JP7337449B2 - Method for manufacturing a dressing plate and method for dressing a cutting blade - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a dressing plate for use in a dressing method implemented at the beginning of use of an annular cutting blade for cutting workpieces such as semiconductor wafers, and a method for dressing the cutting blade.

Device chips used in electronic equipment such as mobile phones and computers are formed by dividing a semiconductor wafer on which a plurality of devices are arranged side by side. A cutting device with, for example, an annular cutting blade is used when dividing a semiconductor wafer. By moving the cutting blade and the workpiece relatively while making the cutting blade rotating at high speed cut into the workpiece, the workpiece can be cut along the path of this movement.

The cutting blade has abrasive grains such as diamond and a bond (bonding material) that disperses and fixes the abrasive grains. The cutting surface on the outer peripheral side of the cutting blade has an uneven shape formed by a bond and abrasive grains protruding from the bond. Then, when the rotating cutting blade is caused to cut into the work piece, the abrasive grains appropriately exposed from the bond come into contact with the work piece, and the work piece is cut. At this time, shavings generated from the workpiece due to cutting are temporarily accommodated in the concave-convex shape functioning as a chip pocket, and removed from the concave-convex shape to be efficiently removed.

By the way, in the unused cutting blade, the abrasive grains are not appropriately exposed from the bond, and the uneven shape large enough to function as a chip pocket is not formed on the outer peripheral side. Therefore, as it is, the workpiece cannot be cut appropriately, and sufficient performance cannot be exhibited. Therefore, after attaching an unused cutting blade to the cutting device and before cutting the workpiece with the cutting blade, a substrate called a dummy wafer made of the same material as the workpiece is cut on the cutting blade. A process called pre-cutting is performed.

For the dummy wafer, for example, a semiconductor wafer whose quality is less than the quality required for a semiconductor wafer on which devices are formed, or the like is used. When dressing is carried out, the bond of the cutting blade is consumed, the abrasive grains are appropriately exposed from the bond, and unevenness large enough to function as a chip pocket is formed on the cutting surface of the cutting blade. The use of a sharpened cutting blade enables high-quality machining of the workpiece.

However, in order to sufficiently dress the workpiece, several dummy wafers of the same quality as the workpiece must be prepared and cut by the cutting blade. In particular, the monetary cost required for dummy wafers and the time cost required for cutting several dummy wafers have been major problems. Therefore, when dressing an unused cutting blade, instead of a dummy wafer, a dressing board having abrasive grains and bonds for dispersing and fixing the abrasive grains was used (see, for example, Patent Document 1. ).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2011-11280

The use of a dressing board allows the cutting blade sharpening to proceed efficiently. However, in the case of cutting blades containing particularly small-sized abrasive grains, even with the use of a dressing board, there have been cases in which the cutting blades cannot be sufficiently formed with uneven shapes that function as chip pockets. Therefore, even when a dressing board is used for dressing the cutting blade, it is still necessary to cut a dummy wafer made of the same material as the workpiece before cutting the workpiece with the cutting blade.

By the way, the dummy wafers are not uniform in shape such as thickness, and there are cases where individual dummy wafers do not have the same thickness. Therefore, in order to cut the dummy wafers under predetermined conditions for dressing the cutting blade, it was necessary to measure the thickness of each dummy wafer and input the thickness into the cutting device.

The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and aims to provide a dressing plate that can easily obtain information on thickness and is used in place of a dummy wafer when dressing a cutting blade; and to provide a method for sharpening a cutting blade.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for manufacturing a dressing plate which is cut by a cutting blade having abrasive grains fixed with a bond when performing dressing, wherein the thickness of a dummy wafer is measured. to generate an identification code storing information about the thickness, divide the dummy wafer to form the individual dressing plates, and give the identification code to the surface of the dressing plate to obtain the cutting blade manufacturing the dressing plate , which is made of the same material as the material of the workpiece to be cut by the method, and is provided with the identification code storing the information about the thickness on the surface; A method of manufacturing a plate is provided.

Preferably, the dressing plate is formed into a shape corresponding to the holding surface of the sub-chuck table held during cutting by the cutting blade.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a chuck table for holding a workpiece and a cutting blade to which abrasive grains are fixed with a bond are provided, and the workpiece held by the chuck table is attached to the cutting blade. A cutting device comprising a cutting unit for cutting with a , a camera unit, and a sub-chuck table, in which the cutting blade is dressed using the dressing plate manufactured by the manufacturing method of the dressing plate A method comprising: a dressing plate fixing step of fixing the dressing plate to the sub-chuck table; and dressing the cutting blade by cutting the dressing plate fixed by the sub-chuck table with the cutting blade. a sharpening step; and a machining step of cutting the workpiece held on the chuck table after the sharpening step with the cutting blade, reading the identification code of the sharpening plate with the camera unit, a thickness information extraction step of extracting information about the thickness of the dressing plate from the identification code; and a dressing step of selecting conditions for cutting the dressing plate with the cutting blade in the dressing step based on the information about the thickness. and a condition selection step before performing the sharpening step.

Preferably, a dressing board cutting step of cutting a dressing board to which second abrasive grains are fixed by a second bond with the cutting blade is further provided before the dressing step.

