JP3667270B2 - Substrate heat treatment method and furnace equipment therefor - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a plasma display panel and a furnace facility therefor.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In the manufacturing process of a plasma display panel (hereinafter also referred to as a PDP panel) that constitutes a flat display device, an electrode material or the like is printed on a large substrate corresponding to a large-sized PDP panel such as 42 inches or 50 inches, dried, and exposed. The processing steps such as development and firing are repeated many times to produce the intended front plate and back plate. As furnace equipment used for drying and firing in each step in this case, separate furnace equipment is provided so that dust (contamination) in another process does not adhere.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, since the furnace equipment used for one drying process is arranged in series with a plurality of zones controlled in temperature so as to execute the temperature profile of the drying for the work continuously conveyed in a certain direction, It will be 15-20 meters. Therefore, when the drying process is repeated five times, only the drying process requires five furnace facilities and a transport path of 100 meters. Similarly, the furnace equipment used in one baking process is as long as 50 meters, and only a baking process requires a transport path of several hundred meters.
[0004]
For this reason, a large floor area is required for the furnace equipment in the layout of the manufacturing factory, and the current situation is that each furnace equipment has a large surface area and a poor thermal efficiency.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a plasma display panel manufacturing method and furnace equipment that can reduce the installation floor area in a manufacturing factory, improve thermal efficiency, and can be uniformly heat-treated.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
  In order to solve the above problems, the present inventionIs the groupBoardPresetWhen performing heat treatment based on the temperature profile,UpThe internal temperature of multiple furnaces stacked in multiple stages belowBy supplying gas from a plurality of gas supply means provided in the upper part of each furnace,Controlling to temperature, andEach temperatureThe substrate in each furnace controlled at a timeCarryHas a process to enter and exitThe substrate is loaded into a selected furnace from the plurality of furnaces, and after a predetermined time has passed, the substrate is unloaded from the selected furnace, and the unloaded substrate is unloaded from the selected furnace; Based on the temperature profile, it is carried into the furnace different from the selected furnace from the same side, and after a predetermined time has passed, the substrate is unloaded from the different furnace.It is characterized by that. According to this, since the temperature of each furnace is individually controlled, a complicated temperature profile can be realized with respect to the workpieces that are sequentially carried into and out of each furnace.
[0006]
  Also,It is characterized in that the supply / exhaust amount of gas to each furnace is controlled based on the timing of loading / unloading the substrate and the elapsed time after loading the substrate. That is, by increasing the displacement while the work is being carried out, the evaporated gas of the solvent such as the binder evaporated in the furnace is discharged in a short time, and the gas atmosphere in the furnace is returned to the initial state. As a result, the drying or firing state of a plurality of workpieces sequentially loaded can be made uniform.
  The substrate may be a substrate constituting a plasma display panel.
[0009]
  The present invention also providesBoardPresetFurnace equipment for heat treatment based on temperature profileTheA plurality of furnaces stacked in multiple stages above and below,A plurality of gas supply means provided in the upper part of each furnace;The internal temperature of the plurality of furnacesanotherTemperature control means for controlling the temperature, andEach temperatureThe substrate in each controlled furnaceFrom the same side of each furnace based on the temperature profileLoading / unloading means for loading / unloadingConfiguredIt is characterized by that. According to this, compared with the structure which arrange | positions several furnace (zone) planarly, while being able to reduce installation space, a surface area can be reduced and it becomes possible to control temperature efficiently. Also, each furnace can be maintained without shutting down the entire furnace equipment.
[0010]
  In the furnace equipment configured as described above, the substrateThe timing of loading and unloadingsubstrateIt has a supply / exhaust control means for controlling the supply / exhaust amount of gas to each furnace based on the elapsed time after carrying in.
[0015]
  gasA gas ejection hole is provided at a position not facing the substrate of the supply means.
[0016]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a graph showing an example of a temperature profile related to the front plate of a plasma display panel. The temperature of a workpiece is raised to a target temperature, the temperature is kept for a predetermined time, and then cooled.
