JP2000183147A - Notch handler mechanism in end face grinder - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a notch handler mechanism in the end face grinder which can carry a wafer under the gripped condition and can transfer the wafer in the horizontal direction under an arbitrary turned condition to the next member. SOLUTION: The base area which can move along the rail 29 is provided with a pawl 24 which can be moved upward and downward with a cylinder 123 and can turn in an arbitrary turned condition with a turning member 126 while it is held in the horizontal condition. This pawl 24 is composed of at least three pawls 24a, 24b, 24c which can be brought close to each other or separated, and when these are brought close to each other, these pawls can hold the wafer horizontally.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a notch handler mechanism in an end face polishing apparatus, and more particularly, to a notch handler mechanism in an end face polishing apparatus for holding a wafer having a notch using the notch.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a semiconductor wafer such as a silicon wafer is subjected to chamfering at a peripheral portion thereof in order to prevent edge chipping and crown during epitaxial growth. This chamfering is performed by grinding with a diamond grindstone, but a work-strained layer tends to remain after the grinding, and if such a work-strained layer remains, crystal defects occur when heat treatment is repeated in the device process. Sometimes. For this reason, the work-strained layer is usually removed by etching. However, the etched surface becomes wavy or scale-like irregularities, and dirt is apt to remain. Is a major cause of deterioration.

Therefore, in recent years, a technique for smoothing a chamfered edge of a wafer by mirror polishing has been established as a technique completely different from polishing of the wafer surface, and an apparatus for mirror polishing the edge of the wafer has been established. Various end face polishing apparatuses have been proposed.

In the wafer end surface polishing apparatus, first, a cassette in which a plurality of wafers are stored in a stacked state is disposed in a supply unit, and the wafers are transferred from the inside of the cassette by a transfer member. Eject and transport to aligner for notch positioning. Thereafter, the wafer is to be transferred to a suction portion of a notch polishing device for polishing the notch in a state where the notch is at a predetermined position.In the notch polishing device, a polishing pad is positioned inside the notch. Since the polishing is performed, it is required that the wafer be reliably positioned with respect to the suction portion of the notch polishing apparatus.

An object of the present invention is to provide an end face polishing apparatus for receiving a wafer positioned at a predetermined position by an aligner in an end face polishing apparatus from a transfer member and positioning the wafer at a suction portion so that a notch is polished by a polishing pad. It is to provide a notch handler mechanism.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a cassette in which a plurality of wafers are stored in a stacked state in a supply section, and the wafers in the cassettes are sequentially transferred by a transfer member. In the end face polishing apparatus, the notch of the wafer is conveyed and polished on the notch of the wafer by the notch polishing portion, and the peripheral surface of the wafer is polished by the peripheral polishing portion. In the polishing unit, a notch handler mechanism for receiving the wafer transported by the transport member from the supply unit is provided, and the notch handler mechanism includes a base that can move along the rail, and a holding plate that can be moved up and down by a driving source. And a claw portion is provided on the holding plate so as to be rotatable in a horizontal direction by a rotation member, and can be stopped in a predetermined state, and this claw portion has at least three claws,
In addition, the claws are configured to be able to approach and separate from each other, and have a configuration in which the wafer in a horizontal state is grasped as it is. Further, the claw portion has three claws, one of which is positioned within a notch of the wafer when the wafer is gripped by the three claws approaching each other, and the other two of which are the peripheral end surfaces of the wafer. Is pressed.

[0007]

According to the present invention, the above means are adopted.
The wafer, whose notch is positioned at a predetermined position by the aligner, is transferred by a transfer member.From this transfer member, the notch handler mechanism transfers the wafer to a suction portion of the notch polishing device while holding the wafer at a predetermined position. The notch of the attached wafer is located at a position facing the polishing pad, and the wafer is reliably polished.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention shown in the drawings will be described below. The drawing shows an entire wafer edge polishing apparatus (edge polisher) employing a notch handler mechanism according to the present invention.

