JPH0552693U - Plate heat treatment equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Construction] The present invention partitions the heat-treating chamber in a multi-layered manner by partitioning heating means inside the body at predetermined intervals, and heat medium heated or cooled outside the body The present invention relates to a plate-shaped heat treatment apparatus for performing heat treatment of heating / cooling on an object to be treated, which is individually forced into each heat treatment chamber and is heat-cooled. [Effect] There is no element of dust generation, and a plurality of objects to be processed can be heat-treated with high quality and accurately in a short time, and the area occupied by the device in the factory can be small.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial application]

 The present invention relates to a plate heat treatment apparatus.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 Thick film integrated circuits that are formed by forming a predetermined circuit pattern on semiconductor parts or ceramics substrates by screen printing and firing, or circuits such as glass substrates for liquid crystal display devices that have alignment films or deflection films In the heat treatment of the converted electronic components, the quality of the electronic components is significantly deteriorated by the adhesion of dust, so it is necessary to perform the heat treatment in a clean atmosphere.

For this reason, in general, a measure is adopted in which the cleanliness of the atmosphere is 10 class or less, that is, the number of fine particles having a particle size of 0.5 μm is 10 or less in one cubic feed.

When the quality of the object to be processed is deteriorated due to surface oxidation or nitriding, it is necessary to perform heat treatment in a vacuum or an atmosphere of an inert gas. Therefore, an infrared heating method with a high degree of cleanliness has been adopted from the initial production method by hot air heating, which tends to generate dust, and various attempts have been made to eliminate the dust source.

As a method of heat treatment, a cassette system in which dozens of substrates are loaded into a dedicated container and placed in a heat treatment furnace, or a carrier device such as a chain or a belt conveyor is used in a heat treatment furnace. A continuous method in which the material is passed through and a heat treatment method in which the processed material is placed on a hot plate are generally used.

13 and 14 show an example of a cassette used for the heat treatment, FIG. 13 is a sectional view of one example, and FIG. 14 is a perspective view of another example. In FIG. 13, a cassette 50 is formed by a main body frame 51 having a through hole 53 in the bottom and a workpiece support means 52, and accommodates 20 to 30 workpieces W. The arrows represent the circulation of heat in the furnace described below. In Fig. 14, a bottom frame 57 and a ceiling frame 56, which are notched in the center, are connected in a box shape at the four corners with columns 58, and each column 58 is a workpiece-carrying part that is carved into a shelf at the same interval inside. The workpiece W has 59, and the four corners of the workpiece W are placed on the workpiece placement portions 59 as shown by the phantom lines.

FIG. 15 is a schematic sectional view showing an example of a furnace for heat treatment using such a cassette. The furnace 60 is composed of an infrared heater 62 inside a body frame 61, and the heater heat is circulated in the furnace 60 as hot air by a fan (not shown). The cassette 50 or 55 accommodating the processed product is loaded into the furnace 60 from below and heat-treated, and is carried out in a batch system in which several tens of sheets are processed at a time. In the figure, the arrow U indicates the loading of the cassette, and the arrow D indicates the ejection direction. This method requires a small area for installation, but it does not provide uniform heating, defective products are generated due to dust scattering, and the temperature rises rapidly due to variations in the internal temperature during temperature reduction. There is a disadvantage that the temperature cannot be lowered.

FIG. 17 is a schematic sectional view of a continuous heat treatment apparatus. In this apparatus, heat treatment is carried out while a workpiece W is placed on a placing means 73 provided on a chain or a belt conveyor 72 and passes through a furnace 70 having an infrared heater 71 installed therein. This method has good uniformity of heating, rapid heating is possible, it has excellent performance in terms of processing capacity, and it is also possible to suppress the generation of dust, but it has the disadvantage of requiring a considerable installation area. is there .

