Processing device and processing method for plate-like workpiece

Abstract

To process plate-like workpieces having different shapes efficiently without changing a chuck table.SOLUTION: A processing device 1 comprises a plate storage part 30 for storing a plate 2 which suction-holds a non-circular workpiece (a second workpiece) W1, a carrier mechanism 40 for carrying the plate 2 to a chuck table 10, a workpiece setting part 80 for setting a plate-like workpiece which should be suction-held on the chuck table 10, and a control part 90 for drive-controlling the carrier mechanism 40 to carry the plate 2 to the chuck table 10 when the plate-like workpiece is the non-circular workpiece W1. Also, the processing method for a plate-like workpiece includes a workpiece recognition step, a plate arrangement step, a holding step of causing the plate 2 arranged on a first holding surface 10a of the chuck table 10 to suction-hold the non-circular workpiece W1, and a processing step of processing the non-circular workpiece W1 having been suction-held on the plate 2.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for machining a plate-shaped workpiece, in which a first workpiece and a second workpiece, which are plate-shaped workpieces having different shapes, are held by a chuck table and machined. [Background technology]

[0002] For example, in the manufacturing process of semiconductor devices such as ICs and LSIs used in various electronic devices, the back surface of a wafer is ground by a grinding device to thin the wafer to a predetermined thickness in order to reduce the size and weight of the semiconductor device. Here, the wafer is generally a thin disk-shaped wafer made of a single crystal silicon base material, and while this disk-shaped wafer is suction-held on the circular holding surface of a disk-shaped chuck table, the chuck table is rotated together with the wafer at a predetermined rotational speed, and the wafer is ground to a predetermined uniform thickness by a grinding wheel rotating at the predetermined speed.

[0003] However, wafers ground by a grinding device are not limited to circular ones, and for example, non-circular wafers such as rectangular ones may be held on a chuck table and ground (see Patent Document 1). When grinding such a non-circular workpiece, the chuck table having a circular holding surface is changed to another chuck table having a holding surface of the same shape as the shape of the non-circular workpiece, and the non-circular wafer is held on the non-circular holding surface of this chuck table and ground.

[0004] Furthermore, some circular wafers to be ground have different outer diameters, and a universal chuck table capable of holding such circular wafers with different outer diameters on the holding surface of a single chuck table without changing the chuck table is proposed in Patent Document 2. This universal chuck table has a plurality of holding surfaces separated by partitions corresponding to the sizes of the wafers, and when the wafer is suction-held on the holding surfaces, a suction path corresponding to the size of the workpiece is opened to change the diameter of the holding surface on which the suction force from the suction source acts. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2020-055080 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2017-074628 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] However, the conventional method of replacing the chuck table every time the object to be ground is changed from a circular wafer to a non-circular wafer, or from a non-circular wafer to a circular wafer, requires a great deal of time and effort, and increases the time required before grinding, resulting in poor efficiency.

[0007] In addition, the universal chuck table proposed in Patent Document 2 not only limits the objects to be machined to circular workpieces, but also requires multiple valves to open and close each suction passage, making the control of opening and closing the valves complicated.

[0008] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and its object is to provide a processing device and a processing method for plate-shaped workpieces that can efficiently process plate-shaped workpieces of different shapes without replacing the chuck table. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] The present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems provides a plate-like workpiece machining device including a chuck table that suction-holds a first workpiece, which is a plate-like workpiece, or a second workpiece, which is a plate-like workpiece and is sized to fit within the first workpiece in a planar view, by a first holding surface sized to suction-hold the entire underside of the first workpiece, and a machining mechanism that machines the first workpiece or the second workpiece held by suction on the chuck table, the plate storage section including a second holding surface sized to suction-hold the entire underside of the second workpiece and a communication hole communicating with the second holding surface and an opposite surface thereof, the second holding surface being equal to or larger than the first holding surface and storing a plate that is detachable from the first holding surface, and the plate storage section including a plate storage unit that stores a plate that is detachable from the first holding surface and is detachably mounted on the plate storage unit. The apparatus comprises a transport mechanism which holds a plate and transports it to the chuck table, a work setting unit which sets whether the plate-shaped work to be suction-held on the chuck table is the first work or the second work, and a control unit which, when the plate-shaped work set by the work setting unit is the second work, drives and controls the transport mechanism to transport the plate to the chuck table, and is characterized in that when the plate-shaped work set in the work setting unit is the first work, the first work is suction-held by the first holding surface, and when the plate-shaped work set in the work setting unit is the second work, the second work is suction-held by the second holding surface via the plate to the first holding surface.

