TW202413253A - Sheet material recovery method and sheet material recovery apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention provides a sheet recovery method and a sheet recovery device which can easily wind and recover a sheet while avoiding burden on a winding shaft. The sheet recovery device is provided with: a winding unit (57) for winding a release liner (S); a suction hole (69) that is disposed in the winding section (57) and that holds the release liner (S); a take-up mechanism (51) that rotates the take-up unit (57) and takes up the release liner (S) in a roll shape on the take-up unit (57) in a state in which the release liner (S) is held by the suction hole; a maximum diameter adjustment mechanism (61) that forms a gap section (Vb) between the take-up section (57) and the release liner (S), which is wound in a roll shape, by making the diameter (D2) of the take-up section (57) smaller than the diameter (D1) of the take-up section in a state in which the release liner (S) is wound on the take-up section (57); and a control unit (40) for releasing the state in which the tip (St) of the release liner (S) is held by the suction hole.

Description

Sheet material recycling method and sheet material recycling device

The present invention relates to a sheet material recycling method and a sheet material recycling device for rolling up a sheet material such as an adhesive tape into a roll and recycling it, wherein the sheet material is supplied to a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer (hereinafter, appropriately referred to as a "wafer") or a substrate.

In the process of manufacturing semiconductor products, various processes are performed on workpieces such as wafers or substrates using sheets. As an example, after a circuit pattern is formed on the surface of a wafer, a protective adhesive tape (protective tape) is attached to the surface of the wafer to protect the circuit pattern. That is, a sheet-shaped protective tape is unloaded and supplied from a supply bobbin toward the wafer, and the protective tape is attached to the surface of the wafer using an attachment roller. After the protective tape is attached to the surface of the wafer, the protective tape is cut into the shape of the wafer by cutting it along the outer shape of the wafer (for example, refer to patent document 1). After the protective tape is attached to the wafer, a back grinding process is performed to grind the entire back side of the wafer uniformly to make it thinner.

As another example of processing using a sheet material, in the case of peeling off a protective tape attached to a wafer from the wafer, a peeling adhesive tape (peeling tape) in sheet form is unloaded and supplied from a supply bobbin toward the wafer, and the peeling tape is attached to the surface of the protective tape by an attachment roller. Then, the peeling tape attached to the protective tape is peeled off while being folded back by a sharp edge member, thereby peeling off the peeling tape and the protective tape from the wafer as a whole (for example, refer to Patent Document 2).

In the known structure, the sheet material released and supplied to the wafer is sent out from the wafer to the sheet material recovery device and recovered after various processes. For example, in a tape attaching device that attaches a protective tape to a wafer, the unnecessary protective tape that has been cut off along the outer shape of the wafer is sent out from the wafer to the sheet material recovery device. The sheet material recovery device is equipped with a rotatable winding shaft, and the winding shaft is rotated in a state where the front end of the sheet material is fixed to the winding shaft, and the sheet material is gradually rolled up by the winding shaft into a roll. Once the protective tape wound on the take-up shaft exceeds a certain amount, the protective tape is cut in the sheet recovery device, and the protective tape wound on the front end of the take-up shaft and the protective tape fed to the rear end of the wafer are separated. The protective tape on the front end of the roll is manually pulled out from the take-up shaft and recovered.

In the tape stripping device that strips the protective tape from the wafer, the sheet-shaped stripping tape integrated with the protective tape is fed from the wafer to the sheet recovery device and is rolled up on a reel provided in the sheet recovery device. When the stripping tape rolled up on the reel exceeds a certain amount, the stripping tape is cut in the sheet recovery device, and then the stripping tape at the leading end of the roll is manually pulled out from the reel and recovered.

In addition, there is a case where a non-adhesive peeling pad is added to the adhesive surface of an adhesive tape such as a protective tape or a peeling tape. In this case, the peeling pad is peeled off from the adhesive tape before using the adhesive tape. The peeling pad peeled off from the adhesive tape is also sent to a sheet recovery device for the peeling pad, and is rolled up in a roll on a winding shaft provided in the sheet recovery device and recovered manually. [Prior technical literature] [Patent literature]

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2013-232583 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2002-124494

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, the above-mentioned known structure has the following problem. That is, when the sheet is wound around the take-up shaft and recovered, the sheet is gradually wound in a manner of being in close contact with the outer circumference of the take-up shaft while tension is applied to the sheet in the unwinding direction. Therefore, the friction force acting between the rolled sheet and the take-up shaft increases, making it difficult to pull the rolled sheet from the take-up shaft and recover it.

In particular, when the rolled sheet is pulled and extracted for recovery by force in order to resist the frictional force, a large force acts on the winding shaft in a direction other than the axial direction when the sheet is pulled manually, so there is a concern that the axial direction of the winding shaft may deviate from the initial state. Once the winding shaft deviates, the direction of the rolled sheet will deviate, thereby reducing the recovery accuracy and recovery efficiency of the sheet.

The present invention was developed in view of this situation, and its main purpose is to provide a sheet material recovery method and a sheet material recovery device that can avoid burdening the winding shaft and can easily roll up and recover the sheet material. [Means for solving the problem]

In order to achieve this purpose, the present invention adopts the following structure. That is, the present invention is a sheet material recovery method, which is to roll up and recover the sheet material that has been released and supplied to the workpiece, and is characterized by having: a sheet fixing process, in which the front end of the sheet material is fixed to a fixing member, and the fixing member is arranged on the winding section; a winding process, in which the winding section is rotated in a state where the front end of the sheet material is fixed to the winding section so that the sheet material is rolled up toward the winding section; a gap forming process, in which a gap portion is generated between the winding section and the sheet material by making the diameter of the winding section smaller than the diameter of the winding section in the winding process; a fixing release process, in which the state in which the front end of the sheet material is fixed to the winding section is released; and a recovery process, in which the sheet material rolled up in a roll is pulled out from the winding section and recovered.

(Function and Effect) According to this configuration, after the winding process of winding the sheet into a roll on the winding section is performed, the gap forming process is performed. By performing the gap forming process, the diameter of the winding section is reduced, so a gap portion is formed between the winding section and the sheet. By forming the gap portion, the friction force generated between the sheet wound into a roll and the outer periphery of the winding section is greatly reduced. Therefore, in the recovery process of pulling the sheet from the winding section and recovering it, the rolled sheet can be easily pulled out from the winding section. In addition, it can prevent the operator from applying useless force to the winding section in a direction different from the axial direction in order to resist the friction force to pull out the sheet, so it can be avoided that the winding axis deviates and reduces the recovery efficiency of the sheet.

Furthermore, in the above invention, it is preferred that: it comprises: a protrusion forming process, in which the diameter of the aforementioned winding section is increased by making the protrusion member provided on the aforementioned winding section protrude in the radial direction of the aforementioned winding section; and a protrusion releasing process, in which the state in which the aforementioned protrusion member protrudes in the radial direction of the aforementioned winding section by the aforementioned protrusion forming process is released; the aforementioned winding process is to roll the aforementioned sheet material toward the aforementioned winding section in a state in which the aforementioned protrusion member protrudes in the radial direction of the aforementioned winding section by the aforementioned protrusion forming process; the aforementioned gap forming process is to release the state in which the aforementioned protrusion member protrudes in the radial direction of the aforementioned winding section by the aforementioned protrusion releasing process, thereby making the diameter of the aforementioned winding section smaller than the diameter of the aforementioned winding section in the aforementioned winding process.

(Function and Effect) According to this structure, the take-up section has a protruding member, and the diameter of the take-up section is increased by performing a protrusion forming process in which the protrusion is made to protrude in the radial direction of the take-up section. And, in a state in which the diameter of the take-up section is increased by the protrusion forming process, a take-up process is performed in which the sheet is taken up into a roll shape toward the take-up section.

After the winding process is completed, the protrusion release process is performed. In the protrusion release process, the state in which the protruding member protrudes beyond the radial direction of the aforementioned winding section is released. By releasing the state in which the protruding member protrudes beyond the radial direction of the aforementioned winding section, the diameter of the winding section becomes smaller than the diameter of the winding section during the winding process, so a gap portion is formed between the sheet and the winding section. Since the gap portion can be formed by moving the protruding member forward and backward in the radial direction of the winding section, the mechanism for forming the gap portion can be easily automated. Therefore, the friction generated between the sheet and the winding section can be reduced, and the manual operation when the sheet is recovered can be reduced.

Furthermore, in the above invention, the fixing member is preferably disposed on the protruding member.

(Function and Effect) According to this structure, since the fixing member is provided on the protruding member, the protrusion forming process and the sheet fixing process can be performed by a single member. Therefore, the sheet material recovery device of the present invention can be easily simplified and miniaturized.

Furthermore, in the above invention, it is preferred that the fixing process is to fix the front end of the sheet material to the fixing member by using air suction or electrostatic suction to make the fixing member absorb the front end of the sheet material.

(Function and Effect) According to this structure, the fixing member is configured to adsorb the front end of the sheet by air suction or electrostatic suction. By adsorbing the front end of the sheet, the fixing member can more securely fix the front end of the sheet. In addition, by releasing the adsorption, the state in which the front end of the sheet is fixed to the fixing member can be quickly and securely released. Therefore, by a simple structure that controls the opening and closing of the suction, the sheet fixing process and the fixing release process can be performed quickly and accurately.

In order to achieve this purpose, the present invention may also adopt the following structure. That is, the present invention is a sheet material recovery device for recovering the sheet material released and supplied to the workpiece, and is characterized by having: A winding section for winding the sheet material; A sheet fixing member disposed on the winding section and fixing the front end of the sheet material; A winding mechanism for rotating the winding section in a state where the front end of the sheet material is fixed to the sheet fixing member so that the sheet material is rolled up toward the winding section; A gap forming mechanism for making the diameter of the winding section smaller than the diameter of the winding section in a state where the sheet material is rolled up toward the winding section by the winding mechanism, thereby forming a gap section between the sheet material rolled up into a roll and the winding section; and The fixing release mechanism releases the state in which the front end of the aforementioned sheet is fixed to the aforementioned sheet fixing member.

