JP2002228713A - Auto handler and its tray transporting method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an auto handler in which a moving distance of an IC hand is made shortest according to the circumstances, and a stop of the device at a tray change is kept in a minimum. SOLUTION: The auto handler comprises a tray hand 4 for conveying the tray on which an unmeasured IC is placed from a supply stocker 1 to a supply stage and conveying the tray on which a measured IC is placed from a hold stage to a hold stocker 3, an IC hand 7 for transferring the unmeasured IC from the tray in the supply stage to a carrier 10 and transferring the measured IC from the carrier 10 to the tray in the hold stage, and a supply-hold stage 8 having the supply stage and the hold stage for common use. The supply-hold stage 8 has a plurality of stages 81-86 which can be selected for supply use and for hold use. In the supply-hold stage 8, the supply stage and the hold stage are selected from the plurality of stages 81-86, such that the IC hand is movable in a shortest distance according to the circumstances, and tray conveyance by the tray hand 4 is performed using a tray conveying control means.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention automatically transports ICs from a tray set in a loader stocker to a measuring unit, and automatically sorts and stores the ICs in a tray of an unloader stocker based on a test result in the measuring unit. Regarding auto handler.

[0002]

9 and 10 show a schematic configuration of a conventional auto handler 31. A supply stocker (loader stocker) 1, an empty trace stocker 2, an accommodation stocker (unloader stocker) 3, a tray hand 4, Supply stage 5, accommodation stage 6, and supply accommodation hand (IC hand)
7 is provided. In FIG. 9, trays containing unmeasured ICs set in the supply stocker 1 (hereinafter, referred to as supply trays) are taken out one by one by a tray hand 4 and set on the supply stage 5. When there is no supply tray in the supply stage 5, the same operation is repeated until there is no more supply tray in the supply stocker 1. The supply tray set on the supply stage 5 is set on the empty trace stocker 2 by the tray hand 4 as soon as it becomes empty. The empty trace stocker 2 temporarily holds a plurality of empty trays. The same operation is repeated until there is no more supply tray in the supply stage 5.

The empty tray set in the empty trace stocker 2 is set on the accommodation stage 6. The accommodation stage 6 has a classification category defined therein, and holds a tray (hereinafter, referred to as an accommodation tray) for accommodating an IC having the set classification result. When there is no storage tray in the storage stage 6 and there is an IC to be stored in the apparatus,
The same operation is repeated. As soon as the storage tray set on the storage stage 6 is filled with the measured IC, the storage tray is moved by the tray hand 4 to the storage stocker 3 immediately below.
Is set to The same operation is repeated as soon as the receiving tray is filled with the measured IC.

In FIG. 10, unmeasured ICs are arranged and placed on the supply tray set on the supply stage 5 by the above-described operation. Unmeasured ICs are supplied and stored by hand 7
Is transported onto the carrier 10 at the supply storage position.
The carrier 10 has an IC supply / accommodation section 11 → a lift section 12 →
Preheating unit 13 → measuring unit 14 → drying unit 15 → standby unit 1
6 → internal circulation in the order of IC supply housing 11. The measured IC in the carrier 10 of the IC supply / storage section 11 is transported by the supply / storage hand 7 to the storage tray on the storage stage 6 according to the test result.

Next, an outline of a conventional tray transport operation procedure by the tray hand 4 will be described with reference to a flowchart of FIG. First, it is checked whether or not there is a tray in which the unmeasured IC is placed in the supply stocker 1 (step S51). If there is no tray, the process proceeds to step S54. If there is a tray, it is checked whether there is a tray in the supply stage 5 (step S52). If there is no tray, one tray is taken out from the supply stocker 1 and set on the supply stage 5 (step S53). If there is a tray in step S52, it is checked whether there is an unmeasured IC in the tray on the supply stage 5 (step S54). If the tray is empty, it is set in the empty trace stocker 2 by the tray hand 4 (step S55).

