JP7656346B2 - Heating device and heating method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a heating device and a heating method.

In the manufacturing process of liquid crystal display panels and the like, a heating and drying process has been conventionally carried out for the purpose of removing moisture from glass substrates and other components after cleaning, and removing solvents and the like contained in the composition of chemical solutions applied to the substrates. In order to carry out such heating and drying processes on a large number of large substrates, a multi-stage heating device is used.

Patent Document 1 discloses a clean oven that uses a heated gas circulation system. This device is equipped with heating walls that are erected facing each other and multiple heat radiating members that are arranged like shelves between them and heated by conductive heat from the heating walls. Each space between these heat radiating members is used as a storage space to store the glass substrate, which is the object to be heated, and the heat treatment is performed using radiant heat from the upper and lower heat radiating members. Since each storage space is partitioned, there is excellent uniformity in temperature distribution and no heat accumulation phenomenon occurs in the upper space due to the rise of hot air. In addition, since heated air is not blown, clean heat treatment is achieved.

Patent document 2 discloses a heating device in which, in the heating device of patent document 1, a pair of heat transfer walls are provided that are in close contact with the inside of a pair of heating walls, and a heat radiating member is arranged in a shelf-like shape between the heat transfer walls, thereby improving temperature uniformity.

In Patent Document 3, in order to solve the problem that the temperature of the upper storage space is still higher than that of the lower storage space even with the compartment structure of Patent Document 1, the spacing between the electric heaters in the heating wall is made larger at the upper part of the heating wall than at the lower part, thereby increasing the amount of heat generated at the lower part compared to the upper part. Also, a heat insulating section is provided midway through the heating wall to prevent heat from being conducted upward.

JP 2013-200077 A JP 2005-352306 A JP 2005-055152 A

However, in the heating and drying process of liquid crystal substrates, etc., chemical substances volatilized from the heated substrate (heated object) may adhere to the walls and partitions (heat radiation members) of the multi-stage heating device, and in such cases, it is necessary to perform periodic maintenance to remove these deposits. In a multi-stage heating device, the storage space for each heated object is a narrow plate-like space in the vertical direction, making this removal work difficult.
To facilitate this removal work, it is conceivable to make the heat radiating member removable from the heating wall. However, in a removable structure, i.e., in a structure in which the heat radiating member is not firmly fixed to the heating wall, the heat conduction from the heating wall is reduced, impairing the temperature uniformity of the heat radiating member, and as a result, there is a concern that the temperature uniformity of the plate-shaped heated object may be impaired due to uneven radiated heat.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and aims to provide a multi-stage heating device in which a heat radiating member is arranged between objects to be heated, and which can facilitate maintenance of the heat radiating member and inner walls without compromising the uniformity of the heating temperature.

As a result of the inventors' investigations, it was found that the heat radiation member is heated mainly through the air, and that heating by thermal conduction from the heating wall is relatively small. It was also found that if the heat radiation member is structured to block the air flow between adjacent storage spaces, the temperature uniformity of the air in each storage space is high. This is thought to be because the air flow in each storage space caused by the rise of hot air in the heating device is suppressed. Therefore, with such a structure, the temperature uniformity of the air in the storage space is high, and it was found that the temperature uniformity of the heat radiation member can be maintained even if the connection of the heat radiation member to the heating wall is loosened to the extent that it can be manually slid, and this invention was completed.

The heating device of the present invention includes a plurality of heating walls arranged vertically opposite each other at a distance in the left-right direction;
A plurality of heat generating means provided on each of the plurality of heating walls;
A plurality of metal heat radiation members arranged in a shelf-like manner at a distance in the vertical direction in the opposing regions of the plurality of heating walls to conduct heat from the heating walls;
Equipped with
The plurality of heating walls and the plurality of heat radiating members define a plurality of storage spaces arranged in the vertical direction for respectively accommodating plate-shaped objects to be heated.
The vertically adjacent storage spaces are isolated by the heat radiation member to block air flow therebetween,
The multiple heat radiating members are characterized in that their both side ends are placed on a pair of heat radiating member support parts provided at corresponding positions on the opposing wall surfaces of the multiple heating walls, are not fixed in either the vertical or horizontal directions, and are arranged so that they can be pulled out forward.
With this configuration, in a multi-stage heating device in which a heat radiating member is arranged between the substrates to be heated, the heat radiating member is designed to block the flow of air between adjacent storage spaces, so that a heating device can be provided that can facilitate maintenance of the heat radiating member and inner wall without compromising the uniformity of the heating temperature, even if the connection of the heat radiating member to the heating wall is loosened to the extent that it can be manually slid.