(Function and effect) According to this structure, after the sheet is rolled up on the winding section, the diameter of the winding section is reduced by the gap forming mechanism. By reducing the diameter of the winding section, a gap section can be formed between the winding section and the sheet. By forming the gap section, the friction generated between the sheet rolled up and the outer periphery of the winding section is greatly reduced. Therefore, when the sheet is pulled out from the winding section and recovered, the rolled sheet can be easily pulled out from the winding section. The operator can be prevented from applying useless force to the winding section in a direction different from the axial direction in order to resist the friction force to pull out the sheet, so the winding shaft can be prevented from being skewed and reducing the recovery efficiency of the sheet. [Effect of the invention]

According to the sheet material recycling method and sheet material recycling device of the present invention, after the winding process of rolling the sheet material into a roll shape on the winding section is performed, the gap forming process is performed. By performing the gap forming process, the diameter of the winding section is reduced, so that a gap portion can be formed between the winding section and the sheet material. By forming the gap portion, the friction force generated between the sheet material rolled into a roll shape and the outer periphery of the winding section is greatly reduced. Therefore, in the recycling process of pulling out the sheet material from the winding section and recycling it, the rolled sheet material can be easily pulled out from the winding section.

In addition, the operator can be prevented from applying useless force to the take-up section in a direction different from the axial direction in order to pull out the sheet against the friction force, thereby avoiding the take-up shaft from deflecting and reducing the efficiency of sheet recovery. In other words, the sheet can be recovered while avoiding burdening the take-up shaft.

[Form for implementing the invention] [Example 1]

Hereinafter, Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a front view showing the basic structure of the adhesive tape applying device 1 of the sheet material recovery device of Embodiment 1. In addition, in the figure showing the adhesive tape applying device 1, the supporting means for supporting various structures and the driving means for driving various structures are omitted.

The adhesive tape attaching device 1 is used to attach the protective tape PT to the surface side of the semiconductor wafer W (hereinafter, simply referred to as "wafer W"). The protective tape PT is a circuit protection adhesive tape for protecting the circuit pattern formed on the surface of the wafer W. In the embodiment 1, the wafer W is equivalent to the workpiece of the present invention.

In addition, the so-called "upstream" and "downstream" in this embodiment are defined along the feeding direction L of the protective tape PT. That is, "upstream" means the side close to the tape supply unit 3 described later in the feeding direction L of the protective tape PT.

<Description of the overall structure> The adhesive tape applying device 1 of this embodiment is shown in FIG1 and includes: a tape supply unit 3, a tension mechanism 4, a holding table 5, a tape applying unit 7, a tape cutting unit 9, a tape stripping unit 11, a tape recovery unit 13, and a pad recovery unit 15.

The tape supply section 3 has a supply bobbin 19 and a peeling roller 21, etc. The supply bobbin 19 is loaded with a raw material roll 20. The protective tape PT is wound around the raw material roll 20 with a peeling pad (separation sheet) S added thereto. As shown in FIG. 4 , the protective tape PT has a structure in which a non-adhesive base material B and an adhesive layer C having adhesive properties are laminated. Furthermore, the peeling pad S is added to the side of the adhesive layer C in the protective tape PT. The tape supply section 3 discharges and supplies the protective tape PT with the peeling pad S added thereto to the wafer W (towards the wafer W). In Embodiment 1, each of the protective tape PT and the peeling pad S corresponds to the sheet material in the present invention.

The supply bobbin 19 is linked to an electromagnetic brake 23 so that an appropriate rotation resistance is applied. The electromagnetic brake 23 prevents the protection tape PT provided with the peeling pad S from being excessively unwound and supplied from the supply bobbin 19.

The peeling roller 21 peels the peeling liner S from the protective tape PT and guides the peeled peeling liner S toward the liner recovery unit 15 .

As shown in FIG. 1 , the tension mechanism 4 includes a cylinder 27 for vibrating a swing arm 25. The swing arm 25 supports an idler roller 28 on the main shaft of the fixed shaft, and includes a tension roller 29 on the free end side. The tension mechanism 4 is configured such that the tension roller 29 on the free end side of the swing arm 25 that swings in conjunction with the operation of the cylinder 27 descends, pushing the protective tape PT downward, thereby applying tension in the release direction L of the protective tape PT.

As shown in FIG1 , the holding table 5 includes a base 17 and a wafer holding portion 31. The base 17 is connected to the lower portion of the wafer holding portion 31 and is movable up and down. The wafer holding portion 31 holds and places a wafer W having a circuit pattern formed on its surface with the circuit pattern formed on the surface facing upward.

A cutter travel groove 33 is formed on the upper surface of the wafer holding part 31 so that the blade 9c described later can rotate along the outer shape of the wafer W to cut the protective tape PT. In this embodiment, a chuck table that adsorbs and holds the wafer W is used as the wafer holding part 31, but the structure of the wafer holding part 31 is not limited to this.

The tape attaching unit 7 attaches the protective tape PT to the conductive surface of the wafer W placed and held by suction on the holding table 5. As shown in FIG. 1 , the tape attaching unit 7 includes a movable table 34 that reciprocates horizontally left and right along a track (not shown) and an attaching roller 35 that pivots on a bracket connected to the movable table 34.

The tape cutting unit 9 is provided at the lower part of a movable table 9a which can be driven to rise and fall, and is provided with a support arm 9b which can be driven to rotate around a longitudinal axis P located at the center of the holding table 5. Furthermore, a cutter 9c with a blade tip facing downward is provided at the free end side of the support arm 9b. The tape cutting unit 9 is arranged above the holding table 5, and the tape cutting unit 9 is lowered from an initial position and moves toward a cutting position, thereby adjusting the positions of each in such a way that the blade tip of the cutter 9c enters a cutter travel groove 33 provided on the holding table 5. That is, the support arm 9b is configured to rotate around the longitudinal axis P as the rotation center, and the cutter 9c moves along the outer periphery of the wafer W to cut off the adhesive tape T.

The tape stripping unit 11 separates the protective tape PT (protective tape PTw) cut by the cutter 9c and attached to the surface of the wafer W from the waste tape PTn, which is the unnecessary protective tape PT after the protective tape PTw is cut off. The tape stripping unit 11 has a guide roller 46 and a nip roller 47 that cooperate with the first tensioning mechanism 4 to maintain the tension of the adhesive tape DT.

The pinch roller 47 is composed of a pinch roller 47a that can move up and down and a feed roller 47b that is driven by a motor. The tape stripping unit 11 is configured to be able to reciprocate horizontally in the left and right directions along a track (not shown).

The tape recovery section 13 is disposed downstream of the tape stripping unit 11, and a take-up mechanism 49 for taking up the waste tape DTn is driven and rotated in a take-up direction. The take-up mechanism 49 is controlled and driven and rotated forward and reversely by a motor (not shown).

In addition, the adhesive tape applying device 1 further includes a control unit 40 and an input unit 50. The control unit 40 includes a CPU (central processing unit) and the like, and centrally controls various operations of the adhesive tape applying device 1. Examples of the input unit 50 include a console panel or a keyboard, and the operator can input various instructions using the input unit 50. The instruction content input to the input unit 50 is transmitted to the control unit 40, and the control unit 40 can perform various centralized controls according to the instruction.

<Structure of sheet material recovery device> Here, the structure of the pad recovery section 15 of the sheet material recovery device corresponding to Example 1 is described. The pad recovery section 15 is as shown in FIG. 2(a) and the like, and has a winding mechanism 51 and a cutting mechanism 53. The winding mechanism 51 winds up and recovers the peeled pad S, and has a rotating plate 55 and a winding section 57. The rotating plate 55 is configured to be driven to rotate forward and reverse by a motor not shown in the figure. The winding section 57 is a cylindrical member extending in the z direction as a whole, and is vertically arranged in the center of the rotating plate 55. The winding portion 57 rotates together with the rotating plate 55 around the axis in the z direction, thereby rolling up the peeling pad S on the side of the winding portion 57.

The cylindrical member 58 constituting the outer contour of the take-up portion 57 is hollow, and a through hole 59 is formed on the side surface of the curved cylindrical member 58. In Embodiment 1, as shown in FIG. 2 and the like, a through hole 59 is formed on the side surface of the cylindrical member 58 at a position corresponding to the upper side. In addition, a maximum diameter adjustment mechanism 61 is provided inside the take-up portion 57. The maximum diameter adjustment mechanism 61 is configured to be able to move forward and backward in the radial direction of the take-up portion 57 through the through hole 59. In this embodiment, since the through hole 59 is formed to face upward, the maximum diameter adjustment mechanism 61 is configured to move back and forth in the up and down directions (directions indicated by symbol G) in FIG. 2 and the like. In the winding mechanism 51 of the first embodiment, the maximum diameter adjustment mechanism 61 is configured to move radially forward and backward in the winding portion 57 through the through hole 59, so that the length of the maximum diameter of the winding portion 57 becomes variable.

As shown in FIG3 , the maximum diameter adjustment mechanism 61 includes a protruding member 63, a cylinder 65, and a motor 67. The cylinder 65 is connected to the protruding member 63 and the motor 67, and the cylinder 65 is configured to extend and retract in the radial direction G of the take-up portion 57 in conjunction with the forward and reverse rotation of the motor 67. That is, the protruding member 63 is configured to be able to move forward and backward (and move up and down) in the radial direction G of the take-up portion 57 according to the extension and retraction of the cylinder 65. The motor 67 is fixedly arranged inside the cylindrical member 58 as shown in FIG5(a) and the like.

The protruding member 63 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and its upper surface is a curved surface. The protruding member 63 contacts the peeling pad S on the upper surface, and gradually winds the peeling pad S around the winding portion 57. It is preferred that the curvature of the upper surface of the protruding member 63 is the same as the curvature of the side surface of the cylindrical member 58. By making the curvatures of the respective surfaces the same, the maximum diameter adjustment mechanism 61 is moved forward and backward to adjust the position of the protruding member 63, thereby making the upper surface of the protruding member 63 and the side surface of the cylindrical member 58 accurately aligned.

