Patent ID: 6025567
Filing Date: 2000-02-15
Classification: B07C,G01R,Y10S

Abstract:
A machine for continuously testing and sorting large quantities of miniature capacitor chips, said chips having electrically conductive surfaces on opposite ends thereof, comprising:a) a thin, endless belt arranged to pass over a plurality of rotatable pulleys, at least one of which contains outwardly extending pulley drive pins spaced thereabout that match up with a like plurality of first apertures formed in said belt for driving said belt at a controlled speed over a continuous path;b) a plurality of second apertures formed in said belt and spaced uniformly therealong, each aperture surrounded by a flattened elastomeric mask and having a slot formed therethrough from one surface of said belt to the other surface of said belt;c) first means for feeding individual chips, one at a time, from an inventory of loose chips into said masks in said belt, in a controlled orientation;d) second means for testing the electrical properties of the chips while the chips remain in the masks and are moved along with said belt, to measure certain electrical properties specific thereto;e) third means for temporarily registering the measured electrical properties of a particular chip with the particular mask in which the chip resides in said belt; and,f) a binning wheel, spaced-apart from said first and second means, pivotally mounted on a shaft in said machine for receiving the tested chips from said masks in a controlled fashion, locating chip bins, spaced apart from said wheel, that are specific to certain different ranges of measured electrical properties, and transferring each chip received from said belt to one of the bins in which the chip exhibits measured electrical properties that fall within the range thereof.