JPH0721611U - Auto handler for storing IC storage tray in rack - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] The first invention provides an autohandler having a simple structure without a separating mechanism for stacked trays 1.
The second idea is to downsize the auto handler. [Structure] According to a first invention, an auto handler stacks a plurality of trays 1 accommodating ICs 10 on a supply loader 11,
When C10 is transported, a plurality of empty trays 1 are stored in the standby unit, and the empty trays 1 stored in the standby unit are stored in the storage loader 15
Transport to. The rack 2 forms a plurality of shelves 2A in which the trays 1 are stored. The rack 2 is placed in the standby section and is moved up and down. According to a second aspect, the standby unit is incorporated in the multi-class loader, and the rack according to the first aspect is arranged in the multi-class loader.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 There is an auto handler that stores ICs in a tray, transports the ICs from the IC storage tray to a measuring unit, stores an empty tray in a standby unit, and transports an empty tray stored in the standby unit to a storage loader. In this invention, in such an auto handler, a rack is provided in the standby part to store an empty tray.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 Next, the tray used in this invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is an external view of the tray 1. A plurality of concave portions 1A are formed on the upper surface of the tray 1 in a grid pattern. The IC 10 is housed in the recess 1A. A convex portion 1B is formed on the upper portion of the tray 1, and the side surface of the convex portion 1B is formed as a slightly inclined surface. On the bottom surface of the tray 1, there is formed a concave portion 1C into which the convex portion 1B is inserted when the trays 1 are stacked. Grooves 1D are provided at the edges of the tray 1 so as to face each other, and a claw described later enters and leaves the groove 1D to separate the stacked trays 1.

FIG. 10 is a state view in which the trays 1 of FIG. 9 are stacked in 10 stages. The tray 1 is stacked by fitting the convex portion 1B and the concave portion 1C together. Since the projections 1B and the recesses 1C of the tray 1 have different manufacturing dimensions, the stacked trays 1 may be engaged with each other. Therefore, in devices and the like, a mechanism for forcibly separating the stacked trays 1 is required.

Next, a conventional configuration of an auto handler using the tray 1 of FIG. 9 will be described with reference to FIG. 11A is a plan view, and FIG. 11A is a front view of FIG. 11A. In FIG. 11, 11 is a supply loader, 12 is a hand, 13 is a measurement unit, 14 is a standby unit, 15 is a storage loader, and 16 is a multi-class loader.

In FIG. 11, a plurality of trays 1 containing ICs are stacked on a supply loader 11. The supply loader 11 raises the stacked trays 1 and stops when the uppermost tray 1 reaches a predetermined position.

The IC 10 of the uppermost tray 1 of the supply loader 11 is adsorbed by the adsorption pad 12A of the hand 12 and sequentially conveyed to the measurement unit 13. The measuring unit 13 electrically tests the IC 10. The IC 10 for which the measurement has been completed is carried by the hand 12 to the storage loader 15 or the multi-classification loader 16.

A good IC 10 is stored in the tray 1 in the storage loader 15. The IC 10 including defective products is classified and accommodated in the multi-class loader 16. The configuration of the multi-class loader is the same as that described in the specification of Japanese Patent Application No. 3-26786.

In FIG. 11, when the IC 10 is lost in the uppermost tray 1 of the supply loader 11, the uppermost tray 1 is separated from the stacked trays 1 by a separating mechanism (not shown). The separated and empty tray 1 is transported to the standby unit 14 by a transport mechanism (not shown).

When the trays 1 are transferred from the supply loader 11, the upper and lower trays 1 of the stacked trays 1 are lifted to the above-mentioned predetermined position by the elevating mechanism, and the ICs 10 are conveyed to the measuring unit 13. The above operation is repeated until the tray 1 in the supply loader 11 is exhausted.

In the accommodating loader 15, when the tray 1 is filled with the IC 10, the tray is lowered by one tray. Then, the empty tray 1 of the standby unit 14 is transported to the uppermost stage of the storage loader 15 by the transport mechanism. When the empty tray 1 is conveyed, the non-defective IC is stored. The storage loader 15 repeats the above operation until the trays 1 are stacked in a predetermined number.

Next, the configuration of the standby unit 14 of FIG. 11 will be described with reference to FIG. 12A is a plan view, FIG. 12A is a front view of FIG. 12A, and FIG. 12C is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 12A. In FIG. 12, 17 is a hand, 41 to 44 are claws, 45 and 46 are guide plates, 47 is an elevating means, and 48 is an arm.

