JPH06120096A - Marking device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable a marking device to be set to a setting not higher than necessary, to be elongated in expendable part service life, and enhanced in energy-saving properties by a method wherein the marking device is made to serve as an unmanned system without an operator for a long time, can be kept at a certain level in marking quality, and automatically adjusted in laser powder. CONSTITUTION:An output power of a laser is measured by a laser power meter built in a laser marking part 3, and marks are checked by a mark checking part 4 in a laser marking process, and when the measured value of the output power of a laser is smaller than a previously obtained reference value or it is judged that the mark is imperfect when the mark is checked, a laser is enhanced in output power by a certain value.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device for marking a semiconductor package or the like with a laser marker.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a semiconductor package is marked with a laser marker by using a device having a built-in laser power meter and setting a laser power output value to a predetermined value. In this case, only one of the inspections is carried out, that is, whether or not a mark defect is generated by connecting a laser marker to a mark inspection device.

In addition, when a mark defect occurs, a person intervenes,
The power output of the laser is reset, and the optimum laser power output for the semiconductor package to be marked (hereinafter referred to as the "processed product") is calculated by a person who actually makes a sample for each condition. Was there.

[0004]

Labor saving is indispensable in the production line in the future, and a system capable of continuous operation for a long time is required. Therefore, it is necessary to eliminate human intervention as much as possible, reduce human error, and perform reliable protection that does not cause mark defects. This is because if a human error such as a setting error occurs, a large number of semiconductor packages with defective marks will be produced, and the laser marks will be difficult to correct once they are defective.

With respect to human intervention, however, the laser marker requires a lamp for oscillating the laser, and since the lamp is a consumable item, the power output of the laser is reduced due to deterioration, so that Each time, the power output of the laser needs to be reset by a person.

With regard to human error, when a conventional marking device with a built-in laser power meter is used, the required laser power output differs depending on the processed product, so a reference value must be set for each processed product. If the reference set value is not accurate, it may not be detected even if a mark defect occurs.

On the other hand, when the conventional mark inspection device is used with a marking device connected to a laser marker, it is often impossible to perform the inspection immediately after the mark due to the system configuration. With the mark inspection alone, even when a mark defect occurs, the inspection is performed. Some of them are processed with defective marks.

Further, since the required laser power output differs depending on the type of processing as described above, it is necessary to obtain a set reference value when introducing a new type. Conventionally, this work has been performed manually by a person using a manual switch. Since a method was used in which a processed product sample was produced for each power output and checked visually, workability was poor, and the standards varied from person to person.

It is an object of the present invention to provide means capable of reducing human intervention, preventing the occurrence of mark defects, and automatically setting a reference value of laser power output.

[0010]

The marking device of the present invention is a marking device having a mark inspecting device and a laser marker, and comparing means for comparing a power output value of the laser marker with a preset reference value, and the mark. Power output adjustment for increasing the power output of the laser marker to a predetermined value when the inspection result of the inspection device is determined to be defective or when the comparison unit determines that the power output value of the laser marker is smaller than the reference value. Means and means are provided.

[0011]

Double protection can be performed by using the first and second comparing means in the present invention, and the laser power output can be adjusted to a reference value or more without human intervention by using the laser power output adjusting means. Can be kept at

[0012]

The present invention will be described in detail below based on an example.

FIG. 1 (a) is a front view of a marking device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 (b) is a plan view of the same device, FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of main parts of the same device, and FIG. FIG. 3 shows an operation flow chart of the apparatus.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, the magazine setting section 1 is capable of setting a plurality of magazines 9 accommodating lead frame-shaped semiconductor packages (hereinafter referred to as "lead frames") (not shown). It is possible and after the lead frames are taken out one by one from the magazine 9 set in the upper stage at the innermost position of elevation, and all the lead frames stored in one magazine 9 are taken out. , The magazine 9 is discharged to the lower stage, and the handling unit 2 sequentially takes out the lead frames one by one from the magazine 9 set in the magazine setting unit 1 and, after the laser mark and the mark inspection are completed, determines that the product is a good product. The defective product is sorted and conveyed to the storage unit 5, and stored in the designated magazine 9.

In this embodiment, since the semiconductor package is processed in the form of a lead frame, if there is a mark defect even in one semiconductor package in one frame,
It is possible to freely set which magazine 9 in the storage unit 5 is to be stored in the defective magazine 9 and which stores the good product and the defective product.