In the dressing plate and cutting blade dressing method according to one aspect of the present invention, an identification code is given to the surface of the dressing plate used when sharpening the cutting blade. The identification code stores information about the thickness of the dressing plate. Therefore, when the cutting blade is sharpened using the sharpening plate, the information regarding the thickness of the sharpening plate can be easily obtained by reading the identification code in advance and extracting the information.

In particular, it is very easy to obtain information about the thickness of the dressing plate by reading the identification code of the dressing plate using the camera unit of the cutting device equipped with the cutting blade. Easy to register. If the conditions for cutting the dressing plate with the cutting blade are determined based on the thickness information, the cutting blade can be properly dressed.

Therefore, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a dressing plate and method for dressing a cutting blade, which can easily obtain information about thickness and is used in place of a dummy wafer when dressing a cutting blade.

It is a perspective view which shows a cutting device and a to-be-processed object typically. FIG. 2A is a perspective view schematically showing how a dressing plate is formed from a dummy wafer, and FIG. 2B is a perspective view schematically showing the dressing plate. FIG. 3A is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the thickness information extraction step, and FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the dressing step. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a cutting step; FIG. 5(A) is a flow chart showing the flow of each step in one example of the method for sharpening the cutting blade, and FIG. 5(B) is a flow chart showing the flow of each step in another example of the method for sharpening the cutting blade. be.

An embodiment according to one aspect of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. A method for sharpening the sharpening plate and the cutting blade according to the present embodiment will be described. First, a cutting blade to be dressed using a dressing plate, a cutting device to which the cutting blade is attached and used, and a workpiece to be cut by the cutting blade will be described. FIG. 1 is a perspective view schematically showing a cutting device 2 and a workpiece 1. FIG.

The workpiece 1 is, for example, a wafer made of a material such as Si (silicon), SiC (silicon carbide), GaN (gallium nitride), GaAs (gallium arsenide), or other semiconductors. Alternatively, it is a wafer formed from a composite oxide such as LT (lithium tantalate) or LN (lithium niobate). Alternatively, the workpiece 1 is a substantially disk-shaped substrate or the like made of a material such as sapphire, glass, or quartz. Examples of the glass include alkali glass, alkali-free glass, soda-lime glass, lead glass, borosilicate glass, and quartz glass.

FIG. 1 schematically shows a perspective view of the workpiece 1, and FIGS. 3A and 3B schematically show cross-sectional views of the workpiece 1. FIG. A plurality of devices 3 such as ICs (Integrated Circuits) and LSIs (Large Scale Integrations) are formed on the surface 1a of the workpiece 1 . By dividing the workpiece 1 into individual devices 3, individual device chips can be formed.

A cutting device 2 is used to divide the workpiece 1 . When the workpiece 1 is carried into the cutting device 2, an adhesive tape 5 is attached to the back side of the workpiece 1 in advance so as to close the opening of the annular frame 7 made of metal or the like. be. Then, the workpiece 1 is carried into the cutting device 2 in the state of the frame unit 9 in which the workpiece 1, the adhesive tape 5, and the annular frame 7 are integrated, and is cut. Each device chip formed by dividing the workpiece 1 is supported by the adhesive tape 5 and then picked up from the adhesive tape 5 .

The cutting device 2 includes a base 4 that supports each component. An opening 4a is formed in the front corner of the base 4, and a cassette support base 8 which is moved up and down by a lifting mechanism (not shown) is provided in the opening 4a. A cassette 10 containing a plurality of workpieces 1 is mounted on the upper surface of the cassette support base 8 . Note that FIG. 1 shows only the outline of the cassette 10 for convenience of explanation.

A rectangular opening 4b is formed on the side of the cassette support 8 so that its longitudinal direction is along the X-axis direction (front-rear direction, processing feed direction). A ball-screw type X-axis moving mechanism (not shown), and a table cover 14 and a dust/splash proof cover 16 covering the upper part of the X-axis moving mechanism are arranged in the opening 4b. The X-axis movement mechanism includes an X-axis movement table (not shown) covered with a table cover 14, and moves this X-axis movement table in the X-axis direction.

A chuck table 18 for sucking and holding the workpiece 1 is provided on the upper surface of the X-axis moving table so as to be exposed from the table cover 14 . The chuck table 18 is connected to a rotation drive source (not shown) such as a motor, and rotates around a rotation axis substantially parallel to the Z-axis direction (vertical direction). Also, the chuck table 18 is moved in the X-axis direction together with the X-axis moving table and the table cover 14 by the X-axis moving mechanism.

The upper surface of the chuck table 18 serves as a holding surface 18a for holding the workpiece 1 by suction. The holding surface 18 a is formed substantially parallel to the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction, and is connected to a suction source (not shown) such as an ejector through a suction path (not shown) provided inside the chuck table 18 . )It is connected to the. Around the chuck table 18 are provided four clamps 18b for fixing the annular frame 7 supporting the workpiece 1 from all sides.

A transport unit (not shown) for transporting the workpiece 1 to the chuck table 18 or the like is arranged in a region adjacent to the opening 4b. A temporary placement mechanism for temporarily placing the workpiece 1 is provided at a position adjacent to the side of the cassette support table 8 . The temporary placement mechanism includes, for example, a pair of guide rails 12 that approach and separate while maintaining a state parallel to the Y-axis direction (indexing direction). The pair of guide rails 12 sandwich the workpiece 1 pulled out from the cassette 10 by the transport unit in the X-axis direction and align it at a predetermined position.

