JP2009168365A - Plate-like body cooling apparatus and heat treatment system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a tabular body cooling apparatus capable of smoothly cooling a heat-treated tabular body, and a heat treatment system having the tabular body cooling apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: A tabular body arranging means 20 has a plurality of blowing means arranging parts 30 provided with blowing means 40 capable of blowing air toward a substrate W, every predetermined space. When putting in and out the substrate W to be cooled, a fork claw 13 of a transfer device 11 is inserted in an operation area 25 formed at the side of the blowing means arranging part 30, and operated. A support pin 23 for supporting the substrate W is therefore lowered by the height portion of the blowing means 40, and a space between the substrate W and the blowing means 40 can be reduced by that portion. The flow velocity of air flowing along the substrate W is thereby increased to enhance the cooling efficiency of the substrate W. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a plate-like body cooling device for performing cooling after heat-treating a plate-like body such as a glass substrate, and a heat treatment system employing the plate-like body cooling device.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a heat treatment system having a heat treatment apparatus for heat treating a plate-like body such as a glass substrate and a plate-like body cooling apparatus for cooling the heat treated plate-like body is a liquid crystal display (LCD). ), Plasma display (PDP: Plasma Display), organic EL display, etc., are used for the manufacture of flat panel displays (FPD: Flat Panel Display). As an example of the plate-like body cooling device employed in such a heat treatment system, there is one disclosed in Patent Document 1 below.

In the prior art disclosed in Patent Document 1, a heat treatment tank that heats a plate and heat-treats it and a cooling tank that cools it separately, and the heat-treated plate is transferred from the heat treatment tank to the cooling tank. Then cooling is performed. When heat treatment is continuously performed with such an apparatus, cooling can be performed without substantially reducing the temperature of the heat treatment tank, and thus energy used in the heat treatment tank can be reduced.
JP 2002-71936 A

  In the case of an apparatus with separate heat treatment tank and cooling tank as in the prior art described above, if the processing capacity of the process in each tank is not made approximately the same, one capacity will be left to perform efficient processing. I can't. And if the cooling time in a cooling tank is long, the number of the plate-shaped bodies which can be cooled per unit time will decrease. Therefore, when the configuration as in the prior art is adopted, there is a problem that the cooling tank is enlarged in order to secure the processing capacity in the cooling tank.

  In addition, as shown in Patent Document 1, the cooling of the plate-like bodies is generally performed by arranging the plate-like bodies at intervals and supplying cooling air between the plate-like bodies from one side. Supply and flow to the other side. Therefore, in such a configuration, the air flow in the vicinity of the downstream side in the air flow direction becomes gentle, and it takes time to cool the plate-like body, or the cooling of the plate-like body is uneven depending on the part. There is a problem that the temperature on the downstream side becomes higher than that on the upstream side.

  Then, this invention aimed at provision of the heat processing system provided with the plate-shaped body cooling device which can cool the heat-treated plate-shaped body smoothly, and the said plate-shaped body cooling device.

  The 1st aspect of the plate-shaped object cooling device of this invention provided in order to solve the said subject has the plate-shaped object arrangement | positioning means by which the plate-shaped object which is cooling object is arrange | positioned, and a ventilation means, The plate-like body can be taken in and out from the side with respect to the plate-like body arranging means and can be arranged on the plate-like body arranging means, and the plate-like body arranging means supports the plate-like body from below. It is characterized in that the air blowing means is capable of blowing air toward the plate-like body at a position close to the plate-like body.

  In the plate-like body cooling device of the present invention, the air blowing means can blow air toward the plate-like body from a position close to the plate-like body arranged on the plate-like body arranging means. Therefore, in the plate-like body cooling device of the present invention, the wind emitted from the air blowing means passes through a narrow space formed between the plate-like body and the air blowing means. Therefore, in the plate-like body cooling device of the present invention, low-temperature air flows one after another between the plate-like body and the air blowing means, and the plate-like body is smoothly cooled by that amount.

  As described above, the plate-like body cooling device of the present invention can smoothly cool the plate-like bodies one after another. Therefore, if it is set as the above-mentioned structure, in order to ensure the cooling processing capacity of a plate-shaped body, it is not necessary to enlarge a plate-shaped body cooling device more than necessary, and it can contribute to size reduction of a plate-shaped body cooling device. .

  Further, the second aspect of the plate-like body cooling device of the present invention provided to solve the same problem includes a plate-like body arrangement means for arranging a plate-like body to be cooled, and the plate-like body arrangement. And a blowing means capable of blowing air toward the plate-like body arranged in the means, and the plate-like body can be taken in and out from the side with respect to the plate-like body arranging means, and can be arranged above the blowing means. The plate-like body arranging means supports the plate-like body from below, and the blower means can blow air from below toward the plate-like body supported by the support means. And an operating area provided on the side of the blowing means arrangement section, and the transfer device for taking in and out the plate-like body is operable in the operation area. It is characterized by.

