JPH01315205A - Conveyor for vacuum processing furnace - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To stably convey a material to be processed on a conveying shuttle by conveying the shuttle by the use of a pair of conveying systems and composing at least one of the systems of a magnetic levitation type linear motor. CONSTITUTION:A conveying shuttle 11 for holding a material 10 to be processed in a vacuum processing furnace RV is supported and conveyed by a pair of conveying systems 30a, 30b. Here, at least one system 30a or 30f has a movable element 2 moving with respect to a stator 31 in a noncontact manner. Thus, adverse influence of dusts for the vacuum process can be avoided while obtaining stably conveyance of the material to be processed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] This invention relates to an improvement in a conveying device for a vacuum processing furnace that conveys a workpiece to be processed within the vacuum processing furnace.

[Prior Art] As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, a conventional conveyance device for a vacuum processing furnace has a conveyance shuttle 2 on which a workpiece 1 such as various substrates is held. 2
Transport rolls 3 rotated by a chain drive or the like are attached to both sides of the transport shuttle 2, and a pair of guide rails 4 are installed inside the vacuum processing furnace RV, and the transport shuttle 2 is moved by a cam follower 5 for applying downward pressing force. The transport shuttle 2 is moved along the guide rail 4 while preventing the transport shuttle 2 from floating up.
It is known that the material 1 to be processed is transported to a predetermined processing stage by moving the material 1 via transport rolls 3.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Incidentally, in such a conveyance device for a vacuum processing furnace, a cam follower, 5, etc. are used to prevent the conveyance shuttle 2 from floating, so the yO conveyance The surface pressure between the roll 3 and the guide rail 4 is quite high, and the pressure between the transport roll 3 and the guide rail 4 is quite high. Since a lubricant cannot be used for the transport shuttle 2, when the transport shuttle 2 is moving, dust such as metal powder is blown up due to wear between the transport roll 3 and the guide rail 4, and this dust D is There is a risk of a valley forming on the treated surface of material 1. At this time, if vacuum processing such as film formation is performed on material 1 to be processed, the vacuum processing will be incomplete due to the influence of dust D. , a problem arises in that the yield of processed products is reduced.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and is a conveying device for a vacuum processing furnace that is capable of avoiding the negative influence of dust on vacuum processing while ensuring stable conveyance of materials to be processed. It provides:

[Means for Solving the Problems] As shown in FIG. 1, the present invention provides a transport shuttle 11 that holds an object to be processed 10, and a pair that supports and transports the transport shuttle 11 in a vacuum processing furnace RV. A magnetically levitated linear motor transport system having a movable element 32 that moves in a non-contact manner with respect to a stator 31, with at least one transport system 30a or 30b comprising a transport system 30 (specifically 30a, 30b). It is configured.

In such a technical means, the material to be processed 10 can be appropriately selected from various substrates that are bases of display substrates, semiconductor devices, etc., as long as they can be subjected to vacuum processing. The vacuum treatment in this case includes physical vapor plating (PVD) using physical methods such as vacuum sputtering and vacuum evaporation.
or Deposition), vapor phase plating by chemical methods such as plasma CVD (CV[); Ch
commercial vapor deposition)
It includes a wide range of processes that require processing in a vacuum atmosphere, including , vacuum heat treatment, and dry etching. Further, the number and combination of processing stages may be appropriately selected depending on the vacuum processing to be performed on the material to be processed 10.

In addition, the transport shuttle 11 is not limited to a plate-shaped shuttle, but may be any suitable material as long as it is capable of processing the material 10 to be processed at a predetermined processing stage and has at least a holding portion for the material 10 to be processed. You may change the design. Furthermore, the number of holding parts for the material to be processed 10 of the transport shuttle 11 or the arrangement orientation of the material to be processed 10 may be single, plural, horizontal,
Doesn't matter if it's vertical.

Furthermore, regarding the pair of transport systems 30, the transport shuttle 11
They can be placed close together or separated within a range that allows for stable running. Further, at least one of the magnetically levitated linear motor conveyance systems may include a stator 31 and a non-contact movable movable element 32, and a thrust generating section and a floating position regulating section may be provided between the two. is necessary.

