JPH07256632A - Method and device for supporting wafer in slicing machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To cut a large-diameter material to be cut by using a small-diameter blade with a high accuracy without distortion. CONSTITUTION:In a slicing machine 1, a ring cutting blade 2 provided with a cutting edge on the inner periphery thereof is rotated, a material to be cut W is inserted into the inner hole of the cutting blade, the material to be cut is moved in a cutting direction to be sliced in a wafer form halfway or to the vicinity of the other end of the material, the material is returned to an original position, sucking cups 26a, 26b are moved to a suction position to suck the end face of the wafer, the material to be cut W with the sucking cups is moved in a reverse direction, the remaining part is sliced, and the cut wafer is discharged by a sucking member 21. In this slicing machine 1, the sucking member 21 is provided with the two or more sucking cups 26a, 26b to the wafer. After the suction position of the sucking cups 26a, 26b opposed to the wafer of a predetermined thickness to be cut is previously set and stored, the sucking cups are moved to the retraction position. Furthermore, when the material to be cut W sliced halfway or to almost the other end thereof is returned to the original position, the sucking cups 26a, 26b are moved to the stored set suction position to suck and hold the wafer.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wafer in a slicing machine for inserting a material to be cut into an inner hole of a rotating annular cutting blade and cutting the material to be cut into wafer-like pieces (hereinafter simply referred to as wafers). And a wafer supporting device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, the above slicing machine is used to sequentially cut a material to be cut, which is a high hardness brittle material, into wafers. In this case, cutting and dropping the wafer not only damages the wafer itself, but also
The cutting blade may be impacted and damaged. For this reason, a suction pad is used which holds the wafer immediately before it is cut off. At this time, it is necessary to move the suction pad following the vertical movement of the material to be cut or the lateral movement (different vertical slicing machine or horizontal slicing machine, which will be described below with respect to the horizontal slicing machine) accompanying the cutting of the wafer. Normally, a dummy material is attached to the lower part of the material to be cut, the material to be cut is raised and cut up to the middle of the dummy material by the upper part of the annular cutting blade (hereinafter referred to as the upper blade), and then the material to be cut is cut as described above. The blade is lowered to an intermediate position (hereinafter, referred to as a neutral position), sucks and holds the wafer cut by the suction pad, and the suction pad is followed to further lower the material to be cut to lower the cutting blade (hereinafter referred to as a lower portion). , The lower blade) is used to cut the rest of the dummy material.

[0003]

At this time, the material to be cut is supplied from the front of the annular cutting blade, and the wafer is taken out from the rear, which is a so-called penetration method. Therefore, the inner hole diameter of the blade receiver that supports the annular cutting blade (blade) becomes large,
If the material to be cut has a diameter of about 6 inches or 8 inches, a bearing (usually an air bear rig) that rotatably supports the blade receiver for cutting the material is available. Diameter is 1 to improve efficiency
The production of 0 inch or more is desired,
As a method of cutting the material to be cut, Japanese Patent Application No. 4-2780
No. 11 is disclosed. However, in this method, when the suction member sucks the wafer, the wafer is bent,
It was difficult to accurately cut the cut wafer because cracks were generated in the cut wafer.

In view of the above points, the present invention has an object to provide a wafer supporting method and a wafer supporting apparatus for accurately cutting a large-diameter material to be cut with a relatively small-diameter blade.

[0005]

The wafer supporting method of the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems is a slicing machine in which the suction member is provided with a plurality of suction plates for the wafer, and a wafer having a predetermined thickness to be cut. After preset setting and storing the suction position of the suction cup, the suction cup was set and stored when the material to be cut, which was cut to the middle or near the end of the material, returned to the original position after moving to the retreat position. The gist is to move to the suction position and hold the wafer by suction.