This end face polishing apparatus includes a supply unit 10 for taking out wafers from a cassette in which wafers are stacked and housed therein, aligning the wafers in a predetermined direction, and further reversing the front and rear to convey to the next step; Notch polishing unit 20 for receiving a wafer from unit 10 and polishing a notch provided on the wafer
The notch polishing unit 20 receives the wafer whose notch has been polished, firstly, polishes the peripheral surface of the wafer with the front side up, and further, in the same manner with the wafer turned upside down, Surface polishing unit 50 for polishing the peripheral surface of
And a discharge unit 100 having a cassette for accommodating a wafer whose polishing of the notch and the peripheral surface has been completed.

The notch handler mechanism 23 according to the present invention is provided in the notch polishing section 20. That is, FIG. 3 shows a state of the notch handler mechanism 23 as viewed along the line CC in FIG.
This is shown in FIG.

The notch handler mechanism 23 is movable along a rail 29, and includes a claw portion 24 (bearing chuck manufactured by Kondo Seisakusho Co., Ltd.) having three claws 24a to 24c at its lower portion for gripping a wafer. It is arranged.
That is, the notch handler mechanism 23 according to the present invention
A connecting plate 122 is hung down on the substrate 121 to form a base. The connecting plate 122 has a main body of a cylinder 123 attached thereto, and an operating portion of the cylinder 123 is provided with a holding plate 124 so as to be able to move up and down. . And this holding plate 1
The hook 24 is attached to the hook 24 via a connecting portion 125, while the connecting portion 125 is provided with a turning member 126 that can turn the hook 24 in the horizontal direction. Therefore,
The claw portion 24 is rotatable in a horizontal direction by a rotation member 126 and is movable up and down by a cylinder 123. Further, the connecting plate 122 has a male screw portion 128 which is parallel to the rail 29 and is screwed to a screw shaft 127 rotatable by a driving source (not shown). An engaging portion 130 that engages with the located rail portion 129 is provided.

As described above, the claw portion 24 composed of a bearing chuck has three claws 24a, 24b and 24c, and the claws 24a, 24b and 24c can be separated from each other by a driving source (air). In addition, one approaching claw 24a is located inside the notch of the wafer W when approaching, and the other two claws 24b and 24c press the peripheral surface of the wafer W.

The notch handler mechanism 23 according to the present invention is configured as described above, and the notch handler mechanism 23 according to the present invention configured as described above is used as the notch polishing unit 20.
A description will be given of the end face polishing apparatus provided in the above.

First, the supply unit 10 will be described. As shown in FIG. 12, the supply unit 10 includes two cassettes 11 and 11 for stacking and storing wafers W therein. The aligner 12 sequentially takes out the wafers W from the cassette and aligns them so that the notch formed on the peripheral surface is at a fixed position. The aligner 12 transmits the wafers from the cassette 11 to the aligner 12, and
2 and remove the aligned wafers 180
The multi-joint arm 13 is rotated to reverse the front and rear, and is transported to the next notch polishing step in the state where the front and rear are reversed.
And a transport member 14 having the following.

The two cassettes 11 and 11 and the aligner 12 are mounted on a mounting table 110, while the transport member 14 is mounted on the side of the mounting table 110 so as to move along the mounting table 110. It is attached to the attached robot 111. The transfer member 14 is reciprocally movable between a position indicated by a solid line and a position indicated by a two-dot chain line, and the multi-joint arm 1 having a bifurcated portion 15 provided at a distal end thereof.
The wafer W is placed on the upper surface of the two forked portions 15 of the transfer member 14 so that the wafer W can be transferred according to the expansion and contraction of the articulated arm 13. I have.

A circle indicated by a two-dot chain line outside the conveying member 14 indicates a rotation range of the forked portion 15. further,
The aligner 12 is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent No. 2729297, and includes an articulated arm 13 of a transfer member 14.
The notch provided on the peripheral portion of the wafer W is aligned with the forked portion 15 of the multi-joint arm 13 at a predetermined position.

