JP2011016170A - Cutting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cutting device which discharges a cutting liquid to be scattered by a cutting blade forcedly by a suction means and suppresses deterioration with time by preventing external force from being applied on a tubular member for guiding the cutting liquid into the suction means.SOLUTION: In this cutting device, a suction source 86 is driven to guide the cutting liquid splashed up by the cutting blade 65 into a guidance hose 83 connected with a movable cover 73 of a blade cover 70 through a first tubular connection member 81, guide it into a suction chamber 85, and discharge it. A second tubular connection member 82 for connecting the guidance hose 83 with the suction chamber 85 can rotate freely around a vertical axis by a rotary mechanism 850 and can rotate following the movement of the guidance hose 83 revolving when indexing and feeding to prevent external force from being applied on the first tubular connection member 81 and the guidance hose 83.

Description

  The present invention relates to a cutting apparatus that cuts or grooves a thin plate workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer or a substrate of various electronic components with a cutting blade, and particularly relates to a technique for collecting and discharging used cutting fluid. .

  This type of cutting machine generally cuts a disk-shaped cutting blade rotated at a high speed into a workpiece. Usually, the cutting fluid is supplied near the machining point where the cutting blade contacts the workpiece. Cutting is performed. The cutting fluid is supplied mainly for the purpose of cooling because frictional heat generated by cutting causes wear or breakage of the cutting blade or chipping (chip) of the workpiece. In addition to cooling, the purpose of supplying the cutting fluid is to wash away the cutting waste from the machining point and to lubricate the machining point.

  As a cutting fluid supply method, the cutting fluid is ejected from the side of the cutting blade by a pair of side nozzles extending along the side surfaces of the cutting blade disposed on both sides of the cutting blade in the vicinity of the processing point, Conventionally, a method has been employed in which a cutting fluid is ejected from the front in the rotational direction of the cutting blade to the outer peripheral portion of the cutting blade by an outer peripheral nozzle disposed opposite to the outer peripheral edge of the cutting blade. The “rotating direction of the cutting blade” in the present specification refers to the rotating direction of the cutting blade at the processing point where the cutting blade cuts into the workpiece. In the following description, the front / rear in the rotation direction of the cutting blade may be referred to as the front / rear of the machining point.

  By the way, the cutting fluid supplied to the machining point as described above scatters backward in the rotation direction of the cutting blade in a state where the cutting waste generated by the cutting process is mixed, and as it is, it adheres to the surface of the workpiece and adheres the workpiece. It will be contaminated. Therefore, the cutting fluid is introduced into the tubular member provided on the rear side of the processing point to suppress scattering, and further, the hose-like connecting member connected to the suction means is connected to the tubular member, and the suction means is operated. For example, a cutting apparatus that forcibly sucks the cutting fluid to prevent the cutting fluid from adhering to the surface of the workpiece and discharges the dirty cutting fluid properly has been proposed (Patent Document 1).

JP 2007-69280 A

  By the way, as shown in FIG. 6 of the above document, in the configuration in which the cutting fluid is forcibly discharged by the suction means, if the cutting means to which the cutting blade is attached is movable, external force is applied to the tubular member and the connecting member. As a result, stress is generated, so that when repeatedly operated over a long period of time, these members are damaged, become obsolete, and are damaged.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and its main technical problem is in a tubular member that forcibly discharges cutting fluid scattered by a cutting blade by a suction means to a tubular member that guides the cutting fluid to the suction means. It is an object of the present invention to provide a cutting device that makes it difficult to apply an external force and effectively suppresses the deterioration of the tubular member.