FIG. 18 is a schematic diagram of the inside of a continuous heat treatment apparatus of the hot plate type. In this, the hot plate 75 having a heating element (not shown) is used as a fixed beam, and the workpiece W is transported by the walking beam method by the moving beam 76 with the hook 76a for heat treatment. Good heating uniformity and fast heating and cooling rates. However, on the other hand, the workpiece W is easily warped, and if warped, an imbalance in the contact surface with the plate 75 may occur and heating uniformity may not be maintained, and dust may be generated due to contact with the plate 75. It has the disadvantage of requiring a large installation area.

As described above, the conventional technique completed as a result of various attempts is no exception, and although it has advantages and disadvantages, the disadvantages also become a factor that inhibits the generation of defective products and the improvement of productivity. ..

[0011]

[The purpose of the device]

 It is an object of the first invention to provide a plate-shaped heat treatment apparatus in which a plurality of plate-shaped bodies are heated to a uniform temperature in a clean atmosphere, and the occupied area is small.

In addition to the above, the second and third inventions have an object to provide a plate-shaped body heat treatment apparatus which has a high processing speed and therefore a large processing capacity.

[0013]

[Device configuration]

 In the first invention, a plurality of heat treatment chambers and a plurality of heat medium circulation spaces are alternately formed between a plurality of partition walls, and a treatment target support means for supporting a plate-shaped treatment subject in the heat treatment chamber is provided. The apparatus main body is provided to provide the heat medium heating means and the heat medium circulating supply means outside the apparatus main body, and the heat medium heated by the heat medium heating means is the heat medium circulating supply means. The present invention relates to a plate heat treatment apparatus configured to be supplied and circulated in a heat medium circulation space.

In a second aspect, a plurality of heat treatment chambers and a plurality of heat medium circulation spaces are alternately formed between a plurality of partition walls, and a workpiece support for supporting a plate-shaped workpiece in the heat treatment chamber is provided. A device is provided with a means, and a heat medium heating means, a heat medium cooling means, and a heat medium circulation supply means are provided outside the device body, and the heat medium heating means and the heat medium cooling means are provided. The heating medium is selectively operated, and by this selective operation, the heating medium heated by the heating means and the cooling medium cooled by the heating medium cooling means are selectively operated by the heating medium circulating supply means. The present invention relates to a plate heat treatment apparatus configured to be supplied to and circulate in the heat medium circulation space.

According to a third aspect of the invention, a plurality of heat treatment chambers and a plurality of heat medium circulation spaces are alternately formed between a plurality of partition walls provided with heating means, and a plate-shaped object is supported in the heat treatment chambers. The apparatus main body is configured by providing the object supporting means for performing heat treatment, the heating medium cooling means and the heat medium circulating supply means are provided outside the apparatus body, and the heating means, the heat medium cooling means, and the heat medium are provided. The circulation supply means selectively operates, and by this selection operation, the heating of the object to be treated by the heating means and the heat medium cooled by the heat medium cooling means are performed by the heat medium circulation supply means. The present invention relates to a plate heat treatment apparatus configured to be selectively cooled by being supplied to the medium circulation space and being circulated therein.

[0016]

【Example】

 Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. 1 is a vertical sectional view of the front of the heat treatment furnace, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG. First, an embodiment of the first invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

The device 1 in this example is a vertically long rectangular parallelepiped, and the main body is configured by providing a heat insulating material 4 between a metal outer frame 2a and an inner frame 2b except one side surface, and the remaining side. On the other side, a heat insulating material 4 is also provided inside a metal frame to form a door 3, which is joined to a main body frame 2a by a hinge (not shown). Inside the inner frame 2b, a multi-layered room 17 having a constant space 10 is formed in the lateral portions and the upper and lower portions of the inner wall, and a predetermined space 10a is formed between the rooms. Two support members 8 are provided on each of the left and right inner walls of each room 7 to support the object W to be processed.