A second aspect of the present invention relates to a wafer supporting device for carrying out the above method, which includes an adsorbing member having a plurality of adsorbing disks facing the end surface of the material to be cut, and an annular cutting blade for the adsorbing member. Urging means for urging to the original position which is the center point of the, and a transfer member for moving the suction member back and forth,
The transfer member stores the suction position at which the suction disk comes into contact with the end surface of the cutting material inserted into the cutting blade inner hole for a predetermined distance, and reciprocally moves between the suction position and the retreat position in association with the cutting of the material to be cut. At the same time, each of the suction discs includes a suction support block provided with a suction pad on the outer periphery thereof, and a support shaft for swingably supporting the support block, and the support shaft is urged toward the material to be cut. The object of the invention is to bring the material into close contact with the end surface of the material uniformly, and to hold the position fixed by the braking mechanism.

A third aspect of the present invention is the wafer supporting method of the present invention for solving the above object, wherein in the slicing machine, the suction member is provided with a plurality of suction plates for the wafer, and the suction plates are provided as much as possible. The gist of the invention is to move the suction support block to the suction position at a relatively slow speed, to bring the suction support block into close contact with the wafer end surface by the suction force of the suction disk, and to control and hold the deflection of the wafer by the support block. .

A fourth aspect of the present invention relates to a wafer supporting apparatus for carrying out the above method, which includes a suction member provided with a plurality of suction plates facing the end surface of the material to be cut, and an annular cutting blade for the suction member. A biasing means for biasing the suction member to the original position, and a transfer member for transferring the suction member. The transfer member reciprocates to the forward position and the retracted position with a constant gap between the end surface of the cutting material. Is performed in association with the cutting of the material to be cut, and the suction member includes a suction support block having suction pads on the outer periphery thereof, a support shaft for swingably supporting the support block, and the support shaft. The gist of the present invention is that it is composed of a slow-moving transition means for urging the material to be cut.

A fifth aspect of the invention relates to the slow speed shifting means of the fourth aspect of the invention, in which a spindle having a large central portion has a piston inserted into a cylinder hole formed in a support plate for supporting the suction member. The gist of the present invention is to have the left and right support shaft diameters of the piston part slightly different, and to apply the same pressure to the left and right pressure chambers so that the support shaft is advanced at the slowest speed possible. is there.

[0010]

[Operation] After setting and storing the suction position of the suction plate in advance, move to the retreat position, then cut one end of the material to be cut into a wafer halfway into the material, and then return to the original position.
The suction plate is moved back to the set and stored suction position and sucked. Alternatively, the suction plate is moved at a speed as slow as possible and the suction is performed. At this time, the suction plate is provided with a suction support block having a suction pad provided on the outer periphery thereof, so that the wafer to be sucked abuts on the support block and does not bend the wafer. Therefore, when the material to be cut follows the material to be cut and the remaining portion is cut, the cut wafer is prevented from being broken or cracked, and the wafer is supported so as to be cut accurately.

[0011]

[Example] The figure shows an example in which the present invention is applied to a horizontal slicing machine. This slicing machine 1 is provided with an annular cutting blade 2 having a cutting blade 3 formed on the inner circumference thereof, and the outer circumference of the cutting blade 2 is sandwiched between an end surface of a blade receiver 4 and a top ring 5. The other end of the blade receiver 4 is attached to the outer cylinder 6a of the bearing 6, and the outer cylinder 6a is driven by the drive belt 7.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a support mechanism for supporting the material W to be cut, a carriage 11 for mounting the material W to be cut, a pedestal 12 for supporting the pedestal 11, and a spindle 13 for the pedestal 12.
A support base 14 that is swingably supported in the vertical direction and an elevating mechanism 15 for the support base 14 are provided. The support base 14 is attached to the lift base 16 so as to be slightly rotatable in the horizontal direction, and forms a tilt mechanism together with the vertical swing by the support shaft 13. These are well-known structures.
Detailed description is omitted. Reference numeral 17 denotes an elevating cylinder of the elevating mechanism 15.

