JP2005103577A - Spherical material transfer device and solder ball loading device using it - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a spherical material transfer device which can surely take out only one piece of spherical material from a storage tray, even if it is a minute sphere of not more than 0.2 mm in diameter, and a solder ball loading device using it. <P>SOLUTION: The spherical material transfer device 32 comprises the tray 20 to store the spherical material, an extraction nozzle 34 which is arranged movably in the vertical direction through the tray 20 to extract the spherical material 18 stored in the tray, and a transfer nozzle 22 which sucks the spherical material 18 extracted by the extraction nozzle 34 and transfers the spherical material 18 to a designated position. The spherical material transfer device 32 is characterized in that while the extraction nozzle 34 is moved upward from the bottom of the tray 20, the spherical material 18 in the tray is extracted by placing the spherical material 18 on the tip of the extraction nozzle 34 and then the extracted spherical material 18 is sucked by the transfer nozzle 22 positioned above the tray 20. The solder ball loading device using the transfer device 32 is also provided. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a spherical body transport device and a micro solder ball mounting device using the same, and more specifically, a spherical body capable of reliably transporting micro spherical bodies having a diameter of 0.2 mm or less one by one. The present invention relates to a conveying device and a fine solder ball mounting device using the same.

In order to mount a BGA or GSP element on a prototype substrate or the like, a device described in Patent Document 1 is mounted by the present applicant as a solder ball mounting device for mounting a solder ball for bonding or for mounting a solder ball for bonding to a BGA. Proposed.
In the spherical body mounting device described in Patent Document 1, a large number of solder balls are housed in a tray having a rubber shutter on the upper surface, and agitation is performed by blowing air into the tray. By inserting the suction nozzle, the suction nozzle sucks the agitated solder ball and passes the suction nozzle through the rubber shutter, so that the excess solder ball sucked by the suction nozzle is scraped off, and one solder ball is removed from the tray. Only is taken out. Accordingly, the solder balls can be appropriately mounted on the substrate in a predetermined pattern, so that it is widely used as a useful technique.
JP 2003-198114 A

However, if the spherical body mounting device disclosed in Patent Document 1 is a spherical body with a spherical body diameter of up to about 0.3 mm, the suction nozzle only sucks one solder ball and removes it from the tray. Although it can be suitably performed, when the diameter of the spherical body to be handled is 0.2 mm or less, there is a problem in that it is impossible for the rubber shutter to scrape off the extra spherical body adhering to the suction nozzle. In addition, the air blown to stir the spherical bodies in the tray causes the solder balls to overflow from the rubber shutter, and when the suction nozzle is inserted into the tray, the solder balls in the tray are pressed by the suction nozzle. As a result, it has become clear that there is a problem of deformation.
In recent years, the diameter of a solder ball attached to a substrate may be 0.2 mm or less. In such a case, the spherical body mounting device described in Patent Document 1 may not be able to cope with it. I came.

  The present invention relates to a spherical body transport device capable of reliably taking out only one spherical body from a storage tray even if it is a minute spherical body (solder ball) having a diameter of 0.2 mm or less, and a solder using the same. An object is to provide a ball mounting device.

  The present invention provides a tray for storing a spherical body, an extraction nozzle that penetrates the tray in the vertical direction and is movable up and down, and extracts the spherical body stored in the tray, and the extraction nozzle extracts By providing a transport nozzle for adsorbing the spherical body and transporting the spherical body to a predetermined position, raising the extraction nozzle from below the tray, and placing the spherical body on the tip of the extraction nozzle After the spherical body in the tray is extracted, the spherical body transporting apparatus is characterized in that the extracted spherical body is adsorbed to the transport nozzle located above the tray.

  The tray is provided with a plurality of extraction nozzles that are individually driven to move up and down, and each of the extraction nozzles is provided with the transport nozzle individually. Thereby, many spherical bodies can be conveyed in a short time.

The tip of the extraction nozzle is formed in a concave shape. As a result, only one spherical body in the tray is easily extracted to the extraction nozzle.
Furthermore, the tip of the extraction nozzle is connected to a suction means, and is provided so as to be able to suck the spherical body.
Furthermore, the internal space of the tray is provided with an air blowing means for removing the adsorbed spherical body other than the tip of the nozzle. As a result, it is possible to further improve the reliability of the operation of extracting only one of the minute spherical bodies in the tray.