The heat radiation member support portion may be a groove portion having a generally U-shaped cross section provided on the opposing wall surface of the heating wall body over the entire horizontal length, and the lower surface of the side end portion of the heat radiation member may be placed on the upward surface of the groove portion.

The opposing heating walls may be provided at corresponding positions on the wall surfaces facing the storage space, and each may have a support portion for the heated object on which the lower surfaces of both ends of the heated object are placed. With this configuration, the heated object can be held at a uniform distance from the heat radiating member, and the heated object is heated uniformly within the surface by radiant heat.

A configuration is preferably adopted in which the heat radiating member and the heated member have approximately the same shapes and dimensions, and the heat radiating member support part and the heated object support part have approximately the same shapes and dimensions.
This configuration makes it easier to transport the heat radiating member in and out using a transport device for the object to be heated, further improving maintainability.

The storage space may have openings on the front and rear sides defined by the heating wall and the heat radiating member, the opening on the rear side being blocked by a blocking member, and the opening on the front side being configured to be openable and closable by a door, such that the heated object and the heat radiating member can be brought in and out when the door is in an open state.

At least one temperature sensor provided on each of the plurality of heating walls;
The heating wall may be configured to include a temperature control means for independently controlling the heat generation amount of each of a plurality of heat generation means provided on each of the plurality of heating walls so that the detected temperature of at least one temperature sensor provided on each of the plurality of heating walls follows a target temperature.
This configuration makes it possible to correct the temperature non-uniformity between the heating walls, thereby improving the uniformity of the heat treatment.

The heating system of the present invention comprises any one of the heating devices described above,
1. A heating system, further comprising a chamber for housing the heating device,
The chamber is characterized by having a ventilation mechanism for ventilating the inside of the chamber through an intake port at the bottom for taking in air and an exhaust port at the ceiling for discharging air.

The heating method of the present invention is characterized in that an object to be heated is heated using any one of the heating devices or the heating system described above.

According to the present invention, in a multi-stage heating device in which a heat radiating member is disposed between substrates to be heated, the heat radiating member is structured to block the air flow between adjacent storage spaces, so that a heating device can be provided that can facilitate maintenance of the heat radiating member and the inner wall without impairing the uniformity of the heating temperature, even if the connection of the heat radiating member to the heating wall is loosened to the extent that it can be manually slid.

1 is a front view showing a heating device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a right side view of the heating device shown in FIG. 1 . FIG. 2 is an external view showing a heater. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the arrangement of a heater in a heating wall. 4 is an enlarged view of a heat radiation member support portion and a heated object support portion. FIG. 11 is a conceptual perspective view showing a state in which the heat radiating member and the object to be heated are pulled out. FIG. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the air flow in an example of an air conditioning chamber of a heating device.

Heating device 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to Figs. 1 to 7. As shown in Fig. 1, heating device 100 includes a plurality of heating walls 10 (10A to 10C) arranged facing each other at a distance, a plurality of coil heaters 11 as heat generating means provided on heating walls 10, a plurality of heat radiating members 12 arranged in a shelf-like manner at a distance in the vertical direction (A1-A2 direction) in the facing area of the plurality of heating walls 10, and a storage space 14 for a heated object 13 provided between vertically adjacent heat radiating members 12.

The upper and lower ends of the heating wall 10 are connected by a top plate 16 and a bottom plate 17, respectively, and the underside of the bottom plate 17 is supported by a stand unit 30.

The heating wall 10 is made of stainless steel and is a structural member that forms the partition walls on both sides and in the center of the box-shaped heating device 100, and is also a member that serves as the heat source for the heating device 100. In this embodiment, it consists of three walls: the left heating wall 10A, the central heating wall 10B, and the right heating wall 10C. Each heating wall 10 has a plurality of through holes 24 opened horizontally from the front side to the back side, and a coil heater 11 is removably inserted into each of these through holes 24.

