JP3256155B2 - Wire saw - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to cutting a workpiece of an ingot made of a hard and brittle material such as a semiconductor material, a magnetic material, and a ceramic using a wire to form a wafer having a predetermined thickness. It relates to a wire saw.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional wire saw of this type,
A plurality of processing rollers are arranged at predetermined intervals, and a plurality of annular grooves are formed on the outer periphery of the rollers at a predetermined pitch. In addition, one wire is sequentially wound around the annular groove between the processing rollers. Then, while the wire is running, loose abrasive grains are supplied onto the wire, and in this state, the work is pressed against and brought into contact with the wire, and the work is cut.

[0003]

In recent wire saws, since it is required to cut and form a large number of wafers at a time from a long work, the processing roller tends to be longer in the axial direction. However, if the processing roller is too long, the cutting roller becomes hot due to friction with the wire during cutting of the work, causing a large thermal strain on the roller or a large variation in the pitch of the annular groove. There is a risk. For this reason, a wafer of a predetermined thickness is
There was a problem that it was not possible to cut and form with high precision.

The present invention has been made by paying attention to such problems existing in the conventional technology. An object of the present invention is to provide a wire saw capable of cutting and forming a large number of wafers at a time from a long work with high accuracy.

[0005]

To achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a wire is wound at a predetermined pitch between a plurality of processing rollers, and the wire is run while the wire is running. In a wire saw configured to perform a cutting process by bringing a workpiece into contact with the workpiece, a plurality of sets of rollers each including the plurality of processing rollers are arranged in parallel in the longitudinal direction thereof so as to face the workpiece, and between adjacent roller groups. Wa in
The arrangement pitch of the ears is the same
A processing roller group adjacent to an end of the processing roller
In order to prevent the wire wound around
Make the diameter of the end of the processing roller smaller than the diameter of the center.
It is set well.

Therefore, in the wire saw according to the first aspect, while the wire is run by a plurality of sets of rollers,
A work is pressed against the wire to make contact therewith, and the work is cut into a slice. For this reason, even when the work is long, the work can be shared by a plurality of roller groups and cut at one time. Further, the processing rollers of each roller group can be shortened. For this reason, there is no possibility that large thermal distortion will occur in each processing roller. Therefore, a wafer having a predetermined thickness can be cut and formed with high precision.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the wire saw according to the first aspect, a plurality of the wires are provided and individually wound around a plurality of roller groups. According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the wire saw according to the first aspect, the wire saw is provided with one wire and wound over a plurality of roller groups.

[0008]

[0009]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

(First Embodiment) Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the cutting mechanism 11 is mounted on an apparatus frame 12. This cutting mechanism 1
Reference numeral 1 denotes a plurality (three in this embodiment) of roller groups 13, 1 arranged in a longitudinal direction facing a work 26 described later.
4, 15 are provided. Each roller group 13, 14, 15
Is provided with one processing driving roller 16 and two processing driven rollers 17 extending in parallel. Each roller group 1
In 3, 14, and 15, the axes of the processing rollers 16, 17 are arranged in parallel so as to form an inverted triangle. An annular groove 1 having a predetermined pitch is provided on the outer circumference of each of the processing rollers 16 and 17.
6a and 17a are formed. In the drawings, the number of the annular grooves 16a and 17a is smaller than the actual number for easy understanding.

The wire 18 made of three wires is continuously wound around the annular grooves 16a, 17a of the processing rollers 16, 17 in an independent state in the respective roller groups 13, 14, 15. In this embodiment, the arrangement pitch of the wires 18 between the adjacent roller groups 13, 14, 15 is configured to be the same. That is, between the roller groups 13 and 14 and between the roller groups 14 and 1
The arrangement pitch of the wires 18 is the same between the five. At the ends of the predetermined processing rollers 16 and 17, small diameter portions 16b and 17b each having a diameter slightly smaller than the diameter of the central portion are provided.

