Semiconductor preheater with inclined rotary feed

An apparatus for preheating semiconductor devices including a base having a slanted surface, a frame mounted on the slanted surface, a rotary shaft mounted between support plates of the frame, storage chutes radially provided between rotary disks fixed to the rotary shaft for containing semiconductors to be heated therein, a heater surrounding the storage chutes for heating the storage chutes, a motor for rotating the storage chutes at a predetermined angle, a sensing unit for sensing the supply and discharge of semiconductor devices to and from the storage chutes and the rotational angle of the rotary shaft, and a discharging unit for discharging semiconductor devices from the storage chutes. The semiconductor devices contained in the storage chutes are supplied and discharged to and from the storage chutes by use of a single inlet and outlet and are heated while rotating the storage chutes at a predetermined angle, thereby obtaining a uniform heating of semiconductor devices and an automation of preheating procedure.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to a preheating apparatus which is utilized 
in measuring devices such as a test handler which measures the performance 
of semiconductor device at a high temperature and more particularly, to a 
semiconductor device preheating apparatus which has an excellent uniform 
heating capability and is easy in manufacture and control. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
Various types of the preheating apparatuses for use in a test handler are 
well known in the art. One conventional preheating apparatus is 
illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the conventional 
preheating apparatus comprises a hot tray 41, a heater 40 attached at the 
rear surface of the hot tray 41, a plurality of partitions 42 fixed in 
front of the hot tray 41 at a predetermined interval for forming a 
plurality of heating chambers 41a containing and heating semiconductor 
devices 43 therein, and a stop bar 45 provided at the lower side of the 
hot tray 41 for blocking the semiconductor devices 43 which are dropped 
down from respective heating chambers 41a. 
In addition, a motor 41 is mounted at one side of the hot tray 41 and a 
pair of drive sprockets 46 are mounted at a shaft 45' of the motor 41. The 
drive sprockets 46 are connected to a pair of driven sprockets (not shown) 
by means of a pair of chains 47. 
Also, a plurality of cleat members 48 are attached to the chains 47 so that 
they may be conveyed together with the chains 47. And, a number of 
solenoids 49 are mounted at the lower side of respective heating chambers 
41a so that their plunger rods 49a penetrate each passage of the heating 
chambers 41a. That is, the passage of the respective heating chambers 41a 
is opened or closed by the respective plunger rod 49a of the solenoid 49. 
In FIG. 2, reference numeral 50 is a cover plate of the apparatus. 
In such a conventional apparatus, when semiconductor devices 43 are 
supplied consecutively through the upper portion of each of the heating 
chambers 41a of the hot tray 41, the semiconductor devices 43 are stored 
in the heating chambers 41a by the plunger rods 49a of the solenoid 49 and 
preheated by heat from the heater 40. After a predetermined time has 
elapsed, the heating chambers 41a are opened in turn by the operation of 
the solenoids 49 so that the semiconductor devices 43 are held by the stop 
bar 44. In this state, the cleats 48 are moved toward the outlet 51 by the 
driving force from the motor 45 so that the semiconductor devices 43 which 
have been laid on the stop bar 44 are conveyed by the cleats 48 and 
dropped down in turn through the outlet 51. 
Such a conventional apparatus, however, has disadvantages in that since the 
construction is relatively complicated it is improper for a small-sized 
measuring device and expensive in manufacturing cost. Also, since it has a 
number of inlets for inserting semiconductor devices into the heating 
chambers, it is difficult to apply the apparatus to automatic system. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a 
semiconductor device preheating apparatus which can overcome the 
above-mentioned problems. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor 
device preheating apparatus which is capable of enhancing the supplying 
and preheating efficiency of semiconductor devices by providing a 
plurality of storage chutes within a cylindrical heat chamber, preheating 
semiconductor devices while supplying and discharging in turn the 
semiconductor devices to and from the storage chutes by use of a single 
inlet and an outlet. 
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a 
semiconductor device preheating apparatus which is capable of correctly 
and easily controlling the supply speed and preheating time of 
semiconductors by providing sensors an inlet chute and outlet chute for 
sensing the coming in and out of semiconductor devices and by providing a 
sensor for sensing the amount of rotation of storage chutes. 
Other objects and further scope of applicability of the present invention 
will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. It 
should be understood, however, that the detailed description and specific 
examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are 
given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications 
within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those 
skilled in the art from this detailed description. 
Briefly described, the present invention relates to a semiconductor device 
preheating apparatus which comprises a base having a slanted surface, a 
frame mounted on said slanted surface, a rotary shaft mounted between 
support plates of the frame and provided at both ends thereof with rotary 
disks, storage chutes radially provided between the rotary disks, a heater 
for heating the storage chutes, a driving unit for rotating the rotary 
shaft, a sensing unit for sensing the supply or the discharge of 
semiconductor devices to or from the storage chutes and the rotation angle 
of the storage chutes, and a discharging unit for discharging 
semiconductor devices from the storage chutes.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring now in detail to the drawings for the purpose of illustrating 
preferred embodiments of the present invention, the semiconductor device 
preheating apparatus as shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, comprises a base 1 having a 
slanted surface 1a, a frame 2 mounted on the slanted surface 1a of the 
base 1, a rotary shaft 3 mounted between support plates 2a and 2b of the 
frame 2, a pair of rotary disks 4 fixed at both ends of the rotary shaft 
3, a plurality of storage chutes 5 radially disposed between the rotary 
disks 4, a heater 6 disposed around the storage chutes 5 for heating the 
storage chutes 5, a heat chamber 7 supported by and fixed on the frame 2 
for condensing heat from the heater 6 toward the storage chutes 5, a 
driving unit 20 for driving the rotary shaft 3 to rotate the storage 
chutes 5, a sensing unit 30 for sensing the supply and discharge of 
semiconductor devices to and from the storage chutes 5 and the amount of 
rotation of the storage chutes 5, i.e., the rotational angle of the 
storage chutes 5, and a discharging unit 10 for discharging in turn 
semiconductor devices which have been stored and preheated in the storage 
chutes 5, whereby semiconductor devices are stored in turn in the storage 
chutes 5 and preheated therein and then discharged therefrom 
consecutively, while rotating the storage chutes 5. 
