JP2015138950A - Cutting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cutting device capable of adjusting a height position of a nozzle in a short period of time.SOLUTION: A cutting device includes a blade cover (46) and control means (42). The blade cover (46) includes a base section (50) mounted on a spindle housing (44), a nozzle (52) which is movably disposed in the base section (50) and supplies cutting liquid (L) to a workpiece and a cutting blade (36), nozzle moving means (54) moving the nozzle (52) in a direction perpendicular to the workpiece held on a chuck table (10), and nozzle position detection means (56) detecting the position of the nozzle (52). The control means (42) includes a storage section (42a) storing a prescribed positional relationship between the nozzle (52) and a cutting edge of the cutting blade (36) as reference data and storing an actual position of the nozzle (52) and an actual position of the cutting edge, and a comparison section (42b) calculating an actual positional relationship from the actual position of the nozzle (52) and the actual position of the cutting edge which are stored in the storage section (42a) and comparing the actual positional relationship with the reference data. The cutting device is configured to move the nozzle (52) by the nozzle moving means (54) so that the positional relationship between the nozzle (52) and the cutting edge of the cutting blade (36) is equal to the reference data.

Description

  The present invention relates to a cutting apparatus for cutting a plate-like workpiece typified by a semiconductor wafer.

  A plate-like workpiece typified by a semiconductor wafer having a device such as an IC formed on the surface is cut by a cutting device (dicing device) having a rotating annular cutting blade, for example, into a plurality of chips. And divided. In this cutting apparatus, it is common to perform cutting while supplying a cutting fluid (pure water or the like) to a cutting blade or a workpiece (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  In the cutting device, for example, a nozzle that injects cutting fluid from the front side in the cutting direction toward the outer peripheral portion of the cutting blade, or a pair of nozzles that injects cutting fluid toward the front and back surfaces (side surfaces) of the cutting blade ( Side nozzles) are provided. The cutting blade and the workpiece are cooled and washed with the cutting fluid supplied from these nozzles.

JP 2011-114220 A

  By the way, the side nozzle described above is disposed substantially parallel to the processing surface of the workpiece on the lower side of the cutting blade, and its height position can effectively cool the processing points of the cutting blade and the workpiece. Thus, it is adjusted according to the position of the cutting edge of the cutting blade.

  However, in the conventional cutting apparatus, the adjustment of the height position of the nozzle is carried out manually using various tools, and requires a certain amount of time. In particular, when adjusting the nozzle located on the back side (back side) of the cutting blade, the blade cover that covers the cutting blade must be removed, so that the time required for the adjustment work also becomes longer.

  In addition, when the cutting blade is worn by cutting the workpiece, the positional relationship between the cutting edge of the cutting blade and the nozzle changes. Therefore, in order to maintain the cutting fluid supply state, the nozzle is adjusted with a certain degree of frequency. There is a need to. Thus, the conventional cutting apparatus has a problem that it takes a long time to adjust the nozzle.

  The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a cutting apparatus capable of adjusting the height position of a nozzle in a short time.

  According to the present invention, a chuck table for holding a workpiece, a cutting means having a cutting blade for cutting the workpiece held on the chuck table, a control means for controlling the cutting means, and the cutting A cutting edge position detecting means for detecting the position of the cutting edge at the lower end of the cutting blade mounted on the cutting means, wherein the cutting means is capable of rotating a spindle having the cutting blade mounted on one end thereof. A spindle housing that supports the blade, a motor that rotates the spindle, and a blade cover that is disposed on one end side of the spindle housing and covers the cutting blade attached to one end of the spindle, Are cut into a base part mounted on the spindle housing, a workpiece movably disposed on the base part and the cutting blade. A nozzle for moving the nozzle in a direction perpendicular to the workpiece held on the chuck table, and a nozzle position detecting means for detecting the position of the nozzle. Has a support part movably mounted on the base part, and an ejection part that is disposed on the support part and ejects cutting fluid. The control means includes the nozzle and the cutting edge of the cutting blade. A storage unit for storing the actual position of the nozzle detected by the nozzle position detection unit and the actual position of the blade edge detected by the blade position detection unit; A comparison unit that calculates an actual positional relationship from the actual nozzle position and the actual cutting edge position stored in the storage unit and compares the actual positional relationship with the reference data; The cutting edge Positional relationship between the cutting device, characterized in that moving the nozzle is provided by the nozzle moving means so as to be equal to the reference data.