The workpiece 1 aligned with the predetermined position is lifted up by the transport unit and transported to the chuck table 18 . At this time, the pair of guide rails 12 are separated from each other, and the workpiece 1 is passed between the pair of guide rails 12 .

Above the chuck table 18, a first cutting unit 24a and a second cutting unit 24b for cutting the workpiece 1 with annular cutting blades are provided. A gate-shaped support structure 20 for supporting the first cutting unit 24a and the second cutting unit 24b is arranged on the upper surface of the base 4 so as to straddle the opening 4b.

A first moving unit 22a for moving the first cutting unit 24a in the Y-axis direction and the Z-axis direction, and a second cutting unit 24b for moving the second cutting unit 24b in the Y-axis direction and the Z-axis direction are provided on the upper front surface of the support structure 20. A second moving unit 22b is provided to allow the

The first moving unit 22a has a Y-axis moving plate 28a, and the second moving unit 22b has a Y-axis moving plate 28b. The Y-axis moving plate 28a and the Y-axis moving plate 28b are slidably mounted on a pair of Y-axis guide rails 26 arranged on the front surface of the support structure 20 along the Y-axis direction.

A nut portion (not shown) is provided on the back side (rear side) of the Y-axis moving plate 28a, and a Y-axis ball screw 30a substantially parallel to the Y-axis guide rail 26 is screwed into this nut portion. ing. A nut portion (not shown) is provided on the back side (rear side) of the Y-axis moving plate 28b, and a Y-axis ball screw 30b that is substantially parallel to the Y-axis guide rail 26 is screwed into this nut portion. are combined.

A Y-axis pulse motor 32a is connected to one end of the Y-axis ball screw 30a. By rotating the Y-axis ball screw 30a by the Y-axis pulse motor 32a, the Y-axis moving plate 28a moves along the Y-axis guide rail 26 in the Y-axis direction. A Y-axis pulse motor (not shown) is connected to one end of the Y-axis ball screw 30b. By rotating the Y-axis ball screw 30b with the Y-axis pulse motor, the Y-axis moving plate 28b moves along the Y-axis guide rail 26 in the Y-axis direction.

A pair of Z-axis guide rails 34a are provided along the Z-axis direction on the surface (front) side of the Y-axis moving plate 28a, and a pair of Z-axis guide rails 34a are provided on the surface (front) side of the Y-axis moving plate 28b in the Z-axis direction. A pair of Z-axis guide rails 34b are provided along. A Z-axis moving plate 36a is slidably attached to the pair of Z-axis guide rails 34a, and a Z-axis moving plate 36b is slidably attached to the pair of Z-axis guide rails 34b.

A nut portion (not shown) is provided on the back side (rear side) of the Z-axis moving plate 36a, and the nut portion is provided along a direction substantially parallel to the Z-axis guide rail 34a. A Z-axis ball screw 38a is screwed thereon. A Z-axis pulse motor 40a is connected to one end of the Z-axis ball screw 38a. By rotating the Z-axis ball screw 38a with this Z-axis pulse motor 40a, the Z-axis moving plate 36a moves along the Z-axis guide rail 34a. to move in the Z-axis direction.

A nut portion (not shown) is provided on the back side (rear side) of the Z-axis moving plate 36b, and the nut portion is provided along a direction substantially parallel to the Z-axis guide rail 34b. A Z-axis ball screw 38b is screwed thereon. A Z-axis pulse motor 40b is connected to one end of the Z-axis ball screw 38b. By rotating the Z-axis ball screw 38b with this Z-axis pulse motor 40b, the Z-axis moving plate 36b moves along the Z-axis guide rail 34b. to move in the Z-axis direction.

A first cutting unit 24a is provided below the Z-axis moving plate 36a. At a position adjacent to the first cutting unit 24a, a camera unit 46a for taking an image of the workpiece 1 sucked and held by the chuck table 18 is provided. A second cutting unit 24b is provided below the Z-axis moving plate 36b. At a position adjacent to the second cutting unit 24b, a camera unit 46b for taking an image of the workpiece 1 sucked and held by the chuck table 18 is provided.

The first moving unit 22a controls the positions of the first cutting unit 24a and the camera unit 46a in the Y-axis direction and the Z-axis direction, and the second moving unit 22b controls the Y-axis direction of the second cutting unit 24b and the camera unit 46b. Axial and Z-axis positions are controlled. That is, the position of the first cutting unit 24a and the position of the second cutting unit 24b are independently controlled.

An opening 4c is formed at a position opposite to the opening 4a with respect to the opening 4b. A cleaning unit 48 for cleaning the workpiece 1 is arranged in the opening 4c.

As shown in FIG. 3B, the first cutting unit 24a includes a spindle 42a whose axis is substantially parallel to the holding surface 18a of the chuck table 18, and a cutting tool attached to the tip of the spindle 42a. and a blade 44a. The second cutting unit 24b includes a spindle 42b whose axis is substantially parallel to the holding surface 18a of the chuck table 18, and a cutting blade 44b attached to the tip of the spindle 42b.

The cutting blades 44a and 44b are equipped with grindstones in which abrasive grains made of diamond or the like are dispersed and fixed by bonds made of resin or metal such as nickel. The whetstone is formed, for example, on the outer periphery of an annular base made of metal. A cutting blade with this annular base is called a hub type. Also, the cutting blades 44a and 44b may not have an annular base. A cutting blade without this annular base is called a washer type.

