JP5001064B2 - Chuck table mechanism - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a switch Yakkuteburu mechanism for holding the instrumented workpiece machining device cutting apparatus that cuts the workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer.

For example, in a semiconductor device manufacturing process, devices such as IC and LSI are formed in a number of regions partitioned by dividing lines called streets formed in a lattice shape on the surface of a semiconductor wafer having a substantially disk shape, Individual devices are manufactured by dividing each region in which the devices are formed along a street. As a dividing device for dividing a semiconductor wafer, a cutting device as a dicing device is generally used. The cutting apparatus includes a chuck table mechanism that includes a chuck table that holds a workpiece, and a cutting unit that includes a cutting blade that is held by the chuck table of the chuck table mechanism and cuts the workpiece. . The chuck table mechanism includes a chuck table that holds a workpiece and a cylindrical support member that rotatably supports the chuck table, and the chuck table rotates via a bearing on the cylindrical support member. The shaft is configured to rotatably support the shaft. (For example, see Patent Document 1 below)
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 63-174841

  Thus, the chuck table support structure described above is configured to mount the inner race of the bearing on the rotating shaft of the chuck table and the outer race of the bearing to the cylindrical support cylinder. If the processing accuracy of the mounting portion on which the outer race is mounted is low, there is a problem that the center of the chuck table does not coincide with the center of rotation of the bearing, and the chuck table rotates with distortion.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, the principal technical problem is to provide a switch Yakkuteburu mechanism the rotation center of the rotation axis center and the bearing of the chuck table can be assembled in agreement.

To solve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a chuck table Organization for holding a workpiece,
A cylindrical fixed support member, and a cylindrical rotation support member that is rotatably fitted around the outer periphery of the cylindrical fixed support member via a bearing means and includes a chuck table support portion at the upper end.
The bearing means includes a first annular groove formed of a V-groove formed on an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical fixed support member, and an inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical rotation support member opposed to the first annular groove. A second annular groove formed of a V-groove, and a plurality of steel balls disposed between the first annular groove and the second annular groove,
Chuck table Organization is provided, characterized in that.

Also, the driven pulley is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the rotary support member, the above chuck table support base is disposed motor, to the drive pulley and a driven pulley mounted on a drive shaft of the motor An endless belt is wound.

Chi Yakkuteburu mechanism according to the present invention is constituted as described above, bearing means for rotatably supporting a cylindrical rotation supporting member on the outer periphery of the cylindrical fixed support member, formed on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical stationary support member a first annular groove consisting of V groove which is a second annular groove comprising a first annular groove and facing the V groove formed on the inner circumferential surface of the cylindrical rotation supporting member, the first Since it consists of a plurality of steel balls arranged between the annular groove and the second annular groove, the positional relationship between the two is precisely defined in the state where the fixed support member and the rotation support member are assembled. The rotation support member can rotate about the rotation center of the bearing means.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of a chuck table support mechanism and a chuck table mechanism configured according to the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a chuck table supporting mechanism constructed according to the present invention and a cutting apparatus equipped with the chuck table mechanism.
The cutting device shown in FIG. 1 includes a device housing 1 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. In the apparatus housing 1, a stationary base 2 shown in FIG. 2, a chuck table mechanism 3 disposed on the stationary base 2 and holding a workpiece, and the chuck table mechanism 3 in the cutting feed direction. A chuck table moving mechanism 4 that is movably supported in a direction indicated by an arrow X, and a direction indicated by an arrow Y that is an index feed direction on the stationary base 2 (a direction orthogonal to a direction indicated by an arrow X that is a cutting feed direction). A spindle support mechanism 5 movably disposed on the spindle support 6 and a spindle unit 6 as a cutting means movably disposed on the spindle support mechanism 5 in a direction indicated by an arrow Z that is a cutting feed direction are disposed. Yes.

