JPH0364463A - Continuous vacuum deposition device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To open only the part of an electron gun in the atmosphere without releasing the whole device body to the atmospheric pressure by communicating a second vacuum chamber with a vacuum chamber (vapor deposition chamber) by an opening part having a sealing means and providing a means for moving the electron gun to the second vacuum chamber. CONSTITUTION:A second vacuum chamber (subvacuum chamber) 11 is communicated with a vacuum chamber (vapor deposition chamber) 3 near to an electron gun 8 by an opening part 12 provided on the wall of the vacuum chamber 3. The opening part 12 is closed and sealed by providing a freely openable/ closable gate valve 13 to this opening part 12. When the electron gun 8 is replaced or repaired, a gas cylinder 18 for driving is driven and a fitting trestle 15 of the electron gun is moved into the subvacuum chamber 11 along a chevron rail 16. Then the opening part 12 is closed by the gate valve 13 and thereafter a leak valve 25 is opened to release the inside of the chamber 11 to the atmospheric pressure. The electron gun 8 is taken out by opening a square flange.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention is applicable to plastic films such as polyester, and various non-metallic materials or metallic materials.

[Conventional technology]

FIG. 5 shows an example of a conventional vacuum deposition apparatus for depositing aluminum onto a plastic film.

In a vacuum chamber a consisting of an upper chamber f and a lower chamber (deposition chamber) g separated by a partition, a film b wound into a coil is fed out from a feeding machine C, while a crucible j in a lower chamber g is fed out. The aluminum vapor evaporated from the aluminum is deposited on one part of the cooling roll (deposition roll) and wound up on one winder e. When the deposition of one coil is completed, the vacuum chamber a is opened to the atmosphere, a new film b wound into a coil is replaced, and then the vacuum is evacuated again using the pump d and the deposition operation is performed. A in crucible A is discharged each time to prevent damage to crucible J.

After cleaning the inside of crucible j, load new aluminum. In this way, the vapor deposition work performed by the vacuum vapor deposition apparatus shown in FIG. 5 includes mounting a film, cleaning the crucible, loading a new vapor deposition material, evacuation, and heating.

Since it is a repetitive process of traveling, vapor deposition, and opening to the atmosphere,
It was extremely inefficient and had poor productivity.

Therefore, in order to improve productivity, we created a vacuum chamber divided into multiple stages by seal rolls and partition walls, and evacuated each vacuum chamber to create a pressure that gradually decreases from atmospheric pressure to vacuum. , by passing a flexible substrate such as a film through it.

It has been proposed to carry out vacuum deposition by continuously moving the substrate from the atmosphere to the vacuum and back to the atmosphere.

That is, as shown in FIG. 6, the plastic film 1 wound into a coil is dispensed from a dispensing device (not shown) placed in the atmosphere.

Pass between seal roll S1.82, seal roll S□
, S2. It enters the decompression chamber 2a surrounded by S3 and partition walls W□ and W2. The decompression chamber has a plurality of stages (6 to 7 stages) of almost the same structure arranged in series, and the plastic film 1 passes through them one after another and enters the vacuum chamber (evaporation chamber) 3 from the last decompression chamber 2b. . The above-mentioned decompression chambers 2a,..., 2
b and the vacuum chamber 3 are each evacuated by an evacuation device 4, and the pressure is gradually lowered from atmospheric pressure to vacuum. The plastic film 1 is wound around a cooling roll (evaporation roll) 5 in a vacuum chamber 3, heated in a crucible 6 by an electron beam 9 of an electron gun 8, and the vapor of the evaporated deposition material (aluminum) 7 is deposited thereon. , seal roll S
2. S3, passes through the vacuum chambers 2b...2a, and passes through the seal roll S2...2a above the vacuum chamber 2a. From between S3, it is carried out into the atmosphere and wound up by a two-winding device (not shown).

Two Abnormal electrical discharges often occur and parts are damaged.

Then, in order to replace or repair the electron gun, it is necessary to open the sealing device to the atmosphere and take out the electron gun.

When stopping evacuation and opening the crucible to the atmosphere, the temperature of the metal inside the crucible is between 400°C and 1800°C.

If exposed to the atmosphere, it will oxidize and shorten the life of the metal. Therefore, it is necessary to gradually cool down the metal while evacuation to lower the temperature, which takes 9 hours.

In addition, moisture adsorbed on the metal surface of the inner wall of the device due to opening to the atmosphere is released during vacuum evacuation after maintenance, causing so-called outgassing. It is an object of the present invention to provide a device capable of opening only an electron gun portion to the atmosphere without opening the room to the atmosphere.

[Means to solve the problem]

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

A flexible substrate is continuously introduced from the atmosphere into a vacuum chamber via a decompression chamber, and in the vacuum chamber, the substrate is wrapped around a cooling roll, and the evaporation material heated and evaporated in the crucible by an electron gun is heated in the crucible. After the substrate is evaporated, the substrate is continuously transported into the atmosphere through a vacuum chamber, and the vacuum is a second vacuum chamber that communicates with the chamber; and a sealing device that can seal the opening and can be opened and closed.

This paper proposes a vapor deposition device.

[For production]

When it becomes necessary to take out the electron gun, the electron gun is moved to the second vacuum chamber by the electron gun moving device.

