JP2009121898A - Helium gas bombing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a helium gas bombing apparatus which allows an accurate helium leak test by reducing the time elapsed from the bombing termination time to the helium leak test starting time and can reduce costs without using a large number of tanks. <P>SOLUTION: The helium bombing apparatus is provided with a chamber 20. The chamber 20 is tubular in shape, is arranged vertically, and has upper/lower end openings, either one of which is an inlet 21 and the other one of which is an outlet 22. A gas supply channel 27 is provided on the peripheral wall of the chamber 20 and is connected to a helium gas cylinder 80. Within the chamber 20 a large number of pallets 10 loaded with work are accommodated horizontally in a vertically stacked manner. By driving a push-in cylinder 30, the pallets 10 are pushed into the chamber 20 one by one and are sent off from the outlet 22 one by one. Through the pallet 10 and a seal ring 15 installed in the pallet 10, the gas supply channel 27 is isolated from the inlet 21 and the outlet 22. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus for bombarding a work piece with helium gas prior to a helium leak test.

It is well known to perform an air leak test using pressurized air to inspect the work for pinholes and the like. However, when a pinhole or the like of a small work such as an electronic component is inspected, the air leak test cannot be detected due to low sensitivity.
Therefore, when inspecting a small workpiece, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is common to perform a helium leak test in combination with an air leak test.

  In the helium leak test, a large number of workpieces (for example, several hundred to several thousand pieces) are stored in advance in a tank, and pressurized helium gas is supplied to the tank and maintained for 1 to 2 hours (bombing). If there is a pinhole in the workpiece, helium gas enters the minute space of the workpiece.

After the helium gas bombing step, the work is sealed and accommodated in the work capsule, and helium detection is performed with the helium detector connected to the work capsule. If helium is not detected, it is determined that there is no minute pinhole. If helium is detected, it is determined that there is a minute pinhole in the workpiece.
JP 2000-121481 A

  In the helium leak test, a predetermined number (for example, four) is taken out from the bombed workpiece and tested, but the time spent from the end of bombing to the start of the helium leak test varies greatly depending on the workpiece. Therefore, for workpieces that are tested early, micro leaks can be inspected without any problem. However, for workpieces that are tested late, helium that has entered the micro space inside the workpiece escapes, and micro leaks can be inspected. It will disappear.

  The above problem becomes more prominent as the workpiece becomes smaller. In order to solve this problem, a large number of small tanks are prepared, and the work is divided into small portions and stored in the tank for bombing, and the work is taken out from the tank after the bombing is completed, and a helium leak test is performed. .

When using a large number of tanks as described above, the number of workpieces bombed at one time is reduced, so the time spent from the end of bombing to the start of the helium leak test disappears greatly from workpiece to workpiece. Can be detected accurately.
However, since many tanks are required, the cost of the apparatus has been increased.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a helium gas bombing apparatus, wherein (a) a cylinder is arranged vertically, and one of the upper and lower openings is provided as an inlet and the other is provided as an outlet. A chamber in which a gas supply passage is formed in the peripheral wall; (b) a plurality of pallets placed on the workpiece so as to be stacked vertically in the chamber; and (c) the pallet at the inlet of the chamber. Pallet feed means for feeding one by one into the chamber one by one, (d) helium gas supply means for supplying helium gas into the chamber via the gas supply passage, and (e) the plurality of the above In the state where the pallet is accommodated in the chamber, the inlet gas supply passage that shuts off the gas supply passage of the chamber from the inlet and the outlet, respectively. Characterized in that it comprises a Le means and an outlet sealing means, a.

  According to the above configuration, since the workpiece is divided into a plurality of pallets, the time from the completion of the bombing to the start of the helium leak test can be sufficiently shortened. Therefore, if there is a pinhole or the like in the workpiece, and helium has entered the minute space of the workpiece from the pinhole or the like in the bombing process, this helium can be retained in the minute space in a detectable number. Micro leaks can be accurately detected in the helium leak test. In addition, the bombing is performed in a state where a plurality of pallets are stacked and accommodated in the chamber, and the pallet is sent and sent one by one, so that the bombing time can be made sufficiently long. Furthermore, a large number of tanks are not required, and the cost of the apparatus can be reduced.

Preferably, a suction passage is formed in the peripheral wall of the chamber in the vicinity of the inlet, and a vacuum suction means is connected to the suction passage, and the inlet-side sealing means is provided between the suction passage and the inlet and the suction passage. And the gas supply passage.
According to the above configuration, vacuum suction is performed on the workpieces of each pallet before the helium gas is supplied, so that helium can be efficiently penetrated into the pinholes or the like of the workpieces. In addition, by forming a suction passage in the peripheral wall of the chamber, the configuration for vacuum suction is simple.

