Processing equipment

Abstract

[Problem] To provide a processing apparatus capable of automatically forming a wafer and an annular frame together using adhesive tape. [Solution] A processing apparatus comprising: a wafer stage for supporting a wafer; a frame stage for supporting an annular frame; a first tape pressing unit having a first pressing roller for pressing tape onto the annular frame; and a second tape pressing unit having a second pressing roller for pressing tape attached to the annular frame onto the front or back side of the wafer. A first heating unit is provided on either or both of the frame stage and the first pressing roller, and a second heating unit is provided on either or both of the wafer stage and the second pressing roller.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a processing apparatus for automatically forming a wafer and a ring frame together through an adhesive tape. [Previous Technology]

[0002] A wafer with a device area formed on the front side by a plurality of intersecting dividing lines, including ICs, LSIs, etc., and the remaining area around the device area, can be ground on the back side to form the desired thickness. Then, it can be divided into individual device chips by a dicing device or a laser processing device. The individual device chips can be used in electrical machines such as mobile phones and personal computers.

[0003] Before being processed by a dicing device or a laser processing device, the wafer is positioned in the opening of an annular frame that has an opening for accommodating the wafer, and is supported by the annular frame by adhesive tape.

[0004] However, when adhesive tape is applied to the front or back of a wafer, there is a concern that some of the adhesive layer may remain on the wafer, potentially reducing device quality. Therefore, the applicant of this invention has proposed a wafer processing method that uses a thermosetting adhesive tape (e.g., thermoplastic synthetic resin tape of polyolefin, polyester, etc.) without an adhesive layer to support the wafer on a ring frame for processing (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2). However, because the method of integrating the wafer and the ring frame using thermosetting adhesive tape is a manual operation, it suffers from poor productivity.

[0005] Furthermore, the applicant of this invention has proposed the following technical solution: In order to facilitate the transport of the ground wafer, after leaving the annular reinforcement on the back side corresponding to the remaining area of ​​the outer periphery and performing a predetermined processing, a cutting tape is attached to the back side of the wafer and the wafer is supported by an annular frame, and the annular reinforcement is removed from the wafer (see, for example, Patent Document 3).

[0006] However, it is difficult to attach the tape to the back side of the wafer where a ring-shaped reinforcement is formed in a convex shape on the back side corresponding to the remaining peripheral area, and to form it integrally with the ring-shaped frame. Furthermore, it is difficult to cut the ring-shaped reinforcement to remove it from the wafer, resulting in poor productivity. (Prior art documents, patent documents)

[0007] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-201016; Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-201049; Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2010-62375 [Summary of the Invention]

[0008] The problem the invention aims to solve

[0009] Accordingly, the object of the present invention is to provide a processing apparatus that can automatically perform the operation of forming the wafer and the annular frame together using adhesive tape, even when the wafer has an annular reinforcing portion formed in a convex shape on the back side corresponding to the remaining peripheral area. Means for solving the problem

[0010] According to the present invention, a processing apparatus is provided, comprising: a wafer cassette stage for holding a wafer cassette containing a plurality of wafers; a wafer removal unit for removing the wafers from the wafer cassette already placed on the wafer cassette stage; a wafer stage for supporting the wafers removed by the wafer removal unit; a frame holding unit for holding a plurality of annular frames having openings for holding the wafers; a frame removal unit for removing the annular frames from the frame holding unit; a frame stage for supporting the annular frames removed by the frame removal unit; and a first tape pressing unit having a first pressing roller disposed above the frame stage and for pressing... A tape is crimped onto an annular frame; a tape-frame conveying unit conveys the annular frame with the crimped tape to the wafer stage, positioning the opening of the annular frame on the front or back side of the wafer already supported on the wafer stage, and placing the tape-frame onto the wafer stage; a second tape crimping unit includes a second crimping roller, which crimps the tape with the tape-frame onto the front or back side of the wafer; a frame unit removal assembly removes the frame unit, formed by the second tape crimping unit crimping the tape with the tape-frame onto the front or back side of the wafer, from the wafer stage; and a frame cassette stage for holding the frame cassette containing the frame unit. A first heating unit is provided on either or both of the frame worktable and the first pressing roller, and a second heating unit is provided on either or both of the wafer worktable and the second pressing roller. The tape can selectively use any of the following tapes: an adhesive tape with an adhesive layer on the sheet, or a heat-pressing tape without an adhesive layer on the sheet.

[0011] Preferably, an annular reinforcement is formed in a convex shape on the back side corresponding to the remaining peripheral area of ​​the wafer, and the processing apparatus further comprises: a reinforcement removal unit that cuts and removes the annular reinforcement from the wafer of the frame unit removed by the frame unit removal assembly; and an acyclic unit removal assembly that removes the acyclic unit from the reinforcement removal unit after the annular reinforcement has been removed.

[0012] Preferably, the first tape attaching unit includes: a wound tape support for supporting a wound tape formed by winding tape before use; a tape take-up section for taking up the used tape; a tape pull-out section for pulling the tape out from the wound tape; a first pressing roller for pressing the pulled-out tape onto an annular frame; and a cutting section for cutting the tape extending beyond the outer periphery of the annular frame along the annular frame.

[0013] Preferably, when the tape is a heat-pressed tape, the first heating unit is activated to heat either or both of the frame worktable and the first pressing roller, thereby heat-pressing the heat-pressed tape onto the annular frame.

[0014] Preferably, the second tape crimping unit includes: an upper chamber disposed above the wafer stage; a lower chamber housing the wafer stage; a lifting mechanism for raising and lowering the upper chamber to create a closed state in contact with the lower chamber and an open state away from the lower chamber; a vacuum section for creating a vacuum in the closed state of the upper chamber and the lower chamber; and an atmospheric opening section for opening the upper chamber and the lower chamber to the atmosphere. When the tape with the tape ring frame attached has been positioned on the front or back side of the wafer supported on the wafer stage, the lifting mechanism is activated to maintain the closed state, and the upper chamber and the lower chamber are created as a vacuum. A second crimping roller disposed in the upper chamber crimps the tape with the tape ring frame attached to the front or back side of the wafer.

[0015] Preferably, when the tape is a heat-pressing tape, the second heating unit is activated to heat either or both of the wafer stage and the second pressing roller, and the heat-pressing tape is heat-pressed onto the front or back of the wafer.

[0016] Preferably, a camera is provided in the upper chamber of the second tape crimping unit, and the exposed surface of the wafer supported on the wafer stage is detected as either the front or the back before the tape-attached ring frame is transported.

[0017] Preferably, the camera obtains the ID recorded on the front side of the wafer when the exposed side of the wafer supported on the wafer stage is the front side.

[0018] Preferably, the camera detects whether the tape has been properly pressed onto the wafer after the tape with the attached tape ring frame has been pressed onto the wafer supported on the wafer stage. Effects of the Invention

[0019] According to the processing apparatus of the present invention, any of the following adhesive tapes can be selectively used as adhesive tapes for bonding to the annular frame: adhesive tapes with an adhesive layer on the sheet, or thermoforming tapes without an adhesive layer on the sheet, and even for wafers with annular reinforcements formed convexly on the back side corresponding to the remaining peripheral area, the operation of forming the wafer and the annular frame together through the tape can still be performed automatically.

Implementation Method

[0021] Form used to implement the invention

[0022] Hereinafter, the processing apparatus of the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0023] (Processing apparatus 2) Referring to FIG1, the processing apparatus generally indicated by the symbol 2 includes: a wafer cassette stage 8 for holding a wafer cassette 6 containing a plurality of wafers; a wafer removal unit 10 for removing wafers from the wafer cassette 6 already placed on the wafer cassette stage 8; and a wafer worktable 12 for supporting the wafers removed by the wafer removal unit 10.

[0024] (Wafer 4) Figure 2 shows a wafer 4 that can be processed by the processing apparatus 2. The front side 4a of the wafer 4 shown in Figure 2(a) has a device region 18, in which a plurality of devices 14, such as ICs and LSIs, are divided by grid-like dividing lines 16, and a peripheral remaining region 20 surrounding the device region 18. In Figure 2(a), although the boundary 22 between the device region 18 and the peripheral remaining region 20 is represented by a two-point chain line for convenience, the line representing the boundary 22 does not actually exist. Furthermore, an ID 23 for identifying the wafer 4 is attached to the front side 4a of the wafer 4. The ID 23 can be formed in the form of, for example, a barcode. On the back side 4b of the wafer 4, a ring-shaped reinforcing portion 24 is formed in a convex shape in the peripheral remaining region 20, and the thickness of the peripheral remaining region 20 is made greater than the thickness of the device region 18. A notch 26 indicating the crystal orientation is formed at the periphery of wafer 4.

[0025] Furthermore, the wafer that can be processed by the processing apparatus 2 can also be in the form of wafer 4' as shown in FIG2(b), which is a wafer without annular reinforcing portions on the back side 4b'. Moreover, in the following description, the processing of wafer 4 having reinforcing portions 24 is mainly described.

[0026] (Wafer cassette 6, Wafer cassette worktable 8) As shown in Figure 3, in the wafer cassette 6, multiple wafers 4 are arranged with their front sides 4a or back sides 4b facing upwards at intervals in the vertical direction. The wafer cassette worktable 8 of this embodiment has a top plate 28 for holding the wafer cassette 6 and a support plate 30 for supporting the top plate 28. Furthermore, the top plate 28 can be raised and lowered freely, and a lifting assembly is provided to raise and lower the top plate 28 and position it at any height.

[0027] (Wafer Removal Unit 10) Referring to FIG3, the wafer removal unit 10 includes a Y-axis movable member 32 that is movable in the Y-axis direction (indicated by arrow Y) in FIG3, and a Y-axis feed mechanism 34 that moves the Y-axis movable member 32 in the Y-axis direction. The Y-axis feed mechanism 34 includes a ball screw 36 connected to the lower end of the Y-axis movable member 32 and extending in the Y-axis direction, and a motor 38 that rotates the ball screw 36. The Y-axis feed mechanism 34 converts the rotational motion of the motor 38 into linear motion through the ball screw 36 and transmits it to the Y-axis movable member 32, thereby causing the Y-axis movable member 32 to move in the Y-axis direction along a pair of guide rails 40 extending in the Y-axis direction.

[0028] Furthermore, in Figure 3, the X-axis direction, indicated by arrow X, is orthogonal to the Y-axis direction, and the Z-axis direction, indicated by arrow Z, is an up-down direction orthogonal to both the X-axis and Y-axis directions. The XY plane defined by the X-axis and Y-axis directions is essentially horizontal.

[0029] As shown in FIG3, the wafer handling unit 10 of this embodiment includes a conveying arm 42 and a hand 44. The hand 44 is disposed at the front end of the conveying arm 42 and supports the front side 4a or back side 4b of the wafer 4 already housed in the wafer cassette 6, allowing the front and back sides of the wafer 4 to be flipped. The conveying arm 42 is disposed on the upper surface of the Y-axis movable member 32 and can be driven by a suitable drive source (not shown), such as an air drive source or an electric drive source. This drive source drives the conveying arm 42 to position the hand 44 at any position in each of the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis directions, and causes the hand 44 to flip up and down.

[0030] Referring to FIG4, the hand 44 is preferably a Bennouri pad that can support the wafer 4 in a non-contact manner by generating negative pressure through air ejection. In this embodiment, the hand 44 is C-shaped as a whole, and a plurality of air ejection ports 46 connected to a compressed air supply source (not shown) are formed on one side of the hand 44. A plurality of guide pins 48 are provided at intervals in the circumferential direction on the outer periphery of the hand 44. Each guide pin 48 is configured to be movable freely in the radial direction of the hand 44.

[0031] As shown in Figures 3 and 4, after positioning the hand 44 to the lower surface of the wafer 4 already placed in the wafer cassette 6 of the wafer cassette stage 8, the wafer removal unit 10 ejects compressed air from the air outlet 46 of the hand 44 to generate negative pressure on the lower surface of the hand 44 through the Bernoulli effect, and the hand 44 attracts and supports the wafer 4 from the lower surface in a non-contact manner. The horizontal movement of the wafer 4 attracted and supported by the hand 44 is restricted by the guide pins 48. Then, the wafer removal unit 10 removes the wafer 4 attracted and supported by the hand 44 from the wafer cassette 6 by moving the Y-axis movable member 32 and the conveying arm 42.

