JP5286898B2 - Microwave processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a microwave processing apparatus including a microwave generation unit configured using a semiconductor element.

  Conventionally, microwave generators using semiconductor elements have been proposed in place of magnetrons generally used as microwave generators. According to the microwave generator using the semiconductor element, the frequency of the microwave can be easily adjusted with a small and inexpensive configuration. As described above, Patent Document 1 discloses a high-frequency heating device including a microwave generator using a semiconductor element.

In the high-frequency heating device of Patent Document 1, the microwave frequency is swept in a predetermined frequency band, and the microwave frequency when the reflected power shows the minimum value is stored. And the microwave of the memorize | stored frequency is radiated | emitted from the antenna in a heating chamber, and a target object is heated. Thereby, power conversion efficiency improves.
JP-A-56-096486

  The semiconductor element is used in a state where the heat dissipation member is in contact. When the semiconductor element generates heat due to the reflected power, heat dissipation is performed by the heat dissipation member.

  However, when a very large reflected power is generated when the microwave frequency is swept, the heat generated by the reflected power may exceed the heat dissipation capability of the heat dissipation member. In this case, the semiconductor element may be damaged. In addition, the impedance of the heating chamber containing the object to be heated is greatly changed depending on the temperature of the object to be heated in the process of heating the object to be heated. However, if the frequency to be heated is selected based on the frequency characteristics before heating, there is a problem that the efficiency during heating cannot be maintained high.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a microwave processing apparatus capable of improving power conversion efficiency and preventing damage to the microwave generation apparatus due to reflected power.

In order to solve the above-described conventional problems, a microwave processing apparatus of the present invention includes a heating chamber that accommodates an object to be heated, an oscillation unit, and a power distribution unit that distributes and outputs the output of the oscillation unit to a plurality of units. A plurality of power amplifying units each for amplifying the output of the power distribution unit, a plurality of power feeding units for supplying the output of the power amplifying unit to the heating chamber, and power reflected from the power feeding unit to the power amplifying unit And a control unit that controls the oscillation frequency of the oscillating unit and the power amplifying unit, and the power feeding unit is disposed on a wall surface that constitutes the heating chamber, and the detection of the power detecting unit When the reflected power exceeds a predetermined value, the temporary heating operation is interrupted, the output power of the power amplification unit is reduced, the oscillation frequency of the oscillation unit is swept for a predetermined period, and the reflected power detected by the power detection unit is To the lowest frequency As to resume the heating operation after each phase variable part is provided, wherein to control the phases of microwaves emitted from the feeding unit by the phase variable parts, detected by the power detector to the output of the power distribution unit The phase of the microwave is controlled by the phase variable unit within a range where the reflected power does not exceed a predetermined value, and when the variable width by which the phase variable unit varies the phase becomes smaller than a predetermined value, The output is reduced, the oscillation frequency of the oscillation unit is swept for a predetermined period, and the output of the oscillation unit is returned to a predetermined value after the reflected power detected by the power detection unit is minimized, and the heating operation is resumed. It is a configuration.

  As a result, the control unit can arbitrarily configure the pair of power feeding units by controlling the power switching unit, so that the microwave to be radiated by the power feeding unit into the heating chamber can be efficiently absorbed by the object to be heated. Microwave radiation can be directly incident on the object to be heated from different directions by performing wave radiation from different power supply units. Microwaves to the object to be heated can be switched by switching the pair of power supply units by the power switching unit. Therefore, it is possible to heat an object to be heated having various shapes, types, and amounts to a desired state.

  The microwave processing apparatus of the present invention interrupts the heating operation once the reflected power detected by the power detection unit exceeds a predetermined value during heating, sweeps the frequency by reducing the output of the power amplification unit, and reflects the reflected power. By selecting a frequency that reduces the frequency and restarting the heating operation at the newly selected frequency again, the reflected power always remains even if the impedance of the heating chamber containing the object to be heated changes greatly due to the temperature change of the object to be heated. Since the heating operation can be performed in a small state, it is possible to provide a microwave processing apparatus that efficiently heats an object to be heated of various shapes, types, and amounts to a desired state.

