Functional water supply device

Abstract

To provide a functional water supply device that can solve the problem in which power consumption is increased by excessive operation of temperature adjustment means.SOLUTION: A functional water supply device comprises: a pressure sensor 8 arranged in a delivery path R4, and for measuring the pressure of functional water L passed through a temperature controller 7; a bypass path R5 arranged in the delivery path R4, and for returning a portion of the functional water L passed through the temperature controller 7, to a tank 5; and a bypass flow rate adjustment valve 9 arranged in the bypass path R5, and for adjusting a flow rate. Control means 100 controls the bypass flow rate adjustment valve 9 so that the value of the pressure sensor 8 falls within an allowable value range while the rotation speed of a pump 6 is kept at a predetermined rotation speed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a functional water supply device that supplies functional water to a processing device.

Background Art

[0002] A wafer on which a plurality of devices such as ICs and LSIs are formed on the surface and partitioned by a division planned line is ground on the back surface by a grinding device to be processed to a predetermined thickness, and then divided into individual device chips by a dicing device, and used in electric devices such as mobile phones and personal computers.

[0003] A grinding device generally includes a chuck table for holding a wafer, a grinding means rotatably mounted with a grinding wheel having an annular grinding stone for grinding the wafer held on the chuck table, a grinding water supply means for supplying grinding water (pure water) to the grinding wheel, and a cleaning means for cleaning the wafer, and can grind the wafer with high precision (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

[0004] A dicing device generally includes a chuck table for holding a wafer, a cutting means rotatably mounted with a cutting blade for cutting the wafer held on the chuck table, a cutting water supply means for supplying cutting water (pure water) to the cutting blade, and a cleaning means for cleaning the wafer, and can divide the wafer into individual device chips with high precision (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

[0005] In addition, functional water including grinding water, cutting water, cleaning water, grinding means, and cooling water for adjusting the temperature of the grinding means and cutting means used in the grinding device and the dicing device is supplied from a pure water facility (water source) and stored in a tank. The pure water stored in the tank is sent to a temperature adjusting means for adjusting the temperature by a pump, adjusted to a desired temperature, and supplied to a processing device such as a grinding device and a dicing device. Then, the supplied functional water is appropriately adjusted in flow rate by a flow rate adjusting means provided in each processing device and used as cutting water, grinding water, cleaning water, cooling water, etc.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0006]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0007] However, the pump that sends the pure water stored in the tank to the temperature adjustment means operates to supply more functional water corresponding to the maximum value of the functional water used by the processing apparatus. Along with the excessive operation of the pump, the power consumption increases, and furthermore, the heat generated by the operation of the pump heats the functional water. As a result, there is a problem that the power consumption due to the excessive operation of the temperature adjustment means increases.

[0008] The present invention has been made in view of the above facts, and its main technical problem is to solve the problem that the power consumption increases due to the excessive operation of the pump, and furthermore, the heat generated by the operation of the pump heats the functional water, and as a result, the power consumption due to the excessive operation of the temperature adjustment means increases, and to provide a functional water supply apparatus capable of solving this problem.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0009] In order to solve the above main technical problem, according to the present invention, there is provided a functional water supply device for supplying functional water to a processing device, including a tank in which functional water is stored, a pump for sending out the functional water from the tank, a temperature controller for adjusting the temperature of the functional water sent out by the pump to a desired temperature, a delivery path for sending out the functional water adjusted to the desired temperature by the temperature controller to the processing device, and a control means. The delivery path is provided with a pressure sensor for measuring the pressure of the functional water that has passed through the temperature controller, a bypass path for returning a part of the functional water that has passed through the temperature controller to the tank, and a bypass flow rate adjustment valve for adjusting the flow rate disposed on the bypass path. The control means provides a functional water supply device that controls the bypass flow rate adjustment valve so that the value of the pressure sensor falls within an allowable value while maintaining the rotation speed of the pump at a predetermined rotation speed.

[0010] When the control means adjusts the opening degree of the bypass flow rate adjustment valve and the flow rate returned to the tank exceeds the standard by a large amount, it is preferable to control the rotation speed of the pump to decrease so that the flow rate returned to the tank falls within the standard. Further, when it is determined that there is a possibility that the rotation speed of the pump may fall below the allowable rotation speed by decreasing the rotation speed of the pump, it is preferable to adjust the opening degree of the bypass flow rate adjustment valve by allowing the flow rate of the functional water returned to the tank to exceed the standard so that the rotation speed of the pump does not fall below the allowable rotation speed.