[0032] (Notch Detection Unit 50 of Wafer Removal Unit 10) As shown in FIG4, the wafer removal unit 10 of this embodiment includes a notch detection unit 50 for detecting the position of the notch 26 of the wafer 4. The notch detection unit 50 may also be configured, for example, to include a light-emitting element 52 and a light-receiving element 54, and a driving source (not shown). The light-emitting element 52 and the light-receiving element 54 are arranged with a gap between them in the vertical direction, and the driving source causes at least one of the guide pins 48 of the hand 44 to rotate.

[0033] The light-emitting element 52 and the light-receiving element 54 can be attached to the Y-axis movable member 32 or the transport path via a suitable bracket (not shown). Furthermore, if the guide pin 48 is rotated by the aforementioned drive source, the wafer 4, which is attracted and supported by the hand 44, will rotate due to the rotation of the guide pin 48. To ensure that the rotation is reliably transmitted from the guide pin 48 to the wafer 4, it is preferable that the outer peripheral surface of the guide pin 48, which rotates via the drive source, is formed of a suitable synthetic rubber.

[0034] The notch detection unit 50 can detect the position of the notch 26 by rotating the wafer 4 through the guide pin 48 using a drive source, while the wafer 4 is being held in place by the hand 44 and the outer periphery of the wafer 4 is positioned between the light-emitting element 52 and the light-receiving element 54. In this way, the orientation of the wafer 4 can be adjusted to any orientation.

[0035] (Wafer Stage 12) As shown in FIG3, the wafer stage 12 is disposed adjacent to the wafer removal unit 10. The wafer stage 12 of this embodiment includes a wafer support portion 56 for supporting the wafer 4 and a frame support portion 58 disposed on the outer periphery of the wafer support portion 56 and supporting the annular frame 64 (see FIG5) described later. A plurality of suction holes 60 are formed on the upper surface of the wafer support portion 56, and each suction hole 60 is connected to a suction assembly (not shown).

[0036] When the hand 44 is rotated 180° to flip the front and back of the wafer 4 and place the wafer 4 onto the wafer stage 12, the wafer 4 will be supported by the wafer support part 56. Furthermore, after the wafer stage 12 supports the wafer 4 by the wafer support part 56, it will activate the attraction component to generate attraction force in each attraction hole 60 and attract and hold the wafer 4.

[0037] Furthermore, when supporting the wafer 4 on the wafer stage 12, the front side 4a of the wafer 4 can face downwards, or the back side 4b of the wafer 4 can face downwards. However, when the wafer 4, which has an annular reinforcing portion 24 on its back side 4b, is supported on the wafer stage 12 with its back side 4b facing downwards, an annular recess 62 is provided on the upper surface of the wafer stage 12 to accommodate the annular reinforcing portion 24. Furthermore, when the wafer 4 is placed on the wafer stage 12, the reinforcing portion 24 is accommodated in the annular recess 62, and the portion of the back side 4b of the wafer 4 that is further inward than the reinforcing portion 24 contacts the upper surface of the wafer stage 12.

[0038] Referring to FIG5, the processing apparatus 2 further includes a frame receiving unit 66, a frame taking out unit 68, and a frame worktable 70. The aforementioned frame receiving unit 66 will receive a plurality of annular frames 64 having openings 64a for receiving wafers 4. The aforementioned frame taking out unit 68 will take out the annular frames 64 from the frame receiving unit 66. The aforementioned frame worktable 70 will support the annular frames 64 taken out by the frame taking out unit 68.

[0039] (Frame housing unit 66) As shown in FIG5, the frame housing unit 66 of this embodiment includes a housing 72, a lifting plate 74 that is freely disposed within the housing 72, and a lifting assembly (not shown) for lifting the lifting plate 74.

[0040] In Figure 5, a Z-axis guide member 78 extending in the Z-axis direction is disposed on the rear side of the housing 72 in the X-axis direction. The lifting plate 74 is supported by the Z-axis guide member 78 for lifting and lowering, and a lifting assembly for lifting the lifting plate 74 is disposed inside the Z-axis guide member 78. The lifting assembly may also be configured, for example, as follows: having a ball screw connected to the lifting plate 74 and extending in the Z-axis direction, and a motor for rotating the ball screw.

[0041] In Figure 5, a door 76 with a handle 76a is provided on the front side of the housing 72 in the X-axis direction, and is configured such that the annular frame 64 can be accommodated inside the housing 72 by holding the handle 76a in the frame accommodating unit 66 and opening the door 76. Furthermore, an opening 80 is provided at the upper end of the housing 72.

[0042] As shown in Figure 5, the annular frame 64 is stacked inside the housing 72 and accommodated on the upper surface of the lifting plate 74. The uppermost annular frame 64 among the stacked annular frames 64 can be removed from the opening 80 of the housing 72 by means of the frame removal unit 68. Furthermore, when the frame accommodating unit 66 removes the annular frame 64 from the opening 80, it uses the lifting assembly to appropriately raise the lifting plate 74, thereby positioning the uppermost annular frame 64 in a position that can be removed by the frame removal unit 68.

[0043] (Frame removal unit 68) Referring to FIG5 and continuing the description, the frame removal unit 68 includes: an X-axis guide member 82, fixed to a suitable bracket (not shown) and extending in the X-axis direction; an X-axis movable member 84, movably supported on the X-axis guide member 82 in the X-axis direction; an X-axis feed mechanism (not shown) for moving the X-axis movable member 84 in the X-axis direction; a Z-axis movable member 86, movably supported on the X-axis movable member 84 in the Z-axis direction; and a Z-axis feed mechanism (not shown) for moving the Z-axis movable member 86 in the Z-axis direction.

[0044] The X-axis feed mechanism of the frame moving unit 68 shall preferably be configured as follows: having a ball screw connected to the X-axis movable member 84 and extending in the X-axis direction, and a motor for rotating the ball screw; and the Z-axis feed mechanism shall preferably be configured as follows: having a ball screw connected to the Z-axis movable member 86 and extending in the Z-axis direction, and a motor for rotating the ball screw.

[0045] The Z-axis movable member 86 of the frame removal unit 68 has a holding portion 88 for holding the annular frame 64. In this embodiment, the holding portion 88 has a rectangular base plate 90 and a plurality of suction pads 92 provided on the lower surface of the base plate 90, and each suction pad 92 is connected to a suction assembly (not shown).

[0046] After the frame removal unit 68 attracts and holds the uppermost annular frame 64 that has been housed in the frame housing unit 66 by the attraction pad 92 of the holding part 88, it removes the attracted and held uppermost annular frame 64 from the frame housing unit 66 by moving the X-axis movable member 84 and the Z-axis movable member 86.

[0047] (Frame Worktable 70) As shown in Figure 5, the frame worktable 70 is supported by the Z-axis guide member 94 for free lifting and lowering. The Z-axis guide member 94 is provided with a suitable drive source (e.g., an air drive source or an electric drive source) for lifting and lowering the frame worktable 70.

[0048] As shown in Figures 1 and 5, the processing apparatus 2 includes: a first tape pressing unit 98 (see Figure 1), which has a first pressing roller 110 disposed above the frame worktable 70 and pressing tape 96 onto the annular frame 64; a tape-attached frame conveying unit 100 (see Figure 5), which conveys the annular frame 64 with tape 96 (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "tape-attached annular frame 64'") to the wafer worktable 12, and positions the opening 64a of the annular frame 64 on the front side 4a or back side 4b of the wafer 4 already supported on the wafer worktable 12, and places the tape-attached annular frame 64' onto the wafer worktable 12; and a second tape pressing unit 102 (see Figure 1), which has a second pressing roller 174 that presses the tape 96 of the tape-attached annular frame 64' onto the front side 4a or back side 4b of the wafer 4.

[0049] (First tape crimping unit 98) Referring to FIG6, the first tape crimping unit 98 of this embodiment includes: a wound tape support 104 for supporting a wound tape 96R formed by winding a tape 96 before use; a tape take-up 106 for taking up the used tape 96; a tape pull-out 108 for pulling the tape 96 out from the wound tape 96R; a first crimping roller 110 for crimping the pulled-out tape 96 onto an annular frame 64; and a cutting part 112 for cutting the tape 96 that extends beyond the outer periphery of the annular frame 64 along the annular frame 64.

[0050] (Roll-up tape support 104 of the first tape crimping unit 98) As shown in FIG6, the roll-up tape support 104 includes a support roller 114 that is rotatably supported on a suitable bracket (not shown) with an axis extending in the X-axis direction as its center. A roll-up tape 96R is supported on the support roller 114, and the aforementioned roll-up tape 96R has a release paper 116 for protecting the crimping surface of the tape 96 attached to the crimping surface of the tape 96 and wound into a cylindrical shape.

[0051] (Tape winding section 106 of the first tape crimping unit 98) The tape winding section 106 includes a winding roller 118 rotatably supported on a suitable bracket (not shown) with an axis extending in the X-axis direction as its center, and a motor (not shown) that rotates the winding roller 118. As shown in FIG6, the tape winding section 106 rotates the winding roller 118 by means of the motor, thereby winding up the used tape 96, which has a circular opening 120 corresponding to the portion that has been attached to the annular frame 64.

[0052] (Tape pull-out section 108 of the first tape crimping unit 98) Referring to FIG6, the tape pull-out section 108 includes: a pull-out roller 122 disposed below the support roller 114 of the wound tape support section 104; a motor (not shown) that rotates the pull-out roller 122; and a driven roller 124 that rotates in tandem with the rotation of the pull-out roller 122. The tape pull-out section 108 uses a motor to rotate the driven roller 124 and the pull-out roller 122 together, thereby pulling out the tape 96 that has been clamped between the pull-out roller 122 and the driven roller 124 from the wound tape 96R.

[0053] The release paper 116 is peeled off from the tape 96 that has passed between the pull-out roller 122 and the driven roller 124, and the peeled release paper 116 is wound up by the release paper take-up section 126. In this embodiment, the release paper take-up section 126 has a release paper take-up roller 128 disposed above the driven roller 124 and a motor (not shown) that rotates the release paper take-up roller 128. Furthermore, the tape 96 that has peeled off the release paper 116 is configured to be guided to the take-up roller 118 by a pair of guide rollers 130 that are spaced apart from the pull-out roller 122 in the Y-axis direction.

[0054] (First pressing roller 110 of the first tape pressing unit 98) Referring to Figures 7 and 8, the first pressing roller 110 is configured to move up and down via a Z-axis feed mechanism (not shown), and can be positioned at the upper standby position shown in Figure 7 and the lower pressing position shown in Figure 8. Furthermore, the first pressing roller 110 is configured to move in the Y-axis direction via a Y-axis feed mechanism (not shown) when positioned at the lower pressing position. The Y-axis feed mechanism and the Z-axis feed mechanism can be configured by suitable drive sources (e.g., air drive source or electric drive source).

[0055] (Cutting section 112 of the first tape crimping unit 98) As shown in FIG6, the cutting section 112 includes a Z-axis guide member 134 fixed to a suitable bracket (not shown) and extending in the Z-axis direction, a Z-axis movable member 136 movably supported on the Z-axis guide member 134 in the Z-axis direction, and a Z-axis feed mechanism (not shown) for moving the Z-axis movable member 136 in the Z-axis direction. The Z-axis feed mechanism of the cutting section 112 is preferably configured as follows: having a ball screw connected to the Z-axis movable member 136 and extending in the Z-axis direction, and a motor for rotating the ball screw.

[0056] Furthermore, the cutting section 112 includes a motor 138 fixed to the lower surface of the front end of the Z-axis movable member 136, and an arm 140 that is rotated by the motor 138 with an axis extending in the Z-axis direction as its center. First and second drooping plates 142a and 142b are attached to the lower surface of the arm 140 at intervals. A circular cutter 144 is rotatably supported on the first drooping plate 142a with an axis orthogonal to the Z-axis direction as its center, and a pressing roller 146 is rotatably supported on the second drooping plate 142b with an axis orthogonal to the Z-axis direction as its center.

[0057] (Tape 96) Tape 96 may be an adhesive tape with an adhesive layer (paste layer) applied to one side of a sheet, or it may be a thermosetting tape without an adhesive layer applied to the sheet. Thermosetting tape is a tape made of thermoplastic synthetic resin (e.g., polyolefin resin), and is a tape that softens or melts and exerts adhesive force when heated to a temperature near its melting point.

[0058] A release liner 116 is attached to the pressing surface (adhesive surface) of the adhesive tape. On the other hand, the pressing surface of the heat-pressed tape may have a release liner 116 attached or not. When using a heat-pressed tape without a release liner 116, since the first tape pressing unit 98 does not need to recycle the release liner 116, it may not have a release liner take-up section 126.

