TWI858164B - Cutting device - Google Patents

Abstract

[Topic] The present invention provides a cutting device that can suppress the leakage of mist from a processing chamber and suppress the clogging of the air holes of a blade cover. [Solution] The cutting device includes a cutting unit, which has: a spindle, which is equipped with a cutting blade; a blade cover, which covers the cutting blade; and a nozzle, which supplies cutting water. The blade cover has: a pipe, which receives the mist of cutting water scattered by the rotation of the cutting blade from the inlet and guides it to an outlet far away from the inlet; and a gas-liquid separation part, which is arranged in the pipe; the gas-liquid separation part has: an impact surface, which is a place where the mist impacts; and a water accumulation part, which accumulates liquid falling from the impact surface; the water accumulation part extends to the outlet of the pipe, and the mist and gas are discharged from the outlet through the water surface of the water accumulation part.

Description

Cutting device

The present invention relates to a cutting device.

A cutting device for cutting a plate-shaped workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer, a package substrate, ceramics, or glass using a cutting blade is known (for example, refer to Patent Document 1). This cutting device supplies cutting water to the cutting blade and the workpiece, suppressing the influence of processing heat and washing the generated cutting chips while performing the cutting process. [Known Technical Document] [Patent Document]

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2016-82083

[Problems to be solved by the invention] In the above-mentioned cutting device, the cutting blade rotates at a high speed of 30,000 rpm to 100,000 rpm, so the cutting water supplied to the cutting blade becomes mist containing cutting chips and is scattered at high speed to the rear (side) of the cutting blade. Therefore, the processing chamber covering the cutting blade and the chuck table is easily filled with mist. If the exhaust of the processing chamber is insufficient, there is a risk of causing the following adverse effects: the ambient gas containing the mist leaks from the processing chamber and invades the shaft of the electrical parts or actuators, and the cutting chips are attached to these components. Therefore, someone designed a blade cover in which a sponge-shaped filter is set in the pipe that guides the high-speed scattered mist to the direction of the rotation axis to separate the mist into gas and liquid.

However, there is still a concern that cutting chips attached to the blade cover may cause clogging of the pores of the sponge filter.

The present invention is made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to provide a cutting device which can suppress the leakage of mist from the processing chamber and the clogging of the air hole of the blade cover.

[Technical means for solving the problem] According to one aspect of the present invention, a cutting device can be provided, which includes: a chuck table that holds a workpiece; a cutting unit that cuts the workpiece held on the chuck table with a cutting blade; and a moving unit that moves the chuck table and the cutting unit relative to each other; the cutting unit has: a spindle that is rotatably supported on a spindle housing and is equipped with the cutting blade; a blade cover that is fixed to the spindle housing and covers the cutting blade; and a nozzle that supplies cutting fluid to the cutting blade. water; wherein the blade cover has: a pipe, which receives the mist of the cutting water scattered due to the rotation of the cutting blade from the inlet and guides it to an outlet far away from the inlet; and a gas-liquid separation part, which is arranged in the pipe and separates the mist into gas and liquid; the gas-liquid separation part has: an impact surface, which is the place where the mist scattered due to the rotation of the cutting blade impacts; and a water accumulation part, which accumulates the liquid falling from the impact surface; the water accumulation part extends to the outlet of the pipe, and exhausts from the outlet through the water surface of the water accumulation part.

In the aforementioned cutting device, the pipe can also extend from the side of the cutting blade installed at the front end of the spindle toward the rear end of the spindle, and the impact surface is equipped with: a first impact surface, which intersects with the scattering direction of the mist; and a second impact surface, which is the place where the mist guided to the rear of the spindle impacts.

[Effect of the invention] The cutting device of one aspect of the present invention can suppress the leakage of mist from the processing chamber and suppress the clogging of the air hole of the blade cover.

The method for implementing the present invention (implementation method) is described in detail with reference to the drawings. The present invention is not limited to the contents described in the following implementation methods. In addition, the constituent elements described below include constituent elements that can be easily conceived by a person with ordinary knowledge in the field and substantially the same constituent elements. Furthermore, the constituent elements described below can be appropriately combined. In addition, various omissions, substitutions or changes in the constituent elements can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

[First embodiment] The first embodiment of the present invention is described with reference to the drawings. FIG1 is a perspective view showing a configuration example of the cutting device of the first embodiment. FIG2 is a front view of the cutting unit of the cutting device shown in FIG1. FIG3 is a top view of the cutting unit shown in FIG2.