If there is an unmeasured IC in the tray at step S54, it is checked whether or not there is a tray on the accommodation stage 6 (step S56). If there is no tray, it is checked whether it is in the lot end state (step S57). The lot end state is a state in which the IC is not present in the auto handler. In the case of the lot end state, the process proceeds to step S59. If not in the lot end state, one tray is taken out from the empty trace stocker 2 and set on the accommodation stage 6 (step S58). If there is a tray in step S56, the state of the tray on the storage stage 6 is confirmed by the memory (step S59). If the tray is full of measured ICs, the full tray is
Is set in the target stocker of the storage stocker 3 by the tray hand 4 (step S6).
0). Thereafter, the process returns to step S51, and also returns to step S51 if the tray is not full of the measured IC in step S59. Thus, the processing from step S51 to step S60 is repeated.

[0007]

As described above, in the conventional auto handler, the supply stage 5 for supplying an unmeasured IC is provided.
And the position of the accommodating stage 6 for accommodating the measured IC has a fixed relationship. For this reason, for example, even if the distance between the supply stage 5 and the supply accommodating section (the IC supply accommodating section 11 and the accommodating stage 6) where the transportation opportunity is greatest is long, the IC hand (supply accommodating hand) 7 moves over the long distance Was to do. Conventionally, the movement of the tray on the stage has not been predicted and controlled. If there is no tray on the target stage, the IC hand 7 stops until the tray is set. Would.

An object of the present invention is to improve the operating efficiency by minimizing the moving distance of the IC hand of the auto handler according to the situation. Another object of the present invention is to contribute to improvement of operation efficiency by minimizing the stoppage of the apparatus in tray replacement.

[0009]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a carrier 10 circulating in an apparatus and an unmeasured IC are mounted as shown in FIGS. The tray hand 4 transports the placed tray from the supply stocker 1 to the supply stage, and transports the tray on which the measured IC is placed from the storage stage to the storage stocker 4, and transfers the unmeasured IC from the tray of the supply stage to the carrier 10 And an IC hand 7 for transferring the measured IC from the carrier 10 to the tray of the storage stage, and comprising a plurality of stages 81, 82, 83, 84 that can be selected for supply and storage. 85, 86, characterized by being provided with a supply storage stage 8 which shares the supply stage and the storage stage.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, since a supply and storage stage including a plurality of stages that can be selected for supply and storage is provided, an unmeasured IC is provided by a tray hand.
It is possible to transport the tray on which it is placed to an appropriate supply stage, and to transport an empty tray to an appropriate storage stage. For this reason, the unmeasured IC placed on the tray is transferred to the carrier by the IC hand at the shortest distance,
The measured IC can be transferred to an empty tray in the shortest distance. As described above, in the auto-handler, the moving distance of the IC hand can be minimized, so that the operation efficiency can be improved.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the auto handler according to the first aspect, wherein the plurality of IC hands 7 are movable at the shortest distance in the supply housing stage 8 depending on the situation. Stage 81 ・ 82 ・ 83 ・
A tray transport control means for selecting a supply stage and a storage stage from 84, 85, and 86 and executing tray transport by the tray hand 4 is provided.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the supply stage is selected by the tray transport control means so that the IC hand can move in the shortest distance according to the situation. And the tray is transferred to the storage stage.
C can be transferred to the carrier in the shortest distance, and the measured IC can be transferred to the empty tray in the shortest distance. As described above, since the moving distance of the IC hand can be minimized, the operation efficiency can be improved. In addition, by transporting the tray according to the situation to minimize the IC hand movement distance, the stoppage of the apparatus during tray replacement can be minimized, which can contribute to an improvement in operation efficiency.

