Manufacturing method and device for electronic components

Abstract

This electronic component manufacturing device includes a grip plate (22, 25, 27), and the grip plate has a jig (20A, 20B) having a plurality of holes (23, 26, 28-1) into which each one of a plurality of electronic components (10) is inserted, and a first external stimulation device (100). In the jig, the grip plate is configured from a first material in which the size of each of the plurality of holes is reduced in response to a first external stimulus from the first external stimulation device, and after the plurality of electronic components is respectively inserted through the plurality of holes, the size of each of the plurality of holes is reduced, and the plurality of electronic components are held securely by the grip plate.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for manufacturing electronic components, in which a manufacturing process is carried out on a plurality of electronic components held by a jig. [Background technology]

[0002] The present applicant has proposed an apparatus and method for forming external electrodes on electronic components, such as multilayer ceramic capacitors, inductors, and thermistors, by dip-coating a conductive paste layer on the ends of the electronic components (Patent Document 1). FIG. 1(B) of Patent Document 1 discloses a pre-press method as a pre-step of a coating step for dip-coating a conductive paste layer on the ends of the electronic components. As shown in FIG. 12, in the pre-press step, an electronic component 3 is lowered onto a base plate 2 whose main surface 1 is not covered with conductive paste, and an end surface 4 of the electronic component 3 is brought into contact with the main surface 1 of the base plate 2. The electronic component 3 is then raised. A jig (carrier plate) 5 for holding multiple electronic components 3 to be pre-pressed at the same time has a through hole 7 in a jig body 6 made of, for example, rubber, into which the electronic components 3 are fitted. The multiple electronic components 3 have different overall lengths L1 and L2, and have a variation in overall length difference ΔL. By carrying out the prepress process, the length L by which each of the electronic components 3 protrudes from the through hole 7, i.e., the height L from the jig body 6 to the end face 4 of each of the electronic components 3, becomes uniform. This makes it possible to align the positions of the end faces 4 of each of the electronic components 3, regardless of the presence of a total length difference ΔL. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 6633829 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] As the number of electronic components 3 to be batch-processed at the same time increases, or as the size of the electronic components 3 becomes smaller, it becomes difficult to elastically deform holes 7 in the jig body 6 shown in Figure 12 and press-fit the electronic components 3 into the holes 7.

[0005] An object of some aspects of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for manufacturing an electronic component, which is capable of easily and reliably holding a plurality of electronic components on a jig. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] (1) One aspect of the present invention is A first step of preparing a jig having a grip plate including a plurality of holes into which each of a plurality of electronic components is inserted, the grip plate being made of a first material in which the size of each of the plurality of holes changes in response to a first external stimulus; a second step of inserting the electronic components through the holes, respectively; a third step of reducing the size of each of the holes after the second step, and fixedly holding the electronic components by the grip plate; The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an electronic component having the above structure.

[0007] According to one aspect of the present invention, after a plurality of electronic components are inserted into a plurality of holes, the size of each of the plurality of holes in the grip plate is reduced, and the plurality of electronic components are fixedly held by the grip plate. The grip plate is made of a first material in which the size of each hole changes in response to a first external stimulus. The first external stimulus can change the size of each hole when the electronic components are inserted or removed from the holes and when the electronic components are fixedly held in the holes. Therefore, it is not necessary to elastically deform the holes to press-fit the electronic components. This method can be suitably used when holding a plurality of electronic components in a jig, transferring a plurality of electronic components from another jig to this jig, etc. In the former case, an alignment jig is placed on this jig, and the plurality of electronic components can be guided and inserted into each hole of this jig through the alignment jig by vibration or the like. In the latter case, this jig can also be used as a recovery jig or the like.

[0008] (2) In one aspect of the present invention (1), the method may include, after the third step, a step of enlarging the size of each of the holes in the grip plate that holds the electronic components, thereby releasing the electronic components from their holding state. In this way, each of the electronic components can be released from the corresponding hole in the grip plate by, for example, allowing it to fall naturally.

[0009] (3) In one aspect (2) of the present invention, the method further includes a coating step of coating each end of the plurality of electronic components with paste, and an end surface aligning step performed before the coating step, the end surface aligning step includes the first to third steps, and in the second step, each end surface of the plurality of electronic components can be brought into contact with a reference surface. In this way, in the coating step, the paste is applied to each end of the plurality of electronic components fixedly held by the jig, with the end surfaces being aligned, so that a paste film of uniform thickness can be applied to each end of the plurality of electronic components.

