Patent Application
20250100104
The present invention relates to a component of a wafer grinding apparatus. In particular, it relates to a fluid control device for de-vacuuming in a wafer grinding apparatus, wherein the fluid control device is used to regulate fluid flow between the upper grinding wheel and the wafer post-grinding process and effectively prevent undesired adhesion therebetween.
A wafer grinding apparatus is a machine for grinding a wafer, comprising a wafer turntable mechanism, an upper grinding wheel, and a lower grinding wheel. Wherein, one or more wafers are positioned on the wafer turntable, and a robot arm transports one or more wafer turntables to the wafer turntable mechanism. Here, the upper and lower grinding wheels work together to perform a grinding process, addressing both the upper and lower surfaces of the wafers.
Upon the culmination of the grinding process, the upper grinding wheel, lower grinding wheel, and wafer turntable mechanism come to a halt. Thereafter, the upper grinding wheel is elevated to facilitate the retrieval of the wafer turntable and to allow the robot arm to replace the wafer turntable along with the wafers it holds.
When the upper grinding wheel finishes grinding the upper surface located below it, the vacuum adhesion phenomenon causes the upper grinding wheel and the wafer to adhere to each other and hardly separate. In order to prevent the wafer from moving upward along with the upper grinding wheel when it is risen, it is necessary to inject a fluid into the region between the upper grinding wheel and the upper surface after the grinding process is completed to remove the adhesion condition therebetween so that they will not have adhered to each other and result in the wafer moving upward together with the upper grinding wheel. The fluid may be water or air, and the operation of injecting the fluid to remove the adhesion condition of the upper wheel and the wafer is usually referred to as de-vacuuming.
A fluid control device for controlling the fluid to perform said de-vacuuming, comprising several linear drivers, several positioning seats, several drain tubes, several flow diverters, and several conveying tubes. Wherein each of the linear drivers is spaced apart on a machine rack, machine table, or other components of the wafer grinding apparatus that provides positioning of the various components. Each of the flow diverters is spaced apart along a circular path. Each of the positioning seats is separately connected to each of the linear drivers, and each of the linear drivers separately drives each of the positioning seats to move upwardly and downwardly close to or away from an upper surface of the upper grinding wheel. Wherein, each of the drain tubes is positioned in each of the positioning seats and is in communication with a fluid source, and each of the drain tubes is oriented vertically to correspond with each of the flow diverters. Wherein, each of the drain tubes is in communication with each of the flow diverters when the positioning seat is lowered, and each of the drain tubes is disconnected from each of the flow diverters when the positioning seat is raised. Wherein, each of the flow diverters is configured at intervals along a further circular path, each of the flow diverters is correspondingly connected to the several conveying tubes, and each of the conveying tubes is in communication with one of several channels within the upper grinding wheel, each of the channels extending to the bottom of the upper grinding wheel.
After the grinding process is completed, each of the linear drivers drives each of the positioning seats to descend toward the upper surface of the upper grinding wheel, and each of the drain tubes communicates with each of the flow diverters so that the fluid flows through each of the drain tubes into each of the flow diverters and flows through each of the conveying tubes and each of the channels and then is discharged between the upper grinding wheel and the wafer. The fluid removes the upper grinding wheel and the wafer adhesion state with each other and produces a pushing effect on the upper grinding wheel and the wafer, respectively, which cooperates with the driving device of the wafer grinding apparatus used to drive the upper grinding wheel to rise and descend to control the upper grinding wheel to rise and the wafer not to rise along with the upper grinding wheel so as to separate them from each other.
In order to allow the fluid to be discharged at multiple points on the lower surface of the upper grinding wheel in a balanced distribution, each of the flow diverters must be configured at intervals along the circular path, the axis of the upper grinding wheel must extend through the radial center of the circular path, and each of the positioning seats must cooperate and vertically correspond with each of the flow diverters that are at the intervals, making the configurations of each of the positioning seats and each of the drain tubes extremely complicated.
