MXPA00009782A - Micro device production manufacturing system - Google Patents

Abstract

A circuit board manufacturing system is provided which includes a circuit board assembly line (30) with a feeder/programming/buffer system (50). The feeder/programming/buffer system (50) has a flexible feeder mechanism (55) for receiving unprogrammed devices in a number of different manners, a programming mechanism (70) for performing a programming operation on the unprogrammed devices at a high rate of speed, and an output buffer mechanism (75) for providing the programmed devices to the circuit board assembly line (30).

Description

MANUFACTURING SYSTEM WITH FEEDER / PROGRAMMER / SHOCK ABSORBER SYSTEM CROSS REFERENCE TO THE RELATED IS (S) APPLICATION) The present application contains subject matter related to a patent application of E.U.A. co-pending by Bradley M. Johnson, Bryan D. Powell, Janine Whan-Tong, Carl W. Olson, Simon B. Johnson, and Lev M. Bolotin entitled "FEEDER / PROGRAMMING / BUFFER OPERATING SYSTEM". The related application is assigned to Data l / O Corporation and is identified by case number 1015-002 and the patent application of E.U.A. serial number 09 / 419,172. The present application also contains subject matter related to a patent application of E.U.A. Copendent by Simon B. Johnson, George L. Anderson, Bradley M. Johnson, Carl W. Olson, Vincent Warhol, Mark S. Knowles, Lev M. Bolotin entitled "FEEDER / PROGRAMMING / BUFFER CONTROL SYSTEM AND CONTROL METHOD". The related request is assigned to Data l / O Corporation and is identified by case number 1015-004 and the patent application of E.U.A. serial number 09 / 418,901. The application herein also contains subject matter related to a patent application of E.U.A. Co-pending by Lev M. Bolotin entitled "MANUFACTURING AND CARRIER SYSTEM WITH FEEDER / PROGRAMMING / BUFFER SYSTEM". The related request is assigned to Data l / O Corporation and is identified by case number 1015-005 and the patent application of E.U.A. serial number 09 / 419,162.

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates generally to a manufacturing system for electronic products, and more particularly to the production of electronic circuit boards incorporating programmable integrated circuits.

TECHNICAL BACKGROUND In the past, certain electronic circuit card assembly operations were performed away from the main production assembly lines. Although several feeding machines and robotic handling systems were placed on electronic circuit boards with integrated circuits, operations related to integrated processing circuits, such as programming, examination, calibration, and measurement were performed in separate areas in separate equipment. instead of being integrated into the main production assembly lines.

For example, in the programming of programmable devices such as electrically erasable programmable read-only memories (EEPROM) and snapshot EEPROM, separate programming equipment was used which was often located in a separate area from the card assembly lines. circuit. There were a number of reasons why programming was done offline. First, the programming team was relatively large and heavy. This was due to the need to insert and remove exactly programmable devices at high speeds inside and outside the programming socket in the programmer. Since the insertion and removal required relatively large routes at high speeds and very precise placements, very rigid robotic handling equipment was required. This stiffness requirement meant that several components had to be relatively solid with strong structural support elements to maintain structural integrity and precision positioning of the picking and positioning system moving at high speeds. Due to the size of the programming team and the limited space for the larger assembly team, they were located in different areas. Second, an individual high speed production assembly system could use programmed devices faster than they could be programmed into an individual programming mechanism. This required a number of programming systems that were generally operated for long periods of time to have a pool of programmed devices for the production assembly systems. This meant that the operating times and input requirements were different between the two systems. In third place, it had not been possible to build an individual system that could be easily integrated with the mechanical and electronic portions of the production assembly systems. These systems are complex and generally require too much time for technical services to make changes to incorporate additional equipment. A major problem related to programming the programmable devices in a separate area and then bringing the programmed devices to the production assembly area to be inserted into the electronic circuit boards was that it was difficult to have two separate procedures taking place in different areas and coordinate them between two separate systems. Frequently, the production assembly line was pushed out of the programmable devices and the total production assembly line must be closed. In other times, the programming equipment was used to program sufficient stocks of programmed devices to ensure that the production assembly line would not close; however, this increased inventory costs. Additional problems were created when the programming had to be changed and there were large stocks of integrated circuits programmed at hand. In this situation, the stock of programmable devices had to be reprogrammed with loss of time and money. Although it was clear that a better system was desirable, there seemed to be no way to truly improve the situation. There were a number of seemingly insurmountable problems impeded the improvements. First, the operating speeds of the current production assembly lines greatly exceeded the programming speed capacity of the conventional programmers that the programmer should have to understand a performance much greater than what was thought with conventional systems. Second, not only did most programmers have to be faster than existing programmers, they also had to be smaller. The ideal system would be integrated into a production assembly line, but would do so without disrupting an existing production assembly line or without requiring the extension of a new production line over that of the length without the ideal system. In addition, most of these production assembly lines had already been filled with, or designed to be filled with, various types of feed and handling modules that provide a limited space for any additional equipment. Third, any programmer integrated with the production assembly line would also apparently have to interconnect with the control software and electronic devices of the production system software for communication and organization purposes. This was a problem since the software of the production assembly line system was not only complex, but also confidential and / or owned by the manufacturers of such systems. This meant that integration had to be done with the help of manufacturers, who were reluctant to endeavor to apply technical services, in anything that was not the improvement of their own systems, or that should be done with a large amount of technical service invested. to understand the software of the manufacturers before working on the programmer control software. Fourth, the mechanical interface between a programmer and the production team needed to be more accurate to place programmed devices related to the collection and placement equipment of the production assembly system. Fifth, there is a large number of different manufacturers of production management equipment as well as production manufacturing equipment. This means that a large number of different production assembly line configurations must be studied and that they require major design commitments for various manufacturers. Sixth, the ideal system would allow a rapid change between different microdevices that have different configurations and sizes. Seventh, the ideal system needed to be able to accommodate a number of different micro-device feeding mechanisms including tapes, tubes, and tray feeders.

