CN114076511A

CN114076511A - Heat treatment furnace

Info

Publication number: CN114076511A
Application number: CN202010960892.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 松本琢磨; 小牧毅史
Original assignee: NGK Insulators Ltd
Current assignee: NGK Insulators Ltd
Priority date: 2020-08-12
Filing date: 2020-09-14
Publication date: 2022-02-22
Also published as: JP2022032534A; JP7377780B2

Abstract

The invention provides a heat treatment furnace, which can improve the efficiency of removing water from a film body. The heat treatment furnace is provided with: the device comprises a furnace body, a conveying device, a plurality of guide rollers, a heating device, an air supply device and an exhaust device. The transport device transports a film body, which is a processed object extending from an input port to an output port, from the input port to the output port through the processing chamber. The guide rollers guide the object to be processed conveyed by the conveying device. The furnace body is provided with: a first wall (14) located at the front side of the film body, and a second wall (13) located at the back side of the film body and opposite to the first wall. The exhaust device is provided with: 1 or more first exhaust ports (50 a-50 g) provided in the first wall and exhausting gas in the processing chamber, and 1 or more second exhaust ports (56 a-56 f) provided in the second wall and exhausting gas in the processing chamber.

Description

Heat treatment furnace

Technical Field

The technology disclosed in the present specification relates to a heat treatment furnace for heat-treating an object to be treated.

Background

In the heat treatment furnace disclosed in patent document 1, a thin film body as a treatment object is stretched from an inlet port to an outlet port through a treatment chamber. The thin film body is fed from the inlet into the processing chamber, conveyed in the processing chamber, and discharged from the outlet. The film body is heated by a heating device disposed in the processing chamber, and moisture (water and/or solvent) contained in the film body is removed while the film body is conveyed in the processing chamber. In order to effectively remove moisture from the film body, it is necessary to quickly discharge the moisture removed from the film body to the outside of the furnace. Therefore, in the heat treatment furnace of patent document 1, gas is supplied into the treatment chamber by the gas supply device, and the gas in the treatment chamber is exhausted by the exhaust device.

Documents of the prior art

Patent document

Patent document 1: international publication No. 2014/163175

In the heat treatment furnace, a film body as a treatment object is stretched from an inlet to an outlet through a complicated transport path defined by a plurality of guide rollers in a treatment chamber. This causes the following problems: the gas flow in the processing chamber is affected by the mounted thin film body, and the gas in the processing chamber is prevented from being discharged, thereby reducing the efficiency of removing water from the thin film body. The present specification discloses a technique as follows: by improving the discharge of the gas in the processing chamber, the efficiency of removing water from the film body conveyed on the conveying path defined by the plurality of guide rollers can be improved.

Disclosure of Invention

The heat treatment furnace disclosed in the present specification includes: the device comprises a furnace body, a conveying device, a plurality of guide rollers, a heating device, an air supply device and an exhaust device. The furnace body is provided with: an input port, an output port, and a process chamber disposed between the input port and the output port. The transport device transports the object to be processed, which is mounted from the input port to the output port, from the input port to the output port through the processing chamber. The guide rollers are disposed in the processing chamber and guide the object to be processed conveyed by the conveying device. The heating device is disposed in the processing chamber and heats the object to be processed conveyed by the conveying device. The gas supply device is used for supplying gas into the processing chamber. The exhaust device is used for exhausting gas in the processing chamber. The object to be processed is a thin film body spanning from an input port to an output port. The furnace body is provided with: the thin film unit includes a first wall located at a front side of the thin film unit, and a second wall located at a rear side of the thin film unit and facing the first wall. The exhaust device is provided with: the processing chamber includes 1 or more first exhaust ports provided in the first wall and exhausting gas in the processing chamber, and 1 or more second exhaust ports provided in the second wall and exhausting gas in the processing chamber.

In the above heat treatment furnace, even when the thin film body (object to be treated) is stretched from the inlet port to the outlet port in the treatment chamber, the gas on the front surface side of the thin film body can be easily discharged from the first exhaust port provided in the first wall, and the gas on the back surface side of the thin film body can be easily discharged from the second exhaust port provided in the second wall. Therefore, the gas supplied from the gas supply device into the processing chamber can be smoothly discharged from the first exhaust port and the second exhaust port, and the efficiency of removing moisture from the thin film body can be improved.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a heat treatment furnace according to example 1.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II of fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of a heater according to embodiment 1.

Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of a gas supply tube according to example 1.

Description of the reference numerals

10 heat treatment furnace 12 body

22 upper guide roller 24 lower guide roller

26a, 26b primary heater 28 secondary heater

38 air supply pipe 54, 60 exhaust fan

50 a-50 g, 56 a-56 f exhaust port

52 a-52 g, 58 a-58 f flow regulating valve

Detailed Description

In the heat treatment furnace disclosed in the present specification, the first exhaust flow path may be connected to each of the plurality of first exhaust ports, and the 1 st exhaust flow path may be provided with a flow rate adjustment valve. The second exhaust flow path may be connected to each of the plurality of second exhaust ports, and a flow rate adjustment valve may be provided in each of the second exhaust flow paths. With this configuration, the flow rate of the exhaust gas from each of the plurality of first exhaust ports and the flow rate of the exhaust gas from each of the plurality of second exhaust ports can be adjusted, and the exhaust state of the gas from the process chamber can be adjusted.