[0010] The present invention also provides a method for machining a plate-shaped workpiece by the machining device, the method comprising: a workpiece recognition step of recognizing whether the plate-shaped workpiece set by the workpiece setting unit is the first workpiece or the second workpiece; a holding step of suction-holding the first workpiece on the first holding surface of the chuck table when the first workpiece is recognized in the workpiece recognition step; a plate arrangement step of removing the plate from the plate storage unit by the transport mechanism and transporting it to the chuck table and placing it on the first holding surface of the chuck table when the second workpiece is recognized in the workpiece recognition step; a holding step of suction-holding the non-circular workpiece on the holding surface of the plate placed on the first holding surface of the chuck table after the plate arrangement step; a second holding step of suction-holding the second workpiece on the second holding surface of the circular plate; and a machining step of machining the plate-shaped workpiece held by the first holding step or the second holding step with the machining mechanism. The present invention is characterized by comprising: Effect of the Invention

[0011] According to the method for machining a plate-shaped workpiece carried out by using the machining device of the present invention, when the plate-shaped workpiece to be machined is changed from a first workpiece to a second workpiece, the plate holding the second workpiece is taken out from the plate storage section, and the taken-out plate is transported to the chuck table by the transport mechanism, and when the plate is placed on the first holding surface of the chuck table, the second holding surface of the plate communicates with the first holding surface of the chuck table. Therefore, the second workpiece can be subjected to the required machining while being suction-held on the first holding surface of the chuck table via the plate.

[0012] Conversely, if the plate-shaped workpiece to be processed is changed from the second workpiece to the first workpiece, the plate can be removed from the first holding surface of the chuck table, transported to the plate storage section by the transport mechanism, and stored in the plate storage section, allowing the first workpiece to be held by suction on the first holding surface of the chuck table and the required processing to be performed on the first workpiece.

[0013] Therefore, even if the plate-shaped workpiece to be processed is changed from the first workpiece to the second workpiece, or vice versa, the first workpiece and the second workpiece can be processed without the need to replace the chuck table, simply by attaching and detaching the plate to the first holding surface of the chuck table.As a result, whether the plate-shaped workpiece is the first workpiece or the second workpiece, the time until processing is possible is shortened because there is no need to replace the chuck table, thereby improving processing efficiency. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0014] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view of a grinding device as one embodiment of a processing device according to the present invention; [Diagram 2] (a) is a plan view of a first workpiece (circular workpiece), and (b) is a plan view of a second workpiece (non-circular workpiece). [Diagram 3] FIG. 1A is a perspective view showing the relationship between a first workpiece (a circular plate) and one second workpiece (a non-circular workpiece), and FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 1A is a perspective view showing the relationship between a first workpiece (a circular plate) and two second workpieces (non-circular workpieces), and FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. [Diagram 5] 4 is a flowchart showing the order of steps of a grinding method for a second workpiece (non-circular workpiece) in the processing method according to the present invention. [Figure 6] 4 is a cutaway side view showing a support surface cleaning step in the processing method according to the present invention. FIG. [Figure 7] 4 is a cutaway side view showing a plate underside cleaning step in the processing method according to the present invention. FIG. [Figure 8] It is a broken side view showing the plate arrangement step in the processing method according to the present invention. [Figure 9] It is a broken side view showing the grinding step in the processing method according to the present invention. [Figure 10] It is a broken side view showing the grinding step of the second workpiece (non-circular workpiece) in the processing method according to the present invention. [Figure 11] It is a broken side view showing the grinding step of the first workpiece (circular workpiece) in the processing method according to the present invention. [Figure 12] It is a broken side view showing the plate upper surface cleaning step in the processing method according to the present invention. [Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention]

[0015] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described based on the accompanying drawings.

[0016] [Configuration of Grinding Device] First, the basic configuration of a grinding device as one form of the processing device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. 1. In the following description, the directions of the arrows shown in FIG. 1 are the X-axis direction (left-right direction), Y-axis direction (front-back direction), and Z-axis direction (up-down direction), respectively.

[0017] The grinding device 1 shown in FIG. 1 grinds the first workpiece (hereinafter referred to as "circular workpiece") W shown in FIG. 2(a) and the rectangular second workpiece (hereinafter referred to as "non-circular workpiece") W1 shown in FIG. 2(b) as processing targets. Here, the rectangular non-circular workpiece W1 shown in FIG. 2(b) has a size that fits within the circular workpiece W in a plan view as shown by the dashed line in FIG. 2(a). That is, assuming the outer diameter of the circular workpiece W is D, the vertical and horizontal lengths a, b of the non-circular workpiece W1 are set to be smaller than the outer diameter D of the circular workpiece W (a, b < D). In other words, the area of the non-circular workpiece W1: a × b is set to be smaller than the area of the circular workpiece W: πD 2 / 4 (a × b < πD 2In this embodiment, the circular workpiece W and the non-circular workpiece W1 are both made of a single crystal silicon base material.

[0018] The grinding device 1 according to this embodiment includes a chuck table 10 for holding a circular workpiece W or a non-circular workpiece W1, and the chuck table 10 includes a disk-shaped porous member 10A in the center, which is a porous member, and the upper surface of the porous member 10A forms a circular first holding surface 10a (see FIGS. 10 and 11). The first holding surface 10a of the chuck table 10 has a size that allows it to suction and hold the entire lower surface of the circular workpiece.

