JP2021169135A - Cutting method and cutting device - Google Patents

Abstract

To efficiently carry in a workpiece without using a cassette.SOLUTION: There is provided a cutting method for cutting a workpiece using a cutting device which includes a holding table, a cutting unit for cutting a workpiece, a workpiece mounting mechanism having a cassette mounting table and a workpiece storage part for storing the workpiece on a lower side of the cassette mounting table, a conveyance unit for conveying the workpiece, a display part for displaying a conveyance origin selection screen, and a control unit for controlling each of the components. The cutting method includes: a workpiece storage step of storing the workpiece in the workpiece storage part; a conveyance origin selection step of selecting the workpiece storage part as the conveyance origin when the conveyance origin selection screen is displayed on the display part; a workpiece carrying out step of carrying the workpiece stored in the workpiece storage part to the holding table by the conveyance unit; and a cutting step of cutting the workpiece by the cutting unit.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention includes a cutting device including a holding table for holding a work piece such as a wafer and a cutting unit for cutting the work piece held on the holding table, and the cutting device for cutting the work piece. Regarding the cutting method.

In the process of manufacturing device chips used in electronic devices such as mobile phones and computers, a plurality of scheduled division lines called streets that intersect each other are set on the surface of a disk-shaped wafer. Next, devices such as ICs (Integrated Circuits) and LSIs (Large Scale Integration) are formed in each area partitioned by the planned division lines. Then, the wafer is divided along the scheduled division line to obtain individual device chips.

Wafer division is performed by, for example, a cutting apparatus including a holding table for holding an workpiece such as a wafer and a cutting unit including an annular cutting blade (see Patent Document 1). A cassette containing a plurality of workpieces is carried into the cutting device. Then, the plurality of workpieces are carried out one after another from the cassette, cut one after another by the cutting unit, and returned to the cassette. A cutting device of this type capable of continuously cutting a plurality of workpieces housed in a cassette is called a fully automatic type.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2011-159823

By the way, there are cases where it is desired to perform test machining with a cutting device, such as when a new type of workpiece is newly machined with a cutting device or when machining conditions are changed. You may also want to get a very small amount of device chips. In these cases, cutting of a small amount of work piece is desired. However, conventionally, in a fully automatic type cutting device, even when cutting a small amount of a work piece, it is necessary to store the work piece in a cassette and carry it into the cutting device. It was inefficient because it took time and effort to bring a large cassette into the cutting device.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to efficiently carry in a work piece without using a cassette when carrying a small amount of work piece into a cutting apparatus. It is to provide a cutting method and a cutting device which can be performed.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a holding table for holding a work piece, a cutting unit rotatably provided with a cutting blade for cutting the work piece held on the holding table, and a plurality of work pieces. A workpiece comprising an elevating cassette mount on which a cassette that can be accommodated is placed, and a workpiece accommodating portion that moves up and down together with the cassette mount and accommodates the workpiece under the cassette mount. A transport unit for transporting a workpiece between the mounting mechanism, one of the cassette mounted on the cassette mounting table and the workpiece accommodating portion, and the holding table, and mounting on the cassette mounting table. A display unit that can display a transfer source selection screen for selecting one of the placed cassettes and the workpiece accommodating unit as a transfer source, a control unit that controls each component, and a command input to the control unit. A cutting method for cutting a workpiece using a cutting device provided with an input interface for accommodating the workpiece, the workpiece accommodating step for accommodating the workpiece in the workpiece accommodating portion, and the transport. When the original selection screen is displayed on the display unit, the transfer source selection step of selecting the workpiece accommodating unit as the transfer source of the transfer performed by the transfer unit by the input interface, and the transfer source accommodation. A work piece unloading step in which the work piece housed in the unit is carried to the holding table by the transfer unit, a cutting step in which the work piece held in the holding table is cut by the cutting unit, and the cutting step. Provided is a cutting method comprising: a work piece carrying-in step of accommodating the work piece which has been cut after the cutting step in the work piece accommodating portion by the transport unit.

Further, according to another aspect of the present invention, a plurality of holding tables for holding the workpiece and a cutting unit rotatably provided with a cutting blade for cutting the workpiece held on the holding table. An elevating and lowering cassette mounting table on which a cassette capable of accommodating a workpiece is placed, and a workpiece accommodating portion that moves up and down together with the cassette mounting table and accommodates a workpiece under the cassette mounting table. A transport unit for transporting a workpiece between a workpiece mounting mechanism, a cassette mounted on the cassette mounting table, one of the workpiece accommodating portions, and a holding table, and the cassette. A display unit that can display a cassette mounted on a mounting table and a transport source selection screen for selecting the workpiece accommodating portion or one of them as a transport source, a control unit that controls each component, and the control unit. The control unit is provided with an input interface for inputting a command to the cassette and the workpiece mounted on the cassette mounting table when the transport source selection screen is displayed on the display unit. The information of the transfer source registration unit in which one of the transfer sources selected by the input interface is registered as the transfer source of the transfer by the transfer unit from the accommodating unit and the information of the registered transfer source are read from the transfer source registration unit, and the information is read. Provided is a cutting apparatus including a transport unit control unit for causing a transport unit to carry out a work piece from the transport source and transport the work piece to the holding table.

