JPH0942854A - Heating furnace - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a heating furnace which can heat and harden uniformly the paste applied on the surface of a base and can produce the base of high quality and of which the area of installation is small. SOLUTION: A plurality of elevating pins 15 which pierce a hot plate 16 equipped with a heater 22 and are movable in the vertical direction are provided inside a furnace body 2 and a base 12 brought in from an opening part 9 of a partition 8 is loaded on the elevating pins 15 having risen. The elevating pins 15 lower the base 12 to the vicinity of the hot plate 16 and the base is preheated by the heated hot plate 16. Then, the elevating pins 15 lower further and the base 12 is vacuum-sucked on the hot plate 16 and heated thereby principally. Thereafter the elevating pins 15 rise and elevate the base 12 to the original position and a nitrogen gas is blown against the surface of the base 12 from a nozzle of a gas supply pipe 23 so as to facilitate cooling of the base 12. After the base 12 is cooled, it is brought out from the opening part 9.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a heating furnace for heating a substrate mainly in a manufacturing process of a liquid crystal substrate, a printed circuit board or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, liquid crystal panels have been widely used for displays because of their features of being lightweight, thin, and having low power consumption. In the manufacturing process of the liquid crystal panel, there is a step of heating and curing the sealant applied on the glass substrate for the liquid crystal panel, but as a heating means thereof, conventionally, the glass substrate is placed on a hot plate, Hot plate that heats the sealant at the desired temperature
I use a heating furnace of the type.

FIG. 9 is a vertical sectional view showing a schematic structure of an example of such a conventional heating furnace described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-83230, and FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along a section line EE in FIG. Reference numeral 40 denotes a heating furnace carry-in section, 41 denotes a furnace body, 42 denotes a heating furnace carry-out section, 43 denotes a substrate transfer mechanism, and 44 denotes a furnace body case.
45, a motor, 46 a ball screw, 47 a nut,
48 is a linear guide, 49 is a lateral moving mechanism, and 50 is a motor.
51, a ball screw, 52, a nut, 53, a linear guide, 54, a cam, 55, a guide, 56, a vertical movement mechanism,
57 is a substrate moving plate, 58 is a gantry frame, 59 is a substrate,
Numerals 60a to 60c denote a hot plate (hereinafter, when a specific hot plate is represented, the characters are referred to as 60a, 60b, 60c with a lowercase letter added to the end of the code, and when collectively referred to as a hot plate 60), 61 is a pillar, 62 Is an exhaust pipe.

In FIG. 9, the substrate 59 coated with the sealant in the previous step is held by the carry-in section 40 before being carried into the heating furnace. Inside the furnace body 41, hot plates 60a to 60c for mounting and heating the substrate 59 are provided. Substrate 59 on which the heat curing treatment of the sealing agent has been completed
Is carried to the carry-out section 42 of the heating furnace, and carried out from here to the apparatus for the next step.

In the furnace body 41, a substrate transport mechanism 43 for transporting a substrate 59 from the loading section 40 to the unloading section 42 is provided.
Are provided below the hot plate 60, and the hot plate 60 and the substrate transfer mechanism 43 are covered with a furnace case 44. An exhaust pipe 62 for exhausting gas generated inside the furnace case 44 is provided on the ceiling of the furnace case 44.

The hot plate 60 is supported by a column 61, and the furnace case 44 and the column 61 are fixed to a gantry frame 58 at the lower part of the apparatus. The board transfer mechanism 43 is a motor 4
5, a horizontal moving mechanism 49 including a ball screw 46, a nut 47, a linear guide 48, and the like, and a vertical moving mechanism including a motor 50, a ball screw 51, a nut 52, a linear guide 53, a cam 54, a guide 55, and the like. 56 and furnace case 44
And a substrate moving plate 57 extending from the carry-in section 40 to the carry-out section 42.

A horizontal moving mechanism 49 for driving the substrate moving plate 57
Converts the rotation of the motor 45 into a linear movement by means of a ball screw 46 and a nut 47, and drives the substrate moving plate 57 on the linear guide 48 in the horizontal direction in FIG. The distance by which the lateral moving mechanism 49 drives the substrate moving plate 57 is determined by the hot plate 60.
It is equal to the center-to-center distance of a to 60c.

The vertical movement mechanism 56 converts the rotation of the motor 50 into a linear movement by means of the ball screw 51 and the nut 52, and drives the cam 54 on the linear guide 53 to guide it on the cam 54. 55 is driven up and down, and thereby the substrate moving plate 57 is driven up and down in FIG.

