KR20090078385A - Loading apparatus for test handler - Google Patents

Abstract

A loading system for test handler is provided to improve a losing speed without using a starting type loading table by minimizing an operational overlapping effect between two pick and place devices. A loading system(600) for test handler is positioned and fixed between a customer tray and a carrier board in a loading position. The loading system includes a first pick and place unit(620), a second pick and place unit(630), and a control unit(640). The first pick and place unit grips a semiconductor device from a customer tray and transfers the semiconductor device to a next alignment block(610). The first pick and place unit loads the semiconductor device into an alignment block. The second pick and place unit grips the semiconductor device from the alignment block and transfers the semiconductor device to a carrier board. The second pick and place unit loads the semiconductor device into the carrier board. The control unit controls operations of the first and second pick and place units.

Description

Loading device for test handlers {LOADING APPARATUS FOR TEST HANDLER}

The present invention relates to a test handler, and more particularly, to a loading device for loading a semiconductor board of a customer tray into a carrier board.

The test handler supplies the semiconductor device to the tester when the semiconductor device manufactured through the predetermined manufacturing process is tested by the tester before shipping, and the semiconductor device can be tested by the tester. Semi-conductor devices are automated equipment that is classified by grade according to test results.

<Description of general configuration of test handler>

In general, the test handler is a plurality of carrier board (CB), the loading device 110, the soak chamber 120, the test chamber 130, the desoak chamber 140, as shown in the conceptual plan view of FIG. And an unloading device 150.

The carrier board CB (including a test tray) allows tens to hundreds of semiconductor devices to be stacked in a matrix form. In the near term, the test handler loads the semiconductor devices onto the carrier board CB. Supply to tester. The carrier board CB has a constant circulation leading to the loading position LP through the loading position LP, the soak chamber 120, the test chamber 130, the desock chamber 140, and the unloading position UP. The cycle is repeated repeatedly. In the loading position LP, the semiconductor elements are loaded into the carrier board CB, and in the unloading position UP, the semiconductor elements are unloaded from the carrier board CB.

The loading device 110 is provided to load the semiconductor device from the customer tray CT placed on the loading plate 20 to the carrier board CB at the loading position LP. And the present invention relates to such a loading device, the detailed description of which will be described later.

The soak chamber 120 is provided to preheat / precool the semiconductor device mounted on the carrier board CB to a temperature environment according to test conditions.

The test chamber 130 is provided to maintain the semiconductor device loaded on the carrier board CB in a temperature environment according to the test condition, and the semiconductor device loaded when the carrier board CB is positioned in the test chamber 130. Their test is in progress.

The desock chamber 140 is provided to heat / defrost the semiconductor devices loaded on the carrier board CB prior to unloading.

The unloading device 150 is provided to unload the semiconductor devices from the carrier board CB at the unloading position UP to the customer tray CT placed on the unloading plate 30.

<Background technology description of the loading device>

The loading device is provided for loading the semiconductor device from the customer tray placed on the loading plate to the carrier board at the loading position, and may be simply the pick and place device. For reference, the pick-and-place device has a plurality of pickers that can suck or release the adsorption of a semiconductor device in a vacuum, and may be called a loader, an unloader, a sorter, etc. according to the purpose of use. In addition, because the gap between the semiconductor elements loaded in the customer tray and the gap between the semiconductor elements loaded in the carrier board is different from each other, the loading (moving the semiconductor elements from the customer tray to the carrier board) or unloading (the semiconductor elements are carried by the carrier). Pick-and-place devices for moving boards to customer trays also have the ability to adjust the spacing between held semiconductor elements. The technology related to the pick and place device is already known through the Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 10-0628553 (name of the invention: pick and place device) and so on, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Since the advent of semiconductor devices, the demand for semiconductor devices has been continuously increasing, and therefore, technologies for increasing the processing capacity of test handlers have been developed and proposed, including those for reducing the loading time.

In order to reduce the loading time, it may be considered to configure a plurality of pick and place devices for loading, but since most of the operation areas of the pick and place device have to overlap each other, there remains a problem of solving the operation interference between each other. Of course, it may be considered to eliminate the operation interference between the plurality of pick and place devices through the control, but it is virtually impossible to increase the loading speed while controlling the operation interference of the pick and place devices that perform a complex operation independently of each other.