[0059] When the tape 96 is a heat-pressed tape, a first heating unit (not shown) may be provided on either or both of the frame worktable 70 or the first pressing roller 110, and when the heat-pressed tape is pressed onto the annular frame 64, either or both of the frame worktable 70 or the first pressing roller 110 shall be heated to a temperature near the melting point of the heat-pressed tape.

[0060] When the tape 96 is pressed onto the annular frame 64 by the first tape pressing unit 98, the frame worktable 70 is lowered before the annular frame 64 is placed on the frame worktable 70, and the frame worktable 70 is positioned to receive the annular frame 64 (for example, the position shown in FIG. 6), and the first pressing roller 110 is positioned in the upper standby position (for example, the position shown in FIG. 6).

[0061] Furthermore, the tape 96 is pulled out from the wound tape 96R and positioned above the frame worktable 70 in a taut state, without loosening the release paper 116. Moreover, when the tape 96 is an adhesive tape, the pressing surface (adhesive surface) of the tape 96 positioned above the frame worktable 70 faces downwards.

[0062] Next, after the annular frame 64, which has been moved out by the frame moving unit 68, has been placed on the frame worktable 70, the frame worktable 70 can be positioned at the pressing start position (the position shown in FIG8), and the first pressing roller 110 can be positioned at the lower pressing position (the position shown in FIG8), and tension can be applied to the tape 96 to press the tape 96 onto one end of the annular frame 64.

[0063] Next, while pressing the tape 96 toward the annular frame 64 with the first pressing roller 110, the first pressing roller 110 is moved toward the other end of the annular frame 64 in the Y-axis direction. In this way, the tape 96 can be pressed onto the annular frame 64 while a uniform tension has been applied to the tape 96.

[0064] After the tape 96 has been pressed onto the annular frame 64, the first tape pressing unit 98 can use the Z-axis feed mechanism to lower the Z-axis movable member 136 of the cutting part 112, so that the cutter 144 pushes against the tape 96 on the annular frame 64, and the pressing roller 146 presses the annular frame 64 from above the tape 96.

[0065] Next, the arm 140 is rotated by the motor 138, causing the cutter 144 and the pressing roller 146 to move in a circular motion along the annular frame 64. In this way, the tape 96 extending beyond the outer periphery of the annular frame 64 can be cut along the annular frame 64.

[0066] Furthermore, since the pressing roller 146 presses the annular frame 64 over the tape 96, the position of the annular frame 64 or the tape 96 can be prevented from shifting when the tape 96 is cut. Then, after the frame worktable 70 is lowered, the used tape 96, which has a circular opening 120 corresponding to the portion that has been attached to the annular frame 64, can be wound up by the tape take-up section 106.

[0067] (Attached Tape Frame Conveying Unit 100) As shown in FIG5, the attached tape frame conveying unit 100 includes: a Y-axis guide member 148, fixed to a suitable bracket (not shown) and extending in the Y-axis direction; a Y-axis movable member 150, movably supported on the Y-axis guide member 148 in the Y-axis direction; a Y-axis feed mechanism (not shown) for moving the Y-axis movable member 150 in the Y-axis direction; a Z-axis movable member 152, movably supported on the Y-axis movable member 150 in the Z-axis direction; and a Z-axis feed mechanism (not shown) for moving the Z-axis movable member 152 in the Z-axis direction.

[0068] The Y-axis feed mechanism of the tape frame conveying unit 100 shall preferably be configured as follows: having a ball screw connected to the Y-axis movable member 150 and extending in the Y-axis direction, and a motor for rotating the ball screw; and the Z-axis feed mechanism shall preferably be configured as follows: having a ball screw connected to the Z-axis movable member 152 and extending in the Z-axis direction, and a motor for rotating the ball screw.

[0069] The Z-axis movable member 152 of the tape frame conveying unit 100 has a holding portion 154 for holding the tape-attached annular frame 64'. In this embodiment, the holding portion 154 has a rectangular substrate 156 and a plurality of suction pads 158 disposed on the lower surface of the substrate 156, and each suction pad 158 is connected to a suction assembly (not shown).

[0070] The tape-attached frame transport unit 100 uses the suction pads 158 of the holding part 154 to attract and hold the upper surface of the tape-attached ring frame 64' that is supported on the frame worktable 70, and moves the Y-axis movable member 150 and the Z-axis movable member 152 to transport the tape-attached ring frame 64' attracted and held by the holding part 154 from the frame worktable 70 to the wafer worktable 12. The opening 64a of the ring frame 64 is positioned on the front 4a or back 4b of the wafer 4 that is supported on the wafer worktable 12 to place the tape-attached ring frame 64' onto the wafer worktable 12.

[0071] (Second tape crimping unit 102) As shown in FIG11, the second tape crimping unit 102 includes: an upper chamber 160 disposed above the wafer stage 12; a lower chamber 162 accommodating the wafer stage 12; a lifting mechanism 164 for lifting the upper chamber 160 to generate a closed state in contact with the lower chamber 162 and an open state away from the lower chamber 162; a vacuum section 166 for creating a vacuum in the upper chamber 160 and the lower chamber 162 in the closed state; and an atmosphere opening section 168 for opening the upper chamber 160 and the lower chamber 162 to the atmosphere.

[0072] (Upper chamber 160 of the second tape crimping unit 102, lifting mechanism 164) The upper chamber 160 of this embodiment includes, as shown in FIG11, a circular top plate 170 and a cylindrical side wall 172 hanging down from the periphery of the top plate 170. A lifting mechanism 164, which can be composed of a suitable actuator such as a cylinder, is installed on the upper surface of the top plate 170. A second pressing roller 174, a support plate 176, and a Y-axis feed mechanism 178 are provided in the accommodating space defined by the lower surface of the top plate 170 and the inner peripheral surface of the side wall 172. The aforementioned second pressing roller 174 is used to press the tape 96 with the tape ring frame 64' attached to the front side 4a or back side 4b of the wafer 4 supported on the wafer worktable 12. The aforementioned support plate 176 rotatably supports the second pressing roller 174, and the aforementioned Y-axis feed mechanism 178 moves the support plate 176 in the Y-axis direction.

[0073] The Y-axis feed mechanism 178 includes a ball screw 180 connected to the support plate 176 and extending in the Y-axis direction, and a motor 182 that rotates the ball screw 180. Furthermore, the Y-axis feed mechanism 178 converts the rotational motion of the motor 182 into linear motion via the ball screw 180 and transmits it to the support plate 176, thereby causing the support plate 176 to move along a pair of guide rails 184 extending in the Y-axis direction.

[0074] As shown in FIG11, a camera 185 is provided in the upper chamber 160, and the camera 185 takes pictures of the wafer 4 supported on the wafer stage 12. The camera 185 takes pictures of the wafer 4 on the wafer stage 12 and detects whether the exposed surface (upper surface) of the wafer 4 is the front side 4a or the back side 4b. Furthermore, when the exposed surface (upper surface) of the wafer 4 supported on the wafer stage 12 is the front side 4a, the camera 185 obtains ID23 recorded on the front side 4a of the wafer 4. In addition, the camera 185 is configured to detect whether the tape 96 with the tape ring frame 64' has been properly pressed onto the wafer 4 supported on the wafer stage 12 after the tape 96 has been pressed onto the wafer 4.

[0075] (Lower chamber 162, vacuum section 166, and atmospheric opening section 168 of the second tape crimping unit 102) As shown in FIG11, the lower chamber 162 has a cylindrical sidewall 186, with the upper part of the sidewall 186 open and the lower part closed. A connection opening 188 is formed in the sidewall 186. A vacuum section 166, which can be constructed by a suitable vacuum pump, is connected to the connection opening 188 through a flow path 190. An atmospheric opening section 168, which can be constructed by a suitable valve, is provided in the flow path 190 to open the flow path 190 to the atmosphere.

[0076] When the tape 96 with tape ring frame 64' is positioned on the front side 4a or back side 4b of the wafer 4 supported on the wafer worktable 12, the second tape crimping unit 102 lowers the upper chamber 160 by means of the lifting mechanism 164, so that the lower end of the side wall 172 of the upper chamber 160 contacts the upper end of the side wall 186 of the lower chamber 162, thereby setting the upper chamber 160 and the lower chamber 162 into a closed state, and the second crimping roller 174 contacts the tape ring frame 64'.

[0077] Next, with the valve constituting the atmospheric opening section 168 closed, the second tape pressing unit 102 activates the vacuum pump constituting the vacuum section 166 to create a vacuum inside the upper chamber 160 and the lower chamber 162. Then, by using the Y-axis feed mechanism 178 to make the second pressing roller 174 roll in the Y-axis direction, the tape 96 is pressed onto the front side 4a or the back side 4b of the wafer 4 to form the frame unit U.

[0078] When the tape 96 is pressed onto the back surface 4b of the wafer 4 having the reinforcing portion 24, although a slight gap is formed between the wafer 4 and the tape 96 at the root of the annular reinforcing portion 24, since the wafer 4 and the tape 96 are pressed into a vacuum state inside the upper chamber 160 and the lower chamber 162, the pressure of the slight gap between the wafer 4 and the tape 96 will be lower than atmospheric pressure. If the atmospheric opening portion 168 is opened after pressing the tape 96, the tape 96 can be pressed onto the wafer 4 by atmospheric pressure. In this way, the gap between the wafer 4 and the tape 96 at the root of the reinforcing portion 24 will disappear, and the tape 96 will be tightly adhered to the back surface 4b of the wafer 4 along the root of the reinforcing portion 24.

[0079] When the tape 96 is a heat-pressing tape, a second heating unit (not shown) may be provided on either or both of the wafer stage 12 or the second pressing roller 174, and when pressing the tape 96 with the tape ring frame 64' onto the wafer 4, either or both of the wafer stage 12 or the second pressing roller 174 shall be heated to a temperature near the melting point of the heat-pressing tape.

[0080] As shown in Figures 1 and 14, the processing apparatus 2 of this embodiment further includes: a frame unit removal assembly 192, which removes the frame unit U formed by pressing the tape 96 with the tape-attached ring frame 64' to the front side 4a or back side 4b of the wafer 4 from the wafer worktable 12 by the second tape pressing unit 102; a reinforcement removal unit 194, which cuts off and removes the ring-shaped reinforcement 24 from the wafer 4 of the frame unit U that has been removed by the frame unit removal assembly 192; a ringless unit removal assembly 196 (see Figure 1), which removes the ringless unit with the ring-shaped reinforcement 24 removed from the reinforcement removal unit 194; and a frame cassette worktable 200 (see Figure 1), which holds the frame cassette 198, which contains the ringless unit that has been removed by the ringless unit removal assembly 196.

[0081] (Frame Unit Removal Assembly 192) As shown in FIG14, the frame unit removal assembly 192 of this embodiment includes a frame unit holding part 202 and a conveying part 206. The frame unit holding part 202 includes a wafer holding part 202a for holding the wafer 4 and a frame holding part 202b for holding the annular frame 64. The conveying part 206 conveys the frame unit holding part 202 to the temporary worktable 204.

[0082] (Frame unit holding portion 202 of frame unit removal assembly 192) The wafer holding portion 202a of the frame unit holding portion 202 includes a circular substrate 208 and a circular suction plate 210 mounted on the lower surface of the substrate 208. A plurality of suction holes (not shown) are formed on the lower surface of the suction plate 210, and each suction hole is connected to a suction assembly (not shown). The frame holding portion 202b includes a plurality of (four in this embodiment) protruding pieces 212 that are spaced apart in the circumferential direction from the periphery of the substrate 208 of the wafer holding portion 202a and protrude outward in the radial direction, and suction pads 214 attached to the lower surface of the protruding pieces 212, each suction pad 214 being connected to a suction assembly (not shown).

[0083] (Transfer section 206 of frame unit transfer assembly 192) The transfer section 206 includes: an X-axis guide member 216, fixed to a suitable bracket (not shown) and extending in the X-axis direction; an X-axis movable member 218, movably supported on the X-axis guide member 216 in the X-axis direction; an X-axis feed mechanism (not shown) for moving the X-axis movable member 218 in the X-axis direction; a Z-axis movable member 220, movably supported on the X-axis movable member 218 in the Z-axis direction; a Z-axis feed mechanism (not shown) for moving the Z-axis movable member 220 in the Z-axis direction; a Y-axis movable member 222, movably supported on the Z-axis movable member 220 in the Y-axis direction; and a Y-axis feed mechanism (not shown) for moving the Y-axis movable member 222 in the Y-axis direction. The substrate 208 of the wafer holding section 202a is connected to the front end of the Y-axis movable member 222. Each of the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis feed mechanisms of the conveying section 206 is preferably configured as follows: having a ball screw and a motor for rotating the ball screw.

