Method of reducing the flow of gas needed for a chamber with controlled temperature and controlled composition of gas
OwnerPeter A. Maternainventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A temperature-controlled chamber, such as an inerted oven for soldering, in which the buoyancy-induced motion of gas at the opening of the chamber is suppressed by adjusting the densities of gases. In one embodiment the inertant gas is chosen to be a mixture of inert gases such that the density of warm gas inside the oven approximately equals the density of the external atmosphere. In another embodiment, a buffer region of density-matched warm air is provided between the warm inertant inside the oven and the external atmosphere. The result is reduction in the consumption of inertant.
Claims20
A temperature-controlled chamber, comprising:
- an interior, an exterior and a first opening connecting the interior and the exterior,
- the interior comprising a first interior gas near the first opening, the first interior gas near the first opening having a first interior temperature, a first interior pressure, a first interior composition and a first interior density, the exterior comprising an exterior gas having an exterior temperature, an exterior pressure, an exterior composition and an exterior density, the first interior pressure and the exterior pressure being essentially equal to each other,
- wherein the composition of the first interior gas is chosen such that the first interior density is closer to the exterior density than would be the case if the first interior gas were a pure gas species,
- whereby there is achieved a reduction in the motion of the gases near the first opening driven by the difference between the first interior density and the exterior density.
A method of reducing buoyancy-driven flow at an opening of a temperature-controlled chamber having an interior and an exterior, the opening connecting the interior and the exterior, comprising supplying to the interior an interior gas which is a mixture of gas species chosen such that the density of the interior gas is closer to the density of the exterior gas than would be the case if the interior gas were a pure gas species.
A temperature-controlled chamber comprising an interior, a buffer region, an exterior and an opening, wherein the buffer region is between the interior and the exterior and the opening connects the buffer region with the exterior, the interior comprising an interior gas, the interior gas having an interior temperature, an interior pressure, an interior composition and an interior density, the buffer region comprising a buffer gas, the buffer gas having a buffer temperature, a buffer pressure, a buffer composition and a buffer density, the exterior comprising an exterior gas, the exterior gas having an exterior temperature, an exterior pressure, an exterior composition and an exterior density, the interior pressure and the exterior pressure and the buffer pressure all being essentially equal to each other, wherein the composition of the exterior gas is air and the composition of the buffer gas is air and the density of the buffer gas is closer to the density of the interior gas than would be the case if the buffer temperature were the exterior temperature.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.