JP7370286B2 - processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to processing equipment.

In order to prevent foreign matter from adhering to the workpiece, in the case of processing equipment installed in a clean room, the processing area where the workpiece is processed is partitioned and an opening is provided for the workpiece to pass through. The configuration is known (see Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2014-150109

The opening is preferably closed with a shutter when the workpiece is not passing through. However, conventionally, in order to improve sealing performance, the shutter has generally been made larger than the opening, moved up and down in front of the opening, driven back and forth, and then pushed toward the opening to seal the shutter. A shutter with such a mechanism has a problem in that it is difficult to install it in a processing device with limited space.

The present invention has been made in view of these problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a processing device that can improve airtightness with a shutter that saves space compared to conventional methods.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the objects, the processing apparatus of the present invention is a processing apparatus, and the processing apparatus includes a processing area for processing a workpiece, and a partition plate separating the processing area. , a shutter formed on the partition plate, the shutter includes an opening through which the workpiece passes, a plate that fits into the opening, and a lifting unit that lifts and lowers the plate, and the shutter includes and the plate are characterized in that a pair of opposing horizontal sides are inclined such that the bottom side of the opening and the plate is larger than the top side.

The opening may be surrounded by a sealing material, and the plate may come into contact with the sealing material when sealing the opening with the plate.

The present invention can improve airtightness by using a space-saving shutter compared to conventional shutters.

FIG. 1 is a top view showing a configuration example of a processing apparatus according to a first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a partition plate and a shutter of the processing apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the shutter of FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a front view showing essential parts of the shutter shown in FIG. 2. FIG. FIG. 5 is a top view showing a configuration example of a processing device according to the second embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Modes (embodiments) for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The present invention is not limited to the contents described in the following embodiments. Further, the constituent elements described below include those that can be easily assumed by those skilled in the art and those that are substantially the same. Furthermore, the configurations described below can be combined as appropriate. Further, various omissions, substitutions, or changes in the configuration can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[Embodiment 1]
A processing apparatus 1 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described based on the drawings. FIG. 1 is a top view showing a configuration example of a processing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the partition plate 7 and shutter 10 of the processing apparatus 1 of FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the processing device 1 includes a box-shaped housing 2, a processing area 3, a cassette placement area 4, a transport area 5, a cleaning area 6, a partition plate 7, and a shutter 10. , a chuck table 30, a temporary table 31, a processing unit 40, cassettes 51, 52, transport devices 61, 62, 63, and cleaning devices 71, 72. The processing device 1 has four regions formed inside the housing 2: a processing region 3, a cassette mounting region 4, a transport region 5, and a cleaning region 6.

The workpiece 100 to be processed by the processing apparatus 1 is, for example, a wafer such as a disk-shaped semiconductor wafer or an optical device wafer that uses silicon, sapphire, gallium arsenide, or the like as a base material. The workpiece 100 has, for example, a device formed in a region defined by a plurality of dividing lines formed in a lattice shape on a flat surface, and is ground from the back surface side opposite to the front surface. Further, in the present invention, the workpiece 100 may be a rectangular package substrate having a plurality of devices sealed with resin, a ceramic plate, a glass plate, or the like.

As shown in FIG. 1, the processing area 3 is an area where the processing unit 40 processes the workpiece 100 on the chuck table 30, and includes a processing area 3-1 where processing is performed by the processing unit 40 and the chuck table. It has a loading/unloading area 3-2 on which the workpiece 100 is loaded and unloaded.

As shown in FIG. 1, the cassette placement area 4 is an area on which cassettes 51 and 52 are placed, in which the workpiece 100 before or after processing is placed, and the first It has a cassette mounting area 4-1 and a second cassette mounting area 4-2 in which the cassette 52 is placed.

As shown in FIG. 1, the transport area 5 is an area where the workpiece 100 is transported between the cassette placement area 4 and the processing area 3, and is an area where the workpiece 100 is transported between the cassettes 51, 52 and the temporary table 31. A conveyance device 61 for conveying the workpiece 100 is installed.

As shown in FIG. 1, the cleaning area 6 is an area where cleaning devices 71 and 72 for cleaning the processed workpiece 100 are installed, and is a first cleaning area 6-1 where the cleaning device 71 is installed. , and a second cleaning area 6-2 in which a cleaning device 72 is installed.

