JP2019191080A - Interval detection device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide an interval detection device which can easily detect an interval between an electrode member and an object to be processed, and greatly reduce the interval detection work time.SOLUTION: Interval detecting means D is provided with a pair of contacts that keep an interval in a normal state and maintain an open state. And the interval detecting means D is inserted between an electrode member and a processing object held by holding means, and the total thickness L of the components of the interval detecting means D interposed between the electrode member and the processing object in the insertion state is equal to the proper spacing between the electrode member and the processing object. Further, the contact detecting means D is interposed between the electrode member and the object to be processed, and when the contact is closed by the pressing force of the electrode member, the interval detecting means D outputs an electrical signal indicating an appropriate interval.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an interval detection device for detecting an interval between an object to be processed and a discharge electrode in a surface modifying apparatus for modifying the surface of the object to be processed.

  For example, in a surface reforming apparatus using corona discharge, the reforming accuracy varies unless the distance between the discharge electrode and the surface to be treated is accurately determined. Therefore, it is necessary to always keep an appropriate distance between the discharge electrode and the modified surface. Therefore, the conventional surface modification apparatus shown in FIG. 5 includes an adjustment mechanism A that adjusts the height position of the discharge electrode 2.

The surface reforming apparatus provided with the adjusting mechanism A transports a processing object such as a film by a processing roller 1 that maintains a ground potential, and discharge electrodes connected to a high-voltage power source S so as to face the processing roller 1. 2 is provided.
Then, a high voltage is applied to the discharge electrode 2 to generate plasma with the processing roller 1, and the surface of the processing object such as a film conveyed by the processing roller 1 is modified by the action of the plasma. I have to.

In the surface modification apparatus as described above, the accuracy of the surface modification varies depending on the distance between the discharge electrode 2 and the object to be treated.
For this purpose, the conventional apparatus shown in FIG. 5 is provided with an adjusting mechanism A for adjusting the position of the discharge electrode 2 so as to keep the position of the discharge electrode 2 relative to the object to be processed appropriately.

  The adjusting mechanism A includes a support plate 3 fixed to a chamber (not shown), a shaft 4 that passes through the support plate 3 and is movable in the axial direction, and a tip of the shaft 4 on the discharge electrode 2 side. And a holder 5 for holding the discharge electrode 2, and double nuts 6 and 7 provided on the shaft 4 on the opposite side of the holder 5 with the support plate 3 interposed therebetween.

  Then, the height of the discharge electrode 2 is adjusted while loosening the double nuts 6 and 7 and moving the shaft 4 and the holder 5 up and down, and the double nuts 6 and 7 are maintained when the discharge electrode 2 and the object to be processed are kept at an appropriate distance. To fix the position of the discharge electrode 2. Since such an interval setting operation is performed by a person, it is necessary to rely on the operator's sense, and an appropriate interval is not always maintained.

  Therefore, conventionally, whether or not the distance between the discharge electrode 2 and the object to be processed is properly maintained is measured using a plate-shaped distance detection gauge 8. The interval detection gauge 8 has the same thickness as the appropriate interval and is used as follows.

When determining an appropriate interval between the discharge electrode 2 and the object to be processed, the interval detection gauge 8 is placed in advance in the facing interval between the discharge electrode 2 and the object to be processed.
While maintaining this state, the discharge electrode 2 is brought closer to the processing roller 1 and the discharge electrode 2 is brought into contact with the interval detection gauge 8. When the discharge electrode 2 is brought into contact with the distance detection gauge 8 in this way, one of the nuts 6 is tightened to temporarily fix the discharge electrode 2.

  When the discharge electrode 2 is temporarily fixed as described above, a person pulls out the distance detection gauge 8, and it is determined whether or not the proper distance is maintained by adjusting the force when pulling out the distance detection gauge 8. For example, if you feel that the force when pulling out is too strong, the interval is small, if you feel weak, it is judged that the interval is too large, and it is judged that the appropriate interval is maintained when the optimum force is adjusted between them. It was. In this way, when the gap between the discharge electrode 2 and the object to be treated is set to an appropriate distance, the double nuts 6 and 7 are tightened to fix the position of the discharge electrode 2.

JP 2013-253837 A JP 2000-007802 A

  Even when the distance detection gauge 8 as described above is used, the appropriate distance between the discharge electrode 2 and the object to be processed is determined by the force applied when it is pulled out, and eventually it does not rely on human intuition. I do not get. However, since human intuition is not acquired overnight, there is a problem that in order to set an appropriate interval, it is necessary to depend on the skill level of the measurement operator.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an interval detection device in which anyone can easily set the interval without relying on human intuition and can greatly reduce the interval setting time.

In the first invention, the distance detecting means is provided with a pair of contacts. The pair of contacts are normally kept open and closed when a pressing force is applied to them.
The interval detecting means configured as described above interposes the interval detecting means between the electrode member and the object to be processed held by the holding means, and the interval is detected when the contact is closed by the pressing force of the electrode member. The total thickness of the constituent elements of the detection means is made equal to the appropriate distance between the electrode member and the object to be processed. Then, when the pair of contacts are closed, an electric signal indicating that an appropriate interval is maintained is output.

  If the elastic modulus of the constituent elements of the distance detecting means is kept low, the total thickness of the constituent elements does not change so much even if the electrode member is pressed slightly against the distance detecting means. On the other hand, if the elastic modulus of the component is increased, the total thickness of the component changes when the electrode member is strongly pressed against the distance detecting means. Accordingly, the lower the elastic modulus of the component of the interval detection means, the more accurately the interval can be detected.

  The holding means may be any means as long as it has a function of holding the processing object. For example, when the processing object is continuously processed like a film, the processing roller serves as a holding unit, and when the processing object is batch-processed like a semiconductor substrate, a table for transporting the substrate Or a robot arm etc. become a holding means.

The distance detecting means in the second invention is provided with an inelastic spacer that overlaps one of the contacts on the side opposite to the facing distance across at least one of the contacts. And this spacer is contained in the said component of the said space | interval detection means.
The inelastic spacer refers to a spacer having a low elastic modulus that does not change its thickness even when pressed by an electrode member.

  The interval detecting means in the third invention is covered with a sheet-like cover, and this cover is included in the constituent elements of the interval detecting means.

  In the distance detection means according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, an elastic body is provided in the cover, at a position outside the facing distance between the pair of contacts. The elastic body keeps the pair of contacts open at least when no pressing force is applied to the pair of contacts, and the elastic body bends when the pressing force is applied to the cover. The contact is closed.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, a plurality of interval detection means are provided, and the interval detection means is associated with each of the electrode members arranged in the conveyance direction of the object to be processed held by the holding means. The detection signal is output from the detection means.

According to the first invention, when the distance between the electrode member and the object to be processed is properly maintained, the distance detection means outputs a signal, so that anyone can easily set the distance without relying on human intuition. At the same time, the interval setting time can be greatly shortened.
In addition, since the appropriate distance between the electrode member and the object to be processed can be detected as the total thickness of the constituent elements of the distance detection means, anyone can determine the appropriate distance under the same conditions. Therefore, a proper interval can be detected even by a user or a beginner without requiring skill.

  According to the second invention, since the inelastic spacer is provided as a component, even when a sufficient thickness cannot be ensured with only a pair of contact points, an appropriate distance between the electrode member and the object to be processed is obtained. A considerable thickness can be maintained. In addition, by setting the thickness of the spacer freely, the appropriate interval can be set freely.

  According to the third invention, since the distance detecting means is covered with the cover, for example, foreign matter does not enter between the pair of contacts, so that problems such as contact failure of the contacts do not occur.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, the open state of the pair of contacts is maintained by the elastic body, so that malfunction of detection can be prevented unless the pressing force by the electrode member acts.
In addition, since both the contacts are normally kept open by this elastic body, the interval detecting means can be taken in and out between the electrode member and the holding means, and the operation for detecting the appropriate interval can be continuously performed.

  According to the fifth aspect of the invention, since a plurality of the interval detecting means are provided corresponding to the plurality of electrode members, a plurality of intervals can be detected at a time. Since a plurality of intervals can be detected at a time, the interval detection work time can be shortened.

It is sectional drawing which looked at the space | interval detection apparatus which showed the state interposed between the process roller and discharge electrode in 1st Embodiment from the side surface. It is sectional drawing which shows the state which the pressing force acted and (b) the pressing force acted, and showed the state which looked at the space | interval detection apparatus in 1st Embodiment from the front end side, and the contact closed. It is the schematic which looked at the space | interval detection apparatus which showed the state interposed between the process roller and discharge electrode in 2nd Embodiment from the side surface. It is the schematic which looked at the space | interval detection apparatus in 2nd Embodiment from the top. It is the schematic which looked at the surface modification apparatus from the front of the conveyance direction of a film in the conventional space | interval detection.

The interval detection device of the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is, for example, a discharge electrode 2 that is an electrode member according to the present invention and a holding means in a surface modification device for modifying the surface of an insulating film. It is used to detect an appropriate distance from a film that is a processing object conveyed by the processing roller 1.
Note that the surface modification apparatus in the first embodiment generates an electric field between the discharge electrode 2 and the grounded processing roller 1, and generates plasma with this electric field.

