WO2006132489A1 - Method for classifying semiconductor device - Google Patents

Method for classifying semiconductor device Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2006132489A1
WO2006132489A1 PCT/KR2006/002171 KR2006002171W WO2006132489A1 WO 2006132489 A1 WO2006132489 A1 WO 2006132489A1 KR 2006002171 W KR2006002171 W KR 2006002171W WO 2006132489 A1 WO2006132489 A1 WO 2006132489A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
objects
lot
tray
sorting
semiconductor device
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/KR2006/002171
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Sang-Yoon Lee
Ssang-Gun Lim
Original Assignee
Intekplus Co., Ltd.
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Intekplus Co., Ltd. filed Critical Intekplus Co., Ltd.
Priority to CN2006800204587A priority Critical patent/CN101194353B/en
Publication of WO2006132489A1 publication Critical patent/WO2006132489A1/en

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L22/00—Testing or measuring during manufacture or treatment; Reliability measurements, i.e. testing of parts without further processing to modify the parts as such; Structural arrangements therefor
    • H01L22/20—Sequence of activities consisting of a plurality of measurements, corrections, marking or sorting steps
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L22/00—Testing or measuring during manufacture or treatment; Reliability measurements, i.e. testing of parts without further processing to modify the parts as such; Structural arrangements therefor
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01L—SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES NOT COVERED BY CLASS H10
    • H01L2924/00—Indexing scheme for arrangements or methods for connecting or disconnecting semiconductor or solid-state bodies as covered by H01L24/00
    • H01L2924/013—Alloys
    • H01L2924/014—Solder alloys

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a method of sorting semiconductor devices, and more particularly to a method of inspecting new types of semiconductor devices with other apparatus in a standby mode while continuing the conventional lot end sorting of semiconductor devices so that efficiency of inspecting an external appearance of the semiconductor device can be enhanced.
  • a semiconductor device must be precisely inspected before shipping after being manufactured by a manufacturing process. If the internal part of the semiconductor device enclosed by a package is inferior or an external appearance thereof is slightly inferior, the inferiorities have a fatal influence on the semiconductor device.
  • the inspection for the leads or the balls of the semiconductor such as a Quad Flat Package (QFP) is one of very important processes.
  • the inspection for the external inferiority of the leads or the balls of the semiconductor packages is carried out by a vision camera.
  • Korean Registered Utility Model No. 339601 discloses a technology of inspecting the external appearance of the semiconductor devices and of rapidly and effectively sorting semiconductor devices according to the inspection result.
  • the conventional technology inspects only the leads or the balls that are positioned at the lower side of the semiconductor device
  • the conventional technology has disadvantage that the inspection for the marking printed on the upper side of the semiconductor device and the overall external appearance of the semiconductor device must be carried out by different inspection apparatus.
  • the semiconductor device inspection apparatus inspects the external appearance of the semiconductor device by reversing a tray accommodating the semiconductor devices during the transfer of the tray to take a photograph of the lower side and the upper side of the semiconductor device and of sorting the semiconductor devices accommodated in the tray that is transferred to an inferior goods storage, an unloading unit, and a buffer.
  • a sorter picks the corresponding semiconductor device up to remove the same to a inferior goods tray and picks a normal semiconductor device from the semiconductor devices accommodated in a buffer tray into the empty place where the inferior semiconductor is removed such that the unloading tray transferred to the unloading unit accommodates only the normal semiconductor devices.
  • the single inspection apparatus structured as described above can solve the problem arisen in the conventional technology by inspecting the inferiority of the balls and the leads that are positioned on the lower side of the semiconductor device, the marking printed on the upper side of the semiconductor device, and the overall external appearance of the semiconductor device.
  • a sorting module for picking up the semiconductor device remaining in the buffer tray to the unloading tray is operated and other devices such as the vision camera and other driving modules of a handler are switched to the standby mode and maintain the standby state until the lot end sorting is completed.
  • the visual inspection for the semiconductor devices in the new lot is delayed for the delayed time when starting the visual inspection the semiconductor devices in the new lot so that the efficiency of sorting the semiconductor devices, in which the visual inspection is completed, is deteriorated.
  • the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a method of sorting semiconductor devices by driving other devices, such as a vision camera, other driving devices of a handler, or the like, in addition to a sorter while continuing the lot end sorting of semiconductor devices in an existing lot when a visual inspection for different type of semiconductor device is carried out, so as to enhance efficiency of the inspection for the semiconductor devices.
  • other devices such as a vision camera, other driving devices of a handler, or the like
  • the above and other objects can be accomplished by the provision of a semiconductor device sorting method of inspecting the external appearance of objects using a vision camera and of sorting the objects according to the result of the inspection, including: determining whether or not the object is inferior by transferring a tray for accommodating the objects from a loading unit and comparing image information obtained by the vision camera with stored image information of a corresponding object; sorting and discharging the objects accommodated in the transferring tray by the state of the objects according to the result of the determination; carrying out a lot end sorting by unloading normal objects in a buffer tray when the sorting of all the objects in a corresponding lot is finished; and carrying out the vision inspection of objects in a new lot while the lot end sorting of the existing lot is carried out when a predetermined signal of the objects in the new lot is inputted during the lot end sorting.
