IP Library Granted Patent US 12,601,713
Granted Patent B2
US 12,601,713 · App. 18/281,718 · Granted Apr 14, 2026

Wire bonding defect detection apparatus and operation method thereof

Inventor: Jee Hoon Choi (Daejeon, KR)
Assignee: LG ENERGY SOLUTION, LTD.
G01N29/069B23K20/10H01M50/516G01N2291/023G01N2291/0289G01N2291/267
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,601,713
App. No.
18/281,718
Granted
Apr 14, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

An apparatus and method are disclosed for detecting a bonding defect occurring during an ultrasonic wire bonding process between a battery cell and a busbar connected to each other by ultrasonic wire bonding. A bonding parameter collector, coupled to an ultrasonic wire bonding machine, may collect ultrasonic bonding parameters continuously during the ultrasonic wire bonding process, machine learning training may be performed by a convolutional neural network, and a bonding defect may be detected based thereon.

Claims (44)

1 . An apparatus for detecting a bonding defect occurring during an ultrasonic wire bonding process between a battery cell and a busbar connected to each other by ultrasonic wire bonding, the apparatus comprising:

a bonding parameter collector configured to continuously collect a plurality of ultrasonic bonding parameters;

a data generator configured to generate data by applying wavelet transform to the plurality of ultrasonic bonding parameters so as to convert the plurality of ultrasonic bonding parameters into images having a two-dimensional array;

a convolutional neural network configured to perform machine-learning training using the data generated by the data generator; and

a defect determination component configured to determine a defect due to the ultrasonic wire bonding using the convolutional neural network that is trained,

wherein the plurality of ultrasonic bonding parameters comprise a measured value of wire deformation, and

wherein the measured value of the wire deformation includes a measured value of a height of a wire changed as the wire is melted.

2 . The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of ultrasonic bonding parameters comprise an ultrasonic generator current and an ultrasonic generator voltage.

3 . The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the wavelet transform is for converting the plurality of ultrasonic bonding parameters into a value of 0 to 1 through minimum-maximum scaling and generating training data having the two-dimensional array through a scale value of 2 or more using a Mexican Hat waveform transform function.

4 . The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the convolutional neural network comprises four convolution tiers, a gap tier, and a fully-connected tier.

5 . The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the ultrasonic bonding parameters are collected for a time of 10 ms to 1000 ms.

6 . The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the bonding parameter collector is configured to collect the plurality of ultrasonic bonding parameters at intervals of 0.1 ms to 100 ms.

7 . A battery pack configured to have a welding defect between the battery cell and the busbar detected using the apparatus according to claim 1 .

8 . A device comprising the battery pack according to claim 7 .

9 . The apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising:

the battery cell;

the busbar; and

an ultrasonic wire bonding machine coupled to the bonding parameter collector,

wherein the ultrasonic wire bonding machine is configured to perform the ultrasonic wire bonding process on the battery cell and the busbar to have the battery cell and the busbar connected to each other by the ultrasonic wire bonding.

10 . The apparatus according to claim 9 ,

wherein the bonding parameter collector or the data generator is configured to sample the plurality of ultrasonic bonding parameters, and

wherein the ultrasonic wire bonding machine is configured to provide the plurality of ultrasonic bonding parameters to the bonding parameter collector continuously in real time during the ultrasonic wire bonding process.

11 . The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the bonding parameter collector is configured to collect, continuously in real time during the ultrasonic wire bonding process, the measured value of the height of the wire as the wire is melted.

12 . A method of detecting a bonding defect occurring during an ultrasonic wire bonding process between a battery cell and a busbar connected to each other by ultrasonic wire bonding, the method comprising:

continuously collecting a plurality of ultrasonic bonding parameters;

generating a training data by converting the plurality of ultrasonic bonding parameters into images having a two-dimensional array using wavelet transform;

training a convolutional neural network with the generated training data; and

determining a defect due to the ultrasonic wire bonding using the convolutional neural network,

wherein the plurality of ultrasonic bonding parameters comprise a measured value of wire deformation, and

wherein the measured value of the wire deformation includes a measured value of a height of a wire changed as the wire is melted.

13 . The method according to claim 12 , wherein the wavelet transform converts the plurality of ultrasonic bonding parameters into a value of 0 to 1 through minimum-maximum scaling and generates the training data having the two-dimensional array through a scale value of 2 or more using a Mexican Hat waveform transform function.

14 . The method according to claim 12 , wherein the generating of the training data comprises performing convolution calculation with respect to the images having the two-dimensional array using a 2×2 or 3×3 filter and performing calculation through an activation function and pooling to generate 256 one-dimensional data.

15 . The method according to claim 12 , wherein the plurality of ultrasonic bonding parameters comprise an ultrasonic generator current and an ultrasonic generator voltage.

16 . The method according to claim 7 , wherein the method is performed using an apparatus,

wherein the apparatus comprises:

the battery cell;

the busbar;

an ultrasonic wire bonding machine; and

a bonding parameter collector coupled to the ultrasonic wire bonding machine,

wherein the ultrasonic wire bonding machine performs the ultrasonic wire bonding process on the battery cell and the busbar to have the battery cell and the busbar connected to each other by the ultrasonic wire bonding, and

wherein the bonding parameter collector performs continuously collecting the plurality of ultrasonic bonding parameters.

