A screen printing apparatus is built into the manufacturing line of a printed circuit board (PCB), and prints conductive paste or the like on a substrate that is transferred from the upstream side and delivers the substrate to the component mounting device on the downstream side. With this type of screen printing apparatus, generally speaking, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H7-205399, one printing unit in the apparatus receives every substrate and delivered to the component mounting device in a one by one manner while being subject to a printing process.
In recent years, however, an apparatus, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2009-70867, for example, which comprises two printing units and two substrate moving stages therebelow respectively in parallel, and every substrate is individually received by the respective printing units from the upstream side and subsequently subjected to a printing process, and then delivered to the downstream side. This was achieved by using a so-called dual transfer-type component mounting device in which two substrate transfer lines are provided in an apparatus, and the mounting of components are carried out simultaneously (in parallel) with each transfer line, the aims of which is to streamline the printing and component mounting processes by coupling the screen printing apparatus and the component mounting device. For similar reasons, a type has been developed, such as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2008-272964, in which one apparatus is provided with two transfer lines and with one screen mask formed with two printing patterns each corresponding to the respective transfer lines, so that the apparatus individually receives each substrate along the respective transfer lines, conducts a printing process using a different printing pattern for each transfer line, and subsequently delivers the substrates individually to the component mounting device.
Meanwhile, the manufacturing line of a printed circuit board will be configured in various forms in order to increase the production efficiency. For example, there may be a demand to install a screen printing apparatus between a device of a single transfer-type (hereinafter referred to as the “device of a single system”) having one substrate transfer line, and a dual transfer-type component mounting device comprising two substrate transfer lines in parallel or a single transfer-type two component mounting devices (hereinafter collectively referred to as the “device of a dual system”), or conversely installing a screen printing apparatus between the upstream-side device of a dual system and the single system component mounting device. Moreover, even in a case where the screen printing apparatus is installed between an upstream-side device of a dual system and a component mounting device of a dual system thereby configuring two substrate transfer lines from the upstream-side device to component mounting device, there may also be demand for performing a printing process to a substrate which is transferred from the upstream-side device along the substrate transfer line on one side and, thereafter, for transferring the printed substrate to the component mounting device belonging to the substrate transfer line on the other side.
However, since a conventional device described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H7-205399 is based on the premise of being installed between an upstream-side device of a single transfer-type and a downstream-side device (component mounting device) of a single transfer-type, it is impossible to employ those devices as it is. Meanwhile, regarding conventional devices in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2009-70867 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2008-272964, it is also impossible to employ those devices because the device is supposed to be installed between an upstream-side device of a dual transfer-type and a downstream-side device (component mounting device) of dual transfer-type, so that the substrate transfer lines are respectively and independently configured from the upstream-side device to the downstream-side device.
Therefore, if, for example, an apparatus in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H7-205399 is to be applied as a screen printing apparatus in a case where the upstream side is a device of a single transfer-type and the downstream side is the device (supposed to be a component mounting device) of a dual transfer-type, the application in the actual practice would be conducted by installing a sorting device for sorting the destination of the substrates between the screen printing apparatus and the component mounting device. Moreover, when apparatuses of Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2009-70867 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2008-272964 are applied in the same case, a similar sorting device is disposed between the upstream-side device and the screen printing apparatus. Contrarily, if an apparatus in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H7-205399 is to be applied as a screen printing apparatus in a case where the upstream side is a device of a dual transfer-type and the downstream side is the device (supposed to be a component mounting device) of a single transfer-type, a switching device for switching the source for receiving the substrates is disposed between the upstream-side device and the screen printing apparatus. Moreover, when apparatuses of Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2009-70867 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2008-272964 are applied in the same case, a similar switching device is disposed between the screen printing apparatus and the component mounting device.
Furthermore, if the device of Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2009-70867 or Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2008-272964 is applied as a screen printing apparatus to be installed between an upstream-side device of a dual system and a component mounting device of a dual system where the substrate is transferred along the substrate transfer line on one side of the two substrate transfer lines, the substrate is then subjected to printing process and thereafter the substrate is transferred to the component mounting device belonging to the substrate transfer line on the other side, a similar switching device would be disposed between the screen printing apparatus and the component mounting device.
In addition, even if a case where the screen printing apparatus described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2009-70867 or Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2008-272964 is to be installed between the upstream-side device of a dual system and downstream-side device (supposed to be a component mounting device) of the dual system, if the line pitch of the respective substrate transfer lines of the upstream-side device and the line pitch of the respective substrate transfer lines of the component mounting device were different, it would be impossible for the apparatus to solely be installed between the upstream-side device and the component mounting device, because the pitch of the transfer lines of the substrate on the substrate loading side and the pitch on the substrate unloading side are the same in that screen printing apparatus. Therefore, in the foregoing case, a relay device for relaying the transfer of the substrates would be additionally installed between the upstream-side device and the screen printing apparatus, or between the screen printing apparatus and the component mounting device.
However, a line configuration of providing incidental equipment such as the sorting device, the switching device or the relay device in addition to the screen printing apparatus as described above is undesirable in terms of space saving and cost reduction of the manufacturing equipment of printed circuit boards, there is room for improvement with respect to these points.