Semiconductor die bonder

Claim 2

Apparatus for placing semiconductor dice on bonding pads and bonding these dice to said bonding pads which comprises: means for holding in a first horizontal plane a plurality of dice to be bonded to bonding pads; means for picking up and transferring a die from said means for holding to a die bonding pad located in a second horizontal plane above said first horizontal plane on a support structure containing a multiplicity of bonding pads; means, movable by an operator, for supporting said means for holding, said means for supporting being capable of being moved to properly position in sequence each die on said means for holding beneath said means for picking up and transferring; means for indicating when each die is properly positioned beneath said means for picking up and transferring; means for heating said support structure and its multiplicity of bonding pads to a desired temperature; means for moving the support structure along said means for heating so that each bonding pad on said support structure is sequentially in the proper location to receive a die brought from said means for holding by said means for picking up and transferring; and means for supplying power to said means for picking up and transferring and to said means for moving said support structure.

Claim 3

Structure as in claim 1 wherein said means for moving said support structure comprises means for moving a lead frame strip containing groups of leads held together by tie bars, all but a portion of each group of leads being held in a vertical plane by said means for moving, while said portion of each group of leads contains a bonding pad located in said second horizontal plane.

Claim 4

Apparatus for bonding semiconductor dice to bonding pads which comprises: means for holding in a first horizontal plane a plurality of dice to be bonded to bonding pads; means for picking up and transferring a die from said means for holding to a die bonding pad located in a second horizontal plane above said first horizontal plane on a support structure containing a multiplicity of bonding pads; means, movable by an operator, for supporting said means for holding, said means for supporting being capable of being moved to properly position in sequence each die on said means for holding beneath said means for picking up and transferring; means for indicating when each die is properly positioned beneath said means for picking up and transferring; means for heating said support structure and its multiplicity of bonding pads to a desired temperature; means for moving the support structure along said means for heating so that each bonding pad on said support structure is sequentially in the proper location to receive a die brought from said means for holding by said means for picking up and transferring, said means for moving comprising: index finger means; means for periodically inserting said index finger means into, and withdrawing them from, said support structure; means for moving said index finger means along said means for heating in one direction when said index finger means are inserted into said support structure and in the other direction when said index finger means are withdrawn from said support structure, thereby to properly position a bonding pad for the receipt of a die brought from said means for holding by said means for transferring; and means for supplying power to said means for picking up and transferring and to said means for moving said support structure.

Claim 5

Apparatus for bonding semiconductor dice to bonding pads which comprises: means for holding in a first horizontal plane a plurality of dice to be bonded to bonding pads; means for picking up and transferring a die from said means for holding to a die bonding pad located in a second horizontal plane above said first horizontal plane on a support structure containing a multiplicity of bonding pads; means, movable by an operator, for supporting said means for holding, said means for supporting being capable of being moved to properly position in sequence each die on said means for holding beneath said means for picking up and transferring; means for indicating when each die is properly positioned beneath said means for picking up and transferring; means for heating said support structure and its multiplicity of bonding pads to a desired temperature; means for moving the support structure along said means for heating so that each bonding pad on said support structure is sequentially in the proper location to receive a die brought from said means for holding by said means for picking up and transferring, said means for moving comprising: index finger means; means for periodically inserting said index finger means into, and withdrawing them from, said support structure; means for moving said index finger means along said means for heating in one direction when said index finger means are inserted into said support structure and in the other direction when said index finger means are withdrawn from said support structure, thereby to properly position a bonding pad for the receipt of a die brought from said means for holding by said means for transferring; and means for supplying power to said means for picking up and transferring and to said means for moving said support structure.

Claim 6

Structure as in claim 3 wherein said means for moving includes: means for pressing said support structure against said means for heating during the times said index fingers are withdrawn from said support structure.

Claim 7

Structure as in claim 4 wherein said means for picking up and transferring a die from said means for holding to a die bonding pad comprises: two-ended support arm means, rotatably and slideably attached at one end on an air bearing to a vertical shaft; die pick-up needle means slideably mounted in the other end of said arm so as periodically to contact a properly positioned die on said means for holding; and means for periodically applying a vacuum to said pick-up needle to allow said needle to draw said die from said means for holding.

Claim 8

Structure as in claim 5 wherein said means for supplying power to said means for picking up and transferring a die and to said means for moving said support structure comprises: a motor; a single drive shaft means driven by said motor; five cam means rigidly mounted on said drive shaft means; and first linkage means driven by two of said cams for simultaneously rotating said means for picking up and transferring about said vertical shaft and lifting said means for picking up and transferring along said vertical shaft thereby to move said die from said means for holding to said bonding pad, said means for picking up and transferring substantially simultaneously following a vertical motion along, and a radial motion about, said shaft; and second linkage means connected to the remaining three of said cams for inserting and removing the index fingers into and from said support structure, for imparting reciprocal horizontal motion to said means for moving the support structure and for pressing said support structure against said means for heating while said means for picking up and transferring a die deposits a die on the proper bonding pad.

Claim 9

Structure as in claim 6 wherein said means for supplying power comprises: means for periodically shutting off said motor for a given period of time a selected number of times each bonding cycle thereby to allow the bonding rate of said apparatus for bonding semiconductor dice to bonding pads to be adjusted according to operator proficiency.

Claim 10

Structure as in claim 1 wherein said means for indicating comprises: means for supplying a light beam which intersects said first horizontal plane in a position directly beneath the position occupied by said means for picking up and transferring a die at the moment said means for picking up and transferring a die picks up a die from said means for holding; and means through which an operator can visually observe that a die on said means for holding is properly within said light beam prior to picking up and transferring said die from said means for holding to a bonding pad.

Claim 11

Structure as in claim 1 including in addition: carrier means for containing a plurality of support structures to which dice are to be bonded.

Claim 12

Structure as in claim 9 including means for indexing said carrier means so as to align properly each support structure with said means for moving to allow said support structure to be transferred from said carrier means to said means for moving.

Claim 13

Structure as in claim 10 including second carrier means for receiving a plurality of support structures to which dice have been bonded after all bonding pads on each support structure have received dice.

Claim 14

Structure as in claim 11 including: means for indexing said second carrier means so as to properly receive each support structure disgorged from said means for moving.

Claim 15

Structure as in claim 12 wherein said means for indexing said carrier means and said means for indexing said second carrier means each comprise: a carrier deck driven by a tension spring in a selected direction perpendicular to said means for moving; ratchet means containing teeth on a ratchet assembly on the bottom of said carrier deck; first and second pawls containing pointed ends for engaging a given tooth on said ratchet means to hold said carrier deck in selected positions, the end of the second pawl being one-half tooth pitch in said direction from the end of the first pawl; means, responsive to an operator, for disengaging the said first pawl from said ratchet means thereby allowing said tension spring to draw said carrier deck in said selected direction; and means for driving said second pawl to engage the tooth previously engaged by said first pawl after said carrier deck has travelled one-half tooth pitch from said first pawl in the direction of travel of said carrier deck, and when said operator releases said means for disengaging, for driving said first pawl to engage the next following ratchet tooth simultaneously disengaging said second pawl from said preceding ratchet tooth, thereby to allow said carrier deck to be drawn by said pre-tension spring one tooth pitch in said direction.