IMAGE INSPECTION APPARATUS AND METHOD

An apparatus and method for inspecting the appearance of a semiconductor device to easily judge the acceptability of the device with a simple structure. The apparatus comprises light-reflecting means and an optical reading mechanism. The light-reflecting means is disposed alongside of at least one side surface of the semiconductor device. The reading mechanism reads an image of the side surface reflected by the light-reflecting means and an image of the top or bottom surface of the device simultaneously. The method is initiated by placing the light-reflecting means alongside of at least one side surface of the device. Then, the optical reading mechanism reads an image of the side surface reflected by the light-reflecting means and an image of the top or bottom surface of the device simultaneously. The bending of each lead of the semiconductor device is inspected according to the images read by the reading mechanism.