JP2012072422A - Vacuum vapor deposition device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the cost and the size of a vacuum vapor deposition device, and to prevent any pollution caused by impure gas between a vapor deposition chamber and a chamber adjacent thereto in the vacuum vapor deposition device for continuously executing the film deposition by the vacuum vapor deposition such as RtoR.SOLUTION: A seal unit for separating a vapor deposition chamber from a chamber adjacent thereto consists of three seal rolls of an inlet seal roll winding a base material to be carried in a vapor deposition chamber, an outlet seal roll winding the base material to be carried out from the vapor deposition chamber, and a center seal roll arranged between the inlet and outlet seal rolls.

Description

  The present invention belongs to the technical field of a vacuum deposition apparatus that forms a film on a substrate by vacuum deposition while conveying a long substrate in the longitudinal direction. It is related with the vacuum evaporation system which can prevent mixing of the impure gas in.

Vacuum deposition is used for the production of gas barrier films and solar cell backsheets. Further, as an apparatus that can efficiently form a film by vacuum deposition, an apparatus that performs film formation by so-called roll-to-roll (hereinafter also referred to as RtoR) is known.
The RtoR apparatus uses a base material roll formed by winding a long base material (substrate) into a roll shape, pulls out the base material from the base material roll, and performs film formation while transporting in the longitudinal direction. The base material which finished the film | membrane is wound again in roll shape.
According to RtoR, since a film can be continuously formed on a long substrate, a product such as a gas barrier film can be manufactured very efficiently.

Here, in the case of vacuum deposition in an apparatus that performs film deposition while continuously transporting a long base material such as RtoR, the gas generated in the deposition chamber is upstream and downstream (base). It is necessary to prevent contamination in the chambers (spaces) in the upstream and downstream of the material conveyance direction. Further, it is necessary to prevent gas generated in the upstream and downstream chambers from being mixed into the vapor deposition chamber (hereinafter, such a gas is referred to as “impure gas”).
That is, it is necessary to isolate the vapor deposition chamber and the adjacent chamber from each other in a substantially airtight manner while ensuring a passage route for the base material to prevent the impure gas from being mixed.

For that purpose, it is preferable that the base material passing opening (slit) formed in the partition wall that separates the vapor deposition chamber from the upstream and downstream chambers has a minimum size through which the base material can pass.
However, if the size (width and length) of the opening is reduced, the substrate may come into contact with the opening (partition wall) due to the fluttering of the substrate to be transported, etc., and the substrate may be damaged. It is necessary to provide a certain margin. Therefore, it is difficult to sufficiently prevent impure gas from being mixed in the vapor deposition chamber and the adjacent chamber only by considering the size of the slit.

As a method for solving such a problem, a seal roll is known in which an opening of a partition wall through which a substrate passes is hermetically closed (sealed) in order to isolate adjacent chambers.
For example, in Patent Document 1, two seal rolls are provided at a position different in the conveyance direction of the base material by providing a minute gap, and the base material has a predetermined wrap angle (holding angle) on both seal rolls. The apparatus which prevented mixing of the impure gas to the adjacent chamber by arrange | positioning so that it may wind by is described. Further, in order to prevent the impure gas from entering from other than the gap between the two seal rolls, the two seal rolls are covered with a casing (cover) that has a minute gap on the non-contact side of the substrate and covers the seal roll. It has been broken.

JP 2003-27234 A

  By using such a seal roll, the slit through which the substrate passes has a sufficiently large size, and the mixing of impure gas from the deposition chamber to the next chamber (from the next chamber to the deposition chamber) is also greatly increased. Can be deterred.

However, in a conventional method for separating adjacent chambers using a seal roll, a unit (seal unit) having two seal rolls individually for a base material carry-in portion to a vapor deposition chamber and a base material carry-out portion from the vapor deposition chamber ) Must be provided. In addition, in the configuration in which two seal rolls are arranged at different positions in the substrate conveyance direction as in the apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1, individual seals are used in order to prevent contamination of impurities from other than between the rolls. For each roll, it is necessary to provide a casing that covers the roll.
For this reason, there is a problem that the cost of the seal unit increases, a space for providing the seal unit at both the base material inlet and the outlet is necessary, and the apparatus becomes large.

