Processing equipment

Abstract

To provide a processing device which appropriately positions export means to a plate-like object stored in a cassette, and processes the plate-like object without performing complicated work by an operator.SOLUTION: A dicing device 1 includes: positioning means for relatively moving a cassette table 4 and export means 3, and positioning the export means to a plate-like object stored in a cassette 5 mounted on a cassette table; a detection sensor 20 for detecting the plate-like object stored in the cassette; and control means 100. The control means includes a number storage part for storing the number of plate-like objects stored in the cassette, a position storage part for relatively moving the cassette table, detecting the plate-like object stored at the lowermost part of the cassette and the plate-like object stored at the uppermost part thereof by a detection sensor, and storing their positions, and an interval storage part for calculating and storing a predetermined interval, on the basis of the number of stored plate-like objects and an interval between a position of the lowermost part and a position of the uppermost part, and positions the export means to the plate-like object stored in the cassette on the basis of the interval.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a processing apparatus including a cassette table on which a cassette for accommodating a plurality of plate-like objects at a predetermined interval is placed, a carrying-out means for carrying out the plate-like objects from the cassette placed on the cassette table, and a control means.

Background Art

[0002] A wafer on which a plurality of devices such as ICs and LSIs are formed on the surface, partitioned by a dicing line, is divided into individual device chips by a dicing apparatus or a laser processing apparatus and used in electric devices such as mobile phones and personal computers.

[0003] A dicing apparatus generally includes a cassette table on which a cassette containing a plurality of wafers is placed, a conveying means for carrying out a wafer from the cassette placed on the cassette table and conveying it to a temporary receiving table, a conveying means for conveying the wafer conveyed to the temporary receiving table to a chuck table, and a cutting means for dividing the wafer held on the chuck table into individual device chips, and can divide a wafer into individual device chips with high precision (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

[0004] In addition, a laser processing apparatus includes a type provided with a laser beam irradiation means for irradiating a laser beam having a wavelength that is absorbable by a wafer to perform ablation processing on a dicing line of the wafer, and a type provided with a laser beam irradiation means for irradiating a laser beam having a wavelength that is transmissive to the wafer to perform internal processing for forming a modified layer inside the dicing line of the wafer (see, for example, Patent Document 2), and is different from a dicing apparatus in that it is provided with a laser beam irradiation means instead of a cutting means.

[0005] The wafers are supported via dicing tape on a plate-shaped frame with a central opening for housing the wafers. Approximately 25 wafers are stored in a cassette, which is placed on the cassette table of a dicing machine or laser processing machine. The wafers are then unloaded from the cassette by an unloading mechanism and subjected to the desired processing. [Prior art documents] [Patent Documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2010-036275 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2007-201178 [Overview of the project] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0007] Incidentally, although the cassettes used in the dicing and laser processing machines mentioned above are generally formed to the same dimensions, they are not strictly standardized, and the spacing and height of the storage grooves for accommodating wafers vary slightly from manufacturer to manufacturer. Therefore, when processing wafers in processing machines that use such cassettes, the operator has to measure the spacing of the storage grooves of the cassette placed on the cassette table, and the position of the lowest or highest part of the storage groove where the wafer is accommodating, and input this information into the control system in order to properly position the discharge means relative to the wafer contained in the cassette, which presents a cumbersome problem.