  • the semiconductor device sorting method of the present invention when the visual inspection for different type of the semiconductor devices is carried out by a single inspection apparatus, the visual inspection for new type of semiconductor devices can be carried out by driving the sorter and other devices while continuing the final inspection for the existing lot, the lot end sorting.
  • the semiconductor device sorting method of the present invention starts the inspection of semiconductor devices in a new lot using other devices on standby, such as a vision camera, the driving device of the handler, or the like so that efficiency of the inspection apparatus can be enhanced.
  • the inspection of the new lot by the vision camera is carried out during the lot end sorting of existing lot so that the preparing time for the inspection of the semiconductor devices in the new lot can be reduced and the efficiency of the inspection can be enhanced.
  • Fig. 1 is a schematic view illustrating a visual inspection apparatus employing a semiconductor device sorting method according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
  • Fig. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the semiconductor device sorting method according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
  • Fig. 1 is a schematic view illustrating a visual inspection apparatus employing a semiconductor device sorting method according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention
  • Fig. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the semiconductor device sorting method according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
  • An inspection apparatus in which the semiconductor device sorting method is implemented, as shown in FIG. 1, includes a main body 10, a loading unit 21 on which trays for accommodating semiconductor devices to be inspected (hereinafter called as "an object to be inspected") are loaded, an inspection unit 30 for taking a photograph of the external appearance of the object accommodated in the tray that is loaded from the loading unit 21, a buffer 25 for temporarily accommodating a buffer tray T3 for accommodating the object for which the inspection is completed, an inferior goods storage 23 on which trays Tl for accommodating the objects determined as inferior goods as the inspection result are loaded, an unloading unit 24 on which unloading trays T2 for accommodating the objects determined as normal goods as the inspection result are loaded, a tray transfer 40 respectively connected to the loading unit 21, the buffer 25, the inferior goods storage 23, and the unloading unit 24 to move the loaded trays forward and backward, a transfer 60 installed on the upper side of the main body to reciprocate so as to transfer the trays between the loading unit 21, the buffer 25, the inferior goods storage 23, and the unloading unit 24, a sorting
  • the inspection apparatus includes an empty tray unit 22 for loading and storing empty trays in order to supply new trays to the tray transfer 40 connected to the inferior goods storage 23. Moreover, the inspection apparatus includes an empty tray storage 26 provided in front of the buffer 25 to load the buffer trays T3 whose objects are completely sorted and removed.
  • the inspection unit 30 includes a vision camera for inspecting the external appearance of the object, preferably, two vision cameras.
  • a first vision camera 31 is installed at a side of the loading unit 21 to inspect the objects accommodated in the tray that is transferred from the loading unit 21 such that the upper side of the object accommodated in the tray is captured.
  • a second vision camera 32 is arranged at a place where the tray is positioned before being transferred to the sorting unit 70 to inspect the lower side of the object, that is, the opposite side of the object accommodated in the tray of the loading unit. Since the inspection unit 30 is installed at the upper side of the main body, an overturning device 50 is installed between the first vision camera 31 and the second vision camera 32 to overturn the object.
  • the overturning device 50 overturns the object by 180 degrees such that the first vision camera 31 can take a photograph of the opposite side to the upper side of the object, for which the inspection is completed, according to a control signal of the controller. Since the structure of the overturning device for overturning the object and the operation of the inspection apparatus are described in Korean Patent Application No. 2005-8710, filed in the name of this applicant of the present invention, the descriptions thereof will be omitted in this application. Due to the structure, a single inspection apparatus can inspect a state of the balls or the leads that are positioned on the lower side of the object and the state of the marking on the upper side of the object using the two vision cameras. As such, the simultaneous inspection of the upper side and the lower side of the object may be more useful when the balls used as the leads are positioned on the lower side of the object such as a ball grid array (BGA) type semiconductor package.
  • BGA ball grid array
  • the tray transfer 40 includes feeders 41, provided at the lower sides of the loading unit 21, the buffer 25, the inferior goods storage 23, the unloading unit 24, the empty tray unit 22, and the empty tray storage 26, to load the trays thereon, and rails 42 for transferring the respective feeders forward and backward the main body.
  • the sorting unit 70 sorts the objects accommodated in the tray that is transferred to the inferior goods storage 23, the unloading unit 24, and the buffer 25, and includes a sorter 71 installed to reciprocate in the horizontal direction such that the objects are actually picked up and transferred.
  • the controller controls the respective components of the inspection apparatus, and includes a memory for storing driving circumstance information, required to inspect the respective components of the inspection apparatus, that is classified according to types of the objects.
  • the driving circumstance of the respective components that is, various modules, that is preset before carrying out the visual inspection is set to the driving circumstance of a corresponding object to be newly inspected and the visual inspection is carried out.
  • the semiconductor device sorting method according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention implemented by the visual inspection apparatus structured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.
