JP7144962B2 - frame positioning device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a frame positioning device installed in a processing apparatus for processing semiconductor wafers to position a frame that holds a semiconductor wafer.

Most of the processing apparatuses for processing a thin plate-like workpiece such as a wafer have a chuck table that holds the workpiece by suction to expose the processing surface, and processing of the workpiece that is sucked and held by the chuck table. and a processing means for processing the surface. Processing means vary depending on the type of processing. As an example, a cutting device that performs cutting includes a cutting blade, and a laser processing device that performs laser processing includes laser beam irradiation means. In this type of machining apparatus, when the workpiece is transported to the machining area, the workpiece is positioned so that the machining means can appropriately process the workpiece.

For example, in the cutting apparatus described in Patent Literature 1, a frame holding a semiconductor wafer before dicing unloaded from a cassette and a frame holding a semiconductor wafer after dicing are temporarily placed in a frame temporary placement area. A pair of frame guide rails positioned in an open state and a pinched state are provided. After the frame is placed, the pair of frame guide rails are placed in a pinched state, and the frame is pushed in while maintaining the pinched state to position the frame.

JP-A-11-204461

However, the cutting apparatus of Patent Document 1 requires a driving mechanism such as a motor and a belt for positioning the pair of guide rails in the open state and the clamping state, which complicates the positioning mechanism and increases the cost of parts. put away. In addition, since the guide rail, which is an elongated member, performs opening and closing operations, a large installation space is required.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a frame positioning device that can be installed in a small space without using a complicated drive mechanism.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a frame positioning device installed in a processing apparatus for processing semiconductor wafers and for positioning a frame that holds semiconductor wafers. The frame positioning device includes frame loading/unloading means for loading/unloading the frame from the cassette placed on the cassette loading area of the processing device and loading/unloading the frame into the cassette, and the frame loaded/unloaded by the frame loading/unloading means. It is provided with a pair of guide rails temporarily placed on the upper part, and frame positioning means respectively arranged at the ends of the pair of guide rails on the cassette side. The frame positioning means is arranged on each of a pair of guide rails which abut on both ends of the frame in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, which is the loading/unloading direction of the frame , and which have a constant interval in the second direction. a pair of rotating rollers provided with a variable spacing in the second direction; Each rotating roller is positioned at the holding position with the same biasing force, and the pair of rotating rollers are retracted from the nipping position along the first direction while the frame moves from the cassette to the positioning area to allow the movement of the frame. a pair of biasing members for positioning in position. When the frame is unloaded from the cassette onto the guide rail, the frame loading/unloading means grips one end of the frame accommodated in the cassette in the first direction and moves to the positioning area, and the frame loading/unloading means grips one end of the frame. When released, the rotating roller is positioned at the clamping position by the urging member and the frame is slid to perform positioning in the second direction.

According to the frame positioning device of the present invention, it is possible to position the frame with a simple structure in which a pair of rotating rollers are attached to the tip of the guide rail, and the installation space is greatly reduced compared to the existing frame positioning device. and it is economical because it does not use a complicated drive mechanism.

According to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a frame positioning device that can be installed in a small space without using a complicated drive mechanism.

FIG. 4 is a top view showing a state in which the frame is unloaded from the cassette in the frame positioning device according to the present embodiment; FIG. 5 is a top view showing a state in which the frame is positioned in the positioning area of the frame positioning device; 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III of FIG. 2; FIG.

A frame positioning device according to this embodiment will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. A frame positioning device 10 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is installed in a processing device for performing predetermined processing such as cutting and laser processing on a wafer 11 as a workpiece. Illustrations and detailed descriptions of parts of the processing apparatus that are not directly related to the frame positioning apparatus 10 are omitted.

A wafer 11 is adhered and held in an opening of an annular frame 12 via a tape 13 . On the surface of the wafer 11, semiconductor devices 14 are formed in a plurality of rectangular areas partitioned by grid-like dividing lines.

Frame 12 is made of aluminum. The frame 12 holding the wafer 11 via the tape 13 is accommodated in the cassette 20 (FIG. 1). The cassette 20 is provided with a plurality of accommodation stepped portions (not shown) capable of accommodating a plurality of frames 12 arranged in the vertical direction. The processing apparatus has a cassette mounting area, and FIG. 1 shows a state in which a cassette 20 is mounted on the cassette mounting area.

