Patent ID: 7472473

Claim:
A solder ball loading apparatus for loading solder balls that turn to be solder bumps on pads of a printed wiring board, comprising: a ball arrangement mask including a plurality of openings corresponding to the pads of the printed wiring board; a cylinder member positioned above the ball arrangement mask and having an opening portion for gathering solder balls just below the opening portion; a suction device connected to the cylinder member and configured to provide negative pressure in the cylinder member such that the solder balls are gathered just below the opening portion of the cylinder member; an outer cylinder provided around the cylinder member; a gas supply unit which supplies inactive gas or reducing gas to the outer cylinder; and a moving mechanism which moves the cylinder member or the ball arrangement mask and the printed wiring board such that the solder balls gathered just below the cylinder member are dropped onto the pads of the printed wiring board through the openings in the ball arrangement mask.