JPH0253671B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention is applicable to non-metallic devices mainly composed of silicon (Si), such as ceramics, quartz, or glass, and metal devices, such as stainless steel. The present invention relates to a connection device that connects equipment in an air-liquid tight manner.

[Prior art] Technology for connecting metal equipment and non-metallic equipment such as ceramics, quartz, or glass while maintaining air-liquid tightness is extremely important in various fields, and is particularly problematic in the semiconductor manufacturing field. It's summery.

In other words, in recent years, semiconductor device manufacturing technology such as VLSIs (Large Scale Integrated Circuits) has progressed extremely rapidly, and in order to manufacture VLSIs with fine patterns, it is necessary to prevent contaminants from entering the semiconductors. It won't happen. For this purpose, it is essential to prevent air pollution to the manufacturing equipment and reaction tubes, that is, to clean the reaction atmosphere.

In semiconductor manufacturing processes, reactions between semiconductor wafers and reactive gases are often carried out in quartz tubes, which can withstand high temperatures and easily provide clean materials. In order to clean the reaction atmosphere, not only the gas supply system is required to be clean, but also the quartz tube itself is required to be clean. Through various improvements and innovations, the cleaning of gas supply systems and quartz tubes is rapidly progressing toward no external leaks, no generation of fine powder or dust, and very little gas released from the tube walls. However, sufficient consideration has not yet been given to the connection between a gas supply system made of a metal tube such as stainless steel and a quartz tube, that is, the connection method between different materials. As a result, air-liquid tightness is not maintained and the cleaning perspective is lacking. In the conventional case, the amount of external leakage is usually about 1×10 ⁻³ to 1×10 ⁻⁴ Torr./sec.

The cleaning conditions for the joint between the metal tube and the quartz tube used in the semiconductor manufacturing process are as follows: (a) The amount of leakage to the outside is extremely high (the detection limit of the He leak detector is 2×10 ^-11 Torr). ./sec or less)
Reduced to no back diffusion and no air pollution.

(b) There is no dead zone where reactive gases remain during exhaust.

(c) There is a requirement that there is no generation of harmful particulates or gas emissions from the gas contact surfaces of the materials constituting the connection parts.

Conventionally, in order to connect the metal tube on the gas supply system side and the quartz tube, (a) as shown in Fig. 10, the tip of the quartz tube 1 is squeezed and the gap with the metal tube 2 on the gas supply system is connected. Connect using a resin tube 3; (b) Rubber O-ring 4 as shown in Figure 11.
Connect using metal gauge port 5, body 6, O-ring retainer 7, and cover 8, which are used as sealing members; (c) As shown in FIG. 12, the tip of quartz tube 9 is made into flange 10, and rubber bolt 12 and nut 1 using O-ring 11 made of
3 (in addition, 14 and 1 in the figure)
5 is a metal plate and an elastic buffer member for equalizing the pressing force between the flanges);

However, in the configuration shown in FIG. 10 shown in section (a) above, the sealing performance of the synthetic resin tube 3 is not good, so there is a large amount of leakage from the outside, and fine particles are generated from the synthetic resin tube 3. Naturally, a lot of gas is released. In addition, in the structure of FIG. 11 shown in section (b), the O
Since the quartz tube 16 is inserted into the ring 11, a dead zone 17 is created in which gas accumulates. Further, the cross section of the quartz tube 16 is limited to a cylindrical shape, and the dimensional accuracy of the quartz tube during processing is insufficient, resulting in external leakage.

On the other hand, the configuration shown in FIG. 12 described in section (c) above has the advantage of satisfying the cleaning conditions (a) to (c) and being applicable to quartz tubes of any cross-sectional shape.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the case of the structure shown in FIG. 12, there is a problem that the flange portion 10 of the quartz tube 9 is easily damaged.

That is, in the case of the conventional structure shown in FIG.
Bolts 12 and nuts 13 are used to tighten both flanges, but when tightening in this way, even tightening force is not necessarily generated over the entire circumference of the flange, and a large amount of tightening force may be applied to the part of bolt 12 that has been tightened. Applying force is generated intensively. For this reason, the tightening force acting on the flange portions is unbalanced, that is, uneven tightening occurs, and the opposing surfaces of the flange portions may be inclined and the flange portions may come into contact with each other. A seal member 11 is present between these flanges, but since the seal member 11 is in line contact over the entire circumference, it tends to promote inclination of the flange portion.

If the front surfaces of the flange parts come into contact with each other locally due to the inclination of the flange part, the flange part on the quartz tube side is likely to be damaged, and the inclination of the flange part causes uneven contact of the sealing member 11, resulting in poor air-liquid tightness. There is a problem in which the

In order to equalize the tightening force, a metal plate 14 and an elastic buffer member 15 are installed between the back surface of the flange portion 10 and the bolt 12.
Since the buffer member 15 is locally deformed when tightened, it is impossible to prevent the flange portion 10 from tilting, and therefore, there is a drawback that it is impossible to prevent the flange portions from coming into contact with each other.