The end of each drain tube is equipped with a flexible cover, when each drain tube is lowered and communicated with each flow diverter, each cover is pressed against each flow diverter to form a tight connection, so that the fluid flows through each drain tube and each cover into each flow diverter, the dynamic pressure of the fluid will not cause each cover to detach from the corresponding flow diverter. However, along with the repeated use of the cover for a long time and elastically deformed and restored its shape, which gradually produces an elastic fatigue, constituting an elastic material embrittlement along the time lapse. Therefore, a timely replacement of each cover is required. However, since the multiple positioning seats and the multiple drain tubes are spaced apart along the circular path, an operator must move around the circumference of the upper grinding wheel to repair or replace each drain tube or cover individually, resulting in inconvenient maintenance and replacement of components.
The main purpose of the present invention is to provide a fluid control device for de-vacuuming in a wafer grinding apparatus.
In order to attain the foregoing purposes, the present invention employs the following technical solutions:
A fluid control device for de-vacuuming in a wafer grinding apparatus, wherein the wafer grinding apparatus includes an upper grinding wheel for grinding the upper surface of a wafer, the upper grinding wheel having several channels extending therethrough, each of which extends to the upper end and the lower end of the upper grinding wheel, and the fluid control device is used to control the flow of fluid flowing through each of the channels to enter between the upper grinding wheel and the wafer and remove an adhesion condition therebetween. Wherein the fluid described is water or air.
The fluid control device comprises the following:
A linear driver, is fixedly disposed in the wafer grinding apparatus.
A positioning seat, is connected with the linear driver and is located between the linear driver and the upper surface of the upper grinding wheel, and the linear driver drives the positioning seat to move up and down so that the positioning seat can move close to or away from the upper surface.
Several drain tubes, are respectively positioned on the positioning seat, each of the drain tubes is respectively communicated with a fluid supply source, and extends toward the upper surface of the upper grinding wheel; several flexible covers are respectively attached to one end of each of the drain tubes facing the upper surface, and each of them is respectively formed with a conical space inside the flexible cover to communicate with each of the drain tubes;
A converting seat, is provided on a support frame connected to the upper grinding wheel, the interior of the converting seat is formed with several relay channels cooperating with each of the drain tubes, and one end of each of the relay channels respectively extends to the upper end of the converting seat, each of the conical spaces respectively forms an orientation vertically correspondence with each of the relay channels individually, and the other end of each of the relay channels respectively extends to one side of the converting seat to communicate with several relay tubes.
Several flow diverters, are configured at intervals on the support frame, each of the relay tubes is in communication with each of the flow diverters, each of the flow diverters is correspondingly connected to several conveying tubes, and each of the conveying tubes is communicated with each of the channels, thereby allowing the fluid to flow through each of the channels to enter between the upper grinding wheel and the wafer.
The main effect and advantage of the present invention is that each drain tube is centrally positioned in the positioning seat, the configuration of the positioning seat and each drain tube is simplified, and each relay tube is centrally connected to the converting seat so that the operator only needs to be in the vicinity of the positioning seat to repair and replace each drain tube and each flexible cover, which increases the convenience of the maintenance and replacement of the components.
Reference is made to the drawings, which show a preferred embodiment of a fluid control device for de-vacuuming in a wafer grinding apparatus of the present invention, however, the embodiment is for illustrative purposes only and is not subject to the limitations of these structures in a patent application.
As shown in
As shown in
Each of the drain tubes 40 is respectively positioned on the positioning seat 30, each of the drain tubes 40 is respectively communicated with a fluid supply source (not shown), and extends toward the upper surface 13 of the upper grinding wheel 11. Several flexible covers 42 are respectively attached to one end of each of the drain tubes 40 facing the upper surface 13, and each of them is respectively formed with a conical space 44 inside the flexible covers 42 to communicate with each of the drain tubes 40.
The converting seat 50 is provided on a support frame 14 connected to the upper grinding wheel 11, enabling the support frame 14 to rotate or stop rotating along with the upper grinding wheel 11. The converting seat 50 may be constructed of selected resin material, the interior of the converting seat 50 is formed with several relay channels 52 cooperating with each of the drain tubes 40, and one end of each of the relay channels 52 respectively extends to the upper end of the converting seat 50, each of the conical spaces 44 respectively forms an orientation vertically correspondence with each of the relay channels 52 individually, and the other end of each of the relay channels 52 respectively extends to one side of the converting seat 50 to communicate with several relay tubes 54.
