JPH0964260A - Cutting molding die - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simply and easily materialize the multikind and small-quantity production of semiconductor devices by reducing the amount of investment on facilities accompanying the description change of the products in cutting molding process. SOLUTION: This cutting mold comprises an upper die 1, a lower die 2, a guide post 3 for guiding the lifting operation to the lower die set 2 of the upper die set 1, a lower block 10 arranged at the center of the lower die set 2, a cutting molding die 11 arranged inside the lower block 10 and having exposed its mold face 11a upward, and a frame-shaped frame positioning guide 13 arranged in the position surrounding the mold face 11a of the cutting molding die 11. And, the cutting molding of a work can be executed, without using, for example, a large-sized exclusive carry chute, etc., by throwing the work into the cutting molding die 11 within the frame positioning guide 13 13, with the work, obtained by roughly dividing a long lead frame separately for each package, as a unit.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cutting mold, and more particularly to a technique effective when applied to an assembly process or the like in a semiconductor device manufacturing process.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a semiconductor device manufacturing process, a plurality of semiconductor elements collectively formed on a semiconductor wafer in a wafer process are individually separated by dicing, and then a plurality of semiconductor elements are formed on a lead frame at a predetermined pitch. After mounting and electrically connecting individual semiconductor elements to the lead frame by wire bonding or the like, a plurality of semiconductor elements on the lead frame are individually sealed with a resin or the like to form a package. There is. Then, the lead frame, which has completed the formation of such a package, is transported to a cutting and molding process, and a plurality of packages arranged along a predetermined transport chute are kept in a continuous state in which a plurality of packages are mounted on the lead frame. By sequentially feeding into a cutting mold, a plurality of leads protruding to the peripheral portion of each package are cut and molded, and finally cut into package units to form a final product.

As for the technique of assembling a semiconductor device, see, for example, Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun, November 30, 1994.
It is described in the literature, such as “Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment Glossary” P271, published by Japan Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment Association, Japan.

[0004]

However, when the lead frame in which a plurality of packages are connected in the cutting and molding process is handled as in the prior art as described above, each cutting and molding die is changed when the type is changed. It is necessary to replace the entire transfer mechanism such as the chute that transfers the lead frame between the molds, making the work such as change of setup large and complicated, and the amount of capital investment for cutting and molding new varieties. There was a problem that it became larger than necessary.
Further, since the long lead frame is handled as it is, there is a problem that an installation space for a transport mechanism such as a chute for transporting the lead frame is required, and the entire apparatus becomes large. This is an even greater technical issue in realizing the short life cycle of semiconductor products in the market and the high-mix low-volume production accompanying the diversification of semiconductor devices.

An object of the present invention is to provide a cutting mold capable of reducing the amount of capital investment required for changing the product type.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a cutting and molding die capable of easily and easily realizing high-mix low-volume production of semiconductor devices.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a cutting mold capable of realizing downsizing of equipment.

The above and other objects and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the description of the present specification and the accompanying drawings.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Among the inventions disclosed in the present application, the outline of a representative one will be briefly described.
It is as follows.

According to the present invention, in a cutting mold, a positioning for positioning a work separated into package units from a continuous frame which has been completed up to a sealing process for forming a package for sealing each of a plurality of mounted semiconductor elements. Mechanism,
The configuration includes a punch and a die for performing at least one of a cutting operation and a molding operation of the lead portion of the work positioned by the positioning mechanism.

Further, in the above-mentioned cutting mold, the positioning mechanism, the punch and the die are divided into blocks, and the types of works are switched by exchanging the blocks.

In the above cutting mold, the positioning mechanism includes a substantially rectangular guide that guides the outer frame of the work frame, and a positioning pin that fits into a positioning hole formed in the work frame. It is configured.

Further, in the above-mentioned cutting mold, the positioning pin has a structure in which the tip end fitting into the positioning hole of the frame is tapered and is movable in the axial direction.

Further, in the above-mentioned cutting mold, a plurality of cutting molds for performing different cutting or molding steps are arranged around the articulated robot, and the plural cutting molds are used in any order. However, the work is cut and formed.

Further, in the above-mentioned cutting mold, the work transfer operation with respect to the cutting mold is performed with reference to the central portion of the package of the work.

