JP6351623B2 - Electronic device handler - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic device handler.

  Various types of handlers are known as an apparatus for supplying and discharging an electronic device with respect to a test apparatus that performs an electrical test of an electronic device such as an IC device. For example, Patent Document 1 individually corrects the position of a device gripping unit based on information on a plurality of device gripping units that individually grip electronic devices and the attitude and position of the electronic device gripped by each of the device gripping units. Disclosed is a handler comprising position correction means.

  In a conventional handler, the electronic device is brought to a predetermined temperature while the electronic device is transferred from the supply-side storage unit to the testing device so that the test device can perform a test assuming the actual usage environment of the electronic device. A device having a device temperature adjusting mechanism for heating or cooling is known. For example, as a device temperature adjustment mechanism for heating (hereinafter referred to as a device heating mechanism), conventionally, a heater contact method in which an electronic device is brought into direct or indirect contact with a heater during transfer, and an electronic device is used. Any one of a chamber system in which the entire device transfer mechanism for transfer passes through a high temperature chamber is employed.

  In the handler equipped with the heater contact type device heating mechanism, the heating that causes the electronic device to contact the heater for a predetermined time during the transfer to the test apparatus only when the electronic device needs to be heated (that is, when high-temperature handling is performed). When the process can be performed and heating of the electronic device is unnecessary (that is, when room temperature handling is performed), the electronic device can be transferred to the test apparatus without such a heating process. That is, a single handler having a heater contact type device heating mechanism can selectively execute high-temperature handling and normal-temperature handling. This type of conventional high-temperature room-temperature handler includes a preheating unit equipped with a heater as a device heating mechanism that is independent of the device transfer mechanism in the middle of the device transfer path from the supply-side storage unit to the test apparatus, and performs high-temperature handling. When performing, a device transfer mechanism loads the electronic device before a heating in a preheating unit, collects the electronic device after a heating from a preheating unit, and transfers it to a test apparatus.

International Publication No. 2008/114457

  In a handler equipped with a heater contact type device heating mechanism, when high-temperature handling is performed, a time for loading / recovering the electronic device to / from the preheating unit during device transfer and heating the electronic device to a predetermined temperature by the preheating unit For this reason, the device handling cycle time becomes longer than that when room temperature handling is performed. In this type of handler that can be used at both high temperature and normal temperature, it is desired to shorten the cycle time when performing high-temperature handling and to make it as close as possible to the cycle time when performing normal-temperature handling.

  According to one embodiment of the present invention, a supply and discharge tray on which a plurality of electronic devices can be placed, and a plurality of electronic devices can be placed in a reference arrangement corresponding to the arrangement of a plurality of test sockets included in a test apparatus. A shifter, a first supply transfer mechanism for transferring the electronic device from the tray to the shifter, and a second test device that transfers the electronic device between the shifter and the test socket and presses the electronic device against the test socket. The handler includes a transfer mechanism, a third discharge transfer mechanism that transfers the electronic device from the shifter to the tray, and a heating mechanism that is provided in the shifter and heats the electronic device placed on the shifter.

  According to the handler of one aspect, since the shifter for transferring the electronic device from the tray to the test socket has the heating mechanism for heating the electronic device, the electronic device is being transferred to the preheating unit independent of the device transfer mechanism. Compared with the conventional handler that loads / recovers the battery, the cycle time for high-temperature handling can be shortened.

It is a top view which shows roughly the whole structure of the handler by 1st Embodiment. FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing a part of the handler of FIG. 1. It is a perspective view which shows roughly the shifter which the handler of FIG. 1 has. It is a top view of the shifter of FIG. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows a part of shifter of FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line VI-VI in FIG. 3. It is a perspective view which shows roughly the 1st transfer mechanism which the handler of FIG. 1 has. It is a perspective view which shows roughly the 1st transfer mechanism which the handler of FIG. 1 has. It is a top view which shows roughly the 1st transfer mechanism which the handler of FIG. 1 has. It is a top view which shows roughly the 1st transfer mechanism which the handler of FIG. 1 has. It is a figure corresponding to Drawing 7A and Drawing 8A, and is a figure showing roughly operation of the 1st transfer mechanism. It is a figure corresponding to Drawing 7B and Drawing 8B, and is a figure showing operation of the 1st transfer mechanism roughly. It is a perspective view which shows roughly the 2nd transfer mechanism which the handler of FIG. 1 has. It is a perspective view which shows roughly the 2nd transfer mechanism which the handler of FIG. 1 has. It is a perspective view which shows a part of 2nd transfer mechanism roughly. It is a perspective view which shows a part of 2nd transfer mechanism roughly. It is a perspective view which shows a part of 2nd transfer mechanism roughly. It is a figure which shows the operation | movement of a 2nd transfer mechanism roughly. It is a figure which shows the operation | movement of a 2nd transfer mechanism roughly. It is a figure which shows the operation | movement of a 2nd transfer mechanism roughly. It is a figure which shows the operation | movement of a 2nd transfer mechanism roughly. It is a figure which shows the operation | movement of a 2nd transfer mechanism roughly. It is a figure which shows the operation | movement of a 2nd transfer mechanism roughly. It is a figure which shows the operation | movement of a 2nd transfer mechanism roughly. It is a figure which shows the operation | movement of a 2nd transfer mechanism roughly. It is a figure which shows the operation | movement of a 2nd transfer mechanism roughly. It is a figure which shows the operation | movement of a 2nd transfer mechanism roughly. It is a figure which shows the operation | movement of a 2nd transfer mechanism roughly. It is a figure which shows the operation | movement of a 2nd transfer mechanism roughly. It is a top view which shows roughly the handler by 2nd Embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows roughly the shifter which the handler of FIG. 14 has. FIG. 15 is a perspective view schematically showing a part of the handler of FIG. 14.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Corresponding components are denoted by common reference symbols throughout the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows the overall configuration of a handler 10 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 schematically shows a part of the handler 10. 3 to 6 show the shifter 12 that is one component of the handler 10. The handler 10 is an apparatus that supplies and discharges an electronic device with respect to a test apparatus that performs an electrical test of an electronic device such as an IC device or an LSI device.

  As shown in a plan view in FIG. 1, the handler 10 includes a plurality of supply and discharge trays 16 on which a plurality of electronic devices 14 (FIG. 6) can be placed, and a plurality of electronic devices 14, a test apparatus. A shifter 12 that can be placed in a reference arrangement corresponding to the arrangement of a plurality of test sockets 18 (not shown), and a first supply transfer mechanism 20 that transfers the electronic device 14 from the tray 16 to the shifter 12; A second test transfer mechanism 22 (the operation region is indicated by a broken line) that transfers the electronic device 14 between the shifter 12 and the test socket 18 and presses the electronic device 14 against the test socket 18; A third discharge transfer mechanism 24 that transfers the electronic device 14 to the tray 16, the tray 16, the shifter 12, the first transfer mechanism 20, the second transfer mechanism 22, and the third transfer mechanism 24. And a base 26 which feed mechanism 24 is mounted.

  The base 26 is normally arranged horizontally on the floor on which the handler 10 is installed, and the test apparatus is installed on the floor so as to overlap a predetermined area of the base 26 below the base 26. An opening 28 is provided in a predetermined area of the base 26 to allow access from above the base 26 to the test apparatus below the base. In the test apparatus, a predetermined number of test sockets 18 for supporting the electronic device 14 to be tested and connecting to the test circuit are arranged according to the capability of the test apparatus (in the illustrated embodiment, a 2 × 8 matrix). Equipped). The test sockets 18 are arranged inside an opening 28 provided in a predetermined region of the base 26. In the illustrated embodiment, an opening 28 is provided in a region near the center (upward in the drawing) of the base 26 having a substantially rectangular outline.

  A region on one side of the base 26 along one side edge (lower edge in the drawing) away from the opening 28 is a device loading / unloading region 30 that serves as an interface with a manufacturing line (not shown) of the electronic device 14. Configure. The area surrounding the opening 28 on the base 26 transfers the pre-test electronic device 14 carried from the production line to the device carry-in / carry-out area 30 to the test socket 18 of the test apparatus, and the electronic after the test. A device transfer area 32 is configured to transfer the device 14 from the test socket 18 to the device loading / unloading area 30. The layout of the opening 28 and the regions 30 and 32 is not limited to the illustrated configuration.

  In the device carry-in / carry-out area 30, a carry-in unit 34 that carries in the tray 16 on which the plurality of electronic devices 14 before the test are placed from the production line, and an empty tray that stores the tray 16 that has become empty in the device transfer area 32 A place 36 and a carry-out unit 38 for carrying out the tray 16 on which the electronic device 14 after the test is placed to the production line are provided. The carry-in part 34, the empty tray storage area 36, and the carry-out part 38 are arranged in this order along one side edge (lower edge in the drawing) of the base 26. A stacker 40 for temporarily loading a plurality of trays 16 sequentially loaded into the device loading / unloading area 30 and a loader conveyor 42 for feeding the trays 16 from the stacker 40 to the device transfer area 32 one by one. And are provided. The empty tray storage 36 includes a buffer conveyor 44 for sending the trays 16 emptied in the device transfer area 32 one by one to the device loading / unloading area 30 and a stacker 46 for temporarily loading the plurality of trays 16. Provided. The unloading section 38 includes an unloader conveyor 48 that sends the trays 16 on which the electronic devices 14 after the test are placed one by one to the device loading / unloading area 30, and a stacker 50 that temporarily loads the trays 16 before unloading. Is provided.

  In the device transfer area 32, the trays 16 that are sent one by one by the loader conveyor 42 from the stacker 40 of the carry-in unit 34 are stopped, and the first transfer mechanism 20 moves from the tray 16 to the plurality of electronic devices 14 before the test. The supply station 52 for performing the operation of taking out the trays, and the trays 16 emptied at the supply station 52 are transferred to the buffer conveyor 44 one by one, and the buffer conveyor 44 transfers the trays 16 to the stacker 46 of the empty tray storage place 36. The tray storage station 54 that is the starting point for sending, and the tray 16 that has been emptied at the supply station 52 or the tray 16 that has been retransmitted from the stacker 46 of the empty tray storage place 36 to the tray storage station 54, one by one to the stopped unloader conveyor 48 The third transfer mechanism 24 is transferred to the tray 16 and a plurality of electronic devices after the test are transferred. With performing the operations of placing the scan 14, unloader conveyor 48 and discharge station 56 is provided as a starting point sends the tray 16 in the stacker 50 of the unloading unit 38.

