TWI590367B - Suspension transfer heat treatment device - Google Patents

Description

Suspension transfer heat treatment device

The present invention relates to a suspension transfer heat treatment apparatus for heating and cooling a substrate while suspending and transporting a substrate.

In a flat panel display such as a liquid crystal display or a plasma display, a resist liquid (referred to as a coated substrate) is applied to a substrate. This coated substrate is produced by uniformly applying a resist liquid on a substrate by a coating device to form a coating film, and then drying the coating film by a heat treatment device.

In the heat treatment apparatus, for example, a suspension transfer heat treatment apparatus shown in Patent Document 1 and FIG. 11 is provided. As shown in FIG. 11, the suspension transfer heat treatment device 90 has a heating region 91, and the heating region 91 heats the substrate W by the temperature of the heating region 91 itself in a state where the substrate W is suspended by ultrasonic vibration, whereby the substrate can be heated in a non-contact manner. W, so that the coating film on the substrate W can be dried without causing uneven drying.

Further, by providing a plurality of drying devices 91 having different set temperatures, it is possible to perform not only drying of the coating film but also baking (baking) during the suspension of the substrate W.

The substrate W heated by the suspension transfer heat treatment device 90 is transferred to, for example, an air suspension unit that cools the substrate W by the discharge air or a cooling unit 92 of the water-cooled metal plate, and is placed on the cooling unit 92 to be cooled. After approaching room temperature, it is transported to a downstream processing unit.

[Previous Technical Literature] [Patent Literature]

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2012-248755

However, in the suspension transfer heat treatment device 90 shown in the above Patent Documents 1 and 11, there is a problem that cooling of the substrate takes time. Specifically, since the substrate W is transferred from the suspension transfer heat treatment device 90 to the cooling unit 92, the transfer robot 93 located between the suspension transfer heat treatment device 90 and the cooling unit 92 receives the substrate W from the suspension transfer heat treatment device 90, and then transports the robot. Since the substrate W is placed on the cooling unit 92, if the time is included in the cooling time of the substrate W, it may not be included in the range of the cooling time that the user can prepare.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a suspension transfer heat treatment apparatus which can cool a heated substrate in a short time.

In order to solve the above problems, the suspension transport heat treatment apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that a plurality of vibrating plate portions including ultrasonic vibration for suspending a substrate, an ultrasonic generating portion for imparting ultrasonic vibration to the vibrating plate portion, and support are provided. a suspension transport unit that transports the transport portion of the substrate in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the substrate is suspended in the end portion of the substrate, and each of the suspension transport units sequentially heats the substrate while ultrasonically suspending the substrate and transports the substrate, and the suspension The transport unit includes a heating region including a heater portion that heats the diaphragm portion of the suspension transport unit, and a cooling region that does not include the heater portion in the floating transport unit.

According to the above-described suspension transfer heat treatment device, the substrate heated by the heating region can be cooled in a short time by the cooling region. Specifically, the suspension transport unit suspends the substrate ultrasonic vibration in the heating region and the cooling region, thereby generating forced convection in the gas between the substrate and the diaphragm portion. Although the forced convection gas is thermally transferred between the substrate and the vibrating plate portion, the forced convection system is generated by ultrasonic vibration, thereby achieving high-speed heat transfer. give away. Thereby, in the cooling zone, the substrate can be cooled in a short time. Further, since the heating region and the cooling region are adjacent to each other in the suspension transfer heat treatment device, the time for transporting the substrate from the heating region to the cooling region can be shortened as compared with the case where the cooling region is separately provided, and since the cooling is also performed in the transportation. Part of the area starts the cooling of the substrate, so that the waste of the time caused by the transfer of the substrate can be reduced.

Further, the transport unit of the cooling region has a vibrating plate cooling portion for cooling the vibrating plate portion on a back side of the vibrating plate portion on a surface on which the substrate is suspended, and the vibrating plate cooling portion has a back surface of the vibrating plate portion In the opposite direction of cooling, the cooling opposing surface may be disposed at a predetermined interval from the back surface of the vibrating plate portion.

Thereby, the temperature rise of the diaphragm portion can be prevented, and the substrate can be cooled in a shorter time. Specifically, the cooling plate facing portion and the back surface of the vibrating plate portion are disposed at a predetermined interval, and when the vibrating plate portion is ultrasonically vibrated by suspending the substrate, ultrasonic waves are generated by the vibrating plate portion. Vibrating, cooling the gas between the opposing surface and the back surface of the vibrating plate portion strongly forcibly convects. Since the forced convection is thermally transmitted between the diaphragm portion and the cooling opposing surface via the gas, the diaphragm cooling portion can cool the diaphragm portion. Since the temperature rise of the diaphragm portion can be prevented as described above, the cooled diaphragm portion can be used to cool the substrate in a short time.