Further, a spherical body detecting means is disposed on the upper surface of the tray.
Further, the spherical body detecting means is provided with a slit at the tip of the extraction nozzle, a signal output means disposed on one end side of the slit, a signal receiving means disposed on the other end side of the slit, And determining means for determining the presence or absence of a spherical body based on whether or not the signal receiving means has received a signal from the signal output means. By these, the spherical body extraction means almost certainly extracts only one microspherical body in the tray and transfers it to the transport device, so that it can be a highly reliable device.

  In another aspect of the invention, a stage for supporting a substrate, a moving means for moving the stage in the XY direction, a solder ball conveying device for conveying a solder ball mounted on the substrate, the moving means, and the solder ball In the solder ball mounting device comprising an operation control means for controlling the operation of the transfer device, one or more of the spherical body transfer devices described above are used as the solder ball transfer device. This is a solder ball mounting device.

If the above spherical body conveyance device is used, one spherical body can be reliably extracted from minute spherical bodies accommodated in a large amount in the tray.
In addition, according to the solder ball mounting apparatus using such a transport device, it is possible to reliably mount a solder ball even on a prototype board that has to be mounted with a small solder ball. This is very useful because a prototype board can be provided at a low cost.
Furthermore, since a plurality of spherical body transfer devices can be arranged for one tray, efficient work can be performed.

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of a solder ball mounting device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the overall configuration of a solder ball mounting apparatus. The solder ball mounting apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment includes a stage 14 that sucks and fixes a substrate 12 as a workpiece by air, and a table 16 that supports the stage 14 and that can move in the XY directions. A tray 20 for storing the solder balls 18, a transfer nozzle 22 that sucks the solder balls 18 extracted from the tray 20 and transfers them to a predetermined position of the substrate, and a camera 24 for photographing the wiring pattern of the substrate 12. Based on the image data of the wiring pattern of the board 12 photographed by the camera 24, the external control means 26 for setting the position where the solder ball 18 is mounted, the dial 28 for manually moving the table 16, and the control program Control means for controlling the operation of the solder ball mounting apparatus 10 on the basis of a storage means for storing and a control program And an operation panel 30 to be built.

  The stage 14 is provided so that the substrate 12 can be sucked by air. The stage 14 is attached to a table 16 that is movable in the XY direction. As a result, the substrate 12 and the stage 14 can move in the XY directions along with the movement of the table 16. The position of the table 16 on which the substrate 12 and the stage 14 are placed is adjusted in detail by an operation dial 28. Further, it is more convenient if a resolution changeover switch (not shown) that can adjust the setting of the moving distance of the table 16 with respect to the rotation amount of the dial 28 is provided.

The solder ball transfer device will be described. FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a schematic configuration of main components of the solder ball conveying device according to the present invention.
The solder ball conveying device 32 includes a tray 20 for storing the solder balls 18, an extraction nozzle 34 provided so as to be movable in the vertical direction from the inner bottom portion to the upper outer surface of the tray 20, and excess solder attached to the extraction nozzle 34. The air blow means 36 for removing the ball 18, the laser sensor 38 which is a spherical body detecting means for confirming that only one is extracted from the tray 20 by the extraction nozzle 34, and the extraction nozzle 34 extracts from the tray 20. It is constituted by a transfer nozzle 22 that adsorbs the solder ball 18 and transfers the solder ball 18 to a predetermined position of the substrate 12.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the tray 20 includes an upper lid 20a having an opening corresponding to one solder ball 18 on the upper surface. The upper lid 20a is detachably disposed on the tray 20. The inner bottom surface of the tray 20 is formed in a mortar shape, and an extraction nozzle 34 is disposed on the bottom portion formed in the mortar shape so as to be movable up and down. A large number of solder balls 18 are accommodated in the internal space of the tray 20, and the tip end portion 34 a of the extraction nozzle 34 is buried in the solder balls 18 in the initial state. Above the internal space of the tray 20, air blow means 36 for blowing air or nitrogen gas in the horizontal direction is disposed.

  FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the shape of the tip portion of the extraction nozzle. The extraction nozzle 34 is formed of an ultra-thin cylindrical body made of stainless steel. As shown in FIG. 3A, the extraction nozzle 34 is formed in a tapered shape, the diameter of the large diameter portion is about 0.3 mm, and the diameter of the tip portion is about 0.15 mm. As shown in FIG. 2, the extraction nozzle 34 is disposed by sliding the outer peripheral surface on the inner bottom surface of the tray 20, and is provided so as to reciprocate up and down to the outer surface of the upper cover 20 a of the tray 20.

  As shown in FIG. 3B, a concave portion 34 b is formed at the distal end portion 34 a of the extraction nozzle 34. The concave portion 34 b is formed slightly larger than the diameter of the solder ball 18. When the extraction nozzle 34 ascends from the inner bottom surface of the tray 20 in which the solder balls 18 are accommodated, the solder balls 18 are air adsorbed to the concave portions 34b, and only one solder ball 18 can be extracted from the tray 20. . In addition, a slit 34c that allows a laser beam projected from a laser sensor 38, which is a spherical body detection unit that detects the solder ball 18 extracted by the extraction nozzle 34, to traverse the radial direction at the tip 34a of the extraction nozzle 34. It is formed as follows.

The end of the large-diameter portion 34d of the extraction nozzle 34 is threaded and connected to a vertical movement device (not shown). An air cylinder or the like can be used as the vertical movement device. The extraction nozzle 34 is formed with a suction hole 34 e penetrating the central portion of the extraction nozzle 34 in the axial direction. The suction hole 34e communicates with suction means (not shown).
In the present embodiment, the concave portion 34b has a diameter of about 0.06 mm and a depth of about 0.03 mm, and the suction hole 34e has a diameter of about 0.03 mm.

The transport nozzle 22 will be described. FIG. 4 is a front view showing the tip of the transport nozzle. FIG. 5 is a front view showing a state in which the solder balls are delivered between the extraction nozzle and the transport nozzle.
The transfer nozzle 22 is for the extraction nozzle 34 to adsorb the solder ball 18 extracted from the inside of the tray 20 and mount the solder ball 18 at a predetermined position on the substrate 12. As shown in FIG. 4, the transport nozzle 22 is formed in a large cylindrical shape, and a suction port 22b is formed at the tip 22a. The other end 22c is threaded and has a moving means that can move laterally and in the height direction from the initial position, and a suction means that communicates with the suction port 22b and sucks the solder ball 18 (both not shown). It is connected to the.

  The transfer nozzle 22 approaches the solder ball 18 sucked to the tip of the extraction nozzle 34 from the side of the extraction nozzle 34 protruding from the upper surface of the upper lid 20 a of the tray 20. The suction port 22 b of the transport nozzle 22 approaching the extraction nozzle 34 sucks the solder ball 18 from the extraction nozzle 34. The transfer nozzle 22 that sucks the solder ball 18 descends after returning to the initial position, and is mounted on the stage 12 on the table 16 that is sucked and supported by the stage 14 on the table 16 moved to a predetermined position by the operation dial 28. Placed on.

The camera 24 is for photographing the solder ball mounting pattern of the substrate 12 supported by the stage 14. The camera 24 is mainly a small camera represented by a CCD camera or the like. The camera 24 is set such that the shooting location can be adjusted as appropriate based on a menu displayed on the operation panel 30.
The image of the solder ball mounting pattern on the board 12 photographed by the camera 24 is transmitted to the external control means 26 via the cable K as shown in FIG.

The external control means 26 will be described.
As the external control means 26, a personal computer incorporating dedicated software that cooperates with the control means of the solder ball mounting apparatus 10 can be used. The solder ball mounting device 10 and the external control means 26 are electrically connected via a cable K.
The external control means 26 displays a solder ball mounting pattern on the substrate 12 photographed by the camera 24 of the solder ball mounting apparatus 10 on the screen so that the user can appropriately select the mounting position of the solder ball 18 via dedicated software. Is set to The solder ball mounting pattern data on the substrate 12 selected by the user is transmitted to a storage means (not shown) built in the solder ball mounting apparatus 10.