  In the plate-like body cooling device of the present invention, the air blowing means is arranged in the air blowing means arranging portion provided in the plate-like body arranging means. On the other hand, the plate-like body arrangement means has an operation area on the side of the air blowing means arrangement portion, and this operation area can be effectively used as an area for operating the transfer device for taking in and out of the plate-like body. it can. Therefore, the plate-shaped body cooling device of the present invention has a compact device configuration.

  Further, as described above, when the operation area for operating the transfer device is provided on the side of the air blowing means, the transfer device can be operated even if the height of the support means is lowered accordingly. A sufficiently large working area can be secured. Therefore, in the plate-like body cooling device of the present invention, the distance between the plate-like body supported by the support means and the air blowing means can be reduced. Moreover, the ventilation means employ | adopted with the plate-shaped body cooling device of this invention is distribute | arranged so that it can blow from the downward direction toward a plate-shaped body. Therefore, in the plate-like body cooling device of the present invention, the wind emitted from the air blowing means passes through a narrow space formed between the plate-like body and the air blowing means. Therefore, in the plate-like body cooling device of the present invention, the wind speed of the wind flowing between the plate-like body and the air blowing means is high, and the plate-like body is cooled smoothly by that amount.

  The plate-like body cooling device of the present invention described above preferably includes air cooling means capable of cooling the air that is blown from the blowing means toward the plate-like body and flows along the plate-like body.

  According to such a configuration, it is possible to cool the air blown from the blowing means for cooling the plate-like body by the air cooling means, and the plate-like body can be cooled more smoothly.

  Further, in the plate-like body cooling device of the present invention described above, a plurality of air blowing means are arranged at intervals on the plate-like body arranging means, and through a space formed at a position adjacent to the air blowing means. It is desirable that air can pass between the space above and below the air blowing means.

  In the plate-shaped body cooling device of the present invention, the air that is blown from the blowing means toward the plate-like body and heated by heat exchange is formed in a space above the blowing means through a space formed on the side of the blowing means. It can be made to pass toward the space on the lower side. Therefore, in the plate-like body cooling device of the present invention, air that has become high temperature due to heat exchange is less likely to be trapped between the air blowing means, the plate-like body arranging means, and the plate-like body. Therefore, according to the present invention, the plate-like body can be cooled smoothly.

  Moreover, if it is set as the above structure, since several ventilation means are arrange | positioned with respect to a plate-shaped object, between a ventilation means or a plate-shaped body arrangement | positioning means, and a plate-shaped body, a plate-shaped body is locally. It is possible to prevent air that has become hot due to heat exchange from being trapped. Therefore, according to this invention, the plate-shaped body cooling device which can cool a plate-shaped body substantially uniformly irrespective of a site | part can be provided.

  In the plate-like body cooling device described above, the plate-like body arranging means is provided with a plurality of air blowing means, and in the state where the plate-like body is arranged above the plate-like body arranging means, It is desirable that the wind speed of the air flowing along the plate-like body in the region is lower than the wind speed of the air flowing along the plate-like body in the central region of the plate-like body.

  According to the above-described configuration, it is possible to increase the cooling capacity in the central portion of the plate-like body that is usually large in heat dissipation and easily cooled, and substantially uniform the temperature distribution as the whole plate-like body. it can. Therefore, according to the plate-shaped body cooling device of the present invention, the plate-shaped body can be smoothly cooled regardless of the part.

  The heat treatment system of the present invention includes a heat treatment apparatus for performing heat treatment of a plate-like body, the above-mentioned plate-like body cooling apparatus, and a transfer apparatus for taking out the heat-treated plate-like body and carrying it into the plate-like body cooling apparatus. It is characterized by having.

  Since the heat treatment system of the present invention includes the plate-like body cooling device described above, the plate-like body heat-treated by the heat treatment device can be cooled smoothly. Therefore, according to the heat treatment system of the present invention, a series of operations from heat treatment to cooling of the plate-like body can be performed efficiently.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the apparatus structure is compact, the plate-shaped body cooling device which can cool the heat-treated plate-shaped body substantially uniformly and smoothly, and the heat processing system provided with the said plate-shaped body cooling device can be provided. .

Next, the heat treatment system 1 and the plate cooling device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1, the heat treatment system 1 includes a heat treatment apparatus 2, a plate-like body cooling apparatus 10 (hereinafter also simply referred to as a cooling apparatus 10), and a transfer apparatus 11 configured by a robot hand. The heat treatment apparatus 2 heats a substrate (plate-like body) such as a glass plate by placing it in the heat treatment apparatus 2.

  The cooling device 10 is for cooling the substrate heat treated by the heat treatment device 2. The cooling device 10 has a configuration in which a plurality of plate-like body arrangement means 20 are arranged at predetermined intervals in the vertical direction. As shown in FIGS. 3, 4 (b), 4 (c), etc., each plate-like body arrangement means 20 is provided with an operating region 25. Further, each plate-like body arrangement means 20 is provided with a blower means arrangement portion 30, and a blower means 40 is arranged thereon.

