Soldering apparatus and method for manufacturing a soldering target object

Abstract

To provide a soldering apparatus that reduces variations in the temperature of an object and a method for manufacturing a soldered object. 【Solution means】The soldering apparatus 1 includes a heating and cooling device 10 that heats and cools an object W to be soldered by at least one of heat transfer and heat radiation, and a first distance adjusting device 25 that adjusts the distance between the object W and the heating and cooling device 10. The method for manufacturing a soldered object uses the soldering apparatus 1 to dispose the object W at a first predetermined distance from the heating and cooling device 10, heat the heating and cooling device 10, bring the object W closer to the heated heating and cooling device 10 to heat the object W, after heating the object W to melt the solder, dispose the object W at a second predetermined distance from the heating and cooling device 10, cool the heating and cooling device 10, and bring the object W closer to the cooled heating and cooling device 10 to cool the solder contained in the object W.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a soldering apparatus and a method for manufacturing a soldering target object.

Background Art

[0002] In a reflow soldering apparatus, in order to reduce the size, a cooling block is disposed on the bottom surface of a processing chamber, a heater is disposed below the upper surface of the cooling block, and a plate on which a workpiece is placed is moved between a heating position and a cooling position (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] The soldering apparatus described in Patent Document 1 indirectly heats and cools a workpiece placed on a plate by heating or cooling the plate. However, temperature variations may occur depending on the part of the workpiece during heating and / or cooling.

[0005] In view of the above problems, the present disclosure relates to providing a soldering apparatus and a method for manufacturing a soldering target object that reduce temperature variations of the object during the soldering process.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] The soldering apparatus according to the first aspect of the present disclosure includes a heating and cooling device that heats and cools an object to be soldered by at least one of heat transfer and heat radiation, and a first distance adjusting device that adjusts a distance between the object and the heating and cooling device.

[0007] With such a configuration, when heating and cooling the object, by adjusting the distance between the object and the heating / cooling device, it is possible to reduce the variation in the temperature of the object.

[0008] Further, as a soldering device according to a second aspect of the present disclosure, in the soldering device according to the first aspect of the present disclosure, the heating / cooling device may include a plate on which the object can be placed, a heater that heats the plate, a cooler that cools the plate, and a second distance adjustment device that adjusts the distance between the plate and the heater and the cooler.

[0009] With such a configuration, the plate can be heated or cooled as necessary, and the object can be heated or cooled by heat transfer or heat radiation from the plate.

[0010] Further, as a soldering device according to a third aspect of the present disclosure, in the soldering device according to the second aspect of the present disclosure, it may be provided with a chamber that houses at least at least a part of the first distance adjustment device and the plate.

[0011] With such a configuration, heating and cooling of the object can be performed in a suitable environment inside the chamber.

[0012] Further, as a soldering device according to a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, in the soldering device according to any one of the first to third aspects of the present disclosure, a temperature detector that detects the temperature of at least one of the object and the heating / cooling device, and a control device that controls the first distance adjustment device so as to adjust the distance between the object and the heating / cooling device according to the temperature detected by the temperature detector may be provided.

[0013] With such a configuration, it is possible to heat and cool the object while adjusting the distance between the object and the heating / cooling device so that substantially no temperature variation occurs in the object.

[0014] Moreover, the method for manufacturing a soldering target object according to the fifth aspect of the present disclosure is a method for manufacturing a soldered object using the soldering apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects of the present disclosure, including the steps of: arranging the object at a first predetermined distance away from the heating and cooling device by the first distance adjusting device; heating the heating and cooling device with the object arranged at the first predetermined distance; heating the object by bringing the object closer to the heating and cooling device than the first predetermined distance by the first distance adjusting device with respect to the heated heating and cooling device; after heating the object and melting the solder contained in the object, arranging the object at a second predetermined distance away from the heating and cooling device by the first distance adjusting device; cooling the heating and cooling device with the object arranged at the second predetermined distance; and cooling the solder contained in the object by bringing the object closer to the heated and cooled heating and cooling device than the second predetermined distance by the first distance adjusting device.

[0015] With this configuration, variations in the temperature of the object can be reduced when heating and cooling the object, so that an object with generally uniform soldering can be obtained.

Effects of the Invention

[0016] According to the present disclosure, variations in the temperature of the object can be reduced by adjusting the distance between the object and the heating and cooling device when heating and cooling the object.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0017]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0018] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. In each figure, members that are identical or corresponding to each other are given the same or similar reference numerals, and duplicate descriptions are omitted. Also, the dimensions and ratios in the drawings are exaggerated for the convenience of explanation and may be different from the actual ratios.

[0019] First, referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a soldering apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described. FIG. 1 is a schematic front longitudinal sectional view of the soldering apparatus 1, and the cross-sectional hatching is omitted to avoid clutter in the figure. FIG. 2 is a schematic partial plan view of the soldering apparatus 1. The soldering apparatus 1 is an apparatus for performing soldering on a substrate W as an object to be soldered. The substrate W generally corresponds to what is called a workpiece (sometimes simply abbreviated as "workpiece"), and in the present embodiment, it will be described as being circular and plate-shaped (hereinafter referred to as "disk-shaped"). Also, the soldering here includes forming solder bumps on the substrate W and mounting electronic components on the substrate W having solder bumps. When forming solder bumps on the substrate W, the substrate W with raw material solder arranged on its surface is heated inside the soldering apparatus 1. Then, the raw material solder once melts, and when the melted solder cools and solidifies, it typically becomes hemispherical solder bumps. When mounting an electronic component on the substrate W, the electronic component is placed on the solder bumps of the substrate W on which the solder bumps are formed, and the substrate W is heated inside the soldering apparatus 1. Then, the solder bumps once melt, and when the melted solder cools and solidifies, the electronic component is soldered to the substrate W. Thus, the soldering apparatus 1 can employ one that functions as a reflow oven.