The laser sensor 38 will be described. FIG. 6 is a plan view showing the configuration of the laser sensor.
The laser sensor 38 in the present embodiment includes a laser beam projection unit 38a that is a signal output unit that outputs a laser beam, a laser beam reception unit 38b that is a signal reception device that receives the projected laser beam, a laser beam projection unit 38a, and a laser beam reception. The signal collating means 38c for collating the presence / absence of a signal from the means 38b. The laser beam projecting means 38 a and the laser beam receiving means 38 b are arranged so as to sandwich the extraction nozzle 34 at the height position of the tip 34 a of the extraction nozzle 34 that protrudes from the tray 20.

The laser beam projection means 38a projects a laser beam converged narrower than the width of the slit 34c toward the slit 34c formed at the tip 34a of the extraction nozzle 34. When the laser beam is projected, the laser beam projection unit 38a transmits a laser beam projection signal to the signal verification unit 38c.
Since the width of the slit 34c is wider than the convergence width of the laser beam, when the solder ball 18 is not attracted to the tip 34a of the extraction nozzle 34, it passes through the slit 34c of the extraction nozzle 34 and reaches the laser beam receiving means 38b. To do. When the laser beam receiving unit 38b receives the laser beam, the received signal is transmitted to the signal matching unit 38c. The signal collating means 38c can discriminate whether or not the solder ball 18 is attracted to the extraction nozzle 34 by collating the laser light projection signal and the received signal.

Next, a method for mounting the solder balls 18 on the substrate 12 using the solder ball mounting apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment will be described.
First, the user places the substrate 12 on the stage 14. When the substrate 12 is placed on the stage 14, suction means (not shown) is operated to support the substrate 12 by suction. The user moves the table 16 to the position of the camera 24 with the operation dial 28. When the table 16 is set at the position of the camera 24, the camera 24 takes an image of the solder ball mounting pattern on the substrate 12. The photographed mounting pattern of the solder balls 18 is transmitted to the external control means 26.

A mounting pattern (hereinafter, simply referred to as a mounting pattern) of the solder balls 18 on the substrate 12 is created based on the image data by a control unit (an arithmetic device such as a CPU) of the external control unit 26 and is displayed as a mounting pattern map on the screen. And the mounting location of each solder ball 18 is recognized by the XY coordinates. The mounting location of the solder ball 18 is selected by the user on the mounting pattern map displayed on the screen using dedicated software.
The mounting pattern for actually mounting the solder balls, set by the dedicated software by the user, is transmitted to the control means of the solder ball mounting apparatus 10 together with the coordinate data.

  The control means built in the solder ball mounting apparatus 10 manages the mounting pattern of the solder balls 18 by XY coordinates, and assigns a unique number to the XY coordinates of each mounting position in the mounting pattern. A semi-automatic machine that controls the movement of the table 16 based on the XY coordinates for each unique number may be used.

When the mounting pattern of the solder balls 18 on the substrate 12 is recognized by the control means of the solder ball mounting apparatus 10, the solder ball conveying device 32 is operated according to the unique number assigned to the mounting position of the solder balls 18. FIG. 7 is a progress diagram showing how the solder balls in the tray are extracted.
First, as shown in FIG. 7A, the extraction nozzle 34 is lifted from the inner bottom surface of the tray 20, and the extraction nozzle 34 is passed through the pile of solder balls. The leading end portion 34a of the extraction nozzle 34 is formed with a concave portion 34b in which one solder ball 18 is accommodated, and air is sucked from the suction port 34e, so that one solder ball 18 is accommodated in the concave portion 34b. The Since the solder ball 18 has a very small diameter of about 0.05 mm, a large number of solder balls 18, 18... Adhere to the vicinity of the tip of the extraction nozzle 34 due to air suction or static electricity.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 7B, the air blowing means 36 blows air or nitrogen gas from the side of the leading end of the extraction nozzle 34 at a position above the inner space of the tray 20, and is excessively adsorbed to the extraction nozzle 34. The solder ball 18 is blown off, and only one solder ball 18 is attracted to the extraction nozzle 34. The extraction nozzle 34 from which the excess solder balls 18 adsorbed on the portion other than the concave portion 34b are removed by the air blowing means 36 is raised to a position above the upper lid 20a of the tray.

