JP7245118B2 - processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention comprises cassette mounting means, unloading means for unloading a workpiece from the cassette mounted on the cassette mounting means, processing means for processing the workpiece, and a process for processing the workpiece by the processing means. The present invention relates to a processing apparatus comprising at least a carrying-in means for storing the processed workpiece in the cassette.

A wafer on which a plurality of devices such as ICs and LSIs are partitioned by dividing lines and formed on the surface thereof is divided into individual device chips by a dicing machine and used in electrical equipment such as mobile phones and personal computers.

Further, the wafer is housed in a ring-shaped frame having an opening for housing the wafer, and is formed integrally with the frame by means of an adhesive tape whose adhesive strength is reduced by irradiation with ultraviolet rays.

Then, after the wafer is divided into individual device chips by a dicing device or the like, the device chips are picked up from the adhesive tape in a state in which the adhesive strength of the adhesive tape is reduced by irradiating ultraviolet rays by the ultraviolet irradiation means, It is arranged on a wiring board (see Patent Document 1, for example).

JP-A-11-102956

By the way, as described above, when the wafer processing (ultraviolet irradiation, dicing, etc.) is performed by the processing apparatus, the cassette containing the wafers is mounted on the cassette mounting means of the processing apparatus. , various factors may leave the wafer unprocessed. Typically, the operator forgets to press the operation instruction button for instructing the operation of the processing device, misunderstands that the operation of the processing has started, and leaves the processing device, or When a cassette is placed on the cassette placing means and the work of the processing apparatus is handed over to a successor, the successor has already started the operation of the processing apparatus even though the predecessor has not instructed the operation of the processing apparatus. It is conceivable that they may misunderstand that they have been

As described above, even if the wafer is not processed and the cassette is temporarily placed on the cassette placing means of the processing apparatus, an instruction to operate the processing apparatus is issued thereafter. No particular problem occurs. However, the processing apparatus described above automatically performs a predetermined process on all the wafers accommodated in the cassette, and all the wafers after the process are automatically accommodated in the cassette. and the process is completed. Therefore, when the operator confronts the cassette placed on the cassette placing means of the processing apparatus, the operator misunderstands that all the wafers housed in the cassette have already undergone the predetermined processing. There is a problem that the cassette is transported to the subsequent process as it is. If the predetermined treatment is ultraviolet irradiation means for irradiating the adhesive tape adhered to the wafer with ultraviolet rays by the ultraviolet irradiation means to reduce the adhesive strength of the adhesive tape, the ultraviolet irradiation treatment is performed. When a cassette containing wafers that have not been processed is transported to a pick-up process that will be performed later, trouble occurs because the device chips that are individually divided from the adhesive tape cannot be picked up, and productivity deteriorates. be. Such a problem is not limited to processing equipment that performs processing using ultraviolet irradiation means, but can also occur in various processing equipment such as dicing equipment, laser processing equipment, cleaning equipment, and inspection equipment.

The present invention has been devised in view of the above-mentioned facts, and its main technical problem is to solve the problem that the workpiece accommodated in the cassette placed on the cassette placing means of the processing apparatus is not subjected to a predetermined treatment. , to provide a processing apparatus from which the cassette is not carried out.

In order to solve the above-mentioned main technical problems, according to the present invention, there are provided a cassette mounting means on which a cassette containing a plurality of workpieces is mounted, and a workpiece to be processed from the cassette mounted on the cassette mounting means. A processing apparatus comprising at least a carrying-out means for carrying out an object, a processing means for processing the workpiece, and a carrying-in means for storing the workpiece processed by the processing means in the cassette, a detection means for detecting whether or not a cassette is placed on the cassette placing means; When the cassette is unloaded from the placement means, if the cassette is unloaded without an operation instruction from the operation instruction unit, the processing apparatus is provided with control means for indicating that the workpiece is unprocessed. be done.

The indication that the workpiece is untreated is preferably a buzzer. Further, the carry-out means and the carry-in means may be realized by a common means. Furthermore, the workpiece is integrally formed with an adhesive tape whose adhesive strength is reduced by irradiation with ultraviolet rays on a ring-shaped frame that accommodates a wafer on which a plurality of devices are divided by the planned division lines and formed on the surface, The treatment means is preferably an ultraviolet irradiation means for irradiating ultraviolet rays to reduce the adhesive strength of the adhesive tape.