Preferably, an exhaust passage is formed in the vicinity of the outlet in the peripheral wall of the chamber, the exhaust passage is connected to the atmosphere via an atmosphere release valve, and the outlet side sealing means is provided between the exhaust passage and the outlet and Block between the exhaust passage and the gas supply passage.
According to the above configuration, since helium gas is discharged from the pallet immediately before being sent out from the chamber, the sending out can be performed smoothly. Moreover, by forming a discharge passage in the peripheral wall of the chamber, the configuration for discharging the helium gas is simple.

Preferably, the inlet side sealing means is configured by one or more pallets located on the inlet side and a seal ring located between the pallet and the chamber, and one or more pallets located on the outlet side The outlet-side sealing means is constituted by a seal ring located between the pallet and the chamber, all the pallets in the chamber are overlapped so as to contact each other, and the pallet feeding means includes pushing means, and this pushing The means pushes the pallet arranged on the inlet side of the chamber, thereby moving the pallet toward the outlet by the vertical dimension of one pallet.
According to the said structure, the structure of a sealing means can be simplified by using a seal ring. Moreover, by pushing the pallets one by one into the chamber, the pallets in the chamber can be moved, and the pallets can be sent out from the chamber one by one, so that smooth pallet feeding can be performed. Further, the pallet feeding means can be simplified.

Preferably, a plurality of the gas supply passages are formed vertically apart by a vertical dimension of the pallet, and the gas supply passages are a plurality of pallets at an intermediate position and a seal positioned between the pallet and the chamber. They are isolated from each other by a ring.
According to the said structure, helium gas supply can be performed more reliably by connecting the space between adjacent pallets to a different gas supply path, and interrupting | blocking each other.

Preferably, stoppers are provided in the vicinity of the upper and lower ends of the chamber, and these stoppers are retracted from the inner peripheral surface of the chamber in the radially outward direction for the pushing operation, and after the pushing operation, By projecting inward in the longitudinal direction from the surface, the pallet closest to the inlet and the outlet is prevented from dropping out of the chamber.
According to the above configuration, even if the seal ring is used, the pallet can be prevented from falling off by the stopper.

Preferably, the pallet has a large number of receiving recesses arranged in a matrix on the upper surface thereof, and stores a large number of works one by one in these receiving recesses.
According to the above configuration, by aligning the workpieces before bombing, the time for aligning the workpieces after the completion of bombing can be omitted, and the time from the completion of bombing to the start of the helium leak test can be further shortened.

  According to the present invention, the elapsed time from the end of bombing to the start of the helium leak test can be shortened, and an accurate minute leak can be detected. Moreover, since it is not necessary to use a large number of tanks, the apparatus cost can be reduced.

  The helium bombing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The helium bombing apparatus includes a number of disk-shaped pallets 10, and these pallets 10 are moved from the workpiece loading stage A to the helium bombing stage B and further to the workpiece recovery stage C while maintaining a horizontal state. Then, it returns to the workpiece input stage A.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the pallet 10 has a disk-shaped main body 11 and a square support plate 12. A square recess 11a is formed on the flat upper surface of the main body 11, and the support plate 12 is fitted in the recess 11a.

  On the upper surface of the support plate 12, a large number (a plurality) of accommodating recesses 12a are formed in a matrix. In this embodiment, when viewed from above, the housing recesses 12a are arranged in 12 rows in length and width, and a total of 144 are formed.

An annular groove 11 b is formed on the outer periphery of the main body 11, and a seal ring 15 is fitted into the annular groove 11 b, and a part thereof protrudes from the outer periphery of the main body 11.
In FIG. 1, for the sake of simplification, the pallet 10 is shown only by the main body 11 and the sealing ring 15.

  The helium filling stage B is provided with a vertical cylindrical chamber 20. The vertical dimension of the chamber 20 is much larger than the vertical dimension of the pallet 10, and a large number (plural), for example, a dozen or so of pallets 10 are accommodated so as to overlap each other and contact each other. In this accommodated state, the seal ring 15 of the pallet 10 is in contact with the inner periphery of the chamber 20 with some elastic deformation.

  In the present embodiment, the upper end opening of the chamber 20 is the inlet 21 and the lower end opening is the outlet 22. The upper end of the chamber 20 is tapered so that the pallet 10 can be easily received.

