JP2000088918A - Ic handler - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an IC handler for setting an indexing time to '0' by conducting conveying, mounting, delivering and the like of other IC during an electric testing time of the one IC in a characteristic inspection. SOLUTION: The IC handler comprises test sockets 14 of two rows and two columns, two contact heads A, B each having an elevator including an IC attraction head at its end, two contact units 12, 13 for accessing from right and left to the sockets 14, and loader/unloader shuttles 10, 11 for conveying and delivering the IC to the units 12, 13 by containing in the two rows and two columns. In this case, while the two ICs attracted by the unit 12 are testing on the socket 14 of the right column, the unit 13 transfers the tested IC from the socket 14 of the left column to the final inspecting pocket of the shuttle 11, and the IC is transferred from an uninspected pocket to the socket 14 of the left column for waiting. This operations are alternately conducted by both the units 12, 13, and hence the testing is continuously executed without spacing the testing time.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an IC handler used for final inspection of electrical characteristics of an IC in an IC manufacturing process.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an IC handler is equipped with one or two test sockets, and an access direction for loading / unloading an IC into / from this socket is one-way. In this type of handler, the cycle time is the sum of the time for testing the electrical characteristics of the IC and the time for preparing the IC for transporting and mounting the IC (referred to as index time). In addition, there is an IC handler of a type that accesses and transfers an IC from both directions, which can reduce the cycle time. However, there has never been an IC handler that sets the index time to 0. At present, the connection between the tester and the IC handler is selected based on the number of pins of the IC to be started and the capacity of the tester (the number of pins). In addition, Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-18911 and the like related to this type of apparatus, and Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-12945 and the like related to the test socket.

[0003]

In recent years, with the rise of high-speed devices (ICs), a system for connecting a tester and a handler on a one-to-one basis has been adopted. Is determined by the sum of the testing time Tt of the tester and the index time Ti of the handler (time for switching the IC to the test socket), that is, Tt + Ti. In particular, in the case of a product having a short test time, the index time Ti of the handler is used.
Is one of the most important factors in determining the throughput, and the customer needs for the handler have recently been particularly short index time Ti. In other words, how to reduce the downtime of testers is an important point.

In the above-mentioned prior art, efforts have been made to reduce the index time of the IC handler by increasing the operation speed of the machine. However, this method has limitations in reducing the index time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to perform a test for checking the electrical characteristics of an IC by energizing the IC without interruption by preparation work such as transportation and mounting of the IC. An object of the present invention is to provide a highly efficient IC handler with zero index time.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a first aspect of the present invention is to move an IC from a tray for supplying untested ICs to a measuring section for testing electrical characteristics,
This is an IC handler for collecting test completion ICs in a collection tray after completion of the test in the measurement section. The measurement section includes a test socket arranged in two rows on the left and right and a lifting mechanism having an IC suction head at a tip end. A first contact device for accessing the left column of the socket, and a second contact device having a lifting mechanism for accessing the right column of the test socket, and furthermore, the IC from the supply tray is connected to the first contact device. IC to be carried in and returned to the collection tray
And a second loader / unloader shuttle for loading and unloading ICs to and from the second contact device in the same manner. The first and second loader / unloader shuttles each have a pocket formed by a recess for accommodating an untested IC and a test completed IC. Then, in the IC handler, in the measuring section, while one of the first and second contact devices, for example, the IC adsorbed by the first contact device is being tested by the test socket in the left row near the device, The contact device No. 2 sucks the test end IC from the test socket in the right row and transfers it to the test end IC pocket of the second loader / unloader shuttle, and sucks the IC from the untested IC pocket and tests the right row test socket. , And control is performed such that the operation for switching to the test in the right column is performed alternately immediately after the test in the left column is completed.

[0007] According to the IC handler configured as described above, during the test in one of the two rows of the test socket,
Take out the test end IC from the other test socket,
In addition, since untested ICs are put in standby, the test can be performed continuously alternately in the left and right rows.

In the IC handler, two test sockets arranged in two rows on the left and right sides are arranged two in each row, and each contact device is provided with two elevating mechanisms corresponding to the test sockets on a one-to-one basis. Good. It is preferable that the two elevating mechanisms operate simultaneously or operate independently of each other. This means that when two test sockets are used for testing in each row, two elevating mechanisms operate simultaneously, and when only one test socket is used for testing in each row, two elevating mechanisms are used. One of them is operated and the other one is stopped.

