JP6264168B2 - Cutting device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a cutting apparatus that cuts a workpiece, and more particularly, to a cutting apparatus that cuts out a necessary part from a work including a necessary part and an unnecessary part by cutting and further subdivides the necessary part.

  In recent years, with the demand for downsizing electronic devices, various electronic parts represented by multilayer ceramic capacitors have been downsized.

  There are various methods for manufacturing electronic components, but one of them is to process component materials (mother blocks) that are the core of electronic components by batch processing up to the middle of the manufacturing process. There is a method of manufacturing a single lump, then cutting and subdividing it, and further processing each of the plurality of subdivided component materials (chips) to obtain a finished product.

  For example, in a multilayer ceramic capacitor, first, a mother block made of a laminate in which ceramic green sheets serving as dielectric layers and conductive patterns serving as internal electrode layers are alternately laminated is manufactured, and then the mother block is cut. Thus, the mother block is generally manufactured by subdividing the mother block into a plurality of chips and then performing various kinds of processing on each of the plurality of chips.

  As a cutting device used when manufacturing an electronic component using such a technique, there is one disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-88161 (Patent Document 1). The cutting device disclosed in Patent Document 1 has a drive mechanism that relatively moves a table on which a mother block that is a workpiece is placed and a cutting blade, and has a side surface of the mother block placed on the table. It comprises a camera capable of imaging.

  By using the cutting device having such a configuration, the drive mechanism described above specifies the position where the mother block is to be cut based on the image captured by the camera, and the mother block is cut at the specified position. Since it becomes possible to adjust the relative position of a table and a cutting blade using, a mother block can be cut | disconnected with high precision.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-88161

  In general, when the mother block is manufactured, press working is performed in order to pressure-bond the laminated ceramic green sheets. At this time, distortion may occur in the peripheral portion of the mother block after pressure bonding due to the influence of the material type of the ceramic green sheet, the shape of the conductive pattern embedded in the ceramic green sheet, the number of stacked layers, and the like. Since the peripheral portion of the mother block in which the distortion occurs cannot be used as a product, it is necessary to remove it by cutting.

  Therefore, in the cutting device, cutting for removing the peripheral portion (that is, the unnecessary portion) of the mother block is performed prior to the subdivision of the center portion (that is, the necessary portion) of the mother block that is not distorted. The table on which the mother block is placed is sized so that the entire mother block including not only the center portion of the mother block but also the peripheral portion can be placed.

  However, when the cutting device having such a configuration is used, when the center portion of the mother block is subdivided, the mother block from which the peripheral portion has been removed is placed on the center portion of the table that is larger than necessary. It becomes a state. Therefore, when imaging the side of the mother block, not only is the field of view of the camera blocked by the end of the table, but also the end of the table at a position extremely closer to the camera than the side of the mother block to be imaged. Will be located, and defocusing will occur in the image to be captured.

  The occurrence of such occlusion of the visual field and out-of-focus blur causes an error in the accuracy at the time of specifying the cutting position, and thus hinders high-accuracy cutting. In particular, with the recent miniaturization of electronic components, there is a demand for higher precision in the accuracy of cutting, and such errors cannot be ignored.

  Here, the occurrence of such visual field obstruction and out-of-focus blur can be solved by re-mounting the mother block after removing the peripheral portion on a table corresponding to the size, but such a method When this is adopted, since the mother block is soft, a considerable amount of labor and time are required for the transfer, and as a result, the production efficiency is remarkably deteriorated.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and in a cutting apparatus that cuts out a necessary part and further subdivides it after cutting out the necessary part from the work including the necessary part and the unnecessary part, The objective is to achieve both high production efficiency and high-precision cutting.

  A cutting device according to the present invention cuts the necessary part by cutting from a workpiece including the necessary part and the unnecessary part, and further cuts and subdivides the necessary part, and includes a table, a cutting blade, 1 drive mechanism, 2nd drive mechanism, an imaging means, and a control part are provided. The table has a placement surface on which the workpiece is placed, and the cutting blade cuts the workpiece placed on the placement surface. The first drive mechanism moves at least one of the cutting blade and the table relatively in a plane parallel to the mounting surface, and the second driving mechanism includes the cutting blade and the table. Is moved relatively in a direction perpendicular to the mounting surface. The imaging means images the cut surface of the workpiece that is exposed by cutting out the necessary part from the workpiece placed on the placement surface from the side of the workpiece, The control unit controls operations of the first drive mechanism, the second drive mechanism, and the imaging unit. The control unit cuts the workpiece using the cutting blade by controlling operations of the first drive mechanism and the second drive mechanism, and based on an image captured by the imaging unit. By controlling the operation of the first drive mechanism, positioning is performed when the necessary portion is cut and subdivided. The table includes a first support part that supports the necessary part of the work, and a second support part that supports the unnecessary part of the work before the necessary part is cut out. (2) A support portion includes a first projecting portion projecting outward from the first support portion to support the unnecessary portion of the portion continuous with the necessary portion via the cut surface, and an extension of the cut surface. A second projecting portion projecting outward from the first support portion in order to support the unnecessary portion of the portion located in the vicinity of both ends in the present direction; The table is provided with a notch so that the amount of protrusion of the first overhanging portion is smaller than the amount of overhang of the second overhanging portion.

  In the cutting device according to the present invention, when the first support portion is rectangular when viewed from a direction perpendicular to the mounting surface, the rectangular first support portion is positioned relative to the rectangular support portion. The notch portion may be provided at each of the edge portions of the table corresponding to each of the two sides.

  In the cutting device according to the present invention, when the first support portion is rectangular when viewed from a direction perpendicular to the placement surface, each of the four sides of the rectangular first support portion is provided. The notch may be provided in each of the corresponding edges of the table.

  The cutting device according to the present invention further includes an auxiliary table that is detachably attached to the table so as to fill the notch in the mounted state and expose the notch in the detached state. May be.

  In the cutting apparatus according to the present invention, the imaging means may be for imaging an alignment mark provided on the cut surface of the workpiece. By analyzing the image picked up by the image pickup means, position information indicating the arrangement position of the alignment mark is detected, and the cutting position at the time of cutting and subdividing the necessary part based on the detected position information is determined. It is preferable to control the operations of the first drive mechanism and the second drive mechanism so that the necessary part is cut by the cutting blade at the calculated cutting position.

