Abstract:
Apparatus for transporting semiconductor chips defining electronic circuitry or the like including a base layer of deformable anti-static film; a thin plastic body layer having a first surface to which the base layer adheres, the body layer having one or more cavities shaped to hold chips; and an anti-static holding layer adhering to a surface of the body layer opposite the base layer, the holding layer being less deformable than the base layer and provided with openings through which a chip defining electronic circuitry or the like may be inserted into one of the cavities and will be held in place therein by the holding layer.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    This invention relates to protective packaging devices and, more particularly, to apparatus for protectively transporting chips upon which reside electronic circuitry.  
           [0003]    2. History of the Prior Art  
           [0004]    Electronic circuitry frequently resides on a single chip of semiconductor material. The circuitry itself may include a number of transistors and other devices defined by various layers of conductive and insulating materials deposited on a base layer of semiconductor material. The circuitry thus defined is normally covered by one or more layers of protective coating through which terminals extend for connecting to external circuitry. The circuitry is often designed to be joined to other external circuitry by placing the entire chip adjacent the external circuitry in a manner that the terminals which electrically extend to the surface from below the protective coatings covering the chip abut and are held in connective contact with terminals joined to the external circuitry.  
           [0005]    Although electronic circuits on chips of semiconductor material are subject to damage if mishandled, they are often sold and placed in circuit by consumers. In fact, such circuits are often provided to consumers so that the consumers may use them to complete and enable external circuits. For example, cellular telephones often are designed to include replaceable chips which when placed in the telephones provide circuitry that makes those telephones operative. In some cases, the circuitry provides a code that a telephone system with which the cell phone may be associated recognizes. In some cases, the recognition may be for a time limited by the circuitry on the chip. It is often economic for travelers to utilize a plurality of different chips to provide circuitry for the same cell phone to in order to communicate in different areas with different locally-available telephone systems. For example, travelers will often utilize the same cell phones in a number of different countries simply by replacing in the telephone a chip containing electronic circuitry that is adapted to function with the telephone system of each particular country.  
           [0006]    Although, these replaceable circuits on chips are relatively hardy, they may be damaged in a number of ways and effectively destroyed when subject to static electricity. Consequently, they must be handled with care. Typically, the chips are sold in static-free packaging to which it is suggested they be returned for storage. However, such packaging is very light and flexible, offers protection only against static electricity, and only while the chip remains within the confines of the package.  
           [0007]    More importantly, the small chips upon which the circuitry is defined and the usual packages containing such chips are easily misplaced or lost during travel. If a traveler must have a number of such chips but can only use one at a time, then any chips which are not being used are at significant risk.  
           [0008]    Packaging which would offer meaningful protection against damage to the circuitry and loss would be useful to any person utilizing such circuitry.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0009]    It is an object of the present invention to provide apparatus for safely transporting chips defining electronic circuits.  
           [0010]    This and other objects of the present invention are accomplished by apparatus which includes a base layer of deformable anti-static film; a thin plastic body layer having a first surface to which the base layer adheres, the body layer having one or more cavities shaped to hold chips defining electronic circuitry or the like; and an anti-static holding layer adhering to a surface of the body layer opposite the base layer, the holding layer being less deformable than the base layer and provided with openings through which a chip defining electronic circuitry or the like may be inserted into one of the cavities and will be held in place therein by the holding layer.  
           [0011]    These and other features of the invention will be better understood by reference to the detailed description which follows taken together with the drawings in which like elements are referred to by like designations throughout the several views. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0012]    [0012]FIG. 1 is a perspective diagram of apparatus in accordance with a first example of the invention.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective diagram of three layers of material providing apparatus in accordance with the first example of the invention.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective diagram of three layers of material providing apparatus in accordance with a second example of the invention.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIGS. 4 a  and  4   b  are cross-sectional views of apparatus in accordance with the first example of the invention.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIGS. 5 a  and  5   b  are cross-sectional views of apparatus in accordance with the second example of the invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0017]    Referring now to FIG. 1, there is illustrated a perspective drawing of one embodiment of apparatus  10  designed in accordance with the invention for safely transporting semiconductor chips upon which have been placed electronic circuits. Typically, such semiconductor chips are thin layers of semiconductor material variously etched, coated, and otherwise treated by means of well-manufacturing techniques to produce elements of electronic circuits joined together by deposited conductors. Conductive leads, typically, protrude from the circuitry through final coatings of protective material to allow connection to the electronic circuitry on the chips. Often, such circuit-carrying chips are about as thick as a credit card and of about the same rigidity. With the protective coatings covering the circuitry, the chips may be usually handled carefully. The chips are susceptible to breakage and loss, however; and the circuitry may be damaged or destroyed in various ways such as by electrostatic inputs across the various protruding terminals.  
         [0018]    The apparatus  10  illustrated in FIG. 1 is basically a thin rectangular block  11  which is a composite of layers. The block  11  includes an upper layer  12  through which openings  13  and  15  are described. The openings  13  are designed to allow a semiconductor chip to be inserted into a cavity (not shown in FIG. 1) in a body layer  17  of the block  11  lying below the upper layer  12  and retained in position within that cavity of the block  11 .  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective diagram showing better the three layers  12 ,  17 , and  19  of materials making up the block  11  of FIG. 1. In FIG. 2, the openings  13  and  15  in the upper layer  12  are clearly illustrated. In general, the openings  13  are sufficiently wide so that a single semiconductor chip may be inserted therethrough into a cavity  18  in the body layer  17 .  