  In the present invention, the nozzle is a side nozzle that is disposed on both sides of the side surface of the cutting blade, and has a pair of the ejection portions that supply the cutting fluid to the side surface of the cutting blade and the processing point. It is preferable.

  In the present invention, the blade edge position detecting means includes a light emitting portion having a light emitting surface and a light receiving portion having a light receiving surface for receiving light emitted from the light emitting surface, and the light emitting surface and the light receiving surface. It is preferable that the position of the cutting edge of the cutting blade is detected by positioning the cutting blade between the light emitting surface and the light receiving surface.

  In the present invention, it is preferable to have an input means for inputting the reference data.

  A cutting apparatus according to the present invention includes a nozzle for supplying a cutting fluid to a workpiece and a cutting blade, nozzle moving means for moving the nozzle in a direction perpendicular to the machining surface of the workpiece, and a nozzle for detecting the position of the nozzle Position detecting means, and by moving the nozzle with the nozzle moving means so that the positional relationship between the nozzle and the cutting edge of the cutting blade is equal to the reference data stored in the storage unit of the control means in advance, The nozzle and the cutting edge of the cutting blade can be adjusted to a predetermined positional relationship.

  That is, according to the cutting apparatus of the present invention, it is not necessary to manually adjust the height position of the nozzle. Therefore, the height position of the nozzle can be adjusted in a short time.

It is a figure showing typically the example of composition of the cutting device concerning this embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows typically the structural example of a cutting unit. FIG. 3A is a plan view schematically showing the supply state of the cutting fluid, and FIG. 3B is a front view (side view) schematically showing the supply state of the cutting fluid. It is a perspective view which shows typically the structural example of a blade edge | tip position detection mechanism. It is a side view (front view) for demonstrating height position adjustment of a nozzle.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration example of a cutting apparatus according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the cutting device 2 includes a base 4 that supports each component.

  A rectangular opening 4 a that is long in the front-rear direction (X-axis direction) is formed on the upper surface of the base 4. Within this opening 4a, an X-axis moving table 6, an X-axis moving mechanism (not shown) for moving the X-axis moving table 6 in the X-axis direction (front-rear direction, machining feed direction), and a waterproof covering the X-axis moving mechanism. A cover 8 is provided.

  The X-axis movement mechanism includes a pair of X-axis guide rails (not shown) parallel to the X-axis direction, and an X-axis movement table 6 is slidably installed on the X-axis guide rails. A nut portion (not shown) is fixed to the lower surface side of the X-axis moving table 6, and an X-axis ball screw (not shown) parallel to the X-axis guide rail is screwed to the nut portion.

  An X-axis pulse motor (not shown) is connected to one end of the X-axis ball screw. By rotating the X-axis ball screw with the X-axis pulse motor, the X-axis moving table 6 moves in the X-axis direction along the X-axis guide rail.

  On the X-axis moving table 6, a chuck table 10 for sucking and holding a workpiece (not shown) is provided. The workpiece is, for example, a disk-shaped semiconductor wafer, and is supported by an annular frame via a dicing tape attached to the lower surface side. Around the chuck table 10, four clamps 12 for holding and fixing the annular frame from four directions are provided.

  The chuck table 10 is connected to a rotation mechanism (not shown) such as a motor, and rotates around a rotation axis extending in the vertical direction (Z-axis direction). Further, the chuck table 10 is moved in the X-axis direction by the above-described X-axis moving mechanism.