  The present invention provides a holding means for holding a workpiece, a cutting blade that is rotatably supported and that cuts the workpiece held by the holding means, a movable means that moves the cutting blade, and a processing point of the cutting blade with respect to the workpiece. A cutting device comprising: a cutting fluid supply means for supplying a cutting fluid; and a cutting fluid recovery means for recovering a cutting fluid that is scattered from a processing point due to rotation of the cutting blade. A suction means for sucking, a first tubular connecting member which is disposed in the vicinity of the cutting blade and introduces a cutting fluid scattered from a processing point, one end of the first tubular connecting member and the other end of the suction means And a cutting fluid lead-out tube communicating with the first tubular connecting member and the suction means, and the second tubular connecting member is connected to the suction means via a rotating mechanism. The second tubular connecting member It is characterized in that rotatably mounted to the pipe length direction as a rotation axis.

  In the present invention, the operation of cutting the workpiece with the cutting blade while supplying the cutting fluid to the processing point by the cutting fluid supply means is performed while operating the suction means. The cutting fluid supplied to the machining point is splashed up and scattered by the cutting blade, but is introduced into the first tubular connecting member and sucked from the cutting fluid outlet tube through the second tubular connecting member to the suction means. . Thereby, scattering of the cutting fluid to the surroundings is suppressed, and the cutting fluid is prevented from adhering to the workpiece.

  The cutting blade of the cutting device of the present invention is moved by a movable means to cut a workpiece during operation. The movement of the cutting blade is, for example, a processing feed that moves in a direction perpendicular to the rotation axis of the cutting blade to cut the workpiece, or an index feed that moves in the direction of the rotation axis of the cutting blade to change the processing feed line. Etc.

  When the cutting blade moves, the first tubular connecting member and the cutting fluid outlet tube also move following the movement of the cutting blade. At this time, the end on the suction means side of the cutting fluid outlet tube is connected to the second tubular connecting member. Since it is rotatably attached to the suction means via the rotation mechanism, it rotates following the movement of the cutting blade together with the second tubular connecting member. When an external force is applied to the cutting fluid outlet tube or the first tubular connection member, the second tubular connection member rotates by the external force. Therefore, the external force applied to the cutting fluid outlet tube and the first tubular connecting member is quickly eliminated, and stress is hardly generated. As a result, the cutting fluid outlet tube is not easily damaged, and aging is suppressed.

  In this invention, it is set as the preferable form that the liquid layer is interposed between the said rotation mechanism and the said attraction | suction means. According to this configuration, the loss between the suction force of the suction means is suppressed by sealing the rotation mechanism and the suction means with liquid, and contamination (dust) or the like adheres between the rotation mechanism and the suction means. Thus, the problem that the second tubular connecting member is fixed and cannot be rotated is prevented.

  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 the configuration in which the cutting fluid scattered from the processing point of the cutting blade with respect to the workpiece is sucked from the first tubular connecting member to the suction means through the cutting fluid outlet tube and the second tubular connecting member, the second tubular connection When the member is rotatably attached to the suction means via the rotation mechanism, the second tubular connecting member rotates following the movement of the cutting blade. As a result, it is difficult for external force to be applied to the cutting fluid outlet tube and the first tubular connecting member, and the aging of the cutting fluid outlet tube is effectively suppressed.

It is a perspective view which shows the wafer which is the cutting device which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention, and a workpiece | work. It is a perspective view which shows the cutting means of the cutting device. It is a perspective view which shows the state in which the movable cover of the cutting means is located in the blade attachment / detachment position. It is a side view which shows typically the state which is cutting the wafer with the cutting blade which the cutting device comprises. It is sectional drawing which shows the connection structure of the 2nd tubular connection member of the cutting device, and the suction chamber of a suction means. It is a top view which shows the effect | action of one Embodiment that it is hard to apply external force to the 1st tubular connection member and suction | induction hose for attracting cutting fluid, even if a cutting means moves.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described 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. 1 as a workpiece, and automatically controls the cutting operation by the cutting blade 65 to dice the wafer 1 into a large number of semiconductor chips. It is a dicing device.