There are several types of cutting blades. For example, there are multiple types of cutting blades with different shapes, sizes, and amounts of abrasive grains contained in the grindstone, and multiple types of cutting blades with different bond materials, blade thicknesses, diameters, etc. exist. When cutting the workpiece 1, depending on the material, size and shape of the workpiece 1 and the content of the cutting process, a type of cutting blade suitable for the cutting process is selected and attached to the tips of the spindles 42a and 42b. be done.

Abrasive grains are moderately exposed from the bond on the surface of the grindstone. When the cutting blades 44a and 44b are rotated to cut into the workpiece 1 held by the chuck table 18, the abrasive grains hit the workpiece 1 and the workpiece 1 is cut. Chips generated from the workpiece 1 during cutting are temporarily accommodated in the uneven shape of the grindstone surface functioning as chip pockets, and are removed from the uneven shape to be efficiently removed.

As the workpiece 1 is cut, the cutting blades 44a and 44b are gradually worn out, so the cutting blades 44a and 44b are periodically replaced. Here, in the unused cutting blades 44a and 44b, the abrasive grains are not adequately exposed from the bond, and the outer peripheral surface of the grindstone is not formed with an irregular shape large enough to function as a chip pocket. Therefore, as it is, the workpiece 1 cannot be cut appropriately, and sufficient performance cannot be exhibited.

Therefore, when the unused cutting blades 44a, 44b are attached to the spindles 42a, 42b, the cutting blades 44a, 44b are subjected to a treatment called pre-cutting before cutting the workpiece 1. When performing dressing, the dressing plate 11 according to the present embodiment is cut by the cutting blades 44a and 44b. When the dressing is carried out, the bond of the cutting blades 44a and 44b is moderately worn, the abrasive grains are moderately exposed, and unevenness large enough to function as chip pockets is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the grindstone.

Conventionally, dressing is performed by preparing a dummy wafer made of the same material as the workpiece 1, holding the dummy wafer on the chuck table 18, and cutting the dummy wafer with unused cutting blades 44a and 44b. Ta. For example, if the workpiece 1 is a silicon wafer, silicon is also used for the dummy wafer.

Silicon wafers used for manufacturing device chips have extremely high purity and extremely high crystallinity. A silicon wafer is manufactured, for example, by cutting a silicon ingot formed by a known method. However, at the initial stage of crystal growth when a silicon ingot is formed, the silicon produced does not reach the desired quality. For dummy wafers, for example, such portions of silicon ingots that are not used for manufacturing device chips were used. Alternatively, silicon wafers that cannot be used for manufacturing device chips for some reason may be used as dummy wafers.

Here, in order to sufficiently dress the cutting blades 44a and 44b, several dummy wafers made of the same material as the material of the workpiece 1 are prepared and attached to the cutting blades 44a and 44b. must be cut. Therefore, the monetary cost required for dummy wafers and the time cost required for cutting several dummy wafers have been major problems. Therefore, instead of the dummy wafer, a dressing board having abrasive grains and a bond (bonding material) for dispersing and fixing the abrasive grains was used.

The cutting device 2 includes rectangular sub-chuck tables 50 a and 50 b capable of holding the dressing board 13 at positions adjacent to the chuck table 18 , as shown in FIG. 1 . FIGS. 3A and 3B show side views of the sub-chuck table 50b. The upper surfaces of the sub-chuck tables 50a and 50b are holding surfaces 52a and 52b, and inside the sub-chuck tables 50a and 50b are a suction path having one end communicating with the holding surfaces 52a and 52b and the other end of the suction path. and a source of suction connected to.

When the dressing board 13 is placed on the sub-chuck tables 50a and 50b and the suction source is activated, the dressing board 13 is held by the sub-chuck tables 50a and 50b. By cutting the dressing board 13 with unused cutting blades 44a and 44b, the cutting blades 44a and 44b can be actively worn, and the dressing can proceed efficiently.

However, in the case of the cutting blades 44a and 44b containing particularly small-sized abrasive grains, even with the use of the dressing board 13, there were cases where it was not possible to sufficiently form uneven shapes that function as chip pockets on the surface of the grindstone. Therefore, even when the dressing board 13 is used, it is still necessary to cut a dummy wafer of the same material as the workpiece 1 before cutting the workpiece 1 with the cutting blades 44a and 44b. Then the problem of using dummy wafers reappeared.

Therefore, the dressing plate 11 according to the present embodiment (see FIG. 2B) is used instead of the dummy wafer for dressing the unused cutting blades 44a and 44b. Next, the dressing plate 11 will be described. The dressing plate 11 is made of the same material as the material of the workpiece 1 . However, the material forming the dressing plate 11 does not have to be completely the same as the material forming the workpiece 1 in terms of constituent materials, composition, structure, and the like.

That is, the material of the same quality as the material of the workpiece 1 refers to, for example, a material that wears the cutting blades 44a and 44b by being cut to the same extent. For example, it may be a material that partially matches the material that constitutes the workpiece 1, the constituent material, the composition, and the structure. If the workpiece 1 is a crystalline material, the material of the dressing plate 11 may be less crystalline than the material of the workpiece 1 .

More specifically, when the workpiece 1 is a silicon single crystal wafer, the dressing plate 11 may be a silicon substrate with low crystallinity, a silicon substrate containing impurities, or a silicon substrate having a pattern formed on its surface. good.