[0084] Preferably, the frame unit removal assembly 192 includes a two-dimensional movement mechanism and an imaging unit 224. The aforementioned two-dimensional movement mechanism moves the frame unit holding part 202 horizontally in a two-dimensional manner, and the aforementioned imaging unit 224 captures images of the outer periphery of the wafer 4 containing the frame unit U held in the frame unit holding part 202. In this embodiment, the frame unit holding part 202 is moved horizontally in a two-dimensional manner in the XY plane by the X-axis feed mechanism and the Y-axis feed mechanism of the transport part 206, and the two-dimensional movement mechanism is constituted by the transport part 206. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the imaging unit 224 is disposed between the wafer stage 12 and the temporary stage 204, and captures images of the outer periphery of the wafer 4 containing the frame unit U held in the frame unit holding part 202 from below the wafer 4.

[0085] The frame unit removal assembly 192 uses the adsorption sheet 210 of the wafer holding part 202a to attract and hold the wafer 4, and in the state where the annular frame 64 is attracted and held by the adsorption pad 214 of the frame holding part 202b, the frame unit U held by the frame unit holding part 202 is removed from the wafer stage 12 by actuating the transport part 206.

[0086] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the frame unit removal assembly 192 actuates the conveying section 206 constituting the two-dimensional moving mechanism and uses the imaging section 224 to capture images of at least three points on the outer periphery of the wafer 4 of the frame unit U held by the frame unit holding section 202, thereby measuring the coordinates of at least three points on the outer periphery of the wafer 4, and determining the center coordinates of the wafer 4 based on the measured coordinates of the three points. Additionally, the frame unit removal assembly 192 aligns the center of the wafer 4 with the center of the temporary worktable 204, thereby temporarily placing the frame unit U on the temporary worktable 204.

[0087] (Temporary Stage 204) As shown in FIG14, the temporary stage 204 and the wafer stage 12 are arranged with a gap in the X-axis direction. Preferably, the temporary stage 204 is equipped with a heater (not shown), and the tape 96 temporarily placed on the frame unit U of the temporary stage 204 is heated by the heater to soften the tape 96, and the tape 96 is made to adhere more tightly to the root of the annular reinforcement 24 by atmospheric pressure.

[0088] (Temporary worktable conveying unit 232) The machining apparatus 2 of this embodiment includes a temporary worktable conveying unit 232 for conveying a temporary worktable 204 in the Y-axis direction. The temporary worktable conveying unit 232 includes a Y-axis guide member 234 extending in the Y-axis direction, a Y-axis movable member 236 movably supported on the Y-axis guide member 234 in the Y-axis direction, and a Y-axis feed mechanism 238 for moving the Y-axis movable member 236 in the Y-axis direction. The temporary worktable 204 is fixed to the upper part of the Y-axis movable member 236. The Y-axis feed mechanism 238 includes a ball screw 240 connected to the Y-axis movable member 236 and extending in the Y-axis direction, and a motor 242 for rotating the ball screw 240. Furthermore, the temporary worktable conveying unit 232 converts the rotational motion of the motor 242 into linear motion through the ball screw 240 and transmits it to the Y-axis movable member 236, thereby conveying the temporary worktable 204 and the Y-axis movable member 236 together in the Y-axis direction.

[0089] (Reinforcement Removal Unit 194) As shown in Figures 1 and 14, the reinforcement removal unit 194 includes: a laser beam irradiation unit 244, which irradiates laser beams toward the root of the annular reinforcement 24 formed on the outer periphery of the wafer 4 to form a cutting groove; a first lifting stage 246 (see Figure 1), which holds the frame unit U temporarily placed on the temporary stage 204 and raises it, and moves it in the X-axis direction to position it to the laser beam irradiation unit 244; and a separation section 248, which separates the annular reinforcement 24 from the cutting groove.

[0090] (Laser beam irradiation unit 244 of reinforcement removal unit 194) As shown in FIG14, the laser beam irradiation unit 244 includes: a housing 250 disposed adjacent to the temporary worktable 204 in the X-axis direction; a laser oscillator (not shown) housed in the housing 250 and oscillating to generate laser; a concentrator 252 that concentrates the laser beam emitted from the laser oscillator and irradiates the root of the annular reinforcement 24 formed on the outer periphery of the wafer 4; an attraction nozzle 254 that attracts debris generated when the laser beam is irradiated onto the wafer 4; and an attraction assembly (not shown) connected to the attraction nozzle 254.

[0091] The concentrator 252 extends upward from the upper surface of the housing 250 and tilts toward the suction nozzle 254, thereby suppressing the falling of debris generated during laser irradiation onto the concentrator 252. The suction nozzle 254 also extends upward from the upper surface of the housing 250 and tilts toward the concentrator 252.

[0092] As shown in Figure 15, the laser beam irradiation unit 244 irradiates laser beams LB toward the root of the annular reinforcement 24 formed on the outer periphery of the wafer 4 while rotating the frame unit U held by the first lifting worktable 246, thereby forming an annular cutting groove 256 along the root of the reinforcement 24 through an ablation process. Furthermore, the laser beam irradiation unit 244 uses a suction nozzle 254 to attract debris generated during the ablation process.

[0093] (First Lifting Worktable 246 of Reinforcement Removal Unit 194) As shown in FIG1, the first lifting worktable 246 is positioned above the temporary worktable 204 and is movable in both the X-axis and Z-axis directions. Referring to FIG16, the first lifting worktable 246 includes: an X-axis guide member 258 fixed to a suitable bracket (not shown) and extending in the X-axis direction; an X-axis movable member 260 movably supported on the X-axis guide member 258 in the X-axis direction; an X-axis feed mechanism (not shown) for moving the X-axis movable member 260 in the X-axis direction; a Z-axis movable member 262 movably supported on the X-axis movable member 260 in the Z-axis direction; and a Z-axis feed mechanism (not shown) for moving the Z-axis movable member 262 in the Z-axis direction. Each of the X-axis and Z-axis feed mechanisms of the first lifting worktable 246 shall preferably be configured as follows: having a ball screw and a motor for rotating the ball screw.

[0094] A downwardly extending support shaft 264 is rotatably supported on the lower front surface of the Z-axis movable member 262. A motor 266 is mounted on the upper front surface of the Z-axis movable member 262. The motor 266 rotates the support shaft 264 around an axis extending in the Z-axis direction. A circular suction plate 268 is fixed to the lower end of the support shaft 264. On the lower surface of the suction plate 268, a plurality of suction holes (not shown) are formed at intervals in the circumferential direction on a circumference corresponding to the size of the annular frame 64, and each suction hole is connected to a suction assembly.

[0095] After the first lifting worktable 246 attracts and holds the annular frame 64 portion of the frame unit U with the adsorption plate 268, it moves the Z-axis movable member 262 and the X-axis movable member 260, causing the frame unit U held by the adsorption plate 268 to rise and move in the X-axis direction to position it toward the laser beam irradiation unit 244. Furthermore, if the annular frame 64 is formed of a magnetic material, it can also be configured such that an electromagnet (not shown) is attached to the lower surface of the adsorption plate 268, allowing the adsorption plate 268 to attract the annular frame 64 by magnetic force.

[0096] Furthermore, when the first lifting worktable 246 irradiates the wafer 4 with laser light LB by the laser light irradiation unit 244, the motor 266 is activated, causing the frame unit U, which is attracted and held by the adsorption sheet 268, to rotate. In addition, the first lifting worktable 246 moves the frame unit U, which has a cutting groove 256 formed at the root of the reinforcing part 24, in the X-axis direction and Z-axis direction and temporarily places it on the temporary worktable 204.

[0097] (Separation section 248 of reinforcement removal unit 194) As shown in FIG1, the separation section 248 is located within the movable range of the temporary worktable 204 in the Y-axis direction and is arranged with a gap between it and the first lifting worktable 246 in the Y-axis direction. Referring to FIG17 and FIG18, the separation section 248 includes: an ultraviolet irradiation section 270 (refer to FIG17) that irradiates the tape 96 corresponding to the cutting groove 256 with ultraviolet light to reduce the adhesive force of the tape 96; a second lifting worktable 272 (refer to FIG17) that exposes the annular reinforcement 24 on the outer periphery to attract and hold the inner side of the wafer 4; a separator 274 (refer to FIG17) that uses a gyroscope 402 with a wedge-shaped body to act on the outer periphery of the annular reinforcement 24 to separate the annular reinforcement 24; and a discard section 276 (refer to FIG18) that discards the separated annular reinforcement 24.

[0098] As shown in FIG17, the separation part 248 of this embodiment includes a Z-axis guide member 278 fixed to a suitable bracket (not shown) and extending in the Z-axis direction, a Z-axis movable member 280 movably supported on the Z-axis guide member 278 in the Z-axis direction, and a lifting assembly (not shown) for moving the Z-axis movable member 280 in the Z-axis direction. The lifting assembly preferably has the following configuration: a ball screw connected to the Z-axis movable member 280 and extending in the Z-axis direction, and a motor for rotating the ball screw.

[0099] A support plate 282 is supported on the lower front surface of the Z-axis movable member 280, and a second lifting worktable 272 is rotatably supported thereon. A motor 284 for rotating the second lifting worktable 272 is mounted on the upper front surface of the Z-axis movable member 280. In this embodiment, a pair of the aforementioned ultraviolet irradiation portions 270 are provided on the support plate 282 at intervals in the Y-axis direction.

[0100] The second lifting worktable 272 has a support shaft 286 extending downward from the lower surface of the front end of the Z-axis movable member 280, and a circular worktable head 287 that is detachably mounted on the lower end of the support shaft 286. A plurality of suction holes (not shown) are formed on the lower surface of the worktable head 287, and each suction hole is connected to a suction assembly.

[0101] The stage head 287 has an outer diameter corresponding to the inner diameter of the reinforcing portion 24 of the wafer 4. Specifically, the diameter of the stage head 287 is slightly smaller than the diameter of the device region 18 of the wafer 4. Furthermore, the stage head 287 is detachably mounted on the support shaft 286 and is configured to be replaceable according to the diameter of the wafer 4. The support shaft 286 on which the stage head 287 is mounted is a lifting assembly connected to the separation portion 248 via a Z-axis movable member 280. In this way, the second lifting stage 272 includes two or more stage heads 287 having an outer diameter corresponding to the inner diameter of the reinforcing portion 24 of the wafer 4, and the stage heads 287 are detachably mounted on the separation portion 248 as lifting assemblies.

[0102] Furthermore, the aforementioned separator 274 is mounted on the support plate 282. The separator 274 includes: a pair of movable plates 288, arranged at a distance from each other on the lower surface of the support plate 282 and movable freely in the long side direction of the support plate 282; a pair of feed components 290 for moving the pair of movable plates 288; a pair of support base plates 400, which are supported vertically by the movable plates 288; and a pair of Z-axis feed mechanisms 294 for raising and lowering the pair of support base plates 400 in the Z-axis direction. Each of the pair of feed components 290 and the Z-axis feed mechanism 294 may be constituted by a suitable actuator such as a cylinder or an electric cylinder.

[0103] Referring to FIG17, the upper surface of each support substrate 400 is provided with: a gyroscope 402 having a wedge shape, a frame support 404 supporting the ring frame 64, and an ionizer 406 for removing static electricity from the frame unit U.

[0104] The gyroscope 402 is an inverted frustum shape with a diameter that gradually decreases from top to bottom, and is formed by the upper surface 402a and the side surface 402b of the gyroscope 402 forming a wedge shape. A pair of gyroscopes 402 are arranged at intervals on the upper surface of each support base plate 400, and are rotatably supported by the support base plate 400 with an axis extending in the Z-axis direction as the center.

[0105] A pair of frame support portions 404 are disposed adjacent to the gyroscope 402 and on the upper surface of each of the support base plate 400. The frame support portion 404 has a housing 404a fixed to the support base plate 400 and spheres 404b rotatably supported on the housing 404a. The frame support portion 404 is formed such that each sphere 404b supports the annular frame 64.

[0106] An ion generator 406 is disposed adjacent to the gyroscope 402. The ion generator 406 is configured such that static electricity is removed from the frame unit U by spraying ionized air toward the frame unit U.

