JP2004247740A - Gas supply unit - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a gas supply unit that is compact and light-weight. <P>SOLUTION: This is a gas supply unit that has a base member 20, two or more fluid control devices, and flow channel blocks 11 installed on the top surface of the base member 20 and the bottom surface of the fluid control devices so as to communicate the fluid control devices with each other. One of the multiple flow channel blocks has an airtight filter chamber 33 formed between an input port 31 and an output port 32 and a filter 34 housed in the filter chamber 33. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a gas supply unit for supplying a process gas or the like used in a semiconductor manufacturing process, and more particularly to a lightweight and compact gas supply unit.

  In the wafer processing process of semiconductor manufacturing, gas is used for etching of photoresist processing (photoresist coating, exposure, development, etching) and the like, and a gas supply circuit for supplying a specific process gas from several types to the chamber is configured. Have been. In the gas supply circuit, a gas supply line is configured according to the type of gas, and each gas is sent to a chamber via a fluid control device such as a mass flow controller. In addition, since the gas is corrosive and toxic, the gas is replaced using a purge gas such as nitrogen gas, and furthermore, the gas supply line is provided with a purge gas supply line and a vent line in order to perform gas exhaust processing. Are combined.

  Therefore, the gas supply line requires fluid equipment such as a plurality of valves and a mass flow controller as shown in FIG. 17 to control the flow or exhaust of the process gas or the purge gas. The units 101 to 108 are unitized as a whole from the viewpoint of downsizing the installation area and shortening the flow path length. In such a gas supply unit 100, fluid control devices 101 to 108 constituting a gas supply line are arranged in a line on one base member 110, and are mounted via flow path blocks 121 to 129 fixed on the base member 110. Have been. As shown in a sectional view at 122, a V-shaped flow path is formed in the flow path blocks 121 to 129.

  Here, among the fluid control devices, the filter 102 was attached to the upper surfaces of the flow path blocks 121 and 122, like the other fluid control devices. This mounting method is also disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-165012. FIG. 18 shows a case where the filter is attached to the gas supply unit of FIG. The flow path blocks 121 to 129 are mounted on the base member 110, and the fluid control devices 101 to 108 are mounted on the upper surfaces of the flow path blocks 121 to 129. In particular, the filter 102 is disposed in the filter chamber 102b as a planar filter 102a, and one side of the filter 102 communicates with the V-shaped channel 121a of the channel block 121 via the channel 102c. The other side of the filter 102 communicates with the V-shaped channel 122a of the channel block 122 via the channel 102d.

  The shapes of the flow path blocks 121 to 129 are shown in FIGS. Since all the flow path blocks are shared, 121 is used as a number in the figure. FIG. 19 is a plan view seen from above, and FIG. 20 is an AA cross-sectional view. The two through holes 131 are for fixing the flow path block 121 to the base member 110 with bolts. A counterbore 131a for accommodating a bolt head is formed in the through hole 131. The four screw holes 132 are for mounting the fluid control device with bolts. A gasket storage portion 133a for storing a seal gasket is formed in the opening 133b of the V-shaped channel 121a.

However, such a conventional gas supply unit 100 has the following problems.
That is, a gas supply unit or the like circulates a process gas whose characteristics are easily changed over a long distance if the piping to the chamber becomes long. Therefore, it is desired to install the gas supply unit near the chamber. For this reason, the gas supply unit 100 is not simply installed horizontally, but is mounted so as to lean against the furnace body of the chamber. However, in the case of the conventional gas supply unit 100, since the number of mounted fluid control devices 101 to 108 is large, the weight of the gas supply unit 100 itself is large and the size is long.
Generally, the gas supply units are used adjacent to each other in a plurality of rows. At that time, the space occupied by the gas supply units becomes large, and there is a problem that the gas supply units cannot be installed near the chamber. In addition, with the heavy and large gas supply unit 100, there was a difficulty in the operation when combining and mounting several units.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a gas supply unit that is compact and lightweight and can be installed near a chamber.

