Pad Conditioner and Method for Making the Same

Abstract

A method for making a pad conditioner, includes: (a) providing a first substrate having a grain-mounting surface, and a plurality of diamond abrasive grains, each of which has a retained portion and a cutting portion with at least one sharp corner; (b) forming a plurality of recesses in the first substrate, each of the recesses having a sharp closed end and an enlarged open end, and diverging from the sharp closed end to the enlarged open end in a manner to have a shape corresponding to that of the sharp corner of each of the diamond abrasive grains; (c) disposing each of the diamond abrasive grains in a respective one of the recesses; (d) forming a second substrate on the grain-mounting surface of the first substrate; and (e) removing the first substrate.

1 . A method for making a pad conditioner, comprising:
 (a) providing a first substrate having a grain-mounting surface, and a plurality of diamond abrasive grains, each of which has a retained portion and a cutting portion with at least one sharp corner;   (b) forming a plurality of recesses in the first substrate, each of the recesses being indented from the grain-mounting surface, having a sharp closed end and an enlarged open end opposite to the sharp closed end, and diverging from the sharp closed end to the enlarged open end in a manner to have a shape corresponding to that of the sharp corner of the cutting portion of each of the diamond abrasive grains;   (c) disposing each of the diamond abrasive grains in a respective one of the recesses such that the cutting portion of each of the diamond abrasive grains is received in the respective recess, and that the retained portion of the respective one of the diamond abrasive grains protrudes outwardly of the grain-mounting surface of the first substrate;   (d) forming a second substrate on the grain-mounting surface of the first substrate in such a manner to enclose and bond to the retained portion of each of the diamond abrasive grains; and   (e) removing the first substrate.   
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the sharp closed end of each of the recesses has an angle ranging from 60 to 120°. 
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein each of the recesses has a depth relative to the grain-mounting surface of the first substrate that ranges from 0.25 to 0.95 times an average particle diameter of the diamond abrasive grains. 
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 3 , further comprising applying an adhesive in each of the recesses prior to step (c) so as to adhere the cutting portion of each of the diamond abrasive grains in the respective recess to the first substrate. 
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising removing the adhesive after step (e) for exposing the cutting portions of the diamond abrasive grains. 
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the applied adhesive in each of the recesses has a height relative to the sharp closed end, which is 0.1-0.9 times the depth of the recesses. 
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the height of the applied adhesive in each of the recesses is 0.2-0.6 times the depth of the recesses. 
   
   
       8 . A pad conditioner comprising:
 a substrate having a surface; and   a plurality of diamond abrasive grains, each of which has a top portion protruding from said surface of said substrate, said top portion having a top end with a height relative to said surface of said substrate;   wherein a height difference between a highest one of said top ends of said top portions of said diamond abrasive grains and a lowest one of said top ends of said top portions of said diamond abrasive grains is less than 40 μm.   
   
   
       9 . The pad conditioner of  claim 8 , wherein said substrate is made from a resin.