Retention method and retention device

Abstract

To provide a holding method and a holding device, capable of reducing a wasteful consumption of an energy as possible.SOLUTION: A holding method executes a supporting step of supporting a holding object WK from one surface WK1 side of the holding object WK with a support surface 12A; a fluid supply step of supplying a fluid WT to the support surface 12A in a front step or a rear step of the supporting step; and a hardening step of hardening the fluid WT by executing a hardening processing for hardening the fluid WT and holding the holding object WK with the supporting surface 12A. In the hardening step, the hardening processing is executed to the fluid WT from the holding object WK side supported to the support surface 12A.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a holding method and a holding device.

Background Art

[0002] A holding method for holding an object to be held on a support surface is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] In the method for manufacturing a semiconductor element (holding method) described in Patent Document 1, a cooling process (hardening process) is performed to freeze (harden) the liquid 50 (fluid) supplied to the upper surface (support surface) of the temporary mounting table 3 from the support surface side, and the semiconductor element chip 1A (object to be held) is held on the support surface. Therefore, the member having a support surface such as the temporary mounting table 3 must be subjected to the hardening process, which causes the disadvantage of wasteful energy consumption.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide a holding method and a holding device capable of reducing wasteful energy consumption as much as possible.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] The present invention employs the configuration described in the claims.

Effects of the Invention

[0007] According to the present invention, since the hardening process is performed on the fluid from the side of the object to be held supported on the support surface via the fluid, it is not necessary to perform the hardening process on the member having the support surface, and wasteful energy consumption can be reduced as much as possible. In addition, if a fluid pretreatment step is performed, the fluid curing time after the object to be held is supported by the support surface can be shortened.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0008]

Figure 1

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0009] Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis are in a mutually orthogonal relationship. The X-axis and Y-axis are axes in a predetermined plane, and the Z-axis is an axis orthogonal to the predetermined plane. Further, in this embodiment, when viewed from the front direction of FIG. 1 parallel to the Y-axis, when indicating directions, “up” is the arrow direction of the Z-axis, “down” is the opposite direction, “left” is the arrow direction of the X-axis, “right” is the opposite direction, “front” is the arrow direction of the Y-axis, and “rear” is the opposite direction.

[0010] The holding device EA of the present invention includes a support means 10 for supporting the object to be held WK on the support surface 12A from one surface WK1 side of the object to be held WK, a fluid supply means 20 for supplying water WT as a fluid to the support surface 12A, and a curing means 30 for performing a cooling treatment as a curing treatment for curing, that is, freezing the water WT to freeze the water WT and hold the object to be held WK on the support surface 12A. The object to be held WK is formed from a base material WKB, and an adhesive sheet AS is attached to the other surface WK2 of the base material WKB (object to be held WK) to form an integral object UP. In the case of this embodiment, the holding device EA is disposed in the vicinity of a peeling means 40 for peeling the adhesive sheet AS from the object to be held WK and a separating means 50 for applying tension to the adhesive sheet AS and forming a plurality of objects to be held WK at a predetermined interval from the base material WKB.

[0011] The support means 10 includes a linear motor 11 as a driving device, and a table 12 as a support member that is supported by the output shaft 11A of the linear motor 11 and has a support surface 12A. The table 12 includes a flow path 12C that communicates with a recess 12B provided on the upper surface, and a porous member 12D that is disposed in the recess 12B and is made of resin, metal, or the like and has an upper surface that serves as the support surface 12A. On the support surface 12A, as shown in the figure with AA marked in Fig. 1(A), a hydrophobic portion 12E having hydrophobicity is formed in a lattice pattern, and a hydrophilic portion 12F is partitioned by the hydrophobic portion 12E. In the hydrophobic portion 12E, a member having water-repellent properties such as resin or metal is disposed on the inner surface of the groove formed in a lattice pattern on the support surface 12A. In the hydrophilic portion 12F, a rough surface treatment such as rough machining or blasting is performed to form a rough surface.

