LUIJKX, Antoine (AGC Flat Glass Europe SA, Rue de l'Aurore 2, Jumet, B-6040, BE)
MARTIN, Eric (AGC Flat Glass Europe SA, Rue de l'Aurore 2, Jumet, B-6040, BE)
LEFEVRE, Hugues (AGC Flat Glass Europe SA, Rue de l'aurore 2, Jumet, B-6040, BE)
LUIJKX, Antoine (AGC Flat Glass Europe SA, Rue de l'Aurore 2, Jumet, B-6040, BE)
MARTIN, Eric (AGC Flat Glass Europe SA, Rue de l'Aurore 2, Jumet, B-6040, BE)
Claims
1. Equipment for thermal processing of a coated substrate (4), comprising: a processing unit (2, 3) for heating and/or cooling the substrate (4), a conveyer (5) for conveying the substrate (4) to and/or from the processing unit
(2, 3), at least a drawer (7) for holding the substrate during thermal processing, and an elevator system (6, 16; 8, 18) for lifting the substrate (4) and for inserting and/or removing the substrate (4) into/from a drawer (7) and/or onto/from the conveyer (5).
2. Equipment according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit (2, 3) comprises a first processing unit (2) comprising at least a drawer for heating the substrate (4) and a second processing unit (3) comprising at least a drawer for cooling the substrate (4).
3. Equipment according to claim 2, wherein a common elevator system (6, 16; 8, 18) is provided that is attached to the first processing unit (2) and to the second processing unit (3).
4. Equipment according to claim 2, wherein a first elevator system (6, 16) is provided that is attached to the first processing unit (2) and a second elevator system (8) is provided that is attached to the second processing unit (3).
5. Equipment according to any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the equipment is adapted for a substrate (4) comprising glass, a patterned conductive coating and at least one electrical component.
6. Equipment according to any of claims 1 or 5, wherein a support (13) is provided for supporting the substrate (4).
7. Equipment according to claim 6, wherein the support (13) comprises a grid carrier structure (14), a perforated plate (15) and a frame (17), wherein the grid carrier structure (14) and the perforated plate (15) are provided within the frame (17).
8. Equipment according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the support (13) supports a substrate (4) comprising a surface > 1 m 2 .
9. Equipment according to any of claims 1 to 8, wherein the drawer (7) has a door (12).
10. Equipment according to any of claims 1 to 9, wherein at least one drawer (7) is arranged in a group (9), wherein the group (9) comprises a heating and/or cooling unit (10).
11. Equipment according to claim 10, wherein there are a plurality of groups and each group comprises a plurality of drawers, each group having an independently controllable heating and/or cooling unit (10).
12. A polymerizer comprising an equipment according to any of the previous claims. |
Equipment for thermal processing of a coated substrate and polymerizer.
The invention relates to thermal processing equipment such as a heating and/or cooling chamber or oven, for example a polymerizer for curing a coated substrate and in particular to a polymerization curing chamber as well as to a method of manufacturing or operating the same.
TECHNICAL BACKGROUND
In order to secure electronic components on substrates of printed circuit boards (PCB) having access to conducting tracks for an electric current, for example electronic cards, the electronics industry classically uses soldering using metal or gluing by means of con- ducting glue. In the case of a gluing technique, components are fixed on an electronic card by using conducting glue in a first step and in a second step it is necessary to cure or polymerize the glue in order to secure the components permanently onto the card. For this second step, a polymerization oven is often used. In many cases the polymerization oven is in the form of a tunnel with a horizontal conveyor of some meters in length, for exam- pie 5 m, wherein the PCB is conveyed in a heated environment.
From US 5,674,786 a vacuum chamber is known that is suitable for thin film processing for glass substrates, which can be batch heated to processing temperatures and batch cooled after processing by radiant heating and cooling. The heating and/or cooling cham- ber is fitted with a cassette including heat conductive shelves that can be heated or cooled, interleaved by the glass substrates mounted on supports so that a gap exists between the shelves and the substrates. As the shelves provide heating or cooling, the glass substrates are radiantly heated or cooled by the shelves, thereby providing uniform heating or cooling of the glass substrates so as to avoid damage or warpage of the substrates.