  A pushing cylinder 30 (pushing means, pallet feeding means) is disposed directly above the chamber 20. The pushing cylinder 30 has a disk-shaped pressing portion 31 and moves the pressing portion 31 up and down. A space between the pushing cylinder 30 and the upper end of the chamber 20 is provided as a standby position X of the pallet 1 conveyed from the workpiece loading stage A.

  A standby cylinder 40 is provided directly below the chamber 10. The stand-by cylinder 30 has a disk-shaped pedestal 31 and moves the pedestal 31 up and down. A space between the standby cylinder 40 and the lower end of the chamber 10 is provided as a standby position Y before the pallet 10 is transported to the workpiece collection position C.

In the vicinity of the upper end and the lower end of the chamber 10, stoppers 40 and 50 for preventing the pallet 1 from falling off are arranged.
The upper stopper 50 includes a locking portion 51 and a spring 52 that urges the locking portion 51 in the horizontal direction. The locking portion 51 protrudes inward in the radial direction from the inner peripheral surface of the chamber 20. Note that the top surface of the distal end portion of the locking portion 51 is inclined.
The lower stopper 60 includes a locking portion 61 and a cylinder portion 62 that moves the locking portion 61 forward and backward in the horizontal direction. The locking portion 61 protrudes radially inward from the inner peripheral surface of the chamber 20 at the forward movement position.

  A suction passage 25 is formed in the peripheral wall of the chamber 20 in the vicinity of the inlet 21. A vacuum pump 70 (vacuum suction means) is connected to the suction passage 25 through a communication passage.

  A discharge passage 26 is formed in the peripheral wall of the chamber 20 in the vicinity of the outlet 22. The discharge passage 26 is connected to the atmosphere via the atmosphere release valve 80.

  Further, a large number (for example, ten or more) of gas supply passages 27 are formed on the peripheral wall of the chamber 20 in a vertical line between the suction passage 25 and the discharge passage 26. These gas supply passages 27 are connected to a helium gas cylinder 90 (helium gas supply means) through a communication passage having a number of branch portions.

  The vertical spacing of the gas supply passage 27 coincides with the vertical dimension of the pallet 20. The vertical distance between the uppermost gas supply passage 27 and the suction passage 25 and the vertical distance between the lowermost gas supply passage 27 and the discharge passage 26 also coincide with the vertical dimension of the pallet 20.

  The operation of the apparatus having the above configuration will be described. The pallet 10 is supplied with a workpiece W (shown only in FIG. 2) at the workpiece input stage A. More specifically, the postures of many workpieces W are aligned by a parts feeder (not shown) and discharged one by one. An alignment mechanism is provided at the discharge port of the parts feeder, and the workpieces W are aligned by a predetermined number. The aligned workpieces W are dropped into the accommodating recess 12a of the pallet 10 a plurality of times using a conveying means having a vacuum suction portion. One workpiece W is accommodated in each accommodating recess 12a.

  The pallet 10 on which the workpiece W is placed is transported to the standby position X of the helium bombing stage B by transport means (not shown).

The vacuum pump 60 is always driven, and the helium gas cylinder 80 is also in a gas supply state to the chamber 20.
The pressing cylinder 30 and the standby cylinder 40 are driven intermittently at predetermined time intervals. The pushing cylinder 30 is driven and the pressing portion 31 pushes the pallet 10 in the standby position X toward the inlet 21 of the chamber 20. At this time, the pallet 10 hits the inclined surface of the locking portion 51 of the stopper 50, and the locking portion 51 is temporarily retracted against the spring 52.

  When one pallet 10 is pushed in as described above, the pallets 10 housed in the chamber 20 in a state of being in contact with each other in the vertical direction move downward by the vertical dimension of the pallet 10. Then, the lowest pallet 10 is discharged from the outlet 22 of the chamber 20.

  Immediately before the pushing operation, the cylinder 62 of the stopper 60 is operated to retract the locking portion 61, and the standby cylinder 40 is operated to raise the receiving base 41. Thus, one pallet 10 can be discharged from the outlet 22 during the pushing operation, and can be received by the receiving table 41. Thereafter, the standby cylinder 40 lowers the cradle 41 and positions the pallet 10 at the standby position Y.

In the state where the pushing of the pallet 10 is completed, as shown in FIG. 1, the work W placed on the uppermost pallet 10 is released to the atmosphere.
The workpiece W placed on the second pallet 10 from the top continues to the suction passage 25 and is vacuumed by the vacuum pump 60.