In this case, the stator 31 may be installed inside the body, but from the point of view that the stator 31 can be installed with an appropriate length depending on the length of the required transport system, It is preferable to arrange the stator units in blocks. Further, as a thrust generating section, a thrust excitation section in which a coil is appropriately wound around a magnetic material is provided on the stator 31 or mover 321III, and a non-magnetic conductor section (on the stator 31 or Mover 32
), and the design may be changed as appropriate, such as by sequentially switching and exciting the thrust excitation parts. - On the other hand, the floating position regulating section utilizes the attractive or repulsive action of a permanent magnet or electromagnet to reduce the gap in the vertical and width directions.
Any device that can be used for sipping may be selected as appropriate, but from the viewpoint of ease of controlling the floating position, it is preferable to use an electromagnet as the floating position regulating excitation section, or furthermore, to use its suction operation. In addition, when designing a magnetically levitated linear motor transport system, it is preferable to provide the thrust excitation section and the levitation position regulation excitation section on the stator 31 side in consideration of ease of wiring. Considering the case where it is necessary to move the movable element 32 when it is not floating, it is preferable to attach an auxiliary roll for movement to the movable element 32.

Furthermore, the transport control of the pair of transport systems 30 may be such that they are always moved at a constant speed, or the position of the transport shuttle 1.1 is appropriately detected by a position detecting section, so that the transport system 30 can be moved at a constant speed. The processing may be performed by temporarily stopping the processing, or if there are a plurality of processing stages, optimal speed control may be performed for each processing stage. Furthermore, the pair of conveyance systems 30 may be designed to each apply the conveyance force of the conveyance shuttle 11, but from the viewpoint of stable conveyance of the conveyance shuttle 11, variations in the conveyance force between the two can be avoided. In order to avoid this, it is preferable to obtain propulsive force only from one magnetic levitation type linear motor transport system. Further, in a case where the transport shuttle 11 has a horizontal base portion and the vacuum processing furnace RV includes heat treatment, if the amount of thermal deformation of the horizontal base portion is relatively large, stable transport performance of the transport shuttle 11 may be reduced. From the viewpoint of ensuring this, it is preferable to provide a thermal deformation absorbing section in one of the transport systems 30a or 30b.

[Operation] According to the technical means described above, the transport shuttle 11 is transported in the vacuum processing furnace Rv by a pair of transport systems 30, at least one of which is a magnetically levitated linear motor transport system.

At this time, the pair of transport systems 30a, 30bh<transfer shuttle 11 is stably supported on both sides, and the magnetically levitated linear motor transport system constituting at least one transport system 30a supports the support portion of the transport shuttle 11 in a non-contact state. to move it.

[Embodiments] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

Embodiment 1 FIGS. 2 to 5 show an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a transfer device for a vacuum processing furnace in which vacuum film forming processing is performed.

The vacuum processing furnace Rv according to this embodiment uses, for example, IT○ (Indium Tin Oxide) on a glass substrate.
In this process, a functional film such as a transparent conductive film is sputter-deposited.In this processing furnace RV, there are transport shuttles 1 to 11 that hold a glass substrate 10 as a material to be processed, and the transport shuttle 11. A pair of transport systems 30 (specifically, 30a and 30b) for transporting the glass substrate 10, and a sputtering device 2750 that is installed on the processing stage ST and sputter-deposit a predetermined functional film onto the glass substrate 10 are provided.

In this embodiment, the transport shuttle 11 has a flat horizontal base part 12 extending in the horizontal direction, as shown in FIGS. A member 14 is provided on the periphery of the opening 13 to support the glass substrate 10, and a plurality of, for example, four, clamp members 15 are provided in the vicinity of the member 14. The receiver is configured to press down the periphery of the glass substrate 10 supported by the member 14.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, the vacuum processing furnace RV has a load lock chamber 16 that holds the glass substrate 10 on the transport shuttle 11, and a process chamber 17 that performs sputter deposition at the processing stage ST. In front of the load lock chamber 16, there is provided a holding zone 18 from which the transport shuttle 11 is pulled out during maintenance and the like, and a pair of transport systems 30 extend to this standby zone 18.