  • the initial work for the visual inspection of the objects for example, the process of setting the inferior goods trays into the sorting unit, supplying the empty trays to the overturning unit, and setting the buffer trays for which the inspection is completed by the first and second vision cameras into the buffer is completed.
  • the sorting unit is provided with the inferior goods trays for accommodating the inferior goods and the buffer tray for which the inspection is completed, and the overturning unit clamps the empty tray. Since the operation of the initial word is described in detail in Korean Patent Application No. 2005-8710, filed by this applicant, the description thereof will be omitted.
  • the tray loaded on the loading unit 21 is transferred, to the place where the first vision camera 31 is installed, by the tray transfer 40.
  • the first vision camera 31 is driven to obtain image information about the upper side of accommodated object, that is, the lower side of the object having the balls.
  • the tray is transferred to the overturning unit 50 by the tray driver 40, and the objects, accommodated in the tray that is transferred to the overturning unit 50, are overturned such that the upper sides, that is, the markings, face upward, contrary to the case that the objects are accommodated in the loading unit, and are accommodated in the clamped empty tray.
  • the tray in which the overturned objects are accommodated is transferred to the rails of the unloading unit 44 by the transfer 60, and the transferred unloading tray T2 is transferred to the sorting unit 70 by the tray transfer.
  • the second vision camera 32 installed on the rails of the unloading unit obtains the image information of the upper side of the object.
  • the controller compares the image information of the lower side and the upper side of the object that is obtained by the first and second vision cameras with the stored image information of the lower side and the upper side of the corresponding object to check the state of the ball connection and the marking of the respective objects accommodated in the tray. Since the technology for checking the state of the soldering of the balls and the markings is already disclosed in Korean Patent Application Laid-Open No 2003-61644, filed by this applicant and now published, its detailed description will be omitted.
  • the objects, for which the inspection is completed by the first and second vision cameras 31 and 32 and that are accommodated in the unloading tray T2 transferred to the sorting unit 70, are sorted by the sorter 71 driven by the control signal of the controller (S200) .
  • the sorter 71 picks up the inferior goods from the objects that are accommodated in the unloading tray T2, transferred to the unloading unit 24, and transfers the same to the inferior goods tray Tl.
  • the sorter 71 picks up the normal goods from the objects accommodated in the buffer tray T3 and fills the same into the empty places from which the inferior goods are removed.
  • the inferior goods tray Tl in which the inferior goods are accommodated is transferred to and loaded in the inferior storage 23 by the tray transfer 40, and a new empty tray is supplied to the sorting unit and is used as an inferior goods tray Tl.
  • the unloading tray T2 is completely filled with the normal goods
  • the unloading tray T2 in which the normal goods are accommodated is transferred to and loaded in the unloading unit by the tray transfer 40, and a new tray for which the inspection is completed by the first and second vision cameras 31 and 32 is transferred in the same way as described above and is used as an unloading tray T2.
  • the buffer tray T3 becomes the empty tray and is transferred to and loaded in the empty tray storage 26, and a new tray is transferred to the buffer 25 and is used as a buffer tray T3.
  • the controller determines whether or not all of the objects in the corresponding lot are sorted (S300) .
  • the visual inspection performing process (SlOO) is carried out again to process the visual inspection and the sorting of the existing objects.
  • the lot end sorting of the corresponding lot is processed (S400) .
  • the normal objects remaining in the buffer tray 25 are discharged to the unloading unit 24 by transferring the same to the unloading tray T2.
  • the process S400 is carried out again to perform the lot end sorting.
  • the sorter 71 picks up and transfers the normal objects remaining in the buffer tray 25 to the unloading tray T2.
  • the semiconductor device sorting method is completed.
  • the predetermined signal for the new lot is inputted during the lot end sorting of the existing lot (S500) , according to an aspect of the present invention, the visual inspection of the new lot is carried out while continuing the lot end sorting of the existing lot.
  • the predetermined signal for the new lot may be inputted from a manipulation unit such as a key board by user's manipulation, and further may be inputted through a reader for reading identification information recorded in the lot card.
  • the controller When the predetermined signal for the new lot is inputted from the manipulation unit or the reader, the controller resets the driving circumstance of the inspection apparatus performing the lot end sorting according to the inputted predetermined signal (S710) . In other words, the controller re-sets the driving circumstances of various devices other than the sorter 71 for picking the normal goods remaining in the buffer tray T3 up, such as the vision camera and various devices of the handler into the driving circumstances required for the objects in the new lot.
  • magnification of the vision camera is set to suit to the objects to be newly inspected.
  • a magnification adjusting method of setting the magnification of the vision camera a method of mounting several sets of mono magnification lenses at once and automatically changing the same may be used. In this case, a high quality image can be obtained, but few changes of zoom magnification are limited.
  • there is a method of using a motorized zoom lens in this case, the quality of the image is deteriorated, but steps of the zoom magnification can be easily adjusted within a restricted limit.
  • a motor installed in the vision camera is controlled to adjust the position of Z-axis of the vision camera to suit to the objects in the new lot.