[0016]

According to the above-mentioned cutting mold of the present invention, since the work separated from the long lead frame in package units can be handled, even when moving between a plurality of cutting molds, for example, No special chute or other transport mechanism for transporting the long lead frame is required. In addition, the delivery between the cutting and molding dies is performed by using a technique for performing a general-purpose transfer operation with a large degree of freedom, such as an articulated robot, and by handling the center of a plurality of types of semiconductor devices or packages in a work state as a reference. No special transport mechanism for the product is required.

Therefore, the capital investment for switching the product type is only the cost of exchanging the cutting mold itself, which is, for example, about 1/3 of that in the conventional case of exchanging the entire conveying mechanism. It is possible to realize a significant reduction in capital investment.

Further, the setup work at the time of changing the product type is only the work of exchanging the cutting and molding dies, so that it is possible to easily and easily realize the multi-product small quantity production of the semiconductor device.

Further, since the long lead frame is not handled as it is, the cutting mold and the conveying mechanism can be simplified and miniaturized, and the entire cutting molding process can be miniaturized.

[0020]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of the construction of a cutting mold which is an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view thereof, and FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view thereof. FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, the cutting mold K of this embodiment has an upper die set 1 and a lower die set 2 facing each other in a vertical direction, and a lower die set 2 of the upper die set 1. It includes a guide post 3 that guides the raising and lowering motion of the. A shank mounting portion 4 is fixed to the upper surface of the upper die set 1, and a pressing mechanism (not shown) or the like is connected via the shank mounting portion 4 to transmit a thrust force for moving the upper die set 1 up and down. It

A lower block 10 is fixed to the central portion of the lower die set 2, and inside the lower block 10, a cutting die 11 having a mold surface 11a exposed upward.
Is stored. A frame-shaped frame positioning guide 13 is provided at a position surrounding the die surface 11a of the cutting and forming die 11.
Is arranged. The inner peripheral portion of the frame positioning guide 13 is provided with a mortar-shaped tapered guide surface 13a whose width dimension is gradually reduced on the lower side. The operation of positioning the work W on the die surface 11a of the cutting and forming die 11 is performed. The die surface 11a of the cutting and forming die 11 is processed into a predetermined shape according to the type of the work W and the like. Further, the lower block 10 is provided with a work detection sensor 12 for detecting the work W put into the frame positioning guide 13.

An upper block 5 is fixed to the upper die set 1 so as to face the lower block 10, and a base end portion of the upper block 5 is supported in parallel with the guide post 3 on the facing surface. A punch guide 9 which is vertically moved by being guided by the stripper post 8 and a base end portion which penetrates the punch guide 9 and has a base end portion via a punch support member 6
A cutting and forming punch 7 supported by the above is provided. On the surface of the punch guide 9 facing the cutting and forming die 11, an auxiliary mold surface 9 for sandwiching the work W with the mold surface 11a.
a is formed according to the shape of the work W.

Further, the auxiliary die surface 9a of the punch guide 9 is formed with a taper 16a at its tip end and is provided with a positioning pin 16 which is urged from the back by a spring 15 so as to project the work W as will be described later. By fitting a part of the work W into the cutting and forming die 11, the work W can be precisely positioned.

FIG. 4 shows a lead frame 17 from which a work W to be processed by the cutting mold K of this embodiment is cut out.
0 is a plan view showing an example of the overall configuration of No. 0, and FIG. 5 is a plan view showing an example of a work W to be processed by the cutting mold K of the present embodiment.

The lead frame 170 has a structure in which a plurality of packages 14 are arranged at a predetermined pitch in the longitudinal direction by undergoing a pellet bonding process, a wire bonding process, and a sealing process for forming the packages 14 in the preceding stage. Has become. A plurality of outer leads 17a, which are connected to the tie bars 17b and whose outer ends are integrated with the lead frame 170, are provided around the periphery of each package 14. Side portions of each package 14 other than the side on which the plurality of rectangular outer leads 17a are projecting are supported by the lead frame 170 by tab suspension leads (not shown). The tab suspension leads are lead-cut by a pinch cut described later. It is separated from the frame 170. The outer ends of the outer leads 17a belonging to each package 14 are separated by slits 17c. As will be described later, the slit 17c serves as a dividing position when the work W supplied to the cutting mold K of the present embodiment is individually cut from the lead frame 170 to form the work W.