  The upper surface of the chuck table 10 is a holding surface 10a for sucking and holding a workpiece. The holding surface 10 a is connected to a suction source (not shown) through a flow path (not shown) formed inside the chuck table 10.

  On the upper surface of the base 4, a gate-type support structure 16 that supports a cutting unit (cutting means) 14 is disposed so as to straddle the opening 4 a. A cutting unit moving mechanism 18 for moving the cutting unit 14 in the Y-axis direction (index feed direction) and the Z-axis direction (vertical direction) is provided on the upper front surface of the support structure 16.

  The cutting unit moving mechanism 18 includes a pair of Y-axis guide rails 20 disposed on the front surface of the support portion 16 and parallel to the Y-axis direction. On the Y-axis guide rail 20, a Y-axis movement table 22 constituting the cutting unit moving mechanism 18 is slidably installed.

  A nut portion (not shown) is fixed to the rear surface side (rear surface side) of the Y-axis moving table 22, and a Y-axis ball screw 24 parallel to the Y-axis guide rail 20 is screwed to the nut portion. Yes. A Y-axis pulse motor (not shown) is connected to one end of the Y-axis ball screw 24. If the Y-axis ball screw 24 is rotated by the Y-axis pulse motor, the Y-axis moving table 22 moves in the Y-axis direction along the Y-axis guide rail 20.

  A pair of Z-axis guide rails 26 parallel to the Z-axis direction are provided on the front surface (front surface) of the Y-axis moving table 22. A Z-axis movement table 28 is slidably installed on the Z-axis guide rail 26.

  A nut portion (not shown) is fixed to the rear surface side (rear surface side) of the Z-axis moving table 28, and a Z-axis ball screw 30 parallel to the Z-axis guide rail 26 is screwed to the nut portion. Yes. A Z-axis pulse motor 32 is connected to one end of the Z-axis ball screw 30. When the Z-axis ball screw 30 is rotated by the Z-axis pulse motor 32, the Z-axis moving table 28 moves in the Z-axis direction along the Z-axis guide rail 26.

  A cutting unit 14 for cutting a workpiece is provided below the Z-axis moving table 28. A camera 34 that captures an image of the processed surface of the workpiece is installed at a position adjacent to the cutting unit 14. By moving the Y-axis movement table 22 and the Z-axis movement table 28 as described above, the cutting unit 14 and the camera 34 move in the Y-axis direction and the Z-axis direction.

  The cutting unit 14 includes an annular cutting blade 36 attached to one end of a spindle (not shown) that rotates about the Y axis. A motor (not shown) is connected to the other end of the spindle, and rotates the cutting blade 36 attached to the spindle.

  A blade edge position detecting mechanism (blade edge position detecting means) 38 for detecting the position of the blade edge corresponding to the lower end of the cutting blade 36 is provided at a position adjacent to the chuck table 10 on the X-axis moving table 6. In addition, an operation panel (input means) 40 for inputting cutting conditions and the like is installed on the upper front portion of the base 4.

  The X axis moving mechanism, the cutting unit 14, the cutting unit moving mechanism 18, the blade edge position detecting mechanism 38, the operation panel 40, and the like are connected to a control device (control means) 42. Each component is controlled by the control device 42. Details of the control device 42 will be described later.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view schematically showing a configuration example of the cutting unit 14. The cutting unit 14 includes a spindle housing 44 that rotatably supports the spindle. A blade cover 46 that houses the cutting blade 36 is attached to one end side of the spindle housing 44. The outer periphery of the cutting blade 36 is covered with a blade cover 46 except for the lower part.

  The cutting blade 36 is fixed so as to be sandwiched by a flange 48 attached to the tip portion of the spindle. The cutting blade 36 is a so-called washer blade, and is formed in an annular shape by combining abrasive grains such as diamond with a binder. The cutting blade 36 may be a so-called hub blade in which a cutting blade is provided on the outer periphery of an annular support base.

