Material handling equipment and method of operating the same

Abstract

The present invention provides a material processing equipment, including a processing chamber, an external pressure source, a pressure reducer, a temperature regulator and a controller. The processing chamber has an internal space. The external pressure source is connected to the processing chamber to pressurize the internal space. The pressure reducer is connected to the processing chamber to decompress the internal space. The temperature regulator is arranged in the processing chamber to adjust the temperature in the internal space. The controller is used to control the external pressure source and the temperature regulator so that the temperature and pressure in the processing chamber rise to a first predetermined temperature and a first predetermined pressure respectively, and to control the pressure in the processing chamber to continue to rise before rising to the first predetermined temperature. An operating method of a material processing equipment is also provided.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a processing device and a manufacturing method, and in particular to a material processing device and an operating method thereof. Background Art

[0002] Generally speaking, in the manufacturing process of electronic products, many bubbles are usually generated in the materials to be processed. These bubbles will cause the reliability and yield of the electronic products to decrease. In the existing technology, it is also easy to cause poor temperature uniformity of the material, resulting in an error between the measured temperature and the actual overall temperature of the material, so that the relevant parameters cannot be accurately switched, resulting in control inaccuracy. Summary of the invention

[0003] The present invention is directed to a material processing device and an operating method thereof, which can improve the reliability and yield of electronic products.

[0004] According to an embodiment of the present invention, a material processing equipment includes a processing chamber, an external pressure source, a pressure reducer, a temperature regulator and a controller. The processing chamber has an internal space. The external pressure source is connected to the processing chamber to pressurize the internal space. The pressure reducer is connected to the processing chamber to decompress the internal space. The temperature regulator is arranged in the processing chamber to adjust the temperature in the internal space. The controller is used to control the external pressure source and the temperature regulator so that the temperature and pressure in the processing chamber rise to a first predetermined temperature and a first predetermined pressure respectively, and to control the pressure in the processing chamber to continue to rise before rising to the first predetermined temperature.

[0005] In one embodiment of the present invention, the material processing equipment further includes at least one motor disposed outside the processing chamber and coupled to the processing chamber.

[0006] In one embodiment of the present invention, the at least one motor is located in an atmospheric environment.

[0007] In one embodiment of the present invention, the at least one motor is a plurality of motors, and a portion of one of the plurality of motors extends into the processing chamber.

[0008] In one embodiment of the present invention, the material processing equipment further includes a turbo fan disposed in the processing chamber and connected to the temperature regulator and one of the plurality of motors.

[0009] In one embodiment of the present invention, the at least one motor is one motor, and the motor is at a distance from the processing chamber.

[0010] In one embodiment of the present invention, the material processing equipment further includes a cooler disposed between the processing chamber and the pressure reducer for cooling the gas extracted from the processing chamber.

[0011] In one embodiment of the present invention, the controller is used to control the pressure in the processing chamber to be no less than normal pressure.

[0012] In one embodiment of the present invention, the controller is used to control the pressure reducer not to perform the pressure reducing action before the temperature rises to the first predetermined temperature.

[0013] According to an embodiment of the present invention, a method for operating a material processing device may include the following steps: providing the material processing device described above; placing an electronic product in a processing chamber; operating a controller so that the temperature and pressure in the processing chamber rise to a first predetermined temperature and a first predetermined pressure, respectively; and operating the controller so that the pressure in the processing chamber continues to rise before rising to the first predetermined temperature.

[0014] Based on the above, the controller controls the external pressure source and the temperature regulator, so that the temperature and pressure in the processing chamber rise to the first predetermined temperature and the first predetermined pressure respectively, and the pressure in the processing chamber is controlled to continue to rise before rising to the first predetermined temperature, which can improve the temperature uniformity of the material to be processed in the electronic product process (the center temperature of the material is similar to the edge temperature), and the pressure is not reduced before rising to the first predetermined temperature, so that the temperature uniformity can be optimized, so as to more effectively reduce the error between the measured temperature and the overall temperature of the actual material, thereby enabling the material processing equipment of the present invention to switch related parameters more accurately, improve the problem of control inaccuracy, and improve the reliability and yield of electronic products.