(Cutting device) The cutting device 1 shown in FIG. 1 of the first embodiment is a device for cutting (processing) a workpiece 200. In the first embodiment, the workpiece 200 is a wafer such as a disk-shaped semiconductor wafer or an optical element wafer using silicon, sapphire, gallium, etc. as a base material. On the front side 201 of the workpiece 200, a grid-shaped area is divided by a plurality of predetermined dividing lines 202 forming a grid, and an element 203 is formed.

Furthermore, the workpiece 200 of the present invention may be a so-called TAIKO (registered trademark) wafer having a thin central portion and a thick wall portion formed at the outer periphery. In addition to the wafer, it may also be a rectangular package substrate having a plurality of components sealed by resin, a substrate made of ceramic, a ferrite substrate, or a substrate containing at least one of nickel and iron, a glass substrate, etc. In the first embodiment, the back surface 204 of the workpiece 200 is adhered to an adhesive film 206 having an annular frame 205 installed at the outer periphery, and is supported by the annular frame 205.

The cutting device 1 shown in FIG1 is a device that holds a workpiece 200 on a chuck table 10 and cuts (equivalent to processing) the workpiece 200 along a predetermined dividing line 202 with a cutting blade 21. As shown in FIG1, the cutting device 1 comprises: a chuck table 10 that holds the workpiece 200 by suction with a holding surface 11; a cutting unit 20 that cuts the workpiece 200 held on the chuck table 10 with the cutting blade 21; a camera unit 30 that photographs the workpiece 200 held on the chuck table 10; and a control unit 100.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 1 , the cutting device 1 includes a moving unit 40 for moving the chuck table 10 and the cutting unit 20 relative to each other. The moving unit 40 includes: an X-axis moving unit 41, which allows the chuck table 10 to be processed and fed in the X-axis direction parallel to the horizontal direction and the short side direction of the device body 2; a Y-axis moving unit 42, which allows the cutting unit 20 to be indexed and fed in the Y-axis direction parallel to the horizontal direction and the long side direction of the device body 2 and orthogonal to the X-axis direction; a Z-axis moving unit 43, which allows the cutting unit 20 to be cut-in and fed in the Z-axis direction parallel to the vertical direction, and the vertical direction is orthogonal to both the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction; and a rotation moving unit 44, which allows the chuck table 10 to rotate around an axis parallel to the Z-axis direction, and is processed and fed in the X-axis direction together with the chuck table 10 through the X-axis moving unit 41. As shown in FIG. 1 , the cutting device 1 is a cutting device having two cutting units 20, that is, a dual-spindle cutting machine, a so-called facing dual-spindle type.

The X-axis moving unit 41 moves the chuck table 10 in the X-axis direction of the processing feed direction, so that the chuck table 10 and the cutting unit 20 are relatively processed and fed along the X-axis direction. The X-axis moving unit 41 moves the chuck table 10 in the X-axis direction across the loading and unloading area 301 where the workpiece 200 is loaded and unloaded and the processing area 302; wherein, in the processing area 302, the workpiece 200 held on the chuck table 10 is cut by the cutting unit 20.

The Y-axis moving unit 42 moves the cutting unit 20 in the Y-axis direction of the indexing feed direction, thereby indexing the chuck table 10 and the cutting unit 20 relative to each other along the Y-axis direction. The Z-axis moving unit 43 moves the cutting unit 20 in the Z-axis direction of the cutting feed direction, thereby indexing the chuck table 10 and the cutting unit 20 relative to each other along the Z-axis direction.

The X-axis moving unit 41, the Y-axis moving unit 42, and the Z-axis moving unit 43 include: a known ball screw that is configured to rotate freely around an axis; a known motor that causes the ball screw to rotate around the axis; and a known guide rail that supports the chuck table 10 or the cutting unit 20 to move freely in the X-axis direction, the Y-axis direction, or the Z-axis direction.

