Radiant energy – Photocells; circuits and apparatus – With circuit for evaluating a web – strand – strip – or sheet
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-04
2003-08-26
Allen, Stephone (Department: 2878)
Radiant energy
Photocells; circuits and apparatus
With circuit for evaluating a web, strand, strip, or sheet
C348S133000, C356S625000, C250S559220
Reexamination Certificate
active
06610991
ABSTRACT:
COPYRIGHT RESERVATION
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
FIELD OF INVENTION
The present invention relates to imaging systems for electronic components, such as those used in pick and place machines, and more particularly to imaging systems which image a portion of a component onto a linear detector line by line, and are able to provide information about the height of a feature on the component.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Prior art systems for detecting height and coplanarity can be divided into two separate groups; those which are based on a linear detector and those which are not (e.g., vision based and large array detectors systems). Vision based and large array detector systems are typically not “on-head” systems. In on-head sensing systems, a sensor senses the orientation and condition (e.g., coplanar, absence/presence of features, etc.) of the component while the component is transported to the printed circuit board. On-head systems are preferred over other systems because they provide exceptional efficiency in placing the component, leading to a high throughput in the electronic assembly operation. On the other hand, off-head systems have a sensor which senses the orientation and condition of a component with a fixed inspection system. Vision based and large array detector systems have a fairly large weight and size, so as to limit the scanning speed for the sensor in an “on-head” application.
Linescan sensor systems are characterized by having a linear detector and are adapted to scan a portion of a component. Associated electronics assemble multiple scans of a portion of a component and provide a composite image of the area of interest on a component. However, existing linescan systems are typically off-head which slows down the process of placing the component. Furthermore, many are based on the principle of triangulation (the use of structured light to compute a height), which requires complex optics and registration in the sensor.
The prior art lacks a versatile, compact linescan sensor system reporting coplanarity, component quality and orientation of the object, which system is adapted for use either in “on-head” or “off-head” applications. The ideal system would allow for inspection of features on different types of complex components at high throughput, and be easily adapted for use with pick and place machines, wire bonders and screen printers.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An imaging system is disclosed which provides orientation information as well as height information about the object. The imaging system includes a linescan sensor, which views the object from at least two views and outputs a set of partial images of the object for each view. Once the at least two sets of partial images are combined into an assembled image, electronics compute the height of object features from the at least two assembled images. The height information is particularly useful to assess the quality of a feature on an electronic component, such as a ball, grid, lead, or column. Orientation information about the object can be computed from one or more of the assembled images. Once the height of at least four features on the object is computed, a measure of the coplanarity of the component may be computed. Additionally, the height information from the present invention may be used to assess the quality of an object, such as ascertaining the absence or presence of critical features on the object.
The method and apparatus of the present invention is useful for both single and multi-nozzle pick and place machines, but may also be used with screen printers to assess whether applied solder bricks are present or absent, or to assess whether the height of the solder bricks is appropriate. Optionally, the method and apparatus of the present invention is useful with wire bonders, to ascertain the height of a bonded wire or the like as a measure of the quality of the bonding process.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4473842 (1984-09-01), Suzuki et al.
patent: 4521112 (1985-06-01), Kuwabara et al.
patent: 4578810 (1986-03-01), MacFarlane et al.
patent: 4615093 (1986-10-01), Tews et al.
patent: 4675993 (1987-06-01), Harada
patent: 4700398 (1987-10-01), Mizuno et al.
patent: 4706379 (1987-11-01), Seno et al.
patent: 4727471 (1988-02-01), Driels et al.
patent: 4738025 (1988-04-01), Arnold
patent: 4743768 (1988-05-01), Watannabe
patent: 4772125 (1988-09-01), Yoshimura et al.
patent: 4782273 (1988-11-01), Moynagh
patent: 4794689 (1989-01-01), Seno et al.
patent: 4811410 (1989-03-01), Amir et al.
patent: 4875778 (1989-10-01), Luebbe et al.
patent: 4876728 (1989-10-01), Roth
patent: 4920429 (1990-04-01), Jaffe et al.
patent: 4942618 (1990-07-01), Sumi et al.
patent: 4959898 (1990-10-01), Landman et al.
patent: 4969108 (1990-11-01), Webb et al.
patent: 4973216 (1990-11-01), Domm
patent: 4980971 (1991-01-01), Bartschat et al.