  More specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the plate-like body arranging means 20 has ten vertical beams 21 arranged in parallel at a predetermined interval, and horizontal beams 22 are attached to both end portions thereof. Has a skeletal structure. In the plate-like body arrangement means 20, the vertical beam 21 extends in the depth direction (vertical direction in FIG. 3) of the cooling device 10, and the horizontal beam 22 extends in the width direction (horizontal direction in FIG. 3). Arranged.

  A plurality of support pins 23 are attached to the vertical beam 21 in the longitudinal direction at predetermined intervals. Further, when the vertical beams 21 are formed as the vertical beams 21a to 21j in the order in which the vertical beams 21 are arranged in the width direction of the plate-like body arranging means 20, the vertical beams 21a and 21j positioned at both ends in the width direction of the plate-like body arranging means 20 are plate-like. It forms the outer edge of the body arrangement means 20. An operation region 25 is formed between the vertical beams 21a and 21j and the vertical beams 21b and 21i located adjacent to each other on the inner side in the width direction. Similarly, the operation region 25 is also formed between the vertical beams 21c and 21d, between the vertical beams 21e and 21f, and between the vertical beams 21g and 21h. The operation area | region 25 is extended linearly along the longitudinal beams 21a-21j, respectively.

  Further, the plate-like body arrangement means 20 has a blower arrangement section 30 between the vertical beams 21b and 21c, between the vertical beams 21d and 21e, between the vertical beams 21f and 21g, and between the vertical beams 21h and 21i. As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 (a), each blowing means arrangement section 30 is provided with four blowing means 40 at predetermined intervals in the longitudinal direction of the longitudinal beams 21b to 21i. In addition, air cooling means 50 are disposed at positions adjacent to the air blowing means 40 on both sides in the longitudinal direction of the longitudinal beams 21b to 21i.

  As shown in FIG. 5A, the blower unit 40 includes a blower fan 41 and a filter 43. The blower fan 41 is attached in such a posture that the intake port 45 faces downward and the exhaust port 46 faces upward. The filter 43 is configured by a conventionally known HEPA filter (High Efficiency Particulate Air Filter), and is disposed above the exhaust port 46 of the blower fan 41. Therefore, the air blowing means 40 can clean the air sucked from the lower intake port 45 through the filter 43 and release upward from the upper surface 47 of the filter 43. Further, the upper surface 47 of the filter 43 is at a position slightly lower than the tip end portion of the support pin 23 provided on each vertical beam 21. Specifically, when the substrate W is disposed on the support pins 23, the gap s between the back surface of the substrate W and the upper surface 47 of the filter 43 is narrow and sufficiently low with respect to the height of the support pins 23. Therefore, as shown by an arrow in FIG. 5A, when the blower fan 41 is operated in a state where the substrate W is arranged on the support pin 23, a slight amount formed between the upper surface 47 of the filter 43 and the substrate W is formed. The air flows vigorously between the gaps s.

  The air cooling means 50 is constituted by a water-cooled cooling device, and is connected to a water supply source (not shown) via a refrigerant circulation path 51 (FIG. 2). The air cooling means 50 can cool air by heat exchange with water (refrigerant) circulating through the refrigerant circulation path 51. As indicated by arrows in FIG. 5A, the air cooling means 50 is discharged toward the substrate W from the air blowing means 40 at the adjacent position, and along the substrate W on the upper side of the plate-like body arranging means 20. After flowing, the air flowing into the air cooling means 50 can be cooled.

  Subsequently, a processing method of the substrate W by the heat treatment system 1 will be described focusing on the operation of the cooling device 10. The substrate W to be processed by the heat treatment system 1 is put into the heat treatment apparatus 2 using a robot hand or the like and exposed to an atmosphere adjusted to a predetermined temperature (230 ° C. to 250 ° C. in this embodiment) for a predetermined time. Is heat treated.

  When the heat treatment by the heat treatment apparatus 2 is completed as described above, the substrate W is taken out from the heat treatment apparatus 2 by the transfer device 11. Then, the heat-treated substrate W is disposed on the plurality of plate-like body arranging means 20 constituting the cooling device 10 on which the substrate W is not cooled. More specifically, the transfer device 11 has a fork portion 12 having five fork claws 13 as shown in FIG. 1, and the fork portion 12 is placed below the substrate W in the heat treatment device 2. After being inserted and lifted, the substrate W can be taken out from the heat treatment apparatus 2 by being pulled out from the heat treatment apparatus 2.

