JPH0553611B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field] The present invention relates to a manufacturing apparatus for resin-molded semiconductor devices, and in particular to a mold that is effective when applied to resin molds that aim to automate manufacturing, equalize molding conditions, and improve quality. It's about systems.

[Background technology]

Resin-molded semiconductor devices, which have been widely used in recent years, are made by assembling semiconductor element pellets on a lead frame, setting this semiconductor component structure in a molding die, and injecting resin into the cavity in this die. Materials are press-fed to form molds ("Electronic Materials" November 1981 special edition published by Kogyo Research Association, November 10, 1981, pages 170-175).

However, in the conventional resin molding apparatuses, the following problems have arisen because the manufacturing apparatus is configured to perform a large amount of molding at one time. In other words, conventional resin molding equipment
As shown in Fig. 7, it consists of a large mold with 60 cavities 2 (5 cavities per frame) corresponding to 12 frames formed in the upper and lower molds 1 (the upper mold is not shown). And these Cavity 2 and Cal 3
A semiconductor structure 5 is set on the cavity of each mold 1, and then the upper and lower molds are closed and resin is pumped from the cull 3 to each cavity 2 through the runners 4. By doing so, molding is performed by the so-called transfer molding method. However, this conventional device has the following problems.

(1) When setting the semiconductor structure 5 onto each cavity 2, a loading jig 6 shown on the right side of the figure is often used. on this loading jig 6
By placing the 12 frames 5 and transferring the loading jig 6 onto the lower mold 1 and then operating the loading jig 6, each frame 5 can be set onto each cavity 2 of the mold 1. However, since the loading jig 6 is large, the entire apparatus becomes large and the jig becomes difficult to operate.

(2) In order to perform the above-mentioned loading work efficiently, a method is adopted in which two loading jigs 6 are used alternately. It is difficult to maintain dimensional accuracy in each cavity.
It is difficult to set the frame 5 correctly on top.

(3) Because 12 frames are processed at once, the plane area of the mold 1 becomes large, making it difficult to achieve flatness of the mold surface, and mold burrs are likely to occur due to flatness errors between the upper and lower molds, resulting in poor product quality. resulting in a decline in quality.

(4) As the mold 1 becomes larger, the length of the runner 4 that communicates between the cull 3 and each cavity 2 increases.
The temperature (viscosity) of the resin pumped from the cavity 3 is different for each cavity 2, making it difficult to control it to a constant level, and the molding conditions for each being different, making it difficult to obtain uniform quality.

(5) Since the area of the mold 1 is large, it takes time and effort to properly clean the entire surface of the mold.

(6) If a loading jig is not used, the frames 5 must be manually set one by one, which is extremely inefficient.

(7) Regardless of whether a loading jig is used or not, it is difficult to automate the setting and removal of the frame 5, and it is difficult to automate the entire molding process.

(8) Although it is possible to mold a large number of molds at once, it is difficult to handle this when high-mix, low-volume production is required in recent years.

(9) If one cavity is defective, the entire molding apparatus must be stopped, and during this time mold production is stopped, reducing production efficiency.

For this reason, recently, the mold is formed on a rotating structure so that it can be rotated, and the frame setting, molding, removal, and cleaning of the rotating mold are performed in this order. A rotary molding system has been considered (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 10412/1983), but it is difficult to heat and maintain a rotating mold to a predetermined temperature, and it is difficult to make the product uniform. Achieving quality improvements is difficult.

[Purpose of the invention]

An object of the present invention is to provide a mold system suitable for use in resin molds that enables full automation of molding, uniformizes molding conditions, and improves quality.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a mold system that can improve the workability of molding resin or the like and improve the molding efficiency.

Furthermore, another object of the present invention is to provide a molding system that can cope with high-mix, low-volume production and has a simplified device structure.

The above and other objects and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the description of this specification and the accompanying drawings.

[Summary of the invention]

A brief overview of typical inventions disclosed in this application is as follows. In other words, a plurality of small molds each having a small number of cavities are arranged in series, and a robot is provided that moves along these molds. By configuring the system to automatically unload molded products and insert tablets, it is possible to fully automate the mold process.
Moreover, it is possible to uniformize molding conditions and further improve quality.

The robot is equipped with at least a first station that performs cleaning and unloading, and a second station that performs frame loading and tablet loading, and by making the interval between these stations equal to the arrangement pitch interval of the mold, Cleaning, unloading molded products and loading frames,
Tablets can be loaded into different molds at the same time, improving work efficiency.