The coil heater 11, as shown in detail in Figure 3, has a structure in which a heating wire 11w wound in a coil shape is housed inside a metal tube (sheath) 11s. Although it is shown simply in Figure 3, the coiled heating wire 11w travels back and forth from the right end to the left end, with two lead wires extending from the right end. The two traveling heating wires 11w are insulated from each other by an insulating layer made of solidified powdered magnesium oxide, as well as between the heating wire 11w and the metal tube 11s.

As shown in FIG. 4, in each heating wall 10, a plurality of through holes 24 are opened extending horizontally from the front side, and coil heaters 11 are inserted. The wiring of each coil heater 11 extends from the rear side of the heating device 100. The vertical spacing of these through holes 24 is set narrower at the bottom and wider at the top, increasing the density of the coil heaters 11 at the bottom where the temperature tends to be lower. However, the arrangement of the coil heaters 11 is not limited to this, and can be set appropriately so that the temperature distribution within the heating wall 10 surface is uniform.

As shown in FIG. 1, each heating wall 10 has a plurality of through holes 25 formed horizontally from the front side, into which temperature sensors 15 are inserted. The heat generation amount of each of the coil heaters 11 provided on each heating wall 10 is independently controlled by a temperature control means (not shown) so that the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 15 follows the target temperature.

The heat radiation members 12 are arranged in a shelf-like manner at a distance in the vertical direction in the area facing the heating wall 10, are heated by the heat from the heating wall 10, and radiate the heat toward the heated object 13. Each heat radiation member 12 is made of an aluminum plate with a black-plated surface, providing excellent heat radiation capabilities.

Both side ends of each heat radiating member 12 are placed on a pair of heat radiating member supports 10s provided at corresponding positions on the opposing wall surfaces of the heating walls 10, and the heat radiating members 12 are not fixed in either the vertical or horizontal directions and are provided so as to be able to be pulled out forward. A plurality of heat radiating member supports 10s are provided at regular intervals in the vertical direction, so that the plurality of heat radiating members 12 are arranged like a shelf.
In this embodiment, the heat radiation member support portion 10s is a groove portion with an approximately U-shaped cross section provided along the entire horizontal length (B1-B2 direction) of the opposing wall surface of the heating wall 10, as shown in an enlarged view in Figure 5, and the lower surface of the side end portion of the heat radiation member 12 is placed on the upward surface of the groove portion (10s).
With this configuration, as shown in FIG. 6, the heat radiating member 12 can be inserted or pulled out by sliding it manually or the like, facilitating maintenance of the heat radiating member 12 and the wall surface of the heating wall 10.
However, the heat radiation member support portion 10s is not limited to a groove portion having an approximately U-shaped cross section, but may have any structure that allows both side ends of the heat radiation member 12 to be placed on it and that allows it to be slid forward and pulled out, for example, it may have a structure that only has a placement surface that is open at the top.

Heated object support parts 10t, on which the undersides of both side ends of the heated object 13 are placed, are provided at corresponding positions on the opposing wall surfaces of the heating wall 10 and at vertical positions alternating with the heat radiation member support parts 10s.
In this embodiment, the support portion 10t for the object to be heated is a groove portion with a substantially U-shaped cross section provided on the opposing wall surface of the heating wall body 10 over the entire length in the horizontal direction (B1-B2 direction), as shown in an enlarged view in Fig. 5, and the lower surface of the side end portion of the heat radiating member is placed on the upward surface of the groove portion. Using a predetermined conveying device, the object to be heated 13 can be conveyed so that both left and right ends of the object to be heated enter each groove (10t) as shown in Fig. 6, and placed on the upward support surface.

In this embodiment, the heat radiating member 12 and the object to be heated 13 have approximately the same shape and size, and the heat radiating member support part 10s and the object to be heated support part 10t have approximately the same shape and size.
This configuration makes it easier to carry the heat radiating member 12 in and out using a transport device for the object to be heated 13, further improving maintainability.
However, the shapes and dimensions of the heat radiating member 12 and the object to be heated 13 may be different, and the shapes and dimensions of the heat radiating member support part 10s and the object to be heated support part 10t may also be different.