[0107] The separation unit 248 of this embodiment includes a detection component (not shown), which detects whether the type of the table head 287 that has been input into the control unit (not shown) for controlling the operation of the processing device 2 is consistent with the type of the table head 287 actually installed on the processing device 2.

[0108] The control unit is composed of a computer, which has a central processing unit (CPU) for performing calculations according to the control program, a read-only memory (ROM) for storing the control program, and a read-write random access memory (RAM) for storing the calculation results. The operator can input processing conditions such as the diameter of the wafer 4, the width of the reinforcing part 24, and the outer diameter of the worktable head 287 into the control unit.

[0109] The detection component of this embodiment includes a gyroscope 402 of a separator 274 and a feed component 290 that moves the gyroscope 402 toward and away from the stage head 287 by actuating a movable piece 288. Furthermore, in the detection component, before the processing of wafer 4 begins, the movable piece 288 is actuated by the feed component 290, and as shown in FIG19, it is detected whether the outer diameter of the stage head 287 obtained by bringing the gyroscope 402 of the separator 274 into contact with the outer periphery of the stage head 287 matches the outer diameter of the stage head 287 already input to the control unit. If the detection component detects a discrepancy, an error notification is issued (for example, a display indicating the discrepancy is shown on the control panel (not shown)).

[0110] Even if the diameter of the wafer 4 is the same, for example, 200 mm, the width of the annular reinforcement 24 may vary, such as 3 mm or 5 mm. Therefore, the processing apparatus 2 must be equipped with a stage head 287 corresponding to the device area 18 of the wafer 4. If the type of stage head 287 input to the control unit is inconsistent with the type of stage head 287 actually installed, it will become impossible to properly remove the annular reinforcement 24 from the wafer 4.

[0111] Regarding this point, in the processing apparatus 2 of this embodiment, since a detection component is provided, the aforementioned detection component detects whether the type of the worktable head 287 input to the control unit is consistent with the type of the worktable head 287 actually installed on the processing apparatus 2. Therefore, before the processing of the wafer 4 begins, it can be confirmed whether an appropriate worktable head 287 corresponding to the wafer 4 is installed, and the annular reinforcement 24 can be appropriately removed from the wafer 4 during the processing of the wafer 4.

[0112] Referring to FIG18, the waste section 276 includes: a belt conveyor 300 for conveying the separated annular reinforcing section 24; and a dust collection box 302 for holding the annular reinforcing section 24 conveyed by the belt conveyor 300. The belt conveyor 300 can be positioned by a suitable actuator (not shown) to a substantially horizontally extending recycling position (the position indicated by the solid line in FIG18) and a substantially vertically extending standby position (the position indicated by the two-point chain line in FIG18).

[0113] In Figure 18, a door 304 with a handle 304a is provided on the front side of the dust collection box 302 in the X-axis direction. Inside the dust collection box 302, a crusher (not shown) is installed to crush the recovered annular reinforcing part 24. The dust collection box 302 is configured such that the crushed debris contained in the annular reinforcing part 24 can be removed by holding the handle 304a and opening the door 304.

[0114] When the temporary worktable 204, on which the frame unit U with the cutting groove 256 formed at the root of the reinforcing part 24 is temporarily placed, is positioned below the separating part 248 by the temporary worktable conveying part 232, the separating part 248, as shown in FIG20, exposes the annular reinforcing part 24 on its outer periphery, and the inner side of the wafer 4 is attracted and held by the second lifting worktable 272. Next, the movable piece 288 is moved by the feed assembly 290, and the support substrate 400 is moved by the Z-axis feed mechanism 294, and as shown in FIG21, the gyroscope 402 with the wedge-shaped body acts on the outer periphery of the annular reinforcing part 24. Specifically, the wedge-shaped body of the gyroscope 402 is positioned between the tape 96 and the reinforcing part 24. Furthermore, the lower surface of the annular frame 64 is brought into contact with the sphere 404b of the frame support portion 404, and the annular frame 64 is supported by the sphere 404b.

[0115] Next, ultraviolet light is irradiated from a pair of ultraviolet irradiation sections 270 to reduce the adhesive force of the tape 96 attached to the annular reinforcement 24, and the frame unit U and the second lifting worktable 272 are rotated relative to the separator 274 by the motor 284. Here, since the tape 96 with reduced adhesive force can be separated from the reinforcement 24 by the wedge of the gyroscope 402, the annular reinforcement 24 can be separated from the frame unit U, as shown in FIG. 22. The separated reinforcement 24 can be transported to the dust collection box 302 by the belt conveyor 300 and recycled. Furthermore, the separator 274 can also be rotated relative to the frame unit U when the reinforcement 24 is separated.

[0116] Furthermore, when the reinforcing part 24 is separated, ionized air is sprayed from the ion generator 406 toward the frame unit U. In this way, even if static electricity is generated due to the contact between the gyroscope 402 and the tape 96 and the reinforcing part 24, the static electricity can still be removed using the ionized air sprayed from the ion generator 406. Therefore, there will be no situation where the tape 96 and the reinforcing part 24 attract each other due to static electricity, and the reinforcing part 24 can be reliably separated from the frame unit U.

[0117] Furthermore, when the reinforcing part 24 is separated, the gyroscope 402 that has been acting on the frame unit U will rotate due to the relative rotation of the frame unit U and the separator 274, and the ball 404b that is in contact with the lower surface of the annular frame 64 will rotate, so the relative rotation of the frame unit U and the separator 274 can be performed smoothly.

[0118] (Acyclic Unit Removal Assembly 196) As shown in FIG1, the acyclic unit removal assembly 196 is disposed adjacent to the reinforcement removal unit 194. Referring to FIGS. 23 and 24, the acyclic unit removal assembly 196 of this embodiment includes: a flipping mechanism 308 (refer to FIG23), which has a frame holding part 306 facing the acyclic unit supported on the second lifting worktable 272 and holding the ring frame 64, and moves toward the frame cartridge worktable 200 to flip the frame holding part 306; an acyclic unit support part 310 (refer to FIG24), which supports the acyclic unit after it has been flipped by the flipping mechanism 308; and a pushing part 312 (refer to FIG24), which allows the acyclic unit supported on the acyclic unit support part 310 to enter the frame cartridge 198 placed on the frame cartridge worktable 200 for placement.

[0119] (Flipping Mechanism 308 of the Acyclic Unit Transfer Assembly 196) As shown in FIG23, the flipping mechanism 308 includes: a Y-axis guide member 314 extending in the Y-axis direction; a Y-axis movable member 316 movably supported on the Y-axis guide member 314 in the Y-axis direction; a Y-axis feed mechanism (not shown) for moving the Y-axis movable member 316 in the Y-axis direction; an arm 318 movably supported on the Y-axis movable member 316 in the Z-axis direction; and a Z-axis feed mechanism (not shown) for moving the arm 318 in the Z-axis direction. Each of the Y-axis and Z-axis feed mechanisms of the flipping mechanism 308 is preferably configured as follows: having a ball screw and a motor for rotating the ball screw.

[0120] A motor 320 is mounted on the arm 318. The motor 320 supports the frame holding portion 306 so that it can be rotated up and down freely, and causes the frame holding portion 306 to rotate up and down. The frame holding portion 306 in this embodiment includes a base plate 324 that is supported by the arm 318 and can be rotated freely via a pair of rotating shafts 322, and a plurality of suction pads 326 attached to one side of the base plate 324, and each suction pad 326 is connected to a suction assembly (not shown). Furthermore, one of the rotating shafts 322 is connected to the motor 320.

[0121] The flipping mechanism 308 is in a state where the suction pad 326 is facing upwards, and uses the suction pad 326 to attract and hold the lower surface of the annular frame 64, which is supported by the second lifting worktable 272, and receives the annular unit U' from the second lifting worktable 272. Furthermore, after the flipping mechanism 308 flips the frame holding part 306 by the motor 320, it moves the annular unit U' held by the frame holding part 306 toward the frame cartridge worktable 200 by moving the Y-axis movable member 316.

[0122] (Acyclic Unit Support 310 of Acyclic Unit Transfer Assembly 196) As shown in FIG24, the acyclic unit support 310 of this embodiment includes a pair of support plates 328 that are movably supported in the X-axis direction via a suitable bracket (not shown), and a spacing adjustment assembly (not shown) for adjusting the spacing of the pair of support plates 328 in the X-axis direction. The spacing adjustment assembly may be constructed by a suitable actuator such as a cylinder or an electric cylinder.

[0123] A heater (not shown) is installed on one of the support plates 328 supporting the acyclic unit U'. With the interval between the pair of support plates 328 narrowed, the pair of support plates 328 heat the tape 96 of the acyclic unit U' by the heater, thereby straightening the looseness and wrinkles of the tape 96 caused by the removal of the reinforcing part 24.

[0124] (Push-in portion 312 of the ringless unit removal assembly 196) Referring to FIG24, the push-in portion 312 of this embodiment includes a Y-axis guide member 330 extending in the Y-axis direction, a Y-axis movable member 332 movably supported on the Y-axis guide member 330 in the Y-axis direction, and a Y-axis feed mechanism (not shown) for moving the Y-axis movable member 332 in the Y-axis direction. The Y-axis movable member 332 has a base 334 supported on the Y-axis guide member 330, a support column 336 extending upward from the upper surface of the base 334, and a push plate 338 attached to the upper end of the support column 336. The Y-axis feed mechanism of the push-in portion 312 is preferably configured as follows: having a ball screw connected to the Y-axis movable member 332 and extending in the Y-axis direction, and a motor for rotating the ball screw.

[0125] As shown in FIG25, before receiving the acyclic unit U', the acyclic unit support 310 receives the acyclic unit U' held in the suction pad 326 after the interval adjustment component widens the interval between the pair of support plates 328. Furthermore, the push-in part 312 is configured such that after the acyclic unit support 310 receives the acyclic unit U', the Y-axis movable member 332 is moved in the Y-axis direction by the Y-axis feed mechanism, thereby causing the acyclic unit U' supported on the acyclic unit support 310 to enter the frame cartridge 198 already placed on the frame cartridge worktable 200 by the push plate 338.

[0126] (Frame cassette 198, Frame cassette stage 200) In the frame cassette 198 shown in Figures 1 and 25, a plurality of acyclic unit cells U' (or frame unit cells U in the case of wafers without reinforcing sections 4') are accommodated at intervals in the vertical direction. As shown in Figures 24 and 25, the frame cassette stage 200 includes a mounting section 340 for mounting the frame cassette 198, and a lifting section 342 for raising and lowering the mounting section 340 and positioning it at an arbitrary height. The lifting section 342 preferably has the following configuration: a ball screw connected to the mounting section 340 and extending in the Z-axis direction, and a motor for rotating the ball screw.

[0127] Next, the following processing method will be described using the processing apparatus 2 as described above: the tape 96 is pressed onto the wafer 4 on which the annular reinforcement 24 is formed in a convex shape on the back side 4b corresponding to the outer peripheral remaining area 20 and is integrated with the annular frame 64, and the annular reinforcement 24 is cut off and removed from the wafer 4.

[0128] (Wafer cassette loading step) In this embodiment, as shown in Figures 1 and 3, a wafer cassette loading step is performed, in which a wafer cassette 6 containing a plurality of wafers 4 is loaded onto a wafer cassette stage 8. In this embodiment, the wafer cassette 6 holds a plurality of wafers 4 at intervals in the vertical direction.

[0129] (Frame placement step) As shown in Figures 1 and 5, a frame placement step is performed, in which a plurality of annular frames 64 having openings 64a for accommodating wafers 4 are placed in a frame placement unit 66. The frame placement step can be performed before or after the wafer cassette placement step.

[0130] In the frame accommodating step, after the lifting plate 74 of the frame accommodating unit 66 is lowered to any position, the handle 76a is held and the door 76 is opened, and a plurality of annular frames 64 are stacked on the upper surface of the lifting plate 74 for accommodating. Furthermore, the height of the lifting plate 74 can be appropriately adjusted, and the uppermost annular frame 64 is positioned so that it can be moved out by the frame removal unit 68.

[0131] (Wafer removal step) After performing the wafer cassette loading step and the frame placement step, the wafer removal step is performed, which involves removing the wafer 4 from the wafer cassette 6 that has been placed on the wafer cassette stage 8.

