JP3895041B2 - IC test equipment - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an IC test apparatus of a type in which an IC to be tested is mounted on a test tray and the IC to be tested is brought into contact with an IC socket provided on a test head while being mounted on the test tray.
[0002]
[Prior art]
An outline of an IC test apparatus using a test tray will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the IC test apparatus in a schematic form. In the figure, reference numeral 100 denotes a chamber unit including a test head, 200 stores an IC under test to be tested, and an IC storage unit for classifying and storing tested ICs, and 300 sends the IC under test to the chamber unit 100. The loader unit 400 is an unloader unit that classifies and extracts the tested ICs that have been tested in the chamber unit 100. The TST is loaded into the chamber unit 100 by the loader unit 300, and is sent to the chamber unit 100. An IC carrying tray for testing an IC and carrying the tested IC to the unloader unit 400 is shown. Hereinafter, the chamber section 100, which will be referred to as a test tray TST, has a constant temperature bath 101 that applies a target high or low temperature thermal stress to the IC under test loaded on the test tray TST, and the constant temperature chamber 101 is subjected to thermal stress. The test chamber 102 is configured to bring an IC in a given state into contact with the test head, and a heat removal tank 103 that removes a given thermal stress from the IC tested in the test chamber 102. That is, when a high temperature is applied in the thermostatic chamber 101, it is cooled by blowing air, returned to room temperature, and carried to the unloader unit 400. When a low temperature of about −30 ° C., for example, is applied in the constant temperature bath 101, the inside of the bath is heated with warm air or a heater, and returned to a temperature at which no condensation occurs, and is carried out to the unloader unit 400.
[0003]
The constant temperature bath 101 and the heat removal bath 103 are disposed so as to protrude upward from the test chamber 102. As shown in FIG. 4, a substrate 105 is passed between the upper part of the constant temperature bath 101 and the heat removal bath 103, and a test tray transporting unit 108 is mounted on the substrate 105. It is transferred from the heat removal tank 103 side toward the thermostat 101. The test tray TST is loaded with the IC under test by the loader unit 300 and is carried into the thermostatic chamber 101. The constant temperature bath 101 is equipped with vertical conveying means, and a plurality of test trays TST are supported by the vertical conveying means and wait for the test chamber 102 to become empty. During this standby, high or low temperature heat stress is applied to the IC under test. A test head 104 is arranged in the center of the test chamber 102, and a test tray TST is carried on the test head 104, and an IC to be tested is brought into electrical contact with an IC socket provided on the test head 104 to perform a test. The test tray TST for which the test has been completed is removed by the heat removal tank 103, the temperature of the IC is returned to room temperature, and the test tray TST is discharged to the unloader unit 400.
[0004]
The IC storage unit 200 is provided with an IC stocker 201 to be tested for storing ICs to be tested, and a tested IC stocker 202 for storing ICs classified according to the test results. In the IC stocker 201 to be tested, general purpose trays KST storing ICs to be tested are stacked and held. This general purpose tray KST is carried to the loader unit 300, and the IC under test is transferred from the general purpose tray KST carried to the loader unit 300 to the test tray TST stopped at the loader unit 300. As shown in FIG. 4, IC conveying means for carrying ICs from the general-purpose tray KST to the test tray TST includes two rails 301 installed on the upper portion of the substrate 105, and the test rails TST and general-purpose trays by the two rails 301. The movable arm 302 is configured to reciprocate between the KST and the movable arm 302. The movable arm 302 is supported by the movable arm 302 and can move in the X direction along the movable arm 302. X-Y transport means 304 can be used. A suction head is mounted downward on the movable head 303, and the suction head moves while sucking air, sucks an IC from the general-purpose tray KST, and transports the IC to the test tray TST. For example, about eight suction heads are attached to the movable head 303, and eight ICs are conveyed to the test tray TST at a time.
[0005]
FIG. 5 shows the structure of the test tray TST. In the test tray TST, a plurality of partition frames 13 are formed in parallel and at equal intervals on a rectangular metal frame 12, and a plurality of attachment pieces are provided on both sides of the partition frames 13 or on the side 12a of the frame 12 facing the partition frames 13. 14 are formed so as to protrude at equal intervals, and the carrier storage portions 15 are arranged and arranged between the partition frames 13 or between the partition frames 13 and the sides 12a and the two attachment pieces 14. One IC carrier 16 is accommodated in each carrier accommodating portion 15 and is attached to the two attachment pieces 14 in a floating state by fasteners 17. About 16 × 4 IC carriers 16 are attached to one test tray TST.
