JP2007055197A - Splitting device for brittle material - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a splitting device for a brittle material with a capability of upgrading the precision of image data photographed by an image photographing means. <P>SOLUTION: A work gripping unit U is supported on the upper surface of a guide table 12 by an X axis transfer mechanism 13 so as to allow the gripping unit to reciprocate in the X axis direction, and also is supported so as to allow gyrating of the unit in the θ axis direction by a θ axis transfer mechanism 15. Further, a camera 27 for photographing a mark-off line 18a of a quartz plate 18 gripped by a lower surface of a work gripping sheet 17 of the work gripping unit U and an upper surface of a protecting sheet 19, is installed. In addition, the work gripping sheet 17 and the quartz plate 18 are prevented from floating up from a cradle 22 by spraying air from an air jet nozzle 31 during a photographing operation for the mark-off line 18a of the quartz plate 18 by the camera 27. Thus the mark-off line 18a of the quartz plate 18 can be precisely photographed by the camera 27 without causing a focal point deviation and thereby, an adjustment operation to reduce to nil the displacement of the mark-off line 18a of the quartz plate 18 to an edge 24a of a blade 24, can be properly carried out. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a cleaving apparatus for a brittle material such as a quartz plate, quartz, glass optical material and semiconductor material containing silicon and gallium arsenide, sapphire or ceramic.

In the previous step of the cleaving operation by the cleaving apparatus for the brittle material for semiconductor chips, the scoring lines are previously formed on the surface of the brittle material along the planned cleaving line of the brittle material by a scoring line forming device. The cleaving operation of the brittle material by the cleaving apparatus is performed as follows. First, the upper surface opposite to the ruled line of the brittle material is adhered to the lower surface of the adhesive tape stretched inside the annular mounting frame. Thereafter, the lower surface of the adhesive brittle material with the ruled line is brought into contact with the upper surface of the cradle held in a predetermined position. Further, the brittle material is moved along the ruled line by applying a bending stress to the brittle material by pressing the lower end of the blade that is moved up and down from the upper side of the adhesive tape to the upper surface corresponding to the ruled line of the brittle material. I try to cleave. (For example, see paragraph number 0044 and FIG. 15 of the specification of Patent Document 1)
In the above cleaving device, the brittle material ruler and the blade edge do not correspond vertically, and if the brittle material ruler is displaced horizontally from the blade edge, the brittle material is brittle along the ruler. Since the bending stress due to the blade is not properly applied to the material, the cleaving operation is not performed properly. For this reason, a camera for imaging the crease lines of the brittle material is disposed below the cradle. Then, based on the image data captured by the camera, the image processing device calculates the amount of displacement of the ruled line of the brittle material relative to the blade edge of the blade as numerical data, and based on the calculated amount of displacement, the horizontal movement mechanism Thus, the mounting frame is moved together with the brittle material in the horizontal direction so that the amount of displacement is adjusted to zero.
JP 2004-214262 A

  If the brittle material is bent or twisted in the step of forming the ruled line on the brittle material by the ruled line forming device, the brittle material may float from the upper surface of the cradle of the cleaving device. In this case, when the ruled line of the brittle material is imaged by the camera, the camera is not focused on the ruled line, so that the captured image data is so-called out of focus. For this reason, when the image data is processed by the image processing apparatus, there is a problem that the displacement amount cannot be recognized.

The above-described problem may occur in the brittle material in the same way after warping of the brittle material after finishing the unidirectional cleaving work of the ruled lines formed in the brittle material.
Although a method of suppressing blurring of image data by lowering the magnification of the camera is conceivable, in this case, the imaging line of the ruled line becomes thin and observation on the monitor screen becomes difficult, There has been a problem that image processing by the image processing apparatus cannot be performed.