However, the vacuum chamber described in US 5,674,786 requires a pit below the oven that mandates costly building work for installation. Other prior art arrangements require a
significant amount of space which leads to physical obstruction in a factory. Especially for substrates of wide dimensions, for example with dimensions greater than 1 m 2 , the tunnel length of a suitable oven may be more than some tens of meters in length. Such ovens provide only low energy efficiencies as the thermal losses in the tunnel are signifi- cant due to poor insulation of the partitions or due to the opening/closing of doors. Further, a cooling zone must be foreseen, as prior to further processing and handling of the substrate, it must be cooled down to temperatures such as below 35°C. This would practically double the physical necessary length of a tunnel oven in a factory.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to provide thermal processing equipment such as a heating and/or cooling chamber or oven, for example a polymerizer for curing a coated substrate and a method of operating the same. An advantage of the polymerizer is that requires little physical space and/or allows for polymerization of substrates with big dimensions.
This object is achieved by a thermal processing equipment such as a polymerizer, for instance, for curing a glue on a coated substrate, which comprises a processing unit for heating and/or cooling the substrate, a conveyer for conveying the substrate to and/or from the processing unit, a drawer for holding the substrate during thermal processing and to allow inserting and/or removing of the substrate into/from the processing unit and an elevator system for lifting the substrate from the conveyer to insert the substrate into the drawer and for lowering the substrate from the drawer to the conveyor. A so-called polymerization vertical curing chamber can be used for receiving substrates of which the surface is at least partially a carrier of electricity respectively has conductive coating, whereby electrical or electronic components have been placed on the surface to be attached by a curable adhesive of glue. The polymerizer can be used to cure the adhesive allowing the component to be fixed on the substrate.
Further, the polymerizer does not require a pit below the oven any more, which results in easy installation of the polymerizer in a factory. In this way the polymerizer does not extend far along a horizontal direction but rather in the vertical direction. In addition, the energy efficiency of the heating system is better, since the heating of a substrate is not perturbed by the entry of other substrates into the system as would occur when opening or closing a tunnel and therefore making terminal losses.
Furthermore, it is preferred that the elevator system has a fork lifts. The fork lift may have two or more forks, optionally variable in their spacing. This is advantageous since differ- ent sizes of substrates can be lifted with the same elevator system. Heating or cooling facilities, respectively, in the form of an oven or in the form of a refrigerator, respectively, may be provided for heating or cooling the substrate, respectively.
In general, a common processing unit can be used for heating and/or cooling the sub- strate. However, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention a first processing unit is provided for heating the substrate and a second processing unit is provided for cooling the substrate. This means that the first processing unit is provided with heating facilities and respective insulation, whereby the second processing unit is provided with cooling capabilities and respective insulation. This way, it becomes easier to manufacture the respective processing unit, given that the insulation required can be better adapted to the respective need for heating or cooling purposes. Also as the time to heat and the time to cool may be different, it is useful to design the heating and cooling units so that the capacity of the separate units is adapted to the required throughput.
Preferably, the conveyer conveys the substrate, for example large pieces of glass with a patterned collective coating and electronic or electrical components placed at correct locations but not yet permanently fixed with adhesive, to the elevator system. The elevator system lifts up the substrate to a required height before it is loaded into a drawer of the respective processing unit. Further, the elevator system is usable for unloading the sub-
strate from a drawer of the first processing unit and for loading the substrate into a drawer of the second processing unit. Thirdly, the elevator system is usable for unloading the substrate from a drawer of a processing unit and for returning it to the conveyer. Such an embodiment allows for very little floor space and cheap manufacturing costs given that only one common elevator system is required.
According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, a common elevator system is provided that is attached to the first processing unit and to the second processing unit. If the heating and cooling units are placed with the doors for the drawers facing each other and the elevator system between the first and second processing unit, then a single elevator can be used for the two processing units.
In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, a first elevator system is provided that is attached to the first processing unit and a second elevator system is provided that is attached to the second processing unit. This way, both processing units can be loaded and/or unloaded independently and/or in parallel. According to another embodiment, it is preferred that three elevators are provided, whereby the first elevator is used to load the first processing unit, the second elevator is used to unload the first processing unit and to load the second processing unit and the third elevator is used to unload the second proc- essing unit.
In general, the polymerizer is adapted for any substrate. However, and according to another preferred embodiment of the invention, the polymerizer is adapted for a substrate comprising a transparent substrate such as glass, a patterned conductive coating and at least one electrical component. The components can be placed at the correct locations but are not yet permanently fixed with adhesives prior to inserting into the processing unit.
According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, a support is provided for supporting the substrate. The support allows conveying the substrate along the conveyer,
for lifting the substrate with the elevator system and for insertion of the substrate into the drawers. This is advantageous, since the support allows for easy insertion and/or removing into/from the processing unit, the drawer, the elevator system and/or the conveyer.
