JP2617876B2 - Blade autochanger - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a blade autochanger incorporated in a dicing apparatus for semiconductor wafers and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a dicing apparatus for cutting a semiconductor wafer into chips has a mounting portion for a cutting blade formed at the tip of a spindle a as shown in FIG. 8, and this mounting portion is a flange portion for receiving a blade b. c and a screw portion e for screwing the blade pressing nut d, and the screw portion e
There are four small holes f circumferentially provided on the tip end surface of the spindle a for preventing the rotation of the spindle a when the nut d is inserted and removed. The blade holding nut d has a small hole f used for rotating the nut. The holes g are also provided at four places in the circumferential direction.

[0003]

The blade b can be attached to and detached from the spindle a by unfitting a blade holding nut d. To rotate the blade holding nut d, the rotating small hole is used. In order to prevent the spindle a from rotating during the rotation, a rod-shaped tool or pin or the like is also inserted into the small hole f for preventing rotation of the threaded part e so that a rod-shaped tool or pin or the like must be inserted into g. The blade b must be inserted and held down, and these are all performed by hand. Therefore, the replacement of the blade b is troublesome, which causes a reduction in the efficiency of the dicing operation.

The present invention has been made to solve such conventional problems, and provides a blade autochanger capable of automatically and easily attaching and detaching a cutting blade in a dicing device without manual work. That is the task.

[0005]

As a means for technically solving this problem, the present invention provides a new blade holding portion for holding a new blade and an old blade for a dicing apparatus for dicing a semiconductor wafer. A blade rack with an old blade holding part to be located, positioned at a spindle position and a blade rack position, removes the old blade mounted on the spindle and holds the old blade in the old blade holding part of the blade rack, The gist of the present invention is to include at least blade attachment / detachment means for holding the new blade held by the new blade holding unit and attaching the new blade to the spindle, and nut attachment / detachment means for attaching and detaching a nut for fixing the blade to the spindle from the spindle. It is a thing. The gist is that the nut attaching / detaching means is incorporated inside the blade attaching / detaching means.

[0006]

[Operation] By using the blade attaching / detaching means and the nut attaching / detaching means, the old blade mounted on the spindle can be mechanically removed and the new blade can be mechanically mounted on the spindle. That is, the blade can be attached and detached automatically.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention.
Is a blade rack, in which a new blade holding shaft 2 for holding a new blade and an old blade holding shaft 3 for holding an old blade are juxtaposed, and these holding shafts are both blade fitting shafts 2a, 3a at their tips. As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of suction holes 2b, 3b for sucking the blade are provided in the distal end surface of the holding shaft in the circumferential direction, respectively.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a first operation shaft, which is formed so as to be rotatable and is provided so as to be able to advance and retreat along the axial direction thereof, and a blade attaching / detaching means 5 is attached to a tip portion.

As shown in FIG. 3, the blade attaching / detaching means 5 has a support arm portion 51 provided in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the first operation shaft 4, and an operation portion 52 attached to the tip end portion thereof. And a ring-shaped blade holding portion 53 is provided inside the cup-shaped operation portion 52, and a plurality of suction holes 53a for sucking the blade are circumferentially provided on the tip end surface of the blade holding portion 53. Are provided.

Reference numeral 6 denotes a second operation shaft, which is formed so that the axis line is aligned with the inside of the first operation shaft 4 so as to be rotatable independently of the first operation shaft and the axis line thereof. The nut attaching / detaching means 7 is attached to the tip end portion so as to be movable back and forth along the direction.

As shown in FIG. 3, the nut attaching / detaching means 7 includes a support arm 71 provided at right angles to the axial direction of the second operating shaft 6, and an operating portion 72 attached to the tip thereof. A ring-shaped nut rotating portion 73 and a spindle pressing portion 74 disposed at the center thereof are rotatably provided in the cup-shaped interior of the operating portion 72, and the spindle pressing portion 74 is It is rotatable independently of the nut rotating portion 73, and further has a suction hole 72a for sucking the nut on the inner peripheral surface of the tip portion of the operating portion 72.
Are provided in the circumferential direction.

