HK1095210B - Transfer mechanism and transfer method of semiconductor package - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed are a semiconductor package transfer mechanism and a semiconductor package transfer method. The semiconductor package transfer mechanism includes a plurality of pickup units, which are movable along a shaft extending in one direction and operated individually from each other, and a vision inspection apparatus installed across a moving route of the pickup unit in order to inspect defects of the semiconductor packages transferred thereto by means of the pickup units. The pickup units pick up a predetermined amount of semiconductor packages adapted for one-time photographing capacity of the vision inspection apparatus and instantly transfer the semiconductor packages to the vision inspection apparatus. Time delay and waiting time for the semiconductor packages are significantly reduced during the process of the handler system, thereby significantly improving the transfer efficiency and vision inspection efficiency

Description

Transfer mechanism and transfer method of semiconductor package

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a transfer mechanism and a transfer method of semiconductor packages, and more particularly, to a transfer mechanism and a transfer method of semiconductor packages which pick up a predetermined number of semiconductor packages adapted to one-shot capacity of a video inspection apparatus by a pickup unit and immediately transfer the semiconductor packages to the video inspection apparatus.

Background

Generally, in order to fabricate a semiconductor package, a semiconductor chip having a high integration such as a transistor and a capacitor is attached to a semiconductor substrate made of silicon, and the upper surface of the semiconductor substrate is molded with resin. After the molding process, a Ball Grid Array (BGA), which is a lead frame, is attached to the lower surface of the semiconductor substrate, so that the BGA is electrically connected with the semiconductor chip. Thereafter, the sawing process of the semiconductor substrate is completed by a sawing machine, thereby obtaining individual semiconductor packages. The above process is generally referred to as a "separation process". After the separation process is finished, a washing process and a drying process of the semiconductor package are performed to remove impurities on the surface of the semiconductor package. Thereafter, an inspection process for each semiconductor package is performed to inspect the semiconductor package for defects.

That is, after the sawing, washing and drying processes are completed, the semiconductor packages are transferred to the video inspection apparatus by the semiconductor package transfer unit.

A conventional semiconductor package transfer mechanism is disclosed in korean patent laid-open publication No. 2002-0049954. Filed by the applicant of the present invention under the name "processing system for sawing semiconductor devices".

Fig. 1 shows a conventional semiconductor package transfer mechanism.

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a conventional semiconductor package transfer mechanism. In fig. 1, reference numerals S, W and D denote a sawing machine, a washing machine, and a drying machine, respectively. In addition, reference symbol T denotes a tray, which is mounted on the tray feeder so that the tray can move along the rails when supplying the semiconductor packages. Reference symbol M denotes a pallet placing machine for placing the pallet T thereon. The above korean patent laid-open publication discloses the structural details of the processing system including the above elements, publication No. 2002-0049954, so that the following description will be focused on the semiconductor package transfer mechanism.

As shown in fig. 1, after the semiconductor packages are sawed, washed and dried by the sawing machine S, the washing machine W and the drying machine D, the semiconductor packages are picked up by the package pickup unit 10 and loaded on the turntable 25 of the package transfer unit 20. The semiconductor packages loaded on the turntable 25 of the package transfer unit 20 are transferred to a pickup unit including a pair of pickup tools 30 arranged face to face for transferring the semiconductor packages to a video inspection area. When the semiconductor packages are transferred to the vision inspection area by the pick-up tool 30, the semiconductor packages are inspected by the fixed vision inspection apparatus 40. The inspected semiconductor packages are loaded on the tray T according to the result of the video inspection of the semiconductor packages. Then, the tray T is fed into the tray placing machine M by the tray feeder to be placed on the tray placing machine M by the pickup tool.

However, according to the conventional semiconductor package transfer mechanism having the above-described structure, the number of semiconductor packages transferred to the stationary vision inspection apparatus 40 by the pickup tool 30 may be greater than the predetermined number of semiconductor packages adapted to the one-time inspection capacity (i.e., one-time photographing capacity) of the stationary vision inspection apparatus 40. In this case, the picking and transferring operation of the semiconductor packages may be delayed. In addition, since the pick-up tool 30 is designed to transfer eight semiconductor packages one by arranging eight semiconductor packages in a row, the stationary vision inspection apparatus 40 must wait for the package pick-up tool 30 to collect eight semiconductor packages, and thus the vision inspection of the semiconductor packages is also inefficiently delayed.

