WO2008097012A1

WO2008097012A1 - Vision system of sawing and placement equipment

Info

Publication number: WO2008097012A1
Application number: PCT/KR2008/000705
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ik Kyun Na; Jai Young Lim
Original assignee: Hanmi Semiconductor Co Ltd
Current assignee: Hanmi Semiconductor Co Ltd
Priority date: 2007-02-06
Filing date: 2008-02-05
Publication date: 2008-08-14
Anticipated expiration: 2009-08-06
Also published as: TW200846653A; KR100814284B1; TWI380013B

Abstract

Disclosed herein is a vision system for inspect a sawing defect of semiconductor packages in sawing & placement equipment for manufacturing the semiconductor packages. The present invention provides a vision system of sawing & placement equipment, in which the position of a vision unit is selectively shifted according to a supply rate of the packages in order to inspect the packages at the most effective position, thus increasing the overall package processing efficiency, i.e., the unit per hour (UPH), of the equipment.

Description

VISION SYSTEM OF SAWING AND PLACEMENT

EQUIPMENT

Technical Field

[1] The present invention relates to a vision system of sawing & placement equipment for manufacturing semiconductor packages. More particularly, the present invention relates to a vision system of sawing & placement equipment, in which the position of a vision unit is selectively shifted according to a supply rate of the packages in order to inspect the packages at the most effective position, thus increasing the overall package processing efficiency, i.e., the unit per hour (UPH), of the equipment. Background Art

[2] In general, a semiconductor package is manufactured in such a manner that a semiconductor chip including transistors and capacitors integrated at a high density on a silicon semiconductor substrate is manufactured, the semiconductor chip is attached to a strip material such as a lead frame or a printed circuit board, the semiconductor chip and the strip material are electrically connected by mans of a wire, and the semiconductor chip is molded with epoxy resin to be protected from the external environment.

[3] Meanwhile, the thus manufactured semiconductor packages packaged on the strip material in a matrix type are subjected to sawing & placement equipment, in which the packages connected to one another on the strip material are cut and separated into individual packages and, at the same time, the separated packages are loaded in a tray according to predetermined quality criteria and transferred to the next process.

[4] As shown in FIG. 8, the conventional sawing & placement equipment for manufacturing the semiconductor package comprises an on-loader 10 for supplying a strip material, a strip picker 11 and a unit picker 12 moving along a two axis robot to load the strip material to a chuck table 13 or unload the individual packages from the chuck table 13, a first vision unit (not depicted) performing a vision inspection for the supplied strip material, the chuck table 13 for absorbing the strip material loaded by the pickers and rotating or moving the same in the horizontal direction, a sawing unit 14 for sawing the strip material transferred by the chuck table 13 into individual packages, a brush unit 15 and a cleaning unit 16 for removing foreign materials formed during the sawing process, a drying unit 17 for drying the individual packages after the cleaning process, and a handler for loading the individual packages in a tray according to predetermined quality criteria through the vision inspection.

[5] Here, the handler comprises a turntable picker 19 for moving the individual packages on a dry block of the drying unit 17 to a turntable 18, the turntable 18 for transferring the packages to an operation region of a sorting picker 20, and the sorting picker 20 for loading the packages on the turntable 18 in a tray 21.

[6] Moreover, the handler comprises two vision units for performing a sawing defect inspection, a ball inspection and a mark inspection for the packages. The two vision units include a second vision unit 22 capable of moving in the X-axis for the purpose of the ball inspection for the packages on the dry block and a third vision unit 23 for performing the vision inspection for the packages after the drying process. The X-axis vision unit 22 operates in the X-axis direction to perform the vision inspection for the top surface of the packages on the dry block operating in the Y-axis direction, and the vision unit 23 performs the vision inspection for the bottom surface of the packages being picked up by the sorting picker 20 operating in the X-axis direction.

[7] Accordingly, the individual packages sawn in the sawing process are loaded in the tray according to predetermined quality criteria and transferred to the next process. The individual packages sawn by the sawing unit 14 are inspected whether or not there is a defect through the vision inspection by the vision units.

[8] After the sawing process, the unit picker 12 picking up the packages transfers the packages to the cleaning unit 16 and the drying unit 17 sequentially to be cleaned and dried.

[9] During the drying process, the X-axis vision unit 22 inspects the defect on the top surface of the packages, and the packages after the drying process are placed on the turntable 18 by the turntable picker 19.

