JP2010029978A - Cutting working device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate a replacement of a cutting blade by securely and sufficiently fixing a movable part of a blade cover in a cutting water supply position in a cutting working device including the blade cover configured with a cutting water supply nozzle attached to the movable part. <P>SOLUTION: A blade cover 60 includes a fixed part 61 and the movable part 71 attached with the cutting water supply nozzle 73. The movable part 71 is positioned in the cutting water supply position where the cutting water supply nozzle 73 supplies cutting water to a processing point of the cutting blade 52 by an air cylinder 63 of the fixed part 61 or an evacuation position not obstructing the replacement of the cutting blade 52. The movable part 71 attached in the cutting water supply position is sucked and retained by a magnet 80 attached to the air cylinder 63, thereby securely fixing the movable part 71 and cutting water supply nozzle 73 in the cutting water supply position. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a cutting apparatus suitable for cutting or grooving a thin plate-like workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer or a substrate of various electronic components with a cutting blade, and in particular, the blade of a cutting blade. Regarding the cover.

  For example, in the semiconductor device manufacturing process, a large number of rectangular regions are defined on the surface of a disk-shaped semiconductor wafer by grid-like division lines, and electronic circuits such as IC and LSI are formed on the surface of these rectangular regions, and then After the necessary processing such as polishing after the back surface is ground, all the divided lines are cut and cut, that is, diced to obtain a large number of semiconductor chips. The semiconductor chip thus obtained is packaged by resin sealing and widely used in various electric / electronic devices such as mobile phones and PCs (personal computers).

  As a device for dicing semiconductor wafers, blade-type cutting is performed by rotating a thin disk-shaped cutting blade attached to the tip of a spindle at high speed with respect to a semiconductor wafer adsorbed and held on a chuck table. Processing equipment is common. Many blade-type cutting devices perform cutting while supplying cutting water to a surface including a processing point of a workpiece (semiconductor wafer). The purpose of supplying the cutting water is not only for cooling and lubricating the workpiece, but also for the purpose of washing away the cutting waste generated from the machining point. In this type of cutting apparatus, a blade cover that covers the blade and suppresses the scattering of cutting water is provided, and a cutting water supply nozzle that supplies cutting water is provided on the blade cover. is there.

  By the way, since the cutting blade is a consumable item, it needs to be replaced periodically or as necessary. Since the cutting water supply nozzle is close to the cutting blade, the cutting blade may interfere with the cutting water supply nozzle when being attached to or detached from the spindle. Therefore, a part of the blade cover is used as a movable part, a cutting water supply nozzle is attached to the movable part, and when the cutting blade is replaced, the movable part can be moved so that the cutting water supply nozzle can be retracted to an unobstructed position. Is known (Patent Document 1).

JP 7-276183 A

  According to the blade cover described in the above document, it is possible to obtain an advantage that the burden of the blade attaching / detaching work is reduced. However, when the movable part is positioned at the cutting water supply position where the cutting water supply nozzle supplies the cutting water to the workpiece during the cutting operation, the fixed state of the movable part may be insufficient. there were. If the movable part is not sufficiently fixed, rattling occurs, and there is a problem that the cutting water supply nozzle vibrates or shifts in position.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and in order to facilitate replacement of a cutting blade, in a cutting apparatus having a blade cover having a configuration in which a cutting water supply nozzle is attached to a movable portion, the blade It is an object of the present invention to provide a cutting device that can reliably and sufficiently fix the movable portion of the cover at the cutting water supply position, and as a result, can prevent vibration and displacement of the cutting water supply nozzle. .

  The present invention includes a holding means having a holding surface for holding a workpiece, a cutting means for rotating the cutting blade detachably attached to the rotating shaft, and cutting the workpiece held by the holding means, The cutting means and the holding means are moved relative to each other in a direction parallel to the holding surface to move the cutting blade in the processing feed direction. The cutting blade surrounds the cutting blade, and a cutting water is applied to a processing point by the cutting blade. A cutting device including a blade cover to which a cutting water supply nozzle is attached, wherein the blade cover includes a fixed portion, a movable portion to which the cutting water supply nozzle is attached, and the movable portion. Two positions: a cutting water supply position where the supply nozzle supplies cutting water to the machining point, and a retreat position where the cutting water supply nozzle retracts from the cutting water supply position and the cutting blade can be attached to and detached from the rotating shaft A movable portion positioning means for selectively positioning the movable portion positioned to cutting water supply position, is characterized in that it comprises at least a magnetic fixing means for fixing by suction to the fixed portion by a magnetic force. The cutting process referred to in the present invention includes a full-cut cutting process that completely cuts the workpiece, and a groove process that forms a groove from the surface to a predetermined depth.

