CN117553052A - Pneumatic driving opening and closing device for cylinder protective cover - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a pneumatic driving opening and closing device for a protective cover of an air cylinder, which comprises an open front end shell, a guide rod arranged at the front end of the shell for closing the front end of the shell, a protective cover capable of sliding at the front end of the shell, a connector for enabling the protective cover to slide in the front-back direction in a pneumatic mode and supplying air to the front end of the shell, and a spring arranged inside the shell for supporting the protective cover. The structure of the present invention allows the shield for protecting the connector connected to the cylinder valve to be reciprocally moved in a pneumatic manner.

Description

Pneumatic driving opening and closing device for cylinder protective cover

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of pneumatic driving opening and closing devices of cylinder protective covers, in particular to a closing device capable of enabling the protective covers to reciprocate.

Background

In general, a large amount of high purity process gas is used in the production process of semiconductors, flat panel displays, and the like. These process gases may be used in a series of processes such as deposition, etching, etc., and are supplied in order to maintain process stability. These process gases can be safely and accurately supplied to the production process of semiconductors, flat panel displays, etc. by a gas cabinet (gas cabinet) at an appropriate pressure. The gas cabinet includes a cylinder (cylinder) storing a process gas, a supply line extracting the process gas from inside the cylinder and supplying the process gas to the process line, and a purge (purge) line purging a gas that may remain on the supply line. As is well known to those skilled in the art, the cylinders are fluidly connected to a supply line via a connector, such as a commercially available cylinder gas adapter (CGA; cylinder Gas Adaptor), so that the process gas stored in the cylinders can be supplied to a predetermined process via control valves. Typically, the cylinders may be high pressure compressed gas cylinders, and the process gas stored in the cylinders is stored at very high pressure and thus potentially dangerous. If an unauthorized person releases the cylinder gas adapter, the process gas discharged to the outside through the valve of the cylinder may corrode surrounding equipment and threaten the safety of workers. To this end, patent document 1 provides a cylinder assembly equipped with a protective cover, which includes a cylinder body and a valve to protect the valve. The shield of patent document 1 has an annular structure surrounding the valve and the neck of the cylinder body. Therefore, in order to replace the cylinder, a worker must detach the protective cover to separate the supply line (e.g., hose or pipe) from the valve, which is a complicated structure.

Technical problems: the present invention is directed to solving the above-described problem of selectively opening or closing a protective cover to prevent an external factor from unnecessarily contacting a connector, such as a cylinder gas adapter. In addition, the opening and closing device of the protective cover is pneumatically driven.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide a pneumatic driving opening/closing device for a cylinder cover, which solves the above-mentioned problems.

Based on the above object, the present invention provides a pneumatically driven opening and closing device for a cylinder hood.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a pneumatically driven opening and closing device of a cylinder guard includes: a cylinder storing a process gas; a supply line for supplying a process gas to the back-end equipment; a connector connecting the cylinder and the supply line; and a shield reciprocally movable to protect the connector. Wherein the shield can be reciprocally moved in the front-rear direction by the air pressure supplied into the back-use pneumatic operation chamber and the spring located in the front-use pneumatic operation chamber, thereby allowing or preventing the connection of the connector connected to the air cylinder.

In the present invention, the housing may form an exhaust hole at the rear end portion to ensure smooth retreating movement of the shield.

The through holes of the rod guide and the inside of the housing (pneumatic operating chamber) of the present invention may be aligned along the same axis to achieve the back and forth reciprocating movement of the piston.

In addition, the rod guide may be axially formed with an insertion hole, and the shield may be axially extended with a guide pin at the rear of the plate corresponding to the insertion hole.

Further, the guide pin is parallel to the piston or the cover.

Further, the pneumatic opening and closing device of the hood for the cylinder may be connected to the housing through a clamp and a supply line.

Further, the jig is provided with a first positioning groove helping to fix the supply line, and a first bracket portion fixed on the outer peripheral surface of the tubular portion; and a second detent to help secure the supply line and a second bracket portion hinged to the first bracket portion. In another embodiment of the invention, the inside of the housing, more specifically in the back-up pneumatic working chamber, may additionally be perforated with exhaust holes on the sides of the tubular portion, in order to discharge the gas inside to the outside.

