JP2000046054A - Air spindle and dicing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent contaminant from intruding to between a spindle housing and a rotary shaft in the machining process which involves much generation of contaminant, prevent generation of a difference in the air pressure which forms an air seal, and eliminate bothering blowout sounds generated when a large quantity of air is blown out. SOLUTION: An air spindle to be mounted in a machining device is composed of a rotary shaft 4, air bearings 2 and 3 to support the rotary shaft 4 pneumatically both in the radial and thrust directions, and a spindle housing 1 including air seal groove 11 to seal the periphery of the rotary shaft 4. The air seal groove 11 is furnished with two or more air supply passages 10a for supplying the air in communication with one another.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air spindle provided in a precision cutting device such as a dicing device for cutting a semiconductor wafer and a dicing device provided with the air spindle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an air spindle of this type, for example, the one shown in FIGS. In the conventional air spindle, a rotary shaft, that is, a spindle 4 is disposed inside a spindle housing 1 via a radial air bearing 2 and a thrust air bearing 3. A synchronous motor 7 composed of a rotor 5 and a stator 6 is attached to the base side of the spindle 4, and the spindle 4 is driven to rotate.

[0003] A tip of a spindle 4 as a rotating shaft projects from the spindle housing 1, and a blade 9 is attached to the projecting tip via a flange member 8. The cutting process is performed.

[0004] When cutting chips, that is, contaminants generated during the cutting work enter between the spindle housing 1 and the spindle 4, a so-called "snap" phenomenon occurs, and not only a smooth rotation cannot be performed, but also precision cutting cannot be performed. In some cases, rotation may eventually become impossible.

[0005] Therefore, to prevent contamination,
An air supply path 10 is provided in the spindle housing 1, and the air supply path 10 is connected to a ring-shaped air seal groove 11 provided inside the distal end side of the spindle housing 1. Air is blown or blown out from between the housing 1 and the spindle 4 to form a seal on the outer peripheral surface of the spindle 4 to prevent contamination from entering.

[0006]

However, even with an air spindle provided with an air seal groove, there is a difference in the air pressure to be ejected between a portion near and far from the air supply path. In addition, there is a problem that contaminants intrude into the spindle from a portion where the air pressure is weak and cause a galling phenomenon.

When the amount of contamination due to cutting increases, the amount of air blown out from the air seal groove must be correspondingly increased. When the amount of air blowing increases, annoying and noisy air blowing sound is generated near the air seal groove,
A new problem arises that makes the operator uncomfortable.

Therefore, in the prior art, the air pressure blown out through the air seal groove is made entirely non-strong to prevent the invasion of contaminants. Even if the amount of air blown out is large, it is annoying and noisy. There is a problem that must be solved to prevent the generation of air blowing noise.

[0009]

As a specific means for solving the problems of the prior art, the present invention relates to an air spindle equipped in a cutting device, wherein the air spindle comprises a rotating shaft, and a rotating shaft. A spindle housing including an air bearing for supporting the air in the radial and thrust directions and an air seal groove for sealing the outer periphery of the rotary shaft, and an air supply path for supplying air to the air seal groove. Are provided so as to communicate with each other in two or more paths, and a dicing apparatus provided with the air spindle having the above configuration.

The air supply path is formed so as to be equiangularly communicated with the air seal groove, and the air supply path is composed of three paths, and these paths are formed so as to communicate with the air seal groove at approximately 120 ° intervals. And that an air supply path is provided with a mesh-shaped metal sintered body as an additional requirement.

Since the air spindle according to the present invention has two or more air supply paths connected to the air seal groove, the air pressure blown out of the air seal groove is made substantially uniform to reduce the weak air pressure. Eliminating it can prevent contamination. Also,
Since the muffler is provided in the air supply path,
Even if the amount of air blown out in the air seal groove is large, no annoying and noisy air blowout sound is generated.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the illustrated embodiments. The same parts as those in the conventional example are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the details are omitted. FIG. 1 shows an air spindle according to the present invention,
Spindle housing 1 and spindle housing 1
And a spindle 4 serving as a rotating shaft disposed inside the inside.