The processing apparatus of the present invention includes cassette mounting means for mounting a cassette containing a plurality of workpieces, unloading means for unloading the workpieces from the cassette mounted on the cassette mounting means, A processing apparatus comprising at least processing means for processing the workpiece, and carrying-in means for storing the workpiece processed by the processing means in the cassette, wherein the cassette is placed on the cassette mounting means. A detecting means for detecting whether or not the cassette is placed, and an operation instruction section for instructing the operation of the carrying-out means, the processing means, and the carrying-in means, when the cassette is carried out from the cassette placing means. When the wafer is unloaded without an operation instruction from the operation instruction unit, a plurality of wafers to be processed are accommodated because the control means is provided to display that the workpiece is unprocessed. After the cassette is set in the processing device, it is possible to prevent the cassette from being unloaded from the processing device and transported to the post-process without processing the workpiece by the processing means, thereby preventing troubles in the post-process. This eliminates problems such as deterioration of productivity.

1 is an overall perspective view of an ultraviolet irradiation device and a perspective view of an integral unit including a wafer; FIG. 2 is a flow chart of control executed by control means of the ultraviolet irradiation device shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a state in which the integrated unit is transported by suction transport means of the ultraviolet irradiation device; FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a mode in which an integrated unit is irradiated with ultraviolet rays in the ultraviolet irradiation device. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a mode in which a cassette is carried out by an operator from an ultraviolet irradiation device;

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiments of a processing apparatus constructed based on the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an integrated unit U including an ultraviolet irradiation device 1 of this embodiment and a wafer 10 which is a workpiece in this embodiment. The integrated unit U accommodates the wafer 10 in a ring-shaped frame 12 having an opening for accommodating the wafer 10, which is an object to be processed. formed. The adhesive tape 14 is composed of, for example, a base material made of PET, and an adhesive that is disposed on the surface of the base material and whose adhesive strength decreases when irradiated with ultraviolet rays. The wafer 10 has, for example, a plurality of devices partitioned by dividing lines and formed on the surface. device chip 10a.

As shown in FIG. 1, the cassette 40 includes a cassette case 41 having an opening 42 on the front surface of the cassette case 41 and a handle portion 43 provided on the upper surface of the cassette case 41. is housed inside the cassette 40 and carried into the ultraviolet irradiation device 1 by the operator H holding the handle portion 43 .

The ultraviolet irradiation device 1 includes a substantially rectangular parallelepiped base 2, and a cassette 40 carried in by an operator H is mounted on a cassette mounting means 2A which is arranged on the base 2 and formed to be able to move up and down. be done. The base 2 has an ultraviolet irradiation means 20 as processing means for applying ultraviolet rays to the adhesive tape 14 of the integrated unit U, an operation instruction section 30 for instructing the operation of the ultraviolet irradiation device 1, and a cassette 40. A loading/unloading means 50 having a function as a carrying-out means for carrying out the integrated unit U and a function as a carrying-in means for carrying the integrated unit U into the cassette 40; A temporary placement table 60 for temporarily placing the integrated unit U before the unit U is carried into the cassette 40, and the integrated unit U temporarily placed on the temporary placement table 60 is sucked and held and conveyed onto the ultraviolet irradiation means 20, Suction conveying means 70 for returning to the temporary placement table 60 for temporary placement, and cassette detection means 80 functioning as detection means for detecting whether or not the cassette 40 is placed on the cassette placement means 2A. I have.

The ultraviolet ray irradiation means 20 includes a rectangular parallelepiped case 22 with an open top, a plurality of UV tubes 24 arranged in the case 22 for irradiating ultraviolet rays upward, and a light-transmitting structure in which the upper portion of the case 22 is closed. and a plate member 26 having The plate member 26 may be a light diffusing plate so that the ultraviolet rays emitted from the UV tube 24 are more evenly radiated upward over a wide area. The ultraviolet irradiation means 20 is connected to the control means 100, and the control means 100 controls the lighting and extinguishing of the UV tube 24. As shown in FIG.