On the tip end surface of the nut rotating portion 73, four pins 73a are provided in the circumferential direction corresponding to the positions of the small holes g of the blade holding nut d so as to engage with the small holes g. A pin 74a which engages with the small hole f for preventing rotation of the spindle a is provided on the tip end surface of the spindle pressing portion 74.
Are also provided in the circumferential direction in accordance with the positions of the small holes f. It is preferable that both of these engagement pins 73a and 74a are formed so as to be movable back and forth through a spring (not shown) and normally urged to a protruding state. Reference numeral 8 is a semiconductor wafer holding table.

The procedure of removing the old blade mounted on the spindle and mounting the new blade in the apparatus configured as described above will be described in detail. First, the first operating shaft 4 is rotated by a required angle to attach and detach the blade. Rotate 5 to the non-acting position and wait.

Next, the second operating shaft 6 is rotated and advanced by a required angle to move the nut attaching / detaching means 7 to the operating position, and the operating portion 72 is operated on the blade holding nut d of the spindle a shown in FIG. . At this time, the spindle pressing portion 74 is rotated to fit the engagement pin 74a into the small rotation preventing hole f at the tip of the spindle a, and the spindle pressing portion 74 holds the spindle a so as not to rotate.
The engagement pin 73a of the nut rotating portion 73 is fitted into each small hole g for rotation of the blade pressing nut d, and the blade rotating nut d is gradually retracted by rotating the nut rotating portion 73, so that the blade pressing nut d is removed. The screw is removed from the threaded portion e of the spindle a, and the blade holding nut d is sucked by the suction hole 72a to be sucked on the inner peripheral surface of the distal end portion of the operation portion 72.

Thereafter, by retreating the operation unit 72,
The spindle pressing portion 74 is retracted to disengage the engagement pin 74a from the rotation-stopping small hole f of the spindle a, and the second operating shaft 6 is reversely rotated by a required angle to rotationally move the nut attaching / detaching means 7 to the inoperative position. To wait.

Next, the blade attaching / detaching means 5 standing by at the non-acting position is rotationally moved from the waiting position to the acting position to act on the old blade b mounted on the spindle a. That is, the operation portion 52 is covered on the old blade b, and the blade holding portion 53 is temporarily moved to the blade b through the suction hole 53a.
And is removed from the threaded portion e of the spindle a, and is rotated and stored in the old blade holding shaft 3a of the blade rack 1 as shown in FIG. This old blade b is
It is adsorbed by the suction holes 3b and held in a fitted state on the old blade holding shaft 3a.

The blade attaching / detaching means 5 further rotates to the new blade holding shaft 2 to adsorb and hold the new blade b ', and also to the spindle a to mount the new blade b'on the spindle a. To do.

After the blade attaching / detaching means 5 is rotationally moved to the non-acting position and is on standby, the nut attaching / detaching means 7 is rotationally moved from the standby position to the operating position, and the blade pressing nut d is attached to the thread portion e of the spindle a. The new blade b'is fixed by screwing. At this time, the spindle pressing portion 74 is rotated to fit the engagement pin 74a into the small rotation preventing hole f at the tip of the spindle a, and the spindle pressing portion 74 holds the spindle a so as not to rotate. While the engagement pin 73a of the nut rotating portion 73 is fitted in the small hole g of the blade pressing nut d, the blade pressing nut d is gradually moved forward while rotating the nut rotating portion 73. It can be screwed to the screw part e. Finally, the blade attaching / detaching means 5 is rotationally moved to the non-acting position and made to stand by.

In this manner, the replacement of the old and new blades can be automatically performed on the spindle a, and when the new blade b 'is damaged, the above operation is repeated.

FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 show a second embodiment of the present invention. In the blade attaching / detaching means 25 provided at the tip of the first operating shaft 24, the old blade attaching / detaching means 25a is used.
And a new blade attaching / detaching means 25b provided in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the first operating shaft 24.
The points that are symmetrically provided at both ends of 51 are the first
It differs from the embodiment. The nut attaching / detaching means 27 provided at the tip of the second operating shaft 26 has the same structure as the nut attaching / detaching means 7 of the first embodiment.

