JPH02118072A - Vacuum deposition device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable vapor depositing operation in a long time by arranging a network vessel equipping a feeder with vapor depositing material introduced thereinto to the side face of a cooling roll with a flexible base plate wound thereon in a vapor deposition chamber and heating the vapor depositing material in the case of vapor-depositing sublimable substance such as inorganic material and high-m.p. metal on the surface of the flexible base plate. CONSTITUTION:In the case of vapor-depositing sublimable substance consisting of both high-m.p. metal such as Ti and inorganic material such as SixOy on the surface of a flexible base plate 1 such as a plastic film, paper and a steel strip, the flexible base plate 1 is supplied into a vacuum deposition chamber 2 via a vacuum sealing chamber 13 evacuated and vacuumized with an exhaust pump unit 11. This base plate 1 is wound on a rotating cooling roll 4 and moved. A network vessel 9 with sublimable vapor depositing material 8 introduced thereinto is arranged to the side face of the cooling roll 4 and heated with a heater 10 to sublimate the material 8. The vapor- deposited film of sublimate vapor depositing material is formed on the surface of the base material 1 wound on the cooling roll 4. The vapor depositing material is supplied to the network vessel 9 from a feeder 12 with large amounts of material 8 introduced thereinto and therefore vapor depositing operation is enabled in a long time.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a vacuum method for depositing sublimable substances such as inorganic substances and high melting point metals onto flexible substrates such as plastic films, paper, and copper strips. Related to vapor deposition equipment.

[Conventional technology]

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal side view showing an example of a conventional vacuum evaporation apparatus. In FIG. 2, a coiled substrate 1 is loaded into a deposition chamber 2 in communication with a take-up reel 5 and a feed-out reel 6 via a deflector roll 3 and a cooling roll 4. The substrate 1 is transferred to the take-up reel 5 after the inside of the deposition chamber 2 reaches a predetermined degree of vacuum by the exhaust pump unit 11.
While being cooled on a cooling roll 4 to reduce the temperature rise due to heating during vapor deposition, the film is vapor deposited and wound up by a vapor deposition device 7. The vapor deposition device 7 is composed of a plurality of containers 9 which are arranged at regular intervals in the width direction of the substrate 10 and store the vapor deposition material 8, and a heating device 1o for the container 9, and is configured to heat the vapor deposition material 8 onto the traveling substrate l. The direction is evaporated.

Here, a storage container 9 for the vapor deposition material 8 is arranged below the cooling roll 4 . In this case, the vapor deposition material 8 is zinc.

In the case of molten metal such as aluminum, the surface of the liquid is horizontal, so the vapor that evaporates from there is efficiently transferred to the substrate 1.
In order to perform vapor deposition, the storage container 9 is placed on a cooling roll 4.
This is because it needs to be placed directly under the . Vapor deposition material 8 is 5
In the case of an inorganic material such as 1801 or a high melting point metal such as T1, the vapor deposition is performed in a state where the vapor deposition material 8 is not melted, that is, by sublimation.

Conventionally, however, when such a sublimable substance is used as the vapor deposition material 8, the storage container 9 is disposed directly below the cooling roll 4, as in the case of molten metal.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

In the vapor deposition operation using the conventional apparatus shown in FIG. 2, each coil is vacuumed, heated, run, and vapor deposited.

Since it was a batch operation in which exposure to the atmosphere was repeated, the deposition time was short, about 1 hour. Therefore, the vapor deposition operation is inefficient, but the vapor deposition material 8 can be replenished when the atmosphere is opened to the atmosphere, and there is no need to supply it during the vapor deposition operation.

By the way, the inventors of the present invention previously invented a continuous vacuum evaporation apparatus and filed a patent application for the same in Japanese Patent Application No. 1983-99038. This is an uncoiler that has a means for bonding and cutting the substrate and transports the substrate to the sealing device.

It consists of a coiler equipped with a means for adhering and cutting the substrate and transporting the substrate from the sealing device, and a plurality of pressure chambers partitioned by a set of three sealing rolls, each pressure chamber having a deflector roll for wrapping the substrate around the sealing roll. a vapor deposition chamber having a channel and an edge mask between a sealing device having a sealing device having a cooling roll located above and an elongated vapor deposition material storage container having a vapor deposition metal input port from an external vapor deposition metal supply device at one end; 1. A continuous vacuum evaporation apparatus characterized by comprising: According to this, continuous operation for a long time is possible, and correspondingly, it is necessary to continuously supply the vapor deposition material 8 into the storage container 9. However, in the conventional apparatus configuration, since the storage container 9 for the vapor deposition material 8 is located directly below the cooling roll 4, continuous supply of the vapor deposition material 8 is difficult for the following two reasons.