Further, the diaphragm cooling unit may be configured to have a gas supply unit that supplies a gas to a space between the diaphragm cooling unit and the diaphragm unit.

In this manner, since the gas heated by the heat transfer from the diaphragm portion is discharged and the low-temperature gas is supplied, the space between the diaphragm cooling portion and the diaphragm portion can be kept low, so that forced convection can be utilized more effectively. Cool the vibrating plate section.

Further, the dimension of the cooling opposing surface in the horizontal direction may be equal to or greater than the size of the vibrating plate portion.

In this manner, since the heat transfer by the forced convection of the gas is performed on the entire surface of the back surface of the vibrating plate portion, the vibrating plate portion can be effectively cooled.

Further, the cooling region may be such that the substrate is transported on the most downstream side.

By doing so, the heated substrate can be finally cooled sufficiently in the cooling zone to be delivered to the next step.

According to the suspension transfer heat treatment apparatus of the present invention, the heated substrate can be cooled in a short time.

1‧‧‧suspension transfer heat treatment unit

2‧‧‧heating area

3‧‧‧Cooling area

4‧‧‧Vibration plate

5‧‧‧Hotware Department

6‧‧‧Supersonic Generation Department

7‧‧‧Transportation Department

8‧‧‧Let the surface of the substrate suspended

9‧‧‧Back of the surface of the suspended surface of the substrate

10‧‧‧Vibration plate

11‧‧‧Supersonic Generation Department

12‧‧‧Transportation Department

13‧‧‧Let the surface of the substrate

14‧‧‧vibration plate cooling

21‧‧‧vibration board

31‧‧‧heater unit

32‧‧‧ spacers

33‧‧‧heater assembly

41‧‧‧Supersonic vibrator

42‧‧‧ horn

51‧‧‧Hands

52‧‧‧Advance and retreat

61‧‧‧Cooling unit

62‧‧‧ spacers

63‧‧‧Cooling unit assembly

64‧‧‧Cooling the opposite side

65‧‧‧Gas Supply Department

90‧‧‧suspension transfer heat treatment unit

91‧‧‧heating area

92‧‧‧Cooling unit

R1‧‧‧ area

R2‧‧‧ area

W‧‧‧Substrate

X‧‧‧axis direction

Y‧‧‧ axis direction

Z‧‧‧Axis direction

Fig. 1 is a schematic view showing a suspension transfer heat treatment apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the heating zone of the embodiment.

Fig. 3 is a side view of the heating zone of the embodiment.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the cooling zone of the embodiment.

Fig. 5 is a schematic view showing a cooling form of a substrate of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is a graph showing an example of the cooling performance of the cooling zone of the embodiment.

Fig. 7 is a schematic view showing a temperature change of a substrate caused by the suspension transfer heat treatment apparatus of the embodiment.

Figure 8 is a side elevational view of a cooling zone of another embodiment.

Fig. 9 is a schematic view showing a mechanism for cooling a substrate in a cooling region of another embodiment.

Fig. 10 is a graph showing the cooling effect of the cooling zone of another embodiment.

Fig. 11 is a schematic view showing changes in temperature of a substrate caused by the prior suspension transfer heat treatment apparatus and the suspension transfer heat treatment apparatus.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described using the drawings.

Fig. 1 is a schematic view showing a suspension transfer heat treatment apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The suspension transfer heat treatment apparatus 1 has a heating zone 2 and a cooling zone 3, and heats and cools the substrate W while superimposing the substrate W on the ultrasonic vibration.

The heating zone 2 is a zone where the substrate W is heated. In the heating zone 2, a plurality of diaphragm portions 4, which are described later, having different set temperatures, are provided, and not only drying of the substrate W but also baking is performed.

In the cooling zone 3, the transfer of the substrate W is located on the most downstream side, and preparation is made by cooling the substrate W heated by the heating zone 2 to near the room temperature and delivering it to the downstream processing apparatus.

Further, the heating region 2 and the cooling region 3 have a conveying portion 7 to be described later, and the substrate W is suspended in the vibrating plate portion 4 of each of the heating region 2 and the cooling region 3 for a specific period of time, and then conveyed by the conveying portion 7 to the adjacent vibrating plate portion. 4. By repeating this, the substrate W is heated and cooled while being transported in the suspension transfer heat treatment apparatus 1. In the following description, the direction in which the substrate W is transported is referred to as the Y-axis direction, and the direction orthogonal to the horizontal plane on the Y-axis direction is defined as the X-axis direction, and is orthogonal to both the X-axis and the Y-axis direction. The direction is set to the Z-axis direction and the description will be continued.

