JP6010183B2 - Continuous diffusion processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a continuous diffusion processing apparatus.

For example, in the manufacture of solar cells using crystalline silicon, a diffusion process is performed in which an impurity made of a predetermined element is attached to the surface of a silicon workpiece (wafer) and diffused into the workpiece. Is called. As a diffusion processing apparatus that performs such a diffusion treatment, for example, there is a batch type apparatus, and this batch type apparatus includes a heating furnace that heats an object to be processed, and the heating furnace includes a plurality of objects to be processed. It is large enough to store a tray.
In this heating furnace, after the workpiece is put in, a gas containing impurities is supplied into the heating furnace, and the temperature in the heating furnace is raised to diffuse the impurities into the workpiece. Thereafter, after the temperature in the heating furnace is lowered, the object to be processed is taken out from the heating furnace.

  When such a batch-type heating furnace is used, improvement in processing quality can be expected, but before and after the time for actually performing the diffusion treatment in the heating furnace, the time for raising the temperature in the furnace to a predetermined temperature, and the inside of the furnace It takes time to lower the temperature, and the object to be processed cannot be processed continuously, and it is difficult to increase the production efficiency.

Therefore, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, a cylindrical heating furnace, a conveyor that arranges the objects to be processed and conveys the inside of the heating furnace, a heating device that heats the objects to be processed that pass through the inside of the heating furnace, There is a continuous diffusion processing apparatus including a gas supply apparatus that supplies a gas containing impurities into a heating furnace.
Furthermore, in this apparatus, in order to shut off the atmosphere inside the heating furnace and the outside air, nitrogen gas is blown out from the top to the bottom at both ends of the heating furnace to form a gas curtain.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-298163

According to the apparatus described in Patent Document 1, it is possible to continuously process an object to be processed, and it is possible to increase production efficiency as compared with a batch type.
However, as described above, the atmosphere inside the heating furnace and the outside air are blocked by the gas curtain, but the inside of the heating furnace is clearly divided into a zone where the diffusion treatment is actually performed and other zones. Not. For this reason, it becomes difficult to control the atmosphere for each zone, and there is a possibility that the processing quality of the object to be processed is lowered as compared with the batch type.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a continuous diffusion processing apparatus capable of achieving both improvement in production efficiency and improvement in processing quality.

The continuous diffusion processing apparatus of the present invention is a cylindrical heating that extends linearly from a transport table on which a plurality of plate-like workpieces are placed, and a carry-in section that carries in the carry table to a carry-out section that carries out the carry table. A furnace, a transfer device that sequentially carries the carrier into the heating furnace from the carry-in unit, and sequentially carries out the carrier from the carry-out unit from the carry-out unit; A discharge pipe for discharging to the outside, a gas discharge device connected to the discharge pipe, and a heating device for heating the workpiece placed on the transfer table passing through the heating furnace, the heating The space from the carry-in part to the carry-out part in the furnace is divided into a plurality of zones for performing different treatments on the workpieces, and the discharge pipe is connected to the carry-in part and the carry-out part from the heating furnace. Extends to the outside and moves the gas inside the furnace outside the furnace Is configured to output, said the discharge pipe, the suction port for sucking a gas in the heating furnace is provided in each of said zones, the discharge pipe, inverting the outside of each said heating furnace It extends so as to approach each other in the center direction along the extending direction of the heating furnace, and is configured to discharge the gas in the heating furnace from the vicinity of the center position to the outside by the gas discharge device. And

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the to-be-processed object mounted on the conveyance stand can be spread | diffused while conveying the inside of a heating furnace, and productivity can be improved compared with the conventional batch type. And the inside of the heating furnace is divided into a plurality of zones by partition members, and gas is supplied individually for each zone and gas is discharged individually for each zone, so the atmosphere for each zone in the heating furnace Therefore, it is possible to obtain a high-quality workpiece.

The heating device includes a heater provided on an outer periphery of the heating furnace, and a cylindrical heat insulating material that covers the heating furnace together with the heater, and controls the heaters individually for each zone. It is preferable to provide a control device for adjusting the temperature inside.
In this case, the temperature of each zone in the heating furnace can be controlled, and a high-quality workpiece can be obtained.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the said partition member is installed in the said heating furnace so that a movement along the said conveyance direction is possible, In this case, the change of the length of a zone is attained.

Moreover, it is preferable that the length of the said conveyance stand in the conveyance direction is smaller than the length of the conveyance direction of each zone divided by the said partition member.
In this case, the whole of at least one transport table can be positioned in each zone. For this reason, it becomes possible to process a plurality of objects to be processed placed on the same conveyance table under the same atmospheric conditions for each zone, and the quality of the plurality of objects to be processed can be made uniform. .

Moreover, the said heating apparatus is provided with the heater provided in the outer periphery of the said heating furnace, and the cylindrical heat insulating material which covers the said heating furnace with the said heater, The said heat insulating material was cut | disconnected along the said conveyance direction. A divided structure is preferred.
In this case, by separating the heat insulating material, the inner heating furnace can be detached.

The gas supply / discharge device includes a gas supply device that supplies a gas for diffusion treatment to a zone for performing the diffusion treatment, and a gas discharge device that discharges gas in the zone, and the gas supply device Is arranged at the upper part of the heating furnace, and the heating furnace covers the conveyance path through which the conveyance table passes in the zone for performing the diffusion treatment from above and from both the left and right sides, and a plurality of through holes are formed. It is preferable to have a covered cover.
In the zone for performing the diffusion treatment, the gas supplied from the top of the heating furnace flows to the bottom while spreading, and the gas flow may be disturbed, but according to the cover, the gas passing through the through hole Is rectified to prevent the gas flow from being disturbed, and to homogenize the gas concentration (atmosphere) around the object to be processed placed on the transfer table.