By the extension of the cylinder 65, the protruding member 63 protrudes toward the outer side of the cylindrical member 58 through the through hole 59 and moves from the initial position to the protruding position. The state in which the protruding member 63 moves toward the protruding position and protrudes further toward the outer side than the side surface of the cylindrical member 58 is shown in FIG. 2(a) or FIG. 5(a). Hereinafter, the state in which the protruding member 63 has moved toward the protruding position is referred to as the "protruding state".

As the cylinder body 65 contracts, the protruding member 63 is buried in the interior of the cylindrical member 58 through the through hole 59 and moves from the protruding position to the initial position. As the protruding member 63 moves toward the initial position, the protruding state is released. Furthermore, as the protruding member 63 moves toward the initial position, the height of the initial position is adjusted in such a way that the outer peripheral surface (side surface) of the cylindrical member 58 and the outer surface of the protruding member 63 (the top surface in FIG. 3 ) become flush. The state in which the protruding member 63 moves toward the initial position and is buried in the interior of the cylindrical member 58 is shown in FIG. 2(b) or FIG. 5(b). Hereinafter, the state in which the protruding member 63 has moved toward the initial position is referred to as the "buried state."

When the protruding member 63 is in the protruding state, the maximum diameter of the roll-up portion 57 becomes the length indicated by the symbol D1 in FIG. 5( a). In Embodiment 1, the distance from the center axis Q of the cylindrical member 58 extending in the z direction to the top of the protruding member 63 is equivalent to the maximum diameter of the roll-up portion 57. Therefore, when the protruding member 63 is in the protruding state, the length D1 of the maximum diameter of the roll-up portion 57 is longer than the distance E from the center axis Q to the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical member 58.

When the protruding member 63 is buried, the maximum diameter of the roll-up portion 57 becomes the length indicated by the symbol D2 in FIG. 5( b). In Embodiment 1, when the protruding member 63 is buried, the side surface (peripheral surface) of the cylindrical member 58 is flush with the top surface of the protruding member 63. Therefore, when the protruding member 63 is buried, the length D2 of the maximum diameter of the roll-up portion 57 is equal to the distance E from the center axis Q to the peripheral surface of the cylindrical member 58. Thus, the maximum diameter (length D1) of the roll-up portion 57 in the protruding state is longer than the maximum diameter (length D2) of the roll-up portion 57 in the buried state. Thus, the length of the maximum diameter of the roll-up portion 57 can be adjusted by moving the protruding member 63 forward and backward in Embodiment 1. The maximum diameter of the roll-up portion 57 indicated by symbol D1 or symbol D2 is equivalent to the "diameter of the roll-up portion" in this embodiment.

A plurality of adsorption holes 69 are formed on the top of the protruding member 63. Each of the adsorption holes 69 is a through hole that allows the protruding member 63 to pass through the up-down direction, and is connected to the suction device 71 through the flow path 70. That is, the protruding member 63 is configured to adsorb and hold the peeling pad S through the adsorption holes 69 when the suction device 71 is actuated. In Figure 3, for the sake of convenience, only one of the 12 adsorption holes 69 provided on the protruding member 63 is a through hole, which is indicated by a dotted line and is connected to the suction device 71. However, in reality, all of the adsorption holes 69 are passed through the bottom surface of the protruding member 63 and are connected to the suction device 71. The suction device 71 is provided inside the cylindrical member 58. However, in FIG. 12 and the like, for convenience of explanation, the suction device 71 is shown on the outer side of the take-up portion 57.

The cutting mechanism 53 cuts the peeling pad S guided by the winding mechanism 51 in the width direction, and has a cutter holder 72 and a cutter 73. The cutter holder 72 is configured to be reciprocated in a direction approaching the peeling pad S guided by the winding mechanism 51 and in the width direction of the peeling pad S by a driving mechanism (not shown). The cutter 73 is disposed at the front end of the cutter holder 72, and reciprocates in all directions together with the cutter holder 72.

In the first embodiment, the peeling pad S is conveyed in the vicinity of the pad recovery section 15 in such a manner that the width direction becomes the z direction. Also, in the vicinity of the pad recovery section 15, since the release direction M of the peeling pad S is parallel to the y direction, the direction perpendicular to the surface of the peeling pad S is the x direction. That is, the direction approaching or separating from the peeling pad S is equivalent to the x direction. Therefore, in the first embodiment, the cutter holder 72 is constructed in such a manner that it can reciprocate in the x direction and the z direction together with the cutter 73.

By moving the cutter holder 72 in the x direction, the cutting mechanism 53 reciprocates between the retreat position and the cutting position in the x direction. The retreat position is a position where the cutter 73 is separated from the peeling liner S. In addition, FIG. 1 shows a state where the cutting mechanism 53 moves to the retreat position. The cutting position is a position close to the peeling liner S to the extent that the cutter 73 can cut the peeling liner S. By moving the cutter holder 72 in the z direction while the cutting mechanism 53 moves to the cutting position, the cutter 73 cuts the peeling liner S in the width direction.

<Overview of the attaching operation> Here, a series of basic operations for attaching the protective tape PT to the wafer W using the adhesive tape attaching device 1 are described. FIG. 6(a) is a flow chart illustrating the process of attaching the protective tape PT to the wafer W.

When the attaching command is issued, the workpiece is first placed on the holding table 5. That is, the wafer W stored in the predetermined storage portion is placed on the holding table 5 by a wafer transfer mechanism (not shown) after being aligned on the alignment table. The wafer W placed on the wafer holding portion 31 provided on the holding table 5 is rotated and held by suction in a state where the center of the wafer W is positioned on the center of the holding table 5 (step S1).

At this time, the tape attaching unit 7, the tape cutting unit 9 and the tape stripping unit 11 are moved to the initial position shown in Fig. 7. That is, the tape attaching unit 7 moves to the right side of the holding table 5, and the tape stripping unit 11 moves to the left side of the holding table 5. The tape cutting unit 9 is on standby above the holding table 5.

Furthermore, in the tape supply section 3, the protective tape PT to which the peeling pad S is added is unwound and supplied downstream from the raw material roll 20 loaded on the supply bobbin 19. Then, the peeling pad S is peeled off from the protective tape PT by the peeling roller 21. The protective tape PT after the peeling pad S is peeled off is guided to the tape attaching unit 7 and the tape peeling unit 11. The peeling pad S after being peeled off from the protective tape PT is guided toward the pad recovery section 15.

After the workpiece is placed on the holding table 5, as shown in FIG8, the attaching roller 35 of the tape attaching unit 7 pushes the adhesive tape T downward while rotating forward (to the left in FIG8) on the wafer W, moving from the initial position shown by the dotted line to the terminal position shown by the solid line. Thus, the protective tape PT is attached to the entire surface of the wafer W (step S2).

After the protective tape PT is attached to the wafer W, as shown in FIG9 , the tape cutting unit 9 waiting above descends and moves from the initial position shown by the dotted line to the cutting position shown by the solid line. Then, the tape cutting unit 9 descends toward the cutting position, whereby the cutter 9 c penetrates the protective tape PT in the cutter travel groove 33 of the holding table 5 .

When the cutter 9c penetrates the protective tape PT, the support arm 9b rotates with the longitudinal axis P as the rotation center. Concomitantly, the cutter 9c rotates while sliding along the outer periphery of the wafer W, and the protective tape PT is cut along the outer shape of the wafer (step S3).

Once the cutting of the protective tape PT along the outer shape of the wafer W is completed, the tape cutting unit 9 rises to the original standby position. The tape attaching unit 7 returns to the initial position from the terminal position. The tape attaching unit 7 returns to the initial position, and as shown in FIG10 , the tape stripping unit 11 moves backward (to the right in FIG10 ). That is, the tape stripping unit 11 moves to the right from the initial position shown by the dotted line in FIG10 to the terminal position shown by the solid line.

The tape stripping unit 11 rolls up and strips the waste tape PTn remaining after being cut off from the wafer W in the protective tape PT while moving toward the terminal position (step S4). In addition, the portion of the protective tape PT attached to the surface of the wafer W is given a symbol PTw to distinguish it from the waste tape PTn.

When the tape stripping unit 11 reaches the terminal position and finishes the stripping operation, the tape stripping unit 11 returns to the initial position from the terminal position. At this time, the waste tape Tn is released downstream and guided toward the tape recovery section 13, and is rolled up by the winding mechanism 49 and recovered.

Then, the waste tape Tn is released downstream, and at the same time, a certain amount of the protective tape PT is released from the raw material roll 20 arranged in the tape supply part 3. Then, the peeling pad S is peeled off from the protective tape PT by the peeling roller 21, and a certain amount of the protective tape PT is guided to the tape applying unit 7 and the tape peeling unit 11. The certain amount of the peeling pad S peeled off from the protective tape PT is guided to the pad recovery part 15 and recovered.

Once the processes up to step S4 are completed, the adsorption of the holding table 5 is released. After the adsorption is released, the wafer W with the protective tape PTw attached is transported by the wafer transport mechanism and recovered to the wafer recovery unit (not shown) (step S5). Above, one adhesive tape attachment process is completed. Hereinafter, the process from step S1 to step S5 is repeated until the protective tape PT is attached to a predetermined number of wafers W.

<Description of the sheet material recovery process> Here, a series of processes for recovering the peeling pad S peeled off from the protective tape PT by the pad recovery unit 15 will be described. FIG6(b) is a flow chart for describing the process of recovering the peeling pad S.