1st invention is the heating chamber which accommodates a to-be-heated object, the oscillation part, the electric power distribution part which distributes and outputs the output of the said oscillation part to multiple, and the plurality which each carries out electric power amplification of the output of the said electric power distribution part A power amplifying unit, a plurality of power feeding units that supply the output of the power amplifying unit to the heating chamber, a power detection unit that detects power reflected from the power feeding unit to the power amplifying unit, and an oscillation of the oscillation unit A control unit that controls the frequency and the power amplification unit, and the power feeding unit is disposed on a wall surface constituting the heating chamber, and a temporary heating operation is performed when the reflected power detected by the power detection unit exceeds a predetermined value , The output power of the power amplification unit is reduced, the oscillation frequency of the oscillation unit is swept for a predetermined period, and the heating operation is resumed after the reflected power detected by the power detection unit is reduced to a minimum frequency. The power distribution In the range in which the phase variable unit is provided in each of the outputs, the phase variable unit controls the phase of the microwave radiated from the power feeding unit, and the reflected power detected by the power detection unit does not exceed a predetermined value. The phase of the microwave is controlled by the phase variable unit, and the output of the oscillating unit is reduced to reduce the oscillation frequency of the oscillating unit to a predetermined interval when a variable width by which the phase variable unit varies the phase becomes smaller than a predetermined value. By sweeping and setting the output of the oscillating unit to a predetermined value after the frequency at which the reflected power detected by the power detection unit is minimized, the heating operation is resumed, thereby allowing various shapes of the object to be heated.・ Although it can be heated with a small amount of reflected power with respect to the type and amount, it can be reapplied even if the impedance seen from the power supply part including the object to be heated changes greatly during heating. By changing the phases of microwaves generated by the phase variable parts it is possible to efficiently heat the object to be heated to a desired state by the operation of setting the frequency, position the microwave is concentrated in the heating chamber The object to be heated can be heated to a state where there is little unevenness in heating as a whole .

  In particular, the second invention has at least two or more oscillation units of the first invention, and if the reflected power detected in each power detection unit exceeds a predetermined value, the oscillation connected to the power detection unit The output of the oscillation unit is reduced to sweep the oscillation frequency of the oscillation unit for a predetermined period, and after the reflected power detected by the power detection unit is set to a frequency that minimizes, the output of the oscillation unit is returned to a predetermined value to perform a heating operation. By resuming the configuration, it is possible to always heat with a small amount of reflected power for various shapes, types, and quantities of the object to be heated, as viewed from the power supply unit that includes the object to be heated during heating. Even if the impedance changes greatly, the heating frequency can be set to the desired state efficiently by setting the heating frequency again, and when the frequency is reset, the reflected power is a predetermined value. The oscillation unit does not exceed to continue the heating operation, it is possible to prevent the heating time becomes longer.

  In the third aspect of the invention, the frequency detector is provided in the power detector of the second invention, and the reflected power detected by the power detector is detected for each frequency component. The impedance characteristics are measured by separating the component detected as reflected power in the power detection unit by the oscillation unit that continues the heating operation and the reflected power detected by the oscillation unit that is performing the frequency resetting operation. Can be optimally set.