Airtight opening/closing valves 19 and 20 are provided between the load lock chamber 16, the process chamber 17, and the standby zone 18, respectively.

Further, the pair of transport systems 30 are magnetically levitated linear motor transport systems that are driven and controlled by a transport control unit (not shown). is supported. In this embodiment, each linear motor conveyance system 30 is divided into an appropriate number of blocks, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, and is designed to close the bottom wall mounting hole 21 of the vacuum processing furnace Rv. It consists of a fixed stator 31 made of a non-magnetic material (austenitic stainless steel in this embodiment) and a mover 32 made of a non-magnetic conductor (aluminum in this embodiment) that conducts IhX with respect to the stator 31. The stator 31 includes a stator base 31a fixed to the outer edge of the bottom wall attachment hole 21 of the vacuum processing furnace R;
Stator 11 part 3 erected along the central longitudinal direction of a
1b, and a stator head 31C provided at the upper end of the stator body 31b and wider than the stator body 31b, while the movable element 32 is provided on the upper, side and lower surfaces of the stator head 31c. It is formed in a rectangular cross-section with a part surrounding it open. The movable element 32 is fixed to both sides of the horizontal base portion 12 of the transport shuttle 11 via insulating plates 33 made of alumina or the like.

The one linear motor transport system 30a has a thrust generating section 34 and a floating position regulating section 36. The thrust generating section 34 includes a thrust excitation section 35 provided in the central recess of the stator head 31c, and a conductor section (in this embodiment, the movable element 32 itself) facing the thrust excitation section 35.
The thrust excitation section 35 is, for example, a magnetic flat plate having teeth at a predetermined pitch and an excitation coil appropriately wound around the conductor section. , and generates a predetermined thrust force in the movable element 32. On the other hand, the floating position regulating portions 36 are provided between the movable element 32 and both sides of the upper surface of the stator head 31c in the width direction, and between the movable element 32 and both sides of the lower surface of the stator head 31C in the width direction. two vertical position regulating parts 37 (specifically 37a to 37d),
A pair of width direction position regulating parts 38 (specifically 38a,
38b).

These floating position regulating portions 36 are connected to the stator head 3.
It is composed of an electromagnet 40 which is a positioning excitation part provided in the corresponding recessed part of 1c, and a magnetic plate 41 provided in a part facing this electromagnet 40. When the electromagnet 4o is excited, the electromagnet 40 and the magnetic plate 41 are An attractive magnetic field is generated between the two. Also, the floating position regulating section 3
6 moves, the vertical gap δ1 and the horizontal gap δ2 between the stator head 31C and the movable element 32 are set to be about 1 to 3Nn.

Further, the other linear motor transport system 30b has only a floating position regulating section 36. This floating position regulating section 36 is connected to a vertical position regulating section 37 (specifically, 37a to 3
7d), and does not include a widthwise position regulating part. When the floating position regulating section 36 moves, the vertical gap δ3 between the stator head 31c and the movable element 32 is set to about 1 to 3#;
The left-right gap δ4 between 1c and the mover 32 is 5~
It is set to about 10M.

In addition, in FIG. 4, the reference numeral 42 indicates each linear motor conveyance system 30a.
, 30b is a cooling duct that is incorporated into the stator 31 and supplies cooling water; 43 is an auxiliary guide rail 44 laid along both sides of the stator 31; rotatably mounted,
When the mover 32 is not floating, the auxiliary guide rail 43
This is an auxiliary roll for movement that transfers contact along the road.

In addition, the sputtering equipment fif50 is used for each processing stage S of the vacuum processing furnace RV, especially as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5.
It is supported by an elevating rod 51 to be movable up and down in a bottom wall opening 22 opened at the lower part of T, and is installed so as to completely close the bottom wall opening 22 when set.

This sputtering device 50 has a cathode electrode 52 supported by the lifting rod 51, and this cathode electrode 52 is attached to a base plate 54 which is fixed to the upper end attachment portion 51a of the lifting rod 51 via an insulating seal member 53.
and a box-shaped cathode body 55 installed on the base plate 54, with the top surface of the cathode body 55 serving as a table surface 57 of a target material 56. A holder (not shown) is used to attach a target to the table surface 57. Material 5
6 is maintained. In this embodiment, a magnet 1-scanning structure 58 for forming a restraining magnetic field as shown by a dashed line between the target material 56 and the glass substrate 10 is attached to the cathode body 5.
It is incorporated in 5. In FIG. 5, the reference numeral 59 is a cooling duct for supplying cooling water into the cathode body 55, and the reference numeral 60 is a 7-space shield that centrally generates discharge on the surface of the target material 56.