Further, the space from the carry-in section to the carry-out section in the heating furnace is divided into a temperature rising zone, a soaking zone, and a temperature falling zone from the carry-in portion side by the partition member, and the gas in the temperature falling zone It is preferable to provide a bypass flow path for supplying to the temperature raising zone.
In this case, the gas in the temperature lowering zone that has become high temperature due to waste heat from the object to be processed can be given to the temperature raising zone, and the power consumption required to raise the temperature in the heating furnace in the temperature raising zone can be reduced It becomes possible.

  According to the present invention, the object to be processed can be diffused while being conveyed in the heating furnace, the productivity is improved, and the atmosphere for each zone in the heating furnace is controlled, so that the quality of the object to be processed is increased. A processed product can be obtained. That is, it is possible to achieve both improvement in production efficiency and improvement in processing quality.

It is a perspective view of a continuous diffusion processing apparatus. It is a perspective view of a conveyance stand. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view explaining a heating furnace, a conveying apparatus, and a heating apparatus. It is explanatory drawing of a conveying apparatus. It is explanatory drawing of a conveying apparatus. It is a cross-sectional view of a continuous diffusion treatment apparatus. It is a transverse cross section of a heating furnace for explaining the inside of a heating furnace. It is a perspective view of a partition member. It is explanatory drawing of a gas discharge apparatus. It is explanatory drawing which shows the bottom part of the heating furnace. It is explanatory drawing of the wheel part of a conveyance stand. It is explanatory drawing of the spacer mounted on the conveyance stand.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[1. About the overall configuration]
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the continuous diffusion processing apparatus of the present invention. This continuous diffusion processing apparatus is an apparatus for performing diffusion processing on an object to be processed. For example, in the manufacture of solar cells using crystalline silicon, this is an apparatus for adhering impurities made of a predetermined element on the surface of a silicon wafer (object to be processed) and diffusing the impurities into the wafer. . In FIG. 1, the description of the object to be processed is omitted.

  The continuous diffusion processing apparatus heats the inside of the heating furnace 1, the transport base 50 on which a plurality of plate-shaped workpieces are placed, the cylindrical heating furnace 1, the transport apparatus 2 that transports the plurality of transport bases 50. A heating device 3 having a heater 30 and a gas supply / discharge device 4 for supplying gas into the heating furnace 1 and discharging the gas in the heating furnace 1 are provided. Furthermore, the continuous diffusion processing apparatus includes a control device 5 that controls each device such as the transport device 2. The longitudinal direction of the heating furnace 1 (the left-right direction in FIG. 1) and the direction in which the transport table 50 is transported coincide with each other, and this direction is referred to as the front-rear direction. Moreover, the horizontal direction orthogonal to the direction in which the conveyance stand 50 is conveyed may be called the left-right direction.

[2. About schematic configuration of transfer table 50]
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the transport table 50. The transport base 50 includes a main body 51 on which a plurality of plate-like workpieces W are vertically placed at equal intervals and a wheel 52 attached to the main body 51 and rolling on the bottom surface of the heating furnace 1. Have.
The workpiece W is placed on the main body 51 in a posture orthogonal to the front-rear direction. The main body 51 is assembled as a rectangular parallelepiped frame by a plurality of cylindrical rod members 51a. The detailed configuration of the transport table 50 will be described later.

[3. Regarding the configuration of the heating furnace 1, the conveying device 2 and the heating device 3]
FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view for explaining the heating furnace 1, the conveying device 2 and the heating device 3. In FIG. 3, the description of the object to be processed is omitted.
The heating furnace 1 (generally referred to as a furnace core tube) is long in the front-rear direction, and has a configuration that extends linearly from a carry-in unit 11 that carries the carrying table 50 to a carry-out unit 12 that carries the carrying table 50 out. The heating furnace 1 is made of quartz glass or ceramics, and is made of a cylinder having a circular cross section. The heating furnace 1 is installed on a stage 6 (see FIG. 1) included in the continuous diffusion processing apparatus.
The heating furnace 1 is a single piece without interruption from the carry-in part 11 to the carry-out part 12, and prevents the internal gas from leaking. The carry-in part 11 at one end of the heating furnace 1 and the carry-out part 12 at the other end are open. However, gas curtains are formed at both ends in the heating furnace 1 by the purge gas described later, and the atmosphere in the heating furnace 1 is blocked from the atmosphere outside the heating furnace 1.

The conveyance device 2 sequentially carries the conveyance table 50 into the heating furnace 1 from the carry-in unit 11, conveys the conveyed conveyance table 50 through the heating furnace 1, and further carries out the conveyance table 50 sequentially from the carry-out unit 12. It has a function. 4 and 5 are explanatory diagrams of the transfer device 2. FIG.
The conveying apparatus 2 has a pushing drive unit 21 that conveys the plurality of conveying tables 50 in a row in the heating furnace 1. The push-in drive unit 21 includes a pusher 22 that comes into contact with the transport table 50, a movable piece 23 to which the pusher 22 is attached, and a drive device 24 that reciprocates the movable piece 23 in the front-rear direction. The pusher 22, the movable piece 23, and the driving device 24 are arranged on the stage 6 (see FIG. 1), and these are installed outside the heating furnace 1.

The drive device 24 repeats the forward and backward movement of the movable piece 23 along the front-rear direction under the control of the control device 5. As the movable piece 23 moves forward (see FIG. 5), the pusher 22 pushes the transport base 50 toward the carry-in portion 11 side.
According to the transport device 2, by pushing the transport base 50 (50-1 in FIGS. 4 and 5) located in the zone A0 on the upstream side (near side) of the carry-in unit 11 toward the carry-in unit 11 side, While carrying the said conveyance stand 50-1 in the heating furnace 1, the conveyance stand 50 (50-2, 50-3) previously carried in by this carry-in conveyance stand 50-1 is the carrying-out part 12 side. The plurality of transfer platforms 50 (50-2, 50-3) can be simultaneously transferred in a row in the heating furnace 1. And the conveyance stand 50 can be carried out from the carrying-out part 12 to zone A4 outside the heating furnace 1.

