JP2003194478A - Heat treatment device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a compact, low-cost heat treatment device capable of preventing a lowering of treating quality even in the case of heating a treated object of large dimensions or heating the treated object at a high temperature. <P>SOLUTION: A heating source 2 for heating the treated object W of plate shape is arranged in a heating chamber 1, and the heating source 2 is provided with a thin film heater 3 with a pattern 3a for heating the treated object W, prepared to uniformize the internal temperature distribution of the treated object W, and first and second glass (insulating members) 4, 5 for holding the thin film heater 3 in the state of covering the pattern 3a. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a heat treatment apparatus for heating a plate-like workpiece such as a glass substrate used for a flat display panel. 2. Description of the Related Art For example, a glass substrate used for a liquid crystal panel or a plasma display panel is appropriately subjected to a heat treatment such as an annealing treatment or a coating treatment according to its use. ing. In such a heating process, conventionally, a glass substrate is conveyed by a heating member of a hot air circulation system in which a substrate is heated by hot air circulated in a heating chamber by a sirocco fan or the like, or a heating member is conveyed by a heater such as a roller hearth type. Firing furnaces have been used. However, in the conventional heat treatment apparatus as described above, in the former case, as the size of the glass substrate increases, or as the heating temperature increases, uniform heating of the substrate becomes more difficult, resulting in uneven firing and thermal distortion. May occur. In the latter case,
The provision of the above-described transport members and the like increases the size of the apparatus, increases equipment costs and running costs, and makes it difficult to reduce manufacturing costs. In view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, the present invention can prevent the processing quality from deteriorating even when an object to be processed having a large size or an object to be heated is heated at a high temperature. Another object of the present invention is to provide a compact and inexpensive heat treatment apparatus. According to the present invention, there is provided a heating chamber, and a heating source for heating a plate-like workpiece in the heating chamber, wherein the heating source is provided inside the workpiece. The thin film heater includes a thin film heater in which a pattern for heating the processing object is formed so that the temperature distribution is uniform, and an insulating member that sandwiches the heater while covering the pattern of the thin film heater. (Claim 1). In the heat treatment apparatus configured as described above,
Since the object to be processed is heated by the thin film heater having the above-described pattern, even when the object to be processed having a large size or the object to be processed is heated at a high temperature, the internal temperature distribution of the object to be processed is made uniform and the object is heated. The processed material can be heated.
Further, since the object to be processed is heated in the heating chamber by the thin film heater, unlike the above-described conventional example, a transport member or the like is not required, and the apparatus configuration can be made compact. Furthermore, since the pattern is covered with the insulating member, it is possible to prevent dust such as an oxide scale and a metal scale from spreading from the pattern into the heating chamber. Preferred embodiments of the heat treatment apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a main configuration of a heat treatment apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the heat treatment apparatus of the present embodiment includes a heating chamber 1 that can be hermetically sealed, and a heating source 2 that is disposed in the heating chamber 1 and that heats a plate-like workpiece W such as a glass substrate or a semiconductor wafer. Have. The heating chamber 1
Is rectangularly sectioned by a heat insulating material 1a provided inside a metal plate (not shown) constituting an outer cover of the apparatus, and is provided with an openable and closable door 1b for taking in and out the workpiece W. ing. The heating chamber 1 is capable of airtightly connecting a gas inlet and an outlet, so that the object W can be heat-treated by setting the inside of the chamber 1 to a desired atmosphere. The heating source 2 includes a thin film heater 3 connected to a power supply (not shown) and first and second glasses 4 as insulating members.
5, the object W placed on the first glass 4 is heated by the radiant heat of the thin film heater 3. The thin film heater 3 has a thickness of, for example, 50 μm.
It is made of a conductive material such as a stainless steel foil, and has a pattern 3a formed by photo-etching (see also FIG. 2). This pattern 3
“a” is patterned according to the dimensions of the workpiece W and the heating temperature for the workpiece W, and heats the workpiece W so that the internal temperature distribution of the workpiece W becomes uniform. The first and second corners of the pattern 3a are located at the four corners.
