Abstract: A lead shape measurement apparatus includes a first perspective imaging device for photographing external leads to be measured, from an oblique direction; a second perspective imaging device for photograping external leads to be measured, from an oblique direction different from that of the first perspective imaging device and so as to include a same photographic field of vision as the first perspective device; a first measurement point determination element for determining a center point of two intersecting virtual straight lines which intersect two ridges of the external leads to be measured in an image plane by photography of the first perspective imaging device; a second measurement point determination element for setting epipolar line in the image plane by the second perspective imaging device on the basis of sight lines when a measurement sampling point of the first perspective imaging device is photographed, and for determining a center point of two intersecting virtual straight lines which intersect t

Abstract: An inner lead bonding inspecting method comprises the steps of: irradiating an illumination light onto the planar surface of a bonding portion between an electrode bump provided on a semiconductor pellet and an inner lead, measuring the quantity of reflected light from the surface, and judging whether the bonding state of the inner lead bonding is good or bad on the basis of the measured result. According to another aspect, an inner lead bonding inspecting apparatus comprises any irradiation device for irradiating a light onto a planar surface of a bonding portion between an electrode bump provided on a semiconductor pellet and an inner lead; a light quantity measurement device for measuring the quantity of reflected light from the inner lead surface, and a judging device for comparing the measured quantity of reflected light with a reference light quantity, to judge the quality of the bonding state.

Abstract: Detection of a defect (18) on the surface (15) of an article (10), such as a semiconductor chip, is accomplished by illuminating the chip in a bright field and then capturing the image thereof with a television camera (30) coupled to a machine vision processor (32). To detect the defect (18), the vision processor first adaptively thresholds the captured image to effectively eliminate areas in the image brighter than those associated with the defect (18) which are usually dark. Thereafter, the vision processor (32) erodes and then dilates the dark areas within the image remaining after binarization to isolate those dark areas associated with the defect. The existence of a defect can then be established by the existence of a now-isolated dark area.

Abstract: A detected pattern is binarized, the binarized pattern is expanded, an image size is reduced while a connectivity of the expanded pattern is preserved and stored in a first memory. In turn, the binarized pattern is contracted, the image size is reduced while a connectivity of the contracted pattern is preserved and stored in a second memory. Then the expanded pattern is read out from the first memory and a connectivity of the pattern is selected. The contracted pattern is read out from the second pattern and the connectivity of the pattern is extracted. The selected connectivities are compared with the connectivity of a normal pattern to detect a non-coincidence. The circuit pattern having a short circuit or a semi-short circuit defect and a circuit pattern having an open circuit or a semi-open circuit defect are classified and selected in response to these non-coincidences.

Abstract: An optical system of inspecting bonding wires on a semiconductor by using a camera, focal length and depth adjusting unit, and an illumination device for irradiating brilliantly a desired portion of an inspection object with an illumination light. The focal length and depth adjusting means comprises a plurality of glass plates each having a different focal length and depth, and each bonding wire is inspected at a plurality of levels at a height position of the wire and at a plurality of portions thereof in its longitudinal direction to make a comparison between focal point evaluation quantities or feature quantities at each detected position so that wiring defects can be detected.

Abstract: The detection (e.g., mapping) of metallized features (14,16) on a surface (12) of a substrate (10), such as a printed circuit board, is accomplished by separately spanning the surface with first and second lines of light (30,32), which have known intensity profiles which, when normalized, spatially intersect. As each line of light is spanned across the surface (12), the light reflected from a successive one of a plurality of very thin strips, each distant from the intersection of the intensity profiles, is sensed. The ratio of the sensed intensity of the light reflected when the surface (12) is spanned by the first line of light to the second line of light is computed. For each successively imaged strip at which the ratio of the sensed intensities exceeds a predetermined threshold, there is metallization present.