In the case of the second embodiment, the nut attaching / detaching means 27 removes the blade pressing nut d of the spindle a, and the old blade b attached to the spindle a is removed.
Is removed by the old blade attaching / detaching unit 25a, and the blade attaching / detaching unit 25 is rotated by 180 °, so that the new blade attaching / detaching unit 25a is removed.
The new blade b ′ previously held by b is mounted on the spindle a, and the blade pressing nut d held by the nut attaching / detaching means 27 is screwed onto the spindle a again to fix the new blade b ′. I can. The old blade b is removed and removed from the old blade attaching / detaching means 25a that is exposed to the outside. Therefore, the blade rack 1 in the first embodiment is
Is unnecessary.

FIG. 7 shows a third embodiment of the present invention. The nut attaching and detaching means 37, which is substantially the same as the nut attaching and detaching means shown in the first and second embodiments, is used.
(This is also substantially the same as the blade attaching / detaching means shown in the first and second embodiments.) In this case, the second operating shaft and the supporting arm are unnecessary. , The configuration of the blade auto changer is simplified,
In addition, it has a feature that the entire device can be downsized.

Further, although not shown in the drawings, it is also possible to configure so that the blade is attached or detached based on a blade replacement command, and as a device for detecting the damage and wear amount of the old blade, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. A detecting device for detecting a blade failure disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-212045 can be used. The detection signal of the detection device may be input to a control device (not shown), and the blade autochanger according to the present invention may be driven based on a blade replacement command from the control device.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention,
In a dicing device for dicing a semiconductor wafer, by providing a blade autochanger including at least a blade attaching / detaching means and a nut attaching / detaching means for detaching an old blade attached to a spindle and attaching a new blade to the spindle. In addition, the blade can be automatically replaced, the replacement of the blade is simplified, and excellent effects such as remarkable improvement in dicing work efficiency can be achieved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a main part of an apparatus showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B are schematic perspective views of a blade holding shaft in a blade rack.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of a blade attaching / detaching means and a nut attaching / detaching means in the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a front view of a main part of the device in the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of an essential part of the device showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view of the main part of the apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a schematic plan view of a main part of an apparatus showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a state where a blade holding nut and a cutting blade are removed from a spindle.

[Explanation of symbols]

1. Blade rack 2. New blade holding shaft 2a
... Blade fitting shaft 2b ... Suction hole 3 ... Old blade holding shaft 3a ... Blade fitting shaft 3b ... Suction hole 4 ... First operation shaft
5: Blade attaching / detaching means 51: Support arm section 52: Operating section 53: Blade holding section 53a: Suction hole 6: Second operating shaft 7: Nut attaching / detaching means
71 ... Support arm part 72 ... Operation part 72a ... Suction hole 73 ... Nut rotating part 73a ... Engagement pin 7
4 spindle holding part 74a engaging pin 8 semiconductor wafer holding table 24 first operation axis
25 ... Blade attaching / detaching means 25a ... Old blade attaching / detaching means 25b ... New blade attaching / detaching means 251 ... Support arm portion 26 ... Second operation shaft 27 ... Nut attaching / detaching means 35 ... Blade attaching / detaching means
37 ... Nut attachment / detachment means

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A dicing machine for dicing a semiconductor wafer
The new blade holder that holds the new blade and the old blade
The blade blade with the old blade holder that holds the
Rack , spindle position and blade rack position.
And remove the old blade attached to the spindle
Hold old blade in old blade holding part of blade rack
The new blade held by the new blade holder.
Blade attachment / detachment means that holds the blade and attaches it to the spindle
And spin the nut to fix the blade to the spindle
A blade autochanger including at least a nut attaching / detaching means for attaching / detaching from a dollar . 2. The nut attaching / detaching means is inside the blade attaching / detaching means.
The blade autochanger according to claim 1, wherein the blade autochanger is incorporated in a blade.