JP2008039376A - Heat treating device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a heat treating device capable of suppressing accumulation of sublimate in a lead-out duct. <P>SOLUTION: The heat treating device 1A performs heat treatment of a treated object W by heating while circulating air in a heat treating part 21 in a state of the treated object W being held in the heat treating part 21, and ventilates the heat treating part 21 by allowing air in the heat treating part 21 to flow out into the lead-out duct 5 while heating outside air and supplying it into the heat treating part 21. The lead-out duct 5 is provided with a catalyst 6 capable of decomposing the sublimate produced from the treated object when performing heat treatment of the treated object W. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a heat treatment apparatus for heat treating an object to be treated.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a heat treatment apparatus, an apparatus that heats an object to be processed by heating the object in the heat treatment part while circulating the air in the heat treatment part is known.

  Such a heat treatment apparatus may be used, for example, in a pre-bake or post-bake process of a photoresist or an organic thin film in an FPD (flat panel display) manufacturing process. In these processes, when the object to be processed comprising a glass substrate or the like is heat-treated, a volatile component contained in the photoresist or the like is vaporized to generate a large amount of sublimate, and the sublimate is recrystallized and heat-treated. There were problems such as scattering around the device and adhering to the periphery.

As a countermeasure for this problem, for example, Patent Document 1 describes that the inside of the heat treatment section is ventilated by heating the outside air and sending the air into the heat treatment section while allowing the air in the heat treatment section to flow into the outlet duct. . By ventilating in this way, recrystallization of the sublimate and adhesion to the surroundings can be suppressed.
JP-A-10-141868

  However, when ventilated as described above, the air that has flowed out of the heat treatment section is cooled when flowing in the outlet duct, and the sublimate may accumulate in the outlet duct.

  An object of this invention is to provide the heat processing apparatus which can suppress that a sublimate accumulates in a lead-out duct in view of such a situation.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the object to be processed is heated while circulating the air in the heat treatment part in a state where the object to be processed is accommodated in the heat treatment part, and the heat treatment is performed by heating the outside air. In the heat treatment apparatus for ventilating the inside of the heat treatment part by letting the air in the heat treatment part to flow into the lead-out duct while being fed into the part, the lead-out duct is generated from the work piece when the work is heat-treated. A catalyst capable of decomposing the sublimate is provided.

  The invention according to claim 2 is the heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an intake duct for sucking outside air, wherein the lead-out duct is an exhaust for directly discharging the air flowing out of the heat treatment section to the outside. A duct and a recirculation duct for branching from the exhaust duct and connecting to the intake duct, and sending the air flowing out from the heat treatment section into the heat treatment section again through the intake duct, and the catalyst is The exhaust duct is provided in a portion upstream of the position where the reflux duct branches off or in the reflux duct.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the heat treatment apparatus according to the second aspect, the catalyst is provided in a portion upstream of a position where the reflux duct in the exhaust duct branches, and flows in the intake duct. It further comprises a heat exchanger for exchanging heat between the outside air and the air flowing in the portion downstream of the position where the reflux duct in the exhaust duct branches.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the heat treatment apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, an intake duct for sucking in the outside air, an outside air flowing in the intake duct, and a position downstream of the position where the catalyst in the outlet duct is provided. It further comprises a heat exchanger that exchanges heat with air flowing through the portion.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a heat treatment part in which an object to be treated is accommodated, a lead-out duct connected to the heat treatment part, and heating the outside air to heat treat the object to be treated. An air-conditioning unit that sends in, and the air-conditioning unit flows out the air in the heat-treatment unit into the air-conditioning unit by sending outside air into the heat-treatment unit, and the lead-out duct is It is configured to exhaust all the air flowing out from the heat treatment section to the outside, and a catalyst capable of decomposing sublimates generated from the object to be treated when heat treating the object to be treated is provided in the lead-out duct. It is characterized by being provided.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the air in the heat treatment section contacts the catalyst when flowing in the lead-out duct, and the sublimate generated from the object to be processed contained in the air is decomposed by the catalyst. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the sublimate from accumulating in the outlet duct.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the air that has flowed out of the heat treatment section is sent again into the heat treatment section through the reflux duct and the intake duct after the air that has flowed out of the heat treatment section has contacted the catalyst. It will be reused. Thereby, both the intake amount of the outside air sucked into the intake duct and the exhaust amount discharged to the outside from the exhaust duct can be suppressed to be small, and energy saving can be achieved.

