System for transferring one or more chips

Abstract

The chip transfer system comprises a first transfer device which rotates around a first central axis, the periphery of the first transfer device comprises at least one first finger capable of picking up a chip, and when the first transfer device rotates, the at least one first finger touches and picks up the chip from a first position to move around the first central axis to a middle position; an arm rotating about the longitudinal axis, the distal end including a protrusion capable of picking up the chip, the protrusion touching and picking up the chip from the first finger at an intermediate position and turning over the chip in another direction when the arm is rotated; the second transfer device rotates around a second central axis, the periphery comprises at least one second finger capable of picking up the chip, and when the second transfer device rotates, the at least one second finger touches and picks up the chip from the protrusion in the other direction and moves the chip to a second position around the second central axis; the orientation of the surface of the chip at the second position is the same as the orientation of the surface of the chip at the first position; wherein the arms are also repositionable to adapt to different requirements.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a system for transferring one or more chips, and optionally flipping one or more chips during the transfer process. Background Technology

[0002] Rotary equipment for handling, testing, sorting, and / or packaging wafer-level chip-scale packages (“WLCSP”) has become a favored solution due to its high speed and flexibility. The equipment can be expanded to include more processing and output modules as needed.

[0003] Typically, WLCSPs (Wafer-Liquid Crystal Frames) require either flipping or non-flipping during the transfer of chips from a wafer thin-film frame source to a final output medium such as a carrier tape, wafer frame, or waffle plate. To collect chips without flipping via vacuum adsorption, the wafer frame is positioned near component holders hinged to the periphery of the turntable. For chips requiring flipping, a turntable-type flipping mechanism with a horizontally arranged axis of rotation is typical in terms of efficiency. However, no solution has yet integrated both flipping and non-flipping functions simultaneously. This is because integrating both solutions into the same device would occupy a significant amount of space on the main turntable, and the remaining space available for configuring component holders is limited. Consequently, the number of component holders for subsequent processes (such as testing and sorting) is insufficient, necessitating an increase in the turntable diameter and the number of component holders on the turntable, which is inefficient and significantly extends cycle time. Therefore, the object of this invention is to solve this problem by providing an efficient and economical method. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The aforementioned drawbacks and difficulties are overcome by the invention detailed below.

[0005] One aspect of the invention provides a system for transferring one or more chips, comprising: a first transfer device rotatable about a first central axis, the periphery of which includes at least one first finger capable of picking up one or more chips, each chip having an upper surface and a lower surface, the first transfer device being configured such that, when rotated, the at least one first finger contacts and picks up one or more chips from a first position and moves one or more chips about the first central axis to an intermediate position; an arm rotatable about a longitudinal axis, the distal end of which includes at least one protrusion capable of picking up one or more chips, the arm being configured such that, when rotated, the at least one protrusion contacts and picks up one or more chips from the at least one first finger at the intermediate position and flips one or more chips to face another direction; and a second... A transfer device rotatable about a second central axis, the periphery of which includes at least one second finger capable of picking up one or more chips, the second transfer device being configured such that, when rotated, the at least one second finger contacts and picks up one or more chips from at least one protrusion in another direction, and moves one or more chips about the second central axis to a second position such that the surface of one or more chips in the second position faces the same direction as in a first position; wherein the arm is also repositionable such that, when the second transfer device rotates, the at least one second finger contacts and picks up one or more chips from at least one first finger in an intermediate position, and moves one or more chips about the second central axis to a second position such that the surface of one or more chips in the second position faces the opposite direction to that in the first position.

[0006] In one embodiment, the longitudinal axis is substantially parallel to the first central axis, and the second central axis is substantially perpendicular to the first central axis.

[0007] Typically, the system also includes one or more inspection devices configured near the first transfer device, arm, and / or second transfer device for inspecting the one or more chips.

[0008] Typically, the system also includes one or more mirrors or prisms to facilitate the inspection of one or more chips by the inspection device.

[0009] Advantageously, the system for transferring chips according to the invention has both the ability to maintain the configuration of the upper and lower surfaces of the chip in the second position the same as in the first position, and the ability to flip the chip so that the configuration of the upper and lower surfaces of the chip in the second position is opposite to that in the first position. The system possesses both capabilities without occupying more space than existing systems that have only one of these capabilities. The system according to the invention does not require a transfer device with a larger diameter than existing systems, and therefore the cycle time of the transfer process is not delayed. Furthermore, despite integrating both capabilities in a single system, the system according to the invention is still more efficient than existing systems.

