Patent ID: 8198108

Claim:
A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device which comprises a housing which has a recess in the front surface thereof, a pair of lead electrodes which have distal ends exposed in the recess, protrude from the external surface of the housing, and are bent along the bottom surface of the housing, and a semiconductor element which is housed in the recess and is electrically connected to the pair of lead electrodes, the method comprising the steps of: preparing the lead frame made from a metal sheet having a plurality of openings and a pattern of lead electrodes formed therein so as to protrude toward the inside of each of the openings; forming the housing in each opening of the lead frame so as to expose the distal ends of the lead electrodes in the recess of the housing and form grooves in the side surfaces of the housing by means of the circumference of the opening; cutting off the pair of lead electrodes from the lead frame which protrude from the housing and bending the pair of lead electrodes along the external wall surface of the housing while holding the housing on the lead frame by fitting the circumference of the opening into the groove; and releasing the housing from the lead frame.