Finally, there was a need to be able to quickly reject microdevices that will fail during programming. All the previous problems seemed to give an impossible solution impossible. This was especially true when trying to invent a complete system that was portable, that could work by connecting only external power and air power, that would provide programming and automated management, and be able to present programmable devices programmed to an assembly line. of automated production.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a microdevice product manufacturing system that includes a production assembly line with a feeder / processor / buffer system. The feeder / programmer / damper system has a flexible feeding mechanism to receive microdevice in different ways, a processing mechanism to perform a processing operation on the microdevices at a high speed, and an output dampening mechanism to supply the processed microdevices to the production assembly line on a continuous basis. The system substantially solves all the problems previously faced by these systems.

The present invention further provides a feeder / programmer / damper system having a flexible feeding mechanism for receiving a plurality of microdevices, a processing mechanism for performing a processing operation on the microdevices, and an output buffering mechanism for providing the microdevices processed to a production assembly line. The system substantially solves all the problems previously faced by these systems. The present invention further provides a feeder / programmer / damper system in which an input feeder mechanism for receiving microdevices, a processing mechanism for performing a processing operation on the microdevices and an output buffer mechanism for supplying the processed microdevices to a Production assembly line, use linear operations to simplify the design. The system substantially solves all the problems previously faced by these systems. The present invention further provides a feeder / programmer / damper system in which a reduced number of components comprising an input feeder mechanism for receiving microdevices, a processing mechanism for performing a processing operation on the microdevices, and a buffer mechanism for Output to provide the processed microdevices to a production assembly line are aligned with each other and have mainly a degree of freedom to increase speed and productivity. The system substantially solves all the problems previously faced by these systems. The present invention further provides a feeder / programmer / damper system in which an input feeder mechanism for receiving microdevices, a processing mechanism for performing a processing operation on the microdevices, and an output buffer mechanism for supplying the processed microdevices to A production assembly line, use linear operations to simplify the design. The system substantially solves all the problems previously faced by these systems. The present invention further provides a circuit card manufacturing system that includes a circuit card assembly line with a feeder / processing / buffer system. The feeder / programmer / damper system has a flexible feeding mechanism for receiving unscheduled devices in different forms, a programming mechanism for performing a programming operation on the non-programmed devices at a high speed, and an output dampening mechanism for supplying the devices programmed to the circuit board assembly line on a continuous basis. The system substantially solves all the problems previously faced by these systems.

