JPH04251951A - Test handler apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable easy switching to the test mode of automatic continuous operation by incorporating a handling mechanism part as an integral unit in a handier main body and by making the whole handling mechanism part movable in a direction of keeping away from the top face of the test head. CONSTITUTION:The top plate 2 of a handier main body 1 is laid out with a handling mechanism part 22 assembled as an integral unit on the base plate 23. The top face of the top plate 2 of the handier main body 1 is provided with a projection of a rodlike positioning guide 32 and a perforation to position the handling mechanism 22. Further, one side edge of the base plate 23 is borne rotatably by a hinge and the like. It is swung in a direction of keeping away from the test head 10 so that a large space S' to make various works above the test head 10. This can shorten the procedure time and facilitate works.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Industrial Field of Application] The present invention is applicable to a test head for an IC to be measured when performing a test to measure the characteristics of a semiconductor.
The present invention relates to a test handler device that automatically transports objects to the contactor of a tester, and in particular to a test handler device that improves workability in switching the type of object to be measured, self-diagnosis, and manual measurement without using the handler device.

0002

[Prior Art] Conventionally, a test handler device for a surface mount package such as a QFP or a QFJ is generally shown in FIG.
It was configured as shown.

That is, on the top plate 2 of the handler body 1,
A transport device 5 that moves in the X and Y directions by the operation of the robot 3 and the Y robot 4 is provided, and trays 7 for storing ICs 6 as objects to be measured are arranged in multiple rows. Further, on one side of the top plate 2, a vertically movable contact pusher 9 is provided with an IC transfer arm 8 at the lower end.
is erected, and the contactor 11 of the test head 10 is located below the contact pusher 9.

[0004] This allows the transport device 5 to transfer the I on the tray 7.
C (object to be measured) 6 is picked up, and the picked up IC 6 is transferred to the test head 1 by the X robot 3, the Y robot 4 and their auxiliary mechanisms, and further by the IC transfer arm 8.
0 to the upper surface of the contactor 11. Then, sufficient contact is made between the contactor 11 and the electrode part of the IC 6 using the contact pusher 9, and in this state, a test is started using the tester. After the test is completed and the test results are known, the contact pusher 9 is moved to the contactor 11. The X robot 3, the Y robot 4, and their auxiliary mechanisms move the IC 6 back onto the designated tray 7 using the transport device 5.
It is like being transported up to. Based on the test results, the ICs 6 are classified into non-defective products and defective products, and the ICs 6 are stored in the tray 7.

The test head 10 includes a cable 12.
is connected to the test head table 16 and placed on a test head table 16 which is moved up and down via a screw 15 by rotation of a handle 14 rotatably supported on a test head holder 13 .

FIG. 7 shows the relative positional relationship between the handler main body 1 and the test head 10 during automatic continuous operation of such a test handler device.

In normal operation, the handler device's I
After the IC 6 is transferred onto the contactor 11 of the test head 10 by the C transfer arm 8 and sufficient contact is obtained by the contact pusher 7, this test is performed. At this time, the positional relationship between the test head 10 and the handler main body 1 is such that the relative position between the contactor 11 and the IC transport arm 8 can ensure sufficient accuracy, that is, the center line 11a of the contactor 11 and the center of the IC transport arm 8. line 8a
must be made to match.

FIG. 8 shows the positional relationship between the test head 10 and the IC transfer arm 8 of the handler device, and the details of the contactor periphery.

The contactor 11 of the test head 10 is connected to the performance board 1 integrated with the test head 10.
It is attached above 7. The contactor 11 is mounted on the contact board 18 by soldering or the like, and is fixed on the performance board 17 with a contact board holder 19, thereby establishing electrical continuity.

Here, the contact board 18 and the contactor 11 differ depending on the type of IC 6 product.
Many types are prepared and used in advance, such as by product type and package shape. At factories, etc., products are tested for a wide variety of products by replacing them.

In the test process, the tester is used in the following modes in addition to the automatic continuous operation described above.

■ Manual measurement (product startup, etc.) ■ Self-diagnosis for confirming the quality of the tester Figure 9 shows the relative positional relationship between the test head 10 and the handler device at this time.
Shown below.