In addition, the conventional visual inspection of the semiconductor packages is performed by transferring the semiconductor packages to the fixed visual inspection apparatus 40 by the picking tool 30 arranged face-to-face for half-distribution of the visual inspection apparatus 40. Therefore, since the fixed video inspection apparatus 40 is used in half by a pair of picking tools 30, only half of the video inspection area is utilized when performing video inspection of the semiconductor packages in the fixed video inspection apparatus 40, thereby reducing the efficiency of video inspection.

Disclosure of Invention

Therefore, the present invention has been devised in view of the above problems. An object of the present invention is to provide a transfer mechanism and a transfer method of semiconductor packages, which provide a pickup unit for immediately transferring semiconductor packages to a vision inspection apparatus by picking up a predetermined number of semiconductor packages adapted to one-shot capacity of the vision inspection apparatus.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a transferring mechanism and a transferring method of semiconductor packages which provide a vision inspection apparatus capable of moving in a crossing direction of a moving route of a semiconductor package pickup unit, thereby maximizing a vision inspection efficiency of the semiconductor packages.

To accomplish the above two objects, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor package transfer mechanism comprising: a plurality of pickup units movable along an axis elongated in one direction and operable independently of each other; and a video inspection apparatus installed to cross the moving path of the pickup unit, for inspecting defects of the semiconductor packages transferred by the pickup unit. Wherein the pickup unit picks up a predetermined number of semiconductor packages adapted to one-shot capacity of the vision inspection apparatus and rapidly transfers the semiconductor packages to the vision inspection apparatus.

The semiconductor packages picked up and transferred by the pickup unit are arranged in a matrix form of a plurality of rows and columns, wherein the matrix form of the plurality of rows and columns is m x m, and m ≧ 2.

The video detection device is controlled in the following way: the operation of the vision inspection apparatus is performed by the operation of the pickup unit, and the vision inspection apparatus moves into the image pickup area to pick up images of all the semiconductor packages held by the pickup unit, thereby inspecting defects of all the semiconductor packages.

The video inspection apparatus is installed between the semiconductor package transfer unit and the semiconductor package tray placing unit. Wherein the semiconductor package transferring unit transfers the semiconductor package to the vision inspection apparatus after the drying process of the semiconductor package is completed; the semiconductor package is placed on the semiconductor package tray placing unit after the video inspection process for the semiconductor package is completed.

The semiconductor package transfer mechanism further includes a pair of semiconductor package transfer units. Each of the semiconductor package transfer units includes: a moving frame movable along an axis elongated in one direction; and a turntable including a loading slot part on which the semiconductor packages are loaded and an additional space part alternately arranged. The respective semiconductor package transfer units are operated independently of each other so as to alternately transfer the semiconductor packages to the vision inspection apparatus.

To accomplish the above object, another aspect of the present invention provides a method of transferring a semiconductor package, comprising the steps of: after the washing and drying processes of the semiconductor packages are completed, transferring the semiconductor packages to a plurality of pickup units operated independently of each other for the first time; after the inspection unit picks up a predetermined number of semiconductor packages adapted to one-time photographing capacity of the fixed video inspection apparatus, transferring the semiconductor packages to the video inspection apparatus again by one of the pickup units; the semiconductor packages held by the pickup unit are video-inspected by moving the video inspection apparatus toward the pickup unit holding the semiconductor packages while moving toward the video inspection apparatus.

The video inspection apparatus performs video inspection on the semiconductor packages after the semiconductor packages held by the pickup unit enter an area where the video inspection apparatus can perform video inspection on the semiconductor packages at a time.

When the semiconductor packages are transferred again, the pickup unit picks up the semiconductor packages arranged in a matrix of a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, where m is m x m and m ≧ 2, and immediately transfers the semiconductor packages to the inspection apparatus.

Drawings

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

fig. 1 is a plan view of a conventional semiconductor package transfer mechanism;

fig. 2 is a plan view of a semiconductor package transfer mechanism according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 3 is a view illustrating a semiconductor package transferred to a vision inspection apparatus by a pickup unit in the semiconductor package transferring mechanism shown in fig. 2;

fig. 4 is a perspective view of a package transfer unit of the semiconductor package transfer mechanism shown in fig. 2 according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 5 is a perspective view of a package transfer unit of the semiconductor package transfer mechanism shown in fig. 2 according to another embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6a to 6e illustrate a transfer procedure performed by the semiconductor package transfer mechanism shown in fig. 2;

fig. 7 is a plan view of a semiconductor package transfer mechanism according to still another embodiment of the present invention; and

fig. 8 is a plan view of a semiconductor package transfer mechanism according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the following description of the present invention, a detailed description of known functions and integrated structures will be omitted when it may make the gist of the present invention unclear.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a semiconductor package transfer mechanism according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. In fig. 2, reference symbols S, W, and D represent a sawing machine, a washing machine, and a drying machine, respectively. In addition, reference symbol T denotes a tray, which is placed on the tray feeder so that the tray can move along a track when supplying the semiconductor packages. Reference symbol M denotes a pallet placing machine on which the pallet T is placed. The following description will be focused on the transfer mechanism of the semiconductor packages.

