JP2012225780A - Liquid leakage detection mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a liquid leakage detection mechanism capable of detecting liquid leakage even in a small amount of the liquid leakage.SOLUTION: The liquid leakage detection mechanism for detecting leakage of liquid used in a processing device comprises: an inflow port into which the leaked liquid flows; a cylindrical liquid leakage flow-down passage which is formed into a transparent body and is connected to the inflow port to make the leaked liquid flow down; and liquid leakage detection means including a light emitting section disposed across the liquid leakage flow-down passage and a light receiving section for receiving light emitted from the light emitting section.

Description

  The present invention relates to a leakage detection mechanism that detects leakage in a processing apparatus such as a cutting apparatus or a grinding apparatus that performs processing while supplying a liquid during processing.

  In the cutting apparatus, a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer is cut while supplying the cutting fluid, and in the grinding apparatus, the workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer is ground while supplying the grinding liquid. In a processing device such as a cutting device or a grinding device, if the liquid leaks and enters a portion where the liquid should not enter, the processing device may cause a failure.

  Therefore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-142278 discloses a leak detection device for a processing apparatus. According to this publication, a liquid sensing member is provided that senses liquid leakage when a liquid leaks between a pair of terminals of the liquid leakage detection circuit and the terminals are short-circuited via the liquid leakage.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-142278

  However, in the liquid leakage detection device disclosed in Patent Document 1, when the liquid sensing member is disconnected, there is a problem that the leakage is not noticed even if a liquid leakage occurs because the disconnection is not noticed. There is also a problem in that leakage cannot be detected unless a sufficient amount of liquid is leaked to short-circuit the terminals.

  The present invention has been made in view of these points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a leakage detection mechanism that can detect leakage even with a small amount of leakage with a simple mechanism. .

  According to the present invention, there is provided a leakage detection mechanism for detecting leakage of a liquid used in a processing apparatus, and an inflow port into which the leaked liquid flows, and a leaked liquid connected to the inflow port. Liquid leakage detection including a cylindrical liquid leakage flow path formed of a transparent body, a light emitting section disposed across the liquid leakage flow path, and a light receiving section that receives light emitted from the light emitting section And a liquid leakage detection mechanism.

  Preferably, one of the leaking flow paths is connected to the inlet and the other is closed, and the leak detection mechanism is configured such that the leaked liquid stored in the leak flow path is Detect leaks when the height is reached.

  Preferably, the leak detection mechanism further includes a leak receiving portion having a bottom wall inclined so as to receive and flow down the leaked liquid, and the inflow port is located at the bottom of the bottom wall of the leak receiving portion. It is formed at the bottom.

  According to the present invention, there is provided a leakage detection mechanism that is simple in structure and capable of detecting leakage even with a small amount of leakage. Moreover, since the leak detection mechanism of this invention can detect a leak, without the leak detector contacting a leak, it can also detect the leaks of liquids, such as an organic solvent.

It is a perspective view of the cutting device with which the leak detection mechanism of the present invention is applied. It is a perspective view of the chuck table moving mechanism part of the cutting device provided with the leak detection mechanism of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a front view of FIG. 2. 4A and 4B are explanatory diagrams of a leak detector, in which FIG. 4A shows a case where there is no liquid in the leak flow, and FIG. 4B shows a case where the liquid is filled in the leak flow. ing. It is a side view of a grinding device provided with a leak detection mechanism of the present invention. It is a perspective view of a spinner cleaning apparatus. It is sectional drawing of the spinner washing | cleaning apparatus provided with the leak detection mechanism of this invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows the external appearance of a cutting apparatus 2 equipped with a leakage detection mechanism of the present invention that can divide a semiconductor wafer into individual chips (devices).

  On the front side of the cutting device 2, there is provided operating means 4 for an operator to input instructions to the device such as machining conditions. In the upper part of the apparatus, there is provided a display means 6 such as a CRT for displaying a guidance screen for an operator and an image taken by an imaging means described later.

  The wafer W is attached to a dicing tape T that is an adhesive tape, and the outer peripheral edge of the dicing tape T is attached to an annular frame F. As a result, the wafer W is supported by the frame F via the dicing tape T, and a plurality of wafers (for example, 25 sheets) are accommodated in the wafer cassette 8 shown in FIG. The wafer cassette 8 is placed on a cassette elevator 9 that can move up and down.