[0010] (4) In one aspect (3) of the present invention, the application step includes a first application step of applying the paste to one end portions of the electronic components and a second application step of applying the paste to other end portions of the electronic components, and the end surface aligning step includes a first end surface aligning step performed before the first application step and a second end surface aligning step performed before the second application step, and the first end surface aligning step can align the positions of the one end surfaces of the one end portions by performing the first to third steps, and the second end surface aligning step can align the positions of the other end surfaces of the other end portions by performing the first to third steps. Thus, the positions of the one end surfaces and the other end surfaces of the electronic components can be aligned using a grid plate and a reference surface before each of the first and second application steps of applying paste to both end portions of the electronic components. In the first step of the second end face aligning step, the electronic components having one end face coated with the paste may be temporarily removed from the jig used in the first end face aligning step and the first application step, and the same jig may be prepared, or a different jig may be prepared. The multiple holes provided in the jig may be through holes or blind holes (bottomed holes).

[0011] (5) In one aspect (4) of the present invention, each of the plurality of holes is a through hole, and in the third step of the first end surface aligning step and the second end surface aligning step, the plurality of electronic components are held by the grip plate such that the one end and the other end protrude in opposite directions from each other from the grip plate, and the second end surface aligning step can omit the first step and include a step of inverting the grip plate holding the plurality of electronic components so that the other end surfaces of the plurality of electronic components face the reference surface before the second step. In this way, by inverting the grip plate holding the plurality of electronic components after the first end surface aligning step and the first application step, the first step can be omitted and the second step can be performed. end face This allows the process to proceed quickly to the alignment step. The holes may be blind holes (bottomed holes).

[0012] (6) In one aspect (3) of the present invention, the second step can align the multiple electronic components using a guide body placed on the reference surface. The guide body guides and aligns the multiple electronic components, and the reference surface can align the positions of each end face (each one end face or each other end face) of the multiple electronic components. In other words, multiple electronic components whose end faces are aligned can be held simultaneously on a jig. This eliminates the need for a pre-press step in which multiple electronic components movably held in holes formed in a jig (e.g., a rubber plate) are pressed into contact with a reference surface to align the positions of each end face of the multiple electronic components, as in the conventional method.

[0013] (7) In one aspect (3) of the present invention, the second step may include a step of making the size of each of the holes larger than the reduced size in the third step, and temporarily holding the multiple electronic components on the grip plate by the multiple holes, and a step of moving the jig relatively to the reference surface, bringing the ends of the temporarily held multiple electronic components into contact with the reference surface, and aligning the positions of the end faces. In other words, the pre-press step can be performed while the multiple electronic components are temporarily held on the jig. Since the multiple electronic components are temporarily held on the jig, the multiple electronic components can be moved by each hole, and the positions of the end faces can be aligned by pre-pressing. The size of each hole when the multiple electronic components are temporarily held can be set by a first external stimulus.

[0014] (8) In one aspect (1) or (2) of the present invention, the first material may include a shape-memory resin. The shape-memory resin has a two-phase structure of a "fixed phase" and a "reversible phase". The size of each pore can be changed by primary shaping in the fixed phase and secondary shaping in the reversible phase.

[0015] (9) In one aspect (1) or (2) of the present invention, the first material can include a temperature-responsive gel. In response to the first external stimulus, which is temperature, the temperature-responsive gel expands in volume to reduce the size of each of the holes, and contracts in volume to increase the size of each of the holes. The size of the holes can be a reduced size for fixedly holding an electronic component, an enlarged size for inserting or removing an electronic component into the hole, or an intermediate size for temporarily holding an electronic component in the hole, as necessary.

[0016] (10) In one aspect (1) or (2) of the present invention, the grip plate includes a laminated structure of the first material and a second material that enables the joining and peeling of the electronic components by a second external stimulus, and each of the holes can penetrate at least the first material. In this case, the second material can be used, for example, when joining and temporarily holding the electronic components inserted into each hole, and can peel the electronic components at other times.

[0017] (11) Another aspect of the present invention is a jig including a grip plate having a plurality of holes into which a respective one of a plurality of electronic components is inserted; An external stimulator; having the grip plate is made of a first material in which the size of each of the plurality of holes changes in response to a first external stimulus from the external stimulus applying device; The present invention relates to an electronic component manufacturing apparatus in which, after the multiple electronic components are inserted into the multiple holes, the size of each of the multiple holes is reduced and the multiple electronic components are fixedly held by the grip plate. According to another aspect of the present invention, the method for manufacturing an electronic component according to the aspect (1) of the present invention can be suitably carried out.