Further, the present invention may limit the backward travel distance of the piston to be equal to or greater than the sum of the thickness of the piston head and the maximum compression length of the spring, the distance from the rear inner face of the tubular portion to the exhaust hole.

The invention has the beneficial effects that:

1. the invention provides a valve of a cylinder and a protective cover of a connector connected with a supply line, wherein the protective cover can reciprocate by utilizing the elastic force of air pressure and a spring, and the protective cover can be moved backwards when the air pressure is provided; while in a normal condition where no air pressure is supplied, the protective cover can be placed forward by the elastic force of the spring, thereby preventing the connector from being in contact with the outside. That is, the present invention can move the shield forward above the connector to prohibit access to the connector and move the shield backward from the connector to allow access to the connector, as described above, the present invention adopts a simple structure of air pressure and spring force.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the invention or the technical solutions of the prior art, the drawings which are used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly described, it being obvious that the drawings in the description below are only of the invention and that other drawings can be obtained from them without inventive effort for a person skilled in the art.

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of an embodiment of the present invention showing the protective cover in an advanced position;

FIG. 2 is a simplified cross-sectional schematic of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of a pneumatic opening and closing device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic rear view of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a simplified side view schematic of an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a front view of an embodiment of the present invention showing the protective cover in a retracted position;

FIG. 7 is a simplified cross-sectional schematic of an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 8 is a simplified side view of a pneumatic cylinder cover opening and closing device of the present invention with the cylinder cover in a retracted position on the connector of the cylinder;

fig. 9 is a simplified cross-sectional schematic of another embodiment of the invention.

Marked in the figure as:

100. a housing;

200. a guide rod;

300. a protective cover;

400. a joint member;

500. a spring;

600. a clamp;

A. a connector;

C. a cylinder;

H. an air pipe;

l, supply line.

Detailed Description

The objects, specific advantages and novel features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description and examples when considered in conjunction with the drawings. In this specification, reference numerals are added to constituent elements of the respective drawings, and the same constituent elements are used as much as possible with the same numerals even though they are shown in different drawings. In addition, in describing the present invention, if a detailed description of known technologies related to the gist of the present invention may unnecessarily obscure the gist of the present invention, the detailed description will be omitted. In this specification, the terms first, second, etc. are used to distinguish one element from another element and do not limit the element to the term. In the drawings, some components may be enlarged, omitted, or simplified, and the size of each component may not fully reflect the actual size. Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The present invention relates to a connector for fluidly connecting a valve of a cylinder to a supply line, such as a cylinder gas adapter, that selectively allows or prevents access. The present invention can be applied to a connector on a cylinder in a gas cabinet, and is not limited thereto, but can be applied to any connector of a high-pressure container connected to a supply line. In particular, the present invention advances the shield of the opening/closing device by air pressure or retreats the shield of the opening/closing device by the elastic force of the spring.

The air pressure providing the reciprocating movement of the shield may be obtained by various sources of supply, such as compressed air generated by an air compressor in a gas cabinet, dispensing gas supplied through a dispensing line, etc. Referring to FIGS. 1 to 8, the pneumatic opening and closing device of a hood for a cylinder according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a housing (100) having an open front end, a rod guide (200) disposed at the front end of the housing (100), a hood (300; guard) movable at the front end of the housing (100), a pneumatic fitting for supplying gas to the front end of the housing through the pneumatic fitting (400; fixing), and a spring (500) disposed inside the housing (100).