Each of the motors 45 and 50 has an encoder built therein and is further connected to a controller (not shown). When the motors 45, 50 rotate in a certain direction by a certain amount, they send a signal to the controller, and the controller controls stop, forward rotation, reverse rotation, etc. of the motors 45, 50 according to the signal.

The sealant applied to the substrate 59 has a specific critical temperature at which the curing progresses rapidly and the physical properties change, and when it exceeds this critical temperature, it cures rapidly. Therefore, if the temperature and time for heating beyond the critical temperature are not uniform over the entire surface of the substrate 59, the curing of the sealant will be uneven, and properties such as hardness and adhesiveness will be non-uniform, and the substrate 59 will not be uniform.
The quality will be reduced.

Further, when the substrate 59 is rapidly heated, the temperature difference on the surface of the substrate 59 increases until the temperature of the substrate 59 rises and stabilizes, which causes unevenness in the properties of the sealant. In some cases, the stress may be increased to cause breakage. Therefore, the substrate 59 is once preheated at a temperature lower than the critical temperature at which the sealant is hardly cured. Therefore, in general, the temperature of the hot plate 60 is increased step by step in the arrangement order of the hot plates 60 from the loading unit 40 side in order to enable the preheating.

Conventionally, the temperature, time, and the like for performing necessary heating are secured, and the substrate 59 is provided at intervals required by the production line.
In order to supply the hot plate 60, the temperature and quantity of the hot plate 60 are preliminarily increased in a stepwise manner from the loading side, under conditions such as a temperature and a holding time determined by an interval for transporting the substrate 59. The portion to be heated at a desired temperature equal to or higher than the critical temperature is determined according to conditions such as a holding time determined by a holding temperature and an interval at which the substrate 59 is transported.

In the conventional heating furnace shown in FIGS. 9 and 10,
The hot plate 60a is a part for preheating, the temperature is lower than the critical temperature, and the hot plates 60b, 60c are
Is a portion to be heated (mainly heated) at a desired temperature above the critical point, and the temperature is maintained at the same desired temperature above the critical temperature.

Next, the operation of the heating furnace having such a structure for heating and curing the sealant applied to the substrate 59 will be described.

First, when the substrate 59 is placed on the carry-in section 40, the motor 50 rotates to move the cam 54 to the carry-in section 40 side, and with this, the guide 55 moves upward and the board moving plate 57 moves. Lift up. In this process, the board moving plate 57 places the board 59 mounted on the carry-in section 40 and raises it, and the board 59 is separated from the carry-in section 40. Board moving plate 57
When is lifted to a predetermined height, the motor 50 stops and is held at that height.

Next, the motor 45 rotates and the substrate moving plate 5
7 is moved to the unloading section 42 side. Then, the substrate moving plate 5
When the substrate 59 placed on 7 is transported above the hot plate 60a, the motor 45 stops. In this state, the motor 50 rotates in the opposite direction to the above,
4 is moved to the unloading section 42 side, and the substrate moving plate 57 is lowered from the surface of the hot plate 60 and stopped. Thus, the substrate 59 is mounted on the hot plate 60a.

After that, the motor 45 rotates in the opposite direction to the above, and at the same time, the substrate moving plate 57 causes the loading section 40 to move.
Move to the side. Then, when the substrate moving plate 57 returns to the original position, the motor 45 stops, and one operation ends.

When the first operation is completed, after a lapse of a predetermined time during which preheating is performed, the substrate moving plate 57 repeats the above operation again, and the second operation of moving the substrate 59 from the hot plate 60a to the hot plate 60b is performed. Done
Next, the substrate 59 is moved to the hot plate 60 by the third operation.
b from the hot plate 60c to the hot plate 60c.
To be carried out.

[0019]

However, the conventional heating furnace has the following problems.

Since the upper surface of the substrate 59 is coated with a sealant, the lower surface is supported by the substrate moving plate 57 during transport. Therefore, the hot plate 60
10, is provided so as to mount a portion of the substrate 59 other than the portion supported by the substrate moving plate 57.

Further, in order to accommodate substrates 59 having different sizes, substrate moving plates 57 that support the substrate 59 are movably provided on both sides of the substrate 59 in the feeding direction, and therefore the hot plate 60 is provided on the substrate 59. If the width of the board 59 becomes large in the direction perpendicular to the feeding direction of
The area of the portion of the substrate 59 protruding from the hot plate 60 is increased. For this reason, the temperature of this protruding peripheral edge portion of the substrate 59 is unlikely to rise, and further, during the movement of the substrate 59, heat is absorbed by the substrate moving plate 57 due to contact with the substrate moving plate 57 that supports the substrate 59. , Hot plate 60
The temperature drops as you move away from the surface. Since the furnace body case 44 accommodates a plurality of hot plates 60 having different heating temperatures, the substrate moving plate 57, and its operating part, its volume and overall height are large, and the furnace body case 44 has a large temperature difference. Convection occurs throughout 44. The convection is likely to be disturbed by the vertical and horizontal movements of the substrate moving plate 57, whereby the surface temperature of the substrate 59 moving between the hot plates 60 is not constant, and the curing of the sealant becomes uneven.