[10] Subsequently, the turntable 18 absorbing the packages moves to the position of the sorting picker 20 along rail means, and the sorting picker 20 absorbs the packages on the turntable 18 and moves to the vision unit 23 for the defect inspection of the bottom surface of the packages.

[11] When completing the vision inspection, the sorting picker 20 classifies the packages into superior and inferior packages according to the vision inspection and loads the classified packages in the tray.

[12] The information disclosed in this Background of the invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement of any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art that is already known to a person skilled in the art. Disclosure of Invention Technical Problem

[13] However, the conventional sawing & placement equipment as described above has a drawback in that the operation flow of the respective processes is not smooth in connection with a change in the specification of the packages.

[14] For example, in the case where the size of the packages is small, a blade of the sawing unit 14 should operates several times, and thus the operation time is delayed in the sawing unit 14 which corresponds to the first half of the equipment. Moreover, since the sorting picker 20 should sort a great number of small packages, it takes a lot of time.

[15] Contrarily, in the case where the size of the packages is large, the operation time required for the sawing unit 14 is reduced, and thus the packages should be promptly transferred from the sawing unit 14 to the next process. Moreover, since the sorting picker 20 sorts the large packages, it takes less time.

[16] As above, the conventional sawing & placement equipment has a drawback in that there is a limitation in improving the overall unit per hour (UPH) of the system since it cannot actively cope with the change in the operation time or processing time due to the change in the specification of the packages.

[17] Moreover, since sawing & placement equipment equipped with a flipping device has a structure in which two vision units repeat the ball inspection twice, in other words, one surface of the packages is photographed twice, it has a drawback in that it is required to inspect the other surface of the packages.

[18]

Technical Solution

[19] The present invention is directed to a vision system of sawing & placement equipment which performs a vision inspection in accordance with the operation time or processing time changed according to the package specification, thus improving the overall unit per hour (UPH) of the equipment.

[20] In one aspect, the present invention provides a vision system of sawing & placement equipment, the vision system comprising a vision unit for performing a vision inspection such as a sawing defect inspection, a ball inspection and a mark inspection for a package, wherein the vision unit selectively moves the position of the vision inspection using a guide rail extending in the Y-axis direction along an operation region between a turntable picker for moving the package on a drying unit to a turntable and a sorting picker for loading the package on the turntable in a tray.

[21] The vision unit may be positioned in an operation region of the turntable picker to perform the vision inspection for the package being picked up by the turntable picker.

[22] The vision unit may be positioned in an operation region of the sorting picker to perform the vision inspection for the package being picked up by the sorting picker.

[23] The vision unit may be a dual type vision unit.

[24] The vision unit may be applied to sawing & placement equipment equipped with a flipping device.

[25] In another aspect, the present invention provides a vision system of sawing & placement equipment, the vision system comprising a vision unit for performing a vision inspection such as a sawing defect inspection, a ball inspection and a mark inspection for a package, wherein the vision system comprises two sets of vision units provided on a guide rail extending in the Y-axis direction along an operation region between a turntable picker for moving the package on a drying unit to a turntable and a sorting picker for loading the package on the turntable in a tray, in which one set of the vision units is positioned in an operation region of the turntable picker to perform the vision inspection for the package being picked up by the turntable picker, or the other set is positioned in an operation region of the sorting picker to perform the vision inspection for the package being picked up by the sorting picker.

[26] In still another aspect, the present invention provides a vision system of sawing & placement equipment, the vision system comprising a vision unit for performing a vision inspection such as a sawing defect inspection, a ball inspection and a mark inspection for a package, wherein the vision system comprises two sets of vision units provided in an operation region of a turntable picker for moving the package on a drying unit to a turntable and in an operation region of a sorting picker for loading the package on the turntable in a tray, respectively, in which one set of the vision units performs the vision inspection for the package being picked up by the turntable picker, or set performs the vision inspection for the package being picked up by the sorting picker.

[27]

[28]

Brief Description of the Drawings

[29] The above and other features of the present invention will be described with reference to certain exemplary embodiments thereof illustrated the attached drawings in which:

[30] FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a vision system of sawing & placement equipment in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

[31] FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a vision system of sawing & placement equipment in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention;

[32] FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a vision system of sawing & placement equipment in accordance with still another preferred embodiment of the present invention;

[33] FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a vision system of sawing & placement equipment in accordance with yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention;

[34] FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a vision system of sawing & placement equipment in accordance with still yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention;

[35] FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a vision system of sawing & placement equipment in accordance with a further preferred embodiment of the present invention;

[36] FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a vision system of sawing & placement equipment in accordance with a still further preferred embodiment of the present invention; and

[37] FIG. 8 is a plan view showing a conventional vision system of sawing & placement equipment.