The invention realizes the reciprocating motion of the protective cover through the elastic force of the air pressure and the spring, and ensures the reliable backward motion of the protective cover through the airtight treatment between the pneumatic working chamber of the shell and the piston head and between the through hole of the rod guide and the piston rod. Furthermore, the invention can be connected to a supply line (L) for the process gas filled in the cylinder (C) to be led to the back-end equipment, in order to ensure a reliable fixing of the connector (A) to the cylinder (C). The housing (100) is as described above, an open front end, a hollow tubular portion (110), an open portion (120) allowing access to the interior of the tubular portion (110), a rear end portion (130) closing the rear end of the tubular portion (110), and a pneumatic working chamber (140) defined by the tubular portion (110) and the rear end portion (130). As shown, the pneumatic working chamber (140) houses the free end of the piston (330) and the spring (500) inside. The piston (330) is movable in the pneumatic chamber (140) in a backward direction along the axial direction (or longitudinal direction) of the housing. The pneumatic working chamber (140) has a back-up pneumatic working chamber (140 a) formed at the front end thereof and a forward-up pneumatic working chamber (140 b) formed at the rear end thereof. A spring (500) is placed in the pneumatic working chamber (140 b) for advancing. The piston 330 is movable forward in the pneumatic chamber 140 by the elastic force of the spring in the axial direction of the housing after the air pressure supply is cut off. Preferably, the housing (100) is provided with an exhaust hole (131) at a rear end portion (130) thereof. When the protective cover (300) retreats, the exhaust hole (131) can exhaust the internal gas in the pneumatic working chamber (140 b) for advancing to the outside of the shell. The rod guide (200) is a member for guiding axial movement of a piston (330) protruding in a pneumatic working chamber (140) of a housing, is placed in an open portion (120) of the housing (100), can close the front end of the pneumatic working chamber (140), and prevents the piston (300) from coming out. The guide bar (200) may be sealingly coupled to the open portion (120) of the housing (100) by welding, bolts, or the like.

Specifically, the guide bar (200) is provided with a through hole (210) for allowing the piston (330) to enter the inside of the housing, and a connection hole (220) for facilitating the connection of the fixing member (400). Starting from this connection hole (220), it extends to the inner face of the guide rod (200), forming a pneumatic guide hole (230). The through-hole (210) is perforated in the axial direction of the housing in the inner region of the guide rod (200). Notably, the present invention aligns the through hole (210) of the guide rod (200), the open portion (120) of the housing (100), and the pneumatic working chamber (140) of the housing along a coaxial line, thereby ensuring the reciprocating movement of the piston.

The connection hole (220) is designed to receive a fixture (400) placed at the end of the trachea (H). A male thread is formed on the outer circumferential surface of the fixing member (400), and a female thread is formed on the inner circumferential surface of the connection hole (220) in correspondence thereto, so that interlocking can be performed by a screw connection manner. The guide bar (200) may form a connection hole (220) at an upper convex portion thereof, thereby ensuring that the connection hole (220) is not communicated with the through hole (210). As shown, the connection hole (220) may be formed at the upper convex portion toward the inside of the guide bar in a direction perpendicular to the housing axis direction. The gas supplied from the gas pipe (H) flows into the pneumatic working chamber (140) of the housing (100), specifically, into the pneumatic working chamber (140 a) for retraction through the connection hole (220) and the pneumatic guide hole (230), thereby forcibly pushing the piston (330) to move toward the rear end, helping the shield (300) to retract. The pneumatic guide hole (230) is connected to the connection hole (220) and the pneumatic working chamber (140) as shown, one end of the pneumatic guide hole (230) is located at the connection hole (220), and the other end of the pneumatic guide hole (230) is located inside the open portion (120) of the housing (100). That is, the other end of the pneumatic guide hole (230) is formed on the inner face of the guide rod (200) opposite to the open portion (120) of the housing (100). In addition, the guide bar (200) may be formed with an insertion hole (240) in an axial direction on an upper convex portion thereof which does not overlap with the housing (100).

As described above, the shield (300) may be placed overlapping on the connector (a) connected to the cylinder (C) to prevent access to the connector, or may be retracted without overlapping the connector (a) to allow access to the connector.

To this end, the shield (300) is provided with a plate (310) forming a concave receiving groove (311), a cover (320) extending rearward along the edge of the concave receiving groove (311), and a piston (330) extending rearward from the rear surface of the plate (310). As shown, the cap (320) and the piston (330) may be placed side-by-side on the back of the plate (310). When the cover (320) of the shield (300) moves forward as shown in fig. 5, it can be placed on the connector (a), thereby preventing exposure of the connector; and when the cover (320) of the shield (300) is retracted as shown in fig. 8, it can be moved to the rear side of the connector (a) to allow access to the connector. The piston (330) includes a piston rod (331) and a piston head (332). The piston rod (331) is connected to the rear surface of the plate (310) and extends in the axial direction, and the piston rod (331) can be inserted into the pneumatic working chamber (140) through the through hole (210) of the guide rod (220). For this purpose, the outer diameter of the piston rod (331) should be the same as or slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the through hole (210). The piston head (332) is placed at the other end of the piston rod (331) placed in the pneumatic working chamber (140), and divides the pneumatic working chamber into a pneumatic working chamber (140 a) for retraction and a pneumatic working chamber (140 b) for advance.