A spindle 4, which is a rotating shaft, is provided via a radial air bearing 2 and a thrust air bearing 3, and is supported in a non-contact manner in a radial direction and a thrust direction by an air bearing.
In addition, it is arranged rotatably with respect to the spindle housing 1. A synchronous motor 7 composed of a rotor 5 and a stator 6 is attached to the rotation shaft, that is, the base side of the spindle 4, and the spindle 4 is driven to rotate.

The distal end of the spindle 4 arranged in this manner projects from the spindle housing 1, and a blade 9 is attached to the projecting distal end via a flange member 8. Is performed.

In the cutting process, two or more air supply paths are provided in the spindle housing 1 so that no contamination enters between the spindle housing 1 and the spindle 4. In the case of the illustrated embodiment, the three air supply paths 10a to 10c are arranged at substantially equal intervals, that is, about 120 air supply paths.
It is provided with an angular interval of °.

The air supply paths 10a to 10a
Reference numeral 0c communicates with a ring-shaped air seal groove 11 provided inside the distal end side of the spindle housing 1, and blows air from between the spindle housing 1 and the spindle 4 through the air seal groove 11. Thus, an air seal is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the spindle 4 to prevent the intrusion of contamination.

In this case, the ring-shaped air seal groove 1
1, the air supply paths 10a to 10c are approximately 120
By being formed at equal angular intervals of °,
The air pressure blown out from the air seal groove 11 can be made substantially uniform, so that a weak portion is not generated in the blown air pressure on the 360 ° outer peripheral surface of the spindle 4 protruding from the spindle housing 1. -ing

Further, in the present invention, the silencing members 12 are disposed in the air supply paths 10a to 10c, respectively, to prevent generation of annoying and noisy air blowing sounds. The silencing member 12 may be of various configurations or materials, but is preferably a mesh-shaped metal sintered body.

The mesh-shaped metal sintered body is, for example,
It is made of a metal such as copper, stainless steel, aluminum, etc., has a disk shape as a whole, and has an air supply path 1
0a to 10c are disposed at appropriate positions in such a manner as to close the air supply path, and the disposition position can be arbitrarily selected. Preferably, the position near the air seal groove 11 is more preferable. Great silencing effect.

In the air spindle provided with the silencing member 12 as described above, the air supplied to each air supply path is clean air. A non-functional state may occur.

Assuming such a situation, the silencing member 12
It is better to dispose them on each of the air supply paths 10a to 10c. FIG. 3 shows a preferred example of the arrangement position for that purpose.

That is, in the vicinity of the air seal groove 11 and the portion of the thrust air bearing 3,
Is arranged. In this case, the thrust air bearing 3
Is divided into a plurality of parts and has an assembled structure, and since the thrust collar 3a can be removed, the portion of the thrust air bearing 3 is most suitable as the disposition position of the sound deadening member in the spindle housing 1.

Therefore, even if the silencing member 12 is clogged during long-term use, the silencing member 12 can be removed and cleaned or replaced with a new one to keep the function in a clean state and eliminate the deterioration in function.

The air supply ports 13 for supplying air to the air supply paths 10a to 10c may be provided for each air supply path, or one air supply port 13 may be provided, and one air supply port may be provided. It may be configured to communicate with a plurality of air supply paths in a state of branching from the path 13. In short, the air inlet 13 may be made into one and divided into a plurality of air supply paths before reaching the air seal groove 11 to form a plurality of air supply paths.

As shown in FIG. 4, the air spindle configured as described above is used by being mounted on a dicing device 20 typified by a cutting device. The object to be cut in this case is a so-called semiconductor wafer 21, which is supported by a frame 23 via a tape 22, and a large number of the semiconductor wafers are stored in a carrying case 24 in a dicing apparatus 20. Are mounted on the chuck table 27 one by one via an appropriate pull-out mechanism 25 and an arm 26, and the above-described cutting or cutting division is performed. What is used for can be applied as it is.

In such a dicing apparatus 20,
The semiconductor wafer 21 on which the air spindle according to the present invention is mounted and which is mounted on the chuck table 27 by the blade 9 provided on the tip side of the air spindle.
Is cut or cut into individual chips.