[38]

[39]

Mode for the Invention

[40] Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the drawings attached hereinafter, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below so as to explain the present invention by referring to the figures.

[41] The present invention provides a vision system of sawing & placement equipment, in which a vision unit is positioned in an operation region of a turntable picker to perform a vision inspection for the packages in advance so that a sorting picker performs only a sorting operation without separate vision inspection in the event that the time is delayed in a sawing unit due to the package specification and, contrarily, the vision unit is positioned in the operation region of the sorting picker which corresponds to the latter half of the equipment to perform the vision inspection for the packages in the event that the packages are rapidly supplied from the sawing unit.

[42] For example, in the case where the size of the packages is small, a blade of the sawing unit should operates several times, and thus the operation time is delayed in the sawing unit which corresponds to the first half of the equipment. Moreover, since the sorting picker should sort a great number of small packages, it takes a lot of time.

[43] In this case, the vision unit is positioned in the operation region of the turntable picker to perform the vision inspection for the packages in advance so as to utilize the delayed time caused in the sawing process. Accordingly, the sorting picker can perform only the sorting operation without separate vision inspection, and thus it is possible to improve the overall UPH of the equipment.

[44] Contrarily, in the case where the size of the packages is large, the blade operation time of the sawing unit is reduced, and thus it is required that the packages be rapidly transferred from the sawing unit to the next process.

[45] Moreover, since the sorting picker sorts large-sized packages of a small quantity, the sorting time is less required.

[46] Accordingly, in this case, the vision unit is positioned in the operation region of the sorting picker to perform the vision inspection for the packages so that the packages sawn by the blade may be rapidly transferred to the next process, thus improving the overall UPH of the equipment.

[47] Meanwhile, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the position of the vision unit is selectively shifted according to whether or not there is a flipping device to smoothly perform a ball inspection and a mark inspection for the packages.

[48] For example, in the event that the flipping device is equipped in the equipment, the vision unit is positioned beneath the operation region of the turntable picker to perform the vision inspection for the packages being picked up by the turntable picker after the ball inspection on the dry block, thus smoothly performing the ball inspection and the mark inspection for the packages.

[49] Contrarily, in the event that the flipping device is not equipped in the equipment, the vision unit is positioned beneath the operation region of the sorting picker to perform the mark inspection for the packages being picked up by the sorting picker after the ball inspection on the dry block.

[50] Accordingly, the position of the vision unit is shifted according to whether or not the flipping device is equipped to smoothly perform the ball inspection and the mark inspection.

[51] Like this, the present invention has a feature in that the position of the vision unit is selectively shifted according to the package specification to perform the vision inspection, thus improving the UPH of the equipment.

[52] Moreover, the present invention has a feature in that the position of the vision unit is selectively shifted according to whether or not the flipping device is equipped to perform the vision inspection, thus smoothly performing the ball inspection and the mark inspection for the packages.

[53] Next, the vision system of the sawing & placement equipment of the present invention will be described in more detail with respect to the accompanying drawings.

[54] FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a vision system of sawing & placement equipment in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, in which a vision unit 23 for performing a vision inspection for packages being picked up by a turntable picker 19 is shown.

[55] The vision unit 23 is positioned between a drying unit 17 for performing a drying process for the packages and a turntable 18 receiving the packages from the turntable picker 19. Moreover, the vision unit 23 is positioned beneath the turntable picker 19 to perform the vision inspection for the bottom surface of the packages being picked up by the turntable picker 19.

[56] Here, the vision system may be a conventional vision system including illumination means, camera means for photographing the packages, image processing means for receiving and processing an image signal from the camera means, and display means controlled by the image processing means to output an image from the camera means or an edited image from the image processing means. Moreover, in the present invention, any conventional method of processing and displaying an image signal from a camera may be used without limitations.

[57] The vision unit 23 includes means for enabling the vision unit 23 to move in the Y- axis direction.

[58] For this purpose, a guide rail 24 extending in the Y-axis direction along the operation region between the turntable picker 19 for moving the packages on the drying unit 17 to the turntable 18 and a sorting picker 20 for loading the packages on the turntable 18 in a tray 21 is provided.

[59] The guide rail 24 may be a conventional linear motion (LM) guide.

[60] Accordingly, the vision unit 23 supported on the guide rail 24 can selectively change its position for the vision inspection.