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention, I
The C handler will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a layout diagram of an IC handler according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing details of a test socket portion of the IC handler.

First, the IC transport path will be described with reference to FIGS. IC is matrix type (for example, 4 columns and 10 rows)
Are supplied to the handler from the supply tray 1 in which the untested ICs are stored in the depressions (called pockets) provided in. IC
Is sucked from the supply tray 1 by the four suction heads 6a provided on the loader robot 6, and is conveyed to the first preheat base 7 or the second preheat base 8, where it is preheated according to the test temperature of the IC. The first or second preheat base is moved from a fixed position shown by a solid line to a destination position shown by a two-dot chain line (a space between the loader robot 6 and an intermediate robot 9 next to the loader robot 6). Suctioned by suction head
It is stored in the untested IC pocket of the loader / unloader shuttle 10 or the second loader / unloader shuttle 11. The first or second loader / unloader shuttle is provided with a group of test sockets 14 from a fixed position.
It is supplied to the measurement unit of the C handler. In this case, each of the loader / unloader shuttles 10 and 11 has a pocket of 2 columns × 4 rows, and an untested IC is provided in four pockets of one row.
And the test end IC is stored in the four pockets in the other rows. The first and second preheat bases 7 and 8 have an appropriate number of pockets in four rows.

In the measuring section, a first contact device 12 and a second contact device 13 are respectively installed on the left and right around a socket board 19 in which four test sockets 14 are arranged in 2 columns × 2 rows. The first contact device is accessed by the first loader / unloader shuttle 10, and the second contact device 13 is accessed by the second loader / unloader shuttle 11. The first contact device 12 sucks the untested IC on the first loader / unloader shuttle 10 and carries it to two test sockets 14 in a row near the first contact device 12 to make contact therewith. After the electrical characteristics of the untested IC are inspected by a tester (not shown), the first contact device 12 ends the test of the first loader / unloader shuttle 10.
It is stored in the C pocket. Similarly, the second contact device 12 contacts the untested IC on the second loader / unloader shuttle 11 to two test sockets near the second contact device 12, and the inspected IC is the second loader / unloader. Shuttle 11 test end IC
Stored in the pocket.

First and second loader / unloader shuttle 1
The test completion ICs 0 and 11 are returned to the home positions, and the test end IC thereon is sucked by the intermediate robot 9 and transferred to the first unloader shuttle 15 or the second unloader shuttle 16 already at the destination position. At this time, the intermediate robot 9
The test completion IC is transferred from the loader / unloader shuttle to the unloader shuttle, and the untested IC from the preheat base is transferred to the loader / unloader shuttle. First and second unloader shuttle 1
The test completion ICs on the unloader shuttles 15 and 16 are sorted and collected into the good product collection tray 3 or the defective product collection tray 4 by the unloader robot 16 according to the individual inspection results. You.

The preheat bases, loader / unloader shuttles, and unloader shuttles that carry the ICs stored in their pockets travel on tracks by motor drive and reciprocate between a fixed position and a destination.

In the measuring section of the IC handler in the transport path, the first contact device 12 includes two contact heads 12-A and 12-B having a lifting mechanism provided with one suction head at the lower end. The second contact device 13 is also provided with two contact heads 13 similarly to the above.
-A and 13-B. First contact device 12
The second contact device 13 includes a mechanism that can be moved laterally so as to be in contact with and separate from the test socket 14 located between them. As a result, a series of operations in the measuring section, such as IC supply to the test socket 14, contact (selection of non-defective / defective products by the tester), and collection are performed independently of each other by the two contact devices accessed in two directions. It becomes possible.

For example, the first contact device 1 shown in FIG.
Two contact heads 12-A, 12- provided on two sides
While B is in contact (during selection of non-defective / defective products by the tester), the two contact heads 13-A and 13-B on the opposite second contact device 13 side load the untested IC to be inspected next. The pickup is picked up from the unloader shuttle 11, and the two test sockets 14 vacant on the side of the second contact device 13 are contacted (mechanical contact only, not connected online to the tester). You have to wait. By realizing this standby state, when the test on the first contact device 12 side is completed, the test can be started by automatically making the connection circuit with the tester online to the second contact device 13 side. Thus, the time required for all mechanical operations for replacing ICs, that is, 0 seconds of the index time Ti, is realized as in the related art. As a matter of course, the first contact device contacts the test socket and waits while the second contact device makes online contact. By repeating this series of continuous operations, the IC according to the present invention is obtained.
The sorting time of the handler is theoretically the shortest. In other words, the IC handler is determined only by the tester's testing time, and is an IC handler that maximizes the tester's operating ratio (the ratio of the tester's operating time when the IC selection time is a parameter). means.

