KR19990067782A - Precision fluid temperature-regulating apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

It is an object of the present invention to efficiently and efficiently control the fluororesin tube directly from the surroundings with a simple device, without the use of constant temperature water, when the temperature of the highly corrosive fluid that corrodes the metal is precisely controlled. .

The Peltier element is tightly fixed to the surface of the heat exchanger block 2 that exchanges heat with the erosive fluid, and the temperature of the fluid is adjusted to the target temperature through the heat exchanger block by the operation control of the Peltier element. The heat exchange block in the precision fluid temperature control device is composed of a pair of heat transfer plates 11 which are bonded to each other made of a metal material having good thermal conductivity, and has a semicircular groove 12 recessed in a joining surface of the heat transfer plate. By inserting the tube 3 formed of fluorine resin so as to be in close contact with the inner surface of the circular hole therebetween, a heat exchange portion for performing heat exchange between the fluid and the heat exchanger block is formed.

Description

Precision Fluid Temperature Controller {PRECISION FLUID TEMPERATURE-REGULATING APPARATUS}

According to the present invention, an erosive fluid (liquid that does not allow the introduction of metal ions such as a developing solution or a photoresist) flowing through a flow path is intermittently flowed in a semiconductor-related manufacturing apparatus or the like. It relates to a precision fluid temperature control device capable of temperature control.

As shown in Fig. 8, in the case of intermittently flowing out a developer or photoresist that has been temperature-controlled with respect to the webber W, that is, in the case of controlling the erosive fluid flowing through the flow path intermittently with high accuracy, conventionally, fluorine The constant temperature water which made the fluid of a temperature regulation object flow in the erosion tube 53, such as resin (brand name: Teflon), and temperature-controlled by the target temperature of the fluid in the constant temperature water circulation apparatus 51 outside the tube 53. The heat exchange part 52 is formed by flowing 55, and the constant temperature water 55 is circulated in the circulation passage 54 to control the temperature of the fluid. For this reason, it is necessary to provide the constant temperature water circulation device 51 separately, and it becomes difficult to miniaturize the whole apparatus, and also, since the circulation flow path 54 for flowing constant temperature water is needed, it is necessary to prevent the water from leaking. Sufficient consideration is needed also in attachment.

Moreover, as a heat exchanger which can perform temperature control with high efficiency efficiently, it is conventionally also known to inject the stainless steel pipe which flows the fluid of a temperature regulation object into the aluminum which comprises a heat exchange tube. However, if the fluid to be regulated in the tube has a strong erosion like the resist, this type of heat exchanger cannot be applied to temperature control.

The technical problem of the present invention is to precisely control the temperature of a fluid having a high corrosion resistance, which can corrode a metal with high precision, and to directly control the temperature of a fluid flowing in a tube excellent in corrosion resistance without using the constant temperature water. To provide an adjusting device.

A more specific technical problem of the present invention is to use a corrosion resistant tube such as fluororesin (trade name: Teflon) for erosive fluids (liquids that do not allow the introduction of metal ions such as developer or photoresist) to be controlled. In this regard, it is to provide a precision fluid temperature control device capable of controlling the fluororesin tube itself directly from the surroundings with high accuracy and with high accuracy.

Another technical problem of the present invention is that, when the temperature control of the erosive fluid, by using a constant temperature water does not require the installation of a constant temperature water circulation device, a precision fluid temperature control device that can be simplified and compact To provide.

In order to solve the above problems, the first fluid temperature control device according to the present invention has a Peltier element fixedly fixed to a surface of a heat exchanger block having a large heat capacity for heat exchange with an erosive fluid flowing through a flow path, and the heat exchange block of the Peltier element In the precision fluid temperature control device for controlling the temperature of the fluid to the target temperature precisely through the heat exchange block by the operation control of the Peltier element, the heat transfer block is installed on the opposite side. A circular plate formed of a pair of heat transfer plates made of a good metal material, which are joined to each other by a plurality of semicircular grooves in a concave manner, facing each other in a concave section. The corrosive fluid is inserted by inserting a tube through which the fluid formed of fluororesin flows in close contact with the inner surface of the hole. It characterized by forming the heat exchange unit for heat exchange between the heat exchange block.

Further, in the precision fluid temperature control device, the second fluid temperature control device according to the present invention is characterized in that the fluid formed of a fluorine resin is formed in a heat exchange block in a container-shaped heat transfer member made of a metal material having good thermal conductivity. And arranging the flowing tubes, and filling the gap between the heat transfer member and the tube with a good thermal conductivity filling material, and forming a heat exchange portion for heat exchange between the erosive fluid and the heat exchange block.

In the precision fluid temperature control device of the present invention having the above-described configuration, the fluid for temperature regulation flows in a tube made of fluorine resin excellent in corrosion resistance, and in addition, a heat transfer plate or a heat transfer member having a large heat capacity is brought close to the tube, By heating or cooling this by the Peltier element, by directly controlling the temperature of the fluid to be flowed through the tube, even if there is a fluid having strong erosion which corrodes the metal, or if it flows intermittently, The temperature control can be performed with high accuracy and efficiency directly from the periphery of the tube itself, and it does not require constant temperature water as in the conventional example, and this eliminates the necessity of providing a constant temperature water circulation device, thereby simplifying the device. It can be miniaturized.