  The handler 10 transfers the empty trays 16 from the supply station 52 to the tray storage station 54 or the discharge station 56 one by one, or transfers the empty trays 16 from the tray storage station 54 to the discharge station 56 one by one. An empty tray transfer mechanism 58 is provided. The empty tray transfer mechanism 58 includes a movable arm 60 that reciprocates in the alignment direction (arrow α direction in the figure) of the carry-in unit 34, the empty tray storage 36, and the carry-out unit 38, and the empty tray 16 at the tip of the movable arm 60. And a grip portion (not shown) that is releasably gripped by suction, grasping, or the like.

  The handler 10 according to the illustrated embodiment includes one carry-in unit 34, three empty tray storage areas 36, and three carry-out units 38. The numbers of the carry-in unit 34, empty tray storage area 36, and carry-out unit 38 are appropriately selected according to the device handling capability required of the handler 10. In particular, by providing a plurality of carry-out units 38, the carry-out units 38 are distinguished according to the use of the electronic device 14, for example, and the tray 16 on which the electronic device 14 for each use is placed is carried out from each carry-out unit 38. It can be configured as follows. In this case, for example, according to the result of the electrical test by the test apparatus, the electronic devices 14 transferred from the test socket 18 to the shifter 12 are functionally classified, and the third transfer mechanism 24 converts the classified electronic devices 14 into It can be configured such that each unloader conveyor 48 sends the trays 16 to the corresponding stacker 50 by appropriately distributing and discharging the trays 16 waiting on the discharge station 56 corresponding to the unloading section 38 according to use. Further, considering that the electronic device 14 that is not sent to the carry-out unit 38 is generated due to the test result or other factors, the third transfer mechanism 24 is placed on the tray 16 where the electronic device 14 is transferred from the shifter 12. 62 can be provided at an arbitrary location on the base 26 separately from the carry-out unit 38.

  The first transfer mechanism 20 is a region along the other side edge (left edge in FIG. 1) of the base 26 that is different from the device loading / unloading region 30 in the device transfer region 32. It has a configuration in which it can move according to the position command of the axis (X1 axis and Y1 axis in FIG. 1) coordinate system. Specifically, the first transfer mechanism 20 includes a Y1 axis feeding device 64 supported above the base 26 and an X1 axis feeding supported by the Y1 axis feeding device 64 so as to be capable of feeding in the horizontal Y1 axis direction. The device 66 and the X1 axis feeding device 66 are provided with a transfer head 68 supported so as to be capable of feeding in the horizontal X1 axis direction orthogonal to the Y1 axis. The transfer head 68 has a plurality of gripping portions 70 that take out the plurality of electronic devices 14 from the tray 16 and place them on the shifter 12. Each gripping portion 70 is configured such that at least a portion including the tip thereof moves up and down over a predetermined distance in the Z1 axis (not shown) direction orthogonal to the XY plane (horizontal plane) on the transfer head 68. Each gripping unit 70 grips one electronic device 14 so as to be releasable by suction, grasping, or the like at its tip.

  In the first transfer mechanism 20, the transfer head 68 freely moves in the XY plane above the base 26 by driving the Y1 axis feed device 64 and the X1 axis feed device 66, and a plurality of gripping portions 70 are transferred. By moving up and down in the vertical direction with respect to the head 68, the plurality of electronic devices 14 are collectively taken out from the tray 16 located at the supply station 52, and the electronic devices are placed at desired positions of the shifter 12 waiting in the vicinity of the supply station 52. 14 can be put together. The tray 16 can support the plurality of electronic devices 14 in an arrangement in which the electronic devices 14 are aligned in a direction parallel to the X1 axis and the Y1 axis. Therefore, the position of each electronic device 14 on the tray 16 can be represented by coordinate values of an orthogonal two-axis (X1 axis and Y1 axis) coordinate system in which the first transfer mechanism 20 operates. Details of the first transfer mechanism 20 will be described later.

  The third transfer mechanism 24 is a region along the side edge (the right edge in FIG. 1) of the base 26 opposite to the side edge where the first transfer mechanism 20 is arranged in the device transfer area 32. Thus, it is configured to be movable in accordance with a position command in a horizontal orthogonal two-axis (X3 axis and Y3 axis in FIG. 1) coordinate system. Specifically, the third transfer mechanism 24 includes a Y3 axis feeding device 72 supported above the base 26 and an X3 axis feeding supported by the Y3 axis feeding device 72 so as to be capable of feeding in the horizontal Y3 axis direction. The apparatus 74 and the X3 axis feeding device 74 are provided with a transfer head 76 supported so as to be capable of feeding in the horizontal X3 axis direction orthogonal to the Y3 axis. The Y3 axis is parallel to the Y1 axis, and the X3 axis is parallel to the X1 axis. The transfer head 76 has a plurality of gripping portions 78 that take out the plurality of electronic devices 14 from the shifter 12 and place them on the tray 16. Each gripping portion 78 is configured such that at least a portion including the tip thereof moves up and down over a predetermined distance in the Z3 axis (not shown) direction orthogonal to the XY plane (horizontal plane) on the transfer head 76. Each gripping portion 78 grips one electronic device 14 so as to be releasable by suction, grasping or the like at its tip.

  In the third transfer mechanism 24, the transfer head 76 freely moves in the XY plane above the base 26 by driving the Y3 axis feeding device 72 and the X3 axis feeding device 74, and a plurality of gripping portions 78 are transferred. By moving up and down in the vertical direction with respect to the head 76, a plurality of electronic devices 14 are collectively taken out from the shifter 12 located in the vicinity of the discharge station 56, and the electronic devices 14 are collectively put on the tray 16 waiting at the discharge station 56. Can be placed. The tray 16 can support the plurality of electronic devices 14 in an arrangement in which the electronic devices 14 are aligned in a direction parallel to the X3 axis and the Y3 axis. Therefore, the position of each electronic device 14 on the tray 16 can be represented by coordinate values in an orthogonal two-axis (X3 axis and Y3 axis) coordinate system in which the third transfer mechanism 24 operates. Details of the third transfer mechanism 24 will be described later.

  FIG. 2 schematically illustrates a portion of the handler 10 that includes the shifter 12, the test socket 18, and the second transfer mechanism 22. As shown in the figure, the second transfer mechanism 22 has a horizontal axis and a vertical axis (Y2 axis, Z2a axis and FIG. 2) above the opening 28 of the base 26 in the device transfer area 32. (Z2b axis) is movable according to the position command. Specifically, the second transfer mechanism 22 is fed in the horizontal Y2 axis direction by driving the Y2 axis feeding device 80 supported by the base 26 and the Y2 axis feeding device 80, while the Z2a axis feeding device. The first pressure contact head 82 that feeds in the direction of the vertical Z2a axis orthogonal to the Y2 axis by driving (not shown) and the feed operation in the horizontal Y2 axis by driving of the Y2 axis feeding device 80, while the Z2b axis And a second press contact head 84 that performs a feed operation in the vertical Z2b axis direction orthogonal to the Y2 axis by driving a feed device (not shown). The Y2 axis is parallel to the Y1 axis and the Y3 axis. The Z2a axis and the Z2b axis are parallel to each other and parallel to the Z1 axis and the Z3 axis.

  In the second transfer mechanism 22, the first and second pressure contact heads 82 and 84 each move horizontally in the Y2 axis direction above the base 26 by driving the Y2 axis feeding device 80, and the Z2a axis feeding device. Alternatively, by driving the Z2b axis feeding device to move up and down with respect to the shifter 12 or the test socket 18, a predetermined number of electronic devices 14 are taken out from the shifter 12, and the taken out electronic devices 14 are loaded into the test socket 18 and then pressed. The electronic device 14 after pressure contact can be recovered from the test socket 18 and returned to the shifter 12. Details of the second transfer mechanism 22 will be described later.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the handler 10 includes an operation control unit 86 that controls the above-described operations of the first transfer mechanism 20, the second transfer mechanism 22, and the third transfer mechanism 24. The operation control unit 86 can also control the operations of the loader conveyor 42, the buffer conveyor 44, the unloader conveyor 48, and the empty tray transfer mechanism 58. The operation control unit 86 can also include an operation panel and a display used by the operator. Details of the device handling operation under the control of the operation control unit 86 will be described later.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the handler 10 includes a first shifter 12A and a second shifter 12B that are disposed on opposite sides of a test socket 18 of the test apparatus. The first shifter 12 </ b> A is disposed below the opening 28 of the base 26 in FIG. 1 in the device transfer region 32, and the second shifter 12 </ b> B is an opening of the base 26 in the device transfer region 32. The part 28 is arranged on the upper side in FIG. The first shifter 12 </ b> A and the second shifter 12 </ b> B have substantially the same configuration, and may be collectively referred to as a shifter 12 in this specification.

  Each of the first and second shifters 12 </ b> A and 12 </ b> B supports a first supply-side support plate 88 that supports the electronic device 14 transferred from the tray 16, and the electronic device 14 transferred from the test socket 18. And a second discharge-side support plate 90. In each shifter 12, the first transfer mechanism 20 can place the electronic device 14 on the first support plate 88 and the second transfer mechanism 22 can place the electronic device 14 on the second support plate 90. The first position (for example, the position where the first shifter 12A is disposed in FIG. 1), the second transfer mechanism 22 can take out the electronic device 14 from the first support plate 88, and the third transfer. The mechanism 24 can move between a second position where the electronic device 14 can be removed from the second support plate 90 (for example, the position where the second shifter 12B is disposed in FIG. 1).

  3 to 6 schematically show the configuration of the first shifter 12A. The second shifter 12B has substantially the same configuration as the first shifter 12A except that the relative arrangement of the first support plate 88 and the second support plate 90 is different (see FIG. 1). . Hereinafter, the configuration of the first and second shifters 12A and 12B will be collectively referred to as the shifter 12 with reference to FIGS. 1 and 3 to 6.

  The shifter 12 includes a substrate 92 having a substantially L-shaped outline. A first support plate 88 having a substantially rectangular outline and a substantially rectangular shape smaller than the first support plate 88 are disposed at predetermined positions on the upper surface 92 a of the substrate 92. The contoured second support plate 90 is fixed in an adjacent arrangement. Therefore, in this embodiment, the first support plate 88 and the second support plate 90 are integrally connected to each other by the substrate 92.

