Seal assembly for a wafer grinding machine
AssigneeSilicon Technology Corporation
InventorsRobert E. Steere, III, Thomas E. Leonard
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A seal assembly for a wafer grinding machine is mounted on a housing in which a grinding wheel is contained. The seal assembly is formed of a pair of flexible strips which are secured over an opening in a plate mounted on a housing enclosing the grinding wheel for sealingly engaging a respective planar surface of a wafer which is introduced through the opening by a rotatable chuck. The edges of the sealing strips define a V-shaped gap to ensure that the edges are disposed in biased relation against each other and against a wafer which passes between the strips. A tube provided with perforations is disposed to blow air to clear debris from the wafer.
Claims13
In a wafer grinding machine, the combination comprising
- a housing having an opening therein;
- a rotatable chuck outside said housing for receiving and holding a wafer opposite said opening;
- a grinding wheel mounted within said housing for grinding an edge of a wafer on said chuck;
- and
- a seal assembly mounted on said housing over said opening in said housing and between said chuck and said grinding wheel for sealing against planar surfaces of a wafer on said chuck when said wafer is passed through said seal assembly and said opening during grinding of an edge of the wafer to seal the planar surfaces from debris ground from the edge of the wafer within said housing.
In a wafer grinding machine, the combination comprising
- a housing;
- a grinding wheel mounted in said housing for grinding an edge of a wafer;
- and
- a seal assembly mounted on said housing over an opening in said housing and adjacent said wheel for sealing against planar surfaces of a wafer passed therethrough during grinding of an edge of the wafer within said housing.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.