  According to the present invention, in a cutting apparatus that cuts a necessary part from a work including a necessary part and an unnecessary part by cutting and further subdivides the necessary part to achieve high production efficiency and high-precision cutting. Can do.

It is the schematic of the cutting device which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the functional block of the cutting device shown in FIG. It is a top view of the table vicinity of the cutting device shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a region IV shown in FIG. 3. It is a figure which shows the flow of the cutting process of the workpiece | work implemented using the cutting device which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a top view which shows the state of the workpiece | work before a cutting | disconnection. It is the schematic which shows the state in which the workpiece | work was mounted in the table. It is a schematic plan view which shows the 1st cutting position and the 2nd cutting position in the 1st cutting process in which the required part of a workpiece | work is cut out. It is the schematic side view seen from the arrow IX direction shown in FIG. It is a schematic plan view which shows the 3rd cutting position and the 4th cutting position in the 1st cutting process in which the required part of a workpiece | work is cut out. It is a top view which shows the state of the workpiece | work after a 1st cutting process. It is the schematic which shows the state of the workpiece | work and table before the cutting process along the row direction of the 2nd cutting process in which the required part of a workpiece | work is subdivided is implemented. It is a schematic plan view which shows the cutting position in the cutting process along the row direction of the 2nd cutting process in which the required part of a workpiece | work is subdivided. It is a schematic side view which shows the cutting position in the cutting process along the row direction of the 2nd cutting process in which the required part of a workpiece | work is subdivided. It is the schematic which shows the visual field of the 1st camera in the state shown in FIG. It is a top view which shows the state of the workpiece | work after the cutting process along the row direction in a 2nd cutting process. It is the schematic which shows the state of the workpiece | work and table before the cutting process along the row direction of the 2nd cutting process in which the required part of a workpiece | work is subdivided is implemented. It is a schematic plan view which shows the cutting position in the cutting process along the row direction of the 2nd cutting process in which the required part of a workpiece | work is subdivided. It is a top view which shows the state of the workpiece | work after the cutting process along the row direction in a 2nd cutting process. It is the schematic which shows the structure of the table of the cutting device which concerns on the modification based on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a top view of the table vicinity of the cutting device which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a schematic diagram for demonstrating the test content of a verification test.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the following embodiments, the same or common parts are denoted by the same reference numerals in the drawings, and description thereof will not be repeated.

  In the embodiment described below, a cutting device used in the production of a multilayer ceramic capacitor will be described as an example of a cutting device to which the present invention is applied. The cutting device further cuts out the necessary portion from a workpiece (that is, a mother block) made of a laminate in which ceramic green sheets serving as dielectric layers and conductive patterns serving as internal electrode layers are alternately laminated. However, in the following description, for convenience, both the work before the necessary part is cut out and the work after the necessary part is cut out may be referred to as a mother block.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a cutting device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a functional block configuration of the cutting apparatus shown in FIG. First, a schematic configuration of the cutting apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the cutting device 1 includes a cutting blade 10, a table 20, a first camera 41 and a second camera 42 as imaging means, a control unit 50, and various feed drive mechanisms 61. ~ 63.

  The cutting blade 10 is for cutting a workpiece, and is constituted by a cutting blade for push cutting. The cutting blade 10 is held by the clamp portion 11 at the lower end of the clamp portion 11. The clamp part 11 is movably driven by the Z-axis direction feed drive mechanism 61, whereby the cutting blade 10 can move in the direction of the arrow DR1 along the Z-axis direction shown in FIG.

  The table 20 has a mounting surface on which the workpiece is mounted, and is positioned below the cutting blade 10 described above. The table 20 has a flat plate shape that is substantially rectangular in a plan view in which a notch 23 (see FIG. 3 and the like) is provided at a predetermined position of the edge, and is fixed on the drive stage 34. . The detailed configuration of the table 20 will be described later.

  The drive stage 34 is installed on a base plate 32 disposed on the guide rail 31 via a rotating unit 33. The base plate 32 is driven so as to be movable on the guide rail 31 by the X-axis direction feed drive mechanism 62, whereby the table 20 can move in the arrow DR2 direction along the X-axis direction shown in FIG. . The rotating unit 33 is driven to rotate by a Z-axis feed mechanism 63, whereby the table 20 can rotate in the direction of the arrow DR3 around the Z-axis shown in FIG.

  The operations of the Z-axis direction feed drive mechanism 61, the X-axis direction feed drive mechanism 62, and the Z-axis direction feed drive mechanism 63 described above are controlled by the control unit 50. Various types can be used as the Z-axis direction feed drive mechanism 61, the X-axis direction feed drive mechanism 62, and the Z-axis direction feed drive mechanism 63. For example, a servo motor, linear motor, stepping motor, air cylinder, hydraulic pressure A feed drive mechanism using a cylinder or the like as a drive source can be used.

  Here, the X-axis direction feed drive mechanism 62 and the Z-axis feed drive mechanism 63 move the cutting blade 10 and the table 20 relatively in a plane parallel to the placement surface (that is, the upper surface) of the table 20. The Z-axis direction feed drive mechanism 61 corresponds to a first drive mechanism, and the Z-axis direction feed drive mechanism 61 corresponds to a second drive mechanism that moves the cutting blade 10 and the table 20 relatively in a direction perpendicular to the placement surface (that is, the upper surface) of the table 20. To do.

  The 1st camera 41 and the 2nd camera 42 image the workpiece | work mounted in the table 20 from the side, for example, is comprised by the CCD camera etc. The first camera 41 and the second camera 42 are shown in the drawing so as to sandwich the table 20 in correspondence with each of the edge portions corresponding to the two sides of the substantially rectangular table 20 in plan view. It arrange | positions so that it may face along a Y-axis direction. The operations of the first camera 41 and the second camera 42 are controlled by the control unit 50. Images captured by the first camera 41 and the second camera 42 are input to the control unit 50.

