Printed circuit board protector

摘要

Printed circuit boards are moved in a conveyor with the underside of flat boards spaced a prescribed distance above the top surface of a rotating cutting disk. In order to protect the circuit patterns on the underside of the board and the board itself, a V-shaped wheel is loosely rotatably supported on a shaft with the wheel being in front of and orthogonal to the cutting disk. The height of the wheel is adjusted such that the uppermost point on the circumference thereof is in the line of travel of the boards. Movement of a board that is bowed downward in the direction of the disk causes the wheel to roll on the underside of the board and to raise the board above the top of the cutting disk. In this manner, the underside of warped circuit boards is maintained at least a prescribed distance above the top surface of the cutting disk as the board moves over the leading - cutting edge of the latter and component leads are trimmed thereby. Weak compression springs on either side of the wheel allow it to move sideways when it contacts a component lead. The spacing between the wheel and the front edge of the cutting disk is also adjustable.