  The shifter 12 has a configuration capable of moving along the surface 26a of the base 26 in accordance with a horizontal one-axis (X2-axis) position command. Specifically, the substrate 92 is connected to an X2-axis feeder 94 that reciprocates the shifter 12 between a first position and a second position. The X2-axis feeder 94 includes an endlessly installed belt 98 between a pair of separated pulleys 96, a power source 100 such as an electric motor supported by the base 26 and connected to one pulley 96, A pair of parallel linear guides 102 that extend linearly along the upper surface 26a of the base 26 are provided. The belt 98 is connected to the substrate 92 so that power can be transmitted, and the substrate 92 is attached to the pair of linear guides 102. As the shifter 12 rotates forward and backward of the output shaft of the power source 100, the first and second support plates 88 and 90 are integrated, and the X1 axis and the second position are between the first position and the second position. It reciprocates under the guidance of the pair of linear guides 102 in the X2 axis direction parallel to the X3 axis.

  In the above configuration, instead of the pulley 96 and the belt 98, other power transmission mechanisms such as a sprocket and a chain can be used. Further, at least one of the first and second support plates 88 and 90 can be detachably attached to the substrate 92, and the support plates 88 and 90 can be appropriately replaced with another support plate (FIG. 6). Shows a bolt 104 and a positioning pin 106 for enabling replacement). Alternatively, the first support plate 88 and the second support plate 90 may be attached to separate substrates, and the substrates may be driven in synchronization by the X2 axis feeding device 94.

  The first support plate 88 includes a plurality of support portions 108 that support one electronic device 14 each. These support portions 108 have the same dimensions and contour shapes, and are arranged in equal intervals in the direction parallel to the direction of movement of the shifter 12 (X2 axis) and the direction perpendicular thereto. Accordingly, the position of each support portion 108 (or the position of the shifter 12) is determined by the orthogonal two-axis (X1 axis and Y1 axis) coordinate system in which the first transfer mechanism 20 operates and the horizontal position in which the second transfer mechanism 22 operates. 1 axis (Y2 axis), horizontal 1 axis (X2 axis) where the shifter 12 operates, and orthogonal 2 axis (X3 axis and Y3 axis) coordinate system where the third transfer mechanism 24 operates Can be represented.

  The number of support portions 108 is larger than the number of test sockets 18 included in the test apparatus. Further, the horizontal pitch P1 and the vertical pitch P2 of the support portion 108 are respectively smaller than the horizontal pitch and the vertical pitch of the test socket 18 included in the test apparatus. Here, the “pitch” means the shortest distance between positions corresponding to each other on the adjacent support portions 108. In the first support plate 88, a plurality of electronic devices 14 are arranged on a desired support portion 108 among the plurality of support portions 108. The arrangement of the test sockets 18 of the test apparatus (in the illustrated embodiment, a 2 × 8 matrix arrangement). ) Can be supported with a reference arrangement corresponding to. Here, the “reference arrangement” is a term including the relative position, number, and pitch of the support portions 108 corresponding to the relative position, number, and pitch of the test sockets 18, respectively. In the illustrated embodiment, the horizontal pitch P1 and the vertical pitch P2 are the same, but the horizontal pitch P1 and the vertical pitch P2 may be different from each other.

  The second support plate 90 has a plurality of support portions 110 that support one electronic device 14 each. These support portions 110 have the same dimensions and contour shape, and are arranged in equal intervals in the direction parallel to the direction of movement of the shifter 12 (X2 axis) and the direction orthogonal thereto. Therefore, the positions of the individual support portions 110 (or the positions of the shifters 12) are determined by the orthogonal two-axis (X1 axis and Y1 axis) coordinate system in which the first transfer mechanism 20 operates and the horizontal position in which the second transfer mechanism 22 operates. 1 axis (Y2 axis), horizontal 1 axis (X2 axis) where the shifter 12 operates, and orthogonal 2 axis (X3 axis and Y3 axis) coordinate system where the third transfer mechanism 24 operates Can be represented.

  The number of support portions 110 is equal to the number of test sockets 18 included in the test apparatus. Further, the horizontal pitch P3 and the vertical pitch P4 of the support portion 110 are equal to the horizontal pitch and the vertical pitch of the test socket 18 included in the test apparatus, respectively. Here, the “pitch” means the shortest distance between locations corresponding to each other on the adjacent support portions 110. The second support plate 90 can support the plurality of electronic devices 14 on the plurality of support portions 110 in a reference arrangement corresponding to the arrangement of the test sockets 18 of the test apparatus (2 × 8 matrix arrangement in the figure). Here, the “reference arrangement” is a term including the relative position, the number, and the pitch of the support portions 110 corresponding to the relative position, the number, and the pitch of the test sockets 18, respectively. In the illustrated embodiment, the horizontal pitch P3 and the vertical pitch P4 are the same, but the horizontal pitch P3 and the vertical pitch P4 may be different from each other. In the illustrated embodiment, P3 is twice P1 and P4 is twice P2, but P3 and P4 may be integer multiples of 3 or more of P1 and P2, respectively.

  In the handler 10, when the arrangement of the plurality of electronic devices 14 placed on the tray 16 is different from the arrangement of the plurality of test sockets 18 of the test apparatus, the electronic device 14 is not directly transferred from the tray 16 to the test socket 18. There is a concern that the efficiency of the test will deteriorate. The shifter 12 functions to improve test execution efficiency by converting the arrangement of the electronic devices 14 on the tray 16 to a reference arrangement corresponding to the arrangement of the test sockets 18. In particular, when the number of test sockets 18 of the test apparatus is relatively large (for example, 8 or more), if the shifter 12 supports the plurality of electronic devices 14 in the reference arrangement in the vicinity of the test socket 18, the test socket 18 In addition, the driving method of the second transfer mechanism 22 that presses the electronic device 14 can be simplified, and the second transfer mechanism 22 can be operated at high speed. Further, the transfer of the electronic device 14 from the tray 16 to the shifter 12, the transfer of the electronic device 14 between the shifter 12 and the test socket 18, and the transfer of the electronic device 14 from the shifter 12 to the tray 16 are performed as the first transfer. Since the mechanism 20, the second transfer mechanism 22, and the third transfer mechanism 24 are shared, the transfer mechanisms 20, 22, and 24 can be operated in a superimposed manner, and the overall device handling is speeded up. The test execution efficiency can be further improved.

  The operation control unit 86 is connected to the operation control of the first transfer mechanism 20, the second transfer mechanism 22, and the third transfer mechanism 24 in the shifter 12 (the first shifter 12 </ b> A and the second shifter 12 </ b> B). The reciprocation between the first position and the second position can be controlled. Details of the device handling operation under the control of the operation control unit 86 will be described later.

  As shown in FIGS. 3, 5, and 6, the handler 10 is provided in the shifter 12 (the first shifter 12 </ b> A and the second shifter 12 </ b> B) and contacts the heater that heats the electronic device 14 placed on the shifter 12. A heating mechanism 112 of the type is provided. The heating mechanism 112 heats the first support plate 88 of the shifter 12 while not substantially heating the second support plate 90. In the illustrated embodiment, the heating mechanism 112 includes a plate-type heater (for example, referred to as a rubber heater) 114 that is sandwiched between the first support plate 88 and the substrate 92. The heater 114 uniformly heats all of the plurality of support portions 108 included in the first support plate 88, thereby indirectly heating the electronic device 14 supported by any support portion 108 and raising the temperature to a predetermined temperature. Let warm.

  The heating mechanism 112 is connected to a heating circuit (FIG. 5) having a power source 116 and a switch unit 117. By opening and closing the switch unit 117, it is possible to switch between heating and stopping of the heating mechanism 112. The switch unit 117 can be manually opened and closed by the operator, or the operation control unit 86 can automatically open and close the switch unit 117. By providing the switch unit 117, the handler 10 can selectively perform high-temperature handling in which the electronic device 14 is heated to a predetermined temperature before the test and room-temperature handling in which the electronic device 14 is not heated.

  The handler 10 further includes a temperature sensor 118 that senses the temperature of an object heated by the heating mechanism 112, and a temperature control unit 119 that controls the heating operation of the heating mechanism 112 according to the temperature sensed by the temperature sensor 118. In the illustrated embodiment, the temperature sensor 118 senses the temperature of each of the plurality of support portions 108 of the first support plate 88 heated by the heater 114. The temperature control unit 119 controls the switch circuit 114a attached to the heater 114 with reference to real-time temperature data of the support unit 108 obtained from the temperature sensor 118, and adjusts the temperature of the support unit 108 to a predetermined target temperature. To do. The temperature sensor 118 may be configured to detect the temperature of the electronic device 14 supported by the support unit 108 or to detect the temperature of the substrate 92 to which the first support plate 88 is fixed.

  The heating mechanism 112 is not limited to the plate-shaped heater 114, and may have various other heaters on the assumption that all of the plurality of support portions 108 can be heated uniformly. Alternatively, a heater that directly heats the electronic device 14 may be incorporated in each support portion 108. Moreover, in order to eliminate the influence of the heat of the heating mechanism 112, a heat shield plate 120 can be installed between the shifter 12 and the base 26 (FIG. 6).

  The device handling operation by the handler 10 will be described below with reference to FIGS.

  First, high temperature handling will be described. In this case, as a preparatory work, the first support plate 88 is heated by closing the switch part 117 of the heating circuit (FIG. 5) and operating the heating mechanism 112 for the first and second shifters 12A and 12B. In addition, the operation control unit 86 arranges both the first shifter 12A and the second shifter 12B at the first position.

  A tray 16 on which a plurality of electronic devices 14 before the test are placed in a predetermined arrangement is carried into the carry-in section 34 from the production line of the electronic devices 14. The tray 16 is sent from the stacker 40 to the supply station 52 by the loader conveyor 42 that operates under the control of the operation control unit 86. The operation control unit 86 controls the Y1 axis feeding device 64 and the X1 axis feeding device 66 to move the transfer head 68 of the first transfer mechanism 20 vertically above the tray 16 stopped at the supply station 52 (X1- Position to Y1 coordinate). Next, the operation control unit 86 moves the plurality of gripping units 70 up and down on the transfer head 68 and causes the plurality of electronic devices 14 on the tray 16 in the supply station 52 to be gripped by the gripping units 70 and taken out from the tray 16. Make it.

  With respect to any one of the shifters 12 (for example, the first shifter 12A) arranged at the first position, the first transfer mechanism 20 is controlled by the operation control unit 86 so that the Y1 axis feeding device 64 and the X1 axis feeding are performed. The apparatus 66 operates to position the transfer head 68 at a position (X1-Y1 coordinate) where the individual gripping part 70 is arranged vertically above the desired support part 108 of the first support plate 88. Next, the operation control unit 86 moves the plurality of gripping units 70 up and down on the transfer head 68 so that the electronic devices 14 gripped by the individual gripping units 70 are placed on the desired support unit 108 of the first support plate 88. .