A hole 3b for inserting a fixing pin 6 for fixing the thin film heater 3 between the glasses 4 and 5 is provided. One end 3c and the other end 3d of the heater 3 continuous with both ends of the pattern 3a are arranged in the heating chamber 1 in a state where they are inserted through an insulating member such as a deformed glass sleeve (not shown).
And drawn out of the heating chamber 1 through the heat insulating material 1a,
It is connected to the power supply. The first and second glasses 4 and 5 are made of glass ceramic (crystallized glass) such as amorphous quartz glass or neoceram (manufactured by Nippon Electric Glass Co., Ltd.). With the thin film heater 3 covered
Is sandwiched. The holes (not penetrating the surface) provided in the first glass 4 are provided with the above-mentioned pattern 3 during heating.
A plurality of pin members 7 made of aluminum nitride (AlN) or the like for suppressing the deformation of a are attached. In the heat treatment apparatus of the present embodiment configured as described above, the workpiece W is heated by the thin film heater 3 having the pattern 3a, so that the workpiece W having a large size or the workpiece is processed at a high temperature. Even when heating thing W,
The workpiece W can be heated by making the internal temperature distribution of the workpiece W uniform. Therefore, even when the workpiece W having a large size or the workpiece W is heated at a high temperature,
It is possible to uniformly heat the processing target portion W while preventing the occurrence of baking unevenness and thermal distortion, and to prevent the processing quality from deteriorating. In addition, since the object to be processed W can be uniformly heated with a simple configuration using the heating source 2 including the thin film heater 3 in the heating chamber 1, the above-described conventional example provided with the transfer member, the sirocco fan, etc. Unlike this, it is possible to easily reduce the size of the device configuration, to reduce the installation space, and also to easily configure a low-cost device in which the equipment power of the attached members is small. Furthermore, since the pattern 3a is covered with the first and second glasses 4 and 5, dust such as an oxide scale or a metal scale can be prevented from spreading from the pattern 3a into the heating chamber 1,
It is possible to prevent the workpiece W from being contaminated by the dust or the like. According to the test results of the inventor, even when the glass substrate as the object to be processed W is heated at 600 ° C. by the thin film heater 3, the internal temperature distribution becomes almost uniform around 600 ° C. It was confirmed that uniform heating was possible without causing unevenness in baking and thermal distortion on the glass substrate. In the above description, the configuration for heating the workpiece W placed on the first glass 4 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. Alternatively, a configuration may be adopted in which the workpiece W is heated while being floated by the support member 8 disposed on the first glass 4. Further, as shown by a dashed line in FIG.
A configuration may be adopted in which another heating source 2 is provided above the heater for heating. In the above description, the first and second glasses 4
5 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and any insulating member having an electrical insulating property capable of sandwiching the thin film heater 3 while covering the pattern 3a. Just fine. The present invention configured as described above has the following effects. According to the heat treatment apparatus of the first aspect, even when the object to be processed having a large size or the object to be heated at a high temperature is heated, the object to be processed can be heated with a uniform internal temperature distribution. It is possible to prevent baking unevenness and thermal distortion from occurring in the processed product. As a result, the object to be processed can be uniformly heated, and a decrease in processing quality can be prevented. In addition, since the object to be processed can be uniformly heated with a simple configuration using a heating source including the above-described thin film heater in the heating chamber, a compact apparatus with reduced equipment costs and running costs can be easily configured. it can. Furthermore, since dust such as an oxide scale or a metal scale can be prevented from spreading into the heating chamber, the object to be treated can be prevented from being contaminated with the dust and the like, and a reduction in treatment quality can be prevented. it can.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a main configuration of a heat treatment apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2A is a perspective view showing a heating source shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 2B is a perspective view showing a thin film heater. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a main configuration of a heat treatment apparatus according to another embodiment. [Description of Signs] 1 Heating chamber 2 Heating source 3 Thin film heater 3a Patterns 4, 5 First and second glass (insulating member)

Claims (1)

Claims: 1. A heating chamber, and a heating source for heating a plate-like workpiece in the heating chamber, wherein the heating source makes the internal temperature distribution of the workpiece uniform. A heat treatment apparatus comprising: a thin film heater in which a pattern for heating the object to be processed is formed, and an insulating member that sandwiches the heater while covering the pattern of the thin film heater.