JP2001004282A - Vacuum heater - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To decrease all treatment time by performing the steps of a pressure reducing treatment, a heating treatment and a cooling treatment respectively in separate chambers in a heater of a base for electronic parts. SOLUTION: A vacuum heater comprises a vacuum heating chamber 1, an exhaust chamber 11 serving as a cooling chamber provided in the lower part of the vacuum chamber 1 so as to communicate with the vacuum chamber 1 through a gate valve 4, a heating means 7 like a heater unit arranged on the outer periphery of the vacuum heating chamber l so as to cover it therewith, exhaust devices 21, 25, 35 and 37 connected to the vacuum heating chamber 1 and the exhaust chamber 11 as the cooling chamber through pipings, cooling means 14 disposed on the periphery of an inner side wall of the exhaust chamber 11 as the cooling chamber and a driving means 24 for moving a cassette 3 on which materials 2 to be thermally treated are placed between the vacuum heating chamber 1 and the exhaust chamber 11 as the cooling chamber.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vacuum heating apparatus for efficiently performing vacuum heat treatment of articles to be heat-treated such as liquid crystal display elements, plasma display elements, field emission display (FED) elements, and various other electronic components. Things.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in heat-treating an article to be heat-treated as described above, (1) the article to be heat-treated is placed in a vacuum chamber made of metal such as stainless steel and, after decompression, placed on the outer periphery of the metal vacuum vessel. A method using an external heating type heating apparatus in which the article to be heat-treated in the vacuum chamber is heated by the heating apparatus described above, or (2) a plurality of heating plates are placed in a metal vacuum chamber such as stainless steel, and each heating plate is heated. There is known a method using an internal heating type heating device in which an article to be heat-treated is placed on a plate, and then heated after decompression.

[0003]

However, in the heating device of the above (1), the article to be heat-treated in the vacuum chamber is reduced by 50%.
When trying to heat to about 0 ° C, the temperature of the vacuum chamber becomes 600
７００700 ° C., so it is 600-70
The heat cycle during which the temperature is 0 ° C. causes metal fatigue of the material constituting the vacuum chamber, which may cause deterioration of the vacuum chamber and cracks in the welded portion. In addition, this causes a problem that energy for heating the vacuum chamber is wastefully consumed.

In the heating apparatus of (2), since the articles to be heat-treated are placed one by one on a heating plate arranged in a vacuum chamber and heated, the number of articles to be heat-treated is small, and therefore the production is There is a disadvantage that efficiency is low. Furthermore, in both of the above-described devices, heat escapes to portions other than the heated portion of the article to be heat-treated in the vacuum chamber, so that the heating efficiency is low, and furthermore, the article to be heat-treated after cooling is cooled in the vacuum chamber. In addition, it has been pointed out that since the heater and the vacuum chamber are also cooled, the cooling takes a long time and the efficiency is low.