In the heat treatment furnace disclosed in the present specification, the plurality of guide rolls may include: 1 or more first guide rollers disposed at a position on a first wall side when viewed from the center of the processing chamber, with an interval in a first direction connecting the inlet and the outlet; and 1 or more second guide rollers disposed at a position spaced apart from each other in the first direction and located on the second wall side when viewed from the center of the processing chamber. The object to be treated may be alternately set on the first guide roller and the second guide roller. The position of the first direction of the first exhaust port may be a position between the adjoining first guide rollers. The position of the second exhaust port in the first direction may be a position between the adjacent second guide rollers. According to such a configuration, the first air outlet is provided at a position between the first guide rollers disposed on the first wall side with a space therebetween in the first direction, and the second air outlet is provided at a position between the second guide rollers disposed on the second wall side with a space therebetween in the first direction. This makes it possible to easily discharge air from the space between the film body and the first wall through the first exhaust port, and to easily discharge air from the space between the film body and the second wall through the second exhaust port.

In the heat treatment furnace disclosed in the present specification, the object to be treated can be conveyed from the inlet port to the outlet port via the conveyance path defined by the plurality of guide rollers. The gas supply device may include a plurality of gas supply pipes arranged along the transport path in the processing chamber and configured to discharge the gas toward the object to be processed. The plurality of gas supply pipes may include, when viewed in a cross section perpendicular to the surface of the membrane body and passing through the inlet port and the outlet port: a first air supply pipe disposed in a space between the object to be treated and the first wall, and a second air supply pipe disposed in a space between the object to be treated and the second wall. With this configuration, the gas can be supplied to the front side and the back side of the thin film body as the object to be processed, respectively, and the supplied gas can be discharged from the first exhaust port and the second exhaust port.

In the heat treatment furnace disclosed in the present specification, the object to be treated can be conveyed from the inlet port to the outlet port via the conveyance path defined by the plurality of guide rollers. The heating device may include a plurality of heaters that are arranged along the conveyance path and that emit electromagnetic waves in the infrared region to heat the object to be processed. According to this configuration, since the object to be processed is heated by the plurality of heaters arranged along the conveyance path, the heat treatment efficiency of the object to be processed can be improved.

In the heat treatment furnace disclosed in the present specification, the thin film body may include: a thin film, and a paste applied on at least one of the front and back surfaces of the thin film. Further, the heating device can remove moisture contained in the paste. By effectively supplying and exhausting gas to and from the processing chamber, moisture can be effectively removed from the paste.

In the heat treatment furnace disclosed in the present specification, the conveyance device may further include: a charging port roller disposed outside the furnace body and in the vicinity of the charging port, around which the object to be treated is wound; and an outlet roller disposed outside the furnace body and in the vicinity of the outlet, and configured to wind the object to be processed conveyed in the processing chamber. The object to be treated wound around the inlet roller can be fed out from the inlet roller by rotating the inlet roller and the outlet roller, and conveyed in the treatment chamber. With this configuration, the heat treatment can be continuously performed on the object to be treated wound around the inlet roller.

In the heat treatment furnace disclosed in the present specification, the atmosphere in the treatment chamber may be an inert gas atmosphere having a dew point of 0 ℃ or lower. With this configuration, condensation of moisture contained in the atmosphere gas can be suppressed.

[ example 1 ]

The heat treatment furnace 10 according to example 1 will be described below. The heat treatment furnace 10 of the present embodiment is a drying furnace (dehydration apparatus) for removing moisture contained in a workpiece W (an example of a workpiece). The work W is a sheet (an example of a film body) continuously extending in the longitudinal direction, and a film used in, for example, a liquid crystal display, an organic EL, a battery, or the like belongs to the work W. In such a film (film body), the film itself may contain moisture, or in the case where the film is coated with a coating layer, the coating layer may contain moisture. Therefore, first, moisture contained in the film is removed, and then, the film from which the moisture is removed is cut into a desired size, thereby manufacturing a final product. The heat treatment furnace 10 of the present embodiment can be used to remove moisture from the sheet.

The structure of the heat treatment furnace 10 will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in fig. 1 and 2, the heat treatment furnace 10 includes: a furnace body 12 having a rectangular parallelepiped shape, a transport device 20 for carrying in and out a workpiece W with respect to the furnace body 12,

heating devices

26a, 26b, and 28 for heating the workpiece W, and a gas supply device 38 for supplying a cooling gas to the surface of the workpiece W.

The furnace body 12 includes: a lower wall 13, an upper wall 14 facing the lower wall 13, side walls 17 and 18 (see fig. 2) having one end connected to the lower wall 13 and the other end connected to the upper wall 14, and an input side wall 15 and an output side wall 16 which close the ends of the

processing chambers

19a and 19b surrounded by the

walls

13, 14, 17, and 18.

The lower wall 13 is a plate material having a rectangular shape in plan view, and is disposed below the

processing chambers

19a and 19 b. As shown in fig. 1, the lower wall 13 is provided with a plurality of exhaust ports 56a to 56f at substantially constant intervals in the x direction. The exhaust fans 60 are connected to the exhaust ports 56a to 56f, respectively. When the exhaust fan 60 is operated, the atmosphere gas in the

processing chambers

19a and 19b is exhausted to the outside of the

processing chambers

19a and 19 b.