  The operation control unit 86 repeatedly executes the above-described device transfer operation by the first transfer mechanism 20, and the first shifter disposed at the first position from the plurality of trays 16 sequentially loaded into the carry-in unit 34. The electronic device 14 is transferred to all the support portions 108 of the 12A and the second shifter 12B. Accordingly, all the support portions 108 of each shifter 12 include a plurality of sets of desired support portions 108 that support the plurality of electronic devices 14 in a reference arrangement corresponding to the arrangement of the test sockets 18 of the test apparatus. Become. During this transfer operation, the plurality of electronic devices 14 continuously receive the heating action by the heating mechanism 112 over a required time in the order in which they are placed on the support portion 108, and sequentially increase the temperature to a predetermined temperature.

  The operation control unit 86 controls the X2 axis feeding device 94 of the shifter 12 (for example, the first shifter 12A) for which the transfer of the electronic device 14 to all the support units 108 has been completed first, and the shifter (first shifter) The shifter 12A) is moved from the first position to the second position. For the first shifter 12A arranged at the second position, the second transfer mechanism 22 operates under the control of the operation control unit 86 by the Y2 axis feeding device 80 and the Z2a axis feeding device. The press-contact head 82 starts heating the plurality of electronic devices 14 in the reference arrangement whose temperature is raised to a predetermined temperature by heating for a required time from the desired support portion 108 of the first support plate 88 of the first shifter 12A. The taken-out electronic device 14 is sequentially loaded and loaded into a test socket 18 at a corresponding position, and pressed with a predetermined pressing force. In this state, the test apparatus performs an electrical test on the heated electronic device 14.

  While the test apparatus is testing the electronic device 14 of the first pressure contact head 82, the operation control unit 86 controls the respective X2 axis feeding devices 94 to move the first shifter 12A to the second. While moving from the position to the first position, the second shifter 12B is moved from the first position to the second position. With respect to the second shifter 12B arranged at the second position, the second transfer mechanism 22 is operated under the control of the operation control unit 86 by the Y2 axis feeder 80 and the Z2b axis feeder. The pressure contact head 84 starts heating the plurality of electronic devices 14 in the reference arrangement whose temperature is increased to a predetermined temperature by heating for a required time from the desired support portion 108 of the first support plate 88 of the second shifter 12B. Take out in order.

  When the electrical test on the electronic device 14 to which the first pressure contact head 82 is in pressure contact is completed, the second transfer mechanism 22 controls the operation control unit 86 with respect to the first shifter 12A disposed at the first position. The Y2 axis feeding device 80 and the Z2a axis feeding device operate below, and the first pressure contact head 82 picks up and collects the plurality of electronic devices 14 after the test from the test socket 18, and the first shifter 12A It returns to the some support part 110 of the 2 support plate 90 with reference arrangement | positioning. At the same time, in the second transfer mechanism 22, the Y2 axis feeding device 80 and the Z2b axis feeding device are operated under the control of the operation control unit 86, and the second press contact head 84 is moved to the first shifter 12B. The electronic device 14 of the reference arrangement taken out from the desired support portion 108 of the support plate 88 is pressed against the test socket 18 at the corresponding position with a predetermined pressing force. In this state, the test apparatus performs an electrical test on the heated electronic device 14.

  The first and second shifters 12A and 12B and the second transfer mechanism 22 repeat the above-described operation, whereby all the electronic devices 14 transferred to the shifter 12 by the first transfer mechanism 20 are electrically tested. Is implemented. Further details of the transfer operation of the electronic device 14 by the first and second shifters 12A and 12B and the second transfer mechanism 22 will be described later.

  While the test apparatus is testing the electronic device 14 of the second press contact head 84, the operation control unit 86 controls the respective X2 axis feeding devices 94 to move the second shifter 12B to the second shifter 12B. While moving from the position to the first position, the first shifter 12A is moved from the first position to the second position. With respect to the first shifter 12A arranged at the second position, the third transfer mechanism 24 is operated by the Y3 axis feeding device 72 and the X3 axis feeding device 74 under the control of the operation control unit 86, and the transfer head. 76 is positioned at a position (X3-Y3 coordinate) where each gripping portion 78 is arranged vertically above the plurality of support portions 110 of the second support plate 90. Next, the operation control unit 86 moves the plurality of gripping parts 78 up and down on the transfer head 76, and the electronic device 14 after the test supported by the desired support part 110 of the second support plate 90 is held by the gripping parts 78. To be taken out from the first shifter 12A.

  During this time, the empty tray 16 is transferred from the supply station 52 or the tray storage station 54 to the discharge station 56 by the empty tray transfer mechanism 58 and waits. The operation control unit 86 controls the Y3 axis feeding device 72 and the X3 axis feeding device 74 to position the transfer head 76 of the third transfer mechanism 24 vertically above the tray 16 waiting at the discharge station 56 (X3−X3). (Y3 coordinate). Next, the operation controller 86 moves the plurality of grippers 78 up and down on the transfer head 76, and places the electronic devices 14 gripped by the individual grippers 78 on the tray 16 in the discharge station 56. The tray 16 on which the electronic device 14 after the test is placed is sent from the supply station 56 to the stacker 50 by the unloader conveyor 48 operating under the control of the operation control unit 86, and is carried out from the carry-out unit 38 to the production line. .

  When the handler 10 performs normal temperature handling, as a preparatory work, the heating mechanism 112 is suspended by opening the switch unit 117 of the heating circuit (FIG. 5) for the first and second shifters 12A and 12B. The subsequent device handling operation is substantially the same as the device handling operation in the high-temperature handling described above. In the case of room temperature handling, it is not necessary to select the location of the support part 108 to be transferred or to determine the transfer order in consideration of the required heating time of the electronic device 14 (there is no need to use all the support parts 108). ). On the other hand, in the normal temperature handling, even if the electronic devices 14 are transferred to all the support portions 108 in the same order as the transfer order in the high temperature handling in consideration of the heating time, the cycle time is not substantially affected. Therefore, the device handling operation in normal temperature handling is substantially the same as the device handling operation in high temperature handling.

  In the handler 10 having the above configuration, the shifter 12 equipped for efficiently transferring the electronic device 14 from the tray 16 to the test socket 18 is provided with the heater contact type heating mechanism 112 for heating the electronic device 14. Compared to a conventional handler for loading / recovering an electronic device during device transfer to a preheat unit independent of the transfer mechanism, the cycle time for high-temperature handling can be shortened. In particular, if the operation of the heating mechanism 112 is switched by operating the switch unit 117, the handler 10 can selectively perform both high temperature handling and normal temperature handling. In addition, since the device handling operation is substantially the same between the high temperature handling and the normal temperature handling, the cycle time when performing the high temperature handling can be as close as possible to the cycle time when performing the normal temperature handling.

  In the handler 10 having the above-described configuration, the first support plate 88 of the shifter 12 has a plurality of support portions 108 that are larger in number than the test sockets 18 included in the test apparatus. Since the plurality of electronic devices 14 can be supported on the support portion 108 in the standard arrangement, it takes a certain amount of time to place the electronic devices 14 on all the support portions 108 of the first support plate 88. As a result, the heating mechanism 112 can secure the time required to heat the individual electronic devices 14 to a predetermined temperature. The cycle time of high-temperature handling in which the electronic devices 14 are placed on all the support portions 108 in a predetermined order, and the cycle time of room temperature handling in which the electronic devices 14 are placed regardless of the location and transfer order of the support portions 108 are: It is substantially the same. In other words, due to the characteristic configuration of the first support plate 88, the cycle time when performing high-temperature handling is the same as the cycle time when performing normal-temperature handling, regardless of the order in which the electronic devices 14 are placed on the plurality of support portions 108. As close as possible.

  By determining the number of support portions 108 included in the first support plate 88 based on the time required to heat each electronic device 14 to a predetermined temperature, it is possible to avoid a shortage of heating time. For example, the electronic device 14 that is finally mounted on the first support plate 88 of the shifter 12 starts taking out the temperature in the support portion 108 and then is taken out of the support portion 108 for transfer to the test socket 18. By setting the number of the support portions 108 so that the time H1 that elapses until the time e1 is approximately equal to the time H2 required to heat the electronic device 14 to a predetermined temperature, At least the required heating time H2 can be secured for the electronic device 14. Since the time required for the shifter 12 to move from the first position to the second position after the electronic device 14 is placed on all the support portions 108 is very short, the time H1 substantially causes the electronic device 14 to be connected to the test socket 18. The following function is obtained from the time t to be tested above, the number of test sockets 18 (that is, the number of electronic devices 14 to be collectively tested) n, and the total number 2N of the support portions 108 of the two shifters 12.

H1 = 2N / n × t
If H1 = H2 here,
2N = H2 / t × n.
As an example, when H2 = 70 sec, t = 3.2 sec, and n = 16 (FIG. 1), the total number 2N of the support portions 108 of the two shifters 12 is
2N = 70 / 3.2 × 16 = 350.
Therefore, if the first support plate 88 of one shifter 12 has 175 support portions 108, at least the required heating time of 70 sec is secured for all the electronic devices 14 on the first support plate 88. It will be possible.

  7A-9B schematically illustrate the first transport mechanism 20 of the handler 10 according to the illustrated embodiment. The third transfer mechanism 24 (FIG. 1) has substantially the same configuration as the first transfer mechanism 20. Hereinafter, the configurations of the first and third transfer mechanisms 20 and 24 will be described with reference to FIG. 4 and FIGS. 7A to 9B, and the device transfer operation by the second transfer mechanism 22 will be supplementarily described.

  The first transfer mechanism 20 has 16 grips 70 arranged in a 4 × 4 matrix in alignment with each other in a direction parallel to the X1 axis and the Y1 axis on the transfer head 68 (FIG. 1). Each gripping part 70 has a suction part 122 at the tip for gripping one electronic device 14 (FIG. 6) releasably by vacuum suction. Note that the gripping structure of the gripping unit 70 is not limited to vacuum suction, and magnetic suction, grasping by a finger-like member, or the like can be employed.

  The first transfer mechanism 20 operates as described above under the control of the operation control unit 86 (FIG. 1), and the 16 electrons extracted from the tray 16 (FIG. 1) in the supply station 52 (FIG. 1). The device 14 is selected from the plurality of support portions 108 of the first support plate 88 of the shifter 12 (FIG. 1) at the first position at a pitch corresponding to the pitch (horizontal P3, vertical P4) of the reference arrangement. Part 108. For example, in the first shifter 12A shown in FIG. 4, the transfer head 68 performs the operation of placing the electronic device 14 on the support unit 108 twice, so that 16 pieces aligned in a matrix of 2 × 8 every other length and width are arranged. The electronic device 14 can be placed on the support portion 108a (hatched display).