  The blade cover 46 includes a base (base portion) 50 fixed to the spindle housing 44. A substantially L-shaped nozzle 52 sandwiching the lower portion of the cutting blade 36 is movably attached to the base 50.

  The nozzle 52 includes a support portion 52a attached to the base 50 and an ejection portion 52b extending in the horizontal direction from the lower end side of the support portion 52a, and supplies the cutting fluid to the cutting blade 36 and the processing point of the workpiece. The ejection portions 52b are arranged on both sides with the front and back surfaces (side surfaces) of the cutting blade 36 interposed therebetween.

  FIG. 3A is a plan view schematically showing the supply state of the cutting fluid, and FIG. 3B is a front view (side view) schematically showing the supply state of the cutting fluid. As shown in FIG. 3A, a plurality of slits S facing the cutting blade 36 are formed inside the ejection portion 52b. The cutting blade 36 and the processing point of the workpiece are cooled and cleaned by the cutting fluid (pure water or the like) L ejected through the plurality of slits S.

  A nozzle moving mechanism (nozzle moving means) 54 that moves the nozzle 52 relative to the base 50 is provided on the upper portion of the support portion 52a. The nozzle moving mechanism 54 includes, for example, a pulse motor, and moves the nozzle 52 up and down in accordance with an instruction from the control device 42. That is, the nozzle 52 moves perpendicularly to the processing surface of the workpiece by the nozzle moving mechanism 54.

  In addition, the base 50 and the support portion 52a are provided with a nozzle position detection mechanism (nozzle position detection means) 56 (see FIG. 5) that detects the height position of the nozzle 52 with respect to the base 50.

  FIG. 4 is a perspective view schematically showing a configuration example of the blade edge position detection mechanism 38. As shown in FIG. 4, the blade edge position detection mechanism 38 includes a rectangular parallelepiped bottom 58 and a protrusion 60 that protrudes upward at the center of the bottom 58. On the upper surface of the protruding portion 60, a light emitting portion 62a and a light receiving portion 62b are provided at a predetermined interval.

  The light emitting part 62a and the light receiving part 62b are formed in a substantially cubic shape. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, a cutting blade 36 is passed between the light emitting unit 62a and the light receiving unit 62b from above. That is, the light emitting part 62a and the light receiving part 62b are arranged so as not to interfere with the cutting blade 36, respectively.

  The light emitting surface 64a and the light receiving surface (not shown) are arranged on the inner side surfaces of the light emitting unit 62a and the light receiving unit 62b, respectively, so as to face each other (facing each other). As shown in FIG. 4, when the cutting blade 36 is passed between the light emitting unit 62 a and the light receiving unit 62 b, the light emitted from the light emitting surface 64 a is blocked by the cutting blade 36. Therefore, the position of the cutting edge corresponding to the lower end of the cutting blade 36 can be detected based on the amount of light received on the light receiving surface.

  Next, the height position adjustment of the nozzle 52 implemented in the cutting apparatus 2 mentioned above is demonstrated. FIG. 5 is a side view (front view) for explaining the height position adjustment of the nozzle 52. In this height position adjustment, a reference data storage step is executed in advance, in which an appropriate positional relationship between the cutting edge of the cutting blade 36 and the nozzle 52 is stored in the control device 42 as reference data for height position adjustment.

  In the reference data storage step, first, an appropriate positional relationship between the cutting edge of the cutting blade 36 and the nozzle 52 is input to the operation panel 40 and stored in the storage unit 42 a of the control device 42. The positional relationship between the cutting edge of the cutting blade 36 and the nozzle 52 can be expressed, for example, by the height of the nozzle 52 based on the cutting edge (hereinafter simply referred to as the cutting edge) located at the lower end of the cutting blade 36.