The chuck table mechanism 3 will be described with reference to FIGS.
The chuck table mechanism 3 in the illustrated embodiment includes a chuck table support base 30, a chuck table support mechanism 31 disposed on the upper surface of the chuck table support base 30, and a chuck supported by the chuck table support mechanism 31. A table 35 is provided. The chuck table support base 31 is formed in a rectangular shape, and two guided grooves 301 and 301 are formed on the lower surface thereof.

  The chuck table support mechanism 31 includes a fixed support member 32 and a rotation support member 34 that is rotatably fitted on the outer periphery of the fixed support member 32 via a bearing means 33. As shown in FIG. 4, the fixed support member 32 is formed in a cylindrical shape, and the lower end thereof is fixed to the upper surface of the chuck table support base 30. The rotation support member 34 is also formed in a cylindrical shape, and is rotatably supported by the fixed support member 32 via bearing means 33. The bearing means 33 includes a first annular groove 331 formed on the outer peripheral surface of the fixed support member 32, and a second annular groove formed on the inner peripheral surface of the rotation support member 34 so as to face the first annular groove 331. The groove 332 includes a plurality of steel balls 333 disposed between the first annular groove 331 and the second annular groove 332. It is desirable that the first annular groove 331 and the second annular groove 332 are V-grooves. Here, a configuration in which a plurality of steel balls 333 are disposed between the first annular groove 331 and the second annular groove 332 will be described with reference to FIG. A steel ball insertion hole 334 communicating from the outer peripheral surface to the second annular groove 332 is formed in a part of the outer periphery of the rotation support member 34 where the second annular groove 332 is formed. A plurality of steel balls 333 can be inserted through the steel ball insertion holes 334, and the plurality of steel balls 333 can be disposed between the first annular groove 331 and the second annular groove 332. Note that a female screw is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the steel ball insertion hole 334. When a plurality of steel balls 333 are inserted through the steel ball insertion holes 334 as described above, the plug 335 is screwed into the steel ball insertion hole 334. Match. The steel ball 333 is inserted when the fixed support member 32 and the rotation support member 34 constituting the chuck table support mechanism 31 are assembled, and the fixed support member 32 and the rotation support member 34 are assembled. The fixed support member 32 of the chuck table support mechanism 31 is fixed to the chuck table support base 30. Thus, the bearing means 33 that rotatably supports the rotation support member 34 on the fixed support member 32 includes the first annular groove 331 formed on the outer peripheral surface of the fixed support member 32 and the inner peripheral surface of the rotation support member 34. The second annular groove 332 formed opposite to the first annular groove 331 and a plurality of steel balls 333 disposed between the first annular groove 331 and the second annular groove 332. Therefore, since the positional relationship between the fixed support member 32 and the rotation support member 34 is precisely defined in the assembled state, the rotation support member 34 can rotate around the rotation center of the bearing means 33.

  An annular chuck table support portion 341 is provided at the upper end of the rotation support member 34 of the chuck table support mechanism 31 configured as described above, and the annular chuck table support portion 341 is formed from the upper end of the fixed support member 32. It is configured to protrude upward. A chuck table 35 is mounted on the upper surface of the annular chuck table support 341 via an annular ceramic plate 36. A rotary scale 37 for detecting the rotation angle of the rotation support member 34 is mounted on the lower surface of the annular chuck table support portion 341, and the upper end surface of the fixed support member 32 faces the rotary scale 37. A read head 370 is disposed at the position.

