JPH11150171A - Thermal treatment equipment of article - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simplify carrying-in and carrying-out of an article when an article, such as optical disk, is carried in an annealing furnace and thermally treated. SOLUTION: An index table 2 is installed. Than a part of the index table 2 is positioned outside an annealing furnace 1, and the remaining part is positioned in the annealing furnace 1. An entrance part 4 and an exit part 5 where a magazine 3 on the index table 2 capable of entering and exiting are installed on a wall part which partitions the inside and the outside of the annealing furnace 1, and shutters 6, 7 for opening and closing are installed. A disk supplying equipment 8 for supplying an optical disk to the magazine 3 at a disk supplying position on the index table 2 outside the annealing furnace 1, and a disk discharging equipment 9 for discharging the optical disk after thermal treatment from the magazine 3 at a disk discharging position on the index table 2 outside the annealing furnace 1 are installed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an article heat treatment apparatus which carries an article into a heat treatment space and performs heat treatment (including, in addition to heating in a narrow sense, cooling, normal temperature, etc.).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as this kind of heat treatment apparatus, there is one as described in, for example, JP-A-62-104049. This is a semiconductor wafer baking furnace apparatus in which a rotary table is provided in a heat treatment space (baking furnace), and a magazine containing a large number of semiconductor wafers is placed on the rotary table for heat treatment.

[0003] In addition, the semiconductor wafer is taken in and out of the heat treatment space for each magazine. After the semiconductor wafer is supplied to the magazine outside the heat treatment space, the magazine is transferred to a rotary table in the heat treatment space by a supply mechanism. After the heat treatment, the magazine containing the semiconductor wafer on the rotary table is moved out of the heat treatment space by the discharge mechanism, and after the semiconductor wafer is discharged from the magazine outside the heat treatment space, the semiconductor wafer is supplied again to the empty magazine. Then, the magazine is transferred onto a rotary table in the heat treatment space by the supply mechanism.

[0004]

However, in such a conventional heat treatment apparatus, since all of the turntable is in the heat treatment space, a magazine containing semiconductor wafers is supplied to the turntable in the heat treatment space. In order to discharge, it is necessary for the supply mechanism and the discharge mechanism to enter and exit the opening formed in the wall separating the inside and outside of the heat treatment space,
For this reason, the opening becomes large, and even if it has a shutter for opening and closing, there is a problem that heat escape at the time of opening becomes large and the heat treatment temperature becomes unstable.

In addition, it is necessary to provide a supply mechanism and a discharge mechanism for taking the magazine in and out of the heat treatment space, separately from the apparatus for supplying and discharging the semiconductor wafer to and from the magazine.
There is also a problem that the device configuration is complicated. In view of such conventional problems, the present invention can simplify the loading and unloading of articles when heat-treating articles in a heat treatment space, and reduce the escape of heat when entering and exiting, thereby stabilizing the heat treatment temperature. It is an object of the present invention to make it possible to shorten the heat treatment time.

[0006]

According to the present invention, a rotating table is provided in an article heat treatment apparatus for carrying an article into a heat treatment space and performing a heat treatment.
A part of the rotary table is located outside the heat treatment space, and the remaining part is located in the heat treatment space, and an inlet and an outlet through which articles on the rotary table can enter and exit are provided on a wall separating the inside and the outside of the heat treatment space. An article supply device for supplying an article before heat treatment to an outer rotary table and an article discharger for ejecting the article after heat treatment from the rotary table outside the heat treatment space are provided.

[0007] The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that the entrance and the exit have shutters for opening and closing. In the invention according to claim 3, on the rotary table,
It has a holding body for storing and holding articles.
In the invention according to claim 4, the article supply device is arranged so as to supply articles to a position near an entrance on a rotary table outside the heat treatment space, and the article discharge device is provided on a rotary table outside the heat treatment space. The article is disposed so as to discharge the article from a position near the outlet.

[0008]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the entrance and the exit that separate the inside and the outside of the heat treatment space enter and exit.
It is sufficient to use only the article or the article and its holder, and it is not necessary for the supply mechanism and the discharge mechanism to enter and exit. Therefore, the inlet and the outlet can be minimized, heat escape can be reduced, and the heat treatment temperature can be reduced. Can be stabilized.