The upper wall 14 is a plate material having the same shape as the lower wall 13, and is disposed above the

process chambers

19a and 19 b. As with the lower wall 13, the upper wall 14 is also provided with a plurality of exhaust ports 50a to 50g spaced at substantially constant intervals in the x direction. The exhaust ports 50a to 50g are connected to an exhaust fan 54. When the exhaust fan 54 is operated, the atmosphere gas in the

processing chambers

19a and 19b is exhausted to the outside of the

processing chambers

19a and 19 b. The exhaust device including the exhaust ports 50a to 50g and 56a to 56f and the exhaust fans 54 and 60 will be described in detail later.

The input sidewall 15 is provided with an input port 15a, and the output sidewall 16 is provided with an output port 16 b. The input port 15a and the output port 16b are at the same position in the height direction, and the input port 15a and the output port 16b are opposed to each other. As can be seen from fig. 1: the processing

chambers

19a and 19b are disposed between the input port 15a and the output port 16 b.

The inner surfaces of the

walls

13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 constituting the furnace body 12 (i.e., the surfaces on the

treatment chambers

19a, 19b side) are mirror-finished. As a result, the reflectance of the electromagnetic wave in the infrared region of the surface (specifically, the electromagnetic wave radiated from the

heaters

26a, 26b, and 28 described later) is 50% or more. This enables the electromagnetic waves emitted from the

heaters

26a, 26b, and 28 to be effectively radiated to the workpiece W.

The conveyance device 20 includes: a charging port roller 21 disposed outside the furnace body 12 and in the vicinity of the charging port 15 a; an outlet roller 25 disposed outside the furnace body 12 and in the vicinity of the outlet 16 a; and a plurality of

guide rollers

22a, 22b, 22c, 24 disposed in the

process chambers

19a, 19 b.

The work W is wound around the inlet roller 21. The workpiece W wound around the inlet roller 21 is stretched from the inlet 15a to the outlet 16a through the

processing chambers

19a and 19 b. Specifically, the work W is bridged from the entrance roller 21 to the

guide rollers

22a, 22b, 22c, and 24 through the entrance 15a, and further bridged from the

guide rollers

22a, 22b, 22c, and 24 to the exit roller 25 through the exit 16 a.

The outlet rollers 25 are: and a roller for winding the workpiece W output from the

processing chambers

19a and 19 b. A driving device, not shown, is connected to the delivery-out roller 25, and the delivery-out roller 25 is rotationally driven by the driving device. When the delivery exit roller 25 rotates, the workpiece W wound around the delivery exit roller 21 is delivered to the

processing chambers

19a and 19 b. The workpiece W fed out from the inlet roller 21 is guided by the

guide rollers

22a, 22b, 22c, and 24, moves on predetermined conveyance paths in the

processing chambers

19a and 19b, is fed out from the outlet 16a to the

processing chambers

19a and 19b, and is wound around the outlet roller 25. That is, the

guide rollers

22a, 22b, 22c, and 24 define a conveyance path of the workpiece W in the

processing chambers

19a and 19 b.

The

guide rollers

22a, 22b, 22c, and 24 include: a plurality of

upper guide rollers

22a, 22b, 22c disposed in the vicinity of the upper wall 14, and a plurality of lower guide rollers 24 disposed in the vicinity of the lower wall 13. In the present embodiment, the

guide rollers

22a, 22b, 22c, and 24 are contact rollers that contact the workpiece W, but non-contact rollers that guide the workpiece W in a non-contact manner may be used.

The

upper guide rollers

22a, 22b, and 22c (an example of a first guide roller in the claims) are arranged with a constant interval therebetween in the x direction. Specifically, the upper guide roller 22a is disposed adjacent to the inlet port 15a, and the upper guide roller 22c is disposed adjacent to the outlet port 16 a. The guide rollers 22b are disposed at equal intervals between the upper guide roller 22a and the upper guide roller 22 c. The

upper guide rollers

22a, 22b, and 22c are each at the same position in the height direction.

The plurality of lower guide rollers 24 (an example of a second guide roller in the claims) are arranged at a constant interval in the x direction, similarly to the

upper guide rollers

22a, 22b, and 22 c. The interval in the x direction between the adjacent lower guide rollers 24 is the same as the interval in the x direction between the

upper guide rollers

22a, 22b, and 22 c. The positions of the plurality of lower guide rollers 24 in the x direction are at the center positions of the adjacent

upper guide rollers

22a, 22b, 22 c. The positions of the plurality of lower guide rollers 24 in the height direction are the same.