The cutting method and cutting apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention include a cassette mounting table on which a cassette capable of accommodating a plurality of workpieces is placed, and a workpiece accommodating portion for accommodating the workpiece. A workpiece mounting mechanism is used. Then, when the workpiece is transported to the holding table by the transport unit, the operator determines whether the cassette mounted on the cassette mounting table or the workpiece accommodating portion is the transport source, which is displayed on the display unit. You can select through the selection screen.

Therefore, when it is desired to cut a small amount of a workpiece, a workpiece such as a wafer is placed on the workpiece accommodating portion, and the workpiece accommodating portion is selected as a transport source. In this case, the transport unit transports the work piece housed in the work piece accommodating portion, not the work piece housed in the cassette placed on the cassette mounting table. As described above, according to one aspect of the present invention, even in a fully automatic type cutting apparatus in which workpieces are carried out one after another from a cassette accommodating a plurality of workpieces and cut, the workpieces are not contained in the cassette. Can be easily processed.

Therefore, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cutting method and a cutting apparatus capable of efficiently carrying in a work piece without using a cassette when carrying a small amount of the work piece into the cutting device.

It is a perspective view which shows typically the frame unit, a cassette, and a cutting apparatus. It is a top view which shows an example of the transport source selection screen displayed on the display part schematically. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of each step of the cutting method which cuts a work piece.

An embodiment according to one aspect of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the cutting method and cutting apparatus according to the present embodiment, a plate-shaped workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer having a plurality of devices formed on its surface is cut. First, the cutting method and the workpiece to be cut by the cutting device according to the present embodiment will be described.

The workpiece to be cut by the cutting method and cutting apparatus according to the present embodiment is, for example, Si (silicon), SiC (silicon carbide), GaN (gallium nitride), GaAs (gallium arsenide), or any other material. It is a substantially disk-shaped wafer formed from a semiconductor material. Alternatively, the workpiece is a wafer or the like made of a material such as sapphire, quartz, glass, or ceramics. The glass is, for example, alkaline glass, non-alkali glass, soda-lime glass, lead glass, borosilicate glass, quartz glass and the like.

FIG. 1 includes a perspective view schematically showing the surface 11a side of a substantially disk-shaped wafer 11 formed of a semiconductor material as an example of a workpiece. A plurality of scheduled division lines intersecting each other are set on the surface 11a side of the wafer 11, and devices such as ICs (Integrated Circuits) and LSIs (Large Scale Integration) are placed in each region partitioned by the scheduled division lines. It is formed.

Individual device chips can be formed by cutting and dividing the wafer 11 along the planned division line. Hereinafter, the case where the workpiece is a wafer 11 will be described as an example, but the workpiece is not limited to this.

When the wafer 11 is carried into the cutting device 2, a tape 13 called a dicing tape, which is previously attached so as to close the opening of the annular frame 15 formed of metal or the like, is attached to the back surface 11b side of the wafer 11. Will be done. Then, the wafer 11 is carried into the cutting device 2 and cut in the state of the frame unit 17 in which the wafer 11, the tape 13, and the frame 15 are integrated. The individual device chips formed are supported by the tape 13 and then picked up from the tape 13 and mounted on a predetermined mounting target.

FIG. 1 includes a perspective view schematically showing a cassette 19 capable of accommodating a plurality of wafers 11 (frame units 17) as workpieces. The frame unit 17 including the wafer 11 is housed in the cassette 19 in advance, and the wafer 11 is carried into the cutting device 2 in a state of being housed in the cassette 19. The cassette 19 includes a storage space 21 inside which a plurality of frame units 17 can be housed side by side in the vertical direction.

A plurality of accommodating grooves 25 are formed along the front-rear direction (horizontal direction) of the cassette 19 on the inner surface of the pair of side walls 23 of the cassette 19 facing the accommodating space 21. The accommodating grooves 25 formed in the side wall 23 of the cassette 19 are formed at the same height of the side walls 23, respectively. The frame unit 17 accommodated in the accommodation space 21 is supported by a pair of accommodation grooves 25 formed at the same height. The cassette 19 can accommodate the frame unit 17 in the accommodation space 21 as many as the number of the pair of accommodation grooves 25 (for example, 25).

