JPH10163618A - Reflowing furnace apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a reflowing furnace apparatus flexibly conformable to the production quantity or mode. SOLUTION: The furnace apparatus comprises a heater unit 10 having a panel heater(s) and cooler unit(s) 40 having a cooling fan. One or more heater units 10 are removably coupled with one or more cooler units 40, and each have a controller to control the panel heater, thus obtaining specified temp. profile.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a reflow furnace apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When an electronic circuit is manufactured, cream solder is applied to a predetermined position on a circuit board on which a wiring pattern has been formed in advance by a printing technique. Next, a surface mount type component is mounted on the circuit board, and in such a state, the circuit board is gently introduced into the reflow furnace device. When the circuit board is heated to a temperature equal to or higher than the melting point of the solder in the reflow furnace device, the cream solder melts and the electrodes of the electronic components mounted on the circuit board are connected to the connection lands on the circuit board, An electronic circuit is formed.

FIG. 13 shows a conventional reflow furnace apparatus used for manufacturing such an electronic circuit. The reflow furnace device includes preheat zones 1 and 2, a reflow zone 3, and a cooling zone 4, and a circuit board is introduced into the reflow furnace device through an opening 5.
The circuit board is preheated in preheat zones 1 and 2,
In reflow zone 3, heated to a temperature higher than the melting point of solder,
Then, the solder cooled and melted in the cooling zone 4 solidifies, and the electronic component and the circuit board are soldered.

[0004]

A conventional reflow furnace having a hot air heater, a far-infrared heater, a heater combined with far-infrared hot air, and other heating means depends on the outer shape, particularly, the internal preheat and reflow heat zones. Production capacity was determined by the total length. On the other hand, when performing soldering in a reflow furnace, it is necessary to change the setting of the heating time and the remaining heat time according to the shape of the circuit board and the type of the electronic component to be joined according to the specification of the cream solder. Therefore, considering the heat shock to the work, it is necessary to consider the capacity of the device based on the conveyor speed and the temperature profile at the maximum production capacity, so that the overall shape becomes large,
The shape was long in the transport direction of the circuit board.

[0005] Further, when the production volume fluctuates greatly or when special reflow such as a ball grid array (BGA) is performed, a large reflow furnace is used, and production is not performed in accordance with the capacity. There was a problem that the investment could not be recovered. There is also a problem that a small reflow furnace device must be purchased for such a special use.

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide a reflow furnace apparatus that can be appropriately changed in combination in accordance with the production amount and application.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention comprises a heater unit having a heating means and a cooling unit having a cooling means, wherein a single or a plurality of the heater units and a single or a plurality of the heater units are provided. The present invention relates to a reflow furnace device which is detachably connected to a cooling unit.

[0008] A plurality of heater units and a single cooling unit may be arranged linearly. Alternatively, a single heater unit and a single cooling unit may be arranged linearly.

[0009] A single or a plurality of heater units and a single or a plurality of cooling units may be detachably connected so that the transport direction is one direction. Alternatively, a single or a plurality of the heater units and a single or a plurality of the cooling units may be detachably connected so that the transport direction is the reciprocating direction.

[0010] Adjacent heater units or cooling units may be detachably connected by connecting plates. Further, a guide member is arranged so as to be exposed at a joint surface where the heater unit or the cooling unit is connected,
The guide members facing each other may be connected while being positioned by a positioning rod.

[0011]

FIG. 1 shows a heater unit 10 constituting a reflow furnace apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The heater unit 10 has a front panel 1
1 and a start / stop switch 12 and a temperature controller 13 on the front panel 11.

The heater unit 10 has openings 16 at the front and the rear, respectively. Conveyor frames 19 are arranged on both sides of the opening 16 so as to face each other so as to convey the circuit board through the opening 16.

Next, the connection mechanism of the heater unit 10 will be described. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the heater unit 10 is connected to another heater unit 10 adjacent thereto or a cooling unit described later by a connecting plate 17 on the front side and the rear side and on both sides thereof. It has become. As shown in FIG. 2, the connecting plate 17 has a horizontally elongated strip shape, and the heater unit 10 or the heater unit 10 on both sides is connected to the cooling unit by bolts 18 inserted into both ends thereof. .

At the time of such connection, a guide hole as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is provided at the end of the conveyor frame 19 facing the opening 16 so that the conveyors of the heater units 10 connected to each other are aligned. 20 are formed. A positioning rod 21 is projected from one of the guide holes 20, and a positioning bush 22 for receiving and positioning the distal end of the positioning rod 21 is attached to the other guide hole 20. The parallelism of the conveyor on the conveyor frame 19 is ensured.