The present invention further provides a feeder / programmer / damper system having a flexible feeding mechanism for receiving a plurality of non-programmed devices, a programming mechanism for performing a programming operation on the non-programmed device, and an output dampening mechanism. to provide the programmed devices to a circuit card assembly line. The system substantially solves all the problems previously faced by these systems. The present invention further provides a feeder / programmer / damper system in which an input feeder mechanism for receiving non-programmed devices, a programming mechanism for performing a programming operation on the unscheduled integrated circuits, and an output dampening mechanism for To provide the programmed devices to a circuit board assembly line, use linear operations to minimize the size of the system. The system substantially solves all the problems previously faced by these systems. The present invention further provides a feeder / programmer / damper system in which an input feeder mechanism for receiving non-programmed devices, a programming mechanism for performing a programming operation on the non-programmed devices, and an output buffer mechanism for providing The devices programmed to a circuit board assembly line, use rotary operations to minimize the vibration of the machine. The system substantially solves all the problems previously faced by these systems. The above and additional advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from reading the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 (prior art) is an example of a prior art programming system; Figure 2 (prior art) is an example of an electronic circuit board manufacturing line of the prior art that is part of the present invention; Figure 3 is a side view of the feeder / programmer / damper system of the present invention; Figure 4 is a top view of Figure 3 taken along line 4-4; and Figure 5 is a side view of an alternative embodiment of the present invention.

BEST METHODS TO CARRY OUT THE INVENTION Referring now to Figure 1 (prior art), a conventional processing system is shown, such as a programming system 10 for programmable electronic devices. The programming system 10 is used as an example. The programming system 10 is extremely large and has a rigid structure 12 to which an input feeder 14 is fixed. The input feeder 14 can be a tray, tray stacker, tube, tube stacker, or tape and spool, which supply non-programmed devices to the programming system 10. A robotic handling system 18, which is capable of moving in a coordinate system XYZ and? (where X and Y are horizontal movements, Z being vertical, and? being angular), it contains a collection and placement head (PNP) 20 to collect the unscheduled devices and move them in a programming area 22 and insert them into the programming sockets (not shown) in the programming system 10. When the programming is completed, the robotic handling system 18 will move the PNP 20 head in its place to remove the parts of the programming socket and place them in an output mechanism 24. If the programmable devices could not be programmed, the robotic handling system 18 and the PNP head 20 will deposit the defective device in an exit tray 26.