[0008] The present invention has been made in view of the above facts, and its main technical problem is to provide a processing apparatus that, when processing a plate-shaped material in a processing apparatus, allows the operator to properly position the discharge means on the plate-shaped material stored in the cassette and perform processing without having to perform complicated work. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] To solve the above-mentioned main technical problems, the present invention provides a processing apparatus comprising: a cassette table on which a cassette containing a plurality of plate-shaped objects at predetermined intervals is placed; an unloading means for unloading plate-shaped objects from the cassette placed on the cassette table; and a control means, wherein the apparatus includes a positioning means for relatively moving the cassette table and the unloading means to position the unloading means on the plate-shaped objects contained in the cassette placed on the cassette table; and a detection sensor for detecting the plate-shaped objects contained in the cassette, the control means storing the number of plate-shaped objects contained in the cassette. The system comprises a number storage unit, a position storage unit that operates the positioning means to move the cassette table relative to the cassette table and detects the plate-shaped object stored at the bottom and the plate-shaped object stored at the top of the cassette with the detection sensor, and stores the positions of the plate-shaped object stored at the bottom and the plate-shaped object stored at the top, and an interval storage unit that calculates and stores a predetermined interval based on the number of items stored in the number storage unit and the distance between the bottom position and the top position, and the unloading means is positioned on the plate-shaped object stored in the cassette placed on the cassette table based on the predetermined interval stored in the interval storage unit. A cassette is placed on top of the cassette on the cassette table, and the control means operates the positioning means to move the cassette table relative to it, detects the plate-like object contained at the bottom or top of the added cassette with the detection sensor, stores the position of the bottom or top in the position memory unit, and positions the unloading means on the plate-like object contained in the added cassette based on the predetermined interval stored in the interval memory unit. A processing device is provided. Furthermore, if the height position of the detection sensor and the height position of the discharge means do not coincide, the difference in height may be stored in the position memory unit, and this difference in height may be added when positioning the discharge means on the plate-shaped object housed in the cassette. The plate-shaped object may be a frame having an opening in the center for housing the workpiece and supporting the workpiece via tape.

[0010] Furthermore, according to the present invention, a processing apparatus comprising a cassette table on which a cassette containing a plurality of plate-shaped objects at predetermined intervals is placed, an unloading means for unloading plate-shaped objects from the cassette placed on the cassette table, and a control means, wherein the apparatus comprises a positioning means for relatively moving the cassette table and the unloading means to position the unloading means on the plate-shaped objects contained in the cassette placed on the cassette table, and a detection sensor for detecting the plate-shaped objects contained in the cassette, and the control means is The cassette includes: a number storage unit that stores the number of plate-shaped objects to be stored in the cassette; a position storage unit that operates the positioning means to move the cassette table relative to each other, detects the plate-shaped objects stored at the bottom and the top of the cassette with the detection sensor, and stores the positions of the plate-shaped objects stored at the bottom and the top; and an interval storage unit that calculates and stores a predetermined interval based on the number of objects stored in the number storage unit and the distance between the bottom position and the top position. If the height position of the detection sensor and the height position of the discharge means do not match, the difference in height is stored in the position memory unit, and when positioning the discharge means on the plate-shaped object contained in the cassette, the difference in height is added. A processing apparatus is provided that positions the unloading means on a plate-shaped object contained in a cassette placed on the cassette table, based on a predetermined interval stored in the interval storage unit. The plate-like object may be a frame having an opening in the center for accommodating the workpiece and supporting the workpiece via tape. [Effects of the Invention]