[0012] The fluid supply means 20 includes a tank 21 that stores water WT, a pressurizing means 22 such as a pressure pump or a turbine, a decompressing means 23 such as a decompression pump or a vacuum ejector, a switching valve 24 that switches the communication state of the pressurizing means 22 and the decompressing means 23 with respect to the tank 21, and a switching valve 25 that is connected to the flow path 12C via a pipe 25A and switches the communication state of a pressurizing side pipe 21A and a decompressing side pipe 21B that are connected to the tank 21.

[0013] The curing means 30 is composed of a plurality of arms, and within its working range, a so-called multi-joint robot 31 as a driving device that can be displaced to any position and at any angle by the tip arm 31A which is the working part, a support plate 32 supported by the tip arm 31A, a plurality of guide members 33 inserted through through-holes 32A formed in the support plate 32 and having flange portions 33A provided on the upper end side, a cooling plate 34 supported on the lower end side of the guide members 33 and capable of being cooled by a cooling means (not shown) such as a cooling side of a Peltier element or a heat pipe, and a plurality of springs 35 as biasing means that bias the cooling plate 34 in a direction away from the support plate 32. It is configured to perform a cooling process on the water WT from the side of the object to be held WK supported by the support surface 12A via the water WT.

[0014] The separating means 40 includes a linear motor 11 and is configured to also serve as the supporting means 10 for the linear motor 11.

[0015] The spacing means 50 includes a plurality of linear motors 51 as drive devices, and holding means each supported on the output shaft 51A of each linear motor 51 and having a pair of gripping members 52A, and a chuck cylinder 52 as a drive device.

[0016] The operation of the above-described holding device EA will be described. First, for the holding device EA in which each member is arranged at the initial position shown by the solid line in Fig. 1(A), a user of the holding device EA (hereinafter simply referred to as "user") inputs a signal for starting automatic operation via an operation means (not shown) such as an operation panel or a personal computer. Then, the fluid supply means 20 drives the switching valves 24 and 25, and as shown in Fig. 1(B), the pressurizing means 22 and the tank 21 are communicated with each other, and after the tank 21 and the recess 12B are communicated with each other via the pressurizing side pipe 21A, the pressurizing means 22 is driven to increase the pressure in the tank 21 and supply water WT to the hydrophilic part 12F of the support surface 12A (fluid supply step). Note that the water WT supplied to the hydrophilic part 12F is monitored by a fluid detection means (not shown) composed of various sensors such as imaging means such as a camera and a projector, and an optical sensor and an ultrasonic sensor, and the fluid supply means 20 adjusts the pressure in the tank 21 so that the water WT supplied to the hydrophilic part 12F does not overflow to the hydrophobic part 12E based on the monitoring state of the fluid detection means (not shown). Next, before the curing means 30 supports the object to be held WK by the support means 10, a fluid pretreatment step of performing a cooling process on the water WT to such an extent that the water WT does not freeze is carried out. That is, the curing means 30 drives the articulated robot 31 and a cooling means (not shown), and as shown by the two-dot chain line in Fig. 1(B), the cooling plate 34 is brought close to the support surface 12A, and the water WT is cooled to a temperature of 2°C to 3°C, which is a temperature at which the water WT does not freeze (fluid pretreatment step). Note that the temperature of the water WT on the support surface 12A is monitored by a temperature detection means (not shown) such as a thermocouple and an infrared sensor, and the curing means 30 adjusts the temperature of the water WT based on the monitoring state of the temperature detection means (not shown). Then, after the curing means 30 stops driving the cooling means (not shown), the articulated robot 31 is driven to return the cooling plate 34 to the initial position. Next, when a conveying means (not shown) such as an articulated robot or a belt conveyor conveys the integrated object UP to a predetermined position above the table 12 as shown in Fig. 1(A), the separating means 50 drives the linear motion motor 51 and the chuck cylinder 52, and as shown by the two-dot chain line in the figure, the adhesive sheet AS is gripped by a pair of gripping members 52A. Then, the separating means 50 drives the linear motion motor 51 to pull the adhesive sheet AS to form a plurality of objects to be held WK from the base material WKB (separating step).At this time, the objects to be held WK are spaced apart from each other so as to correspond to the hydrophilic portions 12F of the support surface 12A respectively.