  Behind the wafer cassette 8, a loading / unloading means 10 for unloading the wafer W before cutting from the wafer cassette 8 and loading the wafer after cutting into the wafer cassette 8 is disposed. Between the wafer cassette 8 and the loading / unloading means 10, a temporary placement area 12, which is an area on which a wafer to be carried in / out, is temporarily placed, is provided. Positioning means 14 for positioning at a certain position is provided.

  In the vicinity of the temporary placement area 12, transport means 16 having a turning arm that sucks and transports the frame F integrated with the wafer W is disposed, and the wafer W carried to the temporary placement area 12 is It is attracted by the transport means 16 and transported onto the chuck table 18 and is sucked by the chuck table 18, and is held on the chuck table 18 by fixing the frame F by a plurality of fixing means 19.

  The chuck table 18 is configured to be rotatable and reciprocally movable in the X-axis direction. Above the movement path of the chuck table 18 in the X-axis direction, an alignment unit 20 that detects a street to be cut of the wafer W is provided. It is arranged.

  The alignment unit 20 includes an imaging unit 22 that images the surface of the wafer W, and can detect a street to be cut by a process such as pattern matching based on an image acquired by imaging. The image acquired by the imaging unit 22 is displayed on the display unit 6.

  On the left side of the alignment means 20, a cutting means 24 for cutting the wafer W held on the chuck table 18 is disposed. The cutting means 24 is configured integrally with the alignment means 20, and both move together in the Y-axis direction and the Z-axis direction.

  The cutting means 24 is configured by attaching a cutting blade 28 to the tip of a rotatable spindle 26 and is movable in the Y-axis direction and the Z-axis direction. The cutting blade 28 is located on the extended line of the imaging means 22 in the X-axis direction.

  The wafer W that has been subjected to the cutting process is transported to the spinner cleaning device 27 by the transport means 25, and is spin cleaned and spin dried by the spinner cleaning device 27.

  Next, an example in which the liquid leakage detection mechanism 30 of the present invention is applied to the cutting device 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 2, in the cutting device 2, a ball screw 34 that rotates in accordance with the rotation of the pulse motor 32 is disposed to extend in the X-axis direction. 36 is guided by a pair of guide rails 38 and moved in the X-axis direction.

  A chuck table 18 is rotatably mounted on the base 36, and a water cover 40 for preventing a liquid such as cutting water from flowing downward is disposed around the chuck table 18.

  At both ends in the X-axis direction of the water cover 40, bellows 42 that follow the movement of the chuck table 18 and the water cover 40 in the X-axis direction and are extended and contracted by the bellows guide 46 are disposed. The bellows 42 has fixed plates 44 at both ends fixed at predetermined positions of the cutting apparatus 2 and expands and contracts within a certain range in the X-axis direction to prevent leakage into the apparatus.

  As best shown in FIG. 3, the pair of guide rails 38 is configured by both side walls of the first liquid leakage receiving portion 48, and the bottom wall 48 a of the first liquid leakage receiving portion 48 is low on the front side and the left side. It is inclined to become. An inflow port 50 is formed at the bottom of the bottom wall 48a as shown in FIG.

  Connected to the first liquid leakage receiving part 48 is a second liquid leakage receiving part 52 having a bottom wall 52a inclined at substantially the same angle as the inclination of the bottom wall 48a of the first liquid leakage receiving part 48. Reference numeral 52 b denotes a side wall of the second liquid leakage receiving portion 52. The bottom wall 52a of the second liquid leakage receiving portion 52 is inclined so that the front side and the left side are lowered, and an inflow port 54 is formed at the bottom of the bottom wall 52a as shown in FIG.

  Further, a third leak receiving part 56 is connected to the first leak receiving part 48 in the direction opposite to the second leak receiving part 52, and the bottom wall 56a of the third leak receiving part 56 is on the near side. And it inclines so that the right side may become low. Reference numeral 56 b denotes a side wall of the third leak receiving part 56. As shown in FIG. 2, an inflow port 58 is formed at the bottom of the bottom wall 56 a of the third leak receiving part 56.