[61] That is, in the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the vision unit 23 performs the vision inspection in the operation region of the turntable picker 19 and further moves the position to the operation region of the sorting picker 20 using the guide rail 24 to perform the vision inspection, if necessary.

[62] Accordingly, the packages after the drying process are transferred to the turntable 18 by the turntable picker 19 and, during the transfer, the packages being picked up by the turntable picker 19 are subjected to the vision inspection such as a sawing defect inspection by the vision unit 23.

[63] Here, the vision inspection may be carried out in such a manner that the vision unit

23 moves in the Y-axis direction along the guide rail 24 to photograph the packages, of which the position is fixed, two to three times.

[64] Like this, the vision inspection in the operation region of the turntable picker 19 is advantageous when the size of the packages is small.

[65] That is, in the case where the small-sized packages are processed, the vision inspection carried out in the operation region of the turntable picker 19 is advantageous to improve the overall UPH of the equipment.

[66] For example, in the case where the size of the packages is small, the time required in the sawing process and the sorting process is increased. Accordingly, the vision inspection can be carried out in advance before the sorting process for the increased time, and thus it is possible to perform only the sorting operation in the sorting process, unlike the conventional method in which the sorting operation and the vision inspection are carried out at the same time. As a result, it is possible to reduce the time required in the sorting process, thus improving the overall UPH of the equipment.

[67] FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a vision system of sawing & placement equipment in accordance with another preferred embodiment of the present invention, in which a dual type vision unit 23 is shown.

[68] In case of the vision unit 23 in the dual type, the vision inspection can be completed only by photographing the packages being picked up by the turntable picker 19, of which the position is fixed, once or twice, and thus it is possible to reduce the time required for the vision inspection.

[69] FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a vision system of sawing & placement equipment in accordance with still another preferred embodiment of the present invention, in which a flipping device 25 is shown.

[70] The vision inspection such as a sawing defect inspection or a ball inspection for the packages placed on the dry block of the drying unit 17 is carried out by an X-axis vision unit 22, and the packages being picked up by the turntable picker 19 after the ball inspection are subjected to a sawing defect inspection or a mark inspection by a vision unit 23. The packages after the ball inspection and the mark inspection are flipped by the flipping device 25 to be placed on the turntable 18, and then subjected to the next sorting process.

[71] FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a vision system of sawing & placement equipment in accordance with yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention, in which a vision unit 23 for performing the vision inspection for the packages being picked up by the sorting picker 20 is shown.

[72] The vision unit 23 is positioned beneath the sorting picker 20 for sorting the packages to perform the vision inspection such as the sawing defect inspection for the bottom surfaces of the packages being picked up by the sorting picker 20.

[73] The vision unit 23 moves in the Y-axis direction along the guide rail 24 from the operation region of the turntable picker 19 to the operation region of the sorting picker 20 and performs the vision inspection in the moved position, i.e., in the operation region of the sorting picker 20.

[74] Accordingly, the packages on the turntable 18 are picked up by the sorting picker 20 and loaded in the tray 21 and, during the loading, the packages being picked up by the sorting picker 20 are subjected to the vision inspection such as the sawing defect inspection by the vision unit 23 positioned therebelow.

[75] Here, the vision inspection may also be carried out in such a manner that the vision unit 23 moves in the Y-axis direction to photograph the packages, of which the position is fixed, two to three times.

[76]

[77] *Like this, the vision inspection in the operation region of the sorting picker 20 is advantageous when the size of the packages is large.

[78] For example, since the time required in the sawing process or the sorting process is short, it is necessary that the packages be transferred to the next process as quick as possible.

[79] That is, since the blade operation time in the sawing process is reduced, it is required that the packages be rapidly transferred from the sawing unit to the next process.

[80] Accordingly, the vision inspection carried out in the latter half, i.e., in the sorting process, may be more effective than the vision inspection carried out in the process next to the sawing process.

[81] Moreover, since the sorting picker processes large-sized packages of a small quantity, the sorting time is less required, and thus it is possible to ensure sufficient time. That is, since the vision inspection is carried out for the sufficient time, an effective vision inspection is available, and thus it is possible to improve the overall UPH of the equipment.

[82] Meanwhile, the vision unit performing the vision inspection for the packages being picked up by the sorting picker as described above may be applied to the equipment equipped with the flipping device.

[83] FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a vision system of sawing & placement equipment in accordance with still yet another preferred embodiment of the present invention, in which a dual type vision unit 23 disposed in the operation region of the sorting picker 20 is shown.