[0015] In order to make the above features and advantages of the present invention more clearly understood, embodiments are given below with reference to the accompanying drawings for detailed description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] Figure 1 is a block diagram of a material handling apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0017] Figure 2 is a block diagram of a material handling apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention;

[0018] Figure 3 is a flow chart of a method for operating a material handling device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0019] Figure 4 A graph showing the relationship between temperature, pressure, and time according to some embodiments of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Whenever possible, the same reference numerals are used in the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts.

[0021] Figure 1 : is a block diagram of a material processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Here, the material processing device is used, for example, for material processing of any relevant process (Front End of Line (FEOL), Back End of Line (BEOL), ball-level System-in-Package (SiP) and chip-level wafer-on-wafer) in the production process of electronic products, wherein the electronic products include but are not limited to automotive electronic products and sensor electronic products. The following description can be regarded as the process to be processed for electronic products.

[0022] Please refer to Figure 1 , the material processing equipment 100 includes a processing chamber 110, an external pressure source 120, a pressure reducer 130, a temperature regulator 140 and a controller 150. Further, the processing chamber 110 has an internal space S. The external pressure source 120 is connected to the processing chamber 110 to pressurize the internal space S. Here, the pressurization action can be to provide high-pressure gas to the internal space S of the processing chamber 110 through the external pressure source 120 so that the pressure of the internal space S is greater than the normal pressure. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the external pressure source 120 can be pressurized in the internal space S in any other suitable manner. In some embodiments, the pressurization action can make the pressure of the internal space S between 1 atmosphere and 100 atmospheres, but the present invention is not limited to this. It should be noted that the normal pressure described in the present invention is 1 atmosphere (atm).

[0023] The decompressor 130 is connected to the processing chamber 110 to decompress the internal space S. Here, the decompressor 130 may utilize a pump to extract gas in the internal space S to decompress the internal space S, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and the internal space S may be decompressed in any suitable manner.

[0024] The temperature regulator 140 is disposed in the processing chamber 110 to adjust the temperature in the internal space S. In the present embodiment, the temperature regulator 140 performs temperature-regulated hot air circulation in a convection manner, for example, to make the gas temperature in the internal space S uniform. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the temperature regulator 140 may perform temperature regulation in other suitable manners.

[0025] The controller 150 is used to control at least the external pressure source 120 and the temperature regulator 140. In more detail, the controller 150 can be used to control the external pressure source 120 and the temperature regulator 140 so that the temperature and pressure in the processing chamber 110 rise to the first predetermined temperature and the first predetermined pressure, respectively, and to control the pressure in the processing chamber to continue to rise before the pressure rises to the first predetermined temperature. In other words, the controller 150 can be used to control the pressure reducer 130 not to perform a pressure reducing action before the pressure rises to the first predetermined temperature. In some embodiments, the first predetermined temperature is, for example, the softening temperature of the material in the process of the electronic product to be processed, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0026] Since pressurizing the processing chamber 110 can increase the density of thermal molecules in the processing chamber 110, the thermal molecules can uniformly heat the materials in the process of electronic products to be processed. By controlling the pressure in the processing chamber to continue to rise before rising to the first predetermined temperature through the controller 150, the temperature uniformity of the materials in the process of electronic products to be processed can be improved (the center temperature of the material is close to the edge temperature). By not reducing the pressure before rising to the first predetermined temperature, the temperature uniformity can be optimized to more effectively reduce the error between the measured temperature and the actual overall temperature of the material, thereby enabling the material processing equipment 100 of this embodiment to switch related parameters more accurately, improve the problem of control inaccuracy, and improve the reliability and yield of electronic products.

[0027] The controller 150 may be a central processing unit (CPU), other programmable general-purpose or special-purpose microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSP), programmable controllers, application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), programmable logic devices (PLD), other similar processing devices or a combination of these devices, and may have built-in or external memory.

[0028] In some embodiments, the controller 150 may be configured to control the pressure in the processing chamber 110 to be not less than normal pressure. In other words, the pressure in the processing chamber 110 may always be in a positive pressure state.

