KR20190016666A - Microwave Sintering Apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a microwave sintering apparatus in which post-processing can be done easily. The microwave sintering apparatus comprises: an upper case and a lower case which are mutually coupled; an insulation container provided inside the upper case; a susceptor placed in the insulation container and containing a sintered material; a magnetron disposed on an upper portion of the upper case and oscillating microwaves; an electronic control device installed in the lower case and controlling the magnetron; and an exhaust pipe extending from the inside of the insulation container to the outside so as to discharge gases generated during heating of the sintered material.

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a microwave sintering apparatus,

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a microwave sintering apparatus, and more particularly, to a microwave sintering apparatus capable of uniformly heating a workpiece through internal heat generation by a microwave and external heating of a workpiece by a susceptor.

The greatest goal of dentistry in general is to maintain and improve the patient's life, and in order to achieve the above-mentioned goals, much efforts have been made to develop a biocompatible and long-term usable prosthetic material that can withstand actual oral conditions.

Metal, ceramics, and polymer compounds have been mainly used as dental restorative materials to date. However, new restorative materials that are not only satisfactory from an aesthetic point of view according to user's request but also able to withstand the pressure at the time of dentistry are still being studied. The metal satisfies the strength and aesthetic point of view due to its sufficient strength and marginal conformity. However, the metal is exposed to the cervical metal, the opacity of the metal structure causes the aesthetic limitation due to the inability to transmit light, Recently, the use of ceramic ceramics has become popular due to problems such as allergic reactions.

On the other hand, in the case of zirconia (ZrO2), the development of 3D scanner and the application of CAD-CAM system enable the production of aesthetic restoration restoration with high strength that can be used for posterior and long fixed restorations. Zirconia is superior in strength and hardness, and is superior to ceramics having different fracture toughness. It is widely applied to various mechanical parts. Recently, it is used as a head and medical parts of artificial joints and is used for restoration of tooth restoration.

As described above, zirconia has advantages such as excellent physical properties and esthetic tooth color reproduction, whereas the completely sintered zirconia has a problem that it is very difficult to cut and it takes a long time to perform the processing. On the other hand, the semi-sintered zirconia is relatively easy to cut, but since the sintering is performed after complete sintering, a dedicated program for compensating the shrinkage is required.

On the other hand, since sintering of zirconia by a conventional sintering method using an electric heater requires a long time, there is a problem that working efficiency is low.

On the other hand, the gas discharged during the heating process of the sintered material such as zirconia may cause work disruption or harm to the operator, which needs to be discharged quickly. In addition, there is a need to prevent overheating of the interior of the sintering apparatus in order to perform operations that are quick and accurate.

Patent Publication No. 10-0645948 discloses a microwave sintering furnace capable of precise temperature control, but the above-described problems can not be solved by the above-described microwave sintering furnace.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a microwave sintering apparatus capable of rapid and uniform sintering as compared with a device according to the prior art.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a microwave sintering apparatus in which post-processing can be easily performed by uniformly heating the inside and outside of the sintered material at the same time.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a sintering apparatus capable of rapidly removing the gas generated during heating of the sintered material, preventing overheating during the sintering operation, and cooling after the sintering operation.

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention,

An upper case and a lower case mutually coupled with each other;

A heat insulating container provided inside the upper case;

A susceptor housed in the heat insulating container and containing a sintered material;

A magnetron disposed at an upper portion of the upper case to oscillate a microwave;

An electronic control unit installed in the lower case to control the magnetron; And

And an exhaust pipe extending outwardly from the inside of the heat insulating container so as to exhaust gases generated during heating of the sintered material.

According to an aspect of the present invention, the susceptor generates heat at a temperature of 500 ° C. or less due to the microwave oscillated from the magnetron to externally heat the sintered material, and the sintered material generates heat at a temperature of 500 ° C. or higher, Internal heating is performed.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the susceptor is made of silicon carbide (SiC), and the sintered material is zirconia.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the exhaust pipe includes an insertion tube extending into the heat insulating container, a loop pipe connected to the insertion tube outside the heat insulating container, and a silicon pipe connected to the loop pipe, Is connected to the silicon pipe to discharge the gas generated in the heat insulating container.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a cooling fan for cooling the magnetron is installed on the upper case, a fan for cooling the heat insulating container is installed in the upper case at a rear position of the heat insulating container, A cooling fan for cooling the electronic control unit is installed in the lower case.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is further provided a temperature sensor for measuring a temperature inside the heat insulating container, wherein one end of the temperature sensor is inserted into the heat insulating container through a hole formed in the heat insulating container.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the heat insulating container is formed of a hollow hexahedron having one side opened, and the upper case is provided with a door having a heat insulating material capable of closing the heat insulating container.

