Ring Frame Cleaning and Optical Inspection for Adhesive Residues

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Solution Overview

Problem

The existing wafer dicing process faces challenges in efficiently cleaning ring frames to remove adhesive residues from tapes, as traditional chemical methods are not environmentally friendly and require large amounts of chemicals, while manual inspection is time-consuming and lacks high resolution.

Innovation Solution

A system and method that uses mechanical blades and wheel brushes for cleaning ring frames, combined with an automated optical inspection system to determine the cleanness of the ring frames at high resolution, replacing manual inspection and chemical cleaning.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Quantity of substance

If chemical cleaning method is used, then adhesive residues are removed, but large amount of chemicals are consumed and environmental pollution is generated

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveamount of chemicalsVSAvoidenvironmental pollution

Core Design Contradiction:

Quantity of substanceVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent replaces chemical cleaning methods with mechanical cleaning systems including rotary brushes, scraping elements, and air knives that physically remove adhesive residues from ring frames without consuming chemicals or generating pollution

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

Solution Approach 2:

The invention changes the cleaning mechanism from chemical reaction-based to mechanical force-based, using controlled physical parameters such as brush rotation speed, scraping force, and air pressure to achieve effective residue removal

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

2Measurement precision

If manual inspection is used, then ring frame cleanliness is determined, but inspection time increases and throughput decreases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveinspection resolutionVSAvoidinspection throughput

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent replaces manual visual inspection with an automated optical inspection system using cameras and image processing algorithms that automatically detect and evaluate ring frame cleanliness, eliminating the trade-off between inspection time and resolution

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

Solution Approach 2:

The inspection system performs self-evaluation of ring frame cleanliness by automatically capturing images, processing them through algorithms, and determining whether residues are present without requiring human operator intervention

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

3Productivity

If high sampling rate is used in manual inspection, then throughput increases, but inspection resolution decreases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveinspection throughputVSAvoidinspection resolution

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The automated optical inspection system continuously captures and processes images at high speed without sacrificing detail, using computer vision algorithms to maintain high resolution detection while achieving high throughput through automated analysis

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

Data Source

PatentUS20250062153A1System and method for ring frame cleaning and inspection

Publication Date: 2025.02.20 TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING CO LTD

AI summary

A system and method for cleaning ring frames is disclosed. In one embodiment, a ring frame processing system includes: a plurality of blades for mechanically removing tapes and tape residues from surfaces of a ring frame; a plurality of wheel brushes for conditioning the surfaces of the ring frame; and a transport mechanism for transporting the ring frame.