The gas supply unit of the present invention has the following configuration.
(1) A gas supply unit having a base member, two or more fluid control devices, and a flow path block attached to an upper surface of the base member and a lower surface of the fluid control device for communicating the fluid control devices with each other. One of the plurality of flow path blocks has an input port, an output port, an airtight filter chamber formed between the input port and the output port, and a filter built in the filter chamber.

(2) In the gas supply unit according to (1), in the flow path block including the filter, a metal filter is placed in a filter chamber having an opening formed on the base member side, and the metal filter replaces the filter chamber. It is positioned by a container filter holder with a top opening that closes airtightly,
An inlet passage communicating with the input port is formed through the side wall of the filter retainer,
An output passage communicating with the output port is formed above the metal filter.
(3) In the gas supply unit according to (1) or (2), the filter block having a built-in filter may have a three-dimensional shape, or may have the filter attached with an inclination. It is characterized by.

(4) In the gas supply unit according to (1), in the flow path block with the built-in filter, a cylindrical filter surrounding the insertion-side tip is inserted into a filter chamber opened from the side in a lateral direction and positioned. And an input / output port communicating with the inside and outside of the filter is formed.

The gas supply unit of the present invention operates as follows by having the above configuration. The filter can be eliminated from the fluid control device attached to the upper surface of the flow path block constituting the gas supply unit, and the unit length can be shortened and made compact accordingly. The weight was reduced due to the compactness, and the weight was reduced.
Here, when the filter is built in the flow path block, the flow path block is extended to the space between the adjacent flow path blocks to form an extended portion, and a filter chamber is formed in the extended portion. Therefore, since the filter chamber can be formed in a place that has been a useless space, the entire size, particularly, the total length of the gas supply unit can be reduced.

  The gas supply unit of the present invention includes a base member, two or more fluid control devices, and a flow path block attached to an upper surface of the base member and a lower surface of the fluid control device for communicating the fluid control devices with each other. A gas supply unit having one of a plurality of flow path blocks, an input port and an output port, an airtight filter chamber formed between the input port and the output port, and a filter built in the filter chamber. Therefore, the length of the gas supply unit can be reduced, and a compact and lightweight gas supply unit can be provided.

Next, an embodiment of a gas supply unit according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a side view showing the gas supply unit.
The gas supply unit 10 includes a manual valve 1, a regulator 2, a pressure transducer 3, a shut-off valve 4, a mass flow controller 5, a purge valve 6, and a check valve 7, each of which is a fluid control device from the upstream side. They are arranged and assembled on the base member 20 respectively. Each of the modules 1 to 7 is connected via the flow path blocks 11 to 17 similarly to the gas supply unit 100 of the conventional example. Here, a base plate or a rail is used as the base member.

  The difference between the gas supply unit 10 of the present embodiment and the conventional gas supply unit 100 (FIG. 17) is that the filter 102 is eliminated from the modules constituting the gas supply unit 10. The filter 102 is an essential component for forming a gas supply line for removing impurities mixed in the supplied gas. In the present embodiment, the filter 102 is modularized like the manual valve 1 and the regulator 2. Instead, a new flow path block 11 having a built-in filter function is used instead.

  In the conventional gas supply unit 100 shown in FIG. 17, impurities passed through the manual valve 101 are removed by the filter 102, and the gas sequentially flows through the flow path block 122, the regulator 103, and other modules. At this time, it is the flow path blocks 121 to 129 that connect the modules 101 to 108. The flow path blocks 121 to 129 are used to connect the output ports and the input ports of the adjacent modules 101 to 108. Only a V-shaped channel was formed. However, in the present embodiment, among the flow path blocks 11 to 17 for connecting the modules, the flow path block 11 for connecting the manual valve 1 and the regulator 2 is newly proposed with a built-in filter function. I decided to adopt it. The other flow path blocks 12 to 17 have V-shaped flow paths formed in the same manner as the conventional one.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the flow path block 11 with a built-in filter. FIG. 8 shows a plan view of the flow path block 11 including the filter chamber as viewed from above. FIG. 2 is an AA sectional view of FIG.
In the flow path block 11 with a built-in filter, ports 31 and 32 connectable to respective output ports and input ports of the manual valve 1 and the regulator 2 are formed on the upper surface, and the ports 31 and 32 are connected via a filter chamber 33. ing. The filter chamber 33 is a circular hole drilled from the bottom side of the flow path block 11, and a metal filter 34 is fitted on the ceiling side thereof. The metal filter 34 is inserted from below so as to close the filter chamber 33. It is pressed and positioned by the filter press 35.

  The filter retainer 35 is a container-shaped member formed in accordance with the shape of the filter chamber 33, and the cylindrical side wall is airtightly fitted along the inner wall surface of the filter chamber 33. In order to prevent gas leakage from the filter chamber 33, the filter retainer 35 closes the circumferential gap between the filter retainer 35 and the flow path block 11 seen from the bottom side by welding. 35 is integrally fixed to the flow path block 11. Further, since the input side flow path 36 connected to the input port 31 has an opening on the inner wall surface of the filter chamber 33, the filter holder 35 has a through hole 37 connected to the input side flow path 36 on the cylindrical side wall. Is formed. Therefore, when inserting the filter presser 35, it is necessary to pay attention to the fitting position.

The flow path block 11 has an extended portion 21 formed in the right direction in the drawing, that is, in the direction of the adjacent flow path block 12 in FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the extending portion 21 is just arranged in the space with the flow path block 12. The filter chamber 33 is formed in the extension 21. By forming the filter chamber 33 in the extension 21 of the flow path block 11, as shown in FIG. The gas supply unit can be made compact without using a space.
In FIG. 8, two through holes 23 are for fixing the flow path block 11 to the base member 20 with bolts. A counterbore 23a for accommodating a bolt head is formed in the through hole 23. The four screw holes 22 are for mounting a module as a fluid control device with bolts. The ports 31 and 32 are formed with gasket storage portions 31a and 32a for storing a seal gasket.

  In the gas supply unit 10, as shown in FIG. 1, a manual valve 1, a regulator 2 and other modules 3 to 7 are connected by a flow path block 11 with a built-in filter and ordinary flow path blocks 12 to 17, A series of gas supply lines are constructed by piping on the road. The input port 8 of the gas supply unit 10 is connected to a gas supply source, and the output port 9 is connected to a chamber. In the gas supply unit 10, several units are arranged in accordance with the type of gas, and each of the units is piped to form a gas supply circuit.

  Therefore, the flow of gas in one gas supply unit 10 constituting the gas supply circuit will be examined. While the gas entering from the input port 8 is sent from the manual valve 1 to the regulator 2, impurities mixed in the gas are removed by the flow path block 11 with a built-in filter. The gas from which the contaminants have been removed is pressure-adjusted by the regulator 2 and sent to the secondary side. At this time, the gas pressure is monitored by the pressure transducer 3. Then, the gas flows to the mass flow controller 5 through the shutoff valve 4 and is throttled to a predetermined flow rate, and the gas adjusted to the set pressure and the set flow rate passes through the gas supply valve 6 and the check valve 7 from the output port 9. Sent to the chamber.

  Further, when taking a closer look at the flow path block 11, which is a feature of the present embodiment, the gas that has flowed out of the manual valve 1 enters through the port 31 and flows through the input side flow path 36, and passes through the through hole 37 into the filter holder 35. enter. At this time, the gas that has entered the filter retainer 35 from the input side flow path 36 has a reduced flow velocity, and the mixed impurities are retained and removed by the metal filter 34. Then, the gas from which the mixed impurities have been removed is sent from the output port 32 to the regulator 2.

  Therefore, according to the gas supply unit 10 of the present embodiment, the filter is eliminated from the constituent modules, and the flow path block 11 with the built-in filter is replaced with a new one. Was completed. Specifically, the length of the gas supply unit 10 of the present embodiment is 390 mm compared to the conventional gas supply unit 100 having a total length of 430 mm. In addition, the weight can be reduced and the weight can be reduced due to the compactness. Therefore, as compared with the conventional gas supply unit 100, the difficulty of the installation work of combining several units and the difficulty of the installation in a place where the installation space is limited are eased.

