Dual Rotary Turret Test Handler Concurrent Transfer
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional test handlers for electronic components face a bottleneck due to sequential transfer and testing processes, leading to increased overall process cycle time, which hinders high throughput.
Innovation Solution
A test handler system featuring a main rotary turret, an auxiliary rotary turret with multiple carrier modules, and testing stations along its periphery, allowing concurrent transfer and testing of electronic components, thereby reducing or eliminating transfer time impact on the cycle time.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If sequential transfer and testing processes are used in conventional test handlers, then the system structure is simple, but the overall process cycle time increases and throughput decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The test handler is divided into two independent rotary turrets: a main rotary turret for transferring electronic components and an auxiliary rotary turret for testing them. This segmentation allows the transfer function and testing function to operate independently and concurrently, eliminating the sequential bottleneck and reducing overall process cycle time while maintaining system simplicity.
2Productivity
If a single rotary turret is used for both transfer and testing, then the device complexity is low, but the system cannot perform concurrent operations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines two rotary turret mechanisms into a single integrated test handler system. The main rotary turret and auxiliary rotary turret are mechanically linked and coordinated to work together, allowing concurrent transfer and testing operations while maintaining a unified system structure that does not excessively increase complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A test handler comprises a main rotary turret and a loading station operative to convey electronic components to functional modules of the main rotary turret. An auxiliary rotary turret incorporating multiple carrier modules then receives electronic components from the functional modules of the main rotary turret. Multiple testing stations located along a periphery of the auxiliary turret are operative to receive electronic components from the carrier modules for testing while the loading station is concurrently conveying electronic components to the functional modules of the main rotary turret, so that the impact of transfer time is reduced or eliminated in a test process cycle of the test handler.