According to a further embodiment of the invention, the support comprises a grid carrier structure, a perforated plate and a frame, wherein the grid carrier structure and the perforated plate are provided within the frame. The perforated plate allows for distribution of circulated air on the whole surface of the substrate in order to avoid local overheating or cooling and/or detachment of components due to air flow. It is further preferred that the grid carrier structure, the perforated plate and the frame is provided together in the form of a cassette.
According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, the support supports a substrate comprising a surface > 1 m 2 . It therefore becomes possible to polymerize substrates of large dimensions, with surfaces > 1 m 2 , and having a significant weight.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the drawer comprises a door. The door of the drawer may pivot to open and close or they may open and close in any other way, for example sliding laterally. The opening and the closing of the doors may be con- trolled independently. The door increases the energy efficiency of the heating and/or cooling facilities.
In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, a plurality of drawers is arranged in a group of drawers, wherein the group comprises an individually controllable heating and/or a cooling unit. Each group is processed thermally together. Each of these units may have a number of separate heating or cooling circuits. The circuits may have a circulating heating or cooling medium such as oil, water or air. Each of these heating or cooling units can be separately controlled. This arrangement allows for manufacturing flexibility while reducing thermal variations in the ovens due to the opening/closing of com-
partments, which could perturb the polymerization or create a thermal break in the glass. A processing unit can be made up by for example 15 drawers arranged in 5 groups of three drawers. In this case, 5 air inlets can be provided.
These and other aspects of the invention will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to the embodiments describes hereinafter.
In the drawings:
Fig. 1 depicts a polymerizer according to a preferred embodiment of the invention,
Fig. 2 depicts a processing unit in a front and a side view according to a preferred embodiment of the invention,
Fig. 3 depicts a part of a side view of the processing unit, and
Figs. 4a and b depict schematic views of the support according to a preferred embodiment of the invention for Insertion in a drawer.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention will be described with respect to particular embodiments and with reference to certain drawings but the invention is not limited thereto but only by the claims. Any reference signs in the claims shall not be construed as limiting the scope. The drawings described are only schematic and are non-limiting. In the drawings, the size of some of the elements may be exaggerated and not drawn on scale for illustrative purposes.
Where the term "comprising" is used in the present description and claims, it does not exclude other elements or steps. Where an indefinite or definite article is used when refer-
ring to a singular noun e.g. "a" or "an", "the", this includes a plural of that noun unless something else is specifically stated.
Furthermore, the terms first, second and the like in the description and in the claims, are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a sequence, either temporally, spatially, in ranking or in any other manner. It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances and that the embodiments of the invention described herein are capable of operation in other sequences than described or illustrated herein.
Reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrases "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, but may. Furthermore, the particular features, structures or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner, as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art from this disclosure, in one or more embodiments.
Similarly it should be appreciated that in the description of exemplary embodiments of the invention, various features of the invention are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of one or more of the various inventive aspects. This method of disclosure, however, is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed invention requires more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive aspects lie in less than all features of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment. Thus, the claims following the detailed description are hereby expressly incorporated into this detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment of this invention.
Furthermore, while some embodiments described herein include some but not other features included in other embodiments, combinations of features of different embodiments are meant to be within the scope of the invention, and form different embodiments, as would be understood by those in the art. For example, in the following claims, any of the claimed embodiments can be used in any combination.
Fig. 1 shows a thermal processing device such as a heating and cooling device, for example, a polymerizer 1 for curing a coated substrate 4 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The substrate is preferably a flat plate and is transparent or translucent, e.g. a glass plate. The coating is preferably on one side of the substrate so that the other side can be used for lifting and transport without damaging any coating or components. The coating may be a conductive coating such as one of conductive polymer or of a conductive metal oxide such as a tin oxide. The coating is preferably patterned so that conductive paths are formed on the surface of the substrate. At particular positions on the substrate discrete electronic or electrical components such as diodes, light emitting devices (e.g. LEDs), resistors, capacitors, inductances, switches, microprocessors, sensors etc. are temporarily fixed with a glue that has to be heat cured, e.g. vulcanised or cross- linked. A suitable glue is a conductive epoxy, either two-part or one part. The glue can be an adhesive, for example a conductive adhesive such as is offered by suppliers like "Epotecny". The conductive paths on the surface of the substrate make electrical contact with the electrical or electronic components.