  When the substrate W is taken out from the heat treatment apparatus 2 as described above, the fork portion 12 of the transfer apparatus 11 is directed toward the cooling apparatus 10 with the substrate W mounted thereon. Thereafter, the fork portion 12 of the transfer device 11 is inserted above the plate-like body arrangement means 20 constituting the cooling device 10 that is not in the process of cooling the substrate W. At this time, the height of the fork portion 12 is adjusted so that the substrate W does not interfere with the support pins 23 provided in the plate-like body arranging means 20. Further, the position of the fork portion 12 is adjusted to a position where each fork claw 13 can enter into each operation region 25 constituting the plate-like body arranging means 20. When the fork portion 12 is inserted from the front side (one side beam 22 side) to the back side (the other side beam 22 side) of the plate-like body arranging means 20 adjacent in the vertical direction after being adjusted in this way, Each fork claw 13 of the fork portion 12 is slowly lowered in the operating region 25. As a result, the substrate W mounted on the fork portion 12 is placed on the support pins 23 provided in large numbers on the plate-like body arranging means 20. Thereafter, each fork claw 13 of the fork portion 12 horizontally moves in the opposite direction along the vertical beam 21 and is extracted from each operation region 25.

  In the state where the substrate W is arranged on the plate-like body arranging means 20, if the blower fans 41 of the air blowing means 40 provided in large numbers on the plate-like body arranging means 20 are operated, the air as shown by the arrows in FIG. A circulating flow of is generated. More specifically, when the blower fan 41 operates, the air sucked from the intake port 45 provided on the bottom surface side becomes an upward flow and flows from the exhaust port 46 toward the filter 43. The air discharged from the exhaust port 46 is further cleaned through the filter 43 and then blown from the upper surface 47 of the filter 43 toward the substrate W located above.

  Here, as described above, the gap s between the upper surface 47 of the filter 43 and the substrate W is very small. Therefore, the air discharged from the filter 43 flows one after another without stagnation between the upper surface 47 and the back side of the substrate W, and cools the substrate W. The air passing through the back side of the substrate W is then cooled by the air cooling means 50 located at the positions adjacent to both sides of each blowing means 40. The air that has flowed into and cooled by the air cooling means 50 flows out to the bottom surface side of the plate-like body arranging means 20. The air thus cooled is sucked from the air inlet 45 of the air blowing means 40 located adjacent to each air cooling means 50 and used for cooling the substrate W.

  When the substrate W is cooled to a predetermined temperature by the circulating flow generated by the operation of the blower fan 41, the transfer device 11 is inserted below the substrate W. At this time, the transfer device 11 is inserted in the same manner as when the substrate W is placed on the plate-like body placement means 20 for the cooling process. In other words, each fork claw 13 of the transfer device 11 is provided from the side of the plate-like body arranging means 20 in each operation region 25 provided in the plate-like body arranging means 20 that supports the cooled substrate W. It is inserted along each vertical beam 21. When each fork claw 13 is inserted to the back side of the plate-like body arranging means 20, each fork claw 13 is lifted upward in each operation region 25. Thereafter, each fork claw 13 of the transfer device 11 moves horizontally along each longitudinal beam 21 and is extracted from each operation region 25. As a result, the substrate W is taken out from the plate-like body cooling device 10, and a series of cooling processes is completed.

  As described above, in the cooling device 10 of the present embodiment, the air blowing means 40 is arranged in the air blowing means arranging portion 30 provided in the plate-like body arranging means 20. In addition, an operation region 25 is provided on the side of the air blowing means 40 of the plate-like body arranging means 20 and can be effectively used for taking in and out the substrate W. Therefore, the plate-shaped body cooling device 10 has a compact device configuration.

  Further, since the cooling device 10 can effectively use the space formed on the side of the air blowing means 40 as the operation region 25 for the transfer device 11, the height of the support pin 23 is set to a height required for the operation of the transfer device 11. Can be made sufficiently lower. Therefore, when the substrate W is arranged on the plate-like body arrangement means 20 in the cooling device 10, the air blown to the substrate W along with the operation of the blower fan 41 is formed between the upper surface 47 of the filter 43 and the substrate W. The small gap s passes at high speed, and the substrate W is smoothly cooled.

  Although the air blowing means 40 described above has a filter 43 attached on the air blowing fan 41, the present invention is not limited to this. Specifically, the filter 43 may not be provided for some or all of the plurality of air blowing means 40 provided, and the filter 43 may be attached to another part.

  The above-described cooling device 10 can appropriately adjust the wind speed of the air flowing between the air blowing means 40 and the substrate W by adjusting the size of the gap s between each air blowing means 40 and the substrate W. Specifically, by reducing the gap s between the blowing means 40 and the substrate W, the air velocity between the two can be increased. More specifically, for example, by adjusting the thickness of the filter 43 or adjusting the height of the air blowing means 40, the size of the gap s between the air blowing means 40 and the substrate W is adjusted. It is also possible to adjust the wind speed of the air blown toward W and flowing between the upper surface 47 of the filter 43 and the substrate W.

  In addition, when providing the ventilation means 40 from which the thickness of the filter 43 differs as mentioned above, the flow resistance of air will differ by the influence of the thickness of the filter 43. FIG. Therefore, in this case, if the rotation speed of the blower fan 41 is the same, the air velocity of the air blown from the blower means 40 toward the substrate W and the cooling efficiency of the substrate W differ from each other by the difference in the air flow resistance. It becomes. Therefore, when adjusting the size of the gap s depending on the thickness of the filter 43, the rotational speed of the blower fan 41 can be adjusted after taking into account the difference in the air flow resistance due to the difference in the thickness of the filter 43. desirable.

