JP2001051014A - Method of inspecting semiconductor package, and chuck - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable the reduction of the inspection index time and the saving of the space for the apparatus. SOLUTION: Using a chuck 1 having a means for holding the body of a semiconductor package (vacuum holding means 3) and a means (mechanism 4) for positioning the semiconductor package held by the holding means to a specified reference position, the semiconductor package such as QFP is held, brought up and positioned to a socket at an inspecting position in this holding state, the chuck 1 is moved to the inspection position and the semiconductor package is mounted in the socket.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an SOP (Small Out)
The present invention relates to a method of inspecting a semiconductor package such as a line package) or a QFP (Quad Flat Package) and a chuck used for the method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a semiconductor package is subjected to various inspections such as an appearance inspection and an electrical characteristic test such as burn-in before shipment. Among these inspections, an electrical characteristic test is performed by mounting a semiconductor package on a socket provided in an inspection device. FIG. 14 shows an example of the inspection apparatus.

An inspection apparatus 200 shown in FIG. 14 takes out a predetermined number (for example, one row) of semiconductor packages from a supply pallet P10 and transports them to a standby position 202 preceding the positioning position 201.
3, a non-defective product transfer mechanism 205 that conveys the semiconductor package that has been inspected at the inspection position 204 to a non-defective product pallet P11 and stores the semiconductor package in a predetermined position in the pallet P11,
And a defective article transport mechanism 206 for transporting the defective article to a predetermined position in the pallet P12.

In the inspection position 204, two sockets 241 are arranged. Each socket 241 has a contact corresponding to a lead of a semiconductor package, and has a structure in which the contact and the lead are electrically connected when the package is mounted. In the positioning position 201, a positioning jig 211 whose position is defined with respect to each socket 241 of the inspection position 204 is arranged. In addition, positioning position 2
01, the semiconductor package at the standby position 202 is set to the positioning position 201, and the semiconductor package positioned at the positioning position 201 is set to the socket 241 at the inspection position 204.
, A handling device (not shown) is provided.

In the inspection apparatus 200 shown in FIG. 14, the semiconductor packages stored in the supply pallet P10 are transported to the standby position 202 for each row, and the semiconductor packages are transferred one by one from the standby position 202. Inspection is sequentially performed by setting the semiconductor package after positioning on the positioning jig 211 at the positioning position 201, mounting the semiconductor package after the positioning in the socket 241 at the inspection position 204, and performing an electrical characteristic test. If the result is good, the semiconductor package is stored in a non-defective product pallet, and if the inspection result is bad, the semiconductor package is stored in a defective product pallet. Note that the supply pallet P10 is stocked once in the temporary storage position 207, and then the non-defective pallet P11 or the defective pallet P12.
Served as

[0006]

In the inspection apparatus shown in FIG. 14, since the semiconductor package is positioned at the positioning position and then mounted on the socket at the inspection position, the semiconductor package is transported to the positioning position. Because extra time is required for positioning and transport between the positioning position and the inspection position,
There is a problem that the inspection index time is necessarily long. In addition, it is necessary to secure a space for the positioning position. Further, the leads of the semiconductor package may be damaged due to interference with the jig during positioning.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and a semiconductor package inspection method capable of shortening an inspection index time, reducing equipment costs and saving space, and an inspection method for the semiconductor package. The purpose is to provide a chuck suitable for implementation.

[0008]

According to the present invention, there is provided an inspection method comprising:
A method of transporting a semiconductor package such as an OP or a QFP to an inspection position, mounting the semiconductor package in a socket arranged at the inspection position, and inspecting electrical characteristics. The semiconductor package to be inspected is held by a chuck. The semiconductor package is positioned with respect to the socket in the inspection position in the holding state, and then the chuck is moved to the inspection position to mount the semiconductor package in the socket.

According to the inspection method of the present invention, since the semiconductor package is positioned with respect to the socket at the inspection position while the semiconductor package is held on the chuck, the semiconductor package stored in the pallet is held by the chuck and taken out of the pallet. After that, without going through a positioning step or the like at the positioning position, it can be conveyed to the inspection position and mounted on the socket while keeping the holding state. Also,
Since there is no need to provide a positioning position, it is possible to save the space of the inspection device.