Connection pipes 9 a and 9 b are provided at the bottom of the main body 1, and each pipe penetrates the inner frame 2 b inside the main body 1 and is connected to the space 10 on the side portion. The pipe 9a is an inlet for the heat medium 13 described later, and the other 9b is an outlet. Both pipes are extended, and the discharge side is connected to the heater 11 via a valve V ₁ and the inlet side is connected to a heater 11 via a valve V ₂ . A pump 12 is provided between the valve V ₁ and the discharge side.

A fluorinated liquid (GALDEN manufactured by Enimont) is used as the heat medium 13 of this example, and the heat medium 13 is the side space 10 inside the main body 1 and the space 10a between the rooms, and further, the heater 11 and the connecting pipe. A certain amount is filled in. As a result, the fluorinated liquid as a heat medium is sent into the heater 11 by the pump 12, and is heated there, passes through the entrance 9a and the spaces 10 and 10a inside the main body 1, and returns from the discharge port 9b to the pump 12 by a device. Circulate inside. The arrows in the spaces 10 and 10a indicate the traveling direction of the heat medium 13.

The far-infrared radiation material 6 is coated on the upper and lower inner surfaces of each room 7. This detail is shown in FIG. 3, which is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the circled portion A in FIG. 1 and is also a view common to the second device described later. As a result, the heat of the heated heat medium 13 is radiated to the object to be processed W through the member (aluminum or stainless steel plate) 5a forming the chamber 7. In FIG. 3, the vertical arrow indicates the flow of radiant energy from the heat medium during heating, and the broken line indicates the flow of radiant energy from the workpiece W during cooling. The reason for coating the far infrared radiation material 6 is that aluminum and stainless steel do not have a far infrared radiation function.

Due to such a structure, the object W to be processed is heated by infrared rays from both sides one by one, and is heat-treated one by one. Moreover, once the object to be processed is loaded into the furnace, the sliding, which is a factor of dust generation, does not occur after that, and the heat treatment is performed in a clean atmosphere in a windless state. High quality is guaranteed, and heat treatment in a specified atmosphere (including vacuum) is easy and the running cost is low.

When the workpiece W is a glass substrate for liquid crystal display device having a size of 400 mm ² × 1.1 mm and the heating temperature is 300 ° C., the time required to raise the temperature to this temperature is 5 minutes. Shorter than 60 minutes by hot air circulation heating method. The area occupied by the furnace body is also small, 0.7m x 0.7m. FIG. 4 is a graph showing a time-temperature curve in the heat treatment of the present embodiment, and FIG. 16 is a graph similar to FIG. 4 in the conventional hot air circulation heating method.

Next, an embodiment of the second invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 5. FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view of the front surface of the heat treatment furnace, in which a cooling function is added to the first invention. Hereinafter, the same reference numerals are used for the same members.

As shown in the figure, the device other than the cooling mechanism of the device 2 is exactly the same as the first invention, so the description of the parts other than the cooling mechanism will be omitted.

In this example, the pipes extending from the inlet 9a and the outlet 9b leading to the main body 2 are branched from the heater 11 side and connected to the heat exchanger 14 via valves V ₃ and V ₄ , respectively. There is. The heat exchanger 14 circulates water at the bottom as shown by the broken line arrow to cool the pipe passing through the inside. Therefore, during cooling, the valves V ₁ and V ₂ on the heater 11 side are closed, and the valves V ₃ and V ₄ on the heat exchanger 14 side are opened. On the contrary, when heating, the opening and closing of each valve is the reverse of when cooling.

Due to the combined cooling function, the coating layer of the far-infrared radiation material 6 absorbs far-infrared rays from the object to be processed during cooling, and transfers heat to the heat medium 13 through the components of the room 7 to cool it. Promote rejection. Therefore, in this example, in addition to the effect of the above-mentioned first embodiment, heating and cooling can be selectively used, and the cooling time is shortened, and the total time required for heat treatment is significantly shortened. , Further improvement in productivity can be expected. FIG. 6 is a graph showing a time-temperature curve in the heat treatment similar to the heat treatment of the above-mentioned embodiment according to this embodiment.

