JP3281708B2 - Continuous vacuum sealing device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a continuous vacuum sealing device applied to a vacuum processing device such as vacuum deposition, sputtering, CVD, and surface modification of a flexible strip such as a plastic film, paper, steel plate or the like. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A continuous vacuum vapor deposition apparatus is a type of apparatus which continuously carries a band-shaped substrate such as paper, plastic film, cloth, steel plate or the like from the atmosphere into a vacuum chamber and performs vacuum treatment such as surface treatment.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show a configuration example of a conventional continuous vacuum sealing device applied to, for example, this continuous vacuum vapor deposition device.

As shown in these figures, a cylindrical casing 2 is provided with an upper opening 2a open to the atmosphere and a lower opening 2b communicating with a lower vapor deposition chamber 71. End plate 3 is attached to form a cylindrical container,
A seal roll 4 is housed inside.

The seal roll 4 is eccentrically mounted on the end plate 3 such that the gap between the outer peripheral surface and the inner peripheral surface of the casing 2 is eccentric so that the upper side of the seal roll is larger in the atmosphere and the lower side of the vapor deposition chamber 71 is smaller in FIG. , One of which is connected to a drive device (not shown).

The first to sixth seal bars 11 ', 12', 13 ', 14' of which the size decreases sequentially on the entrance side (the right side in FIG. 4) and the exit side (the left side in FIG. 4) of the gap. , 1
5 ′ and 16 ′ are interposed, and the gaps on the entrance side and the exit side are formed by the respective seal bars in the first-stage decompression chamber 21,
Stage decompression room 22, third stage decompression room 23, fourth stage decompression room 24,
It is divided into a fifth stage decompression chamber 25.

The inlet and outlet sides of the decompression chambers 21 to 25 are respectively connected by connecting grooves 3b provided in the end plate 3, and an exhaust groove 3c provided in the end plate 3 and an exhaust groove provided in the casing 2. 2c and a vacuum pipe 29 are connected to a vacuum exhaust device (not shown).

[0008] Both ends 11a to 16a of the seal bars 11 'to 16' are movably fitted in the grooves 3a of the end plate 3, and the upper end is wound around the wire reel 7 and the lower end is wound around the wire reel 8. The seal bars 11 ′ to 16 ′ which are connected by the fixed wire 9 are simultaneously moved by the wire 9, and the seal bars 1 having different sizes are connected.
The gap between the seal rolls 1 'to 16' and the seal roll 4 is adjusted.

The traveling substrate 51 is provided with a guide roll 6 from the atmosphere.
6 each guide bar 11 'on the entry side
~ 16 'and the seal roll 4, and pressed and wound on the seal roll 4 by the upper press roll 5 and the lower press roll 6, and after passing through a vapor deposition chamber 71 (not shown), furthermore, each of the outgoing side seals The paper passes between the bars 11 ′ to 16 ′ and the seal roll 4 and is sent to a take-up roll (not shown) via a guide roll 66.

After each of the decompression chambers 21 to 25 is sequentially decompressed from the first stage on the atmosphere side and the vapor deposition chamber 71 reaches a predetermined vacuum pressure, for example, vacuum vapor deposition is performed on the traveling substrate 51 in the vapor deposition chamber 71. Is applied.

[0011]

In the above-described conventional apparatus, the passing of the substrate 51 before the operation is performed by firstly sealing the substrate 51 at a stage where the seal bars 11 'to 16' have not been inserted yet. After passing through the gap between the inner wall 4 of the casing 2 and the vapor deposition chamber 71, the seal bars 11 ′ to 16 ′ are inserted into the gap, and the seal roll 4 and the respective seal bars 11 ′ are pulled while being pulled by the wire 9. ~ 16 '
Although the gap between them is adjusted, a plurality of seal bars 11 ′ to 16 ′ having different sizes must be adjusted simultaneously in conjunction with each other. It is difficult and takes time.

Since the gap between the seal roll 4 and the inner surface of the casing 2 is narrow and elongated, for example, the substrate 51 is cut off during the pass-through operation or during operation, and the cut end is in the decompression chamber 21 to 21.
In the case where the seal bar remains in the gap 25, the seal bar must be removed from the gap, the cut end must be removed, and the above-mentioned threading work must be performed again, which is very troublesome. Was.

[0013]

Means for Solving the Problems To solve the above-mentioned problems, a continuous vacuum sealing apparatus according to the present invention has a structure in which a strip-shaped substrate is continuously transferred from the atmosphere to a vacuum chamber and from the vacuum chamber to the atmosphere. In the vacuum device, an opening portion which is closed at both ends by an end plate and which is open to the atmosphere on the peripheral surface and an opening portion which communicates with the vacuum chamber is formed, and the opening portion is opened to the atmosphere.
A semicircular casing opened to the side, and an entrance gap opposite to a line connecting the two openings, which is housed in the casing so as to be removably fitted in a bearing groove provided in the end plate. A seal roll provided with a single elevating means for forming a side gap between an outer peripheral surface thereof and an inner surface of the casing; and a plurality of stages of inserts interposed in the two gaps and dividing the gaps respectively. A plurality of seal bars forming a side decompression chamber and an outflow decompression chamber; a band-shaped substrate pressing means for winding a band-shaped substrate entering and leaving the gap at the two openings around the outer peripheral surface of the seal roll; Vacuum evacuation means for decompressing the chamber.

[0014]

[Action] The casing is opened to the open side that is opened to the atmosphere.
The seal roll has a semi-circular configuration, and the casing of the seal roll is adapted to be fitted on and removed from bearing grooves provided on both end plates, so that the seal roll can be arbitrarily taken out or assembled from the casing. For example, at the time of sheet passing, the seal roll is taken out of the casing, the substrate is passed, the seal roll is again housed in the casing, and the work is completed by being axially mounted on the bearing groove.

The removal and assembling of the seal roll from the inside of the casing can be appropriately performed by the elevating device at the time of the above-mentioned sheet passing, removal of the cut end accompanying the cutting of the substrate, cleaning of the decompression chamber, and maintenance. Further, in this case, if the gap between the seal roll and the seal roll is adjusted in advance, there is almost no change even if the seal roll is taken out and assembled frequently as described above.

[0016]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIGS. 1 to 3 show a main part configuration of a continuous vacuum sealing apparatus according to the present embodiment applied to a continuous vacuum vapor deposition apparatus, and FIG.
3 is a sectional view taken along the line II-II, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III in FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the continuous vacuum sealing apparatus according to the present embodiment continuously moves a strip-shaped traveling substrate 51 from the atmosphere to a vapor deposition chamber 71, which is a vacuum chamber, and to the vapor deposition chamber 71.
In the continuous vacuum sealing device 27 transported from 1 to the atmosphere, an upper opening 2a closed at both ends by an end plate 3 and opened to the atmosphere and a lower opening 2b communicating with the vapor deposition chamber 71 are formed on the peripheral surface. A semicircular casing 2 provided, and an entrance side opposed to a line which is housed in the casing 2 and is axially removably fitted in a bearing groove 3 d provided in the end plate 3 and which connects the two openings. A seal roll 4 having one elevating device 28 for forming a gap and an outlet gap between the outer peripheral surface thereof and the inner surface of the casing 2; A plurality of seal bars 11 forming a plurality of stages of inlet-side depressurizing chambers and outlet-side depressurizing chambers, and a strip-shaped traveling substrate 51 that enters and exits the gap at the two openings 2a and 2b is formed by the sealing roll 4. A belt-like substrate pressing means wound around the outer peripheral surface; A pressing roll 5, 6 of Te is the pressure-reducing chamber which includes a vacuum exhaust apparatus 30 for vacuum.

That is, the semicircular casing 2 is provided with an upper opening 2a that is open to the atmosphere and an opening 2b that communicates with the lower vapor deposition chamber 71. Is formed to form a semi-cylindrical container, in which a seal roll 4 is housed. Then, as shown in FIG.
Is a semicircle with the upper opening 2a side open to the atmosphere.
ing.

The seal roll 4 is mounted on a bearing groove 3d provided in the pair of end plates 3 so as to be detachably mounted in an up and down direction.
This attachment / detachment operation is performed by the lifting device 28 via the shaft 4a. The lifting device 28 is, for example,
A mechanical elevating mechanism such as a worm gear system is suitable, but is not limited to this, and other elevating means such as a hydraulic system may be used.

A plurality of seal bars 11 are interposed in the entrance gap and the exit gap formed by the outer peripheral surface of the seal roll 4 and the inner peripheral surface of the casing 2, respectively. The gaps on the entrance side and the exit side are divided into a first-stage decompression chamber 21, a second-stage decompression chamber 22, a third-stage decompression chamber 23, a fourth-stage decompression chamber 24, and a fifth-stage decompression chamber 25.

The inlet and outlet sides of the decompression chambers 21 to 25 are connected by connecting grooves 3b provided in the end plate 3, respectively, and are provided in the exhaust groove 3c provided in the end plate 3 and the casing 2. They are connected to a vacuum exhaust device 30 by the exhaust groove 2c and the vacuum pipe 29, respectively. Although a seal bar having a circular diameter is used in this embodiment, the shape and dimensions are not particularly limited. As for the method of attaching to the inner surface of the casing 2, it may be detachable using a magnet or the like, or may be fixed. Further, another configuration may be adopted.

The upper holding roll 5 is provided in the casing 2.
And a lower pressing roll 6, and the traveling substrate 51 is pressed against the outer peripheral surface of the seal roll 4 by these pressing rolls 5, 6 to wind and run.

Next, the operation of the present vacuum sealing device will be described.

Before the operation, when the traveling board 51 is passed, the elevating device 28 is operated to raise the seal roll 4 to the height of the two-dot chain line as shown in FIG. In this case, each of the seal bars 11 is detachably mounted in advance by a magnet or the like, or the casing 2 is fixed in a fixed state.
It is attached to a specific position on the inner surface, and is adjusted so that the gap with the seal roll 4 has a predetermined size.