The chuck according to the present invention is a chuck used for a method of transporting a semiconductor package such as an SOP or a QFP to an inspection position, mounting the semiconductor package in a socket arranged at the inspection position, and inspecting electrical characteristics. The semiconductor device is characterized by having a holding means for holding the package body of the semiconductor package and a positioning means for positioning the semiconductor package held by the holding means with respect to a reference position of the chuck.

According to the chuck of the present invention, the semiconductor package can be positioned with respect to the chuck reference position (for example, the center of the chuck main body) while holding the semiconductor package, so that the chuck is mounted on an inspection robot or the like. At this time, if the positional relationship between the reference position of the chuck and the socket at the inspection position is specified, the semiconductor package is positioned with respect to the socket when the semiconductor package is held and positioned on the chuck.
The semiconductor package can be mounted in the socket as it is. Therefore, the chuck of the present invention
It can be effectively used for the above-described inspection method of the present invention.

Here, in the chuck of the present invention, a positioning concave portion (positioning hole) or a convex portion is provided in the chuck main body, and a convex portion (positioning pin) fitted to the positioning concave portion or the convex portion is provided in the socket at the inspection position. Alternatively, if a concave portion is provided, the positioning when mounting the semiconductor package held and positioned on the chuck to the socket can be performed more accurately.

In the chuck of the present invention, when the semiconductor package to be held is QFP,
It is preferable to provide four positioning claws corresponding to four sides of the package body of the FP. In this case, if the tip of each positioning claw is processed into a stepped shape corresponding to the outer shape of the QFP lead, the lead is pressed against the socket when the QFP lead is mounted on the socket at the inspection position. Therefore, the electrical connection between the lead and the contact in the socket can be made more reliably.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, an embodiment of the chuck of the present invention is shown in FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG. Chuck 1 of the present embodiment
Is a chuck used for the inspection of the QFP, and mainly includes a chuck body 2, a suction holding unit 3, a positioning mechanism 4, an air cylinder (built-in magnet type) 5, and the like.

The chuck body 2 (made of iron) includes a substantially rectangular cylindrical casing 21 and a flange (square) 22 for mounting to an inspection robot or the like. The air cylinder 5 is fixed to the flange 22. . The flange 22 is formed with a concave portion 22a in which a backing plate 42 of the positioning mechanism 4 described later is arranged. Further, four circular holes 22b are formed in the flange 22, and one end of the compression coil spring 6 is fitted into each of the circular holes 22b.

The casing 21 has a socket 1 to be described later.
21 are provided with two positioning pins 121a (FIG. 1).
2, see FIG. 13) is provided in a positional relationship corresponding to the positioning pins 121a, and the chuck 1 is fitted by the positioning pins 121a and the positioning holes 21a. And the center of the socket 121 coincide with each other.

The suction holding section 3 is composed of an inner movable block 31 movable vertically with respect to the casing 21, and a resin suction head 32 press-fitted into a stepped recess 31b at the end thereof.

The inner movable block 31 is a rectangular parallelepiped having a frontal square shape, and has an air passage 31a formed in the center thereof, and a female screw 31c is machined on the rear end side of the air passage 31a. The suction head 32 has a dish-shaped suction port 32b.
And an air passage 32a are formed.
a communicates with the air passage 31 a of the inner movable block 31. The distal end surface of the suction head 32 is in the open state of the chuck 1 (the state shown in FIG. 1), and
Projecting from the front end surface by a predetermined amount.

The positioning mechanism 4 includes an outer movable block 41 movable vertically with respect to the casing 21, a backing plate 42, and four positioning claws 43.

The outer movable block 41 is a hollow member having a substantially rectangular shape, and an abutment plate 42 is fixedly screwed to an upper end portion. The contact plate 42 is located in a recess 22 a provided in the flange 22 of the chuck body 2. The contact plate 42 is provided with four through-holes 42 a for disposing the compression coil spring 6, and each of the through-holes 42 a
The other end of the compression coil spring 6 contacts the upper end surface of the outer movable block 41 through a. At the upper end of the outer movable member 41, notches 41b are provided at positions (four places) corresponding to the respective positioning claws 43, and an operation block (made of urethane rubber) 7 facing the respective notches 41b is provided. It is fixed to the casing 21.