The stroke S of the pusher 22, that is, the pushing stroke S of the conveying table 50 by the pushing drive unit 21 is substantially the same as the length L of the conveying table 50. Note that substantially the same means that the margin K (space) required for placing the transport table 50 in the zone A0 on the upstream side of the load-in part 11 during the preparatory work for transporting the transport table 50 into the heating furnace 1, This means that the entire length included in the length L of the transport table 50 includes the case where the stroke S is the same.
Further, in FIG. 5, the left end portion of the transfer table 50-1 carried into the heating furnace 1 by one pushing stroke S substantially coincides with the left end portion of the heating furnace 1 in the front-rear direction position. . In this way, it is possible to carry the conveyance table 50 one by one from the loading unit 11 into the heating furnace 1 and carry the conveyance table 50 one by one from the heating furnace 1 by one pushing stroke S. Become.

In FIG. 3, the heating device 3 includes a plurality of heaters 30 provided on the outer periphery of the heating furnace 1 and arranged in the front-rear direction, and a cylindrical heat insulating material 31 that covers the heating furnace 1 from the outer peripheral side together with each heater 30. ing. The heating device 3 heats the inside of the heating furnace 1 and heats an object to be processed that is mounted on the transport table 50 that passes through the inside of the heating furnace 1.
As will be described later, the inside of the heating furnace 1 is divided into a plurality of zones, and the heater 30 is provided on the outer peripheral side of the zones A1-2, A2-1, A2-2, and A3-1 in the plurality of zones. Are provided. The heater 30 is a cylindrical heater, for example.

The heat insulating material 31 is installed at least on the outer peripheral side of the zones A1-2, A2-1, A2-2, and A3-1. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the diffusion processing apparatus. The heat insulating material 31 has a cylindrical shape as a whole, but has a divided structure, is cut along the front-rear direction (the paper surface direction in FIG. 6), and has a long divided surface 32 in the front-rear direction.
Similar to the heat insulating material 31, the ring-shaped heater 30 has a divided structure cut along the front-rear direction, and is divided at the same position as the dividing surface 32.
On the outer peripheral side of the heat insulating material 31, a hinge portion 33 and a lock portion 34 are provided on both sides in the diameter direction across the dividing surface 32. By changing the lock portion 34 from the fixed state (the state shown in FIG. 6) to the fixed release state, the heat insulating material 31 having a split structure can be developed around the hinge portion 33. By making the heat insulating material 31 and the heater 30 into a divided structure, the heating furnace 1 inside the heat insulating material 31 can be detached and the maintenance of the apparatus becomes easy.

In FIG. 3, a plurality of partition members 7 are provided in the heating furnace 1. The partition member 7 divides the space from the carry-in part 11 to the carry-out part 12 in the heating furnace 1 into a plurality of zones in the front-rear direction. In this embodiment, the five partition members 7 divide the zone into six zones A1-1, A1-2, A2-1, A2-2, A3-1, and A3-1.
The first and second zones A1-1 and A1-2 are the temperature rising zone A1, in which the gas curtain is formed in the first zone A1-1 and in the second zone A1-2. The inside of the furnace is heated by the heater 30 provided on the outer peripheral side, and the temperature of the workpiece W passing through the second zone A1-2 is increased.

The third and fourth zones A2-1 and A2-2 are soaking zones A2 in which the furnace temperature is kept constant, and the furnace temperature is set to, for example, 850 to 580 by the heater 30 provided on the outer peripheral side thereof. The temperature of the workpiece passing through the soaking zone A2 is kept constant at 900 ° C. In 3rd zone A2-1, the gas for performing a diffusion process is supplied in a furnace, and in 4th zone A2-2, with respect to the to-be-processed object which the impurity contained in the said gas adhered to the surface Actual diffusion processing is performed.
The fifth and sixth zones A3-1 and A3-2 are the temperature drop zone A3. In the fifth zone A3-1, the temperature in the furnace is set using the heater 30 provided on the outer peripheral side thereof. The gas curtain is formed in the sixth zone A3-2 by gradually lowering the temperature from a predetermined temperature.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the heating furnace 1 for explaining the inside of the heating furnace 1. FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the partition wall member 7. The cover 13 shown in FIG. 8 will be described later. The partition member 7 includes a plate-like wall portion 7a, and left and right leg portions 7b that are fixed to the lower portion of the wall portion 7a and raise the wall portion 7a. The wall 7a is formed with an opening 7c that allows passage of the transfer table 50 on which the workpiece W is placed. The wall 7a is formed with a plurality of through holes 7d. In addition to a supply pipe 44 described later, a temperature sensor cable (storage tube), a pressure sensor cable (storage tube), and each zone Insert pipes for sampling gas.
Each partition member 7 is installed in the heating furnace 1 so as to be movable along the front-rear direction, and the length of each zone in the front-rear direction can be changed. That is, the leg 7 b is placed on the bottom of the heating furnace 1, and the partition member 7 is not permanently fixed to the inner peripheral surface of the heating furnace 1.