In FIG. 12, trays 1 are stacked on arms 48. The elevating means 47 elevates and lowers the arm 48. The hand 17 is provided in the transport mechanism, and the suction pad 17 sucks and desorbs the tray 1. The guide plates 45 and 46 restrict the lateral movement of the stacked trays 1 when moving up and down.

The claws 41 and 42 and the claws 43 and 44 are arranged above the guide plates 45 and 46 so as to face each other. The claws 41 to 44 move in and out of the groove 1D of the tray 1. In addition, in order to prevent interference with the guide plates 45 and 46 when the claws 41 to 44 are moved downward, the upper portions of the guide plates 45 and 46 are shown in FIG. A notch is formed.

Next, the operation of the standby unit 14 of FIG. 12 will be described with reference to the state change diagram of FIG. FIG. 13A shows a state of waiting for an empty tray 1. In FIG. 13A, the arm 48 is descending, and the stacked empty trays 1 placed on the arm 48 are descending. The claws 41 to 44 are closed so that the tray 1 can be held.

FIG. 13A shows a state in which the hand 17 conveys the empty tray 1, sucks the tray 1 and stops it on the standby unit 14. From the state of FIG. 13A, the hand 17 descends, and the tray 1 is placed on the claws 41 to 44 as shown in FIG. 13C.

From the state of FIG. 13C, the elevating means 47 moves up the stacked trays 1, and the convex portion 1B of the uppermost tray 1 is transported to contact the concave portion 1C of the tray 1 so that the arm 48 moves. Stop. FIG. 13D shows a state in which the arm 48 is stopped at the highest position.

From the state of FIG. 13D, the claws 41 to 44 are opened and the tray 1 is released. FIG. 13E shows a state in which the trays 1 are conveyed and placed on the tray 1 which is stacked. The arm 48 descends from the state shown in FIG. 13E to the state shown in FIG. From the state of FIG. 13C, the claws 41 to 44 are closed, and the state returns to the state of FIG. The empty tray 1 is sequentially stored from the supply loader 11 to the standby unit 14 in the procedure shown in FIG.

Next, the operation of transporting the empty tray 1 stored in the standby unit 14 to the storage loader 15 will be described with reference to the state change diagram of FIG. FIG. 14A shows the same standby state as FIG. 13A. From the state of FIG. 14A, the claws 41 to 44 are opened, and the state of FIG. In FIG. 14A, the arm 48 is raised up to the position where the claws 41 to 44 enter the groove 1D of the uppermost tray 1.

From the state of FIG. 14A, the claws 41 to 44 are closed, and the state of FIG. The arm 48 is slightly lowered from the state of FIG. 14C. FIG. 14D shows a state in which the arm 48 is lowered by a small amount. In the state of FIG. 14D, the tray 1 may be separated by its own weight in some cases, but in order to ensure reliability, the standby portion 14 employs a forced separation mechanism. That is, the separation claws 41A to 44A are arranged near the claws 41 to 44 shown in FIG.

From the state of FIG. 14D, the separating claws 41A and 42A and the separating claws 43A and 44A which are opposed to each other are closed, and the tray 1 between the uppermost tray 1 and the tray 1 below it is closed, and the state of FIG. . In the state of FIG. 14E, the separating claws 41A to 44A push down the tray below the uppermost tray 1, so that the tray 1 can be forcibly separated.

When the tray 1 is forcibly separated, the arm 48 descends, the separation tabs 41A to 44A rise to the same horizontal position as the claws 41 to 44, and the state shown in FIG. From the state of FIG. 14C, the hand 17 adsorbs the tray 1, and the state of FIG. The adsorbed tray 1 is conveyed to the storage loader 15, and the standby unit 14 returns to the state of FIG.

[0022]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 In the conventional standby unit 14, since the stacked trays are separated one by one, the structure and control are complicated as shown in FIG. 13 or FIG. Further, since the standby unit 14 is in the auto handler as a unit, it is difficult to downsize the auto handler.

A first invention provides an auto-handler having a simple structure that does not have a separating mechanism for stacked trays by arranging a rack having a plurality of shelves for storing trays in a standby portion. The purpose is to

A second object of the present invention is to provide an auto-handler which is miniaturized by incorporating a standby unit in a multi-class loader and disposing the rack according to the first invention in the multi-class loader.