  According to the cutting apparatus of the present invention, the movable part positioned at the cutting water supply position is fixed to the fixed part by being attracted to the fixed part by the magnetic force fixing means. For this reason, a movable part can be reliably and fully fixed to a cutting water supply position, As a result, the vibration and position shift of a cutting water supply nozzle can be prevented.

  As a specific example of the movable part positioning means of the present invention, it is a fluid pressure cylinder provided with a piston rod that expands and contracts in a direction parallel to the machining feed direction, and the cutting water supply nozzle extends in the machining feed direction and has a pipe shape. And the form positioned in the one surface side and other surface side of a cutting blade in a cutting water supply position is mentioned.

  Further, the magnetic force fixing means of the present invention has a switching means for turning on / off the magnetic force, and when the movable part is positioned at the attachment / detachment position away from the fixed part, the magnetic force is turned off by the switching means. including. According to this form, the load at the time of moving the movable part positioned at the cutting water supply position from the fixed part to the retracted position can be greatly reduced, and the movable part can be moved with a slight force. As a result, the driving power for moving the movable part of the movable part positioning means can be suppressed, and energy saving can be achieved.

  The workpiece in the present invention is not particularly limited. For example, the semiconductor wafer such as a silicon wafer, an adhesive member such as DAF (Die Attach Film) provided on the back surface of the wafer for chip mounting, or a package of a semiconductor product. Further, various drivers such as ceramic or glass-based or silicon-based substrates, various electronic components, LCD drivers for controlling and driving liquid crystal display devices, and various processing materials that require micron-order accuracy are included.

  According to the present invention, in order to facilitate replacement of the cutting blade, in a cutting apparatus having a blade cover having a configuration in which a cutting water supply nozzle is attached to the movable portion, the movable portion of the blade cover is positioned at the cutting water supply position. It is possible to reliably and sufficiently fix the result, and as a result, it is possible to prevent the cutting water supply nozzle from being vibrated and displaced.

[1] Configuration of Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a cutting apparatus 10 according to an embodiment. The apparatus 10 uses a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter abbreviated as “wafer”) 1 shown in FIG. 2 as a workpiece, and dicing into a large number of semiconductor chips by automatically controlling a cutting operation by a cutting blade by a control means. Device.

(1) Wafer When the wafer 1 is described first with reference to FIG. 2, a large number of rectangular chips 3 are partitioned on the surface of the wafer 1 by scheduled dividing lines 2 formed in a lattice shape. On the surface of these chips 3, electronic circuits such as IC and LSI (not shown) are formed. The wafer 1 is diced by cutting all the division lines 2 to be divided into a large number of chips 3. In addition, the dicing by the cutting process in this case includes a groove process in which a groove is formed by cutting from the surface to the middle of the thickness in addition to a full cut to be completely cut. The wafer in the case of groove processing is separated into a large number of chips 3 by further cutting the remaining thickness portion of the groove with a blade in a subsequent process or by applying stress to cleave it.

  When the wafer 1 is supplied to the cutting apparatus 10, the wafer 1 is supported on the inner side of the annular frame 4 via the adhesive tape 5 as shown in FIG. 2. The frame 4 has rigidity made of a plate material such as metal. The adhesive tape 5 has an adhesive surface on one side, and the frame 4 and the wafer 1 are attached to the adhesive surface.

(2) Cutting Device (2-1) Overall Configuration of Cutting Device Next, the cutting device 10 shown in FIG. 1 will be described. The apparatus 10 cuts the wafer 1 with a cutting blade 52 rotated at a high speed, and is a two-axis opposed type in which a pair of cutting blades 52 are arranged to face each other. Reference numeral 11 in FIG. 1 is a base frame, and a portal column 12 is fixed to the base frame 11. A pair of X-axis guides 21 extending in the horizontal X direction are provided at the center on the base frame 11, and an X-axis slider (machining feed means) 22 is slidably attached to these X-axis guides 21. It has been. The X-axis slider 22 is reciprocated along the X-axis guide 21 by a ball screw feed mechanism 24 operated by an X-axis feed motor 23. A disk-shaped chuck table (holding means) 26 is provided on the X-axis slider 22 via a table base 25.

