Mechanism for properly sizing a clamp to fit with strips of a plurality of IC package sizes

A method for adjusting a height of a base of a clamp to fit to strips of a plurality of IC (integrated circuit) package sizes, the clamp being comprised of a fixed clamp portion and said base having a height that is adjustable with respect to said fixed clamp portion, the method including the steps of:

• placing a bar over said base of said clamp along a length of said base of said clamp, wherein said bar is fixed with respect to said fixed clamp portion;
• placing a respective dummy strip of IC packages corresponding to a respective IC package size on said base of said clamp to be supported by said base of said clamp, wherein each of a plurality of dummy strips of IC packages corresponds to a respective IC package size;
• sliding a respective height adjustment jig corresponding to said respective IC package size along said bar to be disposed over said respective dummy strip of IC packages, wherein each of a plurality of height adjustment jigs disposed on said bar has a respective fixed size corresponding to a strip of a respective IC package size;
• raising said base of said clamp with respect to said fixed clamp portion toward said respective height adjustment jig until said respective dummy strip of IC packages touches said respective height adjustment jig at a proper height of said base of said clamp, wherein said base is slid along guide slots disposed on said fixed clamp portion as the height of said base is adjusted;
• fixing said base of said clamp to said fixed clamp portion at said proper height after said base has been raised until said respective dummy strip of IC packages touches said respective height adjustment jig;
• wherein said clamp is part of a mechanism for loading strips of IC packages onto a carrier belt in a solder plating machine for soldering leads of said IC packages;
• and
• sliding said respective height adjustment jig along said bar to each of a plurality of locations along the length of said base to adjust said height of said base for said plurality of locations along the length of said base until said respective dummy strip of IC packages touches said respective height adjustment jig at each of said plurality of locations along the length of said base.