JP4837953B2 - Lid opening / closing device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a lid opening / closing device in a vacuum chamber for performing various kinds of processing inside by reducing the pressure in a vacuum atmosphere, and more specifically, the lid is turned upside down and placed in a low position. The present invention relates to a lid opening / closing device that can be lowered.

  Conventionally, for example, in the manufacture of a liquid crystal display (LCD) substrate, processes such as etching, ashing, and film formation are performed in a vacuum chamber in which the inside is reduced in pressure to be in a vacuum atmosphere. The vacuum chamber is configured to include a chamber body and a lid body that is openable and closable at an upper portion of the chamber body. And when performing an internal maintenance inspection, the lid is opened and closed via an opening and closing mechanism.

  By the way, conventionally, the lid body is configured to be opened and closed by rotating the lid body upward via a hinge at the top of the chamber body. In such a configuration, when the lid is rotated upward and opened, the overall height increases, and maintenance and inspection of various devices mounted on the lid are performed at a high position. was there.

Therefore, a configuration has been proposed in which the lid is removed from the chamber body and moved horizontally, and the lid is turned upside down at a position shifted from the upper position of the chamber body (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent No. 3527450

  The configuration of the apparatus disclosed in Patent Document 1 is as schematically shown in FIG. That is, the vacuum chamber 1 described in Patent Document 1 includes a chamber body 3 and a lid body 5 mounted on the chamber body 3 so as to be openable and closable. The front and rear surfaces of the chamber body 3 are integrally provided with guide rails 7 that are long in the left-right direction. An extension rail that can be folded to the side of the chamber body 3 is provided at the front end of the guide rail 7. 9 is provided. A carriage 11 is movably supported on the front and rear guide rails 7, and an elevating body 15 that supports the lid body 5 through a horizontal pivot 13 is movable up and down on the carriage 11. Supported as possible.

  In the above configuration, in order to open and close the lid 5, as shown in FIG. 6 (B), the extension rail 9 is extended in the left-right direction, and the elevating body 15 is slightly lifted so that the chamber body 1 Lift the lid 5 from Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 6C, the carriage 11 is moved onto the extension rail 9, and the lid 5 is moved from the upper position of the chamber body 3 to the side position. Then, the lid 5 is turned upside down by rotating the lid 5 at this side position (see FIGS. 6D and 6E).

  Therefore, in the conventional configuration, when the lid body 5 is moved to the side position of the chamber body 3, a large weight (several tons or more) of the lid body 5 acts as an offset load through the guide rail 7 and is precisely vacuumed. Since the chamber body 3 to be maintained is easily distorted, there is a problem that the chamber body 3 is made thicker than necessary to increase the rigidity, and the weight of the overall configuration is likely to be extremely large.

  Further, in the conventional configuration, the lid 5 is turned upside down at a height position substantially equal to the upper portion of the chamber body 3. Therefore, when the lid 5 is turned upside down, for example, the lid is placed on the ceiling in the clean room. There is a problem that the position of the lid body after reversing is high, and a work scaffold is separately required when performing maintenance and inspection of the device mounted on the lid body.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and is a lid opening / closing device in a vacuum chamber comprising a chamber body and a lid body detachably provided on the chamber body, the chamber body A pair of guide members arranged separately from the chamber body on both sides of the chamber body, a pair of traveling bodies movable along the pair of guide members, and a pair of traveling bodies vertically A pair of elevating bodies provided movably, a pair of lid holding bodies capable of holding a pair of gripping members provided in the lid and supported by the pair of elevating bodies rotatably on a horizontal axis; A rotation mechanism using a motor that rotates a shaft, holds the pair of gripping members by the pair of lid holding bodies, and raises the pair of lid holding bodies by the pair of lifting bodies, Lift the lid The lid body is separated from the chamber body, and the pair of traveling bodies are transported to the side position of the chamber body by the pair of traveling bodies, and then the lid body is reversed by the rotating mechanism, or The lid body is reversed by the rotating mechanism while the pair of lifting bodies are transported to a side position of the chamber body by a pair of traveling bodies, and the pair of lid holding bodies are moved by the pair of lifting bodies. By being lowered at the side position, the inverted lid body is lowered to a desired height position.

  Further, in the lid opening / closing device, the pair of guide members are integrally connected and movable.

  According to the present invention, the lid in the vacuum chamber can be moved to the side position of the chamber body, and can be turned upside down at any height position. It can be lowered, and the conventional problems as described above can be solved.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The same reference numerals are given to components having the same functions as those of the above-described conventional configuration, and redundant description will be omitted.

  As schematically and conceptually shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a vacuum chamber 1 as a target in the present embodiment is opened and closed on a chamber main body 3 and the chamber main body 3 in the same manner as the conventional vacuum chamber described above. The lid 5 is placed and mounted so as to be able to be mounted. A gripping member 17 having an appropriate shape (see FIG. 2) is provided at the center in the left-right direction of the front and rear surfaces (left and right side surfaces in FIG. 2) of the lid 5. Are fixed together by welding or the like.