  According to the invention which concerns on Claim 3, since external air can be heated using the heat of the air which flowed out from the heat processing part with the heat exchanger, energy saving can be aimed at. Moreover, since the air that is exchanged with the outside air by the heat exchanger has already decomposed the sublimate contained in the air after contacting the catalyst, even if the air is cooled by heat exchange, Accumulation of sublimates in the heat exchanger can be suppressed. In addition, the air flowing out from the heat treatment section is reused by the reflux duct and the intake duct, so that energy can be saved and the amount of intake air is kept small, so that heat exchange by the heat exchanger is effectively performed. It becomes like this.

  According to the invention which concerns on Claim 4, since external air can be heated using the heat | fever of the air which flowed out from the heat processing part with the heat exchanger, energy saving can be aimed at. Moreover, since the air that is exchanged with the outside air by the heat exchanger has already decomposed the sublimate contained in the air after contacting the catalyst, even if the air is cooled by heat exchange, Accumulation of sublimates in the heat exchanger can be suppressed.

  Moreover, it is good also as a structure which flows out in the derivation | leading-out duct, without returning the air in a heat processing part to an air conditioning part by sending outside air in a heat processing part by an air conditioning part like the invention which concerns on Claim 5. That is, in this configuration, the air in the heat treatment part is all circulated into the outlet duct without being circulated. Even in such a configuration, by providing the catalyst in the outlet duct, it is possible to suppress the deposition of the sublimate in the outlet duct. Moreover, since all the air that has flowed out of the heat treatment section into the lead-out duct is exhausted to the outside by the lead-out duct, the air after contacting the catalyst is not sent into the heat treatment section again. For this reason, even if the catalyst deteriorates, the sublimate concentration in the heat treatment part does not increase.

  Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a heat treatment apparatus 1A according to the first embodiment of the present invention. This heat treatment apparatus 1A is used in an FPD manufacturing process and is a so-called clean oven installed in a clean room.

  The heat treatment apparatus 1A includes an apparatus main body 2 having a heat insulating chamber 20 surrounded by a heat insulating wall. The inside of the heat insulation chamber 20 is partitioned by a partition wall 24, and a left part of the partition wall 24 is a heat treatment part 21 and a right part is an air conditioning part 23. An opening is formed in the partition wall 24, and a filter 31 is disposed in the opening so that ventilation through the filter 31 is possible. Although not shown in the drawings, the apparatus main body 2 is provided with a communication path that connects the inside of the heat treatment section 21 and the inside of the air conditioning section 23.

  Inside the heat treatment part 21, a work holding part 22 is provided which can hold a plurality of objects to be processed (hereinafter simply referred to as work) W made of a glass substrate or the like in a vertically aligned state. By holding the workpiece W in the portion 22, the workpiece W is accommodated in the heat treatment portion 21.

  The air conditioner 23 is provided with a heater 32 and a blower 33. The heater 32 heats the air in the air conditioning unit 23, and the blower 33 sends the air in the air conditioning unit 23 into the heat treatment unit 21 through the filter 31. And if air is sent in in the heat processing part 21 with the air blower 33, the air in the heat processing part 21 will be returned in the air-conditioning part 23 through the communicating path which is not illustrated. Then, the air returned into the air conditioning unit 23 is heated again by the heater 32. That is, the air in the heat treatment part 21 is heated while being circulated, so that the workpiece W accommodated in the heat treatment part 21 is heat treated.

  Further, an air intake duct 4 is connected to the air conditioning unit 23, and a lead-out duct 5 is connected to the heat treatment unit 21. Then, the outside air sucked from the intake duct 4 is sent into the heat treatment part 21 through the air conditioning part 23 and the filter 31, and the air in the heat treatment part 21 flows out into the outlet duct 5, whereby the inside of the heat treatment part 21. Is designed to be ventilated.