The processing device 1 is provided with a plate-shaped partition plate 7 inside the housing 2, as shown in FIG. The partition plate 7 separates the processing area 3. In the first embodiment, the partition plate 7 partitions the processing area 3 (processing area 3-1 and carry-in/out area 3-2) and the transport area 5. A shutter 10 is formed on the partition plate 7. As shown in FIG. 2, the shutter 10 is formed with an opening 10-1 through which the workpiece 100 passes. In the first embodiment, the shutter 10 is formed in a region of the partition plate 7 that partitions the carry-in/out region 3-2 and the conveyance region 5, as shown in FIG.

The chuck table 30 is connected to a suction source (not shown), and uses negative pressure supplied from the suction source to suction and hold the workpiece 100 on a holding surface formed parallel to a horizontal XY plane. The chuck table 30 is rotatably provided around a Z-axis perpendicular to the holding surface by a rotational drive source (not shown). As shown in FIG. 1, the chuck table 30 moves along the X-axis direction, which is one horizontal direction, using an It goes back and forth between -2.

The temporary table 31 is installed in the loading/unloading area 3-2. The temporary table 31 holds the workpiece 100 on a holding surface formed parallel to XY, which is a horizontal surface. The temporary holding table 31 has a holding surface smaller than the radial size of the workpiece 100, and performs center alignment of the temporarily placed workpiece 100.

The processing unit 40 is provided within the processing area 3-1 of the processing area 3, as shown in FIG. The machining unit 40 cuts the machining area 3-1 of the machining area 3 using a cutting blade that rotates around an axis parallel to the Y-axis, which is in another horizontal direction and perpendicular to the X-axis direction. The workpiece 100 held on the positioned chuck table 30 is cut.

As shown in FIG. 1, the transport device 61 transports the unprocessed workpiece 100 from the cassettes 51 and 52 in the cassette mounting area 4, and as shown in FIGS. 10-1, and is transported onto the temporary storage table 31 in the carry-in/out area 3-2. The transport device 61 transports the processed and cleaned workpiece 100 from the cleaning device 72 located in the second cleaning area 6-2, and transports it into the cassettes 51 and 52 located in the cassette mounting area 4. The conveyance device 61 transports the processed and cleaned workpiece 100, which was housed in the cassette 51 before processing, into the cassette 51, and transfers the processed and cleaned workpiece 100, which was housed in the cassette 52 before processing, into the cassette 51. The workpiece 100 is loaded into the cassette 52.

As shown in FIG. 1, the conveyance device 62 is installed in the carry-in/out area 3-2. The transport device 62 transports the unprocessed workpiece 100 on the temporary table 31 onto the chuck table 30 positioned in the transport area 3-2. The transport device 63 is installed from the carry-in/out area 3-2 to the first cleaning area 6-1. The transport device 63 transports the processed workpiece 100 on the chuck table 30 positioned in the transport area 3-2 to the cleaning device 71 located in the first cleaning area 6-1.

The cleaning device 71 cleans the back side of the processed workpiece 100 transported from the transportation device 63 and transfers it to the cleaning device 72 . The cleaning device 72 cleans the surface of the workpiece 100 transferred from the cleaning device 71.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the shutter 10 of FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a front view showing essential parts of the shutter 10 of FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 3, the shutter 10 includes a back cover 11, a sealing material 12, a plate 13, a lifting unit 14, a front cover 15, and a lifting unit cover 16. As shown in FIG. 3, the shutter 10 seals the opening 10-1 by moving the plate 13 along an arrow 27 to a closed position 25, and moves the plate 13 to an open position 26 along an arrow 28. to open the opening 10-1. In the first embodiment, the moving direction of the plate 13 is the vertical direction (Z-axis direction), and the closed position 25 of the plate 13 is set on the upper side, and the open position 26 of the plate 13 is set on the lower side.

As shown in FIG. 3, the back cover 11 is a plate-shaped member installed on the loading/unloading area 3-2 side of the partition plate 7 (+Y direction in FIG. 3). The back cover 11 has an opening 11-1, a sealing material installation part 11-2 surrounding the opening 11-1, and a plate accommodating part 11-3 provided below the opening 11-1. The opening 11-1 of the back cover 11 forms the opening 10-1 of the shutter 10.

A sealing material 12 is installed on the front cover 15 side (-Y direction in FIG. 3) of the sealing material installation section 11-2. In the first embodiment, this achieves a state in which the opening 11-1 (10-1) is surrounded by the sealing material 12 in the present invention. The sealing material installation portion 11-2 is recessed from the surface 11-4 of the back cover 11 toward the carry-in/out area 3-2 (+Y direction in FIG. 3). The sealing material installation part 11-2 is located on the lower side where the bottom side 12-5 of the sealing material 12 shown in FIG. This portion is recessed closer to the loading/unloading area 3-2 side (+Y direction in FIG. 3).

