Heat exchange – With timer – programmer – time delay – or condition responsive... – Having heating and cooling capability
Reexamination Certificate
1998-01-07
2001-10-30
Ford, John K. (Department: 3743)
Heat exchange
With timer, programmer, time delay, or condition responsive...
Having heating and cooling capability
C165S264000, C165S061000, C165S064000, C165S290000, C165S080400
Reexamination Certificate
active
06308776
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Applications such as photoresist processing on semiconductor wafers require very precise temperature control of chemicals and silicon wafers. To achieve such precise control of temperatures, temperature controls with recirculated coolant are used.
Most temperature controls of this type use a recirculated coolant, such as water, for temperature control at or around room temperature. Most such temperature controls require large flow rates in order to achieve rapid transient response, since the coolant is set at the temperature to be achieved in the material being controlled and heat transfer near the set point is very slow. Most such temperature controls also require multiple circulators to achieve temperature control of multiple workstations at different temperatures.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the invention is to provide a temperature control with rapid transient response with minimal flow rates.
A second object of the invention is to provide a temperature control which uses only one circulator to achieve control of temperature of multiple workstations.
A feature of the invention is the apparatus for producing cooling at a workstation sufficient to rapidly bring the workstation and a solid or fluid work medium therein to a predetermined temperature, i.e., for achieving a rapid transient response, i.e., the time required to cool the workstation from its initial temperature to a temperature closely approaching that desired. Such rapid cooling is achieved by introducing into the workstation a coolant at a lower temperature than the predetermined temperature, and by adding heat to the coolant in its flow line as the temperature in the workstation nearly simulates the desired predetermined temperature.
Another feature of the invention is the apparatus for adjusting the temperature of a workstation, thus providing the ability to set the workstation temperature below, at, or above the ambient temperature.
Another feature of the invention is the apparatus for circulating coolant to multiple workstations with only one circulator. Having only one circulator for multiple workstations increases reliability and reduces cost versus multiple circulator approaches.
Another feature of the invention is the apparatus for adjusting the temperature of multiple workstations. In this way, each workstation may have a separate set point temperature below, at, or above its ambient temperature.
Still another feature of the invention is the method of providing control of temperature to multiple workstations, wherein rapid transient response is achieved by momentarily introducing a flow of unwarmed coolant to the workstations, wherein only one circulator is used, and wherein the coolant temperature is slightly below the temperature of the workstations, the coolant being precisely warmed at each workstation.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3227207 (1966-01-01), Litman
patent: 3229754 (1966-01-01), Hoag
patent: 3236292 (1966-02-01), Smith, Jr.
patent: 3360032 (1967-12-01), Sherwood
patent: 3370454 (1968-02-01), Flores
patent: 3612165 (1971-10-01), Haynes
patent: 3645697 (1972-02-01), Hoffman, Jr.
patent: 4072181 (1978-02-01), Kostura et al.
patent: 4621678 (1986-11-01), Hahn et al.
patent: 4651813 (1987-03-01), Witt et al.
patent: 4729424 (1988-03-01), Mizuno et al.
patent: 4784213 (1988-11-01), Eager et al.
patent: 4789025 (1988-12-01), Brandemuehl et al.
patent: 4956043 (1990-09-01), Kanetomo et al.
patent: 4984628 (1991-01-01), Uchida et al.
patent: 5084671 (1992-01-01), Miyata et al.
patent: 5226472 (1993-07-01), Benevelli et al.
patent: 5348076 (1994-09-01), Asakawa
patent: 5577552 (1996-11-01), Ebinuma et al.
patent: 5706890 (1998-01-01), Sloan et al.
patent: 967751 (1957-12-01), None
patent: 3412157 (1985-10-01), None
patent: 0 003 822 (1979-02-01), None
patent: 0411916A3 (1990-07-01), None
patent: 60-167745 (1985-08-01), None
patent: 63-283842 (1988-11-01), None
patent: 2-38805 (1990-09-01), None
patent: 3-62920 (1991-03-01), None
patent: 3-35060 (1991-05-01), None
patent: 5-143169 (1993-06-01), None
patent: 5-253790 (1993-10-01), None
Reed William G.
Sloan Ben J.
Ford John K.
FSI International Inc.
Kagan Binder PLLC
LandOfFree
Temperature control apparatus with recirculated coolant does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Temperature control apparatus with recirculated coolant, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Temperature control apparatus with recirculated coolant will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2590269