  An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and it is not necessary to provide a sealing unit for each of the base material inlet and outlet to the vapor deposition chamber, and more preferably, the impurity gas to the adjacent chamber is removed. An object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum deposition apparatus that can prevent mixing.

  In order to achieve the above object, a vacuum vapor deposition apparatus of the present invention comprises a vapor deposition chamber for forming a film on the base material by vacuum vapor deposition while conveying a long base material in the longitudinal direction, and the base material for the film formation chamber. And an adjacent chamber separated from the vapor deposition chamber by a partition having an opening for carrying it out of the film forming chamber, a first vacuum exhaust means for bringing the vapor deposition chamber to a predetermined degree of vacuum, and Second vacuum evacuation means for bringing the adjacent chamber to a predetermined degree of vacuum; substrate transport means for transporting the base material from the adjacent chamber to the deposition chamber; transporting the deposited base material from the deposition chamber to the adjacent chamber; A non-contact inlet seal roll, an outlet seal roll, and a seal unit having a center seal roll that separates the adjacent chamber and the vapor deposition chamber in an opening, and the inlet seal roll in the seal unit Said Adjacent to the wall portion of the opening so that the base material carried into the vapor deposition chamber from the chamber is wound between the wall portion and the base material carried into the vapor deposition chamber, the outlet seal roll is , Disposed adjacent to the wall portion of the opening, between the wall portion and the base material unloaded from the vapor deposition chamber, so that the base material unloaded from the vapor deposition chamber to the adjacent chamber is wound, The center seal roll is disposed between the inlet seal roll and the outlet seal roll, and provides a vacuum deposition apparatus that rotates in the direction of conveyance of the substrate.

In such a vacuum vapor deposition apparatus of the present invention, the center seal roll is preferably arranged so as not to contact the substrate, or the center seal roll is a base carried into the vapor deposition chamber from the adjacent chamber. It is preferable that the material and the substrate to be carried out from the vapor deposition chamber to the adjacent chamber are arranged at a position where the material is wound.
Further, the gap between the inlet seal roll and the center seal roll and the gap between the outlet seal roll and the center seal roll are preferably 2000 μm or less, and the gap between the inlet seal roll and the opening wall portion. In addition, the gap between the outlet seal roll and the opening wall is preferably 2000 μm or less, and the film formation chamber wraps the substrate around the circumferential surface of a cylindrical drum and conveys the substrate. In addition, it is preferable to perform vapor deposition on the base material, and it is preferable that the wall portion of the opening facing the inlet seal roll is a curved surface into which a part of the inlet seal roll can be inserted. The wall portion of the opening facing the outlet seal roll is preferably a curved surface into which a part of the outlet seal roll can be inserted.
Further, the adjacent chamber feeds out the base material from a base material roll obtained by winding the base material in a roll shape, and the base material formed in the vapor deposition chamber is again wound in a roll shape. Preferably, it is an unwinding / winding chamber, or the adjacent chamber is preferably an isolation chamber that separates the deposition chamber from a chamber that performs upstream and downstream processes of film formation in the deposition chamber, or It is preferable that the adjacent chamber is a processing chamber for performing processing different from that for vacuum deposition on the base material.

  Such a vacuum deposition apparatus of the present invention includes a seal unit that separates (separates) a deposition chamber from a neighboring chamber in which the substrate is transported to the deposition chamber and the deposited substrate is carried from the deposition chamber. In addition, it is not necessary to provide an inlet conveyance path to the vapor deposition chamber and an outlet conveyance path from the vapor deposition chamber, and the vapor deposition chamber and the adjacent chamber can be separated by one seal unit. In addition, the base material can also act as a part of the isolating means for preventing the impure gas from being mixed in the film forming chamber and the adjacent chamber.

Therefore, in the present invention, since the vapor deposition chamber and the adjacent chamber can be separated by one seal unit, the cost of the vacuum vapor deposition apparatus can be reduced and the apparatus size can be reduced.
Furthermore, since the base material can also act as the isolating means, mixing of impure gas can be more suitably prevented.