Accordingly, the transfer member 14 takes out the wafer W from the cassette 11 and transfers it to the aligner 12, receives the wafer W aligned by the aligner 12, and reverses the front-rear position of the wafer. Is transmitted to the wafer transfer portions 21 as the aligner 12 side. In this case, the wafer transfer unit 2
Reference numerals 1 and 21 are formed at two locations as indicated by a two-dot chain line so as to correspond to a notch polishing device 22 provided in a notch polishing section 20 described later (see FIG. 1).

A notch polishing section 20 is provided continuously from the supply section 10. This notch polishing part 20
As shown in FIG. 1, a pair of notch polishing devices 22, 22 opposing each other with the two wafer transfer portions 21, 21 interposed therebetween, and as shown in FIG. At the same time, the wafer W can be moved up and down, and can be moved along the rail 29 arranged in the X direction between the wafer transfer section 21 and the notch polishing device 22. Receiving, rising, and further moving in the X direction, the notch polishing device 2
2, and then descends to the notch polishing device 2.
There is provided a notch handler mechanism 23 according to the invention adapted to pass to the second suction plate 36.

Then, the wafer W is gripped and transported by three claws 24a, 24b, and 24c (not shown) of the notch handler mechanism 23 according to the present invention (bearing chuck) manufactured by Kondo Manufacturing Co., Ltd. However, when this wafer is grasped, one claw 24a is located at the notch of the wafer W, and the other two claws 24b, 24c
Presses the peripheral end surface of the wafer W. Therefore, the wafer W is securely held, and the rotation when the wafer W is held is prevented.

The three claws 24a, 24b and 24c do not need to be positioned in a regular triangular shape, but need only be such that one pawl is located within the notch of the wafer and the other pawl presses the peripheral surface of the wafer. It is. In short, it is sufficient that the number of the claws is three or more. In the case of three claws, it is more preferable that one of the claws is located inside the notch.

The claw portion 24 is movable up and down by a cylinder 123, is movable in the X direction, and is rotatable by a rotating member 126 while maintaining the horizontal position. When moved, they are located above the suction disks 36 of the notch polishing devices 22, 22, respectively, as shown in FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the notch polishing device 22 is located at the lower position of the claw portion 24 of the notch handler mechanism 23, and adsorbs the wafer on the upper surface.
Suction unit 30 that can be tilted vertically with reference to the horizontal state
And a cover 31 that can be brought into contact with and separated from the wafer sucked by the suction portion 30 and that has a portion facing the notch open, and is exposed inside the cover 31 so as to contact the notch. A notch polishing pad 32,
And a polishing unit 34 including a drive source 33 for rotating the notch polishing pad 32.

The suction portion 30 has a circular suction hole 35 formed on the upper surface of the disk, and further has an end on the polishing portion 34 side, that is, a notch side, as shown by a two-dot broken line in FIG. It has a suction plate 36 that can be tilted as the center, and a vacuum source is connected to this suction plate 36.

The polishing section 34 is provided with a base 39 on a machine base 37 of the notch polishing apparatus 22 with a main shaft 38 disposed facing the suction section 30 penetrating therethrough. A cover 31 in which a notch polishing pad 32 is located is provided on the substrate 40 in an upright state.
A drive source 33 is provided below, and a belt 41 is stretched between the drive source 33 and the rotation axis of the notch polishing pad 32.

On the other hand, a connecting member 42 is provided on the base 39, and a wire 43 is connected to the connecting member 42. The weight 43 is connected to the wire 43 via a pulley 44 provided on the machine base.
5 are suspended. Therefore, the base 45 is moved along the main shaft 38 by the weight 45, and the notch polishing pad 32 provided on the substrate 40 provided on the base 39 is moved to the suction plate 3.
6 is pressed by the notch of the wafer W attracted to the wafer 6. It is to be noted that reference numeral 46 denotes an operation part 46a
The movable portion can be located at a position apart from the notch by the cylinder 46.