Reference numeral 20 denotes a supporting device for the wafer A (see FIG. 6) to be cut. The support device 20 includes a suction member 21 provided to face the material W to be cut, and a position where the suction member 21 normally faces the material W to be cut at the original position which is the center point of the annular cutting blade (hereinafter A biasing means 22 for biasing the suction member 21 back and forth together with the biasing means 22 is provided. The suction member 21 includes a support plate 25 and a plurality of, for example, four suction plates 26a and 26b (hereinafter simply referred to as 26) provided on the side of the support plate 25 facing the material W to be cut.
Equipped with.

The suction plate 26 is provided with a suction support block 28 having an inner and outer double annular portion, each having a suction pad 27 on the outer periphery thereof, and a support shaft 29 for supporting the support block 28. A spherical seat 30 is attached to the tip, and the support block 28 is attached to an outer jacket 30a of the spherical seat 30. Each of the support shafts 29 forms a piston portion 29a having a large central portion and is inserted into a cylinder hole 31 formed in the support plate 25. The end portion of the cylinder hole 31 is a compressed air supply source (not shown). A small-diameter pressure air supply hole 32 connected to is opened, and the support shaft 29 is constantly urged forward (to the material to be cut) by the supply air pressure. Support shaft 29
A braking mechanism 40 that prevents the support shaft from moving back and forth is provided at the rear portion.

The suction support block 28 is for abutting against and supporting a wafer. A small hole 35 is formed in the center of the wafer, and the suction pad 27 covering the outer periphery of the suction support block 28 is a support block 28.
It is provided so as to slightly project from the annular portion. Further, the support shaft 29 has a small hole 36 at the center thereof, and the rear end has a joint 3
It is connected to a suitable suction device (not shown) via 7.

The braking mechanism 40 fixes the forward position of the support shaft 29 and may have an appropriate structure. In the illustrated example, the pair of eccentric brake shoes 41a and 41b are housed in the case 42. Brake shoe expansion / contraction pin 43
Air cylinders 44 and 45 for inserting the pins a and 43b and inserting and pulling out the pins are provided. However, the air cylinder 45 is common to the two braking mechanisms. In this case, press-fitting the pin on the thick side of the eccentric brake shoe tightens the support shaft, and press-fitting the pin on the thin side allows the support shaft to move back and forth.

The lower suction plate 26b is provided with an arm 33 which is bent at the tip of the support shaft 29 and extends downward so that it can move into the gap between the cutting blade 3 and the blade receiver 4 as will be described later. A small and small bearing shaft 29b is attached to the tip of 33, and a suction plate 26b is attached to this through a spherical seat 30.

The urging means 22 is provided with two vertical guide bars 50 attached to the transition member 23 and an air cylinder 51, and a connecting block 52 connected to the support plate 25 is a guide tube into which the guide bars 50 are fitted. A fitting portion 54 for fitting the cylinder portion 53 of 53 and the air cylinder 51 is provided. As a result, the support plate 25 is constantly pushed up to a position where it comes into contact with the upper contact plate 55, that is, the original position by a predetermined weak force by the air cylinder 51. It is of course possible to use a spring instead of the air cylinder 51.

The transfer member 23 is provided with a traveling base 57 that moves back and forth along the guide rails 56, and a drive mechanism 58 (FIG. 6) for the base 57, and the material to be cut stops moving to a predetermined position when the wafer is cut. At this time, the drive mechanism 58 advances the suction plate 26 to bring it into contact with the end surface of the material to be cut before cutting, and stores the position (advance distance) with the pulse number of the encoder of the cylinder or the servomotor, and then moves to the retracted position. Then, the material to be cut is cut halfway, and after returning to the original position, it is returned to the stored contact position.

