JP2003042299A - Sealing device for continuous vacuum treatment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sealing device and a vacuum treatment device provided with the sealing device shortening a circumferential length of a seal, reducing frictional resistance of a sealing roll, and allowing introduction of a band like object from the atmosphere to a vacuum atmosphere while preventing an inflow of the atmospheric air by combining a pair of the sealing rolls and a sealing member between the atmosphere and the vacuum atmosphere. SOLUTION: The sealing device for continuous vacuum treatment is characterized by that the sealing member is provided in a position passed by an object to be treated in a vacuum chamber, the pair of sealing rolls is provided in a rear end side of the sealing member, and a rear end of the sealing member and an outer circumferential parts of the sealing rolls are tangentially provided.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention introduces an object to be processed into a vacuum chamber from an atmospheric pressure atmosphere, performs processing such as film formation on the belt-like material in a vacuum, and treats the processed belt-like material under an atmospheric pressure atmosphere. The present invention relates to a sealing device for a continuous vacuum processing device that returns to the above, and a continuous vacuum processing device including the sealing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a sealing device used in a vacuum processing apparatus, firstly, there is a mechanism for sandwiching a strip between a pair of sealing rolls between an air atmosphere and a vacuum atmosphere and sealing the periphery of the sealing rolls. . Secondly, there is a mechanism in which the strip is passed through a slit whose width and height are matched to the dimensions of the strip to minimize the inflow of atmospheric air. Thirdly, there is a mechanism in which a liquid metal bath is provided between the air atmosphere and the vacuum atmosphere, and the strip is passed through the liquid metal bath.

[0003]

In the first mechanism, in the case of a method of sandwiching a band-shaped material between a pair of seal rolls and sealing the periphery of the seal rolls, frictional resistance occurs between the seals and the rolls. Therefore, in order to rotate the seal rolls, it is necessary to provide a gap to some extent between the seal rolls, it is not possible to prevent the inflow of air into the vacuum atmosphere, and a large capacity vacuum pump is attached to maintain the vacuum atmosphere. is the current situation.

In the second mechanism, in the case of a mechanism in which the band-like material is passed through a slit whose width and height are adjusted to the dimensions of the band-like material, the inflow of atmospheric air must be minimized.
You cannot completely eliminate the gap. Therefore, it is not possible to prevent the inflow of the air from the slit, and a phenomenon occurs in which the belt-like object sways, which damages the belt-like object. In order to prevent this, it is necessary to keep the vacuum atmosphere in a stable state, and therefore it is necessary to use a large-capacity vacuum pump to keep the vacuum state.

The third mechanism is a mechanism in which a liquid metal bath is provided between an air atmosphere and a vacuum atmosphere, and the strip is passed through the liquid metal bath, the liquid metal adheres to the strip. Is limited to some metal plates. In addition, a harmful gas may be generated from the liquid, which may adversely affect the subsequent process.

The object of the present invention is to reduce the circumferential length of the seal and reduce the frictional resistance due to the seal roll by combining a pair of seal rolls and a seal member between the atmospheric atmosphere and the vacuum atmosphere. It is an object of the present invention to provide a sealing device capable of introducing a belt-like material from an air atmosphere into a vacuum atmosphere while preventing the inflow of air, and a vacuum processing apparatus equipped with this sealing device.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a seal member is provided at a position where an object to be processed of a vacuum chamber passes, and a pair of seal rolls is provided at a rear end side of the seal member. A sealing device for continuous vacuum processing, wherein the sealing device is provided so that the rear end of the sealing member is in contact with the outer peripheral portion of the sealing roll. In this way, the object to be processed is sealed with the minimum length on the circumference by the seal roll and the seal member that allows the object to be processed such as a band to pass through. Therefore, the dimensional accuracy of the seal roll is unlikely to be affected, and a stable seal can be obtained.

The invention according to claim 2 is the sealing device for continuous vacuum processing according to claim 1, wherein the shape of the rear end of the sealing member is an arc shape. In this way, by making the rear end of the seal member arcuate, it is possible to make sure contact with the seal roll and to maintain a stable sealed state.

The invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that the seal member is provided with a slit having a width through which the object to be processed can pass in the central portion thereof. It is a vacuum processing sealing device. In this way, by providing the slit of the width that passes through the object to be processed side in the central portion of the seal member, a more stable sealed state can be maintained.

