JP2007154935A - Sealing material, manufacturing method for sealing material, and pendulum type gate valve using the sealing material - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide sealing material having performances such as vacuum sealing property, anti-radical resistance, and resistance to corrosive gas, in which falling or malfunction do not occur even in repeated use, and which is excellent in vacuum sealing performance, does not generating metallic particles, is easy to be installed to a part to be sealed, and is easily manufactured. <P>SOLUTION: A seal core member and an outer coat member coating the seal core member are provided, a cross-sectional shape of the seal core member is an approximately corrugated plate. One side seal part and the other seal part constituting a seal part, in press-contact of the sealing material, are provided. One side seal fixing part abutted with a sealing surface of the sealed part so as to fix the sealing material and the other side seal fixing part, in press-contact of the sealing material, are provided, and an approximately linear continuous part connecting between them, and a sealing lock member formed to at least one end part out of one side seal part and the other side seal part positioned on innermost peripheral side and an outermost peripheral side are provided. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention uses, for example, a seal material used in a pendulum type gate valve that is disposed between a vacuum vessel and a vacuum pump and is used to change an effective exhaust speed, a method for manufacturing the seal material, and a seal material. The present invention relates to a pendulum type gate valve.

  Conventionally, for example, in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus such as a dry etching apparatus or a CVD apparatus, or a liquid crystal manufacturing apparatus, a so-called “in order” is provided between a process chamber and a vacuum pump such as a turbo molecular pump to change an effective exhaust speed. A pendulum type gate valve called “conductance variable valve” is used.

As shown in FIG. 16, this pendulum type gate valve 100 is also called an APC (Auto Pressure Controller) valve, and in order to make the inside of the process chamber 102 have a predetermined pressure,
This valve is controlled by the controller 104 to automatically adjust the conductance (opening / closing degree) and change the effective exhaust speed by the vacuum pump 106.

  That is, as shown in FIGS. 17 and 18, the pendulum type gate valve 100 includes a shaft 116 in which a disc-shaped valve body 114 is provided in the valve box 110 by the operation of a motor 112 attached to the valve box 110. It is comprised so that it may rotate centering on.

Thereby, the gate opening 118 formed in the valve box 110 is configured to be opened and closed by the valve body 114.
When the pendulum type gate valve 100 is closed, the motor 112 is rotated to the closed position, and the seal fitting 120 is pressed against the valve body (seal plate) 114 side by the force of compressed air and a spring so that the seal fitting 120 side is moved. Sealing is performed by a sealing material 122 such as an O-ring provided.

On the other hand, at the time of the process, the seal fitting 120 returns to the original position and is adjusted by the motor 112 so as to have a predetermined opening area.
As a result, during the process, the valve element 114 of the pendulum type gate valve 100 is opened at a predetermined opening, but it is necessary to completely close the process chamber 102 and the vacuum pump 106 as during maintenance. When there is, the valve element 114 of the pendulum type gate valve 100 is configured to be fully closed.

  By the way, in this fully closed state, the vacuum holding performance to the extent that the vacuum pump 106 does not operate abnormally is required for the sealing material 122 attached to the pendulum type gate valve 100.

  In the process chamber 102, an etching process is performed. In this etching process, when the reactive active gas is turned into plasma, depot active species such as fluorine radicals are generated, and the sealing material 122 is exposed to the radicals. Is required.

For this reason, conventionally, as such a sealing material, for example, an OLED made of an elastomer such as a vinylidene fluoride (FKM) fluororubber or a highly radical-resistant tetrafluoroethylene-purple chlorovinyl ether (FFKM) fluororubber. A ring is used.

In addition, as a sealing material 200 with further improved radical resistance, in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-090561), as shown in FIG. 19, for example, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) resin, tetra There has been proposed a composite seal material 200 in which a metal spring 204 made of a diagonal coil spring is fitted to a U-shaped resin jacket 202 made of a fluoroethylene-perfluoroalkyl vinyl ether copolymer (PFA) resin or the like. .
JP-A-2005-090561

  However, such a conventional sealing material made of an elastomer O-ring made of a fluororesin has a low radical resistance compared to a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) resin or the like, so that a satisfactory life cannot be obtained. .

Further, when the valve element 114 of the pendulum type gate valve 100 remains closed for a long time, the O-ring is fixed to the valve element 114 in the elastomer O-ring.
The ring falls off, a predetermined vacuum state cannot be obtained, and the problem of malfunction of the pendulum type gate valve 100 may occur.

  On the other hand, in the case of the composite-type sealing material 200 as disclosed in Patent Document 1, there is no such problem, but as shown in FIG. Since 206 is formed, the metal spring 204 is exposed to radicals generated in the process chamber 102.

  For this reason, the metal spring 204 is corroded by the plasma gas, the spring property and mechanical strength are lowered, the sealing property cannot be maintained, and problems such as the generation of metal particles due to etching occur. It will be.

  Further, in the case of the composite type sealing material 200, since the rigidity is higher than that of the O-ring, a large valve thrust is required. As a result, a sufficient sealing performance cannot be obtained for repeated opening and closing.

