Vacuum Heat-Bonding Device Buffer Part Temperature Control

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional heat-bonding apparatuses often overheat workpieces, particularly those with heat-sensitive electronic components, leading to thermal damage due to the inability to control temperature accurately within a vacuum environment, resulting in extended cycle times.

Innovation Solution

A heat-bonding apparatus with a buffer part that accumulates heat and transfers it to the workpiece, using a controller to adjust heat discharge from the buffer part through a cooler, ensuring the workpiece reaches the target temperature without overshooting, and includes a vacuum breaker to manage temperature differences and facilitate efficient cooling.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Speed

If heat is applied directly to the workpiece in a vacuum chamber, then heating speed increases, but temperature control precision deteriorates causing overheating

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveheating speedVSAvoidtemperature control precision
Core Design Contradiction:
SpeedVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces a buffer part as an intermediary between the heater and the workpiece. The buffer part accumulates heat from the heater and transfers it to the workpiece, enabling fast heating while maintaining temperature control precision. This mediator resolves the contradiction by decoupling the direct heating process, allowing the heater to operate at high power while the buffer part regulates heat transfer to prevent overheating.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Manufacturing precision

If heat is applied gradually to prevent overheating, then temperature control precision improves, but cycle time increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvetemperature control precisionVSAvoidcycle time
Core Design Contradiction:
Manufacturing precisionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The buffer part is pre-heated by the heater before contact with the workpiece, or heat is accumulated in the buffer part during a preparatory phase. This preliminary heating action allows the workpiece to be heated rapidly once contact is made, achieving both fast cycle times and precise temperature control without the need for gradual heating throughout the entire process.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

3Temperature

If a cooling plate is used to cool the heating plate, then cooling capability improves, but device complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecooling capabilityVSAvoiddevice complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
TemperatureVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The cooling plate is merged with the buffer part structure, combining the heating buffer function and the cooling function into a single integrated component. This eliminates the need for separate cooling mechanisms while maintaining effective cooling capability, thus improving temperature control without significantly increasing device complexity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Applied Scientific Principles

This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.

Function Achieved in This Case

This solution allows for precise temperature control, preventing overheating and thermal damage, reducing cycle times by enabling the workpiece to reach the target temperature faster and maintaining it within the optimal range for heat-bonding.

Implementation Method 1

a heater (20) for applying heat to the buffer part (5) placed into contact with the object (1) housed in the vacuum chamber (10)

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectThermal radiation: Thermal Radiation

Implementation Method 2

a cooler (30) for discharging heat of the buffer part (5) heated by the heater (20)

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectThermal conduction: Conduction (thermal)

Implementation Method 3

the buffer part (5) placed into contact with the object (1) housed in the vacuum chamber (10)

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectThermal conduction: Conduction (thermal)

Data Source

PatentEP2950622B1Heat-bonding device and heat-bonded-article manufacturing method
Publication Date: 2020.08.19 ORIGIN CO LTD(JP)
  • EP2950622B1 patent drawingFigure 1A~1B
  • EP2950622B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP2950622B1 patent drawingFigure 3A~3B

AI summary

Provided are a superb heat-bonding device and heat-bonded-article manufacturing method wherein, when performing a heat-bonding process in a vacuum, e.g. soldering, the temperatures of target objects being heat-bonded can be brought to a prescribed target temperature suitable for heat-bonding, in less time than with conventional devices and methods, without overshooting said target temperature by a large amount. This heat-bonding device is provided with the following: a vacuum chamber that contains the target objects to be heat-bonded and a buffer part; a heater that heats the buffer part, which is disposed so as to contact the target objects in the vacuum chamber; a cooler that removes some of the heat from the buffer part heated by the heater; a target-object temperature sensor that detects the temperatures of the target objects, which are heated via the buffer part; and a control device that controls the heat-bonding device by regulating the removal of heat from the buffer part by the cooler on the basis of the detected temperatures of the target objects so as to bring the temperatures of the target objects to the abovementioned target temperature suitable for heat-bonding