Workpiece positioning mechanism and workpiece inspection apparatus

Abstract

Provided is a workpiece positioning mechanism and a workpiece inspection device that stably maintain a precise positional relationship between a tray provided with a workpiece and an inspector for the workpiece in a simple configuration. The workpiece positioning mechanism (10) includes: a tray (26) provided with a workpiece (30); a frame (45) formed with a notch (49) that defines a height position of the tray (26) in an inspection region (17); a plurality of pins (43) provided on the frame (45) to position the tray (26); and a force application mechanism that applies force to a bottom surface to position the tray (26) in the inspection region (17).

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a workpiece positioning mechanism and a workpiece inspection device that perform inspection in a pallet-based manner while the workpiece is positioned on a pallet. Background Technology

[0002] Inspection of chips and the like, which are cut from semiconductor packages or wafers, is generally divided into two types. The first type is the in-tray method, in which the workpiece is placed in a tray on which it is to be inspected (e.g., Patent Document 1). The second type is the pick-and-place method, in which the workpiece is transported from the tray and placed on an inspection table for inspection, and then transported back onto the tray after inspection (e.g., Patent Document 2).

[0003] Existing technical documents

[0004] Patent documents

[0005] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2009-295814

[0006] Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-114251 Summary of the Invention

[0007] The problem that the invention aims to solve

[0008] Incidentally, the pick-and-place method requires a changeover operation to move the workpiece to / from the pallet for inspection. This changeover operation is time-consuming, leading to a decrease in production volume. In contrast, the pallet-based method overcomes these drawbacks of the pick-and-place method.

[0009] In the pallet-based method, an inspection area for the workpiece is set along the pallet's transport path. However, within this inspection area, it is difficult to consistently maintain a precise positional relationship between the intermittently transported pallet and the workpiece inspector.

[0010] The present invention was made in consideration of such circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a workpiece positioning mechanism and a workpiece inspection device that can stably maintain a precise positional relationship between a workpiece-equipped tray and a workpiece inspector with a simple construction.

[0011] Methods used to solve problems

[0012] The workpiece positioning mechanism of the present invention comprises: a tray on which a workpiece is disposed; a frame having a notch at a predetermined height position of the tray in an inspection area; a plurality of pins provided on the frame for positioning the tray; and a force-applying mechanism for applying force to a bottom surface to position the tray in the inspection area.

[0013] Invention Effects

[0014] This invention provides a workpiece positioning mechanism and a workpiece inspection device that can stably maintain a precise positional relationship between a workpiece tray and a workpiece inspector with a simple construction. Attached Figure Description

[0015] Figure 1 This is an X-Y bottom view of the frame defining the inspection area in the workpiece positioning mechanism according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0016] Figure 2 (A) is a front view showing the state in which the force applied to the bottom surface is released and the pallet is detached from the inspection area. Figure 2 (B) is an enlarged view of the perimeter of the locating pin of the pallet.

[0017] Figure 3 (A) is a front view showing the state in which the pallet is positioned in the inspection area by applying force to its bottom surface. Figure 3 (B) is an enlarged view of the perimeter of the locating pin of the pallet.

[0018] Figure 4 (A) is a Y-X top view illustrating the function of the workpiece positioning mechanism in the first embodiment. Figure 4 (B) is its Z-X front view. Figure 4 (C) is its Y-Z side view.

[0019] Figure 5 (A) is a Y-X top view illustrating the function of the workpiece positioning mechanism in the first embodiment. Figure 5 (B) is its Z-X front view. Figure 5 (C) is its Y-Z side view.

[0020] Figure 6 (A) is a Y-X top view illustrating the function of the workpiece positioning mechanism in the first embodiment. Figure 6 (B) is its Z-X front view. Figure 6 (C) is its Y-Z side view.

