Optics: measuring and testing – Inspection of flaws or impurities
Reexamination Certificate
2001-07-02
2003-09-30
Lee, Michael G. (Department: 2876)
Optics: measuring and testing
Inspection of flaws or impurities
C356S237100, C356S237200, C356S237300
Reexamination Certificate
active
06628380
ABSTRACT:
This application claims priority to Japanese Patent No. JP 2000-200861 (IBM Docket No. JP920000147JP1, filed on Jul. 3, 2000, and entitled “Appearance Inspecting Jig For Small Parts and Inspecting Method Employing the Same Jig.”
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an inspecting jig and an inspecting method that are used in inspecting the appearance of small parts, such as a head assembly, by use of an optical microscope, and more particularly to an inspecting jig and an inspecting method which enable an inspector to inspect many faces of small parts during a single holding operation.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional method of inspecting the appearance of small parts, such as a head assembly, by use of an optical microscope will hereinafter be described.
FIG. 18
shows a perspective view of a conventional appearance inspecting method for head assemblies, and
FIG. 19
is a diagram showing the image of the visual field of an optical microscope in the conventional appearance inspecting method for head assemblies.
In
FIG. 18
, reference numeral
103
denotes an objective lens of an optical microscope,
30
a head assembly which is small parts,
150
an empty hand or inspecting glove, and “PU” the upper-face image of the head assembly. An appearance inspector for head assemblies inspects the appearance of the head assembly
30
by inspecting the upper-face image PU (see
FIG. 19
) of the head assembly
30
obtained through the objective lens
103
.
FIG. 19
is a diagram showing the image of the visual field of the optical microscope obtained by carrying out the inspection shown in FIG.
18
. Reference numeral
31
denotes left wiring,
32
denotes right wiring,
33
denotes a head,
34
denotes a left connecting portion between the left wiring
31
and the head
33
,
35
denotes a right connecting portion between the right wiring
32
and the head
33
, and
36
denotes a load beam portion.
In the head assembly
30
shown in
FIGS. 18 and 19
, appearance inspection is unnecessary for the lower face of the head assembly
30
, because the wiring
31
and the wiring
32
are in intimate contact on the side of the head
33
of the load beam portion
36
. However, there is a need to inspect the connected states of the left and right connecting portions
34
,
35
and to inspect the state of the intimate contact of the left and right wirings
31
,
32
on the load beam portion
36
.
For inspecting the connected states of the left and right connecting portions
34
,
35
, the direction of the upper-face image PU shown in
FIG. 19
is insufficient. The appearance inspector must change, for example, the direction of the head assembly
30
so that as many portions of the connecting portions
34
,
35
as possible are visible. More specifically, the appearance inspector has to change the direction of the head assembly
30
so that as many portions of the connecting portions
34
,
35
as possible are at the focal position (within the focal depth) of the optical microscope and also on a plane perpendicular to the optical axis of the objective lens
103
. In the event the position of the head assembly
30
is improper when inspecting the upper-face image PU, the appearance inspector has to change the position of the head assembly
30
.
The direction of the upper-face image PU shown in
FIG. 19
is also insufficient in the case of inspecting the state of the intimate contact of the left and right wirings
31
,
32
on the load beam portion
36
. The appearance inspector must change, for example, the direction of the head assembly
30
so that as many portions of the left and right wirings
31
,
32
and the load beam portion
36
as possible are visible. More specifically, the appearance inspector has to inspect the state of the intimate contact of the left wiring
31
, by changing the direction of the head assembly
30
so that the entire left wiring
31
is at the focal position (within the focal depth) of the optical microscope and also on a plane perpendicular to the optical axis of the objective lens
103
. Then, the appearance inspector has to inspect the state of the intimate contact of the right wiring
32
, by changing the direction of the head assembly
30
so that the entire right wiring
32
on the opposite side is on a plane perpendicular to the optical axis of the objective lens
103
. In the case where the position of the head assembly
30
is improper at the time of inspecting the upper-face image PU, the appearance inspector has to change the position of the head assembly
30
at the time of inspecting the left wiring
31
, and at the time of inspecting the right wiring
32
.
In addition, since the head assembly
30
is so small that an optical microscope is required at the time of inspecting the connecting portions and wiring state, it is difficult to execute a suitable holding method wherein the upper-face image PU is inspected in raising the head assembly
30
with an empty hand or inspecting glove
150
, then the connecting portions
34
,
35
are changed to the direction of inspection, and furthermore, the directions of the left and right wirings
31
,
32
are also changed so that they can be inspected.
As described supra, the appearance inspector for the head assembly
30
has to change many times the position of the head assembly
30
in order to inspect the connected states of the left and right connecting portions
34
,
35
or the states of the intimate contact of the left and right wirings
31
,
32
on the load beam portion
36
. Furthermore, the focal point of the microscope must coincide with a position of inspection and each time the holding position is changed.
In the conventional method of inspecting the head assembly
30
, as stated above, the appearance inspector for the head assembly
30
inspects the upper face of the head assembly
30
, the connected states of the left and right connecting portions
34
,
35
; and the left and right wirings
31
,
32
, by changing many times the position of the main body (load beam portion) of the head assembly
30
, with the empty hand or the inspecting glove
150
, etc., so that the inspection portions of the head assembly
30
are as perpendicular as possible to the optical axis of the objective lens
103
, and so that the inspection portions coincide with the focal point of the microscope.
In the above-mentioned conventional appearance inspection of the head assembly
30
, however, there is a problem that there are instances where (1) during inspection, the head assembly
30
and the objective lens
103
contact and are damaged, and (2) the static electricity stored in the body of the inspector destroys the head assembly
30
or causes dirt to adhere to the head assembly
30
, resulting in a reduction in the quality of the head assembly
30
.
The present invention has been achieved in order to solve the aforementioned conventional problems. Accordingly, it is the primary object of the present invention to provide a jig and a method which eliminate the need for the inspector to change many times the position of the head assembly
30
at the time of making an appearance inspection in many directions.
Thus, according to the present invention, when carrying out the appearance inspection in many directions, only a series of operations for gradually raising the universal focus-adjusting lever upward are required, after the inspector first brings the upper-face image of the head assembly into focus with the focus adjusting handle. Therefore, the inspector can readily inspect the right side face, left side face, and front face of the head assembly without changing many times the position of the head assembly.
In addition, the present invention is capable of preventing damage due to the contact between the head assembly and objective lens in the course of inspection, destruction of the head assembly due to static electricity stored in the inspector's body, and a reduction in the quality due to dirt on the head assembly, because the inspector does not directly h
Fujimori Masashi
Itoh Kenji
Koike Toru
Matsumoto Yuhsuke
Nakagawa Seiji
Bracewell & Patterson L.L.P.
Feece Ronald
International Business Machines - Corporation
Koyama Kumiko C.
Lee Michael G.
LandOfFree
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