Patent Publication Number: US-2022223460-A1

Title: Transferring apparatus and method for transferring electronic component

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwanese application no. 110100848, filed on Jan. 8, 2021. The entirety of the above-mentioned patent application is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Technical Field 
     The disclosure relates to a transferring apparatus and a method for transferring an electronic component. 
     Description of Related Art 
     In the manufacturing process of electronic devices, generally speaking, it is a complicated process to transfer multiple electronic components to substrates or panels of different sizes to be applied. For example, it takes a lot of time for a robotic arm to sequentially transfer these electronic components from one substrate or panel to another. Therefore, the conventional apparatuses and methods for transferring electronic components encounter the problem of consuming a lot of time for transfer, which results in a lengthy manufacturing process and low efficiency. 
     Therefore, it is an important issue in the technical field of the disclosure to find out how to improve the transfer efficiency of electronic component through the design of process framework and the improvement of process flow. 
     SUMMARY 
     The disclosure provides a transferring apparatus, which can efficiently transfer an electronic component to shorten the working time. 
     The disclosure provides a method for transferring an electronic component, which can efficiently transfer an electronic component to shorten the working time. 
     An embodiment of the disclosure provides a transferring apparatus. The transferring apparatus is configured to transfer a plurality of electronic components on a carrier film to a substrate. The transferring apparatus includes a controller and an abutting module. The abutting module is electrically connected to the controller, and includes an abutting element and a negative pressure generating device. The carrier film is placed between the substrate and the abutting module, and the carrier film is located between the electronic components and the abutting module. The controller is configured to control the abutting element to move towards the substrate so as to abut the carrier film but not to penetrate through the carrier film, whereby the abutting element pushes the carrier film so as to push at least one of the electronic components to the substrate. The controller is configured to control the negative pressure generating device to suck air towards a direction opposite to a direction along which the abutting element pushes the carrier film, so as to generate negative pressure to suck the carrier film. 
     An embodiment of the disclosure provides a method for transferring an electronic component, which includes: providing a carrier film on which an electronic component is arranged; providing a substrate; arranging the carrier film and the substrate to be opposite to each other, and making the substrate face a surface of the carrier film with the electronic component; providing an abutting element, so that the abutting element pushes the surface of the carrier film where the electronic component is not provided, such that the electronic component moves towards the substrate and contacts the substrate; and sucking air towards a direction opposite to a direction along which the electronic component moves, so that the carrier film is separated from the electronic component and the electronic component is transferred to the substrate. 
     In the transferring apparatus and the method for transferring the electronic component of the embodiment of the disclosure, the abutting element is used to push the carrier film to push the electronic component to the substrate, or the abutting element is pushed against the surface of the carrier film where the electronic component is not provided, so that the electronic component moves towards the substrate and contacts the substrate. Therefore, the electronic component can be transferred to the substrate in a more efficient manner, thereby shortening the working time. In addition, by sucking air in the direction opposite to the direction along which the abutting element pushes the carrier film, or sucking air in the direction opposite to the direction along with the electronic component moves, it is possible to facilitate the carrier film to be separated from the electronic component, and the working time can be further effectively shortened. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1A  to  FIG. 1C  are schematic cross-sectional views illustrating the flow of a method for transferring an electronic component by a transferring apparatus according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic cross-sectional view of a step of a method for transferring an electronic component by a transferring apparatus according to another embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic cross-sectional view of a step of a method for transferring an electronic component by a transferring apparatus according to yet another embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic cross-sectional view of a transferring apparatus according to still another embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic cross-sectional view of a transferring apparatus according to another embodiment of the disclosure. 
         FIG. 6  is a flowchart of a method for transferring an electronic component according to an embodiment of the disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
       FIG. 1A  to  FIG. 1C  are schematic cross-sectional views illustrating the flow of a method for transferring an electronic component by a transferring apparatus according to an embodiment of the disclosure. Referring to  FIG. 1A  and  FIG. 1C , a transferring apparatus  100  of this embodiment is configured to transfer a plurality of electronic component  60  on a carrier film  50  to a substrate  70 . In this embodiment, the carrier film  50  is a plastic film, such as a blue polyvinyl chloride (PVC) film, commonly known as a blue film, but the disclosure is not limited thereto. In addition, in this embodiment, the electronic component  60  is a chip or other electronic component, and the chip is, for example, a light-emitting diode chip, an integrated circuit chip, or other chips. The substrate  70  may include a carrier  72  and an adhesive tape  74  disposed on the carrier  72 . The carrier  72  may be a glass carrier, a metal carrier, a semiconductor carrier, a plastic carrier, or made of other materials. In other embodiments, the substrate  70  can also be an adhesive carrier  72 , for example, a carrier coated with an adhesive on the surface, and the surface needs not be provided with the adhesive tape  74 . 
