WO2008002022A1

WO2008002022A1 - Insulating heater jacket

Info

Publication number: WO2008002022A1
Application number: PCT/KR2007/002815
Authority: WO
Inventors: Joon-Young Seo
Original assignee: Aon Instrument Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2006-06-29
Filing date: 2007-06-12
Publication date: 2008-01-03
Also published as: KR100680568B1

Abstract

The present invention relates to an insulating heater jacket, more particularly to an insulating heater jacket comprising a sheet-type heating section, and an insulating jacket, wherein the heating section and the insulating jacket have a detachable combining structure so that they can be combined with or detached from each other. Due to the detachable combining structure, the heating section and the insulating jacket of the insulating heater jacket according to the present invention can be easily combined with and detached from each other and, thus, only the damaged part can be replaced when a problem occurs.

Description

INSULATING HEATER JACKET

Technical field

The present invention relates to an insulating heater jacket, more particularly to an insulating heater jacket comprising a sheet-type heating section, in which an heating element with good thermal conductivity and heat resistance is equipped in a flexible mat, and an insulating jacket at the outside of the heating section, which has a hollow cylindrical structure and a slit formed on its periphery along the longitudinal direction and is made of an elastic material with low thermal conductivity to block the heat generated at the heating section. The insulating jacket and the heating section have the detachable combining structure so that they can be combined with or detached from each other.

Background Art

In semiconductor device manufacturing, chemical processing, plastic production, commercial food processing, equipment manufacturing, and other manufacturing industries, particularly where there is a need to transfer liquid or gas within specific temperature range by restricted heating or cooling or it is needed to prevent the solidification of evaporative material and the deposition thereof on the inner surface of the pipe, tube, valve body and conduit, heaters are usually utilized to heat or insulate the pipe, tube, valve body or conduit having 2-dimensional or 3 -dimensional curvature. Such heaters reduce power consumption and the part exposed outward is insulated from the atmosphere in order to prevent the user from being burned.

In general, various process gases are utilized in the processing of semiconductor substrates during the semiconductor device manufacture. Typical examples are phosphine (PH₃), silane (SiH₄), dichlorosilane (SiH₂Cl₂), ammonia (NH₃) and nitrogen oxide (N₂O) used in chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and dry etching. In such semiconductor processing processes, ammonium chloride (NH₄Cl) gas or other reaction byproducts are discharged through the exhaust line. If the exhaust line through which the reaction byproducts pass is kept at room temperature, the ammonium chloride gas is solidified and stick to the wall of the exhaust line. Consequently, the powder deposited on the inner wall may result in the blocking of the pipe or tube and, in severe case, explosion.

For example, in semiconductor manufacturing process such as low-pressure chemical vapor deposition (LPCVD) and aluminum etching, reaction byproducts such as ammonium chloride (NH₄Cl) gas or aluminum chloride (AlCl₃) gas are included in the exhaust gas discharged from the reaction chamber. Ammonium chloride gas may be solidified and deposited, which may cause the buildup of solid materials on the cold surface, such as the unheated inside surface of the pipe that transfers the gas to the discharging or processing section, vacuum pump or other equipments. Such buildup of the solid materials in the pipe, pump or other equipments may lead to partial or complete blockage of the pump, breakdown of the pipe, pump or other equipments utilized during the production and decrease of vacuum conductance. The buildup may result in the peeling of the pipe surface and consequent contamination during the manufacturing process. For instance, in the low-pressure chemical vapor deposition process, wherein a coating of silicon nitride is deposited on a substrate wafer in order to produce a semiconductor chip, a large volume of ammonium chloride gas is generated in the reaction chamber as byproduct and leads to such a buildup. Typically, the ammonium chloride gas is sublimed at 100 ⁰C or below at 300 mTorr. When ammonium chloride gas is cooled, it leads to the formation and buildup of white crystalline materials on the unheated surface of pipe or pump utilized in the manufacturing system. The sublimed ammonium chloride peels off the wall of the reaction chamber and may contaminate the semiconductor substrate wafer inside the reaction chamber by reversely flowing into the reaction chamber. If such contamination occurs, the manufacturing process has to be stopped until the crystals are cleared off from the system and the blocked pipe or pump has to be cleaned or replaced. Besides, the contaminated substrate wafer or semiconductor chip becomes useless.