[0019] In this embodiment, when the rectangular non-circular workpiece W1 is held on the circular holding surface 10a of the chuck table 10, a circular plate 2 shown in FIG. 3 is used. A rectangular porous member 2A (same shape as the non-circular workpiece W1) for suction-holding the non-circular workpiece W1 is incorporated in the center of the plate 2, and the upper surface of the porous member 2A constitutes a rectangular second holding surface 2a. For example, when grinding two rectangular non-circular workpieces W2 as shown in FIG. 4(a), a circular plate 3 is used, and two rectangular porous members 3A having the same shape as the non-circular workpiece W2 are incorporated in the plate 3, and the upper surfaces of these porous members 3A constitute the rectangular second holding surface 3a. The second holding surfaces 2a, 3a each have a size that allows the entire lower surface of the non-circular workpiece W2 to be suction-held. Furthermore, since each of the porous members 2A, 3A of the plates 2, 3 is made of a porous material, it has a function as a communication hole that communicates the second holding surfaces 2a, 3a on the upper surfaces with the lower surface on the opposite side.

[0020] As shown in FIG. 1, the grinding device 1 according to this embodiment includes a chuck table 10 for holding a circular workpiece W or a non-circular workpiece W1 (see FIG. 2), a grinding mechanism 20 for grinding the back surface (the top surface when held by the chuck table 10) of the circular workpiece W or the non-circular workpiece W1 held by the chuck table 10, a plate storage section 30 for storing a plurality of plates 2 shown in FIG. 3, and a grinding machine 20 for holding the plates 2 stored in the plate storage section 30 and transporting them to the chuck table 10. The main components include a conveying mechanism 40, a first cleaning unit 50 for cleaning the underside of the plate 2, a second cleaning unit 60 for cleaning the upper surface of the plate 2, a spinner cleaning unit 70 for cleaning the upper surface of the circular workpiece W or non-circular workpiece W1 after grinding, a work setting section 80 for setting whether the plate-shaped workpiece to be suction-held on the first holding surface 10a of the chuck table 10 is a circular workpiece W (see Figure 2(a)) or a non-circular workpiece W1 (see Figure 2(b)), and a control section 90 for controlling each of the components.

[0021] Other components of the grinding apparatus 1 include a cassette 4 for storing an unground circular work W or non-circular work W1, a cassette 9 for storing a ground circular work W or non-circular work W1, a transport robot 5 for loading and unloading the circular work W or non-circular work W1 into and from the cassettes 4, 9, an alignment table 6 for aligning (centering) the circular work W or non-circular work W1 removed by the transport robot 5, a first transport means 7 for transporting the circular work W or non-circular work W1 aligned on the alignment table 6 to the chuck table 10, and a second transport means 8 for transporting the ground circular work W or non-circular work W1 to a spinner cleaning unit 70.

[0022] Next, the configurations of the main components of the grinding device 1, namely, the chuck table 10, the grinding mechanism 20, the plate storage section 30, the transport mechanism 40, the first cleaning unit 50, the second cleaning unit 60, the spinner cleaning unit 70, the work setting section 80 and the control section 90, will be described.

[0023] (Chuck table) The chuck table 10 is a disk-shaped member, and as described above, a disk-shaped porous member 10A made of porous ceramic or the like is assembled in the center (see Figs. 10 and 11). Here, the upper surface of the porous member 10A constitutes a circular first holding surface 10a, and a circular workpiece W is directly sucked and held on this first holding surface 10a as shown in Fig. 11, or a non-circular workpiece W1 is held via a plate 2 as shown in Fig. 10. As shown in Figs. 10 and 11, the porous member 10A of the chuck table 10 is connected to a suction source 12 such as a vacuum pump via a pipe 11, and an electromagnetic (solenoid) opening and closing valve V1 is provided on the pipe 11.

[0024] 10 and 11, the chuck table 10 is rotated at a predetermined speed around the axis in the direction of the arrow by a rotation mechanism (not shown) provided at the lower end of the rotation shaft 13, and can be moved back and forth along the Y-axis direction (front-back direction) by a horizontal movement mechanism (not shown) provided below. Note that the horizontal movement mechanism (not shown) is composed of a known ball screw mechanism or the like, and therefore illustration and description thereof will be omitted.

[0025] (Grinding mechanism) 1, the grinding mechanism 20 includes a holder 21 that is open at the top, a spindle motor 22 that is a rotational drive source that is fixed to the holder 21 in a vertically placed state, a spindle 23 that is rotated by the spindle motor 22, a disk-shaped mount 24 that is attached to the lower end of the spindle 23, and a grinding wheel 25 that is detachably attached to the lower surface of the mount 24. Here, the grinding wheel 25 is composed of a base 25a and a plurality of rectangular block-shaped grinding stones 25b that are attached in an annular shape to the lower surface of the base 25a.

[0026] The grinding mechanism 20 can be raised and lowered in a direction (Z-axis direction) perpendicular to the first holding surface 10a of the chuck table 10 by a vertical movement mechanism 32, and this vertical movement mechanism 32 is disposed on the -Y-axis direction end surface (front surface) of a rectangular box-shaped column 101 vertically erected on the +Y-axis direction end surface (rear end surface) of the upper surface of the base 100, as shown in Fig. 1. This vertical movement mechanism 32 raises and lowers a rectangular plate-shaped lift plate 33 attached to the rear surface of the holder 21 in the Z-axis direction along a pair of left and right guide rails 34 together with the holder 21 and the spindle motor 22 and grinding wheel 25 held by the holder 21. Here, the pair of left and right guide rails 34 are disposed perpendicular to the front surface of the column 101 and parallel to each other.

