JP2008277760A - Suction switching device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a suction switching device capable of increasing the number of suction stages that can be set up on a rotary table without depending on the number of connection points of a rotating part in a rotary joint. <P>SOLUTION: The suction switching device 8 automatically switches the suction-holding of an object transferred 20 placed on the rotary table 1 and the release from the suction-holding. The suction switching device 8 includes: the rotary table that can rotate in a predetermined direction with a substantially vertical axis as a rotation axis J1, the rotary table including the suction stage 11 for sucking and holding the object to be transferred; a switching valve 90 provided so that it rotates together with the rotary table, and configured so that a suction force and release pressure are selectively fed to the suction stage by driving a built-in switch member 95; a first cam 81 for driving the switch member so that the suction force is fed to the suction stage based on a turning angle of the rotary table; and a second cam 82 for driving the switch member so that the release pressure is fed to the suction stage based on the turning angle of the rotary table. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a suction switching device. More specifically, the present invention relates to an apparatus that automatically switches between sucking and holding a conveyed product mounted on a rotary table and releasing from the sucking and holding.

  In a semiconductor chip manufacturing process, a semiconductor wafer on which a pattern is formed is diced and divided into individual semiconductor chips. In this dicing process, the semiconductor chip may be cracked or chipped, or the chip surface may be soiled or scratched.

  Such a defective semiconductor chip needs to be separated from a non-defective semiconductor chip and eliminated. For example, an external inspection and separation of a semiconductor chip are performed using an apparatus as described in Patent Document 1. FIG. 7 is a plan view showing an outline of a conventional visual inspection apparatus 100, and FIG. 8 is a plan view showing a main part of a suction switching device incorporated in the conventional visual inspection apparatus 100.

  As shown in FIG. 7, in the appearance inspection apparatus 100, first, in the load station LS, the collet 3 a vacuum-sucks the semiconductor chip 20 stored in the tray 2 a from above, and a suction stage provided on the rotary table 1. 11 is transferred. In the suction stage 11, the semiconductor chip 20 is fixedly held by vacuum suction from the suction hole 12. Thereafter, the semiconductor chip 20 fixed and held is moved to the correction station HS by intermittent rotation of the turntable 1.

  In the correction station HS, the position and angle of the incoming semiconductor chip 20 are measured by the camera 4 with a microscope provided above. Based on the measurement data, the suction stage 11 is moved and rotated to correct the position. Thereafter, the position-corrected semiconductor chip 20 is moved to the inspection station KS by intermittent rotation of the turntable 1. In the inspection station KS, the camera with a microscope 5 images the semiconductor chip 20. An image obtained by imaging is sent to an image processing unit (not shown), and the quality of the semiconductor chip 20 is determined by predetermined image processing. Thereafter, the semiconductor chip 20 determined to be good or bad moves to the unload station US due to the intermittent rotation of the turntable 1. At the unload station US, the semiconductor chip 20 is released from vacuum suction at the suction stage 11. In accordance with the pass / fail result determined at the inspection station KS, the semiconductor chip 20 is vacuum-sucked by the collet 6a and distributed to either a non-defective product tray or a defective product tray.

In the appearance inspection apparatus 100, after the semiconductor chip 20 is sucked and held on the suction stage 11 by the load station LS, the suction hold is maintained until the unload station US is reached through the correction station HS and the inspection station KS. Then, the suction holding is released at the unload station US. The switching between the suction holding and the release is performed by incorporating a suction switching device shown in FIG. The conventional suction switching device includes the rotary table 1, the suction stage 11, the suction pump 83, the rotary joint 84, the electromagnetic valve 900, the control computer 920, and the like as constituent elements. The control computer 920 controls each electromagnetic valve 900 as follows. That is, the suction stage 11 is turned on immediately before the semiconductor chip 20 is mounted on the suction stage 11 at the load station LS, and the suction stage 11 is turned off immediately before the semiconductor chip 20 is taken out at the unload station US. The electromagnetic valve 900 corresponding to the suction stage 11 is controlled.
JP 2004-45200 A

  In the conventional suction switching device, the suction in each suction stage 11 is turned on and off by controlling the electromagnetic valve 900 provided in the pipe 9c between the rotary joint 84 and the suction pump 83. By the way, the number of suction stages 11 that can be set on the rotary table 1 depends on the number of rotary connection points 841 in the rotary joint 84, that is, the number of connection points of the rotary part. Since the rotational connection point 841 in the rotary joint 84 is limited, the number of suction stages 11 that can be installed on the rotary table 1 cannot be increased freely. Therefore, the distance between the adjacent suction stages 11 cannot be made very short, and the time required for movement from one suction stage 11 to the next suction stage 11 becomes long. This was a major obstacle to shortening the inspection tact time.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and provides a suction switching device that can increase the number of suction stages that can be installed on a rotary table without depending on the number of connection points of rotating parts in a rotary joint. For the purpose.