The present invention was made based on the above circumstances, and its purpose is to prevent the flange formed on a non-metallic device from coming into direct contact with a metal device, thereby preventing damage to the flange. It is an object of the present invention to provide a connection device for connecting metal and non-metallic instruments, which prevents the above-mentioned problems and maintains good sealing performance by reducing the imbalance in the pressing force applied to the sealing member.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention includes a metal device, and a non-metal mainly composed of silicon (Si), which has a flange portion and is connected to the metal device by facing the flange portion. A clamping member that clamps the metal equipment and the flange of the non-metallic equipment, and is inserted between the back of the flange and the clamping member to equalize the clamping force. In a connecting device comprising a buffer member made of an elastic material for The present invention is characterized in that a flat sheet-like elastic member is inserted adjacent to the sealing member to prevent contact between these metal devices and the flange portion.

[Function] According to the configuration of the present invention, when the flange portions of a metal device and a non-metal device are tightened with the tightening member,
Even if the flange part is tilted due to uneven tightening due to unbalanced tightening force, a flat sheet-like elastic member is inserted between the flange part and the metal equipment, so the flange part will not come into contact with the metal equipment. This prevents damage to the flange portion.

In addition, since the elastic member is in the form of a flat sheet, it makes surface contact and receives the clamping force over a wide area, reducing the pressing force per unit area, and dispersing the clamping force, reducing the inclination of the flange. However, since uneven contact of the sealing member is prevented, high air-liquid tightness can be maintained.

[Embodiment] Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings shown in FIGS. 1 to 4.

FIG. 1 schematically shows a semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus to which the present invention is applied, including a gas supply system 20, SiC or SiO ₂
It is equipped with non-metallic equipment 21, metal equipment 22, a gate valve 23, an exhaust device 24, etc. As shown enlarged in Figures 2 and 3,
The non-metallic device 21 has a cylindrical portion 2 having a substantially rectangular cross section.
5 and a flange portion 26, and is made of, for example, quartz. The metal device 22 has a cylindrical portion 27 and a flange portion 28 integrally, and is made of stainless steel, for example. A seal member 29 is interposed between the opposing surfaces of the flange portion 26 of the quartz tube 21 and the flange portion 28 of the stainless steel tube 22 to maintain airtightness between the inside and outside of both tube bodies 21 and 22. It is set up. As this sealing member 29, for example, an O-ring made of fluorocarbon rubber is used. Further, in order to press the flanges 26 and 28 against each other, a tightening member such as a bolt 30 and a nut 31 is used, and the flange 26 of the quartz tube 21 and the head (or nut) of the bolt 30 are tightened. A reinforcing member (for example, a stainless steel plate) 32 is provided between the reinforcing member 32 and the flange portion 26 to equalize the pressing force exerted by the bolts and nuts.
A buffer member 33 made of rubber or the like is interposed to prevent direct contact between the two.

The above general configuration may be the same as that in the conventional example shown in FIG.

In the present invention, both axial end surfaces of the flange portion 26 of the quartz tube 21, that is, the front and back surfaces 34
and 35 are optically polished so that they have smooth flat surfaces with a surface roughness of 1 μm or less and are parallel to each other. A flat sheet-like elastic member 36 is interposed between the flanges 26 and 28 to prevent direct contact between them and to absorb local concentration of pressing force. There is. This elastic member 36 is made of, for example, fluororesin.

Note that the bolt holes 37 opened in the flange portion 26 of the quartz tube 21 are connected to the front and rear surfaces 34 of the flange portion 26.
It is desirable that the corners 38 and 39 that are continuous with the corners 38 and 35 be chamfered appropriately. Further, when an O-ring is used as the sealing member 29 as shown in the figure, in order to maintain good airtightness, the O-ring 29 is used as shown in FIG.
The cross-sectional diameter D in the free state is relative to the groove depth d and the thickness t of the elastic member 36 in the compressed state,
It goes without saying that D>(d+t).

The pressing force applied between the two flanges 26 and 28, that is, the tightening force by the bolt 30 and nut 31, is determined to achieve the desired airtightness (detection limit of the He leak detector: 2×10 ^-11 Torr./sec). below)
Each flange portion 26 and 28 is
It is set appropriately depending on the flatness of the seal member 29, the hardness of the seal member 29, and the like.

Next, the connection procedure of the above embodiment will be explained.

(i) Seal member 2 is attached to flange portion 28 of metal tube 22
9 and the elastic member 36 are set.

(ii) Bolt holes 37 in the flange portion 26 of the quartz tube 21
are aligned with the bolt holes of the flange portion 28 of the metal tube 22.

