JPS6230694B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a test device for semiconductor devices that continuously tests the electrical characteristics of semiconductor devices and sorts them into non-defective products and defective products. The present invention relates to a sorting/chuting device for sorting semiconductor devices that have been thrown out after processing into non-defective products and defective products, and then throwing them into respective storage sections. [Technical background of the invention and its problems] For example, in the case of semiconductor devices such as ICs (semiconductor integrated circuit devices), electrical characteristic tests are conducted on each manufactured product to sort them into good and defective products. That is required. In order to continuously and automatically perform the above-described testing and sorting on a large number of products, a semiconductor device testing apparatus equipped with a so-called high-speed handler apparatus has been used. FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory diagram showing the conventional test apparatus for semiconductor devices. In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a pre-test shoot section for displaying semiconductor devices that are continuously supplied in a single row. Semiconductor devices a ₁ , a ₂ . ing. The test head section 2 tests the electrical characteristics of the shunted semiconductor devices, and the semiconductor devices determined to be good or defective are shunted to the sorting chute section 3. After the test head section 2 becomes empty, the next semiconductor device is thrown out from the pre-test shoot section 1. Note that the test of the semiconductor device described above is performed using a tester (not shown) connected to the test head section 2. On the other hand, the sorting chute section 3
If the semiconductor device thrown out from the test head section 2 is a good product, a command is obtained from the tester (not shown) and the semiconductor device is thrown to the good product shoot section 4 disposed immediately downstream. Also,
If the semiconductor device being shunted out is a defective product, the sorting chute section 3 is rotated by 90 degrees in response to a command from the tester (not shown) and transferred to the defective product chute section 5 arranged in the rotated direction. Defective semiconductor devices are now being shunted. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the configuration of the vicinity of the sorting chute section 3. As shown in the figure, the test head section 2
Blow nozzles 6, 6 are provided at the lower end of the screen toward the chute row of the sorting chute section 3. The blow nozzles 6, 6 are configured to blow low-pressure air when non-defective semiconductor devices are set in the sorting chute section 3, and to blow the non-defective semiconductor devices to the non-defective chute section 4. On the other hand, the sorting chute section 3
When a defective semiconductor device is set in the semiconductor device and the sorting chute 3 is rotated to the position 3' in the figure, a support 7 is provided that is aligned with the sorting chute 3 on the opposite side of the defective product chute 5. ing. Blow nozzles 8, 8 are provided at the end of the support 7 to face the defective product chute 5, and blow out low-pressure air when the sorting chute 3 rotates to the position 3' in the figure. Defective semiconductor devices are shunted to a defective product chute section 5. As described above, the conventional semiconductor device testing apparatus was equipped with only one test head section 2, and was configured as a single-row chute circuit system as a whole. Moreover, the test head section 2 was not configured to be able to test multiple samples at the same time.
It is necessary to adopt a system in which semiconductor devices are sequentially supplied to the test head section 2 one by one and tested one by one, and there is a problem in that the loss time during this process is quite large. Furthermore, when a semiconductor device determined to be a defective product is to be shunted to the defective product chute section 5, the sorting chute section 3 must be rotated, and there is a problem in that time is lost at this time as well. Due to these factors, in conventional test equipment for semiconductor devices, the overall machine index has to be quite large, approximately 1.0 to 15 seconds, which makes it difficult to improve work efficiency and overall productivity. This had become a major obstacle. By the way, as a consequence of the above-mentioned problems, the following two points can be mentioned as basic concepts for realizing an efficient semiconductor device testing apparatus with a small machine index. The first point is to provide a plurality of test head sections 2 in parallel, and to form a plurality of parallel shoot circuit systems each branching from a pre-test shoot section and each containing a separate test head section.
The second point is to enable the test head section 2 to test a plurality of semiconductor devices at the same time. In order to realize a semiconductor device testing apparatus based on these two basic concepts, a configuration that directly embodies these concepts and an efficient sorting chute that can be adapted to them are required. It is clear from the above description that the conventional sorting chute 3 does not meet these requirements. [Object of the Invention] The first object of the present invention is to provide a sorting chute device that can meet the above two basic concepts. A second object of the present invention is to provide a sorting chute device that is compatible with the above two basic concepts and has a structure that allows semiconductor devices to be sorted more efficiently. A more general object of the present invention is to provide a distribution chute device that enables the implementation of an efficient semiconductor device tester with a small machine index. [Summary of the Invention] The first feature of the sorting chute device of the present invention is that the chute row can be moved in a predetermined direction in the lateral direction and can be stopped at a predetermined position. In addition, only when a semiconductor device that has been determined to be non-defective is thrown out from the test head, a small air cylinder (hereinafter referred to as
This is because a pen air cylinder (referred to as a pen air cylinder) was installed.