[0017] Next, the support means 10 drives the linear motor 11, and as shown in FIG. 1(C), raises the table 12 to support the object to be held WK on the support surface 12A (support step). At this time, each object to be held WK is supported by each hydrophilic portion 12F through the water WT supplied to each hydrophilic portion 12F. Then, the curing means 30 drives the articulated robot 31 and a cooling means (not shown), and as shown in FIG. 1(C), by bringing the cooling plate 34 close to the adhesive sheet AS, a cooling treatment is applied to the water WT from the object to be held WK side to freeze the water WT, and the object to be held WK is held on the support surface 12A (curing step). At this time, the curing means 30 may or may not bring the cooling plate 34 into contact with the adhesive sheet AS. Also, for example, even if the water WT freezes and the volume of the water WT expands, and the object to be held WK is pressed against the cooling plate 34 side, the load applied to the object to be held WK is reduced by the spring 35 provided between the support plate 32. Next, the curing means 30 stops driving the cooling means (not shown) and drives the articulated robot 31 to return the cooling plate 34 to the initial position. Then, the peeling means 40 drives the linear motor 11, and as shown in FIG. 1(D), lowers the table 12 to peel the adhesive sheet AS from the object to be held WK (peeling step).

[0018] When the adhesive sheet AS is peeled off from all the objects to be held WK and the table 12 returns to the initial position, after the peeling means 40 stops driving the linear motor 11, the separating means 50 drives the linear motor 51 and the chuck cylinder 52 to return the gripping member 52A to the initial position. The adhesive sheet AS that has lost the support by the gripping member 52A is delivered to the user or a conveying means (not shown) and discarded. Next, the frozen water WT is thawed by heating with a heating means (not shown) such as a coil heater or a heating side of a heat pipe, or by natural thawing (fluidization step). At this time, each object to be held WK supported by the hydrophilic portion 12F is positioned at a predetermined position and a predetermined angle by the action of the water WT. Then, the fluid supply means 20 drives the switching valves 24 and 25 to communicate the decompression means 23 and the tank 21 as shown in Fig. 1(E), and to communicate the tank 21 and the recess 12B through the decompression side pipe 21B, and then drives the decompression means 23 to lower the pressure in the tank 21 (fluid recovery step). As a result, the water WT on the support surface 12A is recovered, and the object to be held WK is supported on the support surface 12A in a state where it is positioned at a predetermined position and a predetermined angle. Next, the user or a conveying means (not shown) removes all the objects to be held WK from the support surface 12A (removing step), and thereafter the same steps as above are repeated.

[0019] According to the above embodiment, since the cooling treatment is performed on the water WT from the side of the object to be held WK supported on the support surface 12A via the water WT, it is not necessary to perform the cooling treatment on the member having the support surface 12A (the table 12, the porous member 12D) as a whole, and the wasteful consumption of energy can be reduced as much as possible.

[0020] As described above, the best configuration, method, etc. for carrying out the present invention are disclosed in the above description, but the present invention is not limited thereto. That is, the present invention is mainly illustrated and described with respect to a specific embodiment, but a person skilled in the art can make various modifications to the above-described embodiment in terms of shape, material, quantity, and other detailed configurations without departing from the scope of the technical idea and purpose of the present invention. In addition, the description of the shape, material, etc. disclosed above, which is limited, is illustratively described to facilitate understanding of the present invention, and does not limit the present invention, so that the description of the names of the members from which some or all of the limitations of the shape, material, etc. are removed is included in the present invention.

[0021] For example, after recovering the thawed water WT, the support means 10 may adsorb and hold the object to be held WK on the support surface 12A by the pressure reducing means 23 or another pressure reducing means independent of the fluid supply means 20, the linear motor 11 may not also serve as the peeling means 40, the hydrophilic portion 12F may have holes through which the water WT passes and the hydrophobic portion 12E may not have holes through which the water WT passes, or both the hydrophilic portion 12F and the hydrophobic portion 12E may have holes through which the water WT passes, the hydrophobic portion 12E and the hydrophilic portion 12F may be formed by attaching a sheet, film, tape, etc. having hydrophobic or hydrophilic properties to the support surface 12A, or by applying a surface treatment or coating to the support surface 12A that exhibits hydrophobicity or hydrophilicity, or the hydrophobic portion 12E and the hydrophilic portion 12F may not be formed on the support surface 12A.