  The operation control unit 86 (FIG. 1) repeatedly executes the above-described device transfer operation by the first transfer mechanism 20, and places more electronic devices 14 on the plurality of support units 108 of the shifter 12 than the number of reference arrangements. . For example, in the first shifter 12A shown in FIG. 4, adjacent to the group of the support portions 108a on which the electronic devices 14 have been placed in the vertical direction, they are similarly arranged in a matrix of 2 × 8 every other length and width. The electronic device 14 can be placed on the 16 support portions 108b (hatched display). In this state, the electronic devices 14 placed on the 32 support portions 108a and 108b in total include two sets of 16 electronic devices 14 in the reference arrangement. The operation control unit 86 controls the repetitive transfer operation of the first transfer mechanism 20 in this manner, so that the electronic devices 14 can be sequentially placed on all the support units 108 of the first support plate 88 of the shifter 12. it can.

  When high-temperature handling is performed, the electronic device 14 transferred to the shifter 12 is heated by the heating mechanism 112 (FIG. 3) in the order in which it is placed on the support unit 108. Therefore, the operation control unit 86 controls the transfer operation of the second transfer mechanism 22 (FIG. 2) as described above, and the electronic device having the reference arrangement in an order substantially corresponding to the order placed on the support unit 108. 14 is transferred from the desired support 108 to the test socket 18 (FIG. 1). For example, in the first shifter 12A shown in FIG. 4, among the electronic devices 14 placed on a total of 32 support portions 108a and 108b, a total of 16 support portions 108a on the first and second rows from the top in the figure. , 108b are placed in a reference arrangement. Therefore, first, the second transfer mechanism 22 operates to transfer the electronic devices 14 placed on the 16 support portions 108a and 108b in the first and second rows from the top to the test socket 18 in the figure. To do. When the electrical test of these electronic devices 14 is completed and returned to the support portion 110 of the second support plate 90 as described above, the second transfer mechanism 22 is next in the third row from the top in the figure. The electronic device 14 placed on a total of 16 support portions 108 a and 108 b in the fourth row operates so as to be transferred to the test socket 18.

As in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, in the configuration (m = 3 in FIG. 1), the test sockets 18 of the test apparatus are arranged in a matrix of 2 in the vertical direction and 2 ^{m in} the horizontal direction (m is an integer of 1 or more). a plurality of gripper 70 first transfer mechanism 20 has the vertical 2 ⁿ pieces on the transport head 68, as (n is a integer of 1 or more, m ≧ n) transverse ^the 2 ⁿ are arranged in a matrix of (N = 2 in FIG. 1). According to such a configuration, the number of repetitions of the transfer operation when the first transfer mechanism 20 transfers the electronic device 14 to the support portion 108 of the shifter 12 by the above-described repeated transfer operation can be reduced. Note that the first transfer mechanism 20 can also have the gripping portions 70 with the number and arrangement corresponding to the test apparatus in which the odd number of test sockets 18 are arranged in at least one of the vertical and horizontal directions.

  The first transfer mechanism 20 is removed from the tray 16 so that the case where the pitch of the plurality of electronic devices 14 placed on the tray 16 is different from the pitch of the reference arrangement (horizontal P3, vertical P4) can be dealt with. A displacement mechanism 124 that relatively displaces the plurality of gripping portions 70 so that the pitch of the plurality of electronic devices 14 corresponds to the pitch of the reference arrangement can be provided. The displacement mechanism 124 uses the one gripping portion 70 (the gripping portion 70a in FIGS. 7A to 9B) as a reference, and moves all other gripping portions 70 on the transfer head 68 (FIG. 1) to the X1 axis and the Y1 axis, respectively. Displace in the parallel β and γ directions.

  The displacement mechanism 124 includes a plurality of link mechanisms 126 that displace all the other gripping portions 70 with respect to one gripping portion 70a so that the distance between them is directly proportional. In the illustrated embodiment, one β-direction link mechanism 126 is provided to four gripping portions 70 aligned in the β direction, and a total of four link mechanisms 126 are provided in the β direction. Similarly, one γ-direction link mechanism 126 is provided to the four gripping portions 70 aligned in the γ direction, and a total of four link mechanisms 126 are provided in the γ direction. According to this configuration, of the 16 gripping portions 70, for example, one gripping portion 70a shown in FIGS. 7A to 8B is fixedly supported at a reference position on the transfer head 68, while all other gripping portions 70a are supported. The gripping part 70 can be movably supported on the transfer head 68 so that the pitches of the adjacent gripping parts 70 are evenly displaced. As a result, the pitch of the gripping portions 70 can be increased from the minimum pitch (horizontal P5, vertical P6) in FIG. 8A to the extended pitch (horizontal P5 ′, vertical P6 ′) in FIG. 8B. 8B can be configured to be equal to the pitch (horizontal P3, vertical P4) of the reference arrangement.

  9A and 9B schematically show the configuration of one link mechanism 126 in the β direction. In the illustrated configuration, among the four gripping portions 70 aligned in the β direction, the other three gripping portions 70 are displaced in the β direction on the basis of the second gripping portion 70a from the left in the drawing. The link mechanism 126 is fixed to the left end gripping portion 70 in the drawing and is movable in the β direction with respect to the gripping portion 70a, and is connected to the right end gripping portion 70 in a rotatable manner at one end 130a. The first link member 130 is rotatably connected to the base member 128 at the other end 130b, and is connected to the second gripping portion 70 from the right in the figure so as to be rotatable at one end 132a and the other end 132b. The second link member 132 rotatably connected to the base member 128 and the drive unit 134 that moves the base member 128 in the β direction.

  The first link member 130 and the second link member 132 respectively have rotation centers 130c and 132c that are arranged at positions fixed to the gripping portion 70a. The distance between the one end 130a of the first link member 130 and the rotation center 130c (that is, the dimension of the swing arm) is twice the distance between the one end 132a of the second link member 132 and the rotation center 132c. It has become. The distance between the other end 130b of the first link member 130 and the rotation center 130c (that is, the dimension of the swing arm) is the distance between the other end 132b of the second link member 132 and the rotation center 132c. It is equal to. The rotation center 132c of the second link member 132 is located exactly in the middle between the one end 132a and the other end 132b.

  In the state of the minimum pitch in FIG. 9A, the gripping portion 70a is disposed at the reference position 0 in the β direction, the leftmost gripping portion 70 is disposed at the position −1, the rightmost gripping portion 70 is disposed at the position +2, and from the right It is assumed that the second gripping unit 70 is disposed at position +1. From this state, when the drive unit 134 moves the base member 128 in the −β direction by a distance 1 (FIG. 9B), the left end gripping unit 70 moves from position-1 to position-2. As the base member 128 moves, the other end 130b of the first link member 130 and the other end 132b of the second link member 132 also move by a distance 1 in the -β direction. As a result, the other end 130b of the first link member 130 and the grip 70 connected thereto move from the position +2 to the position +4, and the other end 132b of the second link member 132 and the grip connected thereto. The unit 70 moves from position +1 to position +2. In this way, the distance between the gripping portion 70a and each of the other three gripping portions 70 is doubled, and therefore the pitch of all the gripping portions 70 is twice the minimum pitch.

  By adopting a step motor or the like for the driving unit 134 and controlling the position of the movement of the base member 128, the amount of change in the pitch of the gripping unit 70 can be adjusted. Further, by adopting a link mechanism in which the number of link members and the dimensional ratio of the swinging arm are appropriately changed, among all the gripping parts 70 of the first transfer mechanism 20, the gripping part 70 at an arbitrary position or an arbitrary position The number of gripping portions 70 may be configured to be displaceable in the β direction or the γ direction. In this way, the first transfer mechanism 20 can cope with various trays 16 on which the electronic devices 14 are placed at various pitches and various shifters 12 having the support portions 108 at various pitches. Thus, the handler 10 can efficiently perform device handling for various test apparatuses having the test sockets 18 in various arrangements.

  The third transfer mechanism 24 (FIG. 1) is aligned with 4 in the direction parallel to the X3 axis and the Y3 axis on the transfer head 76 (FIG. 1) in the same manner as the grip 70 of the first transfer mechanism 20. It has 16 grips 78 (FIG. 1) arranged in a matrix of x4. The third transfer mechanism 24 operates as described above under the control of the operation control unit 86 (FIG. 1), and all the second support plates 90 of the shifter 12 (FIG. 1) in the second position. Sixteen electronic devices 14 (FIG. 6) in a reference arrangement taken out from the support 110 can be placed on the tray 16 (FIG. 1) in the discharge station 56 (FIG. 1). At this time, the third support mechanism 24 first takes out the eight electronic devices 14 from the second support plate 90 by the eight gripping portions 78 aligned in two rows in the direction parallel to the X3 axis, and immediately after that. Further, the remaining eight electronic devices 14 can be taken out by the eight grippers 78 aligned in the other two rows.

As in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, in the configuration (m = 3 in FIG. 1), the test sockets 18 of the test apparatus are arranged in a matrix of 2 in the vertical direction and 2 ^{m in} the horizontal direction (m is an integer of 1 or more). a plurality of gripper 78 third transfer mechanism 24 has the vertical 2 ⁿ pieces on the transport head 76, as (n is a integer of 1 or more, m ≧ n) transverse ^the 2 ⁿ are arranged in a matrix of (N = 2 in FIG. 1). According to such a configuration, it is possible to reduce the number of repetitions of the extraction operation when the third transfer mechanism 24 extracts the electronic device 14 from the support portion 110 of the shifter 12 by the above-described repeated extraction operation. Note that the third transfer mechanism 24 can also have gripping portions 78 of the number and arrangement that can be applied to a test apparatus in which an odd number of test sockets 18 are arranged in at least one of the vertical and horizontal directions.

  The third transfer mechanism 24 is provided with the second support plate so that the case where the pitch of the plurality of electronic devices 14 placed on the tray 16 is different from the pitch of the reference arrangement (horizontal P3, vertical P4). A displacement mechanism that relatively displaces the plurality of gripping portions 78 so as to change the pitch of the electronic device 14 taken out from 90 from the pitch of the reference arrangement can be provided. The displacement mechanism of the third transfer mechanism 24 has the same configuration as the displacement mechanism 124 of the first transfer mechanism 20, and all the other gripping parts 78 on the transfer head 76 with one gripping part 78 as a reference. Are displaced in directions parallel to the X3 axis and the Y3 axis, respectively. The displacement mechanism of the third transfer mechanism 24 includes a plurality of link mechanisms similar to the link mechanism 126 of the first transfer mechanism 20, so that all the other gripping parts 78 can be mutually connected to one gripping part 78. It can be displaced so that the distance between them is directly proportional. Details of the displacement mechanism of the third transfer mechanism 24 will be omitted.

