Thermal processing apparatus and method of controlling the same

A thermal processing apparatus comprising:

• a furnace body:
• a processing vessel disposed in the furnace body, the processing vessel defining, between the furnace body and the processing vessel, a space including therein a plurality of unit areas, and the processing vessel being configured to accommodate a plurality of objects to be processed;
• a heating unit disposed on an inner surface of the furnace body, correspondingly to each of the unit areas of the space;
• an in-processing-vessel temperature sensor disposed correspondingly to each of the unit areas in the processing vessel;
• and
• a control unit configured to control, based on a signal from the in-processing-vessel temperature sensor of each of the unit areas, the heating unit of the unit area;
• wherein:
• the control unit includes a large-number control zone mode in which the number of control zones, which are formed of the unit areas and are independently controlled, is large, and a small-number control zone mode in which the number of control zones, is small;
• and
• the control unit is configured to select the small-number control zone mode in which the number of the control zones is small, so as to control the heating units of the respective control zones, when a temperature is increased or decreased, and is configured to select the large-number control zone mode in which the number of the control zones is large, so as to control the heating units of the respective control zones, when a temperature is stabilized.

A method of controlling a thermal processing apparatus comprising:

• a furnace body;
• a processing vessel disposed in the furnace body, the processing vessel defining, between the furnace body and the processing vessel, a space including therein a plurality of unit areas, and the processing vessel being configured to accommodate a plurality of objects to be processed;
• a heating unit disposed on an inner surface of the furnace body, correspondingly to each of the unit areas of the space;
• an in-furnace temperature sensors disposed correspondingly to each of the unit areas of the space;
• and a control unit configured to control, based on a signal from the in-furnace temperature sensor of each of the unit areas, the heating unit of the unit area;
• wherein the control unit includes a large-number control zone mode in which the number of control zones, which are formed of the unit areas and are independently controlled, is large, and a small-number control zone mode in which the number of control zones, which are formed of the unit areas and are independently controlled, is small;
• the method of controlling the thermal processing apparatus comprising:
• selecting the small-number control zone mode in which the number of the control zones is small, so as to control the heating units of the respective control zones, when a temperature is increased or decreased;
• and
• selecting the large-number control zone mode in which the number of the control zones is large, so as to control the heating units of the respective control zones, when a temperature is stabilized.

A method of controlling a thermal processing apparatus comprising:

• a furnace body;
• a processing vessel disposed in the furnace body, the processing vessel defining, between the furnace body and the processing vessel, a space including therein a plurality of unit areas, and the processing vessel being configured to accommodate a plurality of objects to be processed;
• a heating unit disposed on an inner surface of the furnace body, correspondingly to each of the unit areas of the space;
• an in-processing-vessel temperature sensor disposed correspondingly to each of the unit areas in the processing vessel;
• and a control unit configured to control, based on a signal from the in-processing-vessel temperature sensor of each of the unit areas, the heating unit of the unit area;
• wherein the control unit includes a large-number control zone mode in which the number of control zones, which are formed of the unit areas and are independently controlled, is large, and a small-number control zone mode in which the number of control zones, which are formed of the unit areas and are independently controlled, is small;
• the method of controlling the thermal processing apparatus comprising:
• selecting the small-number control zone mode in which the number of the control zones is small, so as to control the heating units of the respective control zones, when a temperature is increased or decreased;
• and
• selecting the large-number control zone mode in which the number of the control zones is large, so as to control the heating units of the respective control zones, when a temperature is stabilized.