That is, by rotating the handle 14, the test head table 16 and eventually the test head 10 are lowered through the screw 15 (arrow 20), and the test head 10 is placed outside the overhanging portion of the handler body 1. Move it together with the test head holder 13 (
Arrow 21), these operations were generally performed.

[0014]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, the above conventional example has the following problems.

[0015] Problems when changing the product type Replacing the contact board 18 is generally performed in the following steps. That is, since the space S between the test head 10 and performance board 17 and the top plate 2 of the handler main body 1 cannot be large (restrictions due to test characteristics), the handle 14 of the test head holder 13 is rotated and the screw 15 is After lowering the test head table 16 and replacing the contact board 18 in this state, the handle 14 of the test head holder 13 is rotated to raise the test head table 16. If the contact board 18 is replaced by moving the test head 10 in the Z-axis direction in this way, the test head 10 is generally quite heavy and needs to be aligned with high precision. The relative position between the test head 10 and the top plate 2 of the handler main body 1 changes due to slight movement of the test head holder 13 or distortion of the test head 10 due to this, and the center line 8a of the IC transfer arm 8 and the contactor 11 center line 11a may occur. If a positional shift occurs in this way, an error will occur in the test, so it is necessary to correct this, but this correction work is generally done by removing the free casters of the test head holder 13 and At present, this work is extremely difficult because it is performed by changing the position of the

[0016] Problems when returning from manual work or self-diagnosis work to automatic continuous operation This is a problem when returning from the layout shown in FIG. 9 to the layout shown in FIG. 7, and is also the problem of the positional deviation mentioned above. The purpose of this operation is to accurately align the x, y, and θ directions of the IC transfer hand 8 of the handler device and the contactor 11 of the test head 10. However, this task is extremely difficult due to the following factors, and is expected to become even more difficult as the number of pins increases and the package becomes finer. a) The weight of the test head 10 is generally 50 to 70
It's quite heavy at Kg. b) The spatial space S between the contactor 11 and the top plate 2 of the handler body 1 is quite small, making it difficult to visually check the alignment status. c) A mechanical mechanism for determining the relative position of the handler device and the test head 10 can be considered, but this would require a considerably large mechanism due to the weight of the test head 10. d) In a package product having electrodes with a fine pitch, the accuracy that can be ensured by a mechanical relative positioning mechanism is limited to the center line 8a of the IC transfer hand 8 shown in FIG.
It is difficult to align the center line 11a of the contactor 11 with the center line 11a of the contactor 11.

[0017] Recent test processes include product type switching,
It is desired to improve the workability of manual measurements (new product launches, etc.) and self-diagnosis. This means that the conventional technology has a drawback in terms of the difficulty of the work and the flexibility of the test process in response to these requirements.

[0018] In view of the above, the present invention enables easy switching to each of the test modes of type switching, manual measurement, self-diagnosis, and automatic continuous operation without moving the position of the test head. The purpose is to provide

[0019]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, a test handler device according to the present invention has a handling arm that is movable vertically and horizontally and has a transfer arm that guides the object to be measured to the upper surface of a contactor of a test head. A mechanism section is provided as an integrated unit within the handler main body, and the entire handling mechanism section is movable in a direction away from the upper surface of the test head.

[0020]

[Function] According to the present invention configured as described above, the handling mechanism is provided as an integrated unit within the handler body, which can perform tasks such as replacing the contact board when changing the product, manual measurement, and self-diagnosis. This can be done by moving the test head away from the upper surface of the test head to provide a fairly large space there, ie without moving the test head up, down, left or right.

[0021]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. Note that the embodiment shown in the figure is similar to that shown in Figure 6 above.
The contact pusher 9 of the conventional example shown in FIG.
On the top plate 2 of the handler body 1, there is a transfer device 5 that moves in the X and Y directions by the operation of the X robot 3 and the Y robot 4.
In addition, trays 7 for storing ICs 6 as objects to be measured are arranged in multiple rows.

FIG. 1 shows a front view of the handling mechanism section 22. On the top plate 2 of the handler main body 1, the handling mechanism section 22 is assembled and arranged as an integral unit on a base plate 23. There is.

That is, the handling mechanism section 22 is supported by a pair of support columns 24 erected on a base plate 23 at a predetermined distance apart, and a support shaft 25 extending between the upper portions of the pair of support columns 24. Arrow 2 along the length of axis 25
A linear block 27 is held slidably in the direction of 6, and an air cylinder 28 is used to connect the linear block 27 to the upper and lower (
It mainly consists of a pair of IC transfer arms 8 which are movably held in the direction of arrow 29).

Then, the IC 6 as the object to be measured is picked up by the handling mechanism section 22, that is, the IC transfer arm 8, and the IC transfer arm 8 is moved via the linear block 26, so that the IC 6 is transferred to the loader side transfer section. The test head 10 is transported from the positioner 30 to the contactor 11 of the test head 10, and further from the contactor 11 of the test head 10 to the unloader side transport section positioner 31 while being aligned with each other.

A bar-shaped positioning guide 32 is protruded from the upper surface of the top plate 2 of the handler main body 1, and this positioning guide 32 is inserted into the inside of the base plate 23 corresponding to this positioning guide 32. A hole (not shown) is provided for positioning the base plate 23 and, by extension, the handling mechanism section 22 with respect to the top plate 2.

Furthermore, one end of the base plate 23 is rotatably supported via a hinge or the like, so that the handling mechanism section 22 can be moved to the one side of the base plate 23 via the base plate 23, as shown in FIG. It is designed to be able to swing upward from the end, that is, in the direction away from the test head 10 (arrow 33), to provide a large spatial space S' above the test head 10 for performing various operations. ing.

As shown in FIG. 5, the entire rear part 22 of the handling machine can be raised and lowered via the base plate 23, and the handling mechanism section 22 is raised (arrow 34) via the base plate 23, and the test head 1
It is also possible to provide a large spatial space S'' above 0 for carrying out various operations.

By providing the spaces S' and S'' above the test head 10 for performing various operations, the space S' can be used without moving the test head 10 vertically or horizontally. ,S'',
It is possible to perform various operations such as replacing the contact board 18 when changing the product, self-diagnosis, and manual measurement, and the setup time that conventionally required 30 to 180 minutes can be shortened to about 5 minutes. Moreover, it does not interfere with normal automatic continuous operation in any way.

Although the above embodiment shows an example in which the handling mechanism section 22 and the base plate 23 are integrated, they can be separated and the handling mechanism section 22, which is quite heavy in weight, can be inserted from above the base plate 23. After moving the base plate 23 rearward or sideways, the base plate 23 may be swung or raised upward.

[0030]

[Effects of the Invention] Since the present invention has the above structure,
In addition to shortening the setup time when transitioning to each work, this work can be made easier, and as a result,
Since a single handler and tester can handle a wide variety of products, the equipment can be operated efficiently and testing costs can be reduced.

Moreover, since it is easy to switch to manual testing, it is possible to shorten the start-up period of the test process for new products, and further shorten the test interruption time due to the tester's self-diagnosis. This has the effect of making it possible to respond to other types of ASICs (LSIs for specific applications) that are produced in small quantities.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a handling mechanism section showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway side view.

FIG. 3 is a view taken along the line A-A' in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing one end of the handling mechanism section lifted up.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing another embodiment with the handling mechanism section raised.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a conventional example.

FIG. 7 is a side view during automatic continuous operation.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged view of the main part of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a side view showing a state in which the handler device is not used during product testing and self-diagnosis.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Handler body 2 Top plate 5 Conveyance device 6 IC (object to be measured) 8 IC transfer arm 10 Test head 11 Contactor 17 Performance board 18 Contact board 22 Handling mechanism 23 Base plate 27 Straight block 30 Loader side transport section positioner

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A handling mechanism section having an IC transfer arm that is movable vertically and horizontally and that guides the object to be measured to the upper surface of a contactor of a test head is provided as an integrated unit in a handler main body, and the entire handling mechanism section is provided as an integrated unit in the handler body. A test handler device characterized in that it is movable in a direction away from the top surface of a test head.