In view of the above, the present invention employs an external heating method for heating an article to be heat-treated in a vacuum heating chamber, and performs both a decompression treatment step before heating and a cooling treatment step after heating in the vacuum heating chamber. An object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum heating apparatus for a heat-treated article, which can be shortened and made more efficient as compared with a conventional heating apparatus by independently performing the heating in a separate chamber. It is assumed that.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for heat-treating an article to be heat-treated accommodated in a cassette, comprising: a vacuum heating chamber; and a vacuum below the vacuum heating chamber. An exhaust chamber which also serves as a cooling chamber provided in communication with the heating chamber via a gate valve; a heating means arranged on the outer periphery so as to cover the vacuum heating chamber; and an exhaust chamber which also serves as the vacuum heating chamber and the cooling chamber An exhaust system piped to the
Cooling means disposed around the inner side wall of the exhaust chamber also serving as the cooling chamber, and a drive mechanism for moving a cassette containing the article to be heat-treated between the vacuum heating chamber and the exhaust chamber also serving as the cooling chamber. The present invention is characterized by a vacuum heating device for an article to be heat-treated.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for heat-treating an article to be heat-treated housed in a cassette, wherein the vacuum heating chamber communicates with the vacuum heating chamber below the vacuum heating chamber via a gate valve. An exhaust chamber provided as described above, a cassette introduction chamber provided on one side of the exhaust chamber via a gate valve, a cooling chamber provided on the other side via a gate valve, and A heating means disposed on the outer periphery of the chamber to cover the chamber, an exhaust device provided in each of the chambers, a cooling means disposed around an inner side wall of the cooling chamber, the vacuum heating chamber, the exhaust chamber, and the exhaust A drive mechanism for moving the cassette containing the article to be heat-treated up and down or left and right between the chamber and the cassette introduction chambers provided on both sides thereof and the cooling chamber.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for heat-treating an article to be heat-treated contained in a cassette, wherein the vacuum heating chamber communicates with the vacuum heating chamber below the vacuum heating chamber via a gate valve. An exhaust chamber provided as above, a cooling chamber provided on both sides or three sides of the exhaust chamber through a gate valve, a heating means disposed on the outer periphery of the vacuum heating chamber so as to cover the vacuum heating chamber, An exhaust system plumbed into the chamber,
A cooling means arranged around the inner side wall of each of the cooling chambers, and a cassette containing articles to be heat-treated between the vacuum heating chamber, the exhaust chamber, and the exhaust chamber and the cooling chambers provided on both sides or three side faces thereof. And a drive mechanism for moving up and down or left and right.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to third aspects, the vacuum heating chamber is a vacuum heating chamber made of quartz.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to fourth aspects, the heating means is a heater unit in which a heating element is incorporated in a heat insulating material. .

Further, according to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to fifth aspects, the cooling means in the cooling chamber zigzags a plate with a circulation pipe.
It is a cooling plate which circulates cooling water in the circulation pipe.

According to the vacuum heating apparatus of the first aspect, each step of the decompression treatment, the heating treatment, and the cooling treatment of the article to be heat-treated is continuously performed in a separate chamber. Since it is not necessary to extremely lower the temperature of the vacuum heating chamber after the processing, the overall processing time is significantly reduced as compared with the conventional apparatus in which both the vacuum chamber and the article to be heat-treated have to be cooled after the above-mentioned heating processing. be able to. In addition, since the processing in the vacuum heating chamber is set to external heating, there is no need to install a heater or the like inside the vacuum heating chamber, and the heating processing can be performed in a clean environment of only the article to be heat-treated. The obtained article can be obtained with higher precision.

[0013] According to the vacuum heating device of the second aspect,
Before subjecting the article to be heat-treated to high vacuum exhaust in the exhaust chamber below the vacuum heating chamber, gas adsorption in the atmosphere is removed by performing low vacuum exhaust and high vacuum exhaust in the cassette introduction chamber communicating with the exhaust chamber. As a result, the article to be heat-treated can be sufficiently evacuated to a high vacuum, so that the above-described effect of the first aspect can be further enhanced.

[0014] According to the vacuum heating device of the third aspect,
Since the cooling chamber which communicates with the exhaust chamber via the gate valve is provided on both sides or three sides of the exhaust chamber below the vacuum heating chamber,
The cooling step requiring a longer time than the heating time of the article to be heat-treated in the vacuum heating chamber can be performed by alternately using two or three cooling chambers.
The effect of the above can be further improved.

According to the fourth aspect, the vacuum heating chamber of the first to third aspects is a vacuum heating chamber made of quartz,
Quartz can sufficiently heat-treat the article to be heat-treated by transmitting radiant heat from the property of transmitting infrared light.
The heating temperature at the time of external heat heating can be set lower than that of a metal vacuum vessel, and the energy consumption can be suppressed in addition to the effects of the above-described claims.

