Unisys Corporation

Burroughs, Inc.

Other

Ronald Allen Norell

Kenneth Walter Economy

Wilbur T Layton

Richard Leigh Bumann

James A Roecker

James Mason Brafford

James W Horner

Leonard Harry Alton

Gordon O Zablotny

Jerry Ihor Tustaniwskyi

Norman E McNeal

Ronald Jack Kuntz

Richard A Nagy

Lorraine Lo-Lan Wing

Elvira Widyani Preecha

David John Ditri

Kenneth Patrick Reilich

Joel Elwood Wing

Robert D Curtis

An integrated circuit tester includes a fail-safe mechanism for moving an integrated circuit chip between an initial position where the integrated circuit chip is inserted into the tester, and a test position where the integrated circuit chips is actually tested. This fail-safe mechanism includes a motor and a shaft which the motor rotates to move the integrated circuit chip. An electronic control circuit can be included to automatically stop the motor when the integrated circuit reaches its initial position, or its test position; but if the control circuit fails to operate properly, then damage to the integrated circuit tester is prevented by the fail-safe mechanism.

Integrated circuit tester having a fail-safe mechanism for moving IC-chips

An integrated circuit package is processed by a grinding step, a dissolving step, and a disintegrating step. The grinding step grinds an IC-chip completely off of a substrate, and it also grinds a first portion of a filler layer and a first portion of a set of solder balls which attach the IC-chip to the substrate. This leaves a partial filler layer and partial solder balls on the substrate. The dissolving step dissolves the partial filler layer off of the substrate after the grinding step; and the disintegration step disintegrates at least part of each partial solder ball by subjecting the partial solder balls on the substrate to ultrasonic vibration after the dissolving step. These steps leave the substrate with small solder mounds that can be easily attached to another IC-chip with another set of solder balls.

Process for recycling a substrate from an integrated circuit package

I/O columns are cast on the I/O pads of an electronic component via a process which uses a template that has a set of alignment holes, and a set of casting holes, and an additional set of pin holes that are interspersed with the casting holes. Initially, the template is placed in a fixture such that the casting holes align with the I/O pads of the electronic component. Next, the template is covered with a mask that exposes all of the casting holes but blocks all of the pin holes. Then the exposed casting holes in the template are filled with a solid metallic material. Next the mask is removed, and the metallic material in the casting holes is melted and re-solidified to thereby form the I/O columns on the I/O pads. Then the electronic component with its I/o columns is separated from the template by pushing on the component with pins that are passed through the pin holes in the template. Since the pin holes are interspersed with the casting holes, the electronic component is pushed away from the mask without bending the template. Consequently, the I/O columns do not bind in the casting holes; and thus they do not break as they pushed from the template.

Method of casting I/O columns on an electronic component with a high

A method of cutting input/output columns on an electronic component includes the steps of: providing a shear plate which has a thickness that is less than the length of the columns and which has respective holes for receiving all of the columns; inserting the columns into the holes until a portion of the columns extend past the shear plate; placing a blade, with a cutting edge, at an acute angle against the shear plate such that only the cutting edge of the blade touches the shear plate; and, sliding the cutting edge of the blade against shear plate and through the portion of the columns which extend past the shear plate, while keeping the blade at the acute angle. With this method, crater-like voids and burrs on the cut ends of the columns are eliminated.

Method of forming I/O columns with open ends that are free of

Solder balls are placed onto multiple I/O pads of an integrated circuit package by the steps of a) providing a template with a channel which has multiple openings on a surface of the template that match the pattern of the I/O pads; b) pouring a plurality of the solder balls onto the surface of the template; c) vibrating the template and thereby seating a respective solder ball in each of the template openings; d) turning the template over, after the vibrating step and while a vacuum is applied to the channel, to remove excess solder balls from the template; and e) removing the vacuum from the channel when the solder balls on the turned over template are aligned to the I/O pads of the integrated circuit package. Due to the vibrating step, the solder balls settle in the template openings in a position where vacuum leaks past the solder balls become minimized; and that stops the solder balls from dropping out of the template openings when the template is turned over. Also, since the steps a-d place the solder balls on all of the I/O pads in parallel, the time in which those steps are performed is many times smaller than the time in which a pick and place machine can put the solder balls on all of the I/O pads sequentially.

Vibrating template method of placing solder balls on the I/O pads of an

Multiple I/O pads are arranged in a pattern on a surface of an integrated circuit package, and an obstruction in the package prevents a planer solder flux mask from lying flat on the surface around the I/O pads. Such an obstruction can, for example, be a lid in the package which projects above the I/O pads, or it can be an encapsulant which covers a chip in the package and projects above the I/O pads. Despite the presence of the obstruction, solder flux is dispensed on the I/O pads of the integrated circuit package by the steps of --a) providing a pin block that has a base from which multiple pins project, and the ends of the pins match the pattern of the I/O pads; b) coating the ends of the pins with a solder flux; and, c) transferring a portion of the solder flux from the ends of the pins to the I/O pads by temporarily touching the coated ends of the pins against the I/O pads. During this transferring step, the coated ends of the pins are moved past the obstruction and touched against the I/O pads without touching the obstruction.

Pin block method of dispensing solder flux onto the I/O pads of an

A pressure-mountable, electro-mechanical assembly includes a housing which holds an integrated circuit chip in an open cavity; and, the housing has conductors that connect the chip to a pattern of metal pads on an exterior surface of the housing. A lid lies on the exterior surface of the housing, covers the cavity, and has terminal holes that match and expose the pattern of metal pads. Respective conductive springs are held in the terminal holes, contact the metal pads, and project from the lid. This lid operates as both a protective cover for the chip and a carrier for the springs.

Electromechanical assembly having a lid which protects IC chips and

A heat transfer module, comprises: a heat generating unit and a heat receiving unit which are separated by a gap; a compliant body, having microscopic voids therethrough, which is compressed into the gap; and a liquid metal alloy that is absorbed in the microscopic voids in the compliant body. Further, the heat transfer module also includes a seal ring in the gap which surrounds the compliant body and which is spaced apart from the compliant body; and, the compliant body is intentionally compressed so much that a portion of the liquid metal alloy is squeezed from the compliant body into the space between the compliant body and the seal ring. Squeezing liquid metal alloy from the compliant body lowers the thermal resistance between the heat generating unit and the heat receiving unit by increasing the area through which heat is transferred and by increasing the thermal conductivity through the compliant body.

Heat transfer module incorporating liquid metal squeezed from a

A sub-assembly for transferring heat between a heat generating unit and heat receiving unit which are separated by a gap, comprises: a compliant body having microscopic voids therethrough; a liquid metal alloy that is absorbed in the microscopic voids in the compliant body; a seal ring which surrounds the compliant body; and, a retaining member which is attached to the compliant body and the seal ring, and which holds the compliant body spaced apart from the seal ring. This sub-assembly is placed in the gap between the two units and compressed to the point where liquid metal alloy is squeezed out of the compliant body. Squeezing liquid metal alloy from the compliant body lowers the thermal resistance between the heat generating unit and the heat receiving unit by increasing the area through which heat is transferred and by increasing the thermal conductivity through the compliant body. Also in the sub-assembly, the retainer holds the compliant body in an easily replaceable fashion; and this becomes important when the heat generating unit needs to be replaced.

Heat transfer sub-assembly incorporating liquid metal surrounded by a

To manufacture I/O terminals on I/O pads of an electronic component, the electronic component, together with a transparent alignment component which has a reference feature, is placed in a fixture such that the I/O pads are seen through the alignment component and a first one of the two components has a fixed position in the fixture. Thereafter, a second one of the two components is moved in the fixture until a particular position is reached where the I/O pads are aligned with the reference feature; and at that particular position the second one of the two components is confined. Subsequently, the alignment component is replaced at its particular position in the fixture, as attained by the above steps, with an opaque template which has a hole pattern that matches and aligns with the I/O pads. Then, the template hole pattern as positioned by the replacing step, is used to fabricate the I/O terminals on the I/O pads.