The four positioning claws 43 are arranged on the outer movable block 41 in a positional relationship corresponding to the four sides of the package body 10a of the QFP 10, and each of the positioning claws 43 is provided on the outer movable block 41, respectively. The shaft 45 is supported swingably.

Each positioning claw 43 has a magnet 44 embedded in a side portion thereof. As shown in FIG. 1, the magnet 44 is attracted to the casing 21 so that the tip of the positioning claw 43 is directed outward by a predetermined angle. It is configured to open. As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, a step 43 a having a shape corresponding to the lead 10 b of the QFP 10 is formed at the tip of each positioning claw 43, and the corner of the step 43 a is chamfered. It has been subjected.

The air cylinder 5 includes an inner movable block 31
An air passage 51a is formed in the center of the operation rod 51, and a male screw 51
b has been processed. The external thread 51b of the operating rod 51 is screwed into the internal thread 31c of the inner movable block 31, and the fastening of the screw connects the operating rod 51 and the inner movable block 31 to each other. Air passage 31a of movable block 31
And are in communication. An air pipe is connected to an end of the operation rod 51 via a coupling or the like. By driving a suction pump connected to the air pipe, the air passage 31 of the inner movable block 31 and the suction head 32 is driven.
a, the air in 32a can be sucked.

Next, the holding / positioning operation of the chuck 1 having the above structure will be described with reference to FIGS. Note that the chuck 1 is an inspection robot 1 described later.
It is used by being attached to the tip of 31 arm 131a.

First, as shown in FIG. 1, when the chuck 1 is in the open state, the inner movable block 3
1 is located at the lowermost end, and the four positioning claws 43 have their tip ends opened outward by the attraction force of the magnet 44. When the chuck is released, as shown in FIG. By contacting the upper surface of the package body 10a, the QFP 10 can be suction-held.

Next, the air cylinder 5 is driven to move the inner movable block 31 connected to the operating rod 51 upward. During this movement process, the inner movable block 31
When the upper end surface of the QFP 10 comes into contact with the abutment plate 42 of the positioning mechanism 4 (FIG. 6), almost the entirety of the QFP 10 is located inside the four positioning claws 43, and the inner movable block 3
1 moves upward, as shown in FIG. 7, the abutment plate 42 and the outer movable block 41
Move upward against the elastic force of In the course of the movement of the outer movable block 41, the end of each positioning claw 43 hits the operation block 7, and thereby each positioning claw 43
Are rotated inward, the QFP 10 is positioned at the tips of these four positioning claws 43, and the package body 10 is rotated.
Center of a (reference position) and center of chuck 1 (reference position)
And the step 4 at the tip of the positioning claw 43
3a contacts the upper surface of the lead 10b of the QFP 10. Then, with the QFP 10 held and positioned in this manner, the chuck 1 can be moved to an inspection position by an inspection robot or the like, and the QFP 10 can be mounted on a socket arranged at the inspection position.

According to the chuck 1 having the above-described structure, the tip of the suction head 32 projects forward (downward) from the tip of the inner movable block 31.
0 when sucking and holding the package body 1 of the QFP 10
0a always comes into contact with the suction head 32 first, whereby the inner movable block 31
It is possible to prevent the QFP 10 from being damaged by colliding with the lead 0a or the lead 10b.

Further, the tip of each positioning claw 43 is
Since the step portion 43a has a shape conforming to the lead 10b of the QFP 10, the lead 10b can be pressed against the socket when the lead 10b of the QFP 10 is mounted on the socket for inspection. Electrical connection with the contact can be made more reliably. In addition, since the corners of the step portions 43a of the positioning claws 43 are chamfered, when positioning the QFP 10, the tip of the positioning claws 43 gets caught on the package body 10a or the lead 10b of the QFP 10. Does not occur, and the positioning of the QFP 10 can be performed accurately and smoothly.

