JP2018112266A - Vacuum valve - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vacuum valve capable of properly controlling a valve body even in a case of changing a combination of the valve body and a valve controller.SOLUTION: A vacuum valve 1 includes a valve body 10 having a valve plate and a motor 101 configured to open/close the valve plate, and a valve controller 11 configured to control the motor 101. Further, valve body 10 includes a memory 107 configured to store characteristic information indicating difference between drive characteristics of the respective valve bodies 10. The valve controller 11 is configured to read the characteristic information from the memory 107, and then control the motor 101 on the basis of the read characteristic information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a vacuum valve.

  As a vacuum valve used in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus such as a sputter or an etcher, for example, a vacuum valve as described in Patent Document 1 is known.

  In the vacuum valve described in Patent Document 1, the drive device on the valve body side is controlled by the device control unit of the control device connected via communication means. Storage means is connected to the control device via communication means. The device control unit receives one of the commands including the CLOSE command during production and the FULL CLOSE command by a device such as a semiconductor manufacturing device, and refers to the CLOSE position data or CLOSE CLOSE position data stored in the storage means. A CLOSE position signal in production or a FULL CLOSE position signal is generated. Then, the valve is operated by the CLOSE position signal or the FULL CLOSE position signal during production.

JP2013-231461A

  However, in the vacuum valve described in Patent Document 1, since the storage means is provided on the control device side, the in-production CLOSE position or FULL CLOSE position data stored in the storage means and the in-production CLOSE position on the valve body side or When the FULL CLOSE position is different for each valve body, there is a possibility that an appropriate valve operation cannot be performed when the control device is exchanged for the valve body.

A vacuum valve according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a valve body having a valve body and a motor that drives the valve body to open and close, and a valve control device that drives and controls the motor, and controls the valve with respect to the valve body. In a vacuum valve that can be exchanged, the valve body includes a first storage unit that stores characteristic information indicating a difference in driving characteristics for each valve body, and the valve control device stores the characteristic information in the first valve unit. 1 is read from the storage unit 1, and the motor is driven and controlled based on the characteristic information.
In a further preferred embodiment, the characteristic information is a driving characteristic related to a valve body opening / closing drive of the valve body, and the valve control device controls the driving of the motor based on the driving characteristic.
In a further preferred embodiment, the valve control device includes a second storage unit that stores drive characteristics related to the valve body opening / closing drive of the valve body for a plurality of models, and is stored in the first storage unit. The characteristic information is model information indicating a model of the valve body, and the valve control device controls the motor based on the drive characteristics of a model corresponding to the model information read from the first storage unit. Drive control.

  According to the present invention, the valve body can be appropriately controlled even if the combination of the valve body and the valve control device is changed.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a vacuum valve of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the vacuum valve. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a valve control device. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the deviation angle Δθ. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating energization currents of the A-phase coil and the B-phase coil. FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a case where the valve control device is replaced.

  Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a vacuum valve according to the present invention, and shows a state where the vacuum valve is mounted on a vacuum apparatus. The valve body 10 of the vacuum valve 1 is attached to an exhaust port (not shown) of the vacuum chamber 3 of the vacuum device. The exhaust port (not shown) of the valve body 10 is connected to the exhaust port of the vacuum chamber 3, and the vacuum pump 2 is connected to the exhaust port (not shown) of the valve body 10. When the valve plate 100 of the valve body 10 is opened, the vacuum chamber 3 is evacuated by the vacuum pump 2.

  The valve plate 100 is driven to swing by a motor 101, thereby opening and closing. The valve body 10 is driven by a valve control device 11. In the vacuum valve 1 shown in FIG. 1, a valve main body 10 and a valve control device 11 are provided separately, and both are connected by a cable 102. However, the present invention is not limited to the separate type as shown in FIG. 1, but can be applied to an integrated vacuum valve in which the valve body and the valve control device are integrated.

A gas such as a process gas is introduced into the vacuum chamber 3 via the flow rate controller 32. Data of the gas flow rate Q [Pa · m ³ / s] is output from the flow rate controller 32. The pressure in the vacuum chamber 3 is measured by a vacuum gauge 31. The gas flow rate data and pressure data are input to a main controller (not shown) of the vacuum apparatus.

  FIG. 2 is a plan view of the vacuum valve 1 as viewed from the vacuum chamber 3 side. As described above, the valve plate 100 provided in the housing 103 is driven to swing by the motor 101. A flange 104 connected to the vacuum chamber 3 is provided on the front side of the housing 103. Although not shown, an exhaust side flange is also provided on the back side of the housing 103 at a position facing the flange 104. The vacuum pump 2 is connected to the flange. The valve plate 100 can be slid to any position between a total shielding position C2 that faces the entire valve opening 104a and a fully open position C1 that does not face the valve opening 104a at all.

  The shielding state of the valve opening 104a by the valve plate 100 is represented by a parameter called an opening. The opening degree is a ratio = (swing angle of the valve plate) :( swing angle until all the valve openings 104a are released from the fully shielded state). 2 is the opening degree = 0%, and the fully open position C1 is the opening degree = 100%. That is, the conductance of the vacuum valve 1 is controlled by adjusting the opening of the valve plate 100.

  A stepping motor is generally used as the motor 101 that swings and drives the valve plate 100. In this embodiment, the motor 101 is micro-step controlled to perform highly accurate position control.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the valve control device 11. Here, a case where a two-phase stepping motor is used as the motor 101 will be described as an example. The rotation position of the motor 101 provided in the valve body 10 is detected by the encoder 106. For example, a magnetic rotary encoder is used as the encoder 106. The motor 101 is driven by an inverter 118 provided in the valve control device 11.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the motor 101 and the inverter 118 that drives the motor 101. In the motor 101, a plurality of A-phase coils 201 </ b> A and B-phase coils 201 </ b> B are arranged around the rotor 200. For example, in the case of a two-phase four-pole motor, four coils are arranged such as A phase, B phase, A phase, and B phase.

  A permanent magnet 202 for detecting the rotational position is provided at the shaft end of the motor shaft of the rotor 200. Reference J indicates the axis of the motor shaft, and the N poles and S poles of the permanent magnets are arranged at a pitch of 180 degrees in the circumferential direction. The sensor unit 106 a provided in the encoder 106 is provided with a Hall element. The encoder 106 detects the rotational position of the rotor 200 by detecting the magnetic pole direction of the permanent magnet 202 with a Hall sensor provided in the sensor unit 106a.

  The inverter 118 is provided with full bridge circuits 118A and 118B using four switching elements S1 to S4 for the A-phase coil 201A and the B-phase coil 201B. Transistors, IGBTs and the like are used for the switching elements S1 to S4, and diodes D1 to D4 are connected in parallel to the switching elements S1 to S4. The A-phase coil 201A and the B-phase coil 201B are energized by performing on / off control of the switching elements S1 to S4 of the inverter 118 by the switching signal from the PWM signal generation unit 117.

  The angle when the rotor 200 rotates from the position of the A-phase coil 201A to the position of the B-phase coil 201B is a basic step angle (full step angle). In the case of a two-phase four-pole motor, the basic step angle is 90 degrees. The micro-step drive that enables high-resolution positioning is performed by further subdividing the basic step angle electrically, and by gradually changing the current distribution of the A-phase coil 201A and the B-phase coil 201B, The step angle is divided into a plurality of steps. Generally, the inverter 118 is PWM-controlled so that a sinusoidal current as shown in FIG. 5 is applied to the A-phase coil 201A and the B-phase coil 201B.

  The permanent magnet 202 is fixed to the motor shaft so that the position of the N pole of the permanent magnet 202 matches the position of the N pole of the rotor 200. However, when an error occurs in the attachment of the permanent magnet 202, an angle deviation (deviation angle Δθ) occurs between the north pole of the rotor 200 and the north pole of the permanent magnet 202, as shown in FIG. As a result, the positioning accuracy of the motor 101 is lowered.

  In the present embodiment, the deviation angle Δθ is stored in a non-volatile memory 107 provided on the valve body 10 side. The deviation angle Δθ is measured after the valve body 10 is assembled, and the measured value is written in the memory 107 in FIG. As a method for measuring the deviation angle Δθ, for example, energization of the B-phase coil 201B is stopped, only the A-phase coil 201A is energized, and the deviation angle Δθ is measured. When energized in such a manner, the N pole of the rotor 200 is attracted to the A phase coil, and the rotor 200 stops at a position where the N pole faces the A phase coil 201A. In this state, the angle detected by the encoder 105 is the shift angle Δθ, and the detected shift angle Δθ is stored in the memory 107. In general, the displacement angle Δθ detected by the manufacturer of the vacuum valve 1 is stored in the memory 107, but the detected displacement angle Δθ is stored in the memory 107 by the user of the vacuum valve 1. Is also possible.