  The present invention provides a brittle material cleaving apparatus capable of solving the above-described problems in the prior art and improving the accuracy of recognizing the amount of displacement based on the image data captured by the imaging means. It is in.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention according to claim 1 is characterized in that brittle material gripping means having a gripping sheet for gripping brittle material, a cradle for supporting the lower surface of the brittle material, and gripping the brittle material. Moving means for moving the brittle material gripped by the means along the upper surface of the cradle, and provided in advance above the brittle material gripping means, and formed in advance on the lower surface of the brittle material along the planned cutting line Bending stress applying means for applying a bending stress to the brittle material immediately above the ruled line, imaging means for imaging the position of the ruled line of the brittle material, and the bending stress based on the image data imaged by the imaging means In a brittle material cleaving apparatus comprising a displacement amount adjusting means for adjusting the displacement amount of the ruled line relative to the applying means to be zero, the brittle material is placed on the cradle during an imaging operation by the imaging means. And gist in that a floating preventing means for preventing floating from the surface.

  The invention according to claim 2 is the gas injection nozzle according to claim 1, wherein the anti-floating means injects a gas that presses the grip sheet together with a brittle material to the upper surface side of the cradle above the grip sheet. It is a summary.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect, the bending stress applying means is a blade that presses the upper surface of the brittle material downward, and the blade is provided with a function as the gas injection nozzle. It is a summary.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the second or third aspect, two gas inlets are formed in the nozzle body of the gas injection nozzle, and inner end portions of the two gas inlets are communicated with each other through a communication passage. The gist is that a plurality of injection holes communicating with the communication passage are formed at a predetermined pitch in a lower portion of the nozzle body.

  Invention of Claim 5 is provided with the illumination means which illuminates the ruled line of brittle material in the bending stress provision means side or the cradle side in any one of Claims 1-4. Is the gist.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided the anti-lifting means for preventing the grip sheet holding the brittle material from rising from the upper surface of the cradle during the image pickup operation by the image pickup means. The imaging accuracy of the image data can be improved. For this reason, it is possible to appropriately determine the amount of displacement of the ruled line of the brittle material relative to the bending stress applying means, and to adjust the amount of displacement of the ruled line so that the amount of displacement of the ruled line becomes zero by the displacement amount adjusting means to appropriately perform the cleaving operation. be able to.

The invention according to claim 2 can prevent the brittle material gripped by the brittle material gripping means from being damaged because the floating prevention means is constituted by the gas injection nozzle.
In the invention according to claim 3, since the function as the gas injection nozzle is imparted to the blade as the bending stress applying means, a dedicated gas injection nozzle is eliminated, the number of parts is reduced, and manufacturing and assembly are performed. Work can be done easily and cost can be reduced.

  In the invention according to claim 4, since the gas supplied from the two gas inlets of the nozzle main body to the communication passage is jetted to the outside with substantially equal pressure from each jet hole, the flotation of the brittle material is used as a ruled line. Can be properly prevented along.

  In the invention according to claim 5, since the ruled line of the brittle material is illuminated by the illumination unit, the ruled line can be accurately imaged by the imaging unit.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment in which a brittle material cleaving apparatus according to the present invention is embodied as a transparent quartz plate cleaving apparatus as a brittle material will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 1, a guide table 12 is horizontally supported on the upper surface of the mounting base 11 disposed on the floor F. On the upper surface of the guide table 12, a workpiece gripping unit U for gripping a crystal plate is moved by an X-axis (in FIG. 1) by an X-axis moving mechanism 13, a Y-axis moving mechanism 14 and a θ-axis moving mechanism 15 as moving means. Left and right directions, a Y-axis (perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. 1) direction, and a θ-axis (turning around the Z-axis direction in the up-and-down direction in FIG. 1) direction are supported so as to reciprocate. As shown in FIG. 2, the work gripping unit U includes a planar annular sheet holding frame 16, and a work gripping sheet 17 made of a transparent synthetic resin sheet such as polyethylene stretched inside the sheet holding frame 16. It is constituted by. An adhesive paste N is applied to the entire lower surface of the workpiece gripping sheet 17, and the upper surface of the quartz plate 18 is adhered to the adhesive paste N, and a vinyl sheet is coated so as to cover the entire lower surface of the quartz plate 18. The outer peripheral edge of the protective sheet 19 made of a transparent synthetic resin sheet such as is adhered to the lower surface of the workpiece gripping sheet 17 with the adhesive paste N. Then, the crystal plate 18 is held at a predetermined position of the workpiece holding sheet 17 by the protective sheet 19.