[0132] Referring to FIG3, in the wafer unloading step, the Y-axis feed mechanism 34 of the wafer unloading unit 10 is first actuated, and the Y-axis movable member 32 is positioned near the wafer cassette stage 8. Next, the conveyor arm 42 is driven, and the hand 44 with the air nozzle 46 facing upward is positioned on the lower surface of the wafer 4 in the wafer cassette 6. When the hand 44 has been positioned on the lower surface of the wafer 4, a gap is provided in advance between the lower surface of the wafer 4 and the hand 44, and each guide pin 48 is positioned on the radially outward side.

[0133] Next, compressed air is ejected from the air outlet 46 of the hand 44, generating negative pressure on the lower surface side of the hand 44 by means of the Bernoulli effect, and the wafer 4 is attracted and supported from the lower surface side by the hand 44 in a non-contact manner. Next, each guide pin 48 is moved inward in the radial direction, and the horizontal movement of the wafer 4 attracted and supported by the hand 44 is restricted by each guide pin 48. Then, the Y-axis movable member 32 and the conveying arm 42 of the wafer removal unit 10 are moved, and the wafer 4 attracted and supported by the hand 44 is removed from the wafer cassette 6.

[0134] (Notch Detection Step) Preferably, after the wafer removal step, a notch detection step is performed to detect the position of the notch 26 on the wafer 4. As shown in FIG4, in the notch detection step, the outer periphery of the wafer 4, which is attracted and supported by the hand 44, is positioned between the light-emitting element 52 and the light-receiving element 54 of the notch detection unit 50. Then, the wafer 4 is rotated by a drive source through the guide pin 48 to detect the position of the notch 26 on the wafer 4. In this way, the orientation of the wafer 4 can be adjusted to any orientation.

[0135] (Wafer Support Step) After performing the notch detection step, a wafer support step is performed in which the wafer 4 that has been moved out by the wafer removal unit 10 is supported by the wafer stage 12.

[0136] Referring to FIG3, in the wafer support step, the hand 44 of the wafer removal unit 10 is first rotated up and down. Next, the Y-axis movable member 32 and the conveying arm 42 of the wafer removal unit 10 are moved, and the wafer 4 supported by the hand 44 is brought into contact with the wafer support portion 56 of the wafer stage 12. At this time, the front side 4a of the wafer 4 may face downwards, or the back side 4b of the wafer 4 may face downwards. When the back side 4b of the annular reinforcing portion 24 is facing downwards, the annular reinforcing portion 24 is accommodated in the annular recess 62 of the wafer stage 12.

[0137] Next, the suction assembly of the wafer stage 12 is actuated, generating suction forces at each suction hole 60 to hold the wafer 4. Then, the suction support of the wafer 4 provided by the hand 44 is released, and the hand 44 is removed from the wafer stage 12. This process is repeated to transfer the wafer 4 from the wafer removal unit 10 to the wafer stage 12. Because the wafer 4, once transferred to the wafer stage 12, is held by the suction holes 60, there is no displacement of the wafer 4.

[0138] After wafer 4 is transferred to wafer stage 12, a camera 185 (see Figure 11) installed in the upper chamber 160 takes a picture of wafer 4 on wafer stage 12 from above. This allows detection of whether the exposed surface (upper surface) of wafer 4 is the front side 4a or the back side 4b, confirming whether the exposed surface is facing upwards. If the exposed surface of wafer 4 is not facing upwards, this information can be displayed on the control panel (not shown). Furthermore, if the exposed surface of wafer 4 is the front side 4a, the ID23 recorded on the front side 4a of wafer 4 can be obtained from the image captured by camera 185.

[0139] (Frame removal step) Furthermore, after performing the wafer cassette placement step and the frame placement step, a frame removal step is performed. The aforementioned frame removal step is performed in parallel with the wafer removal step or the wafer support step to remove the annular frame 64 from the frame placement unit 66.

[0140] Referring to FIG5, in the frame removal step, firstly, the X-axis movable member 84 and the Z-axis movable member 86 of the frame removal unit 68 are moved, causing the suction pad 92 of the holding part 88 to contact the upper surface of the uppermost annular frame 64 already housed in the frame receiving unit 66. Next, the suction assembly of the frame removal unit 68 is actuated, generating a suction force on the suction pad 92, thereby attracting and holding the uppermost annular frame 64 with the suction pad 92. Then, the X-axis movable member 84 and the Z-axis movable member 86 of the frame removal unit 68 are moved, removing the uppermost annular frame 64, which is attracted and held by the suction pad 92 of the holding part 88, from the frame receiving unit 66.

[0141] (Frame support step) After the frame removal step has been performed, the frame support step is performed. The aforementioned frame support step is to support the annular frame 64 that has been removed by the frame removal unit 68 with the frame workbench 70.

[0142] Referring to FIG5, in the frame support step, firstly, the X-axis movable member 84 and the Z-axis movable member 86 of the frame transfer unit 68 are moved, causing the annular frame 64, held by the suction pad 92, to contact the upper surface of the frame worktable 70. At this time, the frame worktable 70 is pre-positioned to receive the annular frame 64. Next, the suction force of the suction pad 92 of the frame transfer unit 68 is released, and the annular frame 64 is placed on the frame worktable 70. Furthermore, the X-axis movable member 84 and the Z-axis movable member 86 of the frame transfer unit 68 are moved, causing the holding part 88 to move away from above the frame worktable 70.

[0143] (First tape crimping step) After the frame support step is performed, the first tape crimping step is performed, in which the tape 96 is crimped onto the annular frame 64.

[0144] Referring to Figures 6 and 7, in the first tape crimping step, the tape 96 is first pulled out from the wound tape 96R and positioned above the frame worktable 70 in a taut state, without loosening the release paper 116. Furthermore, when the tape 96 is an adhesive tape, the crimping surface of the tape 96 located above the frame worktable 70 faces downwards.

[0145] Next, the frame worktable 70 is raised and positioned at the pressing start position (as shown in FIG8), and the first pressing roller 110 is lowered and positioned at the lower pressing position (as shown in FIG8). Thereby, tension is applied to the tape 96 to press the tape 96 to one end of the annular frame 64.

[0146] As described above, when the frame workbench 70 is positioned at the pressing start position and the first pressing roller 110 is positioned at the lower pressing position, as shown in FIG8, the tape 96 will form an elevation angle α from the first pressing roller 110 toward the lower guide roller 130.

[0147] Next, while pressing the tape 96 toward the annular frame 64 with the first pressing roller 110, the first pressing roller 110 is moved toward the other end of the annular frame 64 in the Y-axis direction. In this way, the tape 96 can be pressed onto the annular frame 64 under uniform tension.

[0148] When the first pressing roller 110 is moved, the frame worktable 70 should be raised synchronously with the movement of the first pressing roller 110, while the tension applied to the tape 96 is kept constant. Specifically, as shown in Figures 9 and 10, the frame worktable 70 is gradually raised synchronously with the movement of the first pressing roller 110, with the elevation angle α being fixed.

[0149] Furthermore, when the tape 96 is a heat-pressed tape, the temperature of the upper surface of the frame worktable 70 or the temperature of the outer peripheral surface of the first pressing roller 110 can be adjusted to a temperature at which the tape 96 will soften or melt. Then, while applying a fixed tension to the tape 96 using the first pressing roller 110, the first pressing roller 110 is rolled in the Y-axis direction, thereby heat-pressing the tape 96 onto the annular frame 64. Of course, when heat-pressing the tape 96, the frame worktable 70 is gradually raised in sync with the movement of the first pressing roller 110, keeping the elevation angle α fixed.

[0150] Next, the cutter 144 and the pressing roller 146 of the cutting section 112 of the first tape pressing unit 98 are lowered, so that the cutter 144 pushes against the tape 96 on the annular frame 64, and the pressing roller 146 presses the annular frame 64 over the tape 96. Then, the arm 140 is rotated by the motor 138, so that the cutter 144 and the pressing roller 146 move in a circular motion along the annular frame 64. In this way, the tape 96 extending beyond the outer periphery of the annular frame 64 can be cut along the annular frame 64.

[0151] Furthermore, since the pressing roller 146 presses the annular frame 64 over the tape 96, the position of the annular frame 64 or the tape 96 can be prevented from shifting when the tape 96 is cut. Moreover, the used tape 96 with the circular opening 120 is wound up by the tape winding section 106.

[0152] (Tape Frame Transfer Step) After the first tape crimping step has been performed, the tape frame transfer step is performed. The tape frame transfer step involves transferring the ring frame 64 with the tape 96 crimped onto the wafer stage 12, and positioning the opening 64a of the ring frame 64 on the front 4a or back 4b of the wafer 4 already supported on the wafer stage 12, so as to place the tape ring frame 64' onto the wafer stage 12.

[0153] In the tape-attached frame transport step, the frame worktable 70 is first lowered to a position where the tape-attached ring frame 64' can be moved out by the tape-attached frame transport unit 100. Next, the Y-axis movable member 150 and the Z-axis movable member 152 of the tape-attached frame transport unit 100 (see Figure 5) are moved so that the suction pads 158 of the holding part 154 of the tape-attached frame transport unit 100 contact the upper surface of the tape-attached ring frame 64' (see Figure 11) supported on the frame worktable 70.

[0154] Next, the suction component of the tape-attached frame conveying unit 100 is actuated to generate a suction force on the suction pad 158, thereby attracting and holding the upper surface of the tape-attached ring frame 64' with the suction pad 158. Next, the Y-axis movable member 150 and the Z-axis movable member 152 of the tape-attached frame conveying unit 100 are moved to remove the tape-attached ring frame 64' held by the suction pad 158 from the frame worktable 70.

[0155] Next, the tape-attached ring frame 64', held by the suction pad 158 of the tape-attached frame transport unit 100, is transported to the wafer stage 12. As shown in FIG11, the opening 64a of the ring frame 64 is positioned on the wafer 4 already supported on the wafer stage 12 so that the tape-attached ring frame 64' contacts the frame support portion 58 of the wafer stage 12. At this time, the pressing surface of the tape 96 of the tape-attached ring frame 64' faces downward. Furthermore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG11, the back surface 4b of the wafer 4 faces upward and is opposite to the pressing surface of the tape 96.

[0156] Next, the attraction force of the suction pad 158 of the tape-attached frame transport unit 100 is released, and the tape-attached ring frame 64' is placed on the frame support portion 58 of the wafer stage 12. Furthermore, the Y-axis movable member 150 and the Z-axis movable member 152 of the tape-attached frame transport unit 100 are moved, causing the holding portion 154 to move away from above the wafer stage 12.

[0157] (Second tape crimping step) After the tape frame conveying step is performed, the second tape crimping step is performed, wherein the tape 96 with tape ring frame 64' is crimped onto the front side 4a or back side 4b of the wafer 4.

[0158] Referring to FIG11, in the second tape pressing step, the upper chamber 160 is first lowered by the lifting mechanism 164 of the second tape pressing unit 102, and the lower end of the side wall 172 of the upper chamber 160 contacts the upper end of the side wall 186 of the lower chamber 162. This closes the upper chamber 160 and the lower chamber 162, and the second pressing roller 174 contacts the tape-attached annular frame 64'. As a result, the upper end of the annular reinforcing portion 24 of the wafer 4 adheres to the pressing surface of the tape 96 of the tape-attached annular frame 64'.

[0159] Next, with the atmospheric opening 168 of the second tape pressing unit 102 closed, the vacuum section 166 is activated to create a vacuum inside the upper chamber 160 and the lower chamber 162. Then, by rolling the second pressing roller 174 of the second tape pressing unit 102 in the Y-axis direction, the tape 96 is pressed onto the wafer 4. This generates a frame unit U formed by pressing the wafer 4 and the tape 96 together. Next, the atmospheric opening 168 is opened, and atmospheric pressure causes the tape 96 to adhere tightly to the wafer 4 along the root of the annular reinforcing section 24. Furthermore, the upper chamber 160 is raised by the lifting mechanism 164.

[0160] When the tape 96 is a heat-pressed tape, the tape 96 can be heat-pressed onto the wafer 4 by rolling the second pressing roller 174 after the temperature of the upper surface of the wafer worktable 12 or the temperature of the outer peripheral surface of the second pressing roller 174 has been adjusted to a temperature at which the tape 96 will soften or melt.

[0161] Preferably, after the tape 96 with the attached tape ring frame 64' is pressed onto the wafer 4 to form the frame unit U, the frame unit U is photographed by a camera 185 disposed in the upper chamber 160 to detect whether the tape 96 has been properly pressed onto the wafer 4. If the wafer 4 (e.g., the root of the reinforcing portion 24) and the tape 96 are not tightly bonded, and there is a gap between the wafer 4 and the tape 96, the processing performed by the processing apparatus 2 is interrupted. In this way, the occurrence of defects in the device 14 can be suppressed in subsequent steps when the wafer 4 is cut according to the device wafer of each device 14.