  The above object is achieved by the present invention described below. In addition, the reference numerals in parentheses attached to each component in the “Claims” and “Means for Solving the Problems” indicate correspondence with the specific means described in the embodiments described later. is there.

  The present invention is a suction switching device (8) for automatically switching between suction holding of a transported article (20) mounted on a rotary table (1) and release from the suction holding, A rotary table (1) having a suction stage (11) for sucking and holding the product (20) and capable of rotating in a predetermined direction about a substantially vertical axis as a rotation axis (J1), and a built-in switch member (95) Is configured to selectively supply the suction pressure and the release pressure to the suction stage (11) by driving and a switching valve (1) provided to rotate integrally with the rotary table (1). 90), a first cam (81) that drives the switch member (95) so that suction pressure is supplied to the suction stage (11) according to the rotation angle of the rotary table (1), and the rotary table (1) Depending on the rotation angle of Characterized in that it comprises a second cam (82) for driving the switch member (95) such that release pressure to over-di (11) is supplied.

  According to the suction switching device (8) of the present invention, the switching valve (90) selectively supplies the suction pressure and the release pressure to the suction stage (11) by driving the switch member (95). Composed. The switching valve (90) rotates together with the rotary table (1). The first cam (81) drives the switch member (95) so that the suction pressure is supplied to the suction stage (11) according to the rotation angle of the rotary table (1). The second cam (82) drives the switch member (95) so that the release pressure is supplied to the suction stage (11) according to the rotation angle of the rotary table (1). Thus, the switching between the suction pressure and the release pressure is performed by driving the switch member (95) by the first cam (81) and the second cam (82) using the rotational force of the rotary table (1). . Therefore, unlike the prior art, there is no need to provide a solenoid valve (900) for each pipe (9c) connected to the rotary connection point (841) of the rotary joint (84), and the rotary connection point ( 841). That is, the number of suction stages (11) that can be installed on the rotary table (1) can be increased without depending on the number of rotary connection points (841) in the rotary joint (84).

  According to the present invention, the number of suction stages that can be set on the rotary table can be increased without depending on the number of connection points of the rotating parts in the rotary joint.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 is a plan view showing an outline of an appearance inspection apparatus, FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a main part of a suction switching apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 3 is a partial front sectional view showing a three-way valve with a roller, and FIG. It is a pneumatic system diagram of the suction switching device according to the invention. In the figure, the three axes of the orthogonal coordinate system are X, Y, and Z, the XY plane is the horizontal plane, and the Z direction is the vertical direction. In the present embodiment, the number of the suction stages 11 and the three-way valves 90 with rollers is set to eight for the sake of easy viewing of the drawing, but in actuality, 32 are provided.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the appearance inspection apparatus 10 includes a rotary table 1, an inspected product supply mechanism 2, an inspected product transfer mechanism 3, a camera 4 with a microscope, a camera 5 with a microscope, and an inspection product take-in mechanism 6. The inspection item storage mechanism 7, the suction switching device 8 and the control computer 9 are provided and are divided into four stations according to the processing contents. That is, a load station LS, a correction station HS, an inspection station KS, and an unload station US are sequentially provided along the rotation driving direction of the turntable 1.

  The turntable 1 has a disk shape, and is configured to be capable of being rotationally driven (forward feed) intermittently by a predetermined pitch in the counterclockwise direction of FIGS. 1 and 2 with a vertical line at the center of the disk as a rotation axis J1. On the upper surface of the turntable 1, suction stages 11 are provided at a total of eight positions along the circumferential direction.

  Each suction stage 11 includes a suction hole 12 capable of sucking and holding the semiconductor chip 20 and an XYθ mechanism. Here, the aforementioned 1 pitch is a distance corresponding to the circumferential distance between the suction holes 12 in the suction stages 11 adjacent to each other. The XYθ mechanism described above is a mechanism that drives the suction stage 11 in the horizontal direction and a mechanism that drives the suction stage 11 to rotate about the rotation axis J1.

  The inspected product supply mechanism 2 is configured to supply a tray 2a containing a plurality of semiconductor chips 20 to a predetermined position in the load station LS. The inspected product transfer mechanism 3 includes a collet 3a capable of sucking and holding the semiconductor chip 20 by vacuum suction, and a driving unit for driving the collet 3a in each of the XYZ directions, and the semiconductor chip 20 accommodated in the tray 2a. One by one is picked up by the collet 3a and transferred onto the suction stage 11 that has arrived at the load station LS.

  The microscope-equipped camera 4 is disposed above the correction station HS, measures the angle and position of the semiconductor chip 20 sucked and held by the suction stage 11 that has arrived at the correction station HS, and the obtained angle and position data. Is sent to the control computer 9.

  The microscope-equipped camera 5 is disposed above the inspection station KS, images the appearance of the semiconductor chip 20 sucked and held by the suction stage 11 that has arrived at the inspection station KS, and the image data obtained at that time is used as a control computer 9. To be sent to.

  The inspection product take-in mechanism 6 includes a collet 6a capable of sucking and holding the semiconductor chip 20 by vacuum suction, and a drive unit for driving the collet 6a in each of the XYZ directions, and on the suction stage 11 that has arrived at the unload station US. The semiconductor chips 20 mounted on the semiconductor chip 20 are picked up one by one by the collet 6 a and transferred to the inspection article storage mechanism 7.

  The inspection product storage mechanism 7 includes a non-defective product chip tray storage mechanism 71 and a re-inspection product chip tray storage mechanism 72, and can separately store the non-defective product and the re-inspection product including defective products according to the inspection result. In addition, when there are three inspection results, a non-defective product, a re-inspected product, and a defective product, a defective chip tray storage mechanism may be provided separately.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the suction switching device 8 includes a three-way valve 90 with a roller, an upper cam 81, a lower cam 82, a suction pump 83, a rotary joint 84, an upper cam drive unit 811, a lower cam drive unit 822, and the like.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the three-way valve 90 with a roller includes a main body block 94, a plunger 95, an upper roller 951, a lower roller 952, an upper arm 961 and a lower arm 962, and includes a first port 91 and a second port 92. And three outflow inlets of the third port 93. The three-way valve 90 with a roller is fixed to the outer peripheral surface positions at eight equidistant positions along the circumferential direction of the turntable 1 via brackets 80, respectively.

  One end of the upper arm 961 is pivotally supported on the upper portion of the main body block 94 so as to be rotatable around a horizontal axis, and the other end is pivotally supported so that the upper roller 951 can be rotated around a horizontal axis. Then, the upper end portion of the plunger 95 is attached so that the upper end portion of the plunger 95 can be pressed by lowering the abdominal portion of the upper arm 961. Further, one end of the lower arm 962 is pivotally supported by the lower portion of the main body block 94 so as to be rotatable around the horizontal axis, and the other end is pivotally supported by the lower roller 952 so as to be rotatable around the horizontal axis. And it attaches so that the lower end part of the plunger 95 can be pressed by raising the belly part of the lower arm 962.

  In the three-way valve 90 with a roller, the first port 91 and the second port 92 communicate with each other by driving the plunger 95 downward, and the third port 93 and the second port 92 are connected by driving the plunger 95 upward. Configured to communicate. The plunger 95 driven downward is held (held) at the lowermost position, and the plunger 95 driven upward is held at the uppermost position.

  In each three-way valve 90 with a roller, the first port 91 communicates with the rotary joint 84 by a pipe 9a. The rotary joint 84 includes one rotational connection point 841a and another rotational connection point 841b. One rotational connection point 841a is connected to the suction pump 83 by piping. Another rotation connection point 841b is connected to the suction stage 11 via each three-way valve 90 with a roller. That is, the second port 92 is connected to the suction hole 12 of the suction stage 11 by the pipe 9b. The third port 93 is opened to the atmosphere. Therefore, when the plunger 95 is in the lower position, the suction pressure is supplied to the suction hole 12 of the suction stage 11 connected to the three-way valve 90 with a roller. This state is set to suction on. On the other hand, when the plunger 95 is in the upper position, the suction pressure generated in the suction hole 12 of the suction stage 11 connected to the three-way valve 90 with roller is released. This state is referred to as suction off.

  The upper cam 81 is disposed at a position where it can come into contact with the upper roller 951 of the three-way valve 90 with a roller in the suction-off state at the load station LS. Specifically, when the rotation angle of the turntable 1 is φ1, it is arranged to contact the upper roller 951. The upper cam drive unit 811 is configured by an air cylinder or a servo motor mechanism that is mechanically coupled to the upper cam 81, and can adjust the horizontal position of the upper cam 81. The vertical position may be adjustable.