  The chuck table 35 includes a columnar main body 351 and an adsorption chuck 352 formed on a porous member made of porous ceramics or the like provided on the upper surface of the main body 351 and having numerous suction holes. The main body 351 is formed of a metal material such as stainless steel, and a circular fitting recess 351a is provided on the upper surface thereof. The fitting recess 351a is provided with an annular mounting shelf 351b on which the suction chuck 352 is mounted on the outer peripheral portion of the bottom surface. The suction chuck 352 fitted in the fitting recess 351a of the main body 351 is placed on the annular placement shelf 351b. The main body 351 is provided with a suction passage 351c that opens to the fitting recess 351a. The suction passage 351c communicates with suction means (not shown). Therefore, when a suction means (not shown) is operated, a negative pressure is applied to the fitting recess 351a through the suction passage 351c, and as a result, a negative pressure is applied to the holding surface, which is the upper surface of the suction chuck 352 having numerous suction holes. It is done. Further, an annular groove 351d is formed in the intermediate portion of the main body 351 as shown in FIG. The bases of four clamps 353 are disposed in the annular groove 351d, and the bases of the clamps 353 are attached to the main body 351 by appropriate fixing means.

  The chuck table mechanism 3 in the illustrated embodiment includes rotation driving means 38 for rotating the rotation support member 34 of the chuck table support mechanism 31 that supports the chuck table 35. The rotation driving means 38 in the illustrated embodiment includes a pulse motor 381 disposed on the chuck table support base 30, a drive pulley 382 mounted on a drive shaft 381 a of the pulse motor 381, and the rotation support member 34. It consists of a driven pulley 383 provided on the outer periphery of the lower end portion, a driving pulley 382 and an endless belt 384 wound around the driven pulley 383. The rotation driving means 38 configured in this manner rotates the rotation support member 34 that supports the chuck table 35 via the drive pulley 382, the endless belt 384, and the driven pulley 383 by driving the pulse motor 381. As described above, since the rotation motor 381 is provided independently of the rotation support member 34 in the rotation driving means 38, the rotation support member 34 does not thermally expand even if the pulse motor 381 generates heat by operation. The height position of the chuck table 35 can always be maintained at a predetermined position. In the illustrated embodiment, the rotation driving means 38 is an example in which a belt mechanism is used as a power transmission mechanism that transmits the driving force of the pulse motor 381 to the rotation support member 34. However, a gear mechanism may be used as the power transmission mechanism. Good.

  Further, the chuck table mechanism 3 in the illustrated embodiment includes a cover table 39 that covers the lower periphery of the chuck table 35. The cover table 39 is supported by four support columns 390 erected at the four corners of the chuck table support base 31. An opening 391 is formed at the center of the cover table 39, and a flange portion 392 that protrudes upward is provided at the periphery of the opening 391. The flange portion 392 is positioned inside a skirt portion 351e formed at the lower end portion of the main body 351 constituting the chuck table.

  Returning to FIG. 2 and continuing the description, the chuck table moving mechanism 4 that supports the chuck table mechanism 3 so as to be movable in the cutting feed direction indicated by the arrow X that is the cutting feed direction is indicated on the stationary base 2 by the arrow X. It comprises a pair of guide rails 41 and 41 arranged in parallel along the direction shown, and a cutting feed means 42 for moving the chuck table mechanism 3 along the pair of guide rails 41 and 41. Two guided grooves 301, 301 provided on the lower surface of the chuck table support base 30 constituting the chuck table mechanism 3 are slidably fitted to the pair of guide rails 41, 41. The cutting feed means 42 includes a drive source such as a male screw rod 421 disposed in parallel between the two guide rails 41 and 41, and a servo motor 422 for rotationally driving the male screw rod 421. Yes. One end of the male screw rod 421 is rotatably supported by a bearing block 423 fixed to the stationary base 2, and the other end is connected to the output shaft of the servo motor 422. The male screw rod 421 is screwed into a penetrating female screw hole formed in a female screw block (not shown) provided on the lower surface of the center portion of the chuck table support base 30. Therefore, the chuck table mechanism 3 is moved in the cutting feed direction indicated by the arrow X along the pair of guide rails 41 and 41 by driving the male screw rod 421 forward and backward by the servo motor 422.