  The control unit 50 is a part that controls the overall operation of the cutting apparatus 1. Mainly, the movement operation of the cutting blade 10, the movement operation of the table 20, the rotation operation of the table 20, the first camera 41 and the second camera 42. The imaging operation and the like are controlled synchronously. More specifically, the control unit 50 performs various calculations with the feed control unit 51 that controls the operations of the Z-axis direction feed drive mechanism 61, the X-axis direction feed drive mechanism 62, and the Z-axis direction feed drive mechanism 63 described above. A calculation unit 52 and an image processing unit 53 that performs image processing of images captured by the first camera 41 and the second camera 42 are included, and these cooperate with each other to cut the workpiece. carry out.

  FIG. 3 is a plan view of the vicinity of the table of the cutting apparatus shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a region IV shown in FIG. Next, with reference to these FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the detailed structure of the table of the cutting device based on this Embodiment is demonstrated.

  As described above, the table 20 has a flat plate shape that is substantially rectangular in plan view and has a mounting surface on the upper surface thereof. A mother block 100 (see FIG. 7 and the like) as a work is placed on the placement surface of the table 20. The mother block 100 has a flat, substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, has a necessary portion 101 at the center thereof, and has an unnecessary portion 102 at the periphery thereof (see FIGS. 6 and 7).

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the table 20 includes a first support portion 21 for supporting the necessary portion 101 of the mother block 100 and a second support portion 22 for supporting the unnecessary portion 102 of the mother block 100. Including. The first support portion 21 has a rectangular shape in plan view, and the second support portion 22 is positioned so as to surround the periphery thereof.

  The second support portion 22 includes a first projecting portion 22a projecting outward from each of the four sides of the first support portion 21 having a rectangular shape in plan view, and four corners of the first support portion 21 having a rectangular shape in plan view. It has the 2nd overhang | projection part 22b projected toward the outer side toward the diagonal direction of the 1st support part 21. As shown in FIG. As a result, the first overhanging portion 22 a is positioned between the pair of second overhanging portions 22 b at the edge of the table 20.

  The first overhanging portion 22a is a cut surface 103 of the mother block 100 that is exposed in a first cutting step (step S2 shown in FIG. 5) for cutting out the necessary portion 101 from the mother block 100 described later (that is, the mother block 100). This is a part for supporting the unnecessary part 102 that is continuous with the necessary part 101 through the side surface of the necessary part 101 (see FIGS. 11 and 12). On the other hand, the second overhanging portion 22b removes unnecessary portions 102 (that is, the four corner portions of the mother block 100 before the first cutting step) that are located near both ends in the extending direction of the cut surface 103. It is a part for supporting.

  Here, the amount of protrusion of the first overhanging portion 22a outward from the first support portion 21 (that is, the length L1 shown in FIG. 4) is outward from the first support portion 21 of the second overhanging portion 22b. The amount of overhang (that is, the length L2 shown in FIG. 4) is smaller. As a result, the edge of the table 20 that is substantially rectangular in plan view is provided with a notch 23 that is recessed inward corresponding to each of the four sides of the first support portion 21 that is rectangular in plan view. Become.

  As described above, of the four cutout portions 23 provided on the table 20, the two cutout portions 23 arranged side by side along the Y-axis direction are each the first camera arranged on the side of the table 20. 41 and the second camera 42 are confronted. In addition, as described above, the table 20 is rotatably supported by the rotating unit 33, and therefore the two notch portions remaining when the table 20 rotates 90 ° in a plane parallel to the placement surface. This is also opposed to the first camera 41 and the second camera 42.

  In addition, it is preferable that the table 20 has a built-in heat source so that the surface temperature on the mounting surface is maintained at about 60 ° C. to 100 ° C. By comprising in this way, the binder contained in the mother block 100 mentioned later will fully soften, and the cutting | disconnection can be performed more easily.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a flow of workpiece cutting performed using the cutting apparatus according to the present embodiment. FIGS. 6 to 19 are various views showing the state of the cutting device and the workpiece during the cutting process. Next, with reference to these FIG. 5 thru | or FIG. 19, it demonstrates in full detail about the cutting process of the workpiece | work implemented using the cutting device mentioned above.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the cutting process of the mother block 100 that is a workpiece is performed by performing a plurality of cutting processes using the cutting blade 10 described above. Prior to each of the plurality of cutting processes, the positioning operation of the table 20 with respect to the cutting blade 10 by the X-axis direction feed drive mechanism 62 and the Z-axis feed mechanism 63 as the first drive mechanism described above is performed. Each of the plurality of cutting processes is realized by moving the cutting blade 10 by the Z-axis direction feed drive mechanism 61 as the second drive mechanism described above.

  First, as shown in FIG. 5, the mother block 100 is placed on the table 20 (step S1). Specifically, the mother block 100 is positioned and placed on the placement surface of the table 20 by a workpiece transfer device (not shown) or the like.

  FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a state of the workpiece before cutting, and FIG. 7 is a schematic view showing a state where the workpiece is placed on the table.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the mother block 100, which is a workpiece before cutting, has a flat, substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. The mother block 100 is composed of a laminate in which ceramic green sheets serving as dielectric layers and conductive patterns serving as internal electrode layers are alternately laminated, and an alignment mark 104 is embedded at a predetermined position. In FIG. 6, illustration of a conductive pattern serving as an internal electrode layer is omitted.

  The mother block 100 having the configuration is manufactured according to a flow described below, for example.

  First, a ceramic slurry is prepared. Specifically, ceramic powder, a binder, a solvent, and the like are mixed at a predetermined blending ratio, thereby forming a ceramic slurry.

  Next, a ceramic green sheet is formed. Specifically, the ceramic slurry is formed into a sheet shape using a die coater, a gravure coater, a micro gravure coater or the like on the carrier film, thereby producing a ceramic green sheet.

  Next, a raw material sheet is formed. Specifically, a predetermined conductive pattern is formed on the ceramic green sheet by applying the conductive paste to the ceramic green sheet using an ink jet method, a screen printing method, a gravure printing method, or the like. The provided raw material sheet is formed. The thickness of the conductive pattern to be formed is not particularly limited, but is preferably 1.5 μm or less.