[0025]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 In order to achieve this object, the first invention is to stack a plurality of trays 1 accommodating ICs 10 on a supply loader 11, convey ICs 10 and store a plurality of empty trays 1 in a standby unit, and store them in a standby unit. An auto-handler for transporting an empty tray 1 to an accommodating loader 15 is provided with a rack 2 which is arranged in the standby section, has a plurality of shelves 2A for accommodating the trays 1 and which is elevated.

A second invention incorporates the standby unit of the first invention into a multi-class loader, and the multi-class loader comprises a rack 2 of the first class.

[0027]

[Action]

 In the first invention, when the tray 1 is horizontally conveyed from the supply loader 11, the rack 2 moves up and down to receive the tray 1 on a predetermined shelf 2A. Positioning bodies 2C, 2D, and 2E that guide the tray 1 on the side surface are provided on the shelf 2A, and the tray 1 is positioned and mounted on the shelf 2A.

When receiving the tray 1 from the supply loader 11, the tray 1 is mounted in order from the lowest shelf 2A. When the tray 1 is unloaded from the rack 2 to the accommodating loader 15, the uppermost tray 1 is sequentially transported. The first invention does not require the separating mechanism of the tray 1, so that the structure and control of the device are simplified.

[0029]

【Example】

 Next, the structure of the standby unit according to the first invention will be described with reference to the embodiment shown in FIG. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the rack 2 arranged in the standby unit. In FIG. 1, 2A is a shelf, 2B is a connecting rod, and 2C, 2D and 2E are positioning bodies. In FIG. 1, positioning bodies 2C to 2E that guide the tray 1 by its side surface when the tray 1 is mounted are attached to the upper surface of the shelf 2A. Further, a U-shaped notch groove 21 is formed on the shelf 2A so that a hand 17 described later does not come into contact with the shelf 2A. The four corners of the shelf 2A are fixed by connecting rods 2B. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the shelf 2A has four stages.

FIG. 2 is a state diagram in which the rack 2 of FIG. 1 is arranged in the standby unit 4 according to the first invention. 2A is a plan view, FIG. 2A is a front view, and FIG. 2C is a right side view of FIG. 2A. In FIG. 2, the rack 2 is mounted on the arm 4A. The elevating means 4B is composed of, for example, a motor and a ball screw, and elevates and lowers the arm 4A. In FIG. 2, since the tray 1 is conveyed horizontally as described later, a gap H that does not interfere with the horizontally conveyed tray 1 is secured in the shelf 2A.

Next, a state in which the tray 1 is accommodated in the rack 2 from the supply loader 11 will be described with reference to FIG. The rack 2 in FIG. 3 is a front view of the standby unit similar to FIG. In FIG. 3A, the empty tray 1 of the supply loader 11 is suctioned by the hand 17. From the state of FIG. 3A, the hand 17 horizontally conveys the empty tray 1 to the rack 2.

FIG. 3A shows a state in which the hand 17 carries the tray 1 on the shelf 2 A at the bottom. In FIG. 3A, the hand 17 enters the groove 21 at the center of the rack 2 and does not touch the rack 2. From the state of FIG. 3A, the hand 17 lowers the tray 1 by the hand up-and-down mechanism (not shown). When the tray 1 descends, the positioning bodies 2C, 2D and 2E guide the side surface of the tray 1. FIG. 3C shows a state in which the empty tray 1 is accommodated in the shelf 2 A at the bottom of the rack 2.

When the rack 2 is lowered by the elevating means 4B from the state shown in FIG. 3C, the state shown in FIG. 3D is obtained. FIG. 3D shows a state before the empty tray 1 is stored in the second shelf 2A from the bottom. By repeating the same operation as described above from the state of FIG. 3D, the empty tray 1 can be stored in the second shelf 2A from the bottom.

Next, a state in which the tray 1 is carried out from the rack 2 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a front view of the standby unit according to the present invention. The hand 17 moves horizontally from the state of FIG. 4A, the hand 17 stops on the tray 1 at the uppermost stage of the rack 2, and the state of FIG.

From the state of FIG. 4A, the hand 17 descends and adsorbs the tray 1, and the hand 17 adsorbs the tray 1 and ascends to the state of FIG. 4C. From the state of FIG. 4C, the hand 17 conveys the tray 1 to the storage loader 15.

When it is desired to take out the second tray 1 from the bottom, the tray 1 is carried out from the state of FIG. 4C, and then the rack 2 is raised by the elevating means 4B. FIG. 4D shows a state before taking out the second tray 1 from the bottom. From the state of FIG. 4D, the empty tray 1 in the second stage from the bottom can be taken out by repeating the above operation.

