JPH1164445A - Ic handler with visual inspection function - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To detect variation in the shape of a lead immediately after electric characteristic test with minimum increase in scale of an inspection system. SOLUTION: A measuring section 13 comprises a CCD camera 1 disposed in a cavity made in the central of a contact pusher 4 in order to pick up the image of an IC 6 to be tested mounted on an IC socket 9 and to output a corresponding video signal V, and a ring light 5 for illuminating the IC 6. A visual inspecting section 2 comprises a display 3 for receiving the video signal V and displaying an corresponding image.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an IC handler, and more particularly to an IC handler for automatically transporting and classifying ICs to be tested in an electrical characteristic test in a semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) sorting process.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a sorting process in the manufacture of ICs, an electrical characteristic test using an IC tester and a check for defects such as deformation of leads such as pitches of the IC, stents and irregularities of tips, and imprints and voids on the package surface are performed. The inspections were performed in separate facilities. Therefore, an IC handler for automatic transport and classification of ICs for electrical testing uses a dedicated single-function IC handler.

[0003] That is, an electrical test handler has a contact pusher, and by holding down the IC under test with this contact pusher, establishes an electrical connection between the IC lead and the contact pin. An electrical test is performed by supplying a test signal.

On the other hand, in an appearance test, an IC under test after molding is tested.
Is illuminated with a light from above, and photographed with a TV camera such as a CCD camera, and the presence or absence of deformation of the leads of the IC under test or defects on the package surface is examined.

[0005] As described above, the electrical test and the appearance inspection are performed in different facilities and different places, so that the work becomes complicated.
The required floor layout area also corresponds to these two types of inspection equipment.

[0006] To solve this problem, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 5-33 discloses a system in which both the electrical and appearance inspections are carried out by a single facility.
FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the configuration of a conventional first IC handler described in Japanese Patent No. 5386, and FIG.
The C handler includes a lead inspection mechanism 2 including a lead inspection stage 25 and a test socket 1 for mounting an IC under test.
8, 19, a socket transport unit 16, and sorting container storage units 7 to 9. The electrical characteristics test is performed by mounting the IC in the test sockets 18 and 19, and the IC after the completion of the electrical characteristics test is transported to the lead inspection mechanism 2 by the socket transport unit 16, and the lead appearance inspection is performed by the lead inspection stage 25. . A pass / fail judgment is made on both the electrical characteristic result and the lead appearance inspection result, and the classification container storage section 7 is determined.
Classification and storage are performed for No. 9 to No. 9.

[0007] Similarly, a second conventional IC handler described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-259179, in which both electrical and external inspections are performed by one facility, is intended for a DIP type IC. The apparatus includes a measuring section for performing an electrical property test and an appearance inspection section for performing an appearance inspection, and performs quality judgment of both the characteristic test result in the measurement section and the appearance inspection result in the appearance inspection section, and performs classification and storage.

[0008]

The above-described first and second conventional IC handlers both have an external appearance in the middle of a transport path from a measuring section for testing electrical characteristics to a storing section for storing sorted ICs. Since the inspection part for inspection is provided, there is a disadvantage that it is not possible to see whether or not the lead shape has changed immediately after the electrical characteristic test.

Further, in addition to the original function of the handler, there is a disadvantage that the provision of an independent appearance inspection unit increases the size of the apparatus and increases the installation area.

An object of the present invention is to provide an IC handler capable of detecting the presence or absence of a change in the lead shape immediately after an electrical characteristic test with a minimum increase in the device scale.

[0011]

According to the present invention, there is provided an IC handler comprising: an IC socket having a contact pin for contacting a lead of a semiconductor integrated circuit under test (hereinafter referred to as an IC) and supplying a test signal; An IC for automatically transporting and classifying an IC under test in an electrical characteristic test in an IC selection process, comprising: a measurement assisting means having a contact pusher for pressing the IC lead to the contact pin securely by pressing the IC lead to the contact pin. In the handler, the measurement auxiliary means captures the IC under test mounted on the IC socket into a cavity formed in the center of the contact pusher and outputs a corresponding video signal; Display means for receiving the supply of the video signal and displaying an image corresponding to the video signal. It is configured to include a.

[0012]

FIG. 2 is a plan view schematically showing an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 2, an IC handler according to this embodiment shown in FIG. A hand 10, a storage hand 11 for storing the sorted ICs in the respective classification storage trays, and a measuring unit 13
And an alignment / measurement unit hand 12 to be attached to the alignment unit 14, a measurement unit 13 that performs a characteristic test and an appearance inspection to characterize the present embodiment, an alignment unit 14, and a preheat that performs a preheat of the IC under test Unit 15 and supply tray 16 for supplying the IC under test
And a classification storage tray 17 for storing the sorted ICs.