Each storage space 14 is a space defined by heating walls 10 on both sides and upper and lower heat radiation members 12, and is designed to store one heated object 13 at a time and heat it with radiant heat from the upper and lower heat radiation members 12. An opening and closing door (not shown) is provided on the front surface 14a (see FIG. 2) of each storage space 14, and this opening and closing door is opened when the heated object 13 is carried in and out, and closed when heating. Specifically, an opening for carrying in and out the heated object 13 is provided at a position corresponding to each storage space 14 on the front panel (not shown) of the entire device, and the opening and closing door is provided at each opening. In addition, as shown in FIG. 2, the back surface 14b side of each storage space 14 is closed by a back wall member 26. However, even when the opening and closing door is closed, the inside of the storage space 14 is not completely sealed, and the heated and expanded air can escape.

The spaces between the top two heat radiating members 12 and the bottom two heat radiating members 12 are empty spaces into which no heated object 13 is introduced, forming insulating spaces 20T and 20B for forming an insulating layer of air.

The stand unit 30 is placed on the floor surface on which the heating device 100 is installed, and is equipped with a bottom plate 17 and the heating device main body on top of it. It is equipped with a heat insulating function that prevents the heat of the heating device 100 from being transmitted to the floor surface, and an anti-vibration function that prevents vibrations of the floor surface from being transmitted to the heating device main body.

The heating device 100 main body including the stand unit 30 may be placed in a chamber 200 as shown in FIG. 7 to prevent particles from entering from the outside and to prevent exhaust heat from affecting other devices in the installation location such as a clean room. In this chamber 200, a blower fan 230 installed at an exhaust port 220 on the ceiling of the chamber exhausts the hot exhaust air from the heating device 100 inside the chamber 200, and outside air is introduced into the chamber 200 through an intake port 210 at the lower left, which creates a negative pressure inside the chamber 200. A HEPA filter (not shown) is installed inside the intake port 210 to prevent particles from entering from the outside.

Next, the operation of the heating device 100 of the present invention thus configured will be described with reference to FIGS.
When the heating device 100 is used, first, electricity is started to be applied to the coil heater 11, and the heating wall 10 is heated until the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 15 reaches a predetermined temperature. Next, the opening and closing doors (not shown) on the front surface 14a of each storage space 14 are opened, and each object to be heated is carried into each storage space 14 using a predetermined transport device, and then the opening and closing doors are closed.

In each storage space 14 , the object 13 to be heated is heated by radiant heat from the left and right heating walls 10 and by radiant heat from the upper and lower heat radiating members 12 that generate heat by thermal conduction from these heating walls 10 .
The temperature uniformity of the heating wall 10 within each storage space 14 and between storage spaces 14 is ensured by optimal placement of the coil heaters 11 and independent heat generation control of the coil heaters 11 located in each portion based on the detected temperatures of each temperature sensor 15.

In addition, since the heating device 100 is constructed in such a way that the heat radiating member 12 blocks the air flow between adjacent storage spaces 14 as described above, it is believed that air flow caused by rising hot air is unlikely to occur. Therefore, the air temperature in each storage space 14 is highly uniform, and the temperature uniformity of the heat radiating member 12 is maintained even if the connection of the heat radiating member 12 to the heating wall 10 is loosened to the extent that it can be manually slid. The heated object 13 is heated uniformly by the heat radiation from this heat radiating member 12.

Next, the maintenance work for the heating device 100 of the present invention configured as above will be described with reference to FIGS.
All objects to be heated 13 are removed while the heating device 100 is in operation, and after operation is completed and the temperature inside the device has sufficiently dropped, the front panel (not shown) is removed to open the front of the device. This places the heating device 100 in the state shown in Figures 1 and 6. Note that instead of removing the front panel, the front panel may be slid or hinged to open the entire front side, in which case maintainability can be further improved.

Next, each heat radiating member 12 is removed manually or by using, for example, a transport device for the heated object 13. At this time, since each heat radiating member is not fixed with bolts or the like but is simply placed on the support surface of the heat radiating member support part 10s, the work can be performed quickly without the trouble of releasing the fixation.
Each heat radiating member 12 is immersed in a cleaning bath or wiped with cleaning paper soaked in a solvent to remove chemicals adhering to the surface of the heat radiating member 12 .
Meanwhile, the inside of the heating device 100 from which the heat radiation member 12 has been removed, i.e., the surface of each heating wall 10 and the surface of the rear wall member 26 on the rear side, are wiped with cleaning paper soaked in a solvent to remove any adhering chemical substances.