In the above embodiment, the example of the chuck for holding the QFP has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to a chuck for holding another semiconductor package such as an SOP. Further, the number of positioning claws provided on the chuck is not limited to four, and the number of positioning claws can be arbitrarily selected according to the form of the semiconductor package to be held and positioned.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing an example of an inspection apparatus implementing the inspection method of the present invention, and FIGS. 11 and 12 are diagrams schematically showing the configuration of a processing / inspection position of the inspection apparatus.

An inspection apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 10 includes a pallet transport mechanism 101, an inspection position 102, a processing position 103, a standby position 104, and a replacement transport apparatus 1.
05.

The pallet transport mechanism 101 is a mechanism using a belt conveyor or the like, and sends the pallet P1 supplied from the equipment 110 in the preceding process from the standby position 104 to the processing position 103, and further, the pallet P which has been inspected.
1 is transported from the processing position 103 to the product stocker 106.

In the inspection position 102, two sockets 121 are arranged. Each socket 121 is provided with two positioning pins 121a (see FIGS. 12 and 13). These positioning pins 121a are arranged at positions corresponding to the positioning holes 21a of the chuck 1 described above. The socket 121 is a well-known socket that is generally used in an electrical characteristic test of a semiconductor package of this kind, and has a contact for making an electrical contact with a lead disposed therein.

At the processing position 103, two inspection robots 131 are arranged. Each inspection robot 131
Is X with respect to the socket 121 of the inspection position 102,
A movable arm 131a is provided on three axes of Y and Z, and the chuck 1 described above is mounted on the end of each arm 131a. Arm 131a of inspection robot 131
Of the inspection position 102 with respect to the reference position (socket center) of the socket 121, the chuck 1 is mounted on the arm 131a of the inspection robot 131 in a state where the centers of the chucks 1 are aligned. , Chuck 1 and socket 12 at inspection position 102
1 is defined.

The pallet P1 is supplied to the standby position 104 from the equipment 110 in the preceding process. The supply pallet P1 stands by at the processing position 103 until the inspection of the QFP 10 in the pallet P1 sent earlier is completed. In the standby position 104, a pallet P2 (one sheet) containing an uninspected product (QFP) is stocked above the pallet transport path.

The replacement transport device 105 is in the standby position 1
The uninspected products in the pallet P2 stocked on the upper part of the product 04 are transported to the replacement position 151, and the defective products (QFP) transferred from the pallet P1 located at the processing position 103 to the replacement position 151 are on standby. Package transport mechanism 1 that transports to the side of position 104
52, and a handling device 153 for delivering uninspected and defective products between the package transport mechanism 152 and the pallet P2 at the standby position 104.

Next, the operation of the above inspection apparatus 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 to 13 and FIGS.

First, the pallet P1 first sent from the equipment 110 in the previous process passes through the waiting position 104, is conveyed to the processing position 103, and is transferred to the next pallet P.
1 is transported to the standby position 104. A pallet P2 containing uninspected items is stocked above the standby position 104, and one row of uninspected items in the pallet P2 is placed in the exchange position 1 of the exchange transport device 105.
In this state, the inspection is started. The inspection is performed by the following operation.

First, the pallet P1 set at the processing position 103 by driving the inspection robot 131 or the like.
The QFP 10 is held by the chuck 1 and taken out, and the positioning is performed in the held state (see the operation in FIGS. 5 to 7). Next, the QFP 10 is transported to a position directly above the socket 121 at the inspection position 102 with the QFP 10 held by the chuck 1 (FIG. 13). At this time, since the positional relationship between the chuck 1 and the socket 121 is defined, the contact of the socket 121 and the lead of the QFP 10 are automatically positioned.

Next, from the state shown in FIG.
Is lowered, and the QFP 10 is mounted on the socket 121. In this mounted state, a predetermined electrical characteristic inspection is performed, and when the inspection is completed, the chuck 1 is raised, and the QFP 10 is transported to the pallet P1 and stored in the original position. Note that such an inspection operation is performed on the two sockets 121 in parallel. The process for returning the QFP 10 to the pallet P1 is performed in the reverse operation of the operation shown in FIGS.