The operation instruction part 30 is pushed by the operator H to instruct the operation of at least the ultraviolet irradiation means 20 and the loading/unloading means 50. In the present embodiment, the ultraviolet irradiation means 20 and the loading/unloading means 50 In addition to the operation of the cassette placing means 2A, the temporary placement table 60, and the suction and conveying means 70, the integrated unit U is carried out from the cassette 40, and after the integrated unit U is irradiated with ultraviolet rays, the integrated unit is again This is a button for instructing to carry out a series of operations for carrying U into the cassette 40 for all integrated units U housed in the cassette 40 . It should be noted that the operation instructing unit 30 shown in FIG. 1 is merely one embodiment of the present invention, and may be implemented in another form, for example, by a separate operation panel.

The loading/unloading means 50 has a grip portion 52, and is configured to be movable to an arbitrary position in the direction indicated by the arrow X1 by a driving means (not shown) along a concave rail 54 formed linearly on the base 2. there is The loading/unloading means 50 approaches the opening 42 of the cassette 40 placed on the cassette placing means 2A, and grips a predetermined integrated unit U in the cassette 40 whose elevation is controlled to a predetermined height. It is gripped by the portion 52, pulled out as the carry-in/out means 50 moves, and carried out onto the temporary placement table 60 for temporary placement. Further, when the integrated unit U temporarily placed on the temporary placement table 60 after the UV irradiation processing by the UV irradiation means 20 is completed is carried into a predetermined accommodation position of the cassette 40, the loading/unloading means 50 is moved. The holding portion 52 is brought into contact with the frame 12 of the integrated unit U and pushed into the cassette 40 . That is, in this embodiment, the carry-out means and the carry-in means are realized by the carry-in/out means 50, which is a common means. The temporary placement table 60 is configured so that its width can be changed, and guides the integrated unit U when the integrated unit U is unloaded from the cassette 40 and when the integrated unit U is loaded into the cassette 40 . The cassette placing means 2A and the loading/unloading means 50 are connected to the control means 100. In accordance with the instruction signal from the control means 100, the up/down position of the cassette loading/unloading means 2A is precisely controlled. and the gripper 52 are controlled.

The suction transport means 70 includes a portal frame 71 erected on the side edge of the base 2 along the direction in which the ultraviolet irradiation means 20, the cassette 40, and the loading/unloading means 50 are arranged in series. , a guide rail 72 formed on the upper surface of the portal frame 71, a holding means 73 configured to be movable along the guide rail 72, an arm portion 74 for supporting the holding means 73, and the arm portion 74 are connected. and an engaging portion 75 that engages with the guide rail 72 .

Inside the guide rail 72, a driving means (not shown) is arranged to advance and retract the engaging portion 75 along the guide rail 72 in the direction indicated by the arrow X2. The drive means, for example, transmits the rotational motion of a motor (not shown) to a female threaded portion (not shown) of the engaging portion 75 to advance and retreat the holding means 73 together with the engaging portion 75 along the guide rail 72 in the X2 direction. Further, the holding means 73 includes a case 731 that supports the shaft portion 732 so as to be able to advance and retreat in the vertical direction, a plate-like member 733 that is disposed at the lower end of the shaft portion 732, and portions near both ends of the plate-like member 733. and a plurality of suction pads 734 that are connected to each other. The suction pads 734 are connected to suction means (not shown), and by operating the suction means while each suction pad 734 is in contact with the frame 12 of the integrated unit U, the integrated unit U can be held by suction. configured as possible. The suction/conveyance means 70 is connected to the control means 100 , and the operation of the drive means, the forward/backward movement of the shaft portion 732 , and the suction operation of the suction pad 734 are controlled according to the instruction signal from the control means 100 .

The cassette detection means 80 is connected to the control means 100, for example, receives the infrared rays that are irradiated in the direction in which the cassette 40 is arranged, is reflected and returns, and is placed on the cassette placing means 2A. It is composed of an infrared type proximity sensor that detects the presence or absence of the cassette 40 . The cassette detection means 80 of the present invention is not limited to the infrared proximity sensor described above, and other known proximity sensors such as an ultrasonic proximity sensor and a capacitive proximity sensor can be employed. In other words, it is not limited to the proximity sensor, but is a contact type sensor that is physically pushed when the cassette 40 is placed and detects whether or not the cassette 40 is placed on the cassette placing means 2A. There may be.