  In the cooling device 10 shown in the above embodiment, the air blowing means 40 provided in large numbers in the plate-like body arranging means 20 may be capable of blowing air toward the substrate W at the same wind speed. On the other hand, when it is desired to more reliably prevent the occurrence of temperature unevenness of the substrate W, the air blowing speed in the air blowing means 40 located at the position corresponding to the outer peripheral side of the substrate W is set in the central region of the plate-like body. It is desirable to adjust so that it may become lower than the ventilation speed in the ventilation means 40 located below.

  The above-described cooling device 10 has the air cooling means 50, and can thereby cool the air that has flowed along the substrate W and has reached a high temperature. Therefore, according to this embodiment, low-temperature air can always be applied to the substrate W, and the substrate W can be quickly cooled. In addition, in the said embodiment, although the structure which provided the air cooling means 50 in the both sides of each ventilation means 40 was illustrated, this invention is not limited to this, The air provided with two or more in the said embodiment A configuration in which a part of the cooling means 50 is not provided, or a configuration in which no air cooling means 50 is provided as shown in FIG. 6 may be employed. Further, as shown in FIG. 5 (b), the air cooling means 50 is provided below or above the blower means 40 (downward in FIG. 5 (b)), or the cooling means as shown in FIG. 5 (c). It is good also as a structure which provided the air cooling means 50 instead of the filter 43 which comprises 40. FIG.

  In the case where a part or all of the air cooling means 50 is not provided as described above, a space 55 in which the plate-like body arranging means 20 communicates vertically is formed in this part as shown in FIG. As described above, when a space communicating in the vertical direction of the plate-like body arranging means 20 is formed at a position adjacent to the air blowing means 40, the air heated as the substrate W is cooled through the space. Can be released from the space above the air blowing means 40 toward the space below. Therefore, even when the configuration as shown in FIG. 6 is adopted, the air heated with the cooling of the substrate W is not easily trapped on the back side of the substrate W, and the substrate W can be smoothly cooled without unevenness. In this case, if a separate air blower is provided on the side of the cooling device 10 and the outside air is sent by the air blower, the cooling effect can be further improved.

  The cooling device 10 described above cools the substrate W only from the lower side by the air blowing means 40, but the present invention is not limited to this. Specifically, for example, in the cooling device 10, a configuration corresponding to the blower unit 40 or the blower fan 41 may be provided on the bottom surface side of the other plate-like member arranging unit 20 above each plate-like member arranging unit 20. Good. With such a configuration, cooling can be performed by blowing air not only from below the substrate W but also from above, and the cooling efficiency can be further increased.

  Further, for example, as shown in FIG. 7, a blower means 40 is provided on the lower surface side of the plate-like body arranging means 57 provided so as to be arranged in the up-down direction, and the plate-like body at a position adjacent to the lower side is blown by this. It is good also as a structure which sprays on the board | substrate W arrange | positioned on the support pin 23 provided in the arrangement | positioning means 57, and cools. As shown in FIG. 7, if the air blowing means 40 is arranged at a position close to the substrate W and the distance between the two is made small, the wind generated by the operation of the air blowing means 40 is generated by the air blowing means 40 and the substrate W. The substrate W flows at a high speed one after another, and the substrate W is smoothly cooled.

  In addition, when the air blowing means 40 is provided at a position close to the upper side with respect to the substrate W as shown in FIG. 7, when the fork claw 13 of the transfer device 11 is inserted and the substrate W is taken in and out, the substrate W and the transfer are made. There is a possibility that the distance between the substrate W and the air blowing means 40 becomes narrower than the height required for the apparatus 11 to move up and down. When such a situation is assumed, it is desirable that the support pin 23 be extendable in the vertical direction, or that the interval between the plate-like body arranging means 57 adjacent in the vertical direction can be increased.

  In the said embodiment, although the structure which attached multiple air supply means 40 provided with the air blower fan 41 with respect to the plate-shaped body arrangement | positioning means 20 of the frame | skeleton structure comprised combining the vertical beam 21 and the horizontal beam 22 was illustrated. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Specifically, for example, plate-like body arrangement means 65 such as a plate-like body cooling device 60 (hereinafter also simply referred to as the cooling device 60) shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, and air that can supply air thereto. The supply unit 66 is provided in the cooling device main body 67 and the plate-like body arrangement unit 65 is formed with a blowing unit 68 (blowing unit) functioning as a blowing unit and an operation region 70 for operating the transfer device 11. It is good.