[0011] Furthermore, it may be provided with pure water generating means for filtering the used functional water used in the processing device and generating pure water by an ion exchange resin, and a circulation path for returning the pure water generated by the pure water generating means to the tank may be arranged. When a plurality of processing devices are installed, it is preferable that the delivery path includes a distribution unit for distributing functional water to the plurality of processing devices.

Advantages of the Invention

[0012] The functional water supply device of the present invention includes a tank in which functional water is stored, a pump that sends out the functional water from the tank, a temperature controller that adjusts the temperature of the functional water sent out by the pump to a desired temperature, a delivery path that sends out the functional water adjusted to the desired temperature by the temperature controller to a processing device, and a control means. The delivery path is provided with a pressure sensor that measures the pressure of the functional water that has passed through the temperature controller, a bypass path that is provided in the delivery path and returns a part of the functional water that has passed through the temperature controller to the tank, and a bypass flow rate adjustment valve that is provided in the bypass path and adjusts the flow rate. The control means controls the bypass flow rate adjustment valve so that the value of the pressure sensor falls within an allowable value while maintaining the rotation speed of the pump at a predetermined rotation speed. Therefore, compared with a mechanism that always supplies more functional water to the processing device corresponding to the maximum value of the functional water used in the processing device as in the prior art, the power consumption of the pump is suppressed from becoming excessive, and the problem that the heat generated by the pump heats the functional water and increases the power consumption due to excessive operation of the temperature controller can be solved.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0013]

Figure 1

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0014] Hereinafter, embodiments according to the functional water supply device configured based on the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0015] FIG. 1 shows a circuit diagram of the functional water supply device 2. The functional water supply device 2 is disposed, for example, at a manufacturing site such as a factory, and is a device that supplies functional water L (for example, pure water) sent out from the water source 4 to the illustrated processing devices A and B. A pump (not shown) is disposed in the water source 4, and the functional water L can be supplied to the illustrated functional water supply device 2. From the functional water supply device 2, as shown in the figure, the functional water L can be sent out to a plurality of processing devices. The processing devices A and B are, for example, a grinding device for grinding the back surface of a wafer, a dicing device for dividing a wafer into individual device chips, etc., but are not particularly limited as long as they are processing devices that use the functional water L. Further, the number of processing devices to which the functional water L is supplied from the functional water supply device 2 is not limited to two of the above-described processing devices A and B, and may be one or three or more.

[0016] The functional water supply device 2 of the present embodiment includes at least a tank 5 that stores the functional water L sent out from the water source 4 via the path R1, a pump 6 that sucks and sends out the functional water L from the tank 5 via the path R2, a temperature controller 7 that adjusts the temperature of the functional water L sent out via the path R3 by the pump 6 to a desired temperature, a delivery path R4 that delivers the functional water L adjusted to the desired temperature by the temperature controller 7 to the processing devices A and B sides, and a control means 100.

[0017] In the above-described delivery path R4, a pressure sensor 8 for measuring the pressure of the functional water that has passed through the temperature controller 7 is disposed, and in the delivery path R4, a bypass path R5 for returning a part of the functional water L that has passed through the temperature controller 7 to the above-described tank 5 is disposed. In the bypass path R5, a bypass flow rate adjustment valve 9 for adjusting the flow rate of the functional water L flowing through the bypass path R5 is disposed. Since a plurality of processing devices A and B are connected to the functional water supply device 2 of the present embodiment as shown in the figure, the delivery path R4 includes a distribution unit 10, and the functional water L is distributed to the processing devices A and B via distribution paths R6 and R7 that branch from the distribution unit 10. Note that if there is only one processing device, the distribution unit 10 is unnecessary. Further, if there are three or more processing devices, distribution paths are formed corresponding to each processing device from the distribution unit 10, and the functional water L is distributed.

[0018] The functional water supply device 2 of the present embodiment includes pure water generation means 11. Used functional water L' is recovered by the pure water generation means 11 via a first recovery path R8a disposed in the processing device A and a second recovery path R8b disposed in the processing device B.