Then, the notch polishing device 22 configured as described above is attached to the notch polishing unit 20 by the wafer transfer unit 2.
Two are provided with 1 therebetween.

Further, a peripheral surface polishing portion 50 is provided continuously with the notch polishing portion 20. This peripheral surface polishing section 50
Are provided at the center in a continuous manner in the Y direction, are provided in series, and are provided with two articulated arms that can reciprocate in the Y direction.
A peripheral surface polishing device 53 is arranged in series with each other in the Y direction while being opposed to each other with the two transfer members 51 and 52 therebetween, and further includes a wafer reversing member 80.

The wafer reversing member 80 is formed by
It is provided with a pair of wafer reversing mechanisms 81 that are movable in the Y direction along rails 82 provided along the upper portion of 0 and are capable of reversing the wafer.

The wafer reversing mechanism 81 is provided with a wafer chuck mechanism 83. That is, the wafer chuck mechanism 83 receives the wafer W placed on the upper surface of each articulated arm 13 of the one transfer member 51. In this case, one articulated arm 1
3 is placed on the suction plate 54 on one side of one peripheral surface polishing device 53, and the wafer placed on the other articulated arm 13 is placed on the other side of the one peripheral surface polishing device 53. Respectively to the suction plate 54 of the above. Furthermore, after polishing the end face by the peripheral surface polishing device 53 on the supply unit 10 side, the two wafers of the suction disk 54 are received and raised, and are reversed and transferred to both suction disks 54 of the other peripheral surface polishing device 53. After the peripheral end surface is polished by the other peripheral surface polishing device 53, the peripheral end surface is transferred to both articulated arms of the other transport member 52.

The two transfer members 51 and 52 arranged continuously in the Y direction at the center have the same configuration as the transfer member 14 used in the supply unit 10.

On the other hand, the peripheral surface polishing device 53 has a pair of polishing drums 55 each having a drum pad 55a wound at a central portion thereof. A pressing mechanism 60 is provided. In this case, each wafer pressing mechanism 60 is in a direction inclined by a predetermined angle with respect to the Y direction when viewed from a plane (A direction).
(See FIG. 10), and a suction plate 5 which can swing vertically between a horizontal state and an inclined state in the upper part.
4 are provided.

As shown in FIGS. 7, 8 and 9, the wafer pressing mechanism 60 includes a first body 61 for holding a suction disk 54 for vacuum suction of a wafer, and a support shaft 62 for the first body 61. And a second body 63 that is swingably held about the center of the rotary table 64. Are supported so as to be movable in a direction perpendicular to the radial direction, that is, in a direction parallel to a line connecting the centers of two adjacent polishing drums 55.

The support mechanism 65 includes a first rail 67 provided on a base plate 66 fixed to the lower surface of the turntable 64 in a direction (A direction) that comes into contact with and separates from the polishing drum 55. First slide member 68 movable along
And the first rail 67 above the first slide member 68.
Second rail 69 provided in a direction (direction B) orthogonal to
And a second slide member 70 movable along a second rail 69, and the second body 63 is attached to the upper portion of the second slide member 70 by a leg 71.

A pulley 72 is provided on the lower surface of the base plate 66.
A wire 72a is stretched over the pulley 72, a rear end of the wire 72a is fixed to an arm 73 extending downward from the first slide member 68, and a weight 74 is provided at a tip of the wire 72a. Hanged. The weight 74 constantly urges the first slide member 68 on the first rail 67 toward the polishing drum 55.

A wire 9 having a weight 91 attached to the end thereof via a pulley 90 is connected to the second slide member 70.
The weight 91 urges the suction plate 54 to adsorb the wafer, and the two wafers are attached to the two polishing drums 55, 55.
Are configured to abut substantially uniformly.