  In this manner, the third transfer mechanism 24 can cope with various trays 16 on which the electronic devices 14 are placed at various pitches and various shifters 12 having the support portions 110 at various pitches. As a result, the handler 10 can efficiently perform device handling for various test apparatuses having the test sockets 18 in various arrangements.

  FIG. 10 shows the first pressure contact head 82 included in the second transfer mechanism 22. The second press contact head 84 (FIG. 2) has substantially the same configuration as the first press contact head 82. Hereinafter, the configuration of the first and second press contact heads 82 and 84 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 10.

  The first pressure contact head 82 has a plurality of gripping portions 137 provided in an arrangement corresponding to the reference arrangement of the electronic device 14 (FIG. 6) in the head portion 136 at the tip thereof. Each gripper 137 is connected to a vacuum source (not shown) and can grip the electronic device 14 releasably by vacuum suction. Each gripping portion 137 is provided with a pressing portion 138 for pressing the attracted electronic device 14 against the test socket 18 (FIG. 1). The pressing portion 138 can move in the Z2a axial direction with respect to the head portion 136, and can press the electronic device 14 against the test socket 18 while the electronic device 14 remains adsorbed on the end surface. Note that the gripping structure of the gripper 137 is not limited to vacuum suction, and magnetic suction, grasping by a finger-like member, or the like can be employed. Similar to the first pressure contact head 82, the second pressure contact head 84 includes a plurality of gripping portions and pressing portions.

  The first and second pressure contact heads 82 and 84 can include a heater 139 for supplementarily heating the electronic device 14 gripped by the gripping portions 137. Similarly to the heater 114 of the heating mechanism 112, the heater 139 is connected to a heating circuit including a power source 140, a switch unit 141, a temperature sensor 142, and a temperature control unit 143. The heater 139 functions to keep the temperature of the electronic device 14 held by the holding unit 137 at a predetermined temperature so that the electronic device 14 heated by the support unit 108 of the shifter 12 is not cooled on the holding unit 137.

  11 to 12C show a drive structure of the second transfer mechanism 22. Hereinafter, the configuration of the second transfer mechanism 22 will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 2 and 11 to 12C.

  The second transfer mechanism 22 includes a first elevating drive unit (Z2a axis feeding device) 144 that moves the first press contact head 82 up and down in the Z2a axis direction with respect to the first shifter 12A and the test socket 18; A second elevating drive unit (Z2b axis feeding device) 145 for elevating the second press contact head 84 in the Z2b axis direction with respect to the shifter 12B and the test socket 18, and an upper position of the first shifter 12A and the test socket 18. The first pressure contact head 82 is moved horizontally between the upper position of the second shifter 12B and the second pressure contact head 84 is moved horizontally between the upper position of the second shifter 12B and the upper position of the test socket 18. Unit (Y2 axis feeding device) 80, the first pressure contact head 82, the second pressure contact head 84, and the horizontal drive unit (Y2 axis feeding device) 80 are releasably transmitted. And a power transmission unit 146 (FIG. 11).

  The first raising / lowering drive unit (Z2a axis feeding device) 144 is supported by the base 26 (FIG. 1), a power source 148 such as an electric motor, and the power source 148 supported by the base 26 via the belt 150 and the like. And a guide member 154 integrally connected to a nut element (not shown) of the feed screw device 152. The feed screw device 152 reciprocates the guide member 154 in the Z2a axial direction by driving the power source 148. The guide member 154 has a rail 156 extending in a direction parallel to the Y2 axis. The first pressure contact head 82 is provided with a pair of guide rollers 158 that engage with the rails 156. The first pressure contact head 82 can reciprocate in the Z2a axis direction by driving the power source 148 with the pair of guide rollers 158 engaged with the rails 156 (FIG. 12A), and in the Y2 axis direction along the rails 156. Can be moved back and forth.

  The second raising / lowering drive unit (Z2b axis feeding device) 145 includes a power source 160 such as an electric motor supported by the base 26 (FIG. 1) and a power source 160 supported by the base 26 via the belt 162 and the like. And a guide member 166 integrally coupled to a nut element (not shown) of the feed screw device 164. The feed screw device 164 reciprocates the guide member 166 in the Z2b axis direction by driving the power source 160. The guide member 166 has a rail 168 extending in a direction parallel to the Y2 axis. The second pressure contact head 84 is provided with a pair of guide rollers 170 that engage with the rails 168. The second pressure contact head 84 can reciprocate in the Z2b-axis direction by driving the power source 160 with the pair of guide rollers 170 engaged with the rail 168 (FIG. 12A), and in the Y2-axis direction along the rail 168. Can be moved back and forth.

  The horizontal drive unit (Y2 axis feeding device) 80 includes a power source 172 such as an electric motor supported by the base 26 (FIG. 1), a feed screw device 174 connected to the power source 172, and a nut of the feed screw device 174. And a guide member 176 integrally connected to an element (not shown). The feed screw device 174 reciprocates the guide member 176 in the Y2 axis direction by driving the power source 172. The guide member 176 includes a rail 178 that extends in a direction parallel to the Z2a axis, and a rail 180 that extends in a direction parallel to the Z2b axis. The first pressure contact head 82 is provided with a pair of guide rollers 182 that engage with the rail 178. The second pressure contact head 84 is provided with a pair of guide rollers 184 that engage with the rail 180. The first pressure contact head 82 can reciprocate in the Y2 axis direction by driving the power source 172 with the pair of guide rollers 182 engaged with the rail 178 (FIG. 12B), and the Z2a axial direction along the rail 178. Can be moved back and forth. The second pressure contact head 84 can reciprocate in the Y2 axis direction by driving the power source 172 with the pair of guide rollers 184 engaged with the rail 180 (FIG. 12B), and in the Z2b axis direction along the rail 180. Can be moved back and forth.

  The power transmission unit 146 includes a rail 178 and a rail 180 of the guide member 176, a pair of guide rollers 182 of the first pressure contact head 82, and a pair of guide rollers 184 of the second pressure contact head 84 (see FIG. 12B). The operation of the power transmission unit 146 will be described later.

  The second transfer mechanism 22 further includes a positioning unit 186 that alternately positions the first press contact head 82 and the second press contact head 84 at a predetermined position in the Y2 axial direction above the test socket 18 (FIG. 11). . The positioning portion 186 includes a rail 188 provided on the first press contact head 82 so as to extend in a direction parallel to the Z2a axis, and a rail 190 provided on the second press contact head 84 so as to extend in a direction parallel to the Z2b axis. And a pair of guide rollers 192 that are fixedly provided at predetermined positions on the base 26 (FIG. 1) and engage with one of the rail 188 and the rail 190. The first pressure contact head 82 can reciprocate in the Z2a axial direction with the rail 188 engaged with the pair of guide rollers 192 (FIG. 12C), and a plurality of gripping portions 137 (FIG. 10) are compatible test sockets. 18 is positioned at a position that is accurately aligned in the Z2a axial direction. The second press contact head 84 can reciprocate in the Z2b axial direction with the rail 190 engaged with the pair of guide rollers 192 (FIG. 12C), and a plurality of gripping portions 137 (FIG. 10) are compatible test sockets. 18 is positioned at a position that is accurately aligned in the Z2b axial direction. In a state where the rails 188 and 190 are engaged with the pair of guide rollers 192, the first and second press contact heads 82 and 84 cannot move in the Y2 axis direction.

  Next, referring to FIGS. 13A to 13L, the device transfer operation by the second transfer mechanism 22 and the power transmission unit 146 (rail 178, rail 180, guide roller 182, guide roller 184 during the device transfer operation). ) Will be described.

  FIG. 13A shows a state immediately before the electrical test is performed on the electronic device 14 (FIG. 6) gripped by the grip portion 137 of the second press contact head 84 via the test socket 18 and the test is finished. In this state, in the second press contact head 84, the guide roller 170 is engaged with the rail 168 of the guide member 166 (FIG. 11), and the second elevating drive unit (Z2b axis feeding device) 145 (FIG. 11) is engaged. Connected, the guide roller 184 is detached from the rail 180 of the guide member 176 and separated from the horizontal drive unit (Y2 axis feeding device) 80 (FIG. 11), and the rail 190 is a guide roller on the base 26 (FIG. 1). It is engaged with 192 and positioned at a predetermined position in the Y2 axis direction. The first press contact head 82 takes out the electronic device 14 from the first shifter 12 </ b> A and is disposed at a standby position in the vicinity of the test socket 18. In this state, the guide roller 158 engages with the rail 156 of the guide member 154 (FIG. 11) and is connected to the first elevating drive unit (Z2a axis feeding device) 144 (FIG. 11), and the guide roller 182 is guided. The member 176 is engaged with a rail 178 and connected to a horizontal drive unit (Y2 axis feeding device) 80 (FIG. 11). The first shifter 12 </ b> A and the second shifter 12 </ b> B are both placed at the first position, and the second support plates 90 of both are arranged adjacent to the test socket 18.

  When the electrical test is completed in the state of FIG. 13A, the second lifting / lowering drive unit (Z2b axis feeding device) 145 (FIG. 11) is activated, and the second roller driving unit 145 (FIG. 11) is engaged with the guide roller 170 and the rail 168. The pressure contact head 84 starts to move upward in the Z2b axial direction (FIG. 13B). Accordingly, the second press contact head 84 picks up and collects the electronic device 14 (FIG. 6) gripped by the grip portion 137 from the test socket 18. At this time, the roller 184 of the second press contact head 84 starts to engage with the rail 180, and the second press contact head 84 is connected to the horizontal drive unit (Y2 axis feeding device) 80 (FIG. 11).

  When the second pressure contact head 84 further moves upward in the Z2b axis direction, the rail 190 is detached from the guide roller 192, and the second pressure contact head 84 can move in the Y2 axis direction (FIG. 13C). At substantially the same time as the rail 190 is detached from the guide roller 192, the first lifting / lowering drive unit (Z2a axis feeding device) 144 (FIG. 11) is activated, and the engagement between the guide roller 158 and the rail 156 causes the first 1 press-contact head 82 starts moving downward in the Z2a axial direction. At this time, both the first and second press contact heads 82 and 84 are connected to a horizontal drive unit (Y2 axis feeding device) 80 (FIG. 11).