[0011] The processing apparatus of the present invention comprises a positioning means for relatively moving a cassette table and a discharge means to position the discharge means on a cassette containing plate-shaped objects placed on the cassette table, and a detection sensor for detecting plate-shaped objects contained in the cassette, and the control means comprises a number storage unit for storing the number of plate-shaped objects to be stored in the cassette, a position storage unit for operating the positioning means to relatively move the cassette table and detecting the plate-shaped objects stored at the bottom and top of the cassette with the detection sensor and storing the positions of the plate-shaped objects stored at the bottom and the plate-shaped objects stored at the top, and an interval storage unit for calculating and storing a predetermined interval based on the number of objects stored in the number storage unit and the distance between the bottom position and the top position, and the control means for positioning the discharge means on a cassette containing plate-shaped objects placed on the cassette table based on the predetermined interval stored in the interval storage unit. A cassette is placed on top of the cassette on the cassette table, and the control means operates the positioning means to move the cassette table relative to it, detects the plate-like object contained at the bottom or top of the added cassette with the detection sensor, stores the position of the bottom or top in the position memory unit, and positions the unloading means on the plate-like object contained in the added cassette based on the predetermined interval stored in the interval memory unit. This eliminates the cumbersome problem of operators having to measure the spacing between the storage grooves of the cassette placed on the cassette table, as well as the positions of the bottom and top storage grooves, and input this information into the control system before processing the workpiece with the processing device. Furthermore, the processing apparatus of the present invention includes a positioning means that moves a cassette table and a discharge means relative to each other and positions the discharge means on a cassette containing plate-shaped objects placed on the cassette table, and a detection sensor that detects plate-shaped objects contained in the cassette, and the control means includes a number storage unit that stores the number of plate-shaped objects to be stored in the cassette, a position storage unit that operates the positioning means to move the cassette table relative to each other and detects the plate-shaped objects stored at the bottom and the top of the cassette with the detection sensor and stores the positions of the plate-shaped objects stored at the bottom and the top, and the number of objects stored in the number storage unit and the distance between the bottom position and the top position The system includes an interval storage unit that calculates and stores a predetermined interval based on the above, and if the height position of the detection sensor and the height position of the unloading means do not coincide, the difference in height is stored in the position storage unit, and when positioning the unloading means on the plate-shaped object contained in the cassette, the difference in height is added, and based on the predetermined interval stored in the interval storage unit, the unloading means is positioned on the plate-shaped object contained in the cassette placed on the cassette table. As a result, the operator does not have to go through the trouble of measuring the spacing between the storage grooves of the cassette placed on the cassette table, or the positions of the lowest and highest storage grooves, and inputting this information into the control means in preparation for processing the workpiece with the processing device, thus eliminating the cumbersome problem. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0012] [Figure 1] This is an overall perspective view of the dicing apparatus. [Figure 2] Figure 1 is a perspective view from the unloading mechanism side showing the state in which the first and second cassettes are loaded onto the cassette table of the dicing apparatus. [Figure 3] This is a conceptual diagram showing the configuration of the control system. [Figure 4] This is a side view showing the difference in height between the detection sensor, the unloading mechanism, and the object. [Figure 5] This is a side view showing an embodiment for detecting the bottom frame of the first cassette. [Figure 6] This is a side view showing an embodiment for detecting the uppermost frame of the first cassette. [Figure 7]It is a side view showing an aspect of detecting the lowermost frame of the second cassette. [Figure 8] It is a side view showing an aspect of carrying out the lowermost frame of the first cassette by the carrying-out means.

Embodiments for Carrying out the Invention

[0013] Hereinafter, embodiments of a processing apparatus configured based on the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0014] FIG. 1 shows an overall perspective view of a dicing apparatus 1 as an example of a processing apparatus configured based on the present invention. The workpiece to be processed by the dicing apparatus 1 in the present embodiment is, for example, a semiconductor wafer W, and the wafer W is formed on a surface where a plurality of devices are partitioned by a dicing line. Further, the wafer W in the present embodiment is supported via an adhesive tape T on a frame F which is an annular plate-like object having an opening capable of accommodating the wafer W at the center. The dicing apparatus 1 in the illustrated embodiment includes a substantially rectangular parallelepiped apparatus housing 2, a cassette table 4 on which a cassette 5 for accommodating a plurality of wafers W at a predetermined interval is placed, a carrying-out means 3 for carrying out the wafer W from the cassette 5 placed on the cassette table 4, and a control means 100 (shown by a broken line).

[0015] The dicing apparatus 1 includes a cutting means 9, which is a processing means for processing a wafer W held by a holding means 8 with a rotatably supported cutting blade 91. The unloading means 3 moves in the Y-axis direction and grips the frame F with a gripping part 3a to pull out the wafer W supported by the frame F from the cassette 4 and unload it onto the temporary receiving table 6. The wafer W unloaded onto the temporary receiving table 6 is picked up by a transport means 7 having a swivel arm and transported to the holding surface 82 of the chuck table 81 of the holding means 8, which is positioned at the unloading / unloading position, and is held by suction. The wafer W held by suction on the holding surface 82 of the chuck table 81 is moved together with the chuck table 81 by an X-axis feed means (not shown) and imaged by an alignment means 10, and the area to be cut by the cutting means 9 is detected. Furthermore, the dicing apparatus 1 is equipped with a cleaning and unloading means 12 that picks up the processed wafer W from the loading / unloading position where the chuck table 81 is positioned in Figure 1 and transports it to a cleaning apparatus 11 (details omitted), as well as display means and the like (not shown). The control means 100 is configured as a computer, and the above-mentioned unloading means 3, positioning means (not shown) that raises and lowers the cassette table 4 to position it at a desired position, transporting means 7, holding means 8, cutting means 9, alignment means 10, etc. are connected to and controlled by the computer, and cutting is performed on the wafer W housed in the cassette 5.