The cassette 19 is formed with a handle 27 that serves as a gripping portion for the operator of the cutting device 2 to hold. The operator can grasp the handle 27 and convey the cassette 19. When the cassette 19 is used, a plurality of frame units 17 can be collectively conveyed and carried into the cutting device 2. In addition, the cutting device 2 can carry out a series of steps from carrying out the frame units 17 from the cassette 19 one after another, cutting each wafer 11, and returning all the frame units 17 to the cassette 19 again. The efficiency is good.

The cutting device 2 shown in FIG. 1 is a cutting device called a fully automatic type in which all wafers (workpieces) 11 housed in the cassette 19 are automatically conveyed and cut. In the fully automatic type cutting device, the operator does not have to carry in the wafers 11 one by one. Next, the cutting device 2 will be described.

An opening 4a is formed at a corner of the base 4, and a workpiece mounting mechanism 6 including a cassette mounting base 8 on which the cassette 19 is mounted is arranged in the opening 4a. The workpiece mounting mechanism 6 moves up and down by an elevating mechanism (not shown). An irradiation unit that irradiates ultraviolet rays, a detection unit that detects the position of a notch, a reading unit that reads a bar code, or the like may be arranged in a region below the workpiece mounting mechanism 6.

On the side of the opening 4a, a long opening 4b is formed in the X-axis direction (front-rear direction, machining feed direction). A ball screw type X-axis moving mechanism (machining feed unit) 12 for moving the X-axis moving table (not shown) in the X-axis direction is arranged in the opening 4b. A table cover 12a is arranged above the X-axis moving table. Further, bellows-shaped dust-proof and drip-proof covers 12b are attached to the front and back of the table cover 12a.

A holding table (chuck table) 14 for holding an workpiece such as a wafer 11 is arranged above the X-axis moving table so as to be exposed from the table cover 12a. The holding table 14 is connected to a rotation drive source (not shown) such as a motor, and rotates around a rotation axis substantially parallel to the Z-axis direction (vertical direction, cutting feed direction). Further, the holding table 14 is moved in the X-axis direction by the X-axis moving mechanism 12 described above (machining feed).

The upper surface of the holding table 14 is a holding surface 14a for holding the wafer 11 via the tape 13. The holding surface 14a is connected to a suction source (not shown) via a suction path (not shown) formed inside the holding table 14. Further, around the holding table 14, four clamps 14b for fixing the frame 15 supporting the wafer 11 from all sides are provided.

Above the opening 4b, a pair of guide rails 16 are provided which are approached and separated while maintaining a state parallel to the Y-axis direction (horizontal direction, indexing feed direction). Each of the pair of guide rails 16 has a support surface that supports the frame 15 from below and a side surface that is substantially perpendicular to the support surface, and X is a frame unit 17 that is pulled out from the cassette 19 placed on the cassette mounting table 8. It is sandwiched in the axial direction and adjusted to the specified position.

Above the base 4, a gate-shaped first support structure 18 is arranged so as to straddle the opening 4b. A first rail 20 along the Y-axis direction is fixed to the front surface (the surface on the guide rail 16 side) of the first support structure 18, and the first rail 20 is connected to the first rail 20 via a first moving mechanism 22 or the like. The first holding unit 24 is connected.

For example, the first holding unit 24 comes into contact with the upper surface of the frame 15, attracts the frame 15, moves up and down by the first moving mechanism 22, and moves along the first rail 20 in the Y-axis direction. A gripping mechanism 24a for gripping the frame 15 is provided on the opening 4a side of the first holding unit 24.

For example, if the frame 15 is gripped by the gripping mechanism 24a and the first holding unit 24 is moved in the Y-axis direction, the frame unit 17 is pulled out from the cassette 19 mounted on the cassette mounting table 8 to the pair of guide rails 16. Alternatively, the frame unit 17 on the pair of guide rails 16 can be inserted into the cassette 19. After aligning the positions of the frames 15 with the pair of guide rails 16, the frame 15 is attracted by the first holding unit 24, and the frame unit 17 is carried into the holding table 14.

In the cassette mounting table 8, the height of the frame unit 17 to be carried out matches the height of the guide rail 16, or the height of the pair of accommodating grooves 25 for accommodating the frame unit 17 is set. Raise and lower in advance to match the height of the guide rail 16.

Further, on the front surface of the first support structure 18, a second rail 26 along the Y-axis direction is fixed above the first rail 20. A second holding unit 30 is connected to the second rail 26 via a second moving mechanism 28 or the like. For example, the second holding unit 30 comes into contact with the upper surface of the frame 15, attracts the frame 15, moves up and down by the second moving mechanism 28, and moves along the second rail 26 in the Y-axis direction.

A gate-shaped second support structure 32 is arranged behind the first support structure 18. Two sets of cutting units 36 are provided on the front surface of the second support structure 32 (the surface on the side of the first support structure 18) via a Y-axis Z-axis movement mechanism (indexing feed unit, cutting feed unit) 34, respectively. ing. Each cutting unit 36 moves in the Y-axis direction (index feed) and moves in the Z-axis direction (cut feed) by the corresponding Y-axis Z-axis movement mechanism 34.