  In view of the current situation, the present invention has performances such as vacuum sealing performance, radical resistance, and corrosion gas resistance, and does not drop out or malfunction even after repeated use. It is an object of the present invention to provide a sealing material that does not decrease, does not generate metal particles during use, and is easy to mount on a sealed portion, can be manufactured easily, and can be manufactured at low cost.

The present invention has been invented in order to achieve the above-described problems and objects in the prior art, and the sealing material of the present invention is a substantially annular sealing material,
A leaf spring metal seal core member;
An outer skin member encapsulating the seal core member,
The cross-sectional shape of the seal core member is a substantially corrugated plate shape,
One side seal portion constituting a seal portion that is in pressure contact with one seal surface of the sealed portion when the seal material is pressed in a shape bent in a substantially arc shape;
In the shape bent in a substantially arc shape, when the sealing material is pressed, the other side sealing portion constituting the sealing portion that presses the other sealing surface of the sealed portion;
A one-side seal fixing portion that is in a state of being bent in a substantially arc shape and is in contact with one seal surface of the sealed portion and fixing the seal material when the seal material is pressed,
In a shape that is bent in a substantially arc shape, when the sealing material is pressed, the other side seal fixing portion that is in contact with the other sealing surface of the portion to be sealed to fix the sealing material;
A substantially linear connecting portion connecting the one-side seal portion, the other-side seal portion, the one-side seal fixing portion, and the other-side seal fixing portion;
A seal locking portion formed at least one of the one-side seal portion and the other-side seal portion located on the innermost peripheral side or the outer peripheral side;
It is characterized by providing.

By configuring in this way, the metal surface of the leaf spring-like metal is covered with, for example, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) resin all over the metal surface. As a result, it is possible to provide a sealing material that is extremely excellent in performance such as radical resistance and corrosion gas resistance, and that does not cause problems such as dropping or malfunction due to sticking like an O-ring.

Further, the seal core member is a leaf spring-shaped metal seal core member, and the cross-sectional shape of the seal core member has one side seal portion, the other side seal portion, one side seal fixing portion, and the other side. It is composed of a substantially linear connecting part that connects with the seal fixing part, and has a substantially corrugated plate shape, so that it has a spring property as a leaf spring, and the seal core member has high elastic force and restoring force. Therefore, high resilience that was not obtained with conventional O-rings can be obtained.

Therefore, when such a sealing material is applied to, for example, a pendulum type gate valve, when the pendulum type gate valve instantaneously becomes a reverse pressure state, the seal fitting and the valve body (seal plate) are instantaneous. In this case, the conventional O-ring may leak due to poor restoration, but when a leaf spring-shaped metal seal core member is used as in the present invention, Such a trouble can be avoided because an instantaneous restoration can be obtained.

  In addition, when the sealing material is pressed, one side seal portion that constitutes a seal portion that is in pressure contact with one seal surface of the sealed portion, and the other side that constitutes the seal portion that is in pressure contact with the other seal surface of the sealed portion Leakage can be prevented by the seal portion coming into contact with the seal fitting and the valve body.

  In addition, when the sealing material is pressed, the sealing member is brought into contact with one sealing surface of the sealed portion to fix the sealing material, and the other sealing surface of the sealed portion is contacted and sealed. Since it has the other side seal fixing part which makes the state which fixed the material, when these seal fixing parts press-contact the sealing material, it will contact | abut the seal surface of a to-be-sealed part, and will function as a stopper.

  Furthermore, in order to provide the same tightening allowance as the conventional O-ring, the metal seal core member in the form of a leaf spring has a relatively weak rigidity, so that the one-side seal fixing portion and the other-side seal fixing portion are However, the seal core member deforms relatively easily until it comes into contact with the seal surface of the part to be sealed and functions as a stopper, but when more load (thrust) is applied, the stopper function The sealing material is not deformed, and excessive deformation and stress generation can be suppressed.

Thus, for example, by designing a metal seal core member so that the maximum stress is below the yield point of the material, even when the seal material is applied to, for example, a pendulum type gate valve, repeated opening and closing operations are performed. Even if it does, plastic deformation and compression set of the seal core member do not occur, and it is possible to maintain the sealing performance.

  In addition, since these seal fixing portions have a stopper function, if a load exceeding a certain level is applied, the space between the seal surfaces of the sealed portion always has a certain tightening allowance (clearance). It becomes easy to design as hardware of equipment, for example, a pendulum type gate valve.

  Furthermore, until the stopper function of these seal fixing parts works, the metal seal core member deforms relatively easily, so against the non-uniform thrust of the equipment to which the seal member as hardware is mounted, etc. Since the sealing member can be flexibly deformed, the sealing performance is not deteriorated.

In addition, since a seal locking portion is formed at least one of the one-side seal portion and the other-side seal portion located on the innermost or outermost side, the conventional O-ring Since the groove is not used and the seal locking portion only needs to be attached to a device to which the seal member is attached, for example, a seal fitting of a pendulum type gate valve, the sealing material can be easily attached and detached.

The sealing material of the present invention is characterized in that a plurality of the one-side seal fixing portions are formed.
As described above, since the plurality of one-side seal fixing portions are formed, the function as a stopper of the sealing material is stably exhibited by the plurality of seal fixing portions.

  Moreover, since a plurality of one-side seal fixing portions bent in a substantially arcuate shape are formed, the shape of the seal core member becomes a more undulating substantially corrugated plate shape, further imparting spring properties as a leaf spring. As a result, the seal core member has higher elastic force and restoring force, and a high restoring property can be obtained.

The sealing material of the present invention is characterized in that a plurality of the other side seal fixing portions are formed.
As described above, since the plurality of other-side seal fixing portions are formed, the function of the sealing material as a stopper is stably exhibited by the plurality of seal fixing portions.

  In addition, since the plurality of other-side seal fixing portions that are bent in a substantially arc shape are formed, the shape of the seal core member becomes a more undulating substantially corrugated plate shape, further imparting spring properties as a leaf spring. As a result, the seal core member has higher elastic force and restoring force, and a high restoring property can be obtained.

The sealing material of the present invention is characterized in that the one-side seal fixing portion functions as a one-side seal portion.
As described above, the one-side seal fixing portion also functions as the one-side seal portion, so that the stopper function is maintained, and the one-side seal fixing portion functions as the seal portion, thereby improving the sealing performance.

Moreover, the sealing material of the present invention is characterized in that the other side seal fixing portion functions as the other side seal portion.
Thus, since the other side seal fixing part functions also as the other side seal portion, the stopper function is maintained, and it functions as the seal portion, so that the sealing performance can be improved.

Further, the sealing material of the present invention is a distance H between the one side seal portion and the other side seal portion.
Is configured to be larger than the distance h between the one-side seal fixing portion and the other-side seal fixing portion.

With this configuration, the difference between the distance H between the one-side seal portion and the other-side seal portion and the distance h between the one-side seal fixing portion and the other-side seal fixing portion, that is, H−.
The tightening allowance of the size h seal is secured.

  Therefore, it has a tightening margin equivalent to that of the conventional O-ring, and can be relatively easily deformed until the seal fixing portion comes into contact with the seal surface of the sealed portion and the stopper function works. Sealability can be reliably imparted.

In addition, the sealing material of the present invention is a sealing material that is attached to a pendulum type gate valve.
By mounting the sealing material of the present invention on the pendulum type gate valve in this way, it has performances such as vacuum sealing performance, plasma resistance, and corrosion gas resistance, and even if it is repeatedly used, it will drop and operate. Defects do not occur, vacuum sealing performance does not deteriorate, metal particles do not occur during use, and attachment to the sealed portion is easy.

  In the pendulum type gate valve of the present invention, the seal material is detachably mounted by locking the seal locking portion of the seal material to the seal fixing claw portion formed on the valve box side of the pendulum type gate valve. It is characterized by being.

  With this configuration, the sealing material is securely fixed to the valve box side of the pendulum type gate valve by locking the seal locking part of the sealing material to the seal fixing claw part formed on the valve box side. Thus, the sealing performance can be stably maintained without shifting or dropping the position of the sealing material during use.

In addition, since it is only necessary to lock the seal locking portion of the sealing material to the seal fixing claw portion formed on the valve box side, it can be easily mounted and the mounting operation is easy.
In the pendulum type gate valve of the present invention, the seal material is detachably mounted by locking the seal locking portion of the seal material to the seal fixing claw portion formed on the valve plate side of the pendulum type gate valve. It is characterized by being.

  With this configuration, the sealing material is securely fixed to the valve plate side of the pendulum type gate valve by locking the seal locking portion of the sealing material to the seal fixing claw portion formed on the valve plate side. Thus, the sealing performance can be stably maintained without shifting or dropping the position of the sealing material during use.

In addition, since it is only necessary to lock the seal locking portion of the sealing material to the seal fixing claw portion formed on the valve plate side, it can be easily mounted and the mounting operation is easy.
In addition, the manufacturing method of the sealing material of the present invention,
A plate-shaped metal member is arranged in a pair of upper and lower molds,
An outer sheet member is disposed on both surfaces of the metal member,
While closing and pressing the mold, by thermally welding the outer sheet member,
The metal member is formed into a substantially corrugated plate shape to form a seal core member, and the seal core member is formed to be encapsulated by an outer skin member.

  In this way, the plate-like metal member is arranged in a pair of upper and lower molds, the outer sheet member is arranged on both surfaces of the metal member, the mold is closed, and the outer sheet member is simply pressed. By heat welding, the metal member can be formed into a substantially corrugated plate shape to form the seal core member, and the seal core member can be formed to be encapsulated by the outer skin member.

  Accordingly, for example, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) resin, which is difficult to be injection-molded, can be used, and since only press molding is required, the manufacturing process can be simplified and the cost can be reduced. it can.

Moreover, the manufacturing method of the sealing material of this invention uses the seal core member by which the said plate-shaped metal member was previously shape | molded by the substantially corrugated plate shape.
As described above, by using the seal core member that is preliminarily formed into a substantially corrugated plate shape, it is possible to form the seal core member so that the outer skin member is encapsulated without causing wrinkles or the like.