In this case, a predetermined amount of air at a predetermined pressure is supplied to the air supply paths 10a to 10c of the air spindle, and air is ejected from between the spindle housing 1 and the spindle 4 through the air seal groove 11. Alternatively, since the air seal is formed by blowing the air to the outer peripheral surface of the spindle 4 with an air pressure having a small difference in strength, intrusion of contamination caused by the cutting process is prevented.

In particular, the air seal groove 11 is provided through a plurality of air supply paths 10a to 10c provided at substantially equal angles.
Since the air is supplied to the air seal, there is no difference in the air pressure of the air seal blown out from the air seal groove 11 in a ring shape, and therefore, there is no portion where the air pressure is weak such that contamination enters. .

Further, even if the supply amount of air to the air seal groove 11 is increased, the sound of the air blowout from the air seal groove 11 is completely silenced by the presence of the muffling member 12, so that annoying noise is eliminated. . The formation of the air seal on the outer peripheral surface of the spindle 4 is further stabilized by the strong blowing of the air, and the intrusion of contamination can be almost completely prevented.

Since the contamination can be prevented in this way, not only the service life of the air spindle is prolonged, but also the generation of noisy and noisy air blowing noise to the operator is eliminated, so that cutting is performed without causing discomfort. You can get your work done.

[0031]

As described above, the air spindle according to the present invention is an air spindle mounted on a cutting device, the air spindle comprising a rotating shaft, and the rotating shaft being arranged in a radial direction and a thrust direction. A spindle housing including an air bearing that supports the air and an air seal groove that seals the outer periphery of the rotary shaft. Two or more air supply paths for supplying air are formed in the air seal groove. With this configuration, the air pressure in the air seal groove is substantially uniform over the entire surface, and there is no difference in the air pressure of the air seal blown out from the air seal groove in a ring shape. Since there is no weak part of the air pressure where air can enter, contamination is prevented from entering and the service life of the air spindle is reduced. An excellent effect say significantly longer.

The cutting device on which the air spindle having the above-described structure according to the present invention is mounted is a dicing device for dicing a semiconductor wafer. Even if the air supply is increased and the air blowing is strengthened to prevent intrusion between the shaft and the rotating shaft (spindle), and even if the air seal is perfect, the air supply has multiple supply paths. The fact that the muffling member is attached can suppress annoying and noisy blow-out sounds that give an uncomfortable feeling to the operator, and provide an excellent effect that the service life of the cutting device is prolonged. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a schematic cross section of an air spindle according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic front view of an example of a spindle housing constituting the air spindle.

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an example of a mounting state of a muffling member in the air spindle.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view schematically showing a dicing device as an example of a cutting device equipped with the air spindle.

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a conventional air spindle in a schematic cross section.

FIG. 6 is a schematic front view of an example of a spindle housing constituting the conventional air spindle.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... spindle housing, 2 ... radial air bearing, 3 ... thrust air pairing, 4 ...
… Air spindle (rotary axis), 5 …… Rotor, 6
…… Stator, 7… Synchronous motor, 8…
... Flange member, 9 ... Blade, 10a, 10b,
10c air supply path 11 air seal groove 12 muffling member 13 air inlet 20
…… Dicing device 21… Semiconductor wafer 2
2 ... tape, 23 ... frame, 24 ... carrying case, 25 ... draw-out mechanism, 26 ... arm,
27 ... Chuck table.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An air spindle mounted on a cutting device, the air spindle comprising a rotating shaft, an air bearing for supporting the rotating shaft with air in a radial direction and a thrust direction, and sealing the outer periphery of the rotating shaft. And a spindle housing including an air seal groove to be formed, wherein two or more air supply paths for supplying air are formed in the air seal groove. 2. The air spindle according to claim 1, wherein the air supply path is formed so as to communicate at an equal angle in the air seal groove. 3. The air spindle according to claim 2, wherein there are three air supply paths, and these paths are formed to communicate with the air seal groove at substantially 120 ° intervals. 4. The air supply path is provided with a mesh-shaped metal sintered body.
4. The air spindle according to 2 or 3. 5. A dicing device for dicing a semiconductor wafer, wherein the cutting device is provided with the air spindle according to claim 1, 2, 3, or 4.