[0013] The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 1 or 2.
In the auto-handler described above, for example, as shown in FIG.
Stages 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, and more than the number obtained by adding the number of stockers of the storage stocker 3 and the number of stockers of the storage stocker 3.
86.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the auto handler according to the second aspect, wherein, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, for example, the tray transport control means includes the supply stage in the supply storage stage. And controlling the tray hand in accordance with the tray supply request level and the tray supply order determined according to the tray supply request level and the tray storage request level based on the selection state of the storage stage to supply the tray from the supply stocker. And transporting the tray from a predetermined stage of the storage stage to a predetermined stocker of the storage stocker.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, for example, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a tray on which an unmeasured IC is placed is conveyed from a supply stocker 1 to a stage by a tray hand 4, and measurement is performed. The tray on which the completed IC is placed is transferred to the storage stocker 3 by the tray hand 4, and the unmeasured IC is transferred from the tray to the carrier 10 by the IC hand 7.
In an auto-handler for transferring the measured IC from the carrier 10 to the tray by the IC hand 7, the tray on which the unmeasured IC is placed is transported on the stage to a position where the IC hand 7 can move in the shortest distance according to the situation. It is characterized by keeping.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, in the auto-handler, the tray on which the unmeasured IC is placed is transported onto the stage at a position where the IC hand can move at the shortest distance according to the situation, thereby enabling the automatic handling. The measurement IC can be transferred to the carrier by the IC hand in the shortest distance. Therefore, operation efficiency can be improved.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, for example, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a tray on which an unmeasured IC is placed is conveyed from a supply stocker 1 to a stage by a tray hand 4 to measure. The tray on which the completed IC is placed is transferred to the storage stocker 3 by the tray hand 4, and the unmeasured IC is transferred from the tray to the carrier 10 by the IC hand 7.
In an auto-handler for transferring the measured IC from the carrier 10 to the tray by the IC hand 7, the empty tray on which the measured IC is placed at a position where the IC hand 7 can move at the shortest distance depending on the situation is placed on the stage. Is transported to

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, in the auto-handler, an empty tray is transported on the stage to a position where the IC hand can move in the shortest distance according to the situation. It can be transported to an empty tray with the shortest distance by hand. Therefore, operation efficiency can be improved.

[0019]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the auto handler includes a supply stocker 1, an empty trace stocker 2, a storage stocker 3, a tray hand 4, a supply storage hand (IC hand) 7, and a supply storage stage 8. That is, in this auto-handler, the supply and accommodation stage 8 has no distinction between the supply stage and the accommodation stage of the conventional auto handler.

In FIG. 1, the supply trays set in the supply stocker 1 are taken out one by one by a tray hand 4 and set at the most suitable position on the supply storage stage 8. When there is no supply tray in the supply storage stage 8, the same operation is repeated until there is no more supply tray in the supply stocker 1. The supply tray set on the supply storage stage 8 is set on the empty trace stocker 2 by the tray hand 4 as soon as it becomes empty. The empty trace stocker 2 temporarily holds a plurality of empty trays. Until there is no supply tray in the supply storage stage 8,
The same operation is repeated. The empty tray set in the empty trace stocker 2 is set on the supply accommodation stage 8 to accommodate the measured IC.

The supply accommodating stage 8 is divided into a plurality (six in the illustrated example), and a classification category is not defined for each of the divided stages, and an IC having the most suitable classification result is accommodated. Tray (container tray) is set. If the IC to be accommodated exists in the device,
The same operation is repeated. As soon as the storage tray set on the supply storage stage 8 is filled with the measured ICs, the storage tray is set on the storage stocker 3 as classified by the tray hand 4. The storage tray has been measured I
As soon as C is full, the same operation is repeated.