[0017]
As shown in FIG. 2, a furnace facility 1 (here, a drying furnace) that realizes this temperature profile is configured by stacking three furnaces 2, 3, and 4 in multiple stages in the vertical direction. In the uppermost furnace 2, the middle furnace 3, and the lowermost furnace 4, the loading / unloading exits 2a, 3a, 4a are opened at one side of the furnace equipment 1, and shutters 2b, 3b, 4b that can be freely opened and closed are provided. It can be controlled independently for each furnace.
[0018]
In each furnace 2, 3, 4, flat heaters 5, 6 are installed at the top and bottom, respectively, and a plate-like workpiece 7 is horizontally placed at a position away from these heaters 5, 6 by an appropriate distance. A plurality of rollers 8 to be supported are arranged in parallel so as to be able to rotate forward and backward around a horizontal axis. An air supply pipe 9 having a plurality of discharge holes 9a is arranged along the top heater 5, and an exhaust pipe (see FIG. 7 described later) is opened. Thus, the furnaces 2, 3, and 4 are controlled in temperature in this order to 100 ° C, 200 ° C, and 300 ° C. 2T, 3T, and 4T are temperature detection means.
[0019]
In the vicinity of the loading / unloading exits 2a, 3a, 4a of the furnaces 2, 3, 4 respectively, a conveyor 10 as a laterally feeding loading / unloading means is arranged close to one end, and the same height as the conveyor 10 of each stage A loader / unloader 11 that can be moved up and down is arranged. A plurality of rollers 8 are attached to each conveyor 10 and the loader / unloader 11 in parallel so as to be able to rotate forward and backward around a horizontal axis. Reference numeral 12 denotes a motor for driving the conveyor 10 (only the lowermost stage is shown), and 13 denotes a motor for driving the loader / unloader 11.
[0020]
In such a furnace facility 1, for example, when a work 7 is carried into a loader / unloader 11 from a printing process, the work is placed on the uppermost conveyor 10 by the loader / unloader 11, and the uppermost furnace 2 is loaded by a roller 8. And is placed on the roller 8 in the furnace 2. Accordingly, the shutter 2b is closed. The workpiece 7 on the roller 8 stays in the furnace 2 until the time when the temperature raising zone (1) in FIG. 1 is satisfied, is then carried out to the conveyor 10 by the reverse rotation of the roller 8, and then carried out to the loader / unloader 11. .
[0021]
Subsequently, the loader / unloader 11 is lowered by one stage, and the work 7 is carried into the intermediate furnace 3 via the intermediate conveyor 10 and placed on the roller 8 in the furnace 3 in the same manner as described above, and the shutter. It stays in the furnace 3 in which 3b is closed until the temperature rise zone (2) in FIG. 1 is satisfied, and is carried out to the loader / unloader 11 via the conveyor 10.
[0022]
  Next, the loader / unloader 11 is lowered by one stage, and the work 7 is carried into the lowermost furnace 4 via the lowermost conveyor 10 and placed on the roller 8 in the furnace 4 in the same manner as described above. ,Shutter4bIs kept in the closed furnace 4 until a time satisfying the keep zone (3) of FIG. 1, and is carried out to the loader / unloader 11 via the conveyor 10.
[0023]
The work 7 that has finished a series of temperature rise / keep periods in this way remains on the lowermost conveyor 10 and is lowered in temperature according to the temperature profile, and then passed to the next process via the loader / unloader 11. It is carried out.
[0024]
At this time, at least a part of the temperature rise / keep period during which the work 7 remains in each furnace 2, 3 and 4, and at least a part of the cooling period during which the work 7 remains on the lowermost conveyor 10 , The roller 8 is rotated forward and backward without being stopped, and the work 7 is swung with a small width in the loading / unloading direction. As a result, the contact portion of the roller 8 with respect to the workpiece 7 is changed, and the roller 8 is heated uniformly without being interrupted or retained, thereby reducing drying unevenness.
[0025]
At this time, a predetermined gas such as air is ejected from the air supply pipe 9 in each furnace 2, 3, 4, and exhausted through an exhaust pipe (not shown), so that the solvent component contained in the electrode material, etc. Is removed from the furnace, and the furnace temperature is adjusted by the gas temperature and gas flow rate. In order to prevent the gas supply pipes 9 from directly ejecting the gas toward the work 7, for example, an ejection hole 9 a is formed toward the top portion or the outer peripheral side of the work 7, and the work 7 locally influences the gas. In view of this, it is intended not to cause uneven drying.