  When the second press contact head 84 rises to a position higher than the second shifter 12A and the first press contact head 82 descends to a position substantially the same height as the second press contact head 84, the horizontal drive unit (Y2 The shaft feeder 80 (FIG. 11) is activated (FIG. 13D). When the horizontal drive unit 80 is activated, the first pressure contact head 82 starts moving forward in the Y2 axial direction (leftward in the figure) under the engagement between the guide roller 182 and the rail 178, and in synchronization therewith, Under the engagement between the guide roller 184 and the rail 180, the second press contact head 84 starts moving forward in the Y2-axis direction (leftward in the figure).

  When the first pressure contact head 82 reaches a predetermined position in the Y2-axis direction above the test socket 18, the horizontal drive unit (Y2-axis feed device) 80 (FIG. 11) stops, while the first lift drive unit (Z2a axis) The feeding device 144 (FIG. 11) is continuously operated to lower the first pressure contact head 82 toward the test socket 18 (FIG. 13E). During this time, the second pressure contact head 84 reaches a predetermined position in the Y2 axis direction and a predetermined height in the Z2b axis direction above the second shifter 12A, and a second lifting drive unit (Z2b axis feeding device) 145 (FIG. 11). ) Stops and stops above the second shifter 12A. When the first pressure contact head 82 is lowered to a predetermined height in the Z2a axial direction above the test socket 18, the rail 188 starts to engage with the guide roller 192 on the base 26 (FIG. 1), and the predetermined position in the Y2 axial direction is reached. Is positioned.

  When the first pressure contact head 82 further descends toward the test socket 18, the guide roller 182 is detached from the rail 178 of the guide member 176, and the horizontal drive unit (Y2 axis feeding device) 80 (FIG. 11). Separated (FIG. 13F). Thereafter, the first pressure contact head 82 loads the electronic device 14 (FIG. 6) gripped by the grip portion 137 into the corresponding test socket 18 at a predetermined position in the Z2a axial direction, and the pressing portion 138 (FIG. 10) operates. The electronic device 14 is pressed against the test socket 18. In this state, an electrical test is started on the electronic device 14 held by the first pressure contact head 82.

  While the electronic device 14 held by the first pressure contact head 82 is being electrically tested, the second lifting / lowering drive unit (Z2b axis feeding device) 145 (FIG. 11) is activated and the guide roller 170. And the rail 168, the second press contact head 84 moves downward in the Z2b axial direction (FIG. 13G). When the second pressure contact head 84 reaches a predetermined position in the Z2b axial direction, the second lifting drive unit (Z2b axis feed device) 145 (FIG. 11) stops, and the second pressure contact head 84 is gripped by the gripping portion 137. The returned electronic device 14 (FIG. 6) is returned to the corresponding support part 110 (FIG. 4) of the second support plate 90 of the second shifter 12B.

  When the return of the electronic device 14 is completed, the second lifting / lowering drive unit (Z2b axis feeding device) 145 (FIG. 11) is restarted, and the second press contact is performed under the engagement between the guide roller 170 and the rail 168. The head 84 is moved upward in the Z2b axial direction (FIG. 13H). While the second press contact head 84 is moving upward in the Z2b axial direction, the second shifter 12B starts moving from the first position to the second position. During this time, the electrical test on the electronic device 14 held by the first pressure contact head 82 is continuously performed.

  When the second pressure contact head 84 reaches a predetermined position in the Z2b axial direction, the second shifter 12B reaches the second position, and the first support plate 88 is disposed below the second pressure contact head 84. Then, the horizontal drive unit (Y2 axis feeding device) 80 (FIG. 11) is activated (FIG. 13I). When the horizontal driving unit 80 is activated, the second pressure contact head 84 is engaged with the guide roller 184 and the rail 180 of the guide member 176, and the gripping unit 137 is the first support plate 88 of the second shifter 12B. The movement (to the left in the figure) is started toward a predetermined position in the Y2-axis direction where the desired electronic device 14 (FIG. 6) can be gripped. During this time, the electrical test on the electronic device 14 held by the first pressure contact head 82 is continuously performed.

  When the second press contact head 84 reaches a predetermined position in the Y2 axis direction, the horizontal drive unit (Y2 axis feed device) 80 (FIG. 11) stops, while the second lift drive unit (Z2b axis feed device) 145 (FIG. 11). 11) is activated, and the second press contact head 84 moves downward in the Z2b axial direction under the engagement between the guide roller 170 and the rail 168 (FIG. 13J). When the second press contact head 84 reaches a predetermined position in the Z2b axial direction, the second lifting drive unit (Z2b axial feed device) 145 (FIG. 11) stops, and the second press contact head 84 is connected to the second shifter 12B. The electronic device 14 (FIG. 6) supported by the desired support portion 108 (FIG. 4) of the first support plate 88 is gripped by the corresponding grip portion 137. During this time, the electrical test on the electronic device 14 held by the first pressure contact head 82 is continuously performed.

  When the second pressure contact head 84 grips the electronic device 14 by the gripping portion 137, the second lifting drive unit (Z2b axis feeding device) 145 (FIG. 11) is activated to engage the guide roller 170 and the rail 168. The second press contact head 84 moves downward in the Z2b axial direction (FIG. 13K). At the same time, or after the second press contact head 84 reaches a predetermined position in the Z2b axial direction, the horizontal drive unit (Y2 axis feed device) 80 (FIG. 11) is activated, and the second press contact head 84 is operated as a guide roller. Under the engagement between 184 and the rail 180 of the guide member 176, it moves rearward in the Y2 axis direction (to the right in the figure) toward the standby position near the test socket 18. While the second press contact head 84 is moving rearward in the Y2 axis direction, the second shifter 12B starts moving from the second position to the first position.

  When the second pressure contact head 84 reaches the standby position and the second shifter 12B reaches the first position, the electrical test on the electronic device 14 held by the first pressure contact head 82 is completed. . Therefore, the first elevating drive unit (Z2a axis feeding device) 144 (FIG. 11) is activated, and the first press contact head 82 moves upward in the Z2a axial direction under the engagement between the guide roller 158 and the rail 156. Starts moving (FIG. 13L). Thereafter, the first press contact head 82 performs the same operation as the operation of the second press contact head 84 shown in FIGS. 13A to 13K, and the second press contact head 84 performs the first operation shown in FIGS. 13A to 13K. The same operation as that of the first pressure contact head 82 is performed. By repeating these operations, the second transfer mechanism 22 can efficiently transfer the electronic device 14 between the first and second shifters 12A, 12B and the test socket 18.

  In the above-described device transfer operation by the second transfer mechanism 22, the operation control unit 86 (FIG. 1) changes from taking out the electronic device 14 by one of the first press contact head 82 and the second press contact head 84 to press contact. This is executed by controlling the second transfer mechanism 22 so as to perform the operation from the press contact of the electronic device 14 to the return by the other of the first press contact head 82 and the second press contact head 84 during the operation. The By such control, the standby time of the first and second press contact heads 82 and 84 can be shortened, and the device handling cycle time can be reduced regardless of the high temperature and normal temperature.

  According to the second transfer mechanism 22 having the above-described configuration, the first and second pressure contact heads 82 and 84 are respectively a combination of linear movement in the Y2 axis direction and linear movement in the Z2a axis direction and Z2b axis direction. Thus, the electronic device 14 can be taken out and returned to the shifter 12, and the electronic device 14 can be loaded and recovered from the test socket 18, so that, for example, the pressure-contact head 82, The inertia of 84 can be reduced and a high-speed operation with low vibration can be realized. In addition, since the first and second press contact heads 82 and 84 that originally operate in the YZ coordinate system independent of each other employ the power transmission unit 146, the first elevating drive unit (Z2a axis feeding device) 144 and It can be operated by three axis driving units, that is, a second lifting / lowering driving unit (Z2b axis feeding device) 145 and a horizontal driving unit (Y2 axis feeding device) 80. As a result, the entire second transfer mechanism 22 can be reduced in weight, and low-vibration high-speed operation can be reliably realized, and the manufacturing cost and maintenance cost of the handler 10 and power consumption can be reduced.

  FIG. 14 shows the overall configuration of the handler 200 according to the second embodiment. 15 and 16 schematically show a part of the handler 200. The handler 200 is an apparatus that supplies and discharges an electronic device with respect to a test apparatus that performs an electrical test of an electronic device such as an IC device or an LSI device.

  As shown in a plan view in FIG. 14, the handler 200 includes a plurality of supply and discharge trays 202 on which a plurality of electronic devices 201 (FIG. 16) can be placed, and a plurality of electronic devices 201, a test apparatus. A shifter 206 that can be placed in a reference arrangement corresponding to the arrangement of a plurality of test sockets 204 (not shown), and a first supply transfer mechanism 208 that transfers the electronic device 201 from the tray 202 to the shifter 206. , A second test transfer mechanism 210 (the operation region is indicated by a broken line) that transfers the electronic device 201 between the shifter 206 and the test socket 204 and presses the electronic device 201 against the test socket 204; A third discharge transfer mechanism 212 for transferring the electronic device 201 to the tray 202, a shifter 206, and a first transfer mechanism 08, an operation control unit 214 for controlling the operations of the second transfer mechanism 210 and the third transfer mechanism 212, the tray 202, the shifter 206, the first transfer mechanism 208, the second transfer mechanism 210, and the third transfer. And a base 216 on which the mechanism 212 is mounted.

  The handler 200 includes a rotary indexing-type second transfer mechanism 210 instead of the direct-acting second transfer mechanism 22, and a single shifter 206 instead of the first and second shifters 12A and 12B. The configuration is basically the same as that of the handler 10 except that the above-described configuration is provided. Therefore, the details of the configuration related to the device handling operation of the handler 200 are omitted.

  The shifter 206 includes a first supply-side support plate 218 that supports the electronic device 201 transferred from the tray 202, and a second discharge-side support plate 220 that supports the electronic device 201 transferred from the test socket 204. Is provided. In the shifter 206, the first transfer mechanism 208 can place the electronic device 201 on the first support plate 218 and the second transfer mechanism 210 can place the electronic device 201 on the second support plate 220. 1 position (for example, the position shown in FIG. 14), the second transfer mechanism 210 can take out the electronic device 201 from the first support plate 218, and the third transfer mechanism 212 can be removed from the second support plate 220. The electronic device 201 can be moved between a second position where it can be removed.

  As shown in FIG. 15, the handler 200 includes a heater contact-type heating mechanism 222 that is provided in the shifter 206 and heats the electronic device 201 placed on the shifter 206. The heating mechanism 222 heats the first support plate 218 of the shifter 206 while not substantially heating the second support plate 220. In the illustrated embodiment, the heating mechanism 222 includes a plate-type heater (for example, referred to as a rubber heater) 226 that is sandwiched between a first support plate 218 and a substrate 224 that supports the first support plate 218. The heater 226 indirectly heats the electronic device 201 supported by an arbitrary support portion 218 by uniformly heating all of the plurality of support portions 228 included in the first support plate 218 to raise the temperature to a predetermined temperature. Let warm.