In FIG. 2, unmeasured ICs are arranged and mounted on the supply tray set on the supply accommodating stage 8 by the above-described operation. The unmeasured IC is conveyed to the carrier 10 of the IC supply / accommodation unit 11 by the supply / accommodation hand 7.
Unmeasured ICs for the number of simultaneous measurements, the number of simultaneous measurements × 2, or the number of simultaneous measurements × 4 are arranged and mounted on the carrier 10. The carrier 10 has an IC supply / accommodation section 11 → a lift section 12 → a preheating section 13 → a measurement section 14 → a drying section 15 →
The internal circulation is performed in the order of the standby unit 16 → the IC supply / storage unit 11.
The preheating unit 13 has a capacity for five carriers, and the drying unit 15 has a capacity for two carriers. In the measuring section 14, the IC is tested, and after the test, the carrier 10 is tested.
Each of the above ICs is assigned a category for classification.
Measured IC in carrier 10 of IC supply housing 11
Is transported to the storage tray according to the test result on the supply storage stage 8 by the supply storage hand 7.

As shown in FIG. 3, the supply accommodating stage 8 is composed of stages 81, 82, 83, 84, 85 and 86 which are divided into six parts and numbered in order from the left. In the supply accommodating stage 8, each of the six divided stages 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86 and an IC
The shorter the distance from the supply storage unit 11 is, the shorter the movement time of the supply storage hand (IC hand) 7 is. Conversely, from the IC supply housing section 11, (83) <(84) <(82) <
The hand movement time increases in the order of (85) <(81) <(86).

Next, the procedure for determining the tray position in the supply / accommodation stage 8 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, various types of information such as the current table usage status, the remaining number status in the tray, and the IC status in the apparatus are acquired (step S1). Subsequently, a stage information table (see FIG. 6) is created based on the information acquired in step S1 (step S2). Subsequently, the scheduled work order is determined, and information is added to the stage information table (step S).
3). Next, check the stage information table,
It is checked whether or not there is any work (step S4). If there is no work in order 1, the processing from step S1 is repeated. By repeating the processing from step S1, the work in order 1 may occur even if there is no movement of the auto handler. If there is a work in order 1, the work is performed (step S5). After the execution, the work order in the stage information table is decremented by 1 (step S6), and the processing from step S4 is repeated. The control of the process execution based on the above flowchart and the various controls of the process execution based on the flowchart described below are performed by a computer. The computer is provided with control means by a CPU and various memories. The control means includes a tray transfer control means for executing the tray transfer by the tray hand 4 and an IC transfer control means for executing the IC transfer by the supply housing hand 7.

Next, the procedure for acquiring various information will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, information on the current use status of the supply housing stage 8 is obtained from the memory (step S11). Subsequently, each tray information is obtained from the operation setting memory (step S12). Here, the maximum load capacity of one tray is calculated. Subsequently, the remaining number in the tray (the number of remaining ICs in the case of the supply tray and the number of empty ICs in the case of the storage tray) is checked (step S13). Subsequently, the number of ICs in the device is confirmed (step S14). That is, the IC supply housing section 11, the measurement section 14, the drying section 1
5. Acquire the number of ICs in the standby unit 16 for each category. Subsequently, after the classification derivation rates up to the present are acquired for each category (step S15), the information acquisition processing ends.

Next, the stage information table will be described with reference to FIG. This stage information table is developed on an internal memory handled by a computer in the auto handler. The “stage number” in (1) is a six-part stage 81.8 that constitutes the supply accommodation stage 8.
It is a stage number corresponding to 2.83.84.85.86, and "standby" means a tray on each stocker not allocated to the supply accommodation stage 8. “(2)“ on current stage ”indicates the tray corresponding to the stocker actually allocated to the current stage in the supply and storage stage 8, and the supply, ST 1, ST 2, ST 3, ST
There are five types of four. For example, if it is assigned to supply, it indicates that there is a tray with unmeasured ICs, and if it is assigned to ST1, it indicates that there is a tray of a category to be accommodated in the first stocker of the accommodation stocker 3. Here, the storage stocker 3 is divided so as to store an IC for each measurement result, and the first to fourth stockers ST are stored.
1, ST2, ST3, and ST4.
The “stage schedule” of (3) indicates a schedule of a method of using the supply storage stage 8. The schedule for using this stage will change during the lot. In the example shown, the IC to be supplied
As long as there is, the second stage 82 and the third stage 83 are supplied. Open as soon as there are no more ICs to supply.
The other stages correspond one-to-one with the storage stockers 3 until the classification and derivation are determined. The tray supply request is determined in order from the classification category, and the tray on the current stage is determined.

(4) “Maximum number of trays loaded” indicates the maximum load (number of ICs) of one tray. The “number of remaining tray ICs” in (5) indicates the number of remaining ICs in the tray (the number of remaining ICs in the case of the supply tray, and the number of empty ICs in the case of the accommodation tray). (6) “Number of ICs in supply supply section” indicates the number of ICs in the IC supply / accommodation section 11 for each classification category.
(7) “Number of ICs after measurement unit” indicates the total number of ICs in the measurement unit 14, the drying unit 15, the standby unit 16, and the IC supply / storage unit 11 for each classification category. The “classification derivation rate” in (8) is an occurrence prediction rate in the classification category based on the measurement results up to now. For example, the classification category appearance rate of ST1 is 98%. (9) “Tray supply request”
A level at which tray supply is requested to the supply accommodating stage 8 is indicated, and there are values of level 1 (immediate supply), level 2 (immediate supply), and no request. Waiting tray category I
If C is present in the IC supply housing 11, if there is no tray on the current supply stage and there is a supply tray in the supply stocker 1, there is no tray on the current storage stage and the IC supply housing 11 If there is an IC, it is level 1 (immediate supply). Also, there is no tray on the current storage stage, and the IC
If there is, it will be Level 2 (supply soon).

(10) “Tray accommodation request” indicates the level at which trays are accommodated from the supply accommodation stage 8, level 1 (immediate accommodation), level 2 (immediate accommodation), level −1.
(Acceptable), level-2 (quasi-acceptable), and no request. A positive level value is obtained when the tray must be accommodated from the supply / accommodation stage 8, and a negative level value occurs when the tray can be temporarily lowered from the supply / accommodation stage 8. When the remaining number of ICs in the tray on the supply accommodation stage 8 is “0”, the level is level 1 (immediate accommodation). However, when the IC remaining number of trays of the same category is not “0”, the level is level 2 (accommodated soon). Also, based on the remaining number of tray ICs on the stage,
If the number of ICs is subtracted from one and becomes negative, it is Level 2 (accommodated soon). When there is no IC in the IC supply / accommodating section 11, the level becomes level-2 (quasi-acceptable). Further, when there are no ICs from the measuring unit 15 onward, the level becomes level -1 (acceptable). The “supply order” of (11) and the “accommodation order” of (12) indicate the order of work from the levels of (9) and (10) according to a procedure described later, and indicate the order.

Next, the procedure for determining the scheduled work order will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. At the beginning,
A description will be given from the flowchart of the supply request confirmation process in FIG. First, the “tray supply request” of (9) in the stage information table is confirmed, that is, the presence or absence of level 1 of the tray supply request is confirmed (step S21). If there is no level 1 of the tray supply request, the process proceeds to step S28.
If there is level 1 of the tray supply request, it is checked whether or not there is an unused stage “on the current stage” in (2) (step S22). If there is an unused stage,
The process of confirming the supply request is completed with the level 1 of the tray supply request as the supply order 1. (Step 23).

Subsequently, the above-mentioned (10) "Tray accommodation request" is confirmed, that is, the level of the tray accommodation request is -1.
Is checked (step S24). If there is a level -1 of the tray accommodation request, the level-1 is set as the accommodation order 1, the supply level 1 is set as the supply order 2, and the supply request confirmation is completed (step S25). If there are a plurality of levels-1 in step 25, the level-1 having the lower derivation rate is set as the accommodation order 1. If there is no level-1 of the tray accommodation request in step 24, it is checked whether level-2 exists (step S26). When there is no level-2 of the tray accommodation request, the supply order 1 and the accommodation order 1 are not created, and the processing of the supply request confirmation ends.

