Automated Tray Cleaning System for Semiconductor Packages
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Solution Overview
Problem
Trays used in handling circuit device packages often become contaminated with metal fibers during processing, posing a risk of contamination to the packages themselves.
Innovation Solution
An automated system utilizing pressurized air and a vacuum system to clean multiple trays sequentially within a cleaning chamber, capable of processing approximately 30,000 trays per day, effectively removing debris such as metal fibers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If trays are manually cleaned, then contamination can be removed, but processing efficiency decreases and labor costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses the trays themselves as part of the cleaning mechanism, where trays are positioned to allow pressurized air and vacuum to access contamination, enabling the trays to be cleaned by the system's own components without requiring separate manual intervention or complex external equipment
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs pressurized air delivery systems and vacuum generation to automatically remove contamination from trays, replacing manual cleaning methods with pneumatic mechanisms that significantly increase processing capacity while managing system complexity through standardized pneumatic components
2Reliability
If pressurized air is applied to remove debris, then cleaning effectiveness improves, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies pressurized air selectively to specific areas of the trays where contamination is most likely to occur, rather than uniformly across all surfaces, optimizing energy usage while maintaining effective cleaning where it is most needed
Solution Approach 2:
The cleaning process uses periodic or sequential application of pressurized air followed by vacuum extraction in cycles, allowing energy-intensive pneumatic operations to be performed intermittently rather than continuously, reducing overall energy consumption while maintaining cleaning effectiveness
3Productivity
If multiple trays are cleaned sequentially, then throughput increases, but cleaning time per tray decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The cleaning system is divided into multiple sequential cleaning stations or zones, each handling specific aspects of tray cleaning, allowing trays to move through different stages simultaneously and increasing overall throughput without sacrificing individual tray cleaning quality
Solution Approach 2:
The system maintains continuous operation by immediately transitioning trays from pressurized air cleaning to vacuum extraction without idle time, ensuring that the cleaning process flows continuously through the system, maximizing productivity while maintaining adequate cleaning duration for each tray
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system ensures thorough cleaning of trays, preventing contamination of circuit device packages and maintaining high processing efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
one or more nozzles disposed in the cleaning chamber and operable to deliver pressurized air
Implementation Method 2
The one or more nozzles are operable to deliver pressurized air onto the tray while the tray is in the cleaning chamber to remove debris from the tray
Implementation Method 3
a vacuum system is operated to remove the contamination (e.g. metal fibers) from the cleaning chamber
Data Source
AI summary
An automated method of cleaning trays used in handling circuit device packages includes the steps of: placing a plurality of trays on a tray loading station of an automated tray cleaning machine; lowering in an automated manner a first tray of the plurality of trays onto a conveyor; conveying in an automated manner the first tray from the tray loading station into a cleaning chamber; automatically applying pressurized air in the cleaning chamber to one or more surfaces of the first tray to remove debris from the first tray; conveying in an automated manner the first tray out of the cleaning chamber and to a tray unloading station; and raising in an automated manner the first tray above the conveyor.