Three wire running motors 19 are disposed on the frame 12. Each wire running motor 1
9 is connected to the processing drive roller 16 of each of the roller groups 13, 14, 15 via a pulley 20 and a belt 21, or via a pulley 20, a belt 21, a connection shaft 22, and a coupling 23. . Then, the processing drive rollers 16 of the respective roller groups 13, 14, 15 are driven and rotated by these motors 19. Further, with the rotation of the processing drive roller 16, the wire 18 travels, and the processing driven roller 17 is driven and rotated.

Since small diameter portions 16b and 17b are provided at the ends of the predetermined processing rollers 16 and 17,
Wire 1 wound on adjacent processing rollers 16 and 17
8 does not come into contact with the end of any of the processing rollers 16 and 17. That is, the small-diameter portions 16b and 17b function as a relief for preventing the wire 18 wound around the adjacent processing rollers 16 and 17 from coming into contact with the end of any of the processing rollers 16 and 17. . Therefore, the small diameter portion 16
The diameters of b and 17b may be set so that the wires 18 wound around the adjacent processing rollers 16 and 17 do not escape from the ends of the processing rollers 16 and 17 and come into contact therewith. Since the small diameter portions 16b and 17b are provided to allow the wire 18 to escape, the processing rollers 16 and 17 are provided.
If the wire 18 does not come into contact with the end of the wire, it may be omitted.
That is, in FIG. 3, the three left processing rollers 1
6, 17 left small diameter portions 16b, 17b, right three small processing rollers 16, 17 right small diameter portions 16b, 17
b, the small-diameter portions 16 on both sides of the upper and middle processing rollers 16, 17 of the three center processing rollers 16, 17;
It is not necessary to provide the small diameter portions 16b and 17b of the portions where the wire 18 does not contact the ends of the processing rollers 16 and 17 such as b and 17b.

The work supporting mechanism 24 is supported by a column 40 erected on the frame 12 above and below the cutting mechanism 11 so as to be vertically movable, and a slurry supply pipe 25 is extended below the work supporting mechanism 24. An ingot-like work 26 made of a hard and brittle material is provided below the work support mechanism 24.
Is set detachably. A work elevating motor (not shown) is provided on the column 40, and the work supporting mechanism 24 is driven by the motor via a ball screw (not shown).
Is moved up and down.

During operation of the wire saw, the work support mechanism 24 moves toward the cutting mechanism 11 while the wire 18 reciprocates between the processing rollers 16 and 17 of the roller groups 13, 14 and 15. Descended. At this time, the slurry A containing the free abrasive grains is supplied from the slurry supply pipe 25 onto the wire 18, and the work 26 is pressed against the wire 18 and is brought into contact with the wire 18. Is sliced to form a wafer having a predetermined thickness.

Three sets of reel mechanisms 27 are provided for each of the roller groups 1.
It is installed on the frame 12 corresponding to 3, 14, and 15,
It has a pay-out reel 28 for feeding out the wire 18 and a take-up reel 29 for winding up the wire 18. A pair of reel rotation motors 30 and 31 each composed of a servomotor are disposed on the frame 12, and reels 28 and 29 are connected to their motor shafts. The traverse mechanism 32 is mounted on the frame 12 adjacent to each reel mechanism 27, and guides the feeding of the wire 18 from the feeding reel 28 and the winding of the wire 18 to the take-up reel 29 while traversing up and down. The feeding and the winding are performed alternately at regular intervals.

The rotation of the two reels 28, 29 of the respective reel mechanisms 27 causes the wire 18 to advance and retreat from the payout reel 28 to the respective roller groups 13, 14, 15 of the cutting mechanism 11, for example, advance by 10 m. The wire 18 is unwound in a stepwise manner as if it is retracted by 9 m, and the processed wire 18 is wound up on a take-up reel 29. Also, payout reel 2
When all the wires 18 on the reel 8 have been wound on the take-up reel 29 via the cutting mechanism 11, the rotation directions of the reel rotation motors 30, 31 are switched, and the reels 28, 2
9 is reversed, and the wire 1
8 is used repeatedly.

