JPH03156962A - Temperature control apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To heat an object to be heated up to a target temperature in a short time and with good accuracy by a method wherein the object to be heated is heated in a first thermostatic bath, it is transferred to a second thermostatic bath before it reaches the target temperature and it is heated up to the target temperature. CONSTITUTION:A temperature of a first thermostatic bath 1 is set to a temperature higher than a target temperature; a temperature of a second thermostatic bath 2 is set to the target temperature. An object 5 to be heated is carried into the first thermostatic bath 1. Since the temperature at this time is higher than the target temperature, a movement amount of heat to the object 5 to be heated becomes large and a temperature of the object 5 to be heated is raised in a short time. Before the target temperature is reached, a shutter 4 installed at a partition plate 3 is opened; the object 5 to be heated is transferred to the second thermostatic bath 2 by using a conveyance mechanism 6; at this time, the temperature of the object 5 to be heated is close to the target temperature. Thereby, the object to be heated can be heated up to the target temperature in a short time and with good accuracy.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Summary] Regarding the structure of a temperature control device, an object of the present invention is to provide a temperature control device that can accurately bring an object to be heated or cooled to a target temperature in a short time. A temperature control device having a first constant temperature bath set at a temperature higher than a target temperature, and a second constant temperature bath connected to the first constant temperature bath via a partition plate and set to the target temperature,
The object to be heated is heated in the first thermostatic oven and transferred to the second thermostatic oven to reach the target temperature before reaching the target temperature, or the object is set at a temperature lower than the target temperature. A temperature control device having a first constant temperature bath and a second constant temperature bath connected to the first constant temperature bath via a partition plate and set to a target temperature, It is configured such that it is cooled in a constant temperature bath and transferred to the second constant temperature bath to reach the target temperature before reaching the target temperature.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to the structure of a temperature control device.

In the manufacturing and testing process of ICs, it is required that the ICs be placed in various temperature environments. At this time, in order to improve throughput, it is necessary to make the IC reach the target temperature in a short time and with high accuracy.

[Conventional technology]

When performing a temperature test on an IC sealed in a pancage, the conventional method is to place the IC in a constant temperature chamber that is preset to a target temperature and wait for the IC temperature to reach the target temperature. It is. The time it takes to reach the target temperature is determined by the amount of heat transfer between the thermostatic oven and the IC, but the larger the heat capacity of the IC and the greater the temperature difference from the target temperature, the longer it will take. It also depends on the heating or cooling method.

However, due to the increase in the number of pins in packages accompanying the recent increase in the degree of integration of ICs, packages are becoming larger and their heat capacity tends to increase, and as a result, the time required to reach the target temperature becomes even longer. Furthermore, as the package becomes larger, the number of ICs that can be stored in the thermostatic oven decreases, further reducing throughput.

Conventionally, the above-mentioned problems have been dealt with by increasing the size of the thermostatic chamber or by improving its heating and cooling methods. That is, increasing the size of the thermostatic oven is effective in increasing its heat capacity and increasing the number of ICs stored, thereby improving throughput. However, on the other hand, there is a drawback that the area occupied by the thermostatic chamber and the power consumption increase, leading to an increase in cost. Attempts are also being made to improve heating and cooling methods. For example, in a convection heat transfer thermostatic oven using air volume circulation, increasing the air volume within the thermostatic oven improves the efficiency of heat transfer and shortens the time it takes to reach the target temperature. However, significant effects cannot be expected due to factors such as wind pressure loss. Furthermore, if a conductive heat transfer type constant temperature bath is used in which the IC package is brought into direct contact with a block that is controlled to a target temperature, the efficiency of heat transfer can be improved compared to the convection heat transfer method described above. However, there are drawbacks such as there is a risk of damaging the IC, and the block shape needs to be processed to match each package, resulting in poor versatility. Furthermore, a method using an infrared heater as a heating source is also considered, but the temperature of the IC package must be directly detected, making it difficult to perform accurate temperature control.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In all of the conventional methods described above, the temperature is controlled using a single constant temperature bath, but in this case, if the difference between the IC temperature and the target temperature is large in the early stage of heating, the amount of heat transfer is large. Therefore, although the target temperature is rapidly approached, as the difference decreases, the amount of heat transfer decreases, so the temperature change becomes gradual, and the drawback that it takes a long time to reach the target temperature cannot be avoided. .

The above-mentioned problems also occur when an object to be cooled is cooled to reach a target temperature.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a temperature control device that can accurately cause an object to be heated or cooled to reach a target temperature in a short time.

[Means to solve the problem]

The solution to the above problem is to have a first constant temperature chamber set at a temperature higher than the target temperature, and a second constant temperature chamber connected to the first constant temperature chamber via a partition plate and set at the target temperature. A temperature control device, characterized in that the object to be heated is heated in the first thermostatic oven and transferred to the second thermostatic oven to reach the target temperature before reaching the target temperature, or , a temperature control device having a first constant temperature chamber set at a temperature lower than a target temperature, and a second constant temperature chamber connected to the first constant temperature chamber via a partition plate and set at the target temperature. This is achieved by a temperature control device characterized in that the object to be cooled is cooled in the first constant temperature bath, and before reaching the target temperature, is transferred to the second constant temperature bath to reach the target temperature.

[Function] FIG. 1 is a sectional view for explaining the principle of the temperature control device according to the present invention, in which 1 is a first constant temperature bath, 2 is
3 is a second constant temperature bath, 3 is a partition plate, 4 is a shutter, 5 is an object to be heated, and 6 is a conveyance mechanism for the object to be heated. Also, the second
The figure is a diagram showing the temperature change of the object to be heated 5 in the temperature control device.