As shown in fig. 2, the semiconductor package transfer mechanism of the present invention includes a pickup unit, a vision inspection apparatus 400, and a package transfer unit 200.

The pickup unit picks up the semiconductor packages placed on the turntable 250 of the package transfer unit 200, transfers the semiconductor packages to the upper portion of the vision inspection apparatus 400, and loads the semiconductor packages onto the tray T according to the vision inspection result of the semiconductor packages.

The pick-up unit comprises four pick-up tools 300 which can be operated independently of each other.

However, the present invention does not limit the number of picking tools 300. For reference, the conventional pick-up unit includes a pair of pick-up tools capable of picking up eight semiconductor packages by arranging the semiconductor packages in a row.

Each picking tool 300 can pick up the semiconductor packages placed on the turntable 250. For example, the pick-up tool 300 includes a pick-up head (not shown) for picking up the semiconductor packages and a vacuum unit (not shown) for providing suction to the inspection head. In addition, the picking tool 300 can be horizontally moved along the second guide rail by a horizontal moving unit (not shown). In addition, the pickup head can be vertically moved by a vertical moving unit (not shown).

The pickup tool 300 picks up a predetermined number of semiconductor packages adapted to one photographing capacity of the video inspection apparatus 400 and transfers the semiconductor packages to the video inspection apparatus 400. According to the present invention, each picking tool 300 picks up the semiconductor packages, so the semiconductor packages are arranged in the picking tool 300 in a matrix of two rows and two columns, and the picking tool 300 immediately transfers the semiconductor packages to the vision inspection apparatus 400.

If the one-shot capacity of the vision inspection apparatus 400 is increased or the image pickup area is changed, the structure of the pickup tool 300 is also changed so as to pick up the semiconductor packages according to the change of the one-shot capacity and the image pickup area of the vision inspection apparatus 400. That is, the pickup tool 300 can pick up a plurality of semiconductor packages such that the semiconductor packages are arranged in the pickup tool 300 in a matrix of a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns (m × n, where m ≧ 2 and n ≧ 2) depending on the one-shot capacity of the video inspection apparatus 400.

The video inspection apparatus 400 is provided to inspect a semiconductor package for defects. The video inspection apparatus 400 is movably installed on a guide rail 410 arranged to cross the moving line of the picking tool 300. Since the vision inspection apparatus 400 is movably mounted on the guide rail 410, the vision inspection apparatus 400 can move into the vision inspection area 420 to photograph all the semiconductor packages transferred to the vision inspection area 420 by the picking tool 300, thereby inspecting all the semiconductor packages for defects.

Fig. 3 is a view of the semiconductor package P transferred to the vision inspection apparatus 400 by the pickup tool 300. Fig. 3 illustrates the number and arrangement of the semiconductor packages P held by the picking tool 300 as an example.

As shown in fig. 3, the picking tool 300 for video inspection picks up four semiconductor packages such that the semiconductor packages P are arranged in a matrix of two rows and two columns (2 × 2) within the picking tool 300. Accordingly, four semiconductor packages P are arranged within the vision inspection area 420 on the vision inspection apparatus 400.

That is, the picking tool 300 of the present invention can transfer the semiconductor packages P arranged in a matrix form of two rows and two columns to the vision inspection apparatus 400 in such a manner that four semiconductor packages P are simultaneously inspected by the vision inspection apparatus 400. The semiconductor package transfer mechanism of the present invention can improve the processing speed of video inspection as compared to the conventional semiconductor package transfer mechanism, i.e., transferring semiconductor packages in a row (1 x n, where n ≧ 2) and inspecting two semiconductor packages at a time.

Accordingly, the semiconductor package transfer mechanism of the present invention can maximize the use of the video inspection area without wasting the video inspection area even though the video inspection apparatus 400 used in the conventional semiconductor package handling system is used, and thus the processing speed of video inspection can be remarkably improved. Accordingly, the process speed of the package per hour Unit (UPH) of the semiconductor package processing system can be significantly improved.