patent: 5030008 (1991-07-01), Scott et al.
patent: 5046113 (1991-09-01), Hoki
patent: 5084959 (1992-02-01), Ando et al.
patent: 5084962 (1992-02-01), Takahashi et al.
patent: 5086559 (1992-02-01), Akatsuchi
patent: 5096353 (1992-03-01), Tesh et al.
patent: 5099522 (1992-03-01), Morimoto
patent: 5140643 (1992-08-01), Izumi et al.
patent: 5148591 (1992-09-01), Pryor
patent: 5195234 (1993-03-01), Pine et al.
patent: 5208463 (1993-05-01), Honma et al.
patent: 5233745 (1993-08-01), Morita
patent: 5237622 (1993-08-01), Howell
patent: 5249239 (1993-09-01), Kida
patent: 5249349 (1993-10-01), Kuinose et al.
patent: 5278634 (1994-01-01), Skunes et al.
patent: 5309522 (1994-05-01), Dye
patent: 5342460 (1994-08-01), Hidese
patent: 5369492 (1994-11-01), Sugawara
patent: 5377405 (1995-01-01), Sakurai et al.
patent: 5379514 (1995-01-01), Okuda et al.
patent: 5383270 (1995-01-01), Iwatsuka et al.
patent: 5403140 (1995-04-01), Carmichael et al.
patent: 5434629 (1995-07-01), Pearson et al.
patent: 5452370 (1995-09-01), Nagata
patent: 5456003 (1995-10-01), Yamamoto et al.
patent: 5461480 (1995-10-01), Yamada et al.
patent: 5491888 (1996-02-01), Sakurai et al.
patent: 5523663 (1996-06-01), Tsuge et al.
patent: 5541834 (1996-07-01), Tomigashi et al.
patent: 5555090 (1996-09-01), Schumtz
patent: 5559727 (1996-09-01), Deley et al.
patent: 5560100 (1996-10-01), Englert
patent: 5566447 (1996-10-01), Sakurai
patent: 5592563 (1997-01-01), Zahavi
patent: 5608642 (1997-03-01), Onodera
patent: 5619328 (1997-04-01), Sakurai
patent: 5660519 (1997-08-01), Ohta et al.
patent: 5661561 (1997-08-01), Wurz et al.
patent: 5671527 (1997-09-01), Asai et al.
patent: 5694219 (1997-12-01), Kim
patent: 5724722 (1998-03-01), Hashimoto
patent: 5743005 (1998-04-01), Nakao et al.
patent: 5768759 (1998-06-01), Hudson
patent: 5777746 (1998-07-01), Dlugos
patent: 5787577 (1998-08-01), Kent
patent: 5832107 (1998-11-01), Choate
patent: 5839186 (1998-11-01), Onodera
patent: 5855059 (1999-01-01), Togami et al.
patent: 5864944 (1999-02-01), Kashiwagi et al.
patent: 5878484 (1999-03-01), Araya et al.
patent: 5999206 (1999-12-01), Takahashi et al.
patent: 5999266 (1999-12-01), Takahashi et al.
patent: 5999640 (1999-12-01), Hatase et al.
patent: 6018865 (2000-02-01), Michael
patent: 6031242 (2000-02-01), Hudson
patent: 6118538 (2000-09-01), Haugan et al.
patent: 6195165 (2001-02-01), Sayegh
patent: 6232724 (2001-05-01), Onimoto et al.
patent: 6243164 (2001-06-01), Baldwin et al.
patent: 6291816 (2001-09-01), Liu
patent: 6342916 (2002-01-01), Kashiwagi et al.
patent: 198 26 555 (1999-12-01), None
patent: 664 666 (1994-01-01), None
patent: 0 942 641 (1997-09-01), None
patent: 0 854 671 (1998-07-01), None
patent: 0 730 397 (1999-04-01), None
patent: 2-18900 (1990-07-01), None
patent: 2-275700 (1990-11-01), None
patent: 2-306700 (1990-12-01), None
patent: 3-030499 (1991-02-01), None
patent: 3-110898 (1991-05-01), None
patent: 3-2
Allen Stephone
CyberOptics Corporation
Westman Champlin & Kelly P.A.
LandOfFree
Electronics assembly apparatus with stereo vision linescan... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Electronics assembly apparatus with stereo vision linescan..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Electronics assembly apparatus with stereo vision linescan... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3107904