The chuck table 10 is in the shape of a disk, and the holding surface 11 for holding the workpiece 200 is formed of porous ceramics or the like. Furthermore, the chuck table 10 is arranged to be movable in the X-axis direction by the X-axis moving unit 41, across the loading and unloading area 301 and the processing area 302, and to be rotatable around an axis parallel to the Z-axis direction by the rotation moving unit 44. The chuck table 10 is connected to a vacuum suction source not shown in the figure, and the vacuum suction source is used to suck and hold the workpiece 200 placed on the holding surface 11. In the first embodiment, the chuck table 10 sucks and holds the back side 204 of the workpiece 200 through the adhesive film 206. As shown in FIG. 1 , a plurality of clamping parts 12 for clamping the annular frame 205 are provided around the chuck table 10 .

The cutting unit 20 is a cutting means on which a cutting blade 21 is detachably mounted, and the cutting blade 21 cuts the workpiece 200 held on the chuck table 10. The cutting unit 20 is provided to be movable in the Y-axis direction by the Y-axis moving unit 42 and in the Z-axis direction by the Z-axis moving unit 43, respectively, relative to the workpiece 200 held on the chuck table 10.

As shown in FIG1 , the cutting unit 20 on one side is disposed on a column portion on one side of a door-shaped support frame 3 erected from the device body 2 through a Y-axis moving unit 42, a Z-axis moving unit 43, etc. As shown in FIG1 , the cutting unit 20 on the other side is disposed on a column portion on the other side of the support frame 3 through a Y-axis moving unit 42, a Z-axis moving unit 43, etc. In addition, in the support frame 3, the upper ends of the columns are connected to each other by a horizontal beam. The cutting unit 20 can position the cutting blade 21 at any position of the holding surface 11 of the chuck table 10 through the Y-axis moving unit 42 and the Z-axis moving unit 43.

As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the cutting unit 20 includes: a spindle housing 22, which is configured to be freely movable in the Y-axis direction and the Z-axis direction through a Y-axis moving unit 42 and a Z-axis moving unit 43; a spindle 23, which is arranged on the spindle housing 22 in a manner that it can rotate around an axis and is rotated by a motor not shown in the figure, and a cutting blade 21 is installed at the front end; a blade cover 24, which is fixed to the front end surface 221 of the spindle housing 22; and a nozzle 25, which supplies cutting water to the cutting blade 21.

The cutting blade 21 is an extremely thin cutting grindstone having a roughly annular shape. In the first embodiment, the cutting blade 21 is a so-called hub blade, which has: a circular base 211 in the shape of an annular ring; and a circular blade 212, which is arranged on the outer periphery of the circular base 211 to cut the workpiece 200. The blade 212 is composed of abrasive grains such as diamond or CBN (Cubic Boron Nitride) and a bonding material (bonding material) such as metal or resin, and forms a predetermined thickness. In addition, in the present invention, the cutting blade 21 can also be a so-called washer blade consisting only of the blade 212.

The main shaft 23 is rotated around the axis by the motor, thereby rotating the cutting blade 21 in the direction of the arrow 400 in FIG. 2. In the first embodiment, the rotation speed of the main shaft 23 is greater than 30,000 rpm and less than 100,000 rpm. In addition, hereinafter, in this specification, the direction indicated by the arrow 400 is used as the rotation direction of the cutting blade 21. The cutting blade 21 is rotated around the axis in the rotation direction 400 by the main shaft 23, so that at the lower end of the blade 212 that cuts the workpiece 200, the cutting chips generated by cutting the workpiece 200 are ejected together with the cutting water toward the direction 401 behind the lower end of the blade 212 in the rotation direction 400. In addition, the rotation speed of the main shaft 23 is high speed, which is more than 30000 rpm and less than 100000 rpm, so the cutting water scattered in the direction 401 from the lower end of the blade 212 of the cutting blade 21 to the rear side of the rotation direction 400 is scattered in the state of mist. Thus, the direction 401 toward the rear side is the direction in which the mist is scattered from the lower end of the blade 212 of the cutting blade 21, and it is hereinafter referred to as the scattering direction.

The blade cover 24 is a member covering the cutting blade 21. The blade cover 24 includes: a cover body 241 fixed to the front end surface 221 of the spindle housing 22 and covering the upper side of the cutting blade 21; and a front side cover 242 fixed to the cover body 241 and covering the front side of the carrying in and out area 301 of the cutting blade 21. The cover body 241 includes a pair of nozzle support members 243 extending downward from the rear side of the processing area 302.

