WO2012108683A2

WO2012108683A2 - Vacuum heat treatment apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2012108683A2
Application number: PCT/KR2012/000913
Authority: WO
Inventors: Byung Sook Kim
Original assignee: Lg Innotek Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2011-02-08
Filing date: 2012-02-08
Publication date: 2012-08-16
Also published as: KR101273048B1; KR20120090499A; WO2012108683A3

Abstract

Disclosed is a vacuum heat treatment apparatus. The vacuum heat treatment apparatus includes a chamber, a reaction container in the chamber, a heating member interposed between the chamber and the reaction container to heat the reaction container, an exhaust pipe to discharge gas out of an inner part of the reaction container, and a filter in the exhaust pipe.

Description

VACUUM HEAT TREATMENT APPARATUS

The disclosure relates to a vacuum heat treatment apparatus.

A vacuum heat treatment apparatus refers to an apparatus to obtain a desirable material by performing heat treatment with respect to a raw material after putting the raw material into a crucible. Since the vacuum heat treatment apparatus performs heat treatment in a vacuum state, the material is not contaminated from surroundings.

In the vacuum heat treatment apparatus, after placing an adiabatic member in a chamber maintained in a vacuum state, a heater is placed in the adiabatic member to heat the raw material. Gas generated during the reaction is discharged through an exhaust pipe.

The gas reacts with a material constituting the exhaust pipe during the discharge through the exhaust pipe to form a secondary phase. If the secondary phase narrows the internal area of the exhaust pipe, the gas may not be smoothly discharged out of the exhaust pipe.

In this case, the exhaust pipe must be replaced with new one, so the cost and the time may be increased due to the replacement of the exhaust pipe. In addition, if the gas is not smoothly discharged out of exhaust pipe, the gas is discharged through a reaction container contained in the adiabatic member. In this case, the life span of the adiabatic member may be reduced. Further, if the secondary phase is created in the adiabatic member, the problem related to conduction is caused, so that risks such as the safety accident may be increased. In addition, the characteristic of a product manufactured in the vacuum heat treatment apparatus may be degraded.

The embodiment provides a vacuum heat treatment apparatus in which the life span and the safety can be improved and the characteristic of a manufactured article can be enhanced.

According to the embodiment, there is provided a vacuum heat treatment apparatus including a chamber, a reaction container in the chamber, a heating member interposed between the chamber and the reaction container to heat the reaction container, an exhaust pipe to discharge gas out of an inner part of the reaction container, and a filter in the exhaust pipe.

The filter may include a first filter placed at a part of the exhaust pipe provided in the chamber.

The exhaust pipe may include a first section having a first area and connected to the reaction container, a second section connected to the first section in the chamber and having a second area greater than the first area, and a third section extending from the second section out of the chamber and having a third area smaller than the second area, and wherein the first filter is placed at the second section.

The first filter may have a passage extending from a surface adjacent to the first section to a surface adjacent to the third section.

The first filter may be provided therein with a hollow.

A first blocking member to open a first side may be alternately placed with a second blocking member, which is provided in opposition to the first side and opens a second side, in the hollow of the first filter.

The first filter may include at least one selected from the group consisting of graphite, silicon carbide, boron nitride, and aluminum oxide.

The filter may include a second filter provided in a part of the exhaust pipe provided outside the chamber.

The first filter may include a material representing heat resistance superior to heat resistance of a material constituting the second filter.

The second filter may include stainless steel (SUS) and resin.

The vacuum heat treatment apparatus may further include a cooling part to cool the part of the exhaust pipe in which the second filter is placed.

The second filter may have a mesh shape.

As described above, according to the vacuum heat treatment apparatus of the present embodiment, a secondary phase is formed in the first and/or second filters, so that the vacuum heat treatment apparatus can be subject to maintenance by replacing only the first and/or second filter. Therefore, the life span of the heat treatment apparatus can be increased, and the time for the maintenance of the vacuum heat treatment can be saved.

In addition, the first filter is placed in the chamber to collect the secondary phase created at the high temperature, and the second filter is placed out of the chamber to collect the secondary phase created at the low temperature. Therefore, the secondary phases created at the high and low temperatures can be effectively collected. Accordingly, the life span of the vacuum heat treatment apparatus is increased, and the time for the maintenance of the vacuum heat treatment can be saved.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a vacuum heat treatment apparatus according to one embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a first filter in the vacuum heat treatment apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of a part A of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a second filter in the vacuum heat treatment of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the modification of the first filter.

In the description of the embodiments, it will be understood that, when a layer (or film), a region, a pattern, or a structure is referred to as being "on" or "under" another substrate, another layer (or film), another region, another pad, or another pattern, it can be "directly" or "indirectly" on the other substrate, layer (or film), region, pad, or pattern, or one or more intervening layers may also be present. Such a position of the layer has been described with reference to the drawings.

The thickness and size of each layer shown in the drawings may be exaggerated, omitted or schematically drawn for the purpose of convenience or clarity. In addition, the size of elements does not utterly reflect an actual size.

Hereinafter, the embodiment of the present invention will be described.

Referring to FIG. 1, a vacuum heat treatment 100 apparatus according to the embodiment includes a chamber 10, an adiabatic member 20 provided in the chamber 10, a reaction container 30 and a heating member 40 provided in the adiabatic member 20, and an exhaust pipe 50 to discharge gas, which is generated during the reaction, out of the reaction container.

Atmosphere gas is injected into the chamber 10 through an atmosphere gas supply pipe (not shown). The atmosphere gas may include inert gas such as argon (Ar), or helium (He).

The reaction container 30 filled with mixed raw materials to generate a desirable material through the reaction of the mixed raw materials is placed in the adiabatic member 20. The reaction vessel 30 may include graphite so that the reaction container 30 can endure a high temperature. The gas generated during the reaction may be discharged through the exhaust pipe 50 connected to the reaction container 30. The exhaust pipe 50 may be provided therein with first and

second filters

61 and 62. The details of the exhaust pipe 50 and the first and

second filters

61 and 62 will be described later with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4.

A heating member 40 is interposed between the adiabatic member 20 and the reaction container 30 to heat the reaction container 30. The heating member 40 may supply heat to the reaction container 30 through various schemes. For example, the heating member 40 may generate heat by applying a voltage to the graphite.

For example, the vacuum heat treatment apparatus 100 may act as an apparatus for preparing silicon carbide to obtain the silicon carbide by heating raw materials including a carbon source and a silicon source. However, the embodiment is not limited thereto.

Hereinafter, the exhaust pipe 50 and the first and

second filter

61 and 62 will be in more detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the first filter 61 in the vacuum heat treatment apparatus of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view showing a part A of FIG. 1. In addition, FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the second filter 62 in the vacuum heat treatment apparatus of FIG. 1.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, according to the embodiment, the exhaust pipe 50 includes a first section 501 having a first area and provided in the chamber 10, a second section 502 connected to the first section 501 and having a second area greater than the first area, and a third section 503 extending from the second section 502 out of the chamber 10 and having a third area smaller than the second area. Only if the first and third areas are smaller than the second area, the first area may be substantially equal to the second area, or the first area may be different from the second area.

According to the present embodiment, the first filter 61 is provided in the second section 502 in the chamber 10. The first filter 61 has a hollow 610 therein, and has first and

second holes

611 and 612 formed in surfaces adjacent to the first and third sections 510 and 503. Accordingly, the first filter 61 has a passage extending from the surface adjacent to the first section 501 to the surface adjacent to the third section 503.

Therefore, gas to be exhausted out of the exhaust pipe 50 flows through the first filter 61. In order to allow the gas to smoothly flow, the areas of the first and

second holes

611 and 612 may be equal to or greater than the areas of the first and third sections 501 and 503 (i.e., first and third areas) of the exhaust pipe 50.

A temperature gradient may be greatly formed between the adiabatic member 20 and the chamber 10 due to the difference between the internal temperature of the adiabatic member 20 and the external temperature of the chamber 10. Therefore, a great amount of secondary phases may be generated in the second section 502 of the exhaust pipe 50. For example, if the vacuum heat treatment apparatus (100 of FIG. 1) is used to prepare silicon carbide, CO or CO₂ gas created during the reaction and SIO gas, which is non-reaction gas, react with the first filter 61 provided in the second section 502 having the great temperature gradient, so that the gases are attached to the first filter 61 and collected in the first filter 61. As described above, the secondary phase to be formed at the high temperature is induced so that the secondary phase is formed in the first filter 61. In this case, since the first filter 61 has the hollow 610 therein to increase the area in which the secondary phase is formed. Accordingly, the secondary phase may be effectively collected.

The first filter 61 may include a material representing superior heat resistance so that the first filter 61 can sufficiently endure the high temperature. For example, the first filter 61 may include graphite, silicon carbide, boron nitride, or aluminum oxide, but the embodiment is not limited thereto.

In addition, referring to FIG. 1, the second filter 61 may be provided at a part of the exhaust pipe 50 placed at the outside of the chamber 10. As shown in FIG. 4, the second filter 62 has a mesh shape with one open end. Accordingly, undesirable materials are filtered by the second filter 61 and can collect secondary phases that can be created at a lower temperature. In order to more effectively collect the secondary phases that may be created at a lower temperature, a cooling part 620 is provided at the part of the exhaust pipe 50 in which the second filter 62 is placed to cool the secondary phase as shown in FIG. 1. The cooling part 620 can cool the part in which the second filter 62 is placed through various schemes.

The second filter 61 may include stainless steel (SUS) or resin. The resin may include various resins such as polyethylene (PE) and polyphenylene ether (PPE).

In the vacuum heat treatment apparatus according to the present embodiment, the secondary phases are formed only in the first and

second filters

61 and 62. Accordingly, the vacuum heat treatment apparatus 100 can be subject to maintenance by replacing only the first and

second filters

61 and 62 with new filters. Accordingly, the life span of the vacuum heat treatment apparatus 100 can be extended, and the time for the maintenance of the vacuum heat treatment apparatus 100 can be effectively saved.