  In the fourth aspect of the invention, particularly when the oscillation frequency of the oscillation unit is swept by reducing the output of the oscillation unit of the second to third inventions, the oscillation frequency of the oscillation unit operating at a predetermined output is not matched. By adopting a frequency insertion configuration, the component detected as reflected power in the power detection unit by the oscillation unit that continues the heating operation at the time of frequency resetting and the oscillation unit that performs the frequency resetting operation are detected. It is possible to measure the impedance characteristics by separating the reflected power, and optimally set the frequency with less reflected power.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a microwave processing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, the microwave generation unit includes oscillation units 2a and 2b configured using semiconductor elements, power distribution units 3a and 3b that distribute the outputs of the oscillation units 2a and 2b, and outputs of the power distribution units 3a and 3b. Power amplifying units 5a to 5d configured using semiconductor elements that amplify the power, power feeding units 8a to 8d that radiate the microwave output amplified by the power amplifying units 5a to 5d into the heating chamber 10, and a power distribution unit 3a , 3b and phase variable units 4a to 4d inserted in a microwave transmission path connecting the power amplifying units 5a to 5d and generating an arbitrary phase difference between input and output, power amplifying units 5a to 5d and power feeding units 8a to 8d Power detectors 6a to 6d that detect power reflected from the power feeding units 8a to 8d inserted in the connected microwave transmission path, power detectors 6a to 6d, and reflected power detected by the power detectors 6a to 6d And it is constituted by a control unit 12 for controlling the oscillating unit 2a, the phase amount and the power switching unit 7 oscillation frequency and the phase variable parts 4a~4d of 2b according to.

In addition, the microwave processing apparatus of the present invention has a heating chamber 10 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped structure that accommodates an object to be heated. An opening / closing door (not shown) that opens and closes to store the wall surface and the object to be heated 11 and a mounting table on which the object to be heated 11 is placed are configured to confine the supplied microwave inside. ing. The power supply units 8 a to 8 d that transmit the output of the microwave generation unit and radiate the microwave into the heating chamber 10 are arranged on the wall surface of the heating chamber 10. In the present embodiment, when the phase difference is controlled, a power supply unit that is paired in a control manner is arranged with the power supply unit 8a and the power supply unit 8b at substantially the center of the left wall surface and the right wall surface of the opposing configuration, respectively. The structure which has arrange | positioned the electric power feeding part 8c and the electric power feeding part 8d in the approximate center of the upper wall surface and the bottom face, respectively is shown. The arrangement of the power supply unit is not limited to the present embodiment, and a plurality of power supply units may be provided on any wall surface, or may be an adjacent combination such as a right wall surface and a bottom wall surface that are not opposed surfaces. You may comprise the electric power feeding part used as a pair.

  Each of the power amplifying units 5a to 5d constitutes a circuit with a conductor pattern formed on one side of a dielectric substrate made of a low dielectric loss material, and each of the power amplifying units 5a to 5d is configured to operate the semiconductor element which is an amplifying element of each amplifying unit. Matching circuits are arranged on the input side and output side of the semiconductor element, respectively.

  The microwave transmission path connecting each functional block forms a transmission circuit having a characteristic impedance of about 50Ω by a conductor pattern provided on one side of the dielectric substrate.

  The power distribution unit 3a and the power distribution unit 3b may be in-phase distributors that do not cause a phase difference between outputs such as a Wilkinson distributor, or between outputs such as a branch line type or a rat race type. A distributor that generates a phase difference may be used. The power distribution units 3a and 3b transmit substantially half of the microwave power input from the oscillation units 2a and 2b to the respective outputs.

  Further, the phase variable sections 4a to 4d are configured by using variable capacitance elements whose capacitance changes according to the applied voltage, and each phase variable range is a range from 0 degrees to about 180 degrees. As a result, the phase difference of the microwave power output from the phase varying units 4a to 4d can be controlled in the range of 0 degrees to ± 180 degrees.

  The power detection units 6a to 6d extract the power of so-called reflected waves that are transmitted from the heating chamber 8 side to the power amplification units 5a to 5d side. The power coupling degree is, for example, about 40 dB, About 1/10000 of the amount of power is extracted. The power signals are rectified by a detection diode (not shown), smoothed by a capacitor (not shown), and the output signal is input to the control unit 12.

  The control unit 12 generates microwaves based on the heating information directly input by the user or the heating information obtained from the heating state of the heated object during heating and the detection information from the power detection units 6a to 6d. The drive power supplied to each of the oscillator 2a and the oscillator 2b and the power amplifiers 5a to 5d, which are constituent elements of the unit, and the voltage supplied to the phase variable parts 4a to 4d are controlled and stored in the heating chamber 10 The heated object to be heated is optimally heated.