[84] In case of the vision unit 23 in the dual type, since the vision inspection can be completed only by photographing the packages being picked up by the sorting picker 20, of which the position is fixed, once without movement, it is possible to reduce the time required for the vision inspection.

[85] Moreover, the dual type vision unit 23 has an advantage in that the vision inspection can be carried out at the same time for the packages on a dual type sorting picker.

[86] That is, since the dual type vision unit 23 can perform the vision inspection at the same time for the dual type sorting picker, compared with the single type vision unit which performs the vision inspection while moving along the moving position of the dual type sorting picker, it is possible to reduce the time required for the vision inspection.

[87] FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a vision system of sawing & placement equipment in accordance with a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, in which two sets of vision units 23 are shown.

[88] One set of the vision units 23 supported on the guide rail 24 is disposed in the operation region of the turntable picker 19, and the other is disposed in the operation region of the sorting picker 20 such that the respective vision units 23 may perform the vision inspection in the corresponding regions.

[89] In this case, the two sets of the vision unit 23 may be operated at the same time, or only one set selected according to the package specification may be operated.

[90] FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a vision system of sawing & placement equipment in accordance with a still further preferred embodiment of the present invention, in which two sets of vision units 23 are shown; however, the position of the vision units 23 is fixed.

[91] Even in this case, one set of the vision units 23, of which the position is fixed, (of course, the vision units can move in the Y-axis direction for photographing several times) is disposed in the operation region of the turntable picker 19, and the other is disposed in the operation region of the sorting picker 20 such that the respective vision units 23 may perform the vision inspection in the corresponding regions. Here, the two sets of the vision unit 23 may be operated at the same time, or only one set selected according to the package specification may be operated.

[92] As described above, the present invention provides a vision system of sawing & placement equipment in which the position of the vision unit is shifted selectively according to the change in the specification of the packages to perform the vision inspection such as the sawing defect inspection, thus increasing the unit per hour (UPH) of the equipment.

[93] Moreover, since the position of the vision unit can be shifted in the equipment equipped with the flipping device, it is possible to effectively perform the vision inspection for both sides of the packages.

[94] As above, preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described and illustrated, however, the present invention is not limited thereto, rather, it should be understood that various modifications and variations of the present invention can be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and the technical scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

[95]

[96]

[97]

[98]

Claims

[1] A vision system of sawing & placement equipment, the vision system comprising a vision unit for performing a vision inspection such as a sawing defect inspection, a ball inspection and a mark inspection for a package, wherein the vision unit selectively moves the position of the vision inspection using a guide rail extending in the Y-axis direction along an operation region between a turntable picker for moving the package on a drying unit to a turntable and a sorting picker for loading the package on the turntable in a tray.

[2] The vision system of sawing & placement equipment of claim 1, wherein the vision unit is positioned in an operation region of the turntable picker to perform the vision inspection for the package being picked up by the turntable picker.

[3] The vision system of sawing & placement equipment of claim 1, wherein the vision unit is positioned in an operation region of the sorting picker to perform the vision inspection for the package being picked up by the sorting picker.

[4] The vision system of sawing & placement equipment of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the vision unit is a dual type vision unit.

[5] The vision system of sawing & placement equipment of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the vision unit is applied to sawing & placement equipment equipped with a flipping device.

[6] A vision system of sawing & placement equipment, the vision system comprising a vision unit for performing a vision inspection such as a sawing defect inspection, a ball inspection and a mark inspection for a package, wherein the vision system comprises two sets of vision units provided on a guide rail extending in the Y-axis direction along an operation region between a turntable picker for moving the package on a drying unit to a turntable and a sorting picker for loading the package on the turntable in a tray, in which one set of the vision units is positioned in an operation region of the turntable picker to perform the vision inspection for the package being picked up by the turntable picker, or the other set is positioned in an operation region of the sorting picker to perform the vision inspection for the package being picked up by the sorting picker.

[7] A vision system of sawing & placement equipment, the vision system comprising a vision unit for performing a vision inspection such as a sawing defect inspection, a ball inspection and a mark inspection for a package, wherein the vision system comprises two sets of vision units provided in an operation region of a turntable picker for moving the package on a drying unit to a turntable and in an operation region of a sorting picker for loading the package on the turntable in a tray, respectively, in which one set of the vision units performs the vision inspection for the package being picked up by the turntable picker, or the other set performs the vision inspection for the package being picked up by the sorting picker.