     The transferring apparatus  100  includes a controller  110  and an abutting module  120 . The abutting module  120  is electrically connected to the controller  110  and includes an abutting element  122  and a negative pressure generating device  124 . Specifically, the controller  110  may be electrically connected to an actuator for actuating the abutting element  122  and electrically connected to a negative pressure generating device. The carrier film  50  is placed between the substrate  70  and the abutting module  120 , and the carrier film  50  is placed between the electronic components  60  and the abutting module  120 . The controller  110  is configured to control the abutting element  122  to move towards the substrate  70  so as to abut the carrier film  50  but not to penetrate through the carrier film  50 , whereby the abutting element  122  pushes the carrier film  50  to push at least one of the electronic components  60  (for example, an electronic component  60  in the figure) to the substrate  70 , as in the process shown in  FIG. 1A  to  FIG. 1B . In this embodiment, both the carrier film  50  and the substrate  70  have viscosity, and the viscosity of the substrate  70  to the electronic component  60  (for example, the viscosity of the adhesive tape  74  to the electronic component  60 ) is greater than the viscosity of the carrier film  50  to the electronic component  60 . Therefore, when the abutting element  122  pushes the electronic component  60  to the substrate  70  and then returns to its original position, the strong viscosity of the substrate  70  will cause the electronic component  60  to retain on the substrate  70 , and the carrier film  50  is separated from the electronic component  60 . In this embodiment, the abutting element  122  is, for example, a pin needle, and the tip of the pin needle may be relatively smooth and round to avoid piercing the carrier film  50 . 
     In addition, the controller  110  is configured to control the negative pressure generating device  124  to such air in a direction opposite to the direction along which the abutting element  122  pushes the carrier film  50  (that is, the downward direction in  FIG. 1B  in the embodiment, i.e., the direction facing away from the substrate  70 ), thereby generating negative pressure to suck the carrier film  50 . In this way, it is possible to facilitate the carrier film  50  to be separated from the electronic component  60 . In this embodiment, the negative pressure generating device  124  is a suction pump, a vacuum pump, or other devices that can generate negative pressure. 
     Specifically, in this embodiment, the controller  110  controls the negative pressure generating device  124  to start sucking air to generate negative pressure when the abutting element  122  pushes at least one of the electronic components  60  to the substrate  70 . When the pushing is completed, the abutting element  122  returns to its original position, and then suction is stopped. In this way, when the abutting element  122  is pushed against the electronic component  60 , the carrier film  50  located at the edge of the electronic component  60  can be sucked by the negative pressure generating device  124  first to separate from the electronic component  60 , as shown in  FIG. 1B . Afterwards, when the abutting element  122  moves in the direction of returning to its original position, the carrier film  50  located in the center of the electronic component  60  is then separated from the electronic component  60 , as shown in the process of  FIG. 1B  to  FIG. 1C . In this manner, it is possible to effectively prevent the carrier film  50  from deviating when separating from the electronic component  60 , and the deviation will cause the position of the electronic component  60  to shift due to the uneven force applied to the electronic component  60 . 
     In this embodiment, the abutting module  120  further includes a housing  126  with a plurality of suction openings  127 , and the negative pressure generating device  124  sucks the carrier film  50  through the suction openings  127 . In addition, in this embodiment, the housing  126  further includes a central opening  128 , the suction openings  127  are provided beside the central opening  128 , and the abutting element  122  is adapted to pass through the central opening  128  and move towards the substrate  70 . 
     In addition, in this embodiment, the transferring apparatus  100  further includes a holder  130  and an actuator  140 , and the holder  130  is configured to hold the carrier film  50 . In this embodiment, the holder  130  is, for example, a fixing frame for fixing the carrier film  50 . The actuator  140  is connected to at least one of the holder  130  and the abutting module  120  (in this embodiment, the actuator  140  is connected to the holder  130  as an example), and is configured to move the holder  130  along the extension direction of the carrier film  50  relative to the abutting module  120 , that is, the horizontal movement in the figure. In this embodiment, the actuator  140  is further connected to the substrate  70 , and the actuator  140  moves the carrier film  50  and the substrate  70  along the extension direction of the carrier film  50  relative to the abutting module  120 . In this manner, after the abutting module  120  pushes one of the electronic components  60  to the substrate  70 , the electronic components  60  at other positions on the carrier film  50  can be pushed to the substrate  70 . In an embodiment, the actuator  140  may be connected to the substrate  70  through a holder, that is, the substrate  70  is fixed on the holder, and the actuator  140  moves the substrate  70  by moving the holder. In another embodiment, the actuator  140  can also be connected to the abutting module  120  to move the abutting module  120  along the extension direction of the carrier film  50  relative to the holder  130  by moving the abutting module  120 , that is, to move the holder  130  along the extension direction of the carrier film  50  relative to the abutting module  120 . 
