Registers – Systems controlled by data bearing records – Credit or identification card systems
Reexamination Certificate
2000-08-07
2003-01-28
Lee, Michael G. (Department: 2876)
Registers
Systems controlled by data bearing records
Credit or identification card systems
C702S123000, C702S182000, C340S649000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06510987
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates generally to production of articles of manufacture that are sensitive to ESD (electro static discharge) such as IC (integrated circuit) packages, and more particularly, to a method and system for automatically monitoring the amount of ESD (electro static discharge) from each of a plurality of operators in a production area to minimize damage to the articles of manufacture caused by ESD (electro static discharge) from the plurality of operators.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Referring to
FIG. 1
, an IC (integrated circuit) package
10
is an example article of manufacture that may be damaged during production by ESD (electro static discharge) from an operator. The IC package
10
includes a housing
12
for carrying an IC (integrated circuit) die
14
therein, as known to one of ordinary skill in the art of IC package manufacture. The IC package
10
also includes a plurality of leads
22
,
24
,
26
,
28
, and
30
for providing connection to nodes of the integrated circuit fabricated on the IC die
14
, as known to one of ordinary skill in the art of IC package manufacture. A typical IC package has more numerous leads, but five leads
22
,
24
,
26
,
28
, and
30
are shown in
FIG. 1
for clarity of illustration.
During production of IC packages, operators handle such IC packages in a production area for manufacture of the IC packages. An operator when in the production area for manufacture of IC packages typically wears specially made footwear that is amenable for dissipating charge from the operator to the ground for minimizing electro static charge accumulation on the operator. However, an unacceptable level of electro static charge may accumulate on the operator. When such an operator touches an IC package, an unacceptable level of ESD (electro static discharge) may be passed to the IC die of the IC package resulting in permanent damage to the IC die of the IC package.
Thus, referring to
FIG. 2
, an operator
50
is instructed to measure the amount of ESD (electro static discharge) from the operator
50
before entering a production area at the start of a work shift. The operator
50
measures the amount of ESD (electro static discharge) from the body of the operator
50
at an ESD (electro static discharge) measuring unit
52
. The operator
50
stands on a charge dissipating mat
54
that is coupled to a ground node of the ESD measuring unit
52
. The charge dissipating mat
54
is typically comprised of a conductive material, and footwear
56
of the operator
50
makes contact with the charge dissipating mat
54
. The operator
50
then places a hand
58
to a measuring node of the ESD measuring unit
52
.
In this manner, the ESD measuring unit
52
determines a resistance of the operator
50
from the hand
58
to the footwear
56
of the operator
50
. Such resistance correlates to the ESD (electro static discharge) from the body of the operator
50
. An example of such an ESD measuring unit
52
that is available to one of ordinary skill in the art of IC package manufacture has the model number of SP-30110-SPI from SPI (Static Prevention Incorporated) located in Brea, Calif.
In the prior art, each of a plurality of operators assigned to work during a predetermined work shift is instructed to measure the ESD (electro static discharge) from the body of the operator and to manually record the result on a chart toward the start of the predetermined work shift. In the prior art, a production supervisor examines the chart toward the start of the predetermined work shift to identify any operator having an unacceptable level of ESD (electro static discharge). In addition, in the prior art, another employee gathers the daily charts for the prior month to manually create a monthly report that summarizes the ESD (electro static discharge) measured for each of the operators. The production supervisor examines the monthly report to identify any operator consistently having an unacceptable level of ESD (electro static discharge) for the prior month such that such an operator may be advised to replace his/her footwear.
However, in the prior art, some of the operators forget or fail to measure the ESD (electro static discharge) on a daily basis. Thus, unacceptable levels of ESD (electro static discharge) from some operators are not detected resulting in damage to the IC dies during production of IC packages. In addition, time and labor is wasted when the employee gathers the daily charts for the prior month to manually create the monthly report in the prior art. Furthermore, some daily charts are misplaced resulting in incomplete monthly reports of the ESD (electro static discharge) measured for each of the operators.
Thus, a mechanism is desired for automatically monitoring that each of a plurality of operators in a production area measures the ESD (electro static discharge) and for automatically recording the ESD (electro static discharge) measured from each of the plurality of operators. With such complete measuring and recording of the ESD (electro static discharge) from each of the plurality of operators, reports generated from such data may be used to effectively minimize damage to the articles of manufacture caused by ESD (electro static discharge) from the plurality of operators.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, in a general aspect of the present invention, a computer system is used for monitoring that each of a plurality of operators assigned to work during a predetermined work shift has checked into the production area and has measured the ESD (electro static discharge) at an ESD (electro static discharge) measuring unit.
In a general aspect of the present invention, a first identification reader reads a respective badge identification of each operator who checks into the production area. A computer system has a data storage unit for storing the respective badge identification of each operator who checks into the production area in a first working file. An ESD (electro static discharge) measuring unit measures an amount of ESD (electro static discharge) from the body of an operator, and a second identification reader reads a respective badge identification of each operator who measures a respective amount of ESD (electro static discharge) from the body of the operator at the ESD (electro static discharge) measuring unit. The respective badge identification and the respective amount of ESD measured for each operator who measures the respective amount of ESD at the ESD measuring unit are stored in a second working file of the data storage unit of the computer system.
A database stores data regarding a plurality of operators working in the production area, and the computer system includes a data processor for generating a list of operators assigned to work during a predetermined work shift from data stored in the database, at a start of the predetermined work shift. The data processor of the computer system assigns a respective flag to each operator in the list of operators assigned to work during the predetermined work shift, at the start of the predetermined work shift, by processing data from the first working file and the second working file stored in the data storage unit of the computer system.
In addition, the data processor assigns a first flag to an operator if a respective badge identification of the operator is recorded in the first working file indicating that the operator has checked into the production area, and if the respective badge identification of the operator is recorded in the second working file indicating that the operator has measured a respective amount of ESD (electro static discharge) from the body of the operator at an ESD (electro static discharge) measuring unit. The data processor assigns a second flag to an operator if a respective badge identification of the operator is not recorded in the first working file indicating that the operator has not checked into the production area, and if the respective badge identification of the operator is recorded in the second working file indicating
Hengriprasopchoke Anuchit
Suewonsuwan Kamphon
Advanced Micro Devices , Inc.
Choi Monica H.
Lee Michael G.
Walsh Daniel
LandOfFree
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