The substrate 59 and the substrate moving plate 57 are repeatedly moved between the hot plates 60.
And since the number of contact with the hot plate 60 increases,
A large amount of dust is generated. Then, in order to prevent the temperature drop of the substrate 59, it is desirable that the moving time between the hot plates 60 is short, but for this reason, if the substrate 59 is moved at a high speed between the hot plates 60, The air flow inside the furnace body 41 is greatly disturbed, dust is blown up, and the cleanliness is further reduced. In addition, since the driving unit of the substrate moving plate 57 is located inside the furnace case 44, which is the same as the hot plate 60, and the outside air enters by convection, the cleanliness is reduced. From the above, dust adheres to the substrate 59, and the quality thereof deteriorates.

Further, in order to secure a sufficient amount to supply the substrate 59 after the sealing agent is heated and hardened by the desired heating to the downstream apparatus connected to the heating furnace, the furnace body becomes long and a large installation is required. An area is required, and in particular, since the manufacturing apparatus for the substrate 59 is often installed in a clean room, the installation area becomes a problem.

A similar problem can be seen when firing a conductive paste or the like on a printed circuit board.

An object of the present invention is to eliminate such a problem, and to uniformly heat and cure the sealing agent or paste applied to the surface of the substrate surface so that a high quality substrate can be obtained. To provide a small heating furnace.

[0026]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention has a plurality of small holes penetrating the heating plate and a plurality of small diameter rods penetrating the small holes and is arranged above the heating plate. Preheating, main heating, and cooling are controlled by controlling the length of the substrate holding means that is provided so as to project, the raising and lowering means that raises and lowers the substrate holding means, and the substrate holding means that projects above the heating plate. The substrate in the container is provided with a means for controlling the temperature to each temperature, a container that includes the heating plate and the holding means for the substrate and shields it from the outside air, and horizontally moves the substrate to one surface of the container. An opening to be mounted on the holding means is provided.

[0027]

Since the substrate holding means is provided as a plurality of rods each having a small diameter and penetrating through the inside of the heating plate, a large area of the heating plate can be obtained and the entire substrate surface can be adhered to the heating plate surface.
The entire surface of the substrate can be heated uniformly by heat conduction.

Further, since preheating, main heating and cooling can be performed only by the upper and lower sides of the substrate on one heating plate, the total volume and the total height in the container can be suppressed. Therefore, the temperature in the container is made uniform, the temperature difference is reduced, convection is less likely to occur, and the heating temperature is stable. Since the substrate holding means has a small contact area with the substrate, there is little dust generation due to friction, and the substrate is mounted on the heating plate by mounting the substrate from the preheating position close to the heating plate. The turbulence of the air flow can be reduced, and since the convection in the container is suppressed, dust is not raised and the cleanliness can be prevented from lowering.

[0029]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a front view showing the appearance of an embodiment of a heating furnace according to the present invention, in which 1 is a gantry frame, 2 is a furnace body, 3 is a control unit, 4 is a base plate, 5 is a support, and 6 Is a framework,
Reference numeral 8 is a partition wall, and 9 is an opening.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the section line A--A in FIG. 1. 10 is a door (inspection door), 11 is a lifting means, 12 is a substrate, 13 is an exhaust pipe, and 14 is a transfer robot. , Figure 1
Are assigned the same reference numerals.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the main part taken along the section line B--B in FIG. 1, where 15 is a lifting pin, 16 is a hot plate,
17 is a column, 18 is a heat dissipation prevention cover, 19 is a displacement prevention pin, 20 is a vacuum suction hole, 21 is a vacuum pipe, 22 is a heating heater, 23 is an air supply pipe, 24 is a vertical drive plate, and 25 is a horizontal drive plate. It is a frame, and portions corresponding to the above-mentioned drawings are denoted by the same reference numerals.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of an essential part taken along the section line CC of FIG. 2, and the same reference numerals are given to the parts corresponding to the above drawings.