  The spindle support mechanism 5 includes a pair of guide rails 51, 51 disposed in parallel along the indexing feed direction indicated by an arrow Y on the stationary base 2, and an arrow Y on the pair of guide rails 51, 51. The movable support base 52 is provided so as to be movable in the direction indicated by. The movable support base 52 includes a pair of guide rails 51, a movable support portion 521 that is movably disposed on the guide rails 51, and a mounting portion 522 that is attached to the movable support portion 521. Two guided grooves 521 a and 521 a that are fitted to the pair of guide rails 51 and 51 are formed on the lower surface of the moving support portion 521, and the guided grooves 521 a and 521 a are formed on the pair of guide rails 51 and 51. By fitting, the movable support base 52 is configured to be movable along the pair of guide rails 51, 51. The mounting portion 522 is provided with a pair of guide rails 522a and 522a extending in the direction indicated by the arrow Z on one side surface in parallel.

  The spindle support mechanism 5 in the illustrated embodiment includes index feed means 53 for moving the movable support base 52 along the pair of guide rails 51 and 51 in the index feed direction indicated by the arrow Y. The index feeding means 53 includes a male screw rod 531 disposed in parallel between the pair of guide rails 51, 51, and a drive source such as a pulse motor 532 for rotationally driving the male screw rod 531. One end of the male screw rod 531 is rotatably supported by a bearing block (not shown) fixed to the stationary base 2, and the other end is connected to the output shaft of the pulse motor 532. The male screw rod 531 is screwed into a female screw hole formed in a female screw block (not shown) provided on the lower surface of the central portion of the moving support portion 531 constituting the movable support base 52. Therefore, by driving the male screw rod 531 forward and backward by the pulse motor 532, the movable support base 52 is moved along the pair of guide rails 51, 51 in the indexing feed direction indicated by the arrow Y.

  The spindle unit 6 in the illustrated embodiment includes a unit holder 61, a spindle housing 62 attached to the unit holder 61, and a rotating spindle 63 that is rotatably supported by the spindle housing 62. The unit holder 61 is provided with two guided grooves 61a and 61a slidably fitted to a pair of guide rails 522a and 522a provided in the mounting portion 522, and the guided grooves 61a and 61a. Is fitted to a pair of guide rails 522a and 522a, and is supported so as to be movable in the cutting feed direction indicated by the arrow Z. The rotary spindle 63 is disposed so as to protrude from the tip of the spindle housing 62, and a cutting blade 64 is attached to the tip of the rotary spindle 63. The rotary spindle 63 with the cutting blade 64 mounted thereon is driven to rotate by a drive source such as a servo motor 65.

  The spindle unit 6 in the illustrated embodiment includes a cutting feed means 66 for moving the holder 61 in the cutting feed direction indicated by the arrow Z along the pair of guide rails 522a and 522a. The cutting feed means 66, like the cutting feed means 42 and the index feed means 53, rotationally drives a male screw rod (not shown) disposed between a pair of guide rails 522a and 522a. A drive source such as a pulse motor 662 for driving a male screw rod (not shown) by normal rotation and reverse rotation by the pulse motor 662, thereby bringing the unit holder 61, the spindle housing 62 and the rotary spindle 63 into a pair of guide rails 522a, It moves in the cutting feed direction shown by arrow Z along 522a.

  An imaging means 67 for imaging a processing area of the workpiece held on the chuck table 35 is disposed at the tip of the spindle housing 62 constituting the spindle unit 6. The imaging means 67 is composed of an optical system such as a microscope and an imaging device (CCD), and sends the captured image signal to a control means (not shown).

  Returning to FIG. 1, in the cassette mounting area 7 a in the apparatus housing 1, a cassette mounting table 7 for mounting a cassette for storing a workpiece is disposed. The cassette mounting table 7 is configured to be movable in the vertical direction by lifting means (not shown). On the cassette mounting table 7, a cassette 8 that houses a wafer 10 as a workpiece is placed. A wafer 10 as a workpiece to be accommodated in the cassette 8 has a grid-like street formed on the surface, and devices such as ICs and LSIs are formed in a plurality of rectangular areas partitioned by the grid-like street. ing. The wafer 10 formed in this way is accommodated in the cassette 8 in a state of being attached to the surface of the protective tape 12 mounted on the annular support frame 11.