Furthermore, when loading the frame of the second station, the frame can be set on the cavity without using a loading jig, so positioning can be ensured, and the flatness of the mold plane can be improved by downsizing the mold. Since the runner dimensions can be reduced, mold burrs can be prevented from occurring and resin viscosity can be made uniform, thereby improving quality.

〔Example〕

FIGS. 1 and 2 show an overall plan view and a front sectional view of an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a resin mold system. In the figure, numerals 11 to 16 are small-sized molding dies, respectively: upper molds 11A to 16A and lower molds 11B to 11.
6B, and both types 11A to 16A,
By moving the molds 11B to 16B up and down by the press mechanism 21, each mold can perform molding independently. Each molding die 11 to 16 has a cull part 17 at the lower center and 20 cavities (in the case of 5 frames) 18 around which four frames can be set.
are formed and communicated through a runner 19. The cull portion 17 is equipped with a cull plunger 20, which can force-feed a resin flow to each cavity 18 through a runner 19 by heating and compressing a resin tablet to be described later. The molds 11 to 16 are the same or different types of molds arranged in series at the same pitch interval, but these can be replaced as desired. In addition, molds 11 to 1
Needless to say, each of the parts 6 is provided with an attached structure such as a heater.

On the other hand, a rail 22 is laid in parallel on one side of each of the molds 11 to 16, and a robot 23 is placed on this rail 22 and can be moved back and forth on the rail 22 by a drive means such as a motor (not shown). Further, on one side of the rail 22, a component supply section 30, which will be described later, is arranged. The robot 23 is on the front side (right side in the figure)
It has a first station 24 and a second station 25 on the rear side.
The second station 25 has a mold cleaning section 26 and a molded product unloader section 27, and the second station 25 has a frame loader section 28 and a tablet input section 29 for resin or the like. In addition, the distance between the stations 24 and 25 is determined by the molds 11 to 1.
6, and when one station is placed opposite to one mold, the other station is placed opposite to another mold.

For convenience of illustration, FIG. 2 shows a diagram in which the mold cleaning section 26 and the molded product unloading section 27 of the first station are simultaneously performing their respective functions on the mold 12. Although it is stated,
The mold cleaning section 26 and the unloading section 27 are configured so that they do not interfere with each other and when one is in operation, the other is at rest. Further, the mold cleaning section 26, the unloading section 27, and the frame loading section 28 are configured so that they can simultaneously perform their respective functions on all cavities of the opposing molds.

As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the mold cleaning section 26 has a support arm 32 at the tip of a horizontally arranged plunger arm 31, and a connector 3 that is movable in any direction such as up and down.
3, and this support arm 32 has brush bristles 34 implanted therein. These brush bristles 34 have longer bristles on the rear end side than the tip end, and between each brush bristle 34 of the support arm 32 there is a suction port 3 connected to an air intake source (not shown).
We have opened many 5. The mold cleaning section 26 enters between the upper and lower molds 11A to 16A, 11B to 16B by extension of the plunger arm 31, and is swung vertically and horizontally by the flexibility of the connector 33 to clean the mold surface. Foreign matter such as resin scum adhering to the brush is brushed off by the brush bristles and, if necessary, sucked out from the suction port 35.
At this time, since the tips of the brush bristles 34 are short, substantially the entire bristles 34 can come into flat contact with the entire mold surface, and the bristles 34 can evenly clean the mold surface.

The molded product unloader section 27 has levers 37, 37 each having a pair of claws 37A for gripping a frame, that is, a molded product M, attached to the tip of a plunger arm 36, as shown in FIG. By the action of the lever 37 and a link mechanism (not shown), the plunger arm 36 first extends above the mold, and the claws 37A grip both ends of the molded product M, and then the plunger arm 36 extends over the mold. By shortening, the molded product M on the mold can be taken onto the robot 23 (unloaded). The molded product M taken in can be stored in the lower intermediate portion of the robot 23 as shown in FIG.

On the other hand, in the frame loader section 28 of the second station 25, a pin lever 38 having a pin 38A that fits into a pin hole FH of the frame F is fixed to the tip of a plastic arm 39, as shown in FIG. The frame F built into the upper part of the mold is conveyed onto the molds 11B to 16B by fitting the pin 38A into its pin hole FH, and by vertically moving the plunger arm 39 in cooperation with a link mechanism (not shown). Each frame F can be set at a predetermined position in the cavity 18.