In order to solve such a problem, the applicant of the present invention proposes a known technology (hereinafter referred to as 'prior art') through Patent Publication No. 10-2007-0077905 (name of the invention: a test handler and a loading method of a test handler). I did.

According to the prior art, there is a movable loading table capable of reciprocating to the customer tray side and the carrier board (defined as 'test tray' in the prior art), and the first pick and move for moving the semiconductor element from the customer tray to the movable loading table. A place device (defined as 'first picking device' in the prior art) and a second pick and place device (defined as 'second picking device' in the prior art) for moving the semiconductor element from the movable loading table to the carrier board. It is organized to share roles.

According to the prior art as described above, the movable loading table can reciprocate between the customer tray side and the test tray side to share the roles of a plurality of pick and place devices (first pick and place device and second pick and place device). Mechanical configuration is possible to avoid overlapping the operating radius of the active loading operation and it is possible to improve the loading speed.

However, in order to construct a maneuverable loading table, the production cost of the equipment is increased, the design of space is complicated, and the size of the equipment is increased.

On the other hand, the customer tray is placed on or removed from the loading plate through a transfer device (see Republic of Korea Patent No. 10-0706330), the customer tray (CT) is loaded loading plate 20 as shown in the exaggeration of FIG. ) Can not be placed properly on the crooked place. The reason why the customer tray CT cannot be correctly placed on the loading plate 20 is that the customer tray CT is held in a crooked state within the allowable clearance of the transfer apparatus (not shown) or the transfer apparatus There is a case where the customer tray (CT) is distorted due to mechanical interference when placed.

Therefore, if the customer tray CT cannot be correctly placed on the loading plate 20, as shown in the exaggerated view in Fig. 3, the semiconductor elements are attracted to the individual pickers p of the pick and place device. When the centers of the semiconductor elements d and the adsorption center of the picker p are different, the semiconductor elements d are adsorbed by the picker p in a crooked state. In this state, when the pick-and-place device grasps the semiconductor devices and loads them onto the carrier board, the semiconductor devices may not be properly loaded on the carrier board, resulting in detachment of the semiconductor devices, defects of the semiconductor devices, and poor test.

In addition, the semiconductor devices may be out of position due to various reasons, such as during the manufacturing process of the semiconductor device, the loading into the customer tray, the transportation of the customer tray, and the insertion into the test handler of the customer tray. In this case, the semiconductor device that is out of position is absorbed by the pick-and-place device in that state, and is not properly seated on the carrier board when loaded into the carrier board without a new alignment. In addition, when the pick and place device that absorbs the semiconductor elements from the customer tray adjusts the distance between the pickers, the semiconductor elements may be shaken by the impact and may be out of position.

In order to solve the above problems, an alignment block (refer to the prior art portion of Patent Publication No. 10-2007-0077905, defined as an 'align block') has been proposed.

As referred to in the plan view of FIG. 4, the alignment block 40 is provided to be fixed between the customer tray CT placed on the loading plate and the carrier board CB in the loading position, and a plurality of loading portions 41a. , 42a). These loading portions 41a and 42a are the bottoms B on which the walls constituting the loading portions 41a and 42a are mounted, as referred to in FIG. 5 (sectional view taken from the line II in FIG. It is inclined so that an upper side is wider than). That is, each of the stacking portions 41a and 42a has a shape capable of aligning the stacked semiconductor elements so that the stacked semiconductor elements can be placed on the bottom B in an aligned state even if they fall in a crooked state. will be.

Further, the alignment block 40 may be divided into an alignment table portion 41 and a buffer table portion 42.

The alignment table portion 41 has alignment portions 41a on which the semiconductor elements are stacked, the alignment portions 41a are included in the plurality of loading portions 41a and 42a, and the spacing between the alignment portions 41a is The spacing between the semiconductor elements to be loaded is equal to the spacing between the semiconductor elements to be loaded on the carrier board CB.

The buffer table portion 42 has buffer portions 42a on which semiconductor elements are loaded, the buffer portions 42a are included in the plurality of loading portions 41a and 42a, and the interval between the buffer portions 42a is The spacing between the semiconductor elements to be loaded is equal to the spacing between the semiconductor elements to be loaded in the customer tray CT.

