JP3578985B2 - Heat treatment equipment - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a heat treatment apparatus for heating a plate-like body such as a glass substrate used for a liquid crystal panel.
[0002]
[Prior art]
For example, a glass substrate used for a flat display such as a liquid crystal panel or a plasma display panel needs to be subjected to a heating treatment such as an annealing treatment in a clean atmosphere, as is well known. In such a heat treatment, for example, a heat treatment apparatus shown in FIG. 4 is used. In FIG. 4, this conventional heat treatment apparatus is provided with a heater 52 and a sirocco fan 53 for circulating hot air heated by the heater 52 in an outer container 51, and is indicated by an arrow in the figure. Hot air is circulating in the direction. Further, the clean filter 54 and the heating chamber 55 are sequentially arranged on the circulation path of the hot air, and the hot air purified by the clean filter 54 flows through the heating chamber 55 sequentially.
[0003]
Specifically, on one side surface of the heating chamber 55, as shown in FIG. 5A, an inlet 55a for introducing hot air from the clean filter 54 is provided. In addition, a discharge port (not shown) for discharging hot air from the inside of the heating chamber 55 is provided on a side surface facing the introduction port 55a, and adjusts the amount of hot air flowing in the heating chamber 55. As a plurality of adjusting means, for example, four adjusting plates 56 are fixed to the heating chamber 55 so as to close the outlet. With these adjustment plates 56, the air volume balance in each area in the heating chamber 55 is adjusted, and unevenness in the temperature distribution in the heating chamber 55 can be prevented.
In FIG. 5B, each adjusting plate 56 is provided with an opening 56a1 and is fixed to the heating chamber 55 at four corners, for example, and an adjusting bolt 56c is provided on the rear side of the fixing plate 56a in the vertical direction. And a movable plate 56b movably attached to the fixed plate 56a. The adjusting plate 56 adjusts the opening degree of the opening 56a1, that is, adjusts the opening degree of the discharge port by moving the movable plate 56b in the vertical direction with the adjusting bolt 56c loosened. Adjust the amount of hot air flowing through the air.
[0004]
Further, a rack portion 57 for holding a plurality of glass substrates 60 is attached inside the heating chamber 55. The rack portion 57 includes a support member 57a attached to a floor plate 55c (FIG. 5A) of the heating chamber 55 by an attachment member such as a bolt (not shown), and a holding member 57b fixed to the support member 57a. As shown in FIG. 4, the glass substrate 60 is placed and held on a pair of holding members 57b facing each other.
With the above-described configuration, in this conventional heat treatment apparatus, the glass substrate 60 is subjected to a predetermined heat treatment using the hot air cleaned by the clean filter 54, thereby preventing the glass substrate 60 from being contaminated. The glass substrate 60 is processed with a desired temperature profile by adjusting the opening degree of 56 and adjusting the amount of hot air flowing inside the heating chamber 55.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the above-described conventional heat treatment apparatus, the rack 57 needs to be removed from the heating chamber 55 in order to adjust the opening of the adjusting plate (adjusting means) 56. This is because the work may be hindered by the rack portion 57 when the work of fixing the movable plate 56b up and down at a desired position by loosening the adjustment bolt 56c is performed. Therefore, in this conventional heat treatment apparatus, there is a problem that it takes time and labor to adjust the opening of the adjusting plate 56, and the opening cannot be easily adjusted.
[0006]
In view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a heat treatment apparatus that can easily adjust the opening degree of an adjusting unit.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention has a heating means, a heating chamber having an inlet and an outlet for introducing and discharging the hot air heated by the heating means, respectively, and a heating chamber provided with a door, which is mounted inside the heating chamber, Holding means for holding the object to be heated by the hot air, and adjusting the opening degree of at least one of the inlet and the outlet to adjust the flow rate of the hot air flowing through the heating chamber to thereby control the heating chamber A plurality of adjusting means for making the temperature distribution uniform, a heat treatment apparatus,
The plurality of adjusting means are mounted on mounting means that can be inserted into and removed from the heating chamber (claim 1).
[0008]
In the heat treatment apparatus configured as described above, by attaching a plurality of adjusting means to the attaching means that can be inserted into and removed from the heating chamber, the adjusting means can be taken out of the heating chamber without removing the holding means, The opening degree of the adjusting means can be easily adjusted.