  According to the present invention, it has performances such as vacuum sealing performance, plasma resistance, and corrosion gas resistance, and does not drop out or malfunction even after repeated use, and the vacuum sealing performance does not deteriorate. Further, it is possible to provide a sealing material that does not generate metal particles during use, and that can be easily attached to the sealed portion, can be manufactured easily, and can be manufactured at low cost.

Hereinafter, embodiments (examples) of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings.
1 is a perspective view of the sealing material of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a sealing core member of the sealing material of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a pendulum type gate valve showing a state in which the seal material of the present invention is applied to a pendulum type gate valve, and FIG. FIG. 7 is a partial enlarged view of part B of FIG. 7, and FIG. 7 is an end view in the direction C of FIG.

In FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the code | symbol 10 has shown the sealing material of this invention whole.
As shown in FIG. 1, the sealing material 10 of the present invention is a substantially annular sealing material. As shown in FIG. 2, a plate spring shape, in this embodiment, the cross-sectional shape is a substantially corrugated plate shape, that is, a plate spring-shaped metal seal core member 12 having a substantially N-shaped cross section, and a seal core member. And an outer skin member 14 for encapsulating the material.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the seal core member 12 is bent in a substantially arc shape, and constitutes a seal portion that presses against one seal surface 18 of the sealed portion 16 when the seal material 10 is pressed. One side seal portion 20 is provided.

3 and 4, for convenience of explanation, the outer skin member 14 is omitted for easy understanding.
Further, the seal core member 12 is bent in a substantially arc shape, and includes the other-side seal portion 24 that constitutes a seal portion that presses against the other seal surface 22 of the sealed portion 16 when the seal material 10 is pressed. ing.

The seal core member 12 is bent in a substantially arc shape, and when the seal material 10 is pressed into contact, the seal core member 12 comes into contact with one seal surface 18 of the sealed portion 16 to fix the seal material. A fixing portion 26 is provided.

  The seal core member 12 is bent in a substantially arc shape, and when the seal material 10 is pressed into contact with the other seal surface 22 of the portion to be sealed 16, the seal member is fixed on the other side. A fixing portion 28 is provided.

  Further, the seal core member 12 includes a substantially linear connecting portion 30 that connects the one-side seal portion 20, the other-side seal portion 24, the one-side seal fixing portion 26, and the other-side seal fixing portion 28. It has.

  Further, at least one of the one-side seal portion 20 and the other-side seal portion 24 located on the innermost or outermost side, and in this embodiment, both ends are provided with seal locking portions. 32 and 34 are formed.

That is, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the connecting portions 30A and 30B constituting two oblique sides having the same direction and the connecting portion 30C constituting one oblique side in the opposite direction are provided. .

And the one side seal part 20, the other side seal part 24, the one side seal fixing | fixed part 26, and the other side seal fixing | fixed part 28 which comprise four comparatively big circular arcs are provided.
In addition, the one-side seal portion 20, the other-side seal portion 24, the one-side seal fixing portion 26, and the other-side seal fixing portion 28, which are these four arcs, are respectively smooth with the connecting portions 30A, 30B, and 30C constituting the oblique sides. It is in a state of being connected to.

In this case, the one-side seal portion 20, the other-side seal portion 24, the one-side seal fixing portion 26, and the other-side seal fixing portion 28, which are four arcs, have a gentle arc shape in consideration of springiness, restoring force, and the like. Although not particularly limited, R is preferably 0.25 to 2.0, and more preferably 0.5 to 1.0.

Further, seal locking portions 32 and 34 are formed at both ends of the one-side seal portion 20 and the other-side seal portion 24 so as to project in a substantially horizontal state.
Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the distance between the two arcs at both ends, that is, the distance H between the one-side seal portion 20 and the other-side seal portion 24 is equal to one connecting portion (diagonal side) in the opposite direction. 30C
The distance between two arcs in contact with each other, that is, the distance h between the one-side seal fixing portion 26 and the other-side seal fixing portion 28 is configured to be larger.

Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 3, the one-side seal portion is provided between the one-side seal portion 20 and the one-side seal fixing portion 26 and between the other-side seal portion 24 and the other-side seal fixing portion 28. The difference between the distance H between the seal 20 and the other side seal portion 24 and the distance h between the one-side seal fixing portion 26 and the other-side seal fixing portion 28, that is, the tightening margin of the seal having a size of Hh a will be formed, and when the sealing material 10 is press-contacted, the sealing material 10 is compressed until the portion of the seal tightening a becomes zero.

  Accordingly, it has a tightening allowance equivalent to that of the conventional O-ring, and it is relatively easy until the seal fixing portions 26 and 28 come into contact with the seal surfaces 22 and 24 of the sealed portion 16 and the stopper function works. It can be deformed and sealability can be reliably imparted.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the one-side seal fixing portion 26 and the other-side seal fixing portion 28 are respectively sealed when the sealing material 10 is pressed against the sealing surface 18 of the sealed portion 16. , 22 and has a so-called stopper function in which the sealing material 10 is fixed.

