JP2020193369A - Transfer chamber - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a highly versatile transfer chamber having a structure in which relative parallelism between guide rollers is hardly misaligned.SOLUTION: A transfer chamber TS of the present invention includes a plurality of guide rollers Gr arranged in parallel to each other, guides a transfer of a sheet-like substrate Sw with the sheet-like substrate Sw wound around each guide roller, and can form a vacuum atmosphere. The transfer chamber has roller guides 51, 52 arranged inside a partition 1b at a distance, the partition defining the transfer chamber. A plurality of first ports 5a, 5b are formed in the roller guides, of which number is equal to or more than the number of guide rollers to be arranged. The guide rollers are supported by cylindrical support shafts 61a, 61b each provided in a first port via bearings 62a, 62b. Second ports 13a, 13b are provided open on the partition, the second port having the same hole axis ha as the first port.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention includes a plurality of guide rollers arranged in parallel with each other, and can form a vacuum atmosphere in which a sheet-shaped base material is wound around each guide roller to guide the transfer of the sheet-shaped base material. Regarding the transport room.

Conventionally, a sheet-shaped base material is transferred (running) at a predetermined speed in a vacuum chamber in a vacuum atmosphere, and various vacuum treatments such as film formation treatment and etching treatment are performed along the transfer path. There is. Such a vacuum processing apparatus is known, for example, in Patent Document 1. This has a vacuum chamber capable of forming a vacuum atmosphere, a can roller is provided in the vacuum chamber, and the vacuum chamber is divided into two upper and lower chambers by a partition plate arranged around the can roller.

In one chamber (vacuum processing chamber), a vapor deposition source for performing various vacuum treatments is arranged, and in the other chamber (conveying chamber), a wound sheet-like base material is placed at a constant speed. Parallel to each other, guiding the transfer of the sheet-like base material between the feeding roller, the winding roller for winding the vacuum-treated sheet-shaped base material, and the feeding roller and the winding roller via the can roller. There are a plurality of guide rollers arranged in. Each guide roller is usually pivotally supported via a bearing on a shaft body erected on a pair of wall surfaces of vacuum chambers facing each other (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

Here, when the inside of the vacuum chamber is evacuated, the wall surface of the vacuum chamber may be distorted due to the pressure difference between the inside and the outside. Therefore, if each guide roller is provided as in the above-mentioned conventional example, the parallelism between the guide rollers is deviated, and this makes the sheet-like base material to be subjected to various vacuum treatments relatively wide. When is used, problems such as wrinkles are generated on the sheet-like base material that is wound around each guide roller and transferred.

In addition, when transferring sheet-shaped base materials with different widths and performing various vacuum treatments, a guide roller that winds the sheet-shaped base material in the transport chamber in consideration of the tension applied to the sheet-shaped base material. It is desirable to appropriately set the number and arrangement of. However, in the above-mentioned conventional example, there is a problem that the number of guide rollers and their arrangement cannot be rearranged, and the versatility is lacking.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2010-163693 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 60-151032

In view of the above points, it is an object of the present invention to provide a transport chamber having a structure having high versatility and a structure in which the parallelism of each guide roller is not easily deviated.

In order to solve the above problems, a plurality of guide rollers arranged in parallel with each other are provided, and a sheet-shaped base material is wound around each guide roller to guide the transfer of the sheet-shaped base material in a vacuum atmosphere. The transport chamber of the present invention that can be formed has roller guides provided inside the transport chamber that defines the transport chamber at a distance from the partition wall, and the number of roller guides is equal to or larger than that of the guide rollers to be installed. A plurality of first ports are formed in the above, a guide roller is pivotally supported by a cylindrical support shaft provided in each of the first ports via a bearing, and a second port having the same hole shaft as the first port becomes a partition wall. It is characterized by being opened.

In the present invention, the support further includes a support that is inserted into the second port from the outside of the partition wall, and the tip of the insertion direction penetrates the first port and is locked to the support shaft. A configuration that can support the equipment installed in the internal space of the guide roller may be adopted.

According to the present invention, since the guide rollers are pivotally supported by the roller guides provided inside the partition wall that defines the transport chamber, the parallelism between the guide rollers is deviated when the inside of the vacuum chamber is evacuated. It is possible to prevent such problems from occurring. Further, since each roller guide is provided with a plurality of first ports, if the first port is appropriately selected, the number and arrangement of guide rollers around which the sheet-shaped base material is wound can be appropriately changed in the transport chamber. be able to.

Here, when various vacuum treatments are applied to the sheet-shaped base material, for example, a heating or cooling device is incorporated in the guide roller that transfers the sheet-shaped base material to a predetermined position, and heat is exchanged with the guide roller. It may be required to heat or cool the sheet-like substrate. In the present invention, since the second port having the same hole axis as each first port is provided on the wall surface of the vacuum chamber, the support is attached to the second port located on the same hole axis from the outside of the wall surface. If it is inserted and the sheath heater as a heating device and the cooling panel as a cooling device are supported by this support, the rotation of the guide roller due to the transfer of the sheet-like base material in a vacuum atmosphere is hindered. Various instruments can be arranged in the internal space of the guide roller without any need, and the instruments can be easily rearranged. At this time, the support fixed to the transport chamber is also advantageous because it also serves as positioning and retaining of various instruments in the guide roller.

The schematic side view of the vacuum vapor deposition apparatus provided with the transfer chamber of this embodiment. The partial cross-sectional perspective view explaining the transport chamber of this embodiment. An exploded perspective view illustrating a guide roller with a built-in heater.

Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings, the transfer chamber TS of the present invention is placed in the vacuum chamber 1 of the vacuum processing apparatus Dm that deposits (deposits) a predetermined thin film on the sheet-shaped base material Sw wound around the can roller Cr. The embodiment will be described by taking the case of applying the above. In the following, it is assumed that the canroller Cr is housed in the vacuum chamber 1 in a posture in which the axial directions of the canroller Cr coincide with the horizontal direction, and the axial direction is set to the X-axis direction and the X-axis in the same horizontal plane. The orthogonal direction is the Y-axis direction, the X-axis and the vertical direction orthogonal to the Y-axis are the Z-axis directions, and the directions such as "up" and "down" are based on FIG.

With reference to FIG. 1, the vacuum processing apparatus Dm including the transfer chamber TS of the present embodiment includes the vacuum chamber 1. A vacuum pump unit 2 composed of a turbo molecular pump, a rotary pump, or the like is connected to the vacuum chamber 1 via an exhaust pipe 21 so that a vacuum atmosphere (for example, ^10-5 Pa) can be formed. Further, the vacuum chamber 1 is divided into two upper and lower chambers by a partition plate 11, and a vapor deposition source 3 as a film forming unit is provided in one of the chambers (deposited chamber VS) located on the lower side in FIG. .. As the thin-film deposition source 3, a pit 31 containing the vapor-deposited material Em and a heating means 32 such as a sheath heater for heating the vapor-deposited material Em housed in the pit 31 are used, and the vapor deposition source 3 is housed in the pit 31 by heating. The vaporized vaporized material Em is sublimated or vaporized, and the sublimated or vaporized vaporized material is adhered to and deposited on a sheet-shaped base material Sw wound around the can roller Cr to be deposited (deposited). The film forming unit is not limited to the vapor deposition source 3, and a sputtering method or a CVD method can be used. Since known ones can be used, further description thereof will be omitted.

On the other hand, the other chamber located on the upper side in FIG. 1 is the transport chamber TS of the present embodiment defined by the wall surfaces 1a and 1b of the vacuum chamber 1 as a partition wall, and the transport chamber TS has a sheet shape. Roller 4a, which is wound around the base material Sw and is rotationally driven by the motor M1 to feed out the sheet-shaped base material Sw at a constant running speed, and a sheet-shaped base material which is rotationally driven by the motor M2 and has been formed into a film. A take-up roller 4b for taking up Sw is provided. Inside the opening 12 formed in the partition plate 11, a can roller Cr is arranged so that the sheet-shaped base material Sw is wound so as to face the vapor deposition source 3. Then, in the transport chamber TS, the sheet-shaped base material Sw fed from the feeding roller 4a is guided to the can roller Cr, and the sheet-shaped base material Sw formed from the can roller Cr is transferred to the winding roller 4b. A plurality of guide rollers Gr are provided for guiding.

Referring also to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the upper wall 1a inner surface of the vacuum chamber 1, the roller guide 5 _first pair of plate at a predetermined interval in the X-axis _direction, 5 ₂ are suspended. The predetermined positions of the respective roller guide 5 _1, 5 _2, to have the same hole axes ha along a virtual line extending in the X-axis direction, the first port 5a is a thickness direction of the through hole, 5b plurality of Have been established respectively. In this case, the first ports 5a and 5b are provided in the same number as or more than the guide rollers Gr to be installed. The side wall 1b of the vacuum chamber 1 that defines the transport chamber TS has the same hole axis ha corresponding to the first ports 5a and 5b, respectively, and is a through hole in the plate thickness direction. 13b have been opened respectively. Then, as shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of guide rollers Gr are installed in the transport chamber TS using the first ports 5a and 5b (and the second ports 13a and 13b). In the following, the first guide roller Gr1 has a function of guiding the sheet-shaped base material Sw, and the sheet-shaped base material Sw wound around the first guide roller Gr1 when guiding the sheet-shaped base material Sw. A case where the second guide roller Gr2 is used to heat the portion and the first guide roller Gr1 and the second guide roller Gr2 are installed in the transport chamber TS will be described as an example.

The first guide roller Gr1 has a tubular support shaft 61a, 61b fixed to the first ports 5a, 5b having the same hole shaft ha so as to extend inward, and the support shafts 61a, respectively. It is composed of bearings 62a and 62b mounted on 61b, respectively, and a roller body 63 pivotally supported by both bearings 62a and 62b. In this case, a lid 7 is attached to the pair of second ports 13a and 13b having the same hole axis ha from the outside of the side wall 1b of the vacuum chamber 1 via a vacuum seal (not shown), and is inside the transport chamber TS. Is designed to be kept airtight. As a result, the number and arrangement of the first guide rollers Gr1 can be rearranged by appropriately selecting the first ports 5a and 5b having the same hole axis ha. Since a known roller body 63 can be used, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Similar to the above, the second guide roller Gr2 has tubular support shafts 61a and 61b, which are fixed to the first ports 5a and 5b having the same hole shaft ha so as to extend inward. It is composed of bearings 62a and 62b mounted on the support shafts 61a and 61b, respectively, and a roller body 63 pivotally supported by both bearings 62a and 62b. Then, using the pair of second ports 13a, 13b and the supports 8a, 8b having the same hole axis ha as the first ports 5a, 5b, the sheath heater as an instrument installed in the internal space of the guide roller Gr2. 9 is arranged in the internal space of the roller main body 63.

Each of the supports 8a and 8b includes a tubular main body 81 that is sequentially inserted into the first ports 5a and 5b and the second ports 13a and 13b, and the tip in the insertion direction is inserted into the support shafts 61a and 61b. It is supposed to be stopped. Further, a flange 82 is formed at the rear end of the main body 81 in the insertion direction, and when the supports 8a and 8b are inserted from the outside of the side wall 1b of the vacuum chamber 1, the flange 82 provides a vacuum seal (not shown) provided therein. The inside of the transport chamber TS is kept airtight by making surface contact with the outside of the side wall 1b of the vacuum chamber 1 through the vacuum chamber 1. The sheath heater 9 has a U-shaped contour, and both free ends of the sheath heater 9 are fixed to the outer surface of the flange 82 of the other support 8b, respectively. In this case, the sheath heater 9 is sized so as to be longer than the roller main body 63 with the other support 8b attached. As a result, the roller body 63 can be heated to a predetermined temperature by radiant heat by energizing the sheath heater 9 with an unexpected power source.

In the above embodiment, the case where the sheath heater 9 is cantilevered and supported by the other support 8b is described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, the sheath heater 9 is supported in the mounted state of the other support 8b. A portion (U-shaped folded portion) of the sheath heater 9 that penetrates into the shaft 61a may be supported by a support member (not shown) provided on one of the supports 8a. Further, when a cooling pipe (not shown) as an instrument to be installed in the internal space of the guide roller Gr2 is arranged in the internal space of the roller main body 63, the cooling pipe having a U-shaped contour is cantilevered. If a supported support is prepared, a configuration in which the roller body 63 is cooled to a predetermined temperature by radiation can be realized simply by attaching the support as described above.

According to the above embodiment, it is possible to prevent a problem that the parallelism between the guide rollers Gr is deviated when the inside of the vacuum chamber 1 is evacuated. Each roller guide ₅ 1, _{5 2} into a plurality of first port 5a, since the provided 5b, first port 5a, if 5b appropriately selected, sheet substrate Sw in the transfer chamber TS The number of guide rollers Gr around which the wheels are wound and their arrangement can be rearranged as appropriate. Further, since the second ports 13a and 13b having the same hole axis ha as the first ports 5a and 5b are provided on the side wall 1b of the vacuum chamber 1, the second port 13a located on the same hole axis ha is provided. , 13b, the supports 8a and 8b are inserted from the outside of the side wall 1b, respectively, and the sheath heater 9 is supported by the pair of the supports 8a and 8b. Therefore, a guide accompanying the transfer of the sheet-shaped base material Sw in a vacuum atmosphere. The rotation of the roller Gr2 is not hindered, and the device can be easily rearranged. At this time, the supports 8a and 8b fixed to the side wall 1b of the vacuum chamber 1 as the partition wall are also advantageous because they also serve as positioning and retaining of various instruments in the guide roller Gr2.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to those of the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made as long as the gist of the present invention is not deviated. In the above embodiment, the vacuum processing apparatus Dm for depositing (depositing) a predetermined thin film on the sheet-shaped base material Sw wound around the can roller Cr has been described as an example, but other methods such as heat treatment and etching treatment have been described. The present invention can also be applied to a vacuum processing apparatus. Also, those in the above embodiment, between a pair of plate-shaped roller guide 5 _1, 5 _2, there have been described what placing the guide rollers Gr example, which supports have a guide roller pieces by a single roller guide The present invention can also be applied to. Further, although a sheath heater and a cooling pipe are exemplified as appliances installed in the internal space of the roller main body 63, the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, when a sheet-shaped base material is electrostatically adsorbed on a guide roller. The present invention can also be applied to the electrodes of.