As mentioned above, when the object to be heated 5 is heated from room temperature in a single thermostatic oven set to the target temperature TR+, the temperature of the object to be heated 5 is as shown by temperature curve A in FIG. Although the temperature rises rapidly in the initial stage of heating, the temperature change becomes gradual as it approaches the target temperature TEL.

In the present invention, the temperature of the first constant temperature bath 1 is set to a temperature TAI higher than the target temperature TEL, and the temperature of the second constant temperature bath 2 is set to the target temperature T! Set to +. Then, the object to be heated 5 is first heated.
Transport the sample into thermostatic chamber 1. At this time, since the temperature TAI is higher than the target temperature T0, the amount of heat transferred to the heated object 5 is larger than before, and the temperature of the heated object 5 reaches the temperature TA+ as shown by curve B in FIG. However, it will rise in a shorter time than before. When the object to be heated 5 is not moved, it exceeds the target temperature TEL according to the curve C shown by the dotted line, and eventually the temperature change becomes gradual and approaches the temperature TAI, but in the present invention, the target temperature TR+ is reached. Beforehand, the shank 4 provided on the partition plate 3 is opened, and the object to be heated 5 is transferred to the second constant temperature bath 2 by the transfer mechanism 6. At this time, the temperature of the heated object 5 is close to the target temperature TEl, and therefore the target temperature device can be quickly reached.

The set temperature of the first constant temperature bath and the time required to transfer the heated object to the second constant temperature bath can be determined experimentally in advance so that the time required to reach the target temperature of the heated object is minimized.

When the target temperature is a temperature T tz lower than room temperature, the temperature of the first thermostatic oven is set to a temperature TA2 lower than TE□, and the temperature of the second thermostatic oven is set to the target temperature TE□. As in the case described above, the temperature of the object to be cooled changes as shown by curve B', and the target temperature TE□ can be reached more quickly than in the conventional temperature change curve A'.

〔Example〕

FIG. 3 shows the temperature control device according to the present invention applied to an IC handler used to perform a temperature test on an IC sealed in a package. I shown in the same figure
C handler (also known as the so-called gravity drop type; figure (a) is a cross-sectional view of it, and figure (b) is its figure (
FIG. 3 is a plan view taken in the direction indicated by the arrow X when viewed from the direction indicated by the arrow X in FIG.

First, the IC 12 is carried into the first thermostatic chamber 13 by a carry-in loader (1). Before the temperature of the IC 12 heated in the first constant temperature bath 13 which is set at a temperature higher than the target temperature rises and exceeds the target temperature, the shutter 16 provided on the partition plate 15 is opened and the second IC 12 is heated by the transport mechanism 14. Transfer to a constant temperature bath 17. The second constant temperature bath 17 is set to a target temperature. Therefore, the IC 12, which has already reached a temperature close to the target temperature, stably reaches the target temperature in a short time. The set temperature and heating time of the first constant temperature bath 13 described above are I
It is determined experimentally in advance so that C12 reaches the target temperature in the shortest possible time. These values depend on the heat capacity of the first and second constant temperature baths, power consumption, heating method, heat capacity of the IC, etc.

The first constant temperature bath 13 and the second constant temperature bath 17 are provided with a temperature adjustment mechanism 19, a heating mechanism 20, an air blower 21, and a nozzle 22. When heating the IC 12, the IC 12 is heated by the heating mechanism 20. The air is circulated in the direction of the arrow by the blower 21. In addition, when cooling the rc, liquefied nitrogen is circulated from the outside through the nozzle 22.

The IC 12 that has reached the target temperature is sent to the contact section 18 by the transport mechanism 14, where it is connected to the tester 24 by the pressurizing mechanism 23 and its electrical characteristics are automatically measured. After the measurement, the IC 12 is sent to the sorter section 25, and depending on the measurement result, it is sent to the good product storage section 26 or the defective product storage section 27.
It is sorted and stored.

When the target temperature is lower than room temperature, the IC can quickly reach the target temperature using the same configuration as in FIG. 30 except that the first constant temperature bath 13 is set at a temperature lower than the target temperature.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to quickly and accurately set the temperature of an object to be heated or cooled to a target value, so that it is possible to shorten the time in the IC manufacturing or testing process, and improve throughput. At the same time, it is also useful for improving the reliability of the IC.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram of the principle configuration of the present invention. Figure 2 is a diagram showing temperature changes; FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention; It is. In the figure, ■, 13 is the first constant temperature bath; 2.17 is the second constant temperature bath, 3.15 is a partition plate, 4.16 is the shutter 5.14 is a transport mechanism, 6.12 is IC1 1) is a carry-in loader, 18 is a contact part, 19 is a temperature adjustment mechanism; 20 is a heating mechanism; 21 is a blower; 22 is a nozzle; 23 is a pressure mechanism; 24 is a tester 25 is a sorter section, 26 is the good product storage section, 27 is a defective product storage section, It is. 1 2 Tsuyoshi Introduction

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A first constant temperature bath (1) set at a temperature higher than the target temperature, and a second constant temperature bath (1) connected to the first constant temperature bath (1) via a partition plate (3) and set at the target temperature. Thermostatic oven (2)
A temperature control device having an object to be heated (5) in the first thermostatic oven (1), and before reaching the target temperature, transfer it to the second thermostatic oven (2) to reach the target temperature. A temperature control device characterized by: (2) A first constant temperature bath (1) set at a temperature lower than the target temperature, and a second constant temperature bath (1) connected to the first constant temperature bath (1) via a partition plate (3) and set at the target temperature. Thermostatic oven (2)
A temperature control device comprising: an object to be cooled (5) is cooled in the first constant temperature bath (1) and transferred to the second constant temperature bath (2) before reaching the target temperature to reach the target temperature. A temperature control device characterized by: