Vertical continuous oven

Details Vertical continuous oven Vertical continuous oven

1998-03-13

2001-05-08

Lu, Jiping (Department: 3749)

Heating

Work chamber having heating means

Having means by which work is progressed or moved mechanically

C198S775000, C414S941000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06227848

ABSTRACT:

TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a continuous oven for baking or otherwise heating planar members for use in LCD panels, integrated circuit boards, and semiconductor devices.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The conventional continuous oven typically consists of a so-called tunnel oven in which works typically consisting of planar electronic component parts are carried by a belt conveyor from an inlet end of the oven, and are discharged from an outlet end of the oven after being heated inside the oven while being thus conveyed. According to this conventional continuous oven, a plurality of works are conveyed in a single row, and are required to be kept inside the oven for a sufficient period of time. Therefore, in order to achieve a sufficient throughput, the overall length of the oven is required to be substantial, and a corresponding large floor space is required for the installation of the continuous oven.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In view of such problems of the prior art, a primary object of the present invention is to provide an improved continuous oven which can achieve a high throughput without requiring the overall length of the oven to be excessive.
A second object of the present invention is to provide an improved continuous oven which can reduce the overall length without complicating the structure for conveying the works.
According to the present invention, these and other objects can be accomplished by providing a continues oven for baking planar works, comprising: an oven main body defining an oven chamber therein and provided with means for maintaining a high temperature environment inside the oven chamber; a work lifting unit for conveying works upward inside the oven chamber with the works stacked one over the other in a mutually spaced relationship; a work lowering unit for conveying works downward inside the oven chamber with the works stacked one over the other in a mutually spaced relationship; a work charging unit provided in a lower part of one side of the oven main body for charging each work into a lower end of the work lifting unit from an inlet end of the oven main body; a work shifting unit provided in an upper part of the oven main body for moving each work from an upper end of the work lifting unit to an upper end of the work lowering unit; and a work discharging unit for discharging each work from a lower end of the work lowering unit out of an outlet end of the oven main body.
According to a different aspect of the present invention, there is provided a continuos oven for baking planar works, comprising: an oven main body defining an oven chamber therein and provided with means for maintaining a high temperature environment inside the oven chamber; a work lifting unit for conveying works upward inside the oven chamber in a sequential manner; a work lowering unit for conveying works downward inside the oven chamber in a sequential manner; whereby the works are baked while being conveyed by the work lifting and lowering units in a substantially vertical direction.
Thus, the works are conveyed vertically most of the time during the stay in the oven, and the floor space area necessary for the installation of the continuous oven can be therefore minimized. In particular, by arranging the works one over the other, typically in a mutually spaced relationship, in the work lifting and lowering units, it is possible to minimize the dead space inside the oven. Also, by avoiding the profile of the oven from becoming elongated in any particular direction, it is possible to reduce the surface area of the oven main body for a given internal volume of the oven. This obviously is highly desirable in terms of the economy of thermal energy.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the work lifting unit comprises; a plurality of work supporting shafts each disposed vertically, and adapted to be selectively turned by a certain angle around an axial line thereof; a plurality of work supporting arms extending laterally from each of the work supporting shafts at prescribed elevations and at an equal interval, the supporting arms at each same elevation being adapted to support one of the works in cooperation with each other when the work supporting shafts are turned to an operative position, and stay out of a vertical path of travel of the works when the work supporting shafts are turned to a retracted position; a plurality of work lifting shafts each disposed vertically, and adapted to be turned by a certain angle and vertically moved by a stroke at least slightly larger than the equal interval; and a plurality of work lifting arms extending laterally from each of the work lifting shafts at prescribed elevations and at a same equal interval as the work supporting arms, the work lifting arms at each same elevation being adapted to support one of the works in cooperation with each other when the work lifting shafts are turned to an operative position, and stay out of a vertical path of travel of the works when the work lifting shafts are turned to a retracted position.
Similarly, the work lowering unit comprises; a plurality of work supporting shafts each disposed vertically, and adapted to be selectively turned by a certain angle around an axial line thereof; a plurality of work supporting arms extending laterally from each of the work supporting shafts at prescribed elevations and at an equal interval, the work supporting arms at each same elevation being adapted to support one of the works in cooperation with each other when the work supporting shafts are turned to an operative position, and stay out of a vertical path of travel of the works when the work supporting shafts are turned to a retracted position; a plurality of work lowering shafts each disposed vertically, and adapted to be turned by a certain angle and vertically moved by a stroke at least slightly larger than the equal interval,; and a plurality of work lowering arms extending laterally from each of the work lowering shafts at prescribed elevations and at a same equal interval as the supporting arms, the work lowering arms at each same elevation being adapted to support one of the works in cooperation with each other when the work lowering shafts are turned to an operative position, and stay out of a vertical path of travel of the works when the work lowering shafts are turned to a retracted position.
Thus, by turning and lifting the work lifting arms and the work lowering arms while the work supporting arms are turned in response to the movements of the work lifting arms and the work lowering arms, it is possible to move the works from one set of arms to the other, either upward or downward, in a sequential manner. Also, the structure for effecting a vertical conveying action can be achieved in a highly simple manner.
According to a particularly preferred embodiment of the preset invention, a base supports the oven main body in a middle part thereof, and is incorporated with the means for a high temperature environment inside the oven chamber. The work charging unit and the work discharging unit may also be carried by the parts of the base adjacent to the inlet and outlet ends of the oven main body.


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