The nozzle 25 includes: a shower nozzle 251, which is provided on the front cover 242; and a pair of cooling nozzles 252, which are supported by the nozzle support member 243 of the cover body 241. The shower nozzle 251 faces the tip of the blade 212 of the cutting blade 21 in the X-axis direction, and supplies cutting water to the tip of the blade 212 of the cutting blade 21 during cutting. The cooling nozzles 252 extend parallel to the X-axis direction and are arranged at intervals in the Y-axis direction. The cooling nozzles 252 position the lower end of the blade 212 of the cutting blade 21 between each other, and supply cutting water to the lower end of the blade 212 of the cutting blade 21 during cutting.

(Pipe) In addition, the blade cover 24 has a pipe 26, which is fixed to the rear side of the cover body 241 on the processing area 302 side. FIG. 4 is a front view of the pipe of the cutting unit shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 5 is a three-dimensional view of the pipe shown in FIG. 4. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view along the VI-VI line in FIG. 5.

The pipe 26 receives the cutting water mist scattered from the lower end of the blade 212 of the cutting blade 21 along the scattering direction 401 due to the rotation of the cutting blade 21 during cutting from the inlet 261, and guides it to the outlet 262 far from the inlet 261. The pipe 26 is formed in a hollow shape, and a passage connecting the inlet 261 and the outlet 262 is provided inside.

As shown in Fig. 4, Fig. 5 and Fig. 6, the duct 26 integrally comprises: an inlet portion 263 having an inlet 261; an extension portion 264 connected to the side surface of the inlet portion 263 in the Y-axis direction; and an outlet portion 265 connected to the front end of the extension portion 264 and having an outlet 262. In the duct 26 of the first embodiment, the inlet portion 263 and the cutting blade 21 are arranged side by side in the X-axis direction, the extension portion 264 extends from the inlet portion 263 in the Y-axis direction, and the extension portion 264 and the outlet portion 265 are arranged side by side in the Y-axis direction.

The inlet portion 263 is formed in a cylindrical shape, fixed to the processing area 302 side of the cover body 241, and is formed with the inlet 261 facing the cover body 241. In the inlet portion 263, the mist of the cutting water scattered from the lower end of the blade 212 of the cutting blade 21 invades from the inlet 261. In addition, in the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the inlet portion 263 has a pair of side walls 266 extending in the X-axis direction and a connecting wall 267 connecting the lower ends of the pair of side walls 266 to each other. The side wall 266 and the connecting wall 267 are connected to the inner edge of the inlet 261. In the first embodiment, the side wall 266 on one side overlaps with the side surface of the cover body 241.

One end of the extension 264 is connected to one end of the inlet 263 away from the cover body 241. The extension 264 is formed in a cylindrical shape, and the other end thereof extends from one end connected to the inlet 263 along the Y-axis direction on the rear end side of the spindle housing 22. The upper wall of the extension 264 is gradually inclined downward from one end to the other end. The outlet 265 is formed in a flat cylindrical shape, which is connected to the lower end of the other end of the extension 264, and an open outlet 262 is formed on the top. The outlet 265 discharges the gas in the mist of the cutting water to the outside of the pipe 26.

In this way, the pipe 26 integrally has an inlet portion 263, an extension portion 264 and an outlet portion 265, and extends from the side of the cutting blade 21 installed at the front end of the main shaft 23 to the rear end of the main shaft 23.

In addition, the inner side of the pipe 26 has a gas-liquid separation part 27. The gas-liquid separation part 27 separates the mist of the cutting water into gas and liquid cutting water. In the first embodiment, the gas-liquid separation part 27 has: a first impact surface 271 of the impact surface, a second impact surface 272 of the impact surface, and a water accumulation part 273.

The first impact surface 271 and the second impact surface 272 are components for impacting the mist scattered by the rotation of the cutting blade 21. The first impact surface 271 is a component for impacting the mist of cutting water that enters the pipe 26 from the inlet 261 along the scattering direction 401 to separate the mist into gas and cutting water. In the first embodiment, it is the inner surface of the inlet 261 facing the inlet portion 263 in the X-axis direction. The first impact surface 271 intersects with the scattering direction 401 in which the mist of cutting water scatters from the lower end of the blade 212 of the cutting blade 21. The mist that impacts the first impact surface 271 but is not separated into gas and cutting water is guided along the arrow 402 in Figures 3 and 6 to the outlet 265, that is, the other end side of the extension 264 behind the main shaft 23.