According to the fifth aspect, as a heating means for externally heating the article to be heat-treated housed in the cassette in the vacuum heating chamber, a heater unit in which a heating element is incorporated in a heat insulating material is used. The heat from the heater can be concentrated on the wall surface of the vacuum heating chamber, the time required for raising the temperature of the vacuum heating chamber can be shortened, and productivity can be improved and cost can be reduced.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, as the cooling means in the cooling chamber, the cooling water is fed into the circulation pipe incorporated in the cooling plate in a zigzag manner, so that the most time-consuming cooling step is significantly reduced. be able to.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a vacuum heating apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings showing one embodiment. The heating apparatus A shown in FIG. 1 includes a cylindrical vacuum heating chamber 1, a heating means 7 disposed on the outer periphery of the vacuum heating chamber 1 so as to cover the vacuum heating chamber 1, and an exhaust chamber 11 installed in communication with the vacuum heating chamber 1. It is composed of

The material of the vacuum heating chamber 1 is not particularly limited, and may be made of conventional stainless steel. However, the heating means 7 is disposed near the outer periphery of the vacuum heating chamber 1 so as to cover the vacuum heating chamber 1. It is more preferable that radiant heat can be sufficiently transmitted at the time of heating, that the heat distribution in the vacuum heating chamber 1 becomes uniform, and that the object to be heat-treated is made of quartz, which is more efficient than stainless steel.

The heating means 7 disposed on the outer periphery of the vacuum heating chamber 1 so as to cover the vacuum heating chamber 1 includes a block-shaped or semi-circular shaped body 9 made of a heat insulating material such as a ceramic fiber, and a nickel-chrome wire. 2A and 2B, in which a heating element 8 such as an iron-chromium-aluminum wire or a molybdenum disilicide wire is embedded. Reference numeral 10 denotes a terminal portion for connecting a power supply lead wire to the heater unit 7.

A vacuum pump 21 for evacuation and a turbo molecular pump 25 are connected to the exhaust chamber 11 via valves 22 and 26, respectively. Further, an inert gas introduction leak valve 18 and an exhaust valve 19 are connected. As an exhaust device for exhausting the inside of the vacuum heating chamber 1, a hollow through sling 5 below the vacuum heating chamber 1 is used.
A vacuum pump 35 is connected via a valve 36, a turbo molecular pump 37 is connected via a valve 38, and a leak valve 39 and an exhaust valve 40 are connected. Thus, the vacuum heating chamber 1 and the exhaust chamber 11 can have the same atmosphere. Reference numeral 12 denotes a gate valve for partitioning between the exhaust chamber 11 and the atmosphere, and a cassette 3 on which the article 2 to be heat-treated is placed before and after the heat treatment.
Is carried out by opening and closing the gate valve 12.

A drive mechanism 24, such as a motor, is disposed below the exhaust chamber 11 to transfer a cassette, on which the article 2 to be heat-treated under reduced pressure in the exhaust chamber is loaded, to a vacuum heating chamber. Further, the heat-treated article 2 subjected to the heat treatment in the vacuum heating chamber is transferred to the exhaust chamber.

Further, the exhaust chamber 11 is provided with the vacuum heating chamber 1
Since it is also used as the cooling chamber 11 of the article to be heat-treated in the inside, the cooling means 14 is arranged on the inner periphery thereof. As shown in FIG. 3, the cooling means 14 is a cooling plate 14 in which a cooling water circulation pipe 15 is embedded in a zigzag shape, and is disposed on each side wall of the exhaust chamber 11. At the bottom of the pipe.

Hereinafter, the operation of the vacuum heating apparatus A of FIG. 1 having the above configuration will be described using a glass substrate as the article to be heat treated. First, the grooves 3a, 3a on both sides of the cassette 3
a into a plurality of glass substrates 2, 2,.
The cassette 3 in which is set is inserted into the exhaust chamber 11 provided below the vacuum heating chamber 1 through the gate valve 4 with the gate valve 12 opened.

Next, the valve 22 of the pipe connected to the exhaust chamber 11 is opened, the vacuum pump 21 is operated, and the inside of the exhaust chamber 11 is evacuated to about 10 ⁻³ Torr while measuring with the vacuum gauge 23. I do. After that, the valve 22 is closed, the valve 26 is opened, the vacuum is further evacuated by the turbo molecular pump 25, and 10 ⁻⁶ to 10 ⁻⁷ Torr while measuring with the vacuum gauge 28.
, and the glass substrates 2, 2,... in the exhaust chamber 11 are cleaned. At the same time, the inside of the vacuum heating chamber 1 is evacuated to the same degree as the exhaust chamber 11 by opening the valve 36 and opening the valve 38 by the vacuum pump 35 and opening the valve 38 and the turbo molecular pump 37.