As shown in FIG. 7C, when the extraction nozzle 34 passes through the upper lid 20a, the laser sensor 38 is activated. The laser beam projection means 38a projects a laser beam toward the laser light reception means 38b. A slit 34c is formed at the tip 34a of the extraction nozzle 34 so that a laser beam can pass through. When the tip 34a of the extraction nozzle 34 adsorbs the solder ball 18, the laser beam reaches the laser beam receiving means 38b. Will not. Since the laser beam projection unit 38a transmits a signal obtained by projecting the laser beam to the signal collating unit 38c, the presence / absence of the solder ball 18 at the tip 34a of the extraction nozzle 34 can be determined.
If it is determined by the first laser sensor 38 that the solder ball 18 is not present, the extraction nozzle 34 descends to the initial state, and then passes again through the crest of the solder ball 18, finishes blowing off by the air blowing means 36, and then lasers again. The presence or absence of the solder ball 18 is confirmed by the sensor 38.

When the solder ball 18 is confirmed by the first laser sensor 38, the transport nozzle 22 approaches from the side of the tip of the extraction nozzle 34, and the tip of the transport nozzle 22 faces the tip of the extraction nozzle 34. Stop. It is preferable that the front end of the transport nozzle 22 is in a very close position when it does not come into contact with the upper end of the solder ball 18 adsorbed to the front end of the extraction nozzle 34 when stopped. As a result, even if the solder ball 18 is further placed above the solder ball 18 sucked by the tip of the extraction nozzle 34, the transfer nozzle 22 moves from the side of the extraction nozzle 34 to move the upper side. Excess solder ball 18 can be scraped off.
When the transport nozzle 22 faces the extraction nozzle 34, the suction of the extraction nozzle 34 stops and the transport nozzle 22 sucks the solder balls. As a result, the solder ball 18 is delivered from the extraction nozzle 34. When the delivery of the solder ball 18 is completed, the transfer nozzle 22 returns to the initial position.

When the transport nozzle 22 returns to the original position, the laser sensor 38 confirms again the presence or absence of the solder ball 18 at the tip of the extraction nozzle 34. If it is determined that there is no solder ball 18, it is determined that the solder ball 18 has been delivered to the transport nozzle 22, the extraction nozzle 34 returns to the initial position, the transport nozzle 22 descends from the initial position, and the substrate 12 A solder ball 18 is mounted at the mounting position.
A suction sensor (not shown) for measuring the flow of air from the suction port 22 b and checking the presence or absence of the solder ball 18 at the tip of the transport nozzle 22 is attached to the transport nozzle 22. Since the solder ball 18 can be grasped during the period from when the solder ball 18 is delivered from the extraction nozzle 34 to when the solder ball 18 is mounted at the mounting position of the substrate 12, it is possible to reliably The solder ball 18 can be mounted at the mounting position. When the solder ball 18 is not attracted before being placed at the mounting position of the substrate 12, the operation of delivering the solder ball 18 from the extraction nozzle 34 is performed again.

As described above, by adopting the configuration of the solder ball mounting apparatus 10 according to the present invention, even if the solder ball diameter is as small as about 0.05 mm, the solder ball 18 is not damaged, and the solder ball 18 is not damaged. Only one solder ball can be extracted and can be reliably placed on the mounting position of the substrate 12.
By repeating the above operation, the solder balls 18 are placed at the XY coordinates corresponding to the unique numbers of all the positions where the solder balls are mounted on the substrate 12. After mounting the solder balls 18 on all the unique numbers, the mounting state of the substrate 12 is confirmed by the camera 24, and after confirming that the solder balls 18 are mounted as set, the suction of the substrate 12 on the stage 14 is performed. The substrate 12 is removed from the stage 14, the next substrate 12 is sucked and held on the stage 14, and the solder balls 18 may be mounted in the same manner as the previous substrate 12. When the mounting pattern is the same as that of the previous substrate 12, information on the previous mounting pattern can be used as it is, but a new mounting pattern may be recognized.