     In the transferring apparatus  100  of this embodiment, the abutting element  122  is used to push the carrier film  50  to push the electronic component  60  to the substrate  70 , or the abutting element  122  is pressed against the surface  52  of the carrier film  50  where the electronic component  60  is not provided (i.e., the lower surface in  FIG. 1A  to  FIG. 1C ), so that the electronic component  60  moves towards the substrate  70  and contacts the substrate  70 . Therefore, the electronic component  60  can be transferred to the substrate  70  in a more efficient manner, thereby shortening the working time. For example, compared to using a robotic arm to transfer the electronic component  60 , the method of pushing the electronic component  60  in this embodiment can indeed transfer the electronic component more efficiently, and can greatly shorten the working time. In addition, since the abutting element  122  does not penetrate through the carrier film  50  when the abutting element  122  is pushed against the electronic component  60 , the stability of pushing the electronic component  60  to the substrate  70  can be increased, so that the electronic component  60  can be pushed to a correct position on the substrate  70  as expected. 
       FIG. 2  is a schematic cross-sectional view of a step of a method for transferring an electronic component by a transferring apparatus according to another embodiment of the disclosure. Please refer to  FIG. 2 , the transferring apparatus  100   a  of this embodiment is similar to the transferring apparatus  100  of  FIG. 1B , and the difference between the two is that the timing for the controller  110  to control the negative pressure generating device  124  to suck air is different. In the transferring apparatus  100   a  of this embodiment, the controller  110  controls the negative pressure generating device  124  to start sucking air to generate negative pressure when the abutting element  122  touches the carrier film  50  (as shown in  FIG. 2 ). After the pushing is completed and the abutting element  122  returns to its original position, suction is stopped. In this manner, after the electronic component  60  is pushed to the substrate  70 , it is possible to facilitate the carrier film  50  to be separated from the electronic component  60 . 
       FIG. 3  is a schematic cross-sectional view of a step of a method for transferring an electronic component by a transferring apparatus according to yet another embodiment of the disclosure. Please refer to  FIG. 3 , the transferring apparatus  100   b  of this embodiment is similar to the transferring apparatus  100  of  FIG. 1B , and the difference between the two is that the timing for the controller  110  to control the negative pressure generating device  124  to suck air is different. In the transferring apparatus  100   b  of this embodiment, the controller  110  controls the negative pressure generating device  124  to start sucking air to generate negative pressure after the abutting element  122  touches the carrier film  50  and before the abutting element  122  pushes at least one of the electronic components  60  to the substrate  70  (as shown in  FIG. 3 ). After the pushing is completed and the abutting element  122  returns to its original position, suction is stopped. In this manner, after the electronic component  60  is pushed to the substrate  70 , it is possible to facilitate the carrier film  50  to be separated from the electronic component  60 . 
       FIG. 4  is a schematic cross-sectional view of a transferring apparatus according to still another embodiment of the disclosure. Referring to  FIG. 4 , the transferring apparatus  100   c  of this embodiment is similar to the transferring apparatus  100  of  FIG. 1A , and the difference between the two is as follows. In the transferring apparatus  100   c  of this embodiment, the abutting element  122   c  includes a plurality of pin needles  123 , and these pin needles  123  are configured to push the same electronic component  60  at a time. 
       FIG. 5  is a schematic cross-sectional view of a transferring apparatus according to another embodiment of the disclosure. Referring to  FIG. 5 , the transferring apparatus  100   d  of this embodiment is similar to the transferring apparatus  100  of  FIG. 1A , and the difference between the two is as follows. In the transferring apparatus  100   d  of this embodiment, the abutting element  122   d  includes a plurality of pin needles  123   d  for respectively pushing different electronic components  60 . In this embodiment, the controller  110  is configured to separately control the actions of the pin needles  123   d . For example, the pin needles  123   d  can be controlled to push a plurality of different electronic components  60  at different times and in a certain order. 