On the other hand, the upper part of the processing stage ST has an environmental temperature (for example, 300 to 400°C) required during sputter deposition.
A heater unit 61 is provided to heat the glass substrate 10 to 00°C. In this embodiment, the heater unit 61 includes a large number of arranged rod-shaped heaters 62, a reflector 63 arranged above the rod-shaped heaters 62 to reflect the heat from the rod-shaped heaters 62 downward, and The heat transfer plate 64 is disposed below the rod-shaped heater 62 and guides the heat from the rod-shaped heater 62 downward.

In this embodiment, various shield members 70 are used to shield the linear motor transport systems 30a, 30b and the movement zone of the transport shuttle 11 including the processing stage ST in the lower region bordering on the transport shuttle 11, A pair of heat-insulating adhesion plates 71 having reflective surfaces on the moving zone side of the transport shuttle 11, a magnetic shield plate 72 arranged in parallel on the outside of the heat-insulating adhesion boards 71, and an upper area bordering the transport shuttle 11. Linear motor transport system 30a.

Transport shuttle 11 including 30b and processing stage ST
A pair of heat insulating plates 73 having reflective surfaces are provided on the moving zone side of the transport shuttle 11 to shield the moving zone.

Next, the operation of the conveying device for the vacuum processing furnace according to this embodiment will be explained.

As shown in FIG. 3, first, in the load lock chamber 16, a robot (not shown) moves the carrier shuttle 11 onto the member 1.
The glass substrate 10 is positioned and set on 4, and then,
The glass substrate 10 is clamped by the clamp member 15.

At the point where this clamping operation is completed, a drive start signal is given to a transport control unit (not shown), and this transport control unit operates the thrust generating section 34 and floating position regulating section 36 of the linear motor transport systems 30a and 30b. let

Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the movable element 32 of one linear motor transport system 30a floats up from the stator 31 and begins to move with a predetermined thrust. At this time, the movable element 32 of the other linear motor transport system 30b does not receive thrust, but since it is in a state of floating above the stator 31, the transport shuttle 11
The movable element 32 also moves following the movable element 32 of the one linear motor transport system 30a. Further, since the floating position of each movable element 32 is regulated to a predetermined position by the action of the floating position regulating section 36, each movable element 32 does not move vertically or in the width direction. Therefore, the transport shuttle 11 moves toward the processing stage ST in a non-contact state while maintaining a stable posture.

When the transport shuttle 11 enters the processing stage ST, the sputtering device 50 and the corresponding heater unit 1-61 are activated. Then, the target material 56
is attached to the lower surface of the glass substrate 10 through the opening 13 of the transport shuttle 11, and a predetermined functional film is sputter-deposited on the lower surface of the glass substrate 10.

At this time, the glass substrate 10 is heated by the heater unit 61.
is heated, the horizontal base portion 1 of the transport shuttle 11
2 will undergo thermal expansion, but the linear motor conveyance system 30
Since the widthwise gap δ4 between the stator 31 and the movable element 32 in b is formed to be large, the above-mentioned thermal expansion allowance is absorbed by the gap δ4, and the conveyance performance of the conveyance shuttle 11 is not impaired. Furthermore, when the sputtering device 50 operates, heat is released from the cathode electrode 52 to the surroundings, and ionized film forming particles from the target material 56 are scattered to the surroundings, but these heat and scattered particles are Board 7
1, the linear motor conveyance systems 30a and 30b
It doesn't reach the side. Further, in this embodiment, since the magnetic scanning mechanism 58 is used, the magnetic field will inevitably affect the surroundings when the sputtering device 50 is used, but this magnetic field will be blocked by the magnetic shield plate 72. The generated magnetic field causes the linear motor transport system 3 to
There is almost no concern that 0a and 30b will malfunction. Further, although the heater unit 61 also generates heat, this heat is blocked by the heat shield plate 73, and there is little concern that this heat will affect the linear motor conveyance systems 30a and 30b.