Step T1 (increasing the diameter of the take-up section) Before starting the operation of attaching the protective tape PT, the peeling pad S must be guided to the pad recovery section 15 and fixed so that the pad recovery section 15 can take up the peeling pad S. Next, in Embodiment 1, before the peeling pad S is fixed to the pad recovery section 15, the diameter of the take-up section 57 is increased. In Embodiment 1, the diameter of the take-up section 57 is increased by raising the protruding member 63. That is, the control section 40 rotates the motor 67 of the maximum diameter adjustment mechanism 61. As the motor 67 rotates, the cylinder 65 is extended and the protruding member 63 moves upward from the buried position to the protruding position.

As the protruding member 63 moves toward the protruding position, the state of the pad recovery portion 15 changes from the buried state shown in FIG. 2(b) to the protruding state shown in FIG. 2(a). That is, as the protruding member 63 rises, the upper surface of the protruding member 63 formed with the adsorption hole 69 protrudes toward the outer side of the cylindrical member 58. As the protruding member 63 changes from the buried state to the protruding state, as shown in FIG. 2(a) and FIG. 2(b), the maximum diameter of the take-up portion 57 increases from D2 to D1.

Step T2 (Fixing the front end of the sheet) After the protruding member 63 is raised to the protruding position to increase the diameter of the winding section 57, the front end of the peeling pad S is fixed to the winding section 57. That is, as shown in FIG11, the peeling pad S peeled off from the protective tape PT by the peeling roller 21 is pulled out, and the front end St of the peeling pad S is guided toward the pad recovery section 15. The direction in which the peeling pad S is conveyed is indicated by the symbol M. Then, the peeling pad S is further pulled out, and as shown in FIG12, the front end St of the peeling pad S is close to the top of the protruding member 63 formed with the adsorption hole 69.

In a state where the front end St of the peeling pad S is close to the top of the protruding member 63, as shown in FIG13, the control unit 40 activates the suction device 71. The suction device 71 sucks air Ar through the suction holes 69 to reduce the pressure in the space between the front end St of the peeling pad S and the suction holes 69. Therefore, by the actuation of the suction device 71, the front end St of the peeling pad S is sucked and held on the top of the protruding member 63. In this way, in Example 1, the front end St of the peeling pad S is fixed to the take-up portion 57 by air suction. By fixing the peeling liner S to the take-up portion 57, a path for automatically conveying the peeling liner S from the tape supply portion 3 to the liner recovery portion 15 is formed.

Step T3 (rolling up the sheet) After the front end St of the peeling pad S is fixed to the pad recovery unit 15, the operation of attaching the protective tape PT to the wafer W is started, and the operation of rolling up the peeling pad S using the pad recovery unit 15 is started. That is, the control unit 40 controls the suction device 71 to be turned on while rotating the rotating plate 55 around the axis in the z direction. As shown in FIG14, since the cylindrical member 58 of the winding section 57 rotates together with the rotating plate 55 around the axis in the z direction, the peeling pad S fixed to the winding section 57 is wound along the side of the cylindrical member 58 and is gradually wound. In addition, FIG14 shows the state in which the winding section 57 is rotated 270° counterclockwise from the state shown in FIG13.

In the liner recovery unit 15 of the first embodiment, the protruding member 63 is raised to the protruding position before starting step T3, so that the protruding member 63 protrudes to the outside of the cylindrical member 58. That is, before starting step T3, the maximum diameter of the winding unit 57 increases to D1, which becomes longer than the length E of the outer diameter of the cylindrical member 58.

Therefore, when the roll-up portion 57 whose maximum diameter is increased to D1 is rotated to gradually roll up the peeling pad S, at least the peeling pad S that is in contact with the protruding member 63 is separated from the side surface of the cylindrical member 58 and is gradually wound around the upper surface (outer peripheral surface) of the protruding member 63. That is, at least a portion of the peeling pad S is not in close contact with the side surface of the cylindrical member 58, but is separated from the side surface of the cylindrical member 58. Therefore, by gradually rolling up the peeling pad S in a state where the protruding member 63 is made to protrude to the outside of the cylindrical member 58 so that the maximum diameter of the rolling portion 57 is longer than the length E of the outer diameter of the cylindrical member 58, the circumference of the rolled-up peeling pad S is compared with the length of the outer circumference of the cylindrical member 58, which is longer in accordance with the length of the portion of the protruding member 63 protruding from the outside of the cylindrical member 58.

As the process of attaching the protective tape PT to the wafer W is performed, the protective tape PT is successively discharged from the tape supply unit 3. According to the amount of the protective tape PT discharged, the peeling pad S is peeled off from the protective tape PT by the peeling roller 21, and the peeling pad is successively transported along the discharge direction M. The take-up unit 57 rotates appropriately according to the speed at which the peeling pad S is transported, and takes up the peeling pad S sent to the pad recovery unit 15.

As the peeling liner S is rolled up, the amount of the peeling liner S rolled up by the roll-up unit 57 gradually increases, and as shown in FIG15 , the peeling liner S is rolled up by the roll-up unit 57. The peeling liner S rolled up is denoted by reference symbol SR in FIG15 and the like.

The operation of step T3 is continued until the amount of the peeling pad S wound on the take-up section 57 exceeds a predetermined threshold value. The threshold value can be appropriately determined in response to the maximum capacity of the peeling pad S that the take-up section 57 can roll up. When the amount of the peeling pad S wound on the take-up section 57 exceeds the threshold value, the process proceeds from step T3 to step T4. The amount of the peeling pad S wound around the take-up section 57 can be measured, for example, by a rotation sensor that detects the number of rotations of the take-up section 57 or a sensor that detects the thickness of the roll SR of the wound peeling pad S.

Step T4 (cutting of the sheet) When the amount of the peeling pad S wound on the take-up section 57 exceeds the threshold value, the roll SR of the peeling pad S accumulated on the take-up section 57 must be removed from the pad recovery section 15. In order to remove the roll SR from the pad recovery section 15, the process from step T4 to step T6 is performed.

In the process of step T4, the sheet material, i.e., the peeling pad S, is cut in the width direction. First, the control unit 40 controls the driving mechanism (not shown) to move the cutting mechanism 53 in the direction approaching the peeling pad S. That is, as shown in FIG. 16 , the cutting mechanism 53 moves in the x direction from the initial position shown by the dotted line to the cutting position shown by the solid line. By moving to the cutting position, the blade of the cutter 73 intersects with the peeling pad S in the front view.

After the cutting mechanism 53 moves to the cutting position, the control unit 40 controls the driving mechanism to move the cutting mechanism 53 in the width direction (z direction in the first embodiment) of the stripping pad S. That is, by the horizontal movement of the cutting mechanism 53 in the z direction, the cutter 73 cuts the stripping pad S in the width direction. As a result, as shown in FIG. 17 , the stripping pad roll SR wound on the winding unit 57 is separated from the subsequent stripping pad S (hereinafter referred to as "subsequent pad Sd") connected to the tape supply unit 3. The process of step T4 is completed by cutting the peeling liner S to separate the roll SR from the subsequent liner Sd.

Step T5 (reducing the diameter of the take-up section) After the peeling pad S is cut in the width direction, the operation of reducing the diameter of the take-up section 57 is performed. In Embodiment 1, the diameter of the take-up section 57 is reduced by lowering the protruding member 63 provided in the maximum diameter adjustment mechanism 61. First, the control section 40 stops the suction device 71 to release the situation in which the front end portion St of the peeling pad S is adsorbed and held through the adsorption hole 69. Then, the control section 40 controls the rotation of the motor 67 to shrink the cylinder 65. As the cylinder 65 shrinks, the protruding member 63 descends from the protruding position to the buried position as shown in FIG. 18. Since the suction holding of the front end portion St by the suction hole 69 is released, the protruding member 63 formed with the suction hole 69 is separated from the front end portion St and buried inside the cylindrical member 58.

In step T3, the stripping pad S is gradually rolled up by the roll-up portion 57 in a state where the maximum diameter of the roll-up portion 57 becomes longer than the outer diameter E of the cylindrical member 58. Therefore, the length of the inner circumference of the roll SR formed in step T3 is longer than the length of the outer circumference of the cylindrical member 58. When the protruding member 63 rises toward the protruding position, the inner circumference of the roll SR receives the outward force F caused by the protruding member 63. Therefore, the roll SR of the stripping pad S becomes a shape that is biased toward the side close to the protruding member 63 (the upper side in FIG. 18). In other words, in step T3, the roll SR and the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical member 58 are inclined to be in close contact with each other on the side away from the protruding member 63 (the lower side in FIG. 18 ).

Here, when the protruding member 63 is lowered to the buried position, as shown in FIG18, the space where the protruding member 63 is in the protruding state becomes the gap portion Vb. In addition, when the protruding member 63 is lowered to the buried position, the force F that pushes the roll SR outward by the protruding member 63 becomes ineffective. Therefore, the displacement of the peeling pad S caused by the force F is eliminated, and the gap portion Vb gradually expands to the entire space between the roll SR and the winding portion 57. As a result, as shown in FIG19, by lowering the protruding member 63 to the buried position, a gap portion Vb is formed between the entire outer periphery of the tubular member 58 and the entire inner periphery of the roll SR. That is, by lowering the protruding member 63 to the buried position, the gap portion Vb is formed in the entire portion where the take-up portion 57 contacts the peeling pad S, so the friction force generated between the take-up portion 57 and the roll SR of the peeling pad S is eliminated or greatly reduced in the entire outer periphery of the cylindrical member 58 that contacts the peeling pad S. By reducing the diameter of the take-up portion 57 to form the gap portion Vb in the entire space between the take-up portion 57 and the peeling pad S, the process of step T5 is completed.

Step T6 (sheet recovery) After reducing the diameter of the winding section 57 so that the gap Vb is formed between the winding section 57 and the peeling pad S, the peeling pad S wound on the winding section 57 is recovered. That is, as shown in FIG20, the roll SR of the peeling pad S wound on the winding section 57 and accumulated is pulled out along the axial direction of the winding section 57 (z direction in Embodiment 1), thereby recovering the roll SR from the winding section 57. The direction of pulling out the roll SR is indicated by the reference symbol H in FIG20.

