 4;
• FIG. 6 is a top plan view showing a second embodiment of a strip plate for use in the assembly of the customized printed circuit board;
• FIG. 7 is a side elevational view of the strip plate ofFIG. 6;
• FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing a plurality of the strip plates positioned on a tray wagon base plate for use in the assembly of the customized printed circuit board;
• FIG. 9 is top plan view of a tray wagon base plate for use in the assembly of the customized printed circuit board; and
• FIG. 10 is a side elevational view of view of the tray wagon base ofFIG. 9.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
• Referring toFIG. 1, a system employed to assemble a PCB and effectuating the methodology of the present invention is generally designated by thereference numeral20. Thesystem20 generally includes a remotecustomer computer station25 connected in a known manner via theinternet30 with aserver35. Theserver35 is generally configured in a known manner to support a website for interacting with theremote computer station25 via theinternet connection30. Theserver35 communicates information to and from theremote computer station25 in a known manner to amain computer station40. Themain computer station40 generally includes aprocessor50 operable in a known manner to execute asoftware program55 stored on amemory60 of themain computer station40. The location of the software program and the server for the website can vary. Themain computer station40 is also connected to adisplay65 to interact with an operator at themain computer station40. Themain computer station40 is also connected to communicate with a PCB assembling machine (PCBAM)70 configured to assemble the customizedPCB75. Thesoftware program55 generally includes instructions to theprocessor50 for executing the steps of themethod80 outlined below for assembling thePCB75.
• Referring toFIG. 2,step100 is the start of themethod80. Atstep105, a customer at theremote computer station25 accesses the website and provides initial information to register on the website. The general registrant information includes name, address and billing information for payment of the customized order of PCBs. Atstep110, the website prompts the customer to provide, and receives from the registrant, detailed information of the desired PCB, including but not limited to: desired board quantity, total number of unique parts, whether single sided or double sided surface mount technology (SMT) is to be assembled, the number of placements per PCB, and the desired quantity and turnaround time for the PCB order. Atstep115, the website prompts, and receives from the registrant, a bill of materials (BOM). The BOM includes general information of the miscellaneous components to be attached to the PCB. The BOM information includes, but is not limited to, component part numbers, reference descriptions, general descriptions of the component, and any name designation to be included to the component on the PCB. Atstep120, the website prompts and receives the drawings from that customer that are representative of the desired PCB to be manufactured. Generally, the desired drawings are silkscreen graphic images generally known to those skilled in the art for indicating placement and reference designators for the various components and pin designations of the PCB. The desired graphic image is generally a computer aided drawing (CAD) format. The drawing or graphic image should include, but is not limited to, a name of the component, an X coordinate for the component, a Y coordinate for the component, an angle of placement of the component on the PCB, whether the component is on the top or on the bottom of the PCB, and a reference designator of the component.
• Atstep125, the website formats the customer BOM, as well as, the customer supplied drawing(s) in appropriate format for uploading or importing into the memory in a readable format for use by software program. An example BOM format is illustrated in Table 1.

• TABLE 1
  BOM Format

  	Part Number	Reference Descript.	Descript.	Package
  	XXX	XXX	XXXX	XXXX

• An example format for the drawings is illustrated in Table 2.

• TABLE 2
  Drawing Format

  			Theta
  			(angle -	Top or	Reference
  PLACE	X(units)	Y(units)	degrees)	Bottom	Descript.
  XXX	XXX	XXXX	XXXX	XXXX	XXX