[0009]
Further, in the heat treatment apparatus as described above (claim 1), the door is a door different from that for carrying in and out the object to be processed, and the mounting means can be inserted into and removed from the heating chamber through the door. (Claim 2). In this case, even when a transfer device or the like for transferring an object to be processed is installed on the side of the loading / unloading door, it is possible to easily insert / remove the mounting means provided with the plurality of adjusting means with respect to the heating chamber. Can be.
[0010]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the heat treatment apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing a main part configuration of a heat treatment apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a main part configuration of a heating chamber shown in FIG. In the figure, in the heat treatment apparatus of the present embodiment, a heater 2 and a sirocco fan 3 are arranged in a sealable outer container 1, and the sirocco fan 3 is rotated by a drive motor 3a to be heated by the heater 2. The heated hot air is circulated in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. Also, inside the outer container 1, a clean filter 4 for reducing the hot air from the sirocco fan 3 to a predetermined cleanliness or less, and an inlet 5a1 (FIG. 2) and an outlet 5b1 (FIG. 2) for introducing and discharging hot air, respectively. 2) is provided, and the hot air purified by the clean filter 4 is introduced into the heating chamber 5 from the inlet 5a1 so that the glass substrate 30 in the heating chamber 5 is removed. The heat treatment such as the annealing treatment can be performed in a clean atmosphere. Further, the outer container 1 is provided with a front door 1a for taking the glass substrate 30 into and out of the heating chamber 5, and an inspection door 1b used when inspecting the inside of the heating chamber 5 or the like.
[0011]
The heating chamber 5 constitutes a rectangular parallelepiped furnace body, and the above-described inlet 5a1 and outlet 5b1 are provided on a side surface 5a arranged on the clean filter 4 side and a side surface 5b opposed to the side surface 5a, respectively. Have been. The front side of the heating chamber 5 is configured to be openable and closable by the front door 1a, and the rear side is provided with an openable and closable inner door 5d.
Further, inside the heating chamber 5, a rack unit 6 as a holding unit for holding the glass substrate (object to be processed) 30 is attached. The rack portion 6 includes four support members 6a erected on the floor plate 5c of the heating chamber 5 by mounting members such as bolts (not shown), and holding members 6b having both ends fixed to the two support members 6a. As shown in FIG. 2, the glass substrate 30 is placed and held on a pair of holding members 6b opposed to each other. In the rack section 6, the pair of holding members 6b are provided in a plurality of stages, and a plurality of glass substrates 30 can be batch-processed. The hot air introduced from the inlet 5a1 is rectified by, for example, a wind direction plate (not shown) provided in the clean filter 4 so that the hot air is uniformly blown to the plurality of workpieces 30. I have.
[0012]
Further, in the heating chamber 5, for example, a mounting plate 7 as a mounting means is mounted on the discharge port 5b1 side. The mounting plate 7 is configured to be insertable into and removable from the heating chamber 5 and the outer container 1 through the inner door 5d and the inspection door 1b, respectively. Attached to. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, rail members 8 are attached to the upper and lower ends of the side surface 5 b, for example, inside the heating chamber 5, and the mounting plate 7 is slidable between these rail members 8. Attached to. The mounting plate 7 is slid along the rail member 8 with the inner door 5d and the inspection door 1b opened, and is put in and out.
The mounting plate 7 is provided with a plurality of adjusting plates 9 as adjusting means. As shown in FIG. 2, for example, 16 adjusting plates 9 are mounted in a (4 × 4) matrix. I have.
[0013]
As shown in FIGS. 3A to 3C, each adjusting plate 9 is disposed on the fixing plate 9a and on the back side of the fixing plate 9a, and is connected to the fixing plate 9a via the adjusting bolt 9c. The movable plate 9b is included. The fixing plate 9a is provided with, for example, a rectangular opening 9a1 and an elongated hole 9a2 through which the adjustment bolt 9c is inserted. The fixing plate 9a is attached to the attachment plate 7 (FIG. 2) such that the opening 9a1 communicates the inside and outside of the heating chamber 5 via the exhaust port 5b1 (FIG. 2).
Further, the movable plate 9b is provided with, for example, a rectangular opening 9b1, and is configured to be movable in the vertical direction with respect to the fixed plate 9a.
Each of the adjusting plates 9 is moved from the fully opened state shown in FIG. 3A to the fully closed state shown in FIG. 3C by moving the movable plate 9b up and down with the adjusting bolt 9c loosened. The opening degree of the opening 9a1 can be adjusted. Thereby, the opening degree of the outlet 5b1 is adjusted, and the amount of hot air flowing in the heating chamber 5 can be adjusted. As a result, the air volume balance can be adjusted for each of the plurality of regions in the heating chamber 5, and it is possible to prevent the temperature distribution in the heating chamber 5 from becoming uneven.
