Soldering apparatus and method of fixing gasket to the soldering apparatus

{
  "publication_number": "US11235407B2",
  "country": "US",
  "kind": "B2",
  "title": "Soldering apparatus and method of fixing gasket to the soldering apparatus",
  "abstract": "Provided are a soldering apparatus that allows a gasket to be easily attached to and detached from the soldering apparatus, and a method of fixing the gasket to the soldering apparatus. The soldering apparatus includes: a furnace body; a gasket that is provided to at least a part of the furnace body, and that seals the furnace body; and a push rivet that fixes the gasket in an attachable/detachable manner to the furnace body.",
  "claims": [
    "1. A soldering apparatus, comprising: a furnace body including an upper furnace body and a lower furnace body; a gasket that is provided to at least a part of the upper furnace body or of the lower furnace body, and that is positioned between the upper furnace body and the lower furnace body and provides a seal extending between the upper furnace body and the lower furnace body; a push rivet that fixes the gasket in an attachable/detachable manner to the part of the upper furnace body or of the lower furnace body; a carry-in port through which boards are carried into the furnace body; and a carry-out port through which boards are carried out from the furnace body; wherein the push rivet includes a rivet body and a pin, the rivet body includes a flange portion and a leg portion extending from the flange portion, the flange portion and the leg portion are shaped to receive the pin inserted therein, the gasket has an elongated shape that extends longitudinally in a direction that is aligned with a board transport direction through the furnace body, and the gasket extends along a direction in which the carry-in port and the carry-out port are connected to each other.",
    "2. The soldering apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the gasket includes a first sealing portion, a fixation portion coupled to the first sealing portion, and a through-hole formed through the fixation portion, and wherein the push rivet is inserted into the through-hole.",
    "3. The soldering apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the gasket further includes a second sealing portion coupled to the fixation portion, and wherein the fixation portion is located between the first sealing portion and the second sealing portion.",
    "4. The soldering apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the first sealing portion and the second sealing portion each have substantially a same thickness.",
    "5. The soldering apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the fixation portion is thinner than the first sealing portion.",
    "6. The soldering apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising a holding plate that is fixed between the gasket and the push rivet by the push rivet while in contact with the fixation portion.",
    "7. A method of fixing a gasket to a soldering apparatus, the method comprising: arranging the gasket in an upper furnace body or a lower furnace body of the soldering apparatus; fixing the gasket in an attachable/detachable manner to the upper furnace body or the lower furnace body with use of a push rivet with the gasket having an elongated shape that extends longitudinally in a direction that is aligned with a board transport direction through the furnace body, and sealing between the upper furnace body and the lower furnace body with use of the gasket positioned between the upper furnace body and the lower furnace body and extending between the upper furnace body and the lower furnace body, wherein the push rivet includes a rivet body and a pin, and the rivet body includes a flange portion and a leg portion extending from the flange portion, the fixing with use of the push rivet comprises inserting the pin into the flange portion and the leg portion, the soldering apparatus comprises a carry-in port through which the boards are carried into a furnace body including the upper furnace body and the lower furnace body, and a carry-out port through which the boards are carried out from the furnace body, and the gasket extends along a direction in which the carry-in port and the carry-out port are connected to each other.",
    "8. The method of fixing the gasket to the soldering apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the fixing of the gasket includes inserting the push rivet into a through-hole formed through a fixation portion coupled to a first sealing portion of the gasket.",
    "9. The method of fixing the gasket to the soldering apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the fixing of the gasket includes inserting the push rivet into the through-hole formed through the fixation portion located between the first sealing portion and a second sealing portion of the gasket.",
    "10. The soldering apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the gasket further includes a second sealing portion coupled to the fixation portion, wherein the fixation portion is located between the first sealing portion and the second sealing portion, and wherein the fixation portion is thinner than the first sealing portion.",
    "11. The soldering apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the gasket further includes a second sealing portion coupled to the fixation portion, wherein the fixation portion is located between the first sealing portion and the second sealing portion, and wherein the fixation portion is thinner than the second sealing portion.",
    "12. The soldering apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the first sealing portion and the second sealing portion each have substantially a same thickness, and wherein the fixation portion is thinner than each of the first sealing portion and the second sealing portion.",
    "13. The soldering apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the leg portion comprises a notch extending along an insertion direction of the pin.",
    "14. The soldering apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the leg portion has a tubular shape, and the pin has an outer diameter larger than an inner diameter of the leg portion.",
    "15. The method of fixing the gasket to the soldering apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising causing the leg portion to radially expand by inserting the pin into the leg portion."
  ],
  "description_excerpt": "The present invention relates to a soldering apparatus and a method of fixing a gasket to the soldering apparatus.\n\nA reflow apparatus has been known as an example of an apparatus that solders electronic components to a printed circuit board. In the reflow apparatus, for ease of maintenance, a structure in which a housing of an upper furnace body is superimposed in a separable manner on a lower furnace body has been employed. A superimposed part of the furnace bodies is sealed with a gasket such that in-furnace air is prevented from leaking to the outside. By preventing the in-furnace air from leaking to the outside, in-furnace heating efficiency can be maintained. In addition, N 2 reflow apparatuses including furnaces in which an N 2 atmosphere is maintained for increasing soldering efficiency also have been used. Also in the N 2 reflow apparatuses, the N 2 atmosphere in the furnace can be maintained by preventing the in-furnace air from leaking to the outside. As an example of such reflow apparatuses including the gaskets, an apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2001-15905 has been known.\n\nIn the reflow apparatus, boards to which solder paste has been printed in advance are transported into and then heated in a reflow furnace of the reflow apparatus. The gasket that prevents the in-furnace air from leaking to the outside is deteriorated along with heating of the in-furnace air. In addition, when the boards are heated, flux contained in the solder paste is vaporized into flux fumes to waft in the reflow furnace. Adhesion of these flux fumes to the gasket causes corrosion of the gasket.",
  "cpc": [
    "B23K 3/08",
    "B23K 1/0016",
    "B23K 1/008",
    "B23K 3/00",
    "B23K 3/085",
    "B23P 19/084",
    "F16B 19/008",
    "F16B 19/109",
    "F16B 5/04",
    "F16B 5/08",
    "F16J 15/025",
    "F16J 15/061",
    "H05K 3/34",
    "H05K 3/3494"
  ],
  "ipc": [
    "B23K 3/08",
    "F16B 19/10"
  ],
  "assignees": [
    "Senju Metal Industry Co Ltd"
  ],
  "inventors": [
    "Tsutomu Hiyama"
  ],
  "filing_date": "2020-02-12",
  "publication_date": "2022-02-01",
  "grant_date": "2022-02-01",
  "priority_date": "2019-02-26",
  "application_number": "US-202016788738-A",
  "family_id": "67390376",
  "cited_by_count": 0,
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}