The programming system 10 will continue to operate automatically until all the good devices in the input mechanism 14 are programmed and transferred to the output mechanism 24. With reference now to figure 2 (prior art), a production assembly system 30 is shown which includes an assembly line 31. The production assembly system 30 includes a feed table 32 where several input feeders are fixed, such as, input feeders 34. In where the programmed devices are involved, the output mechanism 24 of Figure 1 (prior art) will be used as the input feeder 34. In Figure 2 (prior art), two feeders 34 and 36 are shown installed, where each of the input feeders 34 and 36 could contain different types of programmable devices. The input feeders 34 and 36 can be trays, tray stackers, tubes, tube stackers, or tapes and reels. The production assembly system 30 has a support structure 37 having a robotic handling system 40, which is layers containing a PNP head 42 along a coordinate system X-Y-Z-? for taking the devices from the input feeders 34 and 36 and placing them on printed circuit boards 38 as they move along a conveyor belt 48 which is mounted on the structure of the assembly line 46. The input feeders 34 and 36 are located off-site from the direction of movement of the conveyor belt 48. Referring now to FIG. 3, a mode of a portion of the present invention, a feeder / programmer / damper system 50, is shown. a linear operating system, in line and which is adjusted in the same place in the production assembly system 30 as one of the input feeders 34 or 36. The ability to adjust the input feeder / programmer / damper system 50 in approximately the same space and location as a feeder provides a new production assembly system that is layers of a high speed sustainable assembly and processing operation. simplified Different input mechanisms can be used to power the input feeder / programmer / damper system 50 which includes a tube, tube stacker, tray, tray stacker, or tape or reel as used in the prior art systems. Due to the in-line configuration, the feeder / programmer / damper system 50 is able to flexibly accommodate different feeding options with minimal changes. In the best mode, the feeder / programmer / damper system 50 has an input mechanism that is a tape or reel feeder. The reel may be placed in different positions such as below the feeder / programmer / damper system 50 as indicated by an inlet spool 52, opposite as indicated by an inlet spool 54, or completely separated from the feeder / programmer / system. 50 shock absorber (not shown). Where the input spool 52 or 54 is part of the feeder / programmer / buffer system 50, it is supported by a structure 56 to allow rotation of the input reels 52 or 54 in a clockwise direction as shown in FIG. shown in Figure 3 by a pulse mechanism (not shown) that can be a motor or a band of another motor as will be described later. By using the input spool 54 as an example of an input feeder mechanism 55, the unscheduled devices are inserted between a conveyor belt 58 and a cover tape 60. The conveyor belt 58 has a plurality of small cavities to maintain non-programmed devices. programmed, or devices programmed incorrectly if reprogramming is needed. In the first step, the cover tape 60 will be peeled off and fed to a cover tape mechanism 62, which handles the arrangement of the cover tape 60 by wrapping it on a reel or compressing it for subsequent removal and disposal. The cover tape mechanism 62 applies tension to the cover tape 60 to ensure that it comes off the conveyor belt 58. In detachment of the cover tape 60 exposes the non-programmed devices on the carrier tape 58. A mechanism with tape or catalogador 64, which is part of the input feeder mechanism 55, includes a motor driven gear (not shown), which may include the band described above for rotating the input spool 52 or 54, to help push the conveyor belt 58 outside the input spool 52 or 54 and bring the unscheduled devices to a handling mechanism 65 that includes a PNP head 66 in a robotic handling system 69. In order to have an elegantly simple system, the feeder / programmer / buffer system 50 is a linear operating system, and the robotic handling system 69 only needs to provide an X-axis movement back and forth along the in-line length. The PNP head 66 contains one or more individual picking mechanisms or probes 67 that provide a vertical movement of the Z axis to pick up the programmable devices. This linear online approach greatly simplifies the overall operation of the feeder / programmer / damper system 50 and reduces the overall size so that the feeder / programmer / damper system 50 can adjust the desired minimum space profile. To optimize performance, the PNP head 66 has a plurality of probes 67 for collecting a plurality of non-programmed devices in a sequential manner. The number of unscheduled devices collected at one time will be a function of the speed of the feeder / programmer / damper system 50. The more unscheduled devices programmed in an individual operation, the greater the performance, but the larger the feeder / programmer / buffer system 50. Multiple non-programmed devices can be collected simultaneously if the center-to-center space of the microdevices as input does not change, but in the preferred embodiment, four non-programmed devices are collected sequentially. The PNP head 66 can also incorporate a marking device 68, such as a stamping or ink pen, to mark the devices to indicate the production or feed / programming / damping batches used. As will be evident, the placement of the marking device is a design issue. Referring briefly to Figure 4, a top view of Figure 3 is shown along line 4-4. The same elements as in figure 3 are designed by the same nomenclature and numbers as in figure 3. A programming mechanism 70 is of particular interest in figure 4 which shows four locations of the programmer socket 70A to 70D and the area of pickup 80 at the farthest end of the conveyor belt of the feeder 74. Referring now to Figure 3, a side view of the programming mechanism 70 is shown. After a plurality of unscheduled devices are collected, they are moved by the robotic handling system 69 on the programming mechanism 70 having a plurality of sockets 70A to 70D in which unscheduled devices are sequentially placed by inserting or dropping the probes 67 of the PNP 66 head. Again, if the space center to center of the microdevices does not change, a simultaneous placement could be made. The non-programmed devices are subsequently programmed by means of the programming mechanism 70. Simultaneous programming can be carried out by connecting the plurality of sockets in parallel. Sequential programming can be performed by connecting the plurality of sockets separately or on a data conveyor belt. This multiplies the performance of the present invention by a factor equal to the plurality of programmable devices that are programmed into the programmed mechanisms of the prior art. An additional feature in the programming mechanism 70 is the ability to identify when a device can not be programmed because it has erroneous processing or is "poor". After programming, the programmed devices can be extracted from the sockets by different methods, but in the best mode, the PNP head 66 of the handling system 66 will perform a sequential collection. Again, if the center-to-center space of the microdevice does not change, a simultaneous extraction can be performed. The PNP head 66 moves the deficient programmable devices and deposits them in an output tray 72 and deposits the good programmed devices in an output damper mechanism 75 which includes a buffer conveyor 76 which is located on the reels 77 and 78. The band shock absorbing conveyor 76 is equipped with features to keep the programmable devices in place such as slots, cavities, or other supports, represented by the cavities 79 (only 1 is shown). The buffer conveyor 76 moves the programmable devices to the collection area 80 from where the robotic handling system that is part of the production assembly system 30, indicated by the imaginary line in Figure 3 and shown in Figure 2 ( prior art), will pick them up by placing printed circuit boards. The cushion conveyor 76 may go faster or slower to accommodate the speed at which the programmed devices are required by the production assembly system and thus provide a reserve, or buffer, or programmed devices. The output damper mechanism 75 can operate at different speeds from the system remnant because it does not effectively couple from the rest of the system and can provide programmed devices on demand. This creates a new and novel combination of a programmed product manufacturing system that includes the feeder / programmer / damper system 50 and the production assembly system 30. It should be noted that programming can be performed in a manner that the robotic handling system 69 and the PNP 66 head are in continuous operation picking up and placing devices while other unscheduled devices are programmed by the programming mechanism 70. In the best mode, the PNP head 66 traverses the collection area of the mechanism with tape 64, picks up four sequential programmable devices, places them sequentially in the sockets 70A to 70D in the programming mechanism 70, and waits until programming is performed. Subsequently, it picks up the programmable devices of the sockets 70A to 70D and places the deficient parts in the outlet tray 72 and the good parts in the buffering conveyor 76 that moves enough to allow the sequential placement of the programmed devices. The PNP 66 head is then traversed back to the mechanism with tape 64 to collect four new programmable devices. The conveyor belt 58 is discarded through the feeder / programmer / damper 50 system. It is to be understood that the conveyor belt 58 moves at different speeds from the damper conveyor 76 as the two parts are not engaged. The reason for this, in addition to the damping function, is that there are programmable periodic rejection devices, which means that the input power must be faster than the output power. Referring now to Figure 5, there is shown an alternative embodiment of a portion of the present invention, a feeder / programmer / damper system 100 which is an in-line rotary operating system and which adjusts in the same place in the system of production assembly 30 of Figure 2 as one of the input feeders 34 or 36. The ability to adjust the feeder / programmer / damper system 100 in the same place and location as a feeder provides a new production assembly system that It is capable of a simplified sustained high-speed assembly and processing operation. As with the feeder / programmer / damper system 50, different input mechanisms can be used to feed the feeder / programmer / damper system 100 which includes a tube, pipe stacker, tray, tray stacker, or a tape and reel. Due to the on-line configuration, the feeder / programmer / damper system 100 is able to flexibly accommodate different feeding options with minimal changes. In the best mode, the feeder / programmer / buffer system 100 has an input feeder mechanism which is a tape feeder. The feeder / programmer / damper system 100 shows two positions for the input spools 102 and 104 in FIG. 5. When using the input spool 104 as an example of an input feeder mechanism 105, a conveyor belt 108 containing the devices unscheduled has a cover tape 110 that is peeled off and stored for disposition in a cover tape mechanism 112. The unscheduled devices are moved by the conveyor belt 108 in a tape mechanism 114 that is part of a tape feeder mechanism. inlet 105 when a pickup and placement rotor (PNP) 116 picks up the individual programmable devices using pick and place (PNP) heads 116A to 116F. It will be understood that the number of PNP headers is primarily a design issue for the feeder / programmer / damper system 100. The PNP rotor 116 can also be designed to make X and / or Z routes to improve collection and placement. The collection rotor 116 rotates in an anti-clockwise direction to move the non-programmed devices to a position where the PNP heads 116A to 116F can place the non-programmed devices in a programmable rotor 118 having a plurality of programmer heads 118A to 118F which correspond to the PNP heads of the collection rotor 116A to 116F, although this again is a matter of design and the number of programmer heads and collection rotor heads may be different. The rotor of the programmer 118 rotates in one direction relative to the clock hands and programs the devices as it rotates. When the programming is complete, the programmed devices are removed by a 120 position rotor having PNP 120A to 120F heads that correspond to the PNP heads of the rotor of the programmer 118A to 118F, again the number of heads is merely a matter of design . The rotor of the programmer 118 can also be designed to make X and / or Z routes to improve collection and placement.