[0014]
In the heat treatment apparatus of the present embodiment configured as described above, a plurality of adjustment plates 9 are respectively mounted, and a mounting plate 7 that can be inserted into and removed from the heating chamber 5 through the inner door 5d and the inspection door 1b is provided. As a result, the adjustment plate 9 can be taken out of the heating chamber 5 without removing the rack portion 6, and the degree of opening of the adjustment plate 9 can be easily adjusted in this state. As a result, in the heat treatment apparatus of the present embodiment, the amount of hot air flowing in the heating chamber 5 can be easily adjusted, and the temperature distribution in the heating chamber 5 can be made uniform to easily realize a desired temperature profile. be able to. Further, a cleanup operation when dirt or the like adheres to the mounting plate 7 or the adjusting plate 9 can be easily performed.
[0015]
Further, since the mounting plate 7 is configured to be able to be inserted and removed through the inner door 5d and the inspection door 1b provided on the maintenance side of the device, a transfer device for transferring the glass substrate 30 to the front door 1a side is provided. Even if it is installed, the mounting plate 7 on which the plurality of adjusting plates 9 are mounted can be easily inserted into and removed from the heating chamber 5.
[0016]
In the above description, the mounting plate 7 is provided on the discharge port 5b1 side, and the opening degree of the discharge port 5b1 is adjusted by the adjusting plate (adjusting means) 9 mounted on the mounting plate 7. However, the present invention is not limited to this, but is not limited as long as the opening degree of at least one of the inlet 5a1 and the outlet 5b1 is adjusted by the adjusting means, and the amount of hot air in the heating chamber 5 can be adjusted. Not done.
In the above description, the configuration in which the mounting plate 7 is inserted and removed through the inner door 5d and the inspection door 1b on the maintenance side has been described. However, the configuration is not limited to the installation environment of the present apparatus. That is, the mounting plate 7 may be inserted and removed from the front door 1a provided on the transport side of the apparatus, or a door dedicated to the mounting plate 7 may be provided in the heating chamber 5 and the outer container 1 to be inserted and removed. .
[0017]
【The invention's effect】
The present invention configured as described above has the following effects.
According to the heat treatment apparatus of claim 1, since the plurality of adjusting means are mounted on the mounting means which can be inserted into and removed from the heating chamber, the adjusting means is taken out of the heating chamber without removing the holding means. Can easily be adjusted. Therefore, the amount of hot air flowing through the heating chamber can be easily adjusted, and a desired temperature profile can be easily achieved by making the temperature distribution in the heating chamber uniform.
[0018]
Further, according to the heat treatment apparatus of the second aspect, the door is a door different from that for carrying in and out the object to be processed, and the attachment means can be inserted into and removed from the heating chamber through the door. Therefore, even when a transfer device or the like for transferring the object to be processed is installed on the side of the loading / unloading door, it is possible to easily insert and remove the mounting unit having the plurality of adjusting units with respect to the heating chamber. it can.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a main configuration of a heat treatment apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a main configuration of a heating chamber illustrated in FIG. 1;
3 (a), 3 (b), and 3 (c) are explanatory views showing an operation example of the adjustment plate shown in FIG. 2 when the adjustment plate is fully opened, at an intermediate opening degree, and when fully closed, respectively. It is explanatory drawing which shows the same adjustment plate.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a main configuration of a conventional heat treatment apparatus.
5A is an explanatory view showing a configuration of a heating chamber shown in FIG. 4, and FIG. 5B is an explanatory view showing an adjusting plate shown in FIG.
[Explanation of symbols]
2 heater (heating means)
5 Heating chamber 5a1 Inlet 5b1 Outlet 6 Rack part (holding means)
7 Mounting plate (mounting means)
9 Adjustment plate (adjustment means)

Claims (1)

Heating means, a heating chamber having a door provided with an inlet and an outlet for introducing and discharging hot air heated by the heating means, respectively, and a heating chamber provided with a door, which is mounted inside the heating chamber and heated by the hot air Holding means for holding the object to be processed, and adjusting the opening degree of at least one of the introduction port and the discharge port to adjust the flow rate of the hot air flowing through the heating chamber to thereby adjust the temperature distribution in the heating chamber. A heat treatment apparatus having a plurality of adjusting means for uniformity,
The plurality of adjusting means are mounted on mounting means that can be inserted into and removed from the heating chamber .
A heat treatment apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned.

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