Patent ID: 7402778

Claim:
An oven for curing or reflowing compounds on objects, comprising: a heating chamber for containing at least one of the objects; a first heating assembly mounted in thermal communication with the heating chamber to provide heat thereto, the first heating assembly comprising a gas discharge outlet having gas discharge holes discharging a relatively inert gas into the heating chamber, the first heating assembly comprising a gas inlet having gas channels formed in the first heating assembly, the gas channels being in communication with gas discharge holes of the gas discharge outlet, and the first heating assembly comprising an exhaust system to remove the relatively inert gas from the heating chamber; a second heating assembly mounted in thermal communication with the heating chamber to provide heat thereto, the second heating assembly being spaced from the first heating assembly; and a support assembly for supporting an object in the heating chamber for heating; wherein the support assembly is movable relative to the first heating assembly and the second heating assembly for controllably positioning the object supported by the support assembly at variable distances with respect to the first heating assembly and the second heating assembly for providing controlled heating of the object at different temperatures which occur in the chamber at different distances with respect to the first and second heating assemblies, and wherein the object is movable along a path between the first and second heating assemblies for establishing controlled heating of the object.