JP3332910B2 - Wafer sheet expander - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a wafer sheet expander used for stretching a wafer sheet of a wafer ring to which a wafer is attached in a semiconductor manufacturing process.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Normally, in a semiconductor manufacturing process, a wafer is cut into individual pellets in a state of being adhered to an adhesive resin sheet called a wafer ring wafer sheet, and the wafer ring wafer sheet is stretched in a subsequent process. Thereby, the interval between the individual pellets cut is increased.

[0003] When a wafer sheet of a wafer ring is stretched as described above, an expander is used. As shown in FIG. 3, the expander includes a cylindrical fixing ring 1 and an annular pressure ring 2 disposed above and outside the fixing ring 1 so as to be movable in the axial direction of the fixing ring 1. As shown in FIG. 3A, a wafer ring 5 in which a wafer 4 is attached to a wafer sheet 3 is placed on a fixed ring 1 as shown in FIG. 3A, and as shown in FIG. By pressing down the wafer ring 5 by the
The wafer sheet 3 is configured to be stretched in cooperation with the above.

Conventionally, as a mechanism for moving the pressure ring 2 of the expander up and down, for example, there is a drive system as shown in FIG. 4 or FIG. That is, in the driving method shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of, for example, three driving screws 6 are mounted on the lower surface side of the pressure ring 2 at equal circumferential intervals, and each of the nuts 7 rotatably supports these driving screws 6. , And a belt 8 for synchronously rotating the nuts 7 is wrapped around each of the nuts 7. By rotating the nuts 7 in synchronization with the belt 8, the nuts 6 and The press ring 2 is moved up and down by screwing with the drive screw 7. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 19 denotes a guide for moving the pressure ring 2 up and down while maintaining the horizontal state.

Next, in the driving method shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of, for example, three driving cylinders 9 such as air cylinders are arranged below the pressure ring 2 at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. 9 into the pressure ring 2
Are fixed to the lower surface side of each drive cylinder 9.
By extending and retracting the piston rod 10 synchronously,
The pressure ring 2 is moved up and down.

[0006]

In the driving method shown in FIG. 4 described above, the pressure ring 2 is moved up and down by the drive screw 6 and the nut 7, but when the pressure ring 2 is moved up and down. In addition, since the driving screw 6 and the nut 7 rub against each other, there is a problem that the driving screw 6 and the nut 7 are greatly consumed and the driving screw 6 and the nut 7 must be frequently replaced. In addition, a large number of idle pulleys are required to wrap the belt 8 around each nut 7, and there is a problem that the manufacturing cost of the apparatus increases. Further, in order to move the pressure ring 2 up and down while maintaining the horizontal state, it is necessary to adjust the phase of each drive screw 6 and nut 7 during assembly.
There is also a problem that this phase adjustment is very troublesome, and time and labor are required for assembling. Moreover, since the pressure ring 2 is moved up and down by screwing the drive screw 6 and the nut 7, there is also a problem that the up and down movement of the pressure ring 2 is slow and the workability is poor.

Next, in the drive system shown in FIG. 5, the pressure ring 2 is moved up and down by a plurality of drive cylinders 9. However, it is difficult to drive the plurality of drive cylinders 9 synchronously. However, the pressure ring 2 cannot be moved up and down while being kept horizontal. Therefore, there is a problem that the stretching of the wafer sheet 3 varies.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a wafer sheet expander which has a simple structure, operates quickly, has no consumable parts, and does not require screw phase adjustment and synchronization adjustment of a driving means.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a rotating ring concentrically with a pressure ring, which is rotatably disposed on the rotating ring while being inclined vertically. A plurality of cam plates or a plurality of cam followers each having a circumferentially extending cam groove are provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, and the pressure ring is provided with a plurality of cam plates or cam followers facing the cam plates or the cam followers. A plurality of cam followers rotatably engaged in the cam groove or a plurality of cam plates having a cam groove for rotatably engaging the cam follower are provided, and the rotating ring is driven by a single driving means. It is characterized in that it is rotated.

It is preferable that a cylinder is used as the driving means.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a mechanism for vertically moving a pressing link in a wafer sheet expander according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a detailed view of a part thereof. 1 and 2, the same members as those in FIGS. 1 and 2 showing the prior art are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description of the same items will be omitted.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a rotating ring 11 is disposed below the pressure ring 2 and concentrically with the pressure ring 2 so as to be rotatable in its circumferential direction. are doing. The lower end of the rotating ring 11 is connected to the distal end of a piston rod 13 of a driving cylinder 12 composed of, for example, an air cylinder. By expanding and contracting the piston rod 13 of the driving cylinder 12, the rotating ring 11 It is rotated in a predetermined angular range in the circumferential direction. A plurality of, for example, 3
A plurality of cam plates 14 are attached. On the cam plate 14,
A cam groove 15 extending in the circumferential direction of the rotating ring 11 is formed to be inclined in the up-down direction. As shown in FIG. 2, the cam groove 15 is formed to have a large inclination angle on the upper side and a small inclination angle on the lower side. On the other hand, a plurality of, for example, three cam follower mounting plates 16 are mounted on the lower surface of the pressure ring 2 at equal circumferential intervals so as to face the cam plate 14. A cam follower 17 that is rotatably engaged in the cam groove 15 of the cam plate 14 is mounted on the cam follower mounting plate 16.

