Electro Scientific Industries, Inc.

Malcolm Vincent Hawkes

Jeffrey L Fish

Douglas John Garcia

Denver Braden

Vernon P Cooke

Steven David Swendrowski

Mitsuaki Tani

Martin J Twite, Iii

Evart David Shealey

Robert S Burgoyne

Donald Liu

Romulo V De Vera

Hsang Wang

Jon Stuart Wright

Martin S Voshell

An apparatus for accurately locating a micro-electronic chip in a chip-holding cavity for visual testing, the chip having at least a front wall and a pair of opposed, spaced-apart side walls, wherein the front wall meets with each of the side walls to form opposed, spaced-apart first and second front edges, comprising a cavity side wall formed to juxtapositionally abut at least one of the side walls of the chip, the cavity side wall having formed therein a depression creating a shadow projecting forward from the depression, wherein the first front edge of the chip forms a border of the shadow to form an objectively measurable contrast in grayness between the shadow and the chip.

Shadow-creating depression for establishing microchip location during visual inspection

This invention is a visual inspection machine for a surface mount passive component (chip) made up of a rotating circular loader wheel inclined to the horizontal and including an upper exposed wheel surface against which an inventory of chips is placed for loading and a rim in which a plurality of cavities, of a size and shape to accept a single chip therein in an upright position, are formed, each cavity defined by a pair of spaced-apart cavity side walls, a rear cavity wall, and having a corner chamfer leading down thereinto from the wheel surface located on the side wail of the cavity in the direction of rotation of the loader wheel, a first vacuum station connected to the loader wheel for providing vacuum power in each cavity for retaining each chip in a cavity for a first inspection, a first inspection station, external the loader wheel, for viewing a first side surface of the chip during its location in the cavity on the loader wheel, a transfer wheel defined by an outer marginal edge, the wheel arranged planar to the loader wheel and in coordinated juxtaposed movement therewith for receiving the chips from the cavities in the loader wheel to the outer marginal edge of the transfer wheel for subsequent movement therewith, a second inspection station, external the transfer wheel, for viewing other external surfaces of the chips during their movement on the transfer wheel, computer/processor for tracking the positions of the chips that have passed and failed inspection by the first and the second inspection station, first removal means for ejecting chips that have failed inspection from the outer marginal edge of the transfer wheel for capture at a location, and a second removal station for removing chips that have passed inspection from the outer marginal edge of the transfer wheel for capture at another location.

Inspection machine for surface mount passive component

One or more concentric rings of component seats are rotatable about the rings' center. The seats are uniformly angularly spaced and the rings are incrementally rotated, the increment of rotation being the angular space between adjacent seats. The rings are inclined at an angle and a stream of components is poured onto the rings as they are rotating. Stationary fences adjacent to outboard sides of the seats, confine unseated components to tumble randomly, due to gravity, over empty seats passing through arcs of the rings' rotation paths. The random tumbling results in seated components. In the paths of the rotating rings are electrical contactors for coupling the components to a tester. Preferably there are five contactor stations to permit five different kinds of tests to be performed simultaneously. Tested components pass beneath an ejection manifold which defines a plurality of ejection holes which register with a set of seats each time the ring is rotated an increment. Ejection tubes are coupled to the ejection holes. The components are ejected from their seats by blasts of air from selectively actuated, respective pneumatic valves. Due to the blast of air and gravity, the ejected components travel down the tubes and are directed into sorting bins according to a tube routing plate. The stream of components can be selectively directed to each fence in response to a signal from a detector indicating that the fence is deprived of components. Sensors detect seated components that were not ejected by the ejection manifold.

Electrical circuit component handler

Growing community of inventors

Escondido, CA, United States of America

Malcolm Vincent Hawkes