In addition, there is no need to provide a mechanism for taking articles in and out of the heat treatment space separately from the article supply device and the discharge device, and the role of the rotary table can be doubled, so that the device configuration can be simplified. Claim 2
According to the invention, the opening and closing shutters are provided at the entrance and the exit to further reduce the escape of heat and to stabilize the heat treatment temperature.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the holding body for storing and holding the articles on the rotary table can be used repeatedly, the holding body is always near the desired temperature. The temperature of the article is quickly increased to a desired temperature, and the heat treatment time can be reduced. Claim 4
According to the invention according to the above, the articles are supplied to the position near the entrance on the rotary table outside the heat treatment space, and the articles are discharged from the position near the exit, so that the article supply device and the discharge device are separated from each other. And the layout becomes easy, and it is possible to operate simultaneously.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. The heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention includes an optical disc,
The present invention can be applied to heat treatment (heating, cooling, normal temperature, etc.) of any article other than a semiconductor wafer, a liquid crystal substrate, and the like. Here, an optical disc, particularly, a CD-R will be described as an example.

For the CD-R, first, a polycarbonate substrate is molded so as to transfer the groove shape of the stamper accurately. Next, after slowly cooling to room temperature which does not affect the dye application, the dye is applied while controlling the film thickness while allowing the dye to fit into the groove. Next, back rinse is performed to wash the dye behind when it is shaken off by the spin coater, and then, annealing (constant temperature heat treatment) is performed to evaporate the residual solvent of the dye layer and stabilize the dye. I do. At this time, the heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention is used.

Then, a sputtered gold film is formed on the dye layer by a sputter device. Then, the dye discharged from the outer gold sputtered film is washed (edge rinse), and finally, a protective film is formed so as to cover the dye layer and the gold sputtered layer. FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a heat treatment apparatus (annealing furnace apparatus) showing one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a disk supply section and a discharge section, which will be described below.

An annealing furnace (a constant temperature bath) as a heat treatment space
1 is controlled by a heater (not shown) so that the inside of the furnace is maintained at a predetermined temperature. And
In the annealing furnace 1, an index table 2 that rotates in a direction indicated by an arrow at a predetermined index angle as a rotation table is arranged as a rotation table.
A magazine 3 as a holding member is fixed to each index position. As shown in FIG. 3, the magazine 3 has a large number of arc-shaped grooves 3a, and can store and hold an optical disk in each groove 3a.

However, a part of the outer wall of the annealing furnace 1 is located on the inner peripheral side of the index table 2 so that a part of the index table 2, more specifically, two positions (two magazines) among the index positions of the index table 2 are set. It is located outside the annealing furnace 1. An inlet 4 and an outlet 5 through which the magazine 3 on the index table 2 can enter and exit are provided on a wall separating the inside and outside of the annealing furnace 1 in the rotation direction of the index table 2. 5 are provided with opening and closing shutters 6 and 7, respectively.

A disk supply device 8 as an article supply device and a disk discharge device 9 as an article discharge device are provided outside the annealing furnace 1. The disk supply device 8 is located on the index table 2 outside the annealing furnace 1,
It supplies an optical disk before the heat treatment to the magazine 3 at the index position (disk supply position) at the front of the entrance side shutter 6 in the rotation direction, and includes a first robot arm 11 and a second robot arm 12.

The first robot arm 11 is capable of swinging in a vertical plane and is provided with a suction portion at the tip of the arm which can rotate around its own axis. Pick up the optical disk. The second robot arm 12 includes a horizontal guide 12a capable of multipoint positioning.
A vertical guide 12b slidable along the main body 12c is attached to a vertically movable main body 12c and is provided with a suction portion at an end of an arm that can swing in a horizontal plane. The optical disk is supplied to the magazine 3 at the supply position.

The disc ejection device 9 ejects the heat-treated optical disc from the magazine 3 located at the index position (disc ejection position) behind the exit side shutter 7 in the rotation direction on the index table 2 outside the annealing furnace 1. And a third robot arm 14 and a fourth robot arm 15. The third robot arm 14 is attached to a main body 14c that can move up and down with respect to a vertical guide 14b that can slide along a horizontal guide 14a that can be positioned at multiple points, and has a suction portion at the tip of the arm that can swing in a horizontal plane. The optical disk after the heat treatment is picked up from the magazine 3 at the disk discharge position.

The fourth robot arm 15 is capable of swinging in a vertical plane and is provided with a suction portion at an end of the arm capable of rotating around its own axis. The heat-treated optical disk is placed on a discharge conveyor 16 that conveys the optical disk. Next, a series of operations will be described.

