Treatment furnace and method for removing foreign matters therefrom

Abstract

A processing furnace includes a cavity, a temperature regulating device, a pressure regulating device, and at least one convection generating device disposed within the cavity. The cavity has a platform for placing components. The temperature regulating device controls the temperature within the cavity, the pressure regulating device controls the pressure within the cavity, and the convection generating device controls the gas convection within the cavity. The cavity has a cleaning agent inlet through which the cleaning agent can be introduced into the cavity. The temperature regulating device and the pressure regulating device respectively control the temperature and pressure within the cavity, causing the cleaning agent to undergo a phase change to bind and remove foreign matter such as solder flux residue.

Claims

1. A processing furnace with a self-removing foreign matter function, the processing furnace comprising: a cavity having an internal platform for placing components; a temperature regulating device for controlling the temperature inside the cavity; a pressure regulating device for controlling the pressure inside the cavity; and at least one convection generating device disposed inside the cavity for controlling gas convection inside the cavity; wherein the cavity has a cleaning agent inlet, a cleaning agent is introduced into the cavity through the cleaning agent inlet, and the temperature regulating device and the pressure regulating device respectively control the temperature and pressure inside the cavity, causing the cleaning agent to undergo at least one phase change to remove the foreign matter; wherein the foreign matter comprises flux residue, impurities, particles, or combinations thereof; wherein the location of the foreign matter is contained on the inner wall surface of the cavity and / or the surface of the platform.

2. A processing furnace with a self-removing foreign matter function, the processing furnace comprising: a cavity having an internal platform for placing components; a temperature regulating device for controlling the temperature inside the cavity; a pressure regulating device for controlling the pressure inside the cavity; at least one convection generating device disposed inside the cavity for controlling gas convection inside the cavity; and an external circulation cooling pipe connected to the cavity, the external circulation cooling pipe comprising a cooler and a circulation device; wherein the cavity has a cleaning agent inlet, a cleaning agent is introduced into the cavity through the cleaning agent inlet, and the temperature regulating device and the pressure regulating device respectively control the temperature and pressure inside the cavity, causing the cleaning agent to undergo a phase change and using the circulation device to carry the foreign matter to the external circulation cooling pipe; wherein the foreign matter comprises flux residue, impurities, particles or combinations thereof; wherein the location of the foreign matter is contained on the inner wall surface of the cavity and / or the surface of the platform.

3. The processing furnace as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the cavity further has an outlet that discharges a mixture of the cleaning agent and the foreign matter after cleaning.

4. The processing furnace as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the foreign object is located on the inner wall surface of the cavity or the surface of the platform, the cleaning agent is in a liquid state before being placed into the cavity through the cleaning agent inlet, and the cleaning agent is converted into a gaseous state within the cavity by a first temperature and / or a first pressure control, the gaseous cleaning agent contacts the foreign object and is converted into a liquid state by a second temperature and / or a second pressure control to remove the foreign object.

5. The processing furnace as claimed in claim 4, wherein at least a portion of the foreign matter is converted into a gaseous state by the first temperature and / or the first pressure, and the gaseous foreign matter is mixed with the gaseous cleaning agent and then converted into a liquid state by the second temperature and / or the second pressure.

6. The processing furnace as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the foreign substance is dissolved in the cleaning agent, and the difference between the boiling point of the cleaning agent and the foreign substance at atmospheric pressure is within 5% of the atmospheric pressure boiling point of the foreign substance.

7. The processing furnace as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the foreign matter is formic acid remaining on the inner wall surface of the cavity or the surface of the platform, and the cleaning agent is pure water.

8. The processing furnace as claimed in claim 3 further comprises: a collector connected to the outlet of the cavity for collecting the mixture of the foreign matter and the cleaning agent after phase change.

9. The processing furnace as claimed in claim 2 further comprises: a collector disposed on the external circulation cooling line for collecting the mixture of the foreign matter and the cleaning agent after phase change.

10. The processing furnace as claimed in claim 8 further comprises: a pump connected to the outlet and the collector to assist in collecting the mixture of the foreign matter and the cleaning agent after phase change.

11. The processing furnace as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the bottom of the cavity is provided with a low-level structure to collect the mixture of the phase-change foreign matter and the cleaning agent.

12. The processing furnace as claimed in claim 1 or 2 further comprises: a flux supply unit connected to the cavity to introduce liquid flux into the cavity; and a cleaning agent supply unit connected to the cleaning agent inlet.

13. The processing furnace as claimed in claim 12, wherein the cleaning agent supply unit and the flux supply unit share the same delivery pipeline outside the cavity, and a three-way valve switches the pathways for delivering the cleaning agent and the flux to the cavity.

14. The processing furnace as claimed in claim 12, wherein the cleaning agent supply unit and the flux supply unit are each connected to the cavity via a delivery pipeline.

15. The processing furnace as claimed in claim 3, wherein the outlet is located at the bottom of the cavity.

16. A method for removing foreign matter from a processing furnace, comprising the steps of: introducing a liquid cleaning agent into a cavity of the processing furnace; controlling the liquid cleaning agent to be converted into a gaseous cleaning agent by a first temperature and / or a first pressure and bringing it into contact with the foreign matter in the cavity; controlling the gaseous cleaning agent to be converted into a liquid cleaning agent by a second temperature and / or a second pressure and condensing the mixture of the cleaning agent and the foreign matter, wherein the condensed mixture of the cleaning agent and the foreign matter is concentrated at the bottom of the cavity; and removing the mixture of the cleaning agent and the foreign matter from the cavity; wherein the foreign matter comprises flux residue, impurities, particles or combinations thereof; wherein the location of the foreign matter is contained on the inner wall surface of the cavity and / or the surface of the platform.

17. A method for removing foreign matter from a processing furnace, comprising the following steps: introducing a liquid cleaning agent into a cavity of the processing furnace; controlling the liquid cleaning agent to be converted into a gaseous cleaning agent by a first temperature and / or a first pressure, and bringing it into contact with the foreign matter in the cavity; carrying the gas out of the cavity through an external circulation cooling pipe, and cooling it in a cooler of the external circulation cooling pipe to convert the gaseous cleaning agent into a liquid cleaning agent, and condensing the mixture of the cleaning agent and the foreign matter, wherein the condensed mixture of the cleaning agent and the foreign matter is collected in a collector of the external circulation cooling pipe; wherein the foreign matter comprises flux residue, impurities, particles or combinations thereof; wherein the location of the foreign matter is contained on the inner wall surface of the cavity and / or the surface of the platform.

18. A method for removing foreign matter from a processing furnace, comprising the following steps: introducing a liquid cleaning agent into a cavity of the processing furnace; controlling the liquid cleaning agent to be converted into a gaseous cleaning agent by means of a first temperature and / or a first pressure, thereby forming a mixture of the cleaning agent and the foreign matter upon contact with the foreign matter in the cavity; and removing the gaseous mixture of the cleaning agent and the foreign matter from the cavity; wherein the foreign matter comprises flux residue, impurities, particles, or combinations thereof; wherein the location of the foreign matter is contained within the inner wall surface of the cavity and / or the surface of the platform.

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