1 is a configuration diagram schematically showing the overall configuration of a precision fluid temperature control device according to the present invention.

2 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration example of a heat exchanger.

3 is a cross-sectional view showing another configuration example of the heat exchanger.

4 is a plan view showing an embodiment of a precision fluid temperature control device according to the present invention.

5 is a cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of a precision fluid temperature control device according to the present invention.

6 is a plan view showing another embodiment of the precision fluid temperature control device according to the present invention.

7 is a cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of the precision fluid temperature control device according to the present invention.

8 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a conventional apparatus.

-Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings-

1,20,30 ‥‥ Heat Exchanger 2 ‥‥ Heat Exchanger Block

3,23,33 ‥‥ Tube 5,25,35 ‥‥ Peltier element

6,26,36 ‥‥ Radiator 11,21 ‥‥ Heat transfer plate

12 ‥‥ Groove 13,31 ‥‥ Heat transfer member

14,32 ‥‥ Filling materials

1 schematically shows the overall configuration of a precision fluid temperature control device according to the present invention. Since the precision fluid temperature control device is used to precisely control the temperature of a liquid that does not allow the introduction of metal ions such as a developer or photoresist with strong erosion that corrodes the metal, the heat exchange part 1 In this case, the fluid flowing tube 3 formed by PFA such as Teflon (trademark) excellent in corrosion resistance is fixed in a heat exchange block (2) made of a member having good thermal conductivity such as aluminum. .

The heat exchange part 1 blocks the heat transfer to the surroundings by covering the periphery of the heat exchange block 2 with the heat insulating material 4, and the surface of the heat exchange block 2 has a required capacity according to the heat load. The Peltier element 5 is tightly fixed. On the other hand, the surface of the Peltier element 5 on the side opposite to the heat exchange block 2 side is provided with a radiator 6 (heat sink, cooling jacket, etc.) constituting the heat transfer means, and the Peltier element (5) The heating surface is radiated. For this reason, the temperature control of the heat exchange block 2 is performed efficiently by the control of this Peltier element 5. In addition, in order to control the temperature-controlled fluid flowing in the tube 3 to a target temperature, the temperature detection sensor 7 is embedded in the heat exchange block 2, which is a Peltier element 5 from a DC power source. It is connected to the controller 8 which controls the electric current which flows into ().

In the precision fluid temperature regulating device having the above-described configuration, the heat exchange block 2 is cooled by the control of the Peltier element 5 by the controller 8, and is always controlled so that the fluid to be temperature controlled becomes the target temperature. For this reason, the fluid (chemical liquid) of the temperature control object which flows in the tube 3 flows or stays in the heat exchange block 2, even if it flows continuously or intermittently flows. In the meantime, the temperature is precisely regulated directly from the heat exchange block 2 through the tube, and reaches the target temperature and is discharged. For this reason, the tube 3 should be long enough to ensure the residence time of the fluid to reach the target temperature.

In the case of heating and controlling the temperature of the fluid to be temperature-controlled, the flow of heat in the fluid temperature controller described above may be completely reversed, and in this case, the direction of the current to the Peltier element may be reversed.

When thermostating a fluid in the tube 3, it is practically difficult to directly measure the temperature of the fluid. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 1, the detection temperature of the sensor 7 embedded in the heat exchange block 2 is controlled as the representative temperature of the fluid to be temperature-controlled, or the heat capacity of the heat exchange block 2 is appropriately increased. In addition, by sufficiently securing the length of the tube 3 of the heat exchange block 2, the fluid temperature can be sufficiently close to the representative temperature. Thereby, the fluid in the tube is controlled to the target temperature through the tube 3 from the heat exchange block 2 temperature controlled to the target temperature of the fluid.

As the heat exchange block 2 constituting the heat exchange unit 1, a structure described below with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3 can be adopted.

First, the heat exchange block shown in FIG. 2 consists of joining a pair of heat transfer plates 11 made of a material having good thermal conductivity, such as aluminum, to each other. The grooves 12 are opposed to each other to be concave, and the tube 3 is inserted so as to be in close contact with the inner surface of the circular hole formed between the opposing grooves 12. Therefore, heat exchange is performed directly between the temperature-controlled fluid flowing in the tube 3 and the pair of heat transfer plates 11.

In addition, the heat exchange block 2 shown in FIG. 3 arrange | positions the said tube 3 in the heat transfer member 13 formed in the container shape by the material with good thermal conductivity, such as aluminum, and the heat transfer member 13 and The gap between the tubes 3 is filled with a filling material 14 having good thermal conductivity. As the filling material 14, a metal which is melted at a temperature lower than the melting point of the tube 3, or a material excellent in thermal conductivity (e.g., low temperature solder, electrothermal cement, etc.) equivalent thereto, is introduced into the gap, It is preferable to make the injection structure which solidifies.