[4. About the gas supply / discharge device 4]
In FIG. 1, the gas supply / discharge device 4 includes a gas supply device 41 that supplies gas into the heating furnace 1, and a gas discharge device 42 that discharges the gas in the heating furnace 1 to the outside of the heating furnace 1. Yes.
In FIG. 3, the gas supply device 41 includes a gas source 43 and a supply pipe 44 connected to the gas source 43 and extending into the heating furnace 1. In the present embodiment, a plurality of supply pipes 44 that pass from the gas source 43 to the carry-in unit 11 side and a plurality of supply pipes 44 that pass from the carry-out unit 12 side are provided.

  Each supply pipe 44 is provided with a plurality of jet outlets (holes) for jetting gas, and the positions of the jet outlets in the front-rear direction are different for each supply pipe 44. Further, different types of gas are sent from the gas source 43 for each supply pipe 44, and different types of gas are ejected for each supply pipe 44. For this reason, it is possible to supply different gases for each of a plurality of zones existing in the front-rear direction. The gas supply device 41 has a valve 49a that adjusts the flow rate of the gas supplied to each zone for each zone.

  In the present embodiment (see FIG. 3), nitrogen gas (purge gas) is supplied to the first zone A1-1 in order to form a gas curtain. In the second zone A1-2 for raising the temperature in the furnace, a gas containing nitrogen and oxygen is supplied. A gas containing phosphorus oxychloride and oxygen is supplied to the third zone A2-1 as a gas for performing the diffusion treatment. A gas containing nitrogen and oxygen is supplied to the fourth zone A2-2 where the diffusion treatment is actually performed. In the fifth zone A3-1 where the temperature in the furnace is lowered, nitrogen gas is supplied. The sixth zone A3-2 is supplied with nitrogen gas (purge gas) to form a gas curtain. In addition, the kind of gas ejected in each zone can be changed according to the processing content etc.

According to the gas supply device 41, the gas for the diffusion treatment can be supplied to the soaking zone A2 for performing the diffusion treatment on the object to be processed, and the temperature increase zone A1 and the temperature decrease zone A3. A predetermined gas can be supplied.
And in soaking zone A2, in 3rd zone A2-1, by making a to-be-processed object stay in the gas containing the impurity (phosphorus oxychloride) of predetermined density | concentration, the said impurity is made into the surface of a to-be-processed object. Adhere. And in 4th zone A2-2, an impurity is diffused with respect to a to-be-processed object by predetermined distribution (predetermined diffusion depth).

  FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of the gas discharge device 42. The gas discharge device 42 includes a discharger (pump) 47 that discharges gas, and a discharge pipe 48 that is connected to the discharger 47 and extends into the heating furnace 1. A part of the discharge pipe 48 is installed at the bottom of the heating furnace 1. From the discharger 47, a plurality of discharge pipes 48 passing through the carry-in part 11 side and a plurality of discharge pipes 48 passing through the carry-out part 12 side are provided. Further, the gas discharge device 42 has a valve 49b for adjusting the flow rate of the gas discharged from the heating furnace 1 for each zone.

  FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of the bottom of the heating furnace 1. In the heating furnace 1, each of the discharge pipes 48 is provided with a plurality of suction ports (holes) 48 a for sucking gas, and the positions of the suction ports 48 a in the front-rear direction are different for each discharge pipe 48. Further, different types of gas are sucked for each discharge pipe 44, and different types of gas flow for each discharge pipe 48. For this reason, different gas for every zone can be discharged | emitted out of a furnace.

An exhaust structure 45 is provided at the bottom of the heating furnace 1, and the exhaust structure 45 has an exhaust passage 46 for leading the gas in the heating furnace 1 out of the heating furnace 1. . In the present embodiment, the exhaust passage 46 includes the discharge pipe 48. That is, the exhaust pipe 48 is stored in the exhaust structure 45.
The exhaust structure 45 includes a box body that has left and right side walls 45 b that are long in the front-rear direction and an upper wall 45 a that is long in the front-rear direction, and stores three discharge pipes 48. A plurality of through holes 45c are formed in the upper wall 45a. The gas in each zone passes through the through hole 45c and the suction port 48a and is discharged to the outside of the heating furnace 1.

In the case of the gas discharge device 42 (see FIG. 9) of the present embodiment, in the first zone A1-1, nitrogen gas forming a gas curtain is sucked. In the second zone A1-2, a gas containing nitrogen and oxygen supplied into the furnace is sucked. In the third zone A2-1, a gas (gas containing phosphorus oxychloride and oxygen) for performing the diffusion treatment is sucked. In the fourth zone A2-2 where the diffusion treatment is performed, a gas containing nitrogen and oxygen supplied into the furnace is sucked. In the fifth zone A3-1, nitrogen gas supplied into the furnace is sucked. And in 6th zone A3-2, the nitrogen gas which formed the gas curtain is attracted | sucked.
According to the gas discharge device 42, it is possible to discharge excess gas in the soaking zone A2 for performing the diffusion treatment, and it is possible to discharge the gas in the temperature raising zone A1 and the temperature lowering zone A3.

As described above, the gas supply / discharge device 4 including the gas discharge device 42 and the gas supply device 41 can supply the gas individually for each zone and discharge the gas individually for each zone.
Moreover, the supply pipe 44 of the gas supply apparatus 41 is removable, and can be exchanged for a supply pipe 44 having a different arrangement pattern of the ejection ports. Moreover, the upper wall 45a and the exhaust pipe 48 of the exhaust structure 45 can be removed, and can be exchanged for the upper wall 45a and the exhaust pipe 48 having different arrangement patterns of the through holes 45c and the suction ports 48a.

Further, the exhaust structure 45 has a function of guiding the transfer table 50 in addition to the function of discharging the gas in the heating furnace 1 to the outside.
As shown in FIG. 9, the exhaust structure portion 45 is arranged linearly and continuously along the front-rear direction in the heating furnace 1. The exhaust structure 45 is also extended to the zone A0 and the zone A4 outside the heating furnace 1 (see FIG. 3). In this way, the exhaust structure unit 45 is linearly arranged along the conveyance direction of the conveyance table 50, and the plurality of conveyance tables 50 conveyed by the conveyance device 2 are carried out from the carry-in unit 11 along the front-rear direction. To the part 12.