In the embodiment configured as described above,
When the rotation ring 11 is rotated in the circumferential direction by expanding and contracting the piston rod 13 of the drive cylinder 12, each cam plate 14 is also rotated in the circumferential direction of the rotation link 11 with the rotation of the rotation ring 11. Move. By the rotation of each cam plate 14,
Since the position of the cam groove 15 of each cam plate 14 changes, each of the cam followers 17 rotatably engaged in the cam groove 15 of each cam plate 14 is guided by the cam groove 15 of the cam plate 14. Each moves up and down. When each of the cam followers 17 moves up and down, the pressure ring 2 is moved up and down through the respective cam follower mounting plates 15 while maintaining the horizontal state.

According to this embodiment, the driving cylinder 1
2, a plurality of cam plates 14 and cam followers 17
Can move the pressure ring 2 up and down through
The structure is extremely simple, there are no consumable parts, and the vertical movement of the pressure ring 2 is fast.

Further, according to this embodiment, by rotating a plurality of cam plates 14 by a single drive cylinder 12, it is possible to move the pressing ring 2 up and down while maintaining the horizontal state. This eliminates the need for screw phase adjustment for moving the pressure ring 2 up and down while maintaining the horizontal position during assembly and synchronization adjustment of a plurality of drive cylinders as in the related art.

In this embodiment, the cam groove 15 of the cam plate 14 is formed to have a large inclination angle on the upper side and a small inclination angle on the lower side.
Falls down quickly with a small pressing force due to a large stroke until it hits the wafer ring 4, and falls down slowly with a large pressing force due to a small stroke after hitting the wafer ring 4. Thus, the pressure ring 2 can be moved up and down more quickly, and the wafer sheet 3 of the wafer ring 5 can be stretched with a large pressing force.

As described above, one embodiment of the present invention has been described, but the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the cam plate 14 having the cam groove 15 is mounted on the rotating ring 11 side, and the cam follower 17 is rotatably engaged in the cam groove 15 of the cam plate 14 on the pressing ring 2 side. On the other hand, a cam plate 14 having a cam groove 15 is mounted on the pressure ring 2 side, and a cam follower rotatably engaged in the cam groove 15 of the cam plate 14 on the rotating ring 11 side. 17 may be attached. Further, in the above embodiment, the rotating ring 12 is rotated by the cylinder 12 such as an air cylinder, but the rotating ring 11 may be rotated by a motor other than the cylinder 12 such as a motor. Further, an adjustment stopper may be provided on an extension of the drive cylinder 12, and the stroke of the piston rod 13 of the drive cylinder 12 may be adjusted by the adjustment stopper to adjust the amount of extension of the wafer sheet 3 of the wafer ring 5. Further, the product pair ring 18 may be detachably attached to the inner peripheral edge of the pressure ring 2, and the product pair ring 18 may be replaced according to the diameter of the wafer ring 5.

[0018]

According to the present invention, the pressure ring can be moved up and down by a single driving means through a plurality of cam plates and cam followers while maintaining the horizontal state, so that the structure is simple. With the expendable parts,
In addition, the vertical movement of the pressure ring is fast, and there is no need to adjust the screw phase or to synchronize multiple drive cylinders to move the pressure ring up and down while maintaining the horizontal position during assembly as in the past. is there. As a result, failure of the apparatus and replacement of parts can be reduced, work efficiency of sheet stretching work can be improved, and assembly work can be facilitated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a mechanism for vertically moving a pressure ring in a wafer sheet expander of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a detailed view of a part of FIG. 2;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing an expander for a wafer sheet.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a mechanism for vertically moving a pressure ring in a conventional wafer sheet expander.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a mechanism for vertically moving a pressure ring in a conventional wafer sheet expander.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Fixed ring 2 Pressure ring 11 Rotating ring 12 Drive cylinder 14 Cam plate 15 Cam groove 17 Cam follower

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01L 21/301 H01L 21/68

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] A fixing ring, and a pressure ring disposed above and outside of the fixing ring so as to be movable in an axial direction of the fixing ring, wherein a wafer ring is placed on the fixing ring; In a wafer sheet expander for extending a wafer sheet of the wafer ring in cooperation with the fixing ring by pressing down the wafer ring by a pressure ring, a rotating ring is rotatably concentric with the pressure ring. A plurality of cam plates or a plurality of cam followers having a cam groove extending in the circumferential direction while being inclined in the up and down direction on the rotating ring, provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, and A plurality of cam followers or the cam followers rotatably engaged with the cam plate or the cam followers in the cam grooves of the cam plate. A plurality of the provided cam plate, expander wafer sheet, characterized in that so as to rotate by a single driving means the rotating ring with a cam groove to engage. 2. A wafer sheet expander according to claim 1, wherein a cylinder is used as said driving means.