1 and 2, the heating furnace of this embodiment is installed on the floor by a gantry frame 1 having legs. The gantry frame 1 is a space for accommodating a space portion I for accommodating a furnace body 2 for heating, a temperature control means for the substrate 12 for elevating and lowering a holding means for the substrate 12, which will be described later, and a control section 3 for controlling the entire heating furnace. It is divided into two stages, upper and lower with the part II.

In the upper space portion I of the gantry frame 1, there are provided two sets of frameworks 6 each including a combination of a base plate 4 arranged in a horizontal direction and columns 5 supporting the base plate 4 arranged in a vertical direction. It is arranged horizontally. In one frame 6, the base plate 4 on the ceiling side of the upper space portion I, the base plate 4 on the bottom side, and the pace plate 4 between them are arranged horizontally, and these are supported at two places on each of the left and right sides. Supported by 5. This one frame 6 creates two upper and lower spaces, and the furnace body 2 is installed in each of them. Therefore, in the upper space portion I of the gantry frame 1, two furnace bodies 2 are installed, two on the upper side and two on the lower side.

The heating portion of the furnace body 2 is covered with a partition 8 having a container shape, and the bottom of the partition 8 is fixed to the base plate 4. As shown in FIG. 2, the partition wall 8 has a substrate 12
An opening 9 is provided for carrying in and out. Further, detachable doors (inspection doors) 10 are provided on both sides of the container by the partition wall 8 as shown in FIG. Since the inspection door 10 on one side of the partition 8 is on the outer surface side of the heating furnace, the inspection door 10 can be removed and the furnace body 2 can be maintained.

Elevating means 11 is provided for each furnace body 2 and is fixed to the base plate 4, respectively. The elevating means 11 has a reciprocating mechanism including a drive motor, a ball screw, and the like (not shown), and its operation is controlled by the control unit 3. As shown in FIG. 3, the elevating means 11 is connected with a vertical drive plate 24 which is vertically driven by the reciprocating mechanism, and the vertical drive plate 24 extends into the furnace body 2.

In the furnace body 2, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a plurality of horizontal frames 25 are connected to the vertical drive plate 24,
The lifting pins 15 are connected to the upper surface of the horizontal frame 25. The elevating pins 15 are rod-shaped with a small diameter, and are holding means for the substrate 12. A hot plate 16 as a heating plate for contacting and heating the substrate 12 is arranged in the furnace body 2, and the hot plate 16 is fixed to the base plate 4 via a column 17. .

A heat radiation prevention cover 18 is provided on the outside of the hot plate 16. The heat radiation prevention cover 18 is made of a metal plate such as stainless steel.
Slightly away from it to cover it. As a result, an air layer is formed between the hot plate 16 and the heat radiation prevention cover 18, and the amount of heat radiation of the hot plate 16 is suppressed by this air layer to stabilize the temperature. The hot plate 16 and the heat radiation preventing cover 18 are provided with small holes penetrating them vertically.

The substrate 12 is mounted on the elevating pins 15 arranged in plural above the hot plate 16. The elevating pins 15 are provided in an appropriate arrangement so as to correspond to the shapes of all the target substrates 12, and their lengths protruding from the hot plate 16 surface are made equal to each other. Further, the positional relationship between the opening 9 provided on the partition wall 8 and the lifting pin 15 is such that when the substrate 12 is moved horizontally from the opening 9 and is loaded into the furnace body 2, the substrate 12 remains on the lifting pin 15. It is set to be mounted on.

The operating parts in the furnace body 2 are the vertical drive plate 24 and the lifting pins 15 which are lifted and lowered by the lifting and lowering means 11. The lifting and lowering means 11 is arranged outside the furnace body 2 and the substrate 12 is horizontally arranged from the opening 9. Since it is carried in, it suffices that the furnace body 2 has a drive range for the vertical drive plate 24 and the lift pins 15 and a space required for carrying in the substrate 12, and the partition wall 8 is suppressed in overall height.

On the upper surface of the hot plate 16, the substrate 12
And a plurality of vacuum suction holes 20 arranged at regular intervals. The misalignment prevention pin 19 is a rod-shaped member that is detachably fixed to the hot plate 16 by screwing or the like so that the fixing position can be changed according to the shape of the substrate 12, and the substrate 12 is mounted thereon. It is provided so as to surround the portion from the periphery, and is located in the four sides of the rectangular substrate 12, for example.

Inside the hot plate 16 is a vacuum pipe 21 connected to a heater 22 for heating and a vacuum suction hole 20.
And a vacuum pump (not shown) that is driven and controlled by the control unit 3 is connected to the vacuum pipe 21.