The microwave sintering apparatus according to the present invention can uniformly heat the inside and the outside of the sintered material at the same time so that post-sintering post-processing can be accurately and easily performed. In particular, the microwave sintering apparatus of the present invention can be usefully used for sintering zirconia as a dental material. In addition, it has an advantage that the gas generated in the apparatus can be removed quickly during the sintering process, and the sintering temperature can be maintained accurately.

1 and 2 are schematic perspective views of a microwave sintering apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a rear perspective view of the microwave sintering apparatus shown in FIG. 1, with the outer cover removed.
4 is a schematic exploded perspective view showing the upper case and the lower case in a separated state.
FIG. 5 is a rear perspective view of the microwave sintering apparatus shown in FIG. 1, with some components removed.
FIG. 6 is a rear perspective view of the microwave sintering apparatus shown in FIG. 1, in which the exhaust pipe is shown in a separated state.
FIG. 7 is a view showing a state where the upper cover, the rear cover, and the side cover are assembled to the microwave sintering apparatus shown in FIG.

Hereinafter, a microwave sintering apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 and 2 show a schematic perspective view of a microwave sintering apparatus according to the present invention.

1, a microwave sintering apparatus according to the present invention includes an upper case 11 and a lower case 12 coupled to each other, a heat insulating container 22 provided inside the upper case 11, A susceptor 15 housed in the heat insulating container 22 and containing a sintering material (not shown), a magnetron 17 disposed on the upper case 11 to oscillate a microwave, An electronic control unit 40 (Fig. 4) provided in the lower case 12 for controlling the magnetron 17, and an electronic control unit 40 for controlling the magnetron 17 from the inside of the heat insulating container 22 And an exhaust pipe 31 (Fig.

A space of a hexahedron is formed in the upper case 11 and a heat insulating container 22 is accommodated in the inner space of the upper case 11. The upper case 11 is provided with a door 19. By opening the door 19, it is possible to access the heat insulating container 22. By closing the door 19, The space can be sealed. A heat insulating material 19a is provided on the inner surface of the door 19 and the heat insulating material 19a corresponds to the opening hole formed in one side surface of the heat insulating container 22. In the state where the door 19 is closed, The inner space of the heat exchanger 22 can be completely closed in an adiabatic state.

The heat insulating container 22 is formed in a hexagonal shape, and a space is formed therein and one side thereof is opened, so that the door 19 can be opened to access the inner space of the heat insulating container 22. The heat insulating container 22 is formed of a heat insulating material so that heat transfer from the inside to the outside of the heat insulating container 22 is blocked or reduced. The heat insulating container 19 may be made of, for example, a ceramic board. A susceptor 15 is disposed inside the heat insulating container 22 and an alumina container 20 capable of receiving a sintering material (not shown) is disposed on the upper surface of the susceptor 15. It is preferable to dispose the heat insulating spacer 15a on the bottom of the cooker 15 when the susceptor 15 is placed inside the heat insulating container 22. [ The alumina container 20 may be provided with a sintered material that can be used, for example, as a dental material, and the dental material may be a material such as zirconia.

The susceptor 15 may be made of a material such as silicon carbide (SiC). The susceptor 15 can generate heat by microwaves at a temperature of 500 ° C. or less, and thus the sintered material contained in the alumina container 20 can be externally heated at a temperature of 500 ° C. or less.

On the front surface of the lower case 12, a control panel 21 is provided. The control panel 21 may include a control switch, a button, a temperature setting dial, and the like necessary for controlling the apparatus together with the display LCD. The display LCD can display the set temperature and the temperature inside the heat insulating container 22. [ Also, the power is turned on or off by the power on / off switch, and the required sintering temperature can be set by a temperature setting dial or the like. And a button for setting the operation time of the apparatus.

