US 6,191,394 B1 · Heat treating apparatus · patentgrep

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Abstract

A heat treating apparatus comprises a hot plate having a top surface on which is placed a substrate that is to be subjected to a heat treatment, setting means for setting an original target temperature of the hot plate required for subjecting the substrate to a heat treatment, a heat energy supply source for supplying a heat energy to the hot plate, a sensor for detecting the temperature of the hot plate, and control means receiving a detection signal from the sensor to obtain a difference in the detected temperature of the hot plate between the state that the substrate is not placed on the hot plate and the state that the substrate is placed on the hot plate, the original target temperature being switched based on the difference, and a signal denoting the switched target temperature in place of the original target temperature being supplied from the control means to the heat energy supply source.

Claims35

Dependent claims

A heat treating apparatus, comprising:

a hot plate having a top surface on which is placed a substrate that is to be subjected to a heat treatment;
setting means for setting an original target temperature of said hot plate required for subjecting said substrate to a heat treatment;
a heat energy supply source for supplying a heat energy to said hot plate;
temperature detecting means for detecting the temperature of the hot plate;
and
control means receiving a detection signal from said temperature detecting means to obtain a difference in the detected temperature of the hot plate between the state that the substrate is not placed on the hot plate and the state that the substrate is placed on the hot plate, said original target temperature being switched based on said difference, and a signal denoting said switched target temperature in place of said original target temperature being supplied from said control means to said heat energy supply source.

3 more elements

A heat treating apparatus, comprising:

a hot plate having a top surface on which is placed a substrate that is to be subjected to a heat treatment;
setting means for setting an original target temperature of said hot plate required for subjecting said substrate to a heat treatment;
a heat energy supply means for supplying a heat energy to said hot plate;
warping deformation detecting means for detecting the warping deformation of the substrate on the hot plate;
and
control means receiving a detection signal from said warping deformation detecting means, said original target temperature being switched based on said detection signal, and a signal denoting said switched target temperature in place of said original target temperature being supplied from said control means to said heat energy supply source.

3 more elements

A heat treating apparatus, comprising:

a hot plate having a top surface on which is placed a substrate that is to be subjected to a heat treatment;
a heater arranged in said hot plate;
a power supply mechanism for supplying an electric power to said heater;
a gas supply mechanism for supplying a gas from sideways of the hot plate toward the hot plate;
a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the hot plate;
setting means for setting a target temperature of the hot plate required for subjecting the substrate to a heat treatment;
control means for obtaining a difference between the temperature detected by said temperature sensor and said target temperature and for controlling the power supply mechanism to eliminate said difference;
memory means for storing the amount of an electric power supplied from said power supply mechanism to the hot plate during the normal operation, a gas flow rate supplied from said gas supply mechanism during the normal operation, and the temperature detected by said temperature sensor during the normal operation;
and
means for reading the power supply amount and the gas flow rate from said memory means when a temperature deviation has taken place between the target temperature and the detected temperature, for operating the power supply mechanism and the gas supply mechanism based on the power supply amount and the gas flow rate read out of the memory means and allowing the temperature sensor to detect the temperature of the hot plate, and for specifying the degree of the temperature deviation and the point where the temperature deviation has taken place based on the detected temperature and the temperature detected during the normal operation.

7 more elements

A heat treating apparatus, comprising:

a hot plate having a top surface on which is placed a substrate that is to be subjected to a heat treatment;
a heater arranged in said hot plate;
a power supply mechanism for supplying an electric power to said heater;
a gas supply mechanism for supplying a gas from sideways of the hot plate toward the hot plate;
setting means for setting a target temperature of the hot plate required for subjecting the substrate to a heat treatment;
a first sensor for detecting the temperature of the hot plate, said detected temperature being converted into an electric signal;
an analog circuit for amplifying said electric signal;
control means for controlling the power supply rate of the power supply mechanism based on the amplified electric signal so as to set the temperature of the hot plate at said target temperature;
a second sensor for detecting the temperature of the hot plate at an accuracy higher than that in said first sensor;
memory means for storing the power supply rate from said power supply mechanism to said hot plate during the normal operation, the gas flow rate from said gas supply mechanism during the normal operation, the temperature detected by said first sensor during the normal operation, and the temperature detected by said second sensor during the normal operation;
and
means for reading the power supply rate and the gas flow rate out of said memory means when a temperature deviation has taken place between the target temperature and the temperature detected by the first sensor, for operating the power supply mechanism and the gas supply mechanism based on the power supply rate and the gas flow rate, respectively, read out of the memory means, and allowing the first and second sensors to detect the temperature of the hot plate at this stage, and for specifying the degree of the temperature deviation and the point where the temperature deviation has taken place based on the detected temperature and the temperature detected during the normal operation.

9 more elements

A heat treating apparatus, comprising:

a hot plate having a top surface on which is placed a substrate that is to be subjected to a heat treatment;
setting means for setting a target temperature of the hot plate required for subjecting the substrate to a heat treatment and an allowable range of said target temperature;
a heat energy supply source for supplying a heat energy to said hot plate;
a plurality of first temperature sensors for detecting the temperatures at a plurality of points on the top surface of the hot plate;
a plurality of second temperature sensors for detecting temperatures at a plurality of points above the hot plate;
memory means for storing the actual temperature of the substrate, the actual temperature of the top surface of the hot plate, and the temperature correlation data denoting the relationship with the temperature above the hot plate, at the time when a heat energy is supplied from the heat energy supply source to the hot plate;
estimating means for receiving detection signals from the first and second temperature sensors, for reading the temperature correlation data from said memory means, and for estimating the present temperature of the hot plate based on the temperature correlation data and the signals detected by the first and second temperature sensors;
and
control means for controlling the heat energy supply source based on the present temperature estimated by said estimating means.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.