In an embodiment of the present invention, in order to prevent the shield (300) from being separated from the housing (100) when advancing, the outer diameter of the piston head (332) should be the same as or slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the pneumatic working chamber (140) and should be greater than the inner diameter of the through hole.

The shield (300) may also be provided with a guide pin (340) extending axially from the back of the plate (310). The guide pin (340) extends from the back surface of the plate corresponding to the insertion hole (240) of the guide bar (200). As shown, the spring (500) is placed inside the housing, i.e., in the forward pneumatic working chamber (140 b) of the pneumatic working chamber (140). In other words, the spring (500) may be placed between the piston head (332) placed within the housing (100) and the rear end portion (130) of the housing (100). Alternatively, the spring (500) may be a coil spring. As described above, the piston (330) moves forward due to the elastic force of the spring (500) without external force (e.g., aerodynamic force) being applied. Furthermore, the hood switching device of the present invention may be optionally provided with a clip (600) to be closely placed near the connector (a) connected to the cylinder (C). A clip 600 is placed on the outer peripheral surface of the tubular portion 110 of the housing 100 for fixing the process gas extracted from the inside of the cylinder through the connector A and introduced into a back-end apparatus such as a gas supply line L of a process line. Alternatively, the air supply line (L) may be a tailpipe of a gas cabinet. The clip (600) includes a first support portion (610) fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the tubular portion (110) and a second support portion (620) hinged to the first support portion (610). The first support portion (610) may be secured to the tubular portion by welding, bolts, or the like in various ways, and may be integral with the tubular portion for enhanced durability. The first support portion (610) is provided with a first mounting groove (611) for a gas supply line (L) on a surface opposite to the second support portion (620). Accordingly, the second support part (620) is provided with a second installation groove (621) of the air supply line (L) on the surface opposite to the first support part (610). The air supply line (L) can be firmly fixed by placing the air supply line (L) in the first and second mounting grooves (611, 621) and fixing the first support portion (610) and the second support portion (620) together by means of bolts or the like.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the pneumatically driven opening and closing device of the hood for the cylinder may be operated as follows. When an operator wishes to disconnect the supply line (L) from the connector (A) connected to the cylinder (C), the shield (300) must be forcibly retracted in order to access the connector (A). To this end, an operator controls the piping system of the gas cabinet to supply air pressure to the inside of the housing (100) through the air pipe (H). The air pressure is introduced into the air-operated chamber (140) of the housing (100) through the connection hole (220) and the air-operated guide hole (230) of the guide rod (200), specifically, into the air-operated chamber (140 a) for retraction.

The present invention uses the air pressure led into the shell to forcedly push the piston to the rear end of the shell. As the piston moves backward, the volume of the forward pneumatic working chamber (140 a) decreases, and the air in the chamber is discharged to the atmosphere through the exhaust hole (131). Depending on the rearward movement of the piston, the shield (300) of the present invention is entirely retracted, thereby moving the connector cover (320) rearward, exposing the connector. At this time, the guide pin 340 moves rearward in the insertion hole 240, ensuring that the shield 300 retreats in the axial direction of the housing without generating unnecessary swing. After the operation of the connector is completed, the operator controls the piping system of the gas cabinet to shut off the air pressure supplied through the air pipe (H). The piston 330 placed in the housing 100 is forcibly pushed toward the front end of the housing due to the restoring elastic force of the spring 500 after the pneumatic external force is removed. Depending on the forward movement of the piston, the shield (300) of the present invention is advanced in its entirety, thereby covering the connector and preventing access to the connector.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a pneumatically driven opening and closing device for a cylinder hood is shown in fig. 9. The pneumatically driven opening and closing means of the cylinder hood of this embodiment is a variation of the opening and closing means shown in fig. 1 to 8, and is very similar to the structure of the housing (100). Accordingly, similar or identical components will not be described again for a clear understanding of the present invention. As shown in the drawing, in another embodiment of the present invention, a pneumatic driving opening/closing device of a hood for a cylinder is provided with an exhaust hole (111) in a pneumatic working chamber (140 a) for retreating, for exhausting air pressure from the side surface of a housing (100) to the outside. For example, according to another embodiment of the present invention, the pneumatically driven opening and closing device of the hood for the cylinder may realize the retreating movement of the piston (330) by supplying air pressure to the inside of the housing. By repeatedly supplying and shutting off the air pressure, the piston (330) can advance and/or retreat in the axial direction of the housing. Due to the retreating movement of the piston, the spring or the rear end portion may be impacted, thereby generating vibration and noise. For this purpose, an exhaust opening (111) is drilled in the side of the housing for exhausting the air pressure in the pneumatic working chamber (140 a) for retraction. This can eliminate excessive air pressure inside the housing and limit the back travel of the piston. In other words, in another embodiment of the present invention, the distance (D) of the inner surface of the rear end portion (130) to the exhaust hole (111) should be equal to or greater than the sum of the thickness (T3) of the piston head (332) and the maximum compression length (T5) of the spring (500).