Next, an embodiment of the third invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 7 is a device sectional view similar to FIGS. 1 and 5. In this example, a partition wall 15 containing a heating element is used instead of the aluminum or stainless steel plate 5a in the above-described embodiment. A pump 12 and a heat exchanger 14 are provided outside the heat treatment furnace 19.

The partition wall 15 has a laminated structure as shown in an enlarged view in FIG. The heating element 17 is wrapped in a heat-resistant insulating cloth 16 and located at the center, and is sandwiched between thin plates 18 of aluminum or stainless steel to form a partition wall 15. The thickness t of the partition wall 15 is 4 mm. The heating element 17 is made of a foil of iron-chromium alloy or pure iron plated with nickel, and has a strip shape with a thickness of 0.03 mm that meanders with a narrow gap.

FIG. 9 shows a meandering heating element 17, the meandering pattern being formed by electrolytic etching or screen printing. The surface of the thin plate 18 facing the object W to be processed is coated with a far infrared radiation material 6.

When the heating element 17 conducts electricity, it becomes red and the thin plates 18, 18 radiate far infrared rays, and the workpiece W located between the two partition walls 15, 15 receives far infrared rays and is efficient. To heat up. A temperature sensor (for example, a resistance temperature detector, a hot junction of a thermocouple or a thermistor, not shown) is arranged on the surface of the partition wall 15, and the temperature is controlled for each heater by detecting the temperature. is there.

When cooling the object to be processed, the heating element 17 is de-energized and the heat medium 13 cooled by the heat exchanger 14 is sent to the space between the partition walls 15 by the pump 12.

FIG. 10 is a graph showing a time-temperature curve in the same heat treatment as the heat treatment of the above-mentioned embodiment according to this embodiment. Although the time required for heating the object to be processed is slightly longer than that of the first and second embodiments, the time required for cooling is the time between them in the first and second embodiments. Has become.

The structure of the heat treatment furnace can be various structures different from the above. FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 show an example thereof, in which the heat treatment is performed with the object to be processed vertically.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view of the heat treatment furnace and is a sectional view taken along line XI-XI of FIG. 12, and FIG. 12 is a sectional view taken along line XII-XII of FIG. The furnace 21 has an opening upward, and a canopy 23 having a similar structure is provided in place of the door shown in FIGS.

The structure of the main body of the apparatus is almost the same as that of FIGS. 1 and 2, and the structure is such that the door of the main body is turned up. The only difference is the canopy 23 and the support member 26 for the object W to be processed. Since the workpiece W is loaded vertically, the support members 26 having grooved portions are provided on both sides in the chamber 25, and a part of both side edges of the workpiece W is fitted into the groove. The objects W to be processed are arranged vertically.

Since the structure of the main body is the same as that of FIGS. 1 and 2, detailed description of the structure is omitted, but the heating mechanism, the cooling mechanism, and the like are completely the same as those of FIGS. 1 and 2, and the illustration thereof is omitted. Therefore, only the heating mechanism may be used or a cooling mechanism may be used together, and both are connected to the inlet 27 and the outlet 28.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, various modifications can be added to the above embodiments based on the technical idea of the present invention. For example, an appropriate structure can be adopted for the mounting means of the object to be processed, the structure of the heater, and the like. Further, the heat treatment apparatus based on the present invention can be applied to heat treatment of electronic parts and other parts such as thick film integrated circuits and thermal recording heads for various printers, in addition to the above-mentioned glass substrate for liquid crystal display devices. ..

[0038]

[Effect of the device]

 In the first invention, the partition heating means forms a multi-layered processing chamber at predetermined intervals, and the heat medium heated by the heat medium heating means provided outside the apparatus main body is forcedly circulated by the pump. The partition-shaped heating means in the main body is heated uniformly. Since the plate-shaped object to be processed is positioned between the partition-shaped heating means and each object to be heated is heated by the heating means facing the plate-shaped object, heat treatment is performed for each object. The same heat treatment as that performed is performed, and since there is no place to slide in the equipment, there is no need for dust generation.