  The opening / closing device 19 for opening and closing the lid 5 in the vacuum chamber 1 includes a pair of guide members 21A and 21B that can be disposed on both front and rear sides of the chamber body 3 with the chamber body 3 in between. One end sides of the pair of guide members 21 </ b> A and 21 </ b> B are integrally connected by a connecting member 23. Therefore, the guide members 21A and 21B and the connecting member 23 are formed in a “U” shape with the other end opened as a whole.

  The front and rear guide members 21 </ b> A and 21 </ b> B are parallel to each other and have a length of about 1.5 to 2 times the width dimension of the chamber body 3 in the left-right direction in the vacuum chamber 1. More specifically, the lengths of the portions where the guide members 21 </ b> A and 21 </ b> B protrude in the lateral direction of the chamber body 3 are substantially equal to the width dimension of the chamber body 3 in the lateral direction.

  The pair of guide members 21A and 21B support lid body transport means 24A and 24B for lifting the lid body 5 with respect to the chamber main body 3 and transporting the lid body 5 to the left and right side positions. ing. More specifically, the front and rear traveling bodies 25A and 25B are supported by the pair of guide members 21A and 21B, respectively, so as to be movable in the left-right direction. A traveling body moving mechanism is provided to move the traveling bodies 25A and 25B in the left-right direction in synchronization. That is, ball screws 27A and 27B which are long in the left-right direction are rotatably provided at positions close to the guide members 21A and 21B. The ball screws 27A and 27B are provided with nut members (which are provided in the traveling bodies 25A and 25B). (Not shown) is movably screwed.

  In order to rotate the ball screws 27A and 27B synchronously, a rotating shaft 31 rotated by a servo motor 29 is rotatably supported by the connecting member 23. Both ends of the rotating shaft 31 are gearboxes. The ball screws 27A and 27B are interlocked with each other via gear mechanisms 35A and 35B such as bevel gears provided in 33A and 33B.

  With the above configuration, when the rotary shaft 31 is rotationally driven by the servo motor 29, the ball screws 27A and 27B are synchronously rotated via the gear boxes 33A and 33B on both ends, so that the front and rear traveling bodies 25A and 25B are synchronized. It is moved in the left-right direction.

  By the way, as the configuration of the traveling body moving mechanism for moving the traveling bodies 25A and 25B in the left-right direction synchronously, the case of the ball screw mechanism that is synchronously rotated synchronously has been exemplified, but the configuration of the traveling body moving mechanism is described. For example, various configurations such as a configuration employing a linear motor and a configuration employing a timing belt mechanism can be employed.

  Guide frames 37A and 37B are vertically provided on the front and rear traveling bodies 25A and 25B, respectively. Elevating units 39A and 39B are vertically movable in the guide frames 37A and 37B. The guide frames 37A and 37B are each provided with a lifting operation device to move the lifting units 39A and 39B up and down.

  More specifically, the guide frames 37A and 37B are provided with drive screws 43A and 43B that are rotated by motors 41A and 41B vertically and rotatably, respectively. Nut members 45A and 45B provided in the units 39A and 39B are screwed so as to be movable up and down. As an example of the vertical position detecting means for detecting the vertical position of the lift units 39A and 39B, rotary encoders 47A and 47B are interlocked and connected to the end portions of the drive screws 43A and 43B.

  Therefore, the elevating units 39A and 39B can be moved up and down along the guide frames 37A and 37B by rotating the drive screws 43A and 43B by the motors 41A and 41B. The vertical movement positions of the elevating units 39A and 39B can be detected by rotary encoders 47A and 47B as vertical position detecting means.

  The elevating units 39A and 39B are rotatably provided with lid holders 49A and 49B that can hold the gripping member 17 provided on the lid 5. More specifically, one lid holder 49A is provided with a drive rotating shaft 51 that is rotated by a reversing motor (not shown) horizontally and rotatably. That is, a worm wheel 53 is integrally attached to the drive rotating shaft 51, and the worm wheel 53 rotated by the reversing motor is engaged with the worm wheel 53.

  The clamp base 57 provided integrally with the drive rotating shaft 51 is provided with a clamp jaw 59 that can clamp the gripping member 17 between the clamp base 57 and the clamp base 57. The clamp jaw 59 is fixed to the clamp base 57 by fasteners 61 such as a plurality of bolts, and is held by the plurality of tightening screws 63 that pass through the gripping member 17 and are screwed to the clamp base 57. The member 17 can be fixed integrally.

  The other lid holding body 49B has a configuration in which a driven shaft 65 that can be positioned coaxially with the drive rotating shaft 51 is provided horizontally and rotatably. The driven shaft 65 includes a clamp base 57 and a clamp jaw 59. , The fastener 61 and the fastening screw 63.