This guide function will be specifically described. As shown in FIG. 10, the exhaust structure 45 includes a bottom plate 45d that is long in the front-rear direction, in addition to the left and right side walls 45b and the upper wall 45a. On both the left and right sides of the bottom plate 45d, there are formed running surfaces 45e extending from the side wall 45b to the left and right sides and continuing in the front-rear direction. The left and right wheel portions 52 of the transport table 50 roll on the traveling surface 45, and the transport table 50 is in a state of straddling the left and right side walls 45b and the upper wall 45a.
As will be described later, the transport table 50 includes a guide block 53 that is in sliding contact with the side wall 45 b, and the transport table 50 is linearly guided along the exhaust structure 45 by the guide block 53. .
As described above, the exhaust structure 45 having a gas discharge function can also be used as a guide for guiding the transport table 50 in the front-rear direction.

  The exhaust structure 45 can be divided into a plurality of parts in the front-rear direction. In the embodiment of FIG. 9, the upper wall 45a and the side wall 45b have the same six divisions as the number of zone divisions, and the division positions coincide with the zone boundaries. The bottom plate 45d is divided at the center and has a two-part structure. The upper wall 45a and the side wall 45b can be fixed to each of the two divided bottom plates 45d. A split portion (joint surface) between the bottom plates 45d is a tapered surface 45f for easy assembly. By setting the joint surface to the tapered surface 45, the joint surface is inclined with respect to the traveling direction of the wheel portion 52, and the wheel portion 52 can smoothly get over the joint surface.

[5. About Control Device 5]
The control device 5 is configured by a computer having a processing device (CPU) and a storage device, and the processing device executes a computer program stored in the storage device, whereby the transfer device 2 (drive device 24), heating Each device such as the device 2 (heater 30) is controlled.
For example, the heating device 3 includes temperature sensors that detect the temperatures of the zones A1-2, A2-1, A2-2, and A3-1, and the control device 5 is based on the detection results of the temperature sensors. Controls each heater 30 to individually adjust the temperature in the furnace of each zone. With the function of the control device 5, the atmospheric temperature in the heating furnace 1 can be accurately controlled for each zone.

In addition, the gas supply / discharge device 4 includes pressure sensors that detect the pressures of the zones A1-2, A2-1, A2-2, and A3-1, and control is performed based on the detection results of the pressure sensors. The apparatus 5 includes one of a flow rate of gas supplied into the furnace (the valve 49a for adjusting the supply flow rate: FIG. 3) and a flow rate of gas discharged from the furnace (the valve 49b for adjusting the discharge flow rate: FIG. 9) or By controlling both, the pressure in the furnace of each zone is adjusted individually. With the function of the control device 5, the pressure in the heating furnace 1 can be accurately controlled for each zone.
[6. Regarding other configurations of the diffusion processing apparatus]

In FIG. 3, the supply pipe 44 of the gas supply device 41 is disposed in the upper part of the heating furnace 1, and the discharge pipe 48 of the gas discharge apparatus 42 is installed in the lower part of the heating furnace 1. Gas flows while spreading in each zone from the top to the bottom.
Therefore, in the third zone A2-1 and the fourth zone A2-2, which are zones for performing the diffusion process, the transport path 14 through which the transport table passes in the zones A2-1 and A2-2 (see FIG. 8). A cover 13 is provided to cover from above and from both the left and right sides. This cover 13 is installed between partition members 7 and 7 adjacent in the front-rear direction. A large number of through holes 15 are formed in the upper part of the cover 13 and on the left and right sides, and the gas ejected from the supply pipe 44 passes through the through holes 15 and is discharged from the discharge pipe 48.

  In the zones A2-1 and A2-2, as described above, the gas supplied from the upper part of the heating furnace 1 flows toward the lower part (conveying table 50) while spreading, and the gas flow may be disturbed. According to the cover 13, the gas passing through the through hole 15 is rectified to prevent the gas flow from being disturbed, and to homogenize the gas concentration (atmosphere) around the workpiece W placed on the transfer table 50. Can do. For this reason, it becomes possible to homogenize the several to-be-processed object W which carried out the diffusion process much more.

In FIG. 3, as described above, the inside of the heating furnace 1 is partitioned by the partition wall member 7 into the temperature rising zone A1, the temperature equalizing zone A2, and the temperature decreasing zone A3 from the carry-in portion 11 side.
Therefore, a bypass passage 17 is provided for supplying nitrogen gas in the sixth zone A3-2 in the temperature lowering zone A3 to the first zone A1-1 in the temperature raising zone A1. The bypass flow path 17 consists of a pipe. Further, a fan 18 for forcibly discharging nitrogen gas is installed on the outer peripheral side of the sixth zone A3-2. The nitrogen gas discharged by the fan 18 passes through the bypass flow path 17. Supplied to the first zone A1-1. The bypass channel 17 is connected to a supply pipe 44 through which nitrogen gas flows to form a gas curtain, and the nitrogen gas in the bypass channel 17 is supplied to the first zone A1-1. Alternatively, they may be mixed. Note that the sixth zone A3-2 is included in the temperature drop zone A3, and since the workpiece W after being heated passes through, the nitrogen gas in the sixth zone A3-2 is the first zone A1-. 1 higher than the nitrogen gas.

  According to this bypass flow path 17, the waste heat of 6th zone A3-2 (to-be-processed object W used as high temperature) can be given to 1st zone A1-1, and it heats by 2nd zone A1-2. The object to be processed can be preheated by this waste heat, and the power consumption required for heating the object to be processed can be reduced.

