JP2012076425A - Separation device for brittle material substrate - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a separation device having an end material removing function capable of surely removing an end material generated during separation of a substrate by a simple and compact mechanism and accumulating and breaking it in a box set at a constant position.SOLUTION: In the separation device for separating a brittle material substrate M by causing a crack or kerf along a break-scheduled line by a scribe forming unit 6, a table for placing the substrate includes a main table 2 and a rotary table 3, and the rotary table 3 is arranged in the vicinity of the scribe forming unit 6 and formed so that an end material M1 of the brittle material substrate M generated during separation can be placed. The rotary table 3 is formed so as to be rotatable from a horizontal attitude to an inclined attitude as the end material M1 is adhered thereto. The separation device includes a push-out lever 12 which pushes off the end material M1 adhered to the rotary table 3 in the inclined attitude of the rotary table 3.

Description

  The present invention relates to a cutting apparatus for brittle material substrates such as glass, silicon, ceramics, and semiconductors, and in particular, to cut a brittle material substrate having a mechanism for removing unnecessary end material generated at the edge of the brittle material substrate at the time of cutting. Relates to the device.

  Conventionally, as a method of breaking (breaking) a glass substrate that is a brittle material, for example, as disclosed in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, the substrate is locally heated and cooled, and thermal stress ( By using the initial crack (trigger) formed in advance at the edge of the substrate as a starting point, the crack is propagated in the desired direction to form a scribe line on the substrate or to completely divide the substrate. The method of dividing is known.

  Specifically, a laser beam is used as a heating source, and the substrate held on the table is moved relative to the laser beam, so that irradiation is locally performed along the planned break line. While heating, following this, a refrigerant liquid is injected from the nozzle of the cooling unit. At this time, using a compressive stress caused by heating and a stress distribution due to tensile stress caused by rapid cooling, the crack is propagated in the direction of the planned break line to form a single scribe line.

  And unless the brittle material substrate is completely divided, the substrate is divided by bending the substrate by pressing the break bar or rolling the roller by pressing along the scribe line. Yes.

  On the other hand, if the end material (cut pieces) generated when breaking is left on the table, it causes troubles during subsequent breaks, so the gripping mechanism grips the end material and pulls it away. By moving, the end material is separated and removed (see Patent Document 3).

JP 2004-182530 A JP 2005-263578 A JP 2009-001484 A

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing processing for forming a scribe line on the brittle material substrate M using a laser beam.
The brittle material substrate M is placed on the two divided tables 13 and 13 and is sucked and held by a number of air suction holes 14 opened toward the upper surface. Below the space 15 formed between the two tables 13 and 13, a laser beam irradiation unit 17 held by the scanning mechanism 16 and a refrigerant liquid injection nozzle 18 are arranged.

  The laser beam emitted from the laser beam irradiation unit 17 is scanned along the planned break line S to generate a local compressive stress in the heating region (laser spot), and then the refrigerant liquid injection nozzle so as to follow immediately thereafter. By injecting the refrigerant from 18, a tensile stress is generated, and the crack propagates along the planned break line S. After a straight crack (scribe line) is generated along one break planned line in this way, the brittle material substrate M is next transferred by a transport mechanism (not shown) such as a robot arm equipped with a suction cup. The break scheduled line is moved so as to come to the laser beam irradiation position, laser scribing is performed, and all the planned break lines S are sequentially cracked.

  After this, the brittle material substrate M is bent by being pressed by a cutting mechanism (not shown) such as a roller or a break bar from the surface opposite to the surface on which the crack is generated, against the planned break line S. To do. After being divided, the brittle material substrate M to be a product (intermediate product) is taken out by a transport mechanism such as a robot arm, but unnecessary end material M1 remains on the table 13 on the right side of the drawing.