As described above, since the

upper guide rollers

22a, 22b, and 22c and the lower guide roller 24 are arranged, the workpiece W conveyed in the x direction from the input port 15a is conveyed downward by the upper guide roller 22a, then conveyed upward by the lower guide roller 24, and then repeatedly conveyed in the up-down direction by the upper guide roller 22b and the lower guide roller 24. Then, the workpiece W conveyed upward from the lower guide roller 24 disposed closest to the output port 16a is conveyed to the output port 16a by the upper guide roller 22 c. By repeating the vertical conveyance in the

processing chambers

19a and 19b in this manner, the space in the

processing chambers

19a and 19b can be effectively used, and a processing time for drying the workpiece W can be ensured. Further, as can be seen from fig. 1: the processing

chambers

19a and 19b are divided into an upper processing chamber 19a provided on the upper wall 14 side and a lower processing chamber 19b provided on the lower wall 13 side by the work W mounted on the

guide rollers

22a, 22b, 22c, and 24. In addition, as can be seen from fig. 2: the upper processing chamber 19a and the lower processing chamber 19b are connected at a position where there is no workpiece W (i.e., at positions outside both ends of the workpiece W in the Y direction).

The heating device is disposed in the

processing chambers

19a and 19b, and heats the workpiece W conveyed by the conveying device 20. The heating device is provided with:

first heaters

26a, 26b disposed in the vicinity of the

guide rollers

22a, 22b, 22c, 24; and a second heater 28 disposed at a height between the

upper guide rollers

22a, 22b, and 22c and the lower guide roller 24. As shown in fig. 2, the

first heaters

26a, 26b and the second heater 28 extend in the axial direction of the

guide rollers

22a, 22b, 22c, 24, and can heat the entire width direction (y direction) of the workpiece W.

As shown in fig. 1, the

first heaters

26a and 26b include: a plurality of first upper heaters 26a disposed above the

upper guide rollers

22a, 22b, and 22 c; and a plurality of first lower heaters 26b disposed below the lower guide roll 24. The first upper heaters 26a are respectively configured to: the first lower heaters 26b are disposed so as to face the corresponding

upper guide rollers

22a, 22b, and 22 c: opposite the corresponding lower guide roller 24. Therefore, the workpiece W is positioned between the first upper heater 26a and the

upper guide rollers

22a, 22b, and 22c, and the workpiece W is directly heated by the first upper heater 26 a. Similarly, the workpiece W is positioned between the first lower heater 26b and the lower guide roller 24, and the workpiece W is directly heated by the first lower heater 26 b.

2 second heaters 28 are disposed below the

upper guide rollers

22a, 22b, and 22c at intervals in the z direction. Further, 2 second heaters 28 are disposed above the lower guide rollers 24 with an interval therebetween in the z direction. Thus, it is configured to: the 11 second heaters 28 are arranged with intervals in the x direction, and the 2 second heaters 28 are arranged with intervals in the y direction. As can be seen from the figure: the second heater 28 is disposed: a position opposed to the workpiece W bridged between the

upper guide rollers

22a, 22b, and 22c and the lower guide roller 24 (i.e., a position in the vicinity of an intermediate position between adjacent guide rollers in the conveying direction of the workpiece W). Since the second heaters 28 extend in the axial direction of the

guide rollers

22a, 22b, 22c, 24, the entire width direction of the workpiece W bridged between the

upper guide rollers

22a, 22b, 22c and the lower guide roller 24 is heated by the second heaters 28.

The

first heaters

26a, 26b are: the

first heaters

26a and 26b and the second heater 28 have the same configuration as a known wavelength-controllable heater that emits electromagnetic waves in the infrared region. Therefore, the structure of the second heater 28 will be briefly described here.

As shown in fig. 3, the second heater 28 includes: a filament 30, an inner tube 32 for receiving the filament 30, and an outer tube 34 for receiving the inner tube 32. The filament 30 is a heating element made of, for example, tungsten, and is supplied with power from an external power supply not shown. When the filament 30 is supplied with power and reaches a predetermined temperature (for example, 1200 to 1700 ℃), electromagnetic waves including infrared rays are emitted from the filament 30. The inner tube 32 is formed of an infrared-transmitting material through which only electromagnetic waves in a specific wavelength region (infrared region in this embodiment) of the electromagnetic waves emitted from the filament 30 can transmit. By appropriate selection: the infrared transmitting material used to form the inner tube 32 can adjust the wavelength of the electromagnetic wave emitted from the filament 30 to the outside of the inner tube 32 to a desired wavelength. The outer tube 34 is also formed of the same infrared-transmitting material as the inner tube 32. Therefore, the electromagnetic wave transmitted through the inner tube 32 is transmitted through the outer tube 34 and radiated to the outside. The space 36 between the inner tube 32 and the outer tube 34 is: a cooling medium flow path through which a cooling medium (for example, air) flows. By supplying the refrigerant to the space 36 (i.e., the refrigerant passage), the temperature of the outer tube 34 can be prevented from becoming excessively high. Accordingly, the workpiece W can be prevented from overheating. Further, a heater in which the wavelength of an electromagnetic wave emitting in the infrared region is controllable has been disclosed in detail in, for example, japanese patent No. 4790092.