If there is a level-2 of the tray accommodation request in step S26, the level-2 is set to the accommodation order 1, the supply level 1 is set to the supply order 2, and the process of confirming the supply request is finished (step S27). If there are a plurality of levels-2 in step S27, the level-2 having the lower derivation rate is set as the accommodation order 1.

If there is no level 1 of the tray supply request at the step S21, it is confirmed whether or not there is a level 2 (step S28). If there is no such request, the supply request confirmation process ends. In step S28, level 2 of the tray accommodation request
If there is, the presence or absence of an unused stage is confirmed (step S29). If there is no unused stage, the supply request confirmation ends. If there is an unused stage in step S29, the level 2 of the tray accommodation request is set to the accommodation order 1 (step S30), and then the supply request confirmation processing ends.

Next, a flowchart of the accommodation request confirmation processing of FIG. 8 will be described. First, the “tray accommodation request” of (10) in the stage information table is confirmed, that is, the presence or absence of level 1 of the tray accommodation request is confirmed (step S).
31). If there is level 1 of the tray accommodation request, the level 1 is set to accommodation order 1 (step S32), and then the accommodation request confirmation processing ends. If there is no level 1 of the tray accommodation request in step S31, it is confirmed whether or not there is level 2 (step 33). When there is no level 2 of the tray accommodation request, the accommodation request confirmation processing ends. If there is a tray accommodation request level 2 in step S33, it is checked whether trays of the same category are prepared (step S34). If there is a tray of the same category, the processing of the accommodation request confirmation ends. If there is no tray of the same category in step S34, it is checked whether or not there is an unused stage (step S35). If there is an unused stage, the stage is set as its category (step S3).
6), the processing of the accommodation request confirmation ends. Step S35
If there is no unused stage, it is confirmed whether or not the tray accommodation request level -1 is present (step S37). If there is a tray accommodation request level-1, the level-1 is set to accommodation order 1 (step S38), and then the accommodation request confirmation processing ends. In step S37, the tray accommodation request level
If there is no “1”, the accommodation order 1 is not created, and the confirmation of the accommodation request confirmation is terminated as it is.

According to the above-described control, the supply stage and the storage stage, which are respectively optimally selected so that the supply and storage hand 7 can be moved in the shortest distance according to the situation in the supply and storage stage 8, are previously set by the tray hand 4. The storage tray and the empty tray are transported. That is, the six stages 81 and 82 provided in the supply accommodation stage 8
At 83, 84, 85, and 86, the supply tray on which the unmeasured ICs are placed is transported to the optimal stage according to the situation, so that the unmeasured ICs are supplied and accommodated by the supply accommodating hand 7 from the supply tray. It can be transferred to the carrier 10 at the position of the part 11 at the shortest distance. Further, since the empty tray is transported to the optimal stage according to the situation, the measured IC can be transferred from the carrier 10 at the position of the IC supply / accommodation section 11 to the empty tray with the supply / accommodation hand 7 over the shortest distance.

As described above, by minimizing the moving distance of the supply accommodating hand 7 for transferring the IC, the operation efficiency of the auto handler can be improved. In addition, it can contribute to prolonging the life of the device. In addition, the transport of the supply tray and the empty tray by the tray hand 4 for minimizing the moving distance of the IC hand (supply storage hand) 7 according to the above situation can minimize the stoppage of the apparatus in tray replacement. , Which can contribute to improvement of operation efficiency.

In the above-described embodiment, the supply / accommodating stage 8 is divided into six parts. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention is not limited to this. You may. Similarly, the division number of the storage stocker 4 can be arbitrarily determined.