  The chuck table 26 is supported on the table base 25 so as to be rotatable about the Z direction (vertical direction) as a rotation axis, and is rotated clockwise or counterclockwise by a rotation driving mechanism (not shown). The chuck table 26 is of a vacuum chuck type, and most of the left edge of the horizontal upper surface is a circular porous suction surface (holding surface) 26a on which the wafer 1 is sucked and held. The wafer 1 supported by the frame 4 as described above is placed on the chuck table 26 in a vacuum operation state with the surface on which a large number of chips 3 are formed facing up, and is sucked and held. The wafer 1 is reciprocated in the X direction together with the chuck table 26 as the X-axis slider 22 moves. Around the chuck table 26, a plurality of clamps 27 for detachably holding the dicing frame 3 are disposed. These clamps 27 are attached to the table base 25.

  The portal column 12 has a pair of leg portions 12a arranged in the Y direction with the X-axis guide 21 interposed therebetween, and a beam portion 12b horizontally spanned between the upper end portions of the leg portions 12a. A pair of upper and lower Y-axis guides 13 extending in the Y direction are provided on the surface of the beam portion 12b. The first Y-axis slider 31 and the second Y-axis slider 41 are slidable on the Y-axis guide 13, respectively. It is attached. The first Y-axis slider 31 is reciprocated along the Y-axis guide 13 by a first Y-axis ball screw feed mechanism 33 operated by a first Y-axis feed motor (not shown). The second Y-axis slider 41 is reciprocated along the Y-axis guide 13 by a second Y-axis ball screw feed mechanism 43 operated by a second Y-axis feed motor 42.

  The first Y-axis slider 31 and the second Y-axis slider 41 are each provided with a pair of Z-axis guides 14 extending in the Z direction, and the first Z-axis slider 34 is provided on the Z-axis guide 14 of the first Y-axis slider 31. A second Z-axis slider 44 is slidably attached to the Z-axis guide 14 of the second Y-axis slider 41. The first Z-axis slider 34 is moved up and down along the Z-axis guide 14 by a first Z-axis ball screw feed mechanism (not shown) operated by a first Z-axis feed motor 35. The second Z-axis slider 44 is moved up and down along the Z-axis guide 14 by a second Z-axis ball screw feed mechanism (not shown) operated by the second Z-axis feed motor 45.

  A first cutting spindle (cutting means) 37 is fixed to the lower end portion of the first Z-axis slider 34 via a first bracket 36, and a second bracket 46 is attached to the lower end portion of the second Z-axis slider 44. A second cutting spindle (cutting means) 47 is fixed through the gap. Each of the cutting spindles 37 and 47 has the same configuration, and a spindle shaft (not shown) that is rotated at high speed by a servo motor or the like is accommodated in a rectangular parallelepiped housing 51, and is attached to the tip of the spindle shaft that protrudes from the tip opening of the housing 51. A disc-shaped cutting blade 52 is mounted. As the cutting blade 52, a blade corresponding to the wafer 1 of the workpiece is used. For example, a blade in which diamond abrasive grains are fixed to the periphery of a disk-shaped substrate is preferably used.

  In these cutting spindles 37 and 47, the spindle 51 is parallel to the Y direction and coaxial with each other, and the housing 51 is fixed to the lower ends of the brackets 36 and 46 so that the cutting blades 52 face each other. The cutting spindles 37 and 47 are moved in the Y direction integrally with the Y-axis sliders 31 and 41, respectively, and move toward and away from each other in the Y direction.

  The cutting blade 52 cuts and cuts the wafer 1 held on the chuck table 26. In this cutting apparatus 10, since the spindle shaft, which is the rotation axis of the cutting blade 52, is along the Y direction, the machining feed direction in which the cutting blade 52 cuts into the wafer 1 and advances the cutting is the X direction, and the division is performed. The indexing direction for positioning the cutting blade 52 on the planned line 2 is the Y direction. Therefore, the machining feed is performed by moving the chuck table 26 in the X direction and moving the wafer 1 in the X direction relative to the cutting blade 52. The indexing is performed by moving the cutting blade 52 in the Y direction by the Y-axis sliders 31 and 41.

