Refrigeration – Automatic control – Refrigeration producer
Reexamination Certificate
2000-11-29
2002-05-21
Esquivel, Denise L. (Department: 3744)
Refrigeration
Automatic control
Refrigeration producer
C062S003200, C062S179000, C062S185000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06389829
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a temperature control system carrying out cooling and heating of a process device such as a semiconductor and the like, which requires a fine temperature control.
2. Description of the Related Art
A system circuit which cools a semiconductor process device
2
by a chiller device
1
is shown in FIG.
2
. The chiller device
1
has a first temperature control section
3
and controls a temperature T
2
of an outlet
1
a
of the chiller device
1
by this first temperature control section
3
. A fluid which is temperature-controlled by the above-described first temperature control section
3
is supplied to a fluid pipe (not shown) in the process device
2
via a supplying pathway
4
and returns to the chiller device
1
via a return pathway
5
.
The above-described first temperature control section
3
controls the temperature of circulating fluid, which is supplied to the supplying pathway
4
, at the outlet
1
a
of the chiller device
1
in order to maintain the temperature at the predetermined temperature of the process device
2
.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Among the semiconductor process devices
2
s,
there are some devices in which even the slightest change of the temperature will have influence upon the quality of the products. For these devices, the temperature of the supplying fluid has to be precisely controlled.
In contract to this, the first temperature control section
3
of the above-described chiller device
1
only controls the outlet temperature T
2
. Since the distance between the chiller device
1
and the process device
2
is apart, the temperature of the fluid will change from T
2
to (T
2
+&Dgr;T) during the fluid moving from the above-described outlet
1
a
to the process device
2
. Therefore, the temperature T
2
of the above-described outlet
1
a
is set in consideration of the distance to the process device
2
. Specifically, when the required temperature is set at T
3
on the side of the process device
2
, the expression representing the relationship of the factors must be as follows:
Outlet temperature T
2
of the chiller device
1
=(T
3
−&Dgr;T)
However, because the temperature changing is also present in the installation circumstances of the pathways
4
,
5
, the above-described &Dgr;T cannot be predicted precisely. Thus, in the case where the amount of temperature changing &Dgr;T in the supplying pathway
4
cannot be predicted, it is very difficult to precisely control the temperature of the fluid T
3
which is supplied to the process device
2
.
On the other hand, if the above-described pathways
4
,
5
are shortened and the chiller device
1
can be brought into intimate contact with the process device
2
, it is considered that the influence of the temperature changing in the pathway can be ignored, however, such a thing is actually impossible to carry out. Because if the chiller device
1
is installed within a clean room in which the process device
2
is installed, the clean room will be too large and the cost will be higher. Moreover, among the semiconductor process devices, there are some devices which are easily influenced with electromagnetic waves, it is the reason why it is not preferable that the chiller device
1
having a coil is installed nearby these devices.
Hence, in reality, it was very difficult to strictly control the temperature of the fluid which is supplied to the process device
2
while also corresponding to changing of installation circumstances of the temperature control system.
Otherwise, in order to control the temperature changing &Dgr;T in the supplying pathway, even the temperature of installation circumstances of the above-described pathway
4
must have been also strictly controlled by providing a complex control mechanism.
An object of the present invention is to provide a temperature control system which has a simple structure as well as is capable of strictly controlling the temperature on the side of the process device of the fluid supplied via the pathway from the chiller device.
The first embodiment of the present invention having a fluid supplying pathway and a return pathway connecting a process device such as a semiconductor manufacturing device and the like to a chiller device, a first temperature control section controlling an outlet temperature of the chiller device and a second temperature control section provided in the above-described supplying pathway, and is characterized in that this second temperature control section supplies the fluid to the above-described process device after the temperature of the fluid supplied from the above-described chiller device is finely controlled as well as detects the temperature on the side of the process device, requires the temperature of outlet of the chiller device for the first temperature control section.
The second embodiment of the present invention is characterized in that the second temperature control section has a Peltier element
REFERENCES:
patent: 3381490 (1968-05-01), Manning et al.
patent: 4459818 (1984-07-01), Kaya et al.
patent: 4984628 (1991-01-01), Uchida et al.
patent: 5724825 (1998-03-01), Lee et al.
patent: 5996353 (1999-12-01), Maxwell et al.
patent: 6085532 (2000-07-01), Sibik
patent: 6276152 (2001-08-01), Sibik
Esquivel Denise L.
Innotech Corporation
Norman Marc
Steinberg & Raskin, P.C.
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