Furthermore, when there is a gap between the groove 12 and the tube 3 in the heat transfer plate 11 of FIG. 2, the gap can be filled with the same as the filling material 14.

4 and 5 show an embodiment corresponding to the heat exchange block of FIG. 2, and FIGS. 6 and 7 show an embodiment corresponding to the heat exchange block of FIG. 3, respectively. In this embodiment, the intermittent fluid flow (weak liquid flow) of a plurality of systems (four systems in the illustrated example) that do not flow at the same time is used in one heat exchange unit 20, 30 during the residence time in the heat exchange unit. Since the temperature is precisely controlled and discharged to the target temperature, even when the target temperature of each system is different, the controller 8 of FIG. 1 can change the temperature setting at high speed so that the temperature control of the multiple systems can be performed at each temperature. do. This makes it possible to simplify the overall configuration of the thermostat.

The embodiment shown in FIG.4 and FIG.5 consists of joining a pair of heat exchanger plates 21 which consist of aluminum mutually, and are many semicircular shape respectively demonstrated by FIG. 2 to the joining surface of this heat exchanger plate 21, respectively. The fluororesin four system tube 23 is fitted so that the grooves face each other and are recessed so as to be in close contact with the inner surface of the circular hole formed between the opposite grooves. The tube 23 is folded four times and sandwiched between the pair of heat transfer plates 21. At the bent portion, the tube 23 is exposed to the outside from the pair of heat transfer plates 21. It may be filled with a filling material as described in FIG.

Further, in the drawing, reference numeral 24 denotes a heat insulating material covering the heat transfer plate 21, 25 a Peltier element fixedly fixed on the heat transfer plate 21, and 26 a heat radiator made of a coolant jacket filled with a cooling water tube 27 therein (heat) Conveying means), 28 is an attachment bracket, and 29 is a cover installed in the heat exchange part 20.

6 and 7, in the container-shaped heat transfer member 31 made of aluminum, the four fluorine resin tube 33 is arranged, and the heat transfer member 31 and the tube are arranged. The gap between the holes 33 is filled with a filling material 32 having good thermal conductivity. The tube 33 is folded into a plurality of system four times and is accommodated in the heat transfer member 31 on the container including the portion folded back several times, or in a position deviated vertically through the folded portion as shown in the drawing. If four tubes 33 are arranged, each tube can be arranged squarely at the folded portion.

Further, in the drawings, reference numeral 34 denotes a heat insulating material covering the heat transfer member 31, 35 a Peltier element, 36 a radiator (heat transfer means) consisting of a coolant jacket with a coolant tube 37 embedded therein, and 38 a mounting bracket. , 39 denotes a cover installed in the heat exchange unit 30.

In such a configuration, as in the case of FIGS. 2 and 3, the temperature-controlled fluid flowing in the tubes 23 and 33 and the pair of heat transfer plates 21 or 31 are transferred directly. Heat exchange is performed efficiently. Therefore, as in the conventional fluid temperature regulating device, a constant temperature water circulation device, a heat exchanger (double pipe) for exchanging heat between the constant temperature water and the fluid to be regulated, and the like become unnecessary, thereby realizing a reduction in space and power. It becomes the number.

According to the precision fluid temperature control device of the present invention described above, when the temperature of the highly corrosive fluid to corrode the metal with high precision, the tube of the fluororesin excellent in corrosion resistance without using constant temperature water as in the prior art By using this method, the tube itself can be efficiently and efficiently temperature-controlled directly from the surroundings, and the device can be easily and compactly formed.

Claims (3)

The Peltier element is tightly fixed to the surface of the heat exchanger block having a large heat capacity for heat exchange with the erosive fluid flowing in the tube, and the heat transfer means is installed on the side opposite to the heat exchange block of the Peltier element to control the Peltier element. In the precision fluid temperature control device for controlling the temperature to the target temperature precisely through the heat exchange block by The heat exchange block is constituted by a pair of heat transfer plates made of a metal material having excellent thermal conductivity, and a plurality of semi-circular grooves are formed at relative positions on the joining surface of the pair of heat transfer plates, and constituted by opposing grooves. And a heat exchange part for heat exchange between the erosive fluid and the heat exchange block by inserting the tube formed of fluororesin into close contact with both heat transfer plates in a circular hole. By fixing the Peltier element close to the surface of the heat exchanger block having a large heat capacity for heat exchange with the erosive fluid flowing in the tube, and installing a moving means on the side opposite to the heat exchange block of the Peltier element, and controlling the Peltier element. In the precision fluid temperature control device for temperature control the fluid to the target temperature precisely through the heat exchange block, The heat exchange block is formed by arranging the tubes formed of fluorine resin in a container-shaped heat transfer member made of a metal material having excellent thermal conductivity, and filling a filling material having good thermal conductivity in the gap between the heat transfer member and the tube. And a heat exchange part for performing heat exchange between the erosive fluid and the heat exchange block. The precision fluid according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a plurality of tubes having different uses are embedded in one heat exchange block, and temperature control is performed while flowing fluids at different timings in the tubes of each system. Thermostat.