  Moreover, the cutting apparatus in the illustrated embodiment has a wafer 10 accommodated in a cassette 8 placed on a cassette placement table 7 (a state in which the wafer 10 is supported by an annular frame 11 via a protective tape 12). Unloading means 14 for unloading to the temporary table 13, first conveying means 15 for conveying the wafer 10 unloaded to the temporary table 13 onto the chuck table 35 of the chuck table mechanism 3, and cutting on the chuck table 35 A cleaning unit 16 that cleans the processed wafer 10 and a second transport unit 17 that transports the wafer 10 cut on the chuck table 35 to the cleaning unit 16 are provided. Further, the illustrated cutting apparatus includes a display unit 18 for displaying an image captured by the imaging unit 67.

The operation of the cutting apparatus configured as described above will be briefly described.
A wafer 10 accommodated in a predetermined position of a cassette 8 placed on the cassette placing table 7 (a state in which the wafer 10 is supported by an annular frame 11 via a protective tape 12) is placed on the cassette by a lifting means (not shown). The table 7 is positioned at the carry-out position by moving up and down. Next, the unloading means 14 moves forward and backward to unload the wafer 10 positioned at the unloading position onto the temporary placement table 13. The wafer 10 carried out to the temporary placement table 13 is transported onto the chuck table 35 of the chuck table mechanism 3 by the first transport means 15. When the wafer 10 is placed on the chuck table 35, suction means (not shown) is operated to suck and hold the wafer 10 on the chuck table 35. The support frame 11 that supports the wafer 10 via the protective tape 12 is fixed by the four clamps 353. In this way, the chuck table 35 holding the wafer 10 is moved to just below the imaging means 67. When the chuck table 35 is positioned directly below the image pickup means 67, the street formed on the wafer 10 is detected by the image pickup means 67, and the spindle unit 5 is moved and adjusted in the arrow Y direction which is the indexing direction to adjust the street and the cutting blade. A precision alignment operation with 64 is performed (alignment process). At this time, if the street formed on the wafer 10 is not parallel to the cutting feed direction X, the pulse motor 381 constituting the rotation driving means 38 of the chuck table mechanism 3 is operated, and the street is cut in the cutting feed direction. Position it so that it is parallel to X.

  Thereafter, a reference position for cutting feed by the cutting blade 64 is determined. That is, the cutting blade 64 is lowered, and the reference position is determined by a position in electrical contact with the main body 351 (formed of a metal material such as stainless steel) of the chuck table 35 insulated by the ceramic plate 36. When the reference position of the cutting feed by the cutting blade 64 is determined in this way, the pulse motor 662 of the cutting feed means 66 is operated to cut and feed the cutting blade 64 by a predetermined amount in the direction indicated by the arrow Z and the servo. The motor 65 is operated to rotate the cutting blade 64 in a predetermined rotational direction at a rotational speed of 20000 to 40,000 rpm, while the chuck table 35 holding the wafer 10 is sucked and held in a predetermined direction in the direction indicated by an arrow X that is a cutting feed direction. Move at feed rate (cutting process). As a result, the wafer 10 held on the chuck table 35 is cut along a predetermined street by the cutting blade 64. When the wafer 10 is cut along a predetermined street in this way, the chuck table 35 is indexed and fed in the direction indicated by the arrow Y by the street interval, and the above-described cutting step is performed. When the cutting operation is performed along all the streets extending in a predetermined direction of the wafer 10, the pulse motor 381 constituting the rotation driving means 38 of the chuck table mechanism 3 is operated to move the chuck table 35 to 90 degrees. Rotate. At this time, the rotary scale 37 mounted on the chuck table support portion 341 of the rotation support member 34 is read by the reading head 370 mounted on the fixed support member 32, thereby detecting the rotation angle of the chuck table 35. Rotate 90 degrees. Then, by executing the cutting process along the streets extending in the direction orthogonal to the predetermined direction of the wafer 10, all the streets formed in a lattice shape on the wafer 10 are cut and divided into individual devices. The As described above, when the chuck table 35 is rotated 90 degrees, even if the pulse motor 381 generates heat by operating the pulse motor 381 that constitutes the rotation driving means 38 of the chuck table mechanism 3, the pulse motor 381 Since the rotation support member 34 that supports the chuck table 35 is provided independently of the rotation support member 34, the rotation support member 34 does not thermally expand. Accordingly, since the height position of the chuck table 35 supported by the rotation support member 34 is not displaced, the cutting feed amount of the cutting blade 64 to the wafer is maintained at a predetermined amount. The devices divided by carrying out the above cutting process do not fall apart due to the action of the protective tape 12, and the state of the wafer supported by the frame 11 is maintained.