Each cutting unit 36 includes a spindle (not shown) having a rotation axis substantially parallel to the Y-axis direction. An annular cutting blade 38 is mounted on one end side of each spindle. A rotary drive source (not shown) such as a motor is connected to the other end side of each spindle. Further, a nozzle for supplying a cutting liquid such as pure water to the wafer 11 and the cutting blade 38 is arranged near the cutting blade 38.

The wafer 11 can be cut by cutting the rotated cutting blade 38 into the wafer (workpiece) 11 held on the holding table 14 while supplying the cutting fluid from this nozzle. An imaging unit (camera) 40 for imaging the wafer 11 and the like held on the holding table 14 is provided at a position adjacent to the cutting unit 36. The image pickup unit 40 also moves in the Y-axis direction and also moves in the Z-axis direction by the Y-axis Z-axis movement mechanism 34.

A cleaning unit 42 is arranged in the opening 4c provided at a position opposite to the opening 4a with respect to the opening 4b. The cleaning unit 42 includes a spinner table 44 that holds the wafer 11 in a cylindrical cleaning space. A rotation drive source (not shown) for rotating the spinner table 44 at a predetermined speed is connected to the lower portion of the spinner table 44.

Above the spinner table 44, an injection nozzle that injects a cleaning fluid (typically, a mixed fluid in which water and air are mixed) toward the wafer (workpiece) 11 held by the spinner table 44. 46 are arranged. The wafer 11 can be cleaned by rotating the spinner table 44 holding the wafer 11 and injecting a cleaning fluid from the injection nozzle 46.

After cutting the wafer 11 with the cutting unit 36, for example, the second holding unit 30 attracts the frame 15 and carries the frame unit 17 into the cleaning unit 42. After cleaning the wafer 11 with the cleaning unit 42, for example, the frame 15 is attracted by the first holding unit 24 and the frame unit 17 is mounted on the pair of guide rails 16, and then the frame unit 17 is mounted on the cassette by the gripping mechanism 24a. It is housed in the cassette 19 placed on the stand 8.

The cutting device 2 is provided with a display unit for displaying various information, an alarm screen, and the like, and an input interface used for inputting various commands on the outer peripheral surface of the housing (not shown). For example, a liquid crystal panel, an OLED panel, or the like may be provided as a display unit, and a button, a keyboard, or the like may be provided as an input interface. Further, the cutting device 2 may include a display 48 with a touch panel that functions as a display unit and an input interface. However, the display unit and the input interface are not limited to this.

Further, the cutting device 2 includes a control unit 50 that controls each component. The control unit 50 is composed of, for example, a computer including a processing device such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a main storage device such as a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory), and an auxiliary storage device such as a flash memory. .. The function of the control unit 50 is realized by operating the processing device or the like according to the software stored in the auxiliary storage device.

In the auxiliary storage device of the control unit 50, each component is processed so that a plurality of wafers (workpieces) 11 housed in the cassette 19 are processed one after another and the processed wafer 11 is housed in the cassette 19 again. An automatic machining program for control is stored. The control unit 50 of the fully automatic type cutting device 2 controls each component according to an automatic machining program to efficiently divide a plurality of wafers 11 one after another to efficiently manufacture a device chip.

The fully automatic type cutting device 2 is suitable for automatically cutting a large number of wafers (workpieces) 11 of the same type one after another. However, in the cutting device 2, there are cases where it is desired to cut and divide a small number of wafers 11 in order to obtain a small amount of device chips. Even in this case, when the wafer 11 is carried into the cutting device 2, the wafer 11 (frame unit 17) must be housed in the cassette 19 and the cassette 19 must be placed on the cassette mounting table 8, which is troublesome. It takes time.

Further, since the cut wafer 11 is housed in the cassette 19 again, it is necessary to carry out the cassette 19 from the cutting device 2 and take out the cut wafer 11 from the cassette 19 outside the cutting device 2 later. Further, since the cassette 19 is heavier and larger than the frame unit 17 including the wafer 11, the operator who conveys the cassette 19 is relatively burdened.

Further, in the cutting device 2, it may be desired to cut a small amount of the workpiece for other purposes. For example, when starting cutting of a new type of wafer 11 with the cutting device 2, it may be desired to perform test machining under various machining conditions and evaluate the result. In this case, it is not always necessary to cut the wafer 11 in which the device is formed on the surface 11a, and it is possible to carry out the test processing at a lower cost by using the wafer 11 in which the device is not formed on the surface 11a.

Further, the cutting ability of the cutting blade 38 mounted on the cutting unit 36 decreases as the machining of the workpiece is repeated. Therefore, it is desired that the cutting blade 38 periodically cuts a dress board that can recover the cutting ability of the cutting blade 38 by being cut by the cutting blade 38 as an workpiece. The process of cutting this dress board with the cutting blade 38 is called dressing. Since a small amount of dressing board used for dressing is sufficient, it is desirable that the dressing board can be carried into the cutting device 2 without using the cassette 19.