When such a heater unit 10 is connected, a cable 26 connected to the heater unit 10 is connected to another heater unit 10 via a connector 27.
Alternatively, it is electrically connected to the cooling unit 40.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show the configuration inside such a heater unit 10. FIG. In the heater unit 10, a panel heater 31 is disposed on a transport surface of the circuit board transported by the pair of conveyor frames 19, and the circuit board is heated by hot air or warm air generated by the panel heater 31. 10 is heated. The pair of conveyor frames 19
Is fixed to the fixed frame 32,
The other conveyor frame 19 is supported by a movable frame 33. And movable frame 3
3 is adapted to be moved laterally by rails 34. Moreover, the controller 3 is provided on the movable frame 33.
5 is supported, and the controller 35 controls the panel heater 31.

A motor 36 is provided at a lower portion of the fixed frame 32. A pulley 37 attached to an output shaft of the motor 36 is connected to a conveyor frame 19 of the fixed frame 32 via a belt 38. It is designed to be interlocked with the pulley 39 of the conveyor.

As shown in FIG. 8, in the reflow furnace apparatus according to the present embodiment, the heater unit 10 constituting the heating zone and the cooling unit 40 constituting the cooling zone are individually arranged according to their functions. The number of connected functional zones can be arbitrarily increased or decreased, and constitutes a reflow furnace device capable of responding to production volumes and special temperature profiles.

The configuration shown in FIG. 8 is a combination of three heater units 10 and a single cooling unit 40. The cooling unit 40 has the same external shape and dimensions as the heater unit 10, and has a structure including a cooling device including a cooling fan inside instead of the heater.

FIG. 10 shows a temperature profile of such a reflow furnace apparatus, in which preheating is performed by two heater units 10 on the inlet side.
Reflow is performed by the third heater unit 10. Then, cooling is performed by the last cooling unit 40, and the circuit board after soldering is taken out from behind. That is, this configuration has a temperature profile as shown in FIG. 10, and arranges three heater units 10 and a single cooling unit 40 in series, and carries out soldering while transporting the circuit board in the length direction. It is something to do.

The respective units 1 constituting the preheating function, the solder melting / heating function, and the cooling zone as described above.
The reflow furnace apparatus is assembled by connecting or connecting a plurality of units 0 and 40 to each other. As production increases, the time to pass through each unit 10, 40 must be shortened, and the number of connections of each unit increases to form a predetermined temperature profile.

On the other hand, when the production volume is small, the time margin when passing through the units 10 and 40 becomes large, so that the configuration shown in FIG. 9 may be adopted. In this case, the controller 35 controls the panel heater 31 and the conveyor motor 36 so that the heater unit 10 performs both preheating and reflow. After the reflow, the cooling unit 40 cools the circuit board to solidify the molten solder and solder the electrodes of the electronic component to the connection lands of the circuit board. Such a configuration can be used as a minimum unit reflow machine, and is very effective especially when the production amount is small.

FIG. 11 shows another embodiment. This embodiment includes a cooling unit 40 on the front side and a heater unit 10 on the rear side, and the transport direction of the circuit board is reciprocating. When loading the circuit board, the cooling fan of the cooling unit 40 is stopped, and the circuit board is loaded from the cooling unit 40 to the heater unit 10 in this state. The circuit board is heated to the preheat temperature by the heater unit 10, then heated to the reflow temperature, and when heating for a predetermined time is completed, the transport direction of the circuit board is reversed, and the cooling fan of the cooling unit 40 starts to cool the circuit board. Cooling unit 4 that was initially supplied while cooling
It is discharged from the 0 inlet. During this time, the temperature in the heater unit 10 is reduced to the preheating temperature, and the system prepares for the preheating of the work in the next cycle.

Such a configuration has a single cooling unit 4
The combination of 0 and a single heater unit 10 makes it possible to configure a reflow furnace device. In addition, since the circuit board is taken out from the transfer port of the circuit board, it is effective when there is a space limitation. The preheating and reflow of the circuit board are performed by transporting the circuit board very slowly in the heater unit 10 or temporarily stopping the circuit board in the heater unit 10 and controlling the temperature of the panel heater 31 in the heater unit 10 by the controller 3.
By controlling the pre-heating and the reflow, a predetermined temperature profile is created by the control by the control unit 5.

FIG. 12 shows a combination of a single cooling unit 40 and three heater units 10 to constitute a reflow furnace apparatus of a reciprocating transfer type.

In this case, the cooling fan of the cooling unit 40 is stopped at the time of loading, and at the time of loading, the three heater units 10 are transported rearward of the circuit board.
Together constitute a heater unit 10 for preheating. On the other hand, when the circuit board is transported in the backward direction, all three heater units 10 form a zone for performing reflow. After performing the reflow, cooling is performed by the cooling unit 40 on the near side. Such a reflow furnace apparatus is particularly effective in setting a reciprocating and severe profile.