  • the driving circumstance of the tray transfer for transferring the trays is reset.
  • the empty trays, used as the inferior goods trays for accommodating the objects determined as the inferior goods, among the objects that are accommodated in the trays, as a result of the visual inspection are transferred to the sorting unit, such that the inferior goods among the objects in the new lot, for which the visual inspection is completed, picked up by the sorter are accommodated in the empty trays.
  • the controller carries out the visual inspection of the tray for accommodating the new objects that are supplied from the loading unit 21, as described above, by driving the vision camera and the handler which are reset (S720) .
  • the controller determines whether or not the objects in the existing lot remain in the buffer tray T3 using information of the number of the objects remaining in the buffer tray T3 for which the lot end sorting is being carried out (S730) .
  • the controller keeps the tray for accommodating the new objects, for which the visual inspection is completed, on standby such that the tray is not transferred to the buffer 25 (S740) .
  • the controller adjusts distance between pickers of the sorter for picking up the objects by referring to the driving information of the new objects that is stored in the memory (S750) . In other words, since distances between the accommodated objects are different from each other according to the types of the objects, the motor is driven to adjust the distance between the two pickers for picking up the objects according to the distance between the accommodated new objects.
  • the controller drives the tray transfer 40 to transfer the earliest tray remaining on standby for which the visual inspection is completed to the buffer 25 (S770) .
  • the earliest tray in the new lot that is transferred to the buffer is used as the buffer tray of the new lot, and the visual inspection of the new lot and the sorting carried out according to the result of the visual inspection are actually carried out.
  • the process SlOO is carried out again such that the visual inspection of the new type of the objects accommodated in the tray that is transferred from the loading unit 21 is carried out.
  • the sorter is driven to sort the objects accommodated in the unloading tray that is transferred to the unloading unit using the new objects accommodated in the buffer tray.
  • the inferior goods among the objects accommodated in the unloading tray that is transferred to the unloading unit are picked up and transferred to the inferior goods tray of the inferior goods storage and the normal goods among the objects accommodated in the buffer tray are picked up to fill the empty places from which the inferior goods are removed such that only the normal goods exist in the unloading tray.
  • the unloading tray filled with the normal goods is transferred to and is loaded in the unloading unit .
  • the semiconductor device sorting method of the present invention when the visual inspection of different types of semiconductor devices is carried out by a single inspection apparatus, other devices are on standby in the conventional sorting method, but the semiconductor device sorting method of the present invention starts the inspection of semiconductor devices in a new lot using other devices on standby, such as a vision camera, the driving device of the handler, or the like so that efficiency of the inspection apparatus can be enhanced.
  • the inspection of the new lot by the vision camera is carried out during the lot end sorting of existing lot so that the preparing time for the inspection of the semiconductor devices in the new lot can be reduced and the efficiency of the inspection can be enhanced.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
  • Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
  • Microelectronics & Electronic Packaging (AREA)
  • Power Engineering (AREA)
  • Testing Of Individual Semiconductor Devices (AREA)
  • Investigating Materials By The Use Of Optical Means Adapted For Particular Applications (AREA)

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method of inspecting new types semiconductor devices with other device on standby while continuing conventional lot end sorting of semiconductor devices so that inspection efficiency of an external appearance of the semiconductor device can be enhanced. The method includes determining whether the object is inferior by transferring a tray accommodating objects from a loading unit and comparing image information obtained by the vision camera with stored image information of a corresponding object, sorting and discharging the objects according to the determination, performing a lot end sorting by unloading normal objects in a buffer tray when the sorting of all objects in a corresponding lot is finished, and performing the inspection of objects in a new lot while the lot end sorting of the existing lot is performed when a predetermined signal of the objects in the new lot is inputted during the lot end sorting.

Description

METHOD FOR CLASSIFYING SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of sorting semiconductor devices, and more particularly to a method of inspecting new types of semiconductor devices with other apparatus in a standby mode while continuing the conventional lot end sorting of semiconductor devices so that efficiency of inspecting an external appearance of the semiconductor device can be enhanced.
Description of the Related Art A semiconductor device must be precisely inspected before shipping after being manufactured by a manufacturing process. If the internal part of the semiconductor device enclosed by a package is inferior or an external appearance thereof is slightly inferior, the inferiorities have a fatal influence on the semiconductor device.
Since the external inferiorities such as the inferiority of leads or balls of the semiconductor device may be generated during the assembly of a printed circuit board, the inspection for the leads or the balls of the semiconductor such as a Quad Flat Package (QFP) is one of very important processes. Generally, the inspection for the external inferiority of the leads or the balls of the semiconductor packages is carried out by a vision camera.
For example, Korean Registered Utility Model No. 339601 discloses a technology of inspecting the external appearance of the semiconductor devices and of rapidly and effectively sorting semiconductor devices according to the inspection result.
However, since the conventional technology inspects only the leads or the balls that are positioned at the lower side of the semiconductor device, the conventional technology has disadvantage that the inspection for the marking printed on the upper side of the semiconductor device and the overall external appearance of the semiconductor device must be carried out by different inspection apparatus.