In general, the carrier board CB has a plurality of inserts in which a semiconductor device can be loaded in a matrix form, and the tester includes a plurality of test sockets in a matrix form to correspond to such a matrix form. The semiconductor device is then tested by making electrical contact with the test socket while it is mounted on the insert. Therefore, there is a test socket corresponding to each insert of the carrier board CB. If the semiconductor devices tested in contact with any test socket are continuously determined to be defective, the probability of the test socket being higher than that of the semiconductor device itself is high. For this reason, it is preferable not to load the semiconductor element in the insert corresponding to the arbitrary test socket. To this end, the semiconductor device to be excluded from the loading of the semiconductor elements held in the pick-and-place apparatus is loaded in the buffer table 42.

As described, when the alignment block 40 is configured between the customer tray CT lying on the loading plate 20 and the carrier board CB at the loading position LP, the pick-and-place device is removed from the customer tray. After gripping the semiconductor devices, the semiconductor devices are aligned through the alignment block 40 and loaded into the carrier board CB.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a technique capable of constructing two pick and place devices for loading without a great difficulty in control without the configuration of a maneuverable loading table.

The loading device for a test handler according to the present invention for achieving the above object is arranged between the customer tray and the carrier board in the loading position, and an alignment block having a plurality of loading portions for loading semiconductor elements- Each of the plurality of mounting portions has a shape for aligning the semiconductor elements to be loaded; A first pick-and-place device for holding a semiconductor device from a customer tray and then moving to the alignment block and then releasing the holding of the semiconductor device to load the semiconductor device into the alignment block; A second pick and place device for holding the semiconductor device loaded on the alignment block and then moving to the carrier board at the loading position and then releasing the holding of the semiconductor device to load the semiconductor device on the carrier board; And a control device for controlling operations of the first pick and place device and the second pick and place device. Characterized in that it comprises a.

The control device restricts the movement of the second pick and place device above the alignment block when the first pick and place device is located above the alignment block, and the second pick and place device is aligned with the alignment block. When located above the block, it is another feature that the first pick and place device is controlled to restrict the movement of the first pick and place device above the alignment block.

The alignment block has an alignment table portion having alignment portions arranged such that the spacing between semiconductor elements to be loaded is equal to the spacing between semiconductor elements loaded on a carrier board—the alignment portions are included in the plurality of loading portions. -; And buffer sections provided separately from the alignment table section, the buffer sections arranged so that the spacing between the semiconductor elements being loaded is equal to the spacing between the semiconductor elements loaded in the customer trays. It is included in the loading part of; It is another feature to have a.

The control apparatus, if there are any semiconductor elements to be loaded into the buffer table portion among the semiconductor elements held by the first pick and place apparatus, the first pick and place apparatus may correspond to the arbitrary semiconductor elements corresponding to the buffer table portion. The device is loaded and then controlled to be loaded on the alignment table by adjusting the gap between the remaining semiconductor elements, and the second pick and place apparatus carries the semiconductor devices loaded on the alignment table in the carrier at the loading position. Another feature is the control to move to the board.

According to the present invention as described above, by providing a fixed alignment block between the customer tray and the carrier board and the two pick and place device to share the role between the alignment block, by minimizing the overlap of the operation area between each other to prevent operation interference By simplifying the control for the user, there is an effect that can improve the loading speed through the two pick and place device without a maneuverable loading table.

Hereinafter, a loading device for a test handler according to the present invention as described above (hereinafter abbreviated as 'loading device') will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Or to compress.

6 is a conceptual plan view of a loading device 600 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 6, the loading device 600 according to the present embodiment includes an alignment block 610, a first pick and place device 620, a second pick and place device 630, and a control device 640. And the like.

The alignment block 610 is fixedly positioned between the customer tray CT placed on the loading plate and the carrier board CB at the loading position, and has an alignment table portion 611 and a buffer table portion 612. The alignment block 610 has a plurality of stacking portions 611a and 612a, some of which belong to the alignment table 611 and some of which belong to the buffer table 612. Hereinafter, the stacking portion belonging to the alignment table portion 611 is called the alignment portion 611a, and the stacking portion belonging to the buffer table portion 612 is called the buffer portion 612a.

The alignment table unit 611 is located closer to the carrier board CB side than the buffer table unit 612, and two alignment units 611a are provided in eight rows. The spacing between the alignment units 611a belonging to each column is such that the spacing between the semiconductor elements loaded on the alignment units 611a is the same as the spacing between the semiconductor elements loaded on the carrier board CB. have.