  That is, the seal material 10 is deformed until the one side seal fixing portion 26 and the other side seal fixing portion 28 abut on the seal surfaces 18 and 22 of the sealed portion 16, but after the abutment, the seal material 10 is deformed. The deformation of stops. Accordingly, excessive deformation and stress generation are suppressed, and plastic deformation of the seal core member 12 that is a metal spring is prevented.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4 (B), the one-side seal portion 20 and the other-side seal portion 24 are in pressure contact with the seal surfaces 18 and 22 of the portion to be sealed 16 when the seal material 10 is press-contacted, respectively. This constitutes a seal portion that prevents leakage.

  Although not shown in the drawings, the one-side seal portion 20 and the other-side seal portion 24 are provided with a substantially annular protruding auxiliary seal portion on the surface that contacts the seal surfaces 18 and 22 of the sealed portion 16. It is also possible to improve the sealing performance. In this case, the protruding auxiliary seal portion may be a single one, but it is desirable to provide a plurality of auxiliary seal portions in order to improve the sealing performance.

In this case, the metal seal core member 12 is not particularly limited, and for example, spring steel such as SUS304 or SUS316 can be used.
Further, the thickness of the seal core member 12 may be appropriately set according to the material, but is 0.1 to 0.6, preferably 0.2 to 0.3 in consideration of the spring property and the like. Is desirable.

In this case, in order to make the seal core member 12 into a leaf spring shape as described above, the thin plate may be bent.
On the other hand, the outer skin member 14 encapsulating the metal seal core member 12 is not particularly limited as long as it has good durability against plasma and corrosive gas. For example, rubber, synthetic resin Etc. can be used.

  For example, the rubber is not particularly limited as long as it has good durability against plasma and corrosive gas. For example, fluorine rubber can be used, and FFKM is particularly preferable.

  The synthetic resin is not particularly limited as long as it has good durability to plasma and corrosive gas. For example, fluorine resin, polyimide resin, polyamideimide resin, polyetherimide resin, polyamideimide resin, Examples include polyphenylene sulfide resin, polybenzimidazole resin, and polyether ketone resin.

In this case, in particular, a fluororesin, especially polytetrafluoroethylene resin (PTFE) is preferable because of its excellent plasma resistance.
In this case, the method for encapsulating (coating) the metal seal core member 12 with the outer skin member 14 is not particularly limited, but conventionally known by heat fusion, coating with an adhesive, or the like. What is necessary is just to coat | cover with the adhesion | attachment method. Moreover, when using polytetrafluoroethylene resin (PTFE), in order to improve the adhesiveness with the metal seal core member 12, for example, surface treatment such as blast treatment may be performed.

  Further, the thickness of the outer skin member 14 encapsulating the metal seal core member 12 may be appropriately determined according to the material of the outer skin member 14, but considering the durability to plasma and corrosive gas, etc. 0.05 to 0.5, preferably 0.1 to 0.25.

According to the sealing material 10 of the present invention configured as described above, the metal spring core member 12 having a leaf spring shape is covered with, for example, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) resin on the entire metal surface. Become. As a result, it is possible to provide the sealing material 10 that is very excellent in performance such as plasma resistance and corrosion gas resistance, and that does not cause problems such as dropping or malfunction due to sticking like an O-ring.

Further, the seal core member 12 is a plate spring-like metal seal core member 12, and the cross-sectional shape of the seal core member 12 is such that the one-side seal portion 20, the other-side seal portion 24, and the one-side seal fixing. Since the portion 26 and the substantially linear connecting portion 30 connecting the other side seal fixing portion 28 and having a substantially corrugated plate shape, a spring property as a leaf spring is provided, and the seal core member 12 is Since it has a high elastic force and a restoring force, a high resilience that cannot be obtained by a conventional O-ring can be obtained.

Therefore, when such a sealing material 10 is applied to a pendulum type gate valve 40, for example, as will be described later, when the pendulum type gate valve 40 is instantaneously in a reverse pressure state, the seal fitting 52 and The valve body (seal plate) 46 is momentarily separated. In that case, the conventional O-ring may leak due to poor restoration, but as in the present invention, a leaf spring-like metal When the manufactured seal core member 12 is used, such a trouble can be avoided because an instantaneous restoration is obtained.

  In addition, when the sealing material 10 is pressure-contacted, the one-side seal portion 20 that constitutes a seal portion that press-contacts with one seal surface 18 of the sealed portion 16 and the seal that press-contacts with the other seal surface 22 of the sealed portion 16. Leakage can be prevented by contacting the seal fitting 52 and the valve body 46 with the other-side seal portion 24 constituting the portion.

  Further, when the sealing material 10 is in pressure contact, the one-side seal fixing portion 26 that contacts the one sealing surface 18 of the sealed portion 16 to fix the sealing material 10 and the other seal of the sealed portion 16 Since it has the other side seal fixing part 28 which contacts the surface 22 and fixes the seal material 10, when these seal fixing parts 26, 28 press the seal material 10, It abuts on the seal surfaces 18 and 22 and functions as a stopper.

  Further, in order to provide the same tightening allowance as that of the conventional O-ring, the metal seal core member 12 in the form of a leaf spring has a relatively weak rigidity, so that the one-side seal fixing portion 26 and the other-side seal fixing portion The seal core member 12 is relatively easily deformed until the portion 28 comes into contact with the seal surfaces 18 and 22 of the sealed portion 16 and functions as a stopper, but more load (thrust) is applied. In this case, the sealing material 10 is not deformed by the stopper function, and excessive deformation and stress generation can be suppressed.

  Thereby, for example, when the seal material 10 is applied to the pendulum type gate valve 40, for example, by designing the metal seal core member 12 so that the maximum stress is equal to or less than the yield point of the material. Even if the opening / closing operation is performed, the seal core member does not undergo plastic deformation and compression set, and the sealing performance can be maintained.

  In addition, since these seal fixing portions have a stopper function, if a load exceeding a certain level is applied, the space between the seal surfaces of the sealed portion always has a certain tightening allowance (clearance). It becomes easy to design as hardware of equipment, for example, a pendulum type gate valve.

Furthermore, until the stopper function of these seal fixing parts works, the metal seal core member deforms relatively easily, so against the non-uniform thrust of the equipment to which the seal member as hardware is mounted, etc. Since the sealing member can be flexibly deformed, the sealing performance is not deteriorated.

In addition, since a seal locking portion is formed at least one of the one-side seal portion and the other-side seal portion located on the innermost or outermost side, the conventional O-ring Since the groove is not used and the seal locking portion only needs to be attached to a device to which the seal member is attached, for example, a seal fitting of a pendulum type gate valve, the sealing material can be easily attached and detached.

The sealing material of the present invention configured as described above can be applied to a pendulum type gate valve, for example, as shown in FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 5, in the pendulum type gate valve 40, the disc-shaped valve body 46 rotates around the shaft 48 provided in the valve box 42 by the operation of the motor 44 attached to the valve box 42. It is configured to

Thereby, the gate opening 50 formed in the valve box 42 is configured to be opened and closed by the valve body (seal plate) 46.
When the pendulum type gate valve 40 is closed, the motor 44 rotates to the closed position, and the seal fitting 52 is pressed against the valve body 46 side by the force of the compressed air and the spring, so that the valve box 42 side, that is, the seal fitting. Sealing is performed by the sealing material 10 of the present invention provided on the 52 side.

On the other hand, at the time of the process, the seal fitting 52 is returned to the original position and is adjusted by the motor 44 so as to have a predetermined opening area.
As a result, during the process, the valve element 46 of the pendulum type gate valve 40 is opened at a predetermined opening, but the process chamber side 54 and the vacuum pump side 56 are completely connected as in maintenance. When it is necessary to seal off, the valve element 46 of the pendulum type gate valve 40 is configured to be fully closed.

  In this case, as a method of mounting the sealing material 10 of the present invention on the valve box 42 side, that is, on the seal fitting 52, as shown in FIGS. A plurality of (in this embodiment, three) seal fixing claw portions 58 formed at regular intervals so as to project on the peripheral side, the end of the other side seal portion 24 located on the outer peripheral side It is only necessary to attach the seal engaging portion 34 formed in the detachable manner so as to be detachable.

  With such a configuration, the seal member 10 is locked to the seal fixing claw portion 58 formed on the valve box 42 side so that the seal member 10 is the valve of the pendulum type gate valve 40. The sealing member 10 is securely fixed to the box side 42, and the sealing material 10 can be stably maintained without being displaced or dropped during use.

In addition, since it is only necessary to lock the seal locking portion 34 of the sealing material 10 to the seal fixing claw portion 58 formed on the valve box side, it can be easily mounted and the mounting operation is easy.
In this case, in this embodiment, three seal fixing claws 58 are provided. However, the number is not particularly limited, and a plurality of seal fixing claws 58 may be provided. Further, the projecting distance in the inner circumferential direction of the seal fixing claw portion 58 and the size in the circumferential direction are not particularly limited, and may be set as appropriate according to the dimensions of the seal locking portion 34 of the sealing material 10.

Further, in this embodiment, the seal fixing claw portion 58 is formed at the outer peripheral side end portion of the seal fitting 52 so as to protrude toward the inner peripheral side. However, as shown in FIG.
A seal fixing claw portion 58 may be formed at the inner peripheral side end portion of 2 so as to protrude from the outer peripheral side. In this case, as shown in FIG. 8, the seal material 10 uses an inverted N-shaped member having an object shape different from the substantially N-shaped leaf spring shape of the above-described embodiment. What is necessary is just to make it the seal latching | locking part 32 formed in the edge part of the seal part 20 of a side latch to the seal fixing claw part 58 formed in the valve box side.

  Further, in this embodiment, the sealing material 10 of the present invention is attached to the valve box 42 side, that is, the seal fitting 52. However, as shown in FIGS. The sealing material 10 may be mounted on the valve body (seal plate) 46 side. In this case, the seal fixing claw portion 58 may be formed on the valve body 46 side.

  In each of the sealing materials 10 of the above-described embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 to 9, each has one one-side seal fixing portion 26 and the other-side seal fixing portion 28. The number is not particularly limited.

