JP2018169077A - Heat treatment device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a heat treatment device, upon cooling of the inside thereof, preventing or reducing the sticking of a sublimate to the inside of the device.SOLUTION: Provided is a heat treatment device 100 comprising furnace walls 101 to 103 having a cooling function cooling the inside of a chamber, in which the insides of the furnace walls 101 to 103 are provided with partition walls 151 to 153, and a gas introduced from the outside into the chamber is circulated between the furnace walls 101 to 103 and the partition walls 151 to 153.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a heat treatment apparatus used for heating a substrate of a flexible organic EL display, for example.

  For example, in a flexible organic EL display substrate or the like, a heat treatment apparatus is used to perform processing such as crystallization and phase change on a thin film formed on the substrate. As this type of heat treatment apparatus, an apparatus provided with a cooling device including a cooling pipe is used so as to cope with a process involving heating and cooling and to rapidly cool the inside of the apparatus (see, for example, Patent Document 1). ).

JP 2011-528501 A

  When cooling with a cooling pipe as described above, depending on the substrate to be processed, components present as gas in the apparatus tend to sublimate and adhere to the cooling pipe, etc., and it takes time to clean it. Had problems.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to prevent or reduce sublimation from adhering to the inside of the apparatus when the inside of the heat treatment apparatus is cooled.

To achieve the above objective,
The present invention
A heat treatment apparatus including a furnace wall having a cooling function for cooling the inside of the chamber,
A partition wall is provided inside the furnace wall,
A gas introduced into the chamber from the outside flows between the furnace wall and the partition wall.

  As a result, the gas introduced from the outside that circulates between the furnace wall and the partition wall is less likely to cause the gas in the chamber to flow back into the gap, thereby preventing or reducing the attachment of sublimates. Can be easily done.

  In the present invention, when the inside of the heat treatment apparatus is cooled, it is possible to prevent or reduce the sublimate from adhering to the inside of the apparatus.

It is a perspective view which shows the external appearance structure of a heat processing apparatus. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view which shows the structure inside a heat processing apparatus. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the inner wall part of a heat processing apparatus.

  Hereinafter, as an embodiment of the present invention, an example of a heat treatment apparatus used for producing a substrate of a flexible organic EL display will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. For example, when using polyimide as a substrate material, the substrate of the flexible organic EL display is subjected to heat treatment using a heat treatment apparatus as in this embodiment in order to cure after applying liquid polyimide on a glass substrate. Done.

(Schematic configuration of heat treatment apparatus 100)
As shown in FIG. 1, the heat treatment apparatus 100 forms a chamber surrounded by an upper furnace wall 101, a lower furnace wall 102, side furnace walls 103 and 103, and carry-in / out furnace walls 104 and 104 made of, for example, aluminum. Made up of. A concave portion 111 is formed on the outer side of the furnace walls 101 to 103 and a shutter 121 (furnace wall) to be described later, and a cooling pipe for water cooling (not shown) is embedded so that the inside of the chamber can be cooled. ing. The furnace walls 101 to 103 are each provided with two purge gas introduction pipes 141 into which purge gas introduced into the chamber from the outside flows.

  Each of the carry-in / out furnace walls 104 and 104 is formed with an opening 104a through which a substrate 201 to be heat-treated is carried in / out, and is closed by a shutter 121 that can be opened and closed. The opening / closing structure of the shutter 121 is not particularly limited, and may be provided so as to be slidable along the loading / unloading part furnace wall 104, or may be provided to be opened / closed by a hinge or the like provided near the end edge. May be. In the vicinity of the side portion of the carry-in / out furnace wall 104/104, a heater 132 is provided across the carry-in / out furnace wall 104/104. As shown in FIG. 2, a purge gas introduction wall 122 made of, for example, stainless steel (SUS) and having a cavity formed therein is provided inside the shutter 121. A large number of purge gas ejection holes (not shown) are formed in the wall member 123 on the inner surface side of the purge gas introduction wall 122 so that the purge gas flowing from the purge gas introduction pipe 124 can be introduced into the chamber.