[0006]
As shown in FIG. 6, the IC carrier 16 holds the IC pins 18 exposed on the lower surface side. In the test head 104, the exposed IC pin 18 is pressed against the socket contact 21 </ b> A of the IC socket 21 by the pusher 19 so that the IC is brought into electrical contact with the IC socket 21. For this purpose, an elevating means 120 that can be moved up and down is disposed at the top of the test head 104, and a support frame 110 that can be moved up and down is provided at the bottom. The test tray TST is positioned and supported on the support frame 110, the test tray TST and the IC are held down from above, and the IC pin 18 is brought into contact with the socket contact 21A.
[0007]
For example, the support frame 110 penetrates a vertical shaft 112 implanted in the lower substrate 111 and is supported so as to be movable in the vertical direction. A biasing force is given upward by a spring 113, and a flange 114 provided at the upper end of the vertical shaft 112. The support frame 110 is supported at the height of the flange 114 in a non-pressed state. In this state, by applying a pressing force to the test tray TST and the IC by the elevating means 120 from above, the support frame 110 moves downward together with the test tray TST, and the IC pin 18 is brought into contact with the socket contact 21A.
[0008]
The elevating means 120 includes a power cylinder 122 mounted on the upper substrate 121, a movable plate 123 mounted on a movable rod 122 </ b> A of the power cylinder 122, and a thrust coupled through the upper substrate 121 so as to be able to thrust and coupled to the lifting plate 125. And a rod 124. Reference numeral 126 denotes a support column that integrates the upper substrate 121 and the lower substrate 111.
[0009]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Conventionally, since the downwardly pressing force is applied to the test tray TST and the IC mounted thereon by the lifting means 120, the lifting means 120 needs to generate a relatively large pressing force. In particular, since a pressing force is simultaneously applied to a plurality of ICs mounted on the test tray TST, a large pressing force is required.
[0010]
In order to test a large number of ICs in a short time, the number of ICs to be tested simultaneously increases to about 16 to 32, and this number tends to increase in the future. As a result, the pressing force of the lifting / lowering means 120 is increased, and accordingly, the strength of the upper substrate 121, the lower substrate 111, and the support column 126 must be increased, so that the entire apparatus becomes large and heavy. Furthermore, there is a drawback that the manufacturing cost is increased. Since the number of ICs to be tested at the same time is expected to increase further in the future, this tendency becomes stronger and the size of the apparatus cannot be avoided.
[0011]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In the present invention, a cylinder is provided that applies a separate pressing force to the ICs to be tested at the same time, and the pressing force is separately applied to the IC by this cylinder, and a reaction force against this pressing force is provided by a latch means provided for each IC. It is set as the structure made to absorb.
[0012]
According to the configuration of the present invention, a pressing force is applied to each IC to be tested from the cylinder provided for each IC, and the reaction force generated by the pressing force is absorbed by the latch means provided for each IC. Therefore, the lifting / lowering means 120 only needs to perform the work of lifting and lowering the lifting plate, and it is not necessary to generate a large pressure contact force.
As a result, it is not necessary to increase the strength of the upper and lower substrates and the support columns that support the elevating means, and the apparatus can be reduced in size and cost.
[0013]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of an IC test apparatus according to the present invention. According to the present invention, in an IC test apparatus having a structure in which an IC mounted on a test tray TST and held in the test tray is brought into pressure contact with an IC socket of a test head to test the IC, the IC and the test tray TST It is characterized in that a pressing cylinder 130 is provided for each IC to be tested on the lifting means 120 for applying a downward pressure contact force, and a latching means 140 is provided in one of the pressing cylinder 130 and the IC socket 21. Is.
[0014]
In the example shown in FIG. 1, the latch means 140 includes a pair of latch levers 141, 141, a spring 142 that applies a biasing force to the latch levers 141, 141 in a direction in which the rotational free ends are close to each other, and a latch lever 141 The case where it comprises with the nail | claw 143 formed in the rotation free end is shown.