An air supply pipe 23 as an air supply means is provided on the inner upper side of the furnace body 2 on the side of the opening 9. The air supply pipe 23 is a pipe-shaped pipe provided with a number of nozzles directed substantially in the horizontal direction on the side opposite to the opening 9, and allows gas (for example, nitrogen gas) to pass therethrough and pass through the furnace body from these nozzles. Air is supplied into 2.

On the surface of the partition wall 8 facing the opening 9 is provided an exhaust pipe 13 for exhausting dust generated in the furnace body 2 and gas generated by the curing treatment of the sealant. There is. In order to increase the internal pressure in the furnace body 2, the air supply pipe 23
The amount of exhaust gas from the exhaust pipe 13 is smaller than the amount of nitrogen gas supplied by the exhaust gas.

For loading and unloading the substrate 12 into and from the furnace body 2 from the outside, as shown in FIG. 2, the carrier head having the illustrated shape is used, and the lifting pins 1 in the furnace body 2 are controlled by the control unit 3.
The transfer robot 14 or the like that operates in conjunction with the device 5 is used.

Next, the operation of this embodiment having the above construction will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a view of the opening 9 side from the dividing line CC of FIG. 2 as in FIG.

First, as shown in FIG. 5A, the substrate 1
2 is carried into the furnace body 2 from the opening 9 in the horizontal direction by the carrying-in robot 14 (FIG. 2), and is mounted on the ascending / descending elevating pins 15. At this time, hot plate 16
Is maintained at a desired temperature above the critical temperature at which the sealant applied to the substrate 12 rapidly cures. Since the hot plate 16 is isolated from the outside air by the partition wall 8, its temperature is stable, and the inside of the furnace body 2 is kept at a higher temperature than the outside air temperature by the heat of the hot plate 16.

The air supply pipe 23 constantly blows nitrogen gas at room temperature from its nozzle in a direction substantially opposite to the direction of the opening 9. The nitrogen gas supplied from the nozzle of the air supply pipe 23 has a high degree of cleanliness, and the supply of this nitrogen gas maintains the inside of the furnace body 2 with a high degree of cleanliness. Further, the exhaust pipe 13 (FIG. 2) constantly discharges the air in the furnace body 2,
A slight amount of dust generated in the furnace body 2 and a gas generated by heating the sealant are exhausted.

When the substrate 12 is carried into the furnace body 2, the surface temperature of the substrate 12 rises due to the radiation from the hot plate 16 and the temperature inside the furnace body 2. At this time, the interval between the substrate 12 and the hot plate 16 differs depending on conditions such as the temperature of the hot plate 16 and a sealant.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5 (b), the raising / lowering means 15 (FIG. 3) lowers the raising / lowering pin 15 so that the substrate 1
2 is held close to the hot plate 16. At this time, the interval between the substrate 12 and the hot plate 16 differs depending on a desired preheating temperature. In this state, the substrate 12 is heated by the radiation of the hot plate 16. Although the temperature of the substrate 12 further rises, the substrate 12 has a hot plate 16
Therefore, the temperature does not rise to the surface temperature of the hot plate 16. Therefore, the substrate 12 and the hot plate 1
By adjusting the distance from the substrate 6, the substrate 12 can be preheated to a desired temperature. When the substrate 12 reaches the desired temperature,
The elevating pin 15 is further lowered, and the above-mentioned vacuum pump connected to the vacuum pipe 21 is operated to suck air from the vacuum suction hole 20.

Then, as shown in FIG. 5C, the lifting pin 1
By further lowering 5, the substrate 12 is lowered while being surrounded by the misalignment prevention pins 19, and finally placed on the hot plate 16. Then, the substrate 12 is vacuum-adsorbed and closely fixed to the hot plate 16 due to the operation of the vacuum adsorption hole 20, and even if the substrate 12 is warped, a gap is formed between the substrate 12 and the hot plate 16. It does not occur, and the positional deviation does not occur during heating.

Due to the warp of the substrate 12 and the working precision of the hot plate 16 and the lifting pins 15, it is difficult for the entire surface of the substrate 12 to contact the hot plate 16 at the same time. For this reason, the substrate 12 is attracted to the vacuum suction hole 20 from the portion that first comes into contact with the hot plate 16 and tries to deviate from the mounting position together therewith. The deviation is prevented within a desired range. The substrate 12 is held in close contact with the hot plate 16 for a desired time.

The entire surface of the substrate 12 is brought into close contact with the hot plate 16 so that it is heated to a uniform temperature by heat conduction. Thereby, the sealant applied to the substrate 12 is uniformly heated and cured.

