Patent Application
20060005378
The present invention is related to an apparatus, and more particularly, to an apparatus for use in demounting and mounting an integrated circuit.
When producing a display panel, for instance, the display panel for mobile phone, the integrated circuit is electrically connected to the display panel. As such, the integrated circuit is enabled to control the action of the display panel. However, in practice, the display panel or the integrated circuit might malfunction. Therefore, for finding out the where the problem is, it is necessary to demount the integrated circuit from the display panel for further test.
Thus, for demounting the integrated circuit from the display panel, it is better to use specially made apparatus in order to avoid any error by bare hand job.
Please refer to
Please refer to
However, the conventional apparatus still has some defects. First, the tooling head 4 is an item determining two fixed positions while moving both horizontally and vertically. So, the error is cumulative by the errors resulted from the arm 40 and the tooling head 4. In other words, the rigidity of the conventional apparatus is not enough and the accuracy of the position of the tooling head 4 is hard to achieve.
Furthermore, the conventional apparatus has no device for fine-tune function. The positioning in horizontal direction only depends on the rail 32. Nevertheless, the rail 32 is determining factor for the moving of the arm 40 which scrapes the integrated circuit 7 from the display panel 6. Therefore in practice, it is difficult to process the scraping and the fine-tuning simply by one mechanism, because the mechanism for scraping needs high power but not accurate positioning. Therefore, the operator often gets hurt by the arm 40 and the back positioning device 20, when he/she adjusts the position of the arm 40 on the rail 32. On the other hand, the tooling head 4 sometimes clashes against the display panel 6 or the integrated circuit 7 during the adjustment of the arm 40.
The mechanism with fine-tuning function is not proper for the scraping either. Since during the scrapping, while the arm 40 moves along the X′ direction, the rail 32 receives the stress in the X direction and the deformation might occur. So, during a long term and heavy duty operation, the backlash inside the fine-tuning mechanism will be increased. And the accuracy will drop. Therefore, the cost will be unavoidably higher.
Furthermore, the conventional apparatus for demounting the integrated circuit is not made in a modular way. So, when the size of the integrated circuit or the display panel is changed, the back positioning device and the platform need to be replaced. It is very troublesome. Furthermore, the platform of the conventional apparatus has no enough vacuum holes for fitting various sizes of the display panels. With regard to the tooling head of the conventional apparatus, the tooling head is unable to adjust the pressure applied to the integrated circuit. The parallelism of the tooling head is also difficult to be adjusted because the arm is movable on the rail that the rigidity between the arm and the base is low Even though the parallelism is adjusted, it can not be maintain for a long term.
Therefore, it is important to supply an unique apparatus for mounting and demounting the integrated circuit from the display panel.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus to demount and mount an integrated circuit, which is flexible, convenient, and fast for positioning and highly stable for long term use and heavy duty processes.
According to one aspect of the present invention, an apparatus for demounting and mounting an integrated circuit, includes a base having an arm, a platform disposed on the base and horizontally moving thereon, a tooling head disposed on the arm and hung above the base for approaching to and moving away from the platform, and a positioning device disposed on the base and moving with the platform.
In accordance with the present invention, the tooling head further includes a pressure moderator for adjusting a pressure supplied by the tooling head.
In accordance with the present invention, the apparatus further includes an altitude adjustor disposed between the base and the platform.
In accordance with the present invention, the apparatus further includes a controller to control a process for scraping and pressing the integrated circuit.
In accordance with the present invention, the apparatus further includes a position adjustor for adjusting a position of the positioning device.
According to one aspect of the present invention, a method for demounting an integrated circuit, includes steps of (a) placing a combination of a display panel and an integrated circuit at a first location, wherein the integrated circuit is placed on a positioning device and the display panel is placed on a platform, (b) moving the positioning device and the platform to a second location such that a linking portion between the display panel and the integrated circuit is positioned under a tooling head, (c) descending the tooling head for urging against the link portion; and (d) moving the positioning device and the platform back to the first location, thereby the integrated circuit being scraped from the display panel.
In accordance with the present invention, the method further comprises a step (b-1) for heating the integrated circuit to soften a glue stuck on the link portion.
In accordance with the present invention, the linking portion is heated by the positioning device.
In accordance with the present invention, the linking portion is heated by the tooling head.
According to one aspect of the present invention, a method for mounting an integrated circuit, includes steps of (a) placing a combination of a display panel and an integrated circuit at a first location, wherein the integrated circuit is placed on a positioning device and the display is placed on a platform, (b) moving the positioning device and the platform to a second location so that a linking portion between the display panel and the integrated circuit is under a tooling head, (c) descending the tooling head for urging against the link portion for a period of time, (d) raising the tooling head after the period of time, and (e) moving the positioning device and the platform back to the first location.
In accordance with the present invention, the method further includes a step (b-1) for heating the integrated circuit to soften a glue stuck on the link portion.
In accordance with the present invention, the linking portion is heated by the positioning device.
In accordance with the present invention, the linking portion is heated by the tooling head.