The laser mark unit 3 has a built-in laser power meter, detects the output power of the laser, and outputs the detected value to the control unit 6. The control unit 6 stores the laser power reference value. A memory unit (not shown) to be placed, a comparison unit for comparing the laser power reference value and the output power measurement value of the laser power meter provided in the laser mark unit 3, and the output power measurement value is the reference value. When the mark is lowered or when the inspection result of the mark inspection unit 4 is a defective mark, the marking operation is stopped (NG), the set value of the laser power output is increased, the NG is released, and the marking operation is performed again. A power output adjusting unit (not shown) is provided, and a laser power output value is set based on a detection value from the laser mark unit 3 and output to the laser mark unit 3.

It should be noted that NG is consecutively repeated a preset number of times.
If any of the above occurs, or if the laser power setting value of the laser marker becomes NG even when it reaches the maximum value, an alarm is issued and the entire marking device is stopped. A display 7 and a keyboard 8 are connected to the control unit 6, and the product name currently being produced, the laser reference value, the measured laser power output, the number of processed non-defective products, the number of defective products, the marking contents, etc. It is always displayed, and the setting can be changed by operating the keyboard 8.

Further, the mark inspection unit 4 can freely set the inspection method of each package to the inspection of all characters or only the specified characters in consideration of the takt time, and the inspection result is sent to the control unit 6 for each package. Sent. The laser mark unit 3 and the mark inspection unit 4 are adjacent to each other and the mark inspection is performed immediately after the mark, so that the number of defective products when the mark defect occurs can be minimized.

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

First, the magazine 9 containing the lead frame is set in the magazine setting section 1, the name of the product to be processed is input from the keyboard 8 of the control section 6, and the laser power reference value registered in advance is displayed on the display 7. Display on top. Then, after inputting the registration number of the mark content to be inspected into the mark inspection unit 4, the marking device is started. In the present embodiment, the type name of the laser mark and the registration number of the mark inspection are intentionally input separately in order to prevent operation mistakes, but the invention is not limited to this.

Next, before starting the laser marking process,
Only the laser is emitted, and the actual laser power output with respect to the set value is measured by the laser power meter. The set value is automatically calculated so that the measured value becomes the reference value + α and set in the laser mark portion 3. After that, the marking device automatically performs lead frame extraction, conveyance, laser mark, mark inspection, and sorting of non-defective and defective products. In the above work, if the magazine 9 is supplied and discharged automatically and the product type and the mark inspection registration number are input by communication, a completely unmanned system is possible.

Next, the automatic setting of the laser power reference value using one embodiment of the present invention will be described. This is because the laser power output detection function and the marked character detection function of the laser power meter are used, and the laser power output required for processing differs depending on the processed product. The output is measured and the laser power output reference value is automatically set.

First, a dummy processed product of the same material as the target product is flown, the set laser power output is sequentially increased from the lower limit, and the minimum power output value that is OK in the mark inspection is obtained.
Next, a plurality of dummy processed products, for example, about 50 dummy products, are flown at the minimum power output value obtained in the above process. At this time, if even one fails, the power output of the laser is increased and the same operation is performed again. The above steps are repeated, and a value at which all the dummy processed products are non-defective is set as the reference value of the laser power output and displayed on the display 7.

At the time of work, set the magazine 9 containing the dummy lead frame in the loader section and push the switch,
When the above work is automatically performed and the setting of the laser power output reference value is completed, it is displayed on the display 7 and the marking device is stopped. After that, if the product type name is input in correspondence with the laser power output reference value set in the above step, the laser power output reference value is automatically set by inputting the product type name during automatic operation.

In this embodiment, the semiconductor package is in the lead frame state, but it goes without saying that it can be in a single state.

[0026]

As described above in detail, by using the present invention, it is possible to maintain a certain mark quality, that is, marking property, as an unmanned system without human intervention for a long time. Since the laser power output is automatically adjusted, it is not necessary to set the set value more than necessary, and the life of consumable parts and energy saving can be achieved.

Further, continuous operation can be performed for a long time without stopping the marking device, and the laser power output reset time and the marking device stop time when a mark defect occurs can be eliminated to improve the operation rate of the device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1A is a plan view of a marking device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a front view of the same device.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a main part of the device.

FIG. 3 is an operation flowchart of the device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Magazine setting section 2 Handling section 3 Laser mark section 4 Mark inspection section 5 Storage section 6 Control section 7 Display 8 Keyboard 9 Magazine

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A mark inspection device and a marking device having a laser marker, wherein a comparison means for comparing a power output value of the laser marker with a preset reference value, and an inspection result by the mark inspection device are determined to be defective. In the case or when it is determined that the power output value of the laser marker is smaller than the reference value by the comparison means,
A marking device provided with a power output adjusting means for increasing the power output of the laser marker to a predetermined value.