JPH04223353A - Inspecting device for ic device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable an IC device to be inspected keeping it horizontal by a method wherein the IC device is made to slide down by its own weight at a loading mechanism and an unloading mechanism and horizontally transferred at a check mechanism. CONSTITUTION:A magazine M where many IC devices D which are subjected to an appearance inspection are housed is installed on a loading mechanism section 11, and the IC device D is separately taken out of the magazine M one by one by tilting the magazine M. The device D is changed in position to be kept horizontal through a device leveling section, and a device transfer means is made to start operating. By this setup, the device D is positioned by the positioning section 11 of an inspecting 10, and leads L are checked in bend through a lead bend check section 12. In succession, the device D is transferred to a device leveling section 21. Then, the device D is transferred to a shuttle member 23 by tilting the device leveling section 21. Then, a device, which is judged that its leads are free from bend and aligned in a right direction basing on the check result by a check section 10, is housed in a non-defective container 25a.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an IC device inspection apparatus used for visual inspection of IC devices (integrated circuit elements).

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Various inspection and measurement apparatuses have been developed and put into practical use to automate inspections and measurements such as inspections of electrical characteristics and appearance inspections of IC devices. A typical example of these is equipment that tests and measures electrical characteristics. This test/measurement apparatus tests the electrical characteristics of an IC device by contacting a lead with a device contact portion of a test head of an IC tester.

In order to improve the efficiency of this test, a large number of IC devices are stored in a magazine, which serves as a storage jig, in a single line, and this magazine is loaded into the test/measurement equipment. After installation and testing and measurement,
The C device is re-stored in the magazine and the magazine is recovered. For this purpose, this type of test/measurement equipment has a loading mechanism section for supplying IC devices, and an unloading mechanism section for classifying and storing tested and measured IC devices based on the test results. The device has a mechanism section, and further includes an inspection mechanism section for positioning the IC device supplied from the loading mechanism and inserting and removing it into the device contact section in the test head of the IC tester. Here, in the loading mechanism section, IC devices are separated and taken out one by one from the magazine, and in the unloading mechanism section, IC devices that have been tested and measured must be stored in the magazine. No. In order to facilitate the operation of loading and unloading IC devices into and out of the magazine using a simple mechanism, the magazine is tilted and the IC
The device was configured to be taken out of the magazine by sliding under its own weight, and to be stored in the magazine.

[0004] Therefore, the loading mechanism section is provided with an inclined chute, and by tilting the magazine to an angle that matches the inclination of the inclined chute, the ICs in the magazine are
Separate the devices one by one and feed them into an inclined chute.
The running direction of the IC device is changed from the inclined chute to the vertical direction, the device is positioned midway along the vertical slide, and a predetermined test is performed by mounting the device on the device contact portion. In addition, after the test is completed, the IC device should be removed from the device contact part.
After releasing the positioning, the IC devices are sent to the inclined chute on the unloading mechanism side, transferred from this inclined chute to the sorting means, and classified based on the test results by the sorting means, and the IC devices are placed in the magazine. I am trying to re-store it. The sorting means and magazine in this unloading mechanism are in an inclined state.

[0005]

[Problem to be solved by the invention] As mentioned above, the IC
If the device is configured to slide down under its own weight, it is extremely convenient to take the IC device in and out of the magazine. However, if this self-weight sliding method is adopted, the posture of the IC device in the test section will be limited.
Depending on the type of inspection, horizontal arrangement may be preferable from the standpoint of inspection accuracy. For example, when inspecting the appearance of IC devices such as bent leads,
Holding the device horizontally is more convenient in terms of positioning accuracy, operation of the inspection mechanism, etc.

[0006] However, in the prior art described above, since a transport system using gravity sliding is adopted, it is impossible to conduct inspection in a horizontal state.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to remove IC devices without complicating the mechanism for loading and unloading IC devices into magazines.
An object of the present invention is to provide an IC device testing device that can test the device in a horizontal state.

[0008]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above-mentioned objects, the present invention provides a loader section that separates and supplies IC devices stored in a magazine one by one, and an inspection of the IC devices supplied from the loader section. and an unloader section that classifies IC devices and stores them in magazines based on the inspection results of the inspection mechanism section, and the loader section and the unloader section are provided with a magazine tilting mechanism. By tilting the magazine using a magazine tilting mechanism, IC devices can be taken in and out by sliding down by their own weight, and the inspection mechanism section is provided with device transfer means for horizontally transferring IC devices by vacuum suction. It is characterized by its structure.

