Patent ID: 7337534

Claim:
An apparatus for handling an SMD chip comprising: a main body, a tubular housing extending upwards vertically from said main body, an elongated vertical through channel opening extending throughout said tubular housing and said main body, an elongated rod extending slidably within said through channel opening, and having an upper end portion therein extending above a top end of said tubular housing and a lower end portion extending below a lower edge of said main body, an expander formed on said lower end portion of said rod and located above a lower end of said rod, two triangular shape spring plates mounted on said main body and extending downwardly below said lower edge of said main body in a convergent manner adjacent to said through channel opening with lower end edges of said spring plates normally in close proximity to one another, horizontal inwardly protruding sections formed in said spring plates, said protruding sections having inwardly pointing vertexes normally located in close proximity directly opposite to one another, and said vertexes being engageable with and wedged apart by said expander by moving said rod upwards to an upper position relative to said tubular housing to locate said expander at a wedging position between said vertexes, said lower end edges of said spring plates being spaced apart to a widest width larger than a width of said SMD chip when said vertexes are wedged apart by said expander, and when said rod is in said upper position with a lower end of said rod being located just above said lower end edges of said spring plates, a soldering unit having a housing extending downward from said main body, said soldering unit having a bifurcated soldering head located juxtaposed to said lower end edges of said spring plates.