[0018] (12) In another aspect (11) of the present invention, similar to the aspects (8) and (9) of the present invention, a shape memory resin or a temperature responsive gel can be used as the first material to which the first external stimulus is applied from the first stimulus application device.

[0019] (13) In another aspect (11) of the present invention, similar to the aspect (10) of the present invention, the grip plate is The above The electronic component may include a laminated structure of a first material and a second material that enables bonding and peeling of the electronic component by a second external stimulus, and a second external stimulus can be applied to the second material by a second stimulus application device.

[0020] (14) In another aspect (11) or (12) of the present invention, the jig has a movable platen to which it can be detachably attached, and the first stimulus applying device can be provided on the movable platen. In this way, the first external stimulus can be applied to the grip plate (first material) by the first stimulus applying device provided on the movable platen that moves integrally with the jig.

[0021] (15) In another aspect (13) of the present invention, the transport jig may have a movable platen to which it is detachably attached, and the second stimulus applying device may also be the first stimulus applying device provided on the movable platen. In this way, the second external stimulus can be applied to the second material by the first stimulus applying device provided on the movable platen that moves integrally with the jig. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0022] [Figure 1] 1(A) and 1(B) are diagrams illustrating the end surface alignment (prepress) process. [Diagram 2] 2(A) to 2(C) are diagrams showing the coating process. [Diagram 3] 3(A) to 3(C) are diagrams showing the process of removing excess paste. [Figure 4] 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a jig prepared in a first step of an end surface aligning step according to the first embodiment. FIG. [Diagram 5] 6A to 6C are diagrams illustrating a second step and a first half of a third step of the end surface aligning step according to the first embodiment. [Figure 6] 13 is a diagram showing the latter half of the third step of the end surface aligning step according to the first embodiment. FIG. [Figure 7] 5A to 5C are diagrams illustrating a change in the size of a hole in a grip plate of the first embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a fourth step of the end surface aligning step according to the first embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a second embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 13 shows an inverted grip plate. [Figure 11] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a third embodiment. [Figure 12] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a conventional prepress method. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0023] In the following disclosure, many different embodiments and examples are provided for implementing different features of the presented subject matter. Of course, these are merely examples and are not intended to be limiting. Furthermore, the disclosure may repeat reference numbers and / or letters in various examples. Such repetition is for the sake of brevity and clarity, and does not, per se, require a relationship between the various embodiments and / or configurations described. Furthermore, when a first element is described as being "connected" or "coupled" to a second element, such a description includes embodiments in which the first element and the second element are directly connected or coupled to each other, as well as embodiments in which the first element and the second element are indirectly connected or coupled to each other with one or more other elements intervening therebetween. Also, when a first element is described as "moving" relative to a second element, such a description includes embodiments of relative movement in which at least one of the first element and the second element moves relative to the other.

[0024] 1. Manufacturing methods for electronic components The method for manufacturing electronic components includes steps performed by holding the electronic components in a jig, such as an end face alignment step and a coating step, and may include a step of removing excess paste performed after the coating step, as necessary. After the coating step or the paste removal step, the paste is dried and the electronic components are removed from the jig. Below, an overview of each general step in the method for manufacturing electronic components will be given.

[0025] 1(A) to 3(C) are schematic diagrams showing main steps of a method for forming an external electrode of a capacitor as a method for manufacturing an electronic component. A surface plate 30 that can be used for the prepress process (end surface alignment process), coating process, and paste removal process of electronic component 10 is made of, for example, ceramic, granite, metal, or the like. A squeegee unit 40 is provided on the surface plate 30. The squeegee unit 40 is movable along a surface (also called a reference surface) 31 of the surface plate 30. The squeegee unit 40 supports a blade 42 made of, for example, a metal that spreads a dip layer 50 of conductive paste at a uniform height, and a blade 44 made of, for example, rubber that scrapes off the conductive paste from the surface 31 of the surface plate 30, so that each of them can be raised and lowered independently.

[0026] A movable platen 32 that can be raised and lowered relative to a fixed platen 34 is disposed above the base plate 30. The transport jig 20 is supported by the movable platen 32 in a detachable manner, and therefore the movable platen 32 is also referred to as a base. A lifting motor 36 is supported by the fixed platen 34, and the movable platen 32 is raised and lowered by a screw shaft 38 that is rotationally driven by the lifting motor 36.