The polymerizer 1 comprises a first processing unit 2 and a second processing unit 3 ar- ranged linearly along a processing path. A substrate 4 is conveyed on a conveyer 5 to a first elevator system 6, 16. The first elevator system 6, 16 lifts the substrate 4 from the conveyer 5 up to the level of and into a drawer 7 of the first processing unit 2. To achieve this the elevator system has an elevator 6 for vertical movements and a transport device 16 for moving the substrates horizontally in and out of the drawers 7. The elevator 6 and
the transporter 16 are individually controllable. The first processing unit 2 is provided for heating the substrate 4, e.g. for a certain time at a certain temperature. After heating the substrate 4, the substrate 4 is removed from the drawer 7 of the first processing unit 2 and lowered using the first elevator system 6, 16 onto the conveyer 5. The conveyer 5 then convoys the substrate 4 to the second processing unit 3. A second elevator 8, 18, similar to the first system 6, 16 but associated with the second processing unit 3, lifts the substrate 4 from the conveyer 5 up to the level of a drawer 7 of the second processing unit 3 and inserts the substrate 4 into the drawer 7. The second processing unit 3 is provided for cooling the substrate 4, e.g. to cool the substrate 4 at a certain temperature and time. Thereafter the substrate 4 is removed from the drawer 7 of the second processing unit 3 and lowered with the second elevator system 8 down onto the conveyer 5. The conveyer 5 then transports the substrate 4 to another processing step. The heating and cooling can be carried out by any suitable method. Particularly preferred is the circulation of a heating medium, e.g. a gas such as air, applied directly to the substrates or a heating liquid such as water or oil in a closed heating circuit. Particularly preferred is the circulation of a cooling medium, e.g. a gas such as air, applied directly to the substrates or a cooling liquid such as water or oil in a closed heating circuit.
From Fig. 2 a processing unit 2, 3 can be seen in a front and in a side view, respectively. According to the preferred embodiment, the processing unit 2, 3 comprises a vertical stack of horizontal drawers 7. The stack of drawers is located vertically above the conveyor 5, thus requiring no pit. The drawers 7 may be arranged in a plurality of groups of drawers, wherein each group contains at least one drawer 7 and preferably more than 2 drawers. For example the processing unit may include five groups 9 of drawers 7 whereby each group 9 comprises three adjacent drawers 7. Further, each group 9 comprises a heating and/or cooling unit 10. This means that each group 9 can be heated and/or cooled independently from other groups 9. Further there is a controller for controlling the heating and cooling, e.g. the times and the temperatures involved, of each group independently. For instance there can be a set of heating and/or cooling units, each heating and or cooling
unit be provided for one group of drawers and each having its own controller. Arrow 11 shows the direction in which substrates 4 are inserted respectively removed into/from the processing unit 2, 3.
Fig. 3 shows a part of the side view of a processing unit 2, 3. Prior to inserting the substrate 4 into the drawer 7 of the processing unit 2, 3, a door 12 is opened. The substrate 4 is then inserted into the drawer 7 of the processing unit 2, 3. The door 12 is then closed and the substrate 4 is heated and/or cooled by means of the heating and/or cooling unit 10. Once finished, the door 12 is opened and the substrate 4 is removed from the drawer 7 of the respective processing unit 2, 3. To allow the drawer to open it may be hinged on the top, bottom or on one side or it may slide sideways or, where possible slide vertically. The opening and closing of the drawers, the operation of the conveyor elevator and transport device can all be made automatic.
As can be seen from Fig. 3, the substrate 4 is preferably supported by a support 13, i.e. to hold the substrate during transport on the conveyors and/or for lifting and inserting into the drawers. The support 13, as depicted in Fig. 4a in a schematic view, comprises a grid carrier structure 14, a perforated plate 15 and a frame, (17 shown in Fig. 4b). The substrate 4 is placed on top of the grid carrier structure 14. The grid carrier structure 14, the perforated plate 15 and the frame 17 are shown assembled ready for transport in Fig. 4b. Such an arrangement for supporting the substrate 4 allows a distributed flow of circulating cooling or heating fluid such as air on the whole surface of the substrate 4 in order to avoid local overheating and/or detachment of components while still providing good support to a large glass substrate.
While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and foregoing description, such illustration and description are to be considered illustrative or exemplary and not restrictive; the invention is not linked to the disclosed embodiments.
Other variations to the disclosed embodiment can be understood and effected by those skilled in the art in practising the claimed invention, from a study of the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims. In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other elements or steps, and the indefinite article "a" or "an" does not exclude a plurality. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures can not be used to advantage. Any reference signs in the claims should not be construed at limited scope.
Next Patent: ULTRASONIC MEASURING ARRANGEMENT