At a predetermined position on the base 2 shown in FIG. 1, for example, at a corner of the portal frame 71, an indicator lamp 90 functioning as display means is arranged. The indicator lamp 90 includes a plurality of light emitting means (a blue lamp 91, a yellow lamp 92, and a red lamp 93) that blink while rotating, and a buzzer 94 that emits a predetermined sound (eg, buzzer, siren) to the surroundings. It has The indicator lamp 90 is connected to the control means 100, and based on the instruction signal of the control means 100, each light emitting means and the buzzer 94 operate. It should be noted that the "display means" of the present invention is not limited to the light-emitting means exemplified by the blue lamp 91, the yellow lamp 92, the red lamp 93, etc., which appeal to the visual sense of the operator, and appeals to the operator through a liquid crystal monitor or the like (not shown). It also includes means for displaying the information content to be processed, and means for transmitting a buzzer sound or the like realized by the buzzer 94 or the like to the auditory sense of the operator.

The control means 100 is composed of a computer, and includes a central processing unit (CPU) that performs arithmetic processing according to a control program, a read-only memory (ROM) that stores the control program, information detected by various sensors, and calculation results. It has a readable and writable random access memory (RAM) for temporarily storing data, etc., an input interface, and an output interface (details are not shown). The control means 100 is connected to the operation instructing section 30 and the cassette detection means 80, and receives an operation instruction signal emitted from the operation instruction section 30 and a cassette detection signal detected by the cassette detection means 80. Each operation of the cassette placing means 2A, the ultraviolet irradiation means 20, the loading/unloading means 50, the temporary placement table 60, the conveying means 70, and the indicator lamp 90 is controlled by the issued instruction signal. In FIG. 1, the control means 100 is shown outside the ultraviolet irradiation device 1 for convenience of explanation, but it is actually housed inside the base 2 .

The ultraviolet irradiation device 1 generally has the configuration as described above, and the functions and actions of the ultraviolet irradiation device 1 of the present embodiment will be described more specifically below.

FIG. 2 shows a flowchart 120 of a control program stored in the control means 100 provided in the ultraviolet irradiation device 1. As shown in FIG. When the ultraviolet irradiation device 1 is powered on and the operation of the control means 100 is started, the control program is executed along the flow chart 120 . When the control program is executed, first, step S1 of the flow chart 120 is executed, and the cassette detecting means 80 detects whether or not the cassette 40 is placed on the cassette placing means 2A. . When it is detected that the cassette 40 is not placed on the cassette placement means 2A based on the detection signal of the cassette detection means 80, step S1 is repeated without proceeding to the next step S2.

As shown in FIG. 1, when the operator H carries the cassette 40 into the ultraviolet irradiation device 1 and places it on the cassette placing means 2A, the cassette detection means 80 detects the cassette 40 on the cassette placing means 2A. is detected, a determination of "yes" is made in step S1, and the process proceeds to step S2.

If the process proceeds to step S2, it is determined whether or not the operator H has pressed the operation instruction section 30 to instruct the start of operation of the ultraviolet irradiation device 1, that is, whether or not an operation instruction has been issued. Here, if the operation instruction has not been issued and the determination is "no", the process proceeds to step S3.

Proceeding to step S3, it is determined based on the signal from the cassette detecting means 80 whether or not the cassette 40 has been unloaded from the cassette placing means 2A. Here, if the cassette 40 is not carried out from the cassette mounting means 2A and remains mounted, the process returns to step S2, and step S2 is executed again.

On the other hand, in step S2, if the operator H presses the operation instruction unit 30 to instruct the ultraviolet irradiation device 1 to operate and the determination is "yes", the process proceeds to step S5. After proceeding to step S5, the ultraviolet irradiation device 1 is operated and the indicator lamp 90 is operated (turned on). The operation of the ultraviolet irradiation device 1 and the operation of the indicator lamp 90 will be described in more detail below with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG.