(iii) Set the buffer member 33 and reinforcing member 32.

(iv) Tighten bolts 30 and nuts 31 evenly by hand.

(v) Vacuum the inside to bring both flanges 28 and 26 into close contact.

(vi) Further tighten the bolts 30 and nuts 31 evenly by hand.

(vii) If external leakage occurs, use a torque wrench to tighten bolt 3 until the amount of external leakage is reduced.
0 and nuts 31 evenly. However, in this case, the torque is gradually increased.

According to the above configuration, both flange portions 26
The amount of leakage ^at the connection between
This can be confirmed by actually measuring the following. In addition, the bolt 30 and nut 3 are arranged so that such a high degree of airtightness can be obtained.
Even if 1 is tightened sufficiently, both flange parts 26 and 28
Since the elastic member 36 is inserted between the two flanges 26 and 28, there is no direct contact between the flanges 26 and 28, and no problem such as damage to the flange 26 occurs.

5 and 6 show a second embodiment of the present invention, in which the quartz tube 40 and the metal tube 41 each have a circular cross section. Portions corresponding to those in FIGS. 2 to 4 are denoted by the same symbols and explanations thereof will be omitted.

7 and 8 show a third embodiment of the invention. In this case, instead of using bolts and nuts as tightening members, clamps 42 are used. Portions opposite to those in FIGS. 2 to 6 are denoted by the same symbols and explanations thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 9 shows a fourth embodiment of the invention. In the case where a sleeve 43 and a nut 44 that are screwed together are used as the tightening member, the present invention can be applied to a quartz tube having a gas introduction part 45 with a constricted tip. Corresponding parts to those in FIGS. 2 to 8 are given the same symbols and their explanations will be omitted.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and for example, the material of the sealing member 29 may be natural rubber, various synthetic rubbers such as fluorocarbon rubber, metal O-rings, or the like. These materials are appropriately selected depending on the operating temperature, corrosiveness, etc., but those having heat resistance and corrosion resistance are generally preferred.

The material of the buffer member 33 is preferably natural rubber, various synthetic rubbers, etc., and is appropriately selected in consideration of elasticity. Its shape is a flat sheet, and is appropriately selected depending on the shape of the flange portion.

Further, the reinforcing member 32 is not limited in any way as long as it has a structure in which a non-metallic device, a seal member, and a metal device are pressed against each other over the entire circumference and maintain a close contact state.

Further, there are no restrictions on the tightening member as long as it has a structure that allows the tightening force to be applied evenly over the entire circumference. In addition, the present invention can be modified or applied in various ways without departing from the gist thereof.

[Effects of the Invention] As explained above, according to the present invention, since a flat sheet-like elastic member is inserted between the flange portions of the metal equipment and the non-metal equipment adjacent to the sealing member, the metal Even if the facing surfaces of the flange portion of the manufactured equipment and the non-metallic equipment are tilted to each other and a portion of the flange portion comes into direct contact with the metal equipment, the flat sheet-like elastic member inserted between them It is possible to prevent the flange portion from coming into contact with the flange portion, which is easily broken, such as ceramics, quartz, or glass, from being damaged. In addition, since the elastic member is in the form of a flat sheet, surface contact occurs and the clamping force is applied over a wide area, reducing the surface pressure. Since the applied tightening force is dispersed, the inclination of the flange portion can be reduced, and uneven contact of the sealing member can be prevented to maintain highly accurate sealing performance.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view schematically showing a semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus to which the present invention is applied, FIG. 2 is a half-cut front view showing an enlarged portion of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is shown along the - line in FIG. 4 is an enlarged explanatory view of the part shown in FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a half-cut front view showing the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is taken along the - line in FIG. 7 is a front view showing the third embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along the - line in FIG. 7, and FIG. 9 is a fourth embodiment of the present invention. 10, FIG. 11, and FIG. 12 are cross-sectional views showing different conventional examples. 21,40...Non-metallic equipment, 22,41...
Metal equipment, 26, 28...flange part, 29...
... Seal member, 32 ... Reinforcement member, 33 ... Buffer member, 34, 35 ... Flange end surface, 36 ...
Elastic member.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A metal device; a non-metallic device mainly composed of silicon (Si), which has a flange portion and is connected to the metal device by facing the flange portion; It consists of a clamping member that clamps the manufactured equipment and the flange of the non-metallic equipment, and an elastic material that is inserted between the back of the flange and the clamping member to equalize the clamping force. In a connection device comprising a buffer member and a sealing member clamped between the metal equipment and the front surface of the flange, the metal equipment and the flange are connected to each other between the metal equipment and the flange. 1. A device for connecting metal and non-metal devices, characterized in that a flat sheet-like elastic member is inserted adjacent to the sealing member to prevent contact between the flange portion and the flange portion.