17 . The method according to claim 16 , wherein the apparatus further comprises a data generator,

wherein the bonding parameter collector or the data generator samples the plurality of ultrasonic bonding parameters, and

wherein the ultrasonic wire bonding machine provides the plurality of ultrasonic bonding parameters to the bonding parameter collector continuously in real time during the ultrasonic wire bonding process.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Sep 12, 2023
From: CHOI, JEE HOON
To: LG ENERGY SOLUTION, LTD.
Reel/Frame 064878/0771 →
Priority Claims (1)
KR 10-2021-0112586 · Aug 25, 2021 · national
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20240159713A1 · May 16, 2024
References Cited (49)
US 9966584B2 · Jan · 2018 [cited by examiner]
US 10637110B1 · Tsai et al. · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 20100010780A1 · Zhu · 2010 [cited by applicant]
US 20100280646A1 · Hesse et al. · 2010 [cited by applicant]
US 20140255748A1 · Jan et al. · 2014 [cited by applicant]
US 20180261823A1 · Jan et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20180275667A1 · Liu et al. · 2018 [cited by applicant]
US 20200242753A1 · Shibata et al. · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 20200259154A1 · Jan et al. · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 20200394354A1 · He et al. · 2020 [cited by applicant]
US 20210132154A1 · Kasper et al. · 2021 [cited by applicant]
US 20210249739A1 · Jan et al. · 2021 [cited by applicant]
US 20220138992A1 · Wu et al. · 2022 [cited by applicant]
US 20220152725A1 · Koo et al. · 2022 [cited by applicant]
US 20240006647A1 · Jan et al. · 2024 [cited by applicant]
CN 101241872A · 2008 [cited by applicant]
CN 106870957A · 2017 [cited by applicant]
CN 107894564A · 2018 [cited by applicant]
CN 111047225A · 2020 [cited by applicant]
CN 112232400A · 2021 [cited by applicant]
CN 113111570A · 2021 [cited by applicant]
EP 2973782B1 · 2019 [cited by applicant]
JP 2019185580A · 2019 [cited by applicant]
JP 2020123459A · 2020 [cited by applicant]
JP 2021018849A · 2021 [cited by applicant]
JP 2021070061A · 2021 [cited by applicant]
KR 1020100087214A · 2010 [cited by applicant]
KR 101033416B1 · 2011 [cited by applicant]
KR 1020110108950A · 2011 [cited by applicant]
KR 1020150078086A · 2015 [cited by applicant]
KR 1020190081614A · 2019 [cited by applicant]
KR 102009572B1 · 2019 [cited by applicant]
KR 1020200080380A · 2020 [cited by applicant]
KR 1020210006075A · 2021 [cited by applicant]
KR 1020210014482A · 2021 [cited by applicant]
WO 2021008275A1 · 2021 [cited by applicant]
Hou, et al., “Using neural networks and immune algorithms to find the optimal parameters for an IC wire bonding process”, Expert Systems With Applications, Elsevier, 2008, vol. 34, No. 1, pp. 427-436. [cited by applicant]
Yan, et al., “A Deep Learning-Based Ultrasonic Pattern Recognition Method for Inspecting Girth Weld Cracking of Gas Pipeline”, IEEE Sensors Journal, IEEE Sensor Council, 2020, vol. 20, No. 14, pp. 7997-8006. [cited by applicant]
Barcelo, et al., “Development of an ultrasonic weld inspection system based on image processing and neural networks”, Nondestructive Testing and Evaluation, 2017, vol. 33, No. 2, pp. 229-236. [cited by applicant]
Selim, et al., “Wavelet Transform Applied to Internal Defect Detection by Means of Laser Ultrasound”, Wavelet Transform and Complexity, 2019, 17 pages. [cited by applicant]
Ogawa, et al., “Identification of normal and abnormal from ultrasound images of power devices using VGG16”, 2020 20th International Conference on Control, Automation and Systems (ICCAS 2020), 2020, pp. 415-418. [cited by applicant]
The extended European search report issued in corresponding EP Patent Application No. 22861699.1 dated Oct. 9, 2024. [cited by applicant]
Long et al., “Joint Feature Classification for Wire Bond Joint Based on KPCA and Random Forest”, IEEE Xplore, 2018 20th Electronics Packaging Technology Conference, pp. 753-757. [cited by applicant]
International Search Report (with partial translation) dated Nov. 22, 2022 with Written Opinion issued in corresponding Korean Patent Application No. PCT/KR2022/012614. [cited by applicant]
Office Action issued in corresponding Korean Patent Application No. 10-2021-0112586, dated Jun. 17, 2025. (Note: JP 2021-018849 A, KR 10-2020-0080380 A were previously cited). [cited by applicant]
Dzakmic, et al., “Combined Fourier Transform and Mexican Hat Wavelet for Fault Detection in Distribution Networks.”, 9th IEEE-GCC Conference and Exhibition (GCCCE), 2017, 6 pages. [cited by applicant]
Y. Yan et al., “A Deep Learning-Based Ultrasonic Pattern Recognition Method for Inspecting Girth Weld Cracking of Gas Pipeline”, IEEE Sensors Journal, Jul. 15, 2020, 7997p-8006p. [cited by applicant]
Tao Wang et al. “Automatic ECG Classification Using Continuous Wavelet Transform and Convolutional Neural Network,” Entropy, Jan. 18, 2021, 1p-13p. [cited by applicant]
Office Action dated Dec. 20, 2025 issued in CN Patent Application No. 202280021280.7. (Note: KR 10-1033416 B1 already submitted.). [cited by applicant]