The air supply device is provided with: a plurality of gas supply pipes 38 extending in the y direction within the

process chambers

19a, 19 b; and a gas supply fan (not shown) disposed outside the

processing chambers

19a and 19b and configured to supply cooling gas to the plurality of gas supply pipes 38. As shown in fig. 4,

ejection holes

39a, 39b are formed at 2 in the circumferential direction of the air supply pipe 38. Therefore, the cooling gas supplied from the supply fan to the supply pipe 38 is ejected from the ejection holes 39a and 39b into the

processing chambers

19a and 19 b. In the present embodiment, the orientation of the gas supply pipe 38 is adjusted so that the ejection direction of the cooling gas ejected from the

ejection holes

39a, 39b is orthogonal to the surface of the workpiece W. As shown in fig. 4, the discharge holes 39a and 39b are disposed: opposite to each other with the axis of the gas supply pipe 38 therebetween. Therefore, when the workpiece W is positioned on the input port 15a side and the output port 16a side of the gas supply pipe 38, the cooling gas injected from the injection holes 39a of the gas supply pipe 38 is injected toward one workpiece W, and the cooling gas injected from the injection holes 39b of the gas supply pipe 38 is injected toward the other workpiece W. As shown in fig. 2, a plurality of

discharge holes

39a and 39b of the air supply pipe 38 are formed at intervals in the y direction. Therefore, the cooling gas ejected from the

ejection holes

39a, 39b is ejected over the entire width direction (y direction) of the workpiece W.

As shown in fig. 1, 2 air supply pipes 38 are disposed below the

upper guide rollers

22a, 22b, and 22c at intervals in the z direction. Further, 2 air supply pipes 38 are disposed above the lower guide rollers 24 with an interval therebetween in the z direction. As can be seen from fig. 1: the air supply pipe 38 is disposed at a position different from the positions where the

first heaters

26a and 26b and the second heater 28 are disposed. Specifically, the second heaters 28 and the air supply pipes 38 are alternately arranged at equal intervals in the z direction (conveying direction). As described above, the

processing chambers

19a and 19b are divided into the upper processing chamber 19a and the lower processing chamber 19b by the work W mounted on the

guide rollers

22a, 22b, 22c, and 24, and the air supply pipe 38 is disposed in each of the upper processing chamber 19a and the lower processing chamber 19 b.

As the cooling gas to be supplied to the gas supply pipe 38, for example, an inert gas, nitrogen, Ar gas, or the like can be used. The atmosphere gas in the

processing chambers

19a and 19b is adjusted by gas injected from the gas supply pipe 38 into the

processing chambers

19a and 19 b. In this embodiment, since moisture contained in the workpiece W is removed, the atmosphere gas in the

processing chambers

19a and 19b is adjusted to: gas with dew point below 0 ℃. Further, as the cooling gas, an atmosphere having a dew point of 0 ℃ or lower may be used.

Here, an exhaust device for exhausting the atmosphere gas in the

processing chambers

19a and 19b will be described in detail. The exhaust device is provided with: exhaust ports 50a to 50g, 56a to 56f, flow rate adjustment valves 52a to 52g, 58a to 58f, and exhaust fans 54, 60.

The exhaust ports 50a to 50g are provided in the upper wall 14 and are arranged at intervals in the x direction. Specifically, the exhaust port 50a is disposed between the input port 15a and the first heater 26 a. The air outlet 50b is disposed between the upper guide roller 22a and the upper guide roller 22b adjacent to the upper guide roller 22a (specifically, the upper guide roller 22b closest to the inlet port 15 a). The exhaust ports 50c to 50e are disposed between the

upper guide rollers

22b and 22b disposed adjacently. The air outlet 50f is disposed between the upper guide roller 22c closest to the output port 16a and the upper guide roller 22b adjacent to the upper guide roller 22 c. The air outlet 50g is disposed between the upper guide roller 22c and the delivery outlet 16 a. As can be seen from fig. 1, the exhaust ports 50b to 50f are opposed to the corresponding air supply pipes 38 and second heaters 38 arranged in the 2 nd, 4 th, 6 th, 8 th, and 10 th rows from the input port 15a side, respectively. The exhaust ports 50b to 50f are opposed to the lower guide rollers 24, respectively, and the lower guide rollers 24 are positioned between the exhaust ports 50b to 50f and the workpiece W. A space (a part of the upper processing chamber 19 a) partitioned by the adjacent

upper guide rollers

22a, 22b, and 22c, the lower guide roller 24 positioned at the intermediate position of the upper guide rollers in the x direction, and the workpiece W mounted on the guide rollers is positioned below the exhaust ports 50b to 50 f. In the present embodiment, 1 exhaust port 50a to 50g is disposed at an intermediate position in the y direction of the upper wall 14, but may be disposed at a plurality of positions in the y direction.

The exhaust ports 56a to 56f are provided in the lower wall 13 and are arranged at intervals in the x direction. Specifically, the exhaust port 56a is disposed between the inlet 15a and the lower guide roller 24 disposed closest to the inlet 15 a. The exhaust ports 56b to 56e are disposed between the adjacently disposed lower guide rollers 24. The air outlet 56f is disposed between the lower guide roller 24 closest to the output port 16a side and the output port 16 a. As can be seen from fig. 1, the exhaust ports 56a to 56f are opposed to the corresponding air supply pipes 38 and second heaters 38 arranged in the 1 st, 3 rd, 5 th, 7 th, and 9 th rows from the input port 15a side, respectively. The exhaust ports 56a to 56f face the

upper guide rollers

22a, 22b, and 22c, respectively, and the

upper guide rollers

22a, 22b, and 22c are positioned between the exhaust ports 56a to 56f and the workpiece W. A space (a part of the lower processing chamber 19 b) partitioned by the adjacent lower guide roller 24, the

upper guide rollers

22a, 22b, and 22c positioned at the intermediate positions of the lower guide rollers in the x direction, and the workpiece W mounted on the guide rollers is positioned above the exhaust ports 56b to 56 e. In the present embodiment, the exhaust ports 56a to 56f are arranged 1 at the middle position in the y direction of the lower wall 14, but may be arranged at a plurality of positions in the y direction.

