Patent ID: 7896223

Claim:
A solder ball printing apparatus comprising a solder ball feeding head which feeds solder balls, for printing, from an opening portion formed on a mask surface onto a substrate on which a flux is printed on an electrode pad, wherein the solder ball feeding head includes: a solder ball reservoir portion which reserves the solder balls; a sieve which is formed of a first plurality of semi-spiral-shaped wire rods to feed a predetermined amount of solder balls from the solder ball reservoir portion to a solder ball loading member; the solder ball loading member which is formed of a second plurality of semi-spiral-shaped wire rods located below the first plurality of semi-spiral-shaped wire rods to generate turning forces of the solder balls and to feed the solder balls fed from the sieve of the solder ball reservoir portion to the opening portion of the mask surface; solder ball sweeping members which load the solder balls on a front side and a rear side of the solder ball loading member and which are formed of the second plurality of semi-spiral-shaped wire rods, on a side where they are brought into contact with the mask surface, to sweep extra solder balls; and a horizontal-direction oscillator which oscillates the solder ball reservoir portion and the solder ball loading member in a moving direction of the solder ball feeding head with a high frequency, to shake down the solder balls in the solder ball reservoir portion to the solder ball loading member from the sieve.