[0009]

[Operation] With this configuration, when an IC device is taken out from a magazine in the loading mechanism section, and when a tested IC device is re-stored in the unloading mechanism section, the magazine is tilted by the tilting mechanism. When taking the IC device in and out and moving it to the inspection mechanism section, the attitude of the IC device can be changed from a tilted state to a horizontal state. Therefore, since the IC device is held horizontally in the inspection mechanism section,
It becomes possible to perform precise positioning, and it also becomes possible to perform inspections such as lead bending inspections while holding the IC device in a horizontal state.

0010

Embodiments Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. First, FIG. 1 shows the general configuration of the inspection apparatus, and FIG. 2 shows the block configuration of each work area. In the drawings, 1 indicates a loading mechanism section, 10 indicates an inspection mechanism section, and 20 indicates an unloading mechanism section.

The loading mechanism section 1 includes a magazine stocker 2.
and a magazine tilting section 3. In the magazine stocker 2, magazines M containing IC devices to be tested arranged in a row are stored in a stacked state between both magazine posts 2a, 2a. In order to take out the magazines M one by one from the lower part of the magazine stocker 2 and load them on the magazine tilting part 3, a magazine conveying means 4 is provided as shown in FIG. is provided with a well-known magazine separation mechanism, whereby the magazines M storing the IC devices D to be tested are taken out one by one from the magazine stocker 2 and loaded onto the magazine tilting section 3. There is. The magazine tilting section 3 is connected to the cylinder 5
It can be tilted by. Furthermore, this magazine tilting section 3 is connected to a tilting chute 6.

As is clear from FIG. 4, the inclined chute 6 is provided with means 7 for separating the IC devices D into individual parts. This individual separating means 7 consists of a pair of cylinders 7a and 7b.
One cylinder 7a is arranged at the exit portion of this inclined chute 6, and the other cylinder 7b is configured to be able to lock the second IC device D from the top in the inclined chute 6. has been done. A device elevation portion 8 is provided at the exit portion of the inclined chute 6. This device elevating section 8 changes the attitude of the IC device D which has been sliding down an incline so that it becomes a horizontal state. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the device elevating section 8 has a base guide 8a and a roof guide 8b, which are rotatable at a predetermined angle about a rotation axis 8c. And cylinder, cam,
It is adapted to be rotated between a state connected to the inclined chute 6 and a horizontal state by a suitable rotation drive means such as a solenoid. The device elevating portion 8 has a stopper 8c that stops the IC device D at a predetermined position when the IC device D is received from the inclined chute 6.
is provided, and when the roof guide 8b is in a horizontal state, the roof guide 8b can be rotated about the pivot portion 8d to open the upper part. Furthermore, in order to almost accurately position the IC device D disposed inside the device elevation section 8 when the device is in the horizontal state, the side guide 8
e is provided.

After positioning the IC device D in a horizontal state using the device elevating portion 8 in this manner, the IC device
The device D is configured to be taken out from the device elevation section 8 and transferred to the inspection mechanism section 10. Here, the types of IC devices to be inspected include pin insertion type devices such as DIP type devices, surface mount type devices such as SOP and FRP type devices with leads bent in an L shape, and devices with leads bent in a J shape. Although any type of device may be used, such as a bent SOJ or PLCC type device, this embodiment will be described assuming that the appearance of an SOJ type device is to be inspected. This device D is formed by bending a large number of leads L led out from both left and right sides of a package part P inward into a J-shape. Further, on the upper surface of the package part P, a so-called polarity display part R is formed, which is a recessed part that indicates the directionality of the device.

The appearance inspection items include an inspection for bending of the lead L and a polarity inspection for detecting the position of the polarity display portion R. For this purpose, the inspection mechanism section 10 includes a positioning section 11 for strictly positioning the IC device D, a lead bending detection section 12 for detecting lead bending of the IC device D, and a direction of the IC device D. It is composed of a polarity detection section 13 that detects polarity.

First, the positioning section 11 is for accurately positioning the device D with the lead L of the device D as a reference, whereas the device elevating section 8 is positioned with the package section P as a reference. That is, since the package portion P of the device D is molded with resin, positioning using this package portion P as a reference does not necessarily result in accurate positioning. Therefore, when the device elevating section 8 is horizontally displaced, the device D, which has been previously positioned based on the package section, is repositioned in this positioning section 11 based on the lead reference. For this purpose, as shown in FIG. 7, a device accommodating section 112 is formed in the positioning block 111 constituting the positioning section 11, and walls 113 on four sides that partition this device accommodating section 112 are formed with leads. L can be accommodated without any play. Further, the upper portion of this wall portion 113 is a draw-in tapered portion.