The reflow furnace apparatus for performing the reciprocating return operation shown in FIG. 1 or 2 is suitable for producing an electronic circuit in a production plant or the like where the production amount is small or a chip mounter is not used. It is possible to take out the circuit board after soldering on the same side as the worker put in the circuit board, and therefore, when manually loading and unloading the circuit board, the number of workers is reduced. Can be minimized.

Further, by changing the temperature profile of one or a plurality of heater units 10 between the forward path and the return path, the heat shock to the parts can be reduced. Further, it is possible to provide a reflow furnace apparatus of a connection type capable of flexibly coping with a remarkably long one in a loading direction of a circuit board.

[0029]

As described above, the present invention comprises a heater unit having a heating means and a cooling unit having a cooling means, respectively, and comprises a single or a plurality of heater units, a single or a plurality of cooling units, Are detachably connected to each other.

Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to arbitrarily cope with a reflow furnace device corresponding to a required production amount and a production form.

According to the configuration in which a plurality of heater units and a single cooling unit are arranged linearly, it is possible to provide an effective reflow furnace device when the production amount is large.

According to the configuration in which a single heater unit and a single cooling unit are arranged in a straight line, a reflow furnace device is effective when the production amount is small.

According to the configuration in which a single or a plurality of heater units and a single or a plurality of cooling units are detachably connected so that the transport direction is one direction, the heater unit is supplied from one input port. The circuit board thus soldered is discharged from the discharge port on the opposite side.

According to the configuration in which the single or plural heater units and the single or plural cooling units are detachably connected so that the transport direction is the reciprocating direction, the circuit board is loaded. The circuit board that has been soldered is taken out from the slot.

According to the configuration in which the heater units or the cooling units adjacent to each other are detachably connected by the connecting plate, the heater unit or the cooling unit can be easily connected by the connecting plate.

A guide member is arranged so as to be exposed at a joint surface where the heater unit or the cooling unit is connected, and the guide members opposed to each other are connected while being positioned by a positioning rod. According to this, it is possible to maintain the parallelism of the conveyor when a plurality of units are connected.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a heater unit.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a connecting plate.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view showing positioning by a positioning rod.

FIG. 4 is an external perspective view showing attachment of a positioning bush for receiving a positioning rod.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view showing the connection of the heater units.

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view showing the internal structure of the heater unit.

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of the heater unit along the length direction of the conveyor.

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of a reflow furnace device including a combination of three heater units and a single cooling unit.

FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view of a reflow furnace device including a single heater unit and a single cooling unit.

FIG. 10 is a graph showing a temperature profile.

FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view of a reciprocating reflow furnace assembled by a single cooling unit and a single heater unit.

FIG. 12 is an exploded perspective view of a reciprocating reflow furnace device assembled by a single cooling unit and three heater units.

FIG. 13 is an external perspective view of a conventional reflow furnace.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 2 ‥‥ preheat zone, 3 ‥‥ reflow zone,
4 ‥‥ cooling zone, 5 ‥‥ opening, 10 ‥‥ heater unit, 11 ‥‥ front panel, 12 ‥‥ start / stop switch, 13 ‥‥ temperature controller, 16 ‥‥ opening, 17 ‥‥ connection plate, 18 ‥ {Bolt, 19} Conveyor frame, 20
{Guide hole, 21} Positioning rod, 22} Positioning bush, 26} Cable, 27} Connector, 3
1 ‥‥ Panel heater, 32 ‥‥ Fixed frame, 33 ‥‥
Movable frame, 34 ‥‥ rail, 35 ‥‥ controller, 36 ‥‥ motor, 37 ‥‥ pulley, 38 ‥‥ belt, 39 ‥‥ pulley, 40 ‥‥ cooling unit

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A heater unit having a heating means, and a cooling unit having a cooling means, respectively, wherein a single or a plurality of the heater units and a single or a plurality of the cooling units are detachably connected. Reflow furnace equipment. 2. The reflow furnace apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of heater units and a single cooling unit are arranged in a straight line. 3. The reflow furnace apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a single heater unit and a single cooling unit are arranged in a straight line. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a single or a plurality of said heater units and a single or a plurality of said cooling units are detachably connected so that the transport direction is one direction. 4. The reflow furnace device according to 1. 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a single or a plurality of said heater units and a single or a plurality of said cooling units are detachably connected so that a transport direction is a reciprocating direction. 4. The reflow furnace device according to 1. 6. The reflow furnace apparatus according to claim 1, wherein adjacent heater units or cooling units are detachably connected by connecting plates. 7. A guide member is provided so as to be exposed at a joint surface to which the heater unit or the cooling unit is connected, and the guide members opposed to each other are connected while being positioned by a positioning rod. The reflow furnace device according to claim 1, wherein: