TWI869491B - Tool holder - Google Patents

Abstract

Propose a new technology that can easily load and unload cutting tools from tool holders.

A method for installing a cutting tool, which is a method for installing the cutting tool on a tool holder fixed to the front end of a spindle, comprising: a holding step, which is to hold a hub base of the cutting tool with a fitting hole formed therein by a tool holder; a heating step, which is to heat the hub base with a heater provided on the tool holder to expand the fitting hole; and an installation step, which is to move the tool holder while holding the cutting tool as it is, so that the hub of the tool holder is inserted into the fitting hole.

Description

Tool holder

The present invention relates to a technology for loading and unloading a cutting tool for cutting a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer.

In the past, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, there is a known cutting device for cutting and slicing a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer. This type of cutting device has a cutting means for rotating a cutting tool fixed to a tool holder at high speed, and when the cutting tool is consumed, an appropriate cutting tool replacement operation is performed.

Patent document 1 is aimed at the replacement operation of cutting tools with marked recording codes in a simple and efficient manner. In order to replace the cutting tool to be replaced, the technology is disclosed that the information of the recording code can be obtained reliably without requiring a separate dedicated operation by simply holding the cutting tool with a holding portion.

[Prior Art Literature] [Patent Literature]

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2009-241177

As disclosed in Patent Document 1, in a structure where a cutting tool is inserted into a hub of a tool holder through a through hole, it is necessary to design the fit between the through hole and the hub.

If the fit between the two is set as a clearance fit, the loading and unloading of the cutting tool becomes easier, but there is a risk that the offset between the tool holder and the spindle that fixes the tool holder and the axis of the cutting tool will increase, causing the cutting tool to be eccentric and unable to perform high-precision processing.

On the other hand, if the two are tightly fitted together, the problem of eccentricity is reduced, but the loading and unloading operation becomes more difficult. In particular, since the cutting tool blade is very thin, there is also a risk of the blade being damaged due to impact when external force is applied.

Accordingly, the purpose of the present invention is to provide a novel technology that can easily carry out the loading and unloading operation of the cutting tool on the tool holder.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a method for mounting a cutting tool is provided, which is a method for mounting the cutting tool on a tool holder fixed to the front end of a spindle, and comprises: a holding step, which is to hold a hub base of the cutting tool with a fitting hole formed therein by a tool holder; a heating step, which is to heat the hub base with a heater provided in the tool holder to expand the fitting hole; and an installation step, which is to move the tool holder while holding the cutting tool as it is, so that the hub of the tool holder is inserted into the fitting hole.

It is preferred that the diameter of the fitting hole of the cutting tool be set to a value smaller than the diameter of the hub at room temperature.

After the installation step, the cutting tool is preferably fixed to the hub by natural cooling due to placement.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a tool holder is provided, which is used in the above-mentioned cutting tool mounting method, and comprises: a holding portion, whose cross section perpendicular to the barrel axis direction is formed into a substantially C-shaped shape by a gap portion; and a heater, which is arranged on the inner side of the holding portion and contacts the hub base held by the inner peripheral surface of the holding portion, and the holding portion is bent to grasp the outer peripheral portion to narrow the gap portion, and the inner peripheral portion surrounds the held portion of the hub base to hold it.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a method for removing a cutting tool is provided, which is a method for removing a cutting tool mounted on a tool holder fixed to the front end of a spindle, and comprises: a holding step, in which a hub base of the cutting tool is held by a tool holder; a heating step, in which a heater provided on the tool holder is used to heat the hub base to expand the diameter of the fitting hole; and a removal step, in which the tool holder is moved while holding the cutting tool, and the hub of the tool holder is pulled out from the fitting hole.

It is preferred that the diameter of the fitting hole of the cutting tool be set to a value smaller than the diameter of the hub at room temperature.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a tool holder is provided, which is used in the above-mentioned method of removing the cutting tool, and comprises: a holding portion, whose cross section perpendicular to the barrel axis direction is formed into a substantially C-shaped shape by a gap portion; and a heater, which is arranged on the inner side of the holding portion and contacts the hub base held by the inner peripheral surface of the holding portion, and the holding portion is bent to grasp the outer peripheral portion to narrow the gap portion, and the inner peripheral portion surrounds the held portion of the hub base to hold it.

When the present invention is used, the inner diameter of the engagement hole of the cutting tool is expanded by heating, so the hub of the tool holder can be smoothly inserted. In particular, excellent mounting performance can be achieved in the fixed design caused by interference fit, and further, the axis center deviation of the mounted cutting tool is difficult to occur, and high-precision processing can be performed.