[0026]
As the gas, CO is oxidized by oxidizing the binder.₂To discharge as O₂Select rich air and N if it contains materials that you do not want to oxidize₂It is appropriately selected such as selecting rich air or inert gas. There may be no air supply at all. Where O₂Rich air is O from the outside₂Is separately supplied and the oxygen partial pressure (concentration) per unit volume is controlled to be higher than that of normal air. In each furnace 2, 3 and 4, the shutters 2b, 3b and 4b have a function of controlling the gas pressure in the furnace.
[0027]
In addition, about each furnace 2,3,4, after unloading the workpiece | work 7, maintenance, such as removing the unnecessary material produced | generated and solidified in the furnace, is implemented.
As described above, in this furnace facility 1, the workpiece 7 can be dried in the same manner as a conventional planar arrangement type furnace facility.
[0028]
Moreover, according to this furnace equipment 1, since the furnaces 2, 3 and 4 are stacked in multiple stages in the vertical direction, the installation area of the furnace equipment 1, and hence the floor area of the manufacturing plant, compared to the conventional planar arrangement type Is small.
[0029]
In addition, since the middle stage furnace 3 is sandwiched between the furnace 2 and the furnace 4 at the top and bottom, the surface area of the furnace equipment 1 as a whole is smaller than that of the conventional planar arrangement type, and temperature management becomes easy. Thermal efficiency is also greatly improved.
[0030]
Furthermore, since uniform heating is possible by oscillating the workpiece 7, the furnaces 2, 3 and 4 can be suppressed to a width and a depth sufficient to form an appropriate gap around the workpiece 7. Can be kept low. For example, when an electrode material is printed on a glass substrate having a thickness of about 3 mm and placed on a roller and dried, the furnace height can be suppressed to about 110 mm. Therefore, extremely multi-stage furnace stacking and a reduction in installation area are possible.
[0031]
Note that it is possible to appropriately determine in which stage the high-temperature furnace, the medium-temperature furnace, and the low-temperature furnace are arranged, and in which order the work 7 is carried into and out of each furnace. For example, contrary to the furnace equipment 1 described above, the uppermost furnace may be set to a high temperature and the lowermost furnace may be set to a low temperature. In this case, the temperature can be controlled more easily because the property that heat is accumulated upward can be used. Become. When it is desired to raise the temperature of the workpiece 7 rapidly, the workpiece 7 may be carried into a high temperature furnace first.
[0032]
In the above-described furnace facility 1, the loading / unloading outlets 2 a, 3 a, 4 a of the furnaces 2, 3, 4 have been described as opening on the same side. What is necessary is just to determine so that taking in / out of the workpiece | work 7 and carrying in / out with respect to an adjacent process may become easy. For example, as shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b), the carry-in port 2a and the carry-out port 2c may be opened on opposite sides, or the carry-in port 2a and the carry-out port 2d are adjacent to each other. You may make it open to a part. Therefore, the roller 8 which is a supporting means for supporting the work 7 from below, is also a loading / unloading means, and is also a swinging means, can be configured to rotate in different directions for each stage, or other loading / unloading means. It is also possible to replace with a swinging means.
[0033]
Moreover, although the above furnace equipment 1 was demonstrated as a drying furnace, the baking furnace which implements baking at about 600 degreeC can be comprised similarly.
Furthermore, although the above furnace equipment 1 is composed of three furnaces 2, 3, and 4, increasing the number of furnaces increases the complexity of the temperature increase, keep, temperature increase, keep, and cooling shown in FIG. 4. Temperature profiles can also be realized.
[0034]
Further, for example, by providing a plurality of sets of furnaces 2, 3, 4, a plurality of rows of processing flows can be realized.
Further, by setting the number of furnaces larger than the number of temperature zones, maintenance of each furnace as described above can be performed by sequentially shutting down the furnaces. Also in this case, it is not necessary to stop the operation of the entire furnace facility 1, so that the stop of other processes can be avoided.