The foregoing and other features and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood through the following descriptions with reference to the drawings, wherein:
The present invention will now be described more specifically with reference to the following embodiments. Please refer to
Please still refer to
Please refer to
At the first location P1, because the integrated circuit 7 and the display panel 6 have various sizes, the platform 1 or the positioning device 2 needs to be replaced to fit them. After the proper platform 1 or the positioning device 2 is chosen, the altitude of the platform 1 is adjusted by the altitude adjustor 11 to make sure that both of the integrated circuit 7 and the terminals 61 are fixedly sucked and placed on the positioning device 2 and the platform 1.
Afterwards, the position of the linking portion 9 is relatively different owing to the varieties of the integrated circuit 7 and the display panel 6 in every mounting/demounting process. Therefore, the platform 1 is moved to the second location P2 (
Further, that according to the various types of the integrated circuit 7, the pressure supplied by the tooling head 4 is preset by the controller 5. The controller 5 records and integrates the former settings for the automatic mounting and demounting processes. In other words, when the present apparatus is employed with the same type of the integrated circuit 7 and display panel 6 next time, the platform 1 and the tooling head 4 need no adjustment at all and the automatic mounting/demounting process can be directly performed.
The scraping process, also called demounting process, is described as follows. After all of the adjustments and settings are predetermined and set, the controlling mode is changed from manual control to automatic control. The combination of the integrated circuit 7 and the display panel 6 is placed on the positioning device 2 and the platform 1 and the positioning device 2 is located on the location P1. The vacuum hole 13 is activated for fixedly sucking the display panel 6.
Please refer to
The aforesaid steps are the basic process for demounting the integrated circuit 7 from the display panel 6. However, the integrated circuit 7 is linked with the display panel 6 by the heat-melted conductive glue. Therefore, the glue at the linking portion 9 must to be melted to decrease the strength thereof. Usually the glue is heated by the positioning device 2 through heating the integrated circuit 7. When the integrated circuit 7 is heated, the heat is transferred to the pins 71, then transfer to the glue, until the glue is melted. Thus, the integrated circuit 7 is able to be scraped from the display panel 6.
According to the present invention, because the arm 43 is fixed on the base 3 and does not move horizontally, the tooling head 4 is free from the problems of cumulative errors. Although the locations of the platform 1 and the positioning device 2 are affected by the stress during the processes, it can be easily solved by the position adjustor 8.
Except what are described in the above, the present apparatus can be employed for the mounting process of the integrated circuit 7 onto the display panel 6, which is called the chip on glass (COG) process.
Please refer to
Afterwards, the position of the linking portion 9 is relatively different owing to the varieties of the integrated circuit 7 and the display panel 6 in every mounting/demounting process. Therefore, the platform 1 is moved to the second location P2 (
And then according to the different types of the integrated circuit 7, the pressure and the period of time for pressing of the tooling head 4 are preset. The controller 5 records and integrates the former every settings for the automatic mounting processes. In other words, when the present apparatus is employed with the same type of the integrated circuit 7 and display panel 6 next time, the platform 1 and the tooling head 4 need no adjustment at all and the automatic mounting process can be directly performed.
After all of the adjustments and settings are preset, the controlling mode is changed from manual mode to automatic mode. The integrated circuit 7 and the display panel 6 are placed individually on the positioning device 2 and the platform 1, and meanwhile the positioning device 2 is located on the location P1. The vacuum hole 13 is activated for fixedly sucking the display panel 6. In the meantime, the glue is disposed between the pins 71 and the terminals 61.
Please refer to
As the above, the integrated circuit 7 is linked with on the display panel 6 by the heat-melted conductive glue. However, the glue must be melted on the linking portion 9 and fully spread between the pins 71 and the terminals 61. Usually the glue is heated when the integrated circuit 7 is heated by the positioning device 2. When the integrated circuit 7 is heated, the heat is transferred to the pins 71, then transferred to the glue, so the glue is melted and fully spread therebetween.
The pressure supplied by the tooling head 4 is not only to confirm that the pins 71 are firmly urged against the terminals 61, but also to make the pins 71 to compress the microcapsules (not shown) in the glue. Therefore, the metal grains (not shown) inside the microcapsules can flow out and be electrically connected to the pins 71 and the terminals 61. On the contrary, when the microcapsules without being compressed by the pins 71 are not broken, the short cut between the pins 71 or the terminals 61 will not occur. Furthermore, the other portion of the glue (other than the microcapsules) has function of connecting the pins 71 and the terminals 61 mechanically.
According to abovementioned descriptions, the main object of the present invention is to demount the integrated circuit 7 from the display panel 6. And another function is to mount the integrated circuit 7 on the display panel 6, such as the COG process or the ACF sub-engineer, for the reproduction, test, or foregoing of the products.
There are many advantageous in the present invention. About the platform 1, because the vacuum holes 13 disposed thereon are corresponding to the particular types of the display panel 6, only the vacuum holes 13 suiting to the specific type of the display panel 6 need to be activated and the platform 1 needs not to be replaced unless the display panel 6 is to large. Currently the platform 1 of the present invention is suitable for any types of display panels 6 with sizes from one inch to six inches.
Furthermore, the present invention includes an altitude adjustor between the base and the platform. Because of the different thickness of the polarizing filter of various types of the display panel, the altitude of the platform can be changed by the altitude adjustor. Therefore, the platform needs not to be replaced. Thus the time-consuming process and the cost are significantly decreased by applying the present invention.
While the invention has been described in terms of what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention needs not be limited to the disclosed embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims which are to be accorded with the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar structures.