[0020] The soldering apparatus 1 mainly includes a heating and cooling device 10 and a substrate lifting device 25. Further, the soldering apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment also includes a chamber 30 and a control device 50. The heating and cooling device 10 is a device that heats and cools a substrate W to be soldered by at least one of heat transfer and heat radiation. In the present embodiment, the heating and cooling device 10 has a plate 11, a heating tube 12, a cooling block 13, and a plate lifting device 15. In FIG. 2, these are mainly shown for explaining the arrangement of the plate 11, the heating tube 12, and the cooling block 13.

[0021] The plate 11 is a member on which the substrate W is placed. In other words, the plate 11 can support the substrate W placed on its upper surface. In the present embodiment, the plate 11 is formed in a rectangular flat plate shape. The surface of the plate 11 on which the substrate W is placed (hereinafter referred to as the "substrate placement surface") is formed to be large enough to encompass the entire substrate W. The substrate placement surface of the plate 11 is typically formed flat. From the viewpoint of quickly following temperature changes when heated or cooled, a carbon plate typically made of carbon is preferably used for the plate 11. The carbon plate may be formed of graphite. Also, from the viewpoint of quickly following temperature changes when heated or cooled, the plate 11 is preferably formed as thin as possible (i.e., with a small volume) within a range where its strength can be ensured in order to reduce its heat capacity.

[0022] The heating tube 12 heats the plate 11 and corresponds to a heater. The heating tube 12 can emit radiant energy, and in this embodiment, an infrared lamp heater (also referred to as an "IR heater") is used. That is, the heating and cooling device 10 transmits radiant energy to the plate 11 by infrared rays (typically far-infrared rays) emitted from the heating tube 12. The heating tube 12 has an elongated rod-like appearance, and in this embodiment, it has a round rod-like appearance. The heating tube 12 has approximately the same length as one side of the rectangle of the plate 11. The so-called approximately the same length here means that in addition to the same length as the said side of the plate 11, it is intended to include those shorter and longer than the said side within the range capable of heating the entire plate 11 in the direction of the said side of the plate 11.

[0023] In this embodiment, a plurality of heating tubes 12 are arranged at a predetermined interval in a direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the heating tube 12 (i.e., the direction in which the rod-like axis extends) and in the horizontal direction below the plate 11. The predetermined interval can be adjusted as appropriate within the range capable of heating the entire plate 11. Also, in this embodiment, all of the plurality of heating tubes 12 are arranged parallel to one pair of opposite sides of the rectangular plate 11, but they may be arranged so as to extend at an angle with respect to the sides of the plate 11. Note that the plurality of heating tubes 12 do not necessarily have to be arranged parallel to each other, but from the viewpoint of suppressing the occurrence of temperature unevenness, it is preferable that they are arranged parallel to each other. Hereinafter, the direction intersecting the longitudinal direction of the heating tube 12 in which the plurality of heating tubes 12 are arranged will be referred to as the "arrangement direction DA".

[0024] Each heating tube 12 may be configured to emit greater radiant energy at both end portions than at the central portion in the longitudinal direction. As a background for adopting such a heating tube 12, when infrared radiation is continued to maintain the heated temperature of the plate 11 after heating the plate 11, if it radiates evenly in the longitudinal direction, the temperature of the plate 11 will decrease more towards the end portions in the longitudinal direction. When using a heating tube 12 that emits greater radiant energy at both end portions, it is possible to suppress the temperature drop at the end portions of the plate 11 during heating for maintaining the temperature of the plate 11. As the heating tube 12 that emits greater radiant energy at both end portions than at the central portion in the longitudinal direction, a densely and sparsely wound infrared lamp heater with a higher winding density of the filament that emits infrared rays at both end portions than at the central portion in the longitudinal direction can be used.

[0025] The cooling block 13 cools the plate 11 and corresponds to a cooler. The cooling block 13 cools the plate 11 by at least one of heat transfer and heat radiation. Here, when cooling the plate 11 by heat transfer or radiation of the cold heat from the cooling block 13, the plate 11 is cooled by the cooling block 13 absorbing heat from the plate 11. For convenience, it is expressed that the cooling block 13 transfers or radiates cold heat to the plate 11. The cooling block 13 can store cold heat, and typically, a metal block can be used. The cooling block 13 is preferably formed of a material having a relatively high thermal conductivity, and may be formed of copper or a copper alloy or aluminum, etc. In the present embodiment, the cooling block 13 is generally formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and a pair of surfaces among the six surfaces in the rectangular parallelepiped shape are approximately the same size as the substrate mounting surface of the plate 11. The cooling block 13 is typically arranged such that a surface approximately the same size as the substrate mounting surface of the plate 11 is horizontal. The upper surface among the horizontal surfaces of the cooling block 13 is referred to as the "upper surface". The upper surface of the cooling block 13 is substantially flat except for the portion where the heating tube 12 described below is arranged.

[0026] The cooling block 13 has each heating tube 12 fixed thereto at the upper part. That is, the cooling block 13 also has a function of positioning each heating tube 12. Each heating tube 12 is fixed to the cooling block 13 at a position where the rod-shaped side surface at the uppermost position is aligned with the upper surface of the cooling block 13 or slightly lower than the upper surface. The upper surface of the cooling block 13 at the portion where the heating tubes 12 are arranged is typically formed with a notch portion 13N which is cut out so that the upper side surface of the heating tube 12 is exposed. The inner wall of the notch portion 13N may be inclined such that the length in the arrangement direction DA increases as it proceeds upward from the lower side in the depth direction of the cooling block 13. The cooling block 13 is preferably provided with a heat insulating material at the portion in contact with the heating tube 12 to reduce the heat generated from the heating tube 12 being transmitted to the cooling block 13. A substantially flat portion remains on the upper surface of the cooling block 13 between adjacent notch portions 13N. The plate 11 can be cooled by heat transfer by bringing the plate 11 into contact with the remaining upper surface of the cooling block 13 or by heat radiation by bringing the plate 11 closer.

