JPH0336488A - firing furnace - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To inhibit the leakage of inactive gas by allowing a take in means and a take out means to rotate a delivering body having a work housing space open to only one side and delivering work between the inside of a furnace chamber and an outside space. CONSTITUTION:In a take in means 6, its delivering body 9 is laid out in a receiving position where an opening 10a of a work housing space 10 communicates with an opening 8a of a main body 8 on an outside space side. A jig 5 on a work supply lifter 22 is inserted into the work housing space 10 by extending an extruding cylinder unit 21 to a first projecting position. Then, the delivering body 9 is rotated and located at an extruding position so that the opening 10a of the work housing space 10 may communicate with the opening 8a of the body 8 on the side of the furnace chamber 1. Then, a communication cylinder unit 20 pushes up a shielding plate 15, and aligns a communication hole 16 with a penetration hole 13. The jig 5 is extruded and brought into the furnace chamber 1 by extending the extruding cylinder unit 21 toward a second projection position.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a firing furnace used for firing a film formed on an i&temporary substrate.

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, a conventional firing furnace has heaters 42 disposed above and below a tunnel-shaped furnace chamber 41 to indirectly heat the inside of the furnace chamber 41 and to heat the inside of the furnace chamber 41. An inert gas introduction pipe 43 is connected to the approximate center to create an inert gas atmosphere inside the furnace chamber 41, and a mesh conveyor 45, chain conveyor, etc. for conveying the work 44 is connected. A means is disposed passing through the furnace chamber 41.

Problem to be Solved by the Invention However, in the above-described firing furnace, both ends of the furnace chamber 41 are open, so in order to create an inert atmosphere inside the furnace chamber 41, a large amount of inert gas such as nitrogen gas is used. Gas is required, and the mesh conveyor 45 that conveys the workpiece 44 is constantly under tension and exposed to high temperatures, which causes it to elongate significantly, requiring frequent maintenance work and short-term maintenance work. There is a problem of high cost as it has to be replaced, and furthermore, when both sides of the workpiece 44 are fired at the same time, there is a mesh conveyor 45 etc. that conveys the workpiece 44 on the lower side, so the temperature on the front and back sides is different. There was a problem in that it was difficult to ensure uniformity.

In view of the above conventional problems, the present invention provides a firing furnace that can reduce the consumption of inert gas, is easy to maintain, reduces costs, and can uniformly heat the front and back of a workpiece. The purpose is to

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above objects, the firing furnace of the present invention is equipped with a heating means and an inert gas introducing means, and has a tunnel in which the workpiece carried in is pushed by the following workpieces and conveyed. The furnace chamber is equipped with a furnace chamber, a loading means provided at the entrance end of the furnace chamber, and a loading means installed at the exit end of the furnace chamber, and the loading means and the loading means are arranged so that the furnace chamber and the outside are connected to each other on both sides. a main body having an opening to the space, and a workpiece storage space rotatably formed within the main body such that the workpiece storage space is selectively communicated with one of the openings of the main body; The carrying-in means is provided with pushing means for pushing out the workpieces in the workpiece storage space into the furnace chamber, and the carrying-out means is provided with pushing means for pushing out the workpieces pushed out from the outlet of the furnace chamber. The present invention is characterized in that a drawing means for drawing the workpiece into the storage space is provided.

According to the present invention, the carrying-in means and the carrying-out means provided at the inlet end and the outlet end at both ends of the furnace chamber move the workpiece between the workpiece storage space and the outside space with the opening of the delivery body facing the outside space. The receiver is put in and sent out, and the transfer body is rotated so that its opening faces into the furnace chamber to push out and pull in the workpieces in the workpiece storage space. Workpieces can be loaded and unloaded with the furnace chamber closed, and the leakage of the inert gas introduced to create an inert atmosphere inside the furnace chamber can be suppressed, reducing its consumption. The transportation of the workpiece is
This is done by pushing the carried workpiece with the following workpiece, so there is no need to provide a separate conveyor or other conveyance means, and the cross-sectional shape of the furnace chamber space is simple, making maintenance extremely easy. Equal space can be formed on both the front and back sides of the workpiece, allowing uniform heating of the front and back sides.

EXAMPLE Hereinafter, an example of the firing furnace of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 1 to 8.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, l is a tunnel-shaped furnace chamber with a rectangular cross section over its entire length, and a plurality of heaters 2 are arranged almost equally above and below the furnace chamber. In addition, a pair of inert gas introduction pipes 3a and 3b are connected at an appropriate interval to the longitudinal center of the earthen wall of the furnace chamber 1 to supply an inert gas such as nitrogen gas into the furnace chamber 1. It is composed of Reference numeral 4 designates a substrate as a workpiece to be carried into the furnace chamber 1 and fired, and as shown in FIG. It is housed and held in a jig 5. The jig 5 has a cross section approximately the same size as the internal space of the furnace chamber 1, and has an inert gas passage opening 5b formed in its front and rear walls facing in the conveying direction. At the entrance end of one end of the furnace chamber l, a carrying-in means 6 for a jig 5 that accommodates and holds the substrate 4 is disposed, and at the exit end of the other end of the furnace chamber l, a carrying-out means 7 for carrying out the jig 5 is disposed. .

As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the carrying means 6 has openings 8a and 8b that open to the outside space and the inside of the furnace chamber 1, respectively.
It is composed of a main body 8 having on both sides thereof, and a delivery body 9 disposed within the main body 8 so as to be rotatable around a vertical axis.

The delivery body 9 has a workpiece storage space lO that is open only on one side.
Sekiguchi 10a of this work storage space 10 is connected to main body 8.
It is rotatably connected so as to selectively communicate with any of the openings 8a, 8b. The delivery body 9 has a large diameter cylindrical part 9a and a small diameter cylindrical part 9b above and below the large diameter cylindrical part 9a, and the small diameter cylindrical part 9b has a holding hole 11 formed in the main body 8.
A sealing material 12 is provided at each sliding contact portion between the openings 8a and 8b on both sides of the main body 8 rotatably supported by the main body 8 and the outer peripheral surface of the large diameter cylindrical portion 9a. The width l of the opening 10a of the workpiece storage space 10 is set smaller than the width between the sealing materials 12 and 12 to prevent the gas in the furnace chamber l from leaking into the outside space through the workpiece storage space 10. has been done.

A through hole 13 is formed in the back wall of the workpiece storage space 10 on the opposite side of the opening 10a, and a guide hole 14 is formed that passes through the through hole 13 in the vertical direction. A blocking plate 15 that blocks the through hole 13 is inserted and arranged to be vertically movable. Approximately in the center of the blocking plate 15 is an opening hole 1 which is connected to the through hole 13 and is opened to the through hole 13.
6 is formed. Engagement recesses 17 for positioning are provided in the upper and lower parts of one side of the blocking plate 15, and click stops 18 for positioning the blocking WL 15 are provided in the guide hole 14 in correspondence with these engagement recesses 17. . or,
At the top of the external space side end of the main body 8, there is a blocking cylinder device 19 that pushes down the blocking plate 15 to block the through hole 13, and at the bottom, there is an opening cylinder device that pushes up the blocking plate 15 to open the through hole 13. A device 20 is provided.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, an extrusion cylinder device 21 is disposed at a predetermined distance apart on the extension line of the through hole 13, and a workpiece storage space is provided between the delivery body 9 and the extrusion cylinder device 21. A workpiece supply lifter 22 is disposed to sequentially position the jigs 5 that house and hold the substrates 4 at the same height position as the substrates 10. The extrusion cylinder device 21 has a first protruding position where its piston rod 21a pushes the jig 5 on the workpiece supply lifter 22 and accommodates it in the workpiece storage space 10 of the delivery body 9, and a jig in the workpiece storage space 10. 5 through the through hole 13 into the furnace chamber 1, and a retracted position.

As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the carrying-out means 7, like the carrying-in means 6, includes a main body 8 having openings 8a and 8b opening to the outside space and the inside of the furnace chamber l, respectively, and this main body. It consists of a delivery body 9 which is rotatably disposed around a vertical axis within an interior of a delivery body 9, and corresponding components are given the same reference numerals and a description thereof will be omitted. A transfer means 23 for drawing in or sending out the jig 5 that accommodates and holds the substrate 4 is provided in the workpiece storage space 10. This transfer means 23 is constructed by winding a pair of endless chuns 24 on both sides in a T-shape by five tooth wheels 26 and 27 pivotally supported on a frame 25, and a rotating shaft 28 to which a drive tooth wheel 17 is fixed. The drive shaft 30a of a motor 30 installed at the lower part of the delivery body 9 is configured to rotate in forward and reverse directions via a cap gear 29, and as shown in FIG. A light sensor 31 consisting of a light emitter and a light receiver is arranged,
When the jig 5 and the substrate 4 are pushed out from the outlet end of the furnace chamber 1 into the workpiece storage space 10, this is detected by blocking the light from the projector. Therefore, light transmission holes 32 are formed in the main body 8 and the delivery body 9.

In the above configuration, first, the operation of carrying the jig 5 into the furnace chamber 1 will be explained. *In major means 6, the delivery body 9
The receiver in which the opening 1Oa of the workpiece storage space 10 communicates with the opening 8a on the external space side of the main body 8 is located at the insertion position,
The jig 5 on the workpiece supply lifter 22 is inserted into the workpiece storage space 10 by extending the extrusion cylinder device 21 to the first protrusion position. Next, the delivery body 9 is rotated and placed in a push-out position where the opening 10a of the work storage space 10 communicates with the opening 8b of the main body 8 on the furnace chamber l side, as shown in FIG. 6(a). Push up the blocking plate 15 with the cylinder device 20 for opening, and open the opening hole 16.
After aligning with the through hole 13 and opening the through hole 13,
As shown in FIG. 6('b), by extending the pushing cylinder device 21 toward the second projecting position, the jig 5 in the workpiece storage space 10 is pushed out and carried into the furnace chamber l. . Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 6(C), the pushing cylinder device 21 is retracted to the retracted position, and the blocking cylinder device 19 pushes down the blocking plate 15 to block the through hole 13. Next, the transfer body 9 is rotationally driven to position the receiver in the insertion position, and the next jig 5 is moved.
Wait until the loading operation starts.

The substrate 4 accommodated and held in the jig 5 carried into the furnace chamber 1 is heated to 900° C. by the heater 2 in an inert gas atmosphere having an 02 concentration of about 5 to IOPPM, for example. Further, this jig 5 is pushed by a jig 5 that is subsequently carried in and is successively conveyed within the furnace chamber I toward the outlet end. In this way, furnace chamber 1
The film formed on the substrate 4 is fired while being transported inside.

The jig 5 that has reached the outlet end in the furnace chamber 1 is transferred to the unloading means 7 and discharged into the external space as the next jig 5 is carried in.

In the carrying out means 7, the delivery body 9 is placed in a waiting state in a retracted position with the opening 10a of the work storage space 10 facing into the furnace chamber l, and the jig 5 is pushed out from inside the furnace chamber 1. When this happens, the optical sensor 31 detects this and operates the transfer means 23 to move the jig 5 into the workpiece storage space lO.
Pull it completely inside. Therefore, the jig 5 pushed out from the furnace chamber 1 is not completely stored in the work storage space 10 before the transfer body 9 rotates and the jig 5 and the main body 8 interfere with each other. The delivery body 9 is rotationally driven to the sending position, and the jig 5 is transferred to the transfer means 23.
After discharging into the external space at , the delivery body 9 is rotated back to the retracted position.

In the carry-in means 6 and the carry-out means 7 of the above embodiment, the cylindrical delivery body 9 is illustrated, but it may be spherical. The pulling means provided is not limited to the means used in the above embodiments, but means with various configurations may be applied.For example, a cylinder device may be built into the delivery body 9 to push out or pull in the work. You can also do it like this.

Further, in the above embodiment, the cross-sectional shape of the furnace chamber l is rectangular, and the substrate 4 is accommodated and held in the jig 5 for transport. A guide groove 33 is formed in the height direction central part of both side walls of l, and this guide groove 33
It is also possible to support the substrate 4 by fitting both side edges of the substrate 4 into the base 14, and to directly press the rear edge of the substrate 4 with the front edge of the succeeding base 14 for conveyance.

Effects of the Invention According to the present invention, the carrying-in means and the carrying-out means provided at the inlet end and the outlet end at both ends of the furnace chamber rotate a transfer body having a work storage space opened only in the example, and transfer the workpieces into and out of the furnace chamber. By being configured to transfer workpieces to and from the space, workpieces can be carried in and out while the furnace chamber is closed to the outside space, and leakage of inert gas can be suppressed. Since the workpieces are transported within the furnace chamber by pushing the carried workpieces with the following workpieces, there is no need to provide a separate transport means such as a conveyor, and the workpieces are transported within the furnace chamber. Because the cross-sectional shape of the space is simple, maintenance such as cleaning is extremely easy.
It is possible to significantly reduce costs, and furthermore, it is possible to form an equal space on both the front and back sides of the workpiece, so that heating can be performed uniformly on the front and back sides, which provides great effects.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figures 1 to 8 show an embodiment of the firing furnace of the present invention, in which Figure 1 is a vertical front view, Figure 2 is a vertical side view of the furnace chamber, and Figure 3 is a perspective view of a substrate holding jig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional front view of the loading means, FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional plan view thereof, FIGS. 6(a) to (C) are vertical sectional front views showing the operating state of the loading means, and FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional front view of the loading means. Fig. 8 is a longitudinal sectional side view of the same, Fig. 9 is a longitudinal sectional side view of the furnace chamber of another embodiment, Fig. 10 is a longitudinal sectional front view of a conventional firing furnace, and Fig. 11 is a longitudinal sectional side view of the same. FIG. 3 is a longitudinal side view of the chamber. 1...Furnace chamber, 2...Heater, 3a, 3
b...Inert gas introduction pipe, 4...Substrate (work), 6...Carrying means, 7...
Carrying out means, 8...Main body, 8a, 8b...
・Opening part, 9...Delivery body, lO...
Work storage space, 10a...Opening, 21...
. . . Cylinder device for extrusion, 23 . . . Transfer means.

Claims (1)

[Claims] a tunnel-shaped furnace chamber equipped with a heating means and an inert gas introduction means, into which the carried workpiece is pushed and conveyed by the succeeding workpiece; a carrying means provided at the entrance end of the furnace chamber; and a carrying-out means provided at the exit end of the chamber, the carrying-in means and the carrying-out means having a main body having openings to the furnace chamber and the outside space on both sides, and a workpiece storage space opened only on one side, and The work storage space is constituted by a delivery body rotatably disposed within the main body so as to selectively communicate with any opening of the main body, and the carrying means has a transfer body that is rotatably arranged in the main body so as to selectively communicate with any opening of the main body. A firing furnace characterized in that a pushing means for pushing a workpiece into a furnace chamber is provided, and the carrying-out means is provided with a drawing means for drawing the workpiece pushed out from an outlet of the furnace chamber into a workpiece storage space.