The buffer table unit 612 is also provided with two buffer units 612a, each of which is arranged in eight columns. The gap between the buffer units 612a belonging to each column is equal to the distance between semiconductor elements loaded in the buffer units 612a. It is to be loaded at the same interval as the gap between semiconductor elements loaded in the customer tray CT.

The first pick and place device 620 may hold 16 semiconductor devices at a time. The first pick and place device 620 may hold 16 semiconductor devices at a time. The first pick and place device 620 may hold the semiconductor devices from a customer tray CT placed on a loading table, and then move them to an alignment block 610. By releasing the holding of the semiconductor device serves to load the alignment block 610. The first pick and place device 620 has a function of adjusting the distance between the semiconductor elements so that the distance between the held semiconductor elements is equal to the distance between the semiconductor elements loaded on the carrier board CB.

The second pick-and-place device 630 may hold 16 semiconductor devices at a time. The second pick-and-place device 630 may hold 16 semiconductor devices at a time. After moving to the carrier board (CB) which is present to release the holding of the semiconductor device serves to load the semiconductor device on the carrier board (CB).

The control device 640 is provided to control the operations of the first pick and place device 620 and the second pick and place device 630. The control device 640 restricts the movement of the second pick and place device 630 above the alignment block 610 when the first pick and place device 620 is positioned above the alignment block 610. When the second pick and place device 630 is positioned above the alignment block 610, the first pick and place device 620 is controlled to restrict the movement of the first pick and place device 620 above the alignment block 610. In addition, when there are semiconductor elements to be loaded into the buffer table 612 among the semiconductor devices held by the first pick and place device 620, the control device 640 determines that the first pick and place device 620 is the buffer table. The semiconductor element is loaded in the unit 612, and then the gap between the remaining held semiconductor elements is adjusted so as to be placed in the alignment table 611. FIG.

Subsequently, the operation according to the control of the control device 640 in the loading device 600 having the configuration as described above will be described.

1. First process (process made by the operation of the first pick and place device)

The first pick and place device 620 holds 16 semiconductor devices from the customer tray CT placed on the loading plate.

If any of the semiconductor devices held by the first pick and place device 620 is to be loaded into the buffer table unit 612, the first pick and place device 620 only extends to the buffer table unit 612. After the movement, only the semiconductor device is released, and the semiconductor device is loaded in an arbitrary buffer unit 612a belonging to the buffer table unit 612, and then even moved to the alignment table unit 611 for holding. The remaining semiconductor elements are loaded in the alignment portions 611a of the alignment table portion 611. At this time, the first pick-and-place device 620 between the semiconductor elements that are currently held before loading the arbitrary semiconductor elements into the buffer table 611 and before loading the remaining semiconductor elements into the alignment table 611. The gap is adjusted to be equal to the gap between the semiconductor elements loaded on the carrier board CB. Of course, when none of the semiconductor devices held by the first pick and place device 620 is loaded into the buffer table unit 612, the first pick and place device 620 is loaded from the buffer table unit 612. It is controlled to move to the alignment table 611 directly without performing a work.

2. Second process (process made by the operation of the second pick and place device)

The second pick and place device 630 grips the semiconductor devices loaded on the alignment table 611 of the alignment block 610 and then moves upwards of the carrier board CB at the loading position to release the grip of the semiconductor devices. As a result, the semiconductor devices are mounted on the carrier board CB.

The first and second processes as described above are independently performed by sharing the roles of the first pick and place device 620 and the second pick and place device 630. The first pick and place device 620 and the second pick and place An operation interference may occur while the device 630 plays a role independently. That is, when the first pick and place device 620 is performing the loading operation while being positioned above the alignment table unit 611, the second pick and place device 630 intends to move to the alignment table unit 611. When the second pick and place device 630 is performing the grip operation above the alignment table unit 611, there is a situation in which the first pick and place device 620 intends to move to the alignment table unit 611. In this case, the control device 640, first, when the first pick and place device 620 is already performing the loading operation in the alignment table unit 611, the second pick and place device 630 of the alignment table unit 611 When the second pick and place device 630 is already being gripped by the alignment table unit 611, the first pick and place device 620 moves upward above the alignment table unit 611. By controlling to restrict the movement, the interference between the first pick and place device 620 and the second pick and place device 630 can be easily prevented.

