Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
  • G01R—MEASURING ELECTRIC VARIABLES; MEASURING MAGNETIC VARIABLES
  • G01R31/00—Arrangements for testing electric properties; Arrangements for locating electric faults; Arrangements for electrical testing characterised by what is being tested not provided for elsewhere
  • G01R31/01—Subjecting similar articles in turn to test, e.g. "go/no-go" tests in mass production; Testing objects at points as they pass through a testing station
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
  • B65G60/00—Simultaneously or alternatively stacking and de-stacking of articles
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65G—TRANSPORT OR STORAGE DEVICES, e.g. CONVEYORS FOR LOADING OR TIPPING, SHOP CONVEYOR SYSTEMS OR PNEUMATIC TUBE CONVEYORS
  • B65G2201/00—Indexing codes relating to handling devices, e.g. conveyors, characterised by the type of product or load being conveyed or handled
  • B65G2201/02—Articles
  • B65G2201/0235—Containers
  • B65G2201/0258—Trays, totes or bins
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
  • G01R—MEASURING ELECTRIC VARIABLES; MEASURING MAGNETIC VARIABLES
  • G01R31/00—Arrangements for testing electric properties; Arrangements for locating electric faults; Arrangements for electrical testing characterised by what is being tested not provided for elsewhere
  • G01R31/28—Testing of electronic circuits, e.g. by signal tracer
  • G01R31/2851—Testing of integrated circuits [IC]
  • G01R31/2886—Features relating to contacting the IC under test, e.g. probe heads; chucks

Definitions

• the present invention relates generally to the field of device handling.
• the invention relates to methods and systems for handling devices that are sorted into a plurality of categories.
• Device handlers are typically used to supply electronic devices to a tester, which may perform any of a variety of tests upon the electronic devices. For example, the tester may determine the actual processor speed of a chip. Once the electronic device is tested, it may be categorized into one of a plurality of categories based on the tested characteristics. The device handler may then sort the electronic devices according to these categories.
• an operator typically loads a stack of input trays containing electronic devices to be sorted.
• the operator When the sorting of the stack is completed, the operator must manually remove the sorted stack and insert a new stack of input trays. While the operator is performing these tasks, the tester may be unable to operate, leading to substantial downtime.
• One embodiment of the invention relates to an apparatus for handling devices adapted to be assigned to one of a plurality of categories.
• the apparatus includes an elevator adapted to move a stack of trays along a vertical path, a locking mechanism adapted to selectively engage a tray in the stack of trays and to support the engaged tray and additional trays positioned above the engaged tray, and a tray load arm positioned at a fixed vertical position and having a support mechanism for supporting one or more trays, the tray load arm being adapted to move horizontally into and out of the vertical path.
• Another embodiment of the invention relates to a method of sorting a tray of devices adapted to be assigned to one of a plurality ofcategori.es.
• the method includes receiving a sorted tray of devices assigned to one of the categories, determining a sort position for the sorted tray in a stack of trays on a platform, vertically moving the platform to align a locking mechanism with an upper tray in the stack immediately above the sort position, locking the upper tray with the locking mechanism, vertically moving the platform to position a lower tray below a load arm having the sorted tray, the lower tray being immediately below the sort position; and placing the sorted tray on the lower tray on the platform.
• Figure 1 is a block diagram of a device testing system including a device handling system according to an embodiment of the invention.
• Figure 2 is a top view of a device handler according to one embodiment of the invention.
• Figure 3 is a top view of a device handler according to another embodiment of the invention;
• Figure 4A is a perspective illustration of a modular binning load port
• Figure 4B is a perspective illustration of a modular binning load port
• Figures 5 A and 5B are perspective front views of the BLP of Figure 4A with certain panels removed;
• Figure 6A illustrates an embodiment of a modular system having four BLP units
• Figures 6B and 6C illustrate the interface points of the modular system shown in Figure 6A;
• Figures 7A and 7B illustrate front and side views, respectively, of an elevator mechanism according to an embodiment for positioning trays of electronic devices
• Figure 8 A - 8L illustrate the operation of various functions performed by a device handler according to an embodiment of the invention
• Figure 9 is a perspective illustration of a tray for transporting devices using a device handler according to an embodiment of the invention.
• Figure 10 illustrates category separator plates for use with a device handler according to an embodiment of the invention.
• the device testing system 10 includes a device handling system 11 in accordance with the invention.