A schematic view of the heating zone 2 of the present embodiment is shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

The heating region 2 includes a diaphragm portion 4, a heater portion 5, an ultrasonic generating portion 6, and a conveying portion 7, and the diaphragm portion 4 is ultrasonically vibrated by the ultrasonic generating portion 6, and the diaphragm is irradiated by the vibration. The substrate W on the portion 4 is suspended. Further, the diaphragm portion 4 is heated by the heater portion 5. In addition, the substrate W is carried into the vibrating plate portion 4 by the transport unit 7, and is carried out from the vibrating plate portion 4 and transported on the vibrating plate portion 4.

In the present description, the diaphragm unit 4, the ultrasonic generating unit 6, and the transport unit 7 are also collectively referred to as a suspension transport unit.

The diaphragm portion 4 has a plurality of diaphragms 21. In the present embodiment, the vibrating plate 21 is made of aluminum (made of an aluminum alloy) and has a rectangular plate shape, and the vibrating plate portion 4 is formed by continuously arranging the plates in a substrate transport direction (Y-axis direction). .

Since the diaphragm portion 4 is heated by the heater portion 5 as described above, the substrate W suspended in the diaphragm portion 4 can be heated by radiant heating.

Here, the size of the vibrating plate portion 4 in the X-axis direction and the dimension in the Y-axis direction are set to be larger than the dimensions of the substrate W in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction when the substrate W is placed on the vibrating plate 21. Therefore, when the substrate W is heated while floating on the vibrating plate portion 4, there is no portion where the substrate W is exposed from the vibrating plate portion 4, and the entire surface of the substrate W is present on the vibrating plate portion 4, so that the The vibrating plate portion 4 heated by the heater portion 5 uniformly heats the substrate W.

The heater unit 5 is located on the back surface 9 side of the surface 8 of the vibrating plate portion 4 on which the substrate W is suspended, and has a plurality of heater units 31 and spacers 32. One heater assembly 33 is formed by arranging the heater units 31 in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction. Moreover, the spacer 32 is provided in a part of the heater unit 31 to support the vibrating plate 21, and the vibrating plate portion 4 and the heater assembly 33 are separated by a specific interval by the spacer 32.

In the present embodiment, the heater unit 31 is a plate heater in which a cartridge heater or a sheath heater is inserted into a rectangular plate-shaped aluminum plate, and these are arranged in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction without a gap. In addition, a mica heater can also be used here instead of a plate heater.

Here, the dimension of the heater assembly 33 in the X-axis direction is larger than the dimension of the diaphragm portion 4 in the X-axis direction, and the dimension of the heater assembly 33 in the Y-axis direction is equal to the Y-axis direction of the diaphragm portion 4. the above. When the heater assembly 33 is viewed from the diaphragm portion 4 along the Z-axis direction, the region of the diaphragm portion 4 is placed in the region of the heater assembly 33. Thereby, the heater assembly 33 can simultaneously heat the entire surface of the vibrating plate portion 4, and the entire vibrating plate portion 4 can be heated to a uniform temperature. Further, each of the heater units 31 forming the heater assembly 33 may have a smaller dimension in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction than the diaphragm 21. Further, a method of heating the vibrating plate portion 4 by using only one heater unit 31 having a larger size in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction than the vibrating plate portion 4 may be employed without using the form of the aggregate.

The spacer 32 is, for example, a block having a small diameter made of a resin. In the present embodiment, a spacer of 32 mm is provided between the vibrating plate portion 4 and the heater assembly 33 by the spacer 32. By separating the vibrating plate portion 4 and the heater assembly 33 in this manner, the heating of the vibrating plate portion 4 by the heater assembly 33 is not directly heated, but is radiant heating and heat transfer using convection. It is easy to make the temperature of the entire diaphragm portion 4 uniform as compared with direct heating.

In the case where the vibrating plate portion 4 is in contact with the heater assembly 33, the heater assembly 33 prevents the vibrating plate portion 4 from vibrating due to a difference in vibration characteristics such as the natural vibration frequency of the two. By separating the two, the vibrating plate portion 4 is prevented from vibrating by the heater assembly 33, and can vibrate as set.

Here, it is desirable that the spacer 32 is disposed on the heater unit 31 so as to support the diaphragm 21 at a position corresponding to the vibration node of the diaphragm 21 . Thereby, since the vibration of the spacer 32 from the diaphragm 21 can be minimized, the spacer 32 can be prevented from being worn by the interference with the diaphragm 21.

