Wire bonding apparatus with improved Z-axis motion control

Abstract

A support arm for a wire bonding tool is fixedly mounted at one end on a first horizontal X-Y stage and is attached at the other end to a swing block by a pair of flexible reeds. The wire bonding tool is mounted on the swing block by another pair of flexible reeds. Both pairs of flexible reeds are arranged to permit vertical motion of the wire bonding tool along a Z-axis toward and away from a workpiece supported beneath the wire bonding tool on a second horizontal X-Y stage. A bell crank is coupled between the support arm and the swing block and is operated by a push rod to control the vertical Z-axis motion of the wire bonding tool. The push rod is coupled at one end to the bell crank and at the other end to a lower coupling member rotatably mounted on the first X-Y stage as part of an Oldham coupling mechanism. An upper coupling member of this Oldham coupling mechanism is rotatably mounted on a support bracket adjacent to the first X-Y stage. The upper coupling member is operated by a cam-controlled linkage mechanism to rotate the lower coupling member and thereby move the push rod as required to operate the bell crank and control the vertical Z-axis motion of the wire bonding tool.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.