The position rotor 120 collects the programmable devices from the rotor heads of the programmer 118A to 118F and, although it rotates in a counterclockwise direction, deposits the good programmed devices in an output damper mechanism 121. It will be understood that the position rotor 120 can be designed to make X and / or Z routes to improve collection and that it can act as an exit damper 121 by picking up programmed devices and moving them back and forth in the X direction between the rotor programmer 118 and the collection point of the handling system. In this way, the collection rotor 116 and the position rotor 120 can be considered part of a handling mechanism 119 for the feeder / programmer / damper system 100. The harvesting rotor 116, the rotor of the programmer 118, and the position rotor 120 can also be considered part of a programming mechanism 115 or a combined programming system and output buffer system. In the best mode, however, the position rotor 120 appropriately places the programmed devices in the output damper mechanism 121 in the correct orientation for the robotic handling system 40 which is part of the production assembly system 30 to pick it up for placement of printed circuit boards 38 of Figure 2 (prior art). The position rotor 120 places the programmed devices on a lateral output buffer 122 which are located on the reels 124 and 126 on vertical axes in the output dampening mechanism 121. The output damper conveyor 122 may have slots, cavities, or cavities. other supports on its edge that are exemplified by the vacuum supports 123 (only one shown) that use a slight vacuum to keep the programmed devices in place until they are picked up by the robotic handling system 40 at the collection point. From the foregoing, it is to be understood that the present invention applies to what can be described as "microdevices". The microdevices include a wide scale of electronic and mechanical devices. The best mode describes the processing that is programming for programmable devices, which includes but is not limited to devices such as flash memories, programmable and erasable read-only memories (E2PROM), programmable logic devices (PLD), fix of programmable doors per field (FPGA), and microcontrollers. However, the present invention comprises processing for all electronic, mechanical, hybrid and other devices that require testing, measurement of device characteristics, calibration, and other processing operations. For example, these types of microdevices may include but are not limited to devices such as microprocessors, integrated circuits (ICs), specific application integrated circuits (ASICs), micromechanical machines, microelectromechanical devices (MEM), micromodules, and logic logic systems. fluid.