After holding the substrate 12 on the hot plate 16 for a desired time, the suction by the vacuum suction holes 20 is stopped,
The lifting pins 15 are raised, and as shown in FIG. 5D, the substrate 12 is returned to the position where it is mounted on the lifting pins 15 and held. At this time, the substrate 12 separates from the hot plate 16 and the temperature gradually decreases.

Further, when the substrate 12 is separated from the hot plate 16, the nitrogen gas blown from the nozzle of the air supply pipe 23 is blown onto the surface of the substrate 12, whereby the substrate 1
2 promotes cooling. Cooling with nitrogen gas can prevent the hardening of the sealant due to the residual heat of the substrate 12.

The temporal change of each position of the lifting pins shown in FIGS. 5A to 5D depends on various conditions such as the characteristics of the sealant applied to the substrate 12 and the set temperature of the hot plate 16. different. When the temperature of the substrate 12 reaches a desired value and cooling is completed, the transfer robot 14 (FIG. 2) causes the substrate 1 to be cooled.
2 is carried out of the furnace body 2, and the heat curing of the sealant on the substrate 12 is completed.

As described above, by preheating the substrate 12 at a position distant from the hot plate 16, the substrate 12 is preheated at a temperature below the critical temperature, and the time for adhering the substrate 12 to the hot plate 16 is adjusted, After the heating, the desired sealant characteristics can be obtained by separating from the hot plate 16 and cooling to a temperature below the critical temperature.

Covering the hot plate 16 with the partition wall 8 makes it less likely to be affected by the outside air and stabilizes the surface temperature of the hot plate 16 to heat the substrate 12 at a uniform temperature. It can be uniformly heat-cured.

Since the drive part of the furnace body 2 is only the elevating means 11 for elevating the elevating pin 15, the structure is simplified, and the control of the drive part of the furnace body 2 is the up and down position of the elevating pin 15, so that the control is possible. To simplify. Since the transfer robot 14 carries in the substrate 12 from the opening 9 provided in the front surface of the partition wall 8 and mounts it on the lifting pins 15, and carries out the substrate 12 on the lifting pins 15 at the same position after heating is completed, Easy to control.

In the furnace body 2, the vertical drive plate 2 located below the furnace body 2
Low temperature outside air enters from the notched portion of the partition wall 8 in the ascending / descending range of 4, and moves along the hot plate 16 to generate an airflow flowing out of the opening 9. However, the nozzle of the air supply pipe 23 is opened. Since it is provided in the substantially horizontal direction on the side opposite to 9, the airflow toward the opening 9 is canceled.

Further, since the internal pressure in the furnace body 2 is slightly increased by the nitrogen gas supplied from the air supply pipe 23, the partition wall 8
The airflow that tries to enter from outside is canceled out. Since the volume surrounded by the partition 8 can be suppressed, the space around the hot plate 16 is small,
With the heat of 6, the temperature inside the furnace body 2 is easily made uniform, the temperature difference between the upper part and the lower part inside the furnace body 2 becomes small, and the amount of convection generated can be suppressed. Since the convection is not disturbed by the movement of the substrate 12, the heating temperature of the hot plate 16 is made uniform,
The sealant applied to 2 can be uniformly heated and cured.

Since the gas supplied from the air supply pipe 23 is nitrogen gas which is an inert gas to suppress the invasion of the outside air, the concentration of the nitrogen gas in the furnace body 2 becomes high, and the oxidation of the sealant can be prevented. .

Although the nozzle direction of the air supply pipe 23 is set to be substantially horizontal on the side opposite to the opening 9, the nozzle direction of the air supply pipe 23 and the air supply amount are determined by the position of the opening 9 of the partition wall 8 and the hot plate. The optimum nozzle direction of the air supply pipe 23, the amount of air supply, and the like can be changed according to the direction and flow rate of convection caused by the position of 16, the temperature, and the like. As an example, in the case where the overall height of the partition wall 8 is low and the convection inside is suppressed, an air flow that flows along the opening 9 of the partition wall 8 is generated to form an air curtain so that the invasion of outside air is suppressed. May be.

In this embodiment, the number of furnace bodies 2 is four. The appropriate number of furnace bodies 2 is a value obtained by dividing the total time of the time when the substrate 12 is in the furnace body 2 and the time of loading and unloading the substrate 12 by the desired supply time of the substrate 12. Become. By loading the substrates 12 into the respective furnace bodies 2 in order at regular intervals and taking out the substrates 12 that have undergone the heat curing treatment of the sealing agent in order, the substrates 12 that have completed the heat curing step of the sealing agent are conducted at regular intervals. Can be supplied to the next stage device.
Therefore, by providing a plurality of furnace bodies 2, the substrate 12
It is possible to secure an interval for supplying the gas to the next stage device or the like.