This is to make the non-uniform contact force on the two polishing drums 55, 55 caused by the rotation of the wafer itself when the wafer comes into contact with the rotating polishing drums 55, 55 substantially uniform. It is.

An air cylinder 75 is provided on the lower surface of the base plate 66.
The tip of the rod 75a of the air cylinder 75 contacts the arm 73, and the air cylinder 75 causes the first slide member 68 to oppose the weight 74 and the polishing drum 55
It is configured to be urged in a direction away from.

It should be noted that, as shown in FIG.
Has a plurality of suction holes formed in the surface thereof, and the suction holes are connected to a vacuum source (not shown) through ports and pipes 77 provided in the first body 61 and the second body 63 and the like. ing. The suction disk 54 is rotated at a very slow speed during polishing by a driving source provided on the first body 61.

Also, as described above, the first body 61
Can rotate about the support shaft 62 between a state in which the suction plate 54 is horizontally oriented and a state in which the suction board 54 is inclined by the rotary actuator 78. Deliver or receive.
When the suction plate 54 is inclined, the polishing force is applied to the two polishing drums 55, that is, the drum pads 55 a wound around the two polishing drums 55 by the action force of the weight 74. Places are polished at the same time.

When the first body 61 is in the horizontal position at the non-polishing position, the first body 61 is retracted by the cylinder 75 in a direction away from the polishing drum 55 against the weight 74. Further, the polishing drum 55 is configured to be rotatable by a driving source 76 provided on a base of the polishing apparatus. Further, at the time of polishing the wafer W attached to the suction plate 54, an abrasive (slurry) is jetted out, and this abrasive is collected and reused.

The wafer reversing member 80 is shown in FIGS. 2 and 6 and, as described above, the two peripheral surface polishing devices 53 on one side.
Is provided so as to be movable above. That is, the wafer reversing member 80 includes a rail 82 provided in the Y direction above the two peripheral surface polishing apparatuses 53 on one side, and a pair of the rails 82 attached to the rail 82 and opposed to each other across the polishing drum 55. And a pair of wafer reversing mechanisms 81 having an interval corresponding to the suction disk 54 of FIG.

The wafer reversing mechanism 81 of the wafer reversing member 80 is located above a position corresponding to the suction plate 54 in a horizontal state facing the polishing drum 55 of the peripheral surface polishing device 53. Then, the wafer reversing mechanism 81
Can be gripped by the drive source, and can rotate in the vertical direction, from a pair of bay-shaped arms that can turn the front and back of the wafer by rotating while holding the wafer A wafer chuck mechanism 83, an elevating arm 84 capable of elevating the wafer chuck mechanism 83 by a member such as a cylinder, and a moving table 85 to which the elevating arm 84 is fixed.

The mobile unit base 85 can be moved in the Y direction along the rails 82 by a driving source provided therein.

Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 2, a wafer reversing mechanism 81 having a wafer chuck mechanism 83 is provided.
(81a, 81b) are peripheral surface polishing apparatuses 5 on the supply unit 10 side.
3 from above the horizontal suction disks 54, 54 facing each other across the polishing drum 55, and the horizontal suction disks 54 facing each other across the polishing drum 55 of the other peripheral surface polishing device 53,
It is possible to move in a Y direction along a rail 82 disposed above up to a position located above 54.

In this case, the suction disk 5 of the both peripheral surface polishing device 53
4, the same wafer reversing mechanism 81 (81a) faces the upper side of the suction plate 54a on the supply unit 10 side. The same wafer reversing mechanism 81 (81b) also faces above the suction plate 54b on the opposite side. As a result, the suction disk 5 on the supply unit 10 side of the both-surface polishing device 53
The same wafer W is supplied to 4a and the suction plate 54b on the side opposite to the supply unit 10 side. The rail 82 and the wafer reversing member 80 are
It is also provided above the other two peripheral surface polishing devices 53 that are provided facing each other with the two transport members 51 and 52 as boundaries.