Further, on both side edges in the longitudinal direction of the lead frame 170, a circular positioning hole 17d and an oval positioning elongated hole 17 are provided at positions where the package 14 is a unit.
e is drilled. The arrangement position and diameter of the positioning pins 16 of the punch guide 9 described above are set so as to match and fit into the circular positioning holes 17d.

In the case of the present embodiment, in order to make the explanation easy to understand, the one in which a plurality of packages 14 are integrally connected is referred to as a lead frame 170, and the lead frame 1 concerned.
Those associated with the work W in a state in which the package 70 is roughly divided into units of the package 14 are referred to as a lead frame 17 to be distinguished.

Hereinafter, an example of the operation of the cutting and molding process using the cutting and molding die K of this embodiment will be described. First, prior to the cutting and molding process, a long lead frame 170 having a plurality of packages 14 as illustrated in FIG. 4 is roughly divided along a slit 17c at the boundary of each package 14, By dividing the package 14 into a plurality of lead frames 17 as shown in FIG. 5, a work W that can be handled as the lead frame 17 in package units is obtained.

Next, the lead frame 17 (workpiece W) thus divided is placed inside the frame positioning guide 13 of the cutting mold K by means of a flexible conveying means such as an articulated robot (not shown). Throw in. In addition, as a reference position during such conveyance,
For example, the center of the package 14 located at the center of the lead frame 17 is adopted, and this center position is held by a method such as vacuum suction. As a result, even if the outer dimensions of the lead frame 17 and the package 14 are different depending on the product type, they can be handled by a common transport mechanism.

The lead frame 17 put into the frame positioning guide 13 is roughly positioned on the mold surface 11a of the cutting and molding die 11 along the tapered guide surface 13a.

At this time, the set of the lead frame 17 (work W) with respect to the die surface 11a is detected by the work detection sensor 12, and the upper die set 1 is moved down by this. Then, first, the auxiliary mold surface 9a of the punch guide 9 contacts the lead frame 17, and the plurality of positioning pins 16 protruding from the auxiliary mold surface 9a are inserted into the corresponding positioning holes 17d of the lead frame 17. The lead frame 17 as a whole is precisely positioned on the mold surface 11a due to the fitting and the centering action of the taper 16a at the tip. Almost at the same time, the lead frame 17 is pressed by the pressing force of the punch guide 9 so that the auxiliary mold surface 9a and the mold surface 1
It is pinched and fixed between 1a and 1a.

In this state, the cutting and forming punch 7 further descends and abuts on the lead frame 17, so that, for example, the tie bar 17b is cut off (separated from the outer lead 17a) or the lead frame 17 at the tip of the outer lead 17a. And the tab suspension leads are cut to perform a cutting process such as a pinch cut for completely separating the package 14 from the lead frame 17. Further, when the shapes of the mold surface 11a and the auxiliary mold surface 9a are formed for bending, processing such as bending of the outer lead 17a corresponding to the shapes of the mold surface 11a and the auxiliary mold surface 9a is also executed at the same time. To do.

After that, the upper die set 1 is lifted to separate and open the cutting molding die 11 and the punch guide 9, and the work W is taken out and carried to the next step or the like.

The above-mentioned cutting and bending processes may be performed simultaneously by one cutting mold K, or, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, for each cutting process and bending process, A plurality of cutting and molding dies K1 to K4 as in the present embodiment may be arranged for each, and a series of cutting and molding processes may be completed by sequentially moving between them.

Further, as illustrated in FIG. 7, a plurality of cutting molds K1 to Kn are arranged within an accessible range around the multi-joint robot 200 capable of flexible transfer operation, and the multi-joint robot 200 is provided. By controlling the conveyance operation by, a plurality of cutting molding dies may be selectively combined to construct a necessary cutting molding processing step. In this case, if necessary, the lower block 10 and the lower die set 2 of the arbitrary cutting and molding die Kn not used for the actual machining are
It may be used as a buffer on which the workpiece W during processing is transiently placed.

