Supports: racks – Special article – Stacked articles
Reexamination Certificate
1999-03-26
2001-05-29
Stodola, Daniel P. (Department: 3634)
Supports: racks
Special article
Stacked articles
C211S126700, C211S189000, C312S265100, C248S346500
Reexamination Certificate
active
06237783
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a customer tray storing apparatus for storing customer trays (known also as universal tray) used in a semiconductor device testing apparatus, and particularly to a customer tray storing apparatus having a pivotally mounted door, the arrangement being such that when the door is opened, it may be rotated or pivoted to a position in which the door is flush with the plane of the bottom surface of the customer tray storing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a semiconductor device testing apparatus for testing various types of semiconductor devices, a number of customer trays for accommodating devices to be tested and tested devices are used. Before proceeding to describe the conventional customer tray storing apparatus, the IC testing apparatus for testing a semiconductor integrated circuit (as will be referred to as IC hereinafter) which is typical of semiconductor devices will be briefly described with reference to FIG.
6
.
Many of IC testing apparatuses for measuring the electrical characteristics of ICs to be tested (ICs under test) by applying a test signal of a predetermined pattern to the ICs have an IC transporting/handling or processing apparatus (commonly called handler in this art) integrally connected thereto for transporting ICs to be tested to a test or testing section where they are brought into electrical contact with an IC socket mounted on a test head (a part of the IC testing apparatus for supplying and receiving various electrical signals for testing), followed by, after completion of the test, carrying the tested ICs out of the test section and sorting them out into defectless or conforming (pass) and defective or non-conforming (failure) articles on the basis of the test results. In the following disclosure, the present invention will be described by taking the IC testing apparatus having this type of handler connected thereto by way of example for the convenience of explanation.
FIG. 6
is a plan view illustrating the general construction of the IC transporting/handling apparatus (hereinafter referred to as handler) integrally connected to the IC testing apparatus with a plurality of test trays
14
within a soak chamber
22
and an exit chamber
23
and stacked customer trays
13
shown in a perspective view. In addition to a constant temperature chamber
20
containing the soak chamber
22
and a test section
21
therein, and the exit chamber
23
(also called heat-removal/cold-removal chamber), the illustrated handler includes a loader section
11
where ICs to be tested (ICs under test) are transferred from the customer trays and reloaded onto test trays
14
, an unloader section
12
where the tested ICs which have been carried on the test tray
14
out through the exit chamber
23
subsequently to undergoing a test in the test section
21
are transferred from the test tray
14
to the customer tray
13
(also called universal tray) to be reloaded on the latter, customer tray storing apparatuses (called customer tray stocker in this field)
4
,
4
E for storing customer trays
13
loaded with ICs to be tested (ICs under test), customer trays
13
loaded with ICs already tested and sorted, and empty customer trays loaded with no ICs.
The soak chamber
22
of the constant temperature chamber
20
is designed for imposing a temperature stress of either a predetermined high or low temperature on ICs under test loaded on a test tray
14
in the loader section
11
while the test section
21
of the constant temperature chamber
20
is designed for executing electrical tests on the ICs under the predetermined temperature stress imposed in the soak chamber
22
. In order to maintain the ICs applied in the soak chamber with a temperature stress of either a predetermined high or low temperature in that temperature during the test, the soak chamber
22
and the test section
21
are both contained in the constant temperature chamber
20
capable of maintaining the interior atmosphere at a predetermined constant temperature.
The illustrated handler is configured such that the soak chamber
22
and the test section
21
of the constant temperature chamber
20
and the exit chamber
23
are arranged in the order named from left to right as viewed in the drawing (referred to as X-axis direction herein) while the loader section
11
and the unloader section
12
are located in front of the constant temperature chamber
20
and the exit chamber
23
(downward in the upward-downward direction as viewed in the drawing (referred to as Y-axis direction herein) which is perpendicular to the X-axis direction). As is apparent from
FIG. 6
, the loader section
11
is located in front of the soak chamber
22
of the constant temperature chamber
20
while the unloader section
12
is located in front of the test section
21
and the exit chamber
23
.
The test tray
14
is moved in a circulating manner from and back to the loader section
11
sequentially through the soak chamber
22
and the test section
21
in the constant temperature chamber
20
, the exit chamber
23
, and the unloader section
12
. In this path of circulating travel, there are disposed a predetermined number of test trays
14
which are successively moved in the directions as indicated by thick solid arrows in
FIG. 6
by a test tray transport means, not shown.
A test tray
14
having ICs to be tested loaded thereon from a customer tray
13
in the loader section
11
is conveyed from the loader section
11
to the constant temperature chamber
20
, and then delivered to the soak chamber
22
through an inlet port formed in the front wall of the constant temperature chamber
20
. The soak chamber
22
is equipped with a vertical transport mechanism which is configured to support a plurality of (say, five) test trays
14
in the form of a stack with a predetermined spacing between stacked two succeeding test trays. In the illustrated example, a test tray newly received from the loader section
11
is supported at the top of the stack while the lowermost test tray is delivered to the test section
21
which on the right-hand side in the X-axis direction, adjoins and communicates with the lower portion of the soak chamber
22
. It is thus to be appreciated that test trays
14
are delivered out in the direction perpendicular to that in which they have been introduced.
ICs to be tested are loaded with either a predetermined high or low temperature stress as the associated test tray
14
is moved sequentially from the top to the bottom of the stack by vertically (which is referred to as Z-axis direction) downward movement of the vertical transport mechanism and during a waiting period until the test section
21
is emptied. In the test section
21
there is located a test head, not shown. The test tray
14
which has been carried one by one out of the soak chamber
22
is placed onto the test head where a predetermined number of ICs out of the ICs to be tested loaded on the test tray are brought, as loaded on the test tray, into electrical contact with IC sockets (not shown) mounted on the test head. Upon completion of the test on all of the ICs placed on one test tray through the test head, the test tray
14
is conveyed to the right side in the X-axis direction to the exit chamber
23
where the tested ICs are relieved of heat or cold.
Like the soak chamber
22
as described above, the exit chamber
23
is also equipped with a vertical transport mechanism adapted to support a plurality of (say, five) test trays
14
stacked one on another with a predetermined spacing between stacked two succeeding test trays. In the illustrated example, a test tray newly received from the test section
21
is supported at the bottom of the stack while the uppermost test tray is discharged to the unloader section
12
. The tested ICs are relieved of heat or cold to be restored to the outside temperature (room temperature) as the associated test tray
14
is moved sequentially from the bottom to the top of the stack by verti
Advantest Corporation
Gallagher & Lathrop
Lathrop David N.
Novosad Jennifer E.
Stodola Daniel P.
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