Each of the flow diverters 60 is configured at intervals on the support frame 14, each of the relay tubes 54 is in communication with each of the flow diverters 60, each of the flow diverters 60 is correspondingly connected to several conveying tubes 62, and each of the conveying tubes 62 is communicated with each of the channels, thereby allowing the fluid to flow through each of the channels to enter between the upper grinding wheel 11 and the wafer.
When the wafer grinding process is completed, the upper grinding wheel 11 and the support frame 14 synchronously stop rotating, then the driving device controlling the rotation of the upper grinding wheel 11 can be used to position each of the relay channels 52 correspondingly under each of the drain tubes 40. Then the linear driver 20 drives the positioning seat 30 to descend so that each of the flexible covers 42 covers the upper end of the converting seat 50, and because of the flexibility of the material of the flexible covers 42, an adsorption effect is formed between each of the flexible covers 42 and the converting seat 50. Each of the drain tubes 40 communicates with each of the relay channels 52 through each of the flexible covers 42, then the fluid is diverted through each of the drain tubes 40, each of the relay channels 52, and each of the relay tubes 54 to each of the flow diverters 60. The fluid entering each of the flow diverters 60 is then diverted through each of the conveying tubes 62 to enter between the upper grinding wheel 11 and the wafer to remove the adhesion condition therebetween. Since the fluid produces a pushing effect on the upper grinding wheel 11 and the wafer, respectively, which cooperates with the driving device of the wafer grinding apparatus used to drive the upper grinding wheel 11 to rise, to control the upper grinding wheel 11 to rise away from the wafer, while the wafer does not rise together with the upper grinding wheel 11.
Each of the drain tubes 40 is centrally positioned in the one positioning seat 30, so that the configuration of the positioning seat 30 and each of the drain tubes 40 is simplified, and each of the relay tubes 54 is centrally connected to the one converting seat 50, so that when repairing and replacing each of the drain tubes 40 and each of the flexible covers 42, the operator only needs to be in the vicinity of the positioning seat 30 to repair and replace each of the drain tubes 40 and each of the flexible covers 42, thereby increasing the convenience of maintenance and replacement of components.
The positioning seat 30 is provided with a support rack 32, each of the drain tubes 40 is positioned on the support rack 32, each of the flexible covers 42 is positioned between the support rack 32 and the converting seat 50, and each of the flexible covers 42 is immediately adjacent to the support rack 32.
The two sides of the support rack 32 are each connected with two touch elements 34, each of which extends toward the converting seat 50, and the linear driver 20 drives the positioning seat 30 to move downward so that when each of the touch elements 34 respectively touches and presses the converting seat 50. The converting seat 50 is able to cause the linear driver 20 to stop by the action of each of the touch elements 34 feeding back to the positioning seat 30, thereby avoiding excessive compression and deformation of each of the flexible covers 42 and increasing the service life of each of the flexible covers 42.
Two retaining walls 70 are respectively abutted against two opposite sides of the converting seat 50, and each of the flexible covers 42 is respectively located between each of the retaining walls 70. Furthermore, each of the retaining walls 70 is a circular plate, each of the retaining walls 70 is arranged coaxially, and the axial extension of the upper grinding wheel 11 extends through the radial center of each of the retaining walls 70. The retaining wall 70 shown in
By selecting water as the fluid, when the fluid flows through the flexible cover 42 into the relay channel 52, if a small amount of the fluid is splashed outwardly through the flexible cover 42 and the adapter 50, each of the retaining walls 70 will form a barrier against it so as to prevent other structures or components of the wafer grinding apparatus configured at the periphery of the preferred embodiment from being affected by the fluid, and each of the retaining walls 70 may, for example, prevent contamination of the cutting fluid caused by the splashing of the fluid.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 112136584 | Sep 2023 | TW | national |
Not applicable.