The roll SR from which the liner S is removed and recovered from the take-up section 57 can be taken out of the adhesive tape applying device 1 through the door 75 or the like. The operation of pulling the roll SR out of the take-up section 57 to separate the take-up section 57 from the roll SR can be performed manually or automatically using a working robot or the like.

At the time of performing the operation of step T6, the protruding member 63 descends to the buried position, and the gap portion Vb is expanded to cover substantially the entire area between the take-up portion 57 and the roll SR of the stripping pad S. Therefore, when the roll SR is pulled out from the take-up portion 57, the friction force generated between the roll SR and the take-up portion 57 (the side surface of the tubular member 58) disappears or is greatly reduced. Therefore, the operator can easily pull the roll SR out of the take-up portion 57 by applying a small force in the z direction without being hindered by the friction force acting between the roll SR and the take-up portion 57. Therefore, it is possible to avoid the axis or shape of the take-up portion 57 being deflected due to the application of excessive force during the extraction operation.

Furthermore, since the protruding member 63 is lowered to the buried position at the time of the operation of step T6, the upper surface of the protruding member 63 is flush with the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical member 58. That is, in the operation of pulling out the roll SR from the take-up portion 57, the portion of the protruding member 63 protruding outward from the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical member 58 can be prevented from interfering with the roll SR. Therefore, the force required for the operation of pulling out the roll SR from the take-up portion 57 can be further reduced.

By a series of processes from step T1 to T6, the peeling pad S is rolled up by the take-up unit 57, and the peeling pad S rolled up is recovered. While the operation of attaching the protective tape PT to a predetermined number of wafers W is continued, the operation from step T6 to step T1 is returned to repeat the operation from step T1 to step T6. That is, the protruding member 63 is raised toward the protruding position again (step T1). Then, the subsequent pad Sd shown in FIG. 20 is pulled out along the release direction M, and the front end of the subsequent pad Sd is guided to the top of the protruding member 63, and the suction device 71 is activated to fix the front end to the top of the protruding member 63 (step T2). Next, the operations from step T3 to step T6 are performed to recycle the peeled liner S.

<Effects Produced Based on the Structure of Example 1> In the known sheet recovery device, when the sheet is wound around the winding shaft for recovery, the sheet is gradually wound in a manner that the sheet is in close contact with the outer circumference of the winding shaft while applying tension to the sheet in the unwinding direction. That is, when the sheet is wound, no gap is formed between the sheet and the winding shaft, and the sheet is pulled out from the winding shaft without forming a gap. As a result, since the friction force acting between the rolled sheet and the winding shaft becomes larger, it is difficult to pull the rolled sheet from the winding shaft and recover it. In addition, depending on the amount of tension applied to the sheet, a force that contracts inward will act on the roll of the sheet. Therefore, the friction between the roll of the sheet and the winding shaft will further increase.

In particular, when the rolled sheet is pulled and extracted for collection by force to resist the frictional force, a large force other than the axial direction is applied to the winding shaft when the sheet is pulled manually, so there is a concern that the axial direction of the winding shaft may deviate from the initial state. Once the winding shaft deviates, the direction of the rolled sheet will deviate, thereby reducing the accuracy and efficiency of sheet collection.

Through the inventors' diligent research, as a structure for solving the problem caused by the friction between the roll of sheet material and the winding shaft, first, the structure of the following comparative example is considered. That is, the sheet material recovery device 100 of the comparative example is provided with a hollow cylindrical winding shaft RF and a fixing pin Jp as shown in FIG. 21 .

A guide groove Dc is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the winding shaft RF along the axial direction of the winding shaft RF (here, the z direction). For example, the fixing pin Jp is made of metal and has an outer fixing portion J1, an inner fixing portion J2, and a holding portion J3. The outer fixing portion J1 is a rod-shaped component that is configured such that a portion of the lower side is engaged with the guide groove Dc. The inner fixing portion J2 is a rod-shaped component that is configured such that it abuts against the inner peripheral surface of the winding shaft RF along the z direction. The holding portion J3 is a component that is curved in an arc shape as a whole, and connects the outer fixing portion J1 and the inner fixing portion J2. The operator holds the holding portion J3 to operate the fixing pin Jp.

As shown in FIG. 22 , the diameter N1 of the outer fixing portion J1 is configured to be longer than the depth K1 of the guide groove Dc. In addition, in the fixing pin Jp, the distance N2 between the outer fixing portion J1 and the inner fixing portion J2 is configured to be slightly shorter than the thickness K2 of the winding shaft RF in the portion where the guide groove Dc is formed. Therefore, when the fixing pin Jp is inserted into the winding shaft RF along the guide groove Dc, the outer fixing portion J1 and the inner fixing portion J2 fix the winding shaft RF in the portion where the guide groove Dc is formed by holding it from the upper and lower directions.

The operation of rolling up and recycling the stripping pad S using the sheet recovery device 100 of the comparative example is as follows. First, as shown in FIG23, the front end portion St of the stripping pad S is guided to the portion where the guide groove Dc is formed in the outer peripheral surface of the winding shaft RF. Thereafter, as shown in FIG24, the portion of the outer fixing portion J1 that protrudes further in the z direction than the inner fixing portion J2 is engaged with the guide groove Dc from above. By this engagement operation, the front end portion St of the stripping pad S is pushed against the guide groove Dc by the outer fixing portion J1. Furthermore, since the diameter N1 of the outer fixing portion J1 is longer than the depth K1 of the guide groove Dc, when the outer fixing portion J1 is fitted into the guide groove Dc, a portion of the outer fixing portion J1 protrudes outward from the outer peripheral surface of the winding shaft RF. In other words, a portion of the outer fixing portion J1 protrudes from the outer peripheral surface of the winding shaft RF in the y direction.

After a part of the outer fixing part J1 is fitted into the guide groove Dc, the fixing pin Jp is inserted into the winding shaft RF in the z direction so that the outer fixing part J1 slides in the z direction along the guide groove Dc. The state in which the outer fixing part J1 is fitted into the guide groove Dc in the z direction is shown in FIG25. As shown in FIG26, by inserting the fixing pin Jp in the z direction, the inner fixing part J2 is inserted so as to abut against the inner peripheral surface of the winding shaft RF.

Since the distance N2 between the outer fixing portion J1 and the inner fixing portion J2 is slightly shorter than the thickness K2 of the winding shaft RF in the portion where the guide groove Dc is formed, the outer fixing portion J1 pushes the winding shaft RF from the outside through the front end portion St of the peeling pad S, and the inner fixing portion J2 pushes the winding shaft RF from the inside. Therefore, the front end portion St of the peeling pad S is fixed to the winding shaft RF by the fixing pin Jp.

After the front end St of the peeling pad S is fixed to the winding shaft RF, the winding shaft RF is rotated to wind the peeling pad S around the winding shaft RF. The peeling pad S is gradually wound around the outer peripheral surface of the winding shaft RF and the outer peripheral surface of the outer fixing portion J1 as shown in FIG. 27 to form a roll SR.

The peeling pad S is wound up in a state where the fixing pin Jp is inserted into the winding shaft RF so that the outer side fixing portion J1 protrudes outward from the outer peripheral surface of the winding shaft RF. That is, the circumference of the peeling pad S to be wound up is longer than the circumference of the cylindrical member of the winding shaft RF. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 27 , a gap portion Vb is formed between the roll SR of the peeling pad S and the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical member of the winding shaft RF around the outer side fixing portion J1.

After a certain amount of the peeling pad S is wound, the fixing pin Jp is pulled out in the z direction. As the fixing pin Jp is pulled out, a gap portion Vb is newly formed in the portion where the outer fixing portion J1 existed, as shown in FIG. 28. Furthermore, as the fixing pin Jp is pulled out, the state in which the peeling pad S is fixed to the winding shaft RF is released, so the gap portion Vb gradually expands to the entire space between the winding shaft RF and the roll SR.

After the fixing pin Jp is pulled out to release the fixing of the peeling pad S, the roll SR of the peeling pad S is pulled out from the winding shaft RF in the z direction and recovered. Since the gap Vb is formed as a whole in the space between the winding shaft RF and the roll SR, the friction force generated between the winding shaft RF and the roll SR can be reduced.

In this way, also in the sheet recovery device 100 of the comparative example, the friction force generated between the take-up shaft and the roll SR can be reduced, so the roll SR of the stripping pad S can be easily extracted from the take-up shaft RF. However, in the configuration of the comparative example using the fixing pin Jp, each time the process of fixing the stripping pad S to the take-up shaft RF is performed, the fixing pin Jp must be manually inserted into the take-up shaft RF. Furthermore, each time the state in which the stripping pad S is fixed to the take-up shaft RF is released, the fixing pin Jp must be manually extracted. In this way, since the number of manual operations in the comparative example increases, the operation of recovering the sheets becomes prolonged and complicated.

Furthermore, if the fixing pin Jp is repeatedly inserted and removed manually, there is a concern that the fixing pin Jp and the winding shaft RF may be easily deteriorated. For example, the fixing pin Jp and the winding shaft RF may be deformed due to friction. Also, during the insertion or removal of the fixing pin Jp, a force generated by the manual operation is applied to the winding shaft RF in a direction different from the axial direction. Therefore, the winding shaft RF may be deflected, which may reduce the winding accuracy of the stripping pad S. In particular, since the distance N2 between the outer fixing portion J1 and the inner fixing portion J2 is the same as or slightly shorter than the thickness K2 of the winding shaft RF, when the fixing pin Jp is inserted into the winding shaft RF, a large force is easily applied to the winding shaft RF in a direction different from the axial direction.

Furthermore, in the comparative example, after the front end portion St of the peeling pad S is pressed and fixed from the outside by the outer side fixing portion J1 of the fixing pin Jp, the peeling pad S is wound around the outer side of the outer side fixing portion J1 and the outer side of the winding shaft RF. That is, as shown in FIG. 27 , the outer side fixing portion J1 of the fixing pin Jp is clamped by the peeling pad S from both the upper and lower sides.