Since the end material remaining on the table has a very small width, it cannot be adsorbed by the suction cup of the robot arm.
In addition, if the coolant liquid during laser scribing penetrates between the end material and the table, it strongly adheres to the table surface, so it is not easy to remove even if air is blown, and it is very difficult to remove. is there. In addition, when air is blown, fine dust such as cullet generated at the time of division rises and deteriorates the working environment.
Therefore, the applicant has proposed a gripping mechanism that grips and removes the end material with a chuck as shown in Patent Document 3 or the like, but the mechanism is complicated, and the entire mechanism of the chuck requires a considerable space. For this reason, there has been a problem that the whole cutting apparatus becomes large and expensive.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a cutting apparatus having a cutting material removal function that can reliably remove cutting material generated during substrate cutting by a simple and compact mechanism and accumulate and discard it in a box installed at a fixed position. For the purpose.
Further, the present invention provides a cutting apparatus having an end material removing function that can reliably remove the end material even when the end material is strongly attached to the table, as in the case where the refrigerant liquid permeates between the substrate and the table. The purpose is to provide.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention takes the following technical means. That is, in the cutting apparatus for a brittle material substrate according to the present invention, the brittle material substrate is placed on a table, and a scribe forming means generates a crack or a kerf along a planned break line to cut the brittle material substrate. The table is composed of a main table and a rotating table, and the rotating table is arranged in the vicinity of the scribe forming means so that the end material of the brittle material substrate generated at the time of cutting can be placed. The rotating table is formed so as to be able to rotate from a horizontal posture to a tilted posture with the end material attached, and an extrusion bar is provided to push down the end material attached to the rotating table in the tilting posture of the rotary table. It has a structure.

  In the present invention, the rotary table itself to which the end material is attached is tilted downward and the end material is pushed down by the push bar into the end material storage box. Since it is pushed down and accumulated in the end material storage box by the extrusion bar below the substrate placement surface, scraps such as the end material and cullet attached thereto are scattered on the outside, especially the upper substrate placement surface. There is an effect that a good working environment can be maintained. In particular, when the refrigerant liquid has permeated between the end material and the table, it has been very difficult to remove the end material so far, but the end material can be pushed down and removed reliably. Can do.

In the present invention, it is preferable that the rotary table, the main table, and the push bar are formed in a pair of left and right with the scribe forming means interposed therebetween.
Thus, the end material can be removed by tilting the rotating table to which the end material is attached, regardless of whether the end material remains on the left or right turntable.

Further, in the present invention, a moving space is formed between the rotating table and the main table, and the rotating table is horizontally moved away from the scribe forming means through this moving space, and then rotated to a tilted posture. It is good to do.
Thereby, even when the scribe forming means is arranged below the table, the rotating table can be tilted while avoiding the scribe forming means.

It is a front view which shows one Example of the cutting device concerning this invention. It is a front view which shows the state which mounted the brittle material board | substrate on the rotation table and the main table. In the cutting apparatus in this invention, it is a schematic top view which shows the belt conveyor and table part as a conveyance mechanism. It is expansion explanatory drawing of the end material removal mechanism in this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the 1st step | level of operation | movement of the scrap material removal mechanism in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the 2nd step of operation | movement of the scrap material removal mechanism in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the 3rd step | level of operation | movement of the scrap material removal mechanism in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the 4th step of operation | movement of the scrap material removal mechanism in FIG. It is a perspective view for demonstrating a general cutting device.

Hereinafter, the details of the brittle material substrate cutting apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings showing the embodiments thereof.
1 and 2 are front views showing the whole cutting apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view showing a belt conveyor and a table portion as a transport mechanism, and FIGS. It is an enlarged view of the end material removal mechanism part in order to demonstrate operation | movement of material removal later on.