[0027] A rotatable ball screw 35 is provided vertically along the Z-axis direction (up-down direction) between the pair of left and right guide rails 34, and the upper end of the ball screw 35 is connected to a servo motor 36, which serves as a drive source and can rotate forward and backward. The servo motor 36 is attached in a vertical position to the column 101 via a rectangular plate-shaped bracket 37 attached to the upper surface of the column 101. The lower end of the ball screw 35 is rotatably supported by the column 101, and a nut member 38 (see FIG. 6) that is provided on the back surface of the lift plate 33 and protrudes horizontally toward the rear (+Y-axis direction) is screwed into the ball screw 35.

[0028] Therefore, when the servo motor 36 is driven to rotate the ball screw 35 forward or backward, the lift plate 33 to which the nut member 38 that screws onto the ball screw 35 is attached moves up and down in the Z-axis direction along the guide rail 34 together with the grinding mechanism 20.

[0029] (Plate storage section) 1, the plate storage section (plate rack) 30 is configured as a rectangular box located above the spinner cleaning unit 70 and opens in the +Y-axis direction. Inside the plate storage section 30, a plurality of shelves 31 for placing plates 2 are provided at appropriate intervals in the vertical direction.

[0030] (Transport mechanism) The transfer mechanism 40 includes an articulated robot 41 and an X-axis movement mechanism 42 that moves the articulated robot 41 back and forth in the X-axis direction. Here, the articulated robot 41 includes a plurality of bendable arms 41a, robot hands 41b attached to the ends of the arms 41a, and a cylinder mechanism 41c that moves the arms 41a and the robot hands 41b up and down.

[0031] In addition, X-axis movement mechanism 42 includes a pair of upper and lower guide rails 44 arranged parallel to each other along the X-axis direction on the front surface (-Y-axis direction end surface) of a gate-shaped column 43 erected on base 100, a reversible ball screw 45 arranged along the X-axis direction between these guide rails 44, a servo motor 46 that rotates ball screw 45, and a block-shaped slider 47 that screws into ball screw 45, and articulated robot 41 is attached to slider 47.

[0032] Therefore, when the servo motor 46 is started to rotate the ball screw 45 forward and backward, the slider 47 screwed into the ball screw 45 moves back and forth in the X-axis direction along the guide rail 44 together with the articulated robot 41, and the robot hand 41b of the articulated robot 41 also moves back and forth in the X-axis direction.

[0033] (First cleaning unit) The first cleaning unit 50 cleans the underside of the plate 2 taken out from the plate storage section 30 by the robot hand 41b of the transport mechanism 40, and is configured by arranging three rotatable cleaning rollers 51 along the X-axis direction at appropriate intervals in the Y-axis direction, and disposing a cleaning nozzle 52 between two adjacent cleaning rollers 51, as shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 7. Each cleaning nozzle 52 is connected to a cleaning water supply source 54 via a pipe 53, and an electromagnetic (solenoid) opening and closing valve V2 is provided on the pipe 53. As described later, cleaning water is sprayed upward from each cleaning nozzle 52, and pure water is used as the cleaning water.

[0034] (Second cleaning unit) As shown in Fig. 12, the second cleaning unit 60 is a unit for cleaning the upper surface of a used plate 2 held on the first holding surface 10a of the chuck table 10 with cleaning water, and includes a cylinder mechanism 61, a rectangular box-shaped cleaning cover 62 attached to the lower end of a vertical piston rod 61a of the cylinder mechanism 61 that can move up and down, and two cleaning nozzles 63 housed in the cleaning cover 62. Here, the cleaning cover 62 is open at the bottom, and the two cleaning nozzles 63 housed inside the cleaning cover 62 are connected to a cleaning water supply source 54 via a pipe 64 and a pipe 53 where the pipe 64 joins, as shown in Fig. 1, and an electromagnetic (solenoid) opening and closing valve V3 is provided in the pipe 64. Note that, as described later, pure water, which is cleaning water, is sprayed downward from each cleaning nozzle 63.

[0035] The second cleaning unit 60 can also be moved back and forth along the X-axis direction (the direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. 12) by an X-axis moving mechanism (not shown) similar to the X-axis moving mechanism 42 provided in the transport mechanism 40; however, illustration and description of this X-axis moving mechanism are omitted.

[0036] (Spinner cleaning unit) The spinner cleaning unit 70 cleans the top surface (ground surface) of the circular workpiece W or non-circular workpiece W1 after grinding, and includes a spinner table 71 that rotates while holding the circular workpiece W or non-circular workpiece W2 after grinding, a cleaning water nozzle (not shown) that sprays cleaning water toward the surface of the circular workpiece W or non-circular workpiece W1, and a polygonal cylindrical cover 72 that can be raised and lowered and covers the periphery of the spinner table 71 and the cleaning water nozzle. Pure water is preferably used as the cleaning water.