[0029] In some embodiments, for example, a linear increase method is used to increase the pressure in the processing chamber 110 to the first predetermined temperature and the first predetermined pressure. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, for example, a multi-stage method (or "multi-stage" method) is used to increase the pressure in the processing chamber 110 to the first predetermined temperature and the first predetermined pressure.

[0030] It should be noted that the present invention can adjust the pressure (P), temperature (T) and time (t) according to the material properties. As long as the controller 150 can be used to control the external pressure source 120 and the temperature regulator 140, so that the temperature and pressure in the processing chamber 110 rise to the first predetermined temperature and the first predetermined pressure respectively, and is used to control the pressure in the processing chamber to continue to rise before rising to the first predetermined temperature, it all falls within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0031] In the present embodiment, the material processing equipment 100 may selectively include at least one motor 160. The motor 160 may be disposed outside the processing chamber 110 and coupled to the processing chamber 110. In other words, the motor 160 may not be disposed in the internal space S. Therefore, compared with a motor disposed in the internal space S and having the same pressure as the internal space S, the motor 160 of the present embodiment will not be damaged by the pressure change of the internal space S, and thus may have a longer service life. In some embodiments, the motor 160 may be coupled to the processing chamber 110 using a rotating shaft, a pipeline, or other suitable connectors, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0032] In some embodiments, the motor 160 may be located in an atmospheric environment, that is, the motor 160 may not be covered by any shell and may be directly exposed to the air, but the present invention is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the motor 160 may also be covered by a shell to prevent it from being damaged by external force.

[0033] In this embodiment, the material processing equipment 100 may selectively include a turbo fan 170, and the at least one motor 160 may be a plurality of motors 160. Further, one of the plurality of motors 160 partially extends into the processing chamber 110, and the turbo fan 170 may be disposed in the processing chamber 110 and connected to the temperature regulator 140 and one of the plurality of motors 160.

[0034] like Figure 1As shown, the motor 160 may include a motor 1601 and a motor 1602, and a portion of the motor 1601 extends into the processing chamber 110. In addition, the turbo fan 170 may be disposed in the processing chamber 110 and connected to the temperature regulator 140 and the motor 1601. In other words, the turbo fan 170 may be sandwiched between the temperature regulator 140 and the motor 1601. On the other hand, the motor 1602 may be coupled to the processing chamber 110 to adjust the gas concentration in the processing chamber 110. For example, when the gas concentration in the processing chamber 110 is high, the controller 150 may control the motor 1602 to extract the gas in the processing chamber 110, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0035] In some embodiments, the motor 1601 may be a driving motor, and thus the motor 1601 may drive the turbofan 170 to rotate, thereby making the gas temperature in the internal space S more uniform, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0036] In this embodiment, the material processing equipment 100 may selectively include a cooler 180. The cooler 180 may be disposed between the processing chamber 110 and the pressure reducer 130 to cool the gas extracted from the processing chamber 110. In addition, the cooler 180 may be disposed outside the processing chamber 110 and connected to the internal space S, so that the gas cooled by the cooler 180 may flow back to the processing chamber 110 for circulation. In some embodiments, the cooler 180 may be a plate heat exchanger, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and the cooler 180 may be any suitable cooling device.

[0037] In this embodiment, the material processing equipment 100 may selectively include a gas content sensor 190. The gas content sensor 190 may be disposed outside the processing chamber 110 and communicated with the internal space S. Further, the gas content sensor 190 may sense the content of a specific gas in the internal space S, and the gas content sensor 190 may have an adjustment unit (not shown), which may adjust the fluid to a state suitable for being sensed before sensing the content of a specific fluid. For example, the adjustment unit is, for example, a valve member, which allows a fluid of an appropriate flow rate to pass through for sensing, or, for example, the adjustment unit is, for example, a temperature adjustment unit, which is used to increase or decrease the temperature so that the fluid is adjusted to a temperature range suitable for being sensed.

[0038] In some embodiments, the gas content sensor 190 is, for example, an oxygen content analyzer. Of course, the type of the gas content sensor 190, the units it is composed of, and the type of gas it measures are not limited thereto.