(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 5 shows a furnace facility according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The furnace equipment 1A is different from the furnace equipment 1 described above in that a plate-like cover 14 is provided above the conveyor 10 in each stage so as to face the upper surface of the work 7, and along the lower surface of the cover 14. This is the point where the supply pipes 15 are arranged. For the uppermost and middle conveyors 10, heaters 14 a are provided on the lower surface of the cover 14 and below the conveyor 10. Thus, the temperature of the work 7 outside the furnace can be controlled by the temperature of the heater 14a and the flow rate / temperature of the gas ejected from the air supply pipe 15.
[0035]
For example, in the profile of rapidly lowering the temperature from a high temperature such as the firing temperature as shown in FIG. 6, the work 7 carried out from the high-temperature furnace 4 onto the lowermost conveyor 10 is caused by the gas from the supply pipe 15. Cools quickly. On the other hand, the work 7 carried into the low-temperature furnace 2 is preheated by the heater 14a and the air supply pipe 15 on the uppermost conveyor 10, and the work 7 carried into the medium-temperature furnace 3 is a middle conveyor. 10 is kept warm by the heater 14a and the air supply pipe 15.
[0036]
  The heater 14a and the air supply pipe 15 may be arranged on all the conveyors 10 in each stage, or may be arranged only on necessary stages as described above. Further, the positions of the heater 14 a and the air supply pipe 15 are not limited to the positions described above. For example, the air supply pipe 15 may be arranged in parallel with the roller 8. The cover 14 may be configured as a reflector so that the secondary radiation of the workpiece 7 can be effectively used, or may be configured in a cylindrical shape so as to cover the entire conveyor 10.
(Embodiment 3)
  FIG. 7 shows a furnace facility according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. This furnace facility 1B differs from the furnace facility 1A described above in that an exhaust system in which an exhaust fan 17 communicates with each of the furnaces 2, 3 and 4 via a valve device 16 (exhaust not shown in each of the furnace facilities described above). Each valve device is controlled so as to increase / decrease the displacement of the system) according to the timing of loading / unloading of the work 716The controller 18 is connected to the motor 12 of the conveyor 10.
[0037]
That is, the controller 18 controls the exhaust amount to be high while the work 7 is being carried out of the furnace, discharges the gas generated in the furnace in a short time, and returns the gas atmosphere in the furnace to the initial state. This makes it possible to form a constant gas atmosphere for a plurality of workpieces 7 that are sequentially carried into the furnaces 2, 3, 4, and uniformize the drying or firing state of the workpieces 7. Is possible.
[0038]
  The workpiece 7 is carried into the furnace that has returned to the initial state.AndInitially, the amount of exhaust gas is controlled to be low so that the solvent of the binder is gradually evaporated to prevent drying unevenness. Then, the amount of exhaust is increased or decreased as the work 7 is dried, so that the temperature of the solvent or the like contained in the work 7 is maintained substantially constant, and is uniformly evaporated or burned. At this time, for example, the surface temperature of the workpiece 7 is monitored by temperature detection means (not shown) such as a radiation thermometer.
(Embodiment 4)
  FIG. 8 shows a furnace facility according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention. The furnace facility 21 includes a multi-stage temperature raising furnace 22 for raising the temperature, a keep furnace 23 for keeping the temperature, and a multi-stage temperature lowering furnace 24 for lowering the temperature.
[0039]
The keep furnace 23 is controlled to the temperature of the keep zone in the above-described temperature profile, the zone 23A at one end also serves as the highest temperature furnace of the multi-stage heating furnace 22, and the zone 23B at the other end is a multi-stage temperature drop. The central zone 23C is separated from the zone 23B by an openable / closable shutter 23D.
[0040]
The multi-stage heating furnace 22 is configured by laminating furnaces 25, 26, and 27 similar to those described in the first embodiment in a vertical direction in a multi-stage under the zone 23A of the keep furnace 23. The uppermost furnace 25, the middle furnace 26, and the lowermost furnace 27 are controlled to a higher temperature in this order to the temperature of each zone obtained by dividing the temperature raising zone in the temperature profile into a plurality of zones. Yes.