For example, as shown in FIG. 10A, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 10, a plurality of one-side seal fixing portions 26A and 26B and two other-side seal fixing portions 28A and 28B are provided. You may do it.

  Moreover, in each of the sealing materials 10 of the embodiments of FIGS. 1 to 9 described above, one one-side seal fixing portion 26 and the other-side seal fixing portion 28 are provided, but the seal fixing portion and the seal portion are provided. It is also possible to provide a part having both functions.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 10B, the one-side seal fixing portion 26A and the other-side seal fixing portion 28B may be portions having both functions in both the seal fixing portion and the seal portion. As shown in C), the one-side seal fixing portion 26B and the other-side seal fixing portion 28A can each be a portion having both functions in both the seal fixing portion and the seal portion.

Further, as shown in FIG. 10D, the number of the one-side seal fixing portions 26 and the other-side seal fixing portions 28 is not the same, but the one-side seal fixing portion 26 is one, and two The other side seal fixing portions 28A and 28B may be provided. In this case, these two other-side seal fixing portions 28A, 28B constitute the other-side seal portion in pressure contact with the other-side seal surface 22 of the sealed portion 16, and the seal portions 20 on both ends, 24 constitutes a seal portion that comes into contact with the seal surface 18 on one side of the sealed portion 16.

In any case, the shape of the sealing material 10 may be a leaf spring shape as described above, and the shape is not particularly limited.
An embodiment of the manufacturing method of the sealing material 10 of the present invention configured as described above will be described below based on FIG.

  First, as shown in FIG. 11A, the plate-like metal member 60 is disposed in a pair of upper and lower molds 62 and 64. The inner surfaces of the lower pair of molds 62 and 64 have a leaf spring shape in accordance with the shape of the sealing material 10.

The outer sheet member 66 is disposed on both surfaces of the metal member 60.
In this state, as shown in FIG. 11B, the molds 62 and 64 are closed and pressed, and the outer sheet member 66 is thermally welded to the surface of the metal member 60.

As a result, the metal member 60 is formed into a substantially corrugated plate shape to form the seal core member 12, and the seal core member 12 is formed so as to be encapsulated by the outer skin member 14.
And as shown in FIG.11 (c), the sealing material 10 of this invention is obtained by cut | disconnecting edge part 14A, 14B of the outer skin member 14. FIG.

  As described above, the plate-shaped metal member 60 is disposed in the pair of upper and lower molds 62 and 64, and the outer sheet member 66 is disposed on both surfaces of the metal member 60, and the mold is closed and pressed. As a result, the outer sheet member 66 is thermally welded to form the metal member 60 into a substantially corrugated plate shape, thereby forming the seal core member 12 and forming the seal core member 12 so that the outer shell member 14 is encapsulated. can do.

  Accordingly, for example, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) resin, which is difficult to be injection-molded, can be used, and since only press molding is required, the manufacturing process can be simplified and the cost can be reduced. it can.

In this case, as shown in FIG. 12, a seal core member 12 that is previously formed into a substantially corrugated plate shape can be used as the plate-like metal member 60.
By using the seal core member 12 that has been previously formed into a substantially corrugated plate shape in this way, the seal core member 12 can be molded so that the outer skin member 14 is encapsulated in a close contact state without generating wrinkles or the like. it can.

Moreover, the manufacturing method as shown in FIG. 13 can also be used as a manufacturing method of the sealing material 10 of this invention.
That is, as shown in FIG. 13 (A), the plate-shaped metal member 60 is disposed in a pair of upper and lower molds 62 and 64, and the mold is closed as shown in FIG. 13 (B). The outer sheet material 68 can be injected and melted.

By configuring in this way, it is only necessary to press-mold and to inject and melt the outer sheet member raw material 68, so that the manufacturing process can be simplified and the cost can be reduced.
In this case, as shown in FIG. 14, the seal core member 12 that is previously formed into a substantially corrugated shape can be used as the plate-like metal member 60.

  By using the seal core member 12 that has been previously formed into a substantially corrugated plate shape in this way, the seal core member 12 can be molded so that the outer skin member 14 is encapsulated in a close contact state without generating wrinkles or the like. it can.

FIG. 15 shows the results obtained by using FEA analysis (finite element analysis) for the compression load and the tightening allowance of the sealing material 10 of the present invention configured as described above.
As is apparent from FIG. 15, it can be seen that a constant fastening margin is obtained at 0.5 N / mm or more. The actual pendulum type gate valve (APC valve) has a compressive load of about 3 N / mm and the tightening margin of the O-ring is about 0.5 to 0.6 mm. It can be seen that it is relatively easily deformed with a low tightening load until it has a margin and the stopper function works.