[0027] 1.1.Prepress process As shown in FIG. 1A, a jig, such as a conveying jig 20, on which a plurality of electronic components 10 are held in advance is carried into an external electrode forming apparatus. The electronic components 10 have a first end 12A and a second end 12B, and the first end 12A is a free end and the second end 12B is a fixed end held by the conveying jig 20. The conveying jig 20 is fixed to a movable platen 32. FIG. 1B shows a process (pre-press process) for adjusting the end face height of the electronic components 10. In FIG. 1B, the movable platen 32 lowers the electronic components 10 relative to a base plate 30 on which the conductive paste is not spread, and an end face 12A1 of the first end 12A of the electronic components 10 is brought into contact with the base plate 30. Thereafter, the movable platen 32 raises the electronic components 10 relatively. As a result, the height (position) of the end face 12A1 of the electronic components 10 becomes uniform.

[0028] 1.2.Coating process 2(A) to 2(C) show the conductive paste application process. In Fig. 2(A), a blade 42 set to a predetermined height is moved horizontally by a squeegee unit 40 to form a dip layer 50 of a constant height of conductive paste on a surface plate 30. In Fig. 2(B), the electronic component 10 is lowered by a movable platen 32, and a first end 12A of the electronic component 10 is immersed in the dip layer 50 on the surface platen 30. As a result, a conductive paste layer 14 is formed on the first end 12A of the electronic component 10.

[0029] 1.3.Paste removal process 3(A) to 3(C) show the paste removal step (blotting step). FIG. 3(A) shows a step in which a blade 44, which has been lowered so as to come into contact with the surface 31 of the platen 30, is moved horizontally by the squeegee unit 40 to scrape off the conductive paste on the platen 30. In FIG. 3(B), the electronic component 10 is lowered by the movable platen 32, and the conductive paste layer 14 formed on the first end 12A of the electronic component 10 is brought into contact with the platen 30. Thereafter, the electronic component 10 is raised by the movable platen 32. As a result, the excess paste on the first end 12A of the electronic component 10 is transferred to the platen 30, and a flattened conductive paste layer 14A is formed. Furthermore, if the paste removal process proposed by the present applicant and described in Patent No. 6,633,829 (slide blot), Patent No. 6,787,605 (helical blot), or Patent No. 7,161,814, etc. is used instead of the conventional paste removal process shown in Figures 3(A) to 3(C), the conductive paste layer 14A can be further improved.

[0030] 2. First embodiment Next, a first embodiment will be described. A transport jig 20A used in the first embodiment and each process using the transport jig 20A (particularly the end face alignment process and the subsequent holding process) will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0031] 2.1. First step of the edge alignment process In the first step, a transport jig 20A shown in Fig. 4 is prepared. In Fig. 4, the transport jig 20A includes a base material 21 and a grip plate 22. The base material 21 is a rigid body having shape retention, and is supported removably by a movable platen 32 shown in Fig. 1(A) and the like. The base material 21 also functions as a support portion that supports the grip plate 22. The grip plate 22 has a plurality of holes 23. The holes 23 are provided, for example, penetrating the front and back of the grip plate 22, but since one end is blocked by the base material 21, they function as bottomed holes (non-through holes) in the transport jig 20A.

[0032] As the first material for forming the grip plate 22, for example, a shape-memory resin or a temperature-responsive gel described later can be used. The shape-memory resin has a two-phase structure consisting of a "fixed phase" that fixes the shape of the molded product when the shape-memory resin is molded in a mold, and a "reversible phase" in which softening and hardening occur reversibly with temperature changes. Hereinafter, in this specification, the fixed phase is referred to as a shape-memory state, one of the reversible phases is referred to as a softened state, and the other of the reversible phases is referred to as a hardened state. The shape in the fixed phase is referred to as primary shaping, and the shape when it is softened and hardened is referred to as secondary shaping. The shape-memory resin is formed into the shape of the primary shape by heating and melting the resin supplied in a powder or pellet form, injecting and shaping it into a mold or the like, and then passing through a cooling process. The shape-memory resin is deformed into any shape at an appropriate secondary shaping temperature after the primary shaping, and is fixed in the shape of the secondary shape when it is cooled to room temperature while still applying stress. When the shape-memory resin is heated again to an appropriate temperature after secondary shaping, it recovers to the shape it had when it was primarily shaped. Shape-memory resin is described, for example, in Color Materials, 63[6]353-359.1990. In this embodiment, the size of the hole 23 in the grip plate 22 is changed according to the primary shaping and secondary shaping of the shape-memory resin that receives a first external stimulus (for example, temperature) from the temperature adjustment unit 100. In this embodiment, the temperature adjustment unit (first stimulus application device) 100 that applies the first external stimulus, that is, temperature, to the first material is provided on the movable platen 32. Not limited to this, the temperature adjustment unit 100 may be provided on the substrate 21 or fixed to a location other than the substrate. The temperature adjustment unit 100 may have both a heating unit and a cooling unit, or may be used as both a heating unit and a cooling unit, such as a Peltier element.