[0016] The cassette 5 placed on the dicing apparatus 1 of this embodiment includes a first cassette 5A placed on the cassette table 4 and a second cassette 5B that is stacked on top of the first cassette 5A, as shown in Figure 1. The first cassette 5A and the second cassette 5B in this embodiment are identical cassettes formed to the same dimensions. The backs of the first cassette 5A and the second cassette 5B are closed by rear walls 51A and 51B (front side in Figure 1), and openings 57A and 57B are formed on the side where the unloading means 3 is located (back side in Figure 1), as shown in Figures 2(a) and (b), so that the frame F can be gripped by the gripping part 3a of the unloading means 3 and the wafer W can be pulled out and unloaded. As can be seen from Figures 2(a) and (b), the first cassette 5A is composed of the rear wall 51A, bottom wall 52A, side walls 53A, 53A, and top wall 54A, and a plurality of storage grooves 56A are formed on the inside of the side walls 53A, 53A according to the dimensions and number of frames F to be stored. The second cassette 5B is similarly composed of the rear wall 51B, bottom wall 52B, side walls 53B, 53B, and top wall 54B, and a plurality of storage grooves 56B are formed on the inside of the side walls 53B, 53B according to the dimensions and number of frames F to be stored. The position of the cassette table is precisely controlled by the positioning means described above, and the unloading means 3 is moved back and forth along the moving groove 3b, thereby unloading the frames F stored in the storage grooves 56A, 56B. In the embodiment shown in Figure 2, for illustrative purposes, the number of frames F housed in the first cassette 5A and the second cassette 5B is shown as a small number; however, the actual number of frames (M) housed is 25.

[0017] On the upper surfaces of the upper walls 54A of the first cassette 5A and the upper walls 54B of the second cassette 5B, two convex portions 55A and 55B are provided each for efficiently aligning the first cassette 5A and the second cassette 5B when stacking them. On the lower surfaces of the first cassette 5A and the second cassette 5B, recesses (not shown) are formed at positions corresponding to the convex portions 55A and 55B. By fitting the convex portions 55A and 55B into the recesses, the second cassette 5B can be accurately loaded onto the first cassette 5A. As shown in FIG. 1, in the apparatus housing 2, on the side wall 2a forming the region where the cassette table 4 is disposed, a detection sensor 20 for detecting the frame F housed in the cassette 5 from the above-described openings 57A and 57B is disposed. The detection sensor 20 is, for example, a sensor composed of a light-emitting element and a light-receiving element, which detects a predetermined frame F by reflecting predetermined light emitted from the light-emitting element on the frame F and receiving the reflected light by the light-receiving element, or a sensor composed of a CCD camera, and is connected to the control means 100.

[0018] As shown in FIG. 3, the control means 100 includes a number storage unit 110 that stores the number of wafers W (M) accommodated in the first cassette 5A and the second cassette 5B, and operates the above-described positioning means to move the cassette table 4 in the Z-axis direction (vertical direction), and detects the frame F accommodated at the lowermost part and the uppermost part in the first cassette 5A, and the frame F accommodated at the lowermost part or the uppermost part in the second cassette 5B additionally loaded on the first cassette 5A with the above-described detection sensor 20, and a position storage unit 120 that stores the positions of the detected frames F. Based on the number of wafers W (M) accommodated in the first cassette 5A, the interval between the position of the lowermost frame F and the position of the uppermost frame F in the first cassette 5A, the control means 100 further includes an interval storage unit 130 that calculates and stores a predetermined interval P between adjacent individual frames F in the vertical direction.