Further, even if one of the plurality of furnace bodies 2 fails, by individually controlling the temperature of each furnace body 2, it is possible to operate the furnace body 2 except for the malfunction. Maintenance is possible without stopping the line.

Since the inspection door 10 (FIGS. 2 and 4) for performing maintenance and inspection is provided on the side surface in the direction perpendicular to the surface into which the substrate 12 is loaded, one side of the inspection door 10 is opened for maintenance and inspection. Even if the above procedure is performed, the loading of the substrate 12 into the furnace body 2 other than the maintenance and inspection is not hindered, and the entire heating furnace is not stopped.

Further, in this embodiment, the furnace body 2 is vertically
Although the columns are arranged in two rows on each side, the furnace body 2 is arranged on the substrate 1
It may be changed in combination with the transfer robot 14 that transfers 2 or the like. The furnace body 2 may be arranged only in the vertical direction, or may be arranged only in the horizontal direction. The arrangement of the furnace body 2 can be appropriately selected depending on conditions such as the floor area and the height of the room in which the furnace body is installed, the number of furnace bodies, the transfer range of the transfer robot 14, and the like. Since the total height of the furnace body 2 is low, even if the furnace bodies 2 are stacked in a plurality of stages in the vertical direction, the installation area can be reduced without increasing the overall size.

Further, in this embodiment, by suppressing the convection, the outside air is prevented from entering the furnace body 2 and the cleanliness is enhanced to prevent the dust from adhering to the substrate 12. The number of times the substrate 12 touches the hot plate 16 during heating is only one, and since the substrate 12 is mounted from a preheating position very close to the hot plate 16, turbulence of the air flow around the hot plate 16 is small. , The dust is rarely blown up, and cleanliness can be maintained.

Further, since the contact area between the substrate 12 and the elevating pins 15 is small, the generation of dust due to the friction between the substrate 12 and the elevating pins 15 is suppressed. Since the convection inside the furnace body 2 is suppressed, the generated dust is difficult to move upward, and the substrate 1
A cleanliness of 2 can be maintained. Further, since the lifting / lowering means 11, which is a driving portion, is outside the partition 8, the amount of dust generated inside is small, and furthermore, the generated dust is exhausted by the exhaust pipe 13, so that the internal cleanliness can be kept good. As a result, it is possible to obtain a high-quality substrate 12 with less dust.

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of a heater 22 showing another specific example of the hot plate 16 used in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and 26 is a gap pin.

In this figure, this hot plate 16
In place of the vacuum suction holes 20 shown in FIG. 3, a large number of gap pins 26 are arranged on the surface of the hot plate 16,
The substrate 12 is held slightly away from the hot plate 16. The gap pins 26 bring the substrate 12 closer to the preheating position and hold the substrate 12 at even intervals from the surface of the hot plate 16.

With this configuration, it is possible to uniformly heat the radiant heat and obtain uniform sealing agent characteristics.

FIG. 7 is a front view showing the appearance of another embodiment of the heating furnace according to the present invention, in which 27 is a cooling means and 28 is a cooling plate, and the same reference numerals are given to the portions corresponding to the above drawings. A duplicate description will be omitted.

FIG. 8 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line D--D in FIG. 7, in which 29 is a cooling water pipe, and the portions corresponding to FIG.

This embodiment is different from the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 in that one of the four furnace bodies 2 shown in FIG. 1 is replaced with a cooling means 27 as shown in FIG. Is.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the cooling means 27 includes a cooling plate 28 in which the partition wall 8 is removed from the furnace body 2 and the heater 22 of the hot plate 16 is replaced with a cooling water pipe 29. It is provided. Cooling water is introduced into the cooling water pipe 29 to cool the cooling plate 28 to room temperature.
The cooling means 27 is arranged in the framework 6 like the furnace body 2.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.

The heating process by the furnace body 2 is almost the same as the process of FIGS. 5 (a) to 5 (d) showing the operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and the heating is performed in the state of FIG. 5 (d). When the temperature of the substrate 12 becomes lower than a desired temperature by blowing an air flow from the trachea 23 onto the substrate 12, the transfer robot 14 (FIG. 2) causes the furnace body 2
It is taken out from the inside and transferred to the cooling means 27 for cooling.

In the cooling means 27, as shown in FIG. 7, the lifting pins 15 holding the substrate 12 are lowered by the lifting means 11 to mount the substrate 12 on the cooling plate 28 and cool the substrate 12. .