[0021] Figure 7 (A) is a Y-X top view illustrating the function of the workpiece positioning mechanism in the first embodiment. Figure 7 (B) is its Z-X front view. Figure 7 (C) is its Y-Z side view.

[0022] Figure 8 This is a Y-X top view showing the workpiece inspection apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[0023] Figure 9This is a Y-Z side view showing the workpiece inspection apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[0024] Figure 10 (A) is a top perspective view of a multilayer wiring board with bumps arranged on its upper surface, which is used as a workpiece in this embodiment. Figure 10 (B) is a side perspective view of an LSI package with an LSI chip mounted on a multilayer wiring board. Detailed Implementation

[0025] (First Embodiment)

[0026] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Figure 1 This is an X-Y bottom view of the frame 45 that defines the inspection area 17 in the workpiece positioning mechanism 10 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, two first inspection areas 17a and a second inspection area 17b are shown as the inspection area 17, but it may also be only one.

[0027] Thus, the workpiece positioning mechanism 10 includes: a tray 26 on which the workpiece 30 is disposed; a frame 45 having a notch 49 formed at a predetermined height position of the tray 26 located in the inspection areas 17 (17a, 17b); a plurality of pins 43 provided in the frame 45 to position the tray 26; and a force-applying mechanism 31 (see reference). Figure 2 , Figure 3 Apply force to the bottom surface to place the tray 26 in the inspection area 17.

[0028] Thus, the locating pins 43 of the tray 26 are arranged to surround the outer periphery of the first inspection area 17a and the second inspection area 17b. In addition, the notches 49 that specify the height position of the tray 26 do not need to be evenly distributed on the outer periphery of the inspection areas 17 (17a, 17b), but can be located near the locating pins 43 or integrated with the locating pins 43.

[0029] Figure 2 (A) is a front view showing the state in which the force applied to the bottom surface is released and the tray 26 is detached from the inspection area 17. Figure 2 (B) is an enlarged view of the periphery of the locating pin 43 of the tray 26. Figure 3 (A) is a front view showing the state in which the bottom surface of the tray 26 is subjected to force and positioned in the inspection area 17. Figure 3 (B) is an enlarged view of the periphery of the locating pin 43 of the tray 26.

[0030] The pin 43 has: a body portion 46, which is connected to the frame 45 and has a fixed outer diameter, abutting against the periphery of the tray 26 with its side circumferential surface, defining its planar position; and a cone portion 47, which is formed by reducing the outer diameter from the body portion 46 toward the front end, slidingly contacting the periphery of the tray 26 with its conical surface, and guiding it toward the inspection area 17. By providing such a pin 43, the tray 26 on which the workpiece 30 is disposed and the inspectors 51, 52 (see reference) can be stably maintained with a simple structure. Figure 8 , Figure 9 The precise positional relationship of ).

[0031] In addition, the workpiece positioning mechanism 10, such as Figure 4 As shown in (A), the peripheral equipment includes: a conveying mechanism 15 for conveying a tray 26 containing a workpiece 30 to be inspected; a first transfer unit 11 for transferring the conveyed tray 26 in a first direction 21, so that the tray 26 containing the workpiece 30 faces the first inspection area 17a; a second transfer unit 12 for transferring the tray 26 in a second direction 22 orthogonal to the first direction 21, so that the workpiece 30 faces the second inspection area 17b; a third transfer unit 13 for transferring the tray 26 containing the workpiece 30 to be inspected in a third direction 23 orthogonal to the second direction 22; and an exiting mechanism 16 for exiting the tray 26.

[0032] Figure 4 (A) Figure 7 (A) is a Y-X top view illustrating the operation of the workpiece positioning mechanism 10 in the first embodiment. Figure 4 (B) Figure 7 (B) is its Z-X front view. Figure 4 (C)~ Figure 7 (C) is its Y-Z side view.