As described above, according to the cutting / molding die of this embodiment, the cutting / molding step is performed by using the work W divided from the long lead frame 170 into the package 14 as a unit. Therefore, when the work W is transferred, the center position of the package 14 of each work W is used as the reference position during the transfer,
Common for transporting multiple types of workpieces W of different sizes,
It becomes possible to perform universally by an articulated robot or the like.

Therefore, in the cutting and molding process of this embodiment, a large-sized and high-cost transfer mechanism such as a chute necessary for transferring the long lead frame 170 is completely unnecessary.
Since it is only necessary to replace the cutting mold with the type corresponding to the type, there is no need to install a large and expensive transfer mechanism such as a chute for changing the type (size, etc.) of the work W, and the cost is greatly reduced. The downsizing and space saving of equipment can be realized. According to a trial calculation by the present inventors, it is known that a significant reduction in the capital investment amount can be realized, for example, to about 1/3 as compared with the conventional case where the entire transport mechanism is replaced. As a result, it becomes possible to inexpensively and quickly and easily perform the production of a wide variety of workpieces W in small quantities.

Although the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described based on the embodiments, the invention is not limited to the embodiments and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Needless to say.

For example, the shapes of the lead frame and the work are not limited to those exemplified in the above embodiment.

In the above description, the case where the invention made by the present inventor is mainly applied to the manufacturing process of the semiconductor device which is the background field of application has been described.
The present invention is not limited to this, and can be widely applied to general precision cutting and molding techniques.

[0043]

Advantageous effects obtained by typical ones of the inventions disclosed in the present application will be briefly described.
It is as follows.

According to the cutting mold of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the amount of capital investment required for changing the product type.

Further, there is an effect that it is possible to easily and easily realize the production of various kinds of semiconductor devices in small quantities.

Further, there is an effect that the size of the equipment can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a configuration of a cutting mold which is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of the configuration of a cutting mold which is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view showing a part of a cutting mold according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing an example of the overall configuration of a lead frame from which a work to be processed by the cutting mold according to the embodiment of the present invention is cut out.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing an example of a work to be processed by a cutting mold according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram showing a construction example of a cutting and molding process using a plurality of cutting and molding dies which is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram showing a construction example of a cutting and forming process using a plurality of cutting and forming dies which is an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Upper die set 2 Lower die set 3 Guide post 4 Shank mounting part 5 Upper block 6 Punch support member 7 Cutting forming punch 8 Stripper post 9 Punch guide 9a Auxiliary mold surface 10 Lower block 11 Cutting molding die 11a Mold surface 12 Work detection sensor 13 frame positioning guide 13a tapered guide surface 14 package 15 spring 16 positioning pin 16a taper 17 lead frame (attached to work) 17a outer lead 17b tie bar 17c slit 17d positioning hole 17e positioning slot 170 lead frame 200 articulated robot K, K1-Kn Cutting Mold W Work

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A positioning mechanism for positioning a work separated into package units from a continuous frame that has been completed up to a sealing step of forming a package for sealing each of a plurality of mounted semiconductor elements, and the positioning mechanism. A die for cutting and forming, comprising: a punch and a die for performing at least one of a cutting operation and a forming operation of a lead portion of the work positioned in the position. 2. The cutting mold according to claim 1,
The cutting mold, wherein the positioning mechanism, the punch and the die are divided into blocks, and the type of the work is switched by exchanging the block unit. 3. The cutting mold according to claim 1,
The cutting mechanism includes a substantially rectangular guide that guides an outer frame of the frame of the work, and a positioning pin that fits into a positioning hole formed in the frame of the work. Type. 4. The cutting mold according to claim 3,
The cutting mold is characterized in that the positioning pin has a tapered tip end that fits into the positioning hole of the frame, and is movable in the axial direction. 5. The cutting mold according to claim 1, wherein
A plurality of cutting molds that perform different cutting or forming steps are arranged around the articulated robot, and the cutting molding process of the work is performed while using the plurality of cutting molds in any order. A cutting mold which is characterized in that 6. The cutting mold according to claim 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5, wherein the operation of conveying the work with respect to the cutting mold is performed with reference to a central portion of the package of the work. A cutting mold which is characterized by: