JP2006136835A - Vacuum vessel - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce material costs of a vacuum vessel 1 as a whole. <P>SOLUTION: A vessel body 3, inside of which is connectable to a vacuum pump 5, and one side of which is formed with an opening 7 is provided. The vessel body 3 is detachably provided with a lid member 9 for opening and closing the opening 7. The lid member 9 is provided with a support member 17 receiving the external pressure by the atmospheric pressure from inside of the vessel body 3, when the inside of the vessel body 3 is made into a vacuum state by the exhaust operation of the vacuum pump 5. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a vacuum vessel used for, for example, a CVD apparatus, a PVD apparatus, or the like.

  A general vacuum vessel will be briefly described as follows. That is, the vacuum container includes a container main body, and the inside of the container main body can be connected to a vacuum pump. Moreover, the opening part is formed in the one side of the said container main body, and the cover member which opens and closes the said opening part is provided in the said container main body so that attachment or detachment is possible. In addition, a valve is connected to the container body, and this valve can supply outside air to the inside of the container body.

  Therefore, when performing surface treatment such as CVD or PVD using the vacuum vessel, the lid member is attached to the vessel body, and the opening is closed by the lid member. And the inside of the said container main body is made into a vacuum state by the exhaustion operation | movement of the said vacuum pump.

  On the other hand, when performing maintenance etc. of the processing instrument arranged inside the container body, outside air is supplied into the container body by operating the valve. Then, the lid member is detached from the container body, and the opening is opened by the lid member.

In addition, there exist some which are shown to patent document 1 and patent document 2 as a prior art relevant to this invention.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-1003972 JP-A-6-198160

  By the way, in consideration of workability such as maintenance of the processing tool, it is necessary to enlarge the opening in the container body, while when the opening in the container body is enlarged, the inside of the container body is evacuated. When it does, the said container main body becomes easy to deform | transform by the external force (compression force) by atmospheric pressure. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the rigidity of the container body to such an extent that it can sufficiently withstand the external force due to the atmospheric pressure by increasing the thickness of the container body, and the material cost of the entire vacuum container increases. There is a problem.

A feature of the present invention is that the container body is internally connectable to a vacuum pump and has an opening formed on at least one side;
A lid member that is detachably provided on the container body and opens and closes the opening;
A support member that is provided on the lid member and that receives an external force (compression force) from the inside of the container body when the inside of the container body is evacuated by an exhaust operation of the vacuum pump;
It is that it was equipped.

  Here, “the support member is provided on the lid member” means that a support portion is formed on a part of the lid member in addition to the support member being a separate member provided on the lid member. It is included. Further, “provided on the lid member” includes being provided detachably on the lid member.

  According to the characteristics of the present invention, when surface treatment such as CVD or PVD is performed using the vacuum vessel, the lid member is attached to the vessel body, and the opening is closed by the lid member. And the inside of the said container main body is made into a vacuum state by the exhaustion operation | movement of the said vacuum pump.

  On the other hand, when performing maintenance etc. of the processing instrument arranged inside the container main body, outside air is supplied into the container main body by operating a valve, for example. Then, the lid member is detached from the container main body, and the opening is opened by the lid member (general operation of the vacuum container).

  In addition to the general operation of the vacuum vessel, the support member is provided on the lid member, and the external force due to the atmospheric pressure is received from the inside of the vessel main body by the support member. Even if the rigidity of the container body is reduced by reducing the thickness or the like, the deformation of the container body caused by the external force due to the atmospheric pressure can be sufficiently suppressed.

  As described above, according to the present invention, even if the rigidity of the container body is reduced by reducing the thickness of the container body, the deformation of the container body caused by the external force due to the atmospheric pressure is sufficiently achieved. Since it can suppress, the material cost as the said whole vacuum vessel can be reduced.

  Hereinafter, in order to describe the present invention in more detail, each embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings as appropriate. In the drawings, “FF” indicates the forward direction, “FR” indicates the backward direction, “L” indicates the left direction, and “R” indicates the right direction. .

<< First Example >>
A first example of the embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

  1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a vacuum vessel according to a first example of the embodiment, FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional view of a vacuum vessel according to the first example of the embodiment, and FIG. It is a figure along the II line in FIG.

  The vacuum container 1 according to the first embodiment is used for, for example, a CVD apparatus, a PVD apparatus or the like, and includes a container main body 3, and the inside of the container main body 3 can be connected to a vacuum pump 5. is there. Moreover, the opening part 7 is formed in the one side (upper side) of the container main body 3, and the cover member 9 which opens and closes the opening part 7 is provided in the container main body 3 so that attachment or detachment is possible. Further, a circumferential groove 11 is formed at the periphery of the opening 7 in the container body 3, and an O-ring 13 that holds the container body 3 and the lid member 9 in an airtight manner is fitted into the circumferential groove 11. ing. Note that a valve (not shown) is connected to the container body 3, and this valve can supply outside air to the inside of the container body 3.

  A support member 15 extending in the left-right direction is detachably provided on the inner surface of the lid member 9 via a mounting bolt (not shown). When the inside of 3 is evacuated, an external force (compression force) due to atmospheric pressure is received from the inside of the container body 3. Here, the number of support members 15 may be plural, and in addition to the support member 15 extending in the left-right direction, a support member extending in the front-rear direction is provided on the inner surface of the lid member 9. But it doesn't matter.

  A heater 17 that is one of the processing instruments such as the CVD apparatus is provided on the inner side surface of the lid member 9 via a plurality of mounting brackets 19. A high-frequency electrode (not shown), which is a processing tool, is disposed.

  Next, operations and effects of the first example of the embodiment will be described.

  When performing surface treatment such as CVD or PVD using the vacuum vessel 1, the lid member 9 is attached to the vessel body 3, and the opening 7 is opened by the lid member 9 as shown by a solid line in FIGS. 1 and 2. Close. Then, the inside of the container body 3 is evacuated by the exhaust operation of the vacuum pump 5.

  On the other hand, when maintenance or the like of the high-frequency electrode or the like disposed inside the container body 3 is performed, outside air is supplied into the container body 3 by operating the valve. Then, the lid member 9 is detached from the container main body 3, and the opening 7 is opened by the lid member 9 as shown in phantom lines in FIGS. 1 and 2 (general operation of the vacuum container 1).

  In addition to the general operation of the vacuum vessel 1, a support member 15 is provided on the inner surface of the lid member 9, and the external force due to the atmospheric pressure is received from the inside of the vessel body 3 by the support member 15. Even if the rigidity of the container body 3 is reduced by reducing the thickness of the container 3, the deformation of the container body 3 caused by the external force due to the atmospheric pressure can be sufficiently suppressed.

  Therefore, according to the first embodiment, even if the rigidity of the container body 3 is reduced by reducing the wall thickness of the container body 3, the deformation of the container body 3 caused by the external force due to the atmospheric pressure is sufficiently suppressed. Therefore, the material cost of the vacuum container 1 as a whole can be reduced.

  In addition, an opening 7 is formed on one side of the container body 3, and a lid member 9 that opens and closes the opening 7 is detachably provided on the container body 3, and is separated from the other side (lower side) of the container body 3. However, there is no problem even if another lid member for opening and closing the other opening is detachably provided on the container body 3.

<< Second Embodiment >>
A second example of the embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

  FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of a vacuum vessel according to the second example of the embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a transverse sectional view of the vacuum vessel according to the second example of the embodiment.

  The vacuum vessel 21 according to the second embodiment has the same configuration as that of the vacuum vessel 1 according to the first embodiment. Among the specific configurations of the vacuum vessel 21, the specific configuration of the vacuum vessel 1 and Only the different parts will be described. In addition, about the component corresponding to the component in the vacuum vessel 1 among the some components in the vacuum vessel 21, the same number is attached | subjected in a figure and description is abbreviate | omitted.

  A support member 23 extending in the left-right direction is detachably provided on the inner side surface of the lid member 9 via a mounting bolt (not shown). The support member 23 is a support member 15 according to the first embodiment. Similarly, when the inside of the container body 3 is evacuated by the exhaust operation of the vacuum pump 5, an external force (compression force) due to atmospheric pressure is received from the inside of the container body 3. The support member 23 curves outwardly (upward in FIGS. 4 and 5) when the inside of the container body 3 is evacuated by the exhaust operation of the vacuum pump 5, and the lid member 9 is removed. It is configured to press in the direction (upward in FIGS. 4 and 5). The number of support members 23 may be plural, and in addition to the support member 23 extending in the left-right direction, a support member extending in the front-rear direction is provided on the inner surface of the lid member. There is no problem.