As shown in FIG. 1, the interval detection device includes an interval detection means D, which is entirely covered with a sheet-like cover C. In the cover C, first and second contacts 11 and 12 are incorporated.
The first contact 11 is directly fixed to the inner surface of the cover C located on the processing roller 1 side, and the second contact 12 facing the first contact 11 is arranged on the inner surface of the cover C located on the discharge electrode 2 side. It is fixed to a spacer 13 made of a fixed inelastic material.

  The first and second contacts 11 and 12 are connected to a power supply circuit 14, and an LED 15 is connected to the power supply circuit 14. Accordingly, when the first and second contacts 11 and 12 are closed, the LED 15 is lit.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2 (a), the elastic body 16 is provided at a position away from the facing distance between the first and second contacts 11, 12. The position deviating from the facing interval means that when the first and second contacts 11 and 12 are closed, the elastic body 16 is sandwiched between the first and second contacts 11 and 12 as shown in FIG. There is no position.
As shown in FIG. 2A, the elastic body 16 normally functions to keep the first and second contacts 11, 12 open. Then, when the pressing force of the discharge electrode 2 acts, the elastic body 16 bends, and the first and second contacts 11 and 12 are closed as shown in FIG.

  When the first and second contacts 11 and 12 are closed, the total thickness L of the constituent elements of the distance detecting means D located between the discharge electrode 2 and the object to be processed, that is, as shown in FIG. The total thickness L of the cover C, the spacer 13 and the first and second contacts 11 and 12 is set to be equal to the appropriate distance between the discharge electrode 2 and the film held on the processing roller 1.

Next, a method for using the interval detection means D as described above will be described.
As shown in FIG. 1, before positioning the discharge electrode 2, a gap detection means D is inserted in advance between the discharge electrode 2 and the film conveyed by the processing roller 1.
Then, the double nuts 6 and 7 of the adjusting mechanism A are loosened to bring the discharge electrode 2 together with the holder 5 closer to the processing roller 1 until the LED 15 is lit. When the LED 15 is turned on, the lighting position is the proper interval holding position.
At this proper interval holding position, one nut 6 is tightened for positioning, and the other nut 7 is also tightened to fix the proper interval position of the discharge electrode 2.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, the adjustment mechanism A is operated to bring the discharge electrode 2 closer to the object to be processed, and the discharge electrode 2 is pressed against the distance detection means D against the elastic force of the elastic body 16. Only by this, the proper interval position of the discharge electrode 2 can be maintained.
In the first embodiment, the interval between the discharge electrode 2 and the object to be processed is detected, but the interval between the discharge electrode 2 and the processing roller 1 may be detected.

  Further, if the elastic modulus of the above-described constituent elements of the interval detecting means D is kept low, even if the discharge electrode 2 is pressed slightly against the interval detecting means D, the total thickness of the above constituent elements does not change so much. On the other hand, when the elastic modulus of the component is increased, the total thickness of the component changes when the discharge electrode 2 is strongly pressed against the distance detection means D. Therefore, the lower the elastic modulus of the component of the interval detection means D, the more accurately the interval can be detected.

  Further, in the first embodiment, the processing roller 1 is used as the holding means, but the processing means in the present invention may be any as long as it has a function of holding the processing object. For example, if the object to be processed is batch-processed like a semiconductor substrate, the holding unit is a table or a robot arm hand that carries the substrate.

The inelastic spacer 13 maintains a low elastic modulus so that its thickness does not change even when pressed by the discharge electrode.
The spacer may be interposed between the first contact 11 and the cover C, or may be provided both between the first and second contacts 11 and 12 and the cover C.

In short, as long as the total thickness L of the components is equal to the appropriate distance, the thickness and number of spacers do not matter.
Further, since the entire distance detection means D is covered with the cover C, for example, foreign matter is not interposed between the first and second contacts 11 and 12 so that contact failure does not occur.

Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
The second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that the interval detecting means is made to correspond to a plurality of discharge electrodes, and the other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment. And about the same component as 1st Embodiment, description of 1st Embodiment is used as it is.

As shown in FIG. 3, the interval detection device of the second embodiment includes interval detection means D1, D2, and D3 corresponding to the three discharge electrodes 2x, 2y, and 2z, respectively, but the whole is a sheet-like shape. The cover C is covered.
Three pairs of contact points are incorporated inside the cover C so as to correspond to the discharge electrodes 2x, 2y, and 2z, and at least one contact point is located on the opposite side of the facing interval from the cover C. A spacer is fixed between them.

Then, the total thickness L including the cover C, the spacer, and the pair of contacts is set so that the appropriate distance between the discharge electrode 2 and the film held on the processing roller 1 is equal, so that three sets of distance detection means D1, D2 , D3.
In addition, an elastic body is provided at a position deviating from the facing distance between the pair of contacts.