  A liquid leakage flow path 60 is connected to the inlet 50 of the first liquid leakage receiving portion 48, and the lower end of the liquid leakage flow path is closed. A leakage detector 62 is disposed in the leakage flow path 60. Similarly, a liquid leakage flow path 64 is connected to the inlet 54 of the second liquid leakage receiving portion 52, and the lower end of the liquid leakage flow path 64 is closed. A leakage detector 66 is disposed in the leakage flow path 64. Further, a leakage flow path 68 is connected to the inlet 58 of the third leakage receiving portion 56, and the lower end of the leakage flow path 68 is closed. A leak detector 70 is disposed in the leak flow path 68.

  In the embodiment described above, the lower ends of the leakage flow downstream 60, the leakage downstream 64, and the leakage downstream 68 are closed, but drainage is performed without closing the lower ends of these leakage downstreams 60, 64, 68. You may make it connect with a line. In this case, it is preferable that the inner diameters of the leakage flow paths 60, 64, and 68 are as small as about φ1.5 mm.

  The leak detectors 62, 66, and 70 have the same configuration, and the leak detector 62 will be described as a representative with reference to FIG. The liquid leakage flow path 60 in which the liquid leakage detector 62 is disposed is formed from a transparent resin pipe such as polycarbonate resin or acrylic resin, and the refractive index thereof is the refraction of the liquid leakage 78 flowing into the liquid leakage flow path 60. It is close to the rate.

  The leak detector 62 includes a U-shaped support member 72, and as shown in FIG. 4A, the light emitting portion 74 and the light receiving portion 76 define the leak flow path 60 on the support member 72. The transparent resin pipe is disposed so as to sandwich the wall portion.

  The light emitting unit 74 is configured from, for example, an end of an optical fiber connected to the light emitting element, and the light receiving unit 76 is also configured from an end of the optical fiber, and the other end of the optical fiber is connected to the light receiving element. .

  As shown in FIG. 4 (A), when there is no liquid in the leakage flow path 60, the difference in refractive index between the transparent resin pipe 60 forming the leakage flow path 60 and the air is large. The light emitted from the light emitting unit 74 is totally reflected by the inner wall surface of the pipe 60, then passes through the pipe 60 and is received by the light receiving unit 76.

  On the other hand, when the inside of the leakage flow path 60 formed by the resin pipe 60 is filled with the leakage liquid 78, the difference in the refractive index between the resin pipe 60 and the liquid is small. Enters the liquid 78, and its optical path changes compared to the case where there is no liquid shown in FIG. Therefore, when the light receiving unit 76 cannot receive the light from the light emitting unit 74, it is detected that there is liquid leakage.

  Referring to FIG. 5, there is shown a side view of a grinding apparatus 80 equipped with a leak detection mechanism of the present invention. The leak detection mechanism 83 is disposed in the lower region 82 of the grinding device 80. In the grinding apparatus 80 shown in FIG. 5, a workpiece such as a wafer is sucked and held by the chuck table 84, and a grinding wheel 92 is attached to the tip of the spindle 88 of the grinding unit 86 via the wheel mount 84. The spindle 88 is driven to rotate by a motor 94 provided at the top.

  A pulse motor 98 is disposed on the upper back side of the column 96, and a moving block 102 coupled to a grinding unit 86 is screwed to the ball screw 100 that is driven by the pulse motor 98 and rotates.

  When the ball screw 100 is rotated by the pulse motor 98, the moving block 102 moves in the vertical direction, and as the moving block 102 moves, the grinding unit 86 connected to the moving block 102 has a pair of guide rails (see FIG. 5). (Only one is shown) is moved in the vertical direction guided by 103. Position information of the moving block 102 is measured by the linear scale 104, and the position information is used for driving control of the pulse motor 98.

  At the time of grinding the workpiece, the spindle 88 is rotated by being driven by the motor 94 and the grinding unit 86 is lowered by being driven by the pulse motor 98 to grind the workpiece such as a wafer held on the chuck table 84. . Grinding is performed while supplying a grinding fluid.