Therefore, in the cutting apparatus 2 according to the present embodiment, the work piece mounting mechanism 6 accommodates the work piece so that a small amount of the work piece can be easily carried in and the cut work piece can be easily taken out. The work piece accommodating portion 10 to be processed is further provided. The workpiece accommodating portion 10 moves up and down together with the cassette mounting table 8 on the lower side of the cassette mounting table 8. When the height of the workpiece accommodating portion 10 is adjusted to the height of the guide rail 16, the wafer 11 (frame unit 17) accommodated in the workpiece accommodating portion 10 can be pulled out onto the guide rail 16 by the first holding unit 24. ..

The workpiece accommodating portion 10 includes a box-shaped housing having an accommodating space 10a inside which can pass along the Y-axis direction. That is, the workpiece accommodating portion 10 includes a first carry-in / out port (not shown) formed on the side wall on the opening 4b side, and a second carry-in / out port 10b formed on the side wall opposite to the opening 4b. .. The accommodation space 10a has a width corresponding to the width of the workpiece such as the wafer 11 (frame unit 17).

For example, the accommodation space 10a of the workpiece accommodating portion 10 can accommodate one workpiece, and the workpiece is carried in from the second carry-in / out port 10b by the operator. The work piece carried into the accommodation space 10a is placed on the mounting surface 10c, which is the floor surface of the accommodation space 10a.

Alternatively, the accommodation space 10a of the workpiece accommodating portion 10 may be capable of accommodating a plurality of workpieces. In this case, a plurality of accommodating grooves are formed along the Y-axis direction at the same height of the inner surfaces of the pair of side walls sandwiching the accommodating space 10a of the workpiece accommodating portion 10 from the X-axis direction. Then, the workpiece carried in from the second carry-in / out port 10b is supported by a pair of storage grooves of the same height formed on both side walls and is stored in the storage space 10a.

When the workpiece accommodated in the accommodation space 10a is pulled out from the first carry-in / out port, the height of the workpiece mounting mechanism 6 is adjusted so that the height of the workpiece matches the height of the pair of guide rails 16. It will be adjusted. Then, in the same manner as pulling out the wafer 11 from the cassette 19 mounted on the cassette mounting table 8, the first holding unit 24 pulls out the workpiece accommodated in the workpiece accommodating portion 10 onto the guide rail 16. ..

Then, the pair of guide rails 16 move so as to approach each other in the X-axis direction to align the position of the workpiece with a predetermined position. After that, the first holding unit 24 holds the work piece from above, the pair of guide rails 16 are separated from each other, and the first holding unit 24 puts the work piece on the holding table 14.

Further, the workpiece cut by the cutting unit 36 is conveyed from the holding table 14 to the cleaning unit 42 by the second holding unit 30, and is cleaned by the cleaning unit 42. After that, the workpiece is conveyed from the cleaning unit 42 onto the guide rail 16 by the second holding unit 30, and the workpiece is accommodated in the workpiece accommodating portion 10 by the first holding unit 24.

As described above, the first holding unit 24, the second holding unit 30, and the pair of guide rails 16 are the cassette 19 mounted on the cassette mounting table 8 and one of the workpiece accommodating portions 10. It functions as a transport unit for transporting the workpiece between the holding table 14 and the holding table 14. Then, the transfer unit is controlled by the control unit 50.

The control unit 50 includes a transport unit control unit 50a that controls the transport unit. Further, the control unit 50 includes a transport source registration unit 50c in which it is registered which of the cassette 19 mounted on the cassette mounting table 8 and the workpiece accommodating section 10 is the transport destination / transport source. The control unit 50 further includes a display control unit 50b that controls the display of the display unit, and causes the display unit to display the transport source selection screen. When the transport source selection screen is displayed on the display unit, the operator inputs the transport destination / transport source to the transport source registration unit 50c using the input interface.

Next, a transport source selection screen displayed on the display 48 with a touch panel that functions as a display unit and an input interface will be described. FIG. 2 is a plan view schematically showing an example of a transport source selection screen displayed on the display 48 with a touch panel. The transport source selection screen 52 is displayed on the display 48 with a touch panel shown in FIG.

The transport source selection screen 52 includes a screen description display area 54 on which a description of the displayed screen is displayed, and an operation button 56 used for inputting various commands. Further, the transport source selection screen 52 includes a transport destination / transport source selection check box 58 used when selecting a transport source of the workpiece by the transport unit. For example, the operator can input various commands to the control unit 50 by touching a predetermined area on the touch panel that functions as an input interface.