(1) Wafer First, the wafer 1 that is a workpiece will be described. The wafer 1 has a thickness of, for example, about 100 to 700 μm, and a large number of rectangular chips 2 are partitioned on the surface by grid-like division lines. On the surface of each chip 2, an electronic circuit such as an IC or LSI (not shown) is formed. Cutting (dicing) by the cutting device 10 includes not only full cutting that completely cuts through the thickness but also groove processing that forms a groove by cutting from the surface to the middle of the thickness. When the grooves are formed, the wafer 1 is divided into a large number of chips 2 by further cutting the remaining thickness of the grooves with a cutting blade 65 in a subsequent process or by applying a stress to cleave them. .

  The wafer 1 is supplied to the cutting device 10 in a state where it is integrally supported on the inner side of the annular frame 3 via the adhesive tape 4 in a concentric manner. The adhesive tape 4 has an adhesive surface on one side, and the frame 3 and the wafer 1 are attached to the adhesive surface. The frame 3 has rigidity made of a plate material such as metal, and by supporting the frame 3, the wafer 1 can be safely transported without being damaged.

(2) Cutting Device (2-1) Configuration of Cutting Device Next, the configuration of the cutting device 10 shown in FIG. 1 will be described. The cutting apparatus 10 is a biaxially opposed type in which a pair of the cutting blades 65 are arranged to face each other. A reference numeral 11 in FIG. 1 is a base, and a rectangular recess 12 having a long side extending in the X direction is formed at the center of the base 11. A disc-shaped chuck table (holding means) 20 is provided in the recess 12 so as to be movable in the X direction. Further, a portal column 30 straddling the recess 12 is fixed on the rear side (X2 direction side) on the base 11 in FIG.

  The chuck table 20 is supported on the table base 25 so as to be rotatable about the vertical Z direction as a rotation axis, and is rotated clockwise or counterclockwise by a rotation driving mechanism (not shown) provided on the table base 25. Rotated. The table base 25 is supported by a chuck table moving mechanism (not shown) disposed in the recess 12 so as to be reciprocally movable in the X direction. Accordingly, the chuck table 20 reciprocates in the X direction together with the table base 25.

  The chuck table 20 is of a general well-known vacuum chuck type, and most of the peripheral portion of the horizontal upper surface is a circular suction surface 21 that sucks and holds the wafer 1. The diameter of the suction surface 21 is substantially the same as the diameter of the wafer 1, and the entire wafer 1 is placed concentrically on the suction surface 21 and held. The wafer 1 supported by the frame 3 as described above is placed on the suction surface 21 of the chuck table 20 in a vacuum operation state, and is sucked and held. Around the chuck table 20, a plurality of clamps 26 for detachably holding the frame 3 are disposed. These clamps 26 are attached to the table base 25.

  The periphery of the chuck table 20 is covered with a rectangular plate cover 27. The plate cover 27 is supported by the table base 25 and moves in the X direction integrally with the chuck table 20. An elastic bellows cover 28 that covers the recess 12 is attached to both ends of the plate cover 27 in the X direction. The recess 12 is always covered with the plate cover 27 and the bellows cover 28 even when the chuck table 20 moves in the X direction, and cutting waste generated during cutting and the cutting fluid used fall into the recess 12. This has been prevented.

  The portal column 30 has a pair of leg portions 31 erected side by side in the Y direction on both sides of the recess 12, and a beam portion 32 horizontally spanned between the upper end portions of the leg portions 31. ing. A pair of upper and lower Y-axis guides 33 extending in the Y direction are provided on the front side (X1 direction side) of the beam portion 32 in FIG. 1. The Y-axis guides 33 and the first Y-axis slider 41 A 2Y-axis slider 42 is slidably attached. The first Y-axis slider 41 is reciprocated along the Y-axis guide 33 by a first Y-axis ball screw feed mechanism (movable means) 412 operated by a first Y-axis feed motor (not shown). The second Y-axis slider 42 is reciprocated along the Y-axis guide 33 by a second Y-axis ball screw feed mechanism (movable means) 422 operated by a second Y-axis feed motor 421.