  In addition, a heat radiating means (not shown) for dissipating heat generated by the semiconductor elements provided in the power amplifiers 5a to 5d is mainly disposed in the microwave generation unit.

  About the microwave processing apparatus comprised as mentioned above, the operation | movement and an effect | action are demonstrated below.

  First, an object to be heated is stored in the heating chamber 10, the heating condition is input from an operation unit (not shown), and a heating start key is pressed. The microwave generator starts to operate according to the control output signal of the controller 12 that has received the heating start signal. The control unit 12 operates a drive power supply (not shown) to supply power to the oscillation units 2a and 2b. At this time, the initial oscillation frequency of the oscillation units 2a and 2b is supplied with a voltage signal set to 2400 MHz, for example, and oscillation starts.

  When the oscillating units 2a and 2b are operated, their outputs are distributed approximately ½ each by the power distributing units 3a and 3b, resulting in four microwave power signals. Thereafter, the drive power supply is controlled to operate the power amplifying units 5a to 5d.

  The microwave power signals are output to the power feeding units 8 a to 8 d through the power amplification units 5 a to 5 d and the power detection units 6 a to 6 d that operate in parallel, and are radiated into the heating chamber 10. Each power amplification unit at this time outputs microwave power of less than 100 W, for example, 50 W.

  When 100% of the microwave power supplied into the heating chamber 10 is absorbed by the object to be heated, the reflected power from the heating chamber 10 becomes 0 W, but the type, shape, and amount of the object to be heated include the object to be heated. The electrical characteristics of the heating chamber 10 are determined, and the reflected power transmitted from the heating chamber 10 side to the microwave generating portion side is generated based on the output impedance of the microwave generating portion and the impedance of the heating chamber 10.

  The power detection units 6a to 6d detect the reflected power transmitted to the microwave generation unit and detect a signal proportional to the amount of reflected power. The control unit 12 that receives the detection signal receives the reflected power. Select the oscillation frequency and phase difference at which becomes the minimum value. In response to the selection of the frequency and the phase difference, the control unit 12 changes the oscillation frequency of the oscillation unit 2a and the oscillation unit 2b from the initial 2400 MHz to, for example, 1 MHz with the phase difference generated by the phase variable units 4a to 4d being 0 degrees. To reach the higher frequency side and reach 2500 MHz which is the upper limit of the frequency variable range.

  By performing this operation, the control unit 12 can obtain an array of reflected power with respect to the oscillation frequencies of the oscillation units 2a and 2b. The controller 12 controls the conditions of the oscillators 2a and 2b where the reflected power is minimized, and controls the oscillation output so that an output corresponding to the input heating condition is obtained. Thereby, each amplification part 5a-5d outputs predetermined microwave electric power, respectively. Each output is transmitted to the power feeding units 8 a to 8 d and radiated into the heating chamber 10.

  The phase varying units 4a to 4d change the phase every moment with a predetermined change amount from the start of heating. By changing the phase by the phase variable parts 4a to 4d, the position where the microwaves radiated from the power feeding parts 8a to 8d interfere in the heating chamber 10 can be changed, so that the object to be heated placed in the heating chamber 10 can be changed. By controlling the interference position according to the position of the object 11, the object to be heated 11 can be heated evenly or locally.