[0037] (Work setting section) The work setting unit 80 allows an operator to set whether the plate-shaped workpiece to be ground is a circular workpiece W shown in Fig. 2(a) or a non-circular workpiece W1 shown in Fig. 2(b), and is electrically connected to the control unit 90, and a signal from the work setting unit 80 is sent to the control unit 90. Note that input to the work setting unit 80 may be made not only by the operator, but also automatically by a signal sent to the control unit 90 from a sensor (not shown) that identifies the type of cassette 4 (whether the cassette 4 contains a circular workpiece W or a non-circular workpiece W1).

[0038] (Control unit) The control unit 90 controls each of the components constituting the grinding device 1, and includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that performs arithmetic processing according to a control program, and memories such as a ROM (Read Only Memory) and a RAM (Random Access Memory). In particular, in this embodiment, as described later, when the plate-shaped workpiece set by the workpiece setting unit 80 is a non-circular workpiece W1 shown in FIG. 2(b), the control unit 90 drives the transport mechanism 40 to remove the plate 2 from the plate storage unit 30 and transport it to the chuck table 10, and also transports the used plate 2 after grinding from the chuck table 10 to the plate storage unit 30 and stores the plate 2 in the plate storage unit 30.

[0039] [Grinding method] Next, a method for grinding a plate-shaped workpiece (a circular workpiece W and a non-circular workpiece W1) according to this embodiment, which is carried out by the grinding device 1 configured as above, will be described with reference to Figs. 5 to 12. The grinding method according to this embodiment, particularly the grinding method for a non-circular workpiece W1, is as follows, as shown in Fig. 5: 1) Workpiece recognition process 2) Holding surface cleaning process 3) Plate underside cleaning process 4) Plate placement process 5) Holding process (first holding process) 6) Grinding process 7) Plate top surface cleaning process The above steps are carried out in this order to grind the top surface of the non-circular workpiece W1. Note that since the grinding method for the circular workpiece W is well known, the description thereof will be omitted.

[0040] Hereinafter, each step in the grinding method for the non-circular workpiece W1 will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0041] 1) Workpiece recognition process: The workpiece recognition process is a process in which an operator sets whether the type of the plate-shaped workpiece to be ground is a circular workpiece W or a non-circular workpiece W1 by inputting the information into the workpiece setting unit 80. In this process, as described above, instead of manual input by the operator, the setting may be automatically performed by a signal transmitted to the control unit 90 from a sensor (not shown) that identifies the type of cassette 4 (whether the cassette 4 contains a circular workpiece W or a non-circular workpiece W1).

[0042] 2) Holding surface cleaning process: The holding surface cleaning process is a process in which the first holding surface 10a of the chuck table 10 is cleaned by the second cleaning unit 60 prior to grinding processing. In this holding surface cleaning process, as shown in FIG. 6, the chuck table 10 is moved in the -Y direction (to the left in FIG. 6) by a horizontal movement mechanism not shown in the figure, and positioned below the second cleaning unit 60.

[0043] In the above state, the cylinder mechanism 61 of the second cleaning unit 60 is driven to lower the piston rod 61a, and the cleaning cover 62 attached to the lower end of the piston rod 61a is positioned above the chuck table 10, and the lower surface of the cleaning cover 62 opens above the chuck table 10. Then, when the on-off valve V3 is opened from this state, cleaning water (pure water) is supplied from the cleaning water supply source 54 through the piping 53, 64 to each cleaning nozzle 63, and the cleaning water is sprayed downward from each cleaning nozzle 63 toward the holding surface 10a of the chuck table 10, so that the holding surface 10a is cleaned with the cleaning water. At this time, the on-off valve V2 provided in the piping 53 shown in FIG. 1 is closed.

[0044] 3) Underplate cleaning process: The plate underside cleaning process is a process in which the plate 2 stored in the plate storage section 30 is removed and the underside of the plate 2 is cleaned by the first cleaning unit 50. In this plate underside cleaning process, as shown in Fig. 6, the cylinder mechanism 41c of the transport mechanism 40 and the articulated robot 41 move in the X-axis direction (perpendicular to the paper surface of Fig. 6) to the position of the plate storage section 30, and then the piston rod of the cylinder mechanism 41c descends and the robot hand 41b holds the plate 2 stored in the plate storage section 30 and removes it from the plate storage section 30.

[0045] As described above, when the robot hand 41b holds the plate 2 and removes it from the plate storage section 30, as shown in FIG. 7, the robot hand 41b rotates horizontally by an angle of 180° (half rotation) to be located above the first cleaning unit 50, and the plate 2 held by the robot hand 41b is pressed against the three cleaning rollers 51 of the first cleaning unit 50 from above. Then, the three cleaning rollers 51 rotate, and the on-off valve V2 shown in FIG. 1 is opened to supply cleaning water (pure water) from the cleaning water supply source 54 through the pipe 53 to the two cleaning nozzles 52, and the cleaning water is sprayed upward from each cleaning nozzle 52 toward the underside of the plate 2. Then, the underside of the plate 2 is cleaned by the rotating cleaning rollers 51 and the cleaning water sprayed from each cleaning nozzle 52. At this time, the on-off valve V3 shown in FIG. 1 is closed, and cleaning water is not supplied from the cleaning water supply source 54 to the second cleaning unit 60.

