Method and apparatus for electronic component lead inspection.

摘要

The method and apparatus of the present invention permit the visual inspection of electronic component leads (42) during the mounting thereof. A hot bar thermode (18) or other mounting tool is provided having a plurality of thermally activatable blades (34,36,38,40). A vacuum chuck (44) and associated vacuum pump are utilised to selectively mount an integrated circuit device such that the conductive leads of the device are disposed adjacent to the lower surfaces of the thermally activatable blades. A low angle light source (72) is then utilised to illuminate the integrated circuit device conductive leads such that a high contrast is created between the conductive leads and the lower surface (76) of the thermally activatable blades, in order to permit an accurate visual inspection of the conductive leads. In one embodiment of the present invention, the lower surfaces of the thermally activatable blades are given a uniform grain by lapping those surfaces in a single direction to minimise the specularity of these surfaces and the angle of illumination is adjusted to enhance the contrast between the conductive leads and the lower blade surfaces. A camera (28) disposed below the hot bar thermode may then be utilised to permit remote visual inspection of the conductive leads of an integrated circuit device while it is present within the mounting tool. <IMAGE>