  Furthermore, the roller 25 which can roll with respect to the inner surface of the container main body 3 is provided in the both ends of the support member 23, and the roller 25 is the up-down direction (longitudinal direction of the support member 23) with respect to the support member 23. It is desirable to be able to move slightly.

  Next, operations and effects of the second embodiment will be described.

  Since the support member 23 is provided on the inner surface of the lid member 9 and the external force due to the atmospheric pressure is received from the inside of the container main body 3 by the support member 23, the container main body 3 is made thinner, etc. Even if the rigidity of the main body 3 is reduced, deformation of the container main body 3 caused by the external force due to the atmospheric pressure can be sufficiently suppressed. Further, since the support member 23 is configured to press the lid member 9 outward when the inside of the container body 3 is evacuated by the exhaust operation of the vacuum pump 5, the thickness of the lid member 9 is increased. Even when the rigidity of the lid member 9 is reduced by reducing the thickness of the lid member 9, the deformation of the lid member 9 caused by the external force due to the atmospheric pressure can be sufficiently suppressed.

  Further, when the inside of the container body 3 is evacuated by the evacuation operation of the vacuum pump 5, the container body 3 is in the left-right direction, and the lid member 9 is in the other direction of the container body 3 (downward in FIGS. 4 and 5). ), The roller 25 rolls with respect to the inner surface of the container body 3 so that an excessive shearing force can be avoided from acting on the support member 23.

  Therefore, according to the second embodiment, even if the rigidity of the container main body 3 and the lid member 9 is reduced by reducing the thickness of the container main body 3 and the lid member 9, the external force due to the atmospheric pressure is generated. Since the deformation of the container body 3 and the lid member 9 can be sufficiently suppressed, the material cost of the vacuum container 21 as a whole can be further reduced.

<< Third embodiment >>
A third example of the embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of a vacuum vessel according to a third example of the embodiment, and FIG. 7 is a transverse sectional view of a vacuum vessel according to the second example of the embodiment.

  The vacuum vessel 27 according to the third embodiment has the same configuration as that of the vacuum vessel 1 according to the first embodiment. Among the specific configurations of the vacuum vessel 27, the specific configuration of the vacuum vessel 1 and Only the different parts will be described. In addition, about the component corresponding to the component in the vacuum vessel 1 among the some components in the vacuum vessel 27, the same number is attached | subjected in a figure and description is abbreviate | omitted.

  A support portion (support member) 9a extending in the left-right direction is formed at the center of the inner surface of the lid member 9, and the support portion 9a, which is a part of the lid member 9, is a support according to the first embodiment. Similarly to the member 15, when the inside of the container body 3 is evacuated by the exhaust operation of the vacuum pump 5, an external force due to atmospheric pressure is received from the inside of the container body 3.

  Furthermore, a roller 29 that can roll with respect to the inner surface of the container body 3 is provided at both ends of the support portion 9a, and the roller 29 is configured to be slightly movable in the left-right direction with respect to the support portion 9a. It is desirable that

  According to the third embodiment, the same operations and effects as the first embodiment are achieved.

It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the vacuum vessel concerning the 1st Example of embodiment. It is a cross-sectional view of the vacuum vessel concerning the 1st example of an embodiment. It is the figure along the II line in FIG. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the vacuum vessel concerning the 2nd Example of embodiment. It is a cross-sectional view of the vacuum vessel concerning the 2nd example of an embodiment. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the vacuum vessel concerning the 3rd Example of an embodiment. It is a cross-sectional view of the vacuum vessel concerning the 2nd example of an embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vacuum container 3 (3a) Container main body 5 Vacuum pump 7 Opening part 9 Lid member 11 Circumferential groove 13 O-ring 15 Support member 17 Heater 19 Mounting bracket 21 Vacuum container 23 Support member 25 Roller 27 Vacuum container 29 Roller

Claims (3)

A container body that is internally connectable to a vacuum pump and has an opening formed on at least one side;
A lid member that is detachably provided on the container body and opens and closes the opening;
A support member that is provided on the lid member and receives an external force from the inside of the container body when the inside of the container body is evacuated by an exhaust operation of the vacuum pump;
A vacuum vessel characterized by comprising: A roller provided at both ends of the support member and capable of rolling with respect to the inner surface of the container body;
The vacuum container according to claim 1, comprising: The said support member is comprised so that the said cover member may be pressed outward when the inside of the said container main body is made into a vacuum state by the exhaust_gas | exhaustion operation | movement of the said vacuum pump. 2. The vacuum container according to 2.

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