[0046] 4) Plate placement process: The plate arrangement step is a step of transporting the plate 2, the underside of which has been cleaned in the previous plate underside cleaning step, to the chuck table 10 and arranging the plate on the chuck table 10. In this plate arrangement step, as shown in FIG. 8, the chuck table 10 is moved in the -Y axis direction (leftward in FIG. 8) by a horizontal movement mechanism (not shown). Then, the plate 2 held by the robot hand 41b of the transport mechanism 40 moves above the chuck table 10. Then, from this state, the robot hand 41b and the plate 2 held thereby are lowered by the cylinder mechanism 41c of the transport mechanism 40, and the plate 2 is placed on the holding surface 10a of the chuck table 10. Thereafter, the robot hand 41b rises and moves away from the plate 2, thereby completing the plate arrangement step.

[0047] Thus, as described above, when the plate 2 is placed on the holding surface 10a of the chuck table 10, the porous member 2A incorporated in the center of the plate 2 and the porous member 10A of the chuck table 10 are in communication with each other, as shown in Fig. 10. In this state, the portion of the first holding surface 10a of the chuck table 10 on which the portion of the plate 2 other than the porous member 2A is placed is blocked by the portion of the plate 2 other than the porous member 2A.

[0048] 5) Holding process: The holding process is a process in which a non-circular workpiece W1 shown in Figure 2(b) is placed on the rectangular second holding surface 2a of the plate 2 that was placed on the first holding surface 10a of the chuck table 10 in the previous plate placement process (see Figure 3(a)), and this non-circular workpiece W1 is held on the second holding surface 2A of the plate 2.

[0049] 1 is taken out by a transfer robot 5 and transferred to an alignment table 6. At the alignment table 6, the non-circular workpiece W1 is aligned using an adapter (not shown), and the aligned non-circular workpiece W1 is transferred from the alignment table 6 to a chuck table 10 by a first transfer means 7.

[0050] As described above, the non-circular workpiece W1 conveyed to the chuck table 10 is placed on the rectangular second holding surface 2a (see FIG. 3(a)) of the plate 2 arranged on the first holding surface 10a of the chuck table 10. When the on-off valve V1 shown in FIG. 10 is opened from this state, the porous member 10A of the chuck table 10 and the porous member 2A of the plate 2 communicating therewith are evacuated by the suction source 12 via the piping 11, so that negative pressure is generated in both the porous members 10A and 2A. Then, the plate 2 is sucked and held on the first holding surface 10a of the chuck table 10 by the negative pressure generated in the porous member 10A of the chuck table 10, and the non-circular workpiece W1 is sucked and held on the second holding surface 2a of the plate 2 by the negative pressure generated in the porous member 2A of the circular plate 2. That is, the plate 2 is sucked and held on the first holding surface 10a of the chuck table 10, and the non-circular workpiece W1 is sucked and held on the second holding surface 2a of the plate 2.

[0051] 6) Grinding process: The grinding process is a process in which the upper surface of the non-circular workpiece W1 that was suction-held on the second holding surface 2a of the plate 2 in the previous holding process, is ground by the grinding mechanism 20. In this grinding process, as shown in Figure 9, the chuck table 10 that suction-holds the plate 2 and the non-circular workpiece W1 is moved in the +Y-axis direction (to the right in Figure 9) by a horizontal movement mechanism not shown in the figure and positioned below the grinding wheel 25 of the grinding mechanism 20.

[0052] Then, as shown in Fig. 10, the chuck table 10 rotates at a predetermined speed around the axis of the rotating shaft 13 together with the plate 2 and the non-circular workpiece W1 held thereon by a rotating mechanism (not shown) in the direction of the arrow in the figure, and the spindle motor 22 of the grinding mechanism 20 is started to rotate the grinding wheel 25 in the direction of the arrow in the figure at a predetermined speed. From this state, the grinding mechanism 20 is lowered by the vertical movement mechanism 32 shown in Fig. 9, and the grinding wheel 25b is brought into contact with the upper surface of the non-circular workpiece W1 as shown in Fig. 10, and the upper surface of the non-circular workpiece W1 is ground by the grinding wheel 25b. At this time, grinding water (pure water) is supplied from a grinding water supply source (not shown) to the contact portion (processing portion) between the grinding wheel 25b and the non-circular workpiece W1, and the thickness of the non-circular workpiece W1 is measured by a thickness measuring device (not shown).

[0053] Then, when the non-circular workpiece W1 is ground to a predetermined thickness by the grinding wheel 25b, the grinding mechanism 20 is raised by the vertical movement mechanism 32, and the grinding wheel 25b is separated from the upper surface of the non-circular workpiece W1, and grinding of the non-circular workpiece W1 is completed. Incidentally, a state in which the upper surface of the circular workpiece W is being ground is shown in FIG. 11, and the grinding of this circular workpiece W is performed in a state in which the circular workpiece W is directly sucked and held on the first holding surface 10a of the chuck table 10. In this embodiment, the process of sucking and holding the circular workpiece W directly on the holding surface 10a of the chuck table 10 as shown in FIG. 11 is referred to as a second holding process.