  More specifically, the cooling device 60 shown in FIG. 9 is such that the left side in the drawing is the inlet side of the cooling device 60 and the right side is the back side, and the fork claws 13 are advanced and retracted in the depth direction from the inlet side. W can be taken in and out. The plate-like body arrangement means 65 constituting the cooling device 60 is hollow as shown in FIG. A connection port 65 a is provided on the bottom surface side of the plate-like body arranging means 65, and the air introduced through this can be spread throughout the plate-like body arranging means 65. The connection port 65 a is unevenly distributed on the back side of the cooling device 60.

  An air supply means 66 is connected to the connection port 65a by piping. The air supply means 66 has a blower 66a and a filter 66b. The blower 66a sucks air in the cooling device main body 67 and pumps it toward the plate-like body arrangement means 65 side. Moreover, the filter 66b is comprised by what is called a HEPA filter similarly to the filter 43 employ | adopted with the above-mentioned cooling device 10. FIG. The filter 66b is disposed between the blower 66a and the plate-like body arrangement unit 65, and can capture dust contained in the air pressure-fed by the blower 66a.

  An air cooling means 69 is provided in the plate-like body arranging means 65 at a position adjacent to the connection port 65a. The air cooling means 69 is for cooling the air introduced into the plate-like body arrangement means 65 from the connection port 65a. As the air cooling means 69, an appropriate one such as a water-cooled type can be adopted as in the air cooling means 50 provided in the cooling device 10 described above.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the bottom surface of the plate-like body arrangement means 65 is inclined so as to go upward as it moves away from the connection port 65 a toward the front side of the fork claw 13. Thereby, the cross-sectional area in the plate-shaped body arrangement | positioning means 65 used as an air flow path becomes narrow as the plate-shaped body arrangement | positioning means 65 goes to the downstream from the flow direction of air.

  In addition, a large number of air blowing sections 68 are provided on the top surface side of the plate-like body arranging means 65. As shown in FIG. 8, the air blower 68 is a rectangular parallelepiped portion protruding upward on the top surface side of the plate-like body arranging means 65. Further, as shown in FIG. 9, the air blowers 68 are provided so as to be arranged in a plurality of vertical and horizontal directions (four in the example shown in FIG. 9 each in the vertical and horizontal directions) when the plate-like body arranging means 65 is viewed from the top side. It has been.

  A large number of air outlets 68b formed by small holes are provided on the top surface 68a of each air blowing unit 68. In addition, support pins 23 are erected at the four corners of each blower section 68, and the substrate W can be disposed above the support pins 23. Therefore, each air blower 68 has a structure that allows air introduced into the plate-like body arrangement means 65 to be discharged upward from the air outlet 68 b and blown toward the substrate W.

  In the state shown in FIG. 9, assuming that the portions where the four air blowing portions 68 are arranged in the horizontal direction are the air blowing means placement portions 71, both side portions of each air blowing means placement portion 71 are used for loading and unloading the substrate W. It becomes an area | region used as the operation | movement area | region 70 for the transfer apparatus 11 to move forward and backward. The portion where the operation region 70 is formed is one step lower than the blower 68. The total height of the support pin 23 and the blower 68 provided upright on the blower 68, and the distance between the tip of the support pin 23 and the bottom surface of the working area 70 is set so that the transfer device 11 is operated for loading and unloading the substrate W. It is high enough to do.

  Next, a method for cooling the substrate W using the cooling device 60 will be described focusing on the operation of the cooling device 60. The cooling device 60 can be used in place of the cooling device 10 in the heat treatment system 1 described above, and is used to cool the substrate W that has been heat-treated by the heat treatment device 2. When the substrate W is cooled by the cooling device 60, the fork portion 12 of the transfer device 11 on which the substrate W is mounted is inserted above the plate-like body arrangement unit 65. At this time, the height of the fork portion 12 is adjusted so that the substrate W does not interfere with the support pins 23 provided upright on the blower portion 68. Further, the position of the fork portion 12 is adjusted so that each fork claw 13 can enter each operation region 70. Thereafter, the fork portion 12 is inserted from the inlet side (left side in FIG. 9) of the cooling device 60 toward the back side (right side in FIG. 9).

  When the fork portion 12 enters the back side of the cooling device 60, the fork portion 12 is slowly lowered in the operation region 70. As a result, the substrate W is transferred from the fork portion 12 onto the support pins 23. When the transfer of the substrate W is completed, the fork unit 12 moves horizontally and is removed from the operation area 70.

  When the blower 66a of the air supply means 66 operates in the state where the substrate W is set on the plate-like body arrangement means 65 as described above, as shown by the arrow in FIG. The air that has passed through and has been purified is introduced inside the plate-like body arrangement means 65. The air introduced into the plate-like body arranging means 65 flows toward the blower section 68 provided in large numbers on the top surface side of the plate-like body arranging means 65. The air reaching each blower 68 is blown toward the substrate W located above from a blower port 68b provided on the top surface 68a, as indicated by an arrow in FIG. 8B.