Next, the traveling substrate 51 is passed through the upper and lower pressing rolls 5 and 6 in the order of the entrance gap, the vapor deposition chamber 71 and the exit gap, and the lifting device 28 is operated again to operate the seal roll. 4, the shaft 4a is axially fitted to the bearing groove 3d of the end plate 3. Thereafter, the tension state of the traveling substrate 51, the state of pressing against the outer peripheral surface of the seal roll 4, and the like are adjusted to complete the passing operation.

Next, when performing vacuum deposition, the vacuum evacuation device 30 is operated to depressurize each of the decompression chambers 21 to 25 in order from the first stage on the atmosphere side so that the deposition chamber 71 reaches a predetermined vacuum pressure. After that, the substrate 51 is wound and run by rotating the seal roll 4. Thus, the traveling substrate 51 is vacuum-deposited when passing through the vapor deposition chamber 71, and then sent to the atmosphere and wound up separately.

If the traveling substrate 51 is cut off during operation and the cut ends remain in the decompression chambers 21 to 25, the operation is interrupted and the sealing roll 4 is moved by the elevating device 28 as described above. After being lifted and taken out of the casing 2, the cut end is removed, the substrate 51 is passed through anew, and then the seal roll 4 is lowered to be axially attached to the bearing groove 4a.

In addition, in cleaning and maintenance of each of the decompression chambers 21 to 25 such as each of the seal bars 11, the removal and installation of the seal roll 4 may be performed in the same procedure as described above.

As described above, since the sheet passing operation and other operations can be performed by taking out the seal roll 4 from the inside of the casing 2, the operation becomes easy and the required time is shortened.

As described above, each seal bar 11 is mounted or fixed at a specific position on the casing 2 with the gap between the seal bar 11 and the seal roll 4 being adjusted in advance to a predetermined size. Even if the 4 is taken out and assembled frequently, the gap size hardly changes, so that it is not necessary to adjust the gap each time.

Further, although not shown, the sealing between the rotating seal roll 4 and the end plate 3 requires a magnetic seal for sealing the atmosphere and vacuum of the expensive driving part in the conventional apparatus. However, in the device of the present invention, since the upper half of the bearing is open to the atmosphere, this magnetic seal is unnecessary.

[0032]

As described in detail above, according to the continuous vacuum sealing device of the present invention, the casing is formed in a semicircular shape, and the seal rolls are fitted into and removed from the bearing grooves provided in the end plates at both ends of the casing. The seal roll can be freely attached to the shaft, so that the seal roll can be freely taken out of the casing by the elevating device. Therefore, the threading work, cleaning work, maintenance, and the like can be performed after the seal roll is taken out of the casing. Therefore, these operations can be performed easily and in a short time.

Further, the gap between the seal bar and the seal roll is adjusted beforehand, and the seal bar is mounted or fixed at a specific position of the casing. There is almost no deviation, so there is no need to adjust the gap each time, and there is an effect that the working time is greatly reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a continuous vacuum sealing device according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a continuous vacuum sealing device according to the prior art.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a continuous vacuum sealing device according to the prior art.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 2 casing 2a upper opening 2b lower opening 3 end plate 3d bearing groove 4 seal roll 5 upper holding roll 6 lower holding roll 11 seal bar 21-25 first-fifth stage decompression chamber 27 vacuum sealing device 28 elevating device 30 vacuum Exhaust device 51 Running substrate 71 Deposition chamber

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Kenji Shinya 4-2-2 Kannon Shinmachi, Nishi-ku, Hiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture Inside the Hiroshima Research Laboratory, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (72) Inventor Hajime Okita 4-chome Kannon Shinmachi, Nishi-ku, Hiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture No. 6-22 Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. Hiroshima Research Laboratory (56) References JP-A-3-1962 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) C23C 14/00-14 / 58

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A continuous vacuum apparatus for continuously transporting a belt-shaped substrate from the atmosphere to a vacuum chamber and from the vacuum chamber to the atmosphere, wherein an opening closed at both ends by an end plate and opened on the peripheral surface to the atmosphere. atmosphere and an opening is bored which communicates with the vacuum chamber and parts
A semicircular casing open to the opening side open to the inside; a line connecting the two openings housed in the casing by being axially removably fitted to a bearing groove provided in the end plate and being housed in the casing. A seal roll provided with one elevating means for forming opposing entrance-side gaps and exit-side gaps between the outer peripheral surface and the inner surface of the casing; A plurality of seal bars that are divided to form a plurality of stages of inlet-side depressurization chambers and outlet-side depressurization chambers; and a band shape for winding a band-shaped substrate entering and leaving the gap at the two openings around the outer peripheral surface of the seal roll. A continuous vacuum sealing device comprising: a substrate pressing means; and a vacuum exhaust means for reducing the pressure in the pressure reducing chamber.