After the evacuation, with the valves 26 and 38 opened, the tip of a drive mechanism 24 such as a motor installed below the exhaust chamber 11 is brought into contact with the cassette 3 in the exhaust chamber 11 to The cassette 3 is pushed up by the operation, the gate valve 4 is opened, and the cassette 3 is mounted in the vacuum heating chamber 1 through the hollow through sling 5 thereon. Thus, after the cassette 3 is mounted in the vacuum heating chamber 1, the heating means (heater unit) 7 arranged at a position close to the outer periphery of the vacuum heating chamber 1 is energized to supply the glass substrate 2 in the vacuum heating chamber 1. Are heated at 500 ° C. for about 3 hours.

On the other hand, when the above-mentioned heating time is approaching the end, the cooling means, that is, the cooling plate 14 arranged around the side wall in the vacuum exhaust chamber 11 under the vacuum heating chamber 1.
The cooling water is circulated through a circulation pipe 15 embedded in a zigzag therein to make the exhaust chamber 11 a cooling chamber 11.

After the heating time in the vacuum heating chamber 1 has elapsed, the power supply to the heater unit 7 is stopped, and the glass substrates 2, 2,. Is allowed to cool to about 300 to 400 ° C.

This is due to a sudden heat shock that may occur when the glass substrates 2, 2,... Which have been heated at about 500 ° C. for about 3 hours are immediately transferred to a cooling chamber in which cooling water is circulated. This is for avoiding deterioration of the glass substrate 2.

Then, 300 to 400 in the vacuum heating chamber 1
The cassette 3 on which the glass substrates 2, 2,..., Which have been cooled down to about ° C., are transferred into the cooling chamber 11 in a vacuum atmosphere by the drive mechanism 24 with the gate valve 4 opened. After that, the cooling chamber 1 in which the cooling water is circulated by closing the gate valve 4 is provided.
Continue cooling in 1. When the temperature of the glass substrates 2, 2,... Drops to about 100 to 200 ° C., the valve 38 of the turbo molecular pump 37 provided in the cooling chamber 11 is closed, the leak valve 18 is opened, and the inside of the cooling chamber 11 is opened. The inside of the cooling chamber 11 is returned to atmospheric pressure by introducing an inert gas such as argon or nitrogen, and then cooled to about room temperature. After the completion of the cooling, the gate valve 12 is opened and the cassette 3 is carried out of the apparatus system, whereby the heating process of the glass substrates 2, 2,. The time required for the above cooling is about 3
~ 4 hours.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the vacuum heating apparatus of the present invention. What differs from the above-described apparatus A in FIG. 1 is the configuration of the exhaust chamber and the cooling chamber. In the apparatus A of FIG. 1, the exhaust chamber 11 provided in communication with the vacuum heating chamber 1 through the gate valve 4 also serves as a cooling chamber. In the apparatus B of FIG. 4, the vacuum heating chamber 1 and the gate valve 4 are connected. The cassette introduction chamber and the cooling chamber are separately arranged from the exhaust chamber provided separately from the exhaust chamber. In FIG. 4, the same parts as those of the apparatus A of FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

The heating device B shown in FIG. 4 is provided below the vacuum heating chamber 1 so as to communicate with the exhaust chamber 11a through the gate valve 4, and a cassette is provided on one side (the right side in the figure) of the exhaust chamber 11a. The introduction chamber 11b is connected via a gate valve 31. A cooling chamber 13 is connected to the other side of the exhaust chamber 11a via a gate valve 32. Reference numeral 33 denotes a gate valve that partitions between the cassette introduction chamber 11b and the atmosphere and carries in the cassette 3 on which the article 2 to be heat-treated is placed, and reference numeral 34 denotes a gate valve between the cooling chamber 13 and the atmosphere. This is a gate valve for carrying out the cassette 3 on which the article 2 to be heat-treated has been partitioned and heated.