The magnetron 17 can be operated according to the temperature and operation duration set by the control panel 21 and the sintered material placed in the alumina container 20 by the microwave oscillated from the magnetron 17 It can be heated internally by heat generation. In addition, the susceptor 15 can self-generate heat by the microwave oscillated from the magnetron 17, and the heat generated by the susceptor 15 externally heats the sintered material placed in the alumina container 20 . Therefore, the sintered material (not shown) can be uniformly heated by being simultaneously heated inside and outside.

FIG. 3 is a rear perspective view of the microwave sintering apparatus shown in FIG. 1, with the outer cover removed.

Referring to the drawings, an upper cooling fan 33 is installed on the upper surface of the upper case 11, and the upper cooling fan 33 is provided for cooling the magnetron 17 to prevent overheating.

The upper surface of the upper case 11 is further provided with a discharge fan 35. The discharge fan 35 discharges the gas inside the heat insulating container 22 (FIG. 1) flowing through the discharge pipe 31 to the outside . One end of the exhaust pipe 31 is communicated with the inside of the heat insulating container 22 by extending into the interior of the heat insulating container 22 and the other end of the exhaust pipe 31 is communicated with the inside of the heat insulating container 22, And is connected to the fan 35.

The upper case 11 is provided with a rear wall 51 and a side wall 52. In the space formed by the rear wall 51 and the side wall 52, Respectively. At least one cooling fan (32) is installed on the rear side of the rear wall (51). The cooling fan 31 can cool the heat insulating container 22 through the ventilation holes 51a formed in the rear wall 51 and the air flowing through the cooling fan 31 flows through the exhaust pipe 31 To perform heat exchange with the gas flowing through the heat exchanger.

A temperature sensor 39 may be installed on the rear wall 51 and one end of the temperature sensor 39 may be connected to the rear wall 51 through a hole (not shown) formed in the heat insulating container 22 And extends into the interior of the heat insulating container (22). The temperature sensor 39 measures the temperature inside the heat insulating container 22 and controls the operation of the magnetron 17, the upper cooling fan 33, the discharge fan 35 and the cooling fan 52 based on the measured temperature Lt; / RTI >

4 is a schematic exploded perspective view showing the upper case and the lower case in a separated state.

The upper case 11 is formed with an inner space 11a formed by the rear wall 51 and the side wall 52 and the upper case 11 is provided with a wave guide 45 are installed. The microwave emitted from the magnetron 17 is guided through the waveguide 45 by being coupled to the waveguide 45 as shown in FIG.

The lower case 12 is shown with the lid removed, and the control panel 21 described with reference to Fig. 1 is also removed. Inside the lower case 12, electronic devices 40 necessary for operating the microwave sintering apparatus are provided. A power supply device 41, a silicon controlled rectifier 42, a transformer 43, a high-voltage condenser 44, and the like are provided in the lower case 12. In order to cool the heat generated from the electronic device 40, a lower cooling fan 37 is provided as shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a rear perspective view of the microwave sintering apparatus shown in FIG. 1, with some components removed.

Referring to the drawings, the rear wall 51 is provided with a temperature sensor 39 as described above, and also an insertion tube 55 is provided. One end of the insertion tube 55 extends into the interior of the heat insulating container 22 through a hole (not shown) formed in the rear wall 51 and the heat insulating container 22 (Fig. 1) The end portion is connected to the exhaust pipe 31 shown in Fig. The gas generated during the heating of the sintered material in the heat insulating container 22 (FIG. 1) can be discharged to the outside through the insertion tube 55 and the exhaust pipe 31.

A ventilation hole 51a is provided in the rear wall 51 and cooling fans 32 are installed in correspondence with the ventilation hole 51a. The air blown by the cooling fan 32 is blown toward the heat insulating container 22 through the ventilation hole 51a to perform rapid cooling of the heat insulating container 22. [ Therefore, when cooling of the heat insulating container 22 is required, the cooling fan 32 is operated.

FIG. 6 is a rear perspective view of the microwave sintering apparatus shown in FIG. 1, in which the exhaust pipe is shown in a separated state.