[0027] The cooling block 13 is typically cooled by heat exchange with a cooling fluid. The cooling block 13 has a cooling fluid flow path (not shown) for flowing the cooling fluid disposed on the surface and / or inside. When the cooling fluid flow path (not shown) is disposed inside the cooling block 13, it is preferable to avoid contact with the heating tube 12 and to allow it to follow a path passing near the upper surface. The upper surface of the cooling block 13 is cooled by the cooling heat possessed by the cooling fluid flowing through the cooling fluid flow path (not shown) being transmitted to the cooling block 13 and then conducted through the cooling block 13. As the cooling fluid, a liquid is preferably used from the viewpoint of improving the heat transfer efficiency, and water, antifreeze, or other liquids suitable for the application can be used. Note that a gas may be used as the cooling fluid. The cooling block 13 is preferably continuously cooled by the cooling fluid being continuously supplied from a cooling heat source (not shown).

[0028] The plate lifting device 15 is a device for adjusting the distance between the plate 11, the heating tube 12, and the cooling block 13, and corresponds to the second distance adjusting device. In this embodiment, the plate lifting device 15 changes the distance between the plate 11 and the heating tube 12 and the cooling block 13 by moving the plate 11 up and down. The plate lifting device 15 has, in this embodiment, a plate support pin 16, a connecting arm 17, a shaft 18, and a drive source 19.

[0029] The plate support pin 16 is a member that supports the lower surface of the plate 11. The plate support pin 16 is formed in an elongated rod shape. The plate support pin 16 is arranged so as to extend in the vertical direction and supports the plate 11 at its upper end. The plate support pin 16 is typically fixed to the lower surface of the plate 11, but may also be supported in a manner that simply contacts the lower surface of the plate 11. In this embodiment, four plate support pins 16 are provided so as to support each of the four corners of the rectangular plate 11. However, six or eight plate support pins 16 may be provided so as to support a pair of sides or the middle of each side of the rectangular plate 11, or three or other numbers may be provided according to the size and shape of the plate 11. Each plate support pin 16 is arranged to pass through the cooling block 13. In other words, the cooling block 13 is formed with a through-hole for passing the plate support pin 16. Sealing measures (not shown) are taken around the plate support pin 16 passing through the through-hole of the cooling block 13, and the sealing of the through-hole can be maintained even when the plate support pin 16 moves in the axial direction (i.e., up and down).

[0030] The connecting arm 17 is a member for synchronously moving each plate support pin 16. The connecting arm 17 is formed in a thin plate shape or a frame shape, and the lower ends of all the plate support pins 16 are fixed. The shaft 18 is a member for supporting the connecting arm 17. The shaft 18 is formed in a rod shape and is arranged such that its axis extends in the moving direction of the plate support pin 16 (vertical in this embodiment). The upper part of the shaft 18 is fixed to the connecting arm 17. The lower part of the shaft 18 is connected to the drive source 19. The drive source 19 is for moving the shaft 18 up and down in this embodiment. By moving the shaft 18 up and down by the drive source 19, the connecting arm 17 and each plate support pin 16 connected to the shaft 18 also move up and down. As the drive source 19, typically an electric actuator is used, but an actuator using fluid pressure (such as hydraulic pressure or pneumatic pressure) may also be used. The plate lifting device 15 can move the plate 11 to an arbitrary position (i.e., steplessly) between the lowest position where it contacts the upper surface of the cooling block 13 and the highest position away from the upper surface by the operation of the drive source 19.

[0031] The substrate lifting device 25 is a device for adjusting the distance between the substrate W and the plate 11, or equivalently, the distance between the substrate W and the heating and cooling device 10, and corresponds to the first distance adjusting device. In this embodiment, the substrate lifting device 25 changes the distance between the substrate W and the plate 11 by moving the substrate W up and down. The substrate lifting device 25 has a substrate support pin 26, a connecting arm 27, a shaft 28, and a drive source 29 in this embodiment.

[0032] The substrate support pin 26 is a member for supporting the substrate W. The substrate support pin 26 is formed in an elongated rod shape. In the present embodiment, the substrate support pin 26 is arranged so as to extend in the vertical direction, and supports the substrate W by simply contacting the lower surface of the substrate W at its upper end. It is preferable that at least the portion of the substrate support pin 26 that contacts the substrate W is formed of a material having a low thermal conductivity (i.e., high heat insulation property) and acid resistance, with the contact area with the substrate W being minimized as much as possible. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, three substrate support pins 26 are provided and arranged at positions where the outer periphery of the disk-shaped substrate W can be supported at equal intervals. Note that four or more substrate support pins 26 may be provided according to the size of the substrate W to be supported. Each substrate support pin 26 is arranged to penetrate through the cooling block 13 and the plate 11. In other words, through-holes for passing the substrate support pin 26 are formed in the cooling block 13 and the plate 11. Sealing measures (not shown) are taken around the substrate support pin 26 passing through the through-hole of the cooling block 13, and the sealing of the through-hole can be maintained even if the substrate support pin 26 moves in the axial direction (i.e., up and down). No special sealing measures are taken around the substrate support pin 26 passing through the through-hole of the plate 11. The through-hole of the plate 11 through which the substrate support pin 26 passes is preferably as small as possible within a range that does not inhibit the movement of the substrate support pin 26.