The present invention is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variances which fall within the broad scope of the appended claims. Therefore, any omission, modification, substitution and improvement made within the spirit and principle of the present invention shall be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims (8)

1. A pneumatically driven opening and closing device for a cylinder guard, comprising the following structure:

a cylinder (C) for storing a process gas;

a supply line (L) for guiding the process gas to the back-end equipment;

a connector (A) located between the cylinder (C) and the supply line (L);

a boot (300) for protecting a connector (a) comprising a plate (310) having a concave receiving groove (311), a cover (320) extending rearward from the rear of the plate (310) along the periphery of the receiving groove (311) to cover the connector (a), and a piston (330) axially disposed at the rear of the plate (310) and composed of a piston rod (331) and a piston head (332);

a joint member 400 provided at the end of the air pipe H for supplying air pressure;

a hollow tubular portion (110) having a front end open (120) and a rear end closed by a rear end portion (130), and a rear air-operated chamber (140 a) and an air-operated chamber (140 b) being formed at the front end and the rear end of the tubular portion (110) and the rear end portion (130) by a piston head (332), respectively;

a guide rod (200) which is positioned at the front end of the housing (100) and is provided with a through hole (210) along the axial direction for sliding the piston rod (331), a fixing hole (220) for connecting the joint component (400), and a pneumatic guide hole (230) which is connected with the fixing hole (220) and guides the pneumatic pressure to a back pneumatic operation chamber (140 a) of the housing (100);

a spring (500) located in the forward pneumatic operation chamber (140 a) of the housing (100) and supporting the piston (330) to bounce toward the front end of the housing (100);

wherein the shield (300) reciprocates in the front end of the housing (100) in the front-rear direction by using air pressure supplied into the back-movement pneumatic operation chamber and a spring located in the front-movement pneumatic operation chamber as means to allow or prevent access of the connector (a) connected to the air cylinder (C).

2. The pneumatically driven opening and closing device of a cylinder guard according to claim 1, characterized in that the housing (100) is formed with an exhaust hole (131) at the rear end (130).

3. The pneumatically-driven opening and closing device of a cylinder cover according to claim 1, wherein the through hole (210), the opening portion (120) and the pneumatically-operated chamber (140) are aligned along the same axis.

4. The pneumatically driven opening and closing device of a cylinder cover according to claim 1, wherein the guide bar (200) is formed with an insertion hole (240) in an axial direction to avoid overlapping with the housing (100), and the cover (300) is axially extended with a guide pin (340) at a rear surface of a plate (310) corresponding to the insertion hole (240).

5. The pneumatically driven opening and closing device of a cylinder guard according to claim 4, characterized in that the guide pin (340) extends parallel to the piston (330) or the cover (320).

6. A pneumatically driven opening and closing device of a cylinder hood according to claim 1, characterized in that the housing (100) is connected to the supply line (L) by means of a clamp (600), wherein the clamp (600) comprises a first holding part (610) provided with a first positioning groove (611) to help to fix the supply line (L) and a second holding part (620) hinged to the first holding part (610) provided with a second positioning groove (621).

7. A pneumatically driven opening and closing device of cylinder cover according to claim 1, characterized in that said housing (100) is additionally perforated with a discharge hole (111) on the side of the tubular portion (110).

8. The pneumatically driven opening and closing device of a cylinder guard according to claim 7, characterized in that the distance (D) from the inner face of the rear end of the tubular portion (110) to the discharge orifice (111) is greater than or equal to the sum of the thickness (T3) of the piston head (332) and the maximum compression length (T5) of the spring (500).