The board accommodating portion 11-3 is recessed from the surface 11-4 of the back cover 11 on the transport area 5 side (-Y direction in FIG. 3) toward the loading/unloading area 3-2 side (+Y direction in FIG. 3), When the opening 11-1 is opened, the plate 13 that descends is accommodated.

The opening 12-1 formed by the sealing material 12 is trapezoidal, as shown in FIG. It is formed by The opening 12-1 has a pair of opposing horizontal sides 12-3 and 12-4, such that the bottom side 12-5 is larger than the top side 12-2, as it goes from the bottom side 12-5 side to the top side 12-2 side. , is formed in a tapered shape that slopes toward the inside of the opening 12-1.

The space between each side of the opening 12-1 of the sealing material 12 is formed into a sharp corner shape in the first embodiment, but is not limited to this in the present invention, and is formed into a smoothly rounded shape. It's okay.

When the sealing material 12 is installed in the sealing material installation section 11-2, the portion forming the top side 12-2 and the pair of horizontal sides 12-3 and 12-4 forms the bottom side 12-5. It protrudes toward the front side of the back cover 11 compared to the part that is attached to the back cover 11.

In the shutter 10, the vertical path of the plate 13 is closer to the front cover 15 than the bottom side 12-5 (-Y direction in FIG. 3), and at the sealed position 25 of the plate 13, the upper side 12-2 of the sealing material 12 and the The sealing material 12 and the plate 13 are connected so that the inside of the horizontal sides 12-3 and 12-4 are in contact with the upper side 13-2 of the plate 13 and the outside of the pair of horizontal sides 13-3 and 13-4. is located. In addition, the sealing material is placed so that the surface of the bottom side 12-5 of the sealing material 12 (the surface on the front cover 15 side) and the back surface of the plate 13 (the surface on the back cover 11 side) are in contact with each other at the sealed position 25 of the plate 13. 12 and plate 13 are positioned.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the plate 13 has a connecting portion 13-1 at the bottom. The plate 13 is connected to the lifting unit 14 at a connecting portion 13-1. The plate 13 is raised and lowered between an upper closed position 25 and a lower open position 26 by being raised and lowered by being given a driving force in the raising and lowering direction by the raising and lowering unit 14 .

At the outer edge of the plate 13, a pair of opposing horizontal sides 13-3 and 13-4 are inclined such that the bottom side 13-5 is larger than the top side 13-2. As shown in FIG. 4, the upper side 12-2 of the opening 12-1 of the sealant 12 and the upper side 13-2 of the outer edge of the plate 13 are approximately the same length, and the side 12-2 of the opening 12-1 of the sealant 12 has approximately the same length. -3 and the side 13-3 of the outer edge of the plate 13 have almost the same slope, and the side 12-4 of the opening 12-1 of the sealing material 12 and the side 13-4 of the outer edge of the plate 13 have almost the same slope. have

In the first embodiment, the space between each side of the plate 13 is formed into a sharp corner shape in accordance with the shape between each side of the opening 12-1 of the sealing material 12. Note that the distance between each side of the plate 13 is not limited to this in the present invention, and if the distance between each side of the opening 12-1 of the sealing material 12 is formed into a smoothly rounded shape, In accordance with this, it may be formed into a smoothly rounded shape.

Therefore, the upper side 13-2 of the outer edge and the pair of horizontal sides 13-3, 13-4 of the plate 13 are different from the upper side 12-2 of the opening 12-1 of the sealing material 12 and the pair of horizontal sides 12-3. , 12-4. In this specification, the upper side 13-2 and the pair of lateral sides 13-3 and 13-4 of the outer edge of the plate 13 are the upper side 12-2 and the pair of lateral sides 12-1 of the opening 12-1 of the sealing material 12. 3, 12-4 is referred to as the plate 13 fitting into the opening 12-1 of the sealing material 12. The plate 13 seals the opening 12-1 of the sealing material 12 by fitting into the opening 12-1 formed by the sealing material 12.

Note that if there is a slight difference in shape between the opening 12-1 of the sealing material 12 and the outer edge of the plate 13, the upper side 13-2 of the outer edge of the plate 13 and the pair of horizontal sides 13-3, 13-4 is pushed into the upper side 12-2 of the opening 12-1 and the pair of lateral sides 12-3 and 12-4 of the sealing material 12, the shape of the sealing material 12 is slightly deformed, and the sealing material 12 The opening 12-1 of the plate 13 is aligned with the outer edge of the plate 13, and the plate 13 is fitted into the opening 12-1 of the sealing material 12, so that the plate 13 seals the opening 12-1 of the sealing material 12.