  In the pre-process of the cleaving operation by the cleaving device, a plurality of crease lines oriented in the Y-axis direction in advance along the planned cleaving line of the crystal plate 18 are formed on the surface of the crystal plate 18 by a not-shown crease line (scratch) forming device. As shown in FIG. 2, 18a is formed in parallel with each other, and a plurality of ruled lines 18b oriented in the X-axis direction are formed in parallel with each other. As shown in FIG. 1, the quartz plate 18 is gripped by the workpiece gripping unit U so that the ruled line 18a (18b) faces downward.

  On the floor F, a pair of left and right receiving bases 22 for receiving the lower surface of the protective sheet 19 via the mounting base 21 is mounted with a predetermined space 23 in the X-axis direction. Above the central portion of the space 23 of the cradle 22, a blade 24 as a bending stress applying means used for cleaving the crystal plate 18 can be reciprocated in the Z-axis (vertical) direction by a Z-axis moving mechanism 25. It is installed. The blade 24 is lowered as shown in FIG. 4 with the sharpened blade edge 24a formed at the lower end of the blade 24 vertically corresponding to the ruled line 18a of the quartz plate 18 as shown in FIG. As a result, a bending stress is applied to the material in the vicinity of the ruled line 18a of the crystal plate 18 to cleave the crystal plate 18 with the ruled line 18a as a boundary.

  3 and 5A, for example, when the ruled line 18a of the quartz plate 18 is displaced from the cutting edge 24a of the blade 24 by the displacement amount Δx in the X-axis direction, the cutting operation of the quartz plate 18 by the blade 24 is appropriate. Not done. Therefore, it is necessary to determine the amount of displacement Δx in the X-axis direction of the ruled line 18a of the quartz plate 18 relative to the cutting edge 24a of the blade 24 by imaging the ruled line 18a. The configuration related to this will be described below.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in the vicinity of the side of the blade 24, a plurality of pieces for illuminating the blade edge 24a of the blade 24 and the ruled line 18a of the quartz plate 18 through a supporting member (not shown) during imaging. An illumination lamp 26 as an illuminating means in which the light emitting diodes 26a are arranged in the Y-axis direction is mounted over the same area as the area where the blade 24 is disposed. The illumination lamp 26 irradiates light toward the cutting edge 24 a of the blade 24, and irradiates the work gripping sheet 17, the ruled line 18 a of the crystal plate 18 and the protective sheet 19, and transmits light downward from the space 23. I try to let them.

  Below the space 23, a CCD (charge coupled device) camera 27 is disposed as an imaging means. The CCD camera 27 is supported by a Y-axis moving mechanism 14A different from the Y-axis moving mechanism 14 so as to be able to reciprocate in the Y-axis direction. As shown in FIG. 5A, the CCD camera 27 images the ruled line 18a of the crystal plate 18 illuminated by the illumination lamp 26. A determination reference line H, which is the center line in the Y-axis direction of the CCD camera 27, is displayed at the center of the captured image. This determination reference line H is above and below the linear cutting edge 24a of the blade 24. The upper and lower arrangement positions of the blade 24 and the CCD camera 27 are set in advance so as to correspond. Accordingly, the displacement Δx of the ruled line 18a from the determination reference line H is the same as the displacement Δx of the ruled line 18a from the cutting edge 24a. A drive circuit and an image processing device 28 (not shown) are connected to the CCD camera 27. The image processing device 28 calculates the displacement amount Δx shown in FIG. 5A as numerical data based on the captured image data. Numerical data of the displacement Δx calculated by the image processing device 28 is input to the control device 29. The control device 29 includes a computer, controls various operations, and performs various calculations based on data from the image processing device 28.