As a result, in the peripheral surface polishing section 50, two sets of two peripheral surface polishing devices 53 and a wafer reversing member 80 which are continuous in the Y direction using the transport members 51 and 52 are formed.

A discharge unit 100 is provided adjacent to the peripheral surface polishing unit 50 for storing the polished wafers in a cassette. In the discharge unit 100, two cassettes 11 similar to the cassette 11 provided in the supply unit 10 are provided. The front end of the cassette 11 in the insertion direction is closed, and further insertion is prevented. Have been.

The position where each of the cassettes 11 is disposed is a position where the polished wafer W can be stored by the two articulated arms of the transfer member 52 disposed in the peripheral surface polishing section 50. Further, both cassettes 11 are mounted on a base 101, and the base 101 is
02 is fixed to the upper surface of the substrate 103 which can swing up and down between a horizontal position and a vertical position.
When the substrate 103 is in the vertical position, a water storage unit 104 is formed in the discharge unit 100 so that the cassette 11 provided on the upper surface is submerged (see FIG. 2).

Since the front end of the cassette 11 in the wafer insertion direction is closed so as to prevent further wafer insertion, the drive source 102 is driven so that the front end of the cassette 11 in the insertion direction is downward. Even when the substrate 103 is rotated and submerged in water, there is no possibility that the wafer in the cassette 11 will jump out.

When the cassette 11 is submerged, the polished wafers housed therein are submerged from its end face, and can be submerged smoothly without the action of water resistance. It has the effect of washing the surface.

Next, the operation of the end face polishing apparatus configured as described above will be described. When the cassette storing the wafers is placed on the mounting table 110, the wafers W are carried out by the transfer member 14 and transmitted to the aligner 12, and the aligner 12 positions the wafers W such that the notch is at a predetermined position.

Thereafter, the articulated arm 1 of the transport member 14
3 transports the wafer W and reverses the front and rear of the wafer W, while the claw portion 24 of the notch handler mechanism 23 according to the present invention.
Grips and moves the wafer W and transfers it to the suction plate 36 of the notch polishing device 22, where the notch polishing device 22 polishes the notch. The wafer whose notch has been polished is transferred by the transfer member 51 to the opposing suction plate 54 of the peripheral surface polishing device 53.
The peripheral surface is polished by two polishing drums 55 in the peripheral surface polishing device 53.

Further, since this polishing is performed in a state of being inclined by a predetermined angle in the vertical direction with respect to the horizontal, first, the polishing is performed by the first peripheral polishing device 53, and then the wafer is polished by the next peripheral polishing device 53 Transported to Since the wafer reversing member 80 is provided between the first peripheral surface polishing device 53 and the next peripheral surface polishing device 53, the wafer polished by the first peripheral surface polishing device 53 is turned over. It is turned over by the member 80 and is conveyed to the next peripheral surface polishing device 53 to be polished again. That is, the end face of the wafer W is pressed twice by the polishing drum 55 in an inclined state and polished.

Since the end face of the wafer is chamfered at the time of this polishing, the center part of the end face and the chamfered end face at the front side are polished at the front side polishing, and the center part of the end face and the chamfered end face at the back side are polished at the back side polishing. Will be polished.

The wafer W polished on the front and back sides is transferred to the discharge unit 100 by the arm of the transfer member 52 and stored in the cassette 11 located there. Therefore, the cassette 1 of the discharge unit 100
1 has a notch and a peripheral end face polished wafer W
Are stored in a stacked state, and the polishing operation in the end face polishing apparatus is completed.