  Next, the raw material sheets are laminated. Specifically, the plurality of raw material sheets described above are stacked according to a predetermined rule so that the plurality of conductive patterns are arranged in a predetermined manner inside the stacked raw material sheet group. The number of raw material sheets to be laminated is not particularly limited, but is generally about 20 to 1500.

  Next, the raw material sheet group is pressure-bonded. Specifically, the raw material sheet group is pressure-bonded by being pressed along the laminating direction using, for example, an isostatic pressing method.

  Thus, the manufacture of the mother block 100 as shown in FIG. 6 is completed. Here, the size of the mother block 100 is not particularly limited, but is, for example, 150 mm square.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the mother block 100 has a rectangular required portion 101 at the center thereof in a plan view, and a frame-like unnecessary portion 102 at the peripheral portion thereof. Have.

  Here, the unnecessary portion 102 is a portion in which unacceptable distortion has occurred due to the press processing for crimping the ceramic green sheets described above, which is performed when the mother block 100 is manufactured, and cannot be used as a product. Part. On the other hand, the necessary portion 101 is a portion in which no distortion is generated even by the press work or a slight distortion in an allowable range is generated, and a portion including a portion that can be used as a product. Note that the chip 106 (see FIG. 19) obtained by subdividing the necessary portion 101 thereafter may be used as a product, or may be used as a product by including the alignment mark 104 described above. In some cases, the remainder except for those that cannot be used is used as a product.

  The alignment mark 104 described above is used for positioning in a second cutting step (step S3 and step S5 in FIG. 5) for cutting and subdividing a necessary portion 101 of the mother block 100 described later. For example, it is provided in the form of a dot line so as to straddle the boundary portion between the necessary portion 101 and the unnecessary portion 102 of the block 100. The alignment mark 104 is formed of, for example, a conductive pattern. In this case, the alignment mark 104 is formed simultaneously with the formation of the conductive pattern serving as the internal electrode layer by applying it to the ceramic green sheet.

  As a positioning method when the mother block 100 is placed on the table 20, various methods can be used. For example, it can be managed with the machine accuracy of the workpiece transfer device described above. The positioning is such that the necessary portion 101 of the mother block 100 is positioned on the first support portion 21 of the table 20 and the unnecessary portion 102 of the mother block 100 is positioned on the second support portion 22 of the table 20. To be done. As a result, the boundary portion between the necessary portion 101 and the unnecessary portion 102 of the mother block 100 is arranged so as to match the boundary portion between the first support portion 21 and the second support portion 22 of the table 20.

  Here, the length L1 (see FIG. 4) that is the amount of protrusion of the first protrusion 22a provided at the center of the edge corresponding to the four sides of the table 20 is the width W of the unnecessary portion 102 of the mother block 100 ( (See FIG. 6). On the other hand, the length L2 (see FIG. 4), which is the protruding amount of the second protruding portion 22b provided at the four corners of the table 20, is set to be larger than the width W (see FIG. 6) of the unnecessary portion 102 of the mother block 100. ing. As a result, the inner portion of the notch 23 provided at the center of the edge corresponding to the four sides of the table 20 is not necessary in the state in which the mother block 100 is placed on the table 20. The portion of the mother block 100 that covers the notch 23 is not supported by the table 20 on the lower surface side.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 5, a first cutting step (step S <b> 2) for cutting out the necessary portion 101 of the mother block 100 is performed. The cutting is performed by cutting the unnecessary portion 102 separated from the necessary portion 101 after cutting by the cutting blade 10 four times in total along the boundary portion between the necessary portion 101 and the unnecessary portion 102 of the mother block 100 described above. Is removed from the table 20.

  FIG. 8 is a schematic plan view showing a first cutting position and a second cutting position in a first cutting step in which a necessary part of the workpiece is cut out, and FIG. 9 is a schematic side view seen from the direction of arrow IX shown in FIG. It is. FIG. 10 is a schematic plan view showing the third cutting position and the fourth cutting position in the first cutting step in which a necessary part of the workpiece is cut out, and FIG. 11 shows the state of the workpiece after the first cutting step. It is a top view.

  First, as shown in FIG. 8, in the first stage of the first cutting process, the mother block is set in a pair of portions located opposite to each other in the boundary portion between the necessary portion 101 and the unnecessary portion 102 of the mother block 100. 100 is cut. The cutting positions at the time of the cutting are shown as a first cutting position CP1 and a second cutting position CP2 in the drawing, respectively.

  At the time of the cutting, first, the control unit 50 drives the X-axis direction feed drive mechanism 62 to position the table 20 in the X-axis direction, whereby the first cutting of the mother block 100 is performed directly below the cutting blade 10. The position CP1 is arranged (step S21 in FIG. 5). Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 9, the controller 50 drives the Z-axis direction feed drive mechanism 61 to move the cutting blade 10 downward, thereby causing the cutting blade 10 to enter the mother block 100. The cutting is performed (step S22 in FIG. 5). At this time, the control unit 50 completely divides the mother block 100 by controlling the moving distance of the cutting blade 10 downward. After cutting, the control unit 50 raises the cutting blade 10 and returns it to the original position.

  Here, since the mother block 100 is relatively soft, as shown in FIG. 9, the mother block 100 is positioned on the notch 23 of the table 20 in the unnecessary portion 102 of the mother block 100 in a state before cutting. The part is in a suspended state. However, both ends of the unnecessary portion 102 removed by the above-described cutting are supported on the lower surface side by the second overhanging portion 22b provided on the table 20, so that the degree of the above-described drooping is kept low. Also, the lower surface side of the portion located on the necessary portion 101 side of the central portion located between the both end portions of the unnecessary portion 102 removed by the above-described cutting is supported by the first projecting portion 22 a provided on the table 20. Therefore, the above-described degree of sag is kept low. Therefore, even when the above-described drooping occurs, the boundary between the necessary portion 101 and the unnecessary portion 102 of the mother block 100 is not displaced on the table 20, and the mother block 100 can be cut with high accuracy.