As described above, the vacuum heating chamber 1 and the exhaust chamber 11
In the apparatus B shown in FIG. 4 comprising a, the cassette introduction chamber 11b, the cooling chamber 13 and the heating means 7, the exhaust device is connected to each of the above-mentioned chambers. That is, the gate valve 4 that separates the vacuum heating chamber 1 from the exhaust chamber 11a therebelow.
A vacuum pump 35 via a valve 36, a turbo molecular pump 37 via a valve 38, and a leak valve 39 and an exhaust valve 40 are connected to the hollow sluice 5 located above. A vacuum pump 21 via a valve 22, a turbo molecular pump 25 via a valve 26, and a leak valve 1
8 and the exhaust valve 19 are connected. Further, a vacuum pump 41 via a valve 42, a turbo molecular pump 43, a leak valve 45, and an exhaust valve 46 are connected to the cassette introduction chamber 11b via a valve 42, and a vacuum is provided via a valve 48 to the cooling chamber 13. The turbo molecular pump 51, the leak valve 53 and the exhaust valve 54 are connected via the pump 47 and the valve 52.

Reference numeral 24 denotes a vacuum heating chamber 1 and an exhaust chamber 11a.
And a drive mechanism for vertically moving the cassette 3 between the
49 and 50 are an exhaust chamber 11a and a cassette introduction chamber 11b.
And a drive mechanism for carrying in and out the cassette 3 with the cooling chamber 13.

The basic operation of the apparatus B is described in FIG.
This is almost the same as the device A. The operation will be described. First, the cassette 3 in which a plurality of glass substrates 2, 2,...
Insert into b. Then, the valve 42 of the pipe connected to the cassette introduction chamber 11b is opened, and the vacuum pump 41
To evacuate the chamber 11b to about 10 ^-3 Torr. Next, the valve 42 is closed, the valve 44 is opened, and the turbo molecular pump 43 opens the valve to 10 ^-4 to 10 ^-5 Torr.
Evacuate the glass substrate to a high degree to clean the glass substrate. At the same time, the exhaust chamber 11a opens the valve 22, opens the valve 26 by the vacuum pump 21, further opens the valve 26, and evacuates to high vacuum by the turbo-molecular pump 25. The vacuum heating chamber 1 opens the valve 36, and Valve 3
8 is opened, and high vacuum evacuation is performed to the same extent by the turbo molecular pump 37.

Thereafter, while the valve 38 is opened, the gate valve 31 is opened, and the cassette 3 evacuated to a high vacuum is transferred from the cassette introduction chamber 11b into the exhaust chamber 11a by the driving mechanism 49, and is further moved from the exhaust chamber 11a. Exhaust chamber 11
The cassette 3 is pushed up by the operation of a drive mechanism 24 such as a motor installed below the gate, the gate valve 4 is opened, and the inside of the vacuum heating chamber 1 which is evacuated to a high vacuum through the hollow through sling 5 above it. Attach the cassette 3 to.
After that, the heater unit 7 disposed close to the outer periphery of the vacuum heating chamber 1 is energized in the same manner as in the apparatus of FIG. 1 described above, and the glass substrates 2, 2,.
• Heat.

After the above heating is completed, the energization of the heater unit 7 is stopped, and the vacuum heating chamber 1 in a high vacuum atmosphere is left as it is.
.., Which have been heat-treated in
Allow to cool to about 400 ° C. During this cooling, cooling room 1
A vacuum pump 47 is opened by opening the valve 48, a high vacuum evacuation is performed by the turbo molecular pump 51 by opening the valve 52, and a cooling means disposed around the side wall in the chamber, that is, inside the cooling plate 14, The cooling water is circulated through the circulation pipe 15 of FIG.

Next, 300 to 40 in the vacuum heating chamber 1.
The cassette 3 on which the glass substrates 2, 2,...
Exhaust chamber 11 adjusted to a high vacuum atmosphere by the operation of
a from the exhaust chamber 11a to the gate valve 32
Is opened and transferred by the drive mechanism 50 into the cooling chamber 13 in a high vacuum atmosphere in which the cooling water is already circulated. And
After cooling to about 100 to 200 ° C. in the cooling chamber 13 in a high vacuum atmosphere, the valve 52 of the turbo molecular pump 51 provided in the cooling chamber 13 is closed, and the leak valve 53 is closed.
To introduce an inert gas to return to an atmospheric pressure atmosphere, and cool to about room temperature. Thereafter, the gate valve 34 is opened and the cassette 3 is carried out of the system.

According to the apparatus B shown in FIG. 4, the evacuation process, heating process, and cooling process for the glass substrates 2, 2,... Can be performed in separate chambers. By adjusting a certain treatment time, this series of heat treatment steps can be performed as a continuous operation.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a heating device C showing still another embodiment of the present invention. Apparatus B of FIG. 4 described above
The difference is in the configuration of the exhaust chamber and the cooling chamber. In the apparatus B of FIG. 4, the exhaust chamber 11a is provided with the cassette introduction chamber 11b via the gate valve 31 and the cooling chamber 13 via the gate valve 32, and is heated depending on the properties, dimensions, uses and other properties of the article to be heat-treated. Although the configuration corresponding to the case where a high vacuum cleaning degree of the article to be heat-treated is particularly required in the previous case, in the apparatus C of FIG. 5, two cooling chambers are provided on both sides of the exhaust chamber 11a via gate valves 32 and 32a. 13 and 13a. In FIG. 5, the same parts as those of the apparatus B of FIG. 4 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

In the heating apparatus C shown in FIG. 5, cooling chambers 13 and 13a are provided on both sides of an exhaust chamber 11a provided below the vacuum heating chamber 1 so as to communicate with each other via a gate valve 4, via gate valves 32 and 32a. Is provided. Then, the cassette 3 on which the article 2 to be heat-treated is placed is placed in the exhaust chamber 11.
The gas is carried into the exhaust chamber 11a by the gate valve 12, which is provided below the a to separate from the atmosphere.
Reference numerals 34a and 34a denote gate valves that partition the cooling chambers 13 and 13a from the atmosphere, respectively, and carry out the cassette 3 on which the article 2 to be heat-treated has been heated.

As described above, the vacuum heating chamber 1 and the exhaust chamber 11
In the device C of FIG. 5 comprising the cooling chambers 13, 13 a and the heating means 7, the exhaust device is connected to each of the above-described chambers as in the device B of FIG. That is, the hollow through sling 5 located above the gate valve 4 that separates the vacuum heating chamber 1 from the exhaust chamber 11a therebelow.
Is connected to a vacuum pump 35 via a valve 36, a turbo molecular pump 37 via a valve 38, and further connected to a leak valve 39 and an exhaust valve 40. A vacuum pump 21 is connected to the exhaust chamber 11a through a valve 22.
The turbo molecular pump 25 is connected via a valve 26, and the leak valve 18 and the exhaust valve 19 are further connected. The cooling chambers 13 and 13a have valves 48 and 48a, respectively.
The vacuum pumps 47, 47a are connected via valves 52, 52
a, turbo molecular pumps 51 and 51a are connected via
Furthermore, leak valves 53 and 53a and exhaust valves 54 and 54a are connected to each.

Reference numeral 24 denotes a vacuum heating chamber 1 and an exhaust chamber 11a.
And a drive mechanism for vertically moving the cassette 3 between the
Reference numerals 50 and 50a denote drive mechanisms for carrying out the unloading operation of the cassette 3 after the cooling process in the cooling chambers 13 and 13a.

The basic operation of the device C is described in FIG.
And substantially the same as the device B of FIG. The operation will be described. First, in the same manner as in the case of FIG. 1 described above, the cassette 3 in which a plurality of glass substrates 2, 2,... .
Then, the valve 22 of the pipe connected to the exhaust chamber 11a is opened, and the inside of the chamber 11a is
After evacuating to about ^-3 Torr, the valve 26 is opened, and the turbo molecular pump 25 is used to evacuate to 10 ^-6 to 10 ^-7 Torr.
The chamber 1 was evacuated to a high vacuum of about
The glass substrates 2, 2... In 1a are cleaned. At the same time as the evacuation of the evacuation chamber 11a, the vacuum pump 35 and the turbo molecular pump 37, in which the vacuum heating chamber 1 is also piped, are provided.
Evacuates to the same degree.