Here, loader / unloader shuttles 10 and 11 each having pockets of 2 columns × 4 rows, and 2 columns × 4 rows
I between test sockets 14 arranged in two rows
Watch C move. Contact head 12-of the first contact device 12
While the two ICs sucked by A and 12-B are being tested on the test socket 14, the contact heads 13-A and 13-B of the second contact device 13 operate simultaneously, and the loader Picking up ICs from two of the four untested IC pockets of the unloader shuttle 11 by suction, inserting the ICs into the two test sockets 14 near the second contact device 13, and waiting.

At the end of the test on the first contact device 12, the connection of the tester is switched to the two test sockets 14 near the second contact device 13, and the contact heads 12-A and 12-B of the second contact device 13 are connected. Is tested on the test socket 14.

During the test on the side of the second contact device 13, the contact head 12- of the first contact device 12
A, 12-B operate simultaneously, and the second contact device 1
The ICs are transferred from the two sockets 14 closer to the third side to two of the four test end IC pockets in the loader / unloader shuttle 10, and the four untested IC pockets of the loader / unloader shuttle 10 are moved. The ICs are picked up from the remaining two IC chips by suction and inserted into the two test sockets 14 near the first contact device 12.
stand by.

At the end of the test on the second contact device 12, the connection of the tester is switched to two test sockets 14 near the first contact device 12. Then, the same operation as in the second contact device 12 is performed.

As described above, each of the loader / unloader shuttles 10 and 11 puts the ICs in the four untested IC pockets and carries them into the measuring section, and puts the ICs in the four test-ending IC pockets and sends the ICs from the measuring section. Will be taken out.

The IC handler described above has two rows of test sockets arranged in two rows. Depending on the capability of the tester, one or three or more test sockets are provided in each row.
Correspondingly, a contact device equipped with one or an appropriate number of contact heads can be used.

FIG. 3 shows a testing system in which one tester 21 and one IC handler 22 are connected to each other.
This is a typical connection form described above as an embodiment of the IC handler according to the present invention. Here, tester head 2
Reference numeral 3 denotes a part of the tester 22, which is a connection portion between the IC handler 22 and the test socket 14. 3 shows the layout shown in FIG. In this testing system, the operation time of the machine constituting the index time of the IC handler is 0 seconds (the fastest index time of the existing IC handler is 0.3 s), thereby increasing the operation ratio of the tester and maximizing the throughput. Can be done. Note that quantitatively, the throughput is improved by about 23% when the testing time is 1 second and about 13% when the testing time is 2 seconds.

FIG. 4 shows the most common testing system at present, in which two tester heads 23 are connected to one tester 21 by a connection cable 24, and an IC handler 22 corresponding to each tester head 23 is connected. Two testers are provided, and the tester and the IC handler are connected by an interface cable 25. In this testing system, two pairs of tester heads and an IC handler are connected to one tester. Therefore, by switching the tester head 23, the processing amount of the IC is reduced by two while the operation rate of the tester is maintained at the maximum. Can be doubled. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, two contact devices 1 are arranged in a test socket 14 arranged in a 2 × 2 arrangement.
2 and 13 are simultaneously contacted from both directions, and one I
This can be achieved by performing four simultaneous processes in the C handler, and simultaneously performing four simultaneous processes in the other IC handler, and thus operating both handlers alternately and continuously.

In the example described above, two contact heads from one side, that is, a total of four contact heads from both directions are accessed and used for the socket board 19. Due to the capacity of the tester, when the test sockets 18 arranged in 2 columns × 1 row as shown in FIG. 5 are used, the A side (of the two contact heads of the contact devices 12 and 13 on both sides, respectively) is used. 12-A, 13-A) or B side (12-A
B, 13-B). At this time, in the IC handler according to the present invention, only the contact head on the selected side is operated at this time, and the contact head on the unused side is moved so as to avoid the up and down movable mechanism in the upward direction, so that the operation is not performed as it is. hand,
Consideration is given to preventing interference with other components such as test sockets.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 5, in the lateral movement mechanism of the contact device with respect to the test socket, the two contact devices carry the IC from the opposite direction to the test socket and carry out the IC in the return direction. So-called 1
Although it is assumed that access is made from a direction different by 80 °,
Alternatively, even if the lateral movement mechanisms of the contact devices are arranged in parallel and accessed from the same direction, any operation can be performed independently of each other.

