Metal fusion bonding – Including means to apply flux or filler to work or applicator – Solid flux or solid filler
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-16
2001-07-03
Ryan, Patrick (Department: 1725)
Metal fusion bonding
Including means to apply flux or filler to work or applicator
Solid flux or solid filler
C228S001100, C029S840000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06253985
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the improvement of a unit for supplying solder balls or the like used in a mount apparatus for mounting solder balls, solder bumps or the like on a chip or a substrate. The invention was chiefly developed with the primary object of a solder ball supply unit in a BGA (Ball Grid Array) solder ball mount apparatus.
The present application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. Hei. 10-376863, which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a BGA solder ball mount apparatus, solder balls are usually put in a ball tray, and picked up from the ball tray by a mount head. After picking up has been repeated, solder calls get fewer in the ball tray. As a result, the efficiency of suction onto the mount head is impaired, so that the Performance is reduced. Therefore, solder balls are usually supplied when solder balls in the ball tray get fewer than a predetermined amount. Since it is troublesome to supply solder balls by manual operation, a large-sized ball hopper is provided, and solder balls are supplied from the hopper to the ball tray by a required amount by their own gravity, compressed-air delivery or the like.
A background-art solder ball supply unit delivers solder balls forcibly. Therefore, when solder balls are supplied into a ball tray, compressed air or the like for supplying the solder balls blows into the ball tray so that disarray is caused in the ball tray. In such a manner, there used to arise scattering in the density of solder balls in the ball tray. It is therefore necessary to pause the running of the solder ball mount apparatus in order to level the density in the ball tray, so that there has been also a problem that the performance is reduced due to the pause of the running.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a unit for supplying solder balls or the like which can supply only a required small amount of solder balls.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a unit for supplying solder balls or the like which can solve a problem when solder balls or the like are supplied into a ball tray even by use of compressed air or the like, solder balls or the like in the ball tray are blown out and one-sided to a place of the ball tray so that there arises scattering in the density of the solder balls or the like. Accordingly, it is possible to keep the solder balls or the like uniform in the ball tray without pausing a solder ball mount apparatus.
In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a unit for supplying solder balls comprising: a primary hopper for storing a number of solder balls; a ball tray for storing the solder balls to be sucked on a mount head; a secondary hopper provided near the ball tray; a ball supply path connecting the primary hopper and the secondary hopper so as to supply the solder balls; and vibration means for vibrating the secondary hopper to thereby supply the solder balls to the ball tray by vibration.
Features and advantages of the invention will be evident from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments described in conjunction with the attached drawings.
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Edmondson L.
Ryan Patrick
Shibuya Kogyo Co. Ltd.
Sughrue Mion Zinn Macpeak & Seas, PLLC
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