[0019] The pure water generation means 11 includes a filtration filter and an ion exchange resin (not shown). The pure water generation means 11 configured in this way filters the used functional water L' recovered via the above-described first recovery path R8a and second recovery path R8b, and from the clear water obtained by filtering the functional water L', pure water used as the functional water L is generated by the ion exchange resin, and the pure water (functional water L) is returned to the tank 5 via the circulation path R9. The pure water returned to the tank 5 is used again as the functional water L.

[0020] A motor 6a for operating the pump is disposed in the pump 6, and an inverter 6b for driving the motor 6a is provided. The inverter 6b controls the frequency of the electric power supplied to the motor 6a. Thereby, the rotational speed of the pump 6 can be controlled to a predetermined rotational speed.

[0021] The temperature controller 7 adjusts the temperature of the functional water L, for example, by causing heat exchange between the functional water L passing through the temperature controller 7 and the refrigerant circulating through the temperature controller 7. The configuration of the temperature controller 7 can adopt, for example, a configuration including a compressor that compresses the refrigerant, a condenser that condenses the refrigerant compressed by the compressor, and an evaporator that vaporizes the refrigerant condensed by the condenser.

[0022] The bypass flow rate adjustment valve 9 is provided with an appropriate actuator such as a motor and is controlled by the control means 100 to have a desired opening degree.

[0023] The control means 100 is constituted by a computer, stores the value obtained by measuring the pressure in the delivery path R4 by the pressure sensor 8 in an appropriate memory, and sends signals from the control means 100 to the pump 6, the temperature controller 7, and the bypass flow rate adjustment valve 9 to perform control.

[0024] The functional water supply device 2 of the present embodiment has a configuration generally as described above, and the functions and operations of the functional water supply device 2 will be described below.

[0025] As shown in the figure, the functional water L stored in the tank 5 is sent out to the path R3 by operating the pump 6 and sent to the temperature controller 7. The functional water L is adjusted to a desired temperature, for example, 22.5 to 23.5 °C, by the temperature controller 7 and sent out to the delivery path R4. At this time, the control means 100 measures the pressure of the pressure sensor 8 disposed in the delivery path R4 and controls the opening degree of the bypass flow rate adjustment valve 9 so that the pressure of the delivery path R4 falls within an allowable value having a certain width, for example, in the range of 0.39 to 0.41 Mpa.

[0026] As described above, since the pump 6 is controlled while maintaining a predetermined rotational speed, the pressure in the delivery path R4 changes according to the amount of the functional water L used in the processing apparatuses A and B. For example, when the amount of the functional water L used in the processing apparatuses A and B increases, the pressure measured by the pressure sensor 8 changes in the decreasing direction, so the opening degree of the bypass flow rate adjustment valve 9 is controlled to become smaller, and the amount of the functional water L returned to the tank 5 is reduced. Further, when the amount of the functional water L used in the processing apparatuses A and B decreases, the pressure measured by the pressure sensor 8 changes in the increasing direction, so the opening degree of the bypass flow rate adjustment valve 9 is controlled to become larger, and the amount of the functional water L returned to the tank 5 is increased.

[0027] That is, since the opening degree of the bypass flow rate adjustment valve 9 is controlled so that the value of the pressure sensor 8 that changes corresponding to the diversion of the functional water L used by the processing apparatuses A and B falls within the allowable value (0.39 to 0.41 Mpa), compared with the mechanism that always supplies the functional water to the processing apparatus in a larger amount corresponding to the maximum value of the functional water used in the processing apparatus as in the prior art, it is possible to suppress the excessive power consumption of the pump 6, and also to solve the problem that the heat generation of the pump 6 heats the functional water L and increases the power consumption due to the excessive operation of the temperature controller 7.

[0028] Further, in the functional water supply apparatus 2 of the present embodiment, as described above, when adjusting the opening degree of the bypass flow rate adjustment valve 9 so that the pressure measured by the pressure sensor 8 falls within the allowable value and controlling the flow rate returned to the tank 5, if the amount returned exceeds a predetermined standard, more specifically, for example, when the opening degree of the bypass flow rate adjustment valve 9 is opened beyond 10% and the functional water L is returned, the rotational speed of the pump 6 is decreased from the above-described predetermined rotational speed so that the flow rate returned to the tank 5 falls within the standard, that is, the opening degree of the bypass flow rate adjustment valve 9 is controlled to be 10% or less. Thereby, the rotational speed of the pump 6 can be suppressed, and the power consumption when driving the pump 6 can be further suppressed.