[0033] The first transfer unit 11 and the third transfer unit 13 share a common structure, including a conveyor 41 that moves the pallet 26 from one end to the other and a trolley 42 that moves the conveyor 41 toward either the first inspection area 17a or the second inspection area 17b. The first transfer unit 11, thus configured, transfers the pallet 26, which contains the pre-inspection workpiece 30 transported from the infeed mechanism 15, in a first direction 21, orienting it toward the first inspection area 17a. Conversely, the third transfer unit 13 transfers and transports the pallet 26, which contains the post-inspection workpiece 30 that has detached from the second inspection area 17b, in a third direction 23.

[0034] The conveyor 41 is configured in two rows by arranging carriers made of belts or plastic chains. The pallets 26, on which the workpieces 30 are arranged in two dimensions, are supported at both ends by the conveyor 41 and move.

[0035] The infeed mechanism 15 and the outfeed mechanism 16 share a common structure. The infeed mechanism 15 transports a pallet 26 containing workpieces 30 to be inspected to one end of the first transfer section 11. The outfeed mechanism 16 receives a pallet 26 containing workpieces 30 to be inspected from the third transfer section 13 and transports it out. While a belt conveyor is exemplified as the infeed mechanism 15 and the outfeed mechanism 16, there is no particular limitation, and manual operation is also possible.

[0036] Second transfer unit 12 Figure 7 As shown, it includes: a first force-applying mechanism 31 that applies force to the bottom surface to move the tray 26 from the first transfer section 11 into the first inspection area 17a; a moving mechanism 44 that carries the tray 26, now freed from force, moving it from the first inspection area 17a toward the second inspection area 17b; and a second force-applying mechanism 32 that applies force to the bottom surface to move the tray 26 from the moving mechanism 44 into the second inspection area 17b. Furthermore, as... Figure 4 (C)~ Figure 7 As shown in (C), the first force-applying mechanism 31 and the second force-applying mechanism 32 apply force to the corresponding tray 26 and release the force at the same time.

[0037] In addition to carrying the tray 26 and transferring it from the first inspection area 17a to the second inspection area 17b in a second direction 22, the second transfer unit 12 is also returned from the second inspection area 17b in the opposite direction to the second direction 22 of the first inspection area 17a when empty. Furthermore, a frame 45 dividing the first inspection area 17a and the second inspection area 17b is provided on the upper side of the second transfer unit 12.

[0038] Figure 8 This is a Y-X top view showing the workpiece inspection apparatus 50 according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Figure 9 This is its Y-Z side view. Thus, the workpiece inspection device 50 includes: a first inspector 51 for inspecting workpieces 30 in a first inspection area 17a and a second inspector 52 for inspecting workpieces 30 in a second inspection area 17b; a housing 55 that houses the first inspector 51 and the second inspector 52 at the same arrangement interval as the first inspection area 17a and the second inspection area 17b; a platform 56 that allows the housing 55 to be displaced at a distance equal to the arrangement interval of the workpieces 30 in the tray 26; and a support 57 that supports the platform 56 and is fixed relative to the ground 58.

[0039] Furthermore, the workpiece inspection device 50 of the relevant embodiments adopts a ground-fixed method in which the support 57 of the table 56 is fixed to the ground 58, but a suspension method in which the table 56 is fixed to the ceiling surface can also be adopted. In addition, examples are shown that have multiple first inspection areas 17a and second inspection areas 17b, but there are also cases where there is only one inspection area 17.

[0040] Here, back to Figures 4-7 This section explains the function of the workpiece positioning mechanism 10 and the operation of the workpiece inspection device 50 in the relevant embodiments. Firstly, as... Figure 4 As shown, in the first inspection area 17a and the second inspection area 17b, the first inspector 51 and the second inspector 52 ( Figure 8 , Figure 9 The workpiece 30 is inspected by displacing at a distance equal to the arrangement interval of the workpiece 30. At this time, the second transfer unit 12 raises the force application mechanisms 31 and 32, applying force to the tray 26 and positioning it relative to the first inspection area 17a and the second inspection area 17b. At this time, multiple pins 43 ( Figure 1 The function of the tray 26 is to stably maintain the precise positional relationship between the inspectors 51 and 52.

[0041] Furthermore, the pallet 26, containing the workpiece 30 to be inspected, is transported to one end of the first transfer unit 11 via the infeed mechanism 15. The first transfer unit 11 then uses the conveyor 41 to move the pallet 26 from one end to the other. At the other end of the first transfer unit 11, the pallet 26 remains in a standby state until the inspection of the pallet 26 in the inspection area 17 is completed.

[0042] Next, as Figure 5 As shown, at the end of the inspection of pallet 26 in inspection area 17 (or before the end), the third transfer unit 13 is moved in the opposite direction to the third direction 23, so that the empty conveyor 41 is positioned below the second inspection area 17b. Then, the force-applying mechanisms 31 and 32 are lowered to release the force, causing pallet 26 to detach from inspection areas 17 (17a, 17b). Thus, pallet 26 in the first inspection area 17a is placed on the moving mechanism 44, and pallet 26 in the second inspection area 17b is placed on the conveyor 41 of the third transfer unit 13. At this time, multiple pins 43 ( Figure 1 The function of ) allows the tray 26 to be stably detached from the inspection area 17.

[0043] Next, as Figure 6 As shown, the third transfer unit 13 is moved in the third direction 23, bringing it close to the delivery mechanism 16. Simultaneously, the moving mechanism 44 moves the tray 26 from directly below the first inspection area 17a towards the second direction 22 to directly below the second inspection area 17b. Furthermore, simultaneously, the first transfer unit 11 is moved in the first direction 21, positioning the conveyor 41 carrying the tray 26 containing the workpiece 30 to be inspected below the first inspection area 17a. These three actions are performed simultaneously, from... Figure 5 Instantly switch to Figure 6 The state.

[0044] Next, as Figure 7 As shown, in the second transfer section 12, the force application mechanisms 31 and 32 are raised to apply force to the tray 26 and position it relative to the first inspection area 17a and the second inspection area 17b. At this time, the positioning pin 43 ( Figure 2 , Figure 3 The function of the instrument ensures that the height and planar position of the tray 26 are correctly and stably positioned relative to the first inspection area 17a and the second inspection area 17b, respectively.

[0045] Next, the first transfer unit 11 is moved in the opposite direction to the first direction 21, bringing the empty conveyor 41 close to the infeed mechanism 15. Simultaneously, in the second transfer unit 12, the moving mechanism 44, in an empty state, moves from the second inspection area 17b in the direction opposite to the second direction 22 (see reference 15). Figure 6 The conveyor moves in the opposite direction and returns to the position of the first inspection area 17a. The third transfer unit 13 activates the conveyor 41 to move and transport the tray 26, which has been detached from the second inspection area 17b and contains the inspected workpieces 30, in the third direction 23. These three actions are performed simultaneously. Figure 7 Instantly switch to Figure 4 The state. Thus, repeatedly based on... Figures 4-7 The described actions involve sequentially moving the tray 26, which holds the workpiece 30 to be inspected, into, inspecting, and removing it.

[0046] Figure 10 (A) is a top perspective view of a multilayer wiring board 38 with bumps 37 arranged on its upper surface, which is used as the workpiece 30 in this embodiment. Figure 10 Image (B) is a side perspective view of an LSI package in which an LSI chip 36 is mounted on the multilayer wiring board 38. In this LSI package, the electrodes of the multilayer wiring board 38 and the electrodes of the LSI chip 36 are electrically connected by bumps 37. Furthermore, the LSI package is encapsulated in resin for degradation and thermal countermeasures. This method of electrical connection using ball-shaped bumps 37 is called flip-chip mounting.