[0019] Based on the information of a predetermined interval P stored in the interval storage unit 130, the positioning means is activated to properly position the unloading means 3 on the frame F housed in the first cassette 5A and the second cassette 5B placed on the cassette table 4, allowing them to be unloaded from the cassette 5.

[0020] The dicing apparatus 1 of this embodiment has the configuration described above, and the functions and operation of this embodiment will be explained below.

[0021] When cutting the wafer W, which is the workpiece, using the dicing device 1 described above, as shown in Figure 2 above, the first cassette 5A is placed on the cassette table 4 of the dicing device 1, and the second cassette 5B is added and stacked on top of it. In this embodiment, wafers W supported by the frame F are stored in all the storage grooves 56A and 56B of the first cassette 5A and the second cassette 5B. As described above, the number of wafers (M) that can be stored in the first cassette 5A and the second cassette 5B is 25, so the number storage unit 110 of the control means 100 stores information on the number of wafers that can be stored in each placed cassette (M=25). In this embodiment, the dicing device 1 uses the detection sensor 20 described above to detect the position of the frame F housed in the cassette 5, in order to properly position the gripping portion 3a of the unloading means 3 on the frame F housed in the first cassette 5A and the second cassette 5B placed on the cassette table 4. As can be seen from Figure 4, the height position of the detection sensor 20 in this embodiment and the height position of the gripping portion 3a of the unloading means 3 do not coincide, and the detection sensor 20 is located lower than the gripping portion 3a of the unloading means 3. Therefore, in order to properly position the unloading means 3, which will be explained later, on the frame F in the cassette 5, the difference Z0 between the height of the detection sensor 20 and the height of the gripping portion 3a of the unloading means 3 is stored in advance in the position storage unit 120 of the control means 100 described above. This height difference Z0 is a dimension specific to the dicing device 1 and does not need to be changed thereafter.

[0022] As described above, once the first cassette 5A and the second cassette 5B are placed on the cassette table 4, the positioning means described above is activated to raise the cassette table 4, and the detection sensor 20 detects the frame F1 housed at the bottom of the first cassette 5A, the frame F2 housed at the top of the first cassette 5A, and the frame F3 housed at the bottom or the frame F4 housed at the top of the second cassette 5B, which are directly placed on the cassette table 4. The detection procedure is not particularly limited, but for example, after positioning the cassette table 4 at the lowest baseline B as shown in Figure 4, the positioning means is activated to raise the cassette table 4, and the position of the top surface of the cassette table 4 is temporarily positioned above the height of the detection sensor 20. Then, the cassette table 4 is gradually lowered, and the detection sensor 20 detects the bottom frame F1 housed in the first cassette 5A, as shown in Figure 5. If the lowest frame F1 is detected, the position Z1 of the cassette table 4 where the frame F1 was detected is identified and stored in the position storage unit 120 of the control means 100.

[0023] As described above, once the position Z1 of the lowest frame F1 in the first cassette 5A is detected, the positioning means is activated to further lower the cassette table 4, and as shown in Figure 6, the uppermost frame F2 housed in the first cassette 5A is detected by the detection sensor 20. Once the uppermost frame F2 is detected, the position Z2 of the cassette table 4 where frame F2 was detected is identified and stored in the position storage unit 120 of the control means 100. Next, the cassette table 4 is lowered further, and as shown in Figure 7, the lowest frame F3 housed in the second cassette 5B is detected by the detection sensor 20. Once the lowest frame F3 is detected, the position Z3 of the cassette table 4 where frame F3 was detected is identified and stored in the position storage unit 120 of the control means 100. Although not implemented in this embodiment, instead of detecting the lowest frame F3 housed in the second cassette 5B with the detection sensor 20, the uppermost frame F4 housed in the second cassette 5B may be detected, and its position Z4 information may be stored in the position storage unit 120.