[0033] The connecting arm 27 is a member for synchronously moving each substrate support pin 26. The connecting arm 27 is a member corresponding to the connecting arm 17 of the plate lifting device 15, and the two are similarly configured except for modifications such as dimensions necessary for application. The shaft 28 and the drive source 29 are members corresponding to the shaft 18 and the drive source 19 of the plate lifting device 15, respectively, and are configured similarly to the shaft 18 and the drive source 19. The substrate lifting device 25 can move the substrate W supported by the substrate support pins 26 to an arbitrary position (i.e., steplessly) between the lowest position where it contacts the substrate placement surface of the plate 11 and the highest position away from the substrate placement surface by the operation of the drive source 29.

[0034] Chamber 30 forms a processing space 35 for performing soldering processing on substrate W. Chamber 30 has a floor body 31, a wall body 32, and a lid body 33. In this embodiment, the floor body 31 is formed in a rectangular thick plate shape with a size that can generally accommodate plate 11, and a cooling block 13 in which a heating pipe 12 is arranged constitutes part or all of the floor body 31. As described above, since the cooling block 13 is arranged so that its upper surface can contact the plate 11, at least a part of the upper surface of the floor body 31 shows the upper surface of the cooling block 13. When the cooling block 13 constitutes part of the floor body 31, a heat insulating material may be inserted between the part of the floor body 31 other than the cooling block 13 and the cooling block 13 so that the cold heat of the cooling block 13 does not transfer to the part of the floor body 31 other than the cooling block 13.

[0035] The wall body 32 is connected to the floor body 31 so as to surround the four sides of the floor body 31. When the entire floor body 31 is composed of the cooling block 13, a heat insulating material may be inserted between the floor body 31 and the wall body 32. The wall body 32 protrudes upward from the floor body 31. The height at which the wall body 32 protrudes from the floor body 31 is such that the upper end surface of the wall body 32 comes to a position higher than the upper end of the substrate W at the highest position during the processing of the substrate W. The upper end surface of the wall body 32 is located at the same height over the entire periphery of the floor body 31. The wall body 32 may be integrally formed with the floor body 31 or may be attached to a separate floor body 31. In either case, no gap is generated between the floor body 31 and the wall body 32. The outer appearance of the rectangular parallelepiped formed by the cooperation of the floor body 31 and the wall body 32 has an opening on the upper surface and a processing space 35 is formed inside. In the processing space 35, a part of the substrate support pin 26, which is a component of the substrate lifting device 25, and the plate 11 are accommodated. Also, in this embodiment, since a part of the plate support pin 16 is accommodated in the processing space 35 and the heating pipe 12 and the cooling block 13 appear on the upper surface of the floor body 31, it can be said that a part of the heating pipe 12 and the cooling block 13 is also accommodated in the processing space 35.

[0036] The lid 33 is in the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped formed by the floor body 31 and the wall body 32, and closes the opening on the upper surface. The lid 33 is typically formed in a plate shape with the same surface area as the floor body 31 and a thickness smaller than that of the floor body 31. The lid 33 is placed on the entire upper end surface of the wall body 32. As a result, the processing space 35 surrounded by the floor body 31, the wall body 32, and the lid 33 can be sealed. The lid 33 is configured to be detachable from the wall body 32. The attachment and detachment of the lid 33 to and from the wall body 32 are typically automatically performed by an opening / closing device (not shown), but may also be manually performed by an operator.

[0037] The chamber 30 may be connected, as necessary, to a gas supply unit (not shown) that supplies an inert gas (e.g., nitrogen gas, argon gas, etc.) and a reducing gas (e.g., formic acid gas, gas of carboxylic acid other than formic acid, or hydrogen gas, etc.) used for processing the substrate W to the processing space 35, and an exhaust unit (not shown) that discharges the gas in the processing space 35 outside the chamber 30. The gas supply unit (not shown) and the exhaust unit (not shown) are typically connected to the wall body 32, but at least one of them may be connected to the lid 33 and / or the floor body 31.

[0038] The control device 50 is a device that controls the operation of the soldering device 1. In the present embodiment, the control device 50 is electrically connected to the device to be controlled by wire or wirelessly, and controls the device to be controlled in the following manner by transmitting and receiving control signals. The control device 50 controls the operation of the heating and cooling device 10. Specifically, the control device 50 individually controls the output of each heating tube 12, controls the temperature of the cooling block 13 by adjusting the flow rate of the cooling fluid supplied to the cooling block 13, and controls the distance between the plate 11 and the cooling block 13 via the operation of the drive source 19. In addition, the control device 50 controls the vertical movement of the substrate support pins 26 via the operation of the drive source 29. Further, the control device 50 controls the opening and closing of the lid 33 by the operation of an opening / closing device (not shown) that opens and closes the lid 33 of the chamber 30.

[0039] The control device 50 may include at least one physical configuration of a processor 51, a memory 52 (e.g., RAM and / or ROM), and a storage 53. Further, the control device 50 may have a program for properly operating each of the above-described devices in the memory 52 and / or the storage 53, and the processor 51 may be used to execute the program. The control device 50 is typically attached to the outer surface of the chamber 30, but may be installed at a location remote from the chamber 30 to remotely operate the soldering device 1.

[0040] Next, with reference to FIG. 3, a method for manufacturing a soldered substrate according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described. The soldered substrate is a substrate W on which soldering has been performed and corresponds to an object to be soldered. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the procedure for manufacturing the soldered substrate. The method for manufacturing the soldered substrate described below is executed using the soldering device 1 described so far. The following description of the method for manufacturing the soldered substrate using the soldering device 1 also serves as an explanation of the operation of the soldering device 1. In the following description, when referring to the configuration of the soldering device 1, FIGS. 1 and 2 will be referred to as appropriate.