In the following description, the above-mentioned operation of the pen air cylinder will be referred to as protrusion of the pen air cylinder. Furthermore,
The chute row can accommodate a plurality of semiconductor devices, and the semiconductor devices housed in the chute row can be shunted to the next stage in conjunction with the unmooring operation of the pen air cylinder. It is. The specific configuration for this purpose is as specified in the claims and the embodiments described below. Due to this first feature, the sorting chute device of the present invention stores only good semiconductor devices that are shunted from the test head section disposed as the previous stage section into its chute row, and then stores them as the next stage section. It is possible to move the semiconductor device directly above the non-defective product chute section and to shoot out the accommodated semiconductor device.
Therefore, it is possible to sort out good products and defective products. Moreover, according to this feature, even when a plurality of test heads are arranged in parallel, it is possible to perform the above-mentioned sorting shoot action by moving directly under each test head. Further, even when semiconductor devices tested simultaneously in individual test heads are shunted out one by one as a unit, the sorting and shunting operation can be carried out in the following manner. First, even if a plurality of semiconductor devices are all non-defective products, if the same number of semiconductor devices can be accommodated in the chute row, all of them can be stored in the shute row by the operation of the pen air cylinder. can be accommodated. On the other hand, if all the products are defective, the pen air cylinder does not perform the mooring operation, so they all pass through the chute row and are shunted to the defective product chute section provided as the next stage.
In addition, even if there is a mixture of good and defective products,
When defective products are first thrown out, they can be sorted out simply by operating the pen air cylinder in the same way as described above. On the other hand, when defective products are thrown out after good products, the good products are already moored to the pen air cylinder, so the semiconductor devices thrown into the chute row are also moored above them. become unable to do so. However, in this case, by making the chute row make a predetermined movement in the lateral direction, it is possible to cause the defective products to pass through the outside of the chute row and be shunted to the next stage. It is possible. In addition, it is desirable to provide a bypass chute row for defective products which communicates the test head section with the defective product chute section which is the next stage section when the chute row is moved in this manner. Thus, the first object of the present invention is achieved by the first feature. A second feature of the sorting chute device of the present invention is that two or more chute rows are provided in parallel, and when at least one chute row communicates with the good product chute section, the other chute row communicates with the test head section. This is how these were arranged. With this feature, the operation of receiving good semiconductor devices thrown from the test head section into the chute column and the operation of throwing the good semi-moving body devices housed in the chute column to the good product chute section can be performed simultaneously. I can do it. Therefore, the sorting chute action can be performed efficiently, and the second object of the present invention is achieved. [Embodiment of the Invention] Fig. 3 is a plan view showing an embodiment of a sorting chute device having all the features of the present invention, and Fig. 4 is a side view seen from the line direction of Fig. 3. . In these figures, 11 is a sorting chute device. The sorting chute device 11 has two chute rows 14 ₁ , 14 defined by an upper support frame 12 and a lower support frame 13, which are clearly shown in FIG.
₂ are formed in parallel. One chute row 1
4 Near the upper end of ₁ , there is a chute row 14 from the front section.
A detector ₁₅₁ is provided for detecting a semiconductor device thrown into the semiconductor device ₁₅₁ . This detector ₁₅₁ has an optical fiber sensor embedded in the lower support frame 13. A pen air cylinder ₁₆₁ is provided near the lower end of the chute row 141 to protrude into the chute row and moor the semiconductor device when the detector ₁₅₁ detects the chute _of the semiconductor device. However, this pen air cylinder 16
The operation of the semiconductor device ₁ is also controlled by the test results from the test head section, which is the front stage section, and when a semiconductor device determined to be defective is shunted, the detector ₁₅₁ detects it. The mooring operation described above is not performed even when the mooring is carried out. Therefore, the pen air cylinder ₁₅₁ protrudes into the chute row and anchors the semiconductor device only when a good semiconductor device is shunted out, and allows the defective semiconductor device to pass through and be shunted to the next stage. Pen air cylinder 16 ₁
A blow nozzle 17 1 facing downstream is provided between the detector 15 ₁ and the detector 15 ₁ . The blow nozzle ₁₇₁ is for injecting low pressure air to shunt the semiconductor device to the next stage when the pen air cylinder ₁₆₁ retreats from the chute row to release the mooring of the semiconductor device. Two semiconductor devices are accommodated between this blow nozzle ₁₇₁ and the pen air cylinder ₁₆₁ . In addition, as shown in the figure, the pen air cylinder 16
₁ and the blow nozzle 17 ₁ are embedded in the upper support frame 12 . Further, the other chute row 14 ₂ is also provided with a detector 15 ₂ , a pen air cylinder 16 ₂ and a blow nozzle 17 ₂ having the same structure and function as above. On the other hand, bypass chute rows 18 ₁ and 18 ₂ are provided outside the two chute rows 14 ₁ and 14 ₂ and are fixed in parallel to the respective shute rows. The bypass chute rows 18 ₁ and 18 ₂ are defined by an upper support frame and a lower support frame similarly to the shute rows 18 ₁ and 18 ₂ , and semiconductor devices that have been shunted into them from the previous stage are is shot directly to the next stage. A driving air cylinder 19 is attached to the frame that defines the bypass chute row ₁₈₁ . The driving air cylinder 19 allows the sorting chute device 11 to laterally reciprocate within a range from the illustrated position to a position 11' indicated by an imaginary line in the figure. In addition, detectors 20 ₁ and 20 for starting the chute detect that the sorting chute device 11 has come to the end of the moving range and stop the movement, and instruct the chute to the next stage of the semiconductor device. ₂ is provided. In the figure, reference numerals 30 ₁ and 30 ₂ are test heads disposed in parallel as a front stage of the sorting chute device 11 in the semiconductor device testing apparatus. Further, 40 is a non-defective product chute section provided as a next stage section of the sorting chute device. On both sides of this non-defective product chute section 40, a sorting chute device 11 is also installed.
Two defective product chute parts 50 ₁ ,
₅₀₂ are arranged in parallel. As shown in the figure, when the sorting chute device 11 is located at the right end of the reciprocating range, the test head 30 ₁ , the bypass chute row 18 ₁ and the defective product chute 50 ₁ communicate with each other, and the chute row 14 ₁ and the defective product chute 50 1 communicate with each other. The non-defective chute section 40 communicates with the test head section 3.
0 ₂ , the chute row 14 ₂ and the defective product chute section 50 ₂ are arranged so that only the bypass chute row 18 ₂ protrudes to the right. Conversely, when the sorting chute device 11 moves to the position 11' in the figure, only the bypass chute row ₁₈₁ protrudes to the left, and the test head section ₃₀₁ and defective product chute section ₅₀₁ communicate with the chute row ₁₄₁ . However, the non-defective chute section 40 communicates with the chute row ₁₄₂ , and the test head section ₃₀₂ and the defective chute section ₅₀₂ communicate with the bypass chute row ₁₈₂ . The operation of the sorting chute device having the above configuration will be explained as follows. First, when the sorting chute device 11 stops at the position shown in FIG. 3, two semiconductor devices are being tested in the test head section ₃₀₁ , and two semiconductor devices are being tested in the test head section ₃₀₂ . It is assumed that shoots are about to be started one by one for the finished shoot sequence ₁₄₂ . Further, it is assumed that the sorting chute rows 14 ₁ and 14 ₂ are both empty and the pen air cylinders 16 ₁ and 16 ₂ are retreated from the chute rows. There are four types of sorting and shooting operations performed by the sorting and shooting device 11 from this state as follows. (i) If both devices are good; one semiconductor device is placed in the shoot row 14 ₂ first.
When the semiconductor device is chuted, the detector ₁₅₂ detects this and the pen air cylinder ₁₆₂ protrudes into the chute row to anchor the semiconductor device.
Subsequently, the semiconductor devices that have been thrown out are moored thereon, and two non-defective semiconductor devices are accommodated in the chute row ₁₄₂ . When the chute from the test head ₃₀₂ is completed, the driving air cylinder 19 is driven and the sorting chute device 11 is driven.
is moved to position 11' in the figure, and the chute row ₁₄₂ that accommodates two non-defective semiconductor devices is communicated with the non-defective chute section 40, and the other chute row ₁₄₁ is communicated with the test head section _301. . When the sorting chute device moves to the position 11' , the chute start detector ₂₀₁ detects this and stops the movement, and also instructs the chute of the semiconductor devices housed in the chute row ₁₄₂ . do. As a result, the pen air cylinder ₁₆₂ releases the mooring and the blow nozzle simultaneously blows air, and the two good semiconductor devices are transferred from the chute row ₁₄₂ to the good chute part 4.
shot to 0. On the other hand, by the time the sorting chute device 11 completes the above-mentioned movement, the testing of two semiconductor devices has been completed in the test head section ₃₀₁ , and two semiconductor devices from the chute row ₁₄₁ are transferred to the non-defective chute section 40. Simultaneously with the shunting of the two semiconductor devices from the test head section 30 ₁ to the chute row 14 ₁ . Then, in the chute row 14 ₁ , good semiconductor devices are accommodated therein by the same sorting operation as in the chute row 14 ₂ , and then the drive air cylinder 19 is driven to move the devices back to the original position. Then, at the same time that the chute from the test head section ₃₀₂ to the chute row ₁₄₂ is started again, the non-defective semiconductor devices housed in the chute row ₁₄₁ are transferred to the non-defective chute section 4.
shot to 0. After that, the same operation as described above is repeated. (ii) If both semiconductors are defective; In this case, the two semiconductors that are successively shot to the chute row ₁₄₂ pass through the chute row ₁₄₂ without being moored to the pen air cylinder _162. Defective product chute section 5
shot to ₀₂ . The subsequent operation is the same as in case (i). In this case, before chute of the semiconductor devices is started from the test head section ₃₀₂ , the sorting chute device is moved to the position 11' , and the two defective semiconductor devices are passed through the bypass chute row ₁₈₂ . It may also be shot to the shoot section ₅₀₂ . (iii) When the semiconductor device set in the lower part of the test head section ₃₀₂ is a defective product and the semiconductor device set in the upper part is a good product; In this case, the semiconductor device that is thrown out first is a defective product. Therefore, shoot sequence 1
4 ₂ and is shunted to the defective product chute section 50 ₂ . Then, when a non-defective semiconductor device is shunted out, the non-defective semiconductor device is moored and accommodated in the chute row by the operation of the detector ₁₅₂ and the pen air cylinder ₁₆₂ . The subsequent operation is the same as in case (i). Note that when defective products are to be thrown out first, the sorting/shooting device 11 is moved to position 11' , and then when non-defective products are to be thrown out, it is moved to position 11' again.
You may move it to the position. However, this is not efficient because it increases the number of movement operations. (iv) If the semiconductor device set in the lower part of the test head ₃₀₂ is a good product and the semiconductor device set in the upper part is a defective product; in this case, the one that is thrown out first is a good product. When the semiconductor device is thrown into the chute row ₁₄₂ , a good semiconductor device is first moored by the predetermined operation of the detector ₁₅₂ and the pen air cylinder ₁₆₂ . Next, before the next defective product is thrown out, the sorting/shooting device 11
1', and then the defective products are thrown out. Therefore, defective semiconductor devices are shunted to the defective product shunt section ₅₀₂ through the bypass shute array ₁₈₂ . At this time, since the sorting chute device 11 has already been moved to the position 11' , the same operation as that after the movement in (i) is performed. As described above, according to the sorting/shooting device of this embodiment, there are two test head sections 30 ₁ , which alternately test two semiconductor devices at the same time and alternately shoot the tested semiconductor devices to the next stage section. 3
Even when _two semiconductor devices are installed in parallel, the two semiconductor devices thrown from the respective test heads can be sorted into good and defective devices according to the test results and then thrown to the next stage. . Moreover, since the operation of throwing out semiconductor devices from the test head section ₃₀₂ or ₃₀₁ and the operation of throwing out good semiconductor devices to the non-defective section 40 can be performed simultaneously, the machine index of the sorting/shooting device 11 is extremely high. A small and efficient sorting chute operation can be performed. Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and for example, the pen air cylinders 16 ₁ , 16 ₂
By increasing the distance between the test heads 30 ₁ , ₃₀ and the blow nozzles 17 ₁ , 17 2 .