At this stage, the display substrate on which the film formation process has been completed is completed.

Embodiment 2 In FIG. 6, the basic configuration of the conveyance device of the vacuum processing furnace is almost the same as in Embodiment 1, but unlike Embodiment 1, only one conveyance system 30a is a magnetically levitated linear motor conveyance system. The other conveyance system 30b is provided with a conveyance roll 46 on one side of the horizontal base portions 1 and 2 of the conveyance shuttle 11, and this conveyance roll 46 is moved along a guide rail 47.

Therefore, in this embodiment, one of the transport systems 30ah
Since it is a floating type linear motor conveyance system, the floating position of the movable element 32 relative to the stator 31 is reliably regulated. Therefore, even without employing means for pressing the conveyance roll 46 with a cam follower or the like, the conveyance roll 46 is fixed to the guide rail 47 and moves stably.
The sliding resistance between the transport roll 46 and the guide rail 47 is kept extremely small. Therefore, the situation in which dust such as fully bent powder is generated from the sliding portion between the conveyance roll 46 and the guide rail 47 can be effectively avoided.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the configuration of the transport system 30 can be simplified compared to the first embodiment.

Embodiment 3 In FIG. 7, unlike the above-mentioned embodiments, a transfer shuttle 11 of a transfer device for a vacuum processing furnace has a vertical base portion 23 extending in the vertical direction. The support for the glass substrate 10 is provided with a member 24, and the upper support is provided with a clamp member 25 attached to the member 24.

Incidentally, a base portion 26 is provided at the lower end of the reassembly base portion 23.

Furthermore, the pair of linear motor conveyance systems 30a and 30b basically have substantially the same configuration as in the first embodiment, but unlike the first embodiment, the pair of linear motor conveyance systems 30a and 30
The stator 31 and the movable element 32 of b are each formed integrally, and the transport shuttle 1 is mounted on the top of the integrated movable element 32.
1, the base 26 is fixed.

In this embodiment, a pair of sputtering devices 50 as processing means are provided on the processing stage ST with the vertical base portion 23 interposed therebetween.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, the same effect as in embodiment 1,
In addition to this, since sputter deposition can be performed by simultaneously transporting two glass substrates 10 to the processing stage ST, it is possible to improve the transport processing efficiency of the glass substrates 10, and also to improve the transport processing efficiency of the -pair transport system 30a. , 30b are integrated, there is no need for positioning between them, which facilitates positioning work when the pair of conveyance systems 30a, 30b are pitched.

Embodiment 4 In FIG. 8, a transport shuttle 11 of a transport device for a vacuum processing furnace has a pair of vertical base parts 23 (specifically, 23a) whose upper ends are connected by a connecting part 27.

23b), and a member 24 is provided at the top and bottom of both sides of each vertical base portion 23 to support the glass substrate 10, and the upper support has a clamp member 25 attached to the member 24. The lower ends of the vertical base portions 23 are attached such that the base portions 26 are fixed to the tops of the movers 32 of the pair of linear motor conveyance systems 30a and 30b, respectively. In the processing stage ST, a pair of sputtering devices 50 as processing means are provided with each vertical base portion 23 interposed therebetween.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, four glass substrates 10 can be simultaneously transported to the processing stage ST and sputter deposition can be performed, so that the transport processing efficiency of the glass substrates 10 can be further improved compared to the third embodiment. In addition, since the connecting portion 27 can reliably prevent the vertical base portion 23 from falling down, the glass substrate 10 can be reliably held in the normal posture during sputter deposition, and the posture error of the glass substrate 10 can be reduced accordingly. The accompanying sputter deposition unevenness can be avoided.