  The first Y-axis slider 41 and the second Y-axis slider 42 are each provided with a pair of Z-axis guides 34 extending in the Z direction. The first Z-axis guide 51 of the first Y-axis slider 41 has a first Z-axis slider 51. A second Z-axis slider 52 is slidably attached to the Z-axis guide 34 of the second Y-axis slider 42. The first Z-axis slider 51 is moved up and down along the Z-axis guide 34 by a first Z-axis ball screw feed mechanism (not shown) operated by a first Z-axis feed motor 511. Further, the second Z-axis slider 52 is moved up and down along the Z-axis guide 34 by a second Z-axis ball screw feed mechanism (not shown) operated by the second Z-axis feed motor 512.

  The first cutting means 61 is fixed to the lower end of the first Z-axis slider 51 via a first bracket 611, and the second cutting is applied to the lower end of the second Z-axis slider 52 via a second bracket 621. Means 62 are fixed. The cutting means 61 and 62 have the same configuration, and a cylindrical spindle 64 (see FIG. 6) that is rotated at high speed by a servo motor or the like is accommodated in a rectangular parallelepiped spindle cover 63. A disk-shaped cutting blade 65 is supported on a mounting shaft 641 (see FIGS. 2 to 4) of the projecting spindle 64.

  In these cutting means 61 and 62, the spindle 64 is parallel to the Y direction and coaxial with each other, and the spindle cover 63 is fixed to the lower ends of the brackets 611 and 621 so that the tips to which the cutting blades 65 are attached face each other. ing. In this fixed state, the mounting shaft 641 of the spindle 64 which is the rotation shaft of the cutting blade 65 extends in the Y direction, and the spindle 64 and the spindle cover 63 surrounding the spindle 64 also extend in the Y direction. The cutting means 61 and 62 are moved in the Y direction integrally with the Y-axis sliders 41 and 42, respectively, and approach or separate from each other in the Y direction.

  The cutting blade 65 cuts and cuts the wafer 1 held on the chuck table 20. In the present apparatus 10, since the rotation axis of the cutting blade 65 extends in the Y direction, the processing feed direction in which the cutting blade 65 cuts into the wafer 1 and advances the cutting is the X direction. On the other hand, the index feed direction for moving the cutting blade 65 in the axial direction is the Y direction. Accordingly, the machining feed of the cutting blade 65 is performed by moving the chuck table 20 in the X direction and moving the wafer 1 in the X direction relative to the cutting blade 65. Further, the indexing feed is performed by moving the cutting blade 65 in the Y direction by the Y-axis sliders 41 and 42. In this apparatus 10, the chuck table 20 moves in the X2 direction, and the one direction in which the cutting blade 65 relatively moves on the wafer 1 in the X1 direction is set as the processing feed direction.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the cutting blade 65 is mainly covered with the blade cover 70 at the upper peripheral edge, and the wafer 1 is cut with the cutting edge at the lower end exposed from the blade cover 70. The cutting blade 65 rotates at a high speed in the direction of arrow A in FIGS. 2 to 4. Therefore, in FIG. 1, the rotation direction of the cutting blade 65 is the X2 direction. As shown in FIG. 4, since the machining feed direction of the cutting blade 65 is relatively the X1 direction, the cutting blade 65 cuts the wafer 1 with a down cut that cuts into the wafer 1 while rotating downward from above.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the blade cover 70 has a base portion 71 that is fixed to the tip of the spindle cover 63, and the base portion 71 has a front portion that covers the front in the rotational direction of the cutting blade 65. A part cover 72 and a movable cover 73 covering the upper and rear sides of the cutting blade 65 are provided. The movable cover 73 has a triangular side cover 735 that covers the rear part of the exposed side surface of the cutting blade 65.