[0041]
The multistage cooling furnace 24 is configured by laminating furnaces 28, 29, and 30 similar to those described in the first embodiment in a vertical direction under the zone 23B of the keep furnace 23 in a multistage manner. The furnace 30, the middle stage furnace 29, the uppermost stage furnace 28, and the zone 23 </ b> B are controlled to lower temperatures in this order to the temperature of each zone obtained by dividing the temperature drop zone in the temperature profile into a plurality of zones.
[0042]
In each furnace of the multistage heating furnace 22, each of the keep furnace 23, and each of the multistage cooling furnaces 24, flat heaters 31 and 32 are installed at the top and bottom (however, the furnaces 27 and 29 have the top Only the furnace 30 has no heater), and an air supply pipe 33 having a plurality of discharge holes is arranged along the heater 31 (or the top), and an exhaust pipe (not shown) is opened. Further, rollers 35 serving as support means, carry-in / out means and swing means for the workpiece 34 are arranged in parallel and rotatable around a horizontal axis.
[0043]
The zone 23A of the multi-stage heating furnace 22 and the loading / unloading outlets 23a, 25a, 26a, 27a of the furnaces 25, 26, 27 are opened at one side of the furnace equipment 21, and are opened by shutters 23b, 25b, 26b, 27b. It can be opened and closed. In the vicinity of each loading / unloading port 23a, 25a, 26a, 27a, a loader / unloader 36 that can be raised and lowered is arranged with one end approached.
[0044]
The loader / unloader 36 has a cylindrical cover 37, and the other end opening 37a opposite to the multistage heating furnace 22 can be opened and closed by a shutter 37b. In the work accommodating portion 37, heaters 31 and 32, an air supply pipe 33, and a roller 35 similar to those in the furnaces are disposed.
[0045]
The zone 23B of the multi-stage cooling furnace 24 and the loading / unloading outlets 23c, 28a, 29a, 30a of the furnaces 28, 29, 30 are open to the other side of the furnace equipment 21, and are provided by 23d and shutters 28b, 29b, 30b. It can be opened and closed. In the vicinity of each loading / unloading port 23c, 28a, 29a, 30a, a loader / unloader 38 that can be moved up and down is arranged close to one end.
[0046]
The loader / unloader 38 has a cylindrical cover 39, and the other end opening 39a opposite to the multi-stage cooling furnace 24 can be opened and closed by a shutter 39b. In the work accommodating portion 39, an air supply pipe 33 and a roller 35 similar to those in the furnaces are disposed.
[0047]
In such a furnace facility 21, the work 34 carried into the loader / unloader 36 from the printing process is carried into and out of the loader / unloader 36, and sequentially into each furnace 27, 26, 25 of the multistage heating furnace 22. 1 stays at a time satisfying a predetermined portion of the temperature rising zone {circle around (1)}, and then stays at a zone 23A, 23C, 23B of the keep furnace 23 for a time satisfying the keep zone {circle around (2)} of FIG.
[0048]
Next, the work 34 is loaded and unloaded by the loader / unloader 39, and then stays in the furnaces 28, 29, and 30 of the multi-stage cooling furnace 24 in order to satisfy a predetermined portion in the cooling zone (3) in FIG. Thereafter, it is carried out to the next process via the loader / unloader 39.
[0049]
Therefore, in this furnace equipment 21 as well, the workpiece 34 can be dried or fired in the same manner as a conventional planar arrangement type furnace equipment. Similar to each of the above-described embodiments, the installation area is smaller than that of the conventional planar arrangement type, the surface area is small, temperature management is facilitated, and thermal efficiency is greatly improved.
(Embodiment 5)
FIG. 9 shows a furnace facility according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention. The furnace equipment 40 includes a heating furnace 41 whose upper layer is set to a higher temperature than the lower layer, an upper layer set to a temperature equal to or near the upper layer temperature of the heating furnace 41, and a lower layer having a lower temperature than the upper layer. And a temperature raising / keeping furnace 45 that communicates with the upper layer of the temperature raising furnace 41 and the upper layer of the temperature lowering furnace 42 through openable and closable shutters 43 and 44 to raise or keep the temperature. Have.