Next, the lead bending detection section 12 is for detecting whether or not the device D is bent in a normal state. Detection of this lead bending is carried out as shown in FIG.
A device D to be inspected is placed on the base member 121 provided with the base member 21a, and the leads L in this device D
The cover member 122 is brought into contact with the root portion led out from the package part P of the cover member 12 at this time.
By detecting that the lead L is placed at a height of 2, it is determined whether or not the lead L is bent in a normal state. Here, as shown in FIG. 9, when the leads L are in a normal state, all the leads L are connected to the recess 121.
It comes into contact with the bottom wall of a, and as a result, this lead L
The cover member 122 that comes into contact with is lowered to a predetermined position. However, as shown in FIG. 9, if the bending angle of the lead L' is too large, the lead L' will bend over the base member 121.
The lead L' comes into contact with the edge portion of the recess 121a and rises from the recess 121a, and the height position of the root portion of the lead L' becomes higher, and the cover member 122
will not descend to the specified position. Therefore, by detecting the height position of the cover member 122 by the position detecting means 123, it is possible to detect whether or not the lead is bent. Here, this position detection means 123
The device must have a distance resolution sufficient to distinguish between good and defective products, taking into account the allowable limit for lead bending. Optical or other detection means can be used, but the price is low. From a comprehensive perspective, including
An air sensor that detects the position of the detection member by blowing pressurized air onto the detection member and detecting the back pressure is preferably used.

Furthermore, the polarity detecting section 13 is for recognizing the directionality of the device D, and detects the position of the polarity display section R recessed in the package section P as a clue to this directionality recognition. It is. For this purpose, as shown in FIG. 11, a contact member 131 is used at the position where the polarity display portion R is originally formed, and the lead L is engaged in the same manner as the base member 121 in the lead bend detection portion 12 described above. The device D is positioned and installed on the device positioning base 132 having a recess 132a,
The contact member 131 is brought into contact with the top of the package part P, and the height position of the contact member 131 at this time is detected by a position detection means 133 such as an air sensor.
It is possible to determine whether or not the polarity display portion R is present at the contact position. When the lead bending and polarity inspection of the device D is completed in this manner, the device D is sent into the device elevating section 21 of the unloading mechanism section 20.

The device elevating section 8 on the loading mechanism section 1 side is connected to the positioning section 11, from the positioning section 11 to the lead bend detection section 12, from the lead bend detection section 12 to the polarity detection section 13, and from the polarity detection section. 13 to the device elevating section 21 on the side of the unloading mechanism section 20 by pitch feeding, as shown in FIG.
Device transfer means 14 is provided. Here, the device elevation section 8, the positioning section 11, the lead bending detection section 1
2. The polarity detection section 13 and the device elevation section 21 are arranged at equal pitch intervals, and the device transfer means 14 carries the package of the device D at the tip of four arms 141 arranged at the same interval. Department P
The suction head 141a that vacuum suctions the rectangular movement means 14
2, it is configured to move back and forth and move up and down. Therefore, by first operating the suction head 141a at the retracted position and then at the lowered position, the device elevating section 8, the positioning section 11, and the lead bending detecting section 1
2 and the polarity detection section 13 by suction, and the device transfer means 14 is operated in the order of raising, advancing, and lowering, and the device D is sequentially moved to the positioning section 11, the lead bending detection section 12, and the polarity detection section. 13 and the device elevation section 21.

The device elevating section 21 in the unloading mechanism section 20 is for converting the attitude of the device D from a horizontal state to an inclined state, and its configuration is substantially the same as that of the device elevating section 8. Further, a sorting section 22 is provided at the exit section of this device elevation section 8 . This classification section 22 has a shuttle member 23 that can be slid in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the device elevation section 8, and this shuttle member 23 is tilted at the same angle as the inclination angle when the device elevation section 21 is tilted. ing. This shuttle member 23
has a device accommodating portion into which at least one device D is mounted, and a stopper 24 is provided at the outlet portion of the device accommodating portion, and the outlet portion can be opened and closed by the stopper 24. The outlet portion of the shuttle member 23 is connected to a good device storage section 25a, a defective device storage section 25b with a bent lead, and a polarity reversal device storage section 25c, each of which has the magazine M inclined at the same angle as the shuttle member 23. It is now possible to do so. Further, collection magazine stock sections 26a to 26c are provided adjacent to each of these device storage sections, and furthermore, each of the device storage sections 25a to 26c described above is provided.
25c is provided with an empty magazine stock section 27 for supplying empty magazines (see FIG. 2).

Here, in the empty magazine stock section 27,
Empty magazines collected in the loading mechanism section 1 are stocked. For this purpose, a magazine elevating means 30 is provided between the empty magazine collection section and the empty magazine stock section 27. This magazine elevating means 3
0, three magazine receiving plates 31 each support positions near the front and rear ends of the magazine M, as shown in FIG.
a, 31b, and 31c, and each magazine receiving plate 31a and 31b and 31b and 31c are respectively linked to the link member 3.
2a and 32b. These link members 32
a, 32b can pivot back and forth about their intermediate portions, and a driving means 33, such as a cylinder, is connected to the connecting portion of the link members 32a, 32b to the magazine receiving plate 31b. Therefore, when the drive means 33 is operated, the magazine receiving plates 31a and 31c move forward,
The magazine receiving plate 31b is moved backward, and the magazine receiving plate 31b is moved forward, and the magazine receiving plates 31a and 31c are moved backward. As a result, the empty magazine fed into the empty magazine collection 4 is transferred to the magazine receiving plates 31a, 31b, and 31c in this order, and is received between the magazine posts 27a and 27a forming the empty magazine stock section 27.

With the above-mentioned configuration, the magazine M, which is installed in the loading mechanism section 1 and stores a large number of devices D to be visually inspected, is tilted, and the devices D in this magazine M are sequentially inspected one by one. The device D is separated and taken out, changed to a horizontal position in the device elevating section 8, and the device D is moved to the positioning section 11 of the inspection mechanism section 10 by activating the device transfer means 14. After positioning based on the lead reference, the lead bending inspection section 12 first inspects whether the lead L is bent or not, and then the polarity inspection section 13 detects its direction, and then the device elevation section 21 of the unloading mechanism section 20 to be transferred to And this device elevation part 21
The device D sent into the
This device D is transferred to the shuttle member 23 by tilting. Therefore, based on the inspection results in the inspection mechanism section 10, devices with no lead bends and facing in the correct direction are found in the non-defective device storage section 25a.
will be stored in. Also, devices with bent leads,
Regardless of the orientation of the polarity display section, devices are stored in the defective device storage section 25b, and devices with no bent leads but whose polarity display section faces in the opposite direction are stored in the polarity reversal device storage section 25c. They can be classified and stored separately.

[0022] In the loading mechanism section 1 and the unloading mechanism section 20, the device D is allowed to slide down by its own weight along the inclined conveyance path, so that it is difficult to take out the device D from the magazine M and to remove the device D from the magazine M. Storage in the magazine M can be carried out easily and reliably with an extremely simple configuration. Furthermore, in the inspection mechanism section 10 where the device D must be positioned extremely accurately and held in a stable state, the device D is pitch-fed in a horizontal state. positioning can be performed extremely accurately, improving inspection accuracy. Furthermore, since the device D does not slide against other members within the inspection mechanism section 10, there is no risk of dust or the like being generated in the inspection mechanism section 10. Each member is protected from dust. However, in the loading mechanism section 1 and the unloading mechanism section 20, the device D slides down under its own weight, so there is a risk of dust etc. 10, it is possible to prevent dust generated in the loading mechanism section 1 and the unloading mechanism section 20 from entering the inspection area.

[0023]

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, the present invention is configured so that the IC device is slid down by its own weight in the loading mechanism section and the unloading mechanism section, and is configured to be horizontally transported in the inspection mechanism section. It becomes possible to inspect the IC device in a horizontal state without complicating the configuration of the inspection apparatus, and it becomes possible to accurately position the IC device. Brief description of the drawing

[
FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an IC device testing apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a work area in the inspection device.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of a loading mechanism section.

FIG. 4 is a configuration explanatory diagram of an inclined chute and an individual separation mechanism.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the device elevation part.

FIG. 6 is a side view of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the positioning section.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of a lead bending inspection section.

FIG. 9 is an operation explanatory diagram showing a detection state of one type of lead bend.

FIG. 10 is an operation explanatory diagram showing another type of lead bend detection state.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of a polarity test section.

FIG. 12 is a configuration explanatory diagram of a device transfer means.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of the configuration of an unloading mechanism section.

FIG. 14 is a configuration explanatory diagram of an empty magazine transfer mechanism.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Load mechanism section 2 Magazine stocker 3 Magazine tilting part 6 Inclined chute 7 Individual separation means 8 Device elevation part 10 Inspection mechanism section 11 Positioning part 12 Lead bending detection section 13　Polarity detection section 14 Device transfer means 20 Unloading mechanism section

Claims (1)

[Claims] Claims: 1. A loader unit that separates and supplies IC devices stored in a magazine one by one; an inspection mechanism unit that inspects the IC devices supplied from the loader unit; The loader section and the unloader section are provided with a magazine tilting mechanism, and by tilting the magazine with the magazine tilting mechanism, the IC devices can be slid down by their own weight. 1. An inspection apparatus for an IC device, characterized in that the inspection mechanism section is provided with device transfer means for transferring the IC device in a horizontal direction by vacuum suction.