  Imaging of the ruled line 18a by the CCD camera 27 is performed over the entire area in the Y-axis direction by operating the Y-axis moving mechanism 14A, and numerical data of the displacement amount Δx in the entire area is input to the control device 29. Based on the change amount of the displacement amount Δx with respect to the Y-axis coordinates, the θ-axis turning displacement amount Δθ shown in FIG. 5B is also calculated by the central processing circuit of the control device 29. The control device 29 operates the X-axis moving mechanism 13 and the θ-axis moving mechanism 15 based on the numerical data of the displacement amount Δx and the turning displacement amount Δθ, and the workpiece gripping unit U is moved in the X-axis direction and θ-axis direction. Moved to. As a result, the position of the workpiece gripping unit U is adjusted so that the displacement amount Δx and the turning displacement amount Δθ become zero, and the ruler lines of the crystal plate 18 so that the actual displacement amount Δx and the turning displacement amount Δθ become zero. The position of 18a is adjusted. The control device 29 is connected to a display 30 for displaying captured image data shown in FIG.

  In this embodiment, the displacement amount Δx and the turning displacement amount Δθ of the ruled line 18a are set to zero by the X-axis moving mechanism 13, the Y-axis moving mechanism 14, the θ-axis moving mechanism 15, the image processing device 28, the control device 29, and the like. Displacement amount adjusting means for adjusting to is configured.

Next, the configuration of the main part of the present invention will be described.
As shown in FIG. 2, an air injection nozzle 31 as a gas injection nozzle is mounted on the side of the blade 24 in the Y-axis direction through a support member (not shown) so as to be substantially the same area as the arrangement area of the blade 24. ing. The air injection nozzle 31 is supplied with air as a gas from an air supply source 32 through a pipe line 33 and an on-off valve 34. The pipe 33 is provided with a pressure adjusting valve 35 for adjusting the pressure of air.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the air injection nozzle 31 has two intake ports 31b and 31b at the left and right ends of the nozzle body 31a. The lower ends of the intake ports 31b and 31b are connected to each other by a communication passage 31c. ing. At the lower end of the nozzle body 31a, air injection holes 31d communicating with the communication passage 31c and the outside are formed in the Y-axis direction at a pitch equal to a plurality (for example, 9 to 20).

  In this embodiment, the quartz plate 18 held by the workpiece holding sheet 17 by the air injection nozzle 31, the air supply source 32, the pipe line 33, the opening / closing valve 34, the pressure adjusting valve 35, and the like together with the protective sheet 19 The floating prevention means which prevents floating from the upper surface 22a of 22 is comprised.

Next, the operation of the cleaving device for the crystal plate 18 configured as described above will be described.
FIG. 1 shows a state in which the crystal plate 18 is gripped by the workpiece gripping unit U, and the workpiece gripping unit U is supported on the upper surface of the guide table 12 and the upper surface 22 a of the cradle 22. In this state, based on the operation signal from the control device 29, the illumination lamp 26 is operated to irradiate the side of the blade 24 with the output light, and the workpiece gripping sheet 17, the crystal plate 18 and the protection sheet 19 are irradiated with light. To Penetrate. Then, the ruled line 18 a of the crystal plate 18 is imaged by the camera 27. Based on the captured image data, the image processing device 28 uses the amount of displacement Δx in the X-axis direction of the ruled line 18a of the crystal plate 18 relative to the determination reference line H (the blade edge 24a of the blade 24) as numerical data over the entire Y-axis direction. Calculated. Based on the numerical data, the control device 29 calculates a turning displacement amount Δθ, and an operation signal is output from the control device 29 to the X-axis moving mechanism 13 and the θ-axis moving mechanism 15, so that the work gripping unit U is moved in the X-axis direction. The displacement amount Δx and the turning displacement amount Δθ are moved to zero in the θ-axis direction. As a result, the ruled line 18a of the crystal plate 18 is moved to a position corresponding to the edge 24a of the blade 24 and the vertical direction, and stopped.

  The image data picked up by the CCD camera 27 is displayed on the monitor 30 from the control device 29, and the operator can check the displacement Δx on the monitor screen.

  After the X axis moving mechanism 13 and the θ axis moving mechanism 15 are operated so that the displacement amount Δx and the turning displacement amount Δθ are adjusted to zero, the controller 29 operates the Z axis moving mechanism 25. A signal is output, the blade 24 is lowered, and the quartz plate 18 is cleaved along the ruled line 18a by the blade edge 24a.