  Further, cutting water is supplied to a surface of the wafer 1 including a processing point where the cutting blade 52 cuts into the wafer 1 from a cutting water supply nozzle 73 provided on the blade cover 60 described later. The cutting water is supplied not only for lubrication and cooling, but also for the purpose of cleaning the chips to flow from the processing point. Although not shown in the drawings, around the chuck table 26, cutting scraps and cutting water generated during the cutting process are below the X-axis guide 21, the X-axis slider 22, the X-axis feed motor 23, and the ball screw feed mechanism. A waterproof cover is provided to prevent the camera from falling to 24.

(2-2) Outline of Operation of Cutting Device The above is the overall configuration of the cutting device 10 according to an embodiment. Next, an operation example in which the wafer 1 is diced into a large number of chips by the cutting device 10 will be described. To do.

  The wafer 1 is sucked and held on the chuck table 26 while being held by the frame 4 via the adhesive tape 5 as described above, and the chuck table 26 moves to the back in the X direction in FIG. It is conveyed to a machining position corresponding to a position below each of the cutting spindles 37 and 47. At this processing position, the wafer 1 is diced into a large number of chips 3.

  As a method of cutting the wafer 1 efficiently, there is a method of cutting the two division lines 2 at the same time by one processing feed in the X direction. In this method, first, the positions of the first and second cutting spindles 37 and 47 in the Z direction are made the same, and the distance between the cutting blades 52 that are coaxially opposed to each other in the Y direction is set on the wafer 1. It is set to a distance corresponding to two parallel scheduled dividing lines 2 of the grid-shaped scheduled dividing lines 2 and having a minimum interval. The minimum interval between the cutting blades 52 is, for example, an interval between a plurality of chips 3 of about 3 or 4 pieces. Hereinafter, the description will be continued assuming that the cutting process is a full cut.

  While maintaining this state, the cutting spindles 37 and 47 are lowered, and the position in the Z direction is set at a position corresponding to the cutting depth at which the cutting blade 52 can cut the wafer 1 held on the chuck table 26. Next, from the state in which each cutting blade 52 is rotated, the X-axis slider 22 is moved in the X direction to feed the work, and each cutting blade 52 is cut into the division line 2 of the wafer 1 on the chuck table 26. And cut. The cutting depth of the cutting blade 52 is adjusted such that it penetrates the wafer 1 and slightly enters the adhesive tape 4 and does not contact the chuck table 26. In order to position the cutting blade 52 on the scheduled division line 2, a known alignment means using a camera or the like is used.

  When the first two planned dividing lines 2 in the X direction are cut, the cutting spindles 37 and 47 are cut in the Y direction by the length of the interval between the two scheduled dividing lines 2 in order to cut the next two planned dividing lines 2. Perform index feed to move to. Next, the chuck table 26 is moved backward in the reverse direction, and the division line 2 adjacent to the two division lines 2 cut earlier is cut.

  The process feed in the X direction and the index feed in the Y direction are repeated to cut all the division lines 2 extending in the X direction. Subsequently, the chuck table 26 is rotated by 90 °, and the uncut division planned line 2 that has been extended in the Y direction so far is switched again to be parallel to the X direction. Then, the above procedure is repeated to cut all the division lines 2 extending in the X direction. As a result, the grid-like multiple division lines 2 are all cut, and the wafer 1 is divided into a large number of chips 3. A large number of diced chips 3 are still attached to the adhesive tape 4 and the form as the wafer 1 is maintained. Thereafter, the chips 3 are transferred to an appropriate pick-up process or the like to be individually chipped. 3 is taken out.

(3) Blade Cover Next, the blade cover according to the present invention will be described.
(3-1) Configuration of Blade Cover In the first cutting spindle 37 and the second cutting spindle 47 described above, for the purpose of suppressing the scattering of cutting water on the tip side surface of the housing 51 where the cutting blade 52 is mounted. A blade cover 60 is provided. As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the blade cover 60 includes a fixed portion 61 fixed to the housing 12 and a movable portion 71 attached to the fixed portion 61.

  The fixed part 61 includes a base cover 62 fixed to the front end surface of the housing 51, an air cylinder (movable part positioning means) 63 fixed to the base cover 62, and a front cover 67. The spindle shaft protrudes from the base cover 62, and a cutting blade 52 is detachably attached to the protruding end of the spindle shaft. The front cover 67 is disposed at a position covering the front side of the cutting blade 52 in the X direction (X1 direction side in FIGS. 3 and 4), and is fixed integrally with the base cover 62. A nozzle portion 68 that slightly protrudes in the direction of the cutting blade 52 is formed at the lower end portion of the front cover 67 facing the cutting blade 52. A plurality of nozzle portions 68 are formed at equal intervals in the Y direction.