As shown in FIG. 2A, the dressing plate 11 can be formed, for example, by dividing a conventionally used dummy wafer 15 along predetermined dividing lines 15a. For example, in the cutting device 2, the dressing plate 11 can be manufactured by cutting the dummy wafer 15 along the dividing line 15a to divide the dummy wafer 15. As shown in FIG. Alternatively, the dummy wafer 15 may be laser-processed along the dividing line 15a to divide the dummy wafer 15. As shown in FIG.

Here, the dressing plate 11 formed from the dummy wafer 15 is preferably shaped into the shape of the holding surfaces 52a, 52b of the sub-chuck tables 50a, 50b to be held. That is, the planned division line 15a is preferably set according to the shape of the holding surfaces 52a and 52b. When the dressing plate 11 is formed into the shape of the holding surfaces 52a and 52b of the sub-chuck tables 50a and 50b, the dressing plate 11 can be held by the sub-chuck tables 50a and 50b.

If the dressing plate 11 can be held by the sub-chuck tables 50a and 50b, there is no need to use the chuck table 18 to hold the dressing plate 11.例文帳に追加In this case, while the sub-chuck tables 50a and 50b hold the dressing plate 11, the workpieces 1 can be processed one after another by the chuck table 18, and the dressing plate 11 can be used as needed. Therefore, compared to the case where the dummy wafer 15 is fixed on the chuck table 18 and the dressing is performed, the number of times the operation of the cutting device 2 is stopped for loading/unloading can be reduced.

By the way, the thickness of the dummy wafer 15, which is the raw material of the dressing plate 11, is not uniform. Therefore, when the dressing plate 11 formed from the dummy wafer 15 is used to dress the cutting blades 44a and 44b, the thickness of each dressing plate 11 is measured and the control unit of the cutting device 2 detects the thickness. must be entered. This is because the appropriate cutting conditions for dressing the cutting blades 44a and 44b change depending on the thickness of the dressing plate 11. FIG.

Further, for example, even when a silicon wafer having a thickness conforming to the standard is used as the dummy wafer 15, the standardized thickness of the silicon wafer differs depending on the diameter of the silicon wafer. After the dressing plate 11 is cut out from the dummy wafer 15, the diameter of the original dummy wafer 15 cannot be known from the dressing plate 11. - 特許庁Therefore, since the thickness of the dressing plate 11 is unknown even in this case, it is necessary to measure the thickness of each dressing plate 11 when dressing the cutting blades 44a and 44b.

However, when carrying the dressing plates 11 into the sub-chuck tables 50a and 50b, measuring the thickness of all the dressing plates 11 and inputting the measured values into the control unit of the cutting device 2 is very troublesome. Since the dressing board 13 held by the sub-chuck tables 50a and 50b is manufactured with a standardized predetermined thickness, such a problem regarding thickness measurement is a problem peculiar to the dressing plate 11. FIG.

Therefore, the surface 11a of the dressing plate 11 according to this embodiment is provided with an identification code 17 storing information about the thickness. For example, before dividing the dummy wafer 15, the thickness of the dummy wafer 15 is measured to generate the identification code 17 in which information about the thickness is stored. After the dummy wafer 15 is divided to form the individual dressing plates 11, the identification code 17 is given to the surface 11a of the dressing plate 11 by a method such as ink jet.

For example, the identification code 17 is a two-dimensional code or bar code. Information other than the thickness information may be stored in the identification code 17 together with the thickness information. For example, the identification code 17 stores information about the material of the dressing plate 11, information about the raw material dummy wafer 15, information about the production number, or information about the type of cutting blade to be dressed. good too. Alternatively, the identification code 17 may be numbers, letters, or symbols representing the thickness of the dressing plate 11 .

The cutting device 2 reads the identification code 17 by imaging the surface 11a of the dressing plate 11 with camera units 46a and 46b provided adjacent to the cutting units 24a and 24b, for example. As shown in FIG. 3A, the camera units 46a and 46b are movable above the sub-chuck tables 50a and 50b, and can image the dressing plate 11 fixed to the sub-chuck tables 50a and 50b.

The cutting device 2 then extracts information about the thickness of the dressing plate 11 from the identification code 17 . Information about the thickness is automatically input to the cutting device 2 . In the cutting device 2, the conditions for cutting the dressing plate 11 are selected based on the thickness of the dressing plate 11 when the cutting blades 44a and 44b are dressed.

After that, the dressing plate 11 is cut by the cutting blades 44a and 44b under the selected conditions to complete the dressing. The dressing board 13 may be cut with the cutting blades 44a and 44b before cutting the dressing plate 11 with the cutting blades 44a and 44b. In this case, since the cutting blades 44a and 44b can be greatly worn by the dressing board 13, the consumption of the dressing plate 11 can be suppressed.

After the unused cutting blades 44a and 44b are attached to the cutting device 2, the dressing board 13 and the dressing plate 11 are cut by the cutting blades 44a and 44b to perform dressing. After that, the workpiece 1 is carried onto the holding surface 18a of the chuck table 18, the camera units 46a and 46b take images of the workpiece 1 to confirm the planned cutting locations, and the cutting blades 44a and 44b are rotated to rotate the workpiece. The workpiece 1 is cut by cutting the workpiece 1. - 特許庁FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing how the workpiece 1 is cut by the cutting blades 44a and 44b.

