Methods and systems for aligning tooling elements of ultrasonic bonding systems

1. A method of aligning a subject tooling element of a material handling system of an ultrasonic bonding system, the method comprising the steps of:

a) providing an overlay defining a relative position of at least a portion of a reference tooling element;

b) viewing an image of at least a portion of the subject tooling element combined with a corresponding portion of the overlay;

c) adjusting a position of at least a portion of the subject tooling element by referring to the overlay in the image; and wherein the reference tooling element includes a plurality of clamping fingers and a support structure, the support structure being configured to support a workpiece during an ultrasonic bonding operation.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein step a) includes providing the overlay defining the relative position of at least the portion of the reference tooling element with respect to at least one reference position of a reference material handling system.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the at least one reference position is a position of at least one of (1) a portion of a rail member of the reference material handling system, and (2) a portion of a riser member of the reference material handling system configured for raising a workpiece in connection with an ultrasonic bonding operation.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein step a) includes providing the overlay defining the relative position of at least the portion of the reference tooling element with respect to at least one reference position of a workpiece positioned by a material handling system of the ultrasonic bonding system.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein step a) includes providing the overlay defining the relative position of at least the portion of the reference tooling element with respect to at least one reference position of a leadframe positioned by a material handling system of the ultrasonic bonding system.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein step a) includes providing the overlay by marking the relative position by way of computer input.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the overlay is stored in a memory of a computer of the ultrasonic bonding system.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein step a) includes providing the overlay defining the relative position of the plurality of clamping fingers.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the overlay includes a plurality of position markings defining the relative position of at least two of the plurality of clamping fingers.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the plurality of position markings include at least one of (1) cross-shaped markings and (2) outline markings of at least a portion of respective ones of the plurality of clamping fingers.

11. The method of claim 9 wherein the plurality of position markings includes tolerance markings wherein a portion of each of the clamping fingers is configured to be aligned within a range defined by at least one of the respective tolerance markings.

12. The method of claim 8 wherein the overlay includes a plurality of layers, wherein one of the plurality of layers includes a plurality of position markings defining the relative position of at least two of the plurality of clamping fingers.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein step a) includes providing the overlay defining the relative position of the support structure.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the overlay includes at least one position marking defining the relative position of the support structure.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the overlay includes a plurality of position markings defining the relative position of the support structure and at least one of the plurality of clamping fingers.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein the overlay includes a plurality of layers, wherein one of the plurality of layers includes a plurality of position markings defining the relative position of ones of the plurality of clamping fingers.

17. The method of claim 1 further comprising the steps of:

d) positioning a leadframe over the support structure;

e) raising the support structure to support a portion of the leadframe; and

f) lowering the clamping fingers so that at least one of the clamping fingers contacts a top surface of the leadframe.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein step c) includes adjusting a position of at least a portion of the subject tooling element by aligning it with at least a portion of the relative position defined by the overlay.

19. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of aligning the overlay with at least one reference position of the subject material handling system before step b).

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the step of aligning the overlay includes aligning at least one reference position of the overlay with the at least one reference position of the subject material handling system.

21. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of aligning the overlay with at least one reference position of a workpiece positioned by the material handling system of the ultrasonic bonding system before step b).

22. The method of claim 21 wherein the step of aligning the overlay includes aligning at least one reference position of the overlay with the at least one reference position of the workpiece.

23. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of aligning the overlay with at least one reference position of a leadframe positioned by the material handling system of the ultrasonic bonding system before step b).

24. A method of aligning at least one subject clamp finger of a material handling system of an ultrasonic bonding system, the method comprising the steps of:

a) providing an overlay defining a position of at least one reference clamp finger;

b) viewing an image of at least a portion of the at least one subject clamp finger combined with a corresponding portion of the overlay; and

c) adjusting a position of the at least one subject clamp finger by referring to the overlay in the image.

25. A method of aligning a subject support structure configured to support a workpiece during an ultrasonic bonding operation, the method comprising the steps of:

a) providing an overlay defining a position of a reference support structure configured to support the workpiece during an ultrasonic bonding operation;

b) viewing an image of at least a portion of the subject support structure combined with a corresponding portion of the overlay; and

c) adjusting a position of at least a portion of the subject support structure by referring to the overlay in the image.