[0039] It should be noted that, in addition to controlling the external pressure source 120 and the temperature regulator 140, the controller 150 can also selectively be used to control the above-mentioned components such as the pressure reducer 130, the motor 160, the cooler 170, the turbo fan 180 and the gas content sensor 190 to have a more accurate and rapid parameter switching mechanism, but the present invention is not limited to this.

[0040] It must be noted here that the following embodiments continue to use the component numbers and some contents of the above-mentioned embodiments, wherein the same or similar numbers are used to represent the same or similar components, and the description of the same technical content is omitted. For the description of the omitted parts, please refer to the above-mentioned embodiments, and the following embodiments will not be repeated.

[0041] Figure 2 is a block diagram of a material processing device according to another embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 , compared to Figure 1 Compared with the material processing equipment 100 of the embodiment of the present invention, the difference of the material processing equipment 100a of the present embodiment is that at least one motor 160 is a motor 160, and the motor 160 is at a distance from the processing chamber 110. Further, in the present embodiment, the material processing equipment 100a does not include the turbo fan 170 and the motor 1601 driving the turbo fan 170. In addition, the motor 1602 can be connected to the cooler 180, so that the gas in the processing chamber 110 can be directly adjusted by the motor 1602 and the gas cooled by the cooler 180 can be returned to the processing chamber 110 for circulation.

[0042] By configuring the material processing equipment 100a of this embodiment, the number of motors used can be reduced, thereby effectively reducing the manufacturing cost of the material processing equipment 100a. However, the present invention does not limit the number and position of the motors, and the number and position of the motors can be adjusted according to actual design requirements.

[0043] The following is an explanation of an operating method of a material processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. Figure 3 is a flow chart of a method for operating a material handling facility according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0044] Please refer to Figure 3 , perform step S100, provide a material processing device, such as providing the aforementioned material processing device 100 or material processing device 100a. Perform step S200, place the electronic product in the processing chamber 110. Perform step S300, operate the controller 150, so that the temperature and pressure in the processing chamber 110 are respectively increased to a first predetermined temperature and a first predetermined pressure. Perform step S400, operate the controller 150, so that the pressure in the processing chamber 110 continues to increase before increasing to the first predetermined temperature.

[0045] The following diagrams illustrate the operating curves of some embodiments of the present invention. Figure 4 A graph showing the relationship between temperature, pressure, and time according to some embodiments of the present invention.

[0046] Please refer to Figure 4 , Figure 4 The operating curves are used to illustrate the material processing of film bonding process, two-stage thermosetting material (B-Stage) bonding process, die attach film (DAF) bonding process, optically clear adhesive (OCA) bonding process, and silver glue filling process in the process of manufacturing electronic products. The materials can be materials known to those skilled in the art that can be applied to the above processes and will not be repeated here.

[0047] When the material to be processed in the process of manufacturing electronic products is the above-mentioned dry film, solid, quasi-solid or low-viscosity material, the material processing equipment of the present invention can omit the vacuuming step, thereby simplifying the steps and reducing the manufacturing cost of the electronic products.

[0048] In addition, Figure 4 In the embodiment, the pressure can be kept at a constant value (without pressure reduction) during the initial cooling process, so that warping or bubble recovery caused by thermal reaction can be effectively prevented during the initial cooling process, thereby further ensuring the reliability and yield of the electronic product.

[0049] It should be noted that Figure 4 The first predetermined pressure and the first predetermined temperature indicated in the figure are only used to schematically show the temperature, pressure and time-related curves corresponding to the material properties of the material to be processed in the manufacturing process of the electronic product. The actual temperature, pressure and time values ​​can be adjusted according to the actual design requirements. Figure 4 The values ​​of each node of temperature, pressure and time are not clearly indicated. In addition, the first predetermined temperature and the first predetermined pressure can be defined as the first highest point position in the temperature curve and the pressure curve.