The second impact surface 272 is a member for the mist that has not yet been separated into gas and cutting water even after impacting the first impact surface 271 to impact and separate the mist into gas and cutting water. In the first embodiment, it is the inner surface of the upper wall of the extension part 264. The second impact surface 272 is a member for the mist guided from the first impact surface 271 to the other end side of the extension part 264 to impact. The water collecting portion 273 collects the cutting water that has impacted the first impact surface 271 and the second impact surface 272 and separated from the gas and dropped from the impact surfaces 271 and 272. In the first embodiment, it is formed by the inner surface of the outlet portion 265, specifically, by the flat bottom portion of the pipe 26 and the inner surface of the portion that stands upward from the outer edge of the bottom portion. Therefore, the water collecting portion 273 extends to the outlet 262 of the pipe 26.

Thus, in the cutting device 1 of the first embodiment, no water-absorbing sponge-like filter is provided in the pipe 26 of the blade cover 24.

The imaging unit 30 is fixed to the cutting unit 20 in such a manner that it moves integrally with the cutting unit 20. The imaging unit 30 has an imaging element, which photographs the area to be divided of the workpiece 200 held by the chuck table 10 before cutting. The imaging element is, for example, a CCD (Charge-Coupled Device) imaging element or a CMOS (Complementary MOS) imaging element. The imaging unit 30 photographs the workpiece 200 held by the chuck table 10 to obtain an image for aligning the workpiece 200 and the cutting blade 21, and outputs the obtained image to the control unit 100.

In addition, the cutting device 1 is provided with: an X-axis direction position detection unit not shown in the figure, which is used to detect the position of the chuck table 10 in the X-axis direction; a Y-axis direction position detection unit not shown in the figure, which is used to detect the position of the cutting unit 20 in the Y-axis direction; and a Z-axis direction position detection unit, which is used to detect the position of the cutting unit 20 in the Z-axis direction. The X-axis direction position detection unit and the Y-axis direction position detection unit can be composed of a linear scale and a reading head parallel to the X-axis direction or the Y-axis direction. The Z-axis direction position detection unit detects the position of the cutting unit 20 in the Z-axis direction using a motor pulse. The X-axis direction position detection unit, the Y-axis direction position detection unit, and the Z-axis direction position detection unit output the position of the chuck table 10 in the X-axis direction and the position of the cutting unit 20 in the Y-axis direction or the Z-axis direction to the control unit 100. In addition, in the first embodiment, the positions of the components of the cutting device 1 in the X-axis direction, the Y-axis direction, and the Z-axis direction are determined based on the positions of the pre-set reference positions (not shown in the figure) as the reference.

In addition, the cutting device 1 includes: a cassette elevator 60, which carries a cassette 61 containing the workpiece 200 before and after cutting and moves the cassette 61 in the Z-axis direction; a cleaning unit 70, which cleans the workpiece 200 after cutting; and a transport unit 80, which carries the workpiece 200 in and out of the cassette 61 and transports the workpiece 200.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the cutting device 1 includes: a processing chamber wall 6 that surrounds the outer side of the processing area 302 to suppress the diffusion of cutting water; and an exhaust duct 8 for the processing chamber. In the first embodiment, the processing chamber 303 that accommodates the chuck table 10 and the cutting unit 20 positioned in the processing area 302 is formed in the processing chamber wall 6 in the cutting device 1. One end of the exhaust duct 8 is connected to the processing chamber wall 6, and the ambient gas in the processing chamber wall 6, that is, in the processing chamber 303, is exhausted to the outside of the cutting device 1 by an exhaust fan or the like that is not shown in the figure.

The control unit 100 controls the above-mentioned units of the cutting device 1 respectively, and implements the processing action of the cutting device 1 on the workpiece 200. In addition, the control unit 100 is a computer having the following components: an operation processing device having a microprocessor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit); a memory device having a memory such as a ROM (read only memory) or a RAM (random access memory); and an input-output interface device. The operation processing device of the control unit 100 performs operation processing according to the computer program stored in the memory device, and outputs the control signal used to control the cutting device 1 to the above-mentioned components of the cutting device 1 through the input-output interface device.

Furthermore, the control unit 100 is connected to a display unit 102 and an input unit; the display unit 102 is composed of a liquid crystal display device that displays the state or image of the processing operation, etc.; the input unit is used by the operator to log in the processing content information, etc. The input unit is composed of at least one of an external input device such as a touch panel and a keyboard provided on the display unit 102.

