JPH05271936A - Continuous arc ion plating device for sphere - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To coat a large amt. of spheres at a time by successively sending the spheres in a coating chamber and moving them under rotation with a moving device connected to a bias power source. CONSTITUTION:A first locked chamber 1, a coating chamber 2 and a second locked chamber 3 are evacuated to a prescribed pressure, process gas is introduced into the coating chamber 2 through a valve 11 and voltage is impressed between an evaporating source 15 and an anode 19 to carry out sputtering. Spheres housed in a takeout box 16 from the first locked chamber 1 are successively sent to a support member 34 connected to a bias power source through a sending mechanism 25 and the spheres are moved under rotation with a moving device 18. During this moving, the spheres are coated and then sent in a receiving box 17. A large amt. of spheres can be coated at a time.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a continuous arc ion plating apparatus for a sphere which forms a coating film on the surface of the sphere by utilizing a vacuum arc discharge, and particularly to coat a large number of spheres at once. About what you can do.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The applicant has previously proposed, in Japanese Patent Application No. 3-91369, an arc ion plating device for a sphere shown in FIG. The arc ion plating device for this sphere will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 7, an evaporation source 52 and a table 53 are provided in a coating chamber 51 of this arc ion plating apparatus. The evaporation source 52 is Ti, Zr
And the like, which are connected to the arc power supply 54. The table 53 is composed of an upper member 55 movably mounted on a roller 56 and a lower member 57 movably mounted on a roller 58. The upper member 55 is moved by a driving device (not shown). The lower member 57 reciprocates in the thickness direction of the plane of the drawing, and the lower member 57 reciprocates in the direction perpendicular thereto. The upper member 55 and the lower member 57 are arranged in parallel at an interval of d, and the lower member 57 is connected to the bias power source 59. As shown in FIG. 8, the upper member 5
5 has a plurality of storage holes 55a formed therein. When the sphere S is loaded into the storage hole 55a, the sphere S is stored in the storage hole 55a.
It projects downward from the inside and contacts the lower member 57, and the sphere S is held by the storage hole 55a of the upper member 55 and the lower member 57.

Next, the operation of the above-mentioned arc ion plating device will be described. Storage hole 55 of the upper member 55
The table 53 holding the sphere S by a and the lower member 57 is carried into the coating chamber 51, and the inside of the coating chamber 51 is evacuated. Coating chamber 51 in high vacuum
When an arc discharge is generated with the evaporation source 52 as a cathode,
The arc forms an arc spot on the target surface. Then, due to the energy of the arc current concentrated on this arc spot, the target material is instantaneously melted and vaporized, and at the same time, metal ions are formed and jump out into the coating chamber 51. On the other hand, since the sphere S held on the table 53 is in contact with the lower member 57, a bias voltage is applied to the sphere S. Then, when the upper member 55 is reciprocated in the thickness direction of the paper and the lower member 57 is reciprocated in the direction perpendicular thereto, the sphere S rolls and projects upward from the storage hole 55a of the upper member 55. The spherical portion of S alternates sequentially. As a result, the metal ions that have jumped out into the coating chamber 51 adhere closely to the surface of the sphere S, forming a uniform coating film on the surface of the sphere S.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In the arc ion plating device for a sphere previously proposed by the applicant, the sphere S
Is projected downward from the storage hole 55a of the upper member 55 to bring the spherical member S and the lower member 57 into contact with each other and roll the spherical member S under a bias voltage. If the diameter of the sphere S is small, the distance d between the upper member 55 and the lower member 57 must be small. For example, the diameter of the sphere is 10 mm
In this case, it is necessary to set the distance d to about 1.5 to 2 mm. Therefore, when a large amount (for example, 3000 pieces) of spheres S each having a small diameter are coated at one time, the upper member 55 and the lower member 57 are long and horizontal (for example,
500 mm × 1000 mm), in order to bring all the spheres S into contact with the lower member 57 and roll the sphere S with the bias voltage applied, the upper member 55 and the lower member 57 The parallelism of must be fairly accurate. Therefore, there is a problem that it is not suitable for coating a large amount of spheres S at one time.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a continuous arc for a sphere capable of coating a large number of spheres at once. It is intended to provide an ion plating device.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a continuous arc ion plating apparatus for a sphere according to the present invention has a delivery mechanism for sequentially delivering spheres, and a sphere delivered by the delivery mechanism. And a sphere moving device connected to a bias power source for moving while moving in a vacuum chamber.

Further, the sphere moving device may be provided with a conversion member for shifting the rotation axis of the sphere.

[0009]

The spheres sequentially delivered by the delivery mechanism move while rolling while the bias voltage is applied by the sphere moving device, and the spheres are coated during this movement.

Further, when the sphere moving device is provided with a conversion member for displacing the rotation axis of the sphere, the spherical portions of the sphere appearing in the coatable region are sequentially replaced, and the metal ions are intimately adhered to the surface of the sphere.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a continuous arc ion plating device for spheres of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a coating chamber, FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a delivery mechanism, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a sphere moving device, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 4, and FIG.
It is a B sectional view.

In FIG. 1, the continuous arc ion plating device for a sphere is formed by connecting a first lock chamber 1, a coating chamber 2 and a second lock chamber 3 through openable and closable gate valves 4 and 5. Also, gate valves 6 and 7 that can be opened and closed are provided on the carry-in side of the first lock chamber 1 and the carry-out side of the second lock chamber 3 as well. Exhaust pumps 8, 9 and 10 are connected to the chambers 1, 2 and 3, respectively.
The inside of 3 can be evacuated to a predetermined pressure. In addition, a gas introduction valve 1 is provided in the coating chamber 2.
1 is connected to the inside of the coating chamber 2 for N ₂ and CH.
Process gas such as ₄ can be supplied.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, an evaporation source 15, an extraction box 16, a receiving box 17, and a sphere moving device 18 are provided in the coating chamber 2.
The evaporation source 15 is a metal target such as Ti or Zr, and is connected to an arc power source 20 together with an anode 19 which is a partner of the evaporation source (cathode) 15. The take-out box 16 is adapted to accommodate the sphere S carried in from the first lock chamber 1 by opening the gate valve 4, and has a delivery mechanism 25 at its lower part. This delivery mechanism 25 has a holding hole 26a.
Is a rotatably mounted unloading rotary disk 26 in a box 27. When the unloading rotary disk 26 is rotated by a drive device (not shown), the sphere S in the unloading box 16 is rotated.
Are sequentially taken out by the carry-out rotary disk 26 and sent to the sphere moving device 18. The receiving box 17 is adapted to house the spheres S sequentially carried by the sphere moving device 18.
The sphere S stored inside can be carried out to the second lock chamber by opening the gate valve 6.

As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the sphere moving device 18 includes a guide member 28 in which a fixed guide 29 including an inclined portion 30, a guide portion 31, and a fixed portion 32 is arranged in a multilayered manner. Support member 34 connected to bias power supply 33
And a moving conveyor 35, and has a horizontal moving section X and a vertical moving section Y. The support member 34 is an integral member formed in a spiral shape from the lower portion D to the upper portion E (see FIG. 1), and is fixed to the end of the fixed portion 32 of the fixed guide 29 at the lateral movement portion X. Moving conveyor 35
Is a holding member 39 composed of a flat plate portion 40 and a cylindrical portion 41 connected in an endless annular shape by a connecting member 42. The flat portion 40 of the holding member 39 has a spherical body S so that the lower portion of the spherical body S projects downward. Is provided with a holding hole 40a.
The holding member 39 of the moving conveyor 35 is provided on the upper part E by the take-out box 1 sent by the sending mechanism 25.
The sphere S in 6 can be received. By rotating the drive roller 43, the sphere S thus received is held by the holding hole 40a of the flat plate portion 40, and the sphere S and the horizontal moving portion X are vertically moved. Alternately pass through the moving part Y and the lower part D
You can move up to. And
The movement of the holding member 39 toward the lower portion D is performed by the flat plate portion 40.
Slides on the support member 34, and the cylindrical portion 41 moves to the fixed guide 2
9 is carried out by advancing in the guide part 31 (the cylindrical part 41 is advancing in the guide part 31 only in the lateral movement part X), and at this time, the sphere S is lower in the longitudinal movement part Y. Moves in contact with the support member 34 while rolling around the G line, and in the laterally moving portion X, the side part also contacts the inclined portion 30 of the fixed guide 29 while rolling around the F line as a central axis. It is designed to move. Then, the holding member 39 of the moving conveyor 35 that has reached the lower portion D discharges the sphere S into the receiving box 17 by inclining or the like, and is guided by a roller (not shown) to circulate to the upper portion E.