  The lead-out duct 5 includes an exhaust duct 51 having one end connected to the heat treatment section 21 and the other end opened to the outside, and a reflux duct 52 branched from the exhaust duct 51 and connected to the intake duct 4. ing. The exhaust duct 51 is for exhausting the air that has flowed out of the heat treatment section 21 directly to the outside, and the reflux duct 52 is for the air that has flowed out of the heat treatment section 21 through the intake duct 4 again. It is for sending in.

  A blower 7 is provided in the middle of the reflux duct 52, while a catalyst 6 is provided in a portion of the exhaust duct 51 upstream of the position where the reflux duct 52 branches. In addition, the catalyst 6 may be provided in the upstream part of the blower 7 of the recirculation | reflux duct 52, as shown with a 2 dotted line in FIG.

  The catalyst 6 is for accelerating the oxidative decomposition reaction of the sublimate generated from the workpiece W when the workpiece W is heat-treated. In the present embodiment, the active metal is a noble metal such as platinum (Pt) or palladium (Pd), or an alloy of these noble metals. These catalysts 6 exhibit catalytic activity under a temperature atmosphere of about 150 to 200 ° C. Since the temperature of the air passing through the catalyst 6 varies depending on the heat treatment temperature and the way the duct is routed, if the catalyst 6 does not pass at a temperature sufficient for the catalyst activity, a heater 10 is attached in front of the catalyst 6 to What is necessary is just to raise the temperature of air to temperature. In addition, if the sublimate generated from the workpiece W contains a substance called organic poison (organic compound containing Si, P, S, etc.), the catalyst 6 may be poisoned. In such a case, a pretreatment material (alumina, ceramic, etc.) may be disposed before the catalyst 6.

  The intake duct 4 and the lead-out duct 5 are provided with dampers 8 for adjusting the air volume at appropriate positions.

  When the heat treatment described above is performed and the blower 7 is driven, the air in the heat treatment portion 21 is sucked from one end of the exhaust duct 51 and flows into the exhaust duct 51. The air flowing into the exhaust duct 51 comes into contact with the catalyst 6 to decompose sublimates generated from the work W contained in the air, and then a part of the air enters the reflux duct 52 from the middle of the exhaust duct 51. It flows in and is sucked into the blower 7, and the rest is discharged from the other end of the exhaust duct 51 to the outside. When the air in the heat treatment section 21 flows into the exhaust duct 51, the outside air is sucked from the intake duct 4 and sent into the air conditioning section 23, where it is heated by the heater 32, and then the filter 31. Through the heat treatment section 21. That is, the heater 32 has two functions, that is, a function of heating the outside air and a function of heating the air in the heat treatment unit 21 while circulating it as described above.

  Note that the air discharged from the blower 7 is supplied from the recirculation duct 52 to the intake duct 4 and sent into the heat treatment section 21 again.

  As described above, in the heat treatment apparatus 1A according to the first embodiment, when the air in the heat treatment section 21 flows in the outlet duct 5, the sublimate generated from the workpiece W contained in the air comes into contact with the catalyst 6. Since it will be decomposed | disassembled by the catalyst 6, it can suppress that a sublimate deposits in the downstream part from the position in which the catalyst 6 in the outlet duct 5 was provided. Further, since the catalyst 6 is provided on the upstream side of the blower 7, it is possible to suppress the deposition of sublimates in the blower 7.

  Furthermore, since the air that has flowed out of the heat treatment section 21 comes into contact with the catalyst 6 and then is sent again into the heat treatment section 21 through the reflux duct 52 and the intake duct 4, the air that has flowed out of the heat treatment section 21 is regenerated. It will be used. Thereby, both the intake amount of the outside air sucked into the intake duct 4 and the exhaust amount discharged to the outside from the exhaust duct 51 can be suppressed to be small, and energy saving can be achieved.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 2, the heat processing apparatus 1B which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated. In the following second to fourth embodiments, the same components as those in the heat treatment apparatus 1A according to the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted.

  In the heat treatment apparatus 1 </ b> B according to the second embodiment, the lead-out duct 5 includes only one exhaust duct 51 without branching the reflux duct 52 from the exhaust duct 51. That is, in the second embodiment, all the air flowing out from the heat treatment unit 21 is exhausted to the outside of the heat treatment apparatus 1B by the exhaust duct 51. A blower 7 is provided in the vicinity of the downstream end of the exhaust duct 51, and a catalyst 6 is provided on the upstream side of the blower 7.