[0022] The fluid supply means 20 may supply water WT to the support surface 12A from outside the table 12 using a supply member such as a nozzle or hose, or a recovery flow path separate from the flow path 12C may be provided in the table 12 and the water WT may be recovered from the recovery flow path, or, without using the switching valves 24, 25, for example, the pressurizing means 22 and the depressurizing means 23 may be connected individually to the tank 21 or individually from the tank 21 to the recess 12B. The fluid supplied by the fluid supply means 20 is not limited to water WT, and may be not only liquids such as alcohol solutions and oils, but also gel bodies, or gases such as simple gases and mixed gases that sublime by cooling treatment. Specifically, for example, it may be an adhesive, dry ice, UV curable resin, cement, etc. Any material may be used as long as it hardens by a hardening treatment, and as long as it becomes harder than before the hardening treatment and can obtain a desired holding force for the object to be held WK. Note that the "hardness" referred to in the present application may be the hardness represented by Brinell hardness, Vickers hardness, Rockwell hardness, etc., or may be the hardness represented by Young's modulus, rigidity modulus, tensile strength, compressive strength, shear strength, etc.

[0023] The hardening means 30 may freeze water WT with a cooling medium such as cooling air or cooling gas. In the case where the fluid hardens by a heat treatment as a hardening treatment, for example, in the case of a thermosetting resin or a heat curing agent, heating means such as a heating side of a coil heater or a heat pipe may be employed. In the case where the fluid hardens by irradiation with energy rays such as ultraviolet rays or X-rays as a hardening treatment, for example, in the case of an energy ray curable resin or an energy ray curing agent, energy ray irradiation means such as a high-pressure mercury lamp or an LED (Light Emitting Diode) lamp capable of irradiating energy rays may be employed. In the case where the fluid hardens by a drying treatment as a hardening treatment, for example, in the case of an adhesive or cement, a blower or heating means may be employed. Any means may be adopted as long as it can harden the fluid in consideration of various conditions such as the characteristics, properties, nature, material, composition and structure of the fluid, the conditions of the atmosphere, and other factors. In the above embodiment, the water WT was cooled from the other surface WK2 side (upper side) of the object to be held WK. However, for example, the water WT may be cooled from the side of the object to be held WK such as the left side, the front side, the right diagonal rear side, the left diagonal front side, the right diagonal upper side, or the left diagonal upper side of the object to be held WK. The hardening means 30 can directly cool the water WT in the tank 21 and the water WT in the pipes 21A and 25A by the above-described cooling means and cooling medium, or indirectly cool the water WT through at least one of the tank 21, the pipes 21A and 25A, and the support surface 12A. Thus, before the holding means 10 supports the object to be held WK, a fluid pretreatment step may be carried out, or the hardening step and the fluid pretreatment step may be configured by the same means or different means. When carrying out the fluid pretreatment step, the temperature at which the fluid does not harden may be, for example, 2°C or less or 3°C or more when the fluid is water WT. When the fluid hardens by heat treatment, for example, the fluid may be heat-treated at a temperature such as 60°C or 120°C. Any temperature may be used as long as the fluid does not harden, considering various conditions such as the characteristics, properties, nature, material, composition, and configuration of the fluid, the conditions of the atmosphere, and other factors.

[0024] The peeling means 40 may peel the adhesive sheet AS from the object to be held WK by raising the chuck cylinder 52 without lowering the table 12 or while lowering the table 12. Alternatively, the object to be held WK and the adhesive sheet AS may be relatively rotated within the support surface 12A to peel the adhesive sheet AS from the object to be held WK. The vibration means such as an ultrasonic vibration device or a vibrator may be used to vibrate the table 12 to facilitate peeling the adhesive sheet AS from the object to be held WK. A driving device not shared with the holding means 10 may be adopted. Instead of or in combination with the above-exemplified means, a peeling tape such as a single-sheet or strip-shaped adhesive tape or adhesive tape may be attached to the adhesive sheet AS, and tension may be applied to the peeling tape to peel the adhesive sheet AS from the object to be held WK. The peeling means 40 may or may not be provided in the holding device EA of the present invention. When the peeling means 40 is not provided, the adhesive sheet AS may be peeled from the object to be held WK by another device.