[0024] In the embodiment described above, the position Z1 of the lowest frame F1 of the first cassette 5A is detected first, followed by the position Z2 of the highest frame F2 of the first cassette 5A and the position Z3 of the lowest frame F3 of the second cassette 5B. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the position Z3 of the lowest frame F3 (or the position Z4 of the highest frame F4) of the second cassette 5B may be detected first, followed by the position Z2 of the highest frame F2 of the first cassette 5A and the position Z1 of the lowest frame F1 of the first cassette 5A. The above positions Z1 to Z4 are detected by a control program stored in the control means 100. Whether frames F1, F2, F3, and F4 are located at the bottom or top is determined, for example, by whether they are closest to the bottom wall 52A and top wall 54A of the first cassette 5A, and to the bottom wall 52B and top wall 54B of the second cassette 5B.

[0025] As described above, once the position Z1 of the bottom frame F1 of the first cassette 5A, the position Z2 of the top frame F2 of the first cassette 5A, and the position Z3 of the bottom frame F3 of the second cassette 5B are detected and stored, the predetermined interval P between vertically adjacent frames F housed in the first cassette 5A is calculated as follows. P = (Z1 - Z2) / (M - 1)

[0026] Once the predetermined interval P has been calculated as described above, the value of the predetermined interval P is stored in the interval storage unit 130 provided in the control means 100. Next, the dicing device 1 is used to perform cutting on the wafers W housed in the first cassette 5A and the second cassette 5B. Since the second cassette 5B is the same cassette as the first cassette 5A, the predetermined interval P described above is also used as the predetermined interval P for the second cassette 5B.

[0027] When performing cutting using the dicing apparatus 1 of this embodiment, first, cutting is performed on the wafer W supported by the frame F1 housed at the bottom of the first cassette 5A.

[0028] When the cutting process is started, the positioning means described above is activated to position the cassette table 4 at Z1+Z0, as shown in Figure 8. This positions the height of the frame F1 housed at the bottom of the first cassette 5A at the height of the gripping portion 3a of the unloading means 3. Next, the unloading means 3 is moved in the direction indicated by arrow R1, and the frame F1 is gripped by the gripping portion 3a. Then, the unloading means 3 is moved in the direction indicated by arrow R2 to unload the frame F1 from the opening 57A. At the position where the wafer W is unloaded along with the frame F1, there is a temporary receiving table 6 (not shown in Figure 8; see Figures 1 and 2), and the unloaded wafer W is placed on the temporary receiving table 6 for alignment.

[0029] The wafer W, which has been unloaded onto the temporary receiving table 6, is sucked up by the transport means 7 shown in Figure 1 and transported to the chuck table 81 positioned at the loading / unloading position, where it is placed on the holding surface 82 and held by suction. The wafer W held on the chuck table 81 is moved by an X-axis feed means (not shown) and positioned directly below the alignment means 10 for imaging to detect the division line to be cut. Next, the rotation direction of the chuck table 81 is adjusted to align the predetermined division line of the wafer W in the X-axis direction. Then, the chuck table 81 is positioned in the processing area directly below the cutting means 9.

[0030] Once the wafer W is moved to the processing area described above, the cutting blade 91 is rotated and positioned on a predetermined dividing line of the wafer W. Cutting fluid is supplied from a cutting fluid supply means (not shown) and the wafer is fed in the cutting direction, moving the wafer W together with the chuck table 81 in the X-axis direction to form a cutting groove.

[0031] Once the cutting grooves are formed as described above, the cutting means 9 is indexed and fed in the Y-axis direction of Figure 1 by the distance between adjacent division lines, and new cutting grooves are formed on the unprocessed division lines by the cutting means 9. By repeating this process, cutting grooves are formed along all division lines along the X-axis direction.

[0032] As described above, once cutting grooves have been formed along all planned division lines along the X-axis, the chuck table 81 is rotated 90 degrees so that the direction perpendicular to the previously formed cutting grooves is positioned along the X-axis, and cutting grooves are formed along all planned division lines set at predetermined intervals in the same manner as described above, thereby completing the cutting process.

[0033] Once the above-described cutting process is complete, the X-axis feed mechanism is activated to position the chuck table 81 at the loading / unloading position shown in Figure 1, and the wafer is picked up by the cleaning / unloading mechanism 12 and transported to the cleaning device 11. After the cleaning device 11 is activated to clean and dry the wafer W, the wafer W is transported to the temporary receiving table 6 by the transport mechanism 7, and the unloading mechanism 3 is activated to place the wafer W together with the frame F1 in the position where it was stored in the first cassette 5A before processing.

[0034] As described above, once the wafer W supported by frame F1 has been cut, the positioning means described above is activated based on a predetermined interval P (P=(Z1-Z2) / (M-1)) stored in the interval storage unit 130 of the control means 100, and the cassette table 4 is lowered by the predetermined interval P from the state in which frame F1 is positioned at the height position (Z1+Z0) of the unloading means 3. As described above, since the predetermined interval P is the interval between adjacent frames F in the vertical direction, this operation properly positions the frame F (not shown) located one frame above the frame F1 located at the bottom of the first cassette 5A at the height of the unloading means 3. In this state, the frame F is unloaded from the first cassette 5A, and the same cutting process as performed on the wafer W supported by frame F1 is performed on the wafer W supported by frame F. In addition to the predetermined interval P mentioned above, the control means 100 also stores the number of frames F housed in the first cassette 5A (M=25). Therefore, by operating the positioning means of the cassette table 4 to properly position each frame F at the height of the unloading means 3, and by repeating the above-described cutting process, cutting is performed on all wafers W housed in the first cassette 5A and supported by the frames F.

[0035] In this embodiment, a second cassette 5B is added and stacked on top of the first cassette 5A, and cutting is also performed on the wafer W housed in the second cassette 5B and supported by the frame F. As described above, the position memory unit 120 of the control means 100 has the height position Z3 of the frame F3 housed at the bottom of the second cassette 5B detected and stored in advance. Therefore, after cutting is completed on all the wafers W housed in the first cassette 5A, the positioning means of the cassette table 4 is activated based on the height position Z3 of the frame F3 housed at the bottom of the second cassette 5B to position the cassette table 4 at Z3+Z0. As a result, when the operator performs the cutting, it is not necessary to measure and input the height position of the frame F3 housed at the bottom of the second cassette 5B each time, and the frame F3 housed at the bottom of the second cassette 5B is properly positioned at the height of the unloading means 3. Once the frame F3 is positioned at the height of the unloading means 3, cutting is performed on all wafers W contained in the second cassette 5B in the same manner as the cutting performed on the multiple wafers W contained in the first cassette 5A, as described above. According to this embodiment, when processing wafers W in the dicing apparatus 1, the unloading means 3 can be properly positioned in front of all frames F contained in the cassettes 5 (first cassette 5A and second cassette 5B) and cutting can be performed on the wafers W without the operator having to perform complicated work.

[0036] In the above-described embodiment, an example was shown in which the cassette 5 placed on the cassette table 4 is composed of a first cassette 5A and a second cassette 5B. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and there may be cases where only one cassette is placed on the cassette table 4. Furthermore, in the dicing apparatus 1 of the above-described embodiment, an example was shown in which the workpiece, the wafer W, is supported by an annular frame F, which is a plate-shaped object, via tape T and housed in the cassette 5. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and includes cases in which, for example, the wafer W is housed individually in each housing groove of the cassette 5, or in cases in which the wafer W is attached to and supported by a hard plate, which is a plate-shaped object, and housed in the cassette 5. In that case, the plate-shaped object detected by the detection sensor 20 is either the wafer W or the hard plate.

[0037] Furthermore, in the embodiment described above, when the detection sensor 20 detects the plate-shaped object stored at the bottom and the plate-shaped object stored at the top of the cassette 5, the cassette 5 was described as containing frames F that support wafers W in a number corresponding to the storage capacity M (25 sheets). However, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, plate-shaped objects may be stored only at the bottom and top of the cassette 5, and these plate-shaped objects may be detected by the detection sensor 20. Moreover, these plate-shaped objects do not necessarily have to support wafers W which are workpieces; they may be just frames F, or dummy plate-shaped objects that do not contain workpieces.

[0038] Furthermore, although an example of the present invention being applied to a dicing apparatus has been shown, the present invention is not limited thereto and may be applied to other processing apparatuses that perform processing on multiple workpieces contained in a cassette, for example, laser processing apparatuses, grinding apparatuses, and polishing apparatuses. [Explanation of symbols]

[0039] 1: Dicing device 2: Device housing 3: Export means 3a: Grip part 3b: Moving groove 4: Cassette Table 5: Cassette 5A: First cassette 51A: Back wall 52A: Bottom wall 53A: Side wall 54A: Upper wall 55A: Convex part 56A: Enclosure groove 57A:Aperture 5B: Second cassette 51B: Back wall 52B:Bottom wall 53B: Side wall 54B: Upper wall 55B: Convex part 56B: Enclosure groove 57B:Aperture 6: Temporary support table 7: Conveying means 8: Holding means 81: Chuck Table 82: Holding surface 9:Cutting means 91: Cutting blade 10: Alignment Methods 11: Washing equipment 12: Washing and unloading means 100: Control means 110: Number of sheets storage unit 120: Position memory section 130: Interval storage unit

Claims

1. A processing apparatus comprising a cassette table on which cassettes containing multiple plate-shaped objects at predetermined intervals are placed, an unloading means for unloading plate-shaped objects from cassettes placed on the cassette table, and a control means, The system comprises a positioning means for relatively moving the cassette table and the unloading means to position the unloading means on a plate-shaped object contained in a cassette placed on the cassette table, and a detection sensor for detecting the plate-shaped object contained in the cassette. The control means is, A number storage unit that stores the number of plate-shaped objects to be stored in the cassette, A position storage unit operates the positioning means to move the cassette table relative to the cassette table, detects the plate-shaped object stored at the bottom and the plate-shaped object stored at the top of the cassette with the detection sensor, and stores the positions of the plate-shaped object stored at the bottom and the plate-shaped object stored at the top. The system includes an interval storage unit that calculates and stores a predetermined interval based on the number of sheets stored in the sheet storage unit and the distance between the lowest position and the highest position, Based on the predetermined intervals stored in the interval storage unit, the unloading means is positioned on the plate-shaped object contained in the cassette placed on the cassette table. Further cassettes are stacked on top of the cassette placed on the cassette table. The control means operates the positioning means to move the cassette table relative to it, detects the plate-shaped object housed at the bottom or top of the added cassette with the detection sensor, and stores the bottom position or top position in the position storage unit. A processing apparatus that positions the unloading means on a plate-shaped object housed in the added cassette based on the predetermined interval stored in the interval storage unit.

2. A processing apparatus comprising: a cassette table on which a cassette containing a plurality of plate-shaped objects at predetermined intervals is placed; an unloading means for unloading plate-shaped objects from the cassette placed on the cassette table; and a control means, The system comprises a positioning means for relatively moving the cassette table and the unloading means to position the unloading means on a plate-shaped object contained in a cassette placed on the cassette table, and a detection sensor for detecting the plate-shaped object contained in the cassette. The control means is, A number storage unit that stores the number of plate-shaped objects to be stored in the cassette, A position storage unit operates the positioning means to move the cassette table relative to the cassette table, detects the plate-shaped object stored at the bottom and the plate-shaped object stored at the top of the cassette with the detection sensor, and stores the positions of the plate-shaped object stored at the bottom and the plate-shaped object stored at the top. The system includes an interval storage unit that calculates and stores a predetermined interval based on the number of sheets stored in the sheet storage unit and the distance between the lowest position and the highest position, If the height position of the detection sensor and the height position of the discharge means do not match, the difference in height is stored in the position memory unit, and when positioning the discharge means on the plate-shaped object contained in the cassette, the difference in height is added. A processing apparatus that positions the unloading means on a plate-shaped object contained in a cassette placed on the cassette table, based on a predetermined interval stored in the interval storage unit.

3. The processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein if the height position of the detection sensor and the height position of the discharge means do not coincide, the difference in height is stored in the position storage unit, and the difference in height is added when positioning the discharge means on a plate-shaped object housed in a cassette.

4. The processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the plate-like object is a frame having an opening in the center for accommodating a workpiece and supporting the workpiece via tape.

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