As shown in FIG. 6, the tablet insertion section 29 is
A charging arm 42 having a finger 41 is attached to the tip of the plunger arm 40, and the finger 41 grips the resin tablet R, and the plunger arm 40
By this action, the resin tablet R stored in the lower part of the robot 23 can be supplied into each car plunger 20 of the molds 11-16. A preheater 43 is provided at the bottom of the robot 23 (see FIG. 2) to preheat the resin tablet R.

Further, the robot 23 is configured so that frames F, molded products M, resin tablets R, etc. can be transferred between the parts supply section 30 and the robot 23.

According to the above configuration, when the robot 23 is moved to a position corresponding to the molds 11 and 12 as shown in FIG. If there is a molded product, it is taken into the robot 23 by the unloader section 27, and the mold cleaning section 26 cleans the surface of the mold 12 to remove foreign matter. Meanwhile, at the second station 25 facing the mold 11, the frame loader section 28 transports the frames F one by one onto each cavity 18, and the holes FH of the frame F are connected to the guide pins of the mold 11B. (not shown) to complete loading, and the tablet loading section 29 carries the resin tablet R heated by the preheater 43 into the cal plunger 20 and sets it therein.

When this operation is completed, the robot 23 is moved one pitch to the right in FIG.
5 faces the mold 12. In each of these stations 24 and 25, the mold 13 takes in the molded product and cleans it, as described above.
Then the frame is loaded and the tablet is inserted. During this time, the upper and lower molds in the mold 11 are operated, and the two are brought into contact with each other to form the cavity 1.
At the same time, the cull plunger 20 compresses the resistor bullet R, and resin is supplied from the cull portion 17 to each cavity 18 through the runner 19, thereby completing the resin molding of the frame F. Both molds of the mold 11 which have been molded are opened again, and the molded product M is unloaded and cleaned by the robot 23 which has returned.

Thereafter, by the reciprocating movement of the robot 23 on the rail 22 and the molding operations of the respective molds 11 to 16, each mold sequentially performs molding and takes in the molded product. At this time, each mold 11 to 16 may be a mold for the same semiconductor device or a mold for a different semiconductor device, and if this data is given to the robot 23 in advance, the robot 23 can correspond to each mold 11 to 16. The molded frame F and resin tablet R are mounted in advance, and cleaning suitable for each mold, unloading of the molded product, loading of the frame, and loading of the tablet can be performed.

According to such molding work, each mold 11
~ When loading the frame F onto the cavity 16, one or more of the frames F can be automatically loaded onto the cavity 18 independently, so a loading jig is not necessary and the loading jig is considered to be the cause. Errors such as load position deviation can be eliminated and molding can be performed with high precision.
In addition, since each of the molds 11 to 16 is compactly constructed with about 20 cavities 18, the surfaces of the upper and lower molds have good flatness, which improves the adhesion between both molds and prevents mold burrs. It is possible to prevent the occurrence of such problems and improve the quality of molded products. moreover,
By making the molds 11 to 16 smaller, the length of the runner 19 that connects the cull portion 17 and cavity 18 can be shortened, reducing variations in resin temperature, viscosity, etc., and making molding conditions uniform in each cavity. It is possible to increase the In addition, mold 11
Even if the molds 11 to 16 are downsized and the number of molded products molded at one time is reduced, each mold 11 to 16 performs the molding operation independently and sequentially, so the final mold The production efficiency of molded products can be the same as or even higher than before.

On the other hand, since multiple small molds are arranged,
Even if one cavity or mold becomes defective, only that mold needs to be replaced, and molding using other molds can proceed in the meantime, and there is no need to stop production. Furthermore, since it is only necessary to replace the defective mold at this time and the mold is small, the replacement work is extremely easy. Furthermore, since the molds 11 to 16 are arranged in a fixed manner, the configuration of the press mechanism and heating mechanism (not shown) attached to the molds can be made smaller, which simplifies the overall structure and improves the mold size. Temperature control etc. can also be easily performed.

〔effect〕

(1) Small molds with a small number of cavities are arranged in series, and a robot moves back and forth along them to automatically clean the molds, unload molded products, load frames, and insert tablets. Therefore, molding of various products including semiconductor devices can be performed fully automatically.