  By operating in this way, it is possible to start heating under the condition that the reflected power is the smallest even for heated objects having various shapes, sizes, and amounts, and the power amplifiers 5a to 5d are provided. It is possible to prevent the semiconductor element from excessively generating heat due to the reflected power and to avoid thermal destruction.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a control example of the phase difference between the phase variable sections 4a and 4b and the oscillation frequency of the oscillating section 2 that are paired in control during the heating operation. Since the other phase variable units 4c and 4d perform the same control, the control flow of the phase variable units 4a and 4b as one pair will be representatively described here. First, Δf (for example, 0.1 MHz) is controlled so that the oscillation frequency is shifted while the oscillation unit 2 is oscillating at a certain frequency f (step 102), and the reflected power at that time is measured (step 103). The control unit 12 compares this reflected power with the reflected power measured last time (before changing the oscillation frequency), and if the reflected power is reduced, Δf is left as it is (step 106), and the reflected power increases. If so, the sign of Δf is reversed (step 108). By this operation, the reflected power can be controlled to always decrease with respect to the change of the oscillation frequency.

However, if the temperature of the object to be heated 11 rises due to the progress of the heating operation even if the above operation is continued, the frequency characteristic of the object to be heated 11 is greatly different from the characteristic measured in the initial stage and the characteristic during the heating. Can make a difference. In particular, the object to be heated 11 that has been frozen melts,
When water vapor starts to be generated from the object to be heated 11 due to temperature rise, it is expected that the frequency characteristics will change greatly. In this case, the reflected power may be smaller at a frequency away from the vicinity of the frequency measured in the initial stage.

  In the present embodiment, when the reflected power increases beyond a predetermined value, the heating operation is temporarily stopped, the outputs of the oscillation units 2a and 2b are reduced, the frequency selection operation is performed again, and the object to be heated 11 in the middle of heating. By measuring the frequency characteristics, a heating frequency corresponding to the frequency characteristics of the object to be heated 11 during heating is selected. By operating in this way, even if the frequency characteristics change greatly due to the progress of the heating operation, the reflected power can be kept low and efficient heating can be achieved, and the operation can be continued in a state where the reflected power is low. The heat loss of the semiconductor elements provided in 5a to 5d can be eliminated, and high reliability can be obtained.

  In the above description, the heating operation of both the oscillation units 2a and 2b is stopped. However, the same effect can be obtained even when only one oscillation unit whose reflected power is increased is interrupted and the frequency is reselected. it can. At this time, if the power detection units 6a to 6d are configured so that the frequency of the reflected power to be detected and the value of the reflected power at that frequency can be detected separately, it is easy to select a frequency with a small reflected power at the time of frequency resetting. become. FIG. 3 assumes a state in which one oscillating unit, for example, 2a maintains the output of the normal heating state, and the other oscillating unit 2b is in a frequency reselection operation during heating. At this time, the microwaves radiated from the power supply units 8c and 8d connected to the oscillation unit 2b performing the frequency reselection operation have a smaller value than that in the normal heating operation, but are detected by the power detection units 6c and 6d. The reflected power is also detected when the microwaves emitted from 8a and 8b reach the power supply unit 8c or the power supply unit 8d.

  Since the microwaves during the normal heating operation are emitted from the power supply units 8a and 8b, it is expected that the microwaves that reach the power supply units 8c and 8d from the power supply units 8a and 8b naturally increase. Therefore, if the frequency and the reflected power value are detected without being separated, a large value is always detected as shown in FIG. 3B, and it is difficult to detect the amount of change in the reflected power with respect to the frequency. By detecting separately, the frequency characteristic of the reflected power can be sharpened as shown in FIG. 3A, and it becomes easy to detect the frequency at which the reflected power shows the minimum value or the minimum value.

  Further, the phase variable sections 4a and 4b change the phase difference from time to time with a constant change width ΔΦ during the heating operation (step 101). Since the microwave interference position in the heating chamber 10 is changed by the phase difference Φ generated by the phase variable portions 4a and 4b, the object to be heated 11 can be heated evenly or locally.

  By controlling in this way, the power detection units 6a and 6b can detect the reflected power from the heating chamber 10 even during the heating operation, so the control unit 12 determines this, and the oscillation frequency and phase difference are minutely measured every moment. Since the state where the reflected power is always kept low can be adjusted, the heat generation of the semiconductor element can be further suppressed, and the heating efficiency can be maintained high, so that heating in a short time can be achieved. Alternatively, the allowable reflected power is set to a predetermined value, and the control unit 12 can temporally change the phase difference between the phase variable units 4a and 4b and the oscillation frequency of the oscillating unit 2 within the allowable reflected power range. By performing such an operation, the propagation state of the microwave in the heating chamber 10 can be changed with time, so that local heating of the object to be heated can be eliminated and the heating can be made uniform. is there.

  In the above description, an example in which two phase variable units 4a and 4b are inserted has been described. However, the phase change width is set to 0 degrees to 360 degrees by inserting only one of the outputs of the power distribution section 3a. It can also be configured as follows.

  As described above, the microwave processing apparatus according to the present invention switches and controls the power supply unit that has a plurality of power supply units and radiates microwaves, or changes the phase difference of the microwaves between the power supply units in operation. Since the apparatus can be provided, the present invention can be applied to uses such as a heating apparatus using dielectric heating as represented by a microwave oven, a garbage disposal machine, or a microwave power source of a plasma power source as a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

Configuration diagram of microwave processing apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention Flow chart showing a control example of the microwave processing apparatus The figure (a) which shows the frequency characteristic of the electric power detection part of the same microwave processing apparatus, the graph (b) which shows the frequency characteristic at the time of detecting separately a frequency and a reflected power value, and not separating a frequency and a reflected power value Graph showing frequency characteristics when detected in

2a, 2b Oscillator 3a, 3b Power distribution unit 4a-4d Phase variable unit 5a-5d Power amplification unit 6a-6d Power detection unit 8a-8d Power feeding unit 10 Heating chamber 11 Object to be heated 12 Control unit

Claims (4)

A heating chamber that houses an object to be heated; an oscillation unit; a power distribution unit that distributes and outputs the output of the oscillation unit; and a plurality of power amplification units that respectively amplify the output of the power distribution unit; A plurality of power supply units that supply the output of the power amplification unit to the heating chamber, a power detection unit that detects power reflected from the power supply unit to the power amplification unit, an oscillation frequency of the oscillation unit, and the power amplification unit And a control unit for controlling
The power feeding unit is disposed on a wall surface constituting the heating chamber, and when the reflected power detected by the power detection unit exceeds a predetermined value, the temporary heating operation is interrupted, and the output power of the power amplification unit is reduced to reduce the power Sweeping the oscillation frequency of the oscillating unit for a predetermined interval, and restarting the heating operation after setting the reflected power detected by the power detection unit to a minimum ,
A phase variable unit is provided at each output of the power distribution unit, the phase variable unit controls the phase of the microwave radiated from the power feeding unit, and the reflected power detected by the power detection unit has a predetermined value. The phase of the microwave is controlled by the phase variable unit within a range not exceeding,
When the variable width by which the phase variable unit varies the phase becomes smaller than a predetermined value, the output of the oscillating unit is reduced to sweep the oscillation frequency of the oscillating unit for a predetermined period, and the reflected power detected by the power detecting unit is A microwave processing apparatus configured to resume the heating operation by returning the output of the oscillation unit to a predetermined value after setting the frequency to a minimum . When the reflected power detected by each of the power detection units exceeds a predetermined value, the output of the oscillation unit connected to the power detection unit is reduced to reduce the oscillation of the oscillation unit. 2. The configuration according to claim 1, wherein the frequency is swept for a predetermined interval, and the heating operation is resumed by returning the output of the oscillation unit to a predetermined value after setting the reflected power detected by the power detection unit to a minimum frequency. Microwave processing device. The microwave processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a frequency detection unit is provided in the power detection unit, and the reflected power detected by the power detection unit is detected for each frequency component. 4. The structure according to claim 2 or 3, wherein when the output of the oscillation unit is reduced to sweep the oscillation frequency of the oscillation unit, the frequency is inserted so as not to coincide with the oscillation frequency of the oscillation unit operating at a predetermined output. Microwave processing device.

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