As shown in FIG. 4, three sets of interval detection means D1, D2, and D3 provided in one cover C are divided in the longitudinal direction of the three discharge electrodes 2x, 2y, and 2z and the direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction. Are arranged so as not to overlap each other.
A power supply circuit 14 is connected to each of the interval detection means D1, D2, D3 so that detection signals with appropriate intervals are output.
In FIG. 4, a transparent member is used for the cover C, and the positions of the distance detection means D1, D2, D3 are shown.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the interval detection device according to the second embodiment is disposed between the processing roller 1 and the three discharge electrodes 2x, 2y, 2z, and sequentially discharges the discharge electrode 2x. , 2y, 2z and the film held on the processing roller 1 are detected. Then, the detection signals of the three sets of interval detection means D1, D2 and D3 are checked in order to determine the appropriate intervals at three locations.

  In the second embodiment, since three sets of interval detection means D1, D2, D3 are provided corresponding to the three discharge electrodes 2x, 2y, 2z, it is possible to detect appropriate intervals at three locations at once. it can. Since a plurality of appropriate intervals can be detected at a time, the operation time for interval detection can be shortened.

  Since three sets of interval detection means D1, D2, D3 are provided so as not to overlap each other in the longitudinal direction of the three discharge electrodes 2x, 2y, 2z and the direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction, Even if the pressing force of one discharge electrode 2x, 2y, 2z is applied to the cover C, there is little influence that the distortion of the cover C at the pressed portion spreads to the other cover C portion. Accordingly, the appropriate intervals can be detected without affecting the interval detection of the interval detection means D1, D2, D3 corresponding to the other discharge electrodes 2x, 2y, 2z.

In addition, as the discharge electrode 2 used for the surface modification apparatus of 1st or 2nd embodiment, it is not limited to the structure of the said embodiment. For example, various shapes of electrodes having a certain degree of hardness, such as rod-shaped electrodes covered with ceramics, plate-shaped electrodes, and needle-shaped electrodes, can be used.
Further, in the configuration of the distance detection means D according to the first or second embodiment, the spacer 13 and the cover C are not essential components as long as the pair of contacts 11 and 12 are provided. Further, the combination of the configurations of the interval detection means D can be freely set according to the appropriate interval.

In the first or second embodiment, the LED 15 emits light as a detection signal, but any signal may be used. For example, sound or vibration may be used.
In the first or second embodiment, the pair of contacts 11 and 12 are used, but a switch mechanism may be used.

  Furthermore, in the first or second embodiment, a surface modification device that generates plasma between the discharge electrode 2 and the grounded processing roller 1 is premised. The present invention can also be applied to a surface modification apparatus in which an electrode is provided, plasma is generated between a pair of electrode members composed of the counter electrode and the discharge electrode, and this plasma is sprayed onto the object to be treated. That is, as long as the proper distance between the electrode member and the object to be processed becomes a problem, the present invention can be applied to any surface modification apparatus.

  This is useful when detecting an appropriate distance between the electrode member and the object to be processed.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Processing roller, 2 ... Discharge electrode, 11 ... 1st contact, 12 ... 2nd contact, 13 ... Spacer, 14 ... Power supply circuit, 15 ... LED, 16 ... Elastic body, C ... Cover

Claims (5)

An interval detecting means having a pair of contacts for maintaining an open state while maintaining an interval in a normal state is provided,
This interval detection means is
While being inserted between the electrode member and the processing object held by the holding means,
The total thickness of the constituent elements of the interval detection means interposed between the electrode member and the processing object in the inserted state is equal to the appropriate interval between the electrode member and the processing object;
The gap detection means is interposed between the electrode member and the object to be processed, and the gap detection means outputs an electric signal indicating an appropriate gap when the contact is closed by the pressing force of the electrode member. apparatus.   The distance detecting means is provided with an inelastic spacer overlapping the one contact on the opposite side of the facing distance across at least one contact, and this spacer is included in the constituent elements of the distance detecting means. Item 2. The interval detection device according to Item 1.   The interval detection device according to claim 1, wherein the interval detection unit is covered with a sheet-like cover, and the cover is included in a component of the interval detection unit. The distance detecting means is provided with an elastic body in the cover, at a position outside the facing distance between the pair of contacts, that is, a position where the pair of contacts are not sandwiched between the contacts when closed.
The elastic body keeps the pair of contacts open when no pressing force is applied to the cover, and the elastic body bends and closes the pair of contacts when the pressing force is applied to the cover. The interval detection device according to claim 3.   A plurality of interval detection means are provided, and the interval detection means is associated with each of a plurality of electrode members arranged in the transport direction of the processing object held by the holding means, and a detection signal is received from each interval detection means. The space | interval detection apparatus of any one of Claims 1-4 comprised as an output structure.

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