The cutting apparatus A is a pair of left and right main tables 2 and 2 supported by the machine base 1 and a pair of left and right main tables 2 and 2 that are disposed between the main tables 2 and 2 and substantially constitute part of the end material removal mechanism B. Rotating tables 3 and 3. The upper surfaces of the main table 2 and the rotary table 3 are arranged so as to have the same horizontal plane, and the brittle material substrate M to be scribed is placed on the upper surface. The brittle material substrate M is transported onto the main table 2 and the rotary table 3 by the transport mechanism 4 and can be moved in the left-right direction in FIG. 1 on the table by the transport device. In this embodiment, a mechanism using a pair of left and right belt conveyors 4a and 4a is employed as the transport mechanism 4. After the substrate M is placed on the belt conveyors 4a and 4a and moved to a predetermined position, the belt conveyor 4a is lowered and retracted as shown in FIG. 3 is mounted. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of parallel slits 2a, 3a are provided in the main table 2 and the rotary table 3, and the belt conveyor 4a also has a plurality of elongated ones corresponding to the interval of the slits. By forming the belt conveyor 4a, the belt conveyor 4a can move downward from the posture of FIG. 1 to the posture of FIG.
The transport mechanism 4 is not limited to this, and may be another mechanism, for example, a mechanism such as a robot arm having a suction cup at the lower end.
Further, it is preferable to provide a number of suction ports by air in each of the tables 2 and 3 so that the brittle material substrate M placed on the main table 2 and the rotating table 3 can be sucked and held.

A gap 5 linearly extending in the front-rear direction of FIG. 1 is formed between the opposing edges of the left and right rotary tables 3 and 3, and a scribe forming means 6 is disposed below the gap. Yes.
In this embodiment, a laser irradiation mechanism is employed as the scribe forming means 6, and a laser beam irradiation unit 6a and a refrigerant liquid injection nozzle 6b are provided. The laser beam irradiation unit 6a and the coolant injection nozzle 6b are held by the scanning mechanism 6c so as to be movable up and down, and can move in the direction perpendicular to the paper surface along the rail 6d.

Next, the end material removing mechanism B including the rotary tables 3 and 3 will be described. In this embodiment, the pair of left and right end material removal mechanisms B are provided as a pair, but since both are the same mechanism, only one of the mechanisms (the right side in the figure) will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. To do.
The pivot table 3 is formed so as to be pivotable from the horizontal posture of FIG. 4 to the final tilted posture of FIGS. 7 and 8 with a pivot 8 held by the slide base 7 as a fulcrum. The rotation range is preferably about 90 to 100 degrees. Here, the angle is 100 degrees.

  When the turntable 3 is turned to the tilted posture, the turntable 3 is turned so as not to hit the scribe forming means 6 below and moved horizontally after moving horizontally in the direction of moving backward from the scribe forming means 6 as shown in FIG. It has become. For this purpose, a moving space 9 (see FIG. 4) is formed between the rotary table 3 and the main table 2. Further, the horizontal movement of the rotary table 3 is performed by the slide base 7 sliding along the rail 10 of the machine base 1. Further, the tilting of the rotary table 3 at this time is stopped in the intermediate tilting posture of FIG. This is to prevent the tip of the turntable 3 from hitting the inclined guide plate 11 a of the end material storage box 11 when the rotation table 3 is moved to above the end material storage box 11 described later.

While maintaining the intermediate tilting posture of FIG. 5, the rotation table 3 is moved to above the end material storage box 11 disposed below as shown in FIG. 6, and the final tilting is performed at this position as shown in FIG. It is designed to rotate to a posture.
Further, an extrusion bar 12 is attached to the machine base 1 to push the end material C adhering to the tip of the rotary table 3 into the lower end material storage box 11 at a position where the rotary table 3 is rotated to the final tilted position. ing.
The above-described rotation table 3 is rotated and moved in the horizontal direction by a drive mechanism (not shown). These operations and the operation of the push bar 12 are performed by computer control.

Next, the operation will be described.
As shown in FIG. 2, the brittle material substrate M placed on the main table 2 and the turntable 3 by the transport mechanism 4 is laser-induced by a scribe forming means, that is, a laser beam irradiation unit 6a and a coolant injection nozzle 6b. Scribbed to form a crack (a linear scribe line) along the planned break line. In this way, after one crack planned line is cracked, the brittle material substrate M is moved by the transport mechanism so that the next planned break line is at the laser beam irradiation position, and laser scribing is performed sequentially. Create cracks in all planned break lines.