  As shown in FIG. 3, an air cylinder 74 is fixed to the upper portion of the base portion 71 of the blade cover 70. The air cylinder 74 includes a pair of upper and lower piston rods 741 that extend and contract in the X2 direction. A bracket 742 is fixed to the tip of the piston rod 741, and the movable cover 73 is fixed to the bracket 742. That is, the movable cover 73 reciprocates in the X direction when the piston rod 741 expands and contracts. On the upper surface of the air cylinder 74, a pair of connection pipes 743 to which an air pipe for supplying and discharging air into the air cylinder 74 and causing the piston rod 741 to expand and contract is connected.

  A plurality of outer peripheral nozzles 721 (cutting fluid supply means: only one is visible in FIG. 2) arranged in the Y direction are provided at the lower end portion of the surface of the front cover 72 facing the cutting blade 65. From 721, the cutting fluid is ejected toward the cutting blade 65. The movable cover 73 is attached with two parallel side nozzles (cutting fluid supply means) 731 having tip portions extending in the X direction so as to be disposed on both sides of the cutting blade 65. A plurality of slits 731 a are formed in these side nozzles 731, and the cutting fluid is ejected toward the cutting blade 65 from these slits 731 a. Connection pipes 722 and 732 to which cutting fluid supply pipes are connected are respectively attached to the front cover 72 and the movable cover 73.

  As described above, the movable cover 73 reciprocates in the X direction when the piston rod 741 expands and contracts. However, when the piston rod 741 extends in the X2 direction, as shown in FIG. It is positioned at a blade attachment / detachment position for retreating to the outside in the outer peripheral direction of 65. In this blade attaching / detaching position, the cutting blade 65 can be attached to and detached from the attachment shaft 641 without interfering with the side nozzle 731. When the air cylinder 74 is reduced in the X1 direction, as shown in FIG. 2, the movable cover 73 has the side nozzles 731 located on both sides of the cutting blade 65 so that the cutting fluid enters the side surface of the cutting blade 65 from the slit 731a. The first tubular connecting member 81 described later is positioned at a cutting fluid supply position close to the cutting blade 65. That is, the movable cover 73 is selectively positioned at the blade attaching / detaching position and the cutting fluid supply position by the expansion and contraction of the piston rod 741.

  The cutting fluid ejected from the outer peripheral nozzle 721 and the side nozzle 731 cools frictional heat generated when the cutting blade 65 cuts the wafer 1, and also generates cutting waste from a processing point where the cutting blade 65 cuts into the wafer 1. Used to wash away and lubricate machining points. In this way, the cutting fluid supplied during cutting tends to jump from the processing point and scatter around, but the scatter is suppressed by the blade cover 70. The cutting fluid scattered is mixed with cutting waste generated by the cutting process, and is in a state of sewage.

  By the way, most of the cutting fluid supplied to the machining point is splashed up by the cutting blade 65 behind the machining point, that is, behind the cutting blade 65 in the rotation direction (X2 direction). Here, in this embodiment, the first tubular connecting member 81 having a cylindrical shape as shown in FIGS. 2 to 4 is provided on the rear side of the cutting blade 65 in the movable cover 73 of the first and second cutting means 61 and 62. Are fixed respectively. The first tubular connecting member 81 is fixed to the movable cover 73 with the tube length direction along the X direction. The inside of the first tubular connecting member 81 is in communication with the movable cover 73, and the cutting fluid that jumps up behind the processing point is introduced into the first tubular connecting member 81.