FIG. 6 shows a conventional IC handler and an IC of the present invention.
This is a comparison of the index time charts of the respective handlers. A conventional IC handler has one or two test sockets in a row and a contact device for accessing the test sockets from one side, while the IC handler of the present invention has a structure shown in FIG. , 2
As shown in (1), there are two rows of test sockets, contact devices for accessing the test sockets from both sides are provided, and the operation sequence is as described in (1) to (4). In the conventional device, the non-operation time of the tester is generated for each index operation, whereas the IC of the present invention is used.
In the handler, the tester will cross over the two test sockets contacted by the first contact device and the other two test sockets contacted by the second contact device, indicating that the contact waiting time has disappeared. . In addition, the shortening time ΔT per one index is
ΔT = T1-T2.

[0027]

According to the present invention, the IC handler is provided with two rows of test sockets. While one row of the ICs is being tested, the other row takes out the test-completed ICs, mounts the untested ICs, and waits. , I switched to the other test immediately after the end of one test, and configured it to alternate.
There is an effect that the test can be performed continuously with the apparent index time set to 0.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a layout diagram of an IC handler according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a test socket in an IC handler according to an embodiment and devices around the test socket;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a test system including a combination of one tester and one IC handler.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a test system including a combination of one tester and two IC handlers.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of test sockets arranged in 2 rows × 1;

FIG. 6 is a time chart of an index operation in which the IC handler of the present invention is compared with a conventional one.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Supply tray 2 Empty tray 3 Good product collection tray 4 Defective product collection tray 5 Tray transfer unit 6 Loader robot 6a Suction head 7, 8 Preheat base 9 Intermediate robot 9a Suction head 10 First loader / unloader shuttle 11 Second loader / unloader Shuttle 12 First contact device 12-A, 12-B Contact head 13 Second contact device 13-A, 13-B Side contact head 14 Test socket 15, 16 Unloader shuttle 17 Unloader robot 19 Socket board 21 Tester 22 IC handler 23 Tester head 24 Connection cable 25 Interface cable

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Kazushi Yabe 390 Muramatsu, Shimizu-shi, Shizuoka Prefecture Within Hitachi Shimizu Engineering Co., Ltd. (72) Yoshinori Kurita 390 Muramatsu, Shimizu-shi, Shizuoka Prefecture Hitachi Shimizu Engineering Co., Ltd. Company F-term (reference) 2G003 AA07 AG01 AG11 AH04 3C030 AA08 AA11 BC02 BC08 BC14 BC31 BC34

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An IC handler for transferring an IC from a supply tray of an untested IC to a measuring unit for testing electrical characteristics and collecting the IC in a collecting tray for a test-completed IC after the test in the measuring unit. The part is a test socket arranged in two rows on the left and right,
It comprises first and second contact devices each having an elevating mechanism having an IC suction head at the tip thereof and accessing the left and right rows of the test socket. Further, the IC from the supply tray is connected to the first and second contacts. Carry in the device,
And first and second loader / unloader shuttles for unloading ICs to be returned to the collection tray, wherein each loader / unloader shuttle has a pocket formed by a recess for storing an untested IC and a test completed IC. In the measuring section, while the IC sucked by one of the first and second contact devices is being tested by the test socket on the device side, the other contact device sucks the test end IC from the test socket on the device side. Then, the operation is transferred to the test end IC pocket of the loader / unloader shuttle of the device side, and the IC is sucked from the untested IC pocket and attached to the test socket, and immediately after the end of one test, the operation for switching to the other test is alternately performed. An IC handler, characterized in that the IC handler is controlled to perform the following. 2. The test sockets arranged in two rows on the left and right are two in each row, and each contact device is provided with two elevating mechanisms corresponding to the test sockets one to one, and the two elevating mechanisms are provided. The IC handler according to claim 1, wherein the IC handlers operate simultaneously or independently of each other.