JPS6411526B2 - - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Technical Field of the Invention] The present invention relates to a test apparatus for continuously testing the electrical characteristics of semiconductor devices, and a pre-test chute section for arranging semiconductor devices in a single row and supplying them to the next stage section. The present invention relates to a supply chute device. [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. is required. In order to continuously and automatically perform the above-mentioned testing and sorting operations on a large number of products, a testing device equipped with a so-called high-speed handler device has conventionally 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 chute section for arranging continuously supplied semiconductor devices in a single row. The semiconductor devices a ₁ , a ₂ . There is. 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 non-defective product, it is shunted to the non-defective product shoot section 4 disposed immediately downstream in response to a command from the tester (not shown). 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. As described above, the conventional test apparatus for semiconductor devices 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 a considerable amount of time is lost during the process. 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.
This has been a major obstacle to improving work efficiency and overall productivity. Incidentally, the structure and operation of the pre-test chute section 1 in the conventional semiconductor device testing apparatus described above are as follows. FIG. 2 is a side view showing a schematic structure of the chute section 1 before the test. As shown in the figure, the pre-test chute section 1 consists of a magazine section 6, a supply chute section 7, an arcuate chute section 8, and a fixed chute section 9. Each of these has a chute row defined by an upper support frame and a lower support frame, and these adjacent chute rows communicate with each other. The magazine section 6 and the supply chute section 7 are provided so as to be inclined in the vertical direction, so that semiconductor devices are chuteed by gravity within the chute row. On the other hand, the fixed chute portion 9 is arranged substantially horizontally. A detector 10 is provided near the upper end of the supply chute section 7 to detect whether a semiconductor device is present in that portion. Furthermore, two pen air cylinders 11 and 12 are provided in the lower part of the supply chute section 7 along the chute row. Of these, the upper pen air cylinder 11 presses the side wall of the semiconductor device sent in a series of chute rows to stop it, and the lower pen air cylinder 12 locks on the lower end of the semiconductor device and stops it. It is meant to be moored. In the pre-test chute section 1 having the above structure, semiconductor devices a ₁ to a ₆ are sent in series from the magazine section 6 as shown in the figure. These semiconductor devices a ₁ to a ₆
are moored by a pen air cylinder 12 as shown, and the semiconductor devices a ₂ to a ₆ are stacked and stopped by a pen air cylinder 11 pressing the side wall of semiconductor device a ₂ . In this state, when the pen air cylinder 12 first retreats from the chute row and releases the mooring, only the semiconductor device a ₁ is separated and shunted to the fixed chute portion 9 through the arcuate chute portion 8 . Subsequently, after the pen air cylinder 12 protrudes into the chute row again, the pen air cylinder 11 retracts to release the presser foot. As a result,
The semiconductor devices a ₂ to _{a 6} fall while still being connected and are moored to the pen air cylinder 12 . Next, the pen air cylinder 11 protrudes again and this time the semiconductor device a ₃
Press the side wall to stop it. Thereafter, the above operation is repeated, and the semiconductor devices a ₂ to _{a 6} are separated one by one and shunted to the fixed chute section 9. In this way, the supply section 7 is connected to the magazine section 6.
It plays the role of separating the semiconductor devices that are sent in series from one unit at a time and shunting them to the next stage. The semiconductor devices shot one by one to the fixed chute section 9 in this way are controlled by a shoot timing control mechanism consisting of a pen air cylinder and a blow nozzle provided at the unillustrated tip of the fixed chute section 9. One by one, the test heads are thrown to the test head section 2 located immediately downstream.
Furthermore, when the magazine section 6 becomes empty and no semiconductor devices are fed, the detector 10 no longer detects the presence of semiconductor devices. At this time, magazine section 6
The test can be continued by replacing the container with one filled with semiconductor devices. By the way, as a consequence of the problems in the conventional semiconductor device test equipment described above, the following three points can be cited as basic concepts for realizing an efficient semiconductor device with a small machine index. The first point is that by providing a plurality of test head sections 2 in parallel, a plurality of parallel shoot circuits are created in which the overall flow of the semiconductor device is branched from the pre-test shoot section 1 and shunted to a separate test head section. It is to make it a system. The second point is to use an efficient sorting chute device in place of the sorting chute section 3. However, since both of these two points are outside the direct scope of the present invention, their details will be omitted. The third remaining concept is to enable the test head section 2 to test a plurality of semiconductor devices at the same time. For this purpose, it goes without saying that a test head section 2 having a structure that can set a plurality of semiconductor devices at the same time is required, but this alone is insufficient, and such a test head section 2 is required.
What is needed is a chute mechanism that can reliably set a plurality of semiconductor devices into a semiconductor device. Moreover, not only is such a chute mechanism required for the part (fixed chute part 9 in the conventional example) where the semiconductor device is directly shunted to the test head part 2, but also a corresponding shute mechanism is required for the supply chute part 7. is required. Such a shoot mechanism is a shoot mechanism that has the same number of semiconductor devices as the number to be tested simultaneously in the test head section 2 as one unit and can completely control the shoot timing of all of the plurality of semiconductor devices. be. Unless such a chute mechanism is made possible, it is not possible to reliably set a plurality of semiconductor devices in the test head section 2. Therefore, the test equipment for semiconductor devices with a small machine index according to the third concept cannot be used. It cannot be realized. Therefore, if the conventional supply chute section 7 is examined from such a viewpoint, the following will be explained. As is clear from the foregoing, the pen air cylinders 11 and 12 in the conventional supply chute section 7 separate one by one the semiconductor devices that are fed in series from the magazine section 6 and shute them to the next stage. It constitutes a separate supply mechanism for supplying semiconductor devices, and also constitutes a shoot timing control mechanism for controlling shoot timings of these individual semiconductor devices. That is, in FIG. 2, the shoot timing of the semiconductor device _a1 is completely controlled by the unmooring of the pen air cylinder 12. However, in this case, the shoot timing of only _one semiconductor device a can be completely controlled. That is, the semiconductor devices a ₂ to _{a 6} fall one by one, and the shoot timing is not controlled until they are moored to the pen air cylinder 12 . Therefore, the conventional supply chute cannot realize the third concept. Further, the conventional supply chute section 7 cannot shute a plurality of semiconductor devices as a unit, and in this respect as well, it is not suitable for realizing the third concept. [Object of the Invention] The first object of the present invention is to separate a large number of semiconductor devices fed in series into individual devices in the pre-test chute section of a semiconductor device testing device and transfer them to the next section. The present invention provides a supply chute device which can shoot a plurality of semiconductor devices as a unit and can completely control the shoot timing of each semiconductor device. A second object of the present invention is to provide the above-mentioned supply chute device which makes it possible to realize a semiconductor device testing apparatus having a structure in which a plurality of semiconductor devices can be tested simultaneously in a test head section. [Summary of the Invention] The feature of the supply chute device of the present invention is that the first part of the supply chute unit that constitutes the separate supply and chute timing control mechanism, which was provided in the conventional supply chute section, is
and in addition to the second two pen air cylinders,
A detector and a third pen air cylinder having the following functions are provided. That is, this detector detects semiconductor devices that are separated and dropped one by one by the separation supply and shoot timing mechanism. In addition, the third pen air cylinder protrudes into the chute row based on the detection signal from this detector, mooring the falling semiconductor device, and retreats from the chute row to release the mooring, thereby mooring the semiconductor device. This is to shoot to the next stage. Moreover, once this third pen air cylinder performs a shoot operation and retreats from the shoot row, only one semiconductor device separated and dropped from the separation supply and shoot timing control mechanism is transferred to the third pen air cylinder. Even if the detector detects a fall of the semiconductor device, the mooring operation is not performed until the detector confirms that the semiconductor device has been directly thrown to the next stage without being moored. When the detector detects the fall of the semiconductor device after confirming the direct chute, the detector protrudes into the chute and performs a mooring operation based on this detection signal. Therefore, the manner in which the semiconductor device is thrown to the next stage is the case in which it is once moored to the third pen air cylinder and then thrown out;
There are two cases in which the aircraft is thrown without being moored to the pen air cylinder. A plurality of sets of this detector and the third pen air cylinder can be provided as necessary. The supply chute device of the present invention achieves the object of the invention by virtue of the above-mentioned features. [Embodiment of the Invention] FIG. 3 is a plan view of a supply chute device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a left side view thereof. In these figures, 21 is a supply chute device. The supply chute device 21 has a chute row 24 defined by an upper support frame 22 and a lower support frame 23 . This chute row 24 is formed in the direction in which the semiconductor device falls due to gravity. Supply chute device 21
Two pen air cylinders 25 and 26 are provided along the chute row 24 at the lower part of the pen. These two pen air cylinders 25 and 26 have the same functions as the two pen air cylinders 11 and 12 that constitute a separate supply and shoot timing control mechanism provided in a conventional supply chute section.
That is, the pen air cylinder 26 protrudes into the chute row to lock the tip end of the first semiconductor device that is fed in series, thereby anchoring the semiconductor devices as a whole. In addition, the pen air cylinder 25 above the pen air cylinder 26 prevents subsequent semiconductor devices from falling by pressing the side surface of the semiconductor device immediately after the semiconductor device whose tip is directly locked by the pen air cylinder 26. It is intended to prevent As shown in FIG. 4, these two pen air cylinders 25 and 26 are provided with their tips embedded in the upper support frame 22. A detector 27 is provided on the downstream side of the pen air cylinder 26 for detecting semiconductor devices that are separated one by one and dropped by the action of the pen air cylinders 25 and 26. An optical fiber sensor is used as the detector 27, and is embedded in the lower support frame 23 as shown in FIG. On the downstream side of the detector 27, a third pen air cylinder 28 is connected to the upper support frame 22 and the lower support frame 2.
3 and parallel to these. When the detector 27 detects a fall of the semiconductor device, the third pen air cylinder 28 protrudes into the chute row 24 to moor the semiconductor device, and retreats from the chute row to release the mooring, thereby removing the semiconductor device. is directly shot to the next stage section 40. Moreover, once the semiconductor device is directly shunted to the next stage by the unmooring operation, immediately after that, the semiconductor device that is separated from the pen air cylinders 25 and 26 and falls is not moored and is directly thrown to the next stage. It's starting to shoot to 40. Therefore, in this case, the semiconductor device is directly shunted to the next stage by the unmooring operation of the pen air cylinder 26. This direct shute operation from the pen air cylinder 26 is detected by the detector 27.
is detected by detecting the thrown semiconductor device, and when the detector 27 next detects the dropping of the semiconductor device, the pen air cylinder 28 protrudes to anchor it. Pen air cylinder 25,2
The above operations of 6 and 28 are electrically controlled by a control device (not shown). Supply chute device 21
A detector 29 having an optical fiber sensor embedded in the lower support frame 23 is provided near the upper end.
The detector 29 is for detecting whether or not semiconductor devices exist in series up to that position in the chute row 24. Incidentally, on the upstream side of the supply chute device 21 , a magazine section 30 is provided for feeding a large number of semiconductor devices in series to the chute row 24.
Further, on the downstream side of the supply chute device 21 , a portion 40 for directly shunting semiconductor devices to a test head portion of the semiconductor device test device is provided. As this next step section 40, the fixed chute section 9 described in the conventional example can be used. However, in this case, a shoot mechanism suitable for realizing the third concept described above must be provided. Further, if a laterally movable distribution chute device is used as the next stage section 40, it is possible to receive the semiconductor devices thrown from the supply chute section 21 and transfer them to a plurality of test heads disposed in parallel downstream thereof. It becomes possible to distribute and shoot each of them, and it also becomes possible to realize the first concept described above. It goes without saying that the distribution chute device in this case also requires a chute mechanism suitable for the third concept. The operation of the supply chute device having the above configuration will be explained below with reference to FIGS. 5a to 5d. The _{state shown} in _FIG .
The ICa 1 is separated and dropped due to the operation of , and the fallen ICa ₁ is now moored to the third pen air cylinder 28 . The operation from this state is as follows. (i) First, only the third pen air cylinder 28 releases its mooring. This allows ICa ₁ to move to the next stage section 4.
shot to 0. Subsequently, pen air cylinder 26 releases its mooring. At this time, the pen air cylinder 25 continues to hold down the ICa ₃ , and the pen air cylinder 28 remains retracted from the chute row. As a result, the mooring was released.
ICa ₂ is directly shunted to the next stage section 40. ICa ₃
The detector 27 detects that the pen air cylinder 26 is directly shunted to the next stage section 40,
As a result, the detector 27 becomes ready to instruct the mooring operation of the pen air cylinder 28 when the next fall of the ICa ₃ is detected. (Illustrated in FIG. 5b) (ii) Next, after the pen air cylinder 26 re-projects into the chute row, the pen air cylinder 25 releases the presser. As a result, ICa ₃ to a ₈ fall together, and the protruding pen air cylinder 26
moored at. Next, pen air cylinder 25
protrudes and presses the side of ICa ₄ (as shown in Figure 5c). (iii) Next, the pen air cylinder 26 moves backward while the pen air cylinder 25 holds down the ICa ₄ , and the mooring of the ICa ₃ is released. The unmoored ICa ₃ falls, but the detector 27 detects this and causes the pen air cylinder 28 to protrude into the chute row, and as a result, the ICa ₃ is moored to the pen air cylinder 28.
