Stone working – Work supports
Reexamination Certificate
2000-11-29
2001-11-20
Hail, III, Joseph J. (Department: 3723)
Stone working
Work supports
C206S380000, C451S451000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06318355
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a case for storing a grinding wheel which is advantageously used to grind the rear surface of a semiconductor wafer.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
As is known among people skilled in the art, a grinding wheel comprising a support member and a grinding means is advantageously used as a tool for grinding the rear surface of a semiconductor wafer. The support member which can be formed of an appropriate metal such as aluminum is annular and has an upper end face, lower end face, outer side face and inner side face. The grinding means fixed to the lower end face of the support member may be formed of a plurality of circular arc-shaped grinding pieces which are arranged in a circumferential direction at intervals or a single annular grinding piece which extends continuously in a loop. The grinding piece can be advantageously formed by bonding abrasive diamond grains by an appropriate bonding material such as a resin bond.
The above-described grinding wheel is generally stored in a case to be preserved or placed on the market. A typical example of the case comprises a rectangular box member whose top side is open and a cover member which is combined with this box member to close the top side of the box member. The box member and the cover member are each separately formed from a foaming synthetic resin such as polystyrene foam. The grinding wheel is wrapped in an appropriate film such as a synthetic resin film as required and stored in the box member which is then combined with the cover member.
However, the above case of the prior art involves the following problems to be solved.
(1) Although the grinding of the rear surface of a semiconductor wafer is generally carried out in a so-called clean room, powders, chippings or the like are produced from the box member and/or the cover member by friction generated at the time of handling the box member and/or the cover member made from a foaming synthetic resin, with the result that the clean room may be polluted.
(2) To provide sufficient strength to the box member and the cover member made from a foaming synthetic resin, the box member and the cover member must be made very thick, with the result that the size of the case becomes considerably large.
(3) The grinding wheel stored in the case cannot be seen.
(4) The inner side of the box member and/or the cover member contacts the grinding means of the grinding wheel due to the deformation of the box member and/or the cover member, with the result that the grinding means may be damaged.
(5) When a plurality of cases storing the grinding wheel are piled up in a vertical direction, it is likely that the cases may be shifted from one another and damaged by relatively small external force.
(6) The cover member may be separated from the box member accidentally when it is merely combined with the box member. Therefore, after the cover member is combined with the box member, it is necessary to hold the box member and the cover member together by wrapping them with a synthetic resin tape, for example.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is a principal object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved case for storing a grinding wheel, which solves at least some of the above problems of the conventional cases for storing a grinding wheel.
According to the present invention, there is provided a case for storing a grinding wheel which comprises an annular support member having an upper end face, lower end face, outer side face and inner side face and a grinding means provided on the lower end face of the support member, wherein
the case includes a first case member and a second case member, and the first case member and the second case member are connected to each other by a hinge member in such a manner that they can pivote relative to each other and selectively set to a close state for defining a closed storage space in cooperation or to an open state for opening the storage space;
a receiving means is provided on the first case member and a restricting means is provided on the second case member; and
when the upper end face of the support member is placed on the receiving means of the first case member by setting the first case member and the second case member to the open state and then the first case member and the second case member are set to the close state, the restricting means of the second case member comes into contact with either one of the inner side face, lower end face and outer side face of the support member, whereby the support member is held between the receiving means and the restricting means and the grinding wheel is stored in the storage space without contacting the first case member and the second case member to the grinding means.
Preferably, the first case member, the second case member and the hinge member are each molded out of a transparent or semi-transparent synthetic resin as a single piece. In a preferred embodiment, the first case member has a main wall and a side wall protruding from the periphery of the main wall, a plurality of receiving pieces are arranged on the inner side of the main wall in a circumferential direction at intervals, and the top surfaces of the receiving pieces constitute the receiving means. The inner side face of the support member includes an inclined face which is inclined inward in a radial direction and extends from the lower end face toward the upper end face, the restricting means of the second case member has restricting faces which are inclined inward in a radial direction and extend toward the end, and the restricting faces are contacted to the inclined face of the support member. The second case member has a main wall and a side wall protruding from the periphery of the main wall, and the restricting means consists of a plurality of restricting pieces arranged on the inner side of the main wall in a circumferential direction at intervals. A first receiving mean for receiving a support member having a relatively large thickness in a radial direction and a second receiving means for receiving a support member having a relatively small thickness in a radial direction are formed on the first case member, a first restricting means to be contacted with either one of the inner side face, lower end face and outer side face of the support member having a relatively large thickness in a radial direction is formed on the second case member, and an auxiliary member constituting a second restricting means to be contacted with either one of the inner side face, lower end face and outer side face of the support member having a relatively small thickness in a radial direction is set in the second case member detachably. Preferably, the first case member has a main wall and a side wall protruding from the periphery of the main wall, a plurality of receiving pieces are arranged on the inner side of the main wall in a circumferential direction at intervals, a storage groove is formed in a center portion of the top surface of each of the receiving pieces, the top surfaces of the receiving pieces constitute the first receiving means, and the storage grooves of the receiving pieces constitute the second receiving means. Preferably, the first case member has a main wall which has a semicircular front half portion and a rectangular rear half portion continuous to a linear site of the front half portion and a side wall protruding from the periphery of the main wall, the second case member also has a main wall which has a semicircular front half portion and a rectangular rear half portion continuous to a linear site of the front half portion, correspondingly to the main wall of the first case member, and a side wall protruding from the periphery of the main wall, and the hinge member connects an upper end portion of the rear end of the side wall of the first case member to an upper end portion of the rear end of the side wall of the second case member. A locking means can be formed on a front end portion of the side wall of the first case member and a front end portion of the side wall of the s
Disco Corporation
Hail III Joseph J.
Ojini Anthony
Smith , Gambrell & Russell, LLP
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