[0041] When the soldering device 1 is not manufacturing the soldered substrate (i.e., when it is not operating), heat generation from the heating tube 12 and cooling of the cooling block 13 are not performed. The heating tube 12 and the cooling block 13 in this state are typically at the temperature of the surrounding environment (hereinafter referred to as the "ambient environment temperature") where the soldering device 1 is installed. Further, when the soldering device 1 is not operating, typically, the plate 11 is placed in contact with the upper surface of the cooling block 13, and the upper end of the substrate support pin 26 is positioned below the substrate placement surface of the plate 11.

[0042] When starting the manufacture of the soldered substrate, place the substrate W having solder on the substrate placement surface of the plate 11 (S1). When the substrate W is placed on the plate 11, the substrate W closes the holes through which the substrate support pins 26 formed in the plate 11 pass. After placing the substrate W on the plate 11, the lid 33 of the chamber 30 is closed. When the lid 33 is closed, the processing space 35 formed inside the chamber 30 is sealed.

[0043] Next, the control device 50 controls the plate lifting device 15 to separate the plate 11 from the cooling block 13 (S2). Specifically, the plate support pin 16 is raised to raise the plate 11 supported by the plate support pin 16. When the plate 11 moves away from the cooling block 13, it also moves away from the heating pipe 12 disposed on the upper surface of the cooling block 13. By raising the plate 11, the distance between the plate 11 and the cooling block 13 (and thus the heating pipe 12) is set to a distance suitable for heating the plate 11 to a desired temperature.

[0044] Next, the control device 50 controls the substrate lifting device 25 to place the substrate W at a first predetermined distance from the plate 11 (S3). Specifically, the substrate support pin 26 is raised to raise the substrate W supported by the substrate support pin 26, thereby separating the substrate W and the plate 11 by a first predetermined distance. The first predetermined distance is a distance suitable for raising the substrate W at the ambient environmental temperature to the temperature at which the soldering process is performed. The first predetermined distance may be, for example, about 0.5 mm to 10 mm, or about 1 mm to 5 mm, and is not limited to a fixed value and may have a range.

[0045] In this embodiment, for convenience of explanation, the substrate W is placed on the substrate placement surface of the plate 11 (S1), the plate 11 is separated from the cooling block 13 (S2), and the substrate W is placed at a first predetermined distance from the plate 11 (S3) in this order. However, the order of these steps can be appropriately changed, or two or three steps can be performed simultaneously. For example, the substrate W may be placed on the substrate support pins 26 protruding from the substrate placement surface of the plate 11, or the plate 11 may be separated from the cooling block 13 after the substrate support pins 26 are protruded from the plate 11.

[0046] Next, the control device 50 controls the heating tube 12 to generate heat from the heating tube 12 and heats the plate 11 to a first predetermined temperature (S4). The first predetermined temperature is a temperature suitable for reducing the oxide of the solder that the substrate W has in this embodiment. When the heating tube 12 operates, infrared rays are emitted from the heating tube 12, and the heating tube 12 generates heat. Since the plate 11 is separated from the heating tube 12, it is heated by the radiant heat from the heating tube 12. Therefore, the plate 11 is heated substantially uniformly without temperature unevenness that may occur due to the presence or absence of heat transfer associated with the contact with the cooling block 13 on which the heating tubes 12 are arranged. When the plate 11 is heated, the substrate W located at a position separated from the plate 11 by a first predetermined distance can be heated by the radiant heat from the plate 11. At this time, since the radiant heat from the plate 11 is relatively small, the temperature rise of the substrate W is typically slow. When the plate 11 rises to the first predetermined temperature, in order to prevent the temperature from rising too much, the output of the heating tube 12 may be lowered below the output when rising from the ambient environmental temperature to the first predetermined temperature.

[0047] When the plate 11 is heated to a first predetermined temperature, the control device 50 controls the substrate lifting device 25 to bring the substrate W closer to the plate 11 (S5). By doing this, the substrate W is heated to a temperature at which the oxide of the solder can be reduced (hereinafter referred to as the "reduction temperature"). Bringing the substrate W closer to the plate 11 includes bringing the substrate W into contact with the plate 11. That is, the substrate W may be raised to the reduction temperature by bringing the substrate W into contact with the plate 11 or approaching it to an appropriate position. In the present embodiment, after the plate 11 is heated to the first predetermined temperature with the substrate W separated, the substrate W is brought closer to the plate 11 heated to the first predetermined temperature, so that the substrate W can be raised to the reduction temperature with substantially no temperature unevenness. Note that having substantially no temperature unevenness means that temperature unevenness within a range that does not adversely affect the soldering process of the substrate W is allowed.

[0048] In the present embodiment, when the substrate W is raised to the reduction temperature, substantially no temperature unevenness occurs. On the other hand, when the heating of the plate 11 is started with the substrate W placed on the plate 11 to heat the substrate W, temperature unevenness may occur. The following points can be considered as factors for such possible temperature unevenness. In the state where the plate 11 is being heated, the temperature tends to decrease more easily on the outer peripheral side. In the present embodiment, the winding density of the filaments of the heating tube 12 with sparse and dense winding is determined so that substantially no temperature variation occurs when the plate 11 is maintained at a predetermined temperature. When the plate 11 is heated from the ambient temperature to the predetermined temperature using this heating tube 12, the temperature on the outer peripheral side becomes high, and temperature variation may occur. Also, it is considered that unevenness (or bias) in the contact between the substrate W and the plate 11 occurs because the plate 11 is not strictly flat and / or because the substrate W is warped.