The side surface of the cassette 20 is provided with an opening through which the frame 12 can be inserted and removed. The cassette 20 is placed in the cassette placement area with the opening facing upward on the page of FIG. A first direction A indicated by a double arrow in FIGS. 1 and 2 is the direction in which the frame 12 is carried in and out of the cassette 20 . One of the first directions A is a carry-out direction A1 in which the frames 12 accommodated in the cassette 20 are pulled out and carried out, and the other of the first directions A is a carry-in direction in which the frames 12 are carried into the cassette 20. It is A2. Also, the second direction B orthogonal to the first direction A is indicated by a double arrow in each figure when the frame positioning device 10 is viewed from above. The first direction A and the second direction B are horizontal, respectively, and the direction orthogonal to the first direction A and the second direction B (the direction orthogonal to the paper surface of FIGS. 1 and 2) is the vertical direction ( vertical direction).

The frame 12 has a pair of pinched portions 12a on both sides in the second direction B. As shown in FIG. The clamped portions 12a are linear edge portions parallel to each other. Each frame 12 is accommodated in each storage stepped portion in the cassette 20 such that the extension direction of the clamped portion 12a is substantially parallel to the first direction A. As shown in FIG. An arc-shaped curved portion 12b is formed on the outer peripheral portion of the frame 12 between a pair of clamped portions 12a.

The frame positioning device 10 includes a frame loading/unloading means 25 . The frame loading/unloading means 25 has a gripping portion 25a that grips one end of the frame 12 on the carrying-out direction A1 side. A driving mechanism 25b (shown conceptually in FIGS. 1 and 2) allows the gripping portion 25a to move in the first direction A and in the vertical direction. By moving the gripping portion 25 a in the first direction A, the frame 12 is carried out and carried into the cassette 20 . By moving in the vertical direction, the gripping portion 25a can be selectively positioned with respect to a plurality of stepped housing portions in the cassette 20, and carry-out and carry-in can be performed to an arbitrary frame 12 out of the plurality of frames 12. Become.

The frame positioning device 10 has a pair of guide rails 30 extending along the first direction A from the cassette mounting area. Each guide rail 30 is made of resin or metal such as aluminum, and has a stepped cross-sectional shape as shown in FIG. More specifically, each guide rail 30 includes a mounting portion 30a having a mounting surface facing upward, a side wall portion 30b projecting upward from the mounting portion 30a, and extending in the second direction B from the upper end of the side wall portion 30b. and a protruding side protruding portion 30c. The position of the guide rail 30 can be adjusted in the vertical direction by a rail driving mechanism (not shown).

The pair of guide rails 30 are spaced apart in the second direction B, and arranged symmetrically in the second direction B such that the edges of the mounting portions 30a face each other. . The pair of guide rails 30 do not move relative to each other in the second direction B, and the distance between them is constant. The interval C1 between the side wall portions 30b of the pair of guide rails 30 is slightly larger than the interval C2 between the pair of clamped portions 12a of the frame 12. As shown in FIG.

Each of the guide rails 30 is provided with a frame positioning means 40 at the leading end of the guide rail 30 on the side of the cassette 20 in the first direction A (the side of the carrying-in direction A2). The frame positioning means 40 comprises a rotating roller 41 and a biasing member 42 supported on support brackets 30d fixed to the lateral projections 30c. The rotating roller 41 has a cylindrical contact portion 41a on its outer peripheral portion. The rotating roller 41 is made of a material such as iron or stainless steel, and is less likely to wear even when the aluminum frame 12 comes into contact with it.

More specifically, the support bracket 30d supports an arm 44 that swings around a shaft 43 extending in a direction perpendicular to the first direction A and the second direction B (vertical direction). A rotating roller 41 is supported at the tip of the arm 44 so as to be rotatable about an axis 45 parallel to the axis 43 . A pair of frame positioning means 40 are arranged symmetrically so that their rotating rollers 41 face each other in the second direction B. As shown in FIG. Then, the interval between the pair of rotating rollers 41 in the second direction B changes according to the swinging motion of the arm 44 about the shaft 43 .

In a state in which the arms 44 of the pair of frame positioning means 40 both extend in the second direction B (a state in which a straight line connecting the center of the shaft 43 and the center of the shaft 45 is parallel to the second direction B), the pair of frame positioning means 40 , the interval between the rotating rollers 41 is the smallest. The minimum interval between the rotating rollers 41 is the same as the interval C2 between the pair of pinched portions 12a in the frame 12. As shown in FIG. The position at which the minimum distance is obtained is defined as the nipping position of the rotating roller 41 .