Thereafter, the cassette 3 is pushed up by the drive mechanism 24 installed below the exhaust chamber 11a, the gate valve 4 is opened, and the vacuum heating chamber which is evacuated to a high vacuum through the hollow through sling 5 above it. Cassette 3 in 1
Attach. After that, the heater unit 7 disposed close to the outer periphery of the vacuum heating chamber 1 is energized in the same manner as in the apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 4 described above, and the glass substrates 2, 2,. • Heat.

After the above-described heating is completed, the glass substrates 2, 2,...
It is allowed to cool to about 00 to 400 ° C. During this cooling, one of the cooling chambers 13 and 13a, for example, the cooling chamber 13
The valve 48 is opened and the vacuum pump 47 is opened.
The valve 52 is further opened to open the turbo molecular pump 5
After evacuating by means of 1, the cooling water is circulated through a cooling means arranged around the side wall in the room, that is, a circulation pipe 15 in the cooling plate 14.

Next, 300-400 ° C. in the vacuum heating chamber 1
The cassette 3 on which the glass substrates 2, 2,..., Which have been allowed to cool down to a certain degree, is transferred to the exhaust chamber 11a in a high vacuum atmosphere by opening the gate valve 4 and operating the drive mechanism 24. 32, the drive mechanism 5 is inserted into the cooling chamber 13 under a high vacuum in which the cooling water is already circulated.
Transport by 0. Then, cooling is continued in the cooling chamber 13 so that the temperatures of the glass substrates 2, 2,.
When the temperature has dropped to about ° C., the valve 52 of the turbo-molecular pump 51 provided in the cooling chamber 13 is closed, an inert gas is introduced into the cooling chamber 13 from the leak valve 53, and the chamber is returned to atmospheric pressure. Let cool to the extent. Thereafter, the gate valve 34 is opened and the cassette 3 is carried out of the system. Further, the other cooling chamber 13a is used in the same manner as described above when the cassette 3 on which the glass substrates 2, 2,...

According to the apparatus C shown in FIG. 5, the exhausting, heating, and cooling steps of the glass substrates 2, 2,... Can be performed in separate chambers. 13a and the configuration having two chambers, the cooling step requiring the longest time among these heat treatment steps can be carried out by alternately using the two cooling chambers, and this series of heat treatment steps is performed as a continuous operation. It can be implemented.

FIG. 6 is a schematic configuration diagram of a heating apparatus D showing still another embodiment of the present invention. The difference from the device C of FIG. 5 described above is that a cooling room of 13b is further provided in the two cooling chambers 13 and 13a of the device C of FIG. Thus, when a series of heat treatment steps are repeatedly performed, the cooling step requiring the longest time can be performed more smoothly than in the apparatus C of FIG. 5, and a more rapid continuous operation can be performed. The operation is the same as that of the device C in FIG.

[0050]

As described above, according to the vacuum heating apparatus of the present invention, each of the steps of decompression, heating and cooling of the article to be heat-treated is performed in a separate chamber. By performing these steps continuously, it is not necessary to extremely lower the temperature of the vacuum heating chamber after the heat treatment, and it is possible to shorten the entire processing time. In addition, since the heat treatment in the vacuum heating chamber is set to external heating, there is no installation other than the cassette in which the article to be heat-treated is placed in the vacuum heating chamber, so the heat treatment can be performed in a clean environment, A highly accurate heat-treated article can be obtained.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the exhaust treatment prior to the heat treatment of the article to be heat-treated in the vacuum heating chamber is sufficiently performed by the cassette introduction chamber and the exhaust chamber, so that the external heat in the vacuum heating chamber is reduced. The heating at the time of the heat treatment can be performed uniformly, and the effect of the above-described claim 1 can be made more precise by performing the cooling step in an independent cooling chamber.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the cooling chamber provided to communicate with the exhaust chamber via the gate valve has a two-chamber or three-chamber configuration. The cooling step requiring a longer time than the heat treatment time can be performed by using the plurality of cooling chambers alternately, and a series of heat treatment steps can be repeated continuously to obtain a highly accurate heat treated product. it can.