[0025] The spacing means 50 may apply tension in one direction or two or more directions in the plane of the adhesive sheet AS to widen the mutual spacing of the objects to be held WK. When a frame member such as a ring frame integrated with the object to be held WK via the adhesive sheet AS is used, the mutual spacing of the objects to be held WK may be widened by supporting the frame member and applying tension to the adhesive sheet AS. It may be provided in the holding device EA of the present invention, or may not be provided. When the spacing means 50 is not provided, the mutual spacing of the objects to be held WK may be widened by another device.

[0026] The holding device EA employs dust removing means such as a blade, a wiper for removing dust such as fluid and other dust left on the support surface 12A, or a blower for blowing off the fluid, and removes dust from the support surface 12A before supplying fluid to the support surface 12A or after recovering the fluid from the support surface 12A. It may be provided with a base material cutting means such as a cutter blade or a laser cutter that forms a cut penetrating in the thickness direction with respect to the base material WKB, or a cut that does not penetrate in the thickness direction but causes the base material WKB to split when tension is applied and the base material WKB becomes a plurality of objects to be held WK. It may be provided with a fragile layer forming means such as a laser irradiation device or a chemical solution administration means that forms a fragile modified layer on the base material WKB such that the base material WKB splits when tension is applied and the base material WKB becomes a plurality of objects to be held WK. It may be provided with a grinding means such as a grinder or a grindstone that grinds the base material WKB to reduce its thickness. It may also be provided with a grinding and fragmenting means such as a grinder or a grindstone that forms a plurality of objects to be held WK from the base material WKB by grinding from the surface opposite to the surface where the cut is formed to reach the cut in the base material WKB in which a cut that does not penetrate in the thickness direction is formed. The holding device EA may perform the fluid supply process in the previous stage of the support process, may perform the fluid supply process in the subsequent stage of the support process, or may perform the fluid supply process in both the previous stage and the subsequent stage of the support process. At least one of the fluid pretreatment process, the spacing process, the peeling process, the fluidization process, the fluid recovery process, and the removal process may not be performed or may be performed.

[0027] The base material WKB may have a cut formed therethrough in the thickness direction, and a plurality of objects to be held WK may be formed by the cut. Alternatively, a cut that does not penetrate in the thickness direction may be formed, which splits when tension is applied to become a plurality of objects to be held WK. Alternatively, a fragile modified layer that splits when tension is applied to become a plurality of objects to be held WK may be formed. Further, the adhesive sheet AS may not be attached. The object to be held WK may not have the adhesive sheet AS attached thereto, or may not be formed from the base material WKB but may be arranged at a predetermined interval in advance. For the integrated object UP, the adhesive sheet AS may be supported by the frame member. In addition to the ring frame, the frame member may have a non-circular shape (the outer periphery is not continuous), or may have a circular, elliptical, polygonal, or other shape. In the above embodiment, a plurality of objects to be held WK are exemplified as the objects to be held, but the object to be held may be one.

[0028] The means and steps in the present invention are not limited in any way as long as they can perform the operations, functions, or steps described for those means and steps. Moreover, they are not limited to the components and steps of merely one embodiment shown in the above embodiment. For example, the supporting step may be any step as long as it supports the object to be held from one surface side of the object to be held with a supporting surface, and is not limited as long as it is within the technical scope in light of the common general knowledge in the art at the time of filing the application (the same applies to other means and steps).