  When all the cleaving operations on the plurality of ruled lines 18a of the quartz plate 18 are completed, the work gripping unit U is turned 90 degrees by the θ-axis moving mechanism 15 on the upper surface 22a of the guide table 12 and the pedestal 22, and the ruled line 18b The cleaving work is performed sequentially.

According to the cleaving device for the crystal plate 18 of the above embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) In the above embodiment, since air is jetted from the jet hole 31d of the air jet nozzle 31 onto the upper surface of the work gripping sheet 17, the work gripping sheet 17, the crystal plate 18 and the It is possible to prevent the protective sheet 19 from floating. As a result, the image of the ruled line 18a of the crystal plate 18 by the camera 27 can be accurately and appropriately performed, and the image processing device 28 uses the image processing device 28 to capture the crystal plate 18 with respect to the cutting edge 24a of the blade 24 based on the captured image data. The displacement Δx of the ruled line 18a is accurately calculated as numerical data. Therefore, the X-axis moving mechanism 13 and the θ-axis moving mechanism 15 can be appropriately moved in the X-axis direction and the θ-axis direction according to the displacement amount Δx and the turning displacement amount Δθ by a control signal from the control device 29. Then, the actual displacement amount Δx and the turning displacement amount Δθ can be set to zero, and the cleaving operation of the crystal plate 18 can be performed appropriately.

  (2) In the above embodiment, the nozzle body 31a of the air injection nozzle 31 is provided with two intake ports 31b, 31b, and the air injection holes 31d are arranged at a plurality of positions in the communication passage 31c that connects the intake ports 31b, 31b. Formed with. For this reason, air can be injected from the air injection holes 31d onto the upper surface of the workpiece gripping sheet 17 at an approximately equal speed, and the lifting operation of the workpiece gripping sheet 17 on the upper surface 22a of the cradle 22 is surely performed along the ruled line 18a. Can be prevented.

  (3) In the above embodiment, since the anti-floating means is constituted by the air injection nozzle 31, it is possible to prevent the quartz plate 18 held by the workpiece holding unit U from being damaged.

In addition, you may change the said embodiment as follows.
As shown in FIG. 7, the function of the air injection nozzle 31 may be imparted to the blade 24. In this another example, the intake port 24b similar to the intake port 31b of the air injection nozzle 31 is formed inside the blade 24, and the communication passage 24c similar to the communication passage 31c is formed. An air injection hole 24d similar to the air injection hole 31d is formed. In this other example, the dedicated air injection nozzle 31 can be omitted, so that the number of parts can be reduced and the cost can be reduced.

  As shown in FIG. 8, an air suction passage 22b penetrating in the vertical direction with respect to the cradle 22 is formed, and a suction pump 42 for sucking air through a conduit 41 is connected to the suction passage 22b. Also good. In this other example, the lower surface of the protective sheet 19 is sucked and sucked by the upper surface 22a of the cradle 22 by the suction device constituted by the suction passage 22b and the suction pump 42, etc. It is possible to prevent floating from the upper surface 22a. Although not shown, a suction nozzle may be disposed in the space 23 to suck the lower surface of the protective sheet 19 downward to prevent the quartz plate 18 from floating.

  As shown in FIG. 9, instead of the air injection nozzle 31, a lift prevention plate 45 that comes in contact with the upper surface of the workpiece gripping sheet 17 and prevents the workpiece gripping sheet 17 from being lifted up is mounted so as to be lifted and lowered by the lifting mechanism 46. May be.

  -Although not shown in figure, as a bending stress provision means, you may use the air injection apparatus which has the flat air injection nozzle which injects air in the shape of a curtain other than the said blade. In this case, the ruled line 18a is imaged, and the amount of displacement of the ruled line 18a with respect to the center line of the tip opening of the injection nozzle is determined.

  Although not shown, the crystal plate 18 is placed on the upper surface of the work gripping sheet 17 of the work gripping unit U, and the crystal plate 18 is cleaved while the upper surface of the crystal plate 18 is gripped by the protective sheet 19. You may do it.

Although not shown, the protective sheet 19 may be omitted, and the lower surface of the crystal plate 18 on the ruled line 18 a side may be directly supported on the upper surface 22 a of the cradle 22.
Although not shown, the illumination lamp 26 may be disposed on the CCD camera 27 side.