  Further, among the exhaust pipes 48 of the gas exhaust device 42, for the purpose of using waste heat, the exhaust pipe 48 (for example, the exhaust pipe 48 for flowing the gas in the soaking zone A2) through which the gas that has reached a high temperature flows is supplied. Of the supply pipes 44 of the apparatus 41, a supply pipe 44 for flowing a gas containing phosphorus oxychloride may be provided side by side, and the pipes 48 and 44 may be surrounded by a common heat insulating material. In this case, the heat of the discharge pipe 48 can be given to the gas containing phosphorus oxychloride, and the power consumption of the heater necessary for preventing the condensation of phosphorus oxychloride can be reduced. The pipes 48 and 44 to be provided side by side exist outside the heating furnace 1.

[7. Regarding the configuration of the carrier 50]
The transport table 50 will be further described. 2 and 10, the transport table 50 includes a main body portion 51 on which the workpiece W is placed and a wheel portion 52 that rolls on the bottom surface (bottom plate 45 d) of the heating furnace 1. Since the transport table 50 passes through the heating furnace 1 that is at a high temperature, it requires heat resistance. For this reason, the main body 51 and the wheel 52 are all made of glass or ceramics, for example, quartz glass or nitriding. Made of silicon.

  The main body 51 is configured by a bar member 51a as a rectangular parallelepiped frame, and includes an upper portion 61 that holds the left and right side edges of the workpiece W, and a lower portion 62 that supports the workpiece W held by the upper portion 61 from below. have. A plurality of vertical grooves 63 are formed in the bar members 51a on both the left and right sides of the upper portion 61, and the workpiece W is erected by sandwiching the side ends of the workpiece W in the vertical grooves 63. Held in posture. And the to-be-processed object W will be in the state mounted on the bar member 51a extended in the front-back direction which the lower part 62 has. About 100 workpieces W can be placed on the main body 51.

The wheel portions 52 are provided at four positions on the front, rear, left and right of the main body portion 51, and each wheel portion 52 has a rolling bearing 60. 2 and 11, each wheel portion 52 includes an axle 56 that protrudes outward in the left-right direction from a guide block 53 that is fixed to the left and right sides of the lower portion 62, and a recessed portion on the outer peripheral surface that is attached to the axle 56. An inner ring 57 having a curved inner rolling surface 57a, an outer ring 58 provided on the radially outer side of the inner ring 57 and having an outer rolling surface 58a on the inner circumferential surface, and the inner ring 57 and the outer ring 58 are interposed. A plurality of balls (rolling elements) 59 that roll on the inner and outer rolling surfaces 57a and 58a are provided.
In the present embodiment, the rolling bearing 60 having the inner ring 57, the outer ring 58 and the ball 59 is an angular ball bearing. Moreover, the outer ring | wheel 58 is used as a member which rolls the bottom face (bottom plate 45d) of the heating furnace 1. FIG. Furthermore, the rolling bearing 60 does not have a cage for holding the balls 59, and is a full ball bearing.

  A hole 56a penetrating in the vertical direction is formed at the tip of the axle 56, and a pin 65 is inserted into the hole 56a. The head 65a of the pin 65 protrudes from the outer peripheral surface of the axle 56, the inner ring 57 is provided between the head 65a and the guide block 53, and the inner ring 57 is prevented from coming off on both sides in the left-right direction. It is attached to the axle 56 in a state. The pin 65 prevents the inner ring 57 from falling off and enables the rolling bearing 60 to be assembled and disassembled for maintenance.

The outer ring 58 is prevented from coming off to both sides in the left-right direction by the shoulder 58b on the inner side in the left-right direction (left side in FIG. 11) being positioned between the ball 59 and the lower part 62 (guide block 53).
An inner diameter D1 of a shoulder portion 58c on the outer side in the left-right direction (right side in FIG. 11) of the outer ring 58 is set to be substantially the same as or larger than the inner diameter of the outer raceway surface 58a. This is because, as described above, the rolling bearing 60 is a material having high heat resistance, and the material generally has a small coefficient of linear expansion. That is, for example, in a general deep groove rolling bearing used in a normal temperature environment, a steel material is used, and the rolling bearing can be assembled using thermal expansion, but a rolling bearing made of a material having a small linear expansion coefficient is Assembling becomes difficult. However, according to the rolling bearing 60 of the present embodiment, the work of incorporating the ball 59 between the inner ring 57 and the outer ring 58 is simplified.

In FIG. 10, as described above, the exhaust structure 45 is provided at the bottom of the heating furnace 1, and the exhaust structure 45 is linearly arranged along the transport direction of the transport table 50.
The main body 51 of the transport base 50 is located above the exhaust structure 45, and the guide block 53 is disposed with a gap between the left and right sides of the exhaust structure 45 (side wall 45b). Yes. A space portion is formed between the left and right guide blocks 53 and 53, and a wheel portion 52 that rotates independently is provided in each of the left and right guide blocks 53. That is, it does not have a long axle common to the left and right wheel portions 52, 52.
For this reason, the exhaust structure 45 can be located in the space between the guide blocks 53 and 53. Further, the arm of the transfer robot for taking out the workpiece W from the transfer table 50 can be positioned in the space at a place different from the diffusion processing apparatus, which is useful for automating the operation by the transfer robot.

Due to the guide block 53 and the exhaust structure portion 45, the transport table 50 is placed across the exhaust structure portion 45 from side to side, and the transport table 50 transported by the transport device 2 is guided in the front-rear direction. When the guide block 53 comes into contact with the left and right side walls 45b of the exhaust structure 45, the transport table 50 is guided without derailing in the left-right direction. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 2, the contact part to the side wall 45b of the guide block 53 is the inclined surface 53b which protrudes toward the center part 53a from the front-back direction both sides. Thereby, the contact area to the side wall 45b is narrowed, and the contact resistance is reduced.
Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the wheel portion 52 is located below the workpiece W and is installed in a range narrower than the width of the workpiece W. Thereby, the conveyance stand 50 is prevented from becoming large in the left-right direction.

In FIG. 3, the length in the front-rear direction of the transport table 50 is set to be smaller than the length in the front-rear direction of each zone defined by the partition member 7. In the present embodiment, the partition members 7 are installed at equal intervals, so that each zone is set to the same length, and the length of each zone and the total length of the two transport tables 50 are as follows: It is the same.
According to this structure, each conveyance stand 50 is not located over three continuous zones. For example, one transport table is provided in the third zone A2-1 to which a gas containing phosphorus oxychloride is supplied, the fourth zone A2-2 in which the diffusion treatment is actually performed, and the fifth zone A3-1 in which the temperature is lowered. 50 does not straddle.

Further, the pushing stroke S of the transport table 50 by the push-in driving unit 21 (see FIGS. 4 and 5) is made substantially the same as the length of the transport table 50, and the end of the transport table 50 in the front-rear direction (one side) Side) coincides with the boundary between zones (the state in FIG. 3).
As a result, it is possible to carry the carriage 50 into each zone one by one and to carry out the carriage 50 from each zone one by one by the pushing stroke S.
And it becomes possible to arrange | position all the to-be-processed objects W mounted on the same conveyance stand 50 in 4th zone A2-2 for every stroke, for example. For this reason, the diffusion treatment is performed on all the workpieces W placed on the same conveyance table 50 under the same atmosphere conditions in the fourth zone A2-2, and the quality of the plurality of workpieces W is made uniform. can do. In the present embodiment, two transport tables 50 are located in each zone for each stroke.

FIG. 12 is a side view of the two transport tables 50, 50 transported in a row. The right conveyance table 50 comes into contact with the front end portion of the adjacent conveyance table 50 on the pusher 22 side (left side), is pushed by the front end portion, and proceeds to the unloading portion 12 side (right side). Further, although not shown in the drawings, the right conveyance table 50 comes into contact with the rear end portion of the adjacent conveyance table 50 on the carry-out unit 12 side, pushes the rear end portion, and advances the adjacent conveyance table 50.
As described above, the plurality of transfer tables 50 are conveyed in the heating furnace 1 in a row in the front-rear direction, but between the workpieces W and W mounted on the adjacent transfer tables 50 and 50, respectively. A large gap is generated in the front-rear direction by the bar members 51a, 51a constituting the transport table 50. This gap is larger than the pitch between the workpieces W and W placed on the same transport table 50.
If such a gap exists, the gas flow in the heating furnace 1 is disturbed by the gap, and is placed on the workpiece W placed on the end side of the transfer table 50 and the central portion. There is a possibility that the processing quality may vary with the processed object W.

  Therefore, spacers 54 are provided at both ends in the front-rear direction of each transport base 50. The spacer 54 is integrally attached to the main body 51. The spacer 54 has a vertically long first portion 54a attached to the main body 51, and a second portion 54b extending in the horizontal direction from the upper end of the first portion 54a. The upper surface of the second portion 54b is located at the same height as the upper surface of the workpiece W supported by the main body 51, and the width in the left-right direction of the second portion 54b is the left and right of the workpiece W. It is the same as the width of the direction.

  With the spacers 54, 54, in the heating furnace 1, the workpiece W placed on one (the left side in FIG. 12) carrier table 50 and the other adjacent (right side in FIG. 12) carrier table 50. A large gap generated between the workpiece W and the workpiece W is filled. For this reason, it is possible to prevent the gas flow in the heating furnace 1 from being disturbed by the spacer 54, and the processing quality of the workpiece W can be made uniform in the diffusion processing. Further, in each of the transport tables 50, the second portion 54b of the spacer 54 can be used as a handle that an operator holds.

  In addition, in FIG. 10, the transport table 50 includes a brush 55 that contacts the bottom surface of the heating furnace 1 (the top surface of the bottom plate 45 d). Furthermore, in this embodiment, it also has the brush 55 which contacts the exhaust structure part 45 (upper surface of the upper wall 45a). These brushes 55 are attached to the lower part of the transport table 50, and when the transport device 2 transports the transport table 50, the brush 55 removes foreign matter deposited on the bottom surface of the heating furnace 1 and the upper surface of the exhaust structure 45. It can be swept out of the heating furnace 1. The brush 55 is constituted by a bundle of fibers made of quartz.

[8. Regarding the continuous diffusion processing apparatus of this embodiment]
According to the continuous diffusion processing apparatus configured as described above, the object to be processed W placed on the transfer table 50 can be diffused while being conveyed in the heating furnace 1, and the diffusion process of the object to be processed W can be performed. Continuously executed, productivity can be increased compared to the conventional batch system. For example, it can have a processing capacity four times that of a batch system.
Then, the pushing drive unit 21 of the transfer device 2 pushes the transfer table 50 positioned on the upstream side of the carry-in unit 11 to sequentially transfer the transfer table 50 into the heating furnace 1, and the transferred transfer table 50, the carrier 50 previously carried in can be pushed toward the carry-out unit 12 to be conveyed in the heating furnace 1 in a row. For this reason, it is not necessary to install the conveying apparatus 2 in the heating furnace 1 and can be installed outside the heating furnace 1. As a result, it is possible to prevent the heating furnace 1 from becoming large due to factors unrelated to the size of the workpiece W, and it is possible to prevent the entire apparatus from becoming large.
Furthermore, since the inside of the heating furnace 1 is at a high temperature, conventionally, for the portion installed in the heating furnace of the transfer device, a configuration and a material for withstanding the high temperature are necessary, but in this embodiment, Since it is not necessary to install the conveying apparatus 2 in the heating furnace 1, such a structure and material are unnecessary.