       FIG. 6  is a flowchart of a method for transferring an electronic component according to an embodiment of the disclosure. Referring to  FIG. 1A  to  FIG. 1C  and  FIG. 6 , the method of transferring an electronic component in this embodiment can be implemented by using the transferring apparatus of the foregoing embodiments, and the transferring apparatus  100  of  FIG. 1A  to  FIG. 1C  is adopted as an example in the description below. In the method of transferring an electronic component of this embodiment, step S 110  is performed first to provide the carrier film  50  on which the electronic component  60  is disposed. In addition, the substrate  70  is provided. Next, step S 120  is performed to arrange the carrier film  50  and the substrate  70  to be opposite to each other, and the substrate  70  is arranged to face a surface  54  of the carrier film  50  with the electronic component  60 , as shown in  FIG. 1A . Thereafter, step S 130  is performed to provide the abutting element  122 , so that the abutting element  122  is pushed against the surface  52  of the carrier film  50  where the electronic component  60  is not provided, so as to move the electronic component  60  towards the substrate  70  and contact the substrate  70 , as shown in  FIG. 1B . Furthermore, step S 140  is performed to suck air in a direction opposite to the direction along which the electronic component  60  moves, so that the carrier film  50  is separated from the electronic component  60 , and the electronic component  60  is transferred to the substrate  70 , as shown in  FIG. 1C . For example, as described in the above embodiment, the strong viscosity of the substrate  70  can keep the electronic component  60  on the substrate  70 , while the carrier film  50  that is less adhesive to the electronic component  60  will be separated from the electronic component  60 . Step S 140  may be performed after step S 130 , or may partially overlap with the time of performing step S 130 . For detailed time of performing the steps, please refer to the embodiments of  FIG. 1A  to  FIG. 1C , the embodiment of  FIG. 2  and the embodiment of  FIG. 3 , no further description is incorporated herein. 
     As described in the above embodiments of  FIG. 1A  to  FIG. 1C , the method of transferring the electronic component of this embodiment can transfer the electronic component  60  to the substrate  70  in a more efficient manner, thereby shortening the working time. 
     The method of transferring the electronic component of this embodiment further includes the operation of making the abutting element  122  to abut the carrier film  50  but not to penetrate through the carrier film  50  when the abutting element  122  is pressed against the surface  52  of the carrier film  50  where the electronic component  60  is not provided so as to move the electronic component  60  towards the substrate  70 . Moreover, the method of transferring an electronic component of this embodiment further includes the operation of pushing the abutting element  122  against another position on the surface  52  of the carrier film  50  where the electronic component  60  is not provided, so that another electronic component  60  moves towards the substrate  70  and contacts the substrate  70 . Specifically, the actuator  140  can be used to move the carrier film  50  and the substrate  70  along the extension direction of the carrier film  50  relative to the abutting module  120 , so that the abutting module  120  can be further pushed against the electronic components  60  at other positions on the carrier film  50  after pushing one of the electronic components  60  to the substrate  70 . After repeatedly pushing and moving the carrier film  50 , the electronic components  60  on the carrier film  50  can be pushed the substrate  70  in sequence. 
     Other details and changes of the method of transferring the electronic component of this embodiment are described thoroughly in the embodiments of  FIG. 1A  to  FIG. 5 , and no further description is incorporated herein. 
     In an embodiment, the controller  110  is, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a programmable controller, a programmable logic device (PLD) or other similar devices or a combinations of these devices, the disclosure provides no limitation thereto. Furthermore, in an embodiment, various functions of the controller  110  can be implemented as a plurality of program codes. These program codes are stored in a memory, and the controller  110  executes the program codes. Alternatively, in an embodiment, various functions of the controller  110  may be implemented as one or more circuits. The disclosure provides no limitation to the use of software or hardware to implement the functions of the controller  110 . 
     To sum up, in the transferring apparatus and the method of transferring the electronic component of the embodiment of the disclosure, the abutting element is used to push the carrier film to push the electronic component to the substrate, or the abutting element is pushed against the surface of the carrier film where the electronic component is not provided, so as to move the electronic component towards the substrate and contact the substrate. Therefore, the electronic component can be transferred to the substrate in a more efficient manner, thereby shortening the working time. Additionally, by sucking air in the direction opposite to the direction along which the abutting element is pressed against the carrier film, or sucking air in the direction opposite to the direction along which the electronic component moves, it is possible to facilitate the carrier film to be separated from the electronic component, and the working time can be further effectively shortened.