Abstract: In a processing method for a wafer with a mark formed in an outer peripheral portion thereof, a frame unit having the wafer, a tape, and a ring frame is provided, a set of processing conditions for processing the wafer is selected, and a representative image associated with the set of processing conditions is displayed on a display unit. The ring frame includes a notch formed in an outer periphery thereof. In the frame unit, the mark and the notch are in a positional relationship set in accordance with the set of processing conditions. The positional relationship is presented in the representative image.

Abstract: A holding mechanism includes a Bernoulli pad that holds a plate-shaped body, a hand on which the Bernoulli pad is disposed, a sensor that is disposed on the hand and detects that the plate-shaped body is held under suction by the Bernoulli pad, a lateral movement restriction section disposed on the hand, a tube that connects an air source supplying air to the Bernoulli pad and the Bernoulli pad, an adjustment valve that is disposed in the tube and adjusts a flow rate of air supplied to the Bernoulli pad, and a control section that controls operation of the adjustment valve. The control section gradually increases the flow rate of the air supplied from the adjustment valve to the Bernoulli pad and, when it is detected by the sensor that the plate-shaped body has been held under suction by the Bernoulli pad, fixes the flow rate of the air.

Abstract: A test apparatus for measuring strength of a specimen includes: a lower container having an opening that opens upward; an upper container having an opening that opens downward and being sized to be insertable into the opening of the lower container; a support unit that is provided in the opening of the lower container and supports the specimen; a pressing unit including an indenter that presses the specimen, and a load measurement unit that measures a load applied to the indenter; and a movement mechanism that moves the indenter closer and away relative to the support unit, in which when the specimen supported by the support unit is pressed by the indenter moved by the movement mechanism, the upper container is positioned so as to cover the specimen.

Abstract: A processing apparatus includes a chuck table having a holding surface for holding a workpiece; a horizontal moving mechanism that moves the chuck table in a horizontal direction and is supplied with a first oil; and a vertical moving mechanism that moves a processing unit in a vertical direction and is supplied with a second oil. Before mounting the workpiece on the holding surface, the holding surface is imaged by a camera while being irradiated with light, and it is examined whether or not the picked-up image is emitting light. If there is a light-emitting part in the picked-up image, it is determined that oil is adhered to the light-emitting part.

Abstract: After the inside of a sealed accommodating chamber of a tape attaching apparatus is decompressed, a dicing tape covering a back surface of a wafer is attached to an upper surface of an annular projection of the wafer. Thereafter, the inside of the accommodating chamber is pressurized, to press the dicing tape toward the recess in the back surface of the wafer. As a result, the dicing tape can be attached, substantially without a gap, to substantially the whole area of the back surface of the wafer inclusive of a corner part which is the boundary between the recess and the annular projection. By adjusting the air pressure inside the accommodating chamber, the dicing tape can be easily attached to substantially the whole area of the back surface of the wafer in a short time.

Abstract: There is provided a peeling method of a resin sheet for peeling off the resin sheet from a plate-shaped object to which the resin sheet is stuck. The peeling method includes a resin sheet heating step of heating an end part of the resin sheet of the plate-shaped object to which the resin sheet is stuck to turn up the resin sheet from the end part and form a peeling origin point and a resin sheet removal step of removing the resin sheet from the plate-shaped object through peeling off the resin sheet from the peeling origin point.

Abstract: A protective member forming method for forming a protective member on a surface on one side of a wafer includes a resin state recognizing step of heating a thermoplastic resin in contact with the surface on the one side of the wafer while propagating an ultrasonic vibration between a resin placing surface of a stage and a wafer holding surface and recognizing whether or not the thermoplastic resin sandwiched between the surface on the one side of the wafer held on the wafer holding surface and the resin placing surface has been unified. When the thermoplastic resin is recognized to have been unified, the thermoplastic resin is spread out onto a whole area of the surface on the one side of the wafer, followed by cooling the thermoplastic resin to cure the thermoplastic resin.

Abstract: A resin protection member forming apparatus includes a stage having a resin placement surface on which a particulate thermoplastic resin is to be placed. The stage includes a Peltier device, a DC power source, and a switch. The Peltier device is disposed inside the stage and has an upper surface, which is parallel and close to the resin placement surface, and a lower surface, which is far from the resin placement surface. The DC power source supplies a DC current to the Peltier device. The switch changes a direction of the DC current to be supplied to the Peltier device, between a first direction to heat the upper surface of the Peltier device and a second direction, opposite to the first direction, to cool the upper surface of the Peltier device.

Abstract: A sheet holding unit of a resin sheet fixing apparatus includes: a Peltier element that has an upper surface parallel to a sheet holding surface of a sheet holding table and near the sheet holding surface and a lower surface far from the sheet holding surface; a direct current (DC) power source that supplies the Peltier element with a DC; and a switch that switches a direction of the DC supplied to the Peltier element. By causing a current to flow in the Peltier element in a first direction, a resin sheet is softened and welded to a wafer, and by switching the switch to cause a current to flow in the Peltier element in a second direction, the resin sheet held on the sheet holding surface is cured and fixed to a surface on one side of the wafer.

Abstract: A method of processing a workpiece includes a thermosetting step of heating an area of an expandable sheet around a workpiece to a predetermined temperature or higher and thereafter cooling the heated area of the expandable sheet to make the area harder than before the area has been heated, and after the thermosetting step, an expanding step of expanding the area of the expandable sheet around the workpiece in planar directions to divide the workpiece into chips or to increase distances between the adjacent chips.

Abstract: There is provided a peeling method of a resin sheet for peeling off the resin sheet from a plate-shaped object to which the resin sheet is stuck. The peeling method includes a resin sheet heating step of heating an end part of the resin sheet of the plate-shaped object to which the resin sheet is stuck to turn up the resin sheet from the end part and form a peeling origin point and a resin sheet removal step of removing the resin sheet from the plate-shaped object through peeling off the resin sheet from the peeling origin point.

Abstract: A measuring apparatus for measuring a flexural strength of a test piece includes a support unit having a first support member and a second support member that are spaced from each other, for supporting a lower surface of the test piece, a presser for pressing the test piece, a moving mechanism for relatively moving the presser toward and away from the test piece supported by the support unit, a load measuring unit for measuring a load applied to the presser when the presser presses the test piece supported by the support unit, and a controller having a calculating section for calculating the flexural strength of the test piece on the basis of a thickness and a width of the test piece, a spacing between the first support member and the second support member, and a maximum value of the load measured by the load measuring unit.

Abstract: A workpiece unit includes a wafer, a tape stuck to the wafer, and an annular frame to which an outer circumferential edge of the tape is stuck and which has an opening defined centrally therein. The wafer is disposed in the opening in the annular frame and supported on the annular frame by the tape. An irreversible ultraviolet radiation detecting seal that discolors when irradiated with an ultraviolet radiation as an external stimulus is stuck to the annular frame.

Abstract: A testing apparatus for measuring a strength of a chip includes: a cassette mounting base on which to mount a cassette capable of accommodating wafer units; a frame fixing mechanism that fixes an annular frame of the wafer unit; a conveying mechanism that conveys the wafer unit between the cassette and the frame fixing mechanism; a pushing-up mechanism that pushes up a predetermined chip included in the wafer supported by the annular frame fixed by the frame fixing mechanism; a pick-up mechanism having a collet picking up the chip pushed up by the pushing-up mechanism; a strength measuring mechanism having a support unit supporting the chip picked up by the collet; and a collet moving mechanism that moves the collect from a position facing the pushing-up mechanism to a position facing the support unit.

Abstract: A test apparatus for measuring strength of a specimen includes: a lower container having an opening that opens upward; an upper container having an opening that opens downward and being sized to be insertable into the opening of the lower container; a support unit that is provided in the opening of the lower container and supports the specimen; a pressing unit including an indenter that presses the specimen, and a load measurement unit that measures a load applied to the indenter; and a movement mechanism that moves the indenter closer and away relative to the support unit, in which when the specimen supported by the support unit is pressed by the indenter moved by the movement mechanism, the upper container is positioned so as to cover the specimen.

Abstract: A workpiece unit includes a wafer, a tape attached to the wafer, and an annular frame to which an outer peripheral edge of the tape is attached and having an opening in a center of the annular frame, and the workpiece unit has the wafer positioned in the opening of the annular frame through the tape. In the workpiece unit, the tape has a color change layer that reversibly changes in color in response to a change in temperature caused by cooling.

Abstract: A tape adapted to be attached to a workpiece. The tape has a pattern for checking tension applied to the tape. The pattern is provided on the whole or part of the front side of the tape. The tension may be checked before expansion of the tape, during expansion of the tape, or after expansion of the tape. The tension may be checked after attaching the tape to the workpiece. By using a tape expander having four holding units holding the four side edge portions of the tape, the tape is expanded by moving the four holding units holding the tape so that the holding units are moved away from the workpiece. Deformation of the pattern due to the expansion of the tape is checked by visual inspection or by using an imaging camera to thereby determine the attached condition of the tape to the workpiece.

Abstract: A table for heating or cooling a workpiece includes a plate member having a mounting surface for mounting the workpiece and a temperature control unit heating or cooling the plate member. A paint layer is formed on the mounting surface of the plate member, in which when the plate member is not heated or cooled by the temperature control unit and accordingly has a first temperature, the paint layer exhibits a first color, and when the temperature of the plate member is changed by the temperature control unit and the temperature of the mounting surface accordingly becomes a second temperature different from the first temperature, the color of the paint layer is changed to a second color different from the first color.

Abstract: A detergent composition excellent in an antimicrobial activity. Thus, a detergent composition of the present invention is characterized by including: an imidazolinium betaine-based amphoteric surfactant; and 0.5 to 10% by mass of PEG-1 lauryl glycol represented by the following formula (I): wherein, m and n each represent the number of moles of added ethylene oxide and the average of m+n is 1. Also, the detergent composition preferably includes an ingredient having a microstatic effect or microcidal effect selected from divalent glycols, hinokitiol, trichlorocarbanilide, and benzalkonium chloride.

Abstract: The present invention provides a framed soap containing uniformly entrained bubbles and a method for producing the same. The framed soap of the present invention is produced by cooling and solidifying in a cylindrical cooling frame and characterized in that 10 volume % or higher air bubbles having a number average particle diameter of 65 ?m or smaller are uniformly entrained.