When one of the pair of frame positioning means 40 holds the rotating roller 41 at the nipping position and the arm 44 rotates about the shaft 43, the rotating roller 41 retreats along the first direction A and moves to the first position. The distance to the other rotating roller 41 is widened in the direction B of 2. The position of the rotating roller 41 at which the interval with respect to the other rotating roller 41 is increased from the nipping position is defined as the retracted position.

The biasing member 42 is a tension spring with one end hooked on a spring hook 46 on the support bracket 30d and the other end connected to the arm 44 . Each arm 44 is urged to the pinching position of the rotating roller 41 by the urging member 42 . When no force is applied to each frame positioning means 40 from the frame 12 or the like, each rotating roller 41 is held at the sandwiching position by the biasing force of each biasing member 42 . The biasing members 42 in the pair of frame positioning means 40 have the same magnitude of biasing force. Each arm 44 can rotate in forward and reverse directions from the clamping position, and the biasing member 42 biases the arm 44 toward the clamping position in either direction.

Next, the operation of the frame positioning device 10 will be described. The frame positioning device 10 has a controller (not shown), and the following operations are performed under the control of the controller.

When the wafer 11 is processed by the processing apparatus, the frame 12 accommodated inside the cassette 20 mounted on the cassette mounting area of the frame positioning apparatus 10 is pulled out by the frame loading/unloading means 25 and then transferred to the processing apparatus. do. The frame loading/unloading means 25 aligns the gripping portion 25a with a specific frame 12 to be transported out of the plurality of frames 12 in the cassette 20, and grips the frame 12 with the gripping portion 25a. The gripping portion 25a grips the end portion of the frame 12 on the carrying-out direction A1 side. When the vertical position of the gripping portion 25a with respect to the frame 12 to be gripped is different, the gripping portion 25a is vertically moved to adjust the position. At this time, the vertical positions of the pair of guide rails 30 are also adjusted together with the grip portion 25a.

After gripping the frame 12 by the gripping portion 25a, the driving mechanism 25b moves the gripping portion 25a in the unloading direction A1. In the example of FIG. 1, the extending direction of the pinched portion 12a of the frame 12 is substantially parallel to the first direction A at the stage of being pulled out of the cassette 20. In the example of FIG. However, since the orientation of the frame 12 is corrected during positioning, which will be described later, the extending direction of the clamped portion 12a may be slightly inclined with respect to the first direction A. FIG.

Before the frame 12 is pulled out from the cassette 20, each frame positioning means 40 holds the rotating roller 41 at the nipping position by the biasing force of the biasing member 42. As shown in FIG. That is, the interval between the pair of rotating rollers 41 in the second direction B is the same as the interval C2 between the pair of nipped portions 12a of the frame 12 .

When the frame 12 is moved in the unloading direction A<b>1 by a predetermined amount by the frame loading/unloading means 25 , the frame 12 passes between the rotating rollers 41 of the pair of frame positioning means 40 . At this time, if the frame 12 pulled out in the carrying-out direction A1 by the frame carrying-in/out means 25 is displaced in the second direction B with respect to the guide rail 30, one of the pair of rotating rollers 41 will not move. The curved portion 12b of the frame 12 is brought into contact therewith. At this time, the frame 12 abuts against the cylindrical abutment portion 41a of the rotating roller 41, so that impacts and abnormal noises are suppressed, and smooth operation is possible.

When the movement of the frame 12 in the unloading direction A1 is continued by the frame loading/unloading means 25 in this state, the rotating roller 41 on the side with which the curved portion 12b abuts is pressed, and the urging force of the urging member 42 is resisted to move the arm. 44 rotates about axis 43 . As a result, the rotating roller 41 moves in the second direction B while retreating along the first direction A (discharge direction A1), and moves from the nipping position to the retreating position. In the example shown in FIG. 1, the frame 12 is shifted to the right in the unloading direction A1, and the right rotating roller 41 is pressed to move to the retracted position (the arm 44 rotates clockwise). By moving the rotating roller 41 to the retracted position in this manner, even the frame 12 that is out of position in the second direction B is permitted to move in the unloading direction A1.

When the movement of the frame 12 in the carrying-out direction A1 by the frame carrying-in/out means 25 is further continued, the pair of pinched portions 12a reaches the positioning area (FIG. 2) where the pair of rotating rollers 41 are pinched. When the positioning area is reached, the gripping of the frame 12 by the gripping portion 25a is temporarily released. The release of the grip allows movement of the frame 12 in the second direction B. FIG. Then, the rotating roller 41 (rotating roller 41 on the right side in FIGS. 1 and 2), which has been pushed to the shunting position as the frame 12 passes, is moved from the shunting position to the nipping position by the biasing force of the biasing member 42. while pressing the frame 12 to the left in FIGS. The pressed frame 12 moves leftward in the second direction B while sliding on the right rotating roller 41 .

As shown in FIG. 2, when the left pinched portion 12a of the frame 12 that has been pressed and moved contacts the left rotating roller 41 (which is held at the pinching position by the biasing member 42), the second direction B is reached. determines the position of the frame 12 at . Then, the right rotating roller 41 reaches the nipping position and contacts the right nipped portion 12a, and both ends of the frame 12 (the pair of nipped portions 12a) are nipped by the pair of rotating rollers 41 at the nipping positions. state. Since the biasing forces of the pair of biasing members 42 are the same, the pair of rotating rollers 41 are stably held at the pinching position, and the frame 12 is positioned in the second direction B accurately. Further, when the frame 12 is conveyed to the positioning area in a state in which it is tilted with respect to the first direction A, the tilt of the frame 12 is prevented by pressing the pair of clamped portions 12a from both sides with an equal biasing force. is corrected. This positioning of the frame 12 is instantaneously performed by the biasing force of the biasing member 42 when the grasping of the gripping portion 25a is released, so positioning with excellent response can be achieved without requiring extra driving force.

When the frame 12 is positioned in the positioning area, the gripping portion 25a of the frame loading/unloading means 25 grips the frame 12 again, and the gripping portion 25a is further moved in the unloading direction A1. Then, the frame 12 is completely pulled out from the cassette 20. - 特許庁

The frame positioning device 10 includes a carry-out regulation section (not shown) that determines the amount of movement of the frame 12 in the carry-out direction A1 (the amount of withdrawal from the cassette 20). When the gripping of the frame 12 by the gripping portions 25a is released at the stage where the frame 12 abuts against the carrying-out restricting portion and the movement in the carrying-out direction A1 is restricted, the frame 12 is placed on the mounting portions 30a of the pair of guide rails 30. Placed (temporarily placed). Positioning in the second direction B of the frame 12 temporarily placed on the guide rails 30 is completed. Since the interval C1 between the side wall portions 30b of the pair of guide rails 30 is larger than the interval C2 between the pair of clamped portions 12a of the frame 12, the side wall portions 30b do not interfere with the frame 12 after positioning. Subsequently, a transport mechanism (not shown) transports the frame 12 to the processing area of the processing apparatus, and the wafer 11 undergoes predetermined processing.

Any processing may be performed by the processing apparatus as long as the processing is performed while the wafer 11 is held by the frame 12 . Examples include cutting and laser processing.

After the wafer 11 has been processed, the frame 12 is put back into the cassette 20 . First, the frame 12 taken out from the processing apparatus is placed on the placement portions 30 a of the pair of guide rails 30 . At this time, the orientation of the frame 12 is determined so that the pair of clamped portions 12a face the side wall portions 30b of the guide rails 30, respectively.

Subsequently, one end of the frame 12 on the side of the unloading direction A1 is gripped by the gripping portion 25a of the frame loading/unloading means 25, and the gripping portion 25a is moved in the carrying-in direction A2 to the cassette 20. FIG. Similar to the pulling-out operation in the carry-out direction A1 described above, when the frame 12 is displaced in the second direction B, the curved portion 12b presses one of the rotating rollers 41, and the biasing member 42 is moved from the holding position to the retracted position against the urging force of .

Then, when the frame 12 reaches the positioning area shown in FIG. 2, the holding by the holding portion 25a is temporarily released. As a result, each rotating roller 41 is held at the pinching position by the biasing force of the biasing member 42 , and the frame 12 having both sides of the sandwiched portions 12 a sandwiched by the pair of rotating rollers 41 is positioned in the second direction B. be.

After the positioning, the frame 12 is gripped again by the gripping portion 25a, and the gripping portion 25a is further moved in the carry-in direction A2.

It should be noted that if the frame 12 is not displaced in the second direction both during unloading from the cassette 20 and loading into the cassette 20, the frame 12 presses each rotating roller 41 to the retracted position. without reaching the positioning area.