Although not shown, the blade 24 may be moved by the X-axis moving mechanism 13 and the θ-axis moving mechanism 15 so that the displacement amount Δx and the turning displacement amount Δθ are made zero.
-The intake port 31b of the air injection nozzle 31 may be integrated into one, or the arrangement pitch of the air injection holes 31d may be varied stepwise.

A gas such as nitrogen gas, argon gas, or helium gas may be injected from the air injection nozzle 31.
In the above-described embodiment, the transparent workpiece gripping sheet 17, the crystal plate 18 and the protective sheet 19 have been described. However, a semi-transparent material may be used as these materials. Further, the present invention may be embodied as a cleaving apparatus for brittle materials such as optical materials such as quartz and glass other than quartz plates, semiconductor materials containing silicon and gallium arsenide, sapphire or ceramics. Technical ideas other than the claims ascertained from the above embodiment will be described below.

  (1) The brittle material according to claim 1, wherein the floating prevention means is a suction device that is provided on the cradle side and sucks the lower surface side of the brittle material toward the upper surface side of the cradle. Cleaving device.

  In the above invention, since the levitation preventing means is constituted by the suction device, it is possible to prevent the brittle material from being damaged and to reduce the power required for the levitation preventing work.

  (2) The brittle material cleaving apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the floating prevention means is configured to prevent the brittle material from being lifted by contacting the upper surface of the gripping sheet.

  Since the above invention is configured to prevent the brittle material from floating by contacting the upper surface of the grip sheet, the brittle material can be reliably prevented from floating.

Sectional drawing which shows the cleaving apparatus of the brittle material of this invention. The partial top view of a cleaving apparatus. The partial bottom view of a cleaving apparatus. The longitudinal cross-sectional view which passes the air injection nozzle of a cleaving apparatus. (A) is a top view which shows the relationship between a braid | blade and the damage | wound of a workpiece | work, (b) is a top view explaining a turning displacement amount. An expanded sectional view for explaining cleaving work. The fragmentary sectional view which shows another example of this invention. The fragmentary sectional view which shows another example of this invention. The fragmentary sectional view which shows another example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

    Δx: displacement, 18a, 18b: ruled line, 22: cradle, 22a ... upper surface, 24 ... blade, 24c, 31c ... communication path, 31 ... air injection nozzle as gas injection nozzle, 31a ... nozzle body, 31d ... Injection hole.

Claims (5)

A brittle material gripping means comprising a gripping sheet for gripping the brittle material;
A cradle for supporting the lower surface of the brittle material;
Moving means for moving the brittle material gripped by the brittle material gripping means along the upper surface of the cradle;
A bending stress applying means for applying a bending stress to the brittle material provided above the brittle material gripping means and directly above the ruled line formed in advance on the lower surface of the brittle material along a cutting line;
Imaging means for imaging the position of the ruled line of the brittle material;
In the brittle material cleaving apparatus comprising displacement amount adjusting means for adjusting the amount of displacement of the ruled line relative to the bending stress applying means to be zero based on the image data imaged by the imaging means,
A brittle material cleaving apparatus, comprising: a levitating prevention means for preventing the brittle material from rising from an upper surface of the cradle during an imaging operation by the imaging means. 2. The brittle material according to claim 1, wherein the levitation preventing means is a gas jet nozzle that jets a gas that presses the grip sheet together with the brittle material toward the upper surface side of the cradle above the grip sheet. Cleaving device. 3. The brittle material according to claim 2, wherein the bending stress applying means is a blade that presses the upper surface of the brittle material downward, and the blade is provided with a function as the gas injection nozzle. Cleaving device. 4. The gas injection nozzle according to claim 2, wherein two gas intake ports are formed in the nozzle body of the gas injection nozzle, inner end portions of both gas intake ports are communicated with each other through a communication path, and the communication path is provided below the nozzle body. A brittle material cleaving device, characterized in that a plurality of injection holes communicating with each other are formed at a predetermined pitch. The brittle material cleaving apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein illumination means for illuminating a ruled line of brittle material is provided on the bending stress applying means side or the cradle side. .

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