JP4614892B2 - Plate temperature control environment test equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an environmental test apparatus used for conducting an environmental test such as energization of various electrical and electronic components such as semiconductor elements under various temperature environments.

  The environmental test equipment used to perform various environmental tests while keeping workpieces such as electrical and electronic parts at a desired temperature can be used to perform environmental tests by placing the workpiece in an independent thermostatic chamber, or multiple inspections. A so-called line-type environmental test apparatus is known in which a workpiece is conveyed along a conveyance line passing through a section, and various environmental tests are performed at different temperatures in each inspection section. In these environmental test apparatuses, an air temperature control method or a plate temperature control method is generally employed in order to make the device under test reach a predetermined test temperature.

  The former air temperature control method is a method of heating or cooling a workpiece placed in a test tank to a predetermined test temperature by circulating temperature-controlled air in the test tank, and maintaining that temperature state. . For example, Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Publication No. 8-1419) discloses such an air temperature control line type environmental test apparatus, and Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-209373) discloses dry air. A cooling test apparatus that supplies and cools an IC, which is a workpiece, to a predetermined test temperature is disclosed.

  In the air temperature control type environmental test apparatus, since the heat capacity of air, which is a medium for heating and cooling the product under test, is small, it takes time to reach the test product to a predetermined test temperature. For this reason, there exists a problem that the time concerning an environmental test will become long.

  In particular, in the case of a product under test having a large heat capacity, it takes a long time for the product under test to reach a predetermined test temperature state. In addition, there is a high possibility that the workpiece mounting table side on which the product under test having a large heat capacity is placed is cooled or heated by heat exchange with the product under test and transitions to a temperature state deviating from a predetermined temperature. When this happens, it becomes difficult to maintain the product under test at a predetermined test temperature.

  In the latter plate temperature control method, a plate for placing a work placed in a test tank is directly cooled or heated by a cooling mechanism or a heating mechanism and held at a predetermined temperature state. In this method, the mounted work is cooled or heated to maintain a predetermined test temperature state. Patent Document 3 (Japanese Patent Publication No. 6-27698) and Patent Document 4 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-284037) disclose a plate temperature control type environmental test apparatus.

In the plate temperature control system environment test equipment, the product under test is directly cooled or heated by the cooling or heating plate on which the product under test is placed. The time required to achieve the test temperature state is short.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 8-1419 JP-A-7-209373 Japanese Patent Publication No. 6-27698 JP-A-11-284037

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to propose a plate temperature control type environmental test apparatus capable of efficiently performing a work of handing a work to a plate and a work of picking up a work from the plate by a simple mechanism.

In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides a plate that directly contacts a workpiece to be tested with a plate held at a predetermined temperature state, and heats or cools the workpiece to a predetermined test temperature state. In temperature-controlled environmental test equipment,
An opening through which the plate can pass in the vertical direction, and a pallet for workpiece conveyance provided with a workpiece placement surface for placing the workpiece in a state straddling the opening,
A pallet mounting surface on which the pallet is mounted in a state where the plate protrudes upward from the opening;
A pallet elevating member that engages with the pallet placed on the pallet placement surface from below and can lift the pallet to a position higher than the plate;
The workpiece is placed on the pallet lifted to a position higher than the plate, and the pallet is lowered to the pallet placement surface, thereby forming a state where the workpiece is in contact with the surface of the plate.

  In the environmental test apparatus of the present invention, an opening through which a plate can pass in the vertical direction is formed on a pallet for conveying a workpiece, and the pallet is placed on a pallet placement surface below the plate.

  Lift the pallet to a position higher than the plate by the pallet lifting member, place the workpiece to be tested on the pallet, and then lower the pallet, the workpiece placed on the plate will be placed on the surface of the plate, only the pallet Further, the pallet is placed on a lower pallet placement surface. Therefore, the workpiece is efficiently heated or cooled so that only the workpiece comes into contact with the plate and reaches a predetermined temperature state.

  When the pallet placed on the pallet placement surface is lifted after the workpiece reaches a predetermined temperature state, the workpiece placed on the plate surface is placed on the pallet workpiece placement surface in the middle of its rise, and the workpiece is delivered to the pallet. It is.