[0162] Furthermore, in this embodiment, although as shown in FIG12(a), the tape 96 with the tape ring frame 64' is pressed onto the back side 4b of the wafer 4 having the ring-shaped reinforcement 24, the tape 96 can also be pressed onto the front side 4a of the wafer 4 as shown in FIG12(b).

[0163] Also, as shown in Figures 13(a) and (b), when the tape 96 with the tape ring frame 64' is pressed onto the wafer 4' without reinforcement, the surface of the tape 96 with the tape ring frame 64' can be either the front side 4a' or the back side 4b' of the wafer 4'.

[0164] Incidentally, when the tape 96 is pressed onto the front side 4a, 4a' of the wafers 4, 4', cutting can be performed from the back side 4b, 4b' of the wafers 4, 4' in subsequent steps, thereby enabling high-quality processing for wafers of materials (such as SiC wafers) for which processing from the back side is preferred in terms of crystal structure.

[0165] Furthermore, when the tape 96 is pressed onto the front surfaces 4a and 4a' of the wafers 4 and 4', it also has advantages when performing laser processing on the wafers 4. Specifically, when performing ablation processing by irradiating the wafers 4 and 4' with laser light of wavelengths that absorb the wafers 4 and 4' from the back surfaces 4b and 4b', it prevents the devices 14 on the front surfaces 4a and 4a' from being contaminated by debris. In addition, when the focal point of the laser light of wavelengths that transmit the wafers 4 and 4' is positioned inside the wafers 4 and 4' from the back surfaces 4b and 4b' to irradiate the wafers 4 and 4', processing can be performed on the interior of the wafers 4 and 4' without being affected by the devices 14.

[0166] When pressing tape 96 onto wafers 4, 4' (especially the front side 4a, 4a'), it is desirable to use a heat-pressing tape that does not raise concerns about adhesive residue.

[0167] (Frame unit removal step) After the second tape crimping step has been performed, the frame unit removal step is performed, which is to remove the frame unit U formed by crimping the tape 96 with the tape-attached ring frame 64' to the front side 4a or back side 4b of the wafer 4 from the wafer stage 12.

[0168] Referring to FIG5, in the frame unit removal step, the conveying part 206 of the frame unit removal assembly 192 is first activated, and the lower surface of the adsorption sheet 210 of the wafer holding part 202a of the frame unit holding part 202 contacts the wafer 4 through the tape 96, and the suction pad 214 of the frame holding part 202b contacts the annular frame 64.

[0169] Next, an attractive force is generated at the suction plate 210 of the wafer holding section 202a and the suction pad 214 of the frame holding section 202b. The wafer 4 is held by the suction plate 210 of the wafer holding section 202a, and the annular frame 64 is held by the suction pad 214 of the frame holding section 202b. Next, the attraction and holding of the wafer 4 by the wafer stage 12 is released. Then, the transfer section 206 is activated to remove the frame unit U held by the frame unit holding section 202 from the wafer stage 12.

[0170] (Temporary Placement Step) After the frame cell removal step, a temporary placement step is performed. The aforementioned temporary placement step aligns the center of wafer 4 with the center of temporary stage 204 to temporarily place the frame cell U on temporary stage 204. However, for the unreinforced wafer 4' shown in FIG2(b), the temporary placement step and the reinforcement removal step described later are not performed. Instead, the frame cell U removed from wafer stage 12 is placed in frame cassette 198.

[0171] Referring to FIG14, in the temporary placement step, the frame unit U held by the frame unit holding part 202 is first positioned above the imaging part 224. Next, the conveying part 206 of the two-dimensional moving mechanism constituting the frame unit moving assembly 192 is activated, and the imaging part 224 captures images of at least three points on the outer periphery of the wafer 4 containing the frame unit U held by the frame unit holding part 202. The coordinates of at least three points on the outer periphery of the wafer 4 are then measured. Next, the center coordinates of the wafer 4 are determined based on the measured coordinates of the three points.

[0172] Next, the transfer unit 206 is activated to position the center of the wafer 4 to the center of the temporary stage 204, and the frame unit U is brought into contact with the upper surface of the temporary stage 204. Then, the wafer 4 is released from the attraction and holding of the wafer 4 by the wafer holding unit 202a, and the annular frame 64 is released from the attraction and holding of the frame holding unit 202b, and the frame unit U is transferred from the frame unit removal assembly 192 to the temporary stage 204.

[0173] Next, the heater of the temporary worktable 204 is activated, and the tape 96 that has been temporarily placed on the frame unit U of the temporary worktable 204 is heated by the heater. In this way, the tape 96 softens and adheres to the root of the annular reinforcement 24 of the wafer 4.

[0174] (Reinforcement removal step) After the temporary step is performed, the reinforcement removal step is performed. The reinforcement removal step is performed by cutting off and removing the annular reinforcement 24 from the wafer 4 of the frame unit U that has been removed by the frame unit removal assembly 192.

[0175] Referring to Figures 1, 14, and 16, in the reinforcement removal step, the X-axis movable member 260 and the Z-axis movable member 262 of the first lifting worktable 246 of the reinforcement removal unit 194 are first moved, so that the lower surface of the adsorption sheet 268 contacts the upper surface of the annular frame 64 of the frame unit U, which is temporarily placed on the temporary worktable 204. Then, the adsorption holes of the adsorption sheet 268 in the first lifting worktable 246 generate an attractive force to attract and hold the annular frame 64 portion of the frame unit U.

[0176] Next, the X-axis movable member 260 and the Z-axis movable member 262 of the first lifting worktable 246 are actuated, and as shown in FIG15, the frame unit U held by the adsorption sheet 268 is positioned above the laser beam irradiation unit 244. Next, the focusing point of the laser beam LB is positioned at the root of the annular reinforcement 24 of the wafer 4 of the frame unit U. Furthermore, although the tape 96 is pressed onto the back side 4b of the wafer 4 where the reinforcement 24 is provided in FIG15, the tape 96 can also be pressed onto the front side 4a of the wafer 4.

[0177] Next, while rotating the suction plate 268 and the frame unit U by the motor 266 of the first lifting worktable 246, laser light LB is irradiated onto the root of the annular reinforcing portion 24 of the wafer 4. This allows for ablation processing of the root of the annular reinforcing portion 24 of the wafer 4, forming an annular cutting groove 256. Furthermore, when the laser light LB is irradiated onto the wafer 4, the suction component of the laser light irradiation unit 244 is activated, generating a suction force in the suction nozzle 254, and the suction nozzle 254 attracts debris generated during the ablation process.

[0178] Next, the X-axis movable member 260 and the Z-axis movable member 262 of the first lifting worktable 246 are moved so that the frame unit U, held by the suction plate 268, comes into contact with the upper surface of the temporary worktable 204. Then, the suction force of the suction plate 268 of the first lifting worktable 246 is released, and the frame unit U is transferred from the first lifting worktable 246 to the temporary worktable 204.

[0179] Next, the temporary worktable 204, which has received the frame unit U, is positioned below the separation section 248 of the reinforcement removal unit 194 by the temporary worktable transport section 232 (see Figure 14). Furthermore, at this time, the belt conveyor 300 of the waste section 276 is positioned in the standby position. Next, the second lifting worktable 272 of the separation section 248 is lowered, and the lower surface of the second lifting worktable 272 contacts the tape 96 on the inner side of the wafer 4. Next, an attractive force is generated on the lower surface of the second lifting worktable 272, and as shown in Figure 20, with the annular reinforcement section 24 exposed on the outer periphery, the worktable head 287 of the second lifting worktable 272 attracts and holds the inner side of the wafer 4 of the frame unit U.

[0180] Next, the second lifting stage 272 holding the frame unit U of the wafer 4 is raised, causing the frame unit U to move away from the temporary stage 204, and the temporary stage 204 is moved downwards towards the first lifting stage 246. Next, the movable piece 288 is moved by the feed assembly 290, and the support substrate 400 is moved by the Z-axis feed mechanism 294. As shown in FIG21, the gyroscope 402 with a wedge shape acts on the outer periphery of the annular reinforcement 24, and the wedge shape of the gyroscope 402 is positioned between the tape 96 and the reinforcement 24. The annular frame 64 is supported by the sphere 404b of the frame support 404. Furthermore, the belt conveyor 300 of the waste section 276 is positioned from the standby position to the recycling position.

[0181] Next, ultraviolet light is irradiated from a pair of ultraviolet irradiation sections 270 to reduce the adhesive force of the tape 96 attached to the annular reinforcement 24, and the frame unit U and the second lifting worktable 272 are rotated relative to the separator 274 by the motor 284. Ionized air is also sprayed from the ion generator 406 toward the frame unit U. Thus, as shown in FIG22, the annular reinforcement 24 can be separated from the frame unit U without any static electricity generated during the separation of the reinforcement 24 remaining in the frame unit U. The reinforcement 24 that has fallen from the frame unit U can be transported to the dust collection box 302 by the belt conveyor 300 and recycled. Furthermore, the separator 274 can be rotated relative to the frame unit U during the separation of the reinforcement 24.

[0182] (Acyclic Unit Removal Step) After the reinforcement removal step is performed, the acyclic unit removal step is performed. The aforementioned acyclic unit removal step is to remove the acyclic unit U' from the reinforcement removal unit 194 after the ring-shaped reinforcement 24 has been removed.

[0183] In the acyclic unit removal step, firstly, the belt conveyor 300 of the waste section 276 of the reinforcement removal unit 194 is positioned from the recycling position to the standby position. Next, the frame holding section 306 of the flipping mechanism 308 (see Figure 23) of the acyclic unit removal assembly 196 is positioned below the acyclic unit U' that has been attracted and held by the second lifting worktable 272.

[0184] Next, the arm 318 is raised with the suction pad 326 of the frame holding part 306 facing upward, so that the suction pad 326 of the frame holding part 306 contacts the lower surface side of the ring frame 64 of the ringless unit U' supported on the second lifting worktable 272.

[0185] Next, an attractive force is generated at the attraction pad 326 of the frame holding part 306, and the ring frame 64 holding the acyclic unit U' is attracted by the attraction pad 326. Then, the attraction holding of the acyclic unit U' performed by the second lifting worktable 272 is released. Thereby, the acyclic unit U' is transferred from the second lifting worktable 272 of the reinforcement removal unit 194 to the frame holding part 306 of the acyclic unit removal assembly 196.

[0186] (Acyclic Unit Reception Step) After performing the acyclic unit removal step, the acyclic unit reception step is performed. The aforementioned acyclic unit reception step is to receive the acyclic unit U' that has been removed by the acyclic unit removal component 196.

[0187] In the acyclic unit placement step, the flipping mechanism 308 of the acyclic unit removal assembly 196 is first flipped up and down, thereby flipping the acyclic unit U' held by the frame holding part 306 up and down. In this way, the acyclic unit U' is positioned below the frame holding part 306.

[0188] Next, the Y-axis movable member 316 and arm 318 of the flipping mechanism 308 are moved, causing the acyclic unit U' to contact the upper surfaces of the pair of support plates 328 of the acyclic unit support 310. At this time, the spacing between the pair of support plates 328 has been narrowed by the spacing adjustment assembly, and the pair of support plates 328 are tightly fitted together. Next, the attraction holding of the acyclic unit U' by the frame holding part 306 is released, and the acyclic unit U' is placed on the pair of support plates 328. Next, by activating the heaters installed on each support plate 328, the tape 96 of the acyclic unit U' is heated, and the deflection and wrinkles of the tape 96 caused by the removal of the reinforcing part 24 are straightened. Then, the acyclic unit U' is again attracted and held by the frame holding part 306 and raised.

[0189] Next, after widening the gap between the pair of support plates 328 using the interval adjustment assembly, the acyclic unit U' is placed on the upper surface of the support plate 328. Then, as shown in FIG25, the acyclic unit U', which is supported on the acyclic unit support 310, is pressed by the push plate 338 of the push-in part 312, so that it enters the frame cartridge 198, which is placed on the frame cartridge worktable 200, for placement.

[0190] As described above, in the processing apparatus 2 of this embodiment, even if a wafer 4 has an annular reinforcing portion 24 formed convexly on the back surface 4b corresponding to the outer peripheral remaining area 20, the wafer 4 and the annular frame 64 can still be automatically formed together through the tape 96, and the annular reinforcing portion 24 can be automatically cut off and removed from the wafer 4.