Therefore, although the plurality of objects to be processed are collectively heat-treated, each object is accurately heat-treated and also heat-treated in a clean atmosphere. As a result, high quality of the processed object is guaranteed, and the area occupied by the device is small.

In addition to the function of the first device, the second device and the third device are connected to the heat exchanger provided outside the main body, so that the time required for cooling during heat treatment is shortened. To be done. As a result, in addition to the effect of the first invention, the total time required for the heat treatment is significantly shortened, and the effect of significantly improving the productivity is exhibited.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front sectional view of a device according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II of FIGS. 1 and 5.

FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing a time-temperature curve of heat treatment in the first example.

FIG. 5 is a front vertical sectional view of a device according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a graph showing a time-temperature curve of heat treatment in the second example.

FIG. 7 is a front vertical sectional view of an apparatus according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a partially enlarged view of FIG.

FIG. 9 is a plan view of a heating element.

FIG. 10 is a graph showing a time-temperature curve of heat treatment in the third example.

FIG. 11 is a front vertical cross-sectional view of a device according to another example (XI- in FIG. 12).
XI line sectional view).

12 is a sectional view taken along line XII-XII in FIG. 11.

FIG. 13 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional cassette (plate-shaped container).

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the cassette.

FIG. 15 is a schematic sectional view of the cassette and the furnace.

FIG. 16 is a graph showing a time-temperature curve in the heat treatment furnace.

FIG. 17 is a schematic view of the continuous processing apparatus.

FIG. 18 is a schematic view of the inside of the continuous processing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 2 Heat treatment furnace 2a, 22a Outer frame 2b, 22b, 24 Inner frame 3, 23 Door 4 Heat insulating material 5 Inner frame 5a, 18 Aluminum or stainless steel plate 6 Far infrared radiation material 7, 25 Room 8, 26 Support member 9a, 27 Inlet 9b, 28 Outlet 10, 10a Space 11 Heater 12 Pump 13 Heat medium 14 Heat exchanger 15 Partition wall 17 Heating element 50 Cassette 72 Belt conveyor 75 Hot plate

Claims (3)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A plurality of heat treatment chambers and a plurality of heat medium circulation spaces are alternately formed between a plurality of partition walls, and an object support means for supporting a plate-shaped object in the heat treatment chamber is provided. And a heat medium heating means and a heat medium circulation supply means are provided outside the apparatus body, and the heat medium heated by the heat medium heating means is the heat medium by the heat medium circulation supply means. A plate-shaped heat treatment apparatus configured to be supplied to a circulation space and circulate. 2. A plurality of heat treatment chambers and a plurality of heat medium circulation spaces are alternately formed between a plurality of partition walls, and a workpiece support means for supporting a plate-shaped workpiece in the heat treatment chamber is provided. The apparatus main body is configured with a heat medium heating means, a heat medium cooling means, and a heat medium circulation supply means outside the apparatus main body, and the heat medium heating means and the heat medium cooling means operate selectively. By this selective operation, the heat medium heated by the heat medium heating means and the heat medium cooled by the heat medium cooling means are selectively supplied to the heat medium circulation space by the heat medium circulation supply means. A plate-shaped heat treatment apparatus configured to be circulated and circulated. 3. An object to be treated in which a plurality of heat treatment chambers and a plurality of heat medium circulation spaces are alternately formed between a plurality of partition walls provided with a heating means, and which supports a plate-like object to be treated in the heat treatment chamber. Supporting means is provided to configure the apparatus main body, and heat medium cooling means and heat medium circulating supply means are provided outside the apparatus main body, and the heating means, the heat medium cooling means, and the heat medium circulating supply means are provided. It selectively operates, and by this selective operation, the heating of the object to be processed by the heating means and the heat medium cooled by the heat medium cooling means are supplied to the heat medium circulation space by the heat medium circulation supply means. A plate-shaped heat treatment apparatus configured to selectively cool the object to be processed by being circulated and circulated.