Method of manufacturing I/O terminals on I/O pads

A punch die used to punch minute via holes in ceramic wafers used in integrated circuit construction is created by photoetching holes too small to be mechanically drilled into a pair of thin sheets that sandwich therebetween a thicker spacer slab having somewhat larger, mechanically drilled holes. A multiplicity of punch pins are then pressed into the three-layer sandwich and epoxied thereto to create an inexpensive a punch die which cooperates with a mechanically drilled die plate covered with a punch-pin receiving perforated skin, the holes in which being created in a similar photoetching process.

Via hole punch

Via holes in a thin planar layer of unfired ceramic which consists essentially of a mixture of an inorganic nonmetallic powder having a high melting temperature and a binder having a lower vaporizing temperature, are formed by the steps of: directing a laser beam, in a sequence, at certain locations on the layer where the via holes are to be formed; controlling the power density in the directed laser beam to a low level at which the binder vaporizes at each of the locations while the powder stays unsintered and unmelted; and removing from the directed laser beam during the above steps, both the vaporized binder and the unbound powder which remains where the binder vaporizes. Preferably, the vaporizing temperature of the binder and the melting temperature of the binder and the melting temperature of the powder are selected such that they differ by at least 200.degree. C.; the power density of the laser is controlled to be between 5 kW/cm.sup.2 and 75 kW/cm.sup.2 ; and the removing step is performed by impinging a gas jet at each location where the laser beam is directed and simultaneously vacuuming the location.

Method of forming holes in unfired ceramic layers of integrated circuit

A multichip integrated circuit module includes a ceramic substrate, a plurality of integrated circuit chips mounted on the substrate, and a metal lid which covers the chips and rests on the substrate without attaching to it. Also, the module includes two thin cylindrical members. One cylindrical member surrounds the substrate and makes an airtight solder joint to the substrate's perimeter, while the other cylindrical member surrounds the lid and makes an airtight solder joint to the lid's perimeter. Both cylindrical members run parallel to each other and make an airtight welded joint with each other. When the lid and substrate thermally expand at unequal rates, one thin cylindrical member is deflected by the other member. When a defective chip is replaced, the joint between the two cylindrical members is ground away; and subsequently, the remaining parallel portions of the cylindrical members are rewelded together.

Low stress multichip module

An integrated circuit package comprises a plurality of thin flat epoxy-glass layers which are arranged in a stack and are laminated together by prepreg layers that lie between the epoxy-glass layers. This stack has a cavity which is staircase-shaped and extends from an outer epoxy-glass layer to an internal epoxy-glass layer, goes parallel along the internal epoxy-glass layer and then penetrates through it. Patterned electrical conductors lie on the flat surface of the internal epoxy-glass layer, including wire bonding pads on its exposed flat surface portion.

Epoxy-glass integrated circuit package having bonding pads in a stepped

An integrated circuit package is fabricated by assembling a stack which is comprised of a plurality of thin flat epoxy-glass layers, adhesive layers between the epoxy-glass layers, and a staircase-shaped cavity. This cavity extends from an outer epoxy-glass layer to an internal epoxy-glass layer, goes parallel along a portion of the flat surface of the internal epoxy-glass layer, and then penetrates through it. Conductors lie on the internal epoxy-glass layer including bonding pads on the flat surface portion. After the stack is assembled, the outer epoxy-glass layer and the cavity are covered with an elastic bladder. Subsequently, the stack is laminated by forcing a fluid into the bladder at a temperature and pressure which causes the bladder's membrane to stretch and push against all the surfaces of the cavity. This dams the adhesive from flowing onto the bonding pads.

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Oceanside, CA, United States of America

Ronald Allen Norell