Although the invention has been described in conjunction with a better specific mode, it is to be understood that many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art in view of the foregoing description. Likewise, it is intended to cover all the alternatives, modifications, and variations that are within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. All points set forth herein or shown in the accompanying drawings are construed as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Claims (10)

NOVELTY OF THE INVENTION CLAIMS

1. A microdevice product manufacturing system comprising: a production assembly line [30] capable of providing a product ready for the incorporation of a processed microdevice; an input feeder mechanism [55] capable of providing an unprocessed microdevice: a processing mechanism [70] capable of receiving the unprocessed microdevice of the input feeder mechanism [55] and processing the microdevice to produce a processed microdevice; an output damper mechanism [75] capable of receiving the processed microdevice from the processing mechanism [70] and providing the processed microdevice as required to the production assembly line [70]; and a handling system [18] capable of taking the processed microdevice from the output buffer mechanism [75] and incorporating the processed microdevice into the product.

2. The microdevice product manufacturing system according to claim 1, further characterized in that: the production assembly line [30] moves in a first direction; and the input feeder, processing and output buffer mechanisms [55, 70, 75] are in line and the input feeder, the processing feeder, and the output buffer mechanisms [55,70,75] are in Right angles to the first direction.

3. The microdevice product manufacturing system according to claim characterized further in that: the input feeder mechanism [55] is capable of providing an unprocessed microdevice in a feeder selected from a group consisting of a tray, stacker of trays, tube, tube stacker, and tape and reel.

4. The microdevice product manufacturing system according to claim 1, further characterized in that: the processing mechanism [70] processes the microdevice with a method selected from a group consisting of programming, calibration, testing, and measurement.

5. The microdevice product manufacturing system according to claim 1, further characterized in that: the processing mechanism [70] simultaneously processes a plurality of microdevices. The microdevice product manufacturing system according to claim 1, further characterized in that the processing mechanism [70] includes a mechanism for detecting and rejecting deficient microdevices after processing. The microdevice product manufacturing system according to claim 1, further characterized in that it includes: a handling mechanism [65] for moving microdevices between the input feeder, processing mechanism, and the output buffer mechanism [55]. , 70, 75] in a linear direction. 8. The microdevice product manufacturing system according to claim 1, further characterized in that: the input feeder, processing mechanism, and output dampening mechanism [55, 70, 75] are in line; and include a handling mechanism [65] for moving microdevices between the input feeder, processing mechanism, and the in-line output buffer mechanism using rotary movements. 9. The microdevice product manufacturing system according to claim 1, further characterized in that: the output dampening mechanism [75] is capable of operating substantially independently from the input feeder mechanism [55] and the feed mechanism. processing [70]. 10. The microdevice product manufacturing system according to claim 1, further characterized in that: the input feeder, processing mechanism, and output dampening mechanism [55, 70, 75] are in line.