In addition, according to the present invention, the pickup tool 300 can immediately transfer the semiconductor packages by picking up a predetermined number of semiconductor packages adapted to one photographing capacity of the video inspection apparatus 400 without a time delay when picking up or transferring the semiconductor packages.

Meanwhile, the number of the semiconductor packages P held by the picking tool 300 is not limited to 4, and the arrangement of the semiconductor packages P in the picking tool 300 is not limited to the form of a matrix of two rows and two columns. In addition, the number and arrangement structure of the semiconductor packages P to be inspected in the video inspection area 420 are not limited to the matrix form of two rows and two columns. Generally, since the vision inspection area is circular in shape, the semiconductor packages may be arranged in a matrix of a plurality of rows and columns (i.e., 3 × 3, 4 × 4, etc.) in the picking tool and transferred if the vision inspection apparatus is large in capacity. In this case, the video inspection apparatus 400 moves under the picking tool 300 so as to inspect a plurality of semiconductor packages at the same time. If the camera area of the video inspection apparatus 400 is oval, the semiconductor packages may be arranged in a matrix (i.e., m × n, where m ≧ 2, n ≧ 2, and m ≠ n) in the pick-up tool 300 and transferred.

In addition, the picking tool 300 can selectively pick up the semiconductor packages loaded on the turntable 250 according to the operating conditions.

A package transfer unit 200 is provided to transfer the semiconductor packages to a vision inspection area after the drying process of the semiconductor packages is completed.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a package transfer unit of the semiconductor package transfer mechanism according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in fig. 4, the semiconductor package transfer mechanism includes a pair of package transfer units 200 that can be operated independently of each other. That is, the package transfer unit 200 may be controlled to perform an alternate operation so that the semiconductor packages can be alternately transferred to the vision inspection apparatus 400 after the drying process of the semiconductor packages is completed.

The package transfer unit 200 includes a horizontal transfer member 220 movably mounted on the first guide rail 210, a servo motor disposed on the horizontal transfer member 220, and a turntable 250 rotatably disposed on the servo motor 240 to be rotated by the servo motor 240.

The horizontal transfer member 220 is horizontally moved by a predetermined driving unit (not shown). This drive unit includes a linear movement system such as a combination of a screw shaft and a nut, a set of gears and racks, a set of belts and pulleys, or a set of chains and sprockets, all of which are well known in the art.

As shown in fig. 4, the turntable 250 includes a loading section 252 formed on an upper surface thereof. The loading section 252 has a loading slot portion 254 on which the semiconductor packages can be loaded and an additional space portion 256. The loading slot portions 254 and the additional space portions 256 are alternately arranged to form the loading section 252. In order to efficiently load the semiconductor packages arranged in a rectangular pattern on the turntable 250 after the drying process is completed, the loading groove sections 254 and the additional space sections 256 are arranged on the respective turntables 250 of the package transfer unit 200 symmetrically to each other.

The loading chute part 254 and the additional space part 256 of the loading section 252 are alternately arranged in order to accurately load the semiconductor packages onto the turntable 250 without any error after the drying process of the semiconductor packages is completed, and in order to accurately form the guide inclined section at the edge of the loading chute part 254. The structure of the loading section 252 is disclosed in detail in korean patent application No. 10-2000-0079284, which was filed by the applicant of the present patent under the name of "Table Apparatus for loading Semiconductor Packages Thereon (Table Apparatus Packages).

According to the above embodiment of the present invention, since the pair of the package transfer units 200 are operated independently of each other, the semiconductor packages are immediately transferred to the video inspection area once they are loaded on one of the turn tables 250. That is, upon receipt of the semiconductor packages, the turntable 250 moves to the vision inspection area without waiting for the other turntable 250 until the semiconductor packages are loaded on the other turntable 250.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of pairs of turntables can be provided, each including a loading slot part 254 capable of loading a semiconductor package thereon and additional space parts 256 alternately arranged with the loading slot part 254.

As described above, the semiconductor package transfer mechanism of the present invention includes a pair of package transfer units 200 that are operable independently of each other so that a pair of carousels 250 can alternately transfer semiconductor packages loaded thereon. In addition, a plurality of pickup tools 300 are provided to continuously transfer a predetermined number of semiconductor packages adapted to one-shot capacity of the video inspection apparatus 400. Therefore, the waiting time of the semiconductor package in this process can be reduced, thereby improving the processing speed of the system.