Moreover, the inside of the heating furnace 1 is divided into a plurality of zones by the partition member 7, and the gas is individually supplied for each zone and the gas is individually discharged for each zone. For this reason, in each zone, the processing content and processing conditions can be made different for the workpiece W.
Specifically, in the third zone A2-1, gas for diffusion treatment is supplied, and the fourth zone A2-2 is almost sealed in the partitioned area. Therefore, the atmosphere such as the gas concentration in the third zone A2-1 can be controlled with high accuracy, and the atmosphere in the fourth zone A2-2 can be controlled with high accuracy, so that the quality is high. The workpiece W can be obtained. Furthermore, all the workpieces W can have the same heat history and the same gas history, and the quality can be kept constant.

In addition, in the conventional batch type diffusion treatment apparatus, it was necessary to raise and lower the temperature before and after the diffusion treatment, and the energy loss was large. However, according to the diffusion treatment apparatus of this embodiment, the inside of the furnace Since the temperature can be kept constant, it can contribute to energy saving.
Furthermore, in temperature rising zone A1 and soaking zone A2, since there is no need for temperature fall, a heat insulating material with high heat insulation performance can be used, and the power consumption in the heating apparatus 3 can be reduced.

  Moreover, since the conveyance stand 50 is equipped with the wheel part 52 which rolls the bottom face of the heating furnace 1, generation | occurrence | production of the dust by abrasion in the heating furnace 1 can be suppressed compared with the conventional structure with sliding. . That is, it is possible to suppress the generation of dust that adversely affects the processing quality of the processing object W when the processing object W on the transport table 50 is transported.

The diffusion processing apparatus of the present invention is not limited to the form shown in the drawings, but may be other forms within the scope of the present invention. Although the cross section of the heating furnace 1 has been described as a circle, a rectangle other than a circle may be used. In the case of a circular shape, as shown in FIG. 7, exhaust that guides the wheel portion 52 and the carrier 50 in a dead space between the rectangular workpiece W and the inner peripheral surface of the heating furnace 1. The structure part 45 can be arrange | positioned and the space in the heating furnace 1 can be utilized effectively.
Moreover, although the case where the length of each zone (that is, the distance between the adjacent partition members 7 and 7) is the same as the total length of the two transport tables 50 has been described, other lengths may be used. The length of the zone may be the same as the total length of the n (n = natural number) transport tables 50.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1: Heating furnace, 2: Conveyance apparatus, 3: Heating apparatus, 4: Gas supply / discharge apparatus, 5: Control apparatus, 7: Partition member, 11: Carry-in part, 12: Carry-out part, 13: Cover, 14: Conveyance path 15: Through hole, 17: Bypass flow path, 21: Push-in drive unit, 30: Heater, 31: Insulating material, 32: Dividing surface, 41: Gas supply device, 42: Gas discharge device, 45: Exhaust structure unit, 46: Exhaust flow path, 50: Transfer table, A1: Temperature increase zone, A2: Heat equalization zone, A3: Temperature decrease zone, S: Stroke, L: Length of transfer table, W: Workpiece

Claims (5)

A transport table on which a plurality of plate-shaped workpieces are placed;
A cylindrical heating furnace extending linearly from a carry-in section for carrying in the carry table to a carry-out section for carrying out the carry table;
A transfer device that sequentially carries the transfer table into the heating furnace from the carry-in unit, and sequentially carries out the transfer table that has been transferred through the heating furnace from the carry-out unit;
A discharge pipe for discharging the gas in the heating furnace to the outside of the furnace;
A gas discharge device connected to the discharge pipe;
A heating device for heating the object to be processed placed on the transfer table passing through the heating furnace,
The space from the carry-in part to the carry-out part in the heating furnace is divided into a plurality of zones for performing different treatments on the workpieces,
The discharge pipe extends from the inside of the heating furnace to the outside of the carry-in part and the carry-out part, and is configured to discharge the gas in the heating furnace to the outside of the furnace,
The exhaust pipe is provided with a suction port for sucking the gas in the heating furnace for each zone,
The exhaust pipe extends as reversed outside of each said heating furnace toward each other toward the center along the extending direction of the furnace, by the gas discharge device, the center position of the gas in the heating furnace A continuous diffusion treatment apparatus, characterized in that it is configured to discharge from the vicinity of the outside to the outside. The gas discharge device has a gas discharge device provided outside the heating furnace, and both ends of each discharge pipe and the gas discharge device are connected via a valve for adjusting the flow rate of the discharge gas. ,
The continuous apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a control device and a sensor for detecting each pressure for each of the zones, and individually adjusting the pressure in the heating furnace in each zone by controlling the exhaust gas valve. Diffusion processing device.   The said conveyance stand has a pair of moving means which assists the movement of the said conveyance stand in the bottom part, The said discharge pipe is arrange | positioned between the said pair of movement means in a heating furnace. 2. The continuous diffusion treatment apparatus according to 2. An exhaust structure provided with a box for storing the discharge pipe therein;
The exhaust structure is disposed between the pair of moving means, a through hole through which gas flows is formed in an upper wall covering an upper end, and the gas in the heating furnace passes through the through hole and passes through the exhaust pipe. The continuous-diffusion processing apparatus as described in any one of Claims 1-3 which flows in into the suction port.   The continuous diffusion process according to claim 4, wherein left and right side surfaces of the exhaust structure portion in the transport direction of the transport table have a guide function for linearly guiding a pair of moving means of the transport table in the transport direction. apparatus.