The ultrasonic generating unit 6 has an ultrasonic vibrator 41 and a horn 42. The ultrasonic vibrator 41 is located on the same side as the heater unit 31 with respect to the diaphragm 21 as viewed from the Z-axis direction, and is disposed at a position farther from the diaphragm 21 than the heater unit 31. A horn 42 is connected to the ultrasonic vibrator 41, and the horn 42 penetrates the heater unit 31 to be in contact with the diaphragm 21.

The ultrasonic vibrator 41 excites an object based on an oscillation signal from an oscillator (not shown), and has, for example, a Langevin type vibrator having an electrode and a piezoelectric element. The Langevin vibrator vibrates by applying a driving voltage to the electrodes by means of an oscillator, and oscillates at a specific amplitude and frequency. The vibration of the ultrasonic vibrator 41 oscillated in this manner propagates to the vibrating plate 21, which is an object, via the horn 42 to vibrate the vibrating plate 21. By vibrating the vibrating plate 21, a radiation sound pressure is generated from the vibrating plate 21, and an upward force is applied to the substrate W located on the vibrating plate 21 by the radiated sound pressure. Thereby, the substrate W can be held in a state in which a specific suspension amount is suspended above the vibration plate 21.

Further, the vibration of the ultrasonic vibrator 41 can be adjusted by adjusting the amplitude and frequency of the driving voltage supplied from the oscillator, whereby the amount of suspension of the substrate W suspended on the diaphragm 21 can be adjusted. The amount of suspension of the substrate W is set to about 0.1 mm in the present embodiment.

The horn 42 is formed in the shape of a cylinder or a plurality of cylinders, and one end is connected to the ultrasonic vibrator 41, and the other end is in contact with the vibrating plate 21 to cause the vibration of the ultrasonic vibrator 41. The amplitude of the motion is amplified or attenuated to propagate to the vibration plate 21. Further, since the horn 42 is disposed to penetrate the heater unit 31, a through hole or a notch is provided in the heater unit 31 at a position where the horn 42 is disposed, thereby avoiding interference with the horn 42.

Further, the horn 42 is provided between the ultrasonic vibrator 41 and the diaphragm 21, and also functions to separate the ultrasonic vibrator 41 from the heater assembly 33. Since the ultrasonic vibrator 41 is not heat-resistant, if an abnormality such as damage of the piezoelectric element occurs due to heating, the ultrasonic vibrator 41 is moved away from the heater assembly 33 by the horn 42 to prevent heat from the heater assembly 33. It is transmitted to the ultrasonic vibrator 41.

Here, in the present embodiment, it is considered that the ultrasonic vibrator 41 is viewed from the Z-axis direction on the same side as the diaphragm unit 21 and the heater unit 31, that is, opposite to the substrate W, without obstructing the conveyance of the substrate W. The side is in contact with the vibrating plate 21, but may be in contact with the same side as the substrate W. Even if the ultrasonic vibrator 41 is brought into contact with the same side as the substrate W, the effect of causing the substrate W to vibrate and float can be obtained in the same manner as in the case of contacting the side opposite to the substrate W as in the present embodiment.

The conveying unit 7 has a hand portion 51 and an advancing and retracting mechanism 52. The hand 51 has, for example, an L-shaped block, and is supported by the two sides of the substrate W in the corner portion of the substrate W. The hand 51 is provided in a diagonal direction in which one substrate W is supported in the diagonal direction of the substrate W so as to be positionable and support the diagonal of the substrate W. Further, the advancing and retracting mechanism 52 is a linear motion mechanism such as an air cylinder, and the hand 51 is attached to move the respective hand portions 51 when the substrate W is supported and when the support is released. With the advancing and retracting mechanism 52, the hand 51 approaches the substrate W when the substrate W is supported, and is evacuated from the substrate W when the support is released. Here, since the substrate W is in a state of releasing the constraint of the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction in a state where the hand 51 is withdrawn, the position of the substrate W is shifted when the hand 51 approaches, and there is a collision with the hand 51. The possibility that the substrate W and the hand 51 are broken. In this case, a pin that moves up and down is provided on the vibrating plate portion 4, and the pin 51 can be lifted when the substrate W is suspended at a specific position on the vibrating plate portion 4 to restrain the position of the substrate W at the specific position on the vibrating plate portion 4, and the substrate W is restrained. When the vibrating plate portion 4 is transported, the pin is lowered without interfering with the transport operation.

Further, the advancing and retracting mechanism 52 is connected to a moving shaft in the Y-axis direction (not shown). In a state where the hand 51 is close to the corner of the substrate W and the substrate W is supported, the hand 51 and the advancing and retracting mechanism 52 are moved in the Y-axis direction by the moving axis, whereby the substrate W is transported in the Y-axis direction.

Next, the position where the ultrasonic generating unit 6 is attached to the diaphragm unit 4 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3 .