[0050] In addition, the relationship between temperature and pressure is not limited to Figure 4 The curves are shown in a manner (such as causing the temperature and pressure in the processing chamber 110 to rise to the first predetermined temperature and the first predetermined pressure respectively at the same time), that is, the time points for adjusting the temperature and increasing the pressure can be determined according to actual design requirements. As long as the controller 150 can be operated to control the external pressure source 120 and the temperature regulator 140, so that the temperature and pressure in the processing chamber 110 rise to the first predetermined temperature and the first predetermined pressure respectively, and the pressure in the processing chamber is controlled to continue to rise before rising to the first predetermined temperature, it falls within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0051] For example, the temperature may be raised to a certain temperature before the pressure in the processing chamber 110 is raised, or the pressure in the processing chamber 110 may be raised to a certain pressure before the temperature in the processing chamber 110 is raised.

[0052] In summary, by controlling the external pressure source and the temperature regulator through the controller, the temperature and pressure in the processing chamber are respectively increased to the first predetermined temperature and the first predetermined pressure, and the pressure in the processing chamber is controlled to continue to rise before rising to the first predetermined temperature, so that the temperature uniformity of the material in the process of electronic products to be processed can be improved (the center temperature of the material is similar to the edge temperature), and the temperature uniformity can be optimized without reducing the pressure in the heating state, so as to more effectively reduce the error between the measured temperature and the overall temperature of the actual material, thereby enabling the material processing equipment of the present invention to switch related parameters more accurately, improve the problem of control inaccuracy, and improve the reliability and yield of electronic products. In addition, when the material used in the process of manufacturing electronic products to be processed is a dry film, solid, quasi-solid or low-viscosity material, the material processing equipment of the present invention can omit the vacuuming step, thereby simplifying the steps and reducing the manufacturing cost of electronic products.

[0053] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, rather than to limit it. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments, or replace some or all of the technical features therein with equivalents. However, these modifications or replacements do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. A material processing equipment, characterized in that: include: a processing chamber having an inner space; an external pressure source connected to the processing chamber to pressurize the internal space; A pressure reducer connected to the processing chamber to reduce the pressure of the internal space; a temperature regulator, disposed in the processing chamber, for regulating the temperature in the internal space; as well as a controller, for controlling the external pressure source and the temperature regulator, so that the temperature and pressure in the processing chamber rise to a first predetermined temperature in a first time and to a first predetermined pressure in a second time, respectively, the first time is less than the second time, the temperature continues to rise within the first time, the pressure continues to rise within the second time, and the pressure in the processing chamber is controlled to continue to rise before rising to the first predetermined temperature, wherein The slope of the rising curve of the pressure during the second time is greater than the slope of the rising curve of the temperature during the first time; and After reaching the first predetermined temperature, maintaining the first predetermined temperature for a third time, and then continuously increasing the first predetermined temperature in the processing chamber to a second predetermined temperature; as well as A cooler is disposed between the processing chamber and the pressure reducer, and is used to cool the gas extracted from the processing chamber, wherein the gas cooled by the cooler is used to flow back to the processing chamber for circulation.

2. The material processing equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that The invention also includes at least one motor which is arranged outside the processing chamber and coupled to the processing chamber.

3. The material processing equipment according to claim 2, characterized in that The at least one motor is located in the atmospheric environment.

4. The material processing equipment according to claim 2, characterized in that The at least one motor is a plurality of motors, and a portion of one of the plurality of motors extends into the processing chamber.

5. The material processing equipment according to claim 4, characterized in that The invention also includes a turbo fan disposed in the processing chamber and connected to the temperature regulator and one of the plurality of motors.

6. The material processing equipment according to claim 2, characterized in that The at least one motor is a motor, and the motor is at a distance from the processing chamber.

7. The material processing equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that The controller is used to control the pressure in the processing chamber to be no less than normal pressure.

8. The material processing equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that Before the temperature rises to the first predetermined temperature, the controller is used to control the pressure reducer not to perform a pressure reducing action.

9. A method for operating a material processing equipment, characterized in that: include: Providing a material processing apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8; placing the electronic product into the processing chamber; operating the controller to increase the temperature and pressure in the processing chamber to the first predetermined temperature and the first predetermined pressure, respectively; and The controller is operated so that the pressure in the processing chamber continues to increase before increasing to the first predetermined temperature.

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