• the device testing system 10 and the device handling system 11 may be adapted to test and handle devices such as electronic devices including integrated circuits, semiconductor chips, transistors, microprocessors, diodes, hybrid circuits, memory chips, for example.
• the device handling system 11 includes an input and sort system 12 for providing untested devices to a tester 20 and for sorting devices tested by the tester 20 according to a plurality of categories.
• the input and sort system 12 includes a plurality of horizontally arranged category tray locating stations in combination with a vertical binning load port 13. In this manner, the tested devices may first be placed in trays corresponding to various categories. When those trays are filled, the trays are transferred to an appropriate position in the vertical binning load port 13.
• One such embodiment is described below with reference to Figure 2.
• the input and sort system 12 is a vertical handling system similar to the binning load port described above.
• the horizontally arranged category tray locating stations are not required. Instead, the devices are directly placed into an appropriate position in a stack of vertically sorted trays.
• a transfer system 14 is provided to pick up untested devices from input trays and place the untested devices into a load station 16.
• the untested devices in the load station 16 may be transported to a thermal conditioner 18 in preparation for testing in the tester 20, as is known in the art.
• the transfer system 14 may also pick up tested devices at the load station 16 and place the tested devices into one of a plurality of sort categories, based on the results of the testing.
• the tester 20 may test each device, may then assign a sort category code to each of the devices based on the testing criteria, and may then return the devices for transport to the load station 16 through a queuing conveyor 22.
• the devices may be tested for various functional characteristics and then be sorted into a particular category based on, for example, the speed or the functionality of the particular electronic device.
• the invention is not limited to any particular type of testing system or any particular type of device.
• the testing system 10 is preferably controlled by a processor 24 that may be connected to each of the systems within the testing system 10.
• the processor 24 may also be contained within the device handling system 11 or the input and sort system 12.
• FIG. 2 a top view of an embodiment of a device handling system 11 is illustrated in conjunction with a device tester 20.
• the device handling system 11 may operate without a device tester 20 and with any of numerous types of other equipment.
• the illustrated embodiment of the device handling system 11 includes an input and sort system which includes a plurality of tray locating stations 28. Each tray locating station 28 corresponds to either input, buffer or a sort category.
• An input pick-and-place mechanism 30 is provided to deliver devices to be tested from an input tray in one of the tray locating stations 28 to the tester 20.
• An output pick-and-place mechanism 32 is provided to return the tested devices to a tray in a tray locating station 28 corresponding to a sort category.
• Each pick-and-place mechanism 30, 32 is capable of two dimensional movement in a substantially horizontal plane, in addition to limited vertical movement for picking and placing of devices.
• the sort categories in the various tray locating stations 32 either may be predetermined or may be dynamically assigned as needed.
• a tray handling shuttle 26 is provided to transport a tray between the tray locating stations and one or more vertical sort binning load ports (BLP's). Other embodiments may include additional tray handling shuttles at various stations.
• the tray handling shuttle 26 is positioned below or above the tray locating stations 28, but is shown outside the device handling system 11 in Figure 2 for purposes of clarity.
• the trays, such as tray 27, transported by the tray handling shuttle 26 may be empty, contain untested devices or contain sorted devices.
• the embodiment illustrated in Figure 2 includes four BLP units 13. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that any practical number of BLP units 13 may be used depending on the particular use.
• the device handler 11 may be capable of mating to one or more BLP units 13 via a standard docking interface and communications protocol between the device handler 11 and the BLP 13.
• a control processor such as processor 24 shown in Figure 1, may control the operation of the tester 20 and the device handler 11. In this regard, a specified tray (e.g., empty or untested) may be requested from one of the BLP units 13.
• the BLP unit 13 then provides a tray from the stack of trays through the use of a tray load arm, as described below with reference to Figure 4A.
• the tray shuttle 26 may transport the tray from the BLP unit 13 and place it in one of the tray locating stations 28, where it can be accurately positioned and held.
• the input pick and place mechanism 30 removes individual devices from the tray and transports to the device tester 20.
• the output pick and place mechanism 32 transports the device from the device tester 20 and places it in a tray corresponding to the category assigned by the tester 20. Trays may be automatically presented to the device handler 11 and the device tester 20 and may be sorted as described above.
• the filled tray can be removed by the tray shuttle 26 and inserted into one of the BLP units 13.
• the tray is returned to the same BLP unit 13 from which it was removed.
• the BLP unit 13 places the tray in a vertically sorted position corresponding to the test category of the devices in the tray.
• Device processing may continue until all devices from a single BLP unit 13 have been tested and sorted back into the same BLP unit 13. At this time, the device testing system 10 may start processing devices from the next available BLP unit.
• the incoming trays can be distributed between multiple BLP units and the tray handling system will retrieve and sort trays to all associated BLP units as necessary.
• FIG. 3 illustrates a top view of a second embodiment of a device testing system.
• the device handling system 11 is provided with a vertical input and sort system 12 similar to the BLP unit of the embodiment of Figure 2 and described in detail below.
• An input tray may be presented directly from the vertical input and sort system 12 which has been loaded with a stack of trays containing untested devices. Once an individual device is tested, it is placed directly into an appropriate tray in the vertically sorted stack of trays in the vertical input and sort system 12. hi this regard, the horizontally arranged category tray locating stations shown in Figure 2 are not required.
• FIG. 4A illustrates an exemplary BLP unit 13.
• the BLP unit 13 includes a tray load arm 34 which can slide into and out of the BLP unit 13.
• the tray load arm 34 can move between a vertical path of an elevator inside the BLP unit 13 and a loading/unloading position substantially outside the BLP unit 13.
• the tray load arm 34 is ergonomically positioned to allow an operator to load or unload a stack of trays 36. Since loading and unloading trays is done externally to the BLP unit 13, the device testing system (not shown in Figure 4A) to which the BLP unit 13 is attached can continue processing devices from other BLP units without interruption. This increases the number of devices processed per unit time.
• the stack of trays 36 may contain trays that are empty, loaded with untested devices or loaded with tested and sorted devices.
• a single tray 27 may be exchanged between the BLP unit 13 and, for example, a device testing system (not shown).
• the tray handling shuttle 26 described above with reference to Figure 2 may be used to remove trays from the BLP unit 13 and to transport tested and sorted trays from the testing system (not shown) to the BLP unit 13.
• FIG. 4B illustrates another embodiment of a BLP.
• the BLP 13a illustrated in Figure 4B includes an automated conveyor 35 which allows automated loading and unloading of trays.
• the BLP 13a may function in conjunction with an external device adapted to interface with the BLP.
• the external device (not shown) may be adapted to supply untested trays to the BLP 13a for testing, for example.
• the tested and sorted trays may be removed from the BLP 13a in an automated manner through the automated conveyor 35.
• the automated conveyor 35 may include a conveyor belt adapted to transport a stack of trays between devices.
• the conveyor belt can be driven by a motor adapted to turn drive rollers positioned under the conveyor belt.
• Such conveyor systems are well known to those skilled in the art.
• FIGs 5 A and 5B illustrate the BLP unit 13 of Figure 4A in greater detail with certain panels removed.
• the BLP unit 13 includes an elevator 38 adapted to position a tray stack and separator plates vertically in the system. Separator plates are a specific type of tray which may not include any devices and will be described below in greater detail with reference to Figures 8 A-8L.
• a plate lock mechanism 40 is provided to lock and hold a set of trays or category separator plates in a specified position.
• the BLP unit 13 includes the tray load arm 34 for separating and holding trays of devices, as well as allowing an operator to insert and extract trays from the BLP unit 13.
• the tray load arm 34 is supported by a bearing rail 44 extending horizontally at a desired height.
• the height is generally set so as to allow ergonomic positioning of the tray load arm 34 when accessed by an operator.
• a set of lower vertical tray guides 42 is provided to limit lateral displacement of the trays during various operations, hi this regard, the guides 42 ensure proper alignment of the trays for engagement by various components, as described below with reference to Figures 8A-8L.
• a set of upper tray guides 46 are provided to laterally constrain the trays and separator plates during various operations when they are above the plate lock mechanism 40.
• the elevator 38 is moved in the vertical direction by a drive motor 48.
• the drive motor 48 may be an electric motor.
• a ball- screw assembly is provided to transfer energy from the drive motor 48 to the elevator 38.
• the elevator 38 may be supported by an elevator-bearing rail 50 which allows movement of the elevator 38 in the vertical direction.
• an embodiment of the BLP unit 13 provides a modular platform.
• a plurality of BLP units 13 may be used in a system 52 wherein a processing component 54 can be changed as desired by the end user.
• each BLP unit 13 is provided with a substantially identical mechanical and electrical interface and is externally docked to the processing component.
• the BLP unit 13 may be interchangeably used with any number of processing components.
• the system 52 includes four BLP units 13 docked to an off-line binning process tool 54.
• FIGS 6B and 6C illustrate the mechanical and electrical interface points of the modular system shown in Figure 6A.
• the BLP unit 13 may modularly interface with a variety of external devices, such as the offline binning process tool 54 shown in Figures 6A and 6B.
• the offline binning process tool 54 includes a set of mechanical coupling points 76a-c for each BLP to be interfaced.
• the offline binning process tool 54 is provided with three mechanical coupling points 76a-c to ensure proper alignment of the BLP with the process tool 54. Additional couplings may be provided for other functions.
• an electrical and pneumatic coupling 78 may be provided to interface the electrical and pneumatic subsystems of the BLP with those of the process tool 54.
• each BLP 13 is provided with interface points corresponding to the interface points of the external devices with which the BLP can modularly interface.
• the BLP is adapted to interface with an external device having interface points similar to those provided on the offline-binning process tool 54 shown in Figure 6B.
• the BLP 13 is provided with mechanical couplings 80a-c to correspond to the mechanical couplings 76a-c on the process tool 54 of Figure 6B.
• an electrical and pneumatic coupling 82 is provided on the BLP 13 to interface with the electrical and pneumatic coupling 78 of the process tool 54 of Figure 6B.
• FIGS 7A and 7B illustrate front and side views, respectively, of an elevator mechanism 56 used to position trays and category separator plates in a vertical stack.
• Conventional systems use mechanical components to constrain and move support shelves for each sort category.
• Mechanisms are provided to move and support the shelves vertically, as well as mechanism to move and support a category support latch.
• multiple motors and support rails may be required.
• the illustrated embodiment requires only one bearing rail 50 and a single ball screw 58 to raise and lower all plates and trays.
• Figures 8A - 8L are front views illustrated to describes the positioning and movement of the various mechanisms during certain operations, such as loading, sorting and unloading.
• Four categories of trays are illustrated, including categories 1- 3 and untested. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the system may be adapted to accommodate any number of categories.
• Figure 8 A illustrates the system as it may appear at initial start-up with no trays in the system.
• the elevator 38 is provided to move in the vertical direction and to support a plurality of trays (none shown in Figure 8A) and separator plates 64a-d.
• the tray load arm 34 is provided to move horizontally at a fixed height.
• the tray load arm 34 is provided with a tray support mechanism, such as retractable support fingers 60, for supporting one or more trays.
• the plate lock mechanism 40 is positioned at a fixed height above the height of the tray load arm 34.
• the plate lock mechanism 40 is adapted to secure a category separator plate 64a-d or a tray with retractable latches 62 adapted to engage latch receivers 66 formed in the category separator plates 64a-d or features formed in the trays or separator plates.
• the elevator 38 moves upward until the stack of trays 68 is lifted by the elevator 38.
• the support fingers 60 then retract, and the stack 68 is fully supported by the elevator 38.
• a number of trays may be included in a stack carried by the tray load arm 34.
• a full complement of input trays may require multiple input cycles.
• the elevator may lower such that the stack of trays 68 is at a position such that the top tray in the stack 68 is positioned below the load arm 34.
• An additional stack of trays 69 may then be input to be added to the stack of trays 68 already supported by the elevator.
• a tray 68a from the stack of trays 68 is provided to a device tester, for example.
• the elevator 38 When the device tester requests a tray of untested devices from the BLP, the elevator 38 will position the stack of trays to a position where the support fingers 60 can engage the top tray 68a in the stack 68. With the top tray 68a being supported by the support fingers 60, the elevator moves downward. The top tray 68a can then be transported to the device handler into one of the tray locating stations described above with reference to Figure 2, for example, via the tray-handling shuttle. Additional trays may be provided to the device handler or the tester in a similar manner until either all trays in the stack 68 have been delivered or a sorted tray is required to be inserted into the BLP.
• the device handler may request to place a tray of tested and sorted devices back into the BLP in a certain category location.
• the elevator 38 raises the stack of trays 68 until the stack 68 lifts the separator plates 64a- d above the plate lock mechanism 40. At this point, the latches 62 of the lock mechanism 40 are retracted and disengage from the separator plate 64a.
• the system prepares to receive a tested and sorted tray 70 belonging to category 2.
• the elevator 38 moves downward until the separator plate 64c labeled "CATEGORY 2" is positioned to be supported by the plate lock mechanism 40.
• the allocation and assignment of the categories and the separator plates 64a-d can be performed dynamically.
• the first separator plate 64a may be assigned to the first tested tray, regardless of the actual characteristics of the devices associated with the first tested tray.
• a second tested tray may be allocated to the first category tray 64a if the characteristics of the devices in the second tray correspond to those in the first tested tray. Otherwise, the second separator plate 64b may be dynamically assigned to the category of the second tested tray.
• This process may be repeated to categorize all trays to be tested.
• the sorting of the tested trays can be achieved without the use of separator plates 64a-d.
• tested trays belonging to a category are positioned next to each other. The separation of categories can be tracked by a processor within or outside the BLP.
• FIG. 8 J the sorted trays may now be unloaded by an operator.
• the elevator 38 moves upward until the separator plate 64c labeled "CATEGORY 2" can be engaged by the latches 62.
• the elevator 38 moves downward until the bottom tray in the stack 70b of category 2 trays can be supported by the support fingers 60.
• the support fingers 60 then extend and capture the bottom tray in the sorted stack 70b, and the elevator 38 moves downward.
• the tray load arm 34 can then move the stack 70b horizontally for access by the operator.
• FIGs 8K and 8L illustrate an unloading operation in which the number of trays in a stack to be unloaded are greater than the capacity of either the tray load arm 34 or another component in the system.
• the elevator 38 moves to a position such that the maximum capacity of trays of the stack 70a is positioned above the support fingers 60.
• the support fingers 60 then extend to support the maximum capacity of trays, an the elevator 38 moves downward with the remaining trays.
• the stack 70a of sorted category 1 trays is divided into two stacks 70a- 1, 70a-2, of which one stack 70a- 1 is supported by the support fingers 60 and the other stack 70a- 2 is supported by the elevator, as illustrated in Figure 8K.
• the elevator 38 moves upward to allow the support fingers 60 to support the remaining stack 70a-2.
• the elevator 38 then moves downward, and the remaining stack 70a-2 can then be unloaded by the operator.
• the separator plates 64a-d provide a visual guide of the categories of various trays.
• the separator plates 64a-d are not required for operation of the embodiments of the invention.
• the separator plates 64a-d may be eliminated, and a processor may track the boundaries between various categories.
• the plate lock mechanism 40 is capable of supporting the frays, rather than the separator plates.
• Figures 8A-8L corresponds to a BLP unit for use as shown in Figure 2. It is noted that similar processes may be performed in an embodiment such as that illustrated in Figure 3. In this regard, a pick-and-place mechanism may interact directly with trays positioned on, for example, the support fingers.
• Figure 9 illustrates an embodiment of a device tray 27 for use with embodiments of the invention.
• the tray 27 may be provided with a number of slots in which devices, such as an electronic device 72, can be positioned.
• the device tray 27 may be formed of any of a number of materials, such as a rigid plastic.
• Figure 10 illustrates category separator plates for use with embodiments of the present invention.
• the separator plates 64 are provided with the latch receiver 66 for engaging a latch 60 of the plate lock mechanism 40 ( Figure 8 A).
• the plates 64 are provided with a substantially flat surface 74 for supporting the device trays.
• the plates 64 may be made of a light-weight material, such as aluminum, which is capable of supporting a desired number of trays.
• BLP's may be configured in a variety of ways. For example, as noted above, BLP's may be configured with any type of trays having any number of devices, lot separator plates or empty trays, for example. Such variations are contemplated within the scope of the invention. [0064]
• the foregoing description of embodiments of the invention have been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed, and modifications and variation are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of the invention.

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• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Testing Of Individual Semiconductor Devices (AREA)
• Warehouses Or Storage Devices (AREA)
• Stacking Of Articles And Auxiliary Devices (AREA)

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Publications (2)

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• 2004
  • 2004-08-12 US US10/916,626 patent/US20050180844A1/en not_active Abandoned
• 2005
  • 2005-02-02 DE DE112005000395T patent/DE112005000395T5/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2005-02-02 JP JP2006554107A patent/JP2007527003A/ja active Pending
  • 2005-02-02 KR KR1020067018955A patent/KR20060127195A/ko not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2005-02-02 WO PCT/US2005/002646 patent/WO2005082752A2/en active Application Filing

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