Fig. 5 is a package transfer unit of a semiconductor package transfer mechanism according to another embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in fig. 5, the semiconductor package transfer mechanism of the present invention includes a single type of package transfer unit 200. Similar to the package transfer unit 200 shown in fig. 4, this single type of package transfer unit 200 includes a horizontal transfer member 220 movably mounted on the first guide rail 210, a servo motor 240 disposed on the horizontal transfer member 220, and a turntable 250 rotatably disposed on the servo motor 240 to be rotated by the servo motor 240.

However, the turntable 250 shown in fig. 5 is different from the turntable shown in fig. 4 in that a pair of loading sections 252 are formed on the upper surface of the turntable 250. Each loading section 250 has a loading slot portion 254 and an additional space portion 256 on which semiconductor packages can be loaded. The loading slot parts 254 and the additional space parts 256 are alternately arranged, thereby forming the loading section 252.

Hereinafter, a method of transferring a semiconductor package according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

Fig. 6a to 6e are plan views illustrating a transfer process of the semiconductor packages by the semiconductor package transfer mechanism shown in fig. 2.

The following description will focus on the semiconductor transfer process and, for the sake of brevity, the sawing, washing and video inspection processes will not be explained.

First, after the drying process of the semiconductor packages is completed, the turntable picking unit 100 picks up the semiconductor packages from the dryer D and loads the semiconductor packages onto the loading section 252 of the turntable 250 (see fig. 6 a). The semiconductor packages loaded on the loading section 252 are fixedly attached to the turntable 250 by the vacuum unit. When the semiconductor packages assigned to one turntable 250 are loaded on the turntable 250, the turntable pickup unit 100 is raised to load the semiconductor packages on the other turntable 250.

At this time, the turntable 250 loaded with the semiconductor packages is immediately moved toward the picking tool 300 along the first guide rail 210 (see fig. 6 b).

When the turntable 250 reaches the pickup area of the pickup tool 300, the pickup tool 300 picks up the semiconductor packages in the following manner: the semiconductor packages are arranged in the pick-up tool 300 in a matrix of two rows and two columns and immediately moved to the guide rails 410 (see fig. 6 c).

Meanwhile, the vision inspection apparatus 400 moves toward the picking tool 300 so as to simultaneously inspect four semiconductor packages held by the picking tool 300 when the picking tool 300 reaches the vision inspection field 420 (see fig. 6 d).

After the video inspection process is finished, the pickup tool 300 moves to the upper portion of the tray T while holding the semiconductor packages so that the semiconductor packages having no defects are loaded on the tray T according to the video inspection result of the semiconductor packages. After that, the tray T is sent to the tray placing machine M by the tray feeder, and is loaded onto the tray placing machine M by the pickup unit (see fig. 6 e).

In addition, while the above-described procedure is performed, the semiconductor packages are loaded onto the loading section 252 of the other carousel 250 by the carousel pickup unit 100, and the other carousel 250 loaded with the semiconductor packages is also moved toward the pickup tool 300 while the semiconductor packages have been loaded onto the loading section 252 of the other carousel 250. At this time, the turntable pickup unit 100 moves toward the dryer D to pick up a new semiconductor package.

The above semiconductor package transfer process is repeated.

The above-described semiconductor package transfer procedure can be carried out only in the case where the semiconductor package transfer mechanism includes a pair of package transfer units operable independently of each other as shown in fig. 4. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described semiconductor package transfer process. For example, semiconductor packages may be loaded onto a pair of loading sections 252 of a single carousel 250 as shown in fig. 5. In this case, the single turntable 250 is controlled to move toward the pick-up tool 300 after the semiconductor packages have been loaded to the two loading sections 252 of the single turntable 250. That is, the semiconductor package transfer mechanism can be variously changed within the scope of the present invention.

Fig. 7 and 8 are views illustrating a semiconductor package transfer mechanism according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to fig. 7, the guide rail 410 is installed between the guide rail 210 and the tray guide rail of the guide tray T. Referring to fig. 8, the guide rail 410 is installed at the outer edge (right side) of the tray guide rail.

According to the above-described arrangement shown in fig. 7 and 8, the vision inspection process is performed while the picking tool 300 is moved toward the tray T, so that the transfer time and the vision inspection time of the semiconductor packages are greatly reduced.