Here, the unit N / mm of the compressive load is obtained by dividing the total compressive load by the seal circumference.
The preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described above, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the embodiment applied to a pendulum type gate valve (APC valve) has been described. However, in addition to the pendulum type gate valve, various modifications can be made without departing from the object of the present invention, such as application as a sealing material for various devices such as a butterfly type gate valve.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the sealing material of the present invention. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the seal core member of the seal material of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the sealing material for explaining the usage state of the sealing material of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a pendulum type gate valve showing a state in which the sealing material of the present invention is applied to the pendulum type gate valve. 6 is a partially enlarged view of a portion B in FIG. FIG. 7 is an end view in the direction C of FIG. FIG. 8 is a partially enlarged sectional view similar to FIG. 6 for explaining a state where the seal material of the present invention is mounted on a pendulum type gate valve. FIG. 9 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 6 for explaining a state where the seal material of the present invention is mounted on a pendulum type gate valve. FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the seal core member of the seal material of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a schematic view for explaining an embodiment of a method for producing the sealing material 10 of the present invention. FIG. 12 is a schematic view for explaining another embodiment of the method for producing the sealing material 10 of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a schematic view for explaining another embodiment of the method for producing the sealing material 10 of the present invention. FIG. 14 is a schematic view illustrating another embodiment of the method for producing the sealing material 10 of the present invention. FIG. 15 is a graph showing the results of obtaining the compressive load and the tightening allowance using FEA analysis (finite element analysis). FIG. 16 is a schematic view for explaining this conventional pendulum type gate valve. FIG. 17 is a perspective view for explaining this conventional pendulum type gate valve. FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional view for explaining this conventional pendulum type gate valve. FIG. 19A is a partially cutaway perspective view of a conventional sheet material, and FIG. 19B is a sectional view thereof.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Seal material 12 Seal core member 14 Outer skin member 14A, 14B End part 16 Sealed part 18 Seal surface 20 One side seal part 22 Seal surface 24 The other side seal part 26 Seal fixing part 26A One side seal fixing part 26B One side seal fixing part 28 Other side seal fixing part 28A Other side seal fixing part 28B Other side seal fixing part 30 Connection part 30A, 30B Connection part 30C Connection part 32 Seal locking part 34 Seal locking part 40 Pendulum type gate valve 42 Valve box 44 Motor 46 Valve body 48 Shaft 50 Gate opening 52 Seal fitting 54 Process chamber side 56 Vacuum pump side 58 Seal fixing claw 60 Metal member 62 Die 66 Outer sheet member 68 Outer sheet member raw material 100 Pendulum type gate valve 102 Process chamber 104 Controller 10 6 Vacuum pump 110 Valve box 112 Motor 114 Valve body 116 Shaft 118 Gate opening 120 Seal fitting 122 Sealing material 200 Sealing material 202 Resin jacket 204 Metal spring 206 Opening

Claims (11)

A substantially annular sealing material,
A leaf spring metal seal core member;
An outer skin member encapsulating the seal core member,
The cross-sectional shape of the seal core member is a substantially corrugated plate shape,
One side seal portion constituting a seal portion that is in pressure contact with one seal surface of the sealed portion when the seal material is pressed in a shape bent in a substantially arc shape;
In the shape bent in a substantially arc shape, when the sealing material is pressed, the other side sealing portion constituting the sealing portion that presses the other sealing surface of the sealed portion;
A one-side seal fixing portion that is in a state of being bent in a substantially arc shape and is in contact with one seal surface of the sealed portion and fixing the seal material when the seal material is pressed,
In a shape that is bent in a substantially arc shape, when the sealing material is pressed, the other side seal fixing portion that is in contact with the other sealing surface of the portion to be sealed to fix the sealing material;
A substantially linear connecting portion connecting the one-side seal portion, the other-side seal portion, the one-side seal fixing portion, and the other-side seal fixing portion;
A seal locking portion formed at least one of the one-side seal portion and the other-side seal portion located on the innermost peripheral side or the outer peripheral side;
A sealing material comprising:   The sealing material according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the one-side seal fixing portions are formed.   The sealing material according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the other-side seal fixing portions are formed.   The sealing material according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the one-side seal fixing portion is configured to function also as a one-side seal portion.   The sealing material according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the other-side seal fixing portion is configured to function also as the other-side seal portion. The distance H between the one-side seal portion and the other-side seal portion is configured to be larger than the distance h between the one-side seal fixing portion and the other-side seal fixing portion. The sealing material in any one of 1-5.   The sealing material according to claim 1, wherein the sealing material is attached to a pendulum type gate valve.   The seal material according to claim 7 is detachably attached to the seal fixing claw portion formed on the valve box side of the pendulum type gate valve by engaging the seal engagement portion of the seal material. Features a pendulum type gate valve.   The seal material according to claim 7 is detachably attached to the seal fixing claw portion formed on the valve plate side of the pendulum type gate valve by engaging the seal engagement portion of the seal material. Features a pendulum type gate valve. It is a manufacturing method of the sealing material in any one of Claim 1 to 6,
A plate-shaped metal member is arranged in a pair of upper and lower molds,
An outer sheet member is disposed on both surfaces of the metal member,
While closing and pressing the mold, by thermally welding the outer sheet member,
A method for producing a sealing material, wherein the metal member is formed into a substantially corrugated plate shape to form a seal core member, and the seal core member is formed to be encapsulated by an outer skin member.   The method for manufacturing a sealing material according to claim 10, wherein the plate-like metal member is a seal core member that is previously formed into a substantially corrugated plate shape.

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