Patent ID: 7876117

Claim:
An operation method of a test handler, the method comprising: (a) loading semiconductor devices from a customer tray located on a loading plate onto a test tray located at a loading position; (b) assisting a tester to test the semiconductor devices, loaded onto the test tray, at a test position, after moving the test tray to the test position; and (c) unloading the tested semiconductor devices from the test tray located at an unloading position onto another customer tray located on an unloading plate, after moving the test tray to the unloading position, wherein the step (c) includes the steps of: (c1) picking up the semiconductor devices from the test tray by a sorting pick-and-place apparatus having pickers arrayed in M×N matrix (M and N are an integer which is larger than 1) in which a pitch between the rows of the pickers is fixed to be identical to a spacing between rows of placing compartments of the test tray and a pitch between columns of the pickers is regulated to be identical to a spacing between columns of the placing compartments of the test tray and a spacing between columns of the loading compartments of the customer tray; wherein the sorting pick-and-place apparatus picks up the semiconductor devices from loading compartments of a first loading element and places them selectively onto a plurality of adjacent odd rows or a plurality of adjacent even rows of loading compartments of a second loading element and, a plurality of adjacent columns of the second loading compartments of the second loading element during one moving and placing operation; (c2) regulating the pitch between the columns of the pickers of the sorting pick-and-place apparatus to the spacing between the columns of the loading compartments of the customer tray; (c3) moving, sorting, and placing the semiconductor devices onto a sorting table having sorting-placing compartments, according to the test result of the tester, in which a spacing between odd rows of the sorting-placing compartments and a spacing between even rows of the sorting-placing compartments are identical to the spacing between the rows of the placing compartments of the test tray and a spacing between columns of the sorting-placing compartments is identical to the spacing between the columns of the loading compartments of the customer tray; and (c4) moving and placing the semiconductor devices from the sorting table onto the customer tray by an unloading pick-and-place apparatus.