In addition, the first filter 61 is placed in the chamber 10, so that the secondary phase created at a high temperature can be collected in the first filter 61, and the second filter 61 is placed at the outside of the chamber 10, so that the secondary phases created at a low temperature can be collected in the second filter 61. Therefore, the secondary phases created at the high and low temperatures can be effectively collected. Therefore, the life span of the vacuum heat treatment apparatus 100 can be increased, the time for the maintenance of the vacuum heat treatment apparatus 100 can be effectively saved, and the characteristic of the manufactured article can be improved.

In this case, the first filter 61 may include a material representing heat resistance superior to that of the material constituting the second filter 61, so that the first filter 61 can be more sufficiently endure the high temperature. Although both of the first and

second filters

61 and 62 are provided according to the embodiment, the embodiment is not limited thereto.

Hereinafter, a first filter 64 which is modified will be described with reference to FIG. 5. Hereinafter, the first filter 64 will be described without the details of structures and components extremely similar to the above-described structure and components while focusing on the difference from the above-described structure and components. In FIG. 5, an upper plate of the first filter 64 is expressed in a dotted line for clarify.

Referring to FIG. 5, a first blocking member 641 to open a first side and a second blocking member 642 to open a second side provided in opposition to the first side are alternately aligned with each other in a hollow 610 of the first filter 64. Accordingly, the gas introduced into the first filter 61 must flow into the third section (503 of FIG. 3) of the exhaust pipe (50 of FIG. 3) through a passage alternately formed at the first and second sides. In other words, a gas passage is extended by the first and second blocking

members

641 and 642. Accordingly, an area in which the secondary phases are collected can be increased. Therefore, the secondary phases can be effectively collected.

Any reference in this specification to "one embodiment", "an embodiment", "example embodiment", etc., means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention. The appearances of such phrases in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with any embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the purview of one skilled in the art to effect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other ones of the embodiments.

Although embodiments have been described with reference to a number of illustrative embodiments thereof, it should be understood that numerous other modifications and embodiments can be devised by those skilled in the art that will fall within the spirit and scope of the principles of this disclosure.　 More particularly, various variations and modifications are possible in the component parts and/or arrangements of the subject combination arrangement within the scope of the disclosure, the drawings and the appended claims.　 In addition to variations and modifications in the component parts and/or arrangements, alternative uses will also be apparent to those skilled in the art.

Claims

A vacuum heat treatment apparatus comprising:

a chamber;

a reaction container in the chamber;

a heating member interposed between the chamber and the reaction container to heat the reaction container;

an exhaust pipe to discharge gas out of the reaction container; and

a filter in the exhaust pipe.
The vacuum heat treatment apparatus of claim 1, wherein the filter includes a first filter placed at a part of the exhaust pipe provided in the chamber.
The vacuum heat treatment apparatus of claim 2, wherein the exhaust pipe includes a first section having a first area and connected to the reaction container, a second section connected to the first section in the chamber and having a second area greater than the first area, and a third section extending from the second section out of the chamber and having a third area smaller than the second area, and wherein the first filter is placed at the second section.
The vacuum heat treatment apparatus of claim 3, wherein the first filter has a passage extending from a surface adjacent to the first section to a surface adjacent to the third section.
The vacuum heat treatment apparatus of claim 2, wherein the first filter has a hexahedral shape.
The vacuum heat treatment apparatus of claim 2, wherein the first filter includes a first hole and a second hole facing the first hole.
The vacuum heat treatment apparatus of claim 3, wherein the first hole is adjacent to a surface adjacent to the first section, and the second hole is adjacent to the third section.
The vacuum heat treatment apparatus of claim 3, wherein the first hole has an area equal to or greater than one sectional area of the first section.
The vacuum heat treatment apparatus of claim 3, wherein the second hole has an area equal to or greater than one sectional area of the third section.
The vacuum heat treatment apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first filter is provided therein with a hollow.
The vacuum heat treatment apparatus of claim 10, wherein a first blocking member to open a first side and a second blocking member to open a second side opposite to the first side are alternately placed in the hollow of the first filter.
The vacuum heat treatment apparatus of claim 2, wherein the first filter includes at least one selected from the group consisting of graphite, silicon carbide, boron nitride, and aluminum oxide.
The vacuum heat treatment apparatus of claim 2, wherein the filter includes a second filter provided in a part of the exhaust pipe provided outside the chamber.
The vacuum heat treatment apparatus of claim 13, wherein a heat resistance of a material constituting the first filter is greater than a heat resistance of a material constituting the second filter.
The vacuum heat treatment apparatus of claim 14, wherein the second filter includes one of stainless steel (SUS) and resin.
The vacuum heat treatment apparatus of claim 13, further comprising a cooling part to cool the part of the exhaust pipe where the second filter is placed.
The vacuum heat treatment apparatus of claim 13, wherein the second filter has a mesh shape.