  Thus, after lifting the pallet and placing the workpiece, the workpiece is delivered to the plate by lowering the pallet to the pallet placement surface, and the workpiece is delivered from the plate to the pallet by lifting the pallet from the pallet placement surface. It is. Therefore, using a simple mechanism for raising and lowering the pallet, the work of placing the work on the plate and the work of taking the work off the plate can be efficiently performed.

  Here, when the present invention is applied to a line-type environmental test apparatus, a plurality of the plates are arranged at a constant pitch along a predetermined feeding direction, and the pallet elevating members are arranged in the arrangement of the plates. What is necessary is just to enable it to advance and retreat to the said feed direction with the same feed pitch as a pitch.

  In this configuration, the workpiece to be tested is placed on the pallet lifted by the pallet lifting member, the pallet is lowered, and the workpiece is placed on the plate. After the workpiece is heated or cooled to a predetermined temperature, the pallet is lifted to lift the workpiece above the plate, and in this state, the pallet lifting member is fed by one pitch. As a result, since the pallet is positioned immediately above the next plate, when the pallet is lowered, the workpiece placed thereon can be placed on the plate. In this way, the workpiece can be sequentially transferred to each plate and heated or cooled.

  In this case, a feed shaft is arranged along the feed direction, a feed claw that functions as the pallet lifting member is attached to the feed shaft at the same pitch as the arrangement pitch of the plates, and the feed shaft is centered on its axis. It is only necessary that the feed shaft can be rotated around and the feed shaft can be moved forward and backward along the direction of the central axis at the same feed pitch as the arrangement pitch of the plates. Instead, the feed shaft may be movable up and down and forward and backward along the direction of the central axis.

  In this configuration, by rotating the feed shaft, each feed claw formed there rotates and engages with the pallet placed on the pallet placement surface from the lower side so that the pallet is more than the plate. The pallet can be lifted up to an upper position, and when the feed shaft is rotated in the reverse direction, the lifted pallet can be lowered again to the pallet placement surface. Even when the feed shaft is raised and lowered instead of rotating, the feed pawls formed on the feed shaft can be raised and lowered to raise and lower the pallet.

  Further, when the feed shaft is fed out while the pallet is lifted by the feed claws, the pallet lifted by the feed claws can be moved directly above the front plate. When the feed shaft is retracted after placing the pallet on the pallet placement surface, each feed claw returns to the original plate position.

  Therefore, each pallet can be sequentially transferred to the next plate by rotating, moving forward, rotating backward, and moving backward on the feed shaft, or by raising, moving forward, lowered, and retracted on the feed shaft. it can.

  Here, in the line-type environmental test apparatus, in general, an inspection unit having a plurality of inspection units for heating or cooling the workpiece so as to be in different test temperature states is arranged, and the constant temperature is maintained with respect to the workpiece. A test, a low temperature test, a high temperature test, and the like are sequentially performed. In this case, the plate, the pallet placement surface, and the feed shaft on which the feed claw is formed are arranged along a linear path passing through each inspection unit, and each workpiece placed thereon The pallet may be intermittently and sequentially conveyed from the plate located at the upstream end in the feeding direction toward the plate located at the downstream end.

  When the present invention is applied to an environmental test apparatus for testing a rectangular workpiece such as a packaged IC, a rectangular frame having a workpiece placement surface on which the rectangular workpiece is placed is adopted as the pallet. The pallet placement surface and the feed shaft are arranged on the left and right of each plate, and the plates are lifted and fed by the left and right feed claws formed on the left and right feed shafts. .

  In the environmental test apparatus of the present invention, the pallet for transporting the workpiece to be tested is lifted above the plate, and the workpiece is placed on the plate by lowering it to the pallet placement surface below the plate with the workpiece placed. Can be handed over. Further, when the pallet placed on the pallet placement surface is lifted above the plate, the workpiece on the plate can be taken up by the pallet. With a simple mechanism for raising and lowering the pallet, the work of placing the workpiece on the plate and the work of taking it out can be efficiently performed.