  The front cover 67 is provided with a joint 69 to which piping (all not shown) for supplying cutting water from a cutting water supply source is connected. A cutting water supply path (not shown) for guiding cutting water from the joint 69 to the nozzle section 68 is formed in the front cover 67, and the cutting water is cut from the nozzle section 68 through this cutting water supply path. It ejects toward the cutting edge at the lower end of the blade 52.

  The air cylinder 63 is fixed to the upper part of the base cover 62. As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the air cylinder 63 includes a pair of upper and lower piston rods 64 that expand and contract with respect to the inner side in the X direction (the X2 direction side in FIGS. 3 and 4). The air cylinder 63 is provided with two joints 65 to which pipes (not shown) for supplying / extracting air into and out of the air cylinder 63 to expand and contract the piston rod 64 are connected.

  The movable portion 71 has a bracket 72, and the bracket 72 is fixed to the tip of each piston rod 64. The movable portion 71 reciprocates in the X direction when the piston rod 64 expands and contracts. On the inner side of the movable portion 71 (the side covering the cutting blade 52), a base of a pair of cutting water supply nozzles 73 extending in both sides of the cutting blade 52, that is, the back surface side on the base cover 62 side and the exposed surface side. The end is fixed.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the cutting water supply nozzles 73 are arranged in parallel at equal intervals, and extend downward from the inside of the movable portion 71 and then bend 90 ° in the R shape in the X1 direction. After that, it has a substantially L shape extending in the X1 direction. The tip of the horizontal portion 74 extending in the X direction of the cutting water supply nozzle 73 is closed. A plurality of slits 74 a are formed at equal intervals on the front end side of these horizontal portions 74. The slits 74a are formed obliquely in the X2 direction inside the parallel horizontal portions 74 facing each other.

  A joint 75 similar to the front cover 67 is attached to the movable portion 71. The joint 75 is also connected to a pipe for supplying cutting water from the cutting water supply source. The base end of each cutting water supply nozzle 73 is connected to the joint 75 so that the cutting water is ejected obliquely from the slits 31 toward the cutting edge of the cutting blade 52 and in the X2 direction. .

  When the piston rod 64 of the air cylinder 63 is reduced in the X1 direction, the movable portion 71 contacts the side surface 72a of the bracket 72 with the side surface 63a of the air cylinder 63 shown in FIG. Positioned in position. At this cutting water supply position, as shown in FIG. 3, the movable portion 71 is arranged on the front side in the Y direction of the base cover 62 (Y1 direction side in FIG. 3) to cover the X2 direction side from above the cutting blade 52. Accordingly, the cutting blade 52 is covered with the movable portion 71 on the X2 direction side from above and the front cover 67 on the X1 direction side. The horizontal portions 74 of the cutting water supply nozzles 73 are arranged close to both sides of the cutting blade 52. The height position of the horizontal portion 74 is set slightly below the rotation center of the cutting blade 52. In this state, the cutting blade 52 is in a state where the lower part of the rotation center protrudes below the blade cover 60, and scattering of the cutting water is suppressed by the blade cover 60.

  On the other hand, when the piston rod 64 of the air cylinder 63 extends in the X2 direction, the movable portion 71 is moved in the X2 direction and positioned at a retracted position separated from the cutting blade 52. In this retracted position, as shown in FIG. 4, when the movable part 71 including the cutting water supply nozzle 73 is on the X2 direction side with respect to the cutting blade 52 and the cutting blade 52 is replaced from the Y1 direction side, the cutting water supply is performed. The nozzle 73 is positioned at a position where the cutting blade 52 can be easily attached to and detached from the tip of the spindle shaft without interfering with the nozzle 73.

  In the blade cover 60 of the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, a permanent magnet (magnetic force fixing means: hereinafter abbreviated as magnet) 80 is provided on the side surface 63 a of the air cylinder 63 that contacts the side surface 72 a of the bracket 72. Is attached. The bracket 72 is made of a magnetic material that is attracted by a magnetic force, such as iron. With this configuration, when the movable portion 71 is positioned at the cutting water supply position, the bracket 72 is fixed to the air cylinder 63 via the magnet 80. That is, strictly speaking, the bracket 72 contacts the magnet 80 instead of the side surface 63a. When the piston rod 64 extends, the bracket 72 is separated from the air cylinder 63, and the movable portion 71 is positioned at the retracted position.

