KR100848595B1 - Apparatus for gripping a wafer frame - Google Patents

Abstract

An apparatus for gripping a wafer frame is provided to reduce a loss caused by an abnormal operation by detecting various normal and abnormal operation states capable of occurring in a wafer frame gripping apparatus. A pair of grip plates(111,112) are disposed in parallel with each other, relatively moving in a direction that approaches each other and is separated from each other and capable of coming in contact with a wafer frame. A detection unit detects a first state that the grip plates are separated from each other while the wafer frame is not interposed between the grip plates, a second state that the wafer frame is clamped by the grip plates, and a third state that the grip plates are stuck to each other while the wafer frame is not interposed between the grip plates. The grip plates can move relatively by an air chuck cylinder(150) driven by an air pressure.

Description

Wafer Frame Grip Device {Apparatus for gripping a wafer frame}

1 is a perspective view showing an example of a wafer frame transfer device employing a wafer frame grip device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is an enlarged perspective view of a wafer frame grip device and a cassette in the wafer frame transfer device of FIG. 1;

3 is a perspective view of a wafer frame grip device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4A, 4B, and 4C show the wafer frame grip device of FIG. 3 in a first state, a second state, and a third state;

FIG. 5 is a view showing a stopper portion of the wafer frame grip device of FIG. 3. FIG.

FIG. 6 is a view showing a push portion of the wafer frame grip device of FIG. 3. FIG.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

1: Wafer frame 100: Wafer frame grip device

110: grip plate 120: sensor

130: sensing dog 140: height adjustment unit

150: air chuck cylinder 160: side plate

161: stopper portion 162: push portion

w: wafer

The present invention relates to a wafer frame grip device, and more particularly to a wafer frame grip device that can detect whether the wafer frame is clamped using a sensor.

In general, a semiconductor manufacturing process may be broadly classified into a process of forming a desired semiconductor device, that is, chips on a wafer, an assembly process of packaging the chips, and an inspection process of inspecting characteristics and lifespans of the completed packages.

After the chip is formed on the wafer, an electrical performance test is performed on the chips formed on the wafer, and the inspection process is performed to select a good chip and a bad chip. Thereafter, a dicing process of cutting chips of a predetermined size from a wafer is performed.

The wafer frame is used to bond and support the wafer by using a film to prevent the chips to be separated when the dicing process is performed. The wafer frame is generally made of a ring-shaped metal having an inner diameter larger than the diameter of the wafer. . An adhesive film is tautly attached throughout the wafer frame and the backside of the wafer is attached on the film.

In a wafer manufacturing process, a cassette is usually provided to accommodate a plurality of wafer frames, and a cassette is loaded or unloaded in a standby module of a dicing apparatus and a chip pick-up apparatus. To carry out the dicing process and the chip pick-up process, the wafer frame is extracted from the cassette and the wafer frame is pulled back into the cassette. The wafer frame grip device is used to hold the wafer frame. .

The conventional wafer frame grip device includes a finger portion capable of clamping a wafer frame, a pneumatic cylinder for driving the finger portion, etc., and whether the finger portion clamped the wafer frame was detected by the sensor of the pneumatic cylinder. That is, the signal detected from the sensor of the pneumatic cylinder when the finger moves in the direction of clamping the wafer frame is different from the signal detected from the sensor of the pneumatic cylinder when the finger moves in the direction of releasing the clamping of the wafer frame. Was used.

However, in the pneumatic cylinder sensor of the conventional wafer frame grip device, the finger clamps the wafer frame in a state where the wafer frame is interposed between the fingers, or the finger is not interposed between the fingers. All the cases where the parts join each other are regarded as the case where the finger moves in the direction of clamping the wafer frame, so the sensor can detect the normal operation state in which the wafer frame is clamped and the abnormal operation state in which the wafer frame is not clamped. There was no problem.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, by detecting a variety of normal and abnormal operating conditions that can occur in the wafer frame grip device, the structure is improved to reduce the loss due to abnormal operation and improve the stability of the device An object of the present invention is to provide a wafer frame grip device.