To solve the above disadvantage, the applicant of this application has developed a new inspection apparatus. The semiconductor device inspection apparatus inspects the external appearance of the semiconductor device by reversing a tray accommodating the semiconductor devices during the transfer of the tray to take a photograph of the lower side and the upper side of the semiconductor device and of sorting the semiconductor devices accommodated in the tray that is transferred to an inferior goods storage, an unloading unit, and a buffer. In other words, when an inferior good is found from the semiconductor devices accommodated in an unloading tray that is transferred to the unloading unit, a sorter picks the corresponding semiconductor device up to remove the same to a inferior goods tray and picks a normal semiconductor device from the semiconductor devices accommodated in a buffer tray into the empty place where the inferior semiconductor is removed such that the unloading tray transferred to the unloading unit accommodates only the normal semiconductor devices.
When the visual inspection for the semiconductor devices accommodated in the unloading tray that is transferred to the unloading unit during the above process is finished, the latest normal semiconductor device remaining in the buffer tray is transferred to the unloading tray of the unloading unit (this process is called as λLot End sorting.') to discharge the normal semiconductor device remaining in the buffer tray so that the visual inspection for the corresponding lot is completed. Thus, the single inspection apparatus structured as described above can solve the problem arisen in the conventional technology by inspecting the inferiority of the balls and the leads that are positioned on the lower side of the semiconductor device, the marking printed on the upper side of the semiconductor device, and the overall external appearance of the semiconductor device.
However, when the visual inspection is carried out for other types of semiconductor devices using the inspection apparatus, since the start of the visual inspection for the new lot must wait until the sorting of the semiconductor devices in the existing lot is completed, the efficiency of the visual inspection is inferior.
In other words, during the lot end sorting for the existing lot, on the sorter, a sorting module for picking up the semiconductor device remaining in the buffer tray to the unloading tray, is operated and other devices such as the vision camera and other driving modules of a handler are switched to the standby mode and maintain the standby state until the lot end sorting is completed.
Thus, since other modules than the sorter are in the standby mode until the lot end sorting for the existing lot is completed, the visual inspection for the semiconductor devices in the new lot is delayed for the delayed time when starting the visual inspection the semiconductor devices in the new lot so that the efficiency of sorting the semiconductor devices, in which the visual inspection is completed, is deteriorated.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a method of sorting semiconductor devices by driving other devices, such as a vision camera, other driving devices of a handler, or the like, in addition to a sorter while continuing the lot end sorting of semiconductor devices in an existing lot when a visual inspection for different type of semiconductor device is carried out, so as to enhance efficiency of the inspection for the semiconductor devices.
In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, the above and other objects can be accomplished by the provision of a semiconductor device sorting method of inspecting the external appearance of objects using a vision camera and of sorting the objects according to the result of the inspection, including: determining whether or not the object is inferior by transferring a tray for accommodating the objects from a loading unit and comparing image information obtained by the vision camera with stored image information of a corresponding object; sorting and discharging the objects accommodated in the transferring tray by the state of the objects according to the result of the determination; carrying out a lot end sorting by unloading normal objects in a buffer tray when the sorting of all the objects in a corresponding lot is finished; and carrying out the vision inspection of objects in a new lot while the lot end sorting of the existing lot is carried out when a predetermined signal of the objects in the new lot is inputted during the lot end sorting.
In the semiconductor device sorting method of the present invention, when the visual inspection for different type of the semiconductor devices is carried out by a single inspection apparatus, the visual inspection for new type of semiconductor devices can be carried out by driving the sorter and other devices while continuing the final inspection for the existing lot, the lot end sorting. In other words, different from the conventional method of remaining other devices on standby for the lot end sorting, the semiconductor device sorting method of the present invention starts the inspection of semiconductor devices in a new lot using other devices on standby, such as a vision camera, the driving device of the handler, or the like so that efficiency of the inspection apparatus can be enhanced.
Moreover, the inspection of the new lot by the vision camera is carried out during the lot end sorting of existing lot so that the preparing time for the inspection of the semiconductor devices in the new lot can be reduced and the efficiency of the inspection can be enhanced.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Fig. 1 is a schematic view illustrating a visual inspection apparatus employing a semiconductor device sorting method according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; and
Fig. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the semiconductor device sorting method according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Hereinafter, the preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings such that those skilled in the art can easily understand and implement the present invention.