When the sheath heater 9 and the cooling pipe are provided in the roller main body 63, a gas introduction pipe (not shown) penetrating the flanges 82 of the supports 8a and 8b shown in FIG. 2 is further provided, and a predetermined gas introduction pipe (not shown) is provided inside the roller main body 63. By introducing the gas (generally an assist gas using an inert gas), it is easy to realize an efficient heating method or cooling method for heat exchange not only by radiation but also by convection. As is obvious from FIG. 2, since the path from the inside of the roller body 63 to the transport chamber TS has a shape with high conductance, there is little leakage of (assist) gas to the transport chamber TS side, and this A configuration having the same hole axis ha on the surface is effective. In addition, as compared with the heat exchange method in which the cold / hot medium is brought into direct contact with the roller body 63, the rotation resistance of the guide roller Gr is low because the structure is not complicated, which may lead to an increase in tension on the sheet-shaped base material Sw. There is an advantage that there is no. Here, in general, the surface of the roller body 63 is a mirror surface having a surface roughness Rz of about 0.2 in order to convey the sheet-like base material Sw, so that the reflectance is high and the thermal efficiency in radiation is poor. However, with this configuration, the back surface side of the sheet-shaped base material Sw transport surface can be heated, so that the surface roughness of the back surface side can be made larger than the front surface, and the thermal efficiency is improved. It is a configuration that can be made to. If it is desired to further improve the thermal efficiency, it is possible to perform a general-purpose blackening treatment or the like without making a contract with the transfer of the base material Sw.

Further, when the sheet-shaped base material Sw is transferred, a configuration in which the guide roller Gr is rotationally driven (that is, rotation is introduced from the outside (atmosphere side) of the transport chamber to the guide roller inside (vacuum side)) can be adopted. At this time, the power (bidirectional power for driving and regeneration) from the motor (not shown) can be transmitted to the roller main body 63 via the supports 8a and 8b. At this time, in the case of a configuration having the same hole shaft ha, the hole shaft ha may be the center of the rotation shaft of the drive introduction shaft, and the position change when the inside of the vacuum chamber 1 is evacuated from the atmospheric state is the shaft joint. If only (coupling that allows eccentricity, eccentricity, end play, etc.) is provided in the middle of the drive shaft, it can be absorbed, so it is possible to easily add rotation introduction. When the drive introduction unit also functions as a shaft joint (for example, when the drive introduction unit has a magnetic coupling mechanism), it is not necessary to add the shaft joint as a configuration.

Gr (Gr1, Gr2) ... guide roller, Sw ... sheet substrate, TS ... transfer chamber, 1b ... side wall (partition wall), _{5 1,} 5 2 _... roller guide, 5a, 5b ... first port, 61a, 61b ... Support shaft, 62a, 62b ... Bearing, ha ... Hole shaft, 13a, 13b ... Second port, 8a, 8b ... Support.

Claims (2)

In a transport chamber capable of forming a vacuum atmosphere, which is provided with a plurality of guide rollers arranged in parallel with each other, and a sheet-shaped base material is wound around each guide roller to guide the transfer of the sheet-shaped base material.
It has a roller guide provided inside the partition wall that defines the transport chamber at a distance from the partition wall.
A plurality of first ports are formed on the roller guides in an number equal to or larger than the number of guide rollers to be installed, and the guide rollers are pivotally supported via bearings on the tubular support shafts provided in the first ports.
A transport chamber characterized in that a second port having the same hole axis as the first port is provided in a partition wall. A support that is inserted into the second port from the outside of the partition wall and whose tip in the insertion direction penetrates the first port and is locked to the support shaft is further provided, and the internal space of the guide roller is provided by this support. The transport chamber according to claim 1, wherein the equipment installed in the vehicle can be supported.

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