When the peeling pad S is made of a material that is easily stretched, the peeling pad S is rolled up while being stretched in the stretching direction M in response to the tension applied in the stretching direction M of the peeling pad S. Therefore, a force that attempts to return from the stretched state, i.e., a restoring force, acts on each of the peeling pads S on both sides sandwiching the outer fixing portion J1.

As a result, since a force acts on the outer fixing portion J1 in a direction perpendicular to the direction (z direction) in which the fixing pin Jp is extracted (radial direction of the winding shaft RF), it is difficult to extract the fixing pin Jp in the z direction. When the restoring force of the peeling pad S acts on the outer fixing portion J1, the operator will pull out the fixing pin Jp while pressing the winding shaft RF with a strong force to resist the restoring force. As a result, a force different from the axial direction acts on the winding shaft RF, and the shaft or the like is easily deformed.

On the other hand, in the first embodiment, the diameter of the take-up portion 57 is automatically adjusted by using the maximum diameter adjustment mechanism 61. That is, the diameter of the take-up portion 57 is adjusted by arranging the protruding member 63 inside the take-up portion 57 and moving the protruding member 63 forward and backward in the diameter direction of the take-up portion 57. Specifically, the protruding member 63 is made to protrude further outward than the cylindrical member 58 of the take-up portion 57, and the operation of taking up the peeling pad S is performed in a state where the diameter of the take-up portion 57 is increased. By increasing the diameter of the take-up portion 57, the circumference of the peeling pad S being wound becomes longer.

Next, after the peeling pad S is rolled up by the roll-up portion 57, the state in which the peeling pad S is fixed to the roll-up portion 57 is released, and the diameter of the roll-up portion 57 is reduced by burying the protruding member 63 in the cylindrical member 58. By reducing the diameter of the roll-up portion 57, the circumference of the roll-up portion 57 is also reduced. That is, the circumference of the roll-up portion 57 after the protruding member 63 is buried is shorter than the length of the inner circumference of the roll SR of the peeling pad S formed by the rolling operation. In addition, the state in which the peeling pad S is fixed to the roll-up portion 57 is released. As a result, the gap portion Vb covers the entire space between the winding portion 57 and the roll SR and gradually expands, so that the friction generated between the winding portion 57 and the roll SR can be eliminated or greatly reduced.

The protruding member 63 protrudes from the inside of the roll-up portion 57 to the outside, and the peeling pad S is wound around the protruding member 63 in the protruding state. That is, unlike the comparative example, in the first embodiment, the peeling pad S only contacts one side of the protruding member 63. In addition, the restoring force generated by the tension of the peeling pad S acts on the protruding member 63 in the radial direction of the roll-up portion 57 (from the outside to the inside). In other words, in the first embodiment, the protruding member 63 will not be clamped by the peeling pad S, and the direction in which the restoring force acts is the same as the direction in which the protruding member 63 moves. Therefore, the forward and backward movement of the protruding member 63 is not hindered by the tension of the peeling pad S. Therefore, even in the case where the peeling pad S is made of a material that is easily stretched, the operation of adjusting the diameter of the take-up portion 57 can be performed with good accuracy.

Furthermore, since the forward and backward movement of the protruding member 63 can be automatically controlled, the diameter of the take-up portion 57 can be automatically adjusted in the configuration of the first embodiment. Therefore, a recovery operation that can easily recover the peeled liner S can be realized, and each process of the recovery operation can be more highly automated. Furthermore, by automating the operation of adjusting the diameter of the take-up portion 57, it is possible to avoid the operator applying force to the take-up portion 57. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the shaft of the take-up portion 57 from being deformed or the take-up portion 57 from being deformed.

The protruding member 63 is provided with an adsorption hole 69, through which the front end portion St of the peeling pad S is adsorbed and held. That is, since the protruding member 63 also functions as a fixing member for fixing the peeling pad S to the winding portion 57, the structure of the pad recovery portion 15 can be made simpler. [Example 2]

Next, the second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the first embodiment, the structure in which the maximum diameter adjustment mechanism 61 adjusts the diameter of the take-up portion 57 by moving the protruding member 63 radially forward and backward toward the take-up portion 57 to switch between the protruding state and the buried state is used as an example for explanation. In the second embodiment, the structure in which the maximum diameter adjustment mechanism 61 adjusts the diameter of the take-up portion 57 by switching between the expanded state and the contracted state is used as an example for explanation. In addition, the adhesive tape attaching device of the second embodiment has the same basic structure as the device of the first embodiment. Therefore, the same reference numerals are used for the same components as those of the adhesive tape applying device 1 described in Example 1, and the different components are described in detail. The configuration of the pad recovery unit 15 of the sheet recovery device of the present invention is different between Example 1 and Example 2.

As shown in Fig. 29, the pad collecting section 15A in the second embodiment includes a winding mechanism 51A and a cutting mechanism 53. The winding mechanism 51A includes a rotating plate 55 and a winding section 57A.

The winding portion 57A has a cylindrical member 58A and a maximum diameter adjustment mechanism 61A. The cylindrical member 58A constitutes the outer contour of the winding portion 57A, and is a cylindrical member with a hollow interior. The internal space of the cylindrical member 58A is closed, and is made of a material that can expand and contract according to the air pressure in the internal space. As an example of a material constituting the cylindrical member 58A, rubber and the like can be cited. As shown in Figures 29 and 30, an adsorption hole 69 is formed on the side of the cylindrical member 58A, and the adsorption hole 69 is connected to the suction device 71 through a flow path 70. In Embodiment 2, the suction device 71 is arranged inside the cylindrical member 58A.

The maximum diameter adjustment mechanism 61A has a gas supply hole 79 and a gas supply device 80. In Embodiment 2, the gas supply hole 79 is formed on the front side (top) of the cylindrical component 58A as shown in FIG. 29, but the position of the gas supply hole 79 can also be appropriately changed. The gas supply hole 79 is connected to the gas supply device 80 that supplies gas to the interior of the cylindrical component 58A. By adjusting the amount of gas supplied to the internal space of the cylindrical component 58A by the gas supply device 80, the air pressure of the internal space of the cylindrical component 58A can be appropriately controlled. In addition, in the longitudinal sectional view observed in the previous view such as FIG. 30, for the convenience of explanation, the gas supply hole 79 is recorded on the lower side (side) of the cylindrical component 58A.

When the amount of gas supplied to the inner space of the cylindrical member 58A increases, the air pressure in the inner space of the cylindrical member 58A increases. When the inner pressure of the cylindrical member increases, the cylindrical member 58A expands, and the diameter of the roll-up portion 57A increases. When the amount of gas supplied to the inner space of the cylindrical member 58A decreases, the air pressure in the inner space of the cylindrical member 58A decreases. When the inner pressure of the cylindrical member decreases, the cylindrical member 58A contracts, and the diameter of the roll-up portion 57A decreases.

In this way, the maximum diameter adjustment mechanism 61A is configured so that the diameter of the take-up portion 57A can be changed by adjusting the amount of gas supplied to the inner space of the cylindrical member 58A by the gas supply device 80. In addition, FIG. 30 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the take-up portion 57A in a state (contracted state) where the gas supply device 80 does not supply gas to the inner space of the cylindrical member 58A and the cylindrical member 58A is in a contracted state. The diameter of the take-up portion 57 (the diameter of the cylindrical member 58A) when the take-up portion 57A is in the contracted state is set to J1. Fig. 31 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the take-up portion 57A in a state where the cylindrical member 58A is inflated (inflated state) by supplying gas to the inner space of the cylindrical member 58A through the gas supply device 80. The diameter of the take-up portion 57A in the inflated state (the diameter of the cylindrical member 58A) is assumed to be J2. J2 is a value greater than J1.

<Description of the recovery process in Example 2> Here, in Example 2, a series of processes for recovering the peeling pad S peeled from the protective tape PT by the pad recovery section 15A are described. The outline of the process of recovering the peeling pad S in Example 2 is the same as the flow chart shown in Figure 6 (b). However, the details of the process of adjusting the diameter of the take-up section 57, etc., are different between Example 1 and Example 2. Therefore, regarding the recovery process of the peeling pad S in Example 2, the parts common to Example 1 are simplified, and the different components are described in detail.

Step T1 (increasing the diameter of the take-up portion) Before starting the action of attaching the protective tape PT, the operation of increasing the diameter of the take-up portion 57A is performed in the same manner as in Example 1. However, in Example 2, the diameter of the take-up portion 57A is increased by switching the take-up portion 57A from the contracted state to the expanded state. That is, the control unit 40 activates the gas supply device 80 provided in the maximum diameter adjustment mechanism 61. By activating the gas supply device 80, the gas As is supplied to the internal space of the cylindrical member 58A through the gas supply hole 79.

By supplying gas As to the inner space of the cylindrical member 58A, the state of the roll-up portion 57A changes from the contracted state shown in FIG. 30 to the expanded state shown in FIG. 31. That is, by supplying gas to the inner space of the cylindrical member 58A, the internal pressure of the cylindrical member 58A gradually increases. Then, by the increase in the internal pressure of the cylindrical member 58A, the outer wall of the cylindrical member 58A gradually expands. By switching the roll-up portion 57A from the contracted state to the expanded state, as shown in FIG. 30 and FIG. 31, the maximum diameter of the roll-up portion 57 increases from J1 to J2. Once the take-up portion 57A becomes inflated, the control unit 40 stops the supply of gas As by the gas supply device 80 and closes a valve (not shown) disposed in the flow path connecting the gas supply hole 79 and the gas supply device 80.

Step T2 (fixing the front end of the sheet) After the reel 57A is changed into an expanded state by the gas supply device 80 and the diameter of the reel 57A is increased, the front end of the peeling pad S is fixed to the reel 57A. Even in Embodiment 2, the front end St of the peeling pad S is fixed to the reel 57A by air suction as in Embodiment 1. That is, the peeling pad S peeled from the protective tape PT by the peeling roller 21 is pulled out, and the front end St of the peeling pad S is guided toward the pad recovery section 15A. Next, as shown in FIG32, the front end portion St of the peeling pad S is brought close to the adsorption hole 69 formed in the cylindrical member 58A.

