Device and method for clamping and wire-bonding the leads of a lead frame one set at a time

An apparatus for wire-bonding at least one lead of a plurality of leads of lead frames in a lead frame strip to at least one bond pad of a plurality of bond pads on integrated circuit dice attached to the lead frames, the apparatus comprising:

• a heat block having a plurality of contact areas thereon for heating at least one of the integrated circuit dice and at least one lead of the plurality of leads of a lead frame of the lead frames;
• an indexing mechanism for indexing the lead frame strip through the apparatus, each lead frame in the lead frame strip being indexed, in turn, to positions proximate each of the plurality of contact areas on the heat block;
• a clamp mechanism for holding at least two leads of the leads of each lead frame indexed to each of the plurality of heat block contact areas against the heat block, the clamp mechanism constructed to hold a plurality of sets of the leads of each lead frame one set of leads at a time, each set of the leads of each lead frame including fewer than all the leads of each lead frame, at least one set of the sets of leads of each lead frame including more than one of the leads of each lead frame;
• at least one of a wire-bond pull test system and a wire-bond shear test system for testing wire bonds of leads of each of the lead frames indexed to the plurality of heat block contact areas while the clamp mechanism holds other leads of the lead frames against the heat block;
• and
• a bonding tool system for bonding the leads held against the heat block by the clamp mechanism to bond pads on the integrated circuit dice attached to the lead frames of the held leads.

An apparatus for wire-bonding leads of a lead frame to bond pads on an integrated circuit die attached to the lead frame, a first set of the leads extending toward the integrated circuit die and terminating proximate a perimeter thereof in a first plane parallel to a front-side surface of the integrated circuit die, a second set of the leads extending toward the integrated circuit die and terminating proximate the perimeter thereof in a second plane different than the first plane and parallel to the front-side surface of the integrated circuit die, the apparatus comprising:

• a heat block for supporting and heating the integrated circuit die and the lead frame;
• a clamp mechanism for holding the first set of leads at a first time and a second set of leads at a second time against the heat block;
• at least one of a wire-bond pull test system and a wire-bond shear test system for testing wire bonds of leads of each of the first and second sets of leads of the lead frame;
• and
• a bonding tool for bonding the held leads to the bond pads on the integrated circuit die.

Apparatus for connecting at least one lead of a plurality of leads of a lead frame to at least one bond pad of a plurality of bond pads on a semiconductor die, the apparatus comprising:

• a base for supporting a portion of the lead frame;
• a clamp mechanism for holding a plurality of sets of the leads against the base one set at a time, each set of the plurality of sets including fewer than all of the leads of the lead frame, at least one set of the plurality of sets including more than one of the leads;
• at least one of a wire-bond pull test device and a wire-bond shear test device for testing wire bonds of held leads;
• a heat block for heating at least one lead of the plurality of leads of a lead frame and the semiconductor die;
• and
• a bonding tool for connecting leads held by the clamp mechanism to the bond pads on the semiconductor die.

A bonding apparatus for connecting at least one lead of a plurality of leads of lead frames in a lead frame strip to at least one bond pad of a plurality of bond pads on semiconductor dice attached to the lead frames, the bonding apparatus comprising:

• a heat block having a contact area thereon for sequentially heating at least one of the semiconductor dice and the lead frames when a semiconductor die and a lead frame is located on the heat block;
• an indexing mechanism for sequentially indexing the lead frame strip through the bonding apparatus, each lead frame indexed to a position adjacent the contact area on the heat block;
• a clamp mechanism for holding at least a portion of one set of the leads of each lead frame indexed to the contact area of the heat block one set at a time, each set of the plurality of leads including fewer than all the leads, at least one set of the plurality of leads including more than one of the leads;
• at least one of a wire-bond pull test device and a wire-bond shear test device for testing wire bonds of leads of each lead frame indexed to the heat block contact area while the clamp mechanism holds other leads of each lead frame against the heat block;
• and
• a bonding tool for bonding the leads in each set of the plurality of leads held against the heat block by the clamp mechanism to the bond pads on the integrated circuit dice attached to the lead frames of the held leads using wire bonds.

A wire-bonding machine for connecting leads of lead frames in a lead frame strip to bond pads on integrated circuit dice attached to the lead frames, the wire-bonding machine comprising:

• a heat block having at least two contact areas thereon for heating at least a portion of an integrated circuit die of the integrated circuit dice and at least a portion of one lead of a plurality of leads of a lead frame of the lead frames;
• an indexing mechanism for indexing the lead frame strip through the wire-bonding machine, each lead frame in the lead frame strip being indexed, in turn, to a position adjacent each contact area of the at least two contact areas on the heat block;
• a clamp mechanism for holding the leads of each lead frame indexed to each of the at least two contact areas against the heat block, the clamp mechanism constructed to hold a plurality of sets of the leads of each lead frame one set of leads at a time, each set of the leads of each lead frame including fewer than all the leads of each lead frame, at least one set of the sets of leads of each lead frame including more than one of the leads of each lead frame;
• a wire-bonding tool system for bonding at least two leads of the leads held against the heat block by the clamp mechanism to bond pads on the integrated circuit dice attached to the lead frames of the held leads;
• and
• at least one of a wire-bond pull test system and a wire-bond shear test system for testing at least one wire bond of a plurality of wire bonds of leads of each of the lead frames indexed to the at least two heat block contact areas while the clamp mechanism holds other leads of the lead frames against the heat block.