  One end of a flexible bellows-shaped lead-out hose (cutting fluid lead-out tube) 83 is hermetically connected to the first tubular connecting member 81. As shown in FIG. 1, the lead-out hose 83 is connected to a suction chamber 85 constituting a suction means 84 provided on the base 11 via a cylindrical second tubular connecting member 82. In the present embodiment, the suction chamber 85 is installed on the top surface of the base 11 on the X2 direction side of the recess 12 and at a position corresponding to the center between the left and right leg portions 31 of the portal frame 30.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the suction means 84 includes a suction chamber 85 and a suction source 86 such as a vacuum pump for sucking air in the suction chamber 85. The suction chamber 85 has a rectangular parallelepiped box shape, and the second tubular connecting member 82 is parallel to the Z direction (vertical direction) in the axial direction, that is, the tube length direction, at the center of the relatively thick upper plate portion 851. In this state, it is attached so as to be rotatable about the axis.

  A flange 821 is formed at the lower end of the second tubular connecting member 82. An annular convex portion 822 that protrudes downward is formed on the outer peripheral edge of the lower surface of the flange 821. Therefore, a circular concave portion 823 surrounded by the annular convex portion 822 is formed at the center of the lower surface of the flange 821. Has been.

  On the other hand, the upper plate portion 851 of the suction chamber 85 is formed with a fitting hole 852 in which the lower end portion of the second tubular connecting member 82 including the flange 821 is fitted with a gap therebetween. The fitting hole 852 has an annular groove 853 into which the annular protrusion 822 of the flange 821 is fitted, and an opening 854 through which the lower end of the second tubular connecting member 82 passes. A circular convex portion 855 that fits into the concave portion 823 on the lower surface of the flange 821 is formed on the bottom surface of the fitting hole 852, and a ring portion 856 that covers the upper surface of the flange 821 around the opening 854. Is formed.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the second tubular connecting member 82 has a lower end portion fitted into the fitting hole 852, so that the upper tubular portion 851 of the suction chamber 85 is rotatable in a state where the ring portion 856 is prevented from being detached. Attached to. In the present embodiment, the rotation mechanism 850 is configured by the flange 821 of the second tubular connecting member 82 and the fitting hole 852 of the suction chamber 85.

  In this embodiment, liquid W such as water is sealed in the annular groove 853 of the fitting hole 852 so that at least the lower end of the annular convex portion 822 of the flange 821 is always buried. That is, the liquid layer W is interposed between the flange 821 of the rotation mechanism 850 and the suction chamber 85. The other end of the outlet hose 83 is airtightly connected to the upper end of the second tubular connecting member 82 attached to the suction chamber 85 in this way.

  The suction source 86 is connected to the suction chamber 85 through the suction pipe 861 so as to communicate with the suction chamber 85. When the suction source 86 is activated, air in front of the first tubular connecting member 81 (X2 direction side) Is introduced into the outlet hose 83 from the first tubular connecting member 81 and further sucked into the suction chamber 85 through the second tubular connecting member 82. In the present embodiment, the first tubular connecting member 81 fixed to the movable cover 73 of the blade cover 70, the outlet hose 83 having one end connected to the first tubular connecting member 81, and the first tubular end connected to the other end of the outlet hose 83. The cutting fluid recovery means 80 is configured by the suction means 84 including the suction chamber 85 to which the two tubular connection members 82 and the second tubular connection member 82 are rotatably attached via the rotation mechanism 850.

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

  The wafer 1 is sucked and held on the chuck table 20 while being supported by the frame 3 via the adhesive tape 4 as described above, and the chuck table 20 moves in the X2 direction in FIG. It is conveyed to a machining position corresponding to a position below the means 61 and 62. And in this machining position, among the multiple division planned lines intersecting between the chips 2, all the sides extending in one direction are first cut, and then all the division planned lines on the side extending in the other direction are cut, The wafer 1 is diced into a large number of chips 2. The division line to be cut is determined in parallel with the X direction by rotating the chuck table 20 to rotate the wafer 1.