[0037]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, in the supply and storage stage, the tray on which the unmeasured IC is placed is transported to an appropriate supply stage, and the empty tray is transported to the appropriate storage stage. It is possible to keep
With the C hand, an unmeasured IC placed on the tray can be transferred to the carrier in the shortest distance, and the measured IC can be transferred to an empty tray in the shortest distance. Therefore, the operating efficiency of the auto handler can be improved.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in the supply / storage stage, the tray is transported to the selected supply stage and the storage stage. The measured IC can be transferred to an empty tray in the shortest distance. Therefore, the operating efficiency of the auto handler can be improved.
Further, the stoppage of the apparatus during tray replacement can be minimized, which can contribute to an improvement in operation efficiency.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, since the unmeasured IC can be transferred to the carrier by the IC hand in the shortest distance according to the situation, the operating efficiency of the auto handler can be improved.

According to the present invention, the measured IC can be transferred to the empty tray by the IC hand in the shortest distance according to the situation, so that the operating efficiency of the auto handler can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of an auto handler as an example to which the present invention is applied, as viewed from the front.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the auto handler of FIG. 1 as viewed from above.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the number of a supply storage stage in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a procedure of selecting a stage by an auto handler to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an information collection procedure.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a stage information table.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a procedure for confirming a tray supply request and determining a work order.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a procedure for confirming a tray accommodation request and determining a work order.

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of a schematic configuration of a conventional auto handler as viewed from the front.

FIG. 10 is a schematic view of the auto handler of FIG. 9 as viewed from above.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a tray transfer procedure by a conventional auto handler.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Supply stocker 2 Empty trace stocker 3 Storage stocker 4 Tray hand 7 IC hand 8 Supply storage stage

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A carrier circulating in an apparatus and a tray on which unmeasured ICs are placed are transported from a supply stocker to a supply stage, and a tray on which measured ICs are arranged and placed is transported from a storage stage to a storage stocker. And an IC hand for transferring an unmeasured IC from the tray of the supply stage to the carrier and transferring the measured IC from the carrier to the tray of the accommodation stage, the automatic handler comprising: An auto-handler comprising a plurality of selectable stages, and a supply and storage stage that shares the supply stage and the storage stage. 2. A supply stage and a storage stage are selected from the plurality of stages so that the IC hand can be moved in a shortest distance according to a situation in the supply storage stage, and the tray hand is transported by the tray hand. 2. The auto-handler according to claim 1, further comprising a tray conveyance control unit that executes the operation. 3. The auto-handler according to claim 1, wherein the supply and storage stages have at least as many stages as the number of stockers of the supply stockers and the number of stockers of the storage stockers. 4. The tray transfer control means, based on a selection state of the supply stage and the storage stage in the supply storage stage, determines a tray supply request level and a tray supply order determined in accordance with the tray storage request level. And controlling the tray hand in accordance with the tray storage order, transporting the tray from the supply stocker to a predetermined stage of the supply stage, and transferring the tray from a predetermined stage of the storage stage to a predetermined stocker of the storage stocker. 3. The auto handler according to claim 2, wherein the auto handler is transported. 5. A tray on which an unmeasured IC is mounted is transported from a supply stocker to a stage by a tray hand, and a tray on the stage on which a measured IC is mounted is transported to a storage stocker by a tray hand. In an auto-handler for transferring a measured IC from a tray to a carrier by an IC hand and transferring a measured IC from a carrier to a tray by an IC hand, the unmeasured IC is moved to a position where the IC hand can move in the shortest distance according to the situation. A tray transport method for an auto-handler, wherein the loaded tray is transported on a stage. 6. A tray on which an unmeasured IC is placed is transported from a supply stocker to a stage by a tray hand, and a tray on a stage on which a measured IC is placed is transported to a storage stocker by a tray hand. In an auto-handler for transferring a measurement IC from a tray to a carrier by an IC hand and transferring a measured IC from a carrier to a tray by an IC hand, the measured IC is moved to a position where the IC hand can move in the shortest distance according to circumstances. A tray transport method for an auto handler, wherein an empty tray to be placed is transported on a stage.