The cooling plate 28 is constantly cooled by the cooling water flowing in the cooling water pipe 29, and the substrate 12 is cooled by the cooling plate 2.
8 by contacting the entire surface with the substrate 8 by heat conduction.
The heat of the substrate 12 is removed, and the temperature of the substrate 12 is rapidly lowered. When the substrate 12 has cooled to the desired temperature, the lifting pin 1
5 is lifted and the substrate 12 is held above the cooling plate 28 by the lifting pins 15. Next, the substrate 12 cooled by the cooling means 27 is carried out of the cooling means 27 by the transfer robot 14 (FIG. 2), and the heat curing process is completed.

In this embodiment, the structure of the cooling means 27 is not limited to that shown in FIG. 8 and may be any structure.

According to this embodiment, since the sealant for the substrate can be heated and cured at a high temperature in a short time and then forcibly cooled, the time required for the heating and curing process can be shortened and the substrate production capacity of the heating furnace can be improved. Can be improved.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to such embodiments.

That is, in the above-described embodiment, the lengths of the lifting pins 15 are all the same, but the lifting pins 15 located on the center side of the hot plate 16 that holds the center side of the substrate 12 are used.
The length of the lift pin 1 close to the end of the hot plate 16
It may be shorter than the length of 5. As an example, the substrate 12
For those supported by the five lifting pins 15 at the center and at the four corners, the length of the lifting pins 15 at the center is made slightly shorter than the length of the lifting pins 15 at the four corners. Board 1 with lifting pins 15
When the substrate 12 is supported, the central portion of the substrate 12 bends downward, so that each lifting pin 15 at the end has a large force to support the substrate 12 and makes it uniform and difficult to shift. Further, when the substrate 12 is mounted on the hot plate 16, the hot plate 16 is contacted and adsorbed prior to the central portion, so that the displacement that occurs during mounting on the hot plate 16 can be suppressed.

[0086]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The paste applied to the surface of the substrate can be uniformly heated and hardened to produce a high-quality substrate, and the installation area can be made small.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external front view showing an embodiment of a heating furnace according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the section line CC of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an operation explanatory diagram of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing another specific example of the hot plate in FIG.

FIG. 7 is an external front view showing another embodiment of the heating furnace according to the present invention.

8 is a cross-sectional view taken along the section line DD of FIG.

FIG. 9 is a vertical sectional view showing an example of a conventional heating furnace.

10 is a cross-sectional view taken along the section line EE in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Frame 2 Furnace body 3 Control part 4 Base plate 5 Support 6 Frame 8 Partition wall 9 Opening 10 Inspection door 11 Lifting means 12 Board 13 Exhaust pipe 14 Transfer robot 15 Lifting pin 16 Hot plate 17 Support 18 Heat dissipation prevention cover 19 Misalignment prevention pin 20 Vacuum adsorption hole 21 Vacuum piping 22 Heating heater 23 Air supply pipe 24 Vertical drive plate 25 Horizontal frame 26 Gap pin 27 Cooling means 28 Cooling plate 29 Cooling water piping

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification number Internal reference number FI Technical display location H05K 3/12 6921-4E H05K 3/12 B (72) Inventor Shinya Yamama 5 Koyodai, Ryugasaki, Ibaraki Prefecture 2-chome, Hitachi Techno Engineering Co., Ltd. Ryugasaki Plant

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A heating furnace for mounting a substrate on a heating plate and heating the substrate, comprising: a plurality of small holes penetrating the heating plate; and a plurality of small-diameter rods penetrating the small holes and protruding above the heating plate. Possible holding means for the substrate, raising and lowering means for raising and lowering the holding means for the substrate, and controlling the length of the holding means for the substrate protruding above the heating plate to control the preheating, main heating and cooling temperatures. A means for controlling the temperature, a heating plate and a holding means for the substrate are included, and a container for blocking the outside air is provided. The substrate is horizontally moved on one surface of the container and mounted on the holding means for the substrate in the container. A heating furnace provided with an opening for 2. The heating furnace according to claim 1, wherein an air supply means is provided near the opening in the container and above the opening, and the air supply means is provided with an air supply port on the side opposite to the opening. A heating furnace characterized by the above. 3. The heating furnace according to claim 1, wherein a door for exposing the inside of the container is provided on a surface in a direction intersecting a surface having an opening for loading a substrate into the container. 4. The heating furnace according to claim 1, wherein the length of the small-diameter rod-shaped substrate holding means provided in the center of the heating plate exposed above the heating plate is shorter than the end of the heating plate. A heating furnace characterized by.