  In addition, since the mounting surface of the table 20 is located immediately below the boundary between the necessary portion 101 and the unnecessary portion 102 of the mother block 100, the mother block can be stably cut. In terms of meaning, the mother block 100 can be cut with high accuracy.

  Note that various methods can be used as a positioning method when the first cutting position CP1 of the mother block 100 is arranged immediately below the cutting blade 10, for example, with the mechanical accuracy of the X-axis direction feed drive mechanism 62. The first cutting position CP1 may be calculated by capturing the mother block 100 with the first camera 41 and the second camera 42 and analyzing the captured image.

  Next, the control unit 50 drives the X-axis direction feed drive mechanism 62 to position the table 20 in the X-axis direction, whereby the second cutting position CP2 of the mother block 100 is located directly below the cutting blade 10. It arrange | positions (step S21 in FIG. 5). After that, the control unit 50 cuts the mother block 100 by performing the same control as the operation performed at the first cutting position CP1 described above (step S22 in FIG. 5). After the cutting, the control unit 50 raises the cutting blade 10 and returns it to the original position.

  Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 10, in the second stage of the first cutting step, in the remaining set of portions located opposite to each other in the boundary portion between the necessary portion 101 and the unnecessary portion 102 of the mother block 100. The mother block 100 is cut. The cutting positions at the time of the cutting are shown as a third cutting position CP3 and a fourth cutting position CP4 in the drawing, respectively.

  When the cutting is performed, first, the control unit 50 drives the Z-axis feed driving mechanism 63 to position the table 20 around the Z-axis (that is, the table 20 is positioned at 90 ° in a plane parallel to the placement surface. Then, the X-axis direction feed drive mechanism 62 is driven to position the table 20 in the X-axis direction, whereby the third cutting position CP3 of the mother block 100 is directly below the cutting blade 10. Are arranged (step S21 in FIG. 5). After that, the control unit 50 cuts the mother block 100 by performing the same control as the operation performed at the first cutting position CP1 described above (step S22 in FIG. 5). After the cutting, the control unit 50 raises the cutting blade 10 and returns it to the original position.

  Next, the control unit 50 drives the X-axis direction feed drive mechanism 62 to position the table 20 in the X-axis direction, so that the fourth cutting position CP4 of the mother block 100 is located immediately below the cutting blade 10. It arrange | positions (step S21 in FIG. 5). After that, the control unit 50 cuts the mother block 100 by performing the same control as the operation performed at the first cutting position CP1 described above (step S22 in FIG. 5). After the cutting, the control unit 50 raises the cutting blade 10 and returns it to the original position.

  As described above, the unnecessary portion 102 is removed from the mother block 100 (see FIG. 6) before the first cutting step is performed, so that the mother block 100 after the first cutting step is illustrated in FIG. As shown in the figure, it is constituted only by the necessary portion 101, and its peripheral side surface is defined by the cut surface 103. The alignment mark 104 is exposed and positioned on the cut surface 103, and the alignment mark 104 cuts and divides a necessary portion 101 of the mother block 100 described later (FIG. 5). Can be used for positioning in steps S3 and S5).

  Next, as shown in FIG. 5, in the subdivision of the necessary portion 101 of the mother block 100, cutting along the row direction is performed (step S3). The subdivision of the necessary portion 101 by cutting along the row direction is performed by cutting along a direction parallel to the extending direction of a pair of cut surfaces located at the opposite positions of the four cut surfaces 103 of the necessary portion 101. In a state where the blade 10 is disposed, the cutting process is performed a plurality of times while the cutting blade 10 is moved stepwise in a direction parallel to the extending direction of the other set of cutting surfaces. It is.

  FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing the state of the workpiece and the table before the cutting process along the row direction in the second cutting step in which the necessary part of the workpiece is subdivided. 13 and 14 are a schematic plan view and a schematic side view showing a cutting position in the cutting process along the row direction in the second cutting step in which a necessary part of the work is subdivided. FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram showing the field of view of the first camera in the state shown in FIG. FIG. 16 is a plan view showing the state of the workpiece after the cutting process along the row direction in the second cutting step.

  As shown in FIG. 12, in the state before the cutting process along the row direction of the second cutting step, the unnecessary portion 102 has already been removed from the mother block 100 through the first cutting step described above. Therefore, the mother block 100 is located only on the first support portion 21 of the table 20, and the mother block 100 is not located on the second support portion 22 of the table 20. Therefore, all the cutout portions 23 provided in the table 20 are also exposed, and the table 20 is slightly outside the cut surface 103 of the mother block 100 facing the first camera 41 and the second camera 42. Only the first overhanging portion 22a is exposed and positioned.

  As shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, in the cutting process (step S3) along the row direction of the second cutting step, the necessary portion 101 of the mother block 100 is cut at the cutting blade 10 at a plurality of cutting positions CP5 shown in the drawing. It is carried out by being divided by.

  At the time of the cutting, first, the control unit 50 images the mother block 100 using the first camera 41 and the second camera 42. Specifically, the first camera 41 and the second camera 42 include a predetermined portion of the pair of cut surfaces 103 of the mother block 100 that are positioned relative to each other along the Y-axis direction shown in the drawing, and this state Each of the images is picked up at step S31 in FIG.

  All the captured images are input to the control unit 50, and the image processing unit 53 of the control unit 50 analyzes the image. By analyzing this image, position information indicating the position of the alignment mark 104 described above is detected, and the detected position information is input to the calculation unit 52 of the control unit 50. In the calculation unit 52, a cutting position (that is, one of the cutting positions CP5 described above) to be cut of the mother block 100 is calculated based on the position information.

  The control unit 50 positions the table 20 in the X-axis direction by driving the X-axis direction feed drive mechanism 62 so that the calculated cutting position CP5 is arranged immediately below the cutting blade 10 ( Step S32 in FIG.

  Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 14, the controller 50 drives the Z-axis direction feed drive mechanism 61 to move the cutting blade 10 downward, thereby causing the cutting blade 10 to enter the mother block 100. The cutting is performed (step S33 in FIG. 5). At this time, the control unit 50 controls the moving distance of the cutting blade 10 downward to completely divide the mother block 100 (so-called full cut) or partially divide it (so-called half cut). ) After cutting, the control unit 50 raises the cutting blade 10 and returns it to the original position.