In the cutting device 1 of the above structure, the operator registers the processing content information in the control unit 100, and places the cassette 61 containing the workpiece 200 on the cassette elevator 60. When the control unit 100 receives the start instruction of the processing action from the operator, the processing action starts. When the processing action starts, in the cutting device 1, the spindle 23 rotates around the axis, and the conveying unit 80 takes out a piece of the workpiece 200 from the cassette 61 and places the back side 204 on the holding surface 11 of the chuck table 10 through the adhesive film 206.

In the cutting device 1, the workpiece 200 is held on the holding surface 11 by suction through the adhesive film 206, and the annular frame 205 is clamped by the clamping part 12. The cutting device 1 moves the chuck table 10 to the bottom of the imaging unit 30 by the moving unit 40, and the imaging unit 30 photographs the workpiece 200 held on the chuck table 10 by suction through the imaging unit 30 to perform alignment.

According to the processing content information, the cutting device 1 moves the cutting blade 21 and the workpiece 200 relatively along the predetermined dividing line 202 by the moving unit 40, and supplies cutting water from the spray nozzle 251 and the cooling nozzle 252, and makes the cutting blade 21 cut into the predetermined dividing line 202 of the workpiece 200 until it reaches the adhesive film 206, so as to cut. If the cutting device 1 cuts all the predetermined dividing lines 202 of the workpiece 200, the workpiece 200 is transported to the cleaning unit 70 by the transport unit 80, and after being cleaned by the cleaning unit 70, it is transported into the cartridge 61 by the transport unit 80.

The cutting device 1 sequentially cuts the workpieces 200 in the cassette 61. When the cutting device 1 cuts all the workpieces 200 in the cassette 61, the processing operation is terminated. In addition, in the cutting device 1, the mist of the cutting water scattered from the lower end of the blade 212 of the cutting blade 21 during cutting is guided to the inlet 263 of the pipe 26 through the inlet 261 along the scattering direction 401, and impacts the first impact surface 271 and partially separates into gas and cutting water. In the cutting device 1, the mist that enters the inlet 263 of the pipe 26 and impacts the first impact surface 271 but is not separated into gas and cutting water will impact the second impact surface 272 and separate into gas and cutting water.

In the cutting device 1, the cutting water separated from the mist falls from the impact surfaces 271 and 272 and accumulates in the water accumulation portion 273 provided in the outlet portion 265, and the cutting water exceeding the upper end of the water accumulation portion 273 is discharged to the outside of the pipe 26 through the outlet 262. In addition, in the cutting device 1, the mist that has not been separated from gas and liquid passes on the water surface of the cutting water accumulated in the water accumulation portion 273 of the pipe 26, so that it contacts the cutting water to further separate the gas and liquid, and the gas and the mist that has not been completely separated from the gas and liquid are discharged to the outside of the pipe 26 from the outlet 262. Furthermore, during the operation of the cutting device 1 of the first embodiment, the ambient gas in the processing chamber wall 6, that is, in the processing chamber 303, is exhausted from the exhaust duct 8 to the outside of the cutting device 1.

As described above, in the cutting device 1 of the first embodiment, the pipe 26 in the blade cover 24 receives the mist from the inlet 261 and guides it to the outlet 262, and has: impact surfaces 271, 272, which are the places where the mist containing cutting chips impacts; and a water accumulation portion 273, which accumulates the cutting fluid falling from the impact surfaces 271, 272; since the water accumulation portion 273 is arranged at the outlet portion 265 of the pipe 26, the cutting water separated by gas and liquid on the impact surfaces 271, 272 is continuously supplied to the water accumulation portion 273, and the mist that has not been separated by gas and liquid in the pipe 26 passes on the water surface of the cutting water accumulated in the water accumulation portion 273 and is exhausted from the outlet 262. Therefore, in addition to separating the mist from the gas by the impact surfaces 271 and 272, the cutting device 1 can also separate the mist from the gas by passing the mist over the surface of the cutting water accumulated in the water accumulation portion 273, thereby having a high gas-liquid separation effect to prevent the processing chamber 303 from being filled with mist. As a result, the cutting device 1 can prevent the mist from leaking from the processing chamber 303.