The exhaust fan 54 is connected to the exhaust ports 50a to 50 g. A flow rate adjustment valve 52a is provided in an exhaust flow path connecting the exhaust fan 54 and the exhaust port 50 a. Similarly, flow rate adjustment valves 52b to 52g are provided in the exhaust flow paths connecting the exhaust fan 54 and the exhaust ports 50b to 50g, respectively. In the present embodiment, the exhaust ports 50a to 50g are connected to 1 exhaust fan 54, and the flow rate adjustment valves 52a to 52g are provided in the exhaust ports 50a to 50g, respectively, whereby the flow rate of the atmosphere gas exhausted from the exhaust ports 50a to 50g can be independently controlled.

Similarly, the exhaust fan 60 is connected to the exhaust ports 56a to 56 f. Flow rate adjustment valves 58a to 58f are provided in the respective exhaust flow paths (dedicated portions) connecting the exhaust fan 60 and the exhaust ports 56a to 56 f. Therefore, the flow rates of the atmosphere gases discharged from the exhaust ports 56a to 56f can be independently controlled.

The controller 44 is composed of a processor including a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM, and controls the transport device 20, the

heating devices

26a, 26b, and 28, the air supply device, and the

air discharge devices

54, 60, 52a to 52g, and 58a to 58 f. Specifically, the controller 44 controls the conveying speed and tension of the workpiece W by controlling the conveying device 20, controls the heating amount of the workpiece W by controlling the

heating devices

26a, 26b, and 28, and controls the flow rate and flow velocity of the cooling gas ejected from the gas supply pipe 38 toward the workpiece W by controlling the gas supply device. Further, the controller 44 controls the rotation speeds of the exhaust fans 54 and 60 and the opening degrees of the flow rate adjustment valves 52a to 52g and 58a to 58 f: the flow rates of the atmosphere gases discharged from the gas outlets 50a to 50g and 56a to 56f, respectively.

Further, the heat treatment furnace 10 is provided with: and a penetration device for attaching the workpiece W wound around the entrance roller 21 to the exit roller 25. As shown in fig. 1, the penetration device includes: a chain 42 that circulates inside the

processing chambers

19a and 19b and outside the

processing chambers

19a and 19b, and a driving device (not shown) that drives the chain 42. Similarly to the workpiece W mounted on the

guide rollers

22a, 22b, 22c, and 24, the chain 42 extends from the input port 15a to the output port 16a while changing its orientation in the vertical direction, and passes through the output port 16a and outside the

processing chambers

19a and 19b to return to the input port 15 a. As shown in fig. 1, the path along which the work W is erected (i.e., the conveying path of the work W) intersects at a plurality of points with the path along which the work W is erected. The chain 42 is disposed at the following positions: since the workpiece W is located at the outer side in the width direction (y direction), the chain 42 and the workpiece W do not interfere with each other (see fig. 2). In order to attach the workpiece W to the delivery outlet roller 25 by the penetration device, first, the workpiece W wound around the delivery outlet roller 21 is clamped by a jig, not shown, provided on the chain 42. Next, the chain 42 is circulated by the driving device, and the workpiece W is sent out from the inlet roller 21. Accordingly, the workpiece W held by the gripper of the chain 42 moves together with the chain 42 in the

processing chambers

19a and 19b, and moves to the output port 16 a. When the workpiece W moves to the delivery port 16a, the gripper is operated, the workpiece W is released from the chain 42, and the workpiece W is mounted on the delivery port roller 25. Finally, the work W is stretched from the entrance 15a to the exit 16a by rotating the exit roller 25 and applying tension to the work W, and the work W is stretched by the

guide rollers

22a, 22b, 22c, and 24.

Next, a process of removing water from the workpiece W by using the heat treatment furnace 10 will be described. First, a cooling gas is supplied from the gas supply pipe 38 into the

processing chambers

19a and 19b, and the inside of the

processing chambers

19a and 19b is adjusted to a predetermined atmosphere. Next, the controller 44 drives the transfer device 20 to transfer the workpiece W from the input port 15a to the output port 16a through the

processing chambers

19a and 19 b. At this time, the controller 44 controls the

heating devices

26a, 26b, and 28 to irradiate the workpiece W with electromagnetic waves in the infrared region and to eject cooling gas from the gas supply pipe 38 toward the surface of the workpiece W. When electromagnetic waves in the infrared region are irradiated from the

heating devices

26a, 26b, 28, moisture contained in the workpiece W absorbs the irradiated electromagnetic waves, so that the moisture is evaporated. The moisture evaporated from the work W is removed from the surface of the work W by the cooling gas ejected from the gas supply pipe 38. The atmosphere gas containing the moisture removed from the surface of the workpiece W (wherein the moisture contains a slight amount of the organic solvent) is discharged to the outside of the

processing chambers

19a and 19b from the exhaust port 13a of the lower wall 13 and the exhaust port 14a of the upper wall 14, respectively. The workpiece W is deprived of moisture while being conveyed from the input port 15a to the output port 16 a. The workpiece W from which the moisture is removed is wound around the delivery-out roller 25.