Of course, if the first pick-and-place device 620 and the second pick-and-place device 630 are to be moved above the alignment table unit 611 at the same time, the control device 640 is present in the alignment table portion 611 In consideration of whether the elements are loaded, either the first pick and place device 620 or the second pick and place device 630 is first controlled to move above the alignment table 611. That is, when the semiconductor elements are stacked in the alignment table 611, the second pick and place device 630 is first moved above the alignment table 611, and the alignment table 611 is empty. The first pick and place device 620 is first moved above the alignment table 611.

In the above-described embodiment, the customer tray CT, the buffer table portion 612, the alignment table portion 611, and the carrier board CB at the loading position are sequentially arranged, and the buffer table portion ( The example in which 612 and the alignment table portion 611 are arranged adjacent to each other is shown. However, as shown in FIG. 7, the customer tray CT, the alignment table portion 611A, and the caringer board CB at the loading position are arranged in sequence, but the buffer table portion 612A is aligned. The carrier tray located at one side of the table portion 611A or placed in the loading table as shown in FIG. 8, the buffer table portion 612B, the alignment table portion 611B, and the loading position. (CB) may be arranged in sequence, but the buffer table portion 612B and the alignment table portion 611B may be disposed appropriately spaced apart. In this case, even if the first pick-and-place apparatus is located above the buffer table portions 612A, 612B, the second pick-and-place apparatus can perform the holding operation above the alignment table portions 611A, 611B.

In the above embodiment, the buffer portion of the buffer table portion, the alignment portion of the alignment table portion, the first pick-and-place apparatus and the second pick-and-place apparatus correspond to 16 semiconductor elements. However, depending on the configuration, it may be configured to correspond to fewer semiconductor devices or more semiconductor devices.

As described above, the detailed description of the present invention has been made by the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, since the above-described embodiments have only been described with reference to preferred examples of the present invention, the present invention is limited to the above embodiments. It should not be understood that the scope of the present invention is to be understood by the claims and equivalent concepts described below.

1 to 5 are reference diagrams for explaining the background art.

6 is a conceptual plan view of a loading apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

7 and 8 are conceptual plan views of a loading apparatus according to other examples of the present invention.

* Description of the code for the main parts of the drawings *

600: loading device

610: alignment block

611: alignment table

611a: alignment unit

612: buffer table

612a: buffer section

620: first pick and place device

630: second pick and place device

640: controller

Claims (4)

An alignment block fixedly located between the customer tray and the carrier board in the loading position, the alignment block having a plurality of loading portions for loading semiconductor elements, each of the plurality of loading portions having a shape for aligning the loaded semiconductor elements; A first pick-and-place device for holding a semiconductor device from a customer tray and then moving to the alignment block and then releasing the holding of the semiconductor device to load the semiconductor device into the alignment block; A second pick and place device for holding the semiconductor device loaded on the alignment block and then moving to the carrier board at the loading position and then releasing the holding of the semiconductor device to load the semiconductor device on the carrier board; And A control device for controlling the operation of the first pick and place device and the second pick and place device; Characterized in that it comprises Loading device for test handler. The method of claim 1, The control device restricts the movement of the second pick and place device above the alignment block when the first pick and place device is located above the alignment block, and the second pick and place device is aligned with the alignment block. When positioned above the block, the first pick and place device characterized in that the control to restrict the movement of the alignment block above Loading device for test handler. The method of claim 1, The alignment block is, An alignment table portion having alignment portions arranged such that a spacing between semiconductor elements to be stacked is equal to a spacing between semiconductor elements loaded on a carrier board, the alignment portions being included in the plurality of loading portions; And A buffer table portion provided separately from the alignment table portion and having buffer portions arranged such that the spacing between the semiconductor elements to be loaded is equal to the spacing between the semiconductor elements to be loaded in the customer tray; Included in the loading section; Characterized in having Loading device for test handler. The method of claim 3, The control apparatus, if there are any semiconductor elements to be loaded into the buffer table portion among the semiconductor elements held by the first pick and place apparatus, the first pick and place apparatus may correspond to the arbitrary semiconductor elements corresponding to the buffer table portion. The device is loaded and then controlled to be loaded on the alignment table by adjusting an interval between the remaining semiconductor elements, and the second pick and place apparatus places the semiconductor devices loaded on the alignment table in the loading position. Characterized in that the control to move to the carrier board Loading device for test handler.

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