[0054] When grinding of the non-circular workpiece W1 is completed as described above, the chuck table 10 holding the non-circular workpiece W1 is moved in the -Y axis direction (leftward in FIG. 9) by a horizontal movement mechanism (not shown) to the position shown in FIG. 1. Then, the non-circular workpiece W1 after grinding is held by the second conveying means 8 shown in FIG. 1 and conveyed to the spinner cleaning unit 70.

[0055] In the spinner cleaning unit 70, the non-circular workpiece W1 held by the second transport means 8 is placed on the spinner table 71 and is suction-held on the spinner table 71. Then, from this state, the spinner table 71 and the non-circular workpiece W1 held thereon rotate at a predetermined speed, and cleaning water (pure water) is sprayed from a cleaning water nozzle (not shown) toward the top surface of the non-circular workpiece W1. Then, grinding chips and the like adhering to the top surface of the non-circular workpiece W1 are removed by the cleaning water.

[0056] As described above, the non-circular workpiece W1, whose upper surface has been cleaned by the spinner cleaning unit 70, is held by the transport robot 5 and transported to the cassette 9, where it is stored, while on the other hand, in the next plate upper surface cleaning process, the upper surface of the plate 2 remaining on the chuck table 10 is cleaned.

[0057] 7) Plate top surface washing process: The plate upper surface cleaning process is a process in which the upper surface of the plate 2 remaining on the chuck table 10 is cleaned by the second cleaning unit 60 after the non-circular workpiece W1 ground in the preceding grinding process is transported to the spinner cleaning unit 70 by the second transport means 8. In this plate upper surface cleaning process, the chuck table 10 is moved in the Y-axis direction by a horizontal movement mechanism (not shown) and positioned below the second cleaning unit 60, as shown in FIG.

[0058] Then, from the above state, the cylinder mechanism 61 of the second cleaning unit 60 is driven to lower the piston rod 61a, and the cleaning cover 62 attached to the lower end of the piston rod 61a is positioned above the plate 2 together with the cleaning nozzles 63. Then, when the on-off valve V3 is opened from this state, cleaning water from the cleaning water supply source 54 is supplied through the pipes 53, 64 to the two cleaning nozzles 63 in the cleaning cover 62, and the cleaning water (pure water) is sprayed from each cleaning nozzle 63 toward the upper surface of the plate 2, so that the upper surface of the plate 2 is cleaned with the cleaning water. At this time, the on-off valve V2 is closed.

[0059] Once cleaning of the upper surface of the plate 2 is completed as described above, the plate 2 is held by the robot hand 41b of the transport mechanism 40 and transported to the plate storage section 30, where the plate 2 is stored, thereby completing the series of grinding processes on the non-circular workpiece W1.

[0060] The above describes a method for grinding a non-circular workpiece W1 when the plate-shaped workpiece to be ground is changed from a circular workpiece W to a non-circular workpiece W1. However, conversely, when the plate-shaped workpiece to be ground is changed from a non-circular workpiece W1 to a circular workpiece W, the plate 2 is removed from the first holding surface 10a of the chuck table 10, the removed plate 2 is transported to the plate storage section 30 by the transport mechanism 40, and stored in the plate storage section 30. As shown in FIG. 11, the circular workpiece W can be held on the circular first holding surface 10a of the chuck table 10 and the required grinding can be performed on the circular workpiece W.

[0061] As is clear from the above description, according to the grinding method for a plate-shaped workpiece according to the present invention, which is carried out using the grinding device 1 according to the present invention, when the plate-shaped workpiece to be ground is changed from a circular workpiece W to a non-circular workpiece W1, the plate 2 having the non-circular second holding surface 2a for holding the non-circular workpiece W1 is taken out from the plate storage section 30, the taken-out circular plate 2 is transported to the chuck table 10 by the transport mechanism 40, and when the plate 2 is placed on the circular first holding surface 10a of the chuck table 10, the non-circular second holding surface 2a communicates with the circular first holding surface 10a of the chuck table 10. Therefore, the non-circular workpiece W1 can be held on the second holding surface 2a of the plate 2, and the non-circular workpiece W1 can be ground as required.

[0062] Conversely, if the plate-shaped workpiece to be ground is changed from a non-circular workpiece W1 to a circular workpiece W, as described above, the plate 2 is removed from the first holding surface 10a of the chuck table 10, the removed plate 2 is transported to the plate storage section 30 by the transport mechanism 40, and stored in the plate storage section 30, so that the circular workpiece W can be held on the circular first holding surface 10a of the chuck table 10 and the required grinding can be performed on the circular workpiece W.

[0063] Therefore, even if the plate-shaped workpiece to be processed is changed from a circular workpiece W to a non-circular workpiece W1, or conversely, from a non-circular workpiece W1 to a circular workpiece W, it is possible to grind the circular workpiece W and the non-circular workpiece W1 simply by attaching and detaching the plate 2 to the first holding surface 10a of the chuck table 10 without the need to replace the chuck table 10.This has the effect of shortening the time required for grinding and improving the grinding efficiency, regardless of whether the plate-shaped workpiece is a circular workpiece W or a non-circular workpiece W1.