According to the heat treatment furnace 10 described above, the

guide rollers

22a, 22b, 22c, and 24 include, in the vicinity thereof:

first heaters

26a, 26b opposed to the

guide rollers

22a, 22b, 22c, 24. Further, a second heater 28 is provided between the

upper guide rollers

22a, 22b, and 22c and the lower guide roller 24. The

heaters

26a, 26b, and 28 can control the heat balance of the workpiece W in a state of being in contact with the

guide rollers

22a, 22b, 22c, and 24, and can also control the heat balance of the workpiece W in a state of not being in contact with the

guide rollers

22a, 22b, 22c, and 24. Therefore, the heat budget of the workpiece W can be well controlled, and the efficiency of the process of removing moisture from the workpiece W can be significantly improved. For example, when the work W is excessively cooled due to heat flowing from the work W to the

guide rollers

22a, 22b, 22c, 24 caused by contact between the work W and the

guide rollers

22a, 22b, 22c, 24, the amount of heat supplied from the

first heaters

26a, 26b to the work W is increased so that the work W is not excessively cooled. Accordingly, a decrease in the efficiency of removing water from the workpiece W can be prevented.

In the heat treatment furnace 10, the gas supply pipe 38 and the second heater 28 are alternately arranged in the conveyance direction, and the cooling gas from the gas supply pipe 38 is ejected from the direction perpendicular to the surface of the workpiece W. Accordingly, the moisture evaporated from the inside of the workpiece W is quickly removed from the surface of the workpiece W, and the removal of the moisture from the workpiece W is promoted. This can improve the efficiency of removing moisture from the workpiece W.

The

processing chambers

19a and 19b are divided into an upper processing chamber 19a and a lower processing chamber 19b by the work W mounted on the

guide rollers

22a, 22b, 22c, and 24, and an air supply pipe 38 and

exhaust ports

14a and 13a are disposed in the upper processing chamber 19a and the lower processing chamber 19b, respectively. Therefore, the cooling gas supplied to the upper processing chamber 19a and the cooling gas supplied to the lower cooling chamber 19b are quickly discharged to the outside of the

processing chambers

19a and 19b together with the removed moisture. This makes it possible to optimize the gas flow in the

processing chambers

19a and 19b and improve the moisture removal efficiency of the workpiece W. In particular, in the present embodiment, the exhaust ports 50b to 50f of the upper wall 14 are opened toward the space (a part of the upper processing chamber 19 a) partitioned by the workpiece W and the lower guide roll 24, and the cooling gas supplied to the space from the gas supply pipe 38 can be rapidly exhausted to the outside of the furnace. Similarly, the exhaust ports 56b to 56e of the lower wall 13 are opened toward the space (a part of the lower processing chamber 19 b) defined by the workpiece W and the upper guide roll 22b, and the cooling gas supplied from the gas supply pipe 38 to the space can be rapidly exhausted to the outside of the furnace. This improves the flow of the atmosphere gas in the

processing chambers

19a and 19b, and improves the moisture removal efficiency of the workpiece W.

Further, the

heaters

26a, 26b, 28 select: the wavelength region of the emitted infrared rays can be adjusted by the infrared ray transmitting material used for forming the inner tube and the outer tube. Therefore, the heat treatment efficiency of the workpiece W can be improved by adjusting the wavelength of the emitted electromagnetic wave according to the characteristics of the workpiece W. For example, it is conceivable to dry a substance consisting of a solid component (phenol-epoxy resin, 10 to 90 wt%) and a solvent (water or a solvent (for example, IPA (isopropyl alcohol, NMP (N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone), etc.)) for making the solid component slurry or paste as the workpiece W, and when drying such a workpiece W, the water or the solvent may be dried by the

heaters

26a, 26b, and 28 for selecting the wavelength of near infrared rays in the first half of the heat treatment furnace 10, and annealed by the

heaters

26a, 26b, and 28 for selecting the wavelength of far infrared rays in the second half of the heat treatment furnace 10.

In the above-described embodiment, the

heaters

26a, 26b, and 28 emit electromagnetic waves in all the same wavelength regions, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described example. For example, the wavelength of the electromagnetic wave emitted from the

heaters

26a, 26b, and 28 may be adjusted according to the position on the transport path. For example, when moisture is removed from the workpiece W in the heat treatment furnace 10, the amount of moisture contained in the workpiece W gradually decreases from the input port 15a toward the output port 16 a. Therefore, by gradually increasing the wavelength of the electromagnetic waves emitted from the

heaters

26a, 26b, and 28 from the input port 15a to the output port 16a, the electromagnetic waves corresponding to the moisture content can be irradiated to the workpiece W.

In the above-described embodiment, the

first heaters

26a and 26b are disposed in the vicinity of the

guide rollers

22a, 22b, 22c, and 24, and the workpiece W is heated by the

first heaters

26a and 26b, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described example. For example, a flow path through which the heat medium flows may be provided inside the guide roller. The work W is heated by the guide roller. With this configuration, the heat balance of the workpiece W in the state of being in contact with the guide roller can be controlled, and the heat treatment efficiency of the workpiece W can be improved.