According to the apparatus of the fourth aspect, the vacuum heating chamber is made of quartz having a property of transmitting infrared rays, so that the external heating temperature can be set lower than that of the conventional metal vacuum heating chamber. Can also perform a sufficient heat treatment and contribute to energy saving in addition to the effects of the first to third aspects.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the external heat treatment of the article to be heat-treated in the vacuum heating chamber is performed by using a heater unit having a heating element incorporated in a heat insulating material as a heating means. The wall surface can be heated in a concentrated manner, and the productivity can be improved and the cost can be reduced by shortening the heating time in the vacuum heating chamber.

Furthermore, according to the invention of claim 6, as a cooling means in the cooling chamber, a cooling plate in which a circulation pipe is incorporated in a zigzag shape is used, and cooling water is circulated in the circulation pipe and transferred to the cooling chamber. Since the heat-treated article is cooled, the time required for the cooling step which requires the longest time can be significantly reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing one embodiment of a vacuum heating device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing an example of a heating means used in the vacuum heating device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing an example of a cooling means used in the vacuum heating device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing another embodiment of the vacuum heating device of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram showing still another embodiment of the vacuum heating device of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram showing still another embodiment of the vacuum heating device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 vacuum heating chamber 2 article to be heat-treated (glass substrate) 7 heating means (heater unit) 8 heating element 9 heat-insulating molded body 11, 11a exhaust chamber 11b cassette introduction chamber 13 cooling chamber 14 cooling means 15 circulation pipe 21, 35, 41, 47 Vacuum pump 24, 49, 50 Drive mechanism 25, 37, 43, 51 Turbo molecular pump

Claims (6)

[Claims] An apparatus for heat-treating an article to be heat-treated housed in a cassette, comprising: a vacuum heating chamber; and a cooling chamber provided below the vacuum heating chamber in communication with the vacuum heating chamber via a gate valve. An exhaust chamber serving also as a heating means disposed on the outer periphery of the vacuum heating chamber so as to cover the vacuum heating chamber; an exhaust device provided in the exhaust chamber serving also as the vacuum heating chamber and the cooling chamber; and an exhaust chamber serving as the cooling chamber. A vacuum, comprising: cooling means disposed around the inner side wall; and a drive mechanism for moving a cassette containing the article to be heat-treated between the vacuum heating chamber and the exhaust chamber serving also as the cooling chamber. Heating equipment. 2. An apparatus for heat-treating an article to be heat-treated housed in a cassette, comprising: a vacuum heating chamber; and an exhaust chamber provided below the vacuum heating chamber in communication with the vacuum heating chamber via a gate valve. A cassette introduction chamber provided on one side of the exhaust chamber via a gate valve, a cooling chamber provided on the other side of the exhaust chamber via a gate valve, and an outer periphery thereof covering the vacuum heating chamber. Heating means, an exhaust device arranged in each of the chambers, a cooling means arranged around the inner side wall of the cooling chamber, and the vacuum heating chamber, the exhaust chamber, the exhaust chamber, and both sides thereof. A vacuum heating device, comprising: a drive mechanism for moving a cassette containing articles to be heat-treated up and down or left and right between a cassette introduction chamber and a cooling chamber. 3. An apparatus for heat-treating an article to be heat-treated housed in a cassette, comprising: a vacuum heating chamber; and an exhaust chamber provided below the vacuum heating chamber in communication with the vacuum heating chamber via a gate valve. A cooling chamber provided on both sides or three sides of the exhaust chamber via a gate valve, heating means disposed on the outer periphery to cover the vacuum heating chamber, and an exhaust device provided in each of the chambers And a cooling means disposed around the inner side wall of each of the cooling chambers, and the article to be heat-treated accommodated between the vacuum heating chamber, the exhaust chamber, and the exhaust chamber and the cooling chambers provided on both sides or three side faces thereof. And a drive mechanism for moving the cassette up and down or left and right. 4. The vacuum heating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the vacuum heating chamber is a vacuum heating chamber made of quartz. 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said heating means is a heater unit in which a heating element is incorporated in a heat insulating material.
5. The vacuum heating device according to any one of items 4 to 4. 6. A cooling plate according to claim 1, wherein said cooling means in said cooling chamber is a cooling plate in which a circulating pipe is zigzag-incorporated in a plate body and cooling water is circulated in said circulating pipe. The vacuum heating device according to any one of claims.