While this invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment and the drawings, but, on the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and variations within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. For example, although in the description of the present invention, the semiconductor packages are transferred from the turn table of the package transfer unit to the pickup tool, if one of the pickup tools can pick up a predetermined number of semiconductor packages adapted to one photographing capacity of the fixed video inspection apparatus 40 and the video inspection apparatus can move to the pickup tool and inspect the semiconductor packages held by the pickup tool, the semiconductor packages (or the tape with a large number of packages) can be transferred not only from the turn table of the package transfer unit but also from any package feeding source to the pickup tool.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

As described above, in the semiconductor package transfer mechanism and the semiconductor transfer method of the present invention, a predetermined number of semiconductor packages adapted to one-shot capacity of a fixed vision inspection apparatus can be picked up by a plurality of picking-up tools that can be operated independently of each other and the semiconductor packages can be immediately transferred to the vision inspection apparatus, so that the waiting time and transfer time of the semiconductor packages can be reduced. Thus, the present invention can significantly reduce latency and time delay during processing by the processing system.

In addition, the vision inspection apparatus is installed to cross the moving route of the picking tool and is movable into a vision inspection area located under the picking tool in order to inspect the semiconductor packages, so that the vision inspection apparatus can inspect the semiconductor packages with the maximum photographing capacity. Therefore, the present invention significantly improves the video inspection speed of the semiconductor package per hour Unit (UPH) without requiring a large amount of expensive video inspection equipment.

Further, since the semiconductor package transfer mechanism of the present invention includes a pair of package transfer units capable of alternately transferring semiconductor packages while operating independently of each other, the semiconductor packages can be quickly transferred to the vision inspection apparatus.

Therefore, the semiconductor package transfer mechanism and the semiconductor transfer method of the present invention can efficiently perform the transfer work, the pickup work, and the video inspection work of the semiconductor packages. The UPH package handling speed of the semiconductor package handling system can be significantly improved.

Claims (8)

1. A semiconductor package transfer mechanism comprising:

a plurality of pickup units moving along an axis elongated in one direction and operating independently of each other; and

and a vision inspection apparatus installed to cross a moving route of the pickup unit to inspect defects of the semiconductor packages transferred thereto by the pickup unit, wherein the pickup unit picks up a predetermined number of semiconductor packages adapted to a one-shot capacity of the vision inspection apparatus and immediately transfers the semiconductor packages to the vision inspection apparatus.

2. The semiconductor package transfer mechanism of claim 1, wherein the pick-up unit picks up and transfers the semiconductor packages arranged in a matrix of rows and columns, wherein the matrix of rows and columns is m x m and m ≧ 2.

3. The semiconductor package transfer mechanism according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the video inspection apparatus is controlled in such a manner that: the operation of the vision inspection apparatus is performed according to the operation of the pickup unit, and the vision inspection apparatus moves into an image pickup area where the vision inspection apparatus picks up images of all the semiconductor packages held by the pickup unit, thereby inspecting defects of all the semiconductor packages.

4. The semiconductor package transfer mechanism according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the vision inspection apparatus is installed between a semiconductor package transfer unit for transferring the semiconductor packages, which have completed the drying process, to the vision inspection apparatus and a semiconductor package tray placing unit for placing the semiconductor packages, which have completed the vision inspection process.

5. The semiconductor package transfer mechanism according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: a pair of semiconductor package transfer units, wherein each of the semiconductor package transfer units includes a moving frame movable along an axis elongated in one direction, and a turntable including a loading slot part where the semiconductor packages are loaded and an additional space part, the loading slot part and the additional space part being alternately arranged, and the semiconductor package transfer units are operated independently of each other so as to alternately transfer the semiconductor packages to the video inspection apparatus.

6. A semiconductor package transfer method, the method comprising the steps of:

transferring the semiconductor packages, which have completed the washing and drying processes, to a plurality of pickup units operated independently of each other for the first time;

transferring the semiconductor packages to the video inspection apparatus again after picking up a predetermined number of semiconductor packages adapted to one photographing capacity of the video inspection apparatus with one of the pickup units; and

the semiconductor packages held by the pick-up unit are video-inspected by moving the video inspection apparatus close to the pick-up unit holding the semiconductor packages while moving toward the video inspection apparatus.

7. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein the video inspection of the semiconductor packages by the video inspection apparatus is performed after the semiconductor packages held by the pickup unit enter a video inspection area where the video inspection apparatus simultaneously photographs all the semiconductor packages.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the pickup unit picks up the semiconductor packages arranged in a matrix of a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, where m x m is greater than or equal to 2, and immediately transfers the semiconductor packages to the inspection apparatus when the semiconductor packages are transferred again.