The annealing furnace 1 is controlled by the first robot arm 11 and the second robot arm 12 of the disk supply device 8.
The optical disk before the heat treatment is supplied to the magazine 3 at the disk supply position immediately before the outer entrance-side shutter 6. At the same time, the third robot arm 14 and the fourth robot arm 15 of the disc ejection device 9 eject the heat-treated optical disc from the magazine 3 located at the disc ejection position immediately after the exit shutter 7 outside the annealing furnace 1.

When the supply of the predetermined number of optical disks to the magazine 3 at the disk supply position and the discharge of the predetermined number of optical disks from the magazine 3 at the disk discharge position are completed, the entrance shutter 6 and the exit At the same time when the side shutter 7 is opened, the index table 2 is rotated by a predetermined index angle. Thereby, the magazine 3 containing the optical disk at the disk supply position moves into the annealing furnace 1 from the entrance 4, and the empty magazine 3 at the disk discharge position moves to the disk supply position, and The magazine 3 containing the optical disk immediately before the exit-side shutter 7 moves from the exit portion 5 to a disk discharge position outside the annealing furnace 1. After the movement, the entrance-side shutter 6 and the exit-side shutter 7 are closed to seal the annealing furnace 1.

Supply and discharge of such an optical disk;
The rotation of the index table 2 is repeated, and the optical disk that has entered the annealing furnace 1 together with the magazine 3 is subjected to heat treatment (constant temperature heating processing) while moving from the entrance 4 to the exit 5. Therefore, only the magazine 3 containing the optical disk needs to enter and exit the entrance 4 and the exit 5 separating the inside and outside of the annealing furnace 1, and there is no need for the supply mechanism and the ejection mechanism to enter and exit. 5, the heat treatment temperature can be stabilized by reducing the escape of heat. In addition, the opening and closing shutters 6 and 7 are provided at the entrance 4 and the exit 5, and by simultaneously processing a plurality of sheets in the magazine 3, the number of opening and closing of the shutters 6 and 7 is reduced, thereby further reducing heat dissipation. Thus, the heat treatment temperature can be stabilized.

The disk supply device 8 and the ejection device 9
Apart from this, there is no need to provide a mechanism for taking the optical disk in and out of the annealing furnace 1 and the role of the index table 2 can be shared, so that the configuration of the apparatus can be simplified. Furthermore, by arranging the magazine 3 for storing and holding the optical disk on the index table 2, the magazine 3 can be used repeatedly. Therefore, the temperature of the optical disk 3 rises more quickly because the magazine 3 is always near the desired temperature. In addition, the heat treatment time can be reduced.

Further, the optical disk is supplied at a position near the entrance 4 on the index table 2 outside the annealing furnace 1, and the optical disk is discharged at a position near the exit 5, so that the disk supply device 8 and the discharge device 9 are provided. Can be arranged at different positions, so that the layout can be facilitated and can be operated simultaneously.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a heat treatment apparatus showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a disk supply unit and a discharge unit.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a magazine for storing and holding a disk.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Annealing furnace (heat treatment space) 2 Index table (rotary table) 3 Magazine (holding body) 4 Inlet part 5 Outlet part 6 Inlet-side shutter 7 Outlet-side shutter 8 Disk supply device (article supply device) 9 Disk ejection device (article ejection) Apparatus) 11 1st robot arm 12 2nd robot arm 13 Conveyor for supply 14 3rd robot arm 15 4th robot arm 16 Conveyor for discharge

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An article heat treatment apparatus for carrying out heat treatment by carrying an article into a heat treatment space, wherein a rotary table is provided, and a part of the rotary table is located outside the heat treatment space, and the remainder is located in the heat treatment space. An inlet and an outlet for allowing articles on the rotary table to enter and exit from the heat treatment space on the wall separating the inside and outside of the heat treatment space, and an article supply device for supplying articles before heat treatment to the turntable outside the heat treatment space; And an article discharger for discharging the article after the heat treatment from the rotary table. 2. An apparatus for heat-treating an article according to claim 1, wherein said inlet and outlet have shutters for opening and closing. 3. The article heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a holder for storing and holding the article on the rotary table. 4. The article supply device is arranged so as to supply articles to a position near an entrance on a rotary table outside the heat treatment space, and the article discharge device is provided at an outlet on a rotary table outside the heat treatment space. The article heat treatment apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the article is disposed so as to discharge the article from a near position.