Probe Head Assembly with Movable Guides for Misalignment Tolerance
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The assembly of probe heads for testing electronic devices on semiconductor wafers is hindered by the irregular profiles of contact probes and misalignment of guide holes, leading to assembly failures and increased manufacturing costs due to reliance on manual assembly or ineffective automated systems.
Innovation Solution
An automated assembly apparatus that moves a support with multiple degrees of freedom to follow a calculated trajectory, allowing guide holes to align with contact probes held at a predetermined position, rather than moving the probes into fixed guide holes, using vision systems and actuators to adjust for irregular profiles and misalignment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If automatic assembly apparatuses are used to place contact probes into guide holes, then assembly speed and productivity are improved, but assembly reliability deteriorates due to probe breakage and assembly failures caused by irregular probe profiles and misaligned guide holes
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of moving the contact probe towards the guide hole in a straight line, the system inverts the approach by moving the guide hole (via the movable support) towards the contact probe along a calculated trajectory that adapts to the probe's actual profile, enabling successful insertion despite misalignment or irregular shapes
Solution Approach 2:
The support is made movable with multiple degrees of freedom, allowing the guide hole position to dynamically adjust during the insertion process. The trajectory is calculated based on the specific probe profile, enabling real-time adaptation of the insertion path to maintain reliability while preserving automated assembly speed
2Reliability
If manual assembly by specialized operators is used, then assembly reliability is improved through skill and judgment, but productivity deteriorates due to limited production scale and training requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses vision systems to automatically detect and measure contact probe profiles, then calculates and executes the appropriate insertion trajectory without human intervention. The automated system serves itself by making decisions based on real-time measurements, achieving both high reliability and scalability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical skill of human operators with an automated system combining vision systems, trajectory calculation algorithms, and movable supports. This substitution maintains assembly quality through precise control while enabling unlimited production scaling
3Device complexity
If the holding means moves the contact probe towards fixed guide holes, then assembly simplicity is maintained, but adaptability deteriorates due to inability to accommodate irregular probe profiles and misaligned guide holes
Solution Approach 1:
The support is transformed from a fixed structure to a movable one with multiple degrees of freedom, allowing the guide hole to dynamically follow a calculated trajectory that adapts to the contact probe's actual profile, thereby increasing adaptability while maintaining automated control
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the positional parameters of the guide hole during the assembly process by moving the support along a calculated trajectory. This dynamic parameter adjustment allows the system to accommodate irregular probe profiles and guide hole misalignments without increasing overall process complexity
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus for the automated assembly of a probe head for testing electronic devices integrated on a semiconductor wafer, includes a support adapted to support at least two parallel guides, which are provided with a plurality of respective guides holes, and at least one holding means adapted to hold a contact probe to be housed in the guides holes, of the guides. Suitably, the support is a movable support adapted to be moved according to a preset trajectory between a first position, wherein the contact probe is held by the holding means at a predetermined position outside the guides holes, and a second position wherein the contact probe, which is held at the predetermined position, is housed in a set of guides holes that are substantially concentric to each other.