In addition, in the cutting device 1, the pipe 26 of the blade cover 24 does not have a sponge-shaped filter, so the pores in the pipe 26 will not be blocked by cutting chips, and the maintenance frequency of the pipe 26 is also low. As a result, the cutting device 1 of the first embodiment can suppress the leakage of mist from the processing chamber 303 and suppress the pores in the pipe 26 of the blade cover 24.

Furthermore, the cutting device 1 of the first embodiment has a first impact surface 271 intersecting with a direction 401 in which the mist is scattered from the lower end of the blade 212 of the cutting blade 21, and a second impact surface 272 impacted by the mist which is guided along the arrow 402 to the rear of the main shaft 23 after impacting the first impact surface 271, so that the mist can reliably impact each impact surface 271, 272.

[Second embodiment] The cutting device of the second embodiment of the present invention is described based on the drawings. FIG7 is a front view of the cutting unit of the cutting device of the second embodiment. In addition, in FIG7, the same symbols are marked for the same parts as the first embodiment and the description is omitted.

The pipe 26-2 of the cutting device 1-2 of the second embodiment does not have the first impact surface 271. As shown in FIG7, the inlet 263, the extension 264 and the outlet 265 are arranged side by side in the X-axis direction, and other than this, it is the same as the first embodiment. In the cutting device 1-2 of the second embodiment, the mist of cutting water scattered from the lower end of the blade 212 of the cutting blade 21 during cutting is guided into the inlet 263 of the pipe 26-2 through the inlet 261 along the scattering direction 401, and impacts the second impact surface 272 to be partially separated into gas and cutting water.

In the cutting device 1-2, the cutting water separated from the mist falls from the second impact surface 272 and accumulates in the water accumulation part 273 provided in the outlet part 265, and the cutting water exceeding the upper end of the water accumulation part 273 is discharged to the outside of the pipe 26-2 through the outlet 262. In addition, in the cutting device 1, the mist that has not been separated from gas and liquid passes on the water surface of the cutting water accumulated in the water accumulation part 273 of the pipe 26-2, so that it contacts with the cutting water to further separate the gas and liquid, and the gas and the mist that has not been completely separated from the gas and liquid are discharged from the outlet 262 to the outside of the pipe 26-2.

In the cutting device 1-2 of the second embodiment, the pipe 26-2 in the blade cover 24 receives the mist from the inlet 261 and guides it to the outlet 262, and has a second impact surface 272 and a water collection portion 273. The water collection portion 273 is arranged at the outlet 265 of the pipe 26-2. Therefore, similar to the first embodiment, the cutting water separated from gas and liquid on the second impact surface 272 is continuously supplied to the water collection portion 273, and the mist in the pipe 26-2 that has not been separated from gas and liquid passes on the water surface of the cutting water accumulated in the water collection portion 273 and is exhausted from the outlet 262. As a result, the cutting device 1-2 of the second embodiment can not only separate the mist from the gas and liquid by the second impact surface 272, but also can separate the mist from the gas and liquid by passing the mist over the surface of the cutting water accumulated in the water accumulation portion 273, thereby exerting a high gas-liquid separation effect. Moreover, the pipe 26-2 of the blade cover 24 does not have a sponge-shaped filter, so as in the first embodiment, it can inhibit the leakage of mist from the processing chamber 303 and inhibit the clogging of the pores in the pipe 26-2 of the blade cover 24.

[Third embodiment] The cutting device of the third embodiment of the present invention is described based on the drawings. FIG8 is a top view of the cutting unit of the cutting device of the third embodiment. FIG9 is a cross-sectional view of the pipe of the cutting unit shown in FIG8. In addition, in FIG8 and FIG9, the same symbols are marked for the same parts as the first embodiment and the description is omitted.

The pipe 26-3 of the cutting device 1-3 of the third embodiment is the same as the first embodiment except that the gas-liquid separation part 27 has a third impact surface 274 as an impact surface. The third impact surface 274 of the pipe 26-3 of the cutting device 1-3 of the third embodiment is a component for the mist guided from the extension part 264 to the outlet part 265 to impact and separate the mist into gas and liquid. In the third embodiment, the third impact surface 274 is the inner surface of the erected wall 268 which is erected from the outer wall of the outlet part 265, which is farthest from the extension part 264 and faces the outer wall of the extension part 264 in the Y-axis direction.