  Embodiments of an environmental test apparatus to which the present invention is applied will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a line-type environmental test apparatus using a plate temperature control system to which the present invention is applied, wherein (a) is a schematic side view thereof, (b) is a schematic plan view, and (c) is a workpiece transfer line. It is explanatory drawing which shows each upper position.

  The environmental test apparatus 1 of this example is for carrying out an environmental test on a rectangular workpiece such as a packaged IC, and has an apparatus base 2 and a test tank 3 arranged on the upper surface of the apparatus base 2. ing. The test tank 3 has a configuration in which a normal temperature inspection unit 4, a low temperature inspection unit 5, a high temperature inspection unit 6, and a normal temperature return unit 7 are arranged in this order. A workpiece supply unit 8 for supplying a workpiece to be tested is arranged in front of the room temperature inspection unit 4, and a workpiece discharge unit 9 for discharging the workpiece after the test is arranged behind the room temperature return unit 7. Has been. A workpiece to be tested is supplied from the outside to the workpiece supply unit 8 using a robot hand (not shown) provided with a suction pad. From the workpiece discharge unit 9, a workpiece that has passed the test and a workpiece that has failed are selected and collected to the outside using a robot hand (not shown) that is also provided with a suction pad.

  The test tank 3 is surrounded by a heat insulating panel, and the workpiece supply unit 8 and the workpiece discharge unit 9 before and after the test chamber 3 are also surrounded by the heat insulating panel except for the upper surface side. A straight horizontal work transfer line is formed from the work supply unit 8 through the inspection units 4 to 6 and the room temperature return unit 7 of the test tank 3 to reach the work discharge unit 9.

  The workpiece conveyance line is defined by a plurality of rectangular plates 11 (11 (1) to 11 (24)) arranged linearly at a constant pitch p. Each plate 11 is provided with a pallet 12 for conveying a workpiece. As will be described later with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4, the pallet 12 has a rectangular frame shape, and the rectangular opening 12 a has a size that allows the plate 11 to pass in the vertical direction. Pallet placement surfaces 13 are arranged on both sides of each plate 11, and the portions on both sides of each pallet 12 are placed on the pallet placement surface 13 with the plate 11 protruding upward from the rectangular opening 12 a. Yes. The feed shafts 14 are arranged in parallel on both sides of the pallet placement surfaces 13, and the pallet 12 on which the workpiece is placed is rotated by rotating around the central axis of the feed shafts 14 and moving forward and backward in the direction of the central axis. The plates are sequentially transferred to the adjacent plates 11. In the figure, the rotation mechanism and feed mechanism of the feed shaft 14 are omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 1C, as the plate 11, 24 plates 11 (1) to 11 (24) are arranged. Of course, the number of plates is not limited to 24. The pallet 12 on which the workpiece is placed is intermittently and sequentially transferred from the plate 11 (1) side toward the plate 11 (24). The workpiece to be tested is put into the plate 11 (1) located at the upstream end in the workpiece feeding direction. A QR code reader (not shown) is disposed above the third plate 11 (3), and the QR code (work identification number) attached to the work is read on the plate 11 (3). It is. These three plates 11 (1) to 11 (3) are located in the workpiece supply unit 8.

  The fourth plate 11 (4) is located in the room temperature inspection section 4, and a probe 15 for room temperature inspection is disposed directly above the plate 11 (4). The fifth plate 11 (5) is located at the boundary between the normal temperature inspection unit 4 and the low temperature inspection unit 5, and the sixth to eleventh plates 11 (6) to 11 (11) are located in the low temperature inspection unit 5. The plate 11 (11) is at a low temperature inspection position, and a probe 16 for low temperature inspection is disposed directly above the plate 11 (11). The temperature of the plates 11 (6) to 11 (10) is set so as to decrease stepwise toward the plate 11 (11), and the temperature of the plate 11 (11) is set to a temperature for low temperature inspection. ing. These cooling plates 11 (6) to 11 (11) are held at a predetermined cooling temperature state by a cooling mechanism 17 such as a Peltier element.