  In this case, an appropriate height H of the nozzle 52 with respect to the blade edge is input to the operation panel 40. Here, the appropriate height H refers to a height corresponding to a positional relationship that can effectively cool the machining point of the cutting blade 36 and the workpiece. The reference data stored in the storage unit 42a is not necessarily limited to the appropriate height H of the nozzle 52 with respect to the cutting edge.

  After the reference data storing step, the position of the cutting edge of the cutting blade 36 is detected using the cutting edge position detecting mechanism 38, and the nozzle 52 is moved by the nozzle moving mechanism 54 to be positioned at an appropriate height H (initial state). Then, the cutting step etc. which cut a workpiece are implemented.

  When the cutting blade 36 is worn during a cutting step or the like, the positional relationship between the cutting edge of the cutting blade 36 and the nozzle 52 changes. Therefore, in order to maintain the supply state of the cutting fluid L, a position storage step is performed in which the position of the cutting edge of the cutting blade 36 and the position of the nozzle 52 are detected and stored in the storage unit 42a of the control device 42. This position storing step can be performed at an arbitrary timing.

  In the position storing step, first, the position of the cutting edge 36 (the actual position of the cutting edge) is detected by the cutting edge position detection mechanism 38, and the position of the nozzle 52 (the actual position of the nozzle 52) is detected by the nozzle position detection mechanism 56. ) Is detected. Then, the actual position of the cutting edge and the actual position of the nozzle 52 are stored in the storage unit 42 a of the control device 42.

  After the position storage step, a positional relationship calculation step is performed in which an actual positional relationship is calculated from the actual cutting edge position and the actual nozzle 52 position stored in the storage unit 42a. This positional relationship calculation step is performed by the comparison unit 42b of the control device 42.

  For example, the comparison unit 42b compares the actual cutting edge position and the actual nozzle 52 position read from the storage unit 42a with the cutting edge position and the nozzle 52 position in the initial state, and compares the respective amounts of change. Ask. Then, the actual positional relationship (the actual height of the nozzle 52 with respect to the actual cutting edge) is calculated from the amount of change.

For example, the actual position of the cutting edge increases delta ₁ with respect to the position of the cutting edge in the initial state, if the actual position of the nozzle 52 relative to the position of the nozzle 52 in the initial state is delta ₂ rises, the actual positional relationship , H− (Δ ₁ −Δ ₂ ).

  After the positional relationship calculating step, a nozzle moving step for moving the nozzle 52 is performed. In this nozzle moving step, the nozzle 52 is moved based on the actual positional relationship calculated in the positional relationship calculating step so that the positional relationship between the nozzle 52 and the cutting edge of the cutting blade 36 is equal to the reference data.

Specifically, first, the comparison unit 42b compares the actual positional relationship (H− (Δ ₁ −Δ ₂ )) with the positional relationship (H) of the reference data, and sets the nozzle 52 to an appropriate height ( The movement distance (Δ ₁ −Δ ₂ ) of the nozzle 52 necessary for positioning at H) is calculated. Then, the nozzle 52 is moved by the calculated movement distance (Δ ₁ −Δ ₂ ) and positioned at an appropriate height H with respect to the cutting edge of the cutting blade 36.

  As described above, the cutting apparatus 2 according to the present embodiment includes the nozzle 52 that supplies the cutting fluid L to the workpiece and the cutting blade 36, and moves the nozzle 52 in a direction perpendicular to the machining surface of the workpiece. Since the nozzle moving mechanism (nozzle moving means) 54 to be moved and the nozzle position detecting mechanism (nozzle position detecting means) 56 for detecting the position of the nozzle 52 are provided, the positional relationship between the nozzle 52 and the cutting edge of the cutting blade 36 is determined in advance. The nozzle 52 is moved by the nozzle moving mechanism 54 so as to be equal to the reference data stored in the storage unit 42a of the control device (control means) 42, whereby the nozzle 52 and the cutting edge of the cutting blade 36 are in a predetermined positional relationship. Can be adjusted.