As shown in FIG. 3, the elevating unit 14 is installed inside the elevating unit cover 16 on the near side of the partition plate 7. In the first embodiment, the elevating unit 14 is installed below the plate 13, as shown in FIG. Therefore, the processing apparatus 1 can reduce the possibility that the plate 13 will be affected by foreign substances that may be generated when the lifting unit 14 applies driving force. Note that the lifting unit 14 is not limited to this in the present invention, and may be installed above or on the side of the plate 13.

The front cover 15 is a plate-shaped member installed on the transport area 5 side of the partition plate 7, as shown in FIG. The front cover 15 is formed with an opening 15-1 having the same size and shape as the opening 11-1. The front cover 15 accommodates a plate 13 between it and the rear cover 11. The front cover 15 has a notch 15-2 formed at a position corresponding to the position where the lifting unit cover 16 is installed.

As shown in FIG. 3, the lifting unit cover 16 is installed to cover the notch 15-2 of the front cover 15, and is fixed to the front cover 15. As shown in FIG. 3, the elevating unit cover 16, together with the notch 15-2, forms an installation space for the elevating unit 14 and a space around the elevating path of the plate 13.

As shown in FIG. 3, the shutter 10 has a sealing material 12, a plate 13, and a lifting unit 14 arranged in a space formed between a back cover 11, a front cover 15, and a lifting unit cover 16. Space saving is achieved by not taking up any space in the front-rear direction (Y-axis direction in FIG. 3) perpendicular to the partition plate 7. Further, the shutter 10 is fixed to the partition plate 7 with a plurality of screws.

The operation of the processing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment having the above configuration will be explained. In the processing apparatus 1, before the processing unit 40 starts processing the workpiece 100, the lifting unit 14 raises the plate 13 along the arrow 27 and moves it from the open position 26 to the closed position 25. By fitting the plate 13 into the opening 12-1 of the sealing material 12 and sealing the opening 12-1 of the sealing material 12 with the plate 13, the opening 11-1 is substantially sealed. In addition, the processing device 1 uses the lifting unit 14 to transport the unprocessed workpiece 100 to the temporary table 31 through the opening 11-1 formed in the partition plate 7 using the transport device 61. The opening 11-1 is opened by lowering the plate 13 along the arrow 28 and moving it from the closed position 25 to the open position 26.

Here, in the processing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment, the sealing material 12 and the plate 13 have substantially the same shape. Therefore, in the processing device 1, when the plate 13 is moving up and down between the closed position 25 and the open position 26, the side 12-3 of the opening 12-1 of the sealing material 12, which has the same inclination toward the inside, The same width is provided between the side 13-3 of the plate 13 and between the side 12-4 of the opening 12-1 of the sealing material 12 and the side 13-4 of the plate 13, which have the same inclination toward the inside. A gap is formed. Thereby, the processing device 1 raises and lowers the plate 13 without bringing the opening 12-1 of the sealing material 12 into contact with the plate 13.

In addition, in the processing device 1, the gaps formed between the sides 12-3 and 13-3 and between the sides 12-4 and 13-4 are formed when the plate 13 rises along the arrow 27. and decreases as it approaches the closed position 25. In the processing apparatus 1, the plate 13 that has reached the sealing position 25 fits into the opening 12-1 of the sealing material 12 and seals the opening 12-1, thereby sealing the opening 11-1.

Conventional sealing structures involve raising and lowering a board larger than the opening in a state that is offset from the front and back of the opening, and when it is raised and lowered to a height facing the opening, pressing the board against the opening to seal it. It was common to have a drive unit, which required a corresponding amount of space. This is because if an attempt is made to move up and down with the opening and the plate aligned in the front-rear direction, the outside of the plate will always come into contact with the inside of the opening, making it impossible to move up and down. However, in the processing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment, since the horizontal sides 13-3 and 13-4 of the plate 13 and the horizontal sides 12-3 and 12-4 of the opening 12-1 are inclined, the shutter 10 fits the plate 13 into the opening 12-1 and seals the opening 11-1 by moving the plate 13 only in one direction in the vertical direction without moving the plate 13 in the front-back direction, By opening the opening 12-1, the opening 11-1 can be opened, and space can be saved.