[0050]
The temperature raising furnace 41 has a carry-in port 41a formed in the lower portion, and a supply / exhaust means 46 for feeding and exhausting heated gas flows G1, G2 (G1 is higher than G2) having different temperatures in the lateral direction above the carry-in port 41a. And the heater 31 similar to that of the above-described fourth embodiment is disposed on the upper surface, and the air supply pipe 13 is provided along the heater 31, whereby the atmosphere in the furnace in which the upper layer is heated more than the lower layer is provided. Is formed.
[0051]
Inside the temperature raising furnace 41, a walking beam 47 as a vertical intermittent conveying means for conveying a plurality of workpieces 34 sequentially carried in from the carry-in inlet 41a while supporting them in the horizontal direction, a lowermost layer and a lowermost layer. A roller 35 is provided as a lateral conveying means in the upper layer. In the walking beam 47, a pair of belts 47b to which a horizontal support 47a is attached are arranged so as to be able to run in the vertical direction, and the periphery of the work 34 is supported from below by the support 47a, and the work 34 is moved upward. It is configured to carry tact.
[0052]
In the temperature raising / keeping furnace 45, the same heaters 31 and 32 as those in the above-described fourth embodiment are arranged on the upper surface and the lower surface, the air supply pipe 33 is provided along the heater 31, and the roller 35 as a laterally conveying means is provided. It has been.
[0053]
The temperature decreasing furnace 42 has a carry-out port 42a formed in the lower part, and a supply / exhaust means 48 for supplying and exhausting heated gas flows G3 and G4 (G3 is higher than G4) having different temperatures in the lateral direction above the carry-in port 42a. While being provided, the heater 31 similar to that of the above-described fourth embodiment is disposed on the upper surface, thereby forming an atmosphere in the furnace in which the lower layer has a lower temperature than the upper layer.
[0054]
Inside the temperature lowering furnace 42, a walking beam 49 similar to that described above for conveying a plurality of workpieces 34 sequentially carried in from the temperature raising / keeping furnace 45 while being supported in the horizontal direction, and a lowermost layer And a roller 35 as a laterally conveying means.
[0055]
Conveyors 50 and 51 each having a roller 35 are installed as transverse feeding means in the vicinity of the carry-in port 41a of the heating furnace 41 and the carry-out port 42a of the cooling furnace 42, respectively.
In such a furnace facility 40, the work 34 carried into the conveyor 50 from the printing process is transferred to the lower roller 35 of the heating furnace 41 by the conveyor 50, and then transferred to the walking beam 47 so as to move upward. It is transported and transferred to the upper roller 35, during which time it stays in the temperature raising furnace 41 for a time that satisfies the temperature raising zone, and is carried out to the temperature raising / keep furnace 45 by the roller 35.
[0056]
The workpiece 34 carried into the temperature raising / keep furnace 45 is supported by a roller 35 from below and is swung in the carry-in / carry-out direction for a time that satisfies a predetermined keep zone. It is carried out to the cooling furnace 42.
[0057]
Next, the work 34 is transferred to the walking beam 49 in the temperature lowering furnace 4 and conveyed downward, and is transferred to the lower roller 15. During this time, the work 34 stays in the temperature lowering furnace 42 for a time that satisfies the temperature lowering zone. To the conveyor 51 and then to the next process.
[0058]
Therefore, also in this furnace equipment 40, the workpiece 34 can be dried or fired in the same manner as a conventional flat-arranged furnace equipment. At that time, since the workpiece 34 is transferred in the furnace atmosphere in which the temperature is continuously raised or lowered, the workpiece 34 can be gradually raised or lowered in temperature uniformly. Similar to each of the above-described embodiments, the installation area is smaller than that of the conventional planar arrangement type, the surface area is small, temperature management is facilitated, and thermal efficiency is greatly improved.
(Embodiment 6)
FIG. 10 shows a furnace facility according to Embodiment 6 of the present invention. In this furnace facility 52, a one-stage heating furnace 41A having a shutter 53b at a carry-in port 53a is connected to the upper layer of the cooling furnace 42 via a heating / keep furnace 45 as in FIG. A loader 54 that can be raised and lowered to the carry-in port 41a is provided on the side of the heating furnace 41A, and a conveyor 51 similar to that shown in FIG. 9 is provided on the side of the cooling furnace 42.
[0059]
The furnace equipment 52 is suitable for a temperature profile in which the workpiece 34 is rapidly heated and gradually cooled. This furnace equipment 52 can also reduce a furnace installation area and a surface area compared with the conventional planar arrangement type.