When the operator touches the transport destination / transport source selection check box 58, the transport destination / transport source can be switched. For example, when a check mark is displayed in the transport destination / transport source selection check box 58, the workpiece accommodating portion 10 of the workpiece mounting mechanism 6 is selected as the transport destination / transport source of the workpiece. .. At this time, the workpiece accommodating unit 10 is registered as the transfer destination / transfer source in the transfer source registration unit 50c of the control unit 50.

When the operator further touches the transport destination / transport source selection check box 58 to remove the check mark, the cassette 19 mounted on the cassette mounting table 8 is registered as the transport destination / transport source in the transport source registration unit 50c. Will be done.

Then, when the operator touches the operation button 56a that commands the loading of the workpiece into the cutting device 2 among the operation buttons 56 displayed on the transfer source selection screen 52, the transfer unit control unit 50a changes the transfer source registration unit 50c. Read the information of the transport source registered in. Then, the transport unit control unit 50a causes the transport unit to carry out the workpiece from the transport source, and conveys the workpiece to the holding table 14.

Further, when the operator touches the operation button 56b that commands the removal of the workpiece from the cutting device 2 among the operation buttons 56 displayed on the transfer source selection screen 52, the transfer unit control unit 50a changes the transfer source registration unit 50c. Read the destination information registered in. Then, the transport unit control unit 50a controls the transport unit to transport the workpiece inside the cutting device 2 and bring it to the transport destination.

In this way, various commands can be input to the control unit 50 using the transport source selection screen 52 schematically shown in FIG. That is, the transport source selection screen 52 shown in FIG. 2 has a function as a manual operation screen in which various commands can be input to the control unit 50. In other words, the manual operation screen including the transport destination / transport source selection function can be regarded as the transport source selection screen 52. In this case, the explanation that it is a manual operation screen may be displayed in the screen explanation display area 54.

Next, the cutting method according to the present embodiment for cutting the workpiece with the cutting device 2 will be described. In the cutting method, a fully automatic type cutting device 2 provided with a cassette mounting table 8 cuts a work piece carried in without using the cassette 19. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of each step of the cutting method according to the present embodiment.

In the cutting method according to the present embodiment, first, the workpiece accommodating step S10 for accommodating the workpiece in the workpiece accommodating portion 10 of the workpiece mounting mechanism 6 is carried out. In the work piece accommodating step S10, the operator accommodates a small amount of work piece such as a wafer 11 to be cut by the cutting device 2 in the work piece accommodating portion 10. At this time, the work piece is inserted into the accommodation space 10a from the second carry-in / out port 10b, and the work piece is placed on the mounting surface 10c.

Here, if the height of the work piece accommodating portion 10 is not a height suitable for carrying in the work piece from the second carry-in port 10b, the work piece is processed in advance so that the work piece can be carried in. Adjust the height of the storage unit 10.

When the workpiece is placed on the mounting surface 10c, the workpiece is loaded by the first holding unit 24 in the same manner as when the workpiece is carried out from the cassette 19 mounted on the cassette mounting table 8. It is preferable that the orientation of the work piece is adjusted so that it can be carried out. That is, in the workpiece accommodating step S10, the workpiece may be accommodated in the workpiece accommodating portion 10 in the same manner as in the manner in which the workpiece is accommodated in the cassette 19.

After the work piece accommodating step S10, the transport source selection step S20 is performed. First, in the transport source selection step S20, the transport source selection screen 52 is displayed on the display unit. Then, when the transport source selection screen 52 is displayed on the display unit, the operator selects the workpiece accommodating portion 10 as the transport source of the transport performed by the transport unit on the input interface.

For example, as shown in FIG. 2, when the transport source selection screen 52 is displayed on the display 48 with a touch panel that functions as a display unit and an input interface, the transport destination / transport source selection check box 58 is operated. Then, by putting a check mark in the transport destination / transport source selection check box 58, the workpiece accommodating portion 10 is selected as the transport source. At this time, the workpiece accommodating unit 10 is registered as the transport source in the transport source registration unit 50c.

Either the work piece accommodating step S10 or the transport source selection step S20 may be performed first. In the cutting method according to the present embodiment, after the work piece accommodating step S10 and the transport source selection step S20 are carried out, the work piece carry-out step S30 is carried out. In the work piece unloading step S30, the information of the transport source registered in the transport source registration unit 50c is read out, and the work piece stored in the work piece storage unit 10 is carried out from the work piece storage unit 10. NS.

First, the workpiece accommodating portion 10 is moved up and down so that the height of the workpiece accommodating portion 10 matches the height of the pair of guide rails 16. Then, the gripping mechanism 24a of the first holding unit 24 grips the workpiece, and the first holding unit 24 is moved along the Y-axis direction so as to be away from the workpiece accommodating portion 10 to guide the workpiece. Pull out on rail 16. After that, the gripping mechanism 24a releases the gripping of the workpiece, and the pair of guide rails 16 are moved so as to approach each other to position the workpiece at a predetermined position.