In the cutting device 1-3 of the third embodiment, the pipe 26-3 in the blade cover 24 receives the mist from the inlet 261 and guides it to the outlet 262, and has impact surfaces 271, 272, 274 and a water collection portion 273. The water collection portion 273 is arranged at the outlet 265 of the pipe 26-3, so that the cutting water separated by gas and liquid on the impact surfaces 271, 272, 274 is continuously supplied to the water collection portion 273, and the mist that has not been separated by gas and liquid in the pipe 26-3 passes on the water surface of the cutting water accumulated in the water collection portion 273 and is exhausted from the outlet 262. As a result, the cutting device 1-3 of the third embodiment can not only separate the mist into gas and liquid on the impact surfaces 271, 272, and 274, but also separate the mist into gas and liquid by passing the mist through the surface of the cutting water accumulated in the water accumulation part 273, thereby exerting a high gas-liquid separation effect. Moreover, the pipe 26-3 of the blade cover 24 does not have a sponge-shaped filter, so as with the first embodiment, its performance can inhibit the leakage of mist from the processing chamber 303 and inhibit the clogging of the pores in the pipe 26-3 of the blade cover 24.

Furthermore, the pipe 26-3 of the cutting device 1-3 of the third embodiment has a third impact surface 274 in addition to the first impact surface 271 and the second impact surface 272, so that a higher gas-liquid separation effect is exerted than the pipe 26 of the first embodiment.

In addition, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments and variations. In other words, various modifications can be made and implemented within the scope of the gist of the present invention.

1: Cutting device 10: Chuck table 20: Cutting unit 21: Cutting blade 22: Spindle housing 23: Spindle 24: Blade cover 25: Nozzle 26: Pipeline 27: Gas-liquid separation unit 40: Moving unit 261: Inlet 262: Outlet 271: 1st impact surface (impact surface) 272: 2nd impact surface (impact surface) 273: Water accumulation part 274: 3rd impact surface (impact surface) 200: Workpiece 401: Scattering direction

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration example of a cutting device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a front view of a cutting unit of the cutting device shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a top view of the cutting unit shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a front view of a pipe of the cutting unit shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the pipe shown in FIG. 4. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view along the VI-VI line in FIG. 5. FIG. 7 is a front view of a cutting unit of a cutting device according to the second embodiment. FIG. 8 is a top view of a cutting unit of a cutting device according to the third embodiment. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of a pipe of the cutting unit shown in FIG. 8.

1: Cutting device

20: Cutting unit

21: Cutting blade

22: Spindle housing

23: Main axis

24: Blade cover

25: Spray nozzle

26: Pipeline

27: Gas-liquid separation section

212: Blade

221: Front end

241: Cover body

242:Front cover

251: Spray nozzle

252: Cooling nozzle

261: Entrance

262:Export

263: Entrance

264: Extension

265: Export Department

266: Side wall

271:1st impact surface (impact surface)

272: Second impact surface (impact surface)

273: Sekisui Department

401: Dispersion direction

402: Arrow

Claims (2)

A cutting device includes: a chuck table that holds a workpiece; a cutting unit that cuts the workpiece held on the chuck table with a cutting blade; and a moving unit that moves the chuck table and the cutting unit relative to each other; the cutting unit includes: a spindle that is rotatably supported by a spindle housing and is equipped with the cutting blade; a blade cover that is fixed to the spindle housing and covers the cutting blade; and a nozzle that supplies cutting water to the cutting blade; wherein the blade cover has: a pipe that receives the mist of the cutting water scattered by the rotation of the cutting blade from an inlet and guides it to an outlet far from the inlet; and a gas-liquid separation part, which is arranged in the pipe and separates the mist into gas and liquid; the gas-liquid separation part has: an impact surface, which is the place where the mist scattered by the rotation of the cutting blade impacts; and a water accumulation part, which accumulates the liquid falling from the impact surface; the water accumulation part extends to the outlet of the pipe, and exhausts from the outlet through the water surface of the water accumulation part; the pipe extends from the side of the cutting blade installed at the front end of the spindle toward the rear end of the spindle, and the impact surface has: a first impact surface, which intersects with the scattering direction of the mist; and a second impact surface, which is the place where the mist guided to the rear of the spindle impacts. A cutting device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the water collecting portion is composed of a flat bottom portion of the pipe and an inner surface of a portion extending upward from an outer edge of the bottom portion.