         [0020]    The body layer  17  is relatively stiff and has a thickness which approximates the thickness of the particular chips which are to be transported. The cavities  18  are of a general size and shape sufficient to hold the particular chips to be transported. The shape of the cavities may vary from those illustrated in the figures, as will be understood by the reader, but each cavity  18  is generally such that a chip inserted through one of the openings  13  into one of the cavities  18  will be held therein until forced out through pressure exerted on the chip.  
         [0021]    Below the body layer  17  is provided a base layer  19  of thin material which in the composite block  11  furnishes a surface for the lower side of each cavity  18  against which a semiconductor chip may lie. This base layer  19  may be any of a number of materials which may be described as thin-films having anti-static properties. The thin film property of the layer  19  allows the layer to stretch as a chip  14  is forced into the cavity  18  through an opening  13  and to shrink back into a generally-flat surface holding one side of the chip  14  in place within the cavity  18  (see FIG. 4 b ). The anti-static quality protects any chip within a cavity  18  from the destructive properties of static electricity.  
         [0022]    The three layers of the block  11  are held together typically by a well-known manufacturing process such as ultrasonic melt or hot press in the positions illustrated in the cross-sectional views shown in FIGS. 4 a  and  4   b . The FIGS. 2 and 4 illustrate a first embodiment of the invention in which the openings  13  of the layer  12  are shaped such that each provides protruding fingers  21  which deform as a chip  14  is inserted into a cavity  18 . As may be seen in FIG. 4 b , a chip  14  is inserted at an angle into a cavity  18  through the opening  13  and presses against the layer  19  causing that layer  19  to deform and bulge outwardly from the interior of the cavity  18 . Continuing pressure on the chip at its upper end causes the chip to move completely within the cavity  18  until it abuts at a wall  22  of the cavity  18  (in FIG. 4 a ). The inner dimensions of the cavity  18  are such in this embodiment that when a chip abuts the wall  22 , the natural spring in the fingers  21  causes those fingers to rise to the level of the surrounding portions of layer  12 . When this has occurred, a chip is held securely within the cavity  18  on the side of the layer  12  by the fingers  21 , by a lip  24  at the edge of the associated opening  15 , and by a web  26  of the layer  12  between the openings  13  and  15  over the particular cavity  18 .  
         [0023]    In order to provide these properties, one embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 4( a,b ) utilizes an upper layer  12  which is an anti-static material having approximately the thickness and spring qualities of a playing card. A body layer  17  of such embodiment may be constructed of a flat somewhat stiffer material such as is found in credit cards. Such a material lends sufficient strength to the block  11  to protect semiconductor chips held in cavities  18  therein against the majority of forces which it might be expected to encounter in the type of use herein described. A base layer  19  has the anti-static and stretching properties described above. In one embodiment, the layer  12  is approximately 0.27 mm. thick, the body layer  17  is approximately 0.79 mm. thick, and the base layer  19  is approximately 6 mils thick. These dimensions, of course, may vary with the size and shape of chips the be protected.  
         [0024]    As was explained above, in order to insert a chip  14  into a cavity  18 , one end thereof is placed at an angle such as is shown in FIG. 4( b ).  
         [0025]    Pressure on the upper end of the chip (at the right in the figure) forces the chip  14  into the cavity. Once in the cavity  18 , continued pressure on the right end of the chip in a direction toward the left and parallel to the length of the cavity forces the chip against the wall  22  at the left end of the body  17  layer so that the fingers  21  are released by the right end of the chip and spring upwardly to hold the chip within the cavity. If need be, a person&#39;s finger may be placed against the upper surface of the chip through the opening  15  to exert force to move the chip to the left or right within the cavity  18 .  
         [0026]    Pressure exerted downwardly on the chip through the opening  15  along with pressure exerted upwardly on the right end of the chip through the distendable base layer  19  cause the right end of a chip  14  within a cavity  18  to project upwardly out of the opening  13  so that additional pressure to the right through the opening  15  forces the chip sufficiently above the fingers  21  and out of the cavity  18  that it may be grasped and removed for use.  
         [0027]    [0027]FIGS. 3 and 5 (a and b) illustrate a second embodiment of the invention. The cross-sectional views of this embodiment illustrates a primary difference from the first embodiment discussed above. The body layer is shaped at the right edge (as shown in the figure) of a cavity  38  to provide a ramp  39  which both directs a chip  14  inserted into an opening  33  in an upper layer  12  into position within the cavity  38  and maintains the chip in position against a wall  40  of the cavity  38 . Since the ramp assures that the chip remains to the left within the cavity  38 , the opening  33  need not include the fingers  21  as does the opening  13  of the first embodiment.  
         [0028]    A chip  14  is placed into and removed from a cavity  38  in the same manner as with the first embodiment.  
         [0029]    A particular advantage of the invention is that the individual layers may be simply stamped from sheet material and bonded together in the manner described by one of the well-known bonding processes. When manufactured in this manner, the cost is minimal and very rapid.  
         [0030]    Although the present invention has been described in terms of a preferred embodiment, it will be appreciated that various modifications and alterations might be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, what the various elements of the embodiments provide are a relatively sturdy body structure in which one or more cavities are described, openings into cavities in the body structure allowing a chip to be inserted and removed, and anti-static layers over most of the openings for protecting the chip. Any number of different embodiments will provide these features. For example, one of the anti-static layers might removably adhere to the body structure. The invention should therefore be measured in terms of the claims which follow.