  The lower cam 82 is disposed at a position in the unload station US that can contact the lower roller 952 of the three-way valve 90 with a roller that is in a suction-on state. Specifically, when the rotation angle of the turntable 1 is φ2, it is arranged to contact the lower roller 952. The lower cam drive unit 822 includes an air cylinder or a servo motor mechanism that is mechanically coupled to the lower cam 82 and can adjust the horizontal position of the lower cam 82. The vertical position may be adjustable. The upper cam drive unit 811 and the lower cam drive unit 822 can respectively arrange the upper cam 81 and the lower cam 82 at appropriate positions according to the purpose.

  The control computer 9 includes an input / output device such as a touch panel, appropriate hardware mainly including a memory chip and a microprocessor, a hard disk device incorporating a computer program for operating the hardware, and data communication with each component. A computer for controlling all or part of the appearance inspection apparatus 1 so that the appearance inspection apparatus 1 performs a series of inspection operations.

  Next, the operation of the appearance inspection apparatus 1 configured as described above will be described. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the suction-on operation of the suction switching device 8 according to the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the suction-off operation of the suction switching device 8 according to the present invention. For the sake of explanation, when it is necessary to particularly distinguish a certain semiconductor chip 20 or suction stage 11 from other semiconductor chips or suction stages, capital letters such as “A” and “B” are appended to the end of each symbol.

  The turntable 1 starts intermittent rotation (hereinafter referred to as intermittent rotation). At this time, the suction stage 11A provided on the turntable 1 is turned off (see FIG. 5A). The upper roller 951 in the three-way valve 90 with a roller contacts the upper cam 81 at the load station LS after the rotation table 1 starts rotating (see FIG. 5B). As a result, the upper cam 81 presses the plunger 95 downward via the upper roller 951 and the upper arm 961. As a result, the plunger 95 is lowered, the three-way valve 90 with a roller is turned on, and a negative pressure is generated in the suction hole 12 of the suction stage 11A. The turntable 1 stops once when it has rotated one pitch. The collet 3a that has vacuum-sucked the semiconductor chip 20A stored in the tray 2a from above transfers the semiconductor chip 20A to the suction stage 11A immediately after a negative pressure is generated in the suction hole 12. That is, the plunger 95 in the three-way valve 90 with a roller is driven to be pressed downward immediately before the semiconductor chip 20A is mounted on the suction stage 11A at the load station LS.

  Thereafter, the rotary table 1 starts intermittent rotation again. Since the plunger 95 driven downward is held at the lowest position, the semiconductor chip 20A is held by suction thereafter (see FIG. 5C). The semiconductor chip 20B is mounted on the next suction stage 11B in the same manner as described above. At this time, the second semiconductor chip 20B is sucked and held by the suction stage 11B. When the turntable 1 rotates 2 pitches, the first semiconductor chip 20A arrives at the correction station HS.

  In the correction station HS, the position and angle of the incoming semiconductor chip 20A are measured by the camera 4 with a microscope provided above. Based on the measurement data, the XYθ mechanism corrects the position by moving and rotating the suction stage 11A. Thereafter, the position-corrected semiconductor chip 20 </ b> A moves to the inspection station KS by intermittent rotation of the turntable 1. At the inspection station KS, the camera with microscope 5 images the semiconductor chip 20A. An image obtained by imaging is sent to the control computer 9, and the quality of the semiconductor chip 20A is determined by predetermined image processing.

  When the quality determination of the semiconductor chip 20A is finished, the turntable 1 starts intermittent rotation. The suction stage 11A that sucks and holds the semiconductor chip 20A moves toward the unload station US (see FIG. 6A). The lower roller 952 in the three-way valve 90 with a roller contacts the lower cam 82 immediately before the rotary table 1 rotates intermittently at a predetermined pitch and the suction stage 11A stops at the unload station US (FIG. 6B). reference).

  As a result, the lower cam 82 presses the plunger 95 upward via the lower roller 952 and the lower arm 962. The plunger 95 is raised and the three-way valve 90 with a roller is turned off. As a result, in the unload station US, the suction hole 12A of the suction stage 11A returns to the atmospheric pressure, and the semiconductor chip 20A is released from the suction holding (see FIG. 6C). Immediately after that, the rotary table 1 stops once when the intermittent rotation is finished.

  Depending on the pass / fail result determined by the inspection station KS, the semiconductor chip 20A is vacuum-sucked by the collet 6a and distributed to either the non-defective product tray 711 or the defective product tray 722. As described above, the plunger 95 in the three-way valve 90 with a roller is driven to be pressed upward immediately before the semiconductor chip 20A is taken out from the suction stage 11 at the unload station US.

  As described above, in the appearance inspection apparatus 1, after the semiconductor chip 20 is sucked and held at the load station LS, this sucking and holding is maintained until the unload station US is reached via the correction station HS and the inspection station KS. Then, the suction holding is released at the unload station US.