  In the configuration as described above, in the normal state, the front and rear lid transport means 24A and 24B in the opening / closing device 19 are positioned at the left and right side positions of the vacuum chamber 1 as shown in FIG. When maintenance inspection of the vacuum chamber 1 is necessary, when the servo motor 29 is appropriately rotated, the front and rear ball screws 27A and 27B are rotated in synchronization with each other, so that the front and rear cover transport means 24A and 24B are guided by the guide member 21A, It moves synchronously along 21B and is positioned at a substantially central position in the left-right direction of the vacuum chamber 1 (see FIG. 3B).

  At this time, the elevating units 39A and 39B provided in the lid transport means 24A and 24B are pre-positioned at a height position corresponding to the gripping member 17 provided in the lid 5, and the fastening screw 63 is It has been removed. Therefore, as described above, when the lid transporting means 24A and 24B are positioned at the substantially central portion of the vacuum chamber 1, the gripping member 17 provided in the lid 5 enters the state between the clamp base 57 and the clamp jaw 59. . Therefore, when the clamping screw 59 passes through the clamp jaw 59 and the gripping member 17 and is fastened to the clamp base 57, the elevating units 39A and 39B and the lid 5 are integrated.

  Thereafter, when the drive screws 43A and 43B provided in the lid transport means 24A and 24B are rotated slightly forward in synchronization, the front and rear lifting units 39A and 39B are lifted, and the lid 5 in the vacuum chamber 1 is lifted slightly. And separated from the chamber body 3 (see FIG. 4A). Therefore, when the lid 5 is lifted as described above, the front and rear lid transport means 24A and 24B are returned to their original positions by reversely rotating the ball screws 27A and 27B. Therefore, the lid 5 is transported to the lateral position of the chamber body 3 in the left-right direction (see FIG. 4B).

  As described above, when the lid body 5 is transported to the side position of the chamber body 3 or in the middle of the transportation, when the reversing motor is driven to rotate the lid holding body 49A, the lid body 5 is turned upside down ( (See FIGS. 5A and 5B). Thereafter, the front and rear drive screws 43A, 43B are reversely rotated to lower the elevating units 39A, 39B, so that the lid 5 is lowered to a desired height position while being inverted upside down (FIG. 5 ( C)).

  As will be understood from the above description, when the maintenance and inspection of the vacuum chamber 1 is performed, the lid 5 is surely separated from the chamber main body 3 and, for example, is moved to a low position close to the floor. It can be lowered, and can solve the conventional problems as described above.

  By the way, in the above description, the case where one vacuum chamber 1 and one opening / closing device 19 are arranged in a relationship maintaining a corresponding relationship has been illustrated, but as shown in FIG. It is desirable to have a movable structure including a caster 67. Thus, by making the opening / closing device 19 movable, one opening / closing device 19 can be used corresponding to the plurality of chambers 1.

1 is a perspective explanatory view schematically and conceptually showing a switchgear according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a configuration explanatory diagram schematically and conceptually showing a switchgear according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of an opening / closing apparatus. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of an opening / closing apparatus. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of an opening / closing apparatus. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of the conventional vacuum chamber.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vacuum chamber 3 Chamber main body 5 Cover body 17 Holding member 19 Opening and closing device 21A, 21B Guide member 25A, 25B Traveling body 27A, 27B Ball screw 31 Rotating shaft 39A, 39B Lifting unit 43A, 43B Drive screw 45A, 45B Nut member 49A, 49B Lid holder 51 Drive rotary shaft 57 Clamp base 59 Clamp jaw 63 Clamping screw 65 Driven shaft

Claims (2)

A lid opening / closing device in a vacuum chamber comprising a chamber body and a lid body detachably provided on the chamber body,
A pair of guide members disposed separately from the chamber body on both sides of the chamber body with the chamber body in between,
A pair of traveling bodies movable along the pair of guide members;
A pair of elevating bodies provided on the pair of traveling bodies so as to be movable up and down;
A pair of lid holding bodies capable of holding a pair of gripping members provided in the lid body and rotatably supported by the pair of lifting bodies on a horizontal axis;
A rotation mechanism using a motor for rotating the shaft,
Holding the pair of gripping members with the pair of lid holders;
By lifting the pair of lid holding bodies by the pair of lifting bodies, the lid body is lifted to separate the lid body from the chamber body,
After the pair of traveling bodies conveys the pair of lifting bodies to the side position of the chamber body, the lid body is reversed by the rotating mechanism, or the pair of traveling bodies is moved by the pair of traveling bodies. Reversing the lid by the rotating mechanism while transporting to the side position of the chamber body,
The pair of lid holding bodies are lowered by the pair of lifting bodies at a side position of the chamber body, whereby the inverted lid body is lowered to a desired height position.
A lid opening / closing device characterized by that. The lid opening / closing device according to claim 1,
The pair of guide members are integrally connected and movable.
A lid opening / closing device characterized by that.

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