  The plate 11 (12) is located at the boundary between the low temperature inspection part 5 and the high temperature inspection part 6, and the 13th to 19th plates 11 (13) to 11 (19) are located in the high temperature inspection part 6 and the plate 11 (13) is a plate for returning to normal temperature, and the plate 11 (19) is a high temperature inspection position, and a probe 18 for high temperature inspection is disposed directly above this plate. The temperature of the plates 11 (14) to 11 (18) is set so as to increase stepwise toward the plate 11 (19), and the temperature of the plate 11 (19) is set to a temperature for high temperature inspection. . These heating plates 11 (14) to 11 (19) are held at a predetermined heating temperature state by a heating mechanism 19.

  The twentieth and twenty-first plates 11 (20) and 11 (21) are located in the room temperature return unit 7 and are plates for returning the tested workpiece to room temperature. The 22nd to 24th plates 11 (22) to 11 (24) are discharge plates for discharging the work after returning to normal temperature, and the work is taken out from the plate 11 (24) at the downstream end. .

  Here, a return conveyor 21 is disposed horizontally below a part from the work supply unit 8 to the work discharge unit 9 via the inspection units 4 to 6 and the room temperature return unit 7. An inlet side lifter 22 and an outlet side lifter 23 are disposed at both ends of the return conveyor 21. The pallet 12 sent out from the position of the plate 11 (24) of the workpiece discharge unit 9 is delivered to the outlet side lifter 23 waiting at the raised position shown in FIG. Upon receiving the pallet 12, the outlet side lifter 23 descends and delivers the pallet 12 to the return conveyor 21. The pallet 12 is returned to the end on the workpiece supply unit 8 side by the return conveyor 21 and delivered to the entrance-side lifter 22 waiting here. The inlet lifter 22 that has received the pallet 12 is raised to the raised position shown in FIG. The work placed on the inlet side lifter 22 at this position is sent out to a position just above the upstream end plate 11 (1) by the feed shaft 14.

  FIGS. 2A and 2B are a plan view and a side view showing the workpiece, and FIGS. 3A and 3B are a plan view and a side view showing the pallet for transferring the workpiece. The workpiece 30 to be tested in this example is a packaged IC, and includes a rectangular package body 31 and a plurality of lead terminal groups 32 and 33 projecting from both end faces on the long side. IC is built in.

  The pallet 12 for transporting the workpiece 30 having this shape includes a rectangular frame plate 12b and rectangular end plates 12c and 12d attached to the left and right of the frame plate 12b. The frame plate 12b is formed with a rectangular opening 12a through which the work 30 can pass in the vertical direction. Here, the inner end portions 12e and 12f of the left and right end plates 12c and 12d protrude into the rectangular opening 12a, and the left and right short side ends 34 and 35 of the workpiece 30 are placed thereon. It has become.

  Next, FIGS. 4 and 5 are views showing a part of the work transfer line, in which (a) is a partial cross-sectional view thereof, (b) is a partial plan view thereof, and (c) is a partial side view thereof. FIG. 4 shows a state where the workpiece is placed on (contacted with) the plate 11, and FIG. 5 shows a state where the workpiece is lifted from the plate 11.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the plate 11 disposed on the apparatus mount 2 side is a block made of a metal such as aluminum having a high thermal conductivity and having a rectangular surface 11 a corresponding to the package body 31 of the work 30. is there. A heat insulating block 13 a is arranged in a state surrounding the plate 11, and left and right upper surface portions of the heat insulating block 13 a serve as a pallet placement surface 13. The left and right end plates 12 c and 12 d of the pallet 12 are placed on the left and right pallet placement surfaces 13. The plate 11 is cooled or heated to a predetermined temperature state by the cooling mechanism 17 or the heating mechanism 19.

  Next, feed shafts 14 are arranged in parallel on the outer sides of the left and right pallet placement surfaces 13, respectively. The feed shaft 14 is supported by the apparatus base 2 so as to be rotatable about the central axis 14a and movable in the direction of the central axis 14a. Further, it is rotated by a rotation drive mechanism (not shown) such as a motor and a cylinder, and is moved forward and backward by a feed mechanism (not shown).

  A feed claw 41 having a constant width is attached to each feed shaft 14 at the same pitch as the arrangement pitch of the plates 11. Each feed claw 41 is formed from an L-shaped metal plate having a portion attached in a state extending in the tangential direction from the outer peripheral surface of the feed shaft 14 and a portion bent upward and extending perpendicularly from the tip of the portion. It is formed and the front-end | tip is located in the lower side of the right-and-left end plates 12c and 12d of the pallet 12 mounted on the pallet mounting surface 13.

  When the feed shaft 14 is rotated so that each feed claw 41 turns upward from the lower side, each feed claw 41 lifts the pallet 12 upward from the pallet placement surface 13 as shown in FIG. As a result, the work 30 placed on the pallet 12 also floats from the surface 11 a of the plate 11.

  In the environmental testing apparatus 1 of this example configured as described above, the workpiece 30 placed on the plate 11 is transferred to the downstream plate 11 as follows. For example, it is assumed that the workpiece 30 is placed on the plate 11 (10) in front of the low temperature inspection plate 11 (11) in the low temperature inspection section. In this state, as shown in FIG. 4, the workpiece 30 is placed on the surface 11 a of the plate 11 (10), and the pallet 12 is placed on the pallet placing table 13. In this state, the back surface portions of the left and right end portions 34, 35 of the work 30 are separated from the pallet 12. Further, the feed claw 41 of the feed shaft 14 is located away from the pallet 12 and below it.

  In this state, the workpiece 30 is cooled to a predetermined cooling temperature state by the plate 11 (10). After cooling, the left and right feed shafts 14 are rotated by a predetermined angle in opposite directions to each other as indicated by the solid arrow in FIG. As a result, the pallet 12 is lifted from the pallet placement surface 13 by the left and right feed claws 41. When the pallet 12 is lifted, the inner end portions 12e and 12f of the left and right end plates 12c and 12d hit the left and right end portions 34 and 35 of the workpiece 30 placed on the surface 11a of the plate 11 from below, and the workpiece 30 Lift up. In other words, the workpiece 30 is transferred from the plate 11 (10) to the pallet 12, and is lifted from the surface of the plate 11 (10).

  As shown in FIG. 5, with the workpiece 30 lifted from the plate 11, the left and right feed shafts 14 are fed out at the same feed pitch as the arrangement pits of the plate. As a result, the pallet 12 lifted by the left and right feed claws 41 is positioned directly above the front plate 11 (11).

  After this, the left and right feed shafts 14 are rotated by a predetermined angle in the reverse direction as indicated by broken line arrows in FIG. As a result, the pallet 12 on which the workpiece 30 is placed descends and is placed on the pallet placement surface 13. Here, before the pallet 12 is placed on the pallet placement surface 13, the work 30 placed on the pallet 12 is placed on the surface 11a of the plate 11 (11) for low-temperature inspection, and the work 30 is handed over there. Only the pallet 12 is lowered and placed on the pallet placing surface 13. 4, the workpiece 30 is placed on the surface 11a of the plate 11 (11) and cooled to the temperature for the low temperature test.

  When conducting the continuity test by lowering the low-temperature test probe 17 and pressing it against the lead terminal groups 32 and 33 of the workpiece 30, the surface of the plate 11 (11) is pressed using a pressing mechanism such as a cylinder. It is desirable to hold it down. Similarly, in the tests in the normal temperature inspection section and the high temperature inspection section, it is desirable to perform the test in a state where the workpiece 30 is pressed against the plate surface 11a.

  As described above, in the environmental test apparatus 1 of this example, the opening 12a through which the plate 11 can pass up and down is formed in the pallet 12 for transporting the workpiece, and the left and right end portions 34 and 35 of the workpiece 30 are formed. Is carried on the pallet 12, and the work 30 is conveyed. Further, a pallet placing surface 13 on which the pallet 12 is placed is formed at a position lower than the plate 11.

  Therefore, when the pallet 12 on which the work 30 is placed is lowered from directly above the plate 11, only the work 30 can be placed on the surface 11 a of the plate 11, and the pallet 12 is placed on the pallet in a state of being separated from the work 30. It can be placed on the mounting surface 13. In this state, the workpiece 30 is heated or cooled by the plate 11 so as to efficiently reach a predetermined temperature state.

  When the pallet 12 is lifted, the workpiece 30 is transferred from the surface 11a of the plate 11 to the pallet 12, and is lifted from the surface 11a. Therefore, if the pallet 12 is lifted and sent out, the workpiece 30 is positioned directly above the front plate. Therefore, the work 30 can be easily transferred.

  In this example, the pallet 12 is transferred one pitch at a time by the rotation operation of the feed shaft 14 and the feed operation in the axial direction. Instead of this, the pallet 12 may be fed one pitch at a time by operating the feed shaft 14 in the order of ascending, advancing, descending and retreating.

It is a figure which shows the line type environmental test apparatus by the plate temperature control system to which this invention is applied, (a) is the schematic side view, (b) is a schematic plan view, (c) shows each test position etc. It is explanatory drawing. (a) is a top view which shows a workpiece | work, (b) is the side view. (a) is a top view which shows the pallet for workpiece conveyance, (b) is the side view. (a) is a partial cross-sectional view showing a part of a work conveyance path of the environmental test apparatus of FIG. 1, (b) is a partial plan view thereof, and (c) is a partial side view thereof, and the work is placed on a plate. It shows the state of being. (a) is a partial cross-sectional view showing a part of a work conveyance path of the environmental test apparatus of FIG. 1, (b) is a partial plan view thereof, and (c) is a partial side view thereof, and the work is lifted off the plate. It shows the state.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Environmental test apparatus 2 Apparatus mount 3 Test tank 4 Normal temperature inspection part 5 Low temperature inspection part 6 High temperature inspection part 7 Normal temperature return part 8 Work supply part 9 Work discharge part 11, 11 (1) -11 (24) Plate 11a Surface 12 Pallet 12a Opening portion 12b Frame plates 12c, 12d End plates 12e, 12f Inner end portion 13 Pallet mounting surface 14 Feed shaft 14a Center axes 15, 16, 18 Probe 17 Cooling mechanism 19 Heating mechanism 30 Work piece 31 Package body portion 32, 33 Lead Terminal group 34, 35 Work edge 41 Feeding claw

Claims (5)

In a plate temperature control type environmental test apparatus in which a workpiece to be tested is brought into direct contact with a plate held at a predetermined temperature state, and the workpiece is heated or cooled to be in a predetermined test temperature state.
An opening through which the plate can pass in the vertical direction, and a pallet for workpiece conveyance provided with a workpiece placement surface for placing the workpiece in a state straddling the opening,
A pallet mounting surface on which the pallet is mounted in a state where the plate protrudes upward from the opening;
A pallet elevating member that engages with the pallet placed on the pallet placement surface from below and can lift the pallet to a position higher than the plate;
An environmental test characterized in that a state where the workpiece is in contact with the surface of the plate is formed by placing the workpiece on the pallet lifted to a position higher than the plate and lowering the pallet to the pallet placement surface. apparatus. The environmental test apparatus according to claim 1,
A plurality of the plates are arranged at a constant pitch along a predetermined feeding direction,
The environmental test apparatus characterized in that the pallet elevating member can move forward and backward in the feed direction at the same feed pitch as the arrangement pitch of the plates. The environmental test apparatus according to claim 2,
Having a feed shaft arranged along the feed direction;
A feed claw that functions as the pallet lifting member is attached to the feed shaft at the same pitch as the arrangement pitch of the plates,
The feed shaft can be rotated around its central axis, or can be raised and lowered,
The environmental test apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the feed shaft is capable of moving forward and backward along the direction of the central axis at the same feed pitch as the arrangement pitch of the plates. The environmental test apparatus according to claim 3,
It has a test tank with a plurality of inspection parts for heating or cooling the workpiece so as to be in different test temperature states,
Along the linear path passing through each inspection part, the plate, the pallet placement surface, and the feed shaft provided with the feed claw are arranged,
The environmental test apparatus, wherein each pallet on which a workpiece is placed is intermittently and sequentially transferred from the plate located at the upstream end in the feeding direction to the plate located at the downstream end. The environmental test apparatus according to claim 3 or 4,
The pallet is a rectangular frame having a workpiece placement surface on which a rectangular workpiece is placed,
The pallet placement surface and the feed shaft are arranged on the left and right of each plate,
An environmental testing apparatus, wherein each plate is lifted and fed by the left and right feed claws formed on the left and right feed shafts.

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