Even if three or more semiconductor devices can be tested at the same time in ₂ , the selection shoot function can be performed correspondingly. Furthermore, when three or more test head devices are arranged in parallel, the number of shoot rows or bypass shoot rows can be correspondingly increased. Furthermore, as a drive device for laterally driving the sorting chute device 11 , various drive devices other than the air cylinder 19 are possible, and the detector 15
₁ , 15, ₂ may be a photoelectric switch or a micro switch other than an optical fiber sensor. [Effects of the Invention] As detailed above, the sorting and chute device of the present invention can be used even when a plurality of test heads are arranged in parallel in a semiconductor device tester capable of simultaneously testing a plurality of semiconductor devices. It is possible to perform an efficient sorting chute action. As a result, it is possible to realize an extremely efficient test apparatus for semiconductor devices with a small machine index, which has remarkable effects.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing a conventional semiconductor device testing device, FIG. 2 is a schematic explanatory diagram of a sorting chute in the conventional semiconductor device testing device, and FIG.
The figure is a plan view of a sorting chute device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a side view of the sorting chute device taken along the -line direction. 11 ... sorting chute device, 12... upper support frame, 13... lower support frame, 14 ₁ , 14 ₂ ... chute row, 15 ₁ , 15 ₂ ... detector, 16 ₁ ,
16 ₂ ... Pen air cylinder, 17 ₁ , 17 ₂ ...
... Blow nozzle, 18 ₁ , 18 ₂ ... Bypass chute row, 19 ... Driving air cylinder, 20
₁ , 20 ₂ ... Shoot start detector, 30 ₁ ,
30 ₂ ... Test head part, 40 ... Good product chute part, 50 ₁ , 50 ₂ ... Defective product chute part.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. At least one row of shoots through which semiconductor devices are thrown; a drive device for horizontally reciprocating the entire row of shoots; and detecting the position of the row of shoots. a first detector for stopping the chute array at a position where it is possible to shoot the semiconductor devices from the front stage section to the chute array and from the chute array to the next stage section; a second detector provided in the chute row for detecting that a semiconductor device has been thrown from the test head section to the chute row; This occurs when the piston rod is protruded into the chute row and moored only when the test head receives a signal that the chute is a good product, and the chute row moves to a position where it can be chuteed to the next stage. an air cylinder for retracting the piston rod from within the chute row to release the mooring of the semiconductor device by the output of the first detector; and an air cylinder provided at a position where a plurality of semiconductor devices can be accommodated between the air cylinder and the air cylinder; A sorting chute device equipped with a blow nozzle that shunts semiconductor devices to the next stage by injecting a jet air flow in synchronization with the unmooring operation of an air cylinder, the device being equipped with a blow nozzle that shunts semiconductor devices to the next stage, and which is arranged in parallel in a test device for semiconductor devices. The shoot row is located directly below one of the test heads, and only those that are determined to be good among the plurality of semiconductor devices tested and shot by the test head are placed. After storing the semiconductor devices in the chute row, the semiconductor devices are moved to a position directly above the non-defective chute section located below as the next stage, and the housed semiconductor devices are shunted. If a semiconductor device determined to be a good product among the semiconductor devices has already been thrown to the shunt line, and then a semiconductor device determined to be a defective product is shunted out from the test head section, the defective semiconductor device is A sorting chute device comprising: a control mechanism that controls the horizontal movement of the chute row so that the chute is shot through the outside of the row to the next stage. 2. A bypass chute row for defective products is provided outside the shute row, and a semiconductor device determined to be a good product among a plurality of semiconductor devices tested at the same time in the test head section has already been shunted to the shute row. If a semiconductor device determined to be a defective product is shunted out from the test head section after the test, the defective semiconductor device is shunted to the next stage section through the bypass shunt row. The sorting chute device according to scope 1. 3. The sorting chute device according to claim 2, wherein the bypass chute row connects a test head section, which is a previous stage part, with a defective product chute part, which is provided as a next stage part. 4. The sorting chute device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the bypass chute row is provided for each of the chute rows. 5. At least two of the chute rows are provided in parallel, and when one of the chute rows is in a position where it can shoot the semiconductor device to the next stage, the other chute row can shunt the semiconductor device from the previous stage. The sorting chute device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the sorting chute device is arranged so as to be located at a position where the sorting chute can be obtained. 6. The sorting chute device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that an optical fiber sensor is used as the detector. 7. The sorting chute device according to claim 6, wherein the optical fiber sensor is embedded in a wall defining the chute row. 8. The sorting chute device according to claim 1, wherein the air cylinder is embedded in a wall defining the chute row.