(3-2) Effects of Blade Cover When the wafer 1 is cut by the cutting blade 52, the movable portion 71 of the blade cover 60 is positioned at the cutting water supply position, and the nozzle portion 68 of the front cover 67 and the movable portion The cutting water is supplied from the cutting water supply nozzle 73 of 71 to the surface of the wafer 1 including the processing point by the cutting blade 52.

  Since the cutting blade 52 is consumed as the cutting time becomes longer, the cutting blade 52 needs to be replaced periodically or as necessary. When the cutting blade 52 is replaced, the cutting blade 52 is approached from the Y1 direction side in FIG. 3 to remove the cutting blade 52 from the spindle shaft, and a new cutting blade 52 is attached to the spindle shaft. However, if the movable portion 71 remains in the cutting water supply position, the cutting water supply nozzle 73 becomes an obstacle and the cutting blade 52 cannot be replaced. Therefore, the piston rod 64 of the air cylinder 63 is extended to position the movable portion 71 at the retracted position, and the cutting water supply nozzle 73 is retracted from the cutting blade 52. Thereby, the replacement work of the cutting blade 52 can be easily performed without interfering with the cutting water supply nozzle 73.

  When the movable part 71 is positioned at the cutting water supply position after the replacement of the cutting blade 52, the bracket 72 is fixed to the air cylinder 63 of the fixed part 61 via the magnet 80, and the cutting process is continued. Thus, since the movable part 71 is fixed to the fixed part 61 by the magnet 80, the movable part 71 is reliably and sufficiently fixed at the cutting water supply position. As a result, there is no problem that the movable portion 71 rattles and the cutting water supply nozzle 73 vibrates or is displaced.

  Instead of using the magnet 80 as the magnetic force fixing means of the present invention as described above, an electromagnet capable of electrically turning on / off the magnetic force may be attached to the side surface 63a of the air cylinder 63. In this case, when the movable portion 71 is positioned at the cutting water supply position, the electromagnet is turned on to generate a magnetic force, and the bracket 72 is attracted and held on the air cylinder 63 to fix the movable portion 71 to the fixed portion 61. State. When the cutting blade 52 is replaced, the magnetic force of the electromagnet is turned off, and then the piston rod 64 is extended to position the movable portion 71 at the retracted position. Thus, by retracting the movable portion 71 to the retracted position after turning off the magnetic force, the load at the time of retracting can be greatly reduced. For this reason, the power of the air cylinder 63 can be reduced, and as a result, energy saving can be achieved.

  When the magnet 80 is used, the configuration is not limited to the configuration in which the magnet 80 is attached to the air cylinder 63 as described above. The magnet 80 is attached to one of the air cylinder 63 and the bracket 72 and the other is made of a magnetic material. You may employ | adopt a structure which attaches a permanent magnet to both so that different polarity (S pole and N pole) may face and adsorb | suck mutually.

  Also, when the electromagnet is used, the configuration is not limited to the configuration in which the electromagnet is attached to the air cylinder 63 side. However, the electromagnet is fixed to the fixed portion 61 rather than the movable portion 71 from the viewpoint of simplifying the wiring of the electric wiring. It is desirable to provide it on the side. Moreover, as a magnetic force fixing means that can easily switch ON / OFF of magnetic force, an electromagnet is practical in terms of automatic control, but the present invention is not limited to an electromagnet, and can turn ON / OFF the magnetic force. If so, other magnetic force fixing means may be applied.

(4) Other Embodiments FIGS. 7 and 8 show another embodiment of a blade cover applicable to the first cutting spindle 37 and the second spindle 47 of the cutting apparatus 10. The blade cover 100 according to this embodiment includes a base portion 102 that covers the Y2 direction side from above the cutting blade 52 and a front portion cover 103 that covers the Y1 direction side of the cutting blade 52, and discharges cutting water. And a movable portion 111 having a cutting water supply nozzle 112 in which a slit 112a is formed. The movable portion 111 is attached via a bracket 114 to an air actuator (movable portion positioning means) 113 attached to the end of the base cover 102 on the Y2 direction side.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the movable portion 111 is operated by the air actuator 113 that operates with the Z direction as the rotation axis, and the cutting water supply position where the cutting water supply nozzle 112 is close to the side surface of the cutting blade 52 is shown in FIG. 8. Thus, it is positioned at two positions of the retreat position where it is turned about 180 ° from the cutting water supply position and retreated from the cutting blade 52. At the time of cutting, the movable portion 111 is positioned at the cutting water supply position, and cutting water is supplied from the cutting water supply nozzle 112 to the surface of the wafer 1 including the processing point by the cutting blade 52. When the cutting blade 52 is replaced, the cutting portion 52 can be replaced without causing the cutting water supply nozzle 112 to get in the way by retracting the movable portion 111 to the retracted position.