[0191] Furthermore, although this embodiment mainly describes the case of removing the annular reinforcing portion 24, in the case of a wafer 4' without reinforcing portions, since it is not necessary to remove the reinforcing portion, the processing apparatus 2 can be used without using the reinforcing portion removal unit 194 and the annular unit removal assembly 196. FIG1 is a perspective view of the processing apparatus of the embodiment of the present invention. FIG2(a) is a perspective view of a wafer with reinforcing portions that can be processed by the processing apparatus shown in FIG1, and (b) is a perspective view of a wafer without reinforcing portions that can be processed by the processing apparatus shown in FIG1. ​​FIG3 is a perspective view of the wafer cassette worktable, etc. shown in FIG1. ​​FIG4 is a perspective view of the hand shown in FIG1. ​​FIG5 is a perspective view of the frame holding unit, etc. shown in FIG1. ​​FIG6 is a perspective view of the frame worktable and the first tape pressing unit, etc. shown in FIG1. ​​FIG7 is a schematic diagram of the first tape pressing unit shown in FIG1. Figure 8 is a schematic diagram showing the state in which the first pressing roller is positioned in the pressing position and the tape has been pressed onto one end of the annular frame. Figure 9 is a schematic diagram showing the state after the first pressing roller has been moved from the state shown in Figure 8. Figure 10 is a schematic diagram showing the state after the first pressing roller has been moved further from the state shown in Figure 9. Figure 11 is an exploded perspective view of the second tape pressing unit shown in Figure 1. Figure 12(a) is a perspective view from below showing the state in which the back side of the reinforcing wafer shown in Figure 2(a) has been pressed onto the tape with the attached annular frame, and (b) is a perspective view from below showing the state in which the front side of the reinforcing wafer shown in Figure 2(a) has been pressed onto the tape with the attached annular frame. Figure 13(a) is a perspective view from below showing the back side of the unreinforced wafer shown in Figure 2(b) pressed against the tape with an adhesive ring frame; (b) is a perspective view from below showing the front side of the unreinforced wafer shown in Figure 2(b) pressed against the tape with an adhesive ring frame. Figure 14 is a perspective view of the reinforcement removal unit shown in Figure 1. Figure 15 is a schematic diagram showing the state of irradiating the root of the wafer with laser light during the reinforcement removal step. Figure 16 is a perspective view of the first lifting stage of the reinforcement removal unit shown in Figure 1. Figure 17(a) is a perspective view of the separation section of the reinforcement removal unit shown in Figure 1; (b) is an enlarged perspective view of the support substrate shown in (a). Figure 18 is a perspective view of the waste section of the reinforcement removal unit shown in Figure 1. Figure 19 is a schematic diagram showing the state of contacting the gyroscope with the stage head shown in Figure 1 to detect the outer diameter of the stage head. Figure 20 is a schematic diagram showing the state in which the wafer is held by the second lifting stage during the reinforcement removal step. Figure 21 is a schematic diagram showing the state in which the gyroscope of the reinforcement removal unit acts on the outer periphery of the annular reinforcement during the reinforcement removal step. Figure 22 is a schematic diagram showing the state in which the reinforcement has been separated from the wafer during the reinforcement removal step.Figure 23 is a perspective view of the flipping mechanism of the acyclic unit transfer assembly shown in Figure 1. Figure 24 is a perspective view of the acyclic unit support and push-in portion of the acyclic unit transfer assembly shown in Figure 1. Figure 25 is a perspective view showing the state of the acyclic unit receiving step being performed.

Claims

1. A processing apparatus comprising: a wafer cassette stage for holding a wafer cassette containing a plurality of wafers; a wafer removal unit for removing the wafers from the wafer cassette already placed on the wafer cassette stage; a wafer stage for supporting the wafers removed by the wafer removal unit; a frame holding unit for holding a plurality of annular frames having openings for holding the wafers; a frame removal unit for removing the annular frames from the frame holding unit; a frame stage for supporting the annular frames removed by the frame removal unit; and a first tape pressing unit having a first pressing roller disposed above the frame stage and pressing tape onto the annular frames. A tape-attached frame transport unit transports the annular frame with the tape attached to it to the wafer stage, positioning the opening of the annular frame on the front or back side of the wafer already supported on the wafer stage, and placing the tape-attached annular frame onto the wafer stage; a second tape-attaching unit includes a second pressing roller that presses the tape with the tape-attached annular frame onto the front or back side of the wafer; a camera captures an image of the exposed surface of the wafer to be pressed with the tape with the tape-attached annular frame by the second tape-attaching unit; a frame unit removal assembly removes the frame unit, formed by pressing the tape with the tape-attached annular frame onto the front or back side of the wafer by the second tape-attaching unit, from the wafer stage; and a frame cassette stage holds the frame cassette containing the frame unit. A first heating unit is provided on either or both of the frame worktable and the first pressing roller, and a second heating unit is provided on either or both of the wafer worktable and the second pressing roller. The tape can selectively use any of the following tapes: an adhesive tape with an adhesive layer on the sheet, or a heat-pressing tape without an adhesive layer on the sheet. When the exposed surface of the wafer supported on the wafer worktable is the front side, the camera obtains the ID recorded on the front side of the wafer.

2. The processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein an annular reinforcement is formed convexly on the back side corresponding to the remaining peripheral region of the wafer, the aforementioned processing apparatus further comprising: a reinforcement removal unit for cutting and removing the annular reinforcement from the wafer of the frame unit moved out by the frame unit removal assembly; and an acyclic unit removal assembly for removing the acyclic unit from the reinforcement removal unit after the annular reinforcement has been removed.

3. The processing apparatus of claim 1 or 2, wherein the first tape pressing unit comprises: a wound tape support for supporting a wound tape formed by winding the tape before use; a tape take-up section for taking the used tape; a tape pull-out section for pulling the tape out from the wound tape; a first pressing roller for pressing the pulled-out tape onto the annular frame; and a cutting section for cutting the tape extending beyond the outer periphery of the annular frame along the annular frame.

4. The processing apparatus of claim 3, wherein, when the tape is a heat-pressed tape, the first heating unit is activated to heat either or both of the frame worktable and the first pressing roller, thereby heat-pressing the heat-pressed tape onto the annular frame.

5. The processing apparatus of claim 1 or 2, wherein the second tape crimping unit comprises: an upper chamber disposed above the wafer stage; a lower chamber housing the wafer stage; a lifting mechanism for raising and lowering the upper chamber to create a closed state in contact with the lower chamber and an open state away from the lower chamber; a vacuum section for creating a vacuum in the closed state of the upper chamber and the lower chamber; and an atmospheric opening section for opening the upper chamber and the lower chamber to the atmosphere. When the tape with the attached tape ring frame is positioned on the front or back side of the wafer supported on the wafer stage, the lifting mechanism is activated to maintain the closed state, and the upper chamber and the lower chamber are created as a vacuum. The second crimping roller disposed in the upper chamber crimps the tape with the attached tape ring frame onto the front or back side of the wafer.

6. The processing apparatus of claim 5, wherein, when the tape is a heat-pressed tape, the second heating unit is activated to heat either or both of the wafer stage and the second pressing roller, and the heat-pressed tape is heat-pressed onto the front or back side of the wafer.

7. The processing apparatus of claim 5, wherein the camera is provided in the upper chamber of the second tape pressing unit, and before the tape-attached ring frame is transported, it detects whether the exposed surface of the wafer supported on the wafer worktable is the front or the back.

8. The processing apparatus of claim 7, wherein the camera detects whether the tape has been properly pressed onto the wafer after the tape attached to the tape ring frame has been pressed onto the wafer supported on the wafer stage.

9. The processing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the frame worktable is configured to be height-adjustable, the first pressing roller presses the tape onto the annular frame when the annular frame is placed on the frame worktable, and the frame worktable rises vertically when the first pressing roller moves horizontally, such that the angle between the annular frame and the tape extending from the first pressing roller toward the tape take-up section is fixed, and the aforementioned tape take-up section takes up the used tape.

10. A processing apparatus comprising: a wafer cassette stage for holding a wafer cassette containing a plurality of wafers; a wafer removal unit for removing the wafers from the wafer cassette already placed on the wafer cassette stage; a wafer stage for supporting the wafers removed by the wafer removal unit; a frame holding unit for holding a plurality of annular frames having openings for holding the wafers; a frame removal unit for removing the annular frames from the frame holding unit; a frame stage for supporting the annular frames removed by the frame removal unit; and a first tape pressing unit having a first pressing roller disposed above the frame stage and pressing tape onto the annular frames. A tape-attached frame conveying unit transports the annular frame with the tape attached to it to the wafer stage, positioning the opening of the annular frame on the front or back side of the wafer already supported on the wafer stage, and placing the tape-attached annular frame onto the wafer stage; a second tape pressing unit includes a second pressing roller that presses the tape with the tape-attached annular frame onto the front or back side of the wafer; a frame unit removal assembly removes the frame unit, formed by pressing the tape with the tape-attached annular frame onto the front or back side of the wafer by the second tape pressing unit, from the wafer stage; and a frame cassette stage for holding the frame cassette containing the frame unit. A first heating unit is provided on either or both of the frame stage and the first pressing roller, and a second heating unit is provided on either or both of the wafer stage and the second pressing roller. The tape can selectively use any of the following: an adhesive tape with an adhesive layer applied to the sheet, or a thermosetting tape without an adhesive layer on the sheet. The second tape bonding unit includes: an upper chamber disposed above the wafer stage; a lower chamber housing the wafer stage; a lifting mechanism for raising and lowering the upper chamber to create a closed state in contact with the lower chamber and an open state away from the lower chamber; a vacuum section for creating a vacuum in the upper and lower chambers in the closed state; and an atmospheric opening section for opening the upper and lower chambers to the atmosphere. With the tape with the attached tape ring frame positioned on the front or back of the wafer supported on the wafer stage, the lifting mechanism is activated to maintain the closed state, and the upper and lower chambers are made into a vacuum. The second pressing roller, which is disposed in the upper chamber, presses the tape with the attached tape ring frame onto the front or back of the wafer. A camera is disposed in the upper chamber of the second tape pressing unit, and before the attached tape ring frame is transported, it detects whether the exposed surface of the wafer supported on the wafer stage is the front or back.

11. The processing apparatus of claim 10, wherein the camera obtains the ID recorded on the front side of the wafer when the exposed surface of the wafer supported on the wafer stage is the front side.

12. A processing apparatus comprising: a wafer cassette stage for holding a wafer cassette containing a plurality of wafers; a wafer removal unit for removing the wafers from the wafer cassette already placed on the wafer cassette stage; a wafer stage for supporting the wafers removed by the wafer removal unit; a frame holding unit for holding a plurality of annular frames having openings for holding the wafers; a frame removal unit for removing the annular frames from the frame holding unit; a frame stage for supporting the annular frames removed by the frame removal unit; and a first tape pressing unit having a first pressing roller disposed above the frame stage and pressing tape onto the annular frames. A tape-attached frame conveying unit transports the annular frame with the tape attached to it to the wafer stage, positioning the opening of the annular frame on the front or back side of the wafer already supported on the wafer stage, and placing the tape-attached annular frame onto the wafer stage; a second tape pressing unit includes a second pressing roller that presses the tape with the tape-attached annular frame onto the front or back side of the wafer; a frame unit removal assembly removes the frame unit, formed by pressing the tape with the tape-attached annular frame onto the front or back side of the wafer by the second tape pressing unit, from the wafer stage; and a frame cassette stage for holding the frame cassette containing the frame unit. A first heating unit is provided on either or both of the frame stage and the first pressing roller, and a second heating unit is provided on either or both of the wafer stage and the second pressing roller. The tape can selectively use any of the following tapes: an adhesive tape with an adhesive layer on the sheet, or a thermosetting tape without an adhesive layer on the sheet. A ring-shaped reinforcement is formed convexly on the back side corresponding to the remaining area of ​​the outer periphery of the wafer. The aforementioned processing apparatus further includes: a reinforcement removal unit that cuts and removes the ring-shaped reinforcement from the wafer of the frame unit removed by the frame unit removal assembly; and a ringless unit removal assembly that removes the ringless unit from the reinforcement removal unit after the ring-shaped reinforcement has been removed. The reinforcement removal unit further includes a separation part that separates the ring-shaped reinforcement from other parts of the wafer by means of a plurality of gyroscopes. Each of the plurality of gyroscopes has a wedge shape and is configured to contact the outer peripheral surface of the ring-shaped reinforcement.

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