  Here, as described above, in the cutting device 1 according to the present embodiment, the cutting surface 103 of the mother block 100 is obtained at the time when the above-described imaging using the first camera 41 and the second camera 42 is performed. The first overhanging portion 22a of the table 20 is only slightly positioned outside the front side.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 15, the visual field 45 of the first camera 41 and the second camera 42 (only the first camera 41 is shown in the figure) is hardly obstructed by the table 20, The table is located extremely close to the first camera 41 side and the second camera 42 side (only the first camera 41 side is shown in the figure) from the cut surface 103 of the necessary portion 101 of the mother block 100 to be imaged. The end of 20 is not positioned, and it is possible to greatly suppress the occurrence of defocusing in the image to be captured. Therefore, the necessary part 101 of the mother block 100 can be subdivided with high accuracy.

  Subsequently, the control unit 50 drives the X-axis direction feed drive mechanism 62 to move the table 20 by a predetermined amount along the X-axis direction (imaging of the alignment mark positioned next to the already-aligned alignment mark). Is moved by an amount of movement such that the above-mentioned is possible) (step S34 in FIG. 5).

  Thereafter, the control unit 50 performs the operations of steps S31 to S34 described above to cut the mother block 100 at another cutting position CP5 different from the cutting position described above.

  By repeating the above series of operations a plurality of times, the cutting process along the row direction of the second cutting process in which the necessary portion 101 of the mother block 100 is subdivided is completed.

  As described above, as shown in FIG. 16, the necessary portion 101 of the mother block 100 is divided into a plurality of rod-like blocks 105 having an elongated, substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 5, the control unit 50 positions the table 20 around the Z axis (step S4). Specifically, the control unit 50 rotates the table 20 by 90 ° in a plane parallel to the placement surface by driving the Z-axis feed mechanism 63.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 5, in the subdivision of the necessary portion 101 of the mother block 100, cutting along the column direction is performed (step S5). The subdivision of the necessary portion 101 by cutting along the row direction is not yet cut yet, which is positioned relative to the cut surface 103 of the necessary portion 101 constituted by an assembly of a plurality of rod-shaped blocks 105. In a state where the cutting blade 10 is arranged along a direction parallel to the extending direction of the pair of cutting surfaces, the cutting blade is relatively relatively parallel to the direction parallel to the extending direction of the other set of cutting surfaces. The cutting process is performed a plurality of times while moving 10 stepwise.

  FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram illustrating the state of the workpiece and the table before the cutting process along the column direction in the second cutting step in which the necessary part of the workpiece is subdivided. FIG. 18 is a schematic plan view showing a cutting position in the cutting process along the column direction in the second cutting step in which the necessary part of the work is subdivided. FIG. 19 is a plan view showing the state of the workpiece after the cutting process along the column direction in the second cutting step.

  As shown in FIG. 17, in the state before the cutting process along the column direction of the second cutting step is performed, the state before the cutting process along the row direction of the second cutting process is performed (that is, Similarly to the state shown in FIG. 12, the mother block 100 is not positioned on the second support portion 22 of the table 20. Therefore, all of the cutout portions 23 provided in the table 20 are also exposed, and the mother block 100 configured by an assembly of a plurality of rod-shaped blocks 105 facing the first camera 41 and the second camera 42. Only the first projecting portion 22a of the table 20 is slightly exposed and positioned outside the cut surface 103.

  As shown in FIG. 18, the cutting process (step S5) along the column direction of the second cutting step is performed by a mother constituted by an assembly of a plurality of bar blocks 105 at a plurality of cutting positions CP6 shown in the drawing. This is performed by dividing the necessary portion 101 of the block 100 by the cutting blade 10.

  At the time of cutting, first, the control unit 50 uses the first camera 41 and the second camera 42 to capture an image of the mother block 100 configured by an assembly of a plurality of rod-shaped blocks 105. Specifically, the first camera 41 and the second camera 42 are a pair of mother blocks 100 that are configured by an assembly of a plurality of rod-shaped blocks 105 that are positioned relative to each other along the Y-axis direction shown in the drawing. A predetermined portion of the cut surface 103 is included in the field of view, and images are taken in this state (step S51 in FIG. 5).

  All the captured images are input to the control unit 50, and the image processing unit 53 of the control unit 50 analyzes the image. By analyzing this image, position information indicating the position of the alignment mark 104 described above is detected, and the detected position information is input to the calculation unit 52 of the control unit 50. In the calculation unit 52, a cutting position (that is, one of the cutting positions CP6 described above) to be cut of the mother block 100 is calculated based on the position information.

  The control unit 50 positions the table 20 in the X-axis direction by driving the X-axis direction feed drive mechanism 62 so that the calculated cutting position CP6 is disposed immediately below the cutting blade 10 ( Step S52 in FIG.

  Thereafter, the control unit 50 drives the Z-axis direction feed drive mechanism 61 to move the cutting blade 10 downward, whereby the cutting blade 10 is a mother constituted by an assembly of a plurality of bar-shaped blocks 105. The block 100 is entered and cut (step S53 in FIG. 5). At this time, the control unit 50 completely divides the mother block 100 composed of an assembly of a plurality of rod-like blocks 105 by controlling the moving distance of the cutting blade 10 downward (so-called full cut). Or partially divided (so-called half-cut). After cutting, the control unit 50 raises the cutting blade 10 and returns it to the original position.

  Here, as described above, in the cutting apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, a set of a plurality of rod-like blocks 105 at the time when the above-described imaging using the first camera 41 and the second camera 42 is performed. The first overhanging portion 22a of the table 20 is only slightly positioned outside the cut surface 103 of the mother block 100 formed of a body. Therefore, as in the case of the cutting process along the row direction of the second cutting step described above, the necessary portion 101 of the mother block 100 constituted by the aggregate of the plurality of bar-shaped blocks 105 is subdivided with high accuracy. Will be able to.

  Subsequently, the control unit 50 drives the X-axis direction feed drive mechanism 62 to move the table 20 by a predetermined amount along the X-axis direction (imaging of the alignment mark positioned next to the already-aligned alignment mark). Is moved by an amount of movement that enables the above-described movement (step S54 in FIG. 5).