Next, the configuration of the standby unit according to the second invention will be described with reference to the embodiment shown in FIG. FIG. 5 shows the multi-class loader 17 of FIG. 11 with the function of a standby unit added. In FIG. 5, 31 is a frame, 32 is a rail, 33 is a shelf, and 34 is a rack stand.

In FIG. 5, two rails 32 are attached to the frame 31. The rail 32 guides the shelf 33 or the rack stand 34. The tray 1 is mounted in the shelf 31, and the rack 2 is mounted in the rack base 34.

FIG. 6 is a detailed view of FIG. 5, and is a front view of FIG. In FIG. 6, an arm 34A is attached to the rack base 34, the arm 34A is connected to the ball screw 31B, and the motor 31A is rotated to move the rack base 34 up and down. The shelf 33 is mounted on the rack base 34.

A cylinder 31C is arranged above the frame 31, and a stopper 31D is attached to the piston rod of the cylinder 31C. When the cylinder 31C is driven, the stopper 31D is inserted between the shelves 33.

Next, the operation of FIG. 6 will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. FIG. 7 shows a state in which the IC 10 is transported to the multi-class loader shown in FIG. In FIG. 7, the stopper 31D moves forward to separate the upper two shelves 33 from the third and lower shelves 34. As shown in FIG. 7, since a space in which the hand 12 can move is secured on the shelf 34 of the third stage, the IC 10 can be transferred to the tray 1 in the shelf 34 of the third stage by the hand 12.

FIG. 8 shows a state where the tray 1 is conveyed to the multi-class loader shown in FIG. In FIG. 8, all the shelves 33 are separated by the stopper 31D. Next, the hand 17 carries out or conveys the tray 1 to the rack 2 mounted on the rack base 34. FIG. 8 shows a state in which an empty tray 1 is accommodated in the third shelf 2A from the bottom of the rack 2. In FIG. 8, since the function of the standby unit is added to the multi-class loader, the configuration of the device is simplified.

[0043]

[Effect of device]

 In the first invention, since the rack is used as the standby unit and the trays are accommodated in the individual shelves, the mechanism for separating the trays one by one is not required, and the structure and control of the standby unit are not required. Can be easy.

In the second invention, since the rack according to the first invention is incorporated in the multi-class loader, the space of the conventional standby unit can be saved and the auto handler can be downsized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a rack of a standby unit according to a first invention.

FIG. 2 is a state diagram in which the rack 2 of FIG. 1 is arranged in a standby unit 4 according to the first invention.

FIG. 3 is a state change diagram in which the tray 1 is accommodated in the rack 2 from the supply loader 11.

FIG. 4 is a state change diagram of carrying out the tray 1 from the rack 2.

FIG. 5 is a configuration of a standby unit according to a second invention.

FIG. 6 is a detailed perspective view of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a state diagram in which the IC 10 is conveyed to the multi-classification loader of FIG.

8 is a state in which the tray 1 is conveyed to the multi-classification loader of FIG.

FIG. 9 is an external view of a tray used in the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a state view in which the trays 1 of FIG. 9 are stacked in 10 stages.

FIG. 11 is a conventional configuration diagram of an auto handler using the tray 1 of FIG.

12 is a configuration diagram of a standby unit 14 of FIG.

13 is a state change diagram of the standby unit 14 of FIG.

FIG. 14 is a state change diagram in which the tray 1 of the standby unit 14 is conveyed to the storage loader 15.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Tray 2 Rack 2A Shelf 2B Connecting Rod 2C Positioning Body 2D Positioning Body 2E Positioning Body 10 IC 11 Supply Loader 15 Housing Loader 16 Multi-class Loader 31 Frame 31A Motor 31B Ball Screw 31C Cylinder 31D Stopper 32 Rail 33 Shelf 34 Rack Rack

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Office reference number FI technical display location H01L 21/68 AT

Claims (2)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A plurality of trays (1) for accommodating ICs (10) are stacked on a supply loader (11), ICs (10) are transported, and a plurality of empty trays (1) are stored in a standby unit. In an auto handler that conveys an empty tray (1) stored in a storage loader (15) to a storage loader (15), a plurality of shelves (2A) that are arranged in the standby section and in which the tray (1) is stored are formed and lifted. An automatic handler for storing an IC accommodating tray in a rack, which is provided with a rack (2). 2. An IC storage tray is stored in a rack, wherein the standby unit according to claim 1 is incorporated in a multi-class loader, and the multi-class loader includes the rack (2) according to claim 1. Auto handler to do.