The frame 2 may be formed in a rectangular shape and is mounted on the 
slanted surface 1a of the base 1 by means of coupling means 13. 
The coupling means 13 may have a structure which is capable of adjusting 
the height of the frame 2 at a predetermined slanted angle, but the frame 
2 may be fixed at a predetermined slanted angle in terms of welding or the 
like at the manufacturing procedure. 
The heat chamber 7 is a cylindrical tubular body which has a dimension 
sufficient to receive therein a plurality of the storage chutes 5 which 
are mounted between the rotary disks 4. 
Within the heat chamber 7, a heater supporting tube 14 enclosing the 
circumferential surface of the storage chutes 5 is fixed and around the 
external surface of the heater supporting tube 14, a heater 6 is disposed. 
The rotary shaft 3 is rotatably mounted between the support plates 2a of 
the frame 2 through the intermediary of bearings 12. 
On the side support plate 2a, a supply chute 8 for supplying semiconductor 
devices into the storage chutes 5 is mounted, while at the other side 
support plate 2b, a discharge chute 9 for discharging semiconductor 
devices is mounted in a upward and downward movable manner. 
The driving unit 20 includes a motor 21 mounted on the frame 2, a pair of 
pulleys 22 mounted, respectively, on the rotary shaft 3 and the motor 
shaft 21', and a belt 23 connected between the pulleys 22. 
The sensing unit 30 includes an inlet sensor 31 mounted at the supply chute 
8, an outlet sensor 32 mounted at the discharge chute 9, a sensing disk 33 
fixed on one end of the rotary shaft 3 for sensing the rotational angle of 
the rotary shaft 3, and a sensor 34 mounted adjacent to the sensing disk 
33 for sensing the rotational angel of the rotary shaft 3 together with 
the sensing disk 33. 
The discharging unit 10 includes the discharge chute 9 and a cylinder 11 
for moving the discharge chute 9 upwardly and downwardly. The discharge 
unit 9 is fixed on a movable plate 15 fixed to a plunger 11a of the 
cylinder 11 so as to be movable upwardly and downwardly. 
At the upper portion of each of the support plates 2a and 2b of the frame 
2, holes 2c and 2d are provided and in the hole 2c of the support plate 
2a, one end of the supply chute 8 is inserted and fixed. 
The discharge chute 9 of the discharging unit 10 is positioned adjacent to 
the support plate 2b so as to close or open the hole 2d of the support 
plate 2b by the operation of the cylinder 11. 
The semiconductor device preheating apparatus of the present invention 
operates as follows: 
Upon supplying a semiconductor device through the supply chute 8, the 
semiconductor device is stored in the storage chute 5 indicated as "a" in 
FIG. 4 among the various storage chutes 5 located within the heat chamber 
7. At this time, since the discharge chute 9 is moved upwardly the hole 2c 
of the support plate 2b is closed so that semiconductor devices which have 
been inserted into the storage chute 5 at the position "a" are stored and 
filled therein without being discharged downwardly. 
When semiconductor devices are filled in full within the storage chute 5 at 
the position "a", the motor 21 is operated and thus the rotary shaft 3 is 
rotated by the driving force from the motor 21. As the rotary shaft 3 
rotates, the storage chutes 5 is rotated in clockwise and then the 
semiconductor devices stored in the storage chute 5 at the position "a" 
are preheated by the heat from the heater 6 at a predetermined 
temperature. 
When the storage chutes 5 are rotated in one step in accordance with the 
sensing operation of the sensing disk 33 and the sensor 34, that is, when 
the storage chute 5 at the position "a" is moved to the position "b" and 
the storage chute 5 at the position "l" is moved to the position "a" and 
thus all the storage chutes 5 are moved by one step, the discharge chute 9 
is moved dowardly to open the hole 2d of the support plate 2b by means of 
the operation of the cylinder 11, so that the semiconductor devices which 
have been preheated are discharged from the storage chute 5 which has been 
moved from the position "l" to "a" through the discharge chute 9. Upon 
completion of the discharge, the sensor 32 disposed at the outlet side 
senses this condition and thus the discharge chute 9 is moved upwardly so 
that the hole 2d of the support plate 2b is closed. At this state, new 
semiconductor devices at room temperature are filled again in the empty 
storage chute 5 and when the storage chute 5 is filled in full with 
semiconductor devices to be preheated, the sensor 31 disposed at the inlet 
side senses this condition and thus the storage chutes 5 are rotated again 
by the operation of the motor 21, and such an operation is carried out 
repeatedly. 
As described above in detail the present invention provides the effect that 
the heating efficiency is extraordinarily enhanced and a uniform heating 
can be obtained since the semiconductor devices contained in a plurality 
of storage chutes within a heat chamber are consecutively heated while 
rotating the storage chutes. Also, since the semiconductor devices are 
supplied and discharged through a single inlet and outlet, the structure 
of the supplying and discharging units is very simple so that it may be 
carried out automatically. Furthermore, it is possible to control 
precisely and easily the feeding and discharging time and the heating time 
as well by use of the inlet and outlet sensors and the rotational angle 
sensor. 
The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same may be 
varied in many ways. Such variations are not be regarded as a departure 
from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all such modifications as 
would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intended to be included in 
the scope of the following claims.