Referring to the drawings, the exhaust pipe 31 is provided with a loop pipe 31b of a stainless steel curved in a ring shape and a silicon pipe 31a. The silicon pipe 31a connects the loop pipe 31b and the discharge fan 35. [ The loop type pipe 31 is installed at a position corresponding to the cooling fan 32 so that heat exchange is performed between the air flowing through the cooling fan 32 and the gas flowing through the loop type pipe 31 .

FIG. 7 is a view showing a state where the upper cover, the rear cover, and the side cover are assembled to the microwave sintering apparatus shown in FIG.

Referring to the drawings, the upper lid 71 is lowered and assembled from the upper part of the upper case 11, while the rear lid 72 is assembled from the rear of the upper case 11. The side cover 73 covers the side surface of the lower case.

Hereinafter, the operation of the microwave sintering apparatus described above will be schematically described.

The microwave sintering apparatus according to the present invention can be used for heating and sintering, for example, zirconia used as a dental material. A sintered material (not shown) such as zirconia is accommodated inside the heat insulating container 22 in a state of being contained in the alumina container 20 shown in Fig.

A susceptor 15 is disposed below the alumina container 20. The cooker 15 is disposed in the heat insulating container 22 in a state of being separated from the bottom surface of the heat insulating container 22 by the heat insulating spacer 15a.

After the sintered material (not shown) such as zirconia as a dental material is disposed inside the heat insulating container 22, the door 19 is closed, the heating temperature is set through the control panel 21, Microwave oscillation. The microwave first causes the susceptor 15 to generate heat and the sintered material contained in the alumina container 20 is heated from the outside by the heat generated in the susceptor 15.

After the temperature of the sintered material (e.g., zirconia) that is externally heated by the heat from the susceptor 15 is raised to 500 degrees Celsius or more, the microwave causes internal heating of the sintered material. That is, when the temperature of the sintering material reaches 500 degrees Celsius by the initial external heating by the susceptor 15, external heating by the susceptor 15 and internal heating of the sintering material itself by the microwave are simultaneously performed .

The gas generated during the heating in the heat insulating container 22 as described above can be discharged to the outside through the pipe 31. The user can operate the discharge fan 35 to discharge the gas through the pipe 31 more smoothly. The air flowing through the cooling fan (32) performs heat exchange with the gas flowing through the pipe (31), so that the harmful action by the gas discharged to the outside by the discharge fan (35) can be prevented.

On the other hand, the temperature sensor 39 controls the operation of the magnetron 7, the cooling fans 32, 33, 37 and the discharge fan 35 by measuring the temperature inside the heat insulating container 22.

11. Upper Case 12. Lower Case
13. Insulation vessel 15. Susceptor
20. Alumina container 21. Control panel

Claims (7)

An upper case 11 and a lower case 12 which are coupled to each other;
A heat insulating container 22 provided inside the upper case 11;
A susceptor 15 housed in the heat insulating container 22 and containing a sintered material;
A magnetron 17 disposed above the upper case 11 to oscillate a microwave;
An electronic control unit (40) installed in the lower case (12) and controlling the magnetron (17); And
And an exhaust pipe (31) extending outwardly from the inside of the heat insulating container (22) so as to discharge gas generated during heating of the sintered material. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the susceptor is heated at a temperature of 500 ° C. or less to externally heat the sintered material by microwaves oscillated from the magnetron, and the sintered material is heated at a temperature of 500 ° C. or more to heat the sintered material internally , A microwave sintering apparatus. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the susceptor is made of silicon carbide (SiC), and the sintered material is zirconia. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the exhaust pipe includes an insertion tube extending into the heat insulating container, a loop pipe connected to the insertion tube outside the heat insulating container, and a silicon pipe connected to the loop pipe, And discharging the gas generated inside the heat insulating container. The method according to claim 1,
A cooling fan for cooling the magnetron is installed on the upper case,
A fan for cooling the heat insulating container is installed in the upper case at a rear position of the heat insulating container,
And a cooling fan for cooling the electronic control unit is installed in the lower case. The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising a temperature sensor for measuring a temperature inside the heat insulating container, wherein one end of the temperature sensor is inserted into the heat insulating container through a hole formed in the heat insulating container. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the heat insulating container is formed of a hollow hexahedron having one side opened and a door having a heat insulating material capable of closing the heat insulating container is installed in the upper case.

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