(Embodiment 7)
FIG. 11 shows a furnace facility according to Embodiment 7 of the present invention. In this furnace facility 55, the multistage heating furnace 22 similar to FIG. 8 is connected to the upper layer of the cooling furnace 42 via the heating / keep furnace 45, as in FIG. 9. A loader / unloader 36 similar to that shown in FIG. 8 is provided on the side of the multistage heating furnace 22, and a conveyor 51 similar to that shown in FIG. 9 is provided on the side of the cooling furnace 42.
[0060]
This furnace equipment 55 is suitable for a temperature profile in which the temperature of the workpiece 34 is strictly controlled to increase the temperature and gradually cool. This furnace equipment 55 can also reduce a furnace installation area and a surface area compared with the conventional planar arrangement type.
[0061]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, a conventional furnace in which a plurality of furnaces are arranged in a plane by using a vertical furnace to transfer a workpiece in the vertical direction in at least one of a temperature raising process and a temperature lowering process. Compared to equipment, the floor space and surface area can be reduced, and space and energy savings can be realized in the manufacturing plant.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a time versus temperature graph showing a temperature profile implemented in a furnace installation of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a furnace facility in Embodiment 1 of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the configuration of a furnace facility similar to the furnace facility of FIG. 2 and having different loading / unloading directions.
FIG. 4 is a time versus temperature graph showing another temperature profile implemented in the furnace installation of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a furnace facility according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a time vs. temperature graph showing yet another temperature profile implemented in the furnace installation of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a furnace facility according to a third embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a furnace facility according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a furnace facility in a fifth embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a furnace facility according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a furnace facility according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 Furnace equipment
2,3,4 furnaces
5,6 Heater
7 Work
8 Laura
9 Air supply pipe
10 Conveyor
11 Loader / Unloader
12 Motor
14 Cover
14a Heater
15 Air supply pipe
16 Valve device
17 Exhaust fan
18 Controller
21 Furnace equipment
22 Multi-stage heating furnace
23 Temperature rise / keep furnace
24 Multi-stage cooling furnace
40 Furnace equipment
41 Heating furnace
42 Cooling furnace
45 Heating / keep furnace
47, 49 Walking beam
52 Furnace equipment
55 Furnace equipment

Claims (6)

Upon heat treatment based on a preset temperature profile board, supplying gas from the plurality of gas supply means provided inside temperature of a plurality of furnaces, which are stacked in multiple stages in the upper bottom to the top of the respective furnace and controlling at a predetermined temperature by the in the step of the substrate possess a step of transportable enter in and out in each furnace is controlled in the temperature, loading and unloading the substrate, the plurality The substrate is loaded into the selected furnace from the furnace, and after a predetermined time has passed, the substrate is unloaded from the selected furnace, and the unloaded substrate is loaded from the same side as the side unloaded from the selected furnace. A substrate heat treatment method, wherein the substrate is loaded into a different furnace from the selected furnace, and the substrate is unloaded from the different furnace after a predetermined time has elapsed based on the temperature profile . 2. The substrate heat treatment method according to claim 1, wherein the supply / exhaust amount of gas to each furnace is controlled based on the timing of loading / unloading the substrate and the elapsed time after loading the substrate . The substrate heat treatment method according to claim 1, wherein the substrate is a substrate constituting a plasma display panel. Furnace equipment for heat-treating a substrate based on a preset temperature profile, a plurality of furnaces stacked in multiple stages above and below, a plurality of gas supply means provided in the upper part of each furnace, and the plurality Temperature control means for controlling the internal temperature of each furnace to an individual temperature, and loading / unloading means for loading / unloading the substrate into / from each furnace controlled at each temperature from the same side of each furnace based on the temperature profile Furnace equipment characterized by comprising: 5. The furnace equipment according to claim 4, further comprising supply / exhaust control means for controlling a supply / exhaust amount of gas to each furnace based on a timing for carrying in / out the substrate and an elapsed time after carrying in the substrate . 6. The furnace equipment according to claim 4, wherein a gas ejection hole is provided at a position not facing the substrate of the gas supply means .

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