Fig. 1 is a schematic view illustrating a visual inspection apparatus employing a semiconductor device sorting method according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the semiconductor device sorting method according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
An inspection apparatus, in which the semiconductor device sorting method is implemented, as shown in FIG. 1, includes a main body 10, a loading unit 21 on which trays for accommodating semiconductor devices to be inspected (hereinafter called as "an object to be inspected") are loaded, an inspection unit 30 for taking a photograph of the external appearance of the object accommodated in the tray that is loaded from the loading unit 21, a buffer 25 for temporarily accommodating a buffer tray T3 for accommodating the object for which the inspection is completed, an inferior goods storage 23 on which trays Tl for accommodating the objects determined as inferior goods as the inspection result are loaded, an unloading unit 24 on which unloading trays T2 for accommodating the objects determined as normal goods as the inspection result are loaded, a tray transfer 40 respectively connected to the loading unit 21, the buffer 25, the inferior goods storage 23, and the unloading unit 24 to move the loaded trays forward and backward, a transfer 60 installed on the upper side of the main body to reciprocate so as to transfer the trays between the loading unit 21, the buffer 25, the inferior goods storage 23, and the unloading unit 24, a sorting unit 70 for picking up the inferior goods from the objects accommodated in the unloading tray T2, which is transferred to the unloading unit, and transferring them to the inferior goods tray Tl and for picking up and transferring the normal goods from the objects accommodated in the buffer tray T3 to empty places where the inferior goods are removed, and a controller (not shown) for controlling the inspection apparatus.
The inspection apparatus includes an empty tray unit 22 for loading and storing empty trays in order to supply new trays to the tray transfer 40 connected to the inferior goods storage 23. Moreover, the inspection apparatus includes an empty tray storage 26 provided in front of the buffer 25 to load the buffer trays T3 whose objects are completely sorted and removed.
The inspection unit 30 includes a vision camera for inspecting the external appearance of the object, preferably, two vision cameras.
A first vision camera 31 is installed at a side of the loading unit 21 to inspect the objects accommodated in the tray that is transferred from the loading unit 21 such that the upper side of the object accommodated in the tray is captured. A second vision camera 32 is arranged at a place where the tray is positioned before being transferred to the sorting unit 70 to inspect the lower side of the object, that is, the opposite side of the object accommodated in the tray of the loading unit. Since the inspection unit 30 is installed at the upper side of the main body, an overturning device 50 is installed between the first vision camera 31 and the second vision camera 32 to overturn the object.
In the embodiment of the present invention, the overturning device 50 overturns the object by 180 degrees such that the first vision camera 31 can take a photograph of the opposite side to the upper side of the object, for which the inspection is completed, according to a control signal of the controller. Since the structure of the overturning device for overturning the object and the operation of the inspection apparatus are described in Korean Patent Application No. 2005-8710, filed in the name of this applicant of the present invention, the descriptions thereof will be omitted in this application. Due to the structure, a single inspection apparatus can inspect a state of the balls or the leads that are positioned on the lower side of the object and the state of the marking on the upper side of the object using the two vision cameras. As such, the simultaneous inspection of the upper side and the lower side of the object may be more useful when the balls used as the leads are positioned on the lower side of the object such as a ball grid array (BGA) type semiconductor package.
The tray transfer 40 includes feeders 41, provided at the lower sides of the loading unit 21, the buffer 25, the inferior goods storage 23, the unloading unit 24, the empty tray unit 22, and the empty tray storage 26, to load the trays thereon, and rails 42 for transferring the respective feeders forward and backward the main body. The sorting unit 70 sorts the objects accommodated in the tray that is transferred to the inferior goods storage 23, the unloading unit 24, and the buffer 25, and includes a sorter 71 installed to reciprocate in the horizontal direction such that the objects are actually picked up and transferred.
Meanwhile, the controller controls the respective components of the inspection apparatus, and includes a memory for storing driving circumstance information, required to inspect the respective components of the inspection apparatus, that is classified according to types of the objects.
When different types of objects are inspected and sorted by the inspection apparatus for implementing the visual inspection method according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the driving circumstance of the respective components, that is, various modules, that is preset before carrying out the visual inspection is set to the driving circumstance of a corresponding object to be newly inspected and the visual inspection is carried out.
Hereinafter, the semiconductor device sorting method according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention implemented by the visual inspection apparatus structured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. Firstly, prior to the description of the semiconductor device sorting method according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, it is assumed to use different types of the BGAs as the objects described later. Moreover, it is also assumed that the initial work for the visual inspection of the objects, for example, the process of setting the inferior goods trays into the sorting unit, supplying the empty trays to the overturning unit, and setting the buffer trays for which the inspection is completed by the first and second vision cameras into the buffer is completed.
Thus, the sorting unit is provided with the inferior goods trays for accommodating the inferior goods and the buffer tray for which the inspection is completed, and the overturning unit clamps the empty tray. Since the operation of the initial word is described in detail in Korean Patent Application No. 2005-8710, filed by this applicant, the description thereof will be omitted.
In the state that the process of inspecting the objects is set, the visual inspection of the objects is carried out (SlOO) .
Firstly, the tray loaded on the loading unit 21 is transferred, to the place where the first vision camera 31 is installed, by the tray transfer 40. Next, the first vision camera 31 is driven to obtain image information about the upper side of accommodated object, that is, the lower side of the object having the balls. When the inspection is completed by the first vision camera 31, the tray is transferred to the overturning unit 50 by the tray driver 40, and the objects, accommodated in the tray that is transferred to the overturning unit 50, are overturned such that the upper sides, that is, the markings, face upward, contrary to the case that the objects are accommodated in the loading unit, and are accommodated in the clamped empty tray. The tray in which the overturned objects are accommodated is transferred to the rails of the unloading unit 44 by the transfer 60, and the transferred unloading tray T2 is transferred to the sorting unit 70 by the tray transfer. At this time, the second vision camera 32 installed on the rails of the unloading unit obtains the image information of the upper side of the object.