The tension applying mechanism 33 and the guide mechanism 34
Each roller group 1 of each reel mechanism 27 and cutting mechanism 11
3, 14, and 15, respectively. Then, the processing rollers 16 of each of the roller groups 13, 14 and 15,
The two ends of the wire 18 wound between the guide mechanisms 17
4 are mounted on the tension applying mechanism 33 via the respective guide rollers 35. In this state, the processing rollers 1 in the roller groups 13, 14 and 15 are controlled by the tension applying mechanisms 33.
A predetermined tension is applied to the wire 18 between the wires 6 and 17.

The tension reducing mechanism 37 is provided for each of the reel mechanisms 27.
And a pair of rotating rollers 38 disposed between the tension applying mechanism 33 and the tension applying mechanism 33, respectively. The wires 18 are wound around these rotating rollers 38, and the three rotating rollers 37 are rotated, so that the wires 18 extending from the tension applying mechanism 33 to the reels 28 and 29 of the reel mechanism 27 are rotated. The tension is reduced.

Next, the operation of the wire saw configured as described above will be described. Well, in this wire saw,
In each roller group 13, 14, 15 of the cutting mechanism 11,
After the wire 18 is paid out from the pay-out reel 28 of the reel mechanism 27 and intermittently reciprocates bidirectionally between the processing rollers 16 and 17, finally, the take-up reel 29
It is wound up. And, by the work supporting mechanism 24,
Processing rollers 16, 17 of each roller group 13, 14, 15
While the slurry A containing loose abrasive grains is supplied onto the intervening wire 18, the work 26 is pressed against and brought into contact with the wire 18. Thereby, the work 26 is cut into slices, and a wafer having a predetermined thickness is formed.

As described above, in this wire saw, three roller groups 13, consisting of a plurality of processing rollers 16, 17, are provided.
14 and 15 are arranged side by side in the longitudinal direction so as to face the work 26. Then, these roller groups 13, 14,
The work 26 is simultaneously cut by the wire 18 wound around 15. For this reason, even when a long work 26 is mounted on the work support mechanism 24, the work 26 is divided into a plurality of sets of rollers 13, 14, 1.
5, and can be cut at one time.

Further, since the processing rollers 16, 17 of each of the roller groups 13, 14, 15 are short, the work 26
During the cutting process, there is no possibility that the rollers 16 and 17 will have large thermal distortion and the pitch of the annular grooves 16a and 17a will have large variations due to heat deformation.
Therefore, the long workpiece 26 can be cut with high precision, and a wafer having a uniform thickness can be manufactured.

The effects that can be expected from this embodiment will be described below. (A) A plurality of roller groups 13, 14, 15 are arranged side by side along the longitudinal direction of the work 26,
The work 18 is wound by the wire 18 wound around 14 and 15.
Are cut at the same time. For this reason,
Even when the work 26 is long, the work 26 can be efficiently cut at once by a plurality of sets of rollers 13, 14, 15, so that the processing time can be reduced. .

(B) A plurality of roller groups 13, 14, 15 are arranged side by side along the longitudinal direction of the work 26. For this reason, if the short workpieces 26 are arranged corresponding to the roller groups 13, 14, 15, respectively, these three workpieces 26 are reduced to one.
The cutting process can be performed efficiently each time.

(C) The processing rollers 16, 17 of each of the roller groups 13, 14, 15 are shorter. For this reason, there is no possibility that a large thermal distortion or a variation in groove pitch occurs in the processing rollers 16 and 17, and a wafer having a predetermined thickness can be cut and formed with high accuracy.

(D) The processing rollers 16, 17 of each of the roller groups 13, 14, 15 are shorter. Therefore, when it is necessary to replace the processing rollers 16 and 17 at the time of surface wear or the like, the replacement operation can be easily performed.

(E) Three wires 18 are individually wound around the three roller groups 13, 14, and 15. Therefore, in each of the roller groups 13, 14, and 15, if the pitch of the annular grooves 16 a and 17 a on the processing rollers 16 and 17, the wire diameter of the wire 18, and the tension of the wire 18 are arbitrarily set and changed, the long shape is obtained. Wafers having different thicknesses can be cut and formed simultaneously from the work 26.

(F) In each of the roller groups 13, 14, 15, the axes of the processing rollers 16, 17 are arranged in parallel so as to form a triangle. Therefore, each processing roller 1
It becomes easy to keep the tension of the wire 18 wound around 6, 17 constant, and the processing accuracy of the work can be improved.

(Second Embodiment) Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
Will be described with reference to FIG. Now, in this embodiment, the roller group 1 is arranged such that one wire 18 straddles the three roller groups 13, 14 and 15.
3, 14, and 15 are wound in order. For this reason,
In the wire saw of this embodiment, the reel mechanism 27, the traverse mechanism 32, and the tension applying mechanism 3 related to the wire 18 are used.
3. There is no need to separately provide the guide mechanism 34, the tension reduction mechanism 35, and the like corresponding to each of the roller groups 13, 14, 15 of the cutting mechanism 11. Therefore, the structure of the wire saw can be simplified, and the size of the device can be reduced.

The present invention can be embodied with the following modifications. (1) In the first embodiment, one of the roller groups 13, 14, 15 of the cutting mechanism 11 or two
One of the processing rollers 16 and 17 by selectively driving
It is configured to cut a work 26 having a length of two or two.

(2) In the first embodiment and the second embodiment, the number of the roller groups 13, 14, 15
Change to sets or 4 or more sets. (3) In the first embodiment and the second embodiment,
The drive structure of the roller groups 13, 14, 15 is arbitrarily changed. For example, each of the roller groups 13, 14, 15 is changed to be driven by one wire traveling motor 19.

[0032]

According to the invention as set forth in any one of the first to third aspects , the diameter of the end of the processing roller is adjusted to the center of the processing roller.
Because it is set smaller than the diameter,
The wound wire touches the end of any processing roller
It can function as a relief to prevent a large number of wafers of a predetermined thickness from being formed at a time from a long workpiece.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the size and shape of each processing roller of each roller group, the wire diameter of the wire, and the tension of the wire are arbitrarily set and changed, so that a long workpiece can be converted to a plate. Wafers having different thicknesses can be cut and formed at the same time. In addition, since a new wire can be fed to the work, the cutting efficiency of the work can be improved.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is not necessary to separately provide a reel mechanism for feeding and winding the wire corresponding to each roller group, so that the structure of the apparatus is simplified and The device can be downsized.

[0035]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view showing an arrangement configuration of processing rollers in the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view showing an arrangement configuration of processing rollers in the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic plan view showing an arrangement configuration of processing rollers according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 cutting mechanism, 13, 14, 15 roller group, 16
Processing drive rollers, 16a, 17a: Annular groove, 17: Processing driven roller, 18: Wire, 19: Wire running motor, 24: Work support and slurry supply mechanism, 26: Work, 27: Reel mechanism, 28 ... Feeding reel, 29 ... take-up reel

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A wire saw in which a wire is wound at a predetermined pitch between a plurality of processing rollers, and a workpiece is brought into contact with the wire while the wire is running to perform a cutting process. A plurality of roller groups are arranged in the longitudinal direction, facing the work, and
Make sure that the wire pitch between groups is the same.
And the processing roller adjacent to the end of the processing roller.
Prevents the wound wire from coming into contact with the engineering rollers
Therefore, the diameter of the end of the processing roller, the center of the
Wire saw set smaller than the diameter . 2. The wire saw according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the wires are provided and individually wound around a plurality of roller groups. 3. The wire saw according to claim 1, wherein one wire is provided and wound over a plurality of roller groups.