  The side furnace walls 103 and 103 of the heat treatment apparatus 100 are provided with a large number of heaters 131 between them. The substrate 201 carried in from the opening 104a of the carry-in / out furnace wall 104 is placed on, for example, a support member (not shown) so as to be positioned between the heaters 131 arranged above and below. . A purge gas introduction pipe 142 and a discharge pipe 143 are also provided across the side furnace walls 103 and 103. The purge gas introduction pipe 142 is disposed at substantially the same height as the heater 131 in the vicinity of the middle of the carry-in / out furnace wall 104/104. The purge gas introduction pipe 142 is formed with a large number of ejection holes over its entire length, and purge gas introduced from the outside is blown into the chamber. For example, the discharge pipe 143 is disposed at substantially the same height as the heater 131 in the vicinity of the middle between the purge gas introduction pipe 142 and each carry-in / out furnace wall 104. The exhaust pipe 143 is formed with a large number of suction holes over its entire length, and the gas inside the chamber is sucked and discharged by a blower provided outside, for example. The discharge pipe 143 may be disposed around the outside of the substrate 201 and the inside of the carry-in / out section furnace wall 104.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, an upper partition wall 151, a lower partition wall 152, and a side partition wall 153 are disposed inside the upper furnace wall 101, the lower furnace wall 102, and the side furnace walls 103 and 103. -153 is provided. The side partition walls 153 and 153 have holes through which the heater 131, the purge gas introduction pipe 142, and the discharge pipe 143 pass. In FIG. 3, these holes are for simplification. It is drawn without. The material of the partition walls 151 to 153 is not particularly limited, but is preferably a material that has a low possibility of contaminating the inside of the chamber, such as glass or ceramic. The partition walls 151 to 153 are provided so as to form a predetermined gap with the furnace walls 101 to 103 (in general, the narrower the gap, the better). A predetermined gap is also formed between the partition walls 151 to 153 and between the partition walls 151 to 153 and the carry-in / out furnace wall 104/104.

(Purge gas distribution)
In the heat treatment apparatus 100, for example, heated nitrogen gas as a purge gas is introduced from the purge gas introduction pipes 124, 141, and 142, and the gas inside the chamber is discharged from the discharge pipe 143, thereby generating in the chamber. Sublimate is discharged to the outside.

  More specifically, the purge gas introduced from the purge gas introduction pipe 141 provided in the furnace walls 101 to 103 is shown in the gap between the two by providing the partition walls 151 to 153 inside the furnace walls 101 to 103. 3, the gap between the upper partition wall 151 and the side partition wall 153, and the gap between the lower partition wall 152 and the side partition wall 153 as shown by the arrow B , And through the gap between the partition walls 151 to 153 and the carry-in / out furnace wall 104, flows into the chamber surrounded by the partition walls 151 to 153, and is discharged from the discharge pipe 143. Here, the pressure of the purge gas in the gap between the furnace walls 101 to 103 and the partition walls 151 to 153 is higher than the inside of the chamber surrounded by the partition walls 151 to 153, and the furnace walls 101 to 103 and the partition wall 151. If the dimensions of each part, the flow rate or pressure of the purge gas, the pressure difference, etc. are set so as to flow at a predetermined flow rate into the chamber surrounded by the partition walls 151 to 153 from the gap between It is possible to easily prevent the sublimate generated in the chamber from sublimating and adhering to the furnace walls 101 to 103. Further, by heating the purge gas, it becomes easier to prevent or reduce the adhesion of the sublimate due to sublimation.

  In the purge gas introduction wall 122, the purge gas introduced from the purge gas introduction pipe 124 always flows into the chamber from the purge gas ejection hole of the wall member 123 in the cavity, so that the sublimate adheres to the cavity. Can be easily prevented. For example, when a gap is provided between the shutter 121 and the purge gas introduction wall 122, a purge gas injection hole is also formed in the wall member on the shutter 121 side of the purge gas introduction wall 122, and the gas in the chamber is formed in the gap. By making it difficult to flow back, it is possible to easily prevent the sublimate from adhering to the shutter 121.

  As described above, even when a large amount of sublimate is generated in the furnace when the liquid polyimide applied on the glass substrate is cured, the furnace wall is cooled by installing a cooling pipe or the like. It can be easily prevented or reduced that the sublimate adheres.

(Other matters)
In the above example, the preheated nitrogen gas is introduced from the purge gas introduction pipes 124, 141, 142. However, the heater is installed in the gap between the furnace walls 101-103 and the partition walls 151-153. The purge gas introduced from the purge gas introduction pipe 124 or the like may be heated.

  Further, the size of the gap between the partition walls 151 to 153 and the furnace walls 101 to 103, the flow rate of the purge gas, the pressure, the presence / absence of heating, the heating temperature, etc. are not particularly limited. May be set so as to prevent or reduce the temperature to the extent that satisfies the above, and to obtain appropriate heat retention, heating, and cooling characteristics.

  Further, the arrangement of the purge gas introduction pipes 124, 141, 142 and / or the size of the purge gas injection holes formed in the purge gas introduction pipe 142 and the wall member 123 of the purge gas introduction wall 122 and the suction holes formed in the discharge pipe 143 The number, the arrangement, etc. may be set so as to effectively prevent the adhesion of the sublimate.

  In addition, partition walls similar to the partition walls 151 to 153 may be provided inside the shutter 121 and the loading / unloading part furnace wall 104.

  In addition, when two shutters 121 are provided as described above, it is usually easy to improve the operation efficiency by simultaneously carrying in and carrying out the heat treatment target material. However, the present invention is not limited to this. 121 may be provided.

  Further, the gaps are not limited to the spaces between the partition walls 151 to 153 and between the partition walls 151 to 153 and the carry-in / out furnace wall 104/104, and at least a part of them is formed. A gap may be provided in the chamber, and purge gas may flow into the chamber from the gap.

  Also, when the partition wall is divided into more wall members, or when there are through holes through which the heater is inserted, the space between the wall members or between the partition wall and the heater, etc. A purge gas may be allowed to flow into the chamber from the gap.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Heat processing apparatus 101 Upper furnace wall 102 Lower furnace wall 103 Side furnace wall 104 Loading / unloading part furnace wall 104a Opening 111 Recessed part 121 Shutter 122 Purge gas introduction wall 123 Wall member 124 Purge gas introduction pipe 131 Heater 132 Heater 141 Purge gas introduction pipe 142 Purge gas Introduction pipe 143 Discharge pipe 151 Upper partition wall 152 Lower partition wall 153 Side partition wall 201 Substrate

Claims (6)

A heat treatment apparatus including a furnace wall having a cooling function for cooling the inside of the chamber,
A partition wall is provided inside the furnace wall,
A heat treatment apparatus, wherein a gas introduced into the chamber from the outside flows between the furnace wall and the partition wall. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1,
The said partition wall is provided in the inside of the furnace wall of the at least 4 surface side except the 2 surface sides which mutually oppose in the said chamber, The heat processing apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 2,
The gas introduced into the chamber from the outside flows between the facing two-side furnace wall and the two-side edge of the partition wall, and is introduced into the inside of the partition wall. It is comprised so that it may be comprised, The heat processing apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. It is the heat processing apparatus of Claim 2 or Claim 3, Comprising:
A gap is formed between the partition walls provided inside the furnace wall on the four-surface side, and the gas introduced into the chamber from the outside flows through the gap and is introduced into the inside of the partition wall. It is comprised so that it may be performed. The heat processing apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned. A heat treatment apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 4,
A heat treatment apparatus comprising a discharge flow path for discharging gas inside the partition wall to the outside. A heat treatment apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
A heat treatment apparatus, wherein the heated gas is configured to flow between the furnace wall and the partition wall.

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