  When the valve control device 11 is connected to the valve main body 10 and the power supply of the valve control device 11 is turned on, the motor drive control unit 110 reads the deviation angle Δθ stored in the memory 107 on the valve main body 10 side, The data is stored in the θ correction unit 113 (see FIG. 3) of the motor drive control unit 110.

  The encoder 106 detects the rotational position θr of the rotor 200. The detected rotational position θr is input to the θ correction unit 113 and the ωr generation unit 114 of the motor drive control unit 110. The ωr generator 114 calculates the rotational speed ωr based on the input rotational position θr. The θ correction unit 113 corrects the rotational position as θrc = θr−Δθ based on the deviation angle Δθ read from the memory 107.

  The microstep control unit 115 generates an angular position command and an angular velocity command based on the target position for positioning the valve plate 100, and outputs target current value commands iαs and iβs based on them. The current controller 116 outputs a voltage command to the PWM signal generator 117 so that the difference between the target current value commands iαs and iβs and the measured current values iαr and iβr approaches zero. The PWM signal generation unit 117 generates a PWM switching signal for switching each switching element S <b> 1 to S <b> 4 of the inverter 118 based on the voltage command input from the current controller 116.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the valve main body 10 includes the memory 107, and detection error data when the rotation position of the rotor 200 is detected by the encoder 106 is stored in the memory 107 for each valve main body. It is stored as characteristic information indicating a difference in driving characteristics. Then, the θ correction unit 113 corrects the detected rotational position θr with a deviation angle Δθ that is detection error data as θrc = θr−Δθ, and drives and controls the motor 101 using the corrected θrc.

  As described above, since the motor 101 is driven and controlled using the rotational position θrc corrected based on the deviation angle Δθ, the valve plate 100 is accurately positioned even when an attachment error occurs in the permanent magnet 202 or the encoder 106. be able to.

  By the way, the valve control device 11 and the valve main body 10 are not associated one-to-one. If the same model is used, the valve control device 11 can be used in combination with the valve main body 10 of a different machine base. It is. In the present embodiment, the angle deviation Δθ stored in the memory 107 of the valve body 10 is read into the valve control device 11 side, and the rotational position θr detected by the encoder 106 is corrected by the deviation angle Δθ. Even when the apparatus 11 is replaced, the deviation angle Δθ is automatically corrected. That is, even when the combination of the valve main body 10 and the valve control device 11 is changed, the valve main body 10 can be appropriately controlled based on the information stored in the memory 107.

  As such an error for each machine base, there is a relationship between the initial position (reference position) of the valve plate 100 and the motor rotation position, in addition to the deviation angle Δθ, and in this case, the same can be applied. .

(Modification 1)
In the above-described embodiment, it has been described that accurate valve control (valve plate positioning control) can be performed even when the combination of the valve control device 11 and the valve body 10 is changed between the same models. In the first modification, a case where the valve body 10 and the valve control device 11 of different models are connected and used will be described.

  For example, consider a case where a model A valve body 10A and a model B valve body 10B are connected to a model A valve control device 11A. In this case, in the memory 107A of the valve main body 10A and the memory 107B of the valve main body 10B, the angle deviation Δθ that is the detection error of the rotational position and the driving characteristics related to the opening / closing driving of the valve plate 100 are It is stored as characteristic information representing the difference.

  The drive characteristics related to the opening / closing drive of the valve plate 100 include the mass of the valve plate 100 and the moment of inertia related to the rotating shaft. In the first modification, since the valve plate 100 is driven in a sliding manner, the moment of inertia of the valve plate 100 is stored as information on the inertia. Here, the moment of inertia of the valve body 10A is Ia, and the moment of inertia of the valve body 10B is Ib (> Ia).

  FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a case where the valve control device 11A is connected to the valve main body 10B for use. Here, it is assumed that the specifications of the motor 101 are the same in the valve bodies 10A and 10B. The memory 107B stores the angle deviation Δθb and the moment of inertia Ib of the valve plate 100. Although not shown, similarly, the valve body 10A stores the angle deviation Δθa and the moment of inertia Ia.