A procedure for cutting the wafer A from the member W to be cut in the above structure will be described with reference to FIG. First,
The material W to be cut is inserted into the original position of the inner hole of the cutting blade 2. At this time, the amount of forward movement from the cutting blade 2 is the thickness C of the wafer. After that, the transfer member 23 is driven, the suction plate 26 is moved forward and brought into contact with the end surface of the material to be cut, and its position is stored by the pulse number of the cylinder or the encoder of the servo motor (Fig. A). At this time, the support shaft 29 is attached to the braking mechanism 40.
The suction support block 28 is brought into contact with the material end face in a free state where it is not more tightened. Since each support block 28 is supported by the spherical seat 30, even if the end surface of the material is slightly warped, the support shaft 29 can uniformly contact with the air spring cylinder function of the support shaft 29. At this time, the support shaft 29 moves rearward against the forward biasing force of the air pressure, and the braking mechanism 40 is released in a state where the internal stress is eliminated.
Tighten the support shaft 29 by.

Next, the transfer member 23 is driven to retract the suction plate 26 a little distance (hereinafter, this position is referred to as a retracted position). At the same time, the material W to be cut is raised by the elevating mechanism 15 to cut at least ½ or more of the material W to be cut at the upper part of the cutting blade 3 of the cutting blade 2 (FIG. B).

Then, the material W to be cut is lowered to the original position,
That is, when it reaches the original position of the center of the cutting blade 2, it stops, and the suction member 21 is moved forward by the drive mechanism 58 to move the suction plate 26.
Stops when the storage position reaches the storage position, and the suction support block 28 contacts the end surface of the wafer as described above.
The wafer is suction-supported by an appropriate suction means.

Then, the material W to be cut is lowered to cut the remaining portion under the cutting blade 3. At this time, the suction member 21 moves along with the descent of the material W to be cut, and goes down against the pushing force of the air cylinder 51 of the urging means 22 (FIG. D).
When the cutting progresses and is completed, the cut wafer A is raised to its original position by the restoring force of the air cylinder 51 while being sucked by the suction member 21. After that, this is taken out by an appropriate means.

Next, an embodiment of the third invention will be described. Third
The transition member according to the invention travels at a position where a traveling table 57 that moves back and forth along the guide rail 56, a driving mechanism 58 of the table 57, a suction plate 26, and a minute gap d between the end surface of the material W to be cut are formed. A mechanical stopper 60 for preventing the transfer of the table 57 is provided, and the suction member 21 is provided with a slow-speed transfer means when transferring the minute gap d. Since the other configurations are the same as those of the first invention, the description thereof will be omitted.

A procedure for cutting the wafer A from the member W to be cut in the above structure will be described with reference to FIG. First,
The material W to be cut is inserted into the original position of the inner hole of the cutting blade 2. At this time, the amount of forward movement from the cutting blade 2 is the thickness C of the wafer.

Then, the member W to be cut is lifted by the elevating mechanism 15 so that the member W to be cut is placed above the cutting blade 3 of the cutting blade 2.
Cut at least 1/2 or more (Fig. B).

Thereafter, the material W to be cut is lowered and stopped when it reaches the original position, that is, the center position of the cutting blade 2, and the suction member 21 is slightly moved between the suction plate 26 and the end surface of the material W to be cut. After being advanced by the drive mechanism 58 to a position where the gap d exists, that is, a position where it is stopped by the mechanical stopper 60 (FIG. C), the support shaft 29 is advanced by d at a speed as slow as possible by supplying compressed air pressure, When the suction disk 26 is stopped at the position where it abuts against the end surface of the material W to be cut, and the internal stress is eliminated, the support shaft 29 is tightened by the braking mechanism 40, and the wafer is suction-supported by an appropriate suction device. The suction action of the suction device may be activated before the wafer is brought into contact with the wafer, that is, while the support shaft 29 is moving at a speed as slow as possible.