  By the way, if it is attempted to configure a gas supply unit having the same structure by reducing the size of each module, the size of the filter structure portion of the flow path block with a built-in filter is reduced, and the flow path area is reduced accordingly. Gas flow becomes difficult. Therefore, a flow path block with a built-in filter capable of sufficiently obtaining a flow rate will be described below.

  3 to 6 are cross-sectional views each showing a flow path block with a built-in filter. Note that common parts in each drawing are denoted by the same reference numerals and described. Each of the flow path blocks 50, 60, 70, and 80 shown here is configured such that a larger flow area can be secured in the filter portion. The metal filters 51, 61, 71 are three-dimensionally formed, and the metal filters 81 are arranged with an inclination in the flow path block 80.

  In order to increase the area of the metal filter, the metal filters 51, 61 and 71 are formed in a three-dimensional shape as shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, so that gas flows from the side surfaces in addition to the upper and lower surfaces. . On the other hand, the metal filter 81 shown in FIG. 6 is a flat filter similar to that of the above-described embodiment (see FIG. 2), but is attached to the frame 82 at an angle, so that the area of the filter itself is small. It is getting bigger. Therefore, in order to arrange the metal filters 51, 61, 71, 81 in the vertical direction, the filter chamber 41 is formed deeper than the block as compared with the embodiment (FIG. 2). Metal filters 51, 61, 71, and 81 are fitted into the filter chamber 41, and are pressed by a filter holder 42 inserted from below, and the inside of the filter chamber 41 is airtightly closed by the filter holder 42. .

  Therefore, according to the flow path blocks 50, 60, 70, and 80, a filter can be eliminated from the modules constituting the gas supply unit as in the above-described embodiment, and the unit length can be shortened and made compact. In addition, even when a small integrated unit is configured, a sufficient flow rate can be secured without reducing the flow path of the filter portion.

  Next, another example shown in FIG. 7 will be described for a flow path block with a built-in filter for securing a flow rate. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a flow path block with a built-in filter. This is different from the above-described one in that the metal filter 91 is inserted from the side into the filter chamber 92 opened from the side of the flow path block 90. The metal filter 91 has a shape surrounding one end of a cylinder, and an annular plate 93 fixed to the opposite open end is fitted in the filter chamber 92 and positioned as shown in the figure. Then, the opening of the filter chamber 92 is closed by the lid 94, and the flow path block 90 in which the metal filter 91 is disposed between the ports 95 and 96 is configured.

FIG. 9 is a plan view of the flow path block 90 of FIG. 7 as viewed from above.
The flow path block 90 has an extended portion 21 formed in the right direction in the drawing, that is, in the direction of the adjacent flow path block 12 in FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the extending portion 21 is just arranged in the space with the flow path block 12. The filter chamber 92 is formed in the extension 21. Since the filter chamber 92 is formed in the extending portion 21 of the flow path block 90, as shown in FIG. The gas supply unit can be made compact without using a space.
In FIG. 9, two through holes 23 are for fixing the flow path block 11 to the base member 20 with bolts. A counterbore 23a for accommodating a bolt head is formed in the through hole 23. The four screw holes 22 are for mounting a module as a fluid control device with bolts. The ports 95 and 96 are formed with gasket storage portions 95a and 96a for storing the seal gasket.

  Therefore, according to such a flow path block 90, a filter can be eliminated from the modules constituting the gas supply unit as in the above-described embodiment, and the length of the unit can be shortened and made compact. Even when a unit is configured, a sufficient flow rate can be secured without reducing the flow path in the filter portion.

Another embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS. FIG. 10 is an overall view of the gas supply unit, FIG. 11 is a plan view of the flow path block, and FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view of the flow path block. A feature of the present embodiment is that the filter chamber is arranged on the upstream side of the manual valve 1. That is, the flow path block 18 is newly provided, and the input port 8 is fixedly provided at the left end of the flow path block 18.
The flow path block 18 with a built-in filter has a port 18 b formed on the upper surface thereof which can be connected to the input port of the manual valve 1. The inlet port 8 and the port 18 b are connected via a filter chamber 33. The filter chamber 33 is a circular hole drilled from the bottom side of the flow path block 18, and a metal filter 34 is fitted into the ceiling side of the filter block 33. The metal filter 34 is inserted from below so as to cover the filter chamber 33. It is pressed and positioned by the presser 35.