  In the cutting process, the cutting blade 65 whose lower end cutting edge is set to a predetermined cutting height (position in the Z direction) while moving the chuck table 20 in the X2 direction is moved on the X2 direction side with respect to the division line. It is made by carrying out the process feed which cuts toward the edge part of the X1 direction side from the edge part of this. When one machining feed is finished, the cutting blade 65 is retracted upward, the chuck table 20 is moved in the X1 direction, the cutting blade 65 is returned to the starting point of the machining feed, and the cutting means 61 and 62 are moved to the Y direction. After moving in the direction and performing index feed to align the cutting edge of the cutting blade 65 with the next scheduled division line, the cutting blade 65 is processed and fed to the next planned division line. By repeating the above operation, cutting is performed on all the division lines extending in the X direction. In order to position the cutting blade 65 on the planned dividing line, a known alignment means using a camera or the like is used.

  As a form of cutting, there is a form such as a two-stage cutting in which a full cut is performed by one process feed, or a first process feed is a groove process and a full cut is performed by a second process feed. In the case of full cutting with one processing feed, the cutting height of each cutting blade 65 is set to the same height that allows full cutting so that the cutting edge is applied to the surface of the adhesive tape 4 and the distance between the two cutting blades 65. Is set to a distance corresponding to two division planned lines that are appropriately separated and processed and fed. In the two-stage cutting, the cutting height of one cutting blade 65 is set to a height corresponding to the grooving, and the other cutting blade 65 is set to a height corresponding to the full cutting. It is done by indexing and feeding so that it is cut. In the case of two-stage cutting, the cutting blade 65 on the grooving side is thick, and the cutting blade 65 on the full cut side is thinner than that on the grooving side.

  The wafer 1 diced as described above becomes an aggregate of a large number of chips 2 and remains attached to the adhesive tape 4, and thereafter, the wafer 1 is transferred to a pick-up process to take out individual chips 2.

(2-3) Cutting Fluid Recovery Action Next, the cutting fluid recovery action according to the present invention and the effects associated therewith will be described.
When cutting, the movable cover 73 of the blade cover 70 is positioned at the cutting fluid supply position, and the suction source 86 of the suction means 84 is operated. Then, the cutting fluid is ejected from the outer peripheral nozzle 721 and the side nozzle 731 of the blade cover 70 to the cutting blade 65. The cutting fluid ejected to the cutting blade 65 is supplied to a processing point where the cutting blade 65 cuts into the wafer 1, thereby cooling the cutting blade 65 and the wafer 1. The cutting fluid supplied to the machining point is mixed with cutting waste to be in a sewage state, and as shown in FIG. 4, the cutting blade 65 jumps backward in the rotation direction of the cutting blade 65 (L in FIG. 4 jumps up). Shows cutting fluid).

  The splashed cutting fluid is sucked into the suction source 86 and guided into the suction chamber 85 through the first tubular connecting member 81, the lead-out hose 83, and the second tubular connecting member 82. Store in. 6 indicates a cutting fluid recovery path from the first tubular connecting member 81 to the suction chamber 85. Further, L1 in FIG. 5 indicates the cutting fluid stored in the suction chamber 85. Thus, the cutting fluid splashed rearward in the rotation direction of the cutting blade 65 is forcibly discharged to the suction chamber 85 through the inside of the outlet hose 83, so that scattering to the surroundings is suppressed and adhesion to the wafer 1 is suppressed. .

  By the way, in this apparatus 10, when the cutting means 61 and 62 are indexed and fed, the cutting blade 65 and the blade cover 70 also move in the Y direction integrally, and thus are fixed to the movable cover 73. The tubular connecting member 81 and one end of the outlet hose 83 connected to the first tubular connecting member 81 also follow and move. When the connecting end of the outlet hose 83 to the movable cover 73 side moves in the Y direction together with the cutting means 61 and 62 in this way, the entire outlet hose 83 is connected to the suction chamber 85 side, that is, the second tubular connection. It is swiveled around the member 82.