The workpieces W placed on the second pallet 10 from the top to the bottom from the bottom are respectively connected to the gas supply passage 26, and are supplied with pressurized helium gas from the helium gas cylinder 80.
Although the work W placed on the lowest pallet 10 is connected to the exhaust passage 26, the atmosphere release valve 70 is closed, so that it is not in communication with the atmosphere during bombing.

The suction passage 25 is cut off from the inlet 21 by the uppermost pallet 10 and the outer peripheral seal ring 15.
The suction passage 25 is cut off from the uppermost gas supply passage 27 by the second pallet 10 and the seal ring 15 mounted on the outer periphery thereof.
The uppermost and second pallets 10 from the top and the seal ring 15 mounted on these pallets 10 provide a sealing means on the inlet side.

The exhaust passage 26 is blocked from the outlet 22 by the lowest pallet 10 and the seal ring 15 mounted on the pallet 10.
The exhaust passage 26 is shut off from the lowest gas supply passage 27 by the second pallet 10 from the bottom and the seal ring 15 mounted on the outer periphery thereof.
The lowermost and second lowest pallet 10 and the seal ring 15 mounted on these pallets 10 provide a sealing means on the outlet side.

  The plurality of gas supply passages 27 are blocked from each other by the third pallet 10 from the top to the third pallet 10 from the bottom and the seal ring 15 attached to these pallets 10. The pallet 10 and the seal ring 15 provide an intermediate sealing means.

  After the pushing-in operation, the stoppers 40 and 50 lock the uppermost and lowermost pallets 10 to prevent the pallet 10 from dropping from the chamber 20 due to the pressure of pressurized helium gas.

The above operation will be described by paying attention to the workpiece W of the specific pallet 10. When the pallet 10 is pushed into the chamber 20, it is positioned at the highest position, and the workpiece W placed on the pallet 10 is released to the atmosphere.
At the time of the next pushing, the pallet 10 becomes the second pallet 10 from the top, and the workpiece W is vacuumed. At the time of the next pushing, the third pallet 10 is obtained, and the workpiece W is supplied with pressurized helium gas. Further, the pressurized helium gas supply state is maintained during a plurality of pushing operations.
After the pallet 10 reaches the lowest position, the atmosphere release valve 70 is opened immediately before the next pushing operation, whereby the pressurized helium gas is discharged and the workpiece W is released to the atmosphere. And it discharges | emits from the exit 22 of the chamber 20 by this pushing operation.

The pallet 10 discharged from the chamber 20 and in the standby position Y is transferred to the workpiece collection stage C by a transfer means (not shown).
As described above, each time the pallet 10 is pushed in, the pallet 10 discharged from the chamber 10 is successively conveyed to the workpiece collection stage C.

  As described above, the pallet 10 is discharged at a relatively short pushing operation interval T1, but the bombing can be performed for a sufficiently long time of (N-3) × T1. However, N is a number obtained by subtracting 3 from the number of sheets accommodated in the chamber 20.

  In the workpiece recovery stage C, a plurality of, for example, four vacuum suction units are transported to a test apparatus located in the vicinity by a transport unit (not shown). The test apparatus includes a rotary table, and a plurality of, for example, four work capsules are provided on the rotary table at equal angular intervals. These work capsule groups include, for example, a workpiece loading stage, an air leak, and the like. The test stage, the helium leak test stage, and the workpiece carry-out stage are sent in this order.

The four workpieces W gripped by the transfer means are put into four workpiece capsules one by one at the workpiece loading stage, sealed, subjected to an air leak test at the air leak test stage, and a helium leak test at the helium leak test stage. Finally, at the workpiece unloading stage, the non-defective product and the defective product are distinguished and unloaded.
In the helium leak test, helium is detected by a helium detector while vacuuming the work capsule, and if it is detected, it is determined as a defective product, and if it is not detected, it is determined as a good product.

  When supplying four workpieces W to the workpiece loading stage as described above, if there are a total of 144 workpieces W on the pallet 10, the pallet 10 will be empty after loading 36 times. The empty pallet 10 is returned to the workpiece input stage A.

  As described above, since more than 1,000 workpieces W are accommodated in the chamber 20 and can be bombed for a sufficient time, they are subdivided by the pallet 10, so that from the completion of the bombing to the start of the helium leak test. Time can be shortened sufficiently. Therefore, if there is a pinhole in the workpiece W and helium enters the minute space of the workpiece W by bombing, a detectable number of helium can be retained in the minute space before the start of the helium leak test. It can be detected accurately.