[0033] 2.2. The second step of the edge alignment process In the second step shown in FIG. 5, the positions of the end faces 12A1 of the first ends 12A of the electronic components 10 inserted into the holes 23 of the jig 20 are aligned by the reference surface. For this purpose, the pre-press step shown in FIG. 1 is not used in this embodiment. Instead, in FIG. 5, an end face alignment jig 200 is used in addition to the jig 20. The end face alignment jig 200 includes a flat plate 210 having a reference surface 211 and a guide body 220 disposed on the reference surface 211. The guide body 220 has a plurality of guide holes 221 for aligning the electronic components 10 on a two-dimensional surface. The plurality of electronic components 10 randomly supplied onto the guide body 220 are inserted upright into each of the guide holes 221 by, for example, vibrating the end face alignment jig 200 and tilting it alternately like a seesaw. The end faces 12A1 of the electronic components 10 inserted upright into the guide holes 221 come into contact with the reference surface 211, and are aligned in position. If the electronic components 10 have different lengths, a deviation δ occurs in the position of the opposite end face 12B1. Thus, according to the second step of this embodiment, the end faces 12A1 of the electronic components 10 can be aligned in position before using the transport jig 20A. In other words, the transport jig 20A does not need to temporarily hold the electronic components 10 so that they can move within the holes as shown in FIG.

[0034] In order to carry out the second step, in Fig. 5, the transport jig 20A is lowered toward the end face aligning jig 200 by the movable platen 32. This is not limited to the above, and it is sufficient that the transport jig 20A and the end face aligning jig 200 are moved relatively to each other. As a result, the second ends 12B of the multiple electronic components 10 are placed in the holes 23 of the grip plate 22. At this time, the size D1 (Fig. 4) of the holes 23 is a size in which the electronic components 10 are inserted without contact. The size D1 (Fig. 4) of the holes 23 at this time can be realized by either the primary shaping or the secondary shaping of the shape memory resin, for example, the primary shaping.

[0035] 2.3.The third step in the edge alignment process 5 to 7 show the third step of the end surface alignment process. After the second step, the temperature of the temperature adjustment unit 100 is changed. Then, the shape memory resin changes to the other of the primary shaping and secondary shaping, for example, the secondary shaping, and the size D2 of the hole 23 (FIG. 6) is realized. This shape change is shown in FIG. 7. In FIG. 7, the size D2 of the hole 23 (FIG. 6) is a size smaller than the size D1 of the hole 23 (FIG. 4). Therefore, the size D1 of the hole 23 allows the electronic component 10 to be inserted and removed without contact, while the size D2 of the hole 23 allows the electronic component 10 to be firmly gripped. When the size D2 of the hole 23 is realized by secondary shaping, the size D2 can be maintained at room temperature, so it is not necessarily necessary to operate the temperature adjustment unit 100 in the subsequent steps.

[0036] 2.4.The fourth step in the edge alignment process 8 shows the fourth step of the end face aligning step. In FIG. 8, the transport jig 20A is raised by the movable platen 32 so as to move it away from the end face aligning jig 200. This is not limited to the above, and it is sufficient that the transport jig 20A and the end face aligning jig 200 are moved relatively to each other. As a result, the electronic components 10 whose end faces 12A1 are aligned can be moved away from the reference surface 211 and moved to the coating step. Thereafter, the coating step shown in FIG. 2 and, if necessary, the blotting step shown in FIG. 3 can be performed using the transport jig 20A that firmly holds the electronic components 10 whose end faces 12A1 are aligned.

[0037] 2.5.Removal process after coating process After the application step of FIG. 2 or the blotting step of FIG. 3, the paste layer 14A is dried. Thereafter, the size of each hole 23 of the grip plate 22 holding the electronic components 10 can be enlarged from D2 to D1 to release the electronic components 10 from their holding state. In this way, the electronic components 10 can be released from the holes 23 of the grip plate 22 by, for example, allowing them to fall naturally. This completes the application step for the first end 12A of the electronic components 10. The steps up to this point are referred to as a first end surface alignment step and a first application step. Thereafter, a second end surface alignment step and a second application step may be performed. For this purpose, the electronic components 10 can be temporarily removed from the grip plate 22, and then reattached to the grip plate 22 in the third step of the second end surface alignment step. The jig 20A used in the second end surface alignment step and the second application step may be the same as the jig used in the first end surface alignment step and the first application step, or may be a different jig. Regardless of which jig is used, second end 12B becomes a free end, and first end 12A to which conductive paste layer 14A is applied becomes a fixed end that is held by grip plate 22. By repeating each of the above steps in this manner, conductive paste layer 14A is also formed on second end 12B of electronic component 10.

[0038] 3. Second embodiment A second embodiment of the present invention is shown in Fig. 9. The transport jig 20B shown in Fig. 9 has a grip plate 25 made of a shape-memory resin. The grip plate 25 is detachably supported on the movable platen 32 by a spacer or rail (not shown) in such a manner that the area having the hole 26 is not in contact with the base material (not shown) or the movable platen 32. The hole 26 formed in the grip plate 25 is a through hole penetrating the front and back of the grip plate 25. The size of the hole 26 can be changed between D1 and D2 in the same manner as the hole 23 in the first embodiment. Therefore, the second embodiment can also achieve the same actions and effects as the first embodiment.

[0039] In the second embodiment, as shown in Fig. 9, a plurality of electronic components 10 are held such that each first end 12A and each second end 12B protrude in opposite directions from a grip plate 25. In Fig. 9, the positions of each end face 12A1 of each first end 12A are aligned, which is the same as the state in Fig. 6 or Fig. 8 following Fig. 5 in the first embodiment. Therefore, a conductive paste layer 14A can be applied to each end face 12A1 in the subsequent application step.

[0040] In the second embodiment, in order to carry out the second end surface aligning step, it was necessary to temporarily remove the multiple electronic components 10 from the grip plate 22. In the second embodiment, the multiple electronic components 10 may also be temporarily removed from the grip plate 25, and then the second end surface aligning step (FIGS. 5 to 8) may be carried out. However, in the second embodiment, it is not necessary to remove the multiple electronic components 10 from the grip plate 25. In that case, the second end surface aligning step may include a step of temporarily removing the grip plate 25 holding the multiple electronic components 10 from the movable platen 32 before the second step (FIG. 5), and inverting it so that the second end surfaces 12B1 of the multiple electronic components 10 face the reference surface 211 (see FIG. 10). In this way, the second end surface aligning step may be carried out. end face Therefore, in this case, the second end face aligning step does not require the first step of preparing a jig having holes into which the electronic components 10 are inserted.

[0041] In this case, the movable platen 32 holding the inverted grip plate 25 is lowered to be positioned as shown in Fig. 6. Thereafter, the size of the hole 26 in the grip plate 25 is enlarged from D2 to D1 as shown in Fig. 5, thereby completing the second step in the second end face coating step.

[0042] Alternatively, the pre-press step shown in Fig. 1 may be performed using a conveying jig 20B shown in Fig. 10. In this case, second end faces 12B1 of the electronic components 10 come into contact with reference surface 31 of surface plate 30. At this time, if the size of holes 26 in grip plate 25 is set to an intermediate size between D1 and D2 and the electronic components 10 are temporarily held by grip plate 25, the positions of second end faces 12B1 of the electronic components 10 can be aligned. This is because electronic components 10 move within holes 26, and the misalignment δ shown in Fig. 10 is eliminated.

[0043] In this case, the grip plate 25 may be made of a first material capable of changing the size of the hole 26 into three stages (D1, D2, and D3: intermediate sizes between D1 and D2). An example of such a first material is a temperature-responsive gel. In response to a first external stimulus, the temperature-responsive gel expands in volume to reduce the size of the hole 26, and contracts in volume to increase the size of the hole 26. The hole size may be a reduced size D2 for fixedly holding the electronic component, an enlarged size D1 for inserting or removing the electronic component into the hole, or an intermediate size D3 for temporarily holding the electronic component in the hole, as necessary.

[0044] An example of a temperature-responsive gel is Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide):PNIPAm. PNIPAm absorbs surrounding water and expands at low temperatures below the lower critical solution temperature (32°C). PNIPAm releases water and contracts when the temperature is higher than the lower critical solution temperature (32°C). This is a phase separation phenomenon of a water-soluble polymer that has both hydrophilic and hydrophobic groups, and this volume change occurs reversibly. PNIPAm can change the size of the pores 26 in three stages (D1, D2, and D3: an intermediate size between D1 and D2) depending on the set temperature.