  Here, since the second tubular connecting member 82 is rotatably attached to the suction chamber 85 via the rotating mechanism 850, the second tubular connecting member 82 rotates around the Z-axis following the movement of the rotating outlet hose 83. When the cutting means 61 and 62 move in the Y direction and an external force is applied to the lead-out hose 83 or the first tubular connection member 81, the second tubular connection member 82 rotates by the external force. Therefore, the external force applied to the lead-out hose 83 and the first tubular connecting member 81 is quickly eliminated, and stress is hardly generated. As a result, the lead-out hose 83 and the first tubular connecting member 81 are not easily damaged, and aging is suppressed.

  6 (a) to 6 (b) show that when the first cutting means 61 moves in the Y direction (Y1 direction which is the left direction in the figure), the outlet hose 83 turns around the second tubular connecting member 82. It shows how to do. When the cutting means 61 moves in the Y1 direction, the second tubular connecting member 82 follows the lead-out hose 83 turning in that direction and rotates clockwise in FIG. On the other hand, when the cutting means 61 moves in the Y2 direction, the second tubular connecting member 82 rotates counterclockwise in FIG. 6 following the lead-out hose 83 turning in that direction. Although FIG. 6 shows the time when the first cutting means 61 moves, the second tubular connecting member 82 on the second cutting means 62 side and the lead-out also when the second cutting means 62 moves in the Y direction. The hose 83 shows the same movement.

  In the present invention, as in the above embodiment, the second tubular connection member 82 rotates around the Z axis perpendicular to the three-dimensional direction with respect to the index feed direction of the cutting means 61 and 62, and the second tubular connection The configuration in which the rotation axis of the member 82 is not in the index feed direction of the cutting means 61 and 62 but is separated in the X direction is such that the second tubular connecting member 82 is easily rotated smoothly, and the lead-out hose 83 is easily rotated by an external force. The effect of reducing the stress generated in the film is the largest.

  In the present embodiment, since the liquid layer W is interposed between the flange 821 of the rotation mechanism 850 and the suction chamber 85, loss of the suction force of the suction source 86 is suppressed, and contamination (dust) or the like is suppressed. Is attached between the flange 821 and the suction chamber 85, the second tubular connecting member 82 is fixed, and the inconvenience of being unable to rotate is prevented.

1 ... wafer (work)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Cutting device 20 ... Chuck table (holding means)
412 ... First Y-axis ball screw feed mechanism (movable means)
422 ... Second Y-axis ball screw feed mechanism (movable means)
65 ... Cutting blade 721 ... Outer peripheral nozzle (cutting fluid supply means)
731 ... Side nozzle (cutting fluid supply means)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 80 ... Cutting fluid collection | recovery means 81 ... 1st tubular connection member 82 ... 2nd tubular connection member 83 ... Lead-out hose (Cutting fluid lead-out pipe)
84 ... suction means 85 ... suction chamber 86 ... suction source 850 ... rotating mechanism L, L1 ... cutting fluid W ... liquid layer

Claims (2)

Holding means for holding the workpiece;
A cutting blade that is rotatably supported and cuts the workpiece held by the holding means;
Movable means for moving the cutting blade;
Cutting fluid supply means for supplying a cutting fluid to a processing point of the cutting blade with respect to the workpiece;
A cutting device comprising: a cutting fluid recovery means for recovering the cutting fluid scattered from the processing point due to rotation of the cutting blade;
The cutting fluid recovery means includes
A suction means for sucking the cutting fluid;
A first tubular connecting member that is disposed adjacent to the cutting blade and introduces the cutting fluid scattered from the processing point;
One end is connected to the first tubular connecting member, the other end is connected to the suction means via a second tubular connecting member, and includes a cutting fluid outlet pipe communicating the first tubular connecting member and the suction means,
The cutting apparatus, wherein the second tubular connecting member is rotatably attached to the suction means via a rotation mechanism with the tube length direction of the second tubular connecting member as a rotation axis.   The cutting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a liquid layer is interposed between the rotation mechanism and the suction unit.

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