Then, the material W to be cut is lowered to cut the remaining portion under the cutting blade 3. At this time, the adsorbing member 21 accordingly moves down against the push-up force of the air cylinder 51 of the biasing means 22 (FIG. D). When the cutting progresses and is completed, the cut wafer A is raised to its original position by the restoring force of the air cylinder 51 while being sucked by the suction member 21. After that, the wafer is taken out and discharged by an appropriate means as in the above embodiment.

Although the above-mentioned embodiment shows an example in which the present invention is applied to a horizontal slicing machine, it can be similarly applied to a vertical slicing machine. In this case, the ascending / descending direction may be read as the lateral direction.

Next, FIG. 8 shows an embodiment of the fourth and fifth inventions. The slow-moving means 100 has a spindle 10 having a piston portion 103 having a large diameter in the center portion in a cylinder hole 102.
1, the support shaft 101 has slightly different diameters on the left and right sides of the piston portion 103.

Inside the cylinder hole 102, the piston portion 10
3, pressure chambers 109a and 109b are defined, and small pressure supply holes 106 and 107 connected to a pressure supply source (not shown) are opened in each pressure chamber. 108
Is a pressure supply hole for retreat. Further, 111 is a notch for reducing the sliding resistance between the piston portion 103 and the cylinder hole 102, and may be an annular groove or the like.

In the above structure, the pressure chambers 109a, 10
If the same pressure is applied to 9b, since the spindle diameter is d1 <d2, the annular area S1 becomes larger than S2, and the spindle shifts to the left side in the figure at a slow speed. When returning the support shaft to the right, pressure may be applied to the backward pressure supply hole 108.

Although the drawing shows an example in which the pressure supply holes 106 and 107 are connected to the common pressure supply source 110, it is also possible to connect each to a different supply source.
The shift speed of the support shaft can be finely adjusted, and when a plurality of slow-moving means are interlocked, the fine difference in sliding resistance between each cylinder hole and the piston portion can be eliminated, and the return pressure supply hole 108 can be eliminated. Becomes useless.

Since the support shaft 101 is advanced at a slow speed and pressure to act as an air spring cylinder, the suction pad 27 and the suction support block 28 can be uniformly and gently brought into close contact with the wafer end surface by a soft touch. There is no bending of the wafer.

[0035]

As described above, according to the present invention, the suction member provided with a plurality of suction plates is provided so as to face the end surface of the material to be cut, and when the wafer is cut, the material to be cut is raised or moved laterally. When the material is cut to halfway and then returned to the original position, the adsorbing member is moved forward to adsorb and support the wafer end face by the adsorbing plate, and then the material to be cut is lowered or attached together with the adsorbing member. The horizontal direction of
Since the remaining portion is cut, the wafer can be cut from the material to be cut having a large diameter with a cutting blade having a relatively small diameter. At this time, each of the suction discs swingably supports a suction support block having a suction pad provided on the outer periphery thereof on a spindle,
By advancing and retracting the support shaft (air spring cylinder function), each supporting block is brought into close contact with the wafer end surface evenly and without bending the wafer, and the position is fixed and held by the braking mechanism. Can evenly adsorb and support the end surface of the material to be cut. Further, since each of the suction plates is configured to hold and hold the wafer by the suction support block, unlike the conventional suction and hold using only the suction pad, the holding position is constant and therefore the support block is held in contact with the wafer by suction. As a result, the wafer is not bent due to the suction, and therefore the wafer can be prevented from being damaged or cracked.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a horizontal slicing machine to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of a suction member.

FIG. 3 is a front view of biasing means.

FIG. 4 is a rear view of the suction member.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of the suction plate.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a wafer cutting procedure.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view of a wafer cutting procedure of the third invention.