  Also in such a grinding apparatus 80, the liquid leakage detection mechanism 83 is disposed in the lower region 82 located at the lower part of the chuck table 84. The leak detection mechanism 83 includes a leak receiving part 106, and the bottom wall 106a of the leak receiving part 106 is inclined so that the front side and the left side are lowered.

  A leak inlet is formed at the bottom of the bottom wall 106a, and a leak down path 108 is connected to the leak inlet. The tip of the leaking flow path 108 is closed, and a leak detector 110 is disposed above the leaking flow path 108.

  The leakage flow path 108 may be communicated with the drainage line without closing the lower end of the leakage flow path 108. In this case, it is preferable that the leakage flow path 108 has a small diameter of about φ1.5 mm.

  The leak detector 110 has the same configuration as the leak detector 62 described with reference to FIG. 4, and when the light emitted from the light emitting unit can no longer be received by the light receiving unit, the leak detecting channel 108. Detects that there is a leak inside.

  Next, an example in which the liquid leakage detection mechanism of the present invention is applied to the spinner cleaning device 112 will be described with reference to FIGS. The spinner table 114 of the spinner cleaning device 112 is rotationally driven by a motor 124.

  In the spinner cleaning device 112, a cleaning nozzle 116 that jets cleaning water to a workpiece W such as a wafer held on a chuck table 114 is rotatably disposed, and the workpiece W after cleaning is rotated. A drying nozzle 118 for drying the water is rotatably disposed.

  The drying nozzle 118 is connected to a motor 126 and is rotated between a retracted position shown in FIG. 7 and a work position above the workpiece W held on the chuck table 114. Similarly, the cleaning nozzle 116 is also connected to a motor (not shown), and is rotated between the work position above the workpiece W held on the chuck table 114 shown in FIG. 7 and the retracted position by this motor. The

  The chuck table 114, the cleaning nozzle 116 and the drying nozzle 118 are covered with a transparent cover 122 to define a cleaning chamber 123. The cleaning chamber 123 communicates with a duct 120 and a drain 130 for discharging the cleaning liquid. The duct 120 is connected to the suction source 128.

  The duct 120 is provided with a liquid leakage flow path 132 whose lower end is closed, and a liquid leakage detector 134 is disposed in the liquid leakage flow path 132. The configuration of the leak detector 134 is the same as that of the leak detector 62 described with reference to FIG.

  When the drain 130 is clogged by disposing the liquid leakage detection mechanism 135 including the liquid leakage flow path 132 and the liquid leakage detector 134 in communication with the duct 120, the cleaning liquid is mixed into the duct 120. This contamination can be detected by the leak detector 134 to detect the clogging of the drain 130, and the clogging of the drain 130 can be reported to the operator to prevent the cleaning liquid from entering the duct 120. .

2 Cutting device 18 Chuck table 28 Cutting blade 30 Liquid leakage detection mechanism 48 First liquid leakage receiving portion 52 Second liquid leakage receiving portion 56 Third liquid leakage receiving portions 60, 64, 68 Liquid leakage flow paths 62, 66, 70 Leakage Liquid detector 74 Light emitting section 76 Light receiving section 78 Liquid leak 80 Grinding device 83 Liquid leak detection mechanism 108 Liquid leak flow path 110 Liquid leak detector 112 Spinner cleaning apparatus 120 Duct 132 Liquid flow down path 134 Liquid leak detector 135 Liquid leak detection mechanism

Claims (3)

A liquid leakage detection mechanism for detecting liquid leakage used in a processing apparatus,
An inlet through which the leaked liquid flows,
A cylindrical leakage flow path formed of a transparent body that is connected to the inlet and allows the liquid that has leaked to flow down;
A liquid leakage detecting means including a light emitting section disposed across the liquid leakage flow path and a light receiving section that receives light emitted from the light emitting section;
A liquid leakage detection mechanism comprising: One of the leakage flow paths is connected to the inlet and the other is closed,
The leak detection mechanism according to claim 1, wherein the leak detection mechanism detects a leak when the leak stored in the leak flow path reaches the height of the leak detection means. A liquid leakage receiving portion having a bottom wall inclined so as to receive and flow down the liquid leaked;
The liquid leakage detection mechanism according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the inflow port is formed at a lowermost part of the bottom wall of the liquid leakage receiving portion.

Images