Thus, the controller compares the image information of the lower side and the upper side of the object that is obtained by the first and second vision cameras with the stored image information of the lower side and the upper side of the corresponding object to check the state of the ball connection and the marking of the respective objects accommodated in the tray. Since the technology for checking the state of the soldering of the balls and the markings is already disclosed in Korean Patent Application Laid-Open No 2003-61644, filed by this applicant and now published, its detailed description will be omitted.
Meanwhile, as described above, the objects, for which the inspection is completed by the first and second vision cameras 31 and 32 and that are accommodated in the unloading tray T2 transferred to the sorting unit 70, are sorted by the sorter 71 driven by the control signal of the controller (S200) .
In other words, the sorter 71 picks up the inferior goods from the objects that are accommodated in the unloading tray T2, transferred to the unloading unit 24, and transfers the same to the inferior goods tray Tl. The sorter 71 picks up the normal goods from the objects accommodated in the buffer tray T3 and fills the same into the empty places from which the inferior goods are removed.
When the inferior goods tray Tl is not filled with the inferior goods during the above process, the inferior goods tray Tl in which the inferior goods are accommodated is transferred to and loaded in the inferior storage 23 by the tray transfer 40, and a new empty tray is supplied to the sorting unit and is used as an inferior goods tray Tl. Moreover, when the unloading tray T2 is completely filled with the normal goods, the unloading tray T2 in which the normal goods are accommodated is transferred to and loaded in the unloading unit by the tray transfer 40, and a new tray for which the inspection is completed by the first and second vision cameras 31 and 32 is transferred in the same way as described above and is used as an unloading tray T2. Moreover, if the normal goods do not exist in the buffer tray T3, the buffer tray T3 becomes the empty tray and is transferred to and loaded in the empty tray storage 26, and a new tray is transferred to the buffer 25 and is used as a buffer tray T3.
During the repetition of the above process, the controller determines whether or not all of the objects in the corresponding lot are sorted (S300) . As result of the determination, when the objects exist in the corresponding lot, the visual inspection performing process (SlOO) is carried out again to process the visual inspection and the sorting of the existing objects. However, as a result of the determination, when the sorting of all objects in the corresponding lot is finished, the lot end sorting of the corresponding lot is processed (S400) . In other words, the normal objects remaining in the buffer tray 25 are discharged to the unloading unit 24 by transferring the same to the unloading tray T2.
When a predetermined signal for new objects is not inputted during the lot end sorting of the existing lot (S500) and the lot end sorting of the existing objects is not finished (S600) , the process S400 is carried out again to perform the lot end sorting. In other words, the sorter 71 picks up and transfers the normal objects remaining in the buffer tray 25 to the unloading tray T2. However, when the lot end sorting of the objects remaining in the buffer tray is finished, the semiconductor device sorting method is completed.
However, the predetermined signal for the new lot is inputted during the lot end sorting of the existing lot (S500) , according to an aspect of the present invention, the visual inspection of the new lot is carried out while continuing the lot end sorting of the existing lot. As such, the predetermined signal for the new lot may be inputted from a manipulation unit such as a key board by user's manipulation, and further may be inputted through a reader for reading identification information recorded in the lot card.
When the predetermined signal for the new lot is inputted from the manipulation unit or the reader, the controller resets the driving circumstance of the inspection apparatus performing the lot end sorting according to the inputted predetermined signal (S710) . In other words, the controller re-sets the driving circumstances of various devices other than the sorter 71 for picking the normal goods remaining in the buffer tray T3 up, such as the vision camera and various devices of the handler into the driving circumstances required for the objects in the new lot.
For example, magnification of the vision camera is set to suit to the objects to be newly inspected. As an embodiment of a magnification adjusting method of setting the magnification of the vision camera, a method of mounting several sets of mono magnification lenses at once and automatically changing the same may be used. In this case, a high quality image can be obtained, but few changes of zoom magnification are limited. Further, as other embodiment, there is a method of using a motorized zoom lens. In this case, the quality of the image is deteriorated, but steps of the zoom magnification can be easily adjusted within a restricted limit.
Moreover, since distances from the vision camera to the measuring position of the object are different from each other according to the types of the objects, a motor installed in the vision camera is controlled to adjust the position of Z-axis of the vision camera to suit to the objects in the new lot. Moreover, since the maximum transferring speeds are different from each other according to the types of the object, the driving circumstance of the tray transfer for transferring the trays is reset. Moreover, the empty trays, used as the inferior goods trays for accommodating the objects determined as the inferior goods, among the objects that are accommodated in the trays, as a result of the visual inspection are transferred to the sorting unit, such that the inferior goods among the objects in the new lot, for which the visual inspection is completed, picked up by the sorter are accommodated in the empty trays.