If the sharpening plate 11 is used to sharpen the cutting blades 44a, 44b, the thickness of the sharpening plate 11 need not be measured and entered into the cutting device 2. FIG. Since the thickness is automatically input to the cutting device 2, there is no risk of input errors. Since the dressing plate 11 can be stored in the sub-chuck tables 50a and 50b, there is no need to carry the dressing plate 11 in and out when the workpiece 1 is cut. Therefore, according to the dressing plate 11 of this embodiment, the cutting blades 44a and 44b can be dressed efficiently and reliably.

Next, a method for sharpening the cutting blades according to the present embodiment, in which the sharpening plate 11 is used to sharpen the cutting blades 44a and 44b in the cutting device 2, will be described. The cutting blade sharpening method is performed in the cutting device 2 . FIG. 5(A) is a flow chart showing the flow of each step of the cutting blade sharpening method.

In the cutting blade dressing method, first, a dressing plate fixing step S10 of fixing the dressing plate 11 with the sub-chuck tables 50a and 50b is performed. In the dressing plate fixing step S10, the dressing plate 11 is placed on one or both of the sub-chuck tables 50a and 50b. At this time, the front surface 11a of the dressing plate 11 to which the identification code 17 is assigned is directed upward, and the back surface 11b is directed downward. Then, the sub-chuck tables 50a and 50b suck and fix the dressing plate 11.例文帳に追加

After performing the dressing plate fixing step S10, the camera units 46a and 46b read the identification code 17 of the dressing plate 11, and a thickness information extraction step S20 of extracting information about the thickness of the dressing plate 11 from the identification code 17 is performed. do. FIG. 3A schematically shows the positions of the camera units 46a and 46b when performing the thickness information extraction step S20. In the thickness information extraction step S20, the camera units 46a and 46b are moved above the sub-chuck tables 50a and 50b.

Then, using the camera units 46a and 46b, the surface 11a of the dressing plate 11 fixed to the sub-chuck tables 50a and 50b is imaged to obtain a captured image in which the identification code 17 is captured. Then, the identification code 17 appearing in the captured image is read, and the information about the thickness is extracted from the identification code 17 . If the identification code 17 contains information other than thickness information, each information may be extracted at the same time.

For example, based on the information extracted from the identification code 17, whether or not the dressing plate 11 fixed to the sub-chuck tables 50a and 50b is of a type suitable for dressing the cutting blades 44a and 44b to be dressed is determined. A determining step of determining may be further performed. If the type of the dressing plate 11 is not appropriate, a warning unit or the like provided in the cutting device 2 may be used to warn the user of the cutting device 2 or the like to prompt the user to change the dressing plate 11 .

After performing the thickness information extraction step S20, a dressing condition selection step S30 is performed for selecting conditions for cutting the dressing plate 11 with the cutting blades 44a and 44b based on the thickness information in the dressing step S40 described later. In the later-described sharpening step S40, sharpening must be performed under appropriate conditions according to the type of the cutting blades 44a and 44b. Change.

Therefore, in the dressing condition selection step S30, the conditions for cutting the dressing plate 11 with the cutting blades 44a and 44b are selected based on the thickness of the dressing plate 11. FIG. For example, the depth of cut from the upper surface of the dressing plate 11, the rotation speed of the cutting blades 44a and 44b, the processing feed speed of the sub-chuck tables 50a and 50b, etc. are selected.

The selection of cutting conditions when performing dressing may be performed by, for example, a control unit (not shown) of the cutting device 2 . Here, the control unit is composed of, for example, a computer including a processing device such as a microprocessor or CPU, and a storage device such as a flash memory. By operating the processing device according to software such as programs stored in the storage device, the software and the processing device (hardware resources) function as concrete means in cooperation.

Alternatively, the information about the thickness of the dressing plate 11 extracted in the thickness information extraction step S20 is displayed on a display unit (not shown) or the like provided in the cutting device 2, and the user of the cutting device 2 or the like who visually recognizes the display unit Cutting conditions may be selected.

After performing the dressing condition selection step S30, the dressing plate 11 fixed by the sub-chuck tables 50a and 50b is cut by the cutting blades 44a and 44b to dress the cutting blades 44a and 44b, thereby performing the dressing step S40. . FIG. 3B is a sectional view schematically showing the sharpening step S40. In the sharpening step S40, first, the moving units 22a and 22b and the X-axis moving mechanism are operated to position the cutting units 24a and 24b near the sub-chuck tables 50a and 50b.

Then, the cutting blades 44a and 44b are positioned at a predetermined height and rotated at a predetermined rotational speed according to the cutting conditions selected in the dressing condition selection step S30. Then, the X-axis movement mechanism is operated according to the selected cutting conditions, and the sub-chuck tables 50a and 50b are processed and fed at a predetermined processing feed rate to cause the cutting blades 44a and 44b to cut the dressing plate 11. FIG. Further, the cutting blades 44a and 44b are indexed and fed, and then the cutting blades 44a and 44b are caused to cut the dressing plate 11 again.

Then, the cutting blades 44a and 44b are caused to cut the dressing plate 11 a predetermined number of times to dress the cutting blades 44a and 44b. According to the cutting blade dressing method according to the embodiment, the cutting conditions for dressing are selected based on the thickness of the dressing plate 11, and the cutting blades 44a and 44b are caused to cut the dressing plate 11 according to the cutting conditions. Therefore, the cutting blades 44a and 44b can be sharpened quickly and appropriately.