In order to achieve the above object, the wafer frame grip device of the present invention is a wafer frame grip device capable of gripping a wafer frame for supporting a wafer, which are arranged in parallel with each other, and are mutually approached and spaced apart from each other A pair of grip plates which are relatively movable in contact with the wafer frame; And a first state in which the grip plates are spaced apart from each other without the wafer frame interposed between the grip plates, a second state in which the wafer frame is clamped by the grip plates, and between the grip plates. And sensing means for respectively sensing a third state in which the grip plates are bonded to each other without the wafer frame interposed therebetween.

In the wafer frame grip device according to the present invention, preferably, the sensing means includes a pair of sensors and a pair of sensing dogs whose one end is sensed by the sensors, respectively, in the first state. According to a second state and a third state, all of the sensing dogs are not sensed by the sensors, only one of the sensing dogs is sensed by any one of the sensors, or all of the sensing dogs The sensors and the sensing dogs are arranged to be sensed by the sensors.

In the wafer frame grip device according to the present invention, preferably, the pair of grip plates include an upper grip plate and a lower grip plate disposed side by side with the upper grip plate under the upper grip plate. The sensors are installed on the upper grip plate, and the sensing dogs are installed on the lower grip plate with a predetermined height difference from each other.

In the wafer frame grip device according to the present invention, preferably, the other end is coupled to the sensing dogs at the other end of the sensing dog, and further comprises a height adjustment unit for adjusting the height of each of the sensing dogs.

In the wafer frame grip device according to the present invention, preferably, the grip plates are relatively movable by an air chuck cylinder driven by air pressure.

In the wafer frame grip device according to the present invention, preferably, the grip plate further includes a stopper portion for limiting the maximum range in which the grip plate can move when the grip plates are relatively moved in a direction away from each other.

In the wafer frame gripping apparatus according to the present invention, preferably, when moving to the cassette side for accommodating the wafer frame to hold the wafer frame, the wafer frame is protruded from the cassette for a predetermined range or more to the cassette side. It further includes a push portion for putting.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the wafer frame grip device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a perspective view showing an example of a wafer frame transfer device employing a wafer frame grip device according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 2 is a wafer frame grip device and a cassette in the wafer frame transfer device of Figure 1 3 is a perspective view of a wafer frame grip device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C illustrate a wafer frame grip device of FIG. 3 in a first state, a second state, and a first state. It is a figure which shows in 3 states, FIG. 5 is a figure which shows the stopper part of the wafer frame grip apparatus of FIG. 3, and FIG. 6 is a figure which shows the push part of the wafer frame grip apparatus of FIG.

1 to 6, the wafer frame transfer device employing the wafer frame grip device 100 of the present embodiment extracts the wafer frame 1 from the cassette 240 and moves the wafer to the standby position for the next process. An apparatus for conveying the frame 1 includes a cassette 240, a wafer frame grip device 100, a wafer frame conveying unit 210, a guide rail 230, and a guide rail conveying unit 220.

The cassette 240 is for accommodating a plurality of wafer frames 1, and generally a plurality of, for example, 20 or 25 slots in which each wafer frame 1 is accommodated are provided therein. After the operation is completed in one slot of the cassette 240, a cassette lifting unit 250 capable of elevating the cassette 240 is provided to perform the operation in a slot above or below the slot. have.

The wafer frame grip device 100 is a device capable of holding the wafer frame 1 in order to extract the wafer frame 1 from the cassette 240 or to draw the cassette 240 into the cassette 240. The wafer frame grip device 100 will be described in detail later.

The wafer frame transfer unit 210 linearly moves the wafer frame 1 extracted from the cassette 240 to the standby position for processing, or linearly moves the completed wafer frame 1 from the standby position to the cassette 240 side. Means to move. The wafer frame transfer part 210 includes a motor 211 serving as a driving source, a screw member (not shown) rotated by the motor 211, and a nut member (not shown) screwed to the screw member. One end of the transfer member 214 supporting the wafer frame grip device 100 and reciprocating is coupled to the nut member and the linear motion guide member 212 for guiding the linear motion, and the other end of the transfer member 214. Is coupled to the guide rod 213 for guiding the linear motion.