  Furthermore, in the heat treatment apparatus 1B according to the second embodiment, the heat exchange is interposed between the position where the exhaust duct 51 is provided with the blower 7 and the position where the catalyst 6 is provided, and is interposed in the middle of the intake duct 4. A vessel 9 is provided. The heat exchanger 9 exchanges heat between the outside air flowing in the intake duct 4 and the air flowing in the downstream portion of the outlet duct 51 from the position where the catalyst 6 is provided.

  If the heat exchanger 9 is provided in this way, the outside air can be heated by using the heat of the air that has flowed out of the heat treatment section 21 by the heat exchanger 9, and thus energy saving can be achieved. Moreover, since the air exchanged with the outside air by the heat exchanger 9 is the one in which the sublimate contained in the air after contacting the catalyst 6 has already been decomposed, the air is cooled by heat exchange. Also, it is possible to suppress the deposition of sublimates in the heat exchanger 9.

  Here, in 1st Embodiment, since the reflux duct 52 is provided and the air after contacting the catalyst 6 is sent again in the heat processing part 21, the catalyst 6 deteriorates for some reason. In such a case, the air containing the sublimation product is sent again into the heat treatment unit 21, which may increase the concentration of the sublimation product in the heat treatment unit 21. On the other hand, in the second embodiment, all the air that has flowed out of the heat treatment section 21 is exhausted to the outside of the heat treatment apparatus 1B by the exhaust duct 51, so that the air after contacting the catalyst 6 is again heat treated. It is not sent into the part 21. For this reason, even if the catalyst 6 deteriorates, the sublimate concentration in the heat treatment part 21 does not increase. Moreover, fresh fresh air is always introduced into the heat insulating chamber 20 through the intake duct 4.

  Furthermore, in the first embodiment, the blower 7 is necessarily required to make the wind direction in the reflux duct 52 in one direction. However, in the second embodiment, the blower 7 can be omitted depending on the configuration.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 3, the heat processing apparatus 1C which concerns on 3rd Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated. The heat treatment apparatus 1C according to the third embodiment is a combination of the structure of the heat treatment apparatus 1A according to the first embodiment and the structure of the heat treatment apparatus 1B according to the second embodiment. The effects of both reuse and heating of the outside air using the heat of the air flowing out from the heat treatment section 21 can be obtained.

  That is, in the third embodiment, the catalyst 6 is provided in the upstream portion of the exhaust duct 51 from the position where the reflux duct 52 branches, and the blower 7 is located at the position where the reflux duct 52 of the exhaust duct 51 branches. It is provided in the downstream rather than. Further, the heat exchanger 9 is interposed between the position where the reflux duct 52 in the exhaust duct 51 branches and the position where the blower 7 is provided, and is interposed in the middle of the intake duct 4.

  In this way, not only the effects of the first and second embodiments are obtained, but also the air that has flowed out of the heat treatment section 21 by the recirculation duct 52 and the intake duct 4 is reused. Since the amount is kept small, heat exchange by the heat exchanger 9 is effectively performed.

  In the present embodiment, the catalyst 6 is provided in a portion of the exhaust duct 51 upstream of the position where the reflux duct 52 branches. However, the catalyst 6 includes the reflux duct 52 and the reflux duct 52 in the exhaust duct 51. It may be provided on the downstream side of the branching position and on the upstream side of the heat exchanger 9.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 4, the heat processing apparatus 1D which concerns on 4th Embodiment of this invention is demonstrated. In the heat treatment apparatus 1D according to the fourth embodiment, the heat insulation chamber 20 is vertically divided by the partition wall 24, the air intake duct 4 is connected to the air conditioning unit 23 from the side, and the heat treatment unit 21 is on the same side as the air intake duct 4. The lead-out duct 5 is connected from the side. In the fourth embodiment, a communication path (not shown) as in the first embodiment is not provided, and the partition wall 24 is provided closer to the intake duct 4 side. A ventilation port 25 is formed between the inner wall surface and the interior of the air conditioning unit 23 and the interior of the heat treatment unit 21 communicate with each other only by the ventilation port 25.

  Similarly to the second embodiment, the lead-out duct 5 is configured by only the exhaust duct 51, and all the air flowing out from the heat treatment section 21 is discharged to the outside of the heat treatment apparatus 1D. The exhaust duct 51 is not provided with the blower 7 and is provided with only the catalyst 6 and the heater 10.

  In the heat treatment apparatus 1D having such a configuration, when the blower 33 provided in the air conditioning unit 23 is operated, outside air is sucked from the intake duct 4 and sent into the air conditioning unit 23, where it is heated by the heater 32. . Thereafter, the heated outside air is sent into the heat treatment section 21 through the vent hole 25 by the blower 33. As a result, the workpiece (not shown) is heat treated, and the air in the heat treatment section 21 flows out into the exhaust duct 51. That is, in the fourth embodiment, as indicated by an arrow a in the figure, the air in the heat treatment part 21 is all circulated into the exhaust duct 51 without being circulated. As described above, the air conditioning unit 23 according to the fourth embodiment has a function of causing the air in the heat treatment unit 21 to flow into the exhaust duct 51 without returning to the air conditioning unit 23 by sending outside air into the heat treatment unit 21. . And since all the air in the heat processing part 21 flows out in the exhaust duct 51, the air containing the sublimate generated in the heat processing part 21 does not flow into the air-conditioning part 23.

  Even in such a configuration, by providing the catalyst 6 in the exhaust duct 51, it is possible to suppress the deposition of sublimates in the exhaust duct 51.

  In addition, the effect of the derivation | leading-out duct 5 comprised only with the exhaust duct 51 is the same as that of 2nd Embodiment.

It is a schematic block diagram of the heat processing apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic block diagram of the heat processing apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic block diagram of the heat processing apparatus which concerns on 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic block diagram of the heat processing apparatus which concerns on 4th Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

1A to 1D Heat treatment apparatus 21 Heat treatment section 23 Air conditioning section 4 Intake duct 5 Outlet duct 51 Exhaust duct 52 Reflux duct 6 Catalyst 9 Heat exchanger

Claims (5)

In a state where the object to be processed is accommodated in the heat treatment part, the object to be processed is heat-treated by heating while circulating the air in the heat treatment part, and the outside air is heated and sent into the heat treatment part while being heated. In the heat treatment apparatus for ventilating the inside of the heat treatment part by causing air to flow into the outlet duct,
A heat treatment apparatus, wherein the lead-out duct is provided with a catalyst capable of decomposing a sublimate generated from the object to be treated when the object to be treated is heat treated. It is further equipped with an intake duct for sucking in outside air,
The lead-out duct is connected to the exhaust duct for discharging the air flowing out from the heat treatment section directly to the outside, and is connected to the intake duct by branching from the exhaust duct, and the air flowing out from the heat treatment section is passed through the intake duct. And the catalyst is provided in a portion upstream of the position where the reflux duct branches in the exhaust duct or in the reflux duct. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1. The catalyst is provided in a portion upstream of the position where the reflux duct in the exhaust duct branches,
3. The heat exchanger according to claim 2, further comprising a heat exchanger that exchanges heat between outside air flowing through the intake duct and air flowing through a portion downstream of the position where the return duct of the exhaust duct branches. Heat treatment equipment.   An intake duct for sucking in outside air; and a heat exchanger for exchanging heat between the outside air flowing in the intake duct and air flowing in a portion downstream of the position where the catalyst is provided in the outlet duct. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1. A heat treatment part in which the object to be treated is accommodated, a lead-out duct connected to the heat treatment part, and an air conditioning part for heating the outside air to heat the object to be treated and sending it into the heat treatment part,
The air-conditioning unit flows out the air in the heat treatment unit into the discharge duct without returning the air in the heat treatment unit by sending outside air into the heat treatment unit,
The outlet duct is configured to discharge all the air that has flowed out of the heat treatment section to the outside, and in the outlet duct, sublimates generated from the object to be processed when the object to be processed is heat-treated. A heat treatment apparatus provided with a decomposable catalyst.

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