As described above, when the operation instructing portion 30 of the ultraviolet irradiation device 1 is pressed, the blue lamp 91 of the indicator lamp 90 blinks while rotating and emits blue light L as shown in FIG. At the same time, the cassette mounting means 2A is raised and lowered to position the cassette 40 at a desired height in the Z direction. Next, the loading/unloading means 50 is brought close to the opening 42 of the cassette 40 and the frame 12 of the predetermined integrated unit U is gripped by the gripper 52 . Next, the loading/unloading means 50 is moved in the direction opposite to the cassette 40 to transport the predetermined integrated unit U from the cassette 40 onto the temporary placement table 60 . At this time, the frame 12 forming the integrated unit U is guided by the temporary placement table 60 . Further, when the integrated unit U is carried out to the temporary placement table 60, the loading/unloading means 50 is moved to the retracted position shown in FIG. Then, the shaft portion 732 is extended to lower the plate member 733 . When the plate-like member 733 descends and the suction pad 734 comes into contact with the frame 12 , suction means (not shown) is operated to suck and hold the integrated unit U by the holding means 73 via the suction pad 734 .

Next, the plate member 733 of the holding means 73 is lifted, and the holding means 73 is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow X2 to position the integrated unit U above the ultraviolet irradiation means 20 as shown in FIG. When the integral unit U is positioned above the ultraviolet irradiation means 20, the UV tube 24 of the ultraviolet irradiation means 20 is operated to irradiate the adhesive tape 14 of the integral unit U with ultraviolet rays for about 15 seconds, for example, to adhere. Reduce the adhesive strength of the tape 14. At this time, it is preferable to adjust the amount of movement of the shaft portion 732 and adjust the distance between the ultraviolet irradiation means 20 and the integrated unit U so that the adhesive strength of the adhesive tape 14 is appropriately lowered by the ultraviolet rays. .

As described above, when the adhesive tape 14 of the integrated unit U is irradiated with ultraviolet rays, the holding means 73 is operated to transport and place the integrated unit U on the temporary placement table 60 . Next, the loading/unloading means 50 carries out the reverse operation of carrying out the integrated unit U from the cassette 40, and presses the holding part 52 of the loading/unloading means 50 to push the integrated unit U into the cassette 40. The integrated unit U is carried into the position where it was accommodated, and a series of processing for one integrated unit U is completed. Such processing is performed for all integrated units U accommodated in the cassette 40 while controlling the elevation position of the cassette placing means 2A.

After step S5 of the flowchart 120 is performed and the operation of the ultraviolet irradiation device 1 is started as described above, it is repeatedly determined in step S6 whether or not the operation of the ultraviolet irradiation device 1 is completed. If the process of irradiating all of the integrated units U housed in the cassette 40 with ultraviolet rays has not been completed, a determination of "no" is made in step S6, and during that time the blue lamp 91 of the indicator lamp 90 is turned off. Continued. When the operation of the ultraviolet irradiation device 1 described above is completed, that is, when the process of irradiating all the integrated units U housed in the cassette 40 with ultraviolet rays is completed, a determination of "yes" is made in step S6. , go to step S7. If the process proceeds to step S7, the indicator lamp 90 is deactivated and the process proceeds to step S8. The indicator lamp 90 is set so as to be switched between a yellow light 92 and a red light 93 as appropriate according to various situations that occur during the process of irradiating the ultraviolet rays.

In step S8, it is determined based on the signal from the cassette detecting means 80 whether or not the cassette 40 has been unloaded from the cassette placing means 2A. In step S8, if the cassette 40 is not unloaded from the cassette placing means 2A and remains placed thereon and the determination is "no", step S8 is repeated.

Here, as shown in FIG. 5, the case where the operator H unloads the cassette 40 from the cassette placing means 2A and the above step S3 or step S8 is judged to be "yes" will be described.

As described above, in step S3, the worker H unloads the cassette 40 from the cassette placing means 2A and the result is "yes" when the operation instruction unit 30 does not issue an operation instruction. After the cassette 40 has been placed on the cassette placing means 2A, no instruction has been given to operate the ultraviolet irradiation means 20 and the loading/unloading means 5, and the process of irradiating the integrated unit U with ultraviolet rays has not been performed. Since it is not performed, it progresses to step S4 and implements an unprocessed display. The unprocessed display will be described more specifically.