  The correction for the angle deviation Δθb is the same as that in the above-described embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted. The moment of inertia Ia read from the memory 107B is stored in a nonvolatile memory 115a provided in the microstep control unit 115. When the microstep control unit 115 generates the target current value commands iαs and iβs with respect to the angular position command and the angular velocity command, the microstep control unit 115 sets the target current value command iαs based on the control parameter corresponding to the magnitude of the moment of inertia of the valve plate 100. , Iβs. For example, in the case of the inertia moment Ia, the control parameter PA is selected, and in the case of the inertia moment Ib (> Ia), the control parameter PB is selected such that a larger motor current flows than in the case of the inertia moment Ia. As a result, the operation of the valve plate 100 can be made the same regardless of which of the valve bodies 10A and 10B having different moments of inertia of the valve plate 100 is connected.

  In the first modification, the angle deviation Δθ and the information related to the inertia of the valve plate 100 are stored in the memory 107B as the characteristic information indicating the difference in driving characteristics for each valve body. Various types of characteristic information can be considered. For example, the full stroke of the valve plate 100 (rotation angle from 0% to 100%) may be different for different models. In that case, a full stroke may be stored as characteristic information.

(Modification 2)
As in the case of the first modification, the second modification also relates to a configuration in which a valve body 10 and a valve control device 11 of different models are connected and used. In the second modification, the memory 107 on the valve body 10 side in FIG. 6 stores data related to the model of the valve body 10, that is, data for identifying the model (hereinafter referred to as model information). On the other hand, the memory 115a of the microstep control unit 115 of the valve control device 11 stores driving characteristics (for example, moment of inertia of the valve plate 100) related to the valve body opening / closing drive of the valve body 10 for a plurality of models. Here, a description will be given assuming that control parameters PA and PB relating to the inertia moments Ia and Ib of the two types of models A and B are stored.

  As shown in FIG. 6, when the valve body 10B of the model B is connected to the valve control device 11A of the model A, when the power source of the valve control device 11A is activated, the model information of the model B is stored in the valve control device 11A from the memory 107B. It is read by the provided microstep control unit 115. When the read model information is recognized as model B, the control parameter PB corresponding to the inertia moment Ib of model B is selected, and target current value commands iαs and iβs are generated based on the control parameter PB. .

  As described above, in Modification 1, the memory 107B on the valve body 10B side stores the moment of inertia Ib, which is the drive characteristic, and reads it into the valve control device 11A to control the drive of the motor 101. On the other hand, in the second modification, the control parameters PA and PB of the models A and B are stored in the memory 115a on the valve control device 11A side, and the model information (data called model B) stored in the memory 107B on the valve body 10B side is stored. The motor 101 is read and read based on the control parameter PB corresponding to the model B. In either case, even if the valve control device is replaced and used for the valve body, the valve body can be appropriately controlled according to the drive characteristics of the valve body.

  Although various embodiments and modifications have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these contents. For example, although the swinging vacuum valve has been described as an example, the present invention can also be applied to a vacuum valve in which a valve body slides linearly, and to a vacuum valve that opens and closes by a method other than a sliding type. Other embodiments conceivable within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention are also included in the scope of the present invention.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Vacuum valve 10, 10A, 10B ... Valve main body, 11, 11A ... Valve control apparatus, 101 ... Motor, 106 ... Encoder, 106a ... Sensor part, 107, 107A, 107B ... Memory, 110 ... Motor drive control part, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 113 ... Correction | amendment part, 114 ... (omega) r production | generation part, 115 ... Micro step control part, 116 ... Current controller, 117 ... PWM signal generation part, 118 ... Inverter, 200 ... Rotor, 202 ... Permanent magnet

Claims (3)

In a vacuum valve comprising a valve body having a valve body and a motor for driving to open and close the valve body, and a valve control device for driving and controlling the motor, wherein the valve control device is replaceable with respect to the valve body,
The valve body includes a first storage unit that stores characteristic information indicating a difference in driving characteristics for each valve body,
The valve control device is a vacuum valve that reads the characteristic information from the first storage unit and controls driving of the motor based on the characteristic information. The vacuum valve according to claim 1,
The valve body includes a detection unit that detects a rotational position of the motor,
The characteristic information is detection error data of the detection unit,
The valve control device
A correction unit that corrects the rotational position detected by the detection unit based on the detection error data;
A vacuum valve that drives and controls the motor based on the rotational position corrected by the correction unit. The vacuum valve according to claim 1,
The valve control device includes a second storage unit in which drive characteristics related to the valve body opening / closing drive of the valve body are stored for a plurality of models.
The characteristic information stored in the first storage unit is model information indicating a model of the valve body,
The valve control device is a vacuum valve that drives and controls the motor based on the driving characteristics of a model corresponding to the model information read from the first storage unit.

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