[0045] 4. Third embodiment A third embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 11. The transport jig 20C shown in FIG. 11 has a grip plate 27 including a laminated structure of a first portion 27-1 formed of the above-mentioned first material and a second portion 27-2 formed of a second material that enables bonding and peeling of the electronic component 10 by a second external stimulus. In this embodiment, a hole 28-1 formed in the first portion 27-1 and a hole 28-2 formed in the second portion 27-2 are communicated with each other. In this case, the holes 28-1 and 28-2 may be through holes or non-through holes as long as they have a depth that spans the laminated structure of the first portion 27-1 and the second portion 27-2. In FIG. 11, the grip plate 27 is detachably supported by a movable plate 32 by a spacer or rail (not shown) in such a manner that the region having the through holes 28-1 and 28-2 is not in contact with the base material (not shown) or the movable plate 32. The size of the hole 28-1 can be changed between D1 and D2, similarly to the hole 23 in the first embodiment. Therefore, the third embodiment can also achieve the same functions and effects as the first embodiment.

[0046] The hole 28-2 formed in the second portion 27-2 is Figure 12 11. At this time, the hole 28-1 formed in the first portion 27-1 is set to a size D1 as shown in FIG. 11, and therefore does not hold the electronic component 10. The hole 28-2 formed in the second portion 27-2 has, for example, an increased adhesive force by the temperature adjustment unit 100. As a result, when a prepress process similar to that shown in FIG. 12 is performed, the electronic component 10 is bonded and temporarily held by, for example, the adhesive force of the hole 28-2 formed in the second portion 27-2. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 12, the end faces of the temporarily held electronic component 10 can be aligned.

[0047] Examples of the second material include TP-7612 (trade name) manufactured by Big Technos Co., Ltd., whose adhesive strength changes with electrical stimulation, and Intellimer Tape (trade name), a temperature-sensitive adhesive sheet manufactured by Nitta Co., Ltd., whose adhesive strength changes with temperature. Another second material may be WellQuick (trade name) manufactured by Showa Denko Co., Ltd., which can be bonded and peeled by temperature. When the first external stimulus for the first material and the second external stimulus for the second material are both, for example, temperatures, as shown in FIG. 11, the temperature control unit 100 may be used as both a first stimulus applying device that applies the first external stimulus to the first material and a second stimulus applying device that applies the second external stimulus to the second material. Note that if the hole 28-1 formed in the first portion 27-1 is a through hole, the hole 28-2 may not necessarily be formed in the second portion 27-2 formed of the second material. Since the electronic component 10 placed in the through hole 28-1 comes into contact with the second material of the second portion 27-2, the electronic component 10 can be temporarily held. [Explanation of symbols]

[0048] 10...electronic component, 12A, 12B...end portion, 12A1, 12B1...end surface, 20A, 20B, 20C...jig, 22, 25, 27...grip plate, 23, 26, 28-1, 28-2...hole, 31, 211...reference surface, 32...movable plate, 100...first stimulus applying device (second stimulus applying device), 220...guide body

Claims

1. A first step of preparing a jig having a grip plate including a plurality of holes into which a respective one of a plurality of electronic components is inserted, the grip plate being made of a first material in which the size of each of the plurality of holes changes in response to a first external stimulus; a second step of inserting the plurality of electronic components into the plurality of holes, respectively; a third step of reducing the size of each of the holes after the second step, and fixedly holding the electronic components by the grip plate; having The method for manufacturing an electronic component, wherein the first external stimulus is temperature.

2. A first step of preparing a jig having a grip plate including a plurality of holes into which each of a plurality of electronic components is inserted, the grip plate being made of a first material in which the size of each of the plurality of holes changes in response to a first external stimulus; a second step of inserting the plurality of electronic components into the plurality of holes, respectively; a third step of reducing the size of each of the holes after the second step, and fixedly holding the electronic components by the grip plate; having The grip plate includes a laminated structure of the first material and a second material capable of bonding / detaching the electronic component by a second external stimulus, and the plurality of holes penetrate at least the first material.

3. In claim 1 or 2, The method for manufacturing electronic components further includes, after the third step, a step of enlarging each of the sizes of the multiple holes in the grip plate holding the multiple electronic components to release the held state of the multiple electronic components.

4. In claim 3, The method further includes a coating step of coating each end of the plurality of electronic components with a paste, and an end surface alignment step performed before the coating step, The method for manufacturing electronic components, wherein the end surface aligning step includes the first to third steps, and in the second step, each end surface of each of the ends of the plurality of electronic components is brought into contact with a reference surface.