Further, in the processing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment, the horizontal sides 13-3, 13-4, 12-3, and 12-4 of the plate 13 and the sealing material 12 are inclined, so that the opening 12- 1 and the outer edge of the plate 13 can be made into almost the same shape, and by fitting the plate 13 into the opening 12-1 of the sealing material 12, the sealing performance of the opening 11-1 can be improved by the plate 13 moving up and down. It has the following effects.

Further, in the processing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment, the sealing material 12 of the shutter 10 is positioned above the opening 11-1, and on both side and bottom edges of the opening 11-1. Therefore, the processing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment has the effect that the shutter 10 can further improve the sealing performance of the opening 11-1 with the sealing material 12.

Furthermore, in the processing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment, a gap is formed between the sealing material 12 and the plate 13 when the plate 13 moves up and down. Thereby, the processing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment raises and lowers the plate 13 without bringing the opening 12-1 of the sealing material 12 into contact with the plate 13. For this reason, the processing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment can smoothly raise and lower the plate 13, thereby achieving the effect that the opening 11-1 can be smoothly opened and closed.

[Embodiment 2]
A processing apparatus 1-2 according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be explained based on the drawings. FIG. 5 is a top view showing a configuration example of the processing device 1-2 according to the second embodiment. In FIG. 5, the same parts as in Embodiment 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

A processing device 1-2 according to the second embodiment is the processing device 1 according to the first embodiment with various changes. Specifically, the processing apparatus 1-2 according to the second embodiment is the processing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment, except that the casing 2 is changed to the casing 2-2, a turntable 35 is added, and the processing unit 40 is has been changed to the processing unit 40-2, and the positional relationship between the processing area 3-1 and temporary storage area 3-2 of the processing area 3 has been changed accordingly.

In the second embodiment, the processing area 3-1 of the processing area 3 is an area where the workpiece 100 on the chuck table 30 is processed by the processing unit 40-2, as shown in FIG. In the second embodiment, four chuck tables 30 are installed on a turntable 35, as shown in FIG. These four chuck tables 30 are sequentially moved to a loading/unloading position, a rough grinding position, a finishing grinding position, a polishing position, and a loading/unloading position by rotation of the turntable 35.

As shown in FIG. 5, the machining unit 40-2 includes a rough grinding unit 41 that roughly grinds the workpiece 100 held on the chuck table 30, which is positioned at the rough grinding position, and a rough grinding unit 41, which is positioned at the finish grinding position. It includes a finish grinding unit 42 that performs finish grinding on the workpiece 100 held on the chuck table 30, and a polishing unit 43 that performs polishing on the workpiece 100 held on the chuck table 30 positioned at the polishing position.

In the second embodiment, the transport device 62 transports the unprocessed workpiece 100 on the temporary table 31 onto the chuck table 30 positioned at the transport/unload position. The transport device 63 transports the processed workpiece 100 on the chuck table 30 positioned at the transport/unload position to the cleaning device 71 located in the first cleaning area 6-1. In the second embodiment, the cleaning device 71 is a backside cleaning device that cleans the backside of the workpiece 100 after processing, and the cleaning device 72 is a frontside cleaning device that cleans the frontside of the workpiece 100 after processing. ing.

The processing apparatus 1-2 according to the second embodiment is provided with a partition plate 7 and a shutter 10 similar to those in the first embodiment, which partition the processing area 3, as shown in FIG. 5, inside the housing 2-2. . Therefore, the processing apparatus 1-2 according to the second embodiment has the same effects as the processing apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. That is, various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. For example, in the first embodiment, the pair of horizontal sides 12-3, 12-4, 13-3, and 13-4 of the opening 12-1 and the plate 13 are all inclined linearly, but in the present invention However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it may be inclined in a curved manner.

1,1-2 Processing device 3 Processing area 4 Cassette placement area 5 Transfer area 7 Partition plate 10-1, 11-1, 12-1, 15-1 Opening 10 Shutter 12 Sealing material 13 Plate 14 Lifting unit 12-2 , 13-2 Top side 12-3, 12-4, 13-3, 13-4 Side 12-5, 13-5 Bottom side 100 Workpiece

Claims (2)

A processing device,
The processing equipment is
a processing area for processing the workpiece;
a partition plate that separates the processing area;
A shutter formed on the partition plate,
The shutter is
an opening through which the workpiece passes;
a plate that fits into the opening;
A lifting unit that lifts and lowers the plate,
A processing device characterized in that the opening and the plate have a pair of opposing horizontal sides that are inclined so that the bottom side of the opening and the plate is larger than the top side. 2. The processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the opening is surrounded by a sealing material, and the plate comes into contact with the sealing material when the opening is sealed with the plate.

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