  
  Step130 includes uploading the submitted BOM files and drawing files for generating the desired PCB. Generally, the customer clicks an icon on the website to initiate uploading the files. The BOM and drawing files are uploaded to thesoftware program55. Thepreferable software program55 is a spreadsheet in an Excel-format program, but the type ofsoftware program55 can vary. Using the information in the files,step132 includes generating a pattern definition window (PDW) that is displayed via the website to theremote computer station25. The PDW generally shows an X-Y coordinate display of the desired PCB to the customer. The website may prompt the customer for certain minimum display parameters (e.g., X-Y coordinates of outline dimensions that cannot be larger than the actual dimensions of the PCB board). Step135 includes generating a price quote for assembling and shipping the customized PCBs to the customer. Step140 includes receiving customer approval for assembling and shipping the customized PCB. Step145 includes generating the requisite PCB files containing the program instructions to instruct thePCBAM70 to assemble the customized PCB and save the files in a temporary folder in thememory60 at thecomputer station40. The files generally include instructions in a machine readable format that can be downloaded to thePCBAM70 for assembling the PCB. The machine language can vary and is not limiting on the invention. The operator initiates setup of the PCBAM for assembling the PCBs.
• Step155 includes initiating set-up of the files for instructing thePCBAM70 to assemble thePCB75 in accordance to the customer specifications in the BOM file and the drawings file. The set-up of the files includes locating and retrieving the stored BOM files from thememory60, and executing thesoftware program55 to generate or create a component list for assembling thePCB75. Thesoftware program55 preferably generates the component list in a “.cmp” file and saves the file in the job folder with the BOM file. Step155 further includes generating a kit list file (e.g., “.kit” file) that includes instructions for locating a component for assembly by thePCBAM70 onto thePCB75
• Referring toFIG. 3, electrical components156 (e.g., resistors, diodes, LEDs, capacitors, etc.) for assembly onto thePCB75 are typically supplied on a reel oftape157. The tape157 (e.g., 8 mm) is cut and mounted on astrip plate158.FIGS. 4-5 illustrate a plan view and a side elevation view, respectively, of a first embodiment of astrip plate158.FIGS. 5-6 illustrate a plan view and a side elevation view of a second embodiment of astrip plate160.Strip plate160 is similar in construction to stripplate158. As such, the following discussion ofstrip plate158 will be understood to describestrip plate160 as if fully provided herein. Thestrip plate158 is generally flat and includes a substrate162 (e.g., Duropol™) mounted with a series of rows of dowel pins164. As illustrated inFIG. 3, thetape157 includesopenings165 to receive the dowel pins164 such that thetape157 can be pressed on thestrip plate158. The dowel pins164 of thestrip plate158 thereby locate placement of thetape157 on thestrip plate158. Thestrip plates158 further include a pair of mountingopenings166.FIG. 8 schematically illustrates how thestrip plates158 are mounted on atray base plate164,FIGS. 9-10. Eachstrip plate158 is assigned a letter designation (e.g., A, B, C, or D) representative of a location on thetray base plate164. A top view and a side elevation view of a preferredtray base plate164 are illustrated inFIGS. 9-10, respectively. Thetray base plate164 includesgeneral cutout sections166 to reduce the weight of thetray base plate164. Thetray base plate164 further includes mountingpins168 configured to receive the mounting openings166 (FIG. 6) so as to hold the position of thestrip plate158 on thetray base plate164.
• As illustrated inFIG. 8, each of theelectrical components156 on thetape157 can be provided with a location on the series ofstrip plates158 that can be programmed into thesoftware program55 with a letter designation (e.g., A, B, C, or D) and/or an X-Y coordinate and/or a strip plate row number or combination thereof. Other types of coordinate systems (e.g., polar, etc.) to locate each of theelectrical components156 can be employed and is not limiting on the invention. When identifying placement of a respective electrical component from a customer BOM and drawing files, thesoftware program55 is operable to call up the location of the storedelectrical component156 on thetape157 of therespective strip plate158 of thetray base plate164, and communicates this location to thePCBAM70 for grabbing theelectrical component156 from thetape157 and assembling thecomponent156 onto thePCB75. After all of thecomponents156 have been placed on thestrip plates158, thestrip plates158 are placed on a traywagon base plate164 for assembly on thePCB75 by thePCBAM70.
• Referring back toFIG. 2,step200 includes executing the generated machine instructions for assembling thePCB75. Assembling thePCB75 includes identifying the desired placement of anelectrical component156 according to the locations given in the kit list described above, and calling up the programmed location of the desired electrical component on therespective strip plate158 of thetray base plate164. Thesoftware program55 instructs theprocessor50 to communicate location and placement of theelectrical component156 in accordance to the kit list in the respective machine language to thePCBAM70. ThePCBAM70 grabs the desiredelectrical component156 from the programmed location on thestrip plate158 and assembles theelectrical component156 on thePCB75 in accordance to the kit list. The locations given in the kit list include an alphabetical designation operable to indicate a designated location of thecomponent156 on thestrip157 of on any of fourdifferent strip plates158 denoted by A, B, C, and D, along a respective strip row denoted by numerical designation, as illustrated inFIG. 3.
• Step205 includes generating a design of manufacturability (DOM) report that generally describes, highlights, and explains any potential manufacturing issues, gives feedback and help in production efficiency of the customizedPCB75, and reports any problems or issues that came up during assembly of thePCB75. Step210 generally includes shipment of thePCBs75 to the customer. Step210 further includes providing for a status update of the shipment of PCBs available or communicated to the user via the website. Step215 is the end of themethod80.
• Thesystem20 and themethod80 described above is preferably used to manufacture specialized prototypes and low volume.PCB75 and electronic assemblies, but themethod80 can be employed to assemble other types of board assemblies (e.g., game boards, etc.) and is not limiting on the invention. Each of thePCBs75 is preferably machine assembled, however, one or more of the components (e.g., through hole components) can be hand soldered for small quantities and is not limiting on the invention.
• The above discussion, examples, and embodiments illustrate my current understanding of the invention. However, since many variations of the invention can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, the invention resides wholly in the claims hereafter appended.

Claims (24)

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16. (canceled)

17. A method of assembling one or more electrical components on a printed circuit board, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving a customer file from a remote user, the customer file containing locations of one or electrical components to be assembled on the printed circuit board;

generating an assembly file for assembling the one or more electrical components on the printed circuit board; and

assembling the printed circuit board in accordance with the assembly file.

18. The method ofclaim 17 wherein the step of assembling the printed circuit board includes the additional steps of:

placing the circuit board components on plate-type carriers;

positioning the carriers in the vicinity of a circuit board assembly machine; and

selecting the circuit board components from the plate-type carriers for assembling the components on the printed circuit board.

19. The method ofclaim 17 including the additional step of downloading the assembly file to a machine prior to assembling the printed circuit board.

20. The method ofclaim 17 comprising the additional steps of:

inputting predetermined information on the customized printed circuit board to be assembled, the predetermined information defining the customer file; and

transmitting the consumer file to a central processing unit.

21. The method ofclaim 20 wherein the customer file is transmitted to the central processing unit over the internet.

22. The method ofclaim 20 wherein the predetermined information includes billing information.

23. The method ofclaim 20 wherein the predetermined information includes a bill of materials for the customized printed circuit board.

24. The method ofclaim 20 wherein the predetermined information includes a graphic image of the customized printed circuit board.

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