FIG. 8 shows a vertical cross-sectional view of the slow speed shifting means.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Slicing Machine 2 Cutting Blade 20 Wafer Supporting Device 21 Adsorption Member 22 Energizing Means 26 Adsorption Board 27 Adsorption Pad 28 Adsorption Support Block 29 Spindle W Material to be Cut

Front Page Continuation (72) Inventor Ryozo Kushida 4-39-6 Takamatsucho, Amagasaki City, Hyogo Prefecture

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An annular cutting blade having a cutting edge on its inner peripheral edge is rotated to insert the material to be cut into the inner hole of the cutting blade, and the material to be cut is moved in the cutting direction to form a wafer in the middle or at the end. After cutting to a close position and then returning to the original position, the suction plate is moved to the suction position and sucked onto the wafer end surface, after which the material to be cut moves in the opposite direction with the suction plate to cut the rest. In the slicing machine for discharging the cut wafer by the suction member, the suction member is provided with a plurality of suction plates for the wafer, and the suction position of the suction plate facing the wafer having a predetermined thickness to be cut is preset and stored. After that, when the material to be cut that has been cut halfway or near the end of the material returns to the original position after moving to the retracted position, the suction plate is moved to the set and stored suction position to hold the wafer by suction. Special Wafer support method for slicing machine. 2. An annular cutting blade having a cutting edge on its inner peripheral edge is rotated to insert the material to be cut into the inner hole of the cutting blade, and the material to be cut is moved in the cutting direction to be cut into a wafer and cut. In a slicing machine that discharges wafers by a suction member, a suction member provided with a plurality of suction plates facing the end surface of the material to be cut and the suction member are always attached to the original position which is the center point of the annular cutting blade. An urging means for urging and a transfer member for moving the suction member back and forth are stored, and the transfer member stores the suction position at which the suction disk contacts the end surface of the cutting material inserted into the cutting blade inner hole for a predetermined distance, The reciprocating movement to the suction position and the retreat position is performed in association with the cutting of the material to be cut, and the suction plates respectively support the suction support blocks provided with suction pads on the outer periphery and the support blocks swingably. And a spindle, and the spindle is A wafer supporting device in a slicing machine, which is urged toward a material to be cut to bring a support block into close contact with an end surface of the material uniformly, and fixing and holding the position by a braking mechanism. 3. An annular cutting blade having a cutting edge on the inner peripheral edge is rotated to insert the material to be cut into the inner hole of the cutting blade, and the material to be cut is moved in the cutting direction to form a wafer in the middle or at the end. After cutting to a close position and then returning to the original position, the suction plate is moved to the suction position and sucked onto the wafer end surface, after which the material to be cut moves in the opposite direction with the suction plate to cut the rest. In the slicing machine for discharging the cut wafer by the suction member, the suction member is provided with a plurality of suction plates for the wafers, and the suction plate is moved to the suction position at the slowest possible speed, and the suction support block is provided. A method for supporting a wafer in a slicing machine, characterized in that the wafer is brought into close contact with the end surface of the wafer by a suction force of a suction plate, and the bending of the wafer is regulated and held by the support block. Law. 4. An annular cutting blade having a cutting edge on its inner peripheral edge is rotated to insert the material to be cut into the inner hole of the cutting blade, and the material to be cut is moved in the cutting direction to be cut into a wafer and cut. In a slicing machine that discharges wafers by a suction member, a suction member provided with a plurality of suction plates facing the end surface of the material to be cut and the suction member are always attached to the original position which is the center point of the annular cutting blade. A urging means for urging and a transition member for displacing the suction member are provided, and the transition member associates the reciprocal transition between the forward position and the retreat position with a constant gap with the end surface of the cutting material with the cutting of the material to be cut. In addition to the above, the suction member includes a suction support block provided with suction pads on the outer periphery, a support shaft for swingably supporting the support block, and a slow speed for urging the support shaft toward the material to be cut. It is characterized by being configured with a transition means Wafer support device for slicing machine. 5. A support shaft, which is inserted into a cylinder hole formed in a support plate that supports the suction member, has a piston portion having a large central portion, and the left and right support shaft diameters are different from each other. Slow / slow transition means characterized in that the shafts are made to move at a speed as slow as possible by making them slightly different and applying the same pressure to the left and right pressure chambers.