If there is no defective product in the pallet P1 set in the processing position 103, the pallet P1 having been inspected is transported to the product stocker 106, and the next pallet P1 waiting in the standby position 104 is transferred to the pallet P1. The next pallet P1 is set from the equipment 110 in the previous process to the processing position 103 and further to the standby position 104.

On the other hand, when there is a defective product in the inspection process, the defective product is replaced with an uninspected product at the replacement position 115 of the replacement transport device 105 to perform the inspection. This replacement operation is performed by the inspection robot 131 installed at the processing position 103.
In the pallet P2 at the standby position 104, the pallet is stored in the pallet P2. In addition, after one lot is completed,
The discharge position 107 is stored in the pallet P2.
Transported to

Here, in the above embodiment, the example of the QFP inspection has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to the inspection of various other semiconductor packages such as an SOP.

[0045]

As described above, according to the inspection method of the present invention, since the semiconductor package is positioned with respect to the socket at the inspection position while the semiconductor package is held on the chuck, the semiconductor package housed in the pallet can be used. After holding it with the chuck and taking it out of the pallet, it is possible to carry it to the inspection position and mount it in the socket while keeping the holding state. This eliminates the need for the positioning process at the positioning position, which has been conventionally performed, thereby shortening the inspection index time, reducing equipment costs, and saving space.

The chuck according to the present invention includes holding means for holding the package body of the semiconductor package and positioning means for positioning the semiconductor package held by the holding means with respect to the reference position of the chuck. The inspection method of the present invention described above can be easily realized by mounting the chuck on an inspection robot or a handler.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a structure of a chuck according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view taken in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line CC of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a view showing the operation of the embodiment of the chuck of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the operation of the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the operation of the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a front view (A) and a side view (B) showing only the positioning claws of the chuck.

FIG. 9 is a detailed view of a portion D in FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an inspection device that has implemented the inspection method of the present invention.

11 is a front view schematically showing a configuration of a processing position of the inspection apparatus shown in FIG.

12 is a plan view schematically showing a configuration of an inspection / processing position of the inspection device shown in FIG.

FIG. 13 is a front view schematically showing a positional relationship between a chuck and a socket at an inspection position.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing an example of a conventional semiconductor package inspection apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 chuck 2 chuck body 21 casing 21a positioning hole 22 flange 3 suction holding unit 31 inner movable block 31a air passage 32 suction head 32a air passage 32b suction port 4 positioning mechanism 41 outer movable block 42 contact plate 43 positioning claw 43a step 44 magnet 45 shaft 5 air cylinder 51 operating rod 51a air passage 6 compression coil spring 7 operating block 10 QFP (semiconductor package) 10a package body 10b lead 100 inspection device 101 pallet transport mechanism 102 inspection position 121 socket 121a positioning pin 103 processing position 131 inspection robot 131a arm 104 standby position 105 replacement transfer device

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A method of transporting a semiconductor package such as an SOP or a QFP to an inspection position and mounting the semiconductor package on a socket arranged at the inspection position to inspect electrical characteristics, wherein the semiconductor package to be inspected is provided. The semiconductor package is positioned with respect to a socket at an inspection position in a state where the semiconductor package is held, and then the chuck is moved to the inspection position and the semiconductor package is mounted on the socket. Method. 2. A chuck used for a method of transporting a semiconductor package such as an SOP or a QFP to an inspection position and mounting the semiconductor package on a socket arranged at the inspection position to inspect electrical characteristics. A chuck comprising: holding means for holding a package body of a package; and positioning means for positioning a semiconductor package held by the holding means with respect to a reference position of the chuck. 3. The chuck according to claim 2, wherein a concave portion or a convex portion that fits into a positioning convex portion or a concave portion provided on the socket at the inspection position is provided on the chuck body. 4. The chuck according to claim 2, wherein the positioning means includes four positioning claws corresponding to four sides of the package body of the QFP. 5. The chuck according to claim 4, wherein the tip of each positioning claw is machined into a stepped shape according to the outer shape of the lead of the QFP.