As shown in FIG. 2, the wafer frame grip device 100 is spaced from the cassette 240 by the wafer frame transfer part 210 to extract the wafer frame 1 from the cassette 240. It may be moved in the "B" direction, or in the direction approaching the cassette 240 side ("A" direction) for drawing the wafer frame 1 into the cassette 240.

The guide rail 230 is for supporting both ends of the wafer frame 1, and depends on the size of the wafer frame 1 (the size of the wafer frame varies depending on the size of the 6, 8, 12 inch wafer). It is installed so that the width can be changed.

The guide rail feeder 220 is for changing the width of the pair of guide rails 230 and includes components constituting a general straight line feeder such as a motor 221, a screw member and a nut member.

The wafer frame grip device 100 includes a pair of grip plates 110, a driving means, a sensing means, a height adjusting unit 140, and a side plate 160.

The grip plates 110 may be in contact with the wafer frame 1 while relatively moving in a direction in which the grip plates 110 are approached and spaced apart from each other, and the upper grip plate 111 located above and the upper grip plate below the upper grip plate 111. It includes a lower grip plate 112 disposed side by side facing the plate 111. The upper grip plate 111 and the lower grip plate 112 are moved in a direction approaching each other by driving means described later, or in a direction spaced from each other. The wafer plate 1 is interposed between the upper grip plate 111 and the lower grip plate 112, and the upper grip plate 111 and the lower grip plate 112 move in a direction in which the grip plate 110 approaches each other. ) The wafer frame 1 is clamped.

The driving means is a means for moving the upper grip plate 111 and the lower grip plate 112. In this embodiment, an air chuck cylinder 150 operated by pneumatic pressure is used. The air chuck cylinder 150 has a pair of chucks, and the upper grip plate 111 and the lower grip plate 112 are fixed to the chucks, respectively.

The sensing means may detect three or more different signals according to the distance (l) between the upper grip plate 111 and the lower grip plate 112 in order to detect various operating states generated in the process of holding the wafer frame 1. As a means for generating a, includes a pair of sensors 120, a pair of sensing dog 130.

The sensors 120 include a first sensor 121 and a second sensor 122 that are installed in parallel with the upper grip plate 111. In the present embodiment, as the first sensor 121 and the second sensor 122, a photo sensor having a light emitting part and a light receiving part and operated by whether light emitted from the light emitting part is detected by the light receiving part is used. . In the photo sensor, when the light emitted from the light emitting unit is shielded by the sensing dog 130 to be described later and is not detected by the light receiving unit, an on signal is generated, and when the light emitted from the light emitting unit is detected by the light receiving unit An off signal is generated.

The sensing dogs 130 may enter between the light paths between the light emitting part and the light receiving part of the sensor 120 to shield the light emitted from the light emitting part, and may be adjacent to the lower grip plate 112. Is installed. The sensing dogs 130 include a first sensing dog 131 sensed by the first sensor 121 and a second sensing dog 132 sensed by the second sensor 122. The sensing dogs 130 move together with the lower grip plate 112, and whether the sensing dog 130 is detected by the sensor is determined according to the distance ℓ between the upper grip plate 111 and the lower grip plate 112.

As shown in FIG. 4, the first sensor 121 and the second sensor 122 are installed at the same height on the upper grip plate 111, whereas the first sensing dog 131 and the second sensor 122 are installed at the same height. The sensing dog 132 is provided to have a predetermined height difference. That is, the height of one end of the first sensing dog 131 is located higher than the height of one end of the second sensing dog 132. Therefore, when the upper grip plate 111 and the lower grip plate 112 are spaced at a specific interval, the first sensing dog 131 blocks the light of the first sensor 121 so that the first sensor 121 is turned on. Although the signal is generated, the second sensing dog 132 may not block the light of the second sensor 122 and thus the second sensor 122 may generate an off signal.