1: Cutting device

5: Cutting method

10: Rotational drive means

11: Main axis

12: Spindle housing

20: Cutting tools

21: base of the pedestal

21a: 轂部

21b: End face

21c: Outer surface

22: Cutting edge

24:Matching hole

30: Tool holder

32: flange

34: 轂部

36: Male thread

40: Tool fixing nut

42: Female thread

44: Pin insertion hole

50: Mount fixing nut

60: Tool holder

62: Holding part

62a: Protective plate

62b: Grip

62c: Inner circumference

62d: Outer surface

62k: Stopper

62s: Gap

64: Heater

64a: Through hole

64h: Heater surface

[Figure 1] is an oblique view showing one embodiment of the cutting device using the present invention.

[Figure 2] is an exploded oblique view showing the structure of the cutting means.

[Figure 3] (A) is the front view of the tool holder, and (B) is the back view of the tool holder.

[Figure 4] is an oblique view showing the state of holding the cutting tool with a tool holder.

[Figure 5] (A) is a partial cross-sectional side view showing the state of holding the cutting tool, and (B) is a partial cross-sectional side view showing the state of installing the cutting tool on the hub.

The following will appropriately refer to the figures to explain one embodiment of the present invention. The cutting device 1 shown in FIG1 is an example of a device for loading and unloading a cutting tool 20 using a tool holder 60 shown in FIG2 .

As shown in FIG1 , the cutting device 1 is composed of a chuck platform 2, a moving means 3, a camera means 4, and a cutting means 5. Although the workpiece is not particularly limited, for example, a plate-shaped semiconductor wafer or optical device wafer, a plate-shaped inorganic material substrate, a plate-shaped ductile material, etc., various plate-shaped processing materials.

The chuck platform 2 attracts and holds the workpiece. The chuck platform 2 is formed in a disk shape, and a plane parallel to the horizontal direction is formed on the top. The holding part of the chuck platform 2 is made of porous ceramics and is connected to a vacuum suction source not shown in the figure.

The moving means 3 is used to relatively move the chuck table 2 and the cutting means 5 in the X-axis direction, the Y-axis direction and the Z-axis direction. The moving means 3 is composed of an X-axis moving means 3a, a Y-axis moving means 3b and a Z-axis moving means 3c. The X-axis moving means 3a is supported so that the chuck table 2 can relatively move in the X-axis direction (equivalent to the cutting feed direction) relative to the main body 6. The Y-axis moving means 3b is supported so that the cutting means 5 can relatively move in the Y-axis direction (equivalent to the indexing feed direction) relative to the main body 6. The Z-axis moving means 3c is supported so that the cutting means 5 can relatively move in the Z-axis direction (equivalent to the cutting feed direction) relative to the main body 6. Each moving means 3a~3c is composed of, for example, a motor, a ball screw, a nut, etc.

The photographing means 4 is used to align and adjust the cutting means 5 to the predetermined dividing line (cutting path) of the workpiece and photograph the cutting path before cutting. The photographing means 4 is, for example, a camera using a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) image sensor.

The cutting means 5 is used to perform cutting on the workpiece. As shown in FIG. 2 , the cutting means 5 is composed of a rotary drive means 10, a cutting tool 20, a tool holder 30 and a tool fixing nut 40.

The rotary drive means 10 is used to drive the cutting tool 20 to rotate at high speed. The rotary drive means 10 has a spindle 11, a spindle housing 12, and a motor (not shown). At the front end of the spindle 11, the tool holder 30 is fixed so that it can be loaded and unloaded by the holder fixing nut 50.

The cutting tool 20 is a so-called hub tool, and is composed of a hub base 21 in an annular shape made of a metal such as an aluminum alloy, and a cutting blade 22 in an annular shape formed around the outer circumference of the hub base 21.

The hub base 21 is used to be mounted on the hub part 34 of the tool holder 30, and the fitting hole 24 is set in the center. The fitting hole 24 is inserted into the hub part 34 of the tool holder 30 on the inner side. The cutting blade 22 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 is formed to a specific thickness.

The tool holder 30 is composed of a flange portion 32 for clamping the cutting edge 22 of the cutting tool 20, a hub portion 34 inserted into the fitting hole 24 of the cutting tool 20, and a male thread 36 to which the tool fixing nut 40 is tightened.

In addition, in the structure shown in FIG. 2, the inner diameter of the fitting hole 24 of the cutting tool 20 is set to be less than the outer diameter of the hub 34 of the tool holder 30, and as described in detail later, the cutting tool 20 can be interfered with the tool holder 30. In addition, even if the inner diameter of the fitting hole 24 of the cutting tool 20 is larger than the outer diameter of the hub 34 of the tool holder 30, the present invention can also be applied.