Subsequently, after the pen air cylinder 26 protrudes into the chute row again, the pen air cylinder 25
By releasing the hold on ICa ₄ , ICa ₄ to _{a 8} fall as one and are moored to the pen air cylinder 26. As a result, a state similar to that shown in FIG. 5a is obtained (FIG. 5d). In the operations (i) to (iii) above, (i) is two ICa ₁ ,
This is an operation to shoot a ₂ to the next stage section 40, and (ii) ~
(iii) is a ball-loading operation that prepares the two ICa ₃ and a ₄ to be able to be shot to the next stage. Like this 2
Since the operation of shooting one IC and the operation of stacking two ICs are performed alternately, according to the supply chute device 21 of the above embodiment, two ICs can be loaded.
The ICs can be taken as a unit and can be shunted one by one to the next stage section 40. Moreover, as is clear from the shoot operation in (i), the shoot timing of the two ICa ₁ and a ₂ , which are shot as a unit, is dependent on the unmooring operation of the pen air cylinder 28 or 26 to which each is moored. It is therefore completely controlled. Therefore, the supply chute device 2 of the above embodiment
1 is a shoot mechanism that meets the requirements for realizing the semiconductor device test equipment according to the third concept, which is a concept of setting two ICs in one test head section and testing them simultaneously. This has the great effect of making it possible to realize a semiconductor device testing apparatus according to the concept described above. Furthermore, when the above-mentioned distribution chute device is used as the next stage section 40, the supply chute device of the above embodiment performs the beading operations (ii) and (iii) while the distribution chute device 40 is moving in the lateral direction. can be done. Therefore, it has the characteristic of being well suited to the operation of the distribution chute device for realizing the first concept described above, and in this respect also has an extremely large effect in realizing a semiconductor device with a small machine index. It is something that plays. Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and by providing two or more third pen air cylinders 28, three or more ICs can be shunted to the next stage as a unit. It is possible. In this case, instead of increasing the number of third pen air cylinders 28, it is also possible to increase the number of pen air cylinders 25 that press the sides of the ICs, thereby making it possible to shoot three or more ICs as one unit. Further, as the detectors 27 and 29, in addition to optical fiber sensors, photoelectric switches or micro switches can also be used. [Effects of the Invention] As detailed above, according to the supply chute device of the present invention, it is possible to separate a large number of semiconductor devices fed in series one by one, and to treat a plurality of semiconductor devices as one unit. It is possible to shunt each semiconductor device to the next stage while completely controlling the shunt timing. As a result, it is possible to realize an extremely efficient test apparatus for semiconductor devices with a small machine index.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing a conventional semiconductor device testing device, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a pre-test chute section in the conventional semiconductor device testing device, and FIG. 3 is an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a left side view thereof, and FIGS. 5 a to 5 d are explanatory diagrams showing the operation of the supply chute device according to the embodiment of FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. be. 21 ... Supply chute device, 22... Upper support frame,
23...Lower support frame, 24...Chute row, 25,2
6... Pen air cylinder, 27, 29... Detector, 2
8...Third pen air cylinder.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A chute row into which a large number of semiconductor devices are fed in a single row by gravity, and a first semiconductor device into which a large number of semiconductor devices are connected by protruding into the chute row. a first pen air cylinder mooring the semiconductor device; A second device that enables the first semiconductor device to be separated and dropped by releasing the mooring, and also releases the presser and drops the semiconductor device when the first pen air cylinder protrudes into the chute row again after the mooring is released. A supply chute device equipped with a pen air cylinder includes a detector for detecting a semiconductor device separating and falling due to an unmooring operation of the first pen air cylinder, and a detection signal from the detector protruding into the chute row. A third pen air cylinder is provided to moor a falling semiconductor device and to shunt the semiconductor device to the next stage by an unmooring operation. After the detector confirms that the semiconductor device is directly shunted to the next stage by the unmooring operation of the first pen air cylinder without being moored to the third pen air cylinder, the semiconductor device protrudes into the chute row. A supply chute device characterized in that it performs the mooring operation. 2. The supply chute device according to claim 1, further comprising a plurality of sets of the detector and the third pen air cylinder linked to the detector. 3. The supply chute device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a plurality of said second pen air cylinders are provided. 4. Claims 1 and 2, characterized in that an optical fiber sensor is used as the detector.
The supply chute device according to item 1 or 3. 5. The supply chute device according to claim 4, wherein the optical fiber sensor is embedded in a wall defining the chute row. 6. The supply chute according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the first and second pen air cylinders are embedded in a wall defining the chute row. Device.