The invention according to claim 4 is characterized in that the sealing member has a vibration generating device for vibrating the sealing member, and the continuous vacuum processing according to any one of claims 1 to 3. It is a sealing device. In this way, even if the seal roll is vibrated in the flow direction of the object to be processed by vibrating the seal member, especially the seal member is pressed to improve the sealing property, the rotation of the seal roll is prevented by the friction resistance. There is no need to slow down or stop.

The invention according to claim 5 is characterized in that the sealing member has a flow passage for passing cooling water or cooling gas, and the continuous vacuum processing according to any one of claims 1 to 4. It is a sealing device. Thus, when the seal member vibrates, two contact portions, that is, a contact portion with the seal roll and a contact portion with the seal of the chamber,
Friction heat is generated between them. In order to prevent this, a flow path is provided in the seal member, and by passing cooling water or cooling gas, friction heat can be removed and the sealing material can be kept in a good state.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the continuous vacuum processing according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the seal member is provided with a distance sensor for measuring a distance of a seal roll. It is a sealing device. In this way, if the distance between the seal member and the seal roll is measured by the sensor and the data is fed back to the seal member drive unit to keep the distance between the seal member and the seal roll constant, the seal device is optimized. Can be kept in a state. Thereby, by reducing the distance between the seal roll and the seal member, the sealing property becomes good, but the friction resistance increases and the seal roll becomes difficult to rotate, frictional heat is generated, and the seal roll surface, And there is no bad influence on the band. On the contrary, by increasing the distance between the seal roll and the seal member, the frictional resistance becomes smaller, the seal roll becomes easier to rotate, the generation of frictional heat is reduced, and the seal roll surface and the belt-like material are in a good state. However, on the other hand, it is possible to prevent the sealing property from being deteriorated.

The invention according to claim 7 is characterized in that the seal member is provided with a pressing pressure sensor for measuring the pressing pressure between the seal member and the seal roll. This is a sealing device for continuous vacuum processing. In this way, the pressure of the seal member and the seal roll is measured by the sensor, and the data is fed back to the seal member driving unit to keep the pressure of the seal member and the seal roll constant. It can be kept in an optimal state. As a result, when the pressing force between the seal roll and the seal member is increased, the sealing property is improved, but the friction resistance is increased, the seal roll is hard to rotate, frictional heat is generated, and the seal roll surface and the strip shape are generated. It does not have a bad influence on things. On the contrary, by lowering the pressing pressure between the seal roll and the seal member, the friction resistance becomes smaller, the seal roll easily rotates, the generation of frictional heat is reduced, and the seal roll surface and the belt-like material are in a good state. However, on the other hand, it is possible to prevent the sealing property from being deteriorated.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing a sealing device for continuous vacuum processing of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing a sealing device for continuous vacuum processing of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic explanatory view showing a seal member and a vibration generating / positioning device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In this continuous vacuum processing seal device, a seal member 2 having a slit 2a is provided at a position where the strip 1 enters the chamber 10. In this seal member 2,
A vibration generator 5 for vibrating the seal member, a distance sensor 8, and a pressure sensor are provided. Inside the chamber 10, there is provided a seal roll 4 that draws the strip 1 into the vacuum chamber 3 and seals the air atmosphere and the vacuum atmosphere together with the seal member 2. The shape of the seal member 2 on the rear end side is an arc shape that matches the outer circumference of the seal roll 4.

Here, as the material of the seal roll 4, a synthetic resin roll can be preferably used. This makes it possible to eliminate the step difference between the place where the strip is sandwiched and the place where the strip is not sandwiched due to the elasticity of the roll, thereby satisfying the function of the seal. Further, even if the seal member vibrates, if the amplitude is within the elastic range of the synthetic resin, no gap is generated and the sealing performance is not impaired.

On the other hand, the seal member 2 is preferably made of metal. This is because by using a metal having rigidity, it is possible to secure a gap through which the belt-like material passes and accurately transmit the vibration. However, synthetic resin may be used as long as it has rigidity.

A vacuum state must be maintained inside the chamber 3, but the outer periphery of the seal member 2 and the chamber 3
Are sealed by an O-ring 7. The inside of the slit 2a of the seal member 2 is in the atmosphere, but is sealed at the portion where the seal roll 4 and the seal member 2 are in contact with each other. The vibration generator 8 provided in the sealing device 2 is
An ultrasonic generator can be preferably used. This is because in the case of ultrasonic waves, no gap is generated if the amplitude is within the elastic range of the seal roll, and that the seal roll 4 and the vacuum chamber 1
It has the advantage that it is less likely to resonate with the 0 component and that noise generation is suppressed.