[0047] Flip-chip mounting requires the height alignment of the bumps 37 to ensure direct overlap between the electrodes of the multilayer wiring board 38 and the electrodes of the LSI chip 36. This is because any discrepancy in the height of the bumps 37 will result in poor connection. In addition, it is necessary to inspect for defects such as bump position, bump diameter, abnormal bump shape, and foreign matter on the substrate. Furthermore, while the workpiece 30 is illustrated as an LSI package in this embodiment, it is not limited to this; any component capable of being placed on the tray 26 is acceptable.

[0048] In this case, the first inspector 51 measures the relative height of the multilayer wiring board 38. Furthermore, the second inspector 52 is a measuring / inspection device that measures the various dimensions of the bumps 37 arranged on the upper surface of the multilayer wiring board 38 or detects foreign objects. Specifically, it is a surface shape measuring machine and an image measuring machine that utilize light, or a measuring / inspection machine that possesses both functions and is capable of measuring surface bump information.

[0049] Furthermore, the height difference of the upper surface of the multilayer wiring board 38 is generally much greater than the size difference of the bumps 37. Therefore, the measuring range of the first inspector 51 is set to be larger than that of the second inspector 52. Therefore, an adjustment mechanism (not shown) is provided to adjust the height direction of the frame 45 so that the second inspection area 17b does not deviate from the measuring range of the second inspector 52. In addition, the inspectors 51 and 52 are not particularly limited, and can be either contact or non-contact, as long as they are used to inspect the workpiece 30.

[0050] Label Explanation

[0051] 10…Workpiece positioning mechanism; 11…First transfer section; 12…Second transfer section; 13…Third transfer section; 15…Inbound mechanism; 16…Outbound mechanism; 17…Inspection area; 17a…First inspection area; 17b…Second inspection area; 21…First direction; 22…Second direction; 23…Third direction; 26…Pattern; 30…Workpiece; 31…First force application mechanism; 32…Second force application mechanism; 36…LSI chip; 37…Bump; 38…Multilayer wiring board; 41…Conveyor; 42…Trolley; 43…Positioning pin; 44…Moving mechanism; 45…Frame; 46…Body section; 47…Conical section; 49…Notch; 50…Workpiece inspection device; 51…First inspector; 52…Second inspector; 55…Box; 56…Stage; 57…Support body; 58…Ground; 59…Support column.

Claims

1. A workpiece positioning mechanism, characterized in that, have: A tray containing workpieces; The frame forms a notch at a specified height position of the aforementioned pallet within the inspection area; Multiple pins, positioned on the aforementioned frame, position the aforementioned pallet; and The force-applying mechanism applies force to the bottom surface, thereby lifting the pallet into the inspection area. The above-mentioned pins have: The body section, connected to the aforementioned frame, has a fixed outer diameter, and its planar position is defined by its side circumferential surface abutting against the periphery of the aforementioned tray; and The cone portion is formed by reducing the outer diameter from the body portion toward the front end, and its conical surface slides in contact with the periphery of the tray to guide it toward the inspection area.

2. The workpiece positioning mechanism as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The above-mentioned inspection areas are the first inspection area and the second inspection area, which are adjacent to each other; It has a mechanism for moving the tray after the force is released from the first inspection area toward the second inspection area.

3. A workpiece inspection device, characterized in that, have: The workpiece positioning mechanism as described in claim 1; The inspector inspects the workpiece in the aforementioned inspection area; The enclosure houses the aforementioned inspection device; and The platform is used to displace the box at a distance equal to the spacing between the workpieces in the tray.

4. A workpiece inspection device, characterized in that, have: The workpiece positioning mechanism according to claim 2; The first inspector that inspects the workpiece in the first inspection area and the second inspector that inspects the workpiece in the second inspection area; The housing, with the same configuration and spacing as the first inspection area and the second inspection area described above, houses the first inspector and the second inspector; and The platform is used to displace the box at a distance equal to the spacing between the workpieces in the tray.

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