[0010] Another aspect of the present invention provides a method for transferring one or more chips, comprising the steps of: touching and picking up one or more chips, each chip having an upper surface and a lower surface, from a first position by means of at least one first finger disposed around a first transfer device capable of rotating about a first central axis; moving one or more chips about the first central axis to an intermediate position by means of at least one first finger as the first transfer device rotates; touching and picking up one or more chips from the at least one first finger at the intermediate position by means of at least one protrusion disposed at the distal end of an arm capable of rotating about a longitudinal axis substantially parallel to the first central axis; flipping one or more chips to face another direction by means of at least one protrusion as the arm rotates; touching and picking up one or more chips from at least one protrusion in another direction by means of at least one second finger disposed around a second transfer device capable of rotating about a second central axis substantially perpendicular to the first central axis; and moving one or more chips about a second central axis to a second position by means of at least one second finger as the second transfer device rotates, such that the orientation of the surface of one or more chips in the second position is the same as the orientation in the first position.

[0011] Typically, the method further includes the following steps: repositioning the arm; reaching and picking up one or more chips from at least one first finger at the intermediate position via at least one second finger; and moving one or more chips about a second central axis to a second position via at least one second finger as the second transfer device rotates, such that the surface of one or more chips is oriented oppositely to that of the first position at the second position.

[0012] Typically, the method also includes the step of inspecting one or more chips by means of one or more inspection devices configured in the vicinity of the first transfer device, the arm, and / or the second transfer device.

[0013] Typically, one or more mirrors or prisms are used to facilitate the inspection of one or more chips. Attached Figure Description

[0014] The present invention will be described in more detail by way of example and in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

[0015] Figure 1 This illustrates an arrangement for directly collecting chips from a wafer thin-film frame via component holders on a turntable;

[0016] Figure 2 The arrangement of two turntables relative to the wafer thin-film frame input of the chip that needs to be flipped is shown;

[0017] Figure 3The arrangement of the two flipping mechanisms relative to the turntable, wafer frame input, and carrier tape output according to the present invention is shown.

[0018] Figure 4 The second flipping mechanism is shown to be able to move into or out of position as needed;

[0019] Figure 5 yes Figure 4 A side view of the arrangement, showing the vertical height of each component relative to each other;

[0020] Figure 6 It is an isometric view of the possible layout of the visual inspection module;

[0021] Figure 7 This is a side view of another arrangement.

[0022] Summary of reference labels in the figure

[0023] 1. A circular conveyor belt on a turntable (motor not shown).

[0024] 2. The turntable's component holders are aligned with the component holders of the two flip modules below.

[0025] 3-Wafer Thin Film Frame

[0026] 4. Direction of movement of the wafer thin film frame

[0027] 5. Carrier tape and cover tape

[0028] 6. Direction of transport of the carrier belt

[0029] 7. First Flipper (motor not shown)

[0030] 8. Rotation axis of the first flipper

[0031] 9. Lower component gripper of the first flipper

[0032] 10. Internal component clamp of the first flipper

[0033] 11 Upper component holder of the first flipper

[0034] 12 Second flipper (motor not shown)

[0035] 13. Position of the second flipper when activated

[0036] 14. The position to which the second flipper is moved when not in use.

[0037] 15 Lower component clamp of the second flipper

[0038] 16. Upper component clamp of the second flipper

[0039] 17 Visual Inspection Module

[0040] 18. Optical path of the visual inspection module

[0041] 19. Optical mirrors or prisms Detailed Implementation

[0042] Figure 1 This diagram illustrates a typical arrangement of a rotary chip testing and packaging system for collecting chips from a wafer thin-film frame 3. The output carrier tape 5 is level with the wafer for the obvious reason—to minimize the travel time of the component holder 2. However, this arrangement is unsuitable for chips that require flipping.

[0043] Figure 2 exist Figure 1 A flipper 7 is introduced into the arrangement. It is a circular conveyor belt arranged horizontally around a rotation axis 8. Advantageously, it is driven by an electric motor (not shown) to achieve flexibility in speed and positioning. It has four component holders on its periphery that can collect chips from the wafer thin film frame 3 below, and then flip the chips during rotation before transferring them to the component holders 2 on the aforementioned circular conveyor belt 1. The chips collected from the wafer thin film frame 3 by the component holders 9 can undergo visual inspection when the component holders 9 are in the position of the component holders 10 as they move to the position of the holders 11. The flipper 7 can have more than four component holders, and the number can also be a multiple of 2, in order to perform more processes simultaneously, such as collection, multiple visual inspections, discarding, sorting, transfer, etc.

[0044] Figure 3 compared to Figure 2 The configuration includes an additional flipper 12. Flipper 12 has two component holders arranged back-to-back, enabling simultaneous collection and transfer of chips. The component holders are preferably non-driveable to keep their occupied vertical distance minimized.