Although the seal member has a slit 2a provided at the center thereof, the seal member is not provided with the slit 2a and has a width that allows the belt-like material to pass through and is divided into both sides. Good. The vacuum treatment of the belt-like material using this sealing device is performed as follows. First,
The strip 1 is introduced into the vacuum atmosphere from the air atmosphere.
At this time, the strip 1 passes between the upper and lower nip rolls 6,
It enters the slit 2a of the seal member 2. This slit 2a
The strip 1 introduced from (1) is sandwiched between the seal rolls 4 and conveyed.

Further, the vibration generator 5 connected to the seal member can reduce the frictional resistance generated at the portion where the seal roll 4 and the seal member 2 are in contact with each other by vibrating the seal member 2. it can. This vibration is for vibrating the seal member 2 in the flow direction of the strip 1. Then, if the amplitude of the seal member 2 is within the elastic range of the seal roll 4, it is possible to prevent atmospheric air from flowing into the vacuum chamber 3.

A channel (not shown) is provided in the seal member 2.
By providing a cooling means for passing cooling water or cooling gas, frictional heat can be removed, deformation of the seal member due to heat can be eliminated, and a good condition can be maintained to maintain a hermetic seal.

Further, by providing a distance sensor 8 on the seal member 2, the distance between the seal roll 4 and the seal member 2 is measured, and the data is fed back to the seal member drive section to determine the distance between the seal member and the seal roll. It can be kept constant and the sealing device can be kept in optimum condition.

By providing the pressure sensor 9, the pressing force between the seal roller 4 and the sealing member 2 is measured by the sensor, and the data is fed back to the sealing member driving unit to keep the pressing pressure of the sealing member and the sealing roll constant. Keep in
The sealing device can be kept in an optimum state.

[0024]

Since the present invention has the above-mentioned structure, the circumferential length of the seal roll can be shortened by combining the seal roll and the seal member. Also, by vibrating the seal member, it is possible to reduce the frictional resistance at the seal portion, and it is possible to introduce the strip from the air atmosphere to the vacuum atmosphere while preventing the air from flowing into the vacuum atmosphere. Becomes As a result, the strip does not rock due to the inflow of air through the slit of the seal member, and is not scratched. Further, in order to maintain the vacuum atmosphere, a large-capacity vacuum pump is no longer necessary, and the device can be stabilized and downsized.

The vacuum processing apparatus equipped with this sealing device is capable of continuously processing an object to be processed while keeping the vacuum chamber in a vacuum state. As for the vacuum state in the chamber, the exhaust time to make the chamber vacuum from the atmosphere, the leak time to return the vacuum to the atmosphere, the contamination in the chamber due to returning to the atmosphere, the production time is shortened, and there is an effect on the production capacity. . Furthermore, since the vacuum state is maintained, there is an effect on the quality and the production capacity that uniform quality can be obtained without fluctuation of the production conditions.

Further, since the present invention can obtain high production capacity and high quality, a stable thin film can be produced by vapor deposition or sputtering in a vacuum atmosphere, particularly on a belt-shaped material such as a metal plate, a resin film, paper, cloth and the like. Suitable for

[0027]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing an example of a sealing device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing an example of a sealing device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic explanatory view showing an example of a seal member of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 band 2 Seal member 2a slit 3 vacuum chamber 4 seal roll 5 Vibration generation and positioning device 6 Nip roll 7 O-ring 8 distance sensor 9 Pressure sensor 10 chambers

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A seal member is provided at a position through which an object to be processed of a vacuum chamber passes, and a seal member is provided at a rear end side of the seal member.
A seal device for continuous vacuum treatment, characterized in that a pair of seal rolls are provided so that the rear end of the seal member is in contact with the outer peripheral portion of the seal roll. 2. The sealing device for continuous vacuum processing according to claim 1, wherein the sealing member has a rear end shaped like an arc. 3. The sealing device for continuous vacuum processing according to claim 1, wherein the sealing member is provided with a slit having a width that allows an object to be processed to pass therethrough in a central portion thereof. 4. The seal member has a vibration generator for vibrating the seal member.
A sealing device for continuous vacuum processing according to any one of claims 1 to 3. 5. The sealing device for continuous vacuum processing according to claim 1, wherein the sealing member has a flow path for passing cooling water or cooling gas. 6. The seal device for continuous vacuum processing according to claim 1, wherein the seal member is provided with a distance sensor for measuring the distance of the seal roll. 7. The sealing device for continuous vacuum processing according to claim 1, wherein the sealing member is provided with a pressing pressure sensor for measuring the pressing pressure between the sealing member and the sealing roll. .