초록 ▼

Apparatus for placing conductive spheres on prefluxed bond pads of a substrate using a stencil plate with a pattern of through-holes positioned over the bond pads. Conductive spheres are placed in the through-holes by a moving feed mechanism and the spheres drop through the through-holes onto the bo

Apparatus for placing conductive spheres on prefluxed bond pads of a substrate using a stencil plate with a pattern of through-holes positioned over the bond pads. Conductive spheres are placed in the through-holes by a moving feed mechanism and the spheres drop through the through-holes onto the bond pads. In one embodiment, the feed mechanism is a sphere hopper which crosses the entire through-hole pattern. In another embodiment, a shuttle plate fed spheres from a reservoir and reversibly moves about one-half of the pitch, moving from a non-discharge position to a discharge position.

대표청구항 ▼

What is claimed is: 1. An apparatus for positioning conductive spheres having a mean diameter on a substrate, the apparatus comprising: a stencil plate with a first pattern of a plurality of through-holes, each through-hole of the plurality having a diameter, the stencil plate configured to positio

What is claimed is: 1. An apparatus for positioning conductive spheres having a mean diameter on a substrate, the apparatus comprising: a stencil plate with a first pattern of a plurality of through-holes, each through-hole of the plurality having a diameter, the stencil plate configured to position a plurality of conductive spheres in the first pattern on a surface of a substrate; a shuttle plate parallel to the stencil plate and proximate thereto, the shuttle plate having a second pattern of a plurality of through-holes corresponding to the first pattern, each through-hole of the second pattern of a plurality of through-holes having a diameter; apparatus for moving the shuttle plate from a first position wherein the first and second patterns are substantially aligned to a second position wherein the first and second patterns are non-aligned; and conductive sphere supply apparatus for positioning the conductive spheres in the first pattern of a plurality of through-holes, the conductive sphere supply apparatus including a container having a bottom end disposed proximate the shuttle plate, an opening extending through the bottom end having a cross-sectional dimension greater than about twice the mean diameter of the conductive spheres, and having a third pattern of through-holes essentially corresponding to the second pattern, the container having no bottom and sidewalls extending downwardly to proximate the shuttle plate, the conductive spheres dropping into the plurality of through-holes of the second pattern as the shuttle plate is moved, the sidewalls encompassing a major portion of the first pattern. 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the third pattern is aligned with the first pattern. 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the third pattern is non-aligned with the first pattern. 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the diameters of the plurality of through-holes of the second pattern are greater than the mean diameter of the conductive spheres by up to 1 mm.