(1) If the vapor deposition material 8 is continuously supplied from above the storage container 9, the evaporation surface is covered with the low temperature vapor deposition material 8.

The deposition film formation rate becomes slow. Furthermore, the temperature becomes unstable and the rate of deposition film formation is not constant.

(2) The supply device for the vapor deposition material 8 is exposed to the evaporated vapor from the vapor deposition material 8, and the vapor deposition material solidifies in the supply device, resulting in malfunction.

[Means to solve the problem]

The present invention aims to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems.

In a method that evaporates a sublimable evaporation material onto a flexible substrate wrapped around the side of a cooling roll in a vacuum evaporation chamber,
A net-shaped container disposed on the side of the cooling roll to house the vapor deposition material, a means for supplying the vapor deposition material from above to the container, and a heating means provided near the container. This paper proposes a vacuum evaporation apparatus featuring the following features.

[Effect]

The evaporation material is supplied from above the storage container, and the vapor evaporated from the evaporation material passes through the mesh of the storage container, flies to the side of the cooling roll, and is deposited on the substrate.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional side view showing one embodiment of the present invention. In this figure, a flexible substrate 1 enters a deposition chamber 2 from the atmosphere through a vacuum seal chamber 13.

It travels inside the deposition chamber 2 via a deflector roll 3.

The film is wrapped around a cooling roll 4 and is vapor-deposited by a vapor-deposition device 7 while being cooled to reduce a temperature rise due to heating during vapor-deposition. The vacuum seal chamber 13 and the deposition chamber 2 are evacuated by an exhaust pump unit 11.

The vapor deposition device 7 includes one or more net-like storage containers 9 disposed on the side of the cooling roll 4 and containing a sublimable vapor deposition material 8, and a heating device 1o for the containers 9.

It is composed of a supply device 12 for vapor deposition material 8, and evaporates (sublimates) the vapor deposition material 8 onto the running substrate 1. Since the vapor deposition material 8 in the storage container 9 evaporates and is consumed during the vapor deposition operation, the vapor deposition material 8 in the form of a pellet is continuously supplied from above the storage container 9 from the supply device 12 . The mesh of the storage container 9 is smaller than the islet of the vapor deposition material 8, and since the vapor deposition material 8 is a sublimable substance, it maintains a solid shape during the vapor deposition operation, so that the vapor deposition material 8 can be operated without spilling out of the storage container 9.

Here, in the case of evaporation in a vacuum, on average the vapor shoots out vertically from the evaporation surface, so in the configuration shown in FIG. , and is deposited on the surface of the substrate 10 which is wrapped around a cooling roll 4 disposed on the side of the storage container 9.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, the low-temperature, pellet-shaped vapor deposition material that is supplied little by little from the vapor deposition material supply means evaporates (sublimates) from the entire side surface of the net-shaped storage container.

Therefore, the low-temperature rent is supplied without significantly affecting the evaporation from the high-temperature deposition material.

Deposition operation can be continued.

Further, since the deposition material supply device is not exposed to steam evaporating from the deposition material toward the cooling roll, stable operation can be continued for a long period of time.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional side view showing one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a longitudinal side view showing an example of a conventional vacuum evaporation apparatus. 1... (traveling) substrate 2... Vapor deposition chamber 3...
Deflation crawl 4... Cooling roll 5... Take-up reel 6... Feeding reel 7... Vapor deposition device 8... Vapor deposition material 9... Storage container
10... Heating device 11... Exhaust pump unit 13... Vacuum seal chamber

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a vacuum evaporation apparatus that evaporates a sublimable evaporation material onto a flexible substrate wrapped around the side surface of a cooling roll in a vacuum evaporation chamber, a net-like structure is disposed on the side of the cooling roll and stores the evaporation material. 1. A vacuum evaporation apparatus comprising: a container; a means for supplying the vapor deposition material to the container from above; and a heating means provided near the container.