As described above, in order to propagate the vibration from the ultrasonic vibrator 41 to the vibrating plate 21, the horn 42 is in contact with the vibrating plate 21, and further, the heater unit 31 is provided at a position where the horn 42 is disposed. Hole or notch. Therefore, in the portion of the vibrating plate 21 that is in contact with the horn 42 and its vicinity, it is less susceptible to heating from the heater unit 31 than the other portions, and the temperature is lowered. This is also the same on the side on which the substrate W is suspended, and the temperature is lowered at the portion where the back side is in contact with the horn 42 and its vicinity. When the substrate W is heated in such a portion, it is not sufficiently heated compared with other portions, and there is a possibility that the substrate W is unevenly dried.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the substrate W is not heated as described above, and drying unevenness is prevented from occurring. Specifically, the region R1 in which the substrate W is suspended and the region R2 corresponding to the back surface side of the vibrating plate portion 4 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 are heated outside the regions, that is, the substrate W is heated. Outside the region, the vibrating plate 21 is in contact with the horn 42.

Next, a schematic view of the cooling region 3 of the present embodiment is shown in Fig. 4 .

The cooling zone 3 includes a diaphragm portion 10, an ultrasonic generating portion 11, and a conveying portion 12. In other words, the configuration is the same as that of the above-described suspension transport unit, and has the same configuration as the heating region 2 except that the heater unit is not provided.

Similarly to the vibrating plate portion 4 of the heating region 2, the vibrating plate portion 10 ultrasonically vibrates by the ultrasonic generating portion 11, and the substrate W on the vibrating plate portion 4 is suspended by the radiation pressure due to the vibration. In addition, the substrate W is carried into the vibrating plate portion 10 by the transport unit 12, and is carried out from the vibrating plate portion 10 and transported on the vibrating plate portion 10.

Further, in the heating region 2, as described above, in order to prevent the unevenness of the substrate W from being generated, And the mounting position of the ultrasonic generating unit 6, but since the coating liquid on the substrate W before completion of drying and baking is less likely to be uneven thereafter, in this case, the cooling region 3 may be used. The ultrasonic wave generating portion 11 is mounted in a region corresponding to the back side of the region where the substrate W is suspended in the vibrating plate portion 10.

Next, the cooling form of the substrate of the present invention is shown in FIG.

When the substrate W is ultrasonically suspended by the vibrating plate portion 10, the external vibration of the vibrating plate portion 10 is applied to the gas existing between the surface 13 of the vibrating plate portion 10 on which the substrate W is suspended and the substrate W. Due to this external force, the gas convects between the diaphragm portion 10 and the substrate W as indicated by the arrow symbol. That is, forced convection is generated.

When the forced convection gas comes into contact with the substrate W and the diaphragm portion 10, heat is transferred between the gas and the substrate W and between the gas W and the diaphragm portion 10.

Therefore, when the substrate W heated by the heating region is transported to the vibrating plate portion 10 of the cooling region 3, and the vibrating plate portion 10 suspends the ultrasonic vibration of the substrate W, the substrate W is cooled by the above-described forced convection.

Further, when the forced convection system applies an external force to the gas, the gas between the air suspension unit and the substrate is also forced to convect when, for example, the air is ejected from the air suspension unit to suspend the substrate. Therefore, in the case where the heated substrate is suspended in the air suspension unit, heat transfer between the forced convection gas and the substrate is also performed, and the substrate W is cooled. On the other hand, when the vibrating plate portion 10 suspends the ultrasonic vibration of the substrate W, since the vibrating plate portion 10 vibrates at a very high frequency of several tens of kHz to generate forced convection, the convection speed and the air levitation are utilized. The unit is relatively high speed. Therefore, the speed of heat transfer is much higher than that of the air suspension unit, and the cooling of the substrate W can be performed in a short time.

Further, the cooling region 3 is provided on the downstream side of the heating region 2 as described above, and the substrate W can be directly received from the heating region 2 by the conveying portion 7 of the heating region 2 or the conveying portion 12 of the cooling region 3. Thereby, the transport robot 93 is self-suspended and transported as in the previous example shown in FIG. The heat treatment device 90 receives the substrate W, and the transfer robot 93 compares the time during which the substrate W is placed on the cooling unit 92 that is individually provided, thereby shortening the time of transport to the cooling region 3. Further, since the cooling of the substrate W is started from the portion adjacent to the cooling region 3 during the transportation, the waste of the time due to the conveyance of the substrate W can be reduced.

An example of the cooling performance of the cooling zone 3 is shown in the graph of FIG.