Then, the work piece is held from above by the first holding unit 24, the pair of guide rails 16 are separated from each other, the work piece is lowered between the pair of guide rails 16, and the work piece is placed on the holding table 14. .. Then, after releasing the holding of the work piece by the first holding unit 24, the holding table 14 sucks and holds the work piece. In this way, in the workpiece unloading step S30, the workpiece accommodated in the workpiece accommodating portion 10 is conveyed to the holding table 14 by the conveying unit (first holding unit 24 or the like).

Next, a cutting step S40 is performed in which the workpiece held on the holding table 14 is cut by the cutting unit 36. In the cutting step S40, the holding table 14 that sucks and holds the workpiece is moved along the X-axis direction and positioned below the cutting unit 36. For example, when the workpiece is a wafer 11, the imaging unit 40 images the surface 11a of the wafer 11, detects the position of the planned division line, and holds the holding table 14 so that the planned division line is parallel to the X-axis direction. Is rotated around the Z-axis direction.

The holding table 14 and the cutting unit 36 are relatively moved so that the cutting blade 38 is located above the extension line of the planned division line, and the rotation of the cutting blade 38 is started. After that, the cutting blade 38 is lowered to a predetermined height, the holding table 14 is machined and fed along the X-axis direction, and the cutting blade 38 is cut into the wafer 11 to cut the wafer 11. Here, the cutting blade 38 is preferably set so that the height of the lower end of the cutting blade 38 is higher than the lower surface of the tape 13 and lower than the back surface of the wafer 11.

After cutting the wafer 11 along one scheduled division line, the cutting unit 36 is moved along the Y-axis direction, and the wafer 11 is similarly cut along the other scheduled division lines. Then, after cutting the wafer 11 along all the planned division lines along one direction, the holding table 14 is rotated around the Z-axis direction, and the wafer 11 is rotated along the planned division lines along the other directions. Is cut in the same way. In this way, the wafer 11 is cut along all the planned division lines.

When the wafer 11 is cut along the planned division line and the wafer 11 is divided, individual device chips are manufactured. The cut wafer 11 is continuously supported by the tape 13 and conveyed in the form of a frame unit 17.

After the cutting step S40 is performed, the work piece loading step S50 is carried out in which the machined work piece (wafer 11 or the like) that has been cut is accommodated in the work piece accommodating portion 10 by the transfer unit. In the work piece loading step S50, first, the holding table 14 is positioned below between the pair of guide rails 16. Next, the suction holding of the work piece by the holding table 14 is released, and the cut work piece is held and lifted by the first holding unit 24. After that, the distance between the pair of guide rails 16 is narrowed, and the workpiece is placed on the pair of guide rails 16.

After that, the second holding unit 30 conveys the cut work piece onto the spinner table 44 of the washing unit 42, and the washing unit 42 cleans the cut work piece. Then, the machined work piece that has been cut by the second holding unit 30 is returned onto the pair of guide rails 16, the work piece is pushed by the first holding unit 24 from the Y-axis direction, and the work piece accommodating portion is used from the first carry-in / out port. The work piece is carried into 10. The operator can carry out the cut workpiece accommodated in the accommodation space 10a of the workpiece accommodating portion 10 from the second carry-in / out port 10b.

As described above, in the cutting apparatus 2 and the cutting method according to the present embodiment, a small amount of the workpiece is accommodated in the workpiece accommodating portion 10 of the workpiece mounting mechanism 6, so that the cutting apparatus 2 can be easily accommodated. The work piece can be carried in. Further, by accommodating the machined object to be cut in the workpiece accommodating portion 10, the machined object to be cut can be easily carried out from the cutting device 2. Therefore, it is not necessary to use the cassette 19 for loading / unloading the workpiece to / from the fully automatic type cutting device 2, and a small amount of workpiece can be efficiently loaded / unloaded into the cutting device 2.

In particular, in the cutting device 2 and the cutting method according to the present embodiment, in order to display the transfer source selection screen 52 on the display unit, the cassette 19 mounted on the cassette mounting table 8 and the workpiece accommodating unit 10 are covered with each other. The transport source of the work piece can be easily switched.

The present invention is not limited to the description of the above embodiment, and can be implemented with various modifications. For example, in the above embodiment, the cutting device 2 for cutting the workpiece with the cutting blade 38 has been described, but one aspect of the present invention is not limited to this. That is, it can be applied to a fully automatic type processing device other than the cutting device 2 in which the cassette 19 is used for loading and unloading the workpiece.

For example, even in a grinding device provided with a grinding wheel arranged in an annular shape and grinding the surface to be processed of the workpiece with the grinding wheel, the workpiece accommodating portion 10 is arranged at a position overlapping the cassette mounting table. The workpiece can be carried in and out of the grinding device without using the cassette 19. Alternatively, it can also be applied to a laser processing apparatus that irradiates a work piece with a laser beam along a scheduled division line to perform laser processing.