  That is, according to the cutting device 2 of the present invention, it is not necessary to manually adjust the height position of the nozzle 52. Therefore, the height position of the nozzle 52 can be adjusted in a short time.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to description of the said embodiment, A various change can be implemented. For example, in the above embodiment, the cutting device 2 that can adjust the height position of the nozzle 52 (so-called side nozzle) that injects the cutting fluid L toward the front and back surfaces (side surfaces) of the cutting blade 36 is illustrated. The height positions of other nozzles may be adjusted with the same configuration.

  In addition, the configurations, methods, and the like according to the above-described embodiments can be changed as appropriate without departing from the scope of the object of the present invention.

2 Cutting device 4 Base 4a Opening 6 X-axis moving table 8 Waterproof cover 10 Chuck table 10a Holding surface 12 Clamp 14 Cutting unit (cutting means)
16 Support structure 18 Cutting unit moving mechanism 20 Y-axis guide rail 22 Y-axis moving table 24 Y-axis ball screw 26 Z-axis guide rail 28 Z-axis moving table 30 Z-axis ball screw 32 Z-axis pulse motor 34 Camera 36 Cutting blade 38 Cutting edge position detection Mechanism (blade edge position detection means)
40 Operation panel (input means)
42 Control device (control means)
42a Storage section 42b Comparison section 44 Spindle housing 46 Blade cover 48 Flange 50 Base (base section)
52 Nozzle 52a Supporting part 52b Ejecting part 54 Nozzle moving mechanism (nozzle moving means)
56 Nozzle position detection mechanism (nozzle position detection means)
58 Bottom 60 Protruding part 62a Light emitting part 62b Light receiving part 64a Light emitting surface H Height L Cutting fluid S Slit

Claims (4)

A chuck table for holding a workpiece, a cutting means having a cutting blade for cutting the workpiece held on the chuck table, a control means for controlling the cutting means, and the cutting means mounted on the cutting means A cutting edge position detecting means for detecting the position of the cutting edge at the lower end of the cutting blade, and a cutting device comprising at least
The cutting means is disposed at one end of the spindle housing, a spindle housing that rotatably supports a spindle having the cutting blade mounted at one end thereof, a motor that rotates the spindle, and one end of the spindle. A blade cover that covers the cutting blade mounted on
The blade cover includes a base portion mounted on the spindle housing, a nozzle that is movably disposed on the base portion and supplies cutting fluid to a workpiece and the cutting blade, and the nozzle is attached to the chuck table. A nozzle moving means for moving the held workpiece in a vertical direction, and a nozzle position detecting means for detecting the position of the nozzle,
The nozzle has a support portion that is movably mounted on the base portion, and an ejection portion that is disposed on the support portion and ejects cutting fluid.
The control means stores a predetermined positional relationship between the nozzle and the cutting edge of the cutting blade as reference data, and detects the actual nozzle position detected by the nozzle position detecting means and the cutting edge position detecting means. A storage unit that stores the actual position of the cutting edge, and an actual positional relationship calculated from the actual nozzle position and the actual cutting edge position stored in the storage unit and compared with the reference data A cutting unit, wherein the nozzle is moved by the nozzle moving means so that the positional relationship between the nozzle and the cutting edge of the cutting blade is equal to the reference data.   The nozzle is a side nozzle that is disposed on both sides of a side surface of the cutting blade, and has a pair of ejection portions that supply a cutting fluid to the side surface of the cutting blade and the processing point. Item 2. The cutting device according to Item 1.   The blade edge position detecting means has a light emitting portion having a light emitting surface and a light receiving portion having a light receiving surface for receiving light emitted from the light emitting surface, and the light emitting surface and the light receiving surface are arranged facing each other. The cutting apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the cutting blade is positioned between the light emitting surface and the light receiving surface to detect the position of the cutting edge of the cutting blade. 4. The cutting apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an input unit for inputting the reference data.

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