According to the latch means 140, when the elevating plate 125 is lowered, the pair of latch levers 141 are mounted on the test tray TST and enter both sides of the IC to be tested, and the claws 143 are formed on the protrusions 21B formed on the IC socket 21. Engage. This engaged state is maintained by the biasing force of the spring 142.
[0015]
By extending the pressing cylinder 130 in this state, the cylinder 130 pushes down the pusher 19 and presses the IC pin 18 against the socket contact 21A. At this time, since the reaction force applied to the cylinder 130 is absorbed by the latch means 140, even if reaction force is generated from the pins 18 of the plurality of ICs, the reaction force is not transmitted to the upper substrate 121 and the lower substrate 111.
[0016]
Therefore, the elevating means 120 only needs to have a driving force to simply raise and lower the elevating plate 125, and the upper substrate 121, the lower substrate 111, and the column 126 do not need to have strength to withstand reaction forces generated from a large number of ICs. It is sufficient to have the strength to support the weight of the lifting means 120.
In the embodiment of FIG. 1, reference numeral 150 denotes release means for releasing the latch state of the latch means 140. The releasing means 140 can be constituted by, for example, a cylinder 151 and an actuator 152. By engaging the actuator 152 with the free rotation end of the latch lever 141 and releasing the claw 143 from the engaged state with the protrusion 21B. The latch state of the latch means 140 is released. Therefore, by releasing the latching state of the latch means 140 at the end of the IC test, the elevating means 120 is raised, and another IC is tested by moving the test tray TST by, for example, one pitch in this state.
[0017]
FIG. 2 shows another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the latch lever 141 is pivotally supported on the IC socket 21 side, and the claw 143 formed on the rotating free end thereof is engaged with the stepped portion 127 provided on the lifting plate 125 side. It can be easily understood that this structure can achieve the same effects as the embodiment shown in FIG.
[0018]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, the IC socket 21 is pressed against the IC socket 21 and the latch means 140 and the pressing cylinder 130 are provided for each IC. The latch means 140 allows the pin 18 of each IC to be connected to the socket contact 21A of the IC socket 21. Therefore, the upper substrate 121, the lower substrate 111, and the column 126 need only be strong enough to support the weight of the lifting / lowering means 120.
[0019]
As a result, the thickness and diameter of the upper substrate 121, the lower substrate 111, and the column 126 can be reduced, so that the apparatus can be reduced in size and the overall weight can be reduced. In addition, since the material can be made inexpensive, cost reduction can be expected.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view for explaining an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view for explaining another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view for explaining a conventional technique.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view for explaining a conventional technique.
FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing a test tray for explaining a conventional technique.
FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view for explaining a problem to be solved by the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
18 pin 19 pusher 21 IC socket 21A socket contact 110 support frame 111 lower substrate 120 elevating means 121 upper substrate 122 power cylinder 123 movable plate 124 thrust rod 125 elevating plate 126 column 127 step 130 cylinder 140 latch means 141 latch lever 142 spring 143 Claw 150 release means

Claims (3)

A. A test tray with a plurality of ICs mounted on a plane;
B. An IC socket disposed under the IC supported by the test tray;
C. An elevating plate supported at the upper part of the test tray so as to be movable up and down;
D. A plurality of pushers engaged with the IC supported by the test tray when the lift plate is lowered by the lift plate;
E. A pressing cylinder that is mounted between each pusher and the lifting plate and applies a downward biasing force to each pusher;
F. The lift plate is rotatably supported by one of the lift plate and the IC socket, and the lift plate engages with the other during the lowering operation to apply the extension force of the pressing cylinder to the IC through the pusher. Latch means for absorbing the reaction force applied to the pressing cylinder;
G. Release means for releasing the engagement state of the latch means;
An IC test apparatus characterized by comprising: 2. The IC test apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the latch means is constituted by a pair of latch levers rotatably supported on the elevating plate side, and is provided at a rotating free end of the latch lever with the elevating plate lowered. An IC testing device characterized in that the formed claw is structured to engage with the IC socket. 2. The IC test apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the latch lever constituting the latch means is rotatably supported on the IC socket side, and is formed at a rotating free end of the latch lever in a state where the elevating plate is lowered. An IC testing device characterized in that the nail is engaged with the lifting plate side.

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