[0029] Subsequently, the materials, types, shapes, etc. of the adhesive sheet AS, the base material WKB, the object to be held WK, and the peeling tape are not particularly limited. For example, the adhesive sheet AS, the base material WKB, the object to be held WK, and the peeling tape may have a circular, elliptical, polygonal shape such as a triangle or a quadrilateral, or other shapes. Also, the adhesive sheet AS and the peeling tape may have an adhesive form such as pressure-sensitive adhesiveness or heat-sensitive adhesiveness. When a heat-sensitive adhesive one is adopted, it may be adhered by an appropriate method such as providing heating means such as an appropriate coil heater or the heating side of a heat pipe for heating the adhesive sheet AS or the peeling tape. Further, such an adhesive sheet AS or peeling tape may be, for example, a single-layer one having only an adhesive layer, one having an intermediate layer between a base material and an adhesive layer, one having three or more layers such as having a cover layer on the upper surface of the base material, or even a so-called double-sided adhesive sheet capable of peeling the base material from the adhesive layer. The double-sided adhesive sheet may have a single-layer or multi-layer intermediate layer, or may be a single-layer or multi-layer one without an intermediate layer. Also, as the base material WKB and the object to be held WK, for example, they may be a single object such as food, a resin container, a semiconductor wafer such as a silicon semiconductor wafer or a compound semiconductor wafer, a circuit board, an information recording substrate such as an optical disk, a glass plate, a steel plate, pottery, a wooden board, or resin, or may be a composite formed of two or more of them, and can also target members and articles in any form. Note that, in terms of a functional and application reading, the adhesive sheet AS may be, for example, an arbitrary sheet, film, tape, etc., such as a label for information description, a decorative label, a protective sheet, a dicing tape, a die attach film, a die bonding tape, a resin sheet for forming a recording layer.

[0030] The drive devices in the above-described embodiment can employ electric devices such as a rotary motor, a linear motor, a linear motor, a single-axis robot, an articulated robot having two or more joints or three or more joints, actuators such as an air cylinder, a hydraulic cylinder, a rodless cylinder, and a rotary cylinder, etc., and can also employ those directly or indirectly combined. In the above embodiment, when a component that supports (holds) a supported member (held member) such as a support (holding) means or a support (holding) member is adopted, a gripping means such as a mechanical chuck or a chuck cylinder, a Coulomb force, an adhesive (adhesive sheet, adhesive tape), a pressure-sensitive adhesive (pressure-sensitive adhesive sheet, pressure-sensitive adhesive tape), a magnetic force, Bernoulli adsorption, suction adsorption, a drive device, etc. may be adopted to support (hold) the supported member. When a component that cuts a cut member such as a cutting means or a cutting member or forms a notch or a cutting line in the cut member is adopted, instead of or in combination with those exemplified above, a cutter blade, a laser cutter, an ion beam, a thermal power, heat, a water pressure, a heating wire, spraying of a gas or a liquid, etc. may be adopted for cutting, or a combination of appropriate drive devices may be moved for cutting. When a biasing means is adopted, it may be constituted by a spring, a rubber, a resin, a drive device, etc.

Explanation of Signs

[0031] EA... Holding device 10... Support means 12A... Support surface 20... Fluid supply means 30... Hardening means WK... Object to be held WK1... One surface WT... Water (fluid)

Claims

1. A supporting step of supporting the object to be held from one surface side of the object to be held by a support surface; A fluid supply step of supplying a fluid to the support surface before or after the supporting step; A curing step of performing a curing treatment to cure the fluid and holding the object to be held by the support surface; and In the curing step, before the object to be held is supported by the supporting means in the supporting step, a fluid pretreatment step of performing the curing treatment on the fluid to such an extent that the fluid does not cure is performed, and the curing treatment is performed on the fluid from the object to be held supported by the support surface via the fluid. A holding method characterized by the above.

2. Supporting means for supporting the object to be held from one surface side of the object to be held by a support surface; Fluid supply means for supplying a fluid to the support surface; Curing means for performing a curing treatment to cure the fluid and holding the object to be held by the support surface; and The curing means performs a fluid pretreatment step of performing the curing treatment on the fluid to such an extent that the fluid does not cure before the object to be held is supported by the supporting means, and the curing treatment is performed on the fluid from the object to be held supported by the support surface via the fluid. A holding device characterized by the above.

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