[0064] Although the above describes an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a grinding apparatus and a grinding method using the same, the present invention can be similarly applied to processing apparatus other than grinding apparatuses, such as polishing apparatuses, and processing methods for plate-shaped workpieces using the processing apparatuses.

[0065] In addition, in the above embodiments, a grinding device and a grinding method for grinding a single rectangular workpiece as a non-circular workpiece have been described as an example, but the number of non-circular workpieces is not limited to one and may be multiple, and the shape of the workpiece may be any shape other than rectangular, such as a polygon, an ellipse, or a diamond.

[0066] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the first workpiece is a circular workpiece and the second workpiece is a non-circular workpiece, but this is not limited to this. The first workpiece may be a circular workpiece and the second workpiece may also be a circular workpiece, or the first workpiece may be a non-circular workpiece and the second workpiece may also be a circular workpiece, or the first workpiece may be a non-circular workpiece and the second workpiece may also be a non-circular workpiece.

[0067] The plate may be made of an elastic material such as rubber. The first and second workpieces may have the same shape. In other words, the workpieces may be held by interposing an elastic member therebetween.

[0068] In addition, the present invention is not limited to the application of the embodiments described above, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the claims and the technical ideas described in the specification and drawings. [Explanation of symbols]

[0069] 1: grinding device, 2, 3: plate, 2A, 3A: porous member, 2a, 3a: second holding surface, 4: cassette, 5: transport robot, 6: alignment table, 7: first transport means, 8: second transport means, 9: cassette, 10: chuck table, 10A: porous member, 10a: first holding surface, 11: piping, 12: suction source, 13: rotating shaft, 20: grinding mechanism, 21: holder, 22: spindle motor, 23: spindle, 24: mount, 25: grinding wheel, 25a: base, 25b: grinding stone, 30: plate storage section, 31: shelf, 32: vertical movement mechanism, 33: lift plate, 34: guide rail, 35: ball screw, 36: servo motor, 37: bracket, 38: nut member, 40: conveying mechanism, 41: articulated robot, 41a: arm, 41b: robot hand, 41c: cylinder mechanism, 42: X-axis movement mechanism, 43: column, 44: guide rail, 45: ball screw, 46: servo motor, 47: slider, 50: first cleaning unit, 51: cleaning roller, 52: cleaning nozzle, 53: piping, 54: cleaning water supply source, 60: second cleaning unit, 61: cylinder mechanism, 61a: piston rod, 62: cleaning cover, 63: cleaning nozzle, 64: piping, 70: spinner cleaning unit, 71: spinner table, 72: cover, 80: work setting unit, 90: control unit, 100: base, 101: column, a: The vertical length of the non-circular workpiece (second workpiece), b: Horizontal length of non-circular workpiece (second workpiece), D: Outer diameter of circular workpiece (first workpiece), V1~V3: On-off valve, W: Circular work (first work), W, W2: Non-circular workpiece (second workpiece)

Claims

1. A processing device for a plate-like workpiece, comprising: a chuck table that suction-holds a first workpiece, which is a plate-like workpiece, or a second workpiece, which is a plate-like workpiece and is sized to fit within the first workpiece in a planar view, by a first holding surface sized to suction-hold the entire lower surface of the first workpiece; and a processing mechanism that processes the first workpiece or the second workpiece suction-held on the chuck table, a plate storage section including a second holding surface having a size for suction-holding the entire lower surface of the second workpiece, and a communication hole communicating with the second holding surface and an opposite surface thereof, the plate storage section storing a plate having a size equal to or larger than the first holding surface and detachable from the first holding surface; a transport mechanism that holds the plate stored in the plate storage unit and transports it to the chuck table; a work setting unit that sets whether a plate-shaped workpiece to be suction-held on the chuck table is the first workpiece or the second workpiece; a control unit that drives and controls the transport mechanism to transport the plate to the chuck table when the plate-shaped workpiece set by the workpiece setting unit is the second workpiece; Equipped with A machining device for a plate-shaped workpiece, characterized in that when the plate-shaped workpiece set in the work setting section is the first workpiece, the first workpiece is suction-held with the first holding surface, and when the plate-shaped workpiece set in the work setting section is the second workpiece, the second workpiece is suction-held with the second holding surface via the plate on the first holding surface.

2. A method for grinding a plate-shaped workpiece by using the processing device according to claim 1, comprising the steps of: a work recognizing step of recognizing whether the plate-shaped workpiece set by the work setting unit is the first workpiece or the second workpiece; a holding step of suction-holding the first workpiece on the first holding surface of the chuck table when the first workpiece is recognized in the workpiece recognition step; a plate arrangement step of removing the plate from the plate storage unit by the transport mechanism when the second workpiece is recognized in the workpiece recognition step, transporting the plate to the chuck table, and arranging the plate on the first holding surface of the chuck table; a holding step of suction-holding the non-circular workpiece on the holding surface of the plate arranged on the first holding surface of the chuck table after the plate arrangement step; a second holding step of suction-holding the second workpiece on the second holding surface of the circular plate; a processing step of processing the plate-shaped workpiece held by the first holding step or the second holding step with the processing mechanism; A method for machining a plate-shaped workpiece, comprising:

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