Air film conveyor for transporting semiconductor chips

Claim 1

A transport system for transporting semiconductor chips comprising: (a) a loading or input station (20) at which a plurality of semiconductor chips (26) is assembled; (b) an unloading or output station (30) at which a plurality of said chips is mounted on ceramic substrates (34) for eventual interconnection to external circuitry; (c) first vacuum pick-up means (28) for picking up said chips from the loading station and transferring them to the upstream end of a conveyor (10) ; (d) second vacuum pick-up means (32) for picking up said chips at the downstream end of said conveyor and transferring them to said unloading station; (e) an air film shuttle conveyor (10) for conveying said chips from said loading (20) to said unloading station (30), said conveyor comprising a base plate (42) and upstanding said side walls (48) extending longitudinally of said base plate, said side walls being spaced apart a distance slightly greater than the lateral dimension of said chips; characterized by means providing a motion controlling laminar air flow which surrounds said chips and forms a an air film supporting said chips and propelling them downstream such that the slight spacing between the chips and the side walls causes the flow resistance to be higher in the one region defined by said slight spacing than in the region defined by the spacing between said chips, whereby a continous and flexible separation action occurs between said chips.