After performing the sharpening step S40, a processing step S50 of cutting the workpiece 1 held on the chuck table 18 with the cutting blades 44a and 44b is performed. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing processing steps. In the processing step S50, the workpiece 1 is cut using the sharpened cutting blades 44a and 44b.

First, the surface 1a of the workpiece 1 is imaged by the camera units 46a and 46b, and the position of the planned machining line of the workpiece 1 is confirmed. In FIG. 3A, the positions of the camera units 46a and 46b at this time are indicated by dashed lines. The chuck table 18 is rotated around an axis perpendicular to the holding surface 18a in order to align the direction of the line to be processed with the processing feed direction (X-axis direction). Then, the moving units 22a and 22b and the X-axis moving mechanism are operated to position the cutting blades 44a and 44b on the extension line of the planned processing line of the workpiece 1. FIG.

After that, the cutting blades 44a and 44b are rotated and positioned at a predetermined height, and the X-axis movement mechanism is operated to feed the chuck table 18 to cut the workpiece 1 with the cutting blades 44a and 44b. Then, the workpiece 1 is cut along the line to be processed. Further, the cutting blades 44a and 44b are indexed and fed in the index feed direction (Y-axis direction) to cut the workpiece 1 along another scheduled processing line parallel to the scheduled processing line.

Also, the chuck table 18 is rotated to similarly cut the workpiece 1 along the other direction. When the workpiece 1 has been cut along all the planned machining lines, the machining step S50 is completed. Since the cutting blades 44a and 44b are appropriately dressed in the sharpening step S40, the cutting blades 44a and 44b can cut the workpiece 1 with high quality in the processing step S50.

In the method for dressing the cutting blade according to the present embodiment, the dressing plate 11 is fixed by the sub-chuck tables 50a and 50b. No need to carry out. Moreover, it is not necessary to carry the dressing plate 11 into the cutting device 2 each time dressing is performed. In other words, the time for stopping the cutting device 2 can be shortened, so the efficiency of cutting the workpiece 1 can be enhanced.

In the processing step S50, the first cutting blade 44a and the second cutting blade 44b may be used simultaneously to simultaneously cut the workpiece 1 along two parallel processing lines. . In this case, it is preferable that the type of the first cutting blade 44a and the type of the second cutting blade 44b match.

Also, the sharpening step S40 can be performed simultaneously on the two cutting blades 44a, 44b. For example, in the dressing plate fixing step S10, the dressing plates 11 are fixed to the two sub-chuck tables 50a and 50b, respectively, and in the thickness information extraction step S20, information about the thickness of each dressing plate 11 is extracted.

Thereafter, in a dressing condition selection step S30, cutting conditions are selected based on the thickness of each dressing plate 11. FIG. In the dressing step S40, the dressing plate 11 fixed to the sub-chuck table 50a is cut by the first cutting blade 44a, and the dressing plate 11 fixed to the sub-chuck table 50b is cut by the second cutting blade 44b. In this case, two cutting blades 44a, 44b can be sharpened simultaneously.

Further, in the sharpening step S40, the sharpening plate 11 fixed to one of the two sub-chuck tables 50a, 50b may be used to sharpen the two cutting blades 44a, 44b. In this case, the two cutting blades 44a and 44b may be subjected to the sharpening step S40 simultaneously, or the two cutting blades 44a and 44b may be subjected to the sharpening step S40 sequentially.

When the dressing plate 11 is fixed to one of the two sub-chuck tables 50a and 50b, the dressing board 13, for example, can be fixed to the other sub-chuck table 50a and 50b. FIG. 1 shows a case where the dressing plate 11 is fixed by the holding surface 52a of the sub-chuck table 50a and the dressing board 13 is fixed by the holding surface 52b of the sub-chuck table 50b.

In this case, the dressing board 13 can be cut by the cutting blades 44a and 44b before the dressing plate 11 is cut by the cutting blades 44a and 44b. Next, a modification of the cutting blade sharpening method according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 5B is a flow chart schematically showing the flow of each step of the cutting blade sharpening method according to the modification. In this modification, the dressing board cutting step S60 is performed before the dressing step S40.

The dressing board 13 contains second abrasive grains different in type or the same type as the abrasive grains included in the cutting blades 44a and 44b, and second abrasive grains different in type or the same type as the bonds included in the cutting blades 44a and 44b. of bonds. The second abrasive grains are fixed by the second bond. In the dressing board cutting step S60, the dressing board 13 is cut by the cutting blades 44a and 44b to actively wear the cutting blades 44a and 44b.

For example, in the method for sharpening the cutting blade according to the modification, the dressing board 13 fixed to the sub-chuck table 50b is cut by the cutting blades 44a and 44b (S60). After that, the dressing plate 11 fixed to the sub-chuck table 50b is cut by the cutting blades 44a and 44b (S40).

By performing the dressing board cutting step S60, the amount of wear of the cutting blades 44a and 44b in the dressing step S40 can be greatly reduced. Therefore, the replacement frequency of the dressing plate 11 can be reduced. If the replacement frequency of the dressing plate 11 can be reduced, the time for stopping the cutting device 2 can be reduced, so that the cutting efficiency of the workpiece 1 can be improved.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the description of the above embodiment, and can be implemented with various modifications. For example, in the above embodiment, the case where the dressing plate 11 is fixed to the sub-chuck tables 50a and 50b has been described. However, one aspect of the present invention is not limited to this. That is, the dressing plate 11 may be fixed to a chuck table 18 to which the workpiece 1 is fixed when the workpiece 1 is cut.