[0049] When the substrate W is brought to the reduction temperature, the oxide of the solder on the substrate W is reduced (S6). When reducing the oxide of the solder, it is advisable to supply a reducing gas to the processing space 35 as necessary. In this case, the control device 50 may control a gas supply unit (not shown) to supply the reducing gas to the processing space 35. Note that the supply of the reducing gas to the processing space 35 may be performed at an arbitrary timing after closing the lid 33 of the chamber 30 to seal the processing space 35 and until the substrate W rises to the reduction temperature. After the reduction treatment of the oxide of the solder is completed, the reducing gas inside the processing space 35 may be replaced with an inert gas. In this case, the control device 50 may control an exhaust unit (not shown) and a gas supply unit (not shown) to discharge the reducing gas inside the processing space 35 from the processing space 35 and then supply the inert gas into the processing space 35.

[0050] After the reduction treatment of the oxide of the solder is completed, the control device 50 controls the heating tube 12 to increase the output of the heating tube 12 and heats the plate 11 to a second predetermined temperature (S7). In the present embodiment, the second predetermined temperature is a temperature at which the solder on the substrate W can be melted. When the plate 11 rises to the second predetermined temperature, the substrate W also follows and the temperature rises, and the temperature of the substrate W becomes a temperature at which the solder is melted. When the solder melts, soldering to the substrate W is performed. At this time, the control device 50 may control the substrate lifting device 25 to adjust the distance between the substrate W and the plate 11 so that the substrate W reaches a temperature at which the solder melts in a preferable state. The adjustment of the distance between the substrate W and the plate 11 includes bringing the substrate W and the plate 11 into contact with each other and approaching them to an appropriate position. Note that after the completion of the reduction treatment of the oxide of the solder, the plate 11 may be raised to the second predetermined temperature with the substrate W separated from the plate 11 by a first predetermined distance or another appropriate distance by the substrate lifting device 25, and the substrate W may be brought closer to the plate 11 that has risen to the second predetermined temperature.

[0051] When the melting of the solder is completed, the control device 50 controls the substrate lifting device 25 to place the substrate W at a second predetermined distance from the plate 11 (S8). Specifically, the substrate support pins 26 are raised, and the substrate W supported by the substrate support pins 26 is raised, thereby separating the substrate W from the plate 11 by the second predetermined distance. The second predetermined distance may be a distance that can reduce the heat reception due to the radiation from the heating tube 12. The second predetermined distance may be, for example, about 1 mm to 50 mm, or about 10 mm to 40 mm, and is not limited to a fixed value and may have a range.

[0052] Next, the control device 50 controls the heating tube 12 and the cooling block 13 to stop the heat generation from the heating tube 12 and cool the cooling block 13 (S9). At the stage of stopping the heat generation from the heating tube 12, due to the influence of the state in which the heating tube 12 was operating, the plate 11 remains separated from the cooling block 13. The cooling block 13 allows the cooling fluid to flow through a cooling fluid flow path (not shown) disposed on its surface or inside, so that the cold heat of the cooling fluid is transmitted to the cooling block 13, and the transmitted cold heat conducts through the cooling block 13 to cool the whole. Therefore, the upper surface of the cooling block 13 is also cooled. The cooling block 13 may be cooled to a temperature close to the ambient temperature. Note that the cooling fluid may flow only during the cooling of the cooling block 13 from the viewpoint of reducing the energy consumption, or may flow constantly during the operation of the soldering device 1 from the viewpoint of shortening the cooling time.

[0053] Once the cooling block 13 is cooled, the control device 50 controls the plate lifting device 15 to move the plate 11 closer to the cooling block 13 (S10). At this time, the substrate W remains separated from the plate 11. When the plate 11 is moved closer to the cooling block 13, the plate 11 is cooled by the cold heat possessed by the cooling block 13, and the temperature of the plate 11 decreases. At this time, it is preferable to bring the plate 11 into contact with the cooling block 13 because heat transfer from the cooling block 13 to the plate 11 occurs, and the temperature drop of the plate 11 can be accelerated. The plate 11 cooled by the cooling block 13 has an approximately uniform temperature across the entire substrate mounting surface. When the plate 11 is cooled, the substrate W located at a position separated from the plate 11 is cooled, albeit more slowly than when in contact with the plate 11, by the radiant heat from the plate 11.

[0054] Once the plate 11 is cooled, the substrate W and the plate 11 are moved closer together (S11). To move the substrate W and the plate 11 closer together, in this embodiment, the control device 50 controls the plate lifting device 15 to raise the plate 11 closer to the substrate W, but it may also control the substrate lifting device 25 to lower the substrate W closer to the plate 11. Alternatively, the control device 50 may control the plate lifting device 15 and the substrate lifting device 25 to move the plate 11 and the substrate W closer to each other. Moving the plate 11 and the substrate W closer together includes bringing the plate 11 and the substrate W into contact. By moving the plate 11 and the substrate W closer together, the cooling rate of the substrate W and thus the solder can be accelerated. Also, since the substrate W is being moved closer to the plate 11, which has an approximately uniform temperature across the entire substrate mounting surface, the occurrence of temperature unevenness in the substrate W during cooling can be reduced.

[0055] When the substrate W and the solder are cooled and the solder solidifies, soldering is completed (S12). Since the substrate W after soldering is the soldered substrate, it means that the soldered substrate has been manufactured in this process. When the soldered substrate has been manufactured, the lid 33 of the chamber 30 is opened at an arbitrary timing, and the soldered substrate is taken out of the chamber 30 (S13). Thus, the manufacture of the soldered substrate is completed.