In the above-described embodiment, the atmosphere gas is uniformly discharged from the exhaust ports 50a to 50g and the exhaust ports 56a to 56f, respectively, but the present invention is not limited to such an example. For example, the exhaust ports 50b to 50f and 56b to 56e are opened toward a space defined by the workpiece W and the lower guide roller 24 or the workpiece W and the upper guide roller 22 b. Since the space is surrounded by the work W, it is considered that much moisture is discharged from the work W into the space. Therefore, the flow rate adjustment valves 52b to 52f and 58b to 58e may be adjusted so that the flow rate of the atmosphere gas to be discharged is larger than that of the

other exhaust ports

50a, 50g, 56a and 56f, respectively, with respect to the exhaust ports 50b to 50f and 56b to 56 e. Alternatively, the moisture contained in the workpiece W gradually decreases from the input port 15a toward the output port 16 a. Thus, the flow rate adjustment valves 52b to 52f, 58b to 58e can be adjusted in accordance with the amount of water contained in the workpiece W so that the flow rates of the atmosphere gas discharged from the exhaust ports 50a to 50g and 56a to 56f change from the input port 15a to the output port 16 a.

Technical elements described in the specification and drawings exhibit technical usefulness alone or in various combinations, and are not limited to the combinations described in the claims at the time of filing. In addition, the techniques illustrated in the present specification or the drawings achieve a plurality of objects at the same time, and the technique itself achieving one of the objects has technical usefulness.

Claims

1. A heat treatment furnace is characterized by comprising:

a furnace body having an inlet, an outlet, and a processing chamber disposed between the inlet and the outlet;

a transport device that transports the object to be treated, which is mounted from the inlet port to the outlet port, from the inlet port to the outlet port through the treatment chamber;

a plurality of guide rollers disposed in the processing chamber and configured to guide the object to be processed conveyed by the conveying device;

a heating device disposed in the processing chamber and configured to heat the object to be processed conveyed by the conveying device;

a gas supply device for supplying a gas to the processing chamber; and

an exhaust device for exhausting the gas in the processing chamber,

the processed object is a film body which is erected from the input port to the output port,

the furnace body is provided with: a first wall located on the front surface side of the film body, and a second wall located on the back surface side of the film body and opposed to the first wall,

the exhaust device is provided with: the gas processing apparatus includes 1 or more first exhaust ports provided in the first wall and exhausting the gas in the processing chamber, and 1 or more second exhaust ports provided in the second wall and exhausting the gas in the processing chamber.

2. The heat treatment furnace according to claim 1,

a first exhaust flow path is connected to each exhaust port of the first exhaust ports, a flow rate adjustment valve is provided in each 1 st exhaust flow path,

a second exhaust flow path is connected to each of the plurality of second exhaust ports, and a flow rate adjustment valve is provided in each of the second exhaust flow paths.

3. The heat treatment furnace according to claim 1 or 2,

the plurality of guide rollers include: 1 or a plurality of first guide rollers disposed at a position on the first wall side when viewed from the center of the processing chamber with an interval in a first direction connecting the inlet port and the outlet port; and 1 or more second guide rollers disposed at a position on the second wall side with an interval in the first direction when viewed from the center of the processing chamber,

the processed object is alternately erected on the first guide roller and the second guide roller,

the first-direction position of the first discharge port is a position between the adjoining first guide rollers,

the position of the second exhaust port in the first direction is a position between the adjacent second guide rollers.

4. The heat treatment furnace according to any one of claims 1 to 3,

the object to be processed is conveyed from the input port to the output port via a conveyance path defined by the guide rollers,

the gas supply device includes a plurality of gas supply pipes arranged along a transport path in a processing chamber and configured to discharge gas toward the object to be processed,

the plurality of gas supply pipes include, when viewed in a cross section orthogonal to the surface of the membrane body and passing through the input port and the output port: a first air supply pipe disposed in a space sandwiched by the object to be treated and the first wall, and a second air supply pipe disposed in a space sandwiched by the object to be treated and the second wall.

5. The heat treatment furnace according to any one of claims 1 to 4,

the heating device is provided with: and a plurality of heaters arranged along the conveying path and radiating electromagnetic waves in an infrared region to heat the object to be processed.

6. The heat treatment furnace according to any one of claims 1 to 5,

the film body is provided with: a thin film and a paste applied on at least one of the front and back surfaces of the thin film,

the heating device is used to remove moisture contained in the paste.

7. The heat treatment furnace according to any one of claims 1 to 6,

the conveying device further includes:

a feed inlet roller disposed outside the furnace body and in the vicinity of the feed inlet, the feed inlet roller being configured to wind the object to be treated; and

a delivery outlet roller disposed outside the furnace body and in the vicinity of the delivery outlet, the delivery outlet roller being configured to wind the object to be processed conveyed in the processing chamber,

the object to be treated wound around the inlet roller is fed out from the inlet roller by rotating the inlet roller and the outlet roller, and is conveyed in the treatment chamber.

8. The heat treatment furnace according to any one of claims 1 to 7,

the atmosphere in the processing chamber is an inert gas atmosphere having a dew point of 0 ℃ or lower.