When the front end St of the peeling pad S is brought close to the adsorption hole 69, as shown in Fig. 33, the control unit 40 activates the suction device 71. The suction device 71 sucks air Ar through the adsorption hole 69 to reduce the pressure in the space between the front end St of the peeling pad S and the adsorption hole 69. Therefore, by the operation of the suction device 71, the front end St of the peeling pad S is adsorbed and held on the side surface of the cylindrical member 58A.

Step T3 (rolling up the sheet) After the front end St of the peeling pad S is fixed to the winding section 57A, the operation of attaching the protective tape PT to the wafer W is started, and the operation of rolling up the peeling pad S using the pad recovery section 15 is started. That is, the control section 40 controls the suction device 71 to be turned on while rotating the rotating plate 55 around the axis in the z direction. As shown in FIG. 34, since the winding section 57A rotates around the axis in the z direction together with the rotating plate 55, the peeling pad S is wound along the side of the cylindrical member 58A and gradually rolled up.

In the liner recovery section 15A of the second embodiment, the reeling section 57A is changed from the contracted state to the expanded state before starting step T3, and the maximum diameter of the reeling section 57A is increased from J1 to J2. When the reeling section 57A is contracted to reel in the peeling liner S, the circumference of the reeling liner S is the length of the circumference of the circle with the maximum diameter J1 as the radius.

On the other hand, when the roll-up portion 57A is expanded to roll up the peeling pad S, the circumference of the peeling pad S rolled up becomes the length of the circumference of the circle having the maximum diameter J2 as the radius. That is, when the roll-up portion 57A is rotated to gradually roll up the peeling pad S while the maximum diameter of the roll-up portion 57A is increased, the circumference of the peeling pad S rolled up also increases. In other words, by increasing the maximum diameter of the winding portion 57A before starting step T3, the circumference of the stripping pad S wound in step T3 becomes longer than the length of the outer circumference of the tubular member 58A in the contracted state.

As the action of rolling up the peeling pad S continues, the amount of the peeling pad S rolled up by the rolling portion 57 gradually increases, and similarly to the first embodiment, a roll SR of the peeling pad S is formed around the rolling portion 57A.

Step T4 (cutting of the sheet) When the amount of the peeling pad S wound on the winding section 57 exceeds the threshold value, the process from step T4 to step T6 is performed in order to remove the roll SR of the peeling pad S from the pad recovery section 15.

At the beginning of step T4, the peeling pad S is cut along the width direction in the same manner as in Embodiment 1. The control unit 40 moves the cutting mechanism 53 from the initial position to the cutting position, and further moves the cutting mechanism 53 in the width direction of the peeling pad S. By moving the cutting mechanism 53 horizontally in the width direction (z direction), the cutter 73 gradually cuts the peeling pad S in the width direction. As a result, the roll SR of the peeling pad taken up by the take-up unit 57 is separated from the subsequent pad Sd (refer to FIG. 17 ). The process of step T4 is completed by cutting and peeling the liner S to separate the roll SR from the subsequent liner Sd.

Step T5 (reducing the diameter of the take-up portion) When the roll SR and the subsequent pad Sd are separated by cutting the stripping pad S, the operation of reducing the diameter of the take-up portion 57A is performed. In Embodiment 2, the diameter of the take-up portion 57A is reduced by switching the take-up portion 57A from an expanded state to a contracted state. First, the control unit 40 stops the suction device 71 to release the adsorption of the front end portion St of the stripping pad S through the adsorption hole 69. Next, the control unit 40 opens the valve provided in the flow path connecting the gas supply device 80 and the gas supply hole 79 to degas the internal space of the tubular member 58A. By degassing the inner space of the cylindrical member 58A, the inner pressure of the cylindrical member 58A is reduced, causing the outer wall of the cylindrical member 58A to shrink, and the roll-up portion 57A becomes a shrunken state.

By switching the winding portion 57A from the expanded state to the contracted state, the maximum diameter of the winding portion 57A is reduced from J2 to J1 as shown in Fig. 35. The length of the inner circumference of the roll SR formed in step T3 is the length of the circumference of the circle having the maximum diameter J2 of the winding portion 57A in step T3 as the radius, which is equivalent to the length of the outer circumference of the winding portion 57A in the expanded state.

On the other hand, when the winding section 57A is in the contracted state, the length of the outer circumference of the winding section 57A becomes the length of the circumference with J1 as the radius. That is, when the winding section 57A is switched to the contracted state to reduce the maximum diameter, a difference is generated between the length of the inner circumference of the roll SR of the peeling pad S and the length of the outer circumference of the winding section 57A. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 35 , a gap portion Vb is generated between the roll SR of the peeling pad S and the winding section 57A in accordance with the difference in length between the circumference with J2 as the radius and the circumference with J1 as the radius.

When the roll-up portion 57A is switched from the expanded state to the contracted state, the roll-up portion 57A contracts uniformly toward the center Q. Therefore, the gap portion Vb is formed so as to uniformly expand over the entire periphery of the roll-up portion 57A. Since the gap portion Vb is formed over the entire portion where the roll-up portion 57A contacts the peeling pad S, the friction force generated between the roll-up portion 57A and the roll SR of the peeling pad S is eliminated or greatly reduced over the entire periphery of the cylindrical member 58A contacted by the peeling pad S.

Step T6 (sheet recovery) After the diameter of the winding section 57A is reduced to form a gap portion Vb between the winding section 57A and the peeling pad S, the peeling pad S wound on the winding section 57A is recovered in the same manner as in Embodiment 1. That is, the roll SR of the peeling pad S wound on the winding section 57A and accumulated is pulled out in the axial direction of the winding section 57A (z direction in Embodiment 2), and the roll SR is recovered from the winding section 57A (refer to FIG. 20).

Through a series of processes from step T1 to step T6, the peeling pad S is rolled up by the reeling section 57A of the pad recovery section 15A, and the rolled peeling pad S is recovered. When the protective tape PT is continuously attached to a predetermined number of wafers W, the process returns from step T6 to step T1 to repeat the process from step T1 to step T6.

In this way, the pad recovery part 15A of the second embodiment can obtain the same effect as the pad recovery part 15 of the first embodiment by having the maximum diameter adjustment mechanism 61A for controlling the amount of gas supplied to the inside of the cylindrical member 58A. That is, by controlling the amount of gas supplied to the inside of the cylindrical member 58A by the gas supply device 80 to appropriately switch the roll-up part 57A between the expanded state and the contracted state, the maximum diameter length of the roll-up part 57A can be adjusted under mechanical control.

Next, the peeling pad S is rolled up by the roll-up portion 57A in a state where the maximum diameter of the roll-up portion 57A is long, thereby forming a roll SR of the peeling pad S having a long inner circumference. After the roll SR is formed, the maximum diameter of the roll-up portion 57A is adjusted to be shorter than before the roll SR is formed, so that the gap portion Vb is formed to cover the entire space between the roll SR of the peeling pad S and the roll-up portion 57A. As a result, the friction force generated between the roll-up portion 57 and the roll SR can be eliminated or greatly reduced, so that the operation of pulling out the roll SR and separating it from the roll-up portion 57A can be reliably prevented from being hindered by the friction force.

Similar to the operation of moving the protruding member 63 forward and backward in the first embodiment, the operation of adjusting the amount of gas supplied to the inside of the cylindrical member 58A in the second embodiment can be automatically performed under mechanical control. That is, since there is no need to manually adjust the diameter of the take-up portion 57A, the recovery operation of easily recovering the peeled liner S can be realized, and at the same time, each process of the recovery operation can be more highly automated. In addition, by automating the operation of adjusting the diameter of the take-up portion 57, it is possible to avoid the operator applying force to the take-up portion 57. In this way, the occurrence of the deflection of the axis of the take-up portion 57 or the deformation of the take-up portion 57 can be prevented.

Furthermore, the restoring force generated by the tension of the peeling pad S acts on the cylindrical member 58A from the peeling pad S to the diameter of the roll-up portion 57A (from the outside to the inside). Moreover, the direction in which the cylindrical member 58A expands or contracts is also the diameter of the roll-up portion 57A. Therefore, the expansion or contraction of the cylindrical member 58A is not hindered by the tension of the peeling pad S. Therefore, even if the peeling pad S is made of a material that is easily stretched, the operation of adjusting the diameter of the roll-up portion 57 can be performed with good accuracy.

In Embodiment 1, a portion of the protruding member 63 is formed in the entire circumference of the take-up portion 57, and the maximum diameter increases from D2 to D1. On the other hand, in Embodiment 2, since the tubular member 58A is expanded as a whole, the maximum diameter of the take-up portion 57A increases from J1 to J2 covering the entire circumference of the take-up portion 57A. Therefore, the shape of the roll SR of the peeling pad S formed by being wound on the take-up portion 57A becomes a hollow cylindrical shape with a small deviation in the length of the diameter. Therefore, since the deviation of the tension acting on the peeling pad S when the peeling pad S is rolled up can be reduced, the winding accuracy of the peeling pad S caused by the pad recovery portion 15A can be further improved.

<Other implementation forms> In addition, all the implementation forms disclosed this time are illustrative and not limiting. The scope of the present invention is not the description of the above-mentioned implementation forms, but is shown by the scope of the patent application, and includes all changes (variations) within the meaning and scope that are equivalent to the scope of the patent application. For example, the present invention can be implemented in the following ways.

(1) Although the pad recovery section 15 is illustrated as the sheet recovery device in each embodiment, the structure of the sheet recovery device of the present invention can also be applied to the tape recovery section 13. That is, the winding mechanism 49 provided in the tape recovery section 13 has the same structure as the winding mechanism 51 provided in the pad recovery section 15. In this case, after the waste tape PTn is wound up in a state where the diameter of the winding section provided in the winding mechanism 49 in the tape recovery section 13 is increased, the diameter of the winding section provided in the winding mechanism 49 is reduced to form a gap portion between the winding section and the roll of the waste tape PTn. By forming the gap, it is possible to avoid the generation of friction between the roll of waste tape PTn and the take-up mechanism 49 in the process of extracting and recovering the roll of waste tape PTn from the take-up mechanism 49. In addition, the process of recovering the waste tape PTn can be more highly automated.