Meanwhile, when the driving circumstances of the vision camera and the driving devices of the handler are reset, the controller carries out the visual inspection of the tray for accommodating the new objects that are supplied from the loading unit 21, as described above, by driving the vision camera and the handler which are reset (S720) .
When the visual inspection of the new objects is finished by the first and second vision cameras 31 and 32 in the same way as described above, the controller determines whether or not the objects in the existing lot remain in the buffer tray T3 using information of the number of the objects remaining in the buffer tray T3 for which the lot end sorting is being carried out (S730) .
As a result of the determination, when the objects of the exiting lot remain in the buffer tray T3, the controller keeps the tray for accommodating the new objects, for which the visual inspection is completed, on standby such that the tray is not transferred to the buffer 25 (S740) . However, as a result of the determination, when no objects of the exiting lot remain in the buffer tray T3, the controller adjusts distance between pickers of the sorter for picking up the objects by referring to the driving information of the new objects that is stored in the memory (S750) . In other words, since distances between the accommodated objects are different from each other according to the types of the objects, the motor is driven to adjust the distance between the two pickers for picking up the objects according to the distance between the accommodated new objects.
As such, when the distance between the pickers of the sorter is adjusted (S760), the controller drives the tray transfer 40 to transfer the earliest tray remaining on standby for which the visual inspection is completed to the buffer 25 (S770) .
Thus, the earliest tray in the new lot that is transferred to the buffer is used as the buffer tray of the new lot, and the visual inspection of the new lot and the sorting carried out according to the result of the visual inspection are actually carried out. In other words, the process SlOO is carried out again such that the visual inspection of the new type of the objects accommodated in the tray that is transferred from the loading unit 21 is carried out. According to the result of the visual inspection, the sorter is driven to sort the objects accommodated in the unloading tray that is transferred to the unloading unit using the new objects accommodated in the buffer tray.
In other words, the inferior goods among the objects accommodated in the unloading tray that is transferred to the unloading unit are picked up and transferred to the inferior goods tray of the inferior goods storage and the normal goods among the objects accommodated in the buffer tray are picked up to fill the empty places from which the inferior goods are removed such that only the normal goods exist in the unloading tray. When the unloading tray is filled with the normal goods, the unloading tray filled with the normal goods is transferred to and is loaded in the unloading unit .
As described above, according to the semiconductor device sorting method of the present invention, when the visual inspection of different types of semiconductor devices is carried out by a single inspection apparatus, other devices are on standby in the conventional sorting method, but the semiconductor device sorting method of the present invention starts the inspection of semiconductor devices in a new lot using other devices on standby, such as a vision camera, the driving device of the handler, or the like so that efficiency of the inspection apparatus can be enhanced.
Moreover, the inspection of the new lot by the vision camera is carried out during the lot end sorting of existing lot so that the preparing time for the inspection of the semiconductor devices in the new lot can be reduced and the efficiency of the inspection can be enhanced.
Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:
1. A semiconductor device sorting method of inspecting the external appearance of objects using a vision camera and of sorting the objects according to the result of the inspection, comprising: determining whether or not the object is inferior by transferring a tray for accommodating the objects from a loading unit and comparing image information obtained by the vision camera with stored image information of a corresponding object; sorting and discharging the objects accommodated in the transferring tray by the state of the objects according to the result of the determination; carrying out a lot end sorting by unloading normal objects in a buffer tray when the sorting of all the objects in a corresponding lot is finished; and
carrying out the vision inspection of objects in a new lot while the lot end sorting of the existing lot is carried out when a predetermined signal of the objects in the new lot is inputted during the lot end sorting.
2. The semiconductor device sorting method according to claim 1, wherein the carrying out the vision inspection of the objects in the new lot comprises: resetting driving circumstance of respective driving devices on standby, other than a sorting module, with reference to stored driving information of the respective driving device for the objects in the new lot according to the predetermined signal; determining whether or not the object is inferior by loading the new lot from the loading unit and comparing the image information obtained by the vision camera with the stored image information of the corresponding object; determining whether or not the objects of the existing lot exist in the buffer tray; keeping the earliest tray that is transferred to a buffer, and for which the vision inspection is finished, when the objects exist in the buffer tray as a result of the determination; adjusting distance between pickers for picking up the objects, with reference to the driving information of the objects in the new lot, when the objects do not exist in the buffer tray as a result of the determination; and
transferring the earliest tray in the new lot which is on standby to the buffer when the adjustment of the distance of a sorter is finished.
3. The semiconductor device sorting method according to claim 2, wherein the determining whether or not the objects exist is carried out by using information for the number of the objects remaining in the buffer tray.
4. The semiconductor device sorting method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the predetermined signal is inputted by a manipulation unit.
5. The semiconductor device sorting method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the predetermined signal is inputted by a reader for reading identification information that is recorded in a lot card.
PCT/KR2006/002171 2005-06-07 2006-06-07 Method for classifying semiconductor device WO2006132489A1 (en)

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