(2) Since a loading jig is not required when loading the frame, positional errors in the frame caused by the loading jig can be suppressed, and molding with good dimensional accuracy can be performed.

(3) Since the mold is small, the runner length can be shortened, the temperature and viscosity of the resin can be controlled constant and uniformly, and the surface flatness of the upper and lower molds can be improved to improve adhesion and reduce mold burrs. The quality of molded products can be improved by preventing the occurrence of such problems.

(4) Even if the number of cavities in the mold is small, the molding efficiency is not reduced because the molding operations are performed sequentially using multiple molds.

(5) Since the molds are compact and fixedly installed, the press mechanism and heating mechanism in each mold can be constructed compactly and easily.

(6) Since each mold performs molding independently, different semiconductor devices can be molded at the same time by using different types of molds, which is particularly effective in manufacturing high-mix, low-volume semiconductor devices. .

(7) Even if a defect occurs in one cavity or mold, molding can be continued with other molds.
Molding efficiency can be improved without stopping molding.

(8) Since the mold is arranged so that the longitudinal direction of each cavity is perpendicular to the moving direction of the robot, the width of the entire mold is shorter than the vertical length in FIG. Therefore, compared to the opposite case, the length of the rail is shorter and the amount of movement of the robot is less, and the frontage of the mold is narrower, making it easier to replace the mold if it becomes defective and needs to be replaced. Work becomes easier.

Although the invention made by the present invention has been specifically explained above based on Examples, it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned Examples and can be modified in various ways without departing from the gist thereof. Not even. For example, a robot does not need rails as long as it can move back and forth. Further, the cleaning section, the loader section, the unloader section, and the charging section may be arranged in separate stations and configured to act on separate molds. Of course, the specific configuration of the press mechanism in the mold and each part in the robot can be changed as appropriate. If there is sufficient space, molds can be placed on both sides of the robot. Conversely, the robot may be moved around the mold.

[Application field]

In the above explanation, the invention made by the present inventor was mainly applied to resin molding of semiconductor devices, which is the background field of application. It can be applied to molding technology for small parts.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the overall configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic sectional view in the front direction, and FIG.
Figures A and B are a plan view and a front view of the mold cleaning unit, Figure 4 is a side view of the molded product unloader unit, Figure 5 is a side view of the frame loader unit, and Figure 6 is a front view of the tablet loading unit. , FIG. 7 is a schematic plan view of a molding device that has been proposed so far. 11-16...mold, 17...cull part, 18...
...Cavity, 19...Runner, 20...Calp plunger, 21...Press mechanism, 22...1st rail, 23...Robot, 24...1st station, 25...2nd station, 26...Gold Mold cleaning section, 27...Molded product unloader section,
28...Frame loader section, 29...Double input section, 30...Parts supply section, 31...Plunger arm, 32...Support arm, 33...Connector, 3
4... Plunger arm, 35... Suction port, 36
...Plunger arm, 37...Lever, 38...
...pin lever, 39,40...plunger arm, 41...finger, 42...throwing arm, 4
3...Preheater.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1 A plurality of molds each having a plurality of cavities are fixedly arranged in a line so that each mold can perform an independent molding operation, and at least one of these molds is A robot equipped with a cleaning function, a loading function to attach a frame to each mold, an unloading function to take out a molded product from each mold, and a function to put a tablet into each mold is installed in the direction in which the molds are arranged. 1. A molding apparatus, wherein the robot is configured to be capable of reciprocating along the same axis, and wherein the robot is configured to concurrently perform any of the different functions described above on two or more molds at the same time. 2. The above-mentioned robot is characterized in that a first station that cleans the mold and unloads the molded product and a second station that loads the frame into the mold and inserts the tablet are installed in parallel. A molding device according to claim 1. 3. The first station and the second station are arranged so that when the first station is placed opposite to one mold, the second station is placed opposite to the adjacent mold. Claim 1, characterized in that the interval is set equal to the arrangement pitch of the mold.
The molding device according to item 1 or 2. 4. Any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the robot is configured to be able to reciprocate on a rail laid along the direction in which the molds are arranged. The molding device described above. 5. The molding device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the plurality of molds are different molds. 6. Any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the plurality of molds are arranged such that the longitudinal direction of their respective cavities is orthogonal to the moving direction of the robot. The molding device described above.