The height adjusting unit 140 is for adjusting the height of one end of the first sensing dog 131 and the height of one end of the second sensing dog 132, and on the other end side of the first sensing dog 131. The first height adjustment unit 141 is coupled to, and the second height adjustment unit 142 is coupled to the other end side of the second sensing dog 132. In this embodiment, a micrometer is used as the height adjustment unit 140.

Depending on the size of the wafer frame 1 (for example, the size varies depending on the 6-inch wafer, the 8-inch wafer, and the 12-inch wafer), the thickness of the wafer frame 1 may be changed. When the thickness of the wafer frame 1 is changed, the distance l between the grip plates 110 is changed when the wafer frame 1 is clamped by the grip plates 110. For example, when the wafer frame 1 is clamped, the first sensor 121 generates an on signal and the second sensor 122 generates an off signal so that the first sensing dog 131 and the second sensing dog ( Although the height of one end of the 132 is aligned, the first sensor 121 and the second sensor 122 may both generate the same signal due to the thickness change of the wafer frame 1 as described above. Even if the thickness of the wafer frame 1 is changed, the height adjusting unit 140 may be used to maintain the setting for generating different signals from the first sensor 121 and the second sensor 122. The heights of one end of one sensing dog 131 and one end of second sensing dog 132 are readjusted.

Side plates 160 are installed at both sides of the upper grip plate 111 and the lower grip plate 112. The side plate 160 is fixed to the upper grip plate 111 and includes a stopper part 161 and a push part 162.

As shown in FIG. 5, the stopper part 161 may have a maximum range in which the lower grip plate 112 may move when the lower grip plate 112 and the upper grip plate 111 move in a direction away from each other. As a limit, it is formed in a shape bent in the lower portion of the side plate (160). When the grip plates 110 are spaced apart from each other to clamp the wafer frame 1 accommodated in one slot, the interference between the wafer frame 1 and the lower grip plate 112 accommodated in the immediately lower slot is In order to avoid the limit of the movement range of the lower grip plate (112).

As shown in FIG. 6, the push unit 162 is for pushing the wafer frame 1 ′ protruding from the cassette 240 to a predetermined range or more toward the cassette 240. It is formed to protrude on the front surface, that is, in a direction facing the wafer frame 1.

In the wafer frame transfer apparatus shown in FIG. 1, when the wafer frame 1 ′ protruding from the cassette 240 is extracted from the cassette 240 without being aligned and transferred to the standby position for processing, the wafer frame ( 1 ') is not settled exactly at the target position, but is settled at a position far from the target position. In order to proceed with the processing with the wafer frame 1 transferred to the standby position, it is preferable to transfer the wafer frame 1 to be within an allowable error range from the target position. Accordingly, by using the push unit 162 to align the wafer frame 1 to protrude from the cassette 240 within a predetermined range, the target position within the error range when the wafer frame 1 is transferred to the standby position. Can be transferred.

Hereinafter, the operation principle of the wafer frame grip device of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6.

First, as shown in FIG. 4A, when the grip plates 110 approach the wafer frame 1 side to clamp the wafer frame 1 or release the clamping of the wafer frame 1, the upper grip plate 111 and the lower grip plate 112 is in a first state spaced apart by a maximum interval limited by the stopper portion 161. In the first state, the wafer frame 1 is not interposed between the upper grip plate 111 and the lower grip plate 112.

At this time, one end of the first sensing dog 131 is not located at a height capable of shielding the light of the first sensor 121, so an off signal is generated from the first sensor 121. In addition, since one end of the second sensing dog 132 is also not positioned at a height capable of shielding the light of the second sensor 122, an off signal is also generated from the second sensor 122.

As shown in FIG. 4B, when the grip plate 110 moves in a mutually approaching direction to clamp the wafer frame 1, the wafer frame 1 may have an upper grip plate 111 and a lower grip plate 112. ) Into a second state that is clamped. In the second state, the wafer frame 1 is interposed between the upper grip plate 111 and the lower grip plate 112.