  In addition, since the workpiece W is arranged in a matrix on the pallet 10 and bombing is performed in this state, it is possible to save time for aligning the workpiece W after the bombing is completed. From this point also, the helium leak test is started after the bombing is completed. Can be sufficiently shortened.

  Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 3, a large number of annular grooves 20 a are formed on the inner peripheral surface of the chamber 20 at a pitch equal to the vertical dimension of the pallet 10, and a seal ring 29 is fitted into the annular groove 20 a. By contacting the surface, the same seal as that of the first embodiment is obtained. The suction passage 25, the exhaust passage 26, and the gas supply passage 27 are respectively disposed between two adjacent sealing rings 29.

  In the second embodiment, the third to the third seal ring 29 from the top constituting the intermediate sealing means may be omitted, and the gas supply passage 27 may be made one.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various aspects can be adopted. For example, the pallet does not have a support plate, and a large number of receiving recesses may be formed directly in the main body in a matrix.
The lower end opening of the chamber may be provided as an inlet, and the upper end opening may be provided as an outlet.

It is a schematic sectional drawing with the helium bombing apparatus which makes 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is an enlarged vertical sectional view of the pallet used in the embodiment. It is a schematic sectional drawing of the principal part of the helium bombing apparatus which makes 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

W Work 10 Pallet 12a Housing recesses 15, 29 Seal ring 20 Chamber 21 Inlet 22 Outlet 25 Suction passage 26 Discharge passage 27 Gas supply passage 30 Pushing cylinder (pushing means, pallet feeding means)
70 Vacuum pump (vacuum suction means)
80 Air release valve 90 Helium gas cylinder (Helium gas supply means)

Claims (7)

(A) A chamber that is vertically arranged in a cylindrical shape, one of the upper and lower openings is provided as an inlet, the other is provided as an outlet, and a gas supply passage is formed in the peripheral wall;
(A) a plurality of pallets placed on top of each other and placed in a horizontal state so as to overlap vertically in the chamber;
(C) Pallet feeding means for feeding the pallets one by one from the inlet of the chamber into the chamber one by one, and feeding from the outlet one by one;
(D) helium gas supply means for supplying helium gas into the chamber via the gas supply passage;
(E) In the state where the plurality of pallets are accommodated in the chamber, an inlet side sealing means and an outlet side sealing means for blocking the gas supply passage of the chamber from the inlet and the outlet, respectively,
A helium gas bombing apparatus comprising:   A suction passage is formed in the peripheral wall of the chamber in the vicinity of the inlet, and a vacuum suction means is connected to the suction passage. The inlet-side sealing means is provided between the suction passage and the inlet and between the suction passage and the gas supply. The helium gas bombing device according to claim 1, wherein a gap between the passages is cut off.   An exhaust passage is formed in the vicinity of the outlet in the peripheral wall of the chamber, and the exhaust passage is connected to the atmosphere via an atmosphere release valve. The outlet-side sealing means is provided between the exhaust passage and the outlet and between the exhaust passage and the exhaust passage. The helium gas bombing device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the gas supply passage is shut off. The inlet side sealing means is constituted by one or a plurality of pallets positioned on the inlet side and a seal ring positioned between the pallet and the chamber,
The outlet side sealing means is constituted by one or a plurality of pallets located on the outlet side, and a seal ring located between the pallet and the chamber,
All the pallets in the chamber are overlapped so as to be in contact with each other, and the pallet feeding means includes pushing means, and the pushing means pushes the pallet disposed on the inlet side of the chamber, thereby allowing the pallets to move to one pallet The helium gas bombing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the helium gas bombing device is moved toward the outlet by a vertical dimension.   A plurality of the gas supply passages are formed vertically apart from each other by the vertical dimension of the pallet, and these gas supply passages are mutually connected by a plurality of pallets in an intermediate position and a seal ring located between the pallet and the chamber. The helium gas bombing device according to claim 4, wherein the helium gas bombing device is cut off.   The stoppers are provided in the vicinity of the upper and lower ends of the chamber. These stoppers are retracted from the inner peripheral surface of the chamber in the radial direction of the chamber for the push-in operation, and pass from the inner peripheral surface of the chamber after the push-in operation. 6. The helium gas bombing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the pallet closest to the inlet and the outlet is prevented from falling off from the chamber by protruding inward in the direction.   The pallet has a large number of receiving recesses arranged in a matrix on the upper surface thereof, and stores a large number of workpieces one by one in these receiving recesses. The helium gas bombing apparatus described.

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