In order to solve the aforesaid problem, a heater mat or a jacket heater is equipped around the exhaust line. The heater mat or jacket heater is used to maintain the temperature of the exhaust line in order to prevent the solidification and deposition of the reaction byproduct. For instance, Korean Patent No. 413699 discloses a heater apparatus containing a heat-producing material inside a flexible but substantially inelastic solid material matrix having a first edge and a second edge. The heater apparatus comprises a heater mat the inner surface of which is extended between the first edge and the second edge and the outer surface of which is extended between the first edge and the second edge radially outward from the inner surface, wherein the inner surface and the outer surface are spatially separated by the solid material matrix, which surrounds the periphery of the inner surface, ant the first edge and the second edge are aligned in parallel; and a jacket which is attached on the periphery of the outer surface of the heater mat and is made of an elastic, flexible, compressible material to be able to contain the gas cells distributed all over the solid material matrix, wherein the material is low-density, highly elastic, highly compressible and thermally less conductive and has a larger thickness in the cross- sectional direction than the heater, the material is bent to accommodate the separation of the first edge and the second edge when an external force is applied to move the first edge away from the second edge, and the material is sufficiently compressed enough to return the first edge and the second edge to the original positions after the external force is removed. And, Korean Patent No. 422075 discloses a heater apparatus surrounding the cylindrical top surface of a pipe and maintaining the temperature of the pipe, which comprises: a heating pad that covers the top surface of the pipe; a thermistor that contacts the heating pad and monitors the temperature of the heating pad; a thermal conduction barrier having a [H] -shaped cross section that is located at the top of the heating pad, radially surrounds the heating pad and provides a space for accommodating a temperature control circuit board electrically connected to the thermistor; and a vacuum region that is formed over the inner wall of the accommodating space on top of the thermal conduction barrier in order to insulate the temperature control circuit board from the heat generated at the heating pad, wherein the temperature control circuit board is a solid-state relay (SSR). In general, an insulating heater comprises a heating section having a built-in heating wire which is electrically heated and an insulating jacket surrounding the heating section, which is made of an insulating material. After long use, the heating wire of the heating section is cut or the jacket undergoes thermal modification, requiring a replacement of the insulating heater. In particular, the heating wire of the heating section tends to be cut easily. The present inventors have filed for a patent application for an insulating heater jacket having a double hot-wire in order to solve the problem caused by the cutting of the heating wire (Korean Patent Application No. 2005-34482). However, the conventional heater jackets including the insulating heater apparatus disclosed in the above publication require the replacement of the whole heater jackets even when one of the heating section and the insulating section is intact because they are bonded with each other in immobilizing manner.

Disclosure of Invention

Technical Problem Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an insulating heater jacket offering improved convenience and economy, wherein the heating section and the insulating jacket of which can be easily combined with and detached from each other and, thus, only the damaged part can be replaced when a problem occurs.

Technical Solution

To attain the object, the present invention provides an insulating heater jacket comprising a sheet-type heating section, in which an heating element with good thermal conductivity and heat resistance is equipped in a flexible mat, and an insulating jacket located at the outside of the heating section, which has a hollow cylindrical structure and a slit formed on its periphery along the longitudinal direction and is made of an elastic material with low thermal conductivity to block the heat generated at the heating section, wherein the insulating jacket and the heating section have the detachable combining structure so that they can be combined with or detached from each other.

The present invention also provides an insulating heater jacket which is characterized in that the detachable combining structure is Velcro formed on the part or whole of the outside surface of the heating section and the inside surface of the insulating jacket, a fastener formed around the edge of the insulating jacket and the heating section or a cylindrical bracket that extends from the edge toward the inside of the insulating jacket, so that the sheet-type heating section can be engaged with the inside of the insulating jacket.

The present invention also provides an insulating heater jacket which is characterized in that the heating element is provided as aligned in parallel with at least 2 heating wire.

The present invention further provides an insulating heater jacket which is characterized in further comprising at least one temperature sensor that is mounted on the heating element of the sheet-type heating section and measures the temperature of the heating section; and a controller that monitors the operation of the heating elements aligned in parallel based on the temperature measured by the temperature sensor and, when one of them does not operate normally, makes other heating element operate.

Advantageous Effects

The present invention provides an insulating heater jacket offering improved convenience and economy, wherein the heating section and the insulating jacket have the detachable combining structure so that they can be easily combined with and detached from each other and, thus, only the damaged part can be replaced when a problem occurs.

Brief Description of Drawings

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an insulating heater jacket according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of an insulating heater jacket according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of an insulating heater jacket according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a schematic view showing an embodiment wherein the insulating heater jacket according to the present invention has a heating element composed of two heating wires.

<Code descriptions of the main part of drawings> 10 heating section 11 heating wire

20 insulating j acket 30 bracket 40 Velcro 50 controller 60 fastener 100 insulating heater j acket

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

The present invention will be described in detail referring to the attached drawings as bellows.

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an insulating heater jacket (100) according to an embodiment of the present invention. As can be seen in Fig. 1 , the insulating heater jacket of the present invention comprises a sheet-type heating section (10) and an insulating jacket (20) located at the outside of the heating section, which has a hollow cylindrical structure and two ends with a slit formed on its periphery along the longitudinal direction. The sheet-type heating section (10) is constructed so that a heating element with good thermal conductivity and heat resistance is equipped in a flexible mat. In general, the flexible mat is made of glass fiber, silicon glass, and so forth. And, the insulating jacket (20) is made of an elastic material with low thermal conductivity to block the heat generated at the heating section (10). Preferably, the insulating jacket (20) may be made of silicone resin, glass fiber, asbestos, and the like. The source material, role, manufacturing method, etc. of the sheet-type heating element and the insulating jacket (20) are well known to those skilled in the art, as disclosed in Korean Patent Nos. 413699 and 422075. Therefore, a more detailed description will be omitted. The insulating heater jacket of the present invention (100) can be fixed tightly by joining the insulating jacket (20) with the sheet-type heating section (10), opening the slit and engaging the inside surface of the sheet-type heating section (10) with the outside surface of a pipe, etc. and fastening with a fastener (60) equipped at the outside of the insulating jacket (20), such as a strap or a cover equipped with Velcro or buttons. The insulating heater jacket of the present invention (100) is characterized in that the insulating jacket (20) and the heating section (10) have a detachable combining structure so that they can be combined with and detached from each other. As aforementioned, the insulating jacket and the sheet-type heating section of the conventional insulating heater jacket cannot be detached from each other. Therefore, if one of the heating section (10) or the insulating jacket (20) has a problem; both of them in a whole have to be replaced even when the other is intact. The present invention solves this problem by providing a detachable combining structure (30, 40) which allows the insulating jacket (20) and the heating section (10) to be combined with and detached from each other. That is, when the heating section (10) does not operate because of, for example, the cutting of the heating wire (11) or the insulating jacket (20) is damaged because of, for example, thermal modification, only the corresponding heating section (10) or insulating jacket (20) may be replaced. Consequently, an economical advantage is attained because there is no need of replacing the whole of the insulating heater jacket (100). The detachable combining structure (30, 40) is not particularly limited, as long as it does not undergo thermal modification, etc. in the environment where the insulating heater jacket of the present invention (100) is used. Any known fastening means, such as fastener, Velcro, etc., may be used. Preferred examples of the detachable combining structure of the present invention (100) include Velcro (40) formed on the part or whole of the outside surface of the heating section (10) and the inside surface of the insulating jacket (20), a fastener formed around the edge of the insulating jacket (20) and the heating section (10), a cylindrical bracket (30) that extends from the edge toward the inside of the insulating jacket (20) or a combination thereof, so that the sheet-type heating section (10) can be engaged with the inside of the insulating jacket (20). Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 are cross- sectional views of insulating heater jackets according to embodiments of the present invention. In the embodiments of the present invention illustrated in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3, the detachable combining structure is a cylindrical bracket (30) which extends from the edge toward the inside of the insulating jacket (20), so that the sheet-type heating section (10) can be engaged with the inside of the insulating jacket (20), or Velcro (40) formed on the part or whole of the outside surface of the heating section (10) and the inside surface of the insulating jacket (20). And, the insulating heater jacket (100) is usually connected with a temperature sensor and a controller (50) for controlling the heating section (10). The connection between the temperature sensor, the controller (50) and the heating section (10) may be attained using a connector that can be easily separated to make it possible to replace only the damaged part and, thereby, reduce the maintenance cost. In the insulating heater jacket of the present invention, it is preferable that at least two heating elements built in the heating section (10) are arranged in parallel. The source material or shape of the heating element is not particularly limited. A heating wire, planar heating element, etc. may be used. In general, a heating wire (11) is used most frequently for economic reason. As described earlier, the present inventors have filed for a patent application for an insulating heater jacket comprising a heating section attached on the outside of silicone fiber glass with plural heating wires (11) aligned in parallel (Korean Patent Application No. 2005-34482). Fig. 4 is a schematic view showing an embodiment wherein the insulating heater jacket (100) according to the present invention has a heating element composed of two heating wires (11). As illustrated in Fig. 4 and described in the description of the aforementioned invention, the insulating heater jacket (100) of the present invention is constructed with plural heating elements (11) aligned in parallel, so that, the operation of the heating elements is monitored and, when one of them does not operate normally, the corresponding heating element can be replaced with another one, thereby practically increasing the life cycle of the heating element (or insulating heater jacket). And, the insulating heater jacket of the present invention (100) may further comprise at least one temperature sensor that is mounted on the heating element of the sheet-type heating section (10) and measures the temperature of the heating section and a controller (50) that monitors the operation of the heating elements aligned in parallel based on the temperature measured by the temperature sensor and, when one of them does not operate normally, makes other heating element operate. The construction, circuitry, etc. of the temperature sensor and the controller (50) are the same as disclosed in Korean Patent Application No. 2005-34482. Those skilled in the art may change or modify such construction within the scope of the present invention. Although a few exemplary embodiments the present invention have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the present invention, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. an insulating heater jacket comprising a sheet- type heating section, in which an heating element with good thermal conductivity and heat resistance is equipped in a flexible mat, and an insulating jacket located at the outside of the heating section, which has a hollow cylindrical structure and a slit formed on its periphery along the longitudinal direction and is made of an elastic material with low thermal conductivity to block the heat generated at the heating section, wherein the insulating jacket and the heating section have a detachable combining structure.

2. The insulating heater jacket as claimed in claim 1, wherein the detachable combining structure is Velcro formed on the part or whole of the outside surface of the heating section and the inside surface of the insulating jacket, a fastener formed around the edge of the insulating jacket and the heating section, a cylindrical bracket that extends from the edge toward the inside of the insulating jacket or a combination thereof, so that the sheet- type heating section can be engaged with the inside of the insulating jacket.

3. The insulating heater jacket as claimed in claim 1, wherein the heating element is provided as aligned in parallel with at least 2 heating wire.

4. The insulating heater jacket as claimed in claim 3, further comprising at least one temperature sensor that is mounted on the heating element of the sheet-type heating section and measures the temperature of the heating section; and a controller that monitors the operation of the heating elements aligned in parallel based on the temperature measured by the temperature sensor and, when one of them does not operate normally, makes other heating element operate.