As described above, the solder ball mounting apparatus has been described in detail as a specific example of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to the solder ball mounting apparatus. For example, the spherical body transport device according to the present invention is a device that places a spherical body such as a gold sphere, a copper sphere, an iron sphere, an aluminum sphere, or a plastic sphere at a predetermined position of a workpiece as a sphere. Of course, it is the subject of the invention.
Further, the extraction nozzle is not necessarily connected to the suction means.
Furthermore, in the above embodiment, one extraction nozzle is applied to one tray in the spherical body transport device, but a plurality of sets of extraction nozzles and transport nozzles may be applied to one tray. . Moreover, although one spherical body conveyance apparatus is used for the solder ball mounting apparatus, it is of course possible to adopt a plurality of spherical body conveyance apparatuses.

  Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the solder ball mounting device is a semi-automatic device. However, while displaying an image taken by the camera 24 on the screen, the user manually places the solder ball on the mounting location using the operation dial. May be placed. According to this, since the operation can be performed while actually confirming the mounting position of the solder ball on the substrate, the mounting operation of the solder ball with high reliability becomes possible.

It is a perspective view which shows the whole structure of the mounting apparatus of a solder ball. It is explanatory drawing which showed schematic structure of the main component part of the solder ball conveying apparatus concerning this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the shape of the front-end | tip part of an extraction nozzle. It is a front view which shows the front-end | tip part of a conveyance nozzle. FIG. 5 is a front view showing a state of delivery of solder balls between an extraction nozzle and a transfer nozzle. It is a top view which shows the structure of a laser sensor. It is a progress figure showing a state which extracts a solder ball in a tray.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Solder ball mounting apparatus 12 Board | substrate 14 Stage 16 Table 20 Tray 22 Transfer nozzle 24 Camera 26 External control means 28 Operation dial 32 Ball transfer apparatus 34 Extraction nozzle 34b Recessed part 34c Slit 34e Suction hole 36 Air blow means 38 Laser sensor 38a Laser beam projection means 38b Laser beam receiving means

Claims (9)

A tray for storing a spherical body;
An extraction nozzle that penetrates the tray in the vertical direction and is provided so as to freely move up and down, and extracts a spherical body stored in the tray;
Adsorbing the spherical body extracted by the extraction nozzle, comprising a transport nozzle for transporting the spherical body to a predetermined position,
The extraction nozzle is lifted from below the tray, and the spherical body is placed on the tip of the extraction nozzle to extract the spherical body in the tray, and then the transport located above the tray. A spherical body conveying apparatus, wherein the extracted spherical body is adsorbed to a nozzle. Provided with a plurality of extraction nozzles driven to move up and down individually on the tray,
2. The spherical body conveying device according to claim 1, wherein each of the extraction nozzles is provided with the conveying nozzle individually. The spherical body transport device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a tip portion of the extraction nozzle is formed in a concave shape. The spherical body transport device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a tip portion of the extraction nozzle is connected to a suction unit and is provided so as to be able to suck the spherical body. . 5. The air blow means for removing the spherical body adsorbed at a portion other than the tip of the nozzle is provided in the internal space of the tray. Spherical conveying device. The spherical body according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein a spherical body detecting means for detecting a spherical body at a tip portion of the extraction nozzle is disposed on an upper surface of the tray. Conveying device. The spherical body detecting means includes
A slit is provided at the tip of the extraction nozzle,
Signal output means disposed on one end of the slit;
Signal receiving means disposed on the other end of the slit;
7. The spherical body conveying apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising: a determination unit that determines the presence or absence of a spherical body based on whether or not the signal receiving unit has received a signal from the signal output unit. A stage for supporting the substrate;
Moving means for moving the stage in the XY direction;
A solder ball transfer device for transferring a solder ball to be attached to a substrate;
In the fine solder ball mounting device comprising the moving means and an operation control means for controlling the operation of the solder ball conveying device,
A solder ball mounting apparatus using the spherical body transport apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7 in the solder ball transport apparatus. The micro solder ball mounting device according to claim 8, wherein a plurality of the spherical body transport devices according to any one of claims 1 to 7 are used in the solder ball transport device.

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