The opening between the first vacuum chamber (evaporation chamber) and the second vacuum chamber is sealed by a sealing device. Thereafter, the second vacuum chamber is brought to atmospheric pressure, the electron gun is removed, and necessary operations are performed. When the work is completed, install the secondary gun into the second vacuum chamber, and
After the vacuum chamber is evacuated to the same pressure as the first vacuum chamber, the opening between the nine vacuum chambers is opened and the electron gun is moved to a fixed position within the first vacuum chamber.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional front view showing one embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional front view of the main part showing the electron gun moved into the second vacuum chamber, Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional plan view taken from ■-■ in Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional plan view taken from Fig. 3 - ■It is a cross-sectional side view. In these figures, the same parts as those of the conventional device explained with reference to FIG. 6 are designated by the same reference numerals, and detailed explanation thereof will be omitted.

Reference numeral 11 denotes a second vacuum chamber (sub-vacuum chamber), and the (first) It communicates with vacuum chamber 3. Reference numeral 13 denotes a gate valve provided in the opening 12 that can be opened and closed, and can seal the opening 12 to shut off the vacuum chamber 3 and the sub-vacuum chamber 11. 1
Reference numeral 4 denotes a vacuum evacuation pump exclusively for the sub-vacuum chamber 11, which is connected to the sub-vacuum chamber 11 via piping.

Reference numeral 15 denotes an electron gun mounting stand, on which the electron gun 8 is mounted, and the lower surface thereof has a chevron-shaped (female-shaped) bed so that it can slide along the chevron-shaped rail 6. This chevron-shaped rail 16 extends from the inside of the vacuum chamber 3 to the inside of the sub-vacuum chamber 11, but the intersection 17 with the gate valve 13 is partially cut off. 18 is a driving gas cylinder.

It is provided at the end of the sub-vacuum chamber 11, and the tip of its shaft portion 19 is fixed to the rear surface of the electron gun mounting frame 15.

Reference numeral 21 denotes a high-voltage power cable connected to the electron gun 8, which is supported by an insulator attached to a spring strip, and when the electron gun is moved, it bends (expands and contracts) along the wire strip. ).

Naoro is a leak valve, and 26 is a hinged corner 7 flange.

In such a device, when it is necessary to replace or repair the electron gun 8, first drive the driving gas cylinder 18 to move the electron gun mounting frame 15 along the chevron rail 16 into the sub-vacuum chamber 11. let Next, after the opening portion 12 is sealed by the gate valve 13.

Open the IJ valve to bring the inside of the sub-vacuum chamber 11 to atmospheric pressure. Then open the corner 7 lunge and take out the electron gun 8.

When restarting operation, attach the electron gun 8 to the electron gun mounting frame 15 in the sub-vacuum chamber 11 in the reverse order as described above.

After closing the leak valve and the square flange and reducing the pressure inside the sub-vacuum chamber 11 to the same pressure as the inside of the deposition chamber 3 using the evacuation pump 14, the gate valve 13 is opened.

The electron gun mounting stand 15 is moved to a predetermined position within the deposition chamber 3.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, since it is not necessary to bring the entire device to atmospheric pressure during maintenance of the electron gun, the evacuation time of the device after opening to the atmosphere can be shortened. Also.

There is no need for slow cooling time to prevent oxidation (deterioration) of the white metal in the crucible. Therefore, operation interruption time is significantly shortened and productivity is improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional front view showing one embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional front view of the main part showing the electron gun moved into the second vacuum chamber, Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional plan view taken from ■-■ in Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional plan view taken from Fig. 3 - ■It is a cross-sectional side view. Fifth
Both FIG. 6 and FIG. 6 are diagrams illustrating a conventional vacuum evaporation apparatus. a... Vacuum chamber b... Film C... Feeding machine d... Pump e... Winding machine f... Upper chamber g... Lower chamber (deposition chamber)
h...Partition board soil...Cooling roll (evaporation roll)
3... Crucible k... Pump S1. S2. S3...
Seal roll W□, W2. W3...Bulkhead 1.
...Plastic films 2a, 2b...Decompression chamber 3...Vacuum chamber (evaporation chamber) 4...Evacuation device 5...Cooling roll (deposition roll) 6...
Crucible 7... Vapor deposition material (aluminum) 8... Electron gun 9... Electron beam 11
...Second vacuum chamber (sub-vacuum chamber) 12...Opening 13
...Gate valve 14...Vacuum pump 1
5... Electron gun mounting stand 16... Chevron rail 18
...Drive gas cylinder 2]...Power cable.../ζ strip plate Ru...Leak valve part...
square flange

Claims (1)

[Claims] A flexible substrate is continuously introduced from the atmosphere into a vacuum chamber via a decompression chamber, and in the vacuum chamber, the substrate is wrapped around a cooling roll, and the evaporation material heated and evaporated in the crucible by an electron gun is transferred to the substrate. After vapor deposition, the substrate is continuously transported into the atmosphere through a reduced pressure chamber, and an opening provided in the wall of the vacuum chamber near the installation position of the electron gun connects the substrate to the vacuum chamber. a second vacuum chamber in communication;
A continuous vacuum evaporation apparatus comprising: a sealing device that can seal the opening and can be opened and closed; and an electron gun moving device that moves the electron gun to the second vacuum chamber.