Metal fusion bonding – Process – With clamping or holding
Reexamination Certificate
2000-09-14
2002-05-14
Elve, M. Alexandra (Department: 1725)
Metal fusion bonding
Process
With clamping or holding
C228S103000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06386430
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates generally to manufacture of IC (integrated circuit) packages, and more particularly, to a mechanism for efficiently ensuring proper adjustment of a height of a base of a clamp for holding strips of a plurality of IC package sizes.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is described for a clamp within an on-loader section of a solder plating machine for soldering leads of IC packages of a strip of IC packages. However, the present invention may be used for clamps in other types of machines for manufacture of IC packages, as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art of IC package manufacture from the description herein.
Referring to
FIG. 1
, a solder plating machine
100
includes a conveyor
102
that moves through an on-loader section
104
, a soldering cell
106
, and an off-loader section
108
of the solder plating machine
100
. Strips of IC packages are input to the on-loader section
104
, and the conveyor
102
picks up such strips of IC packages within the on-loader section
104
.
Referring to
FIG. 2
, a strip of IC packages
110
is comprised of a plurality of IC packages including a first IC package
112
, a second IC package
114
, and a third IC package
116
. A strip of IC packages typically includes more numerous IC packages, but three IC packages
112
,
114
, and
116
are shown for the strip
110
of
FIG. 2
for clarity of illustration. Each of the IC packages
112
,
114
, and
116
of the strip
110
has leads formed with the conductive surface of the strip
110
, as known to one of ordinary skill in the art of IC package manufacture.
FIG. 3
shows a side view of the strip of IC packages
110
.
During fabrication of IC packages, the conductive surface of the strip
110
forming the leads of the IC packages
112
,
114
, and
116
is plated with solder within the solder plating machine
100
of
FIG. 1
such that the leads of the IC packages are more amenable for wiring to a printed circuit board. Referring to the solder plating machine
100
, the conveyor
102
picks up the strips of IC packages from the on-loader section
104
and moves the strips of IC packages through the soldering cell
106
where the conductive surface of the strip
110
forming the leads of the IC packages
112
,
114
, and
116
is plated with solder.
The conveyor
102
then moves the strips of IC packages to the off-loader section
108
where the strips of IC packages are removed from the conveyor
102
to leave the solder plating machine
100
. The IC packages
112
,
114
, and
116
are then separated from the strip
110
, and the leads of the IC packages
112
,
114
, and
116
are formed from the conductive surface of the strip
110
, as known to one of ordinary skill in the art of IC package manufacture. The components
104
,
106
, and
108
of the solder plating machine
100
are known to one of ordinary skill in the art of IC package manufacture.
Referring to
FIG. 4
, detailed components of the on-loader section
104
of the solder plating machine
100
include a clamp positioner
202
supporting a fixed clamp portion
204
. A base
206
is disposed on the fixed clamp portion
204
, and the height of the base
206
is adjustable with respect to the fixed clamp portion
204
. An active clamp portion
208
is movable through the fixed clamp portion
204
for holding or releasing a strip of IC packages from the fixed clamp portion
204
. The clamp of the on-loader section
104
of the solder plating machine
100
includes the fixed clamp portion
204
, the base
206
, and the active clamp portion
208
. Such components of the on-loader section
104
of the solder plating machine
100
are known to one of ordinary skill in the art of IC package manufacture.
During operation of the on-loader section
104
, a vacuum plate
210
with a suction cup
212
holding the strip of IC packages
110
places the strip of IC packages
110
onto the base
206
of the clamp. Technology for vacuum plates with suction cups for holding strips of IC packages is known to one of ordinary skill in the art of IC package manufacture.
Referring to
FIGS. 4 and 5
, after the strip of IC packages
110
is placed on the base
206
of the clamp, the active clamp portion
208
is moved toward the strip of IC packages
110
such that the strip of IC packages
110
is fixedly held between the fixed clamp portion
204
and the active clamp portion
208
. In addition, the base
206
supports the strip of IC packages
110
from the bottom such that the height of the strip of IC packages
110
is determined by the height of the base
206
.
Further referring to
FIGS. 4 and 5
, after the strip of IC packages
110
is fixedly held between the fixed clamp portion
204
and the active clamp portion
208
, the clamp moves from the right position on the clamp positioner
202
(as illustrated in
FIG. 4
) to the left position on the clamp positioner
202
(as illustrated in FIG.
5
). In the left position on the clamp positioner
202
, the strip of IC packages
110
is aligned to a belt gripper
214
of the conveyor
102
of the solder plating machine
100
.
Referring to
FIGS. 5 and 6
, after the clamp moves to the left position on the clamp positioner
202
, the clamp positioner
202
is lifted up toward the belt gripper
214
of the conveyor
102
. An elevation stopper
216
stops the lifting of the clamp positioner
202
when the strip of IC packages
110
is positioned inside the belt gripper
214
. When the strip of IC packages
110
is within the belt gripper
214
, the belt gripper
214
closes to grip the strip of IC packages
110
.
Referring to
FIGS. 6 and 7
, when the belt gripper
214
is holding the strip of IC packages
110
, the active clamp portion
208
is moved with respect to the fixed clamp portion
204
to release the strip of IC packages
110
. In addition, the clamp positioner
202
moves back down away from the belt gripper
214
of the conveyor
102
. The clamp then moves back to the right position of the clamp positioner
202
to repeat the steps for receiving another strip of IC packages to be loaded to another belt gripper of the conveyor
102
.
Referring to
FIGS. 1 and 7
, the belt gripper
214
holding the strip of IC packages
110
is part of the conveyor
102
that moves the strip of IC packages
110
through the soldering cell
106
for plating the conductive surface of the strip
110
forming the leads of the IC packages
112
,
114
, and
116
. The belt gripper
214
of the conveyor
102
then moves the strip of IC packages
110
to the off-loader section
108
for releasing the strip of IC packages
110
from the belt gripper
214
of the conveyor
102
.
Such a process of loading a strip of IC packages to the conveyor
102
at the on-loader section
104
, plating the conductive surface of the strip of IC packages at the soldering cell
106
, and releasing the strip of IC packages from the conveyor
102
at the off-loader section
108
is repeated for a plurality of strips of IC packages during production of IC packages. In addition, such a process is used for solder plating the conductive surface of strips of IC packages for different types of IC packages having different sizes. Each of different strips of IC packages corresponding to different IC package sizes has a unique size.
Referring to
FIGS. 4
,
5
,
6
, and
7
, for the belt gripper
214
of the conveyor
102
to properly grip the strip of IC packages from the clamp, the strip of IC packages within the clamp should be brought to a proper height with respect to the belt gripper
214
when the clamp positioner
202
is lifted toward the belt gripper
214
(as illustrated in FIG.
6
). The height of the base
206
of the clamp is adjusted for controlling the height of the strip of IC packages within the clamp with respect to the belt gripper
214
when the clamp positioner.
202
is lifted toward the belt gripper
214
. The height of the base
206
is adjusted to accommodate different sizes of the strip of IC packages for manufacture of different types of
Bokkaew Narong
Kachane Grid
Prommate Wanus
Advanced Micro Devices , Inc.
Choi Monica H.
Elve M. Alexandra
Johnson Jonathan
LandOfFree
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