[0056] Figure 4 is a graph illustrating the variation in the temperature of the substrate W during soldering. The horizontal axis represents the elapsed time, and the vertical axis represents the temperature of the substrate W on the left side and the difference between the maximum temperature and the minimum temperature of the substrate W on the right side. In the graph shown in FIG. 4 of this example, the maximum of the temperature on the left side of the vertical axis is several hundred degrees, and the maximum of the temperature difference on the right side is several tens of degrees. The temperature difference of the substrate W in the graph shown in FIG. 4 is obtained by measuring the temperatures of 17 points on the circular substrate W and finding the difference between the maximum temperature and the minimum temperature among them. The 17 points on the substrate W where the temperature was measured are one point at the center with respect to the substrate W, eight points equally spaced in the circumferential direction on a virtual circumference with a radius of 1 / 2 of the radius of the substrate W, and eight points equally spaced in the circumferential direction on a virtual circumference with a radius of 5 / 6 of the radius of the substrate W. The temperature of the substrate W is the temperature of the measurement point at the center of the substrate W. The two-dot chain line LT indicates the temperature of the substrate W and uses the scale on the left side of the vertical axis in FIG. 4. The solid line L1 indicates the temperature difference in the method for manufacturing a soldered substrate according to the present embodiment. The broken line L2 indicates the temperature difference when the plate 11 is heated and cooled with the substrate W placed on the plate 11. The solid line L1 and the broken line L2 use the scale on the right side of the vertical axis in FIG. 4. As shown in FIG. 4, it can be seen that in the method for manufacturing a soldered substrate according to the present embodiment shown by the solid line L1, the temperature variation is significantly smaller compared to the case of the broken line L2.

[0057] As described above, according to the soldering apparatus 1 and the method for manufacturing a soldered substrate according to the present embodiment, the following operational effects can be obtained. Since the substrate lifting device 25 is provided, after heating or cooling the plate 11 with the substrate W separated from the plate 11, the substrate W can be brought closer to (including contact with) the plate 11, and variations in the temperature of the substrate W during heating or cooling can be reduced. Further, since the chamber 30 that houses the entire plate 11 and a part including the tip of the substrate support pin 26 is provided, soldering of the substrate W can be performed in the processing space 35 in the chamber 30 adjusted to a suitable environment. Further, not limited to the method for manufacturing a soldered substrate illustrated in FIG. 3, it becomes easy to devise a recipe so as to reduce variations in the temperature of the substrate W in the process by appropriately adjusting the distance between the heating pipe 12 and the cooling block 13 and the plate 11 and / or the distance between the plate 11 and the substrate W.

[0058] In the method for manufacturing a soldered substrate, it is preferable to store in advance in the control device 50 the timing for bringing the substrate W closer to the plate 11. The content to be stored in advance in the control device 50 can be obtained, for example, from the temperature change profile measured using a test substrate. On the other hand, during soldering, the temperature of the plate 11 and / or the substrate W may be grasped, and the timing for bringing the substrate W closer to the plate 11 may be determined based on the grasped temperature. In this way, the substrate W and the plate 11 can be brought closer at a more appropriate timing. To enjoy such an effect, it is preferable to provide a temperature detector.

[0059] FIG. 5 is a schematic front longitudinal sectional view of a soldering apparatus 1A according to a modification of the embodiment of the present disclosure. The soldering apparatus 1A includes a temperature detector 41 in addition to the configuration of the soldering apparatus 1 (see FIG. 1).

[0060] The temperature detector 41 detects the temperature of the plate 11 and / or the substrate W on which the soldering process is being performed. In this embodiment, a non-contact temperature detector (typically a digital radiation temperature sensor) is used as the temperature detector 41. The temperature detector 41 is typically disposed outside the chamber 30. In this case, a window material 30P that transmits the infrared rays emitted from the temperature detector 41 may be provided at the portion of the chamber 30 that transmits the infrared rays. The window material 30P provided in the chamber 30 may be determined in consideration of the wavelength of the infrared rays to be transmitted. For example, barium fluoride (BaF2), calcium fluoride (CaF2), or germanium (Ge) may be used. Note that the temperature detector 41 may be a contact temperature detector such as a thermocouple instead of the non-contact temperature detector. In this case, the wiring of the temperature detector 41 penetrates the chamber 30, and a sealing process may be performed on the penetrating portion.

[0061] The control device 50 in the soldering apparatus 1A also has a function of receiving, as a signal, the temperature detected by the temperature detector 41. Further, the control device 50 stores the relationship between the temperature detected by the temperature detector 41 and the distance between the substrate W and the plate 11 in each step of the method for manufacturing a soldered substrate described above. Based on the stored relationship, the control device 50 controls the substrate lifting device 25 to adjust the distance between the substrate W and the plate 11 according to the temperature detected by the temperature detector 41.

[0062] According to the soldering apparatus 1A according to this modified example configured as described above, the distance between the substrate W and the plate 11 can be adjusted according to the temperature of the plate 11 and / or the substrate W, so that the substrate W and the plate 11 can be brought closer to each other at a more appropriate timing.

[0063] The description of the soldering apparatuses 1 and 1A and the method for manufacturing a soldered substrate above is an example showing an embodiment of the present disclosure, and various modifications can be made as follows, for example, as long as the gist of the present disclosure is included.

[0064] In the above description, it was assumed that the plate 11 was formed of carbon, but it may be formed of a metal such as copper, stainless steel, or a steel plate.

[0065] In the above description, it was assumed that the substrate support pins 26 of the substrate lifting device 25 penetrate the cooling block 13 and the plate 11, but the substrate W may be held and moved from above or laterally of these without penetrating the cooling block 13 and the plate 11.

[0066] In the above description, it was assumed that the position of the cooling block 13 provided with the heating tube 12 was fixed and the plate 11 moved so as to approach and separate from the heating tube 12 and the cooling block 13. However, the position of the plate 11 may be fixed and the cooling block 13 provided with the heating tube 12 may be configured to move relative to the plate 11, or both may be configured to move relative to each other.