Embodiment 5 In FIG. 10, the vacuum processing furnace RV is provided with two processing stages ST1 and Sr1, and the conveyance device of this vacuum processing furnace is almost the same as in Embodiment 1, but different from Embodiment 1. , a transport control unit 90 that drives and controls the pair of linear motor transport systems 30a and 30b is provided with a speed control unit 91 that variably sets the moving speed of the transport shaft 11.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, a position detection magnet plate 92 is provided at a predetermined portion on the inner surface of the side of the movable element 32 of the one linear motor conveyance system 30a. A predetermined portion on the side surface of the stator 31 facing the detection magnet plate 92, in this embodiment, a facing position where the glass substrate 10 on the transport shuttle 11 enters the first and second processing stages STI and Sr1. For example, eddy current resolvers 93 and 94 are incorporated in corresponding parts (indicated by A and B in FIG. 9).

Then, the speed control unit 91 controls the speed of the transport shuttle 11 at each processing stage ST1, . It is designed to be variably set for each ST2.

To explain more specifically, first, when the glass substrate 10 is clamped onto the transport shuttle 11 in the load lock chamber 16, the speed control unit 91 performs a load lock operation based on a clamp completion signal indicating that the clamp operation is completed. It is determined that the transport shuttle 11 is completed, and the transport shuttle 11 is first moved at a constant speed.

Thereafter, when the position detection magnet plate 92 of the movable element 32 reaches point A, the resolver 93 is activated and this position detection signal is input to the speed control section 91. Then, the speed control section 91 adjusts A based on the signal from the resolver 93.
It is determined that the point has been passed, and the transport shuttle 11 is moved and transported at the optimum speed (1) on the processing stage ST1.

Thereafter, when the position detection magnet plate 92 of the movable element 32 reaches point B, the resolver 94 is activated and this position detection signal is input to the speed control section 91. Then, the speed control unit 91 controls B based on the signal from the resolver 94.
It is determined that the point has been passed, and the transport shuttle 11 is moved at the optimum speed v2 at the processing stage ST2 fjJ W1
send

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the vacuum processing furnace conveying apparatus according to claims C to 8, the following effects are basically achieved.

In other words, since the transport shuttle is transported by a pair of transport systems, the material to be processed on the transport shuttle can be transported stably, the positional accuracy of the material to be processed on the processing stage is increased, and the processing condition is maintained in good condition. be able to.

In addition, at least one of the conveyance systems is configured with a magnetically levitated linear motor conveyance system, and at least the -5 side support part of the conveyance shuttle is conveyed in a non-contact manner, thereby eliminating sliding resistance in the conveyance system. Alternatively, it can be reduced to a very small amount, and to that extent, generation of dust from the contact portion can be effectively prevented. Therefore, it is possible to effectively avoid a situation in which the dust that has flown up is attached to the processing location of the material to be processed, and it is possible to prevent processing defects on the material to be processed due to dust.

Furthermore, according to the conveyance device for a vacuum processing furnace according to claim 2, both of the pair of conveyance systems are magnetically levitated linear motor conveyance systems, and only one of them is provided with a thrust generating section. , it is possible to completely prevent the generation of dust by reducing the sliding resistance at d3 in the transport system to zero, and also to avoid variations in the thrust between the pair of transport systems, so that the transport shuttle can be transported more reliably and stably. I can do it.

Further, according to the conveying device for a vacuum processing furnace according to claim 3,
Since the vertical and widthwise floating positions of the movable element can be reliably regulated, it is possible to effectively prevent vibrations in the vertical and widthwise directions during movement of the transport shuttle.

Further, according to the conveying device for a vacuum processing furnace according to claim 4,
Since the excitation part for thrust and levitation position regulation is provided on the stator side of the magnetically levitated linear motor transport system, there is no need for electrical wiring on the movable element side, making wiring work easier. In addition, it is possible to easily deal with the cold W structure against heat from each excitation part.

Further, according to the conveying device for a vacuum processing furnace according to claim 5,
In the magnetically levitated linear motor conveyance system, the movable element is provided with moving auxiliary rolls, so the movable element can be easily moved even when not levitated, and maintenance work can be performed accordingly.

Furthermore, according to the conveyance device for a vacuum processing furnace according to claim 6, the thermal deformation of the conveyance shuttle is absorbed by the thermal deformation absorbing section of one of the conveyance systems. Even if this is done, there is no concern that the stable transportability of the transport shuttle will be impaired.