  The heating mechanism 222 is connected to a heating circuit having a power source 230 and a switch unit 231. By opening and closing the switch part 231, the heating mechanism 222 can be switched between operation and pause. The switch unit 231 can be opened and closed manually by an operator, or the operation control unit 214 can automatically open and close the switch unit 231. By providing the switch unit 231, the handler 200 can selectively perform high-temperature handling that heats the electronic device 201 to a predetermined temperature before testing and room-temperature handling that does not heat the electronic device 201.

  The handler 200 further includes a temperature sensor 232 that senses the temperature of an object heated by the heating mechanism 222 and a temperature control unit 233 that controls the heating operation of the heating mechanism 222 according to the temperature sensed by the temperature sensor 232. In the illustrated embodiment, the temperature sensor 232 senses the temperature of each of the plurality of support portions 228 of the first support plate 218 heated by the heater 226. The temperature control unit 233 refers to the real-time temperature data of the support unit 228 obtained from the temperature sensor 232, controls the switch circuit 226a attached to the heater 226, and adjusts the temperature of the support unit 228 to a predetermined target temperature. To do. Note that the temperature sensor 232 may be configured to sense the temperature of the electronic device 201 supported by the support unit 228 or to detect the temperature of the substrate 224 to which the first support plate 218 is fixed.

  As shown in FIG. 16, the second transfer mechanism 210 includes a rotary indexing device 234 supported by the base 216, and a Za axis feeding device 236 in the Za axis direction parallel to the rotational axis of the rotary indexing device 234. A first pressure contact head 238 that performs a feed operation by driving the Zb axis feed device 240 in a Zb axis direction parallel to the rotation axis of the rotary indexing device 234. . The first pressure contact head 238 and the second pressure contact head 242 are rotationally indexed between a predetermined position above the shifter 206 and a predetermined position above the test socket 220 by driving the rotational indexing device 234. When the Za axis feeding device 236 or the Zb axis feeding device 240 is driven to move up and down with respect to the shifter 206 or the test socket 220, a predetermined number of electronic devices 201 are taken out from the shifter 206, and the taken out electronic devices 201 are taken into the test socket 220. The electronic device 201 after the pressure contact can be recovered from the test socket 220 and returned to the shifter 206. The first press-contact head 238 and the second press-contact head 242 alternately perform the above-described take-out operation and return operation of the electronic device 201 with respect to the shifter 206 and the load operation and recovery operation of the electronic device 201 with respect to the test socket 220. be able to. In FIG. 16, the support portion 228 of the shifter 206, the grip portion 244 of the first press contact head 238, the grip portion 246 of the second press contact head 242, and the test socket 220 are partially omitted.

  In the handler 200 having the above configuration, the shifter 206 provided for efficiently transferring the electronic device 201 from the tray 202 to the test socket 220 is provided with the heater contact type heating mechanism 222 for heating the electronic device 201. Compared to a conventional handler for loading / recovering an electronic device during device transfer to a preheat unit independent of the transfer mechanism, the cycle time for high-temperature handling can be shortened. In particular, if the operation of the heating mechanism 222 is switched by operating the switch unit 231, the handler 200 can selectively perform both high-temperature handling and normal-temperature handling. In addition, since the device handling operation is substantially the same between the high temperature handling and the normal temperature handling, the cycle time when performing the high temperature handling can be as close as possible to the cycle time when performing the normal temperature handling.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Handler 12 Shifter 12A 1st shifter 12B 2nd shifter 14 Electronic device 16 Tray 18 Test socket 20 1st transfer mechanism 22 2nd transfer mechanism 24 3rd transfer mechanism 80 Horizontal drive part (Y2 axis feeder)
82 First press contact head 84 Second press contact head 86 Operation control unit 88 First support plate 90 Second support plate 112 Heating mechanism 114 Heater 117 Switch unit 118 Temperature sensor 119 Temperature control unit 124 Displacement mechanism 126 Link mechanism 144 First lifting / lowering drive unit (Z2a axis feeding device)
145 2nd raising / lowering drive part (Z2b axis feed device)
146 Power transmission unit 186 Positioning unit 200 Handler 201 Electronic device 202 Tray 204 Test socket 206 Shifter 208 First transfer mechanism 210 Second transfer mechanism 212 Third transfer mechanism 218 First support plate 220 Second support plate 222 Heating mechanism 226 Heater 231 Switch unit 232 Temperature sensor 233 Temperature control unit

Claims (18)

A tray for supply and discharge capable of mounting a plurality of electronic devices;
A shifter capable of mounting a plurality of electronic devices in a reference arrangement corresponding to the arrangement of a plurality of test sockets included in the test apparatus;
A first supply transfer mechanism for transferring an electronic device from the tray to the shifter;
A second test transport mechanism for transporting the electronic device between the shifter and the test socket and press-contacting the electronic device to the test socket;
A third transport mechanism for discharging the electronic device from the shifter to the tray;
A heating mechanism provided on the shifter for heating the electronic device mounted on the shifter;
The shifter includes a first supply-side support plate that supports an electronic device transferred from the tray,
The first support plate has a plurality of support portions larger in number than the test sockets included in the test apparatus, and can support a plurality of electronic devices on the desired support portion among the support portions in the reference arrangement.
The heating mechanism heats the electronic device supported by the support;
handler.   The handler according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of support portions are arranged at a pitch smaller than a pitch of the test socket.   The handler according to claim 1, wherein the heating mechanism includes a plate heater that uniformly heats all of the plurality of support portions.   The first transfer mechanism can place a plurality of electronic devices taken out of the tray on a support portion selected from the plurality of support portions at a pitch corresponding to the pitch of the reference arrangement. The listed handler. A tray for supply and discharge capable of mounting a plurality of electronic devices;
A shifter capable of mounting a plurality of electronic devices in a reference arrangement corresponding to the arrangement of a plurality of test sockets included in the test apparatus;
A first supply transfer mechanism for transferring an electronic device from the tray to the shifter;
A second test transport mechanism for transporting the electronic device between the shifter and the test socket and press-contacting the electronic device to the test socket;
A third transport mechanism for discharging the electronic device from the shifter to the tray;
A heating mechanism provided on the shifter for heating the electronic device mounted on the shifter;
The shifter includes a first supply-side support plate that supports an electronic device transferred from the tray,
The first support plate has a plurality of support portions larger in number than the test sockets included in the test apparatus, and can support a plurality of electronic devices on the desired support portion among the support portions in the reference arrangement.
The heating mechanism heats the electronic device supported by the support;
A handler,
The first transfer mechanism can place a plurality of electronic devices taken out from the tray on a support portion selected from the plurality of support portions at a pitch corresponding to the pitch of the reference arrangement,
An operation control unit configured to control operations of the first transfer mechanism, the second transfer mechanism, and the third transfer mechanism, wherein the operation control unit includes more electronic devices than the number of the reference arrangements; The repetitive transfer operation of the first transfer mechanism is controlled so as to be placed on a plurality of support parts, and the electronic device having the reference arrangement is arranged in an order substantially corresponding to the order placed on the plurality of support parts. to transfer to the test socket from the desired supporting part, controls the transfer operation of the second transfer mechanism, handler.   The first transfer mechanism relatively positions the plurality of gripping units to take out a plurality of electronic devices from the tray, and the plurality of gripping units to correspond to the pitch of the reference arrangement. The handler according to claim 4, further comprising a displacement mechanism for displacing.   The handler according to claim 6, wherein the displacement mechanism includes a plurality of link mechanisms that displace all the other gripping portions with respect to one gripping portion so that a distance between them is directly proportional.   The shifter includes a second discharge-side support plate that supports an electronic device transferred from a test socket, and the second support plate includes a plurality of support portions having the same number and pitch as the test sockets of the test apparatus. The handler according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of electronic devices can be supported by the support portion in the reference arrangement.   The third transfer mechanism includes a plurality of gripping units that take out a plurality of electronic devices from the second support plate, and the plurality of grips so that the pitch of the taken out electronic devices changes from the pitch of the reference arrangement. The handler according to claim 8, further comprising a displacement mechanism that relatively displaces the part.   10. The handler according to claim 9, wherein the displacement mechanism includes a plurality of link mechanisms that displace all the other gripping portions with respect to one gripping portion so that the distance between them is directly proportional.   In the shifter, the first transfer mechanism can place an electronic device on the first support plate, and the second transfer mechanism can place an electronic device on the second support plate. A second position where the second transport mechanism can remove the electronic device from the first support plate and the third transport mechanism can remove the electronic device from the second support plate. The handler according to claim 8, which can be moved between.   The handler according to claim 8, wherein the first support plate and the second support plate are integrally connected to each other.   The handler according to claim 1, further comprising a switch unit that switches between an operation and a pause of the heating mechanism.   The handler according to claim 1, further comprising: a temperature sensor that senses a temperature of an object that is heated by the heating mechanism; and a temperature control unit that controls a heating operation of the heating mechanism according to the temperature sensed by the temperature sensor. .   2. The handler according to claim 1, comprising the first shifter and the second shifter disposed on opposite sides of a test socket of a test apparatus.   The second transport mechanism includes: a first press contact head that takes out an electronic device from the first shifter, presses the taken out electronic device against a test socket, and returns the pressed electronic device to the first shifter. And a second press-contact head that takes out the electronic device from the second shifter, presses the taken-out electronic device against a test socket, and returns the electronic device after press-contact to the second shifter. The listed handler.   An operation control unit that controls the operation of the second transfer mechanism is provided, and the operation control unit extends from taking out the electronic device by one of the first press contact head and the second press contact head to press contact. The second transfer mechanism is controlled so as to perform an operation from the pressure contact of the electronic device to the return by the other of the first pressure contact head and the second pressure contact head during the operation. Handler.   The second transfer mechanism includes a first lifting / lowering drive unit that moves the first pressure contact head up and down relative to the first shifter and the test socket, and the second shifter and the test socket relative to the second shifter and the test socket. A second raising / lowering drive unit for raising and lowering the pressure contact head; horizontally moving the first pressure contact head between an upper position of the first shifter and an upper position of the test socket; and A horizontal drive unit that horizontally moves the second pressure contact head between an upper position and an upper position of the test socket, and a drive between the first pressure contact head, the second pressure contact head, and the horizontal drive unit. The handler of Claim 16 provided with the power transmission part which transmits force releasably.

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