In the graph of Fig. 6, the solid line indicates the temperature change of the substrate W in the case where the substrate W is cooled by the cooling region 3 of the present embodiment, and the broken line is the one in which the substrate W is suspended in the air suspension unit. Here, the temperature of the substrate W before cooling is about 110 ° C, and the temperature of the vibrating plate portion 10 before the substrate W is transferred and the temperature of the air ejected from the air suspension unit are about 20 °C.

As a result, the cooling effect by the ultrasonic vibration suspension as shown in the figure is greater than the cooling effect at the time of air suspension, and the time required to cool the temperature of the substrate W to a specific temperature such as near room temperature can be more time than when the air is suspended. short.

Next, the temperature change of the substrate by the suspension transfer heat treatment apparatus 1 of this embodiment is shown in FIG.

As described above, the cooling zone 3 is adjacent to the downstream side of the heating zone 2, and the time from the heating zone 2 to the cooling zone 3 is relatively short. Therefore, after the drying and baking of the substrate W is performed in the heating region 2, the cooling of the substrate W by the cooling region 3 can be started immediately.

Next, as shown in FIG. 6, the cooling performance by the cooling region 3 of the present embodiment by forced convection generated by ultrasonic vibration is high, and the substrate W can be cooled in a short time.

Therefore, the total time from the heating region 2 (the heating region 91 in the previous example of Fig. 11) to the cooling region 3 (the cooling unit 92 in the previous example of Fig. 11) and the substrate W on the cooling region are When the time of the mounting time is the time required for the cooling of the substrate W, in the suspension transfer heat treatment apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the time required for the cooling of the substrate W can be shortened.

The substrate temperature of the substrate W which is sufficiently cooled in the cooling zone 3 downstream of the suspension transport heat treatment apparatus 1 can be delivered to the next step.

Next, a side view of the cooling region of another embodiment is shown in FIG.

The cooling zone 3 of this embodiment is provided with a diaphragm cooling section 14 instead of the heater section 5 of the heating zone 2.

The diaphragm cooling unit 14 is located on the back surface 9 side of the surface 8 of the vibrating plate portion 2 on which the substrate W is suspended, and has a plurality of cooling units 61 and spacers 62. One cooling unit assembly 63 is formed by arranging the cooling unit 61 in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction. Further, the spacer 62 is provided to a part of the cooling unit 61 to support the vibrating plate 21, and the vibrating plate portion 2 and the cooling unit assembly 63 are separated by a specific interval by the spacer 62.

Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the diaphragm cooling unit 14 has a shape that includes a cooling opposing surface 64 that faces the back surface 9 of the surface of the vibrating plate portion 2 on which the substrate W is suspended, and uses the cooling pair. The facing surface 64 is substantially closed such that the surfaces of the vibrating plate cooling portion 14 and the vibrating plate portion 2 are sandwiched by the surfaces.

The cooling unit 61 is a water-cooled cooling plate which is formed by providing a path through which cooling water flows in a rectangular plate-shaped aluminum plate, and is arranged in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction without a gap.

Here, the dimension of the cooling opposing surface 64 in the X-axis direction may be larger than the dimension of the vibrating plate portion 2 in the X-axis direction, and the dimension of the cooling opposing surface 64 in the Y-axis direction and the Y-axis of the vibrating plate portion 2 may be arranged. When the direction is equal to or greater than the same, and the cooling opposing surface 64 is viewed from the diaphragm portion 2 along the Z-axis direction, the region where the diaphragm portion 2 exists may be included in the region where the cooling opposing surface 64 exists. Thereby, the vibrating plate cooling portion 14 can simultaneously cool the entire surface of the vibrating plate portion 2, and can cool the entire vibrating plate portion 2 to a uniform temperature. Moreover, the effect of forced convection described later can be made more effective.

Further, each of the cooling units 61 forming the cooling opposing surface 64 may have a smaller dimension in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction than the diaphragm portion 2. Further, instead of using the form of the aggregate, a cooling unit 61 having a size larger than the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction larger than the diaphragm portion 2 may be used. However, the method of vibrating the plate portion 2.

Further, a gas supply unit 65 is provided in some or all of the cooling units 61. In this embodiment, the gas supply unit 65 is an opening provided to the diaphragm unit 2, and is connected to a gas supply device such as a blower (not shown) via a pipe. By discharging the gas supplied from the gas supply device from the gas supply unit 65, gas can be supplied between the cooling counter surface 64 and the back surface 9 of the surface 8 of the vibrating plate portion 2 on which the substrate W is suspended. Further, although dry air, N2, or the like is used for the gas supplied from the gas supply unit 65, it is preferable to use a gas equivalent to the gas forming the environment around the cooling region 3.