  Thereafter, the brittle material substrate is bent by being pressed by a cutting mechanism (not shown) such as a roller or a break bar from the surface opposite to the surface where the crack is generated, and is cut off from the scribe line. After being divided, a substrate to be a product (intermediate product), that is, a substrate on the left main table 2 and the rotating table 3 in FIG. The material M1 is left. The end material M1 adheres strongly to the rotating table 3 because the refrigerant liquid at the time of laser scribing penetrates between the upper surface of the table and the end material. Further, the end material M1 is left in a state where a part of the end material M1 protrudes slightly from the tip of the rotary table 3.

  In order to remove the end material M1 and abandon it to the end material storage box 11, first, the rotary table 3 is moved horizontally as shown in FIG. Tilt to the middle tilt position indicated by the imaginary line.

While maintaining this intermediate tilting posture, the rotation table 3 is moved to above the end material storage box 11 disposed below as shown in FIG. 6, and at this position, as shown in FIG. Rotate until Here, as shown in FIG. 8, the extrusion bar 12 protrudes and is pressed against a portion exposed below the end material M <b> 1 attached to the tip of the rotary table 3, and the end material M <b> 1 is peeled off from the rotary table 3. Drop into the lower end material storage box 11.
Thus, the end material M1 generated at the time of scribing can be reliably accumulated in the determined end material storage box 11 without being scattered outside, and can be discarded together.
In addition, when the end material M1 is pushed down by the extrusion bar 12, the cutting bar 12 can be passed through a part of the front end portion of the rotary table 3 so that the front end of the extrusion bar 12 surely contacts the end material M1. A notch may be formed.

  In the cutting apparatus A of the present embodiment, the end material removing mechanism B is formed on the left and right sides. Therefore, if an end material is generated on the left turn table 3 on the contrary, the left end material removing mechanism is provided. The end material can be removed in the same manner as described above by operating B.

  While typical examples of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not necessarily limited to the above embodiments. For example, the scribe forming means 6 uses a laser irradiation mechanism in the above embodiment, but may form a kerf using a mechanical scribe mechanism such as a cutter wheel. Others The present invention can be appropriately modified and changed within the scope of achieving the object and without departing from the scope of the claims.

  The cutting apparatus of the present invention can be used when cutting a substrate made of a brittle material such as a glass substrate, silicon, ceramic, or compound semiconductor.

M Substrate M1 End material A Cutting device 2 Main table 3 Rotating table 6 Scribe forming means 6a Laser beam irradiation section 6b Refrigerant liquid injection nozzle 9 Moving space 11 End material storage box 12 Push bar

Claims (4)

A cutting apparatus for placing a brittle material substrate on a table and dividing the brittle material substrate by generating a crack or a kerf along a planned break line by a scribe forming means,
The table is composed of a main table and a rotating table, and the rotating table is arranged in the vicinity of the scribe forming means so that the end material of the brittle material substrate generated at the time of cutting can be placed.
The rotating table is formed so that it can be rotated from a horizontal posture to a tilted posture with the end materials attached,
An apparatus for cutting a brittle material substrate, wherein an extruding bar is provided to push down an end material attached to the rotating table in a tilting posture of the rotating table.   The brittle material substrate cutting device according to claim 1, wherein the turning table, the main table, and the push-out bar are formed in a pair of left and right sides with a scribe forming unit interposed therebetween.   A moving space is formed between the rotating table and the main table, and the rotating table is horizontally moved away from the scribe forming means via the moving space and then rotated to a tilted posture. The apparatus for cutting a brittle material substrate according to any one of claims 1 to 2.   4. The brittle material substrate cutting device according to claim 2, wherein the scribe forming unit includes a laser beam irradiation unit and a coolant injection nozzle, and is disposed below the left and right rotating tables. 5.

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