Further, in the above embodiment, the case where the transport source is selected by checking or not checking the transport destination / transport source selection check box on the transport source selection screen has been described, but one aspect of the present invention includes this. Not limited. There is no limitation on the method of commanding the transport source on the transport source selection screen 52.

For example, on the transport source selection screen 52, an operation button for inputting a command to carry the workpiece into the cutting device 2 with the workpiece accommodating portion 10 as the transport source may be displayed. That is, the selection of the transport source and the operation content may be commanded with one operation button. In this case, in addition to the operation button, even if another operation button for inputting a command to carry the workpiece into the cutting device 2 with the cassette 19 as the transfer source is displayed on the transfer source selection screen 52 at the same time. good.

In addition, the structures, methods, and the like according to the above-described embodiments and modifications can be appropriately modified and implemented as long as they do not deviate from the scope of the object of the present invention.

11 Wafer 11a Surface 13 Tape 15 Frame 17 Frame unit 19 Cassette 21 Storage space 23 Side wall 25 Storage groove 27 Handle 2 Cutting device 4 Base 4a, 4b, 4c Opening 6 Work piece mounting mechanism 8 Cassette mounting base 10 Work Object storage part 10a Storage space 10b Carry-in / out entrance 10c Mounting surface 12 X-axis movement mechanism (processing feed unit)
12a Table cover 12b Dust-proof and drip-proof cover 14 Holding table (chuck table)
14a Holding surface 14b Clamp 16 Guide rail 18,32 Support structure 20,26 Rail 22,28 Moving mechanism 24,30 Holding unit 24a Gripping mechanism 34 Y-axis Z-axis moving mechanism (indexing feed unit, notch feed unit)
36 Cutting unit 38 Cutting blade 40 Imaging unit (camera)
42 Cleaning unit 44 Spinner table 46 Injection nozzle 48 Display with touch panel 50 Control unit 50a Transfer unit Control unit 50b Display control unit 50c Transport source registration unit 52 Transport source selection screen 54 Screen explanation Display area 56, 56a, 56b Operation button 58 Transport destination / Transport source selection check box

Claims (2)

A holding table that holds the work piece,
A cutting unit equipped with a rotatably cutting blade for cutting a workpiece held on the holding table, and a cutting unit.
An elevating cassette pedestal on which a cassette capable of accommodating a plurality of workpieces can be placed, and a workpiece accommodating portion that moves up and down together with the cassette pedestal under the cassette pedestal to accommodate the workpiece. A work piece mounting mechanism equipped with,
A transport unit for transporting a workpiece between the cassette mounted on the cassette mounting table, one of the workpiece accommodating portions, and the holding table.
A display unit capable of displaying a transport source selection screen for selecting one of the cassette mounted on the cassette mount and the workpiece accommodating section as a transport source, and a display unit.
A control unit that controls each component and
An input interface for inputting commands to the control unit,
It is a cutting method that cuts a work piece using a cutting device equipped with
A work piece accommodating step for accommodating a work piece in the work piece accommodating portion,
When the transport source selection screen is displayed on the display unit, a transport source selection step of selecting the workpiece accommodating portion as a transport source to be carried out by the transport unit by the input interface, and a transport source selection step.
A work piece unloading step of transporting the work piece housed in the work piece accommodating portion to the holding table by the transport unit, and
A cutting step in which the workpiece held on the holding table is cut by the cutting unit, and
A cutting method comprising: a work piece carrying-in step of accommodating the work piece which has been cut after the cutting step in the work piece accommodating portion by the transfer unit. A holding table that holds the work piece,
A cutting unit equipped with a rotatably cutting blade for cutting a workpiece held on the holding table, and a cutting unit.
An elevating cassette pedestal on which a cassette capable of accommodating a plurality of workpieces can be placed, and a workpiece accommodating portion that moves up and down together with the cassette pedestal under the cassette pedestal to accommodate the workpiece. A work piece mounting mechanism equipped with,
A transport unit for transporting a workpiece between the cassette mounted on the cassette mounting table, one of the workpiece accommodating portions, and the holding table.
A display unit that can display a transport source selection screen for selecting a cassette mounted on the cassette mount and / or a transport source accommodating portion as a transport source.
A control unit that controls each component and
It is provided with an input interface for inputting commands to the control unit.
The control unit is
When the transport source selection screen is displayed on the display unit, the cassette mounted on the cassette mounting table and the workpiece accommodating portion are selected by the input interface as the transport source for transport by the transport unit. The transport source registration unit in which one of them is registered, and the transport source registration unit.
A transport unit control unit that reads out the registered information of the transport source from the transport source registration unit, causes the transport unit to carry out the work piece from the transport source, and transports the work piece to the holding table.
A cutting device characterized by being equipped with.

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