The spacer 62 is the same as the spacer 32 of the heating region 2, and is, for example, a small-diameter block made of resin, and the spacer 62 is provided with 1 mm between the vibrating plate portion 2 and the cooling opposing surface 64 of the cooling unit assembly 63. The interval. By separating the vibrating plate portion 2 and the cooling unit assembly 63 in this manner, heat transfer between the cooling unit assembly 63 and the vibrating plate portion 2 is formed by convection as will be described later, and is arranged as a vibrating plate portion 2 and cooling. When the unit assembly 63 is in contact and directly heat-transferred, it is easy to make the temperature of the entire diaphragm unit 2 uniform.

In the case where the vibrating plate portion 2 is in contact with the cooling unit assembly 63, the cooling unit assembly 63 prevents the vibrating plate portion 2 from vibrating due to the difference in vibration characteristics such as the natural vibration frequency of the two. By separating the two, the vibrating plate portion 2 does not interfere with the vibration by the cooling unit assembly 63, and can vibrate as set.

Here, it is desirable that the spacer 62 is disposed on the cooling unit 61 so as to support the diaphragm 21 at a position corresponding to the vibration node of the diaphragm 21 . Thereby, since the vibration of the spacer 62 from the diaphragm 21 can be made extremely small, the spacer 62 can be prevented from being worn by the interference with the diaphragm 21.

Next, a mechanism for cooling the substrate in the cooling region of the embodiment of Fig. 8 is shown in Fig. 9.

As described above, when the substrate W is ultrasonically suspended by the vibrating plate portion 2, the gas is forcedly convected between the vibrating plate portion 2 and the substrate W.

Here, when the forced convection gas comes into contact with the substrate W and the diaphragm portion 2, heat is transferred between the gas and the substrate W and between the gas W and the diaphragm portion 2.

Therefore, when the substrate W heated by a heating device or the like (not shown) is transferred to the vibrating plate portion 2, and the vibrating plate portion 2 suspends the ultrasonic vibration of the substrate W, the substrate W is cooled by the forced convection, and the vibration is further vibrated. The plate portion 2 is heated.

On the other hand, the cooling region 3 of this embodiment has the diaphragm cooling portion 14 on the side of the back surface 9 of the surface on which the substrate W is suspended in the diaphragm portion 2 as described above. Thereby, similarly to the forced convection of gas between the diaphragm portion 2 and the substrate W, forced convection of the gas due to the ultrasonic vibration of the diaphragm portion 2 also occurs between the diaphragm cooling portion 14 and the diaphragm portion 2.

Further, as described above, the diaphragm cooling unit 14 has a cooling opposing surface 64 opposed to the diaphragm portion 2, and the cooling opposing surface 64 is provided on the back surface 9 of the surface 8 of the diaphragm portion 2 on which the substrate W is suspended. Configured at specific intervals. Thereby, a substantially closed space is formed between the diaphragm cooling portion 14 and the diaphragm portion 2. By performing forced convection of the gas in the substantially closed space, heat transfer between the vibrating plate cooling portion 14 and the vibrating plate portion 2 and the gas is more frequently generated as compared with the case where the space is not closed.

Therefore, the diaphragm cooling unit 14 can cool the diaphragm unit 2 at a high speed by the forced convection, and can suppress the temperature rise of the diaphragm unit 2 due to the substrate W at a high temperature, and can maintain the temperature of the diaphragm unit 2 at a low temperature. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the cooling performance from being lowered due to the heat of the substrate.

Here, in order to effectively cool the vibrating plate portion 2 by the vibrating plate cooling portion 14, it is preferable to generate forced convection more frequently from between the vibrating plate portion 2 and the vibrating plate portion 2 from the vibrating plate portion 2 more frequently. The forced convection is generated, and it is desirable to increase the size (the size in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction) of the horizontal direction of the cooling opposing surface 64 to increase the closed space with the diaphragm portion 2, for example, as described above, along the Z-axis. When the direction of the cooling opposing surface 64 is observed from the vibrating plate portion 2, when the region where the vibrating plate portion 2 is present is included in the region where the cooling opposing surface 64 exists, the gas is applied to the entire surface of the back surface of the vibrating plate portion 2 It is preferred to force the heat transfer of convection formation.

Further, in this embodiment, the gas supply unit is provided in the diaphragm cooling unit 14. 65, a gas can be supplied between the cooling opposing surface 64 and the diaphragm portion 2. By continuously supplying the gas from the gas supply unit 65, the gas heated by the heat from the diaphragm unit 2 is discharged and the low-temperature gas is supplied, thereby maintaining the space between the cooling opposing surface 64 and the diaphragm unit 2. Since it is low temperature, the diaphragm cooling part 14 can be cooled more effectively by the forced convection.

Next, the cooling effect of the cooling zone 3 of the embodiment of Fig. 8 is shown in the graph of Fig. 10.

In the graph of FIG. 10, the solid line indicates the temperature change of the substrate W in the case where the substrate W is cooled by the cooling region 3 of the embodiment shown in FIG. 9, and the one-point chain system does not use the diaphragm cooling portion 14 to cause the substrate. In the case of W ultrasonic vibration suspension, the dotted line is used to suspend the substrate W in the air suspension unit. Here, the temperature of the substrate W before cooling is about 110 ° C, the temperature of the vibrating plate portion 2 before the substrate W is transferred, the temperature of the vibrating plate cooling portion 14, the temperature of the air ejected from the air suspension unit, and the cooling from the vibrating plate. The temperature of the gas supplied from the gas supply unit 65 of the unit 14 is about 20 °C.

As a result, by comparing a little chain line with a broken line, it was confirmed that the cooling effect by the ultrasonic vibration suspension as described above is larger than the air suspension. Further, by comparing the solid line with the one-point chain line, it is confirmed that the diaphragm portion 2 is cooled by the diaphragm cooling portion 14, and the cooling effect of the substrate W is further increased.

According to such a cooling zone 3, it is possible to prevent the cooling performance from being lowered due to the heat of the substrate, and to further cool the substrate in a short time.

5, the cooling form of the substrate W by the cooling zone 3 is shown, and the forced convection of the gas between the vibrating plate portion 10 and the substrate W is used to cool the substrate W, and the heating region 2 is also the same. The forced convection of the gas due to the ultrasonic vibration of the vibrating plate portion 4 is generated between the vibrating plate portion 4 and the substrate W shown in FIG. 3, and the substrate W is heated by the heat transfer between the substrate W and the vibrating plate portion 4. . Moreover, in this case, the radiant heat of the substrate W is heated by the vibrating plate portion 4 heated by the heater portion 5 to the substrate W. W.

Further, in the heating region 2, the gas is forcibly convected by the ultrasonic vibration of the vibrating plate portion 4 between the vibrating plate portion 4 and the heater portion 5, and the heat transfer by the forced convection and the self-heating portion 5 are utilized. The heater portion 5 heats the diaphragm portion 4 by radiant heat to the diaphragm portion 4.

According to the suspension transfer heat treatment apparatus described above, the heated substrate can be cooled in a short time.

In the present embodiment, the cooling region 3 is disposed only on the most downstream side of the suspension transport heat treatment device 1, and sufficiently cools the substrate W heated by the heating region 2 to deliver the substrate W to the downstream processing device, but the cooling region 3 The arrangement is not limited to the most downstream side, and the cooling zone 3 may be provided in the middle of the heating zone 2. In other words, for example, the heating zone 2 and the cooling zone 3 may be provided in the heating zone 2, the cooling zone 3, the heating zone 2, and the cooling zone 3 in this order from the upstream side.

1‧‧‧suspension transfer heat treatment unit

2‧‧‧heating area

3‧‧‧Cooling area

W‧‧‧Substrate

Claims (6)

A suspension transport heat treatment device characterized in that a plurality of suspension transport units are arranged, and each of the suspension transport units sequentially heats and transports a substrate while ultrasonically suspending the substrate, and the suspension transport unit includes a vibrating plate portion. The ultrasonic vibration is suspended by the substrate; the ultrasonic generating unit applies ultrasonic vibration to the vibrating plate portion; and the conveying portion supports the end portion of the substrate and transports the substrate in a direction perpendicular to the floating direction of the substrate; The suspension transport heat treatment apparatus includes: the suspension transport unit includes a heating region that heats the heater portion of the vibrating plate portion of the suspension transport unit; and the floating transport unit does not include the cooling region of the heater portion. The suspension transport heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transport unit of the cooling zone has a diaphragm cooling unit for cooling the vibrating plate portion on a back side of a surface on which the substrate is suspended, and the vibrating plate is cooled. The portion has a cooling opposing surface facing the back surface of the vibrating plate portion, and the cooling opposing surface is disposed at a predetermined interval from the back surface of the vibrating plate portion. The suspension transfer heat treatment apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the diaphragm cooling unit has a gas supply unit that supplies a gas to a space between the diaphragm cooling unit and the diaphragm unit. The suspension transfer heat treatment apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a dimension in a horizontal direction of the cooling opposing surface is equal to or greater than a size of the diaphragm portion. The suspension transfer heat treatment apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the diaphragm cooling unit has a gas supply unit that supplies a gas to a space between the diaphragm cooling unit and the diaphragm unit. The suspension transfer heat treatment apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the cooling zone is located on the most downstream side in terms of substrate transportation.