  The air blown toward the substrate W flows toward the periphery of the blower unit 68. Here, as described above, the air blowing unit 68 protrudes in a rectangular parallelepiped shape on the top surface side of the plate-like body arranging unit 65, and the air blowing unit 68 arranged in the portion constituting the operating region 70 or the air blowing unit arranging unit 71. The portion between them is one step lower than the air blowing unit 68. Therefore, the air blown toward the substrate W does not get trapped between the blower unit 68 and the substrate W, passes through a lower groove-shaped region formed on the side of the blower unit 68, and arranges the plate-like body. It flows toward the outer peripheral side of the means 65. Thereafter, the air is discharged toward the outside of the plate-like body arranging means 65.

  As described above, when the substrate W is cooled to a predetermined temperature by the air flow blown from the blower unit 68, the transfer device 11 is inserted into the operation region 70, and the substrate W is lifted. Thereafter, when the substrate W is extracted from the cooling device 60 by the transfer device 11, a series of cooling processes is completed.

  As described above, in the cooling device 60, a plurality of air blowing portions 68 protruding upward are provided on the top surface side of the plate-like body arranging means 65, and the air blowing portions 68 are arranged in a row. The operating area 70 on the side of the means placement unit 71 can be effectively used as a space for operating the transfer device 11. Therefore, in the cooling device 60, the height of the support pin 23 can be suppressed to the minimum.

  Further, in the cooling device 60, since the height of the support pins 23 is minimized, the distance between the substrate W disposed on the support pins 23 and the top surface 68a of the blower 68 is small. Therefore, in the cooling device 60, the low-temperature air coming out from the blower opening 68b of the blower 68 flows between the substrate W and the top surface 68a one after another at a high speed. Therefore, according to the cooling device 60, the substrate W can be rapidly cooled.

  In the cooling device 60, since the air blowing part 68 is one step higher than the other parts, the part between the air blowing parts 68 in the vertically and horizontally adjacent positions in a plan view is a groove for allowing air to pass therethrough. Function as. Therefore, the air blown toward the substrate W from the air blowing unit 68 in the cooling device 60 does not get trapped between the air blowing unit 68 and the substrate W, and the groove-shaped portion formed on the side of the air blowing unit 68 is used. It flows toward the outer peripheral side of the plate-like body arrangement means 65 and is discharged. Therefore, in the cooling device 60, the air heated by the heat exchange with the substrate W is smoothly discharged toward the outside of the plate-like body arrangement unit 68. Further, in the cooling device 60, since the air heated with the cooling of the substrate W is smoothly discharged from below the substrate W, the substrate W is cooled almost uniformly without unevenness.

  The cooling device 60 does not need to be provided with a large number of the air blowing means 40, the air cooling means 50, and the filter 43 unlike the cooling device 10 described above. Moreover, if it is set as the cooling device 60, a thing larger than the ventilation fan 41 employ | adopted by the ventilation means 40 as the air blower 66a can be used. Therefore, if it is set as the cooling device 60, manufacturing cost can be suppressed.

  In the cooling device 60, the bottom surface of the plate-like body arranging means 65 is inclined upward toward the downstream side in the air flow direction (left side in FIG. 8), and the cross-sectional area of the portion through which the air flows gradually decreases. Yes. Therefore, the flow velocity of the air flowing through the plate-like body arrangement means 65 and the air blown out from each blower 68 is almost the same between the upstream portion near the connection port 65a and the downstream portion away from the connection port 65a. It is uniform. Therefore, in the cooling device 60, air can be blown toward the substrate W at a substantially uniform wind speed regardless of the position on the substrate W, and the substrate W can be cooled almost uniformly without unevenness. In the cooling device 60 described above, the configuration in which the bottom surface of the plate-like body arranging means 65 is inclined in consideration of making the flow velocity of the air blown out from each of the air blowing sections 68 substantially uniform is exemplified. The bottom surface of the plate-like body arrangement means 65 may be substantially horizontal.

  In the above embodiment, the configuration in which the connection port 65a is provided on the bottom surface of the plate-like body arranging unit 65 is illustrated, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the connection port 65a is provided on the side surface of the plate-like body arranging unit 65. It is good also as a structure which provided. Further, in the example shown in FIG. 8, the connection port 65a is provided at a position unevenly distributed on the outer peripheral side of the plate-like body arrangement means 65, but the present invention is not limited to this, for example, a plate-like body. It is good also as a structure provided in the center vicinity of the bottom face of the arrangement | positioning means 65. FIG.

  In the cooling device 60 described above, the plate-like body arranging means 65 formed integrally is provided with a plurality of rows (four rows in the example shown in FIG. 9) of air blowing means arranging portions 71 via the operation region 70. Although illustrated, this invention is not limited to this. Specifically, for example, a plurality of blower arrangement portions 81 including a portion corresponding to the blower arrangement portion 71 in the plate arrangement means 65 described above, such as a plate arrangement means 80 shown in FIG. The air supply means 66 is pipe-connected to each air blowing means placement portion 81 and the space on both sides of each air blowing means placement portion 81 is used as an operation area 82 for operating the transfer device 11. It may be used. In the case of the configuration shown in FIG. 10, instead of providing the air cooling means 69 on the downstream side of the air supply means 66 as in the examples shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, the upstream side of the air supply means 66 is provided. If the air cooling means 83 is provided, the air cooling means need not be provided for each of the air blowing means arrangement portions 81, and the apparatus configuration can be simplified.