It is a figure which shows notionally an example of the vacuum evaporation system of this invention. It is a figure which shows notionally another example of the vacuum evaporation system of this invention. It is a figure which shows notionally another example of the vacuum evaporation system of this invention.

  Hereinafter, the vacuum vapor deposition apparatus of the present invention will be described in detail based on a preferred embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings.

In FIG. 1, an example of the vacuum evaporation system of this invention is shown notionally.
A vacuum deposition apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1 includes a deposition chamber 12, an unwinding / winding chamber 14, a partition wall 18, and a seal unit 20. The vapor deposition chamber 12 and the unwinding / winding chamber 14 are configured by known vacuum chambers.

  Such a vacuum vapor deposition apparatus 10 (hereinafter referred to as vapor deposition apparatus 10) is configured to remove a base material from a base material roll 20 formed by winding a long sheet-shaped (web-shaped) base material (substrate) Z into a roll shape. The above-mentioned roll-to-roll, in which the film is formed on the substrate Z by vacuum deposition while being fed and conveyed in the longitudinal direction, and the film-formed substrate Z is again wound into a roll shape by the take-up shaft 26 ( Roll to Roll (hereinafter also referred to as “RtoR”) is an apparatus for continuously forming a film on the substrate Z.

  The unwinding / winding chamber 14 (hereinafter referred to as the unwinding chamber 14) feeds the substrate Z from the substrate roll 24 and transports it to the deposition chamber 12, and deposits the substrate Z deposited in the deposition chamber 12. The chamber is carried in from the chamber 12 and wound up in a roll shape, and includes a winding shaft 26, a rotating shaft 30, and a vacuum exhaust means 32.

The rotary shaft 30 is a rotary shaft that supports the base roll 24.
The base material Z is pulled out from the base material roll 24 loaded on the rotary shaft 30, transported to the vapor deposition chamber 12, wound around a predetermined region of a drum 36 to be described later, and transported in the longitudinal direction by vacuum vapor deposition. The film is formed, transported again to the unwinding chamber 14, and wound into a roll shape by the winding shaft 26.

The vacuum evacuation means 32 evacuates the winding chamber 14 so that the pressure in the winding chamber 14 becomes a predetermined pressure during film formation.
In the illustrated vapor deposition apparatus 10, the vacuum evacuation unit 32 makes the pressure in the winding chamber 14 slightly higher than the pressure in the vapor deposition chamber 12 (that is, the film formation pressure) during film formation. As a result, the gas generated in the vapor deposition chamber 12 and the film forming material vapor (hereinafter referred to as impure gas) are mixed into the winding chamber 14 and contaminate the substrate Z and the winding chamber 14. It can prevent suitably. This also applies to the case where the adjacent chamber of the vapor deposition chamber 12 is an isolation chamber described later.
Further, the winding chamber 14 (and / or a chamber other than the vapor deposition chamber 12 such as an isolation chamber described later) may be provided with a mechanism for cooling and trapping (trapping) the impure gas.

There are no particular limitations on the vacuum exhaust means 32, and vacuum pumps such as turbo pumps, mechanical booster pumps, dry pumps, rotary pumps, auxiliary means such as cryocoils, etc., and means for adjusting the ultimate vacuum and exhaust amount, etc. Various known exhaust means used in vacuum deposition apparatuses such as vacuum deposition apparatuses and sputtering apparatuses can be used.
In this regard, the same applies to the vacuum exhaust means 42 and 86 described later.

  In the present invention, the chamber adjacent to the vapor deposition chamber 12 sends out the substrate Z from the substrate roll 24 to the vapor deposition chamber 12, and the film-formed substrate Z is carried from the vapor deposition chamber 12 and wound into a roll. The chamber is not limited to the unwinding chamber 14, and is adjacent to the vapor deposition chamber 12, transports the substrate Z to the vapor deposition chamber 12, and is a chamber into which the deposited substrate Z is carried from the vapor deposition chamber 12. Various rooms are available.

For example, the vacuum deposition apparatus of the present invention continuously performs a plurality of treatments on the substrate Z while conveying the substrate Z in the longitudinal direction as in “first process → vacuum deposition process → third process”. When incorporated in the production facility, the adjacent chamber passes through the base material Z that separates the vapor deposition chamber 12 from the chamber for processing the base material Z in the upstream and downstream direction of the base material conveyance of the vapor deposition chamber 12. It may be just an isolation room.
Alternatively, the adjacent chamber is a base material such as a pretreatment chamber that performs pretreatment of the base material Z such as heat treatment or plasma treatment, a film formation chamber that performs film formation by plasma CVD, or a film formation chamber that performs film formation by sputtering. A processing chamber for performing processing other than vacuum deposition on Z may be used.

The vapor deposition chamber 12 is a chamber for forming a film on the substrate Z by vacuum vapor deposition, and includes a drum 36, an evaporation source 40, and a vacuum exhaust means 42.
The drum 36 is a cylindrical object that is transported in the longitudinal direction while the substrate Z is wound around a predetermined region of the peripheral surface and held at the film forming position. Further, the drum 36 may incorporate a temperature adjusting means for the substrate Z such as a cooling means.

In the present invention, the conveying means for conveying the substrate Z in the longitudinal direction while keeping the substrate Z at the film forming position is not limited to the drum 36 in the illustrated example. For example, the film forming position is sandwiched in the substrate conveying direction. Various conveying means such as two nip roller pairs to be used can be used.
However, the drum 36 as illustrated is preferably used in that the substrate Z can be conveyed in the longitudinal direction while being stably held at the film forming position.

The evaporation source 40 is a known evaporation source (crucible) used in a vacuum evaporation apparatus that accommodates a film forming material and heats / evaporates it.
In the vapor deposition apparatus 10 of the present invention, the heating means for the film forming material is not particularly limited, and all known heating means used in vacuum vapor deposition such as resistance heating, electron beam heating, induction heating, etc. are used. Is possible.
The vacuum evacuation means 42 is for reducing the pressure inside the vapor deposition chamber 12 to a predetermined pressure (film formation pressure) during film formation.

In the illustrated vapor deposition apparatus 10, the vapor deposition chamber 12 and the unwinding chamber 14 (the film forming space and the substrate feeding / winding space) are separated (separated) by the partition wall 18.
In the partition wall 18 that separates the vapor deposition chamber 12 and the unwind chamber 14, the substrate Z transported from the unwind chamber 14 to the vapor deposition chamber 12, and a film is formed and transported from the vapor deposition chamber 12 to the unwind chamber 14. The opening 18a which becomes the entrance / exit of a base material through which the base material Z to pass through is formed.

In the opening 18 a of the partition wall 18, a seal unit 20 that closes the opening 18 a in a substantially airtight manner and prevents the impure gas from entering the winding chamber 14 from the vapor deposition chamber 12 is disposed.
In the present invention, the seal unit 20 includes three seal rolls (seal rollers), which are an inlet seal roll 50, an outlet seal roll 52, and a center seal roll 54.

The inlet seal roll 50 (hereinafter referred to as the inlet roll 50) is adjacent to the wall surface of the opening 18a (the wall surface on the substrate side carried into the vapor deposition chamber 12) from the partition wall 18 and the winding chamber 14 to the vapor deposition chamber 12. It is a roll which is arranged between the substrate Z to be conveyed, winds the substrate Z conveyed to the vapor deposition chamber 12, and guides it to the drum 36 (next conveying means).
Further, the exit seal roll 52 (hereinafter referred to as the exit roll 52) is adjacent to the wall surface of the opening 18a (the wall surface on the base material side carried out from the vapor deposition chamber 12), and the winding chamber from the partition wall 18 and the vapor deposition chamber 12. 14 is a roll that is arranged between the base material Z and the base material Z that is transported to the winding chamber 14 and guides the base material Z that is transported to the winding chamber 14 to the winding shaft 26.
Furthermore, the center seal roll 54 (hereinafter referred to as the center roll 54) is a roll that is disposed between the inlet roll 50 and the outlet roll 52 and rotates (spins) in the conveyance direction of the base material Z. In the illustrated film forming apparatus 10, the substrate Z does not contact the center roll 54.

The inlet roll 50 and the center roll 54, and the outlet roll 52 and the center roll 54 are rollers that are arranged with a slight gap therebetween and are not in contact with each other.
That is, the seal unit 20 includes an inlet roll 50 wound around the base material Z carried into the vapor deposition chamber 12, an outlet roll 52 wound around the base material Z carried out, and a center roll 54 arranged between the two. The three sealing rolls that are not in contact with each other close the opening 18a of the partition wall 18 that is the entrance / exit of the base material Z in a substantially airtight manner. Thereby, the entrance / exit of the base material Z is closed in a substantially airtight manner by one seal unit 20 to isolate the vapor deposition chamber 12 and the winding chamber 14, and the impure gas is unwound from the vapor deposition chamber 12 through the opening 18 a. Mixing into the chamber 14 is prevented.
Further, by rotating the center roll 54 in the transport direction of the base material Z (preferably at the same speed as the transport speed of the base material Z), even though the base material Z that is originally non-contact is in contact with the center roll 54, It is possible to prevent the base material Z from being damaged.

  The three seal rolls (or the drum 36) have a width direction (roll axis direction) end portion between the inner wall surface of the vacuum chamber or partition wall and the roll end portion in the same manner as a known seal roll. Is narrowed as much as possible to prevent contamination of impure gas from the roll end.

Here, in the vapor deposition chamber 12, the most abundant impurity gas exists in the space where the evaporation source 40 exists, that is, the vapor source 40 is carried from the unwind chamber 14, wound around the drum 36, and unwinded. This is a region 12 a outside the base material Z carried out to the chamber 14. In other words, in the vapor deposition chamber 12, the most impure gas is present in the loop formed by the base material Z that is carried in from the unwind chamber 12, folded back on the transport path, and unloaded into the unwind chamber 12. The outer region 12a.
That is, if the impure gas in the region 12a can be more reliably prevented from being mixed into the unwinding chamber 14, contamination in the unwinding chamber 14 due to the impure gas can be more suitably prevented.

On the other hand, in this invention, the base material Z conveyed by the vapor deposition chamber 12 is wound on the inlet roll 50, and the base material Z discharged | emitted from the vapor deposition chamber 12 is wound on the exit roll 52. FIG.
By having such a configuration, as shown in FIG. 1, between the inlet roll 50 and the outlet roll 52 of the opening 18 a, the inlet roll 50, the base material Z (loop due to its folding), the outlet roll 52, A wall consisting of
Therefore, from the region 12a with the most impure gas, the impure gas that passes through between the inlet roll 50 and the center roll 54 and between the outlet roll 52 and the center roll 54 and enters the unwind chamber 14 is removed. , And can be shielded by the substrate Z. That is, the base material Z can act as a partition wall that prevents mixing of impure gas, and can more preferably prevent mixing of impure gas.

As is clear from the above description, in the vacuum vapor deposition apparatus of the present invention, by using the seal unit 20 composed of three seal rolls, an opening (slit) through which the base material of the partition wall passes is one seal unit. 20 can be substantially occluded.
For this reason, a conventional seal unit comprising two seal rolls and a seal unit is provided for each of the base material entrance (carrying side transport path to the vapor deposition chamber) and the exit (same transport side transport path). Compared to a vacuum deposition apparatus (film formation apparatus) of RtoR, the apparatus configuration can be simplified, downsized, and cost can be reduced.
Further, in the conventional seal unit, it is necessary to cover the base material non-contact side of all the seal rolls with a small gap so as to be covered with a casing, a partition wall, or the like. Since only the book needs to be covered, the apparatus can be simplified and miniaturized and the cost can be reduced in this respect.
And since the base material Z can also act as a partition which prevents mixing of impure gas, mixing of impure gas can be prevented more suitably.

  Therefore, according to the present invention, in the vacuum vapor deposition apparatus using RtoR, it is possible to more suitably prevent the impure gas from being mixed into the adjacent chamber from the vapor deposition chamber, and it is possible to reduce the size of the apparatus and reduce the cost.

In the present invention, the gap between the inlet roll 50 and the center roll 54 and the gap between the outlet roll 52 and the center roll 54 are not particularly limited, and are known seal rolls used in various vacuum film forming apparatuses. It may be the same as the gap between each other.
According to the study of the present inventor, it is preferable that the gap between the inlet roll 50 and the center roll 54 and the gap between the outlet roll 52 and the center roll 54 be 2000 μm or less. If the gap between the inlet roll 50 and the outlet roll 52 and the center roll 54 is 2000 μm or less, it is possible to suitably prevent impure gas from being mixed into the unwinding chamber 14 even when the substrate Z is thin. Can do.

In particular, the gap between the base material Z and the center roll 54 wound around the inlet roll 50 and the gap between the base material Z and the center roll 54 wound around the outlet roll 52 are set to 45 to 300 μm. Mixing of impure gas into the delivery chamber 14 can be more preferably prevented, and unnecessary contact between the center roll 54 and the base material Z can be suitably prevented, which is more preferable.
Therefore, according to the thickness of the base material Z to be used, the gap between the inlet roll 50 and the center roll 54 can be achieved so that a gap of 45 to 300 μm between the base material Z wound around each roll and the center roll 54 can be achieved. It is more preferable to set a gap between the outlet roll 52 and the center roll 54.
Here, the base material Z used in the present invention is preferably exemplified by those having a thickness of about 5 to 300 μm. Therefore, considering a preferable gap between the base material Z and the center roll 54 wound around each roll, the gap between the inlet roll 50 and the center roll 54 and the gap between the outlet roll 52 and the center roll 54 are 50 It is more preferable to set it to -600 micrometers.
By setting both the gaps within this range, the gap between the base Z wound around each roll and the center roll 54 is set to 45 to 300 μm corresponding to the base Z having various thicknesses within the above range. be able to.
Further, if necessary, the gap between the inlet roll 50 and the center roll 54 and the gap between the outlet roll 52 and the center roll 54 may be adjustable by a known method.

In the vapor deposition apparatus 10 in the illustrated example, the wall surface (inner wall surface) of the partition wall 18 facing the inlet roll 50 and the outlet roll 52 of the opening 18a is preferably aligned with the center of both seal rolls and both seals. The curved surface is slightly larger in diameter than the roll and into which the seal roll can be inserted.
By having such a configuration, it is possible to more suitably prevent impure gas from passing through the gap between the inlet roll 50 and outlet roll 52 and the opening wall surface and mixing into the unwind chamber 14.

Further, in order to more suitably prevent the entry of impure gas into the unwinding chamber 14 from the gap between the inlet roll 50 and outlet roll 52 and the wall surface of the opening 18a, the inlet roll 50 and outlet roll 52 and the opening The gap with the wall surface of 18a is preferably 2000 μm or less, particularly preferably 200 μm or less.
In addition, although there is no limitation in particular in the space | interval of the edge part of the width direction of the base material Z, and the inner wall face of the vapor deposition apparatus 10, it is preferable to set it as 2000 micrometers or less. By setting the distance between the end portion of the substrate Z and the inner wall surface of the vapor deposition apparatus 10 within this range, the gap between the end portion of the substrate Z and the inner wall surface of the vapor deposition apparatus 10 can be removed from the vapor deposition chamber 12. Impurity gas mixed into the delivery chamber 14 can be greatly reduced. That is, according to this structure, the effect | action of the base material Z as a partition which prevents mixing of an impure gas can be expressed more suitably, and it is preferable.

Here, the isolation chamber as described above that isolates the vapor deposition chamber 12 from the upstream and downstream chambers may be provided between the vapor deposition chamber 12 and the winding chamber 14.
An example is shown in FIG. A (vacuum) vapor deposition apparatus 80 shown in FIG. 2 extends from the inner wall surface of the apparatus to the immediate vicinity of the peripheral surface of the drum 36 (for example, a distance from the wound substrate Z is 45 to 300 μm) to provide a partition wall 82. Thus, an isolation chamber 84 is formed between the seal unit 20 and the partition wall 82. In the illustrated example, an evacuation means 86 is also disposed in the isolation chamber 84 so that the pressure can be adjusted independently of the other chambers.
Such an isolation chamber 84 (including an isolation chamber other than between the vapor deposition chamber 12 and the winding chamber 14) may be provided in a plurality of stages.
By having such an isolation chamber 84, it is possible to more reliably prevent the impure gas in the vapor deposition chamber 12 from entering the unwind chamber 14.

Here, when such an isolation chamber 84 is provided, the pressure of the isolation chamber 84 is preferably higher than the pressure of the vapor deposition chamber 12. By having such a configuration, mixing of impure gas into the winding chamber 14 can be more suitably prevented.
Note that the pressure in the isolation chamber 84 may be higher or lower than that of the winding chamber 14.

The vapor deposition apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 has a configuration in which the center roll 54 does not contact the substrate Z, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the substrate Z is a center roll of a seal unit. It may have a configuration wound around.
An example is shown in FIG. Since the vacuum vapor deposition apparatus shown in FIG. 3 has the same configuration as the vapor deposition apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1 except that the seal unit is different, the following description will mainly focus on different parts.

A vacuum deposition apparatus 60 shown in FIG. 3 includes a seal unit 62 that closes the opening 18a of the partition wall 18 in a substantially airtight manner.
The seal unit 62 includes an inlet seal roll 64 (hereinafter referred to as an inlet roll 64) that is wound around the substrate Z conveyed from the unwind chamber 14 to the vapor deposition chamber 12, and an unwind chamber from the vapor deposition chamber 12. 14 and an exit seal roll 68 (hereinafter referred to as an exit roll 68) similar to the tip wound around the base material Z conveyed to 14.

A center seal roll 70 (hereinafter referred to as center roll 70) is disposed between the inlet roll 64 and the outlet roll 68.
Here, in the seal unit 62 of the vapor deposition apparatus 60 shown in FIG. 3, the center roll 70 is conveyed by the inlet roll 64 to the drum 36 and conveyed from the drum 36 to the outlet roll 68. It arrange | positions in the position which contacts the base material Z to contact.
In the illustrated example, by having such a configuration, it is possible to more preferably prevent impure gas from being mixed into the unwind chamber 14.

As described above, the most impure gas is present in the vapor deposition chamber 12 because the substrate Z is carried in from the unwinding chamber 14, wound around the drum 36, and unloaded to the unwinding chamber 14. This is the outer region 12a (region 12a outside the base material loop).
Since the base material Z acts like a shielding member, the amount of impure gas in the region 12b inside the base material loop is much smaller than the region 12a.
However, the impurity gas is also present in the region 12b. If the impurity gas is mixed into the unwinding chamber, the unwinding chamber 14 is still contaminated.

On the other hand, as the seal unit 62 shown in FIG. 3 has the structure in which the center roll 70 is also in contact with the base material Z, the base material Z (loop due to its folding) and the center roll 70 are also provided in this region 12b. A wall consisting of
By having such a configuration, it is impure that the region 12b passes between the inlet roll 50 and the center roll 54 and between the outlet roll 52 and the center roll 54 and enters the unwind chamber 14. The gas can be shielded by the substrate Z and the center roll 70.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, according to the seal unit 62 in which the center roll 70 is also in contact with the base material Z, not only mixing from the region 12a with a large amount of impure gas but also impure gas from the region 12b to the unwinding chamber 14 is performed. Can be prevented, and more preferably, impure gas can be prevented from being mixed into the unwind chamber 14.

However, on the other hand, in the seal unit 62 in which the center roll 70 is also in contact with the substrate Z as shown in FIG. There is a slight speed difference in the conveyance of the substrate Z between the entry side and the exit side, which may damage the substrate Z.
On the other hand, in the seal unit 20 shown in FIG. 1 in which the center roll 54 does not contact the base material Z, the region 12b leads to the unwind chamber 14 passing between the inlet roll 50 and the outlet roll 52 and the center roll 54. The ability to prevent impure gas contamination is somewhat inferior. However, the sealing unit 20 can also ensure sufficient sealing performance by narrowing the space between the inlet roll 50 and outlet roll 52 (substrate) and the center roll 54. Further, in the seal unit 20, the possibility that the base material Z is damaged by the center roll 54 as described above is extremely low, and further, the possibility of inconvenience in transporting the substrate Z is very low.

  Therefore, which configuration is adopted depends on the characteristics required for the product (whether prevention of contamination by impure gas or prevention of damage to the substrate Z is important), the amount of impure gas generated, and the seal unit 20 (seal roll). What is necessary is just to set suitably according to the mixing prevention performance etc. of the impure gas by.

As mentioned above, although the vacuum evaporation system of this invention was demonstrated in detail, this invention is not limited to the said Example, In the range which does not deviate from the summary of this invention, it is possible to perform various improvements and changes. Of course.
For example, in the example shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the three seal rolls constituting the seal unit have the same diameter, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the center seal roll However, as in the configuration having a large diameter, only one may have a different diameter from the other two seal rolls, or all three may be seal rolls having different diameters.

  The present invention can be suitably used for a vacuum deposition apparatus used for manufacturing various functional films such as a gas barrier film and a back sheet for a solar cell.

10, 60, 80 (vacuum) vapor deposition apparatus 12 vapor deposition chamber 14 unwinding / winding chamber 14
18, 82 Partition 18a Opening 20, 62 Seal unit 24 Base roll 26 Winding shaft 30 Rotating shaft 32, 42, 86 Vacuum exhaust means 36 Drum 40 Evaporation source 50, 64 Inlet (seal) roll 52, 68 Outlet (seal) Roll 54,70 Center (seal) roll 84 Isolation chamber

Claims (11)

A deposition chamber for forming a film on the substrate by vacuum deposition while conveying a long substrate in the longitudinal direction;
An adjacent chamber separated from the vapor deposition chamber by a partition wall having an opening for transporting the substrate to the film formation chamber and carrying it out of the film formation chamber;
First vacuum evacuation means for setting the deposition chamber to a predetermined degree of vacuum; and second vacuum evacuation means for setting the adjacent chamber to a predetermined degree of vacuum;
A base material transport means for transporting the base material from the adjacent chamber to the vapor deposition chamber, and transporting the vapor deposited base material from the vapor deposition chamber to the adjacent chamber;
A seal unit having an inlet seal roll, an outlet seal roll, and a center seal roll that are non-contact with each other and that separates the adjacent chamber and the vapor deposition chamber in the opening;
And in the said seal unit, the said inlet seal roll is carried in to this wall part and a vapor deposition chamber adjacent to the wall part of the said opening so that the base material carried into the vapor deposition chamber from the said adjacent chamber may wind around. The outlet seal roll is disposed between the wall and the deposition chamber adjacent to the wall of the opening so that the substrate to be unloaded from the deposition chamber to the adjacent chamber is wound around. A vacuum deposition apparatus, wherein the center seal roll is arranged between the inlet seal roll and the outlet seal roll, and rotates in a conveyance direction of the substrate. .   The vacuum deposition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the center seal roll is disposed so as not to contact the base material.   The vacuum deposition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the center seal roll is disposed at a position where a base material carried into the vapor deposition chamber from the adjacent chamber and a base material carried out from the vapor deposition chamber to the adjacent chamber are wound.   The vacuum evaporation system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein a gap between the inlet seal roll and the center seal roll and a gap between the outlet seal roll and the center seal roll are 2000 µm or less.   The vacuum deposition apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a gap between the inlet seal roll and the opening wall portion and a gap between the outlet seal roll and the opening wall portion are 2000 µm or less.   The said film-forming chamber is a vacuum evaporation system in any one of Claims 1-5 which vapor-deposits to the said base material, winding the said base material around the surrounding surface of a cylindrical drum, and conveying it.   The vacuum evaporation apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein a wall portion of the opening facing the inlet seal roll is a curved surface into which a part of the inlet seal roll can be inserted.   The vacuum deposition apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein a wall portion of the opening facing the outlet seal roll is a curved surface into which a part of the outlet seal roll can be inserted.   Unwinding of the base material, wherein the adjacent chamber sends out the base material from a base material roll obtained by winding the base material in a roll shape, and again rolls the base material formed in the vapor deposition chamber into a roll shape. The vacuum evaporation apparatus according to claim 1, which is a winding chamber.   The vacuum deposition apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the adjacent chamber is an isolation chamber that separates the deposition chamber from a chamber for performing upstream and downstream processes of film formation in the deposition chamber.   The vacuum deposition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the adjacent chamber is a processing chamber that performs processing different from vacuum deposition on the base material.

Images