[0029] Furthermore, in the functional water supply device 2 of the present embodiment, as described above, when the rotational speed of the pump 6 is decreased from the predetermined rotational speed described above and it is determined that there is a possibility that the rotational speed of the pump 6 may fall below the allowable rotational speed set for the pump 6 as a result of the flow rate returning to the tank 5 via the bypass path R5 falling within a predetermined standard, in order to prevent the rotational speed of the pump 6 from falling below the allowable rotational speed, it is allowed that the flow rate of the functional water L returned to the tank 5 exceeds the standard, that is, the opening degree of the bypass flow rate adjustment valve 9 becomes 10% or more, and the opening degree is adjusted. Such a case is assumed, for example, when the functional water L used in the processing devices A and B becomes extremely scarce. The allowable rotational speed of the pump 6 described above is a reference rotational speed for determining that, as a result of the rotational speed of the pump 6 decreasing excessively, pulsations occur in the functional water L sent out from the pump 6, causing the pressure to become unstable and affecting the quality of processing (grinding, cutting, etc.) in the processing devices A and B. It is set to be lower than the predetermined rotational speed described above and higher than the rotational speed at which problems such as the pump 6 becoming unstable and stopping occur. As a result, while the value measured by the pressure sensor 8 is kept within the allowable value described above, the rotational speed of the pump 6 increases, and stable-pressure functional water L is supplied to the processing devices A and B.

[0030] As described above, the functional water supply device 2 of the present embodiment includes pure water generation means 11 for filtering the used functional water L' used in the processing devices A and B and generating pure water by means of an ion exchange resin, and a circulation path R9 is provided to return the pure water generated by the pure water generation means 11 from the used functional water L' to the tank 5 for reuse as the functional water L. Thereby, the amount of pure water supplied as the functional water L from the water source 4 is reduced, the burden on the manufacturing site where the processing devices A and B are installed can be reduced, and the environmental load is reduced.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0031] 2: Functional water supply device 4: Water source 5: Tank 6: Pump 6a: Motor 6b: Inverter 7: Temperature controller 8: Pressure sensor 9: Pipe flow rate adjustment valve 10: Distribution unit 11: Pure water generation means 100: Control means A, B: Processing devices R1~R3: Routes R4: Delivery route R5: Bypass route R6, R7: Distribution routes R8a: First recovery route R8b: Second recovery route R9: Circulation route

Claims

1. A functional water supply device for supplying functional water to a processing device, comprising: a tank for storing functional water, a pump for sending out the functional water from the tank, a temperature controller for adjusting the temperature of the functional water sent out by the pump to a desired temperature, a delivery path for sending out the functional water adjusted to the desired temperature by the temperature controller to the processing device, and control means; a pressure sensor disposed in the delivery path for measuring the pressure of the functional water that has passed through the temperature controller; a bypass path disposed in the delivery path for returning a part of the functional water that has passed through the temperature controller to the tank, and a bypass flow rate adjustment valve disposed in the bypass path for adjusting the flow rate; The control means is a functional water supply device that controls the bypass flow rate adjustment valve so that the value of the pressure sensor falls within an allowable value while maintaining the rotation speed of the pump at a predetermined rotation speed.

2. The control means adjusts the opening degree of the bypass flow rate adjustment valve, and when the flow rate returned to the tank exceeds the standard by a large amount, reduces the rotation speed of the pump so that the flow rate returned to the tank falls within the standard. The functional water supply device according to Claim 1, which performs control.

3. When it is determined that there is a possibility that the rotation speed of the pump will fall below the allowable rotation speed by reducing the rotation speed of the pump, the control means allows the flow rate of the functional water returned to the tank to exceed the standard so that the rotation speed of the pump does not fall below the allowable rotation speed. The functional water supply device according to Claim 2, which adjusts the opening degree of the bypass flow rate adjustment valve.

4. The functional water supply device according to Claim 1, further comprising pure water generation means for filtering the used functional water used in the processing device and generating pure water by an ion exchange resin, and a circulation path for returning the pure water generated by the pure water generation means to the tank is provided.

5. When a plurality of processing devices are installed, the delivery path includes a distribution unit for distributing functional water to the plurality of processing devices. The functional water supply device according to Claim 1.

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