Further, according to the conveying device for a vacuum processing furnace according to claim 7,
Since a plurality of materials to be processed can be simultaneously transported and processed using one transport shuttle, the efficiency of transporting and processing the materials to be processed can be improved.

Further, according to the conveying device for a vacuum processing furnace according to claim 8,
Since the speed of the transport shuttle is controlled based on the position information from the position detection section of the transport shuttle, it is possible to optimize the transport processing efficiency of the material to be processed.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an outline of a conveying device for a vacuum processing furnace according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of the conveying device for a vacuum processing furnace according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a plan view thereof. The schematic diagram, FIGS. 4 and 5 are the lines rV-rV and v-v in FIG.
FIGS. 6 to 8 are perspective or cross-sectional explanatory views showing essential parts of Example 2, Example 3, and Example 4 of the conveying device for a vacuum processing furnace according to the present invention, and FIGS. The figure is a schematic plan view showing Embodiment 5 of the conveying device for a vacuum processing furnace according to the present invention, FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along the line X-X in FIG.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of essential parts showing an example of a conventional conveying device for a vacuum processing furnace, and FIG. 12 is a sectional view taken along the line X--XII in FIG. 11. [Description of symbols J RV...Vacuum processing furnace 10...Glass substrate (material to be processed) 11...Transport shuttle 12...Horizontal base portion 23...Vertical base portion 30...Transport system 30a ...Magnetic levitation linear motor transport system (transport system) 30b...Magnetic levitation linear motor transport system (transport system) 31...Stator 32...Mover 34...Thrust generating section 35. ... Thrust excitation section 3G... Levitation position regulation section 40... Electromagnet (levitation position regulation excitation section) 44...
Auxiliary roll for movement 92...Magnetic plate for position detection (position detection part) 93.94
... Resolver (position detection unit) Patent applicant Asahi Glass Co., Ltd. Agent Patent attorney Masahiro Koizumi (3 others) No. 41 34: Thrust generation unit 35: Thrust excitation unit 35: Levitation position regulation unit 40: Electromagnetic single stone 44: Auxiliary roll for movement Figure 6 Figure 7 30b (30) 30a (30) Figure 8 Figure 10

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1) A transport shuttle (11) that holds the object to be processed (10)
Then, in the vacuum processing furnace (Rv), the transport shuttle (
A pair of transport systems (30; 30a, 3
0b), and at least one of the transport systems (30a or 30b) is composed of a magnetically levitated linear motor transport system having a movable element (32) that moves in a non-contact manner with respect to the stator (31). A conveying device for a vacuum processing furnace characterized by the following. 2) The device according to claim 1, wherein the pair of conveyance systems (30
; 30a and 30b) are both magnetically levitated linear motor transport systems, and only one of them is equipped with a thrust generating section (34). 3) In the magnetically levitated linear motor transport system, the magnetically levitated linear motor conveyance system includes a levitated position regulating portion (36) that regulates vertical and widthwise gaps between the stator (31) and the movable element (32). ) A conveying device for a vacuum processing furnace, characterized by comprising: 4) A conveying device for a vacuum processing furnace according to claim 1, characterized in that thrust and position regulating excitation parts (35, 40) are provided on the stator (31) side. 5) The vacuum processing furnace according to claim 1, wherein the movable element (32) of the magnetically levitated linear motor conveyance system is provided with an auxiliary roll (44) for movement when not levitated. Conveyance device. 6) The device according to claim 1, wherein the transport shuttle (11
) has a horizontal base portion (12) and a material to be treated (10).
When performing heat treatment on one side of the conveyance system (30a
Or 30b) is provided with a deformation allowance absorbing section for thermal deformation of the horizontal base part (12) of the transport shuttle (11). 7) The device according to claim 1, wherein the transport shuttle (11
) is a conveying device for a vacuum processing furnace, characterized in that it has a vertical base portion (23) on both sides of which a holding portion for a material to be processed (10) is provided. 8) In the product according to claim 1, a vacuum processing furnace (Rv)
The position detection unit (92) of the transport shuttle (11) is installed at an appropriate location in
, 93, 94) are provided, and this position detection section (92, 93,
The transport system (30; 30a, 3
0b) A conveying device for a vacuum processing furnace, characterized in that the speed of the transfer device is controlled.