[0067] In the above description, it was assumed that the heating and cooling device 10 had the plate 11 that supported the entire lower surface of the substrate W and the plate lifting device 15, but the plate 11 and the plate lifting device 15 may not be provided (i.e., omitted). In this case, the substrate W is heated or cooled by approaching (including contact) the cooling block 13 provided with the heating tube 12 by the substrate lifting device 25.

[0068] In the above description, it was assumed that the upper surfaces of the heating tube 12 and the cooling block 13 were inside the processing space 35, but the heating tube 12 and the cooling block 13 may be arranged outside the chamber 30, and the plate may be cooled or heated by radiant heat from the heating tube 12 and the cooling block 13. In this case, the portion of the chamber 30 existing between the heating tube 12 and the cooling block 13 and the processing space 35 may be made of a material that easily transmits radiant heat.

[0069] In the description of the above method for manufacturing a soldered substrate, when the reduction treatment of the solder is unnecessary, the plate 11 may be raised to a second predetermined temperature in step S4, and the substrate W may be brought into contact with or close to the plate 11 raised to the second predetermined temperature in step S5. At this time, steps S6 and S7 may be omitted.

[0070] In the description of the above method for manufacturing a soldered substrate, the timings of the operations of the plate elevating device 15 and the substrate elevating device 25 and the moving amounts of the plate support pins 16 and the substrate support pins 26 are examples and are not limited. The soldering device 1 can appropriately set the timings of the operations of the plate elevating device 15 and the substrate elevating device 25 and the moving amounts of the plate support pins 16 and the substrate support pins 26 according to the characteristics of the substrate W to be soldered and / or the solder.

[0071] In each of the above embodiments, the processor refers to a processor in a broad sense and includes a general-purpose processor (for example, CPU: Central Processing Unit, etc.) and a dedicated processor (for example, GPU: Graphics Processing Unit, ASIC: Application Specific Integrated Circuit, FPGA: Field Programmable Gate Array, programmable logic device, etc.). Also, the operations of the processor in each of the above embodiments may be achieved not only by one processor but also by a plurality of physically separated processors cooperating. Also, the order of each operation of the processor is not limited to the order described in each of the above embodiments and may be changed as appropriate. Further, the above program may be provided by a computer-readable non-transitory recording medium such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory, a flexible disk, a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory), etc., or may be provided online via a network such as the Internet. In this case, the program recorded on the computer-readable non-transitory recording medium is usually transferred and stored in a memory or a storage, etc. Further, this program may be provided, for example, as a single application software, or may be incorporated into the software of each device as one function of the device. The program of the present disclosure can be provided as a program product. A program product includes products in all forms for providing a program. For example, a program product includes a program provided through a network such as the Internet, and non-transitory computer-readable recording media such as a CD-ROM, a DVD, etc. storing the program.

[0072] In the above description, as exemplary embodiments, a soldering apparatus and a method for manufacturing a soldering object have been described with reference to each drawing. Regarding the configuration, structure, number, arrangement, shape, material, etc. of each part in the description, it is not limited to the above specific examples, and those selectively adopted by those skilled in the art as appropriate are also included in the scope of the present invention as long as they include the gist of the present invention.

Description of Reference Numerals

[0073] 1, 1A Soldering apparatus 10 Heating and cooling apparatus 11 Plate 12 Heating tube (heater) 13 Cooling block (cooler) 15 Plate lifting device (second distance adjusting device) 25 Substrate lifting device (first distance adjusting device) 30 Chamber 41 Temperature detector 50 Control device W Substrate (object)

Claims

1. a soldering apparatus comprising a heating and cooling device configured to heat and cool an object to be soldered by at least one of heat transfer and thermal radiation; and a first distance adjusting device configured to adjust a distance between the object and the heating and cooling device; wherein the heating and cooling device includes a plate on which the object can be placed; a heater configured to heat the plate; a cooler configured to cool the plate; and a second distance adjusting device configured to adjust a distance between the plate, the heater, and the cooler; and further includes a control device configured to control the first distance adjusting device to change a distance between the object and the plate when at least one of heating of the plate by the heater and cooling of the plate by the cooler is being performed; soldering apparatus.

2. The control device controls the first distance adjusting device, the heater, and the cooler such that the heater heats the plate with the object and the plate separated from each other by a first predetermined distance, then the object is heated with the object being brought closer to the plate than the first predetermined distance, then the cooler cools the plate with the object and the plate separated from each other by a second predetermined distance, and then the object is cooled with the object being brought closer to the plate than the second predetermined distance, in accordance with claim 1. The soldering apparatus according to claim 1.

3. A chamber that houses at least a part of the first distance adjusting device and the plate; The soldering apparatus according to claim 1.

4. A temperature detector configured to detect a temperature of at least one of the object and the heating and cooling device; The control device controls the first distance adjusting device to adjust the distance between the object and the heating and cooling device according to the temperature detected by the temperature detector, in accordance with claim 1. The soldering apparatus according to claim 1.

5. A method of manufacturing an object soldered using the soldering apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, the method comprising: placing, by the first distance adjusting device, the object at a first predetermined distance from the heating and cooling device; heating, by the heating and cooling device, the object while the object is at the first predetermined distance from the heating and cooling device; heating, by the first distance adjusting device, the object by bringing the object closer to the heated heating and cooling device than the first predetermined distance; After heating the object to melt the solder contained in the object, a step of disposing the object at a second predetermined distance from the heating and cooling device by the first distance adjustment device; A step of cooling the heating and cooling device while the object is separated by the second predetermined distance; A step of cooling the solder contained in the object by bringing the object closer to the heating and cooling device than the second predetermined distance by the first distance adjustment device with respect to the cooled heating and cooling device. A method for manufacturing a soldering object.

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