As described above, in the frame positioning device 10 of the present embodiment, a pair of frame positioning means 40 are provided at the ends of the guide rails 30 on the cassette 20 side, and the rotating rollers 41 are sandwiched between the frame positioning means 40. and the standby position. Then, when the frame 12 moving in the first direction A reaches the installation position of the frame positioning means 40, both ends of the frame 12 in the second direction B (a pair of Positioning of the frame 12 is performed by pinching the pinched portion 12a).

The frame positioning means 40 does not move the entire guide rail 30 in the second direction B, but uses the rotating roller 41 that moves between the nipping position and the retracted position by the biasing force of the biasing member 42 . It is possible to position the frame 12 in a space-saving manner and at a low cost without requiring a special drive mechanism.

The detailed structure of the frame positioning means 40 may be different from the above embodiment. For example, it is possible to use a torsion spring or the like instead of a tension spring as the biasing member 42 that biases the rotating roller 41 .

In the above-described embodiment, the rotating roller 41 is moved between the nipping position and the retracted position by swinging the arm 44 . Unlike this, grooves (grooves including tilt components with respect to the first direction A and the second direction B, or grooves extending in the second direction B) are formed in the support bracket 30d, and the shafts of the rotating rollers 41 are formed in the grooves. A configuration in which 45 is inserted is also possible. In this case, instead of the biasing member 42, a biasing member that biases the rotating rollers 41 toward one end of the groove (the direction in which the rotating rollers 41 approach each other in the second direction B) is provided. In this configuration, the rotation roller 41 moves along the groove to reach the nipping position and the shunting position.

The rotating roller 41 of the above embodiment is made of iron, stainless steel, or the like, and has excellent wear resistance. It is also possible to form the portion 41a with a different material (resin, elastic material, etc.).

The present invention is not limited to the types of wafers to be processed by the processing apparatus, and various wafers can be held by the frame according to the type of processing.

Moreover, although each embodiment of the present invention has been described, another embodiment of the present invention may be a combination of the above-described embodiments and modifications in whole or in part.

Moreover, the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the above-described embodiments and modifications, and may be changed, replaced, and modified in various ways without departing from the spirit of the technical idea of the present invention. Furthermore, if the technical idea of the present invention can be realized in another way by advances in technology or another derived technology, the method may be used for implementation. Therefore, the claims cover all embodiments that can be included within the scope of the technical concept of the present invention.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY As described above, the present invention has the effect of enabling positioning of a frame for holding a wafer with a simple and space-saving configuration, and is useful for various processing apparatuses that require frame positioning.

10: Frame positioning device 11: Wafer 12: Frame 12a: Clamped portion 12b: Curved portion 13: Tape 14: Semiconductor device 20: Cassette 25: Frame loading/unloading means 25a: Gripping portion 25b: Driving mechanism 30: Guide rail 30a: Mounting portion 30b : Side wall portion 30c : Lateral projecting portion 30d : Support bracket 40 : Frame positioning means 41 : Rotating roller 41a : Contacting portion 42 : Biasing member 43 : Shaft 44 : Arm 45 : Shaft 46 : Spring hooking portion A: First direction A1: Unloading direction A2: Carrying-in direction B: Second direction

Claims (1)

A frame positioning device arranged in a processing device for processing a semiconductor wafer and for positioning a frame holding the semiconductor wafer,
a frame loading/unloading means for unloading a frame from a cassette placed on a cassette mounting area of the processing apparatus and loading the frame into the cassette; including a pair of temporarily placed guide rails and frame positioning means disposed at the ends of the pair of guide rails on the cassette side,
The frame positioning means comprises:
The pair of guide rails abut on both ends of the frame in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, which is the loading/unloading direction of the frame , and are arranged at a constant interval in the second direction, a pair of rotating rollers capable of varying their mutual spacing in a second direction ;
While the pair of rotating rollers are positioned in the nipping position where the pair of rotating rollers clamp both ends of the frame in the positioning area to perform positioning in the second direction with the same biasing force, and the frame moves from the cassette to the positioning area. a pair of urging members for retracting the pair of rotating rollers from the nipping position along the first direction to position them at a retracted position that allows movement of the frame;
When the frame is unloaded from the cassette onto the guide rail, the frame loading/unloading means grips one end of the frame accommodated in the cassette in the first direction and moves to the positioning area. A frame positioning device characterized in that when one end of said frame is released from gripping, said rotating roller is positioned at said gripping position by said urging member and said frame is slid to perform positioning in said second direction. .

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