In this case as well, if the surface 11a of the dressing plate 11 is provided with the identification code 17 storing information about the thickness of the dressing plate 11, the identification code 17 is read using the camera units 46a and 46b. Information about the thickness can be extracted. Therefore, the cutting conditions for dressing can be quickly selected based on the thickness of the dressing plate 11, and the cutting blades 44a and 44b can be appropriately dressed.

When the dressing plate 11 is fixed to the chuck table 18 and the cutting blades 44a and 44b are dressed, the dressing plate 11 can be handled by the cutting device 2 in the same manner as the workpiece 1. Similarly, it can be carried in and out of the cutting device 2 . That is, the dressing plate 11 is preferably integrated with the adhesive tape 5 and the annular frame 7 and handled in the form of a frame unit.

When dressing is carried out, the cassette 10 containing the dressing plate 11 in the form of a frame unit is placed on the cassette support 8 . Then, the dressing plate 11 is pulled out from the cassette 10 onto the pair of guide rails 12 using a transport unit (not shown), and then transported to the chuck table 18 . After the dressing plate 11 is held by suction on the chuck table 18, the camera units 46a and 46b are used to read the identification code 17, extract information on the thickness, and set the dressing conditions.

After that, the cutting blades 44a and 44b to be dressed are caused to cut the dressing plate 11 in the same procedure as when the workpiece 1 is cut. Then, the dressing plate 11 in the form of a frame unit is conveyed to the washing unit 48 and washed by the washing unit 48, and then the dressing plate 11 is accommodated in the cassette 10 again using the conveying unit or the like.

In this way, when the dressing plate 11 is handled in the form of a frame unit, a series of processes from carrying the dressing plate 11 into the cutting device 2 to carrying out the dressing plate 11 are carried out in the same manner as when cutting the workpiece 1 . can be performed automatically. In this case, the cutting device 2 does not require a special configuration for handling the dressing plate 11, and the dressing of the cutting blades 44a and 44b and the cutting of the workpiece 1 can be performed continuously and automatically. Therefore, dressing of the cutting blades 44a and 44b and cutting of the workpiece 1 can be performed very efficiently.

In addition, the structures, methods, and the like according to the above embodiments and modifications can be modified as appropriate without departing from the scope of the present invention.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 work piece 1a front surface 3 device 5 adhesive tape 7 annular frame 9 frame unit 11 dressing plate 11a front surface 11b rear surface 13 dressing board 15 dummy wafer 15a division line 17 identification code 2 cutting device 4 base 4a, 4b, 4c opening 8 Cassette support base 10 Cassette 12 Guide rail 14 Table cover 16 Dust and drip proof cover 18 Chuck table 18a Holding surface 18b Clamp 20 Support structure 22a, 22b Moving units 24a, 24b Cutting unit 26 Y-axis guide rails 28a, 28b Y-axis moving plate 30a , 30b Y-axis ball screw 32a Y-axis pulse motor 34a, 34b Z-axis guide rail 36a, 36b Z-axis movement plate 38a, 38b Z-axis ball screw 40a, 40b Z-axis pulse motor 42a, 42b Spindle 44a, 44b Cutting blade 46a, 46b Camera Unit 48 Cleaning unit 50a, 50b Sub-chuck table 52a, 52b Holding surface

Claims (4)

A method for manufacturing a dressing plate that is cut by a cutting blade having abrasive grains fixed with a bond when performing dressing of the cutting blade, comprising:
measuring the thickness of a dummy wafer to generate an identification code storing information about the thickness, dividing the dummy wafer to form individual dressing plates, and applying the identification code to the surface of the dressing plate By giving
The dressing plate is made of the same material as the material of the workpiece to be cut by the cutting blade, and is provided with the identification code storing the information about the thickness on the surface of the dressing plate. A method for manufacturing a dressing plate. 2. The method of manufacturing a dressing plate according to claim 1 , wherein said dressing plate is formed into a shape corresponding to a holding surface of a sub-chuck table held during cutting by said cutting blade. a chuck table for holding a workpiece;
a cutting unit that includes a cutting blade to which abrasive grains are fixed with a bond, and that cuts a workpiece held by the chuck table with the cutting blade;
a camera unit,
a subchuck table,
3. A cutting blade sharpening method for sharpening the cutting blade using the sharpening plate manufactured by the sharpening plate manufacturing method according to claim 2,
a dressing plate fixing step of fixing the dressing plate to the sub-chuck table;
a dressing step of dressing the cutting blade by cutting the dressing plate fixed by the sub-chuck table with the cutting blade;
a machining step of cutting the workpiece held on the chuck table with the cutting blade after performing the dressing step;
a thickness information extraction step of reading the identification code of the dressing plate with the camera unit and extracting information about the thickness of the dressing plate from the identification code;
a dressing condition selection step of selecting conditions for cutting the dressing plate with the cutting blade in the dressing step based on the information about the thickness;
before performing the sharpening step. 4. The cutting blade according to claim 3, further comprising a dressing board cutting step of cutting a dressing board to which second abrasive grains are fixed by a second bond with the cutting blade before the dressing step. method of sharpening.