  Thereafter, the control unit 50 is configured by an assembly of a plurality of bar-shaped blocks 105 at another cutting position CP6 different from the above-described cutting position by performing the operations of steps S51 to S54 described above again. The mother block 100 is cut. By repeating this series of operations a plurality of times, the cutting process along the column direction of the second cutting step in which the necessary portion 101 of the mother block 100 composed of an assembly of a plurality of rod-shaped blocks 105 is subdivided is completed. To do.

  As described above, as shown in FIG. 19, the necessary portion 101 of the mother block 100 is divided into a plurality of chips 106 in the shape of a ridge.

  After all the cutting processes described above are completed, as shown in FIG. 5, the chip 106, which is a work after subdivision, is taken out from the cutting apparatus 1 (step S6).

  As described above, by using the cutting apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, the cutting process for cutting out the necessary part 101 from the mother block 100 and the cutting process for subdividing the necessary part 101 cut out from the mother block 100 are performed. When the first table 41 and the second camera 42 are imaged by the first camera 41 and the second camera 42, which are performed when the necessary portion 101 is subdivided. It is possible to suppress the obstruction of the visual field 42 and the occurrence of defocusing. Therefore, both high production efficiency and high-precision cutting can be achieved, and a high-performance multilayer ceramic capacitor can be provided at a low cost.

  FIG. 20 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a table of a cutting apparatus according to a modification based on the above-described embodiment. Next, with reference to this FIG. 20, the cutting device which concerns on the modification based on this Embodiment is demonstrated.

  As shown in FIG. 20, the cutting device according to the present modification is different only in that an auxiliary table 25 is provided when compared with the cutting device 1 according to the present embodiment described above. The auxiliary table 25 is detachably attached to the table 20, and is attached to the table 20 by the number corresponding to the number of notches 23 provided on the table 20.

  The auxiliary table 25 has a shape capable of filling the notch 23 in a state where it is attached to the table 20. Therefore, the auxiliary table 25 fills the notch 23 provided at the center of the edge corresponding to the four sides of the table 20 in the mounted state and exposes the notch 23 in the detached state.

  The auxiliary table 25 is previously attached to the table 20 in the above-described first cutting step (step S2 in FIG. 5) in which the necessary portion 101 is cut out from the mother block 100. Thereby, the drooping of the mother block 100 described above can be completely prevented, and the cutting process in the first cutting step can be performed more stably and with high accuracy. In addition, the auxiliary table 25 may include a heat source in the same manner as the table 20. By providing the auxiliary table 25 with a heat source, the entire mother block 100 can be heated.

  On the other hand, the auxiliary table 25 is previously detached from the table 20 in the above-described second cutting step (steps S3 and S5 in FIG. 5) in which the necessary portion 101 of the mother block 100 is subdivided. As a result, the above-described obstruction of the visual field and defocusing of the first camera 41 and the second camera 42 can be suppressed.

  Therefore, even when the cutting device according to the present modification is used, both high production efficiency and high-precision cutting can be achieved, and a high-performance multilayer ceramic capacitor can be provided at a low cost.

(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 21 is a plan view of the vicinity of the table of the cutting apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. Next, the cutting apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 21, when compared with the cutting device 1 according to the first embodiment described above, the cutting device according to the present embodiment is opposed to the four sides of the table 20 that is substantially rectangular in plan view. The difference is that the notch 23 is provided only at the edge corresponding to the two positioned sides. Therefore, in the cutting device 1 according to the present embodiment, one first projecting portion 22a from the two opposite sides of the first support portion 21 having a rectangular shape in a plan view of the table 20 toward the outside, The second support portion 22 is configured by providing two second projecting portions 22b, and the second support portion is disposed on the remaining two sides of the first support portion 21 that are rectangular in plan view. 22 is not provided.

  The range in which unacceptable distortion occurs in the press working for press-bonding the laminated ceramic green sheets (that is, the range of the unnecessary portion 102 of the mother block 100) is the material type of the ceramic green sheet and the shape of the conductive pattern embedded therein. The number varies depending on the number of stacked layers, the method of pressing, and the like. The table 20 having the configuration shown in the first embodiment described above has a rectangular necessary portion 101 at the center portion of the mother block 100 as a work in a plan view, and at the peripheral portion thereof. This is suitable when the frame-like unnecessary portion 102 is provided.

  On the other hand, the table 20 having the configuration shown in the present embodiment includes the unnecessary portion 102 at the peripheral edge portions of the pair of sides that are opposed to each other when the mother block 100 that is a work is viewed in a plan view. In addition, it can be suitably used when all of the remaining portions are the necessary portions 101. That is, in the table 20 having the configuration shown in the present embodiment, the notch portion 23 is provided only in the edge portion of the table 20 corresponding to the portion on which the unnecessary portion 102 of the mother block 100 is placed, and the remaining edge The part is not provided with a notch 23. With this configuration, more chips 106 can be collected according to the state of the mother block 100.

(Verification test)
Below, the verification test performed in order to verify the effect by this invention is demonstrated. FIG. 22 is a diagram for explaining the test contents of the verification test.

  In the verification test, in order to confirm how much the cutting position shifts due to the recognition error of the image captured by the camera in each of the case where the notch portion is provided in the table and the case where the notch portion is not provided. In addition to preparing a cutting device according to the embodiment provided with a notch at the periphery of the table, a cutting device according to a comparative example prepared without a notch at the periphery of the table, The conditions were all the same, and these were used to actually cut the workpiece. As a work, as shown in FIG. 22, a mother block 100 which is a component material of a multilayer ceramic capacitor as described in the first embodiment is used.

  As shown in FIG. 22, the cutting surface 103 of the mother block 100 is provided with a rectangular alignment mark 104 made of a conductive pattern extending along the extending direction of the cutting surface 103. In both of the cutting apparatuses according to the comparative examples, the mother block 100 is cut by setting the target cutting position TCP so that cutting is performed aiming at the center position of the alignment mark 104 in the longitudinal direction. Thereafter, the actual cutting position ACP at which cutting was performed was obtained from the cutting traces formed on the mother block 100, and the amount of deviation between the target cutting position TCP and the actual cutting position ACP was measured. In both the cutting device according to the example and the cutting device according to the comparative example, the cutting is performed 10 times, and the maximum deviation amount and the average deviation amount thereof are obtained.

  As a result of the verification test, the maximum deviation amount in the cutting apparatus according to the comparative example was 12 μm, and the average deviation amount was 5 μm. On the other hand, the maximum deviation amount in the cutting apparatus according to the example was 3 μm, and the average deviation amount was 1 μm.

  From the above results, it can be said that it has been experimentally confirmed that the workpiece can be cut with higher accuracy by applying the present invention.

  In Embodiments 1 and 2 of the present invention described above and modifications thereof, an alignment mark is previously placed on the cutting surface of the mother block in order to specify the cutting position in the process of subdividing the necessary part of the mother block. As described above, the case where the position information of the alignment mark is detected based on the image captured by the camera is exemplified. However, it is not always necessary to specify the cutting position using the alignment mark as described above. Absent. That is, even if no special alignment mark is provided, another characteristic part of the workpiece (for example, a corner of the cut surface) is adopted as a reference for positioning, and position information of the characteristic part is detected. The cutting position may be specified based on this.

  In the above-described first and second embodiments of the present invention and the modifications thereof, a case where a notch is provided at the edge of the portion corresponding to the four sides or two sides of the substantially rectangular table in plan view is illustrated. However, the position, number, shape, etc. of the cutouts can be changed as appropriate in relation to the workpiece to be cut, and the table itself must be substantially rectangular in plan view. Is not necessarily.

  In the above-described first and second embodiments of the present invention and modifications thereof, the cutting device to which the present invention is applied has been described by exemplifying a cutting device used for manufacturing a multilayer ceramic capacitor. As other cutting apparatuses to which the present invention can be applied, there are cutting apparatuses used for manufacturing various electronic components represented by multilayer inductors, multilayer LC filters, multilayer devices, multilayer substrates and the like.

  The size of the multilayer ceramic capacitor manufactured using the cutting device to which the present invention is applied is the outer dimension in the length direction and the outer dimension in the width direction (usually, the outer dimension in the thickness direction is the width dimension). For example, 3.2 mm × 1.6 mm, 2.0 mm × 1.25 mm, 1.6 mm × 0.8 mm, 1.0 mm × 0.5 mm, 0.8 mm × 0.4 mm 0.6 mm × 0.3 mm, 0.4 mm × 0.2 mm, 0.2 mm × 0.125 mm, etc., and the present invention can be applied to a cutting apparatus for manufacturing a product of any size. Applicable.

  Thus, the above-described embodiment disclosed herein is illustrative in all respects and is not restrictive. The technical scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cutting device, 10 Cutting blade, 11 Clamp part, 20 Table, 21 1st support part, 22 2nd support part, 22a 1st overhang part, 22b 2nd overhang part, 23 Notch part, 25 Auxiliary table, 31 Guide Rail, 32 Base plate, 33 Rotating unit, 34 Drive stage, 41 First camera, 42 Second camera, 45 Field of view, 50 Control unit, 51 Feed control unit, 52 Calculation unit, 53 Image processing unit, 61 Z-axis direction feed Drive mechanism, 62 X-axis direction feed drive mechanism, 63 Z-axis direction feed drive mechanism, 100 mother block, 101 necessary part, 102 unnecessary part, 103 cut surface, 104 alignment mark, 105 bar block, 106 chip.

Claims (5)

A cutting device for cutting and further subdividing the necessary part after cutting out the necessary part by cutting from a workpiece including the necessary part and the unnecessary part,
A table having a mounting surface on which the workpiece is mounted;
A cutting blade for cutting the workpiece placed on the placement surface;
A first drive mechanism for relatively moving at least one of the cutting blade and the table in a plane parallel to the placement surface;
A second drive mechanism for relatively moving at least one of the cutting blade and the table in a direction perpendicular to the placement surface;
Imaging means for imaging from the side of the workpiece the cut surface of the workpiece that will be exposed by cutting out the necessary part from the workpiece placed on the placement surface;
A control unit that controls operations of the first drive mechanism, the second drive mechanism, and the imaging unit;
The control unit cuts the workpiece using the cutting blade by controlling operations of the first drive mechanism and the second drive mechanism, and based on an image captured by the imaging unit, By controlling the operation of the first drive mechanism, positioning is performed when the necessary portion is cut and subdivided,
The table includes a first support part that supports the necessary part of the work, and a second support part that supports the unnecessary part of the work before the necessary part is cut out,
The second support part includes a first projecting part projecting outward from the first support part to support the unnecessary part of the part that is continuous with the necessary part through the cutting surface, and the cutting surface. A second projecting portion projecting outward from the first support portion to support the unnecessary portion of the portion located in the vicinity of both ends in the extending direction of
The cutting device, wherein the table is provided with a notch so that a protruding amount of the first protruding portion is smaller than a protruding amount of the second protruding portion. The first support portion is rectangular when viewed from a direction perpendicular to the placement surface,
The cutting device according to claim 1, wherein the notch portion is provided at each of the edge portions of the table corresponding to each of two opposite sides of the rectangular first support portion. The first support portion is rectangular when viewed from a direction perpendicular to the placement surface,
2. The cutting device according to claim 1, wherein each of the edge portions of the table corresponding to each of the four sides of the rectangular first support portion is provided with the notch portion.   4. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an auxiliary table that is detachably attached to the table so as to fill the notch in the mounted state and expose the notch in the detached state. The cutting device described in 1. The imaging means is for imaging an alignment mark provided on the cut surface of the workpiece,
The control unit detects position information indicating an arrangement position of the alignment mark by analyzing an image captured by the imaging unit, and cuts and subdivides the necessary portion based on the detected position information. 5. The operation of the first drive mechanism and the second drive mechanism is controlled so that the necessary cutting position is calculated and the necessary part is cut by the cutting blade at the calculated cutting position. The cutting apparatus in any one of.

Images