After cleaning, each heat radiating member is inserted into the heat radiating member support part 10s either manually or, for example, using a transport device for the heated object 13. At this time, each heat radiating member is simply placed on the support surface of the heat radiating member support part 10s, so there is no need to secure it with bolts or the like, and the work can be done quickly. Finally, the front panel is reinstalled to complete the maintenance work.

Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to such specific examples, and various modifications and changes are possible within the scope of the gist of the present invention described in the claims.
For example, an air supply path may be provided in the heating device 100 to introduce gas such as an inert gas for preventing oxidation of the surface of the heated object 13 or a gas for causing a specific chemical reaction with the surface of the heated object 13 into the accommodation space 14 from the rear side. However, it is preferable to adjust the flow rate of this gas so that it becomes a very weak laminar flow that does not stir up particles and does not impair the temperature uniformity of the heat radiating member 12.

The surface treatment of the heat radiation member 12 is not limited to black plating, and any surface treatment that can suppress the dissipation of radiant heat, such as a non-glossy surface treatment, can also be used.

The heating device according to the present invention can be widely used in industrial fields for heat treatment of various plate-shaped members such as glass substrates, semiconductor lead frames, and other metal and synthetic resin plates.

10, 10A to 10C Heating wall 10s Heat radiation member support part 10t Heated object support part 11 Coil heater 11s Metal tube (sheath)
Reference Signs List 11w heating wire 12 heat radiation member 13 object to be heated 14 storage space 14a front surface 14b rear surface 15 temperature sensor 16 top plate 17 bottom plate 20T, 20B heat insulating space 24 through hole 25 through hole 26 rear wall member 30 stand unit 100 heating device 200 chamber 210 intake port 220 exhaust port 230 blower fan

Claims (8)

A plurality of heating walls arranged vertically opposite each other at a distance in the left-right direction;
A plurality of heat generating means provided on each of the plurality of heating walls;
A plurality of metal heat radiation members arranged in a shelf-like manner at a distance in the vertical direction in the opposing regions of the plurality of heating walls to conduct heat from the heating walls;
Equipped with
The plurality of heating walls and the plurality of heat radiating members define a plurality of storage spaces arranged in the vertical direction for respectively accommodating flat-plate-shaped objects to be heated.
The vertically adjacent storage spaces are isolated by the heat radiation member to block air flow therebetween,
The heating device is characterized in that the multiple heat radiating members are placed on a pair of heat radiating member support parts whose both side ends are provided at corresponding positions on the opposing wall surfaces of the multiple heating walls, are not fixed in either the vertical or horizontal directions, and are arranged so that they can be pulled out forward. The heating device according to claim 1, wherein the heat radiation member support portion is a groove portion having a generally U-shaped cross section provided on the opposing wall surface of the heating wall body, and the lower surface of the side end portion of the heat radiation member is placed on the upward surface of the groove portion. The heating device according to claim 1, wherein the opposing heating walls are provided at corresponding positions on the wall surfaces facing the storage space, and each of the heating walls has a support portion for the heated object on which the lower surfaces of both ends of the heated object are placed. The heating device according to claim 3 , wherein the heat radiating member and the object to be heated have substantially the same shapes and dimensions, and the heat radiating member support part and the object support part have substantially the same shapes and dimensions. The heating device according to claim 3, wherein the storage space has openings on the front side and the back side defined by the heating wall and the heat radiating member, the opening on the back side is closed by a blocking member, and the opening on the front side is configured to be openable and closable by a door, and the heated object and the heat radiating member can be brought in and taken out when the door is in an open state. At least one temperature sensor provided on each of the plurality of heating walls;
2. The heating device according to claim 1, further comprising: a temperature control means for independently controlling the heat generation amount of each of a plurality of heat generation means provided on each of the plurality of heating walls so that the detected temperature of at least one temperature sensor provided on each of the plurality of heating walls follows a target temperature. A heating device according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
1. A heating system, further comprising a chamber for housing the heating device,
The heating system, wherein the chamber has a ventilation mechanism for ventilating the chamber through an intake port at the bottom for taking in atmospheric air and an exhaust port at the ceiling for discharging atmospheric air. A heating method, comprising heating an object by using the heating device according to claim 1 .

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