[0056]

According to the present invention, as described above, the wafer with the notch direction determined by the aligner is gripped and raised by the notch of the notch handler mechanism, and is transferred in the horizontal direction. Since the wafer can be rotated while maintaining the horizontal state, the wafers aligned by the aligner can be transported to a predetermined position so as to be positioned in a predetermined rotation state. Therefore, the notch of the wafer can be transferred to the next member with the set orientation. Furthermore, since three claws are used as claws for gripping the wafer, and one of the claws is located inside the notch of the wafer, it is ensured that the wafer may be unexpectedly rotated during transfer. This has the effect that it can be prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing an entire end face polishing apparatus provided with a notch handler mechanism according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic front view showing the entire end face polishing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view taken along line CC of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of a notch polishing apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a schematic front view of a notch polishing apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view taken along line DD of FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a schematic front view of the peripheral surface polishing apparatus.

FIG. 8 is a schematic side view of a peripheral surface polishing apparatus.

FIG. 9 is a schematic front view showing the vicinity of a suction unit of the peripheral surface polishing apparatus.

FIG. 10 is a schematic plan view showing one side of a peripheral surface polishing section.

FIG. 11 is a schematic front view showing one side of a peripheral surface polishing section.

FIG. 12 is a schematic plan view showing a supply unit.

FIG. 13 is a schematic front view showing a notch handler mechanism according to the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a schematic side view showing a notch handler mechanism according to the present invention.

[Description of Signs] 10 supply section 11 cassette 12 aligner 13 articulated arm 14, 51, 52 transfer member 15 bifurcated section 20 notch polishing section 21 wafer transfer section 22 Notch polishing device 23 Notch handler mechanism 24 Claw portions 24a, 24b, 24c Claw 29, 82 Rail 30 Suction unit 31 Cover 32 Notch polishing pads 33, 76 , 102... Drive source 34... Polishing part 35... Suction holes 36, 54 (54 a, 54 b)... Suction plate 37 ...... Machine base 38. ... Belt 42 ... Connecting member 43,72a, 92 ... Wire 44,72,90 ... Pulley 45,74,91 ... Weight 46,75,123 ... Cylinder 46a ... Working part 50 ... Peripheral Polishing unit 53 Peripheral surface polishing device 55 Polishing drum 55a Drum pad 60 Wafer pressing mechanism 61 First body 62 Support shaft 63 Second body 64 Rotating table 65 Support mechanism 66 Base plate 67 First rail 68 First slide member 69 Second rail 70 Second slide member 71 Leg 73 Arm 75a Rod 77 Piping 78 ... Rotary actuator 80 Wafer reversing member 81 (81a, 81b) Wafer reversing mechanism 83 Wafer chucking mechanism 84 Lifting arm 85 Mobile unit base 100 Discharge unit 101 Base 104 ... Storage unit 110... Mounting table 111. Robot 122... Connection plate 124... Holding plate 125. The male screw portion 129 ...... rail section 130 ...... engaging portion W ...... wafer

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A cassette in which a plurality of wafers are stored in a stacked state is provided in a supply unit, and the wafers in the cassette are sequentially transferred by a transfer member, and the notch of the wafer is notched by a notch polishing unit. In the end face polishing apparatus in which the peripheral surface of each wafer is polished, and then the wafer is stored in a cassette of a discharge unit, the notch polishing unit includes:
A notch handler mechanism for receiving the wafer transferred by the transfer member from the supply unit is provided, and the notch handler mechanism is provided on a base movable along a rail, and a holding plate is provided so as to be vertically movable by a driving source, A claw portion is provided on the holding plate so as to be rotatable in a horizontal direction by a rotation member and can be stopped in a predetermined state. The claw portion has at least three claws, and the claws are in contact with each other. A notch handler mechanism in an end face polishing apparatus, which is detachable and grips a horizontal wafer as it is. 2. The claw part has three claws, one of which is positioned within a notch of the wafer when the wafer is gripped by the three claws approaching each other, and the other two of which are wafers. The notch handler mechanism in the end face polishing apparatus according to claim 1, which presses a peripheral end face of the notch handler.