Conveyors: power-driven – With means to facilitate working – treating – or inspecting... – Condition responsive control of conveyor or station apparatus
Utility Patent
1997-09-19
2001-01-02
Noland, Kenneth W. (Department: 3651)
Conveyors: power-driven
With means to facilitate working, treating, or inspecting...
Condition responsive control of conveyor or station apparatus
C198S341030, C198S341050, C198S346200
Utility Patent
active
06168002
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a control system suitable for use with a semiconductor device transporting and handling apparatus (commonly called handler) which is connected to a semiconductor device testing apparatus for testing semiconductor devices. The transporting and handling apparatus is configured to transport semiconductor devices to be tested to a test section, carrying the tested semiconductor devices out of the test section and sorting them out on the basis of the data of the test results.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many of semiconductor device testing apparatus (commonly called IC tester) for measuring the electrical characteristics of semiconductor deices, particularly semiconductor integrated circuits (hereinafter referred to as IC) typical of the semiconductor devices by applying a test signal of a predetermined pattern to the semiconductor devices to be tested (commonly called DUT) have a semiconductor transporting and handling apparatus connected thereto. In the following disclosure this invention will be described by taking ICs typical of semiconductor devices by example for the convenience of explanation.
FIG. 3
illustrates the general construction of one example of the conventional semiconductor device transporting and handling apparatus (hereinafter referred to as handler) called “horizontal transporting system”. A plurality of groups
2
of trays each loaded with ICs are disposed on a platform
1
constituting a base along the lower side
1
A thereof as viewed in the drawing. Each of the tray groups
2
A-
2
E consists of a number of trays
12
vertically stacked one on another. The leftmost tray group
2
A as viewed in the drawing is positioned at a loader section. The trays of the group
2
A in the loader section are loaded with ICs to be tested.
X-Y carrier arm means
3
A,
3
B takes two ICs at a time, in this example, out of the uppermost tray of the stacked tray group
2
A at the loader section and transports them onto a transport means such as a rotary type IC transport table (turntable)
4
called “soak stage”. Two rows of positioning recesses
5
for defining the positions for receiving the ICs are formed in the IC transport table
4
at equal angular intervals on concentric circles. Each positioning recess
5
is of substantially square shape and is surrounded on four sides by upwardly inclined walls. Each time the IC transport table
4
rotates by one pitch (a feed angle of one positioning recess
5
) in a clockwise direction in the illustrated example, the carrier arm means
3
A,
3
B drops two ICs down into corresponding ones of the two rows of positioning recesses
5
. More specifically, the carrier arm
3
A, in this example, of the X-Y carrier arm meas
3
A,
3
B has mounted thereto a carrier head
3
C which is adapted to grasp two of ICs being tested in the tray
12
, so that the grasped IC being tested are carried out of the tray
12
to the IC transport table
4
by the movements of the X-Y carrier arm means
3
A,
3
B in X-Y directions.
The reference numeral
6
denotes rotary type arm means called “contact arm” for transferring the ICs conveyed by the IC transport table
4
to a test section
7
. Specifically, the contact arm means
6
is adapted to pick up an IC from each of two of the positioning recesses
5
in the IC transport table
4
and transports them to the test section
7
. The contact arm means
6
has three arms each having carrier heads attached thereto and performs the operations, by rotation of the three arms, of sequentially transferring the ICs grasped by the carrier heads to the test section
7
and of sequentially transferring the ICs tested in the test section
7
to a rotary type transfer arm means
8
located at an exit from the test section.
It should be noted that the IC transport table
4
, the contact arm means
6
and the test section
7
are contained in a constant temperature chamber
9
(commonly called chamber) so that ICs under test may undergo the testing within the chamber
9
while being maintained at a predetermined temperature. The interior of the constant temperature chamber
9
is temperature controlled so as to be maintained at a preset high or low temperature to apply a predetermined temperature stress to ICs to be tested.
Likewise, the transfer arm means
8
on the exit side of the test section has three arms each having carrier heads attached thereto and is configured to transport the tested ICs grasped by the carrier heads out to an unloader section by rotation of the three arms. ICs taken out of the constant temperature chamber
9
are sorted out on the basis of the test result data and stored in corresponding one of the tray groups
2
C,
2
D and
2
E, three in this example, located in the unloader section. By way of example, non-conforming ICs are stored in a tray of the rightmost tray group
2
E, conforming ICs are stored in a tray of the tray group
2
D at the left side of the tray group
2
E, and ICs which have been determined to need a retest are stored in a tray of the tray group
2
C at the left side of the tray group
2
D. This sorting is performed by carrier arm means
10
A,
10
B which is controlled on the basis of the test result data. In this example, the carrier arm
10
A of the carrier arm means
10
A,
10
B has mounted thereto carrier heads
10
C which are each adapted to grasp one of the tested ICs and transport it to the designated tray.
It is noted that the tray group
2
B located at the second position from the leftmost side is an empty tray group located at a buffer section for accommodating trays emptied of ICs in the loader section. When the uppermost tray of any one of the tray stacks
2
C,
2
D and
2
E in the unloader section is filled with ICs, a tray of this empty tray group
2
B is conveyed to the top of the corresponding tray stack to be used to store ICs therein.
While in the handler illustrated in
FIG. 3
the IC transport table
4
has two rows of positioning recesses
5
spaced at equal angular intervals for defining the positions for receiving the ICs formed therein on concentric circles such that each time the IC transport table
4
rotates by one pitch in a clockwise direction the X-Y carrier arm means
3
A,
3
B deposits two ICs into corresponding two of the positioning recesses
5
, another type of handler is also in practical use in which the IC transport table
4
has only one row of angularly equally spaced apart positioning recesses
5
formed therein on a concentric circle such that the X-Y carrier arm means
3
A,
3
B takes one IC at a time out of the tray
12
at the loader section and that each time the IC transport table
4
rotates by one pitch the carrier arm means deposits one IC at a time into one of the positioning recesses
5
.
Further, another type of the handler of the horizontal transporting system has also been in practical use in which ICs to be tested which have been beforehand loaded on a customer tray (user tray) by a user are transferred and reloaded onto a test tray capable of withstanding high/low temperatures in a loader section. The test tray is then moved from the loader section to the test section within the constant temperature chamber where ICs under test placed on the tray are transferred by X-Y transport means such as X-Y transport arm means or X-Y transport carrier arm means onto one or more sockets of the IC tester through which a test signal of a predetermined pattern is applied to the ICs under test to measure their electrical characteristics. The tested ICs are then transferred from the socket or sockets onto the test tray by the X-Y transport means, followed by being carried on the test tray out of the test section to the unloader section where the tested ICs are sorted out based on the data of the test results and are transferred from the test tray onto the corresponding customer trays for storage.
In the handler shown in
FIG. 3
, each of the X-Y carrier arm
3
A in the loader section, the contact arm means
6
, the transfer arm means
8
on the exit side
Ogawa Masaaki
Takahashi Hiroyuki
Advantest Corporation
Crawford Gene O.
Noland Kenneth W.
Staas & Halsey , LLP
LandOfFree
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