  According to the suction switching device 8 according to the present invention, the three-way valve 90 with roller is configured to selectively supply the suction pressure and the release pressure to the suction stage 11 by driving the plunger 95. The three-way valve 90 with a roller rotates together with the rotary table 1. The upper cam 81 drives the plunger 95 so that the suction pressure is supplied to the suction stage 11 according to the rotation angle of the turntable 1. The lower cam 82 drives the plunger 95 so that the release pressure is supplied to the suction stage 11 according to the rotation angle of the turntable 1. Specifically, the upper cam 81 performs driving for suction by contacting the upper roller 951 when the rotation angle of the turntable 1 is φ1. When the rotation angle of the rotary table 1 is φ2, the lower cam 82 contacts the lower roller 952 to drive for release.

  In this way, the switching between the suction pressure and the release pressure is performed by controlling the three-way valve 90 with a roller provided between the rotary joint 84 and each suction stage 11. Specifically, the upper cam 81 and the lower cam 82 drive the plunger 95 using the rotational force of the rotary table 1. Therefore, unlike the prior art, there is no need to provide an electromagnetic valve for each pipe connected to the rotary connection point in the rotary joint 84, and there is no limit due to the number of rotary connection points in the rotary joint 84. That is, the number of suction stages 11 that can be installed on the rotary table 1 can be increased without depending on the number of rotational connection points 841 in the rotary joint 84.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, embodiment disclosed above is an illustration to the last, Comprising: The scope of the present invention is not limited to these embodiment. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

It is a top view which shows the outline of the external appearance inspection apparatus incorporating the suction switching device which concerns on this invention. It is a top view which shows the principal part of the suction switching device which concerns on this invention. It is a front fragmentary sectional view which shows a three-way valve with a roller. It is a pneumatic system diagram of the suction switching device according to the present invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the suction-on operation | movement of the suction switching apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the suction-off operation | movement of the suction switching apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a top view which shows the outline of the conventional external appearance inspection apparatus. It is a top view which shows the principal part of the conventional suction switching device.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Rotating table 8 Suction switching device 11 Suction stage 20 Semiconductor chip (conveyed product)
J1 Rotating shaft 95 Plunger (switch member)
90 Three-way valve with roller (switching valve)
81 Upper cam (first cam)
82 Lower cam (second cam)
841a Rotation connection point 841b Rotation connection point 811 Upper cam drive unit (first cam drive unit)
822 Lower cam drive (second cam drive)
LS Road Station US Unload Station

Claims (5)

A suction switching device (8) that automatically performs switching between suction holding of the conveyed product (20) mounted on the rotary table (1) and release from the suction holding,
A rotary table (1) provided with a suction stage (11) for sucking and holding the article to be transported (20), and capable of rotating in a predetermined direction with a substantially vertical axis as a rotation axis (J1)
By driving the built-in switch member (95), the suction pressure and the release pressure are selectively supplied to the suction stage (11), and rotate together with the rotary table (1). A switching valve (90) provided in the
A first cam (81) for driving the switch member (95) so that suction pressure is supplied to the suction stage (11) according to the rotation angle of the rotary table (1);
And a second cam (82) for driving the switch member (95) so that the release pressure is supplied to the suction stage (11) according to the rotation angle of the rotary table (1). .   A first cam drive unit (811) that can adjust the arrangement position by driving the first cam (81), and a second cam drive that can adjust the arrangement position by driving the second cam (82). The suction switching device according to claim 1, further comprising a portion (822).   A plurality of suction stages (11) are provided along the rotation direction of the rotary table (1), and a plurality of switching valves (90) are provided corresponding to the plurality of suction stages (11), respectively. Item 3. The suction switching device according to Item 2. The rotary table (1) can be arranged at a load station (LS) that takes in the article to be conveyed (20) and an unload station (US) that takes out the article to be conveyed (20).
The first cam (81) is brought into contact with the switch member (95) of the switching valve (90) immediately before the article to be conveyed (20) is mounted on the suction stage (11) in the load station (LS). 11) provided to drive the switch member (95) so that the suction pressure is supplied to
The second cam (82) is brought into contact with the switch member (95) of the switching valve (90) immediately before taking out the conveyed product (20) from the suction stage (11) at the unload station (US). The suction switching device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, which is provided so as to drive the switch member (95) so that the release pressure is supplied to 11).   A rotary joint (84) having one rotary connection point (841a) and another rotary connection point (841b) is provided, and one rotary connection point (841a) is piped to the suction pump (83) for another rotation. The suction switching device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the connection point (841b) is pipe-connected to the suction stage (11) via the switching valve (90).

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