(2) In Example 1, the adsorption hole 69 is formed in the protruding member 63, and the protruding member 63 also serves as the adsorption member, but the present invention is not limited to this. That is, as shown in FIG. 36 , the adsorption hole 69 may be formed at a position different from the position where the through hole 59 is formed in the cylindrical member 58. In the example shown in FIG. 36 , the through hole 59 and the protruding member 63 are arranged at a position corresponding to the upper side of the side surface of the cylindrical member 58, and on the other hand, the adsorption hole 69 is formed at a position corresponding to the lower side of the side surface of the cylindrical member 58.

Even in such a configuration, by fixing the front end portion St of the peeling pad S to the winding portion 57 via the adsorption hole 69 and wrapping the peeling pad S around the outer surface (upper surface) of the protruding member 63 moved to the protruding position and the outer peripheral surface of the tubular member 58, the peeling pad S can be rolled up on the winding portion 57 while increasing the circumference of the rolled-up peeling pad S.

(3) In the first embodiment, the number of the protruding member 63 is not limited to one, and a plurality of protruding members 63 may be provided. In addition, a plurality of protruding members 63 may be arranged in parallel in the axial direction (z direction) of the take-up portion 57, or a plurality of protruding members 63 may be arranged in the circumferential direction of the take-up portion 57. As an example, the through hole 59 and the protruding member 63 may be arranged at a position corresponding to the upper side and a position corresponding to the lower side in the side surface of the cylindrical member 58.

(4) In each embodiment, the adsorption hole 69 is not limited to the configuration that allows the peeling pad S to be adsorbed and held on the take-up portion 57 by air suction. As an example, the peeling pad S may be adsorbed and held by electrostatic attraction, or the peeling pad S may be adsorbed and held on the take-up portion 57 by electrostatic attraction. When the electrostatic attraction is adopted, as an example of the attraction device 71, a device that charges the adsorption hole 69 with static electricity may be used.

(5) In each embodiment, the timing of performing step T1 is not limited to before step T2. As long as the diameter of the winding portion 57 is increased before performing step T3, the operation of step T1 may be performed simultaneously with step T2 or between step T2 and step T3.

1: Adhesive tape attaching device 3: Tape supply unit 4: Tension mechanism 5: Holding table 7: Tape attaching unit 9: Tape cutting unit 11: Tape stripping unit 13: Tape recovery unit 15: Pad recovery unit 20: Raw material roll 21: Stripping roller 27: Cylinder 28: Idle roller 29: Tension roller 31: Wafer holding unit 33: Cutter travel groove 35: Attaching roller 49: Winding mechanism 51: Winding mechanism 53: Cutting mechanism 55: Rotating plate 57: Winding unit 58: Cylindrical member 59: Through hole 61: Maximum diameter adjustment mechanism 63: protruding member 65: cylinder 67: motor 69: suction hole 70: flow path 71: suction device 72: cutter holder 73: cutter 75: opening and closing door 79: gas supply hole 80: gas supply device W: wafer (workpiece) S: peeling pad PT: protective tape Vb: gap part SR: roll

FIG. 1 is a front view showing the basic structure of the adhesive tape attaching device of the sheet material recovery device of Example 1. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the schematic structure of the sheet material recovery device of Example 1, (a) is a perspective view of the sheet material recovery device in a protruding state, and (b) is a perspective view of the sheet material recovery device in a buried state. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the maximum diameter adjustment mechanism of Example 1. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of the protective tape with a peeling pad added in Example 1. FIG. 5 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view showing the structure of the take-up portion of Example 1 observed from the front view; (a) is a longitudinal cross-sectional view in a protruding state, and (b) is a longitudinal cross-sectional view in a buried state. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the device of Embodiment 1; (a) is a flowchart showing the outline of the operation of attaching the protective tape to the wafer, and (b) is a flowchart showing the operation of rolling up and recovering the peeling pad. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating step S1 of Embodiment 1. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating step S2 of Embodiment 1. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating step S3 of Embodiment 1. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating step S4 of Embodiment 1. FIG. 11 is a three-dimensional diagram illustrating step T2 of Embodiment 1. FIG. 12 is a longitudinal cross-sectional diagram illustrating step T2 of Embodiment 1 when viewed from the front. FIG. 13 is a longitudinal cross-sectional diagram illustrating step T2 of Embodiment 1 when viewed from the front. FIG. 14 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of step T3 of Example 1 observed from the front view. FIG. 15 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of step T3 of Example 1 observed from the front view. FIG. 16 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of step T4 of Example 1 observed from the front view. FIG. 17 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of step T4 of Example 1 observed from the front view. FIG. 18 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of step T5 of Example 1 observed from the front view. FIG. 19 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of step T5 of Example 1 observed from the front view. FIG. 20 is a stereoscopic view of step T6 of Example 1. FIG. 21 is a perspective view showing the structure of the sheet recovery device of the comparative example. FIG. 22 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the structure of the sheet recovery device of the comparative example when viewed from the left side. FIG. 23 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the operation of the sheet recovery device of the comparative example when viewed from the front. FIG. 24 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the operation of the sheet recovery device of the comparative example when viewed from the front. FIG. 25 is a perspective view showing the operation of the sheet recovery device of the comparative example. FIG. 26 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the operation of the sheet recovery device of the comparative example when viewed from the front. FIG. 27 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the operation of the sheet recovery device of the comparative example when viewed from the front. FIG. 28 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the operation of the sheet recovery device of the comparative example when viewed from the front. FIG. 29 is a perspective view showing the schematic structure of the sheet recovery device of Example 2. FIG. 30 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the structure of the sheet recovery device in the contracted state in Example 2 when viewed from the front. FIG. 31 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the structure of the sheet recovery device in the expanded state in Example 2 when viewed from the front. FIG. 32 is a longitudinal sectional view showing step T2 of Example 2 when viewed from the front. FIG. 33 is a longitudinal sectional view showing step T2 of Example 2 when viewed from the front. FIG. 34 is a longitudinal sectional view showing step T3 of Example 2 when viewed from the front. FIG. 35 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of step T4 of Example 2 when viewed from the front. FIG. 36 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a sheet material recovery device of a modified example when viewed from the front.

1: Adhesive tape attachment device

3: With supply department

4: Tension mechanism

5: Keep the table

7: With attachment unit

9: With cutting unit

9a: Movable table

9b: Support arm

9c: Cutter

11: With stripping unit

13: With recycling department

15: Pad recycling department

17: Base

19: Supply bobbin

20: Raw material roll

21: Peel off the roller

23: Electromagnetic brake

25: Swing arm

27: Cylinder body

28: Idle Roller

29: Zhang Lijuan

31: Wafer holding unit

33: Cutter travel groove

34: Movable table

35: Attachment roller

40: Control Department

46: Guide roller

47: Clamp Roller

47a: Pressure roller

47b: Feed roller

49: Winding mechanism

50: Input section

53: Cutting mechanism

57: Rolling section

75: Open and close the door

L: Release direction of protective tape PT

M: Release direction

P: Longitudinal axis

PT: Protective tape

PTn: waste tape

S: Peel off the liner

W: Wafer

Claims (5)

A sheet material recovery method is to roll up and recover the sheet material that has been released and supplied to the workpiece, and is characterized by comprising: a sheet fixing process, in which the front end of the sheet material is fixed to a fixing member, and the fixing member is arranged on a winding section; a winding process, in which the winding section is rotated while the front end of the sheet material is fixed to the winding section so that the sheet material is rolled up toward the winding section; a gap forming process, in which a gap portion is generated between the winding section and the sheet material by making the diameter of the winding section smaller than the diameter of the winding section in the winding process; a fixing release process, in which the state in which the front end of the sheet material is fixed to the winding section is released; and a recovery process, in which the sheet material rolled up into a roll is pulled out from the winding section and recovered. The sheet material recycling method of claim 1 comprises: a protrusion forming process, which increases the diameter of the aforementioned winding section by making the protrusion member provided on the aforementioned winding section protrude in the radial direction of the aforementioned winding section; and a protrusion releasing process, which releases the state in which the aforementioned protrusion member protrudes in the radial direction of the aforementioned winding section by the aforementioned protrusion forming process; the aforementioned winding process is to roll the aforementioned sheet material toward the aforementioned winding section in the state in which the aforementioned protrusion member protrudes in the radial direction of the aforementioned winding section by the aforementioned protrusion forming process, the aforementioned gap forming process is to release the state in which the aforementioned protrusion member protrudes in the radial direction of the aforementioned winding section by the aforementioned protrusion releasing process, thereby making the diameter of the aforementioned winding section smaller than the diameter of the aforementioned winding section in the aforementioned winding process. A sheet material recycling method as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the aforementioned fixing member is disposed on the aforementioned protruding member. The sheet material recycling method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the sheet material fixing process is to fix the front end of the sheet material to the fixing member by using air suction or electrostatic suction to make the fixing member adsorb the front end of the sheet material. A sheet material recovery device is used to roll up and recover the sheet material released and supplied to the workpiece, and is characterized by comprising: a winding section for rolling up the sheet material; a sheet fixing member disposed on the winding section and fixing the front end of the sheet material; a winding mechanism for rotating the winding section in a state where the front end of the sheet material is fixed to the sheet fixing member so that the sheet material is rolled up toward the winding section; a gap forming mechanism for forming a gap between the sheet material rolled up and the winding section by making the diameter of the winding section smaller than the diameter of the winding section in a state where the sheet material is rolled up toward the winding section by the winding mechanism; and a fixing release mechanism for releasing the state where the front end of the sheet material is fixed to the sheet fixing member.