The unprocessed display performed in step S4 typically emits a buzzer B as a warning sound from the buzzer 94, as shown in FIG. Alternatively, instead of emitting the buzzer B, or in addition, the red lamp 93 of the indicator light 90 may be operated to emit the red light L while rotating and blinking to inform the operator H of the situation. Furthermore, a message indicating that the cassette is unprocessed, such as "The removed cassette is unprocessed!" By performing the unprocessed display in this manner, the operator H can realize that the operator H has carried out the cassette 40 that has not been subjected to the process of irradiating the integrated unit U with ultraviolet rays. After the unprocessed display is performed in step S4 as described above, the control by the flowchart 120 ends. When the operator H places the cassette 40 on the cassette placing means 2A again, the process from step S1 of the flowchart 120 is executed again.

On the other hand, in step S8, when the cassette 40 is unloaded from the cassette mounting means 2A and the determination is "yes", all the wafers 10 already accommodated in the cassette 40 are irradiated with ultraviolet rays by the ultraviolet irradiation means 20. Since the irradiation process has been completed, there is no problem in being carried out as it is. Therefore, the process proceeds to step S9, and OK processing is performed. In the OK process, when the cassette 40 is unloaded from the cassette mounting means 2A, a suitable display means is used to indicate that all the wafers 10 accommodated in the cassette 40 have been processed. However, since there is no problem even if it is carried out as it is, it may be a process that does not issue any message.

According to the present invention, various modifications are provided without being limited to the above-described embodiments. For example, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which the present invention is applied to the ultraviolet irradiation device 1 was shown, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the dicing that performs cutting processing on the workpiece accommodated in the cassette The present invention can be applied to a processing apparatus such as an apparatus, a laser processing apparatus that performs laser processing, a cleaning apparatus that performs cleaning, and an inspection apparatus that performs various inspection processes.

In the above-described embodiment, an example is shown in which the loading/unloading means 50 having a function as a carrying-out means for carrying out the integrated unit U from the cassette 40 and a function as a carrying-in means for carrying the integrated unit U into the cassette 40 is provided. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the unloading means for unloading the integrated unit U from the cassette 40 and the loading means for loading the integrated unit U into the cassette 40 may be realized by separate means. .

1: Ultraviolet irradiation device 2: Base 2A: Cassette mounting means 10: Wafer 12: Frame 14: Adhesive tape 20: Ultraviolet irradiation means 24: UV tube 26: Plate member 30: Operation instructing part
40: Cassette 41: Cassette case 42: Opening 43: Handle 50: Loading/unloading means 60: Temporary placement table 70: Suction transport means 72: Rail 73: Holding means 731: Case 732: Shaft 733: Plate member 734 : Suction Pad 75: Engaging Portion 80: Cassette Detection Means 90: Indicator Lamp 100: Control Means 120: Flowchart

Claims (4)

A cassette mounting means for mounting a cassette containing a plurality of workpieces, a carrying-out means for carrying out the workpieces from the cassette placed on the cassette mounting means, and a process for the workpieces. A processing apparatus comprising at least a processing means for applying and a carrying-in means for storing the workpiece processed by the processing means in the cassette,
a detecting means for detecting whether or not a cassette is placed on the cassette placing means;
When the cassette is unloaded from the cassette mounting means, if the cassette is unloaded without an operation instruction from the operation instruction unit, a process including a control means for indicating that the workpiece is unprocessed. Device. 2. The processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the indication that the workpiece is unprocessed is a buzzer. 3. The processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said carry-out means and said carry-in means are realized by a common means. The workpiece is formed integrally with a ring-shaped frame containing a wafer having a plurality of devices partitioned by dividing lines and formed on the surface thereof with an adhesive tape whose adhesive strength is reduced by irradiation with ultraviolet rays,
4. The processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein said processing means is ultraviolet irradiation means for irradiating ultraviolet rays to reduce the adhesive strength of said adhesive tape.

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