At this time, one end of the first sensing dog 131 is located at a height capable of shielding the light of the first sensor 121, the on-signal is generated from the first sensor 121. However, since one end of the second sensing dog 132 is not positioned at a height capable of shielding the light of the second sensor 122, an off signal is generated from the second sensor 122.

As shown in FIG. 4C, if the grip plates 110 are clamping the wafer frame 1, the wafer frame 1 is pulled out, or the upper grip goes to an empty slot in which the wafer frame 1 is not received. When the plate 111 and the lower grip plate 112 move in a direction approaching each other, the upper grip plate 111 and the lower grip plate 112 are brought into a third state to be bonded to each other. In the third state, the wafer frame 1 is not interposed between the upper grip plate 111 and the lower grip plate 112.

At this time, one end of the first sensing dog 131 is located at a height capable of shielding the light of the first sensor 121, the on-signal is generated from the first sensor 121. In addition, since one end of the second sensing dog 132 is located at a height capable of shielding the light of the second sensor 122, the on signal is also generated from the second sensor 122.

As described above, since the combination of signals generated from the first sensor 121 and the second sensor 122 is different with respect to the different first, second and third states, the wafer frame grip device 100 The first state, the second state, and the third state may be sensed, respectively.

In the wafer frame grip device according to the present embodiment configured as described above, a pair of sensing dogs sensed by a pair of sensors are installed with a height difference, and the pair of sensors may be separated from the pair of sensors according to the distance between the grip plates. By generating the same or different signals, it is possible to detect not only the normal state of the clamping of the wafer frame and the unclamping of the wafer frame, but also the abnormal operating state of only the grip plates attached without the wafer frame interposed. In addition, the detection of such various operating states can achieve the effect of improving the overall stability of the device.

Although preferred embodiments and modifications have been described above, the wafer frame grip device according to the present invention is not limited to the above-described examples, and within the scope not departing from the technical spirit of the present invention by modifications or combinations thereof. Various types of wafer frame grip devices can be embodied in the drawings.

The wafer frame grip device of the present invention can detect not only the normal state of operation in which the wafer frame is clamped and the clamping state of the wafer frame, but also the abnormal state of operation in which only the grip plates are attached without the wafer frame being interposed. Due to the detection of various operating conditions that may occur in the device, there is an effect that can improve the overall stability of the device.

Claims (7)

In the wafer frame grip device which can hold a wafer frame for supporting a wafer, A pair of grip plates disposed in parallel with each other and capable of contacting the wafer frame by moving relative to each other in a direction of mutual access and separation; And A first state in which the grip plates are spaced apart from each other without the wafer frame interposed between the grip plates, a second state in which the wafer frame is clamped by the grip plates, and between the grip plates. And sensing means for respectively sensing a third state in which the grip plates are bonded to each other without the wafer frame being interposed therebetween. The method of claim 1, The sensing means includes a pair of sensors and a pair of sensing dogs whose one end is respectively sensed by the sensors, According to the first state, the second state, and the third state, all of the sensing dogs are not detected by the sensors, only one of the sensing dogs is detected by any one of the sensors, or the sensing And the sensors and the sensing dogs are arranged such that all of the dogs are sensed by the sensors. The method of claim 2, The pair of grip plates includes an upper grip plate and a lower grip plate disposed in parallel with the upper grip plate under the upper grip plate, The sensors are installed on the upper grip plate, The sensing dogs have a predetermined height difference from each other, characterized in that installed on the lower grip plate, the wafer frame grip device. The method of claim 2, And a height adjusting unit coupled to the sensing dogs at the other ends of the sensing dogs and configured to adjust the height of each of the sensing dogs. The method of claim 1, And the grip plates are movable relative to each other by an air chuck cylinder driven by air pressure. The method of claim 1, And a stopper portion for limiting the maximum range in which the grip plate can move when the grip plates move relative to each other in a direction away from each other. The method of claim 1, When moving to the cassette side that receives the wafer frame to grasp the wafer frame, Wafer frame grip device, characterized in that it further comprises a push portion for pushing the wafer frame protruding from the cassette over a certain range, the cassette side.

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