Specialized metallurgical processes – compositions for use therei – Processes – Producing or treating free metal
Reexamination Certificate
1999-02-23
2001-12-25
King, Roy (Department: 1742)
Specialized metallurgical processes, compositions for use therei
Processes
Producing or treating free metal
C075S414000, C075S392000, C075S693000, C075S694000, C432S191000, C432S128000, C432S037000, C432S133000, C588S253000, C588S253000, C588S253000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06332909
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a processing apparatus, a processing system and a processing method. The present invention particularly relates to a processing apparatus, a processing system and a processing method removing lead from an object which contains a hazardous substance such as lead, further, relates to a processing apparatus, a processing system, and a processing method disconnecting a connection of an object connected by a metal, an alloy, still further, relates to a processing apparatus, a processing system and a processing method of an object including metal and resin.
BACKGROUND ART
An enormous amount of wastes which modern society embraces has been increasing day by day, establishment of an effective processing technology thereof is an urgent concern, accordingly.
Although various useful substances are included in the wastes, they are not separated from the wastes due to difficulty of separation, and the wastes is almost processed through landfills or incineration processing. From a viewpoint of energy problem or resource exhaustion problem, the useful substances in the wastes are required to be reused as much as possible through separation and recovery.
Besides, there are hazardous substances in the wastes, which not only causes an environment destruction but also make difficult to recycle the wastes. Therefore, if the hazardous substances are effectively separated from the wastes, the wastes can be positively recycled as a treasure house of the resources and an influence on the environment or living things can be reduced to the minimum level.
Thus, in order to circumvent such serious problems as environment pollution, resources exhaustion, and energy shortage that surround the modern society, a technology effectively processing the wastes must be established.
However, recently, the wastes takes various complex forms and there is much of the wastes in which a plurality of different materials are integrated into a composite. Further, there are the wastes that include the hazardous materials. In order to recycle such a composite wastes as resources, the useful substances and the hazardous substances have to be selectively separated and recovered from the wastes in which a plurality of different materials are integrated. Such a processing technology has not been established.
Since a resin-coated aluminum foil formed by laminating such as a resin film and an aluminum foil is not expensive and excellent in workability, for instance, a large volume of them is used in various fields such as wrapping cases of foods or medicines including wrapping cases of retort pouch foods.
Further, a resin-coated copper laminate foil obtained by laminating a resin film and a copper foil is also used in a huge quantity, in particular, it is used in a huge quantity as constituent components of electronic devices such as a printed circuit board, a flexible substrate, a film-carrier for a TAB technology.
However, an effective processing technology of the used resin-coated aluminum foils or resin-coated copper laminate foils has not been established because they are composite wastes formed by integrating a plurality of different materials.
Conventionally, the wastes of the used resin-coated aluminum foils or the resin-coated copper laminate foils are processed through landfills or incineration processing. Because of a large space needed for landfills processing of the wastes, there is a problem that acquisition of such a large space is becoming more and more difficult. Besides, in the case of incineration, there are problems of damaging the furnace and of generating oxides of such as aluminum or copper.
A huge quantity of electricity is used for smelting of aluminum or copper. It is loss of energy to oxidize once smelted aluminum or copper by incineration. Therefore, it is strongly required that a technology that makes possible to recycle these metals as metal state as resources is established.
Besides, the composite wastes such as the printed circuit boards of the above described electronic devices includes a large quantity of hazardous substances such as lead. In a conventional technology, due to its low melting point and excellent wettability even in an oxidizing atmosphere, such a solder alloy as a lead-tin based alloy is used in large volume in solder connection of the various kinds of electronic devices.
Now, since lead is strongly poisonous and can induces functional damage on nervous system or genital system when being taken in a body, handling of lead or lead containing alloys has been regulated by law.
Further, due to a recent high concern of the environmental destruction, the wastes processing of the electronic devices and components that employ a solder alloy including lead has became a social problem.
That is to say, composite wastes such as waste electronic instruments in which a large volume of solder alloy containing lead is employed, are conventionally processed mainly by landfills in an identical manner as that of the industrial wastes or the general wastes.
However, when the composite type wastes containing hazardous substances such as lead as in the case of the waste electronic devices are processed by landfills, the lead component can be leached out due to such as rain fall, thereby seriously damaging the environment through pollution of soil or underground water. In particular, since dissolution of lead from a solder alloy is increased drastically due to acid rain, there is a serious concern of severely influencing on the environment or the living things.
From these reasons, when the wastes such as the waste electronic devices that contain hazardous substances such as lead are processed, it is required to be processed after separation/recovery of lead.
However, at present time, a technology for effectively recovering lead has not been found.
Besides, since there is a possibility of recovery cost of lead to invite an increase of product cost, although the development of lead free solder not containing lead is being demanded and utilized practically in part, there are many still unsolved problems with respect to performance, cost. Thus, still large volume of solder alloy including lead is being used. Further, a vast volume of the wastes including lead has been produced. Moreover, a huge amount of wastes is stocked somewhere since there is still no effective and safe processing technology established.
If the viewpoint is changed, the composite wastes such as a circuit board of the above described electronic device can be a treasure house of the resource if the hazardous substance can be separated. So-called wastes can be called a treasure house of the resource if judged based on the relative value. If a technology that recycles the wastes as resources and is not expensive can be established, the so-called wastes are a resource and are not the wastes.
Although, in a circuit board, various kinds of electronic components such as an IC, an LSI, a resistor, a condenser and the like are mounted, and, useful metals including Cu, Ni, Al, Au, Pt, Ta, W, Mo, Co, Cr and resins are contained, among them are such materials that are worried about their exhaustion.
However, since a multiplicity of electronic components are mounted on a substrate and, accompanying the recent tendency of higher integration, number of connecting portions tends to increase and to result in making their connecting pitch fine, effective separation of the electronic components from the substrate is very difficult. In addition, the circuit board and the electronic components, as described above, have many solder connecting portions that include the poisonous lead. This is one of the biggest causes hindering effective processing of such as the waste electronic instruments.
The present invention is to circumvent such problems. That is to say, an objective of the present invention is to provide a processing apparatus, a processing system and a processing method that enables to effectively and economically process objects possessing the metals and the resins as their constituent members.
An obj
Furuya Tomiaki
Hayata Terunobu
Koyama Masao
Ogihara Kaichiro
Ogihara Teruhisa
Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner L.L.P.
Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
King Roy
McGuthry-Banks Tima
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