FIGS. 1 (A) and 1 (B) are side views showing respective states of the measuring unit 13 during a characteristic test and an appearance inspection.
Referring to FIG. 2, the measuring unit 13 connects the IC 6 under test with an IC
A contact pusher 4 for pressing the IC lead 7 to the contact pin 8 by pressing it against the socket 9
And an IC socket 9 including a contact pin 8 for supplying a test signal, and a CC which is mounted in a cavity created by cutting or the like at the center of the contact pusher 4 and outputs a video signal V.
A D camera 1, a ring light 5, which is a ring-shaped electric light attached to the outer periphery of a contact pusher 4, and an appearance inspection unit 2 including a CRT display 3 for displaying an image corresponding to a video signal from a CCD camera are provided.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1A and 1B. First, the IC 6 transported to the measuring section 13 is moved by the contact pusher 4 to move down the IC socket. 9, the lead 7 and the contact pin 8 come into contact with each other, and the preparation for the electrical property test is completed. Next, an electrical property test is performed. After the test, the contact pusher 4 is raised and the ring light 5 is turned on, and the CCD set in the cavity of the contact pusher 4 is turned on.
The camera 1 photographs the IC 6 illuminated by the ring light 5 and sends a corresponding video signal V to the visual inspection unit 2. The appearance inspection unit 2 displays the image corresponding to the video signal V on the display 3. The inspector observes the display image on the display 3 to judge the appearance of the IC 6. After the completion of these operations, according to the quality judgment of the electrical characteristics and appearance inspection,
The IC 6 is sent to the classification storage tray 17 for classification and storage.

Next, the appearance inspection unit 2A which characterizes the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Then, the difference between the appearance inspection unit 2 of the first embodiment and the appearance inspection unit 2 of the first embodiment shown in this figure is that the appearance inspection unit 2A of the present embodiment is used before the contact pusher 4 descends, that is, the electrical characteristic test. A memory 21 for storing a pre-test image taken before, and a comparison circuit 22 for comparing the pre-test image and the post-test image are provided.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1A, 1B and 3. First, the IC 6 transported to the measuring section 13 is moved before the contact pusher 4 descends. The CCD camera 1 captures an image of the IC 6 and sends a corresponding video signal VF to the visual inspection unit 2A. Appearance inspection unit 2
Stores the video signal V in the memory 21. next,
As in the first embodiment, the contact pusher 4 is lowered to perform an electrical characteristic test. After the test, raise the contact pusher 4 and use the CCD camera 1 to
And sends the corresponding video signal VP to the appearance inspection unit 2A. The comparison circuit 22 of the visual inspection unit 2A compares the image after the test corresponding to the video signal VP with the image before the test from the memory 21 and checks the difference to determine the acceptability. If the result of determination is that the IC socket 9 and the contact pin 8 are abnormal, an alarm is output immediately and the device is stopped.

Instead of using the comparison circuit 22 in the present embodiment, it is also possible to superimpose the images before and after the test on the display 3 and display them at the same time, and visually check the inspector to determine whether the test is good or not, without departing from the gist of the present invention. Of course, you can.

[0018]

As described above, in the IC handler according to the present invention, the IC under test in which the measurement auxiliary means is mounted on the IC socket in the cavity formed in the center of the contact pusher.
A television camera for imaging the IC under test, illuminating means for illuminating the IC under test, display means for displaying an image of the IC under test, and a visual inspection of the IC under test can be performed immediately after the electrical characteristic test. There is an effect that the presence or absence of lead deformation can be detected and abnormality of the contact pin can be detected early.

Further, by installing a TV camera and a lighting unit for visual inspection in the inspection unit for the electrical characteristic test, there is an effect that functions can be added with minimum increase in the scale and size of the apparatus.

Further, since there is no need to transport the IC between each step of the characteristic test and the appearance inspection, the total time of these steps can be reduced, and the expansion of the handline index can be prevented, and the IC production period, that is, the TAT can be shortened. There is an effect that it can contribute.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a state of a measuring unit characterizing an embodiment of an IC handler of the present invention at the time of a characteristic test and at the time of a visual inspection, respectively.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the IC handler of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a visual inspection unit that characterizes a second embodiment of the IC handler of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing an example of a conventional IC handler.

[Description of Signs] 1 CCD camera 2 Appearance inspection unit 3 Display 4 Contact pusher 5 Ring light 6 IC 7 Lead 8 Contact pin 9 IC socket 10 Supply hand 11 Storage hand 12 Hand for alignment / measurement unit 13 Measurement unit 14 Alignment unit 15 Preheat Part 16 Supply tray 17 Classification storage tray 21 Memory 22 Comparison circuit

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An IC socket having a contact pin for contacting a lead of a semiconductor integrated circuit under test (hereinafter referred to as an IC) and supplying a test signal, and the IC under test is pressed against the IC socket to connect the lead of the IC to the contact pin. An IC handler for automatically transporting and classifying an IC under test in an electrical characteristic test in an IC selection process, wherein the measurement auxiliary means comprises: a contact pusher for reliably contacting the contact. A television camera for imaging the IC under test mounted on the IC socket in a cavity formed in the center of the pusher and outputting a corresponding video signal; and illuminating means for illuminating the IC under test; Characterized in that it comprises display means for receiving a video signal and displaying a video corresponding to the video signal. . 2. The IC handler according to claim 1, wherein said illuminating means includes a ring light which is a ring-shaped electric light mounted on an outer periphery of said contact pusher. In an IC handler provided with 3. The IC handler according to claim 1, wherein said display means includes an image storage means for storing the image before the contact characteristic of the electrical characteristic test before the contact pusher descends. .