The tool fixing nut 40 is in a ring shape, and a female thread 42 is formed on its inner circumference to be screwed with the male thread 36 of the tool holder 30. Four pin insertion holes 44 are provided on the end face of the tool fixing nut 40 at 90 degrees offset from each other, and are configured to insert the engaging pin of the locking fixture (not shown) and can be rotated.

Next, the tool holder used for replacing the cutting tool is explained. As shown in FIG. 3 (A) to FIG. 5 (B), the tool holder 60 is composed of a gripping portion 62 that is grasped and operated by fingers, and a heater 64.

The holding portion 62 is formed by forming a gap portion 62s extending in the axial direction in a part of the cylindrical wall in the cylindrical member, so as to form a roughly C-shaped annular member in a cross section perpendicular to the cylindrical axial direction. The holding portion 62 can be formed by, for example, resin, metal, rubber or a combination thereof.

The inner peripheral surface 62c of the gripping portion 62 is configured to contact the outer peripheral surface 21c of the hub portion 21a formed on the hub base 21 of the cutting tool 20.

Specifically, the gripping portion 62 is configured to bend by gripping with fingers and applying a load, so that the gap of the gap portion 62s becomes narrower and the inner diameter is reduced, and the inner peripheral surface 62c contacts the outer peripheral surface 21c of the hub 21a. In this way, the cutting tool 20 can be held by the tool gripper 60. The outer peripheral surface 21c of the hub 21a functions as a gripped portion.

On the outer circumferential surface 62d of the gripping portion 62, protective plates 62a, 62a are vertically arranged in the circumferential direction to prevent the fingers from moving to the cutting edge 22 side of the cutting tool 20. In this embodiment, the two protective plates 62a, 62a are arranged at offset positions in the circumferential direction, and are configured to protect the fingers in a wide range.

On the outer peripheral surface 62d of the gripping portion 62, one side of the protective plates 62a, 62a in the axial direction, that is, the side opposite to the cutting tool 20 when holding the cutting tool 20, forms a gripping portion 62b for placing fingers. In this embodiment, by forming a continuous wave on the surface, it is formed to make it easy to put fingers in and out of the concave part.

The heater 64 is composed of a thin sheet-like member having a heating surface, and is fixed to the locking portions 62k, 62k provided at multiple locations on the inner side of the grip portion 62. In this embodiment, the heater 64 can be composed of a silicon heater that is powered and heated via a power cord 62m (FIG. 3(A)).

As shown in FIG. 5(A), the heater 64 contacts the end surface 21b of the hub portion 21a of the hub base 21 of the cutting tool 20 when the cutting tool 20 is held, and the contacting surface is constructed as the heater surface 64h.

As shown in FIG. 5(B), the heater 64 is formed with a through hole 64a which can be inserted into the hub 34 of the tool holder 30 when the cutting tool 20 is installed.

Next, the method of using the tool holder 60 constructed as described above is explained.

First, as shown in FIG4 , the hub portion 21a of the hub base 21 of the cutting tool 20 is inserted into the inner side of the grip portion 62, and the grip portion 62b is grasped with fingers to apply a load, thereby holding the cutting tool 20 to the state shown in FIG5(A) .

Next, as shown in FIG5(A), the hub base 21 of the cutting tool 20 is heated by energizing the heater 64. The ON/OFF operation of the energization of the heater 64 can be performed, for example, by operating the interface of the control device when the heater 64 is connected to the control device of the cutting device 1 (FIG. 1). In the case where the heater 64 is not connected to the cutting device and is configured as an independent device, it can be performed by appropriately performing the ON/OFF operation on the power supply from the power source not shown in the figure.

In this way, the cutting tool 20 is heated by the heater 64, and the temperature of the hub base 21 rises accordingly, and the inner diameter of the fitting hole 24 is enlarged accordingly.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5(A) and FIG. 5(B), the tool holder 60 is moved so that the engagement hole 24 of the cutting tool 20 faces the hub 34 of the tool holder 30 and the hub 34 is inserted into the engagement hole 24. At this time, since the inner diameter of the engagement hole 24 is enlarged by heating, the hub 34 can be smoothly inserted. In addition, even if the inner diameter of the engagement hole 24 of the cutting tool 20 is larger than the outer diameter of the hub 34 of the tool holder 30, the inner diameter of the engagement hole 24 is enlarged, so that the cutting tool 20 can be smoothly loaded and unloaded.

As shown in FIG5(B), until the cutting edge 22 touches the flange 32 of the tool holder 30, the cutting tool 20 is moved, and then the force applied to the tool holder 60 is released, the holding of the hub base 21 is released, and the tool holder 60 is separated from the cutting tool 20 and retreated.

As described above, the cutting tool 20 is installed by the tool holder 60. Afterwards, as shown in FIG. 2 , by fastening the tool fixing nut 40 to the male thread 36 of the tool holder 30 , all the processes related to the installation of the cutting tool 20 are completed.

In addition, even in a configuration where the cutting tool 20 is fixed by a large interference fit between the fitting hole 24 of the cutting tool 20 and the hub 34 of the tool holder 30, or a configuration where the cutting tool 20 is fixed by a suction holding mechanism provided on the side of the tool holder 30, the cutting tool 20 can be installed using the tool holder 60 even in a configuration where the tool fixing nut 40 is not used.

Although the above description is directed to the installation of the cutting tool 20, when removing the cutting tool 20, the heater 64 heats the hub base 21 to expand the inner diameter of the fitting hole 24 to the state shown in FIG. 5(B), so that the cutting tool 20 can be removed smoothly from the hub 34.

In the cutting tool mounting method of the present invention, the inner diameter of the fitting hole 24 is enlarged by heating, so the hub 34 can be smoothly inserted. In particular, excellent mounting performance can be achieved in the fixed design caused by interference fit, and further, the axis center deviation of the mounted cutting tool is difficult to occur, and high-precision processing can be performed.

As shown in FIG. 5(A) and FIG. 5(B), the diameter of the fitting hole 24 of the cutting tool 20 is preferably set to a value smaller than the diameter of the hub 34 at room temperature. In this case, a fixed setting is achieved by performing interference fit, which enables excellent mounting and high-precision processing.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 5(B), after the installation step, the cutting tool 20 is fixed to the hub 34 by natural cooling caused by being placed. In this case, for example, a method for fixing the cutting tool 20 can be realized by omitting the tool fixing nut 40 (FIG. 2).

In the method for removing the cutting tool of the present invention, since the inner diameter of the fitting hole 24 is enlarged by heating, it can be smoothly pulled out from the hub 34. In particular, in the design of fixing by performing interference fit, excellent removal performance can be achieved.

20: Cutting tools

21: base of the pedestal

21a: 轂部

21b: End face

21c: Outer surface

22: Cutting edge

24:Matching hole

60: Tool holder

62: Holding part

62a: Protective plate

62b: Grip

62c: Inner circumference

62d: Outer surface

62k: Stopper

62s: Gap

64: Heater

64a: Through hole

Claims (5)

A tool holder is used in a method for mounting a cutting tool on a tool holder fixed to the front end of a spindle, the method comprising: a holding step, in which the tool holder holds a hub base of the cutting tool having an engagement hole formed thereon; a heating step, in which a heater provided on the tool holder and having a heating surface that contacts the end face of a flange portion of the hub base is used to heat the hub base to expand the engagement hole; and an installation step, in which the cutting tool is held and the hub base is heated. With the tool still in its original state, the tool holder is moved to insert the hub of the tool holder into the fitting hole. The tool holder comprises: a holding portion, which is a C-shaped cross section perpendicular to the axial direction of the fitting hole; and a heater, which is arranged on the inner side of the holding portion and contacts the hub base held by the inner peripheral surface of the holding portion. The holding portion is bent to grasp the outer peripheral portion and reduce the diameter of the inner peripheral portion, and the inner peripheral portion surrounds the held portion of the hub base to hold it. A tool holder as claimed in claim 1, wherein in the method for installing the cutting tool, the diameter of the engagement hole of the cutting tool is set to a value smaller than the diameter of the hub at room temperature. As in claim 2, in the method for installing the cutting tool, after the installation step, the cutting tool is fixedly engaged with the hub by natural cooling caused by placement. A tool holder is used in a method for removing a cutting tool mounted on a tool holder fixed to the front end of a spindle, the method comprising: a holding step, in which the tool holder holds a hub base of the cutting tool; a heating step, in which a heater provided on the tool holder and having a heating surface that contacts the end face of the flange of the hub base is used to heat the hub base to expand the diameter of an engagement hole formed in the hub base; and a removal step, in which the tool holder is held and the hub base is heated. With the cutting tool as it is, the tool holder is moved to extract the hub of the tool holder from the fitting hole. The tool holder comprises: a holding portion, which is a C-shaped cross section perpendicular to the axial direction of the fitting hole; and a heater, which is arranged on the inner side of the holding portion and contacts the hub base held by the inner peripheral surface of the holding portion. The holding portion is bent to grasp the outer peripheral portion and reduce the diameter of the inner peripheral portion, and the inner peripheral portion surrounds the held portion of the hub base to hold it. A tool holder as claimed in claim 4, wherein in the method for removing the cutting tool, the diameter of the engagement hole of the cutting tool is set to a value smaller than the diameter of the hub at room temperature.

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