  In this embodiment, the side surface 111a of the movable portion 111 shown in FIG. 8 is close to or abuts on the side surface 102a formed on the base cover 102 in a state where the movable portion 111 is positioned at the cutting water supply position. It is like that. For example, a permanent magnet or an electromagnet (indicated by reference numeral 120) is attached to the side surface 102a of the base cover 102 as a magnetic force fixing means, the movable part 111 is made of a magnetic material, and the movable part 111 is positioned at the cutting water supply position. The movable portion 111 is attracted and held on the base cover 102 by the magnetic force of the magnet 120 when being held.

  Also in this embodiment, when the movable part 111 is positioned at the cutting water supply position, the movable part 111 is reliably and sufficiently fixed to the base cover 102 of the fixed part 101 by the magnet 120, and as a result, the movable part 111. It is possible to obtain an operational effect such that there is no problem that rattling occurs and the cutting water supply nozzle 112 vibrates or is displaced.

It is a perspective view of the cutting device concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view which shows the state which hold | maintained the semiconductor wafer to which cutting is given to the flame | frame via the adhesive tape. It is a perspective view of the blade cover of one Embodiment, Comprising: The movable part has shown the state located in the cutting water supply position. It is a perspective view of the blade cover of one Embodiment, Comprising: The movable part has shown the state located in the retracted position. It is a disassembled perspective view of the blade cover of one Embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the magnet attached to the air cylinder which comprises the fixing | fixed part of the blade cover of one Embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the blade cover of other embodiment of this invention, Comprising: The movable part has shown the state located in the cutting water supply position. It is a perspective view of the blade cover of other embodiments, and the state where the movable part is located in the retreat position is shown.

Explanation of symbols

1 ... wafer (work)
10 ... Cutting device 22 ... X-axis slider (machining feed means)
26 ... Chuck table (holding means)
26a ... Suction surface (holding surface)
37, 47 ... Cutting spindle (cutting means)
52 ... Cutting blade 60, 100 ... Blade cover 61, 101 ... Fixed part 63 ... Air cylinder (movable part positioning means, fluid pressure cylinder)
64 ... Piston rod 71,111 ... Moving part 73,112 ... Cutting water supply nozzle 80,120 ... Magnet (magnetic force fixing means)
113 ... Air actuator (movable part positioning means)

Claims (3)

Holding means having a holding surface for holding the workpiece;
A cutting means for rotating the cutting blade removably attached to the rotating shaft to cut the workpiece held by the holding means;
A machining feed means for moving the cutting blade in the machining feed direction by relatively moving the cutting means and the holding means in a direction parallel to the holding surface;
A cutting device including a blade cover surrounding the cutting blade and attached with a cutting water supply nozzle for supplying cutting water to a processing point by the cutting blade,
The blade cover is
A fixed part;
A movable part to which the cutting water supply nozzle is attached;
A cutting water supply position where the cutting water supply nozzle supplies cutting water to the machining point, and the cutting water supply nozzle retracts from the cutting water supply position so that the cutting blade is attached to and detached from the rotating shaft. Movable part positioning means for selectively positioning at two positions with possible retraction positions;
A cutting device comprising at least magnetic force fixing means for attracting and fixing the movable portion positioned at the cutting water supply position to the fixed portion by magnetic force. The movable part positioning means is a fluid pressure cylinder including a piston rod that expands and contracts in a direction parallel to the machining feed direction.
The cutting water supply nozzle extends in the processing feed direction and has a pipe shape, and is positioned on one side and the other side of the cutting blade at the cutting water supply position. The cutting apparatus described.   The magnetic force fixing means has switching means for turning on / off the magnetic force, and when the movable part is separated from the fixed part and positioned at the attachment / detachment position, the magnetic force is turned off by the switching means. The cutting apparatus according to claim 1 or 2.

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