Importance

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Abstract

The circuit board plasma etching apparatus includes a preheating chamber, a plasma reaction chamber and a cooling chamber for etching circuit boards with plasma in a quasi continuous operation. The plasma reaction chamber is sealed by a gas-tight preheating sealing slide adjacent the preheating chamber and by a gas-tight cooling sealing slide adjacent the cooling chamber. A preheating door selectively closes the preheating entry end and a cooling door selectively closes the cooling chamber exit end. Boards to be etched are placed in printed circuit board cages supported by a guide rail within the chambers. The guide rail is separable into a preheating segment, a reaction chamber segment and a cooling segment contained within the respective chambers. A preheating chamber bellows allows axial movement of the preheating door, as does a cooling chamber bellows for the cooling chamber door. Axial displacement of the doors allows selective segmentation of the guide rail. A bypass conduit selectively allows gas exhausted from the cooling chamber to be fed to the preheating chamber.

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First Claim