  The filter retainer 35 is a container-shaped member formed in accordance with the shape of the filter chamber 33, and the cylindrical side wall is airtightly fitted along the inner wall surface of the filter chamber 33. In order to prevent gas leakage from the filter chamber 33, the filter retainer 35 closes the circumferential gap between the filter retainer 35 and the flow path block 11 seen from the bottom side by welding. 35 is integrally fixed to the flow path block 18.

FIG. 13 is a plan view showing a case where a filter of the type shown in FIG. 7 is arranged upstream of the manual valve 11, and FIG. 14 is a sectional view thereof. The details other than the location are the same as those in FIG. 7, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.
FIG. 15 shows an embodiment in which the shape of the filter shown in FIG. 7 is different. FIG. 16 shows a cross-sectional view thereof. In this embodiment, the shape of the filter 25 is a shape in which one end of a hollow cylinder is closed. Then, the gas enters through a hollow opening and exits from the outside of the hollow cylinder. A gasket 26 is sandwiched between the end surfaces of the hollow openings. This is to prevent gas leakage from the gap between the filter 25 and the flow path block 24.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.
For example, in the above-described embodiment, the flow path block 11 with a built-in filter is provided between the manual valve 1 and the regulator 2, but may be installed at other positions.

It is the whole side view showing one embodiment of a gas supply unit. It is sectional drawing which showed the flow path block with a built-in filter. It is sectional drawing which showed the flow path block which incorporated the three-dimensional filter. It is sectional drawing which showed the flow path block which incorporated the three-dimensional filter. It is sectional drawing which showed the flow path block which incorporated the three-dimensional filter. It is sectional drawing which showed the flow path block in which the filter was inclined and built. It is sectional drawing which showed the flow path block which incorporated the filter sideways. It is a top view of the flow path block 11 with a built-in filter. It is a top view of the flow path block 90 with a built-in filter. It is the whole figure which showed another embodiment of the gas supply unit. It is a top view of the flow path block 18 with a built-in filter. It is sectional drawing of the flow path block 18 with a built-in filter. It is a top view of the flow path block 19 with a built-in filter. It is sectional drawing of the flow path block 19 with a built-in filter. It is a top view of the flow path block 24 with a built-in filter. It is sectional drawing of the flow path block 24 with a built-in filter. It is sectional drawing which showed an example of the conventional gas supply unit. It is sectional drawing which showed another example of the conventional gas supply unit. It is a top view of the conventional channel block. It is sectional drawing of the conventional channel block.

Explanation of reference numerals

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Manual valve 2 Regulator 3 Pressure transducer 4 Shut off valve 5 Mass flow controller 6 Purge valve 7 Check valve 10 Gas supply unit 11, 18, 19, 24, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 Filter built-in flow path block 20 Base member 31 Input port 32 Output port 33 Filter chamber 34,92 Metal filter 35 Filter holder

Claims (4)

In a gas supply unit having a base member, two or more fluid control devices, and a flow path block attached to an upper surface of the base member and a lower surface of the fluid control device for communicating the fluid control devices with each other,
One of the plurality of flow path blocks has an input port and an output port, an airtight filter chamber formed between the input port and the output port, and a filter built in the filter chamber. Characteristic gas supply unit. The gas supply unit according to claim 1,
The flow path block with a built-in filter is provided with a metal filter in a filter chamber having an opening formed on the base member side, and the metal filter is positioned by a container-shaped filter retainer having an upper opening that hermetically closes the filter chamber. ,
An inlet passage communicating with the input port is formed through the side wall of the filter retainer,
An output passage communicating with an output port is formed above a metal filter. In the gas supply unit according to claim 1 or 2,
The gas supply unit according to claim 1, wherein the filter block has a three-dimensional shape, or the filter is inclined. The gas supply unit according to claim 1,
The flow path block with a built-in filter, a cylindrical filter surrounding the insertion-side tip, is positioned by inserting it laterally into a filter chamber opened from the side, and inside and outside the filter. A gas supply unit, wherein each of the communication input / output ports is formed.

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