Apparatus And Method For Providing And Maintaining Dry Air Conditions For Storage Of Moisture-Sensitive Electronic Components
OwnerBahman Khoshnoodinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An enclosure for storing of moisture sensitive devices (MSD's). The enclosure includes a plurality of compartments, each continuously purged with dry air supplied by a commercially available de-humidifier. MSD's housed in said compartments are thus protected from absorbing moisture which could cause cracking of the devices after being mounted on printed circuit boards and subjected to the high temperatures associated with wave solder and solder reflow processes.
Claims19
An apparatus for storing moisture sensitive devices (MSDs) held in carriers in a dry atmosphere isolated from moist air comprising:
- two or more storage compartments in fluid communication with a supply of dry air, each storage compartment comprising:
- a main chamber having a front opening;
- a secondary chamber in fluid communication with said supply of dry air;
- a door functionally coupled to said main chamber operative to form a sealed contact with said front opening;
- and
- a valve assembly operatively coupled between said main chamber and said secondary chamber providing fluid communication therebetween, and being functionally operative with said door;
- whereby placement of the carrier holding the MSDs in said main chamber of one of said two or more storage compartments and closing said door thereto establishes fluid communication between said secondary chamber and said main chamber allowing said supply of dry air to flow into said main chamber establishing a dry atmosphere around the MSDs, and whereby opening said door halts fluid communication between said main chamber and said secondary chamber thereby preventing moist air from entering into said secondary chamber and into said main chamber of another of said two or more storage compartments while said door is open.
An apparatus for storing moisture sensitive devices (MSDs) in a dry atmosphere isolated from moist air comprising:
- two or more storage compartments, each having:
- a main chamber having a front opening;
- a supply secondary chamber in fluid communication with a supply of dry air and operatively coupled to said main chamber to provide said supply of dry air thereto;
- a return air secondary chamber operatively coupled to said main chamber to facilitate a return air flow therefrom;
- and
- a door functionally coupled to said main chamber and operative to form an air tight seal with said front opening when closed;
- whereby said supply secondary chamber is maintained under a positive pressure and said return air secondary chamber is maintained under a negative pressure facilitating a flow of at least a portion of the supply of dry air from said supply secondary chamber into said main chamber.
A method for storing moisture sensitive devices (MSDs) in a dry atmosphere isolated from moist air comprising the steps of:
- providing two or more storage compartments in fluid communication with each other, each said storage compartment comprising;
- a main chamber having a front opening;
- a supply secondary chamber operatively coupled to said main chamber and in fluid communication therewith;
- a return air secondary chamber operatively coupled to said main chamber and in fluid communication therewith;
- and
- a door functionally coupled to said main chamber and operative to form an air tight seal with said front opening when closed;
- providing a supply of dry air under positive pressure to said supply secondary chamber of each of said storage compartments;
- and
- providing a negative pressure to said return air secondary chamber of each of said storage compartments, thereby facilitating a flow of at least a portion of the supply of dry air from said supply secondary chamber into said main chamber of each of said storage compartments thereby establishing the dry atmosphere for storing MSDs.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.