[0045] Figure 4 The method by which the flipper 12 can move into and out of positions as needed is shown—position 13 when the chip does not need to be flipped, and position 14 when it does need to be flipped. In position 14, component holders 11 and 2 directly engage for transferring the chip via one or more drive strokes, compensating for the absence of the flipper 12. Note that the driver and the method for limiting the movement of the driver are not shown.

[0046] Figure 5 The figure shows Figure 3 A side view of the system configuration. The component holder 2 on turntable 1 is aligned with component holder 16, while the component holder 15 of flipper 12 is aligned with component 11 of flipper 7 below. The height difference between the carrier tape 5 and the wafer thin film frame 3 is... Figure 5The same figure is shown.

[0047] Figure 6 The arrangement of the visual inspection module 17 around the system is shown.

[0048] Figure 7 The wafer thin-film frame module 3 is shown to be arranged vertically instead of horizontally. The carrier tape module 5 is reoriented to provide clarity. The flippers 7 and 12 rotate about their respective axes 8 and 20, which are orthogonal to the plane of the paper.

[0049] Reference Figure 2 The introduction of flipper 7 allows the chip to be flipped during transfer to turntable 1. By introducing another flipper 12 above flipper 7 and below turntable 1, the chip can be flipped twice to restore its original orientation on wafer film 3. When the chip needs to be flipped once before being transported to carrier tape 5 for packaging in the desired orientation, flipper 12 can be moved from its working position 13 to position 14 as needed.

[0050] like Figure 5 As shown, the component holder 9 on the flipper 7 extends downward to the wafer thin film frame 3 below to collect the chip from it via a vacuum device, the displacement of which is preferably controlled by a programmable electromagnetic actuator (not shown). The component holder 11 on the flipper 7 and the component holder 2 on the turntable 1 are extended by their respective actuators (not shown) as they pass over or collect the chip.

[0051] This arrangement allows for the free switching of the flip-flop function performed on the chip within the same device. According to Figure 7 This allows for various possible arrangements. For those skilled in the art, the wafer thin-film frame input can also be at angles other than horizontal or vertical, correspondingly modifying the angle of the component holders and thus the number of component holders on the flipper 7 to facilitate efficient chip collection from the wafer thin-film frame input.

[0052] Because the physical contact with the chip is to be as gentle as possible, component holders are typically designed in the form of aspiration nozzles.

[0053] In a preferred embodiment, the turntable 1 is arranged to rotate about its vertical axis, thereby enabling the output of more than one carrier tape 5.

[0054] The process flow of the above system can also be reversed by using the carrier tape 5 as the input source and the wafer thin film frame 3 as the output medium.

[0055] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the present invention may also include further modifications to the system that do not affect the overall functionality of the system.

Claims

1. A system for transferring one or more chips, comprising: A first transfer device (7) is rotatable about a first central axis (8) and its periphery includes at least one first finger (9) capable of picking up one or more chips, each chip having an upper surface and a lower surface. The first transfer device (7) is configured such that when it rotates, the at least one first finger (9) touches and picks up the one or more chips from a first position (3) and moves the one or more chips about the first central axis (8) to an intermediate position. An arm (12) rotatable about a longitudinal axis (20) has at its distal end at least one protrusion (15) capable of picking up one or more chips. The arm (12) is configured such that when it rotates, the at least one protrusion (15) reaches and picks up the one or more chips from the at least one first finger (9) in the intermediate position and flips the one or more chips to face another direction. as well as A second transfer device (1) is rotatable about a second central axis (21) and its periphery includes at least one second finger (2) capable of picking up one or more chips. The second transfer device (1) is configured such that when it rotates, the at least one second finger (2) touches and picks up the one or more chips from the at least one protrusion (15) in the other direction and moves the one or more chips about the second central axis to a second position (5) such that the surface of the one or more chips in the second position (5) is oriented in the same direction as in the first position (3). The arm (12) is also capable of repositioning such that when the second transfer device (1) rotates, the at least one second finger (2) touches and picks up the one or more chips from the at least one first finger (9) at the intermediate position and moves the one or more chips about the second central axis to the second position such that the surface of the one or more chips in the second position (5) is oriented opposite to that in the first position (3).

2. The system of claim 1, wherein, The longitudinal axis (20) of the arm (12) is substantially parallel to the first central axis (8) of the first transfer device (7).

3. The system of claim 1, wherein, The second central axis (21) is substantially perpendicular to the first central axis (8).

4. The system of claim 1, wherein, One or more inspection devices are located near the first transfer device, arm, and / or second transfer device and configured to inspect the one or more chips.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein, One or more mirrors or prisms are configured to facilitate the inspection of the one or more chips by the inspection device.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein, The first position (3) is a wafer thin film frame.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein, The second position (5) is the carrier tape.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein, The second transfer device (1) is a turntable.

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