  In the example shown in FIG. 9 and FIG. 10, the opening diameter and arrangement density of the air outlets 68b provided in each air blowing unit 68 are the same regardless of the part, but the present invention is not limited to this, The opening diameter and arrangement density of the air outlet 68b may be different depending on the part. Specifically, for example, in a state where the substrate W is arranged on the upper side, the opening diameter of the air blowing port 68b provided in the air blowing unit 68 at a position corresponding to the center side of the substrate W is set to a position corresponding to the outer peripheral side of the substrate W. More than the blower 68 in the position corresponding to the outer peripheral side in the blower 68 in the position corresponding to the air blower 68 in the position equivalent to the center side of the board | substrate W, or larger than the thing of the blower opening 68b provided in the certain blower 68 68b may be provided. With such a configuration, the cooling capability in the central portion is increased rather than the peripheral portion of the substrate W, which is normally assumed to have a large heat dissipation and is easily cooled, and the entire substrate W is cooled almost uniformly without unevenness. be able to.

It is an apparatus block diagram which shows the heat processing system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is an apparatus block diagram which shows the internal structure of a plate-shaped object cooling device. It is a top view which shows a plate-shaped object arrangement | positioning means. (A) is AA sectional drawing of FIG. 3, (b) is BB sectional drawing of FIG. 3, (c) is CC sectional drawing of FIG. (A) is the side view which showed typically the structure of the ventilation means vicinity in the plate-shaped body arrangement | positioning means shown in FIG. 3, and the flow of air, (b), (c) is respectively a ventilation means, an air cooling means, It is a side view which shows the modification of arrangement | positioning. It is a top view which shows the modification of the plate-shaped object arrangement | positioning means shown in FIG. It is the side view which expanded the principal part of the modification of a plate-shaped object arrangement | positioning means. (A) is an apparatus block diagram which shows the modification of the plate-shaped body cooling device shown in FIG. 2, (b) is sectional drawing to which the A section of (a) was expanded. It is a top view which shows the plate-shaped body cooling device shown in FIG. It is a top view which shows the modification of the plate-shaped body cooling device shown to FIG. 8 and FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Heat processing system 2 Heat processing apparatus 10,60 Plate body cooling device (cooling device)
11 Transfer device 20, 65, 80 Plate body arrangement means 23 Support pin (support means)
25, 70, 82 Operating area 30, 71, 81 Blower means arrangement part 40 Blower means 41 Blower fan 43 Filters 50, 69, 83 Air cooling means 55 Space 68 Blower part (blower means)
W substrate

Claims (6)

A plate-like body arrangement means for arranging a plate-like body to be cooled;
Air blowing means,
The plate-like body can be taken in and out from the side with respect to the plate-like body arranging means, and can be arranged on the plate-like body arranging means,
The plate-like body arranging means has a support means for supporting the plate-like body from below,
The plate-like body cooling device, wherein the air blowing means can blow air toward the plate-like body at a position close to the plate-like body. A plate-like body arrangement means for arranging a plate-like body to be cooled;
Air blowing means capable of blowing air toward the plate-like body arranged in the plate-like body arranging means,
The plate-like body can be taken in and out from the side with respect to the plate-like body arranging means, and can be arranged above the air blowing means,
The plate-like body arranging means is
Support means for supporting the plate-like body from below;
A blowing means arrangement section in which the blowing means is arranged so that air can be blown from below toward the plate-like body supported by the supporting means;
An operating region provided on the side of the air blowing means arrangement portion,
The plate-shaped body cooling device, wherein the transfer device for loading and unloading the plate-shaped body is operable in the operation region.   The plate-like body cooling device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising an air cooling means capable of cooling the air blown from the blowing means toward the plate-like body and flowing along the plate-like body.   A plurality of air blowing means are arranged at intervals on the plate-like body arranging means, and a space above and below the air blowing means is interposed through a space formed at a position adjacent to the air blowing means. The plate-like body cooling device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein air can pass between the space. The plate-like body arranging means is provided with a plurality of air blowing means,
In a state where the plate-like body is arranged above the plate-like body arranging means, the wind speed of the air flowing along the plate-like body in the region on the outer peripheral side of the plate-like body is in the region on the center side of the plate-like body. The plate-like body cooling device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the plate-like body cooling device has a lower speed than a wind speed of air flowing along the plate-like body.   A heat treatment apparatus for heat-treating a plate-like body, the plate-like body cooling apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, and a transfer apparatus for taking out the heat-treated plate-like body and carrying it into the plate-like body cooling apparatus The heat processing system characterized by having.

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