  If the cutting process is performed along all the streets formed in the wafer 10 as described above, the chuck table 35 holding the wafer 10 is first returned to the position where the wafer 10 is sucked and held. Then, the suction holding of the wafer 10 is released. Next, the wafer 10 is transferred to the cleaning unit 16 by the second transfer unit 17. The wafer 10 conveyed to the cleaning means 16 is cleaned and dried here. The wafer 10 thus cleaned and dried is carried out to the temporary placement table 13 by the first transport means 15. Then, the wafer 10 is stored in a predetermined position of the cassette 8 by the unloading means 14.

The perspective view of the cutting device equipped with the chuck table mechanism comprised according to this invention. The principal part perspective view of the cutting device shown in FIG. The disassembled perspective view of the chuck table mechanism with which the cutting apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is equipped. Sectional drawing of the chuck table mechanism with which the cutting apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is equipped.

Explanation of symbols

1: Device housing of cutting device 2: Static base 3: Chuck table mechanism 30: Chuck table support base 31: Chuck table support mechanism 32: Fixed support member 33: Bearing means 34: Rotation support member 35: Chuck table 36: Annular ceramic plate 37: Rotary scale 370: Read head 38: Rotation drive means 381: Pulse motor 382: Drive pulley 383: Driven pulley 384: Endless belt 4: Chuck table moving mechanism 41: Guide rail 42: Cutting feed means 5: Spindle support mechanism 51: Guide rail 52: Movable support base 53: Indexing feed means 6: Spindle unit 61: Unit holder 62: Spindle housing 63: Rotating spindle 64: Cutting blade 65: Servo motor 66: Cutting feed means 6 : Imaging means 7: cassette mounting table 8: cassette 10: wafer 11: annular support frame 12: protective tape 13: temporary placement table 14: carry-out means 15: first transport means 16: cleaning means 17: second Conveying means 18: Display means

Claims (2)

A chuck table mechanism having a chuck table for holding a workpiece,
A chuck table support base for supporting the chuck table, a cylindrical fixed support member disposed on the upper surface of the chuck table support base, and a bearing means on the outer periphery of the cylindrical fixed support member A cylindrical rotation support member that is externally fitted to be rotatable and supports the chuck table at the upper end,
The bearing means includes a first annular groove formed of a V-groove formed on an outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical fixed support member, and an inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical rotation support member opposed to the first annular groove. A second annular groove formed of a V-groove, and a plurality of steel balls disposed between the first annular groove and the second annular groove,
A chuck table mechanism characterized by that.   A driven pulley is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the rotation support member, and a motor is disposed on the chuck table support base. An endless belt is provided between the drive pulley mounted on the drive shaft of the motor and the driven pulley. The chuck table mechanism according to claim 3 or 4, wherein is wound.

Images