5. In claim 4, the application step includes a first application step of applying the paste to one end of each of the plurality of electronic components, and a second application step of applying the paste to the other end of each of the plurality of electronic components, The end surface alignment step includes a first end surface alignment step performed before the first coating step, and a second end surface alignment step performed before the second coating step, Including, The first end surface alignment step includes carrying out the first to third steps to align the positions of the end surfaces of the one end portions, The second end surface aligning step is a method for manufacturing an electronic component in which the positions of the other end surfaces of the other end portions are aligned by carrying out the first to third steps.

6. In claim 5, each of the plurality of holes is a through hole; In the first end surface alignment step and the third step in the second end surface alignment step, the electronic components are held by the grip plate such that the one end portion and the other end portion protrude in opposite directions from each other from the grip plate, The second end surface aligning process is a method for manufacturing electronic components in which the first process is omitted and, before the second process, the grip plate holding the multiple electronic components is inverted so that the other end surfaces of the multiple electronic components face the reference surface.

7. A coating step of coating each end of a plurality of electronic components with a paste using a jig having a grip plate including a plurality of holes into which each one of the electronic components is inserted; an end surface alignment step carried out before the coating step; having The end surface alignment step includes: A first step of preparing the jig, the grip plate being made of a first material in which the size of each of the plurality of holes changes in response to a first external stimulus; a second step of inserting the electronic components through the holes, respectively; a third step of reducing the size of each of the holes after the second step, and fixedly holding the electronic components by the grip plate; a step of releasing the holding state of the plurality of electronic components by enlarging the sizes of the plurality of holes of the grip plate holding the plurality of electronic components after the third step; and in the second step, each end face of each of the ends of the plurality of electronic components is brought into contact with a reference surface; The second step is a method for manufacturing electronic components, in which the plurality of electronic components are aligned by a guide body that is placed on the reference surface.

8. In claim 4, The second step comprises: a step of temporarily holding the electronic components on the grip plate by the holes by making the size of each of the holes larger than the reduced size in the third step; a step of moving the jig relative to the reference surface to bring each end face of the temporarily held electronic components into contact with the reference surface, thereby aligning the positions of each end face; A method for manufacturing an electronic component comprising the steps of:

9. In claim 1 or 2, The method for manufacturing an electronic component, wherein the first material includes a shape memory resin.

10. In claim 1 or 2, A method for manufacturing an electronic component, wherein the first material includes a temperature-responsive gel, which expands in volume to reduce the size of the holes and contracts in volume to increase the size of the holes in response to the first external stimulus, which is temperature.

11. a jig including a grip plate having a plurality of holes into which a respective one of a plurality of electronic components is inserted; A first stimulus applying device; having the grip plate is constructed from a first material that reduces the size of each of the plurality of holes in response to a first external stimulus from the first stimulus application device; the first external stimulus is temperature; An electronic component manufacturing apparatus in which, after the multiple electronic components are inserted into the multiple holes respectively, the size of each of the multiple holes is reduced and the multiple electronic components are fixedly held by the grip plate.

12. In claim 11, The apparatus for manufacturing an electronic component, wherein the first material includes a shape memory resin.

13. In claim 11, An apparatus for manufacturing electronic components, wherein the first material includes a temperature-responsive gel, which expands in volume to reduce the size of each of the plurality of holes and contracts in volume to increase the size of the holes in response to the first external stimulus, which is temperature.

14. A jig including a grip plate, the grip plate having a plurality of holes into which a respective one of a plurality of electronic components is inserted; A first stimulus applying device; having the grip plate is constructed from a first material that reduces the size of each of the plurality of holes in response to a first external stimulus from the first stimulus application device; After the plurality of electronic components are inserted into the plurality of holes, the sizes of the plurality of holes are reduced to fix the plurality of electronic components by the grip plate; Further comprising a second stimulating device, An apparatus for manufacturing electronic components, wherein the grip plate includes a laminated structure of the first material and a second material capable of joining and peeling the electronic component by a second external stimulus from the second stimulus application device, and the plurality of holes penetrate at least the first material.

15. In any one of claims 11 to 13, The jig has a movable platen to which the jig is detachably attached, The first stimulus applying device is provided on the movable platen of the electronic component manufacturing apparatus.

16. In claim 14, An electronic component manufacturing apparatus having a movable platen to which the jig is detachably attached, the second stimulus applying device being also used as the first stimulus applying device provided on the movable platen.

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