Next, the operation of the continuous arc ion plating device for spheres having the above structure will be described. First
Atmosphere is introduced into the lock chamber 1 to bring the first lock chamber 1 into the atmospheric state, and the gate valve 6 is opened. And the first lock chamber 1
The sphere S is loaded into the inside, and the gate valve 6 is closed. Then, the first lock chamber 1 is evacuated to a predetermined pressure by the exhaust pump 8. Next, the gate valve 4 is opened, the sphere S is carried into the extraction box 16 in the coating chamber 2, and the gate valve 4 is closed. Then, the coating chamber 2 is evacuated by the exhaust pump 9 until it becomes a high vacuum state. When an arc discharge is generated in the coating chamber 2 in a high vacuum state with the evaporation source 15 as a cathode, the target material is instantaneously melted and vaporized, and at the same time metal ions are formed, which jumps out into the coating chamber 2. In addition, from the gas introduction valve 11 to N ₂ , CH
A process gas such as ₄ is supplied into the coating chamber 2.

On the other hand, when the delivery mechanism 25 and the moving conveyor 35 are operated, the sphere S carried in the take-out box 16 is loaded.
Are sequentially taken out by the sending mechanism 25 and sent to the moving conveyor 35. Holding member 39 for moving conveyor 35
Receives the sphere S, and in a state where the sphere S is held by the holding hole 40a of the flat plate portion 40, the sphere S moves through the lateral movement portion X and the vertical movement portion Y alternately toward the lower portion D. At this time, since the lower part of the sphere S moves in contact with the support member 34, a bias voltage is applied to the sphere S. Further, the spherical body S moves while rolling around the G line as a central axis in the vertical moving section Y, and moves while rolling around the F line as a central axis in the horizontal moving section X. Therefore, the central axis of the sphere S is changed one after another, and the spherical portion of the sphere S protruding upward from the holding hole 40a of the flat plate portion 40 of the holding member 39 is sequentially replaced. As a result, the metal ions jumping out into the coating chamber 2 are
The process gas particles adhere to the surface of the sphere S thoroughly, and a uniform coating film is formed on the surface of the sphere S. The sphere S having the coating film formed on the surface in this manner is discharged into the receiving box 17 at the lower portion D.

When the coating work for all the spheres S carried into the take-out box 16 is completed, the gate valve 5 is opened. Then, the coated sphere S stored in the receiving box 17 is carried out to the second lock chamber 3,
The gate valve 5 is closed. The second lock chamber 3 is evacuated to a predetermined pressure by the exhaust pump 10, and the coated spherical body S is cooled in the second lock chamber 3. During this time, in the coating chamber 2, the coating work is performed on the sphere S that has been newly loaded into the take-out box 16 from the first lock chamber 1. When the cooling in the second lock chamber 3 is completed, the atmosphere is introduced into the second lock chamber 3 to bring the second lock chamber 3 into the atmospheric state. Then, the gate valve 7 is opened to carry out the coated sphere S to the outside of the machine, the gate valve 7 is closed and the second lock chamber 3 is evacuated to a predetermined pressure to complete the whole process. In this way, the take-out box 16
The spheres S carried in are sequentially taken out by the delivery mechanism 25, and are moved while rolling toward the receiving box 17 while the bias voltage is applied by the sphere moving device 18, and the spheres S are moved to the sphere S during this movement. Since the coating is performed on all the spheres S, it is possible to coat all the spheres S under the same conditions regardless of the amount of the spheres S carried into the take-out box 16. Therefore,
A large amount of spheres S can be carried into the take-out box 16, and a large amount of spheres S can be coated at one time. Further, the sphere S rolls on the support member 34 while changing the central axis one after another, and the holding member 39
Since the spherical portion of the sphere S protruding upward from the inside of the holding hole 40a of the flat plate portion 40 is alternately replaced, a uniform coating film is formed on the surface of the sphere S.

In the arc ion plating apparatus shown in the above embodiment, a plurality of dedicated chambers (chambers) for carrying out the steps of vacuuming, coating and cooling are connected, and spheres are sequentially fed into these chambers. Although it is said to be an in-line type that performs continuous processing, it can be similarly applied to what is called a batch type in which all processes are performed in only one chamber, and the same effects as those of the in-line type described above are obtained. ..

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the three-chamber type in which the lock chambers are arranged before and after the coating chamber, which is the basic type among the in-line type arc ion plating devices, has been described. A preheating chamber is placed between the chambers, or there are two coating chambers.
The present invention can be similarly applied to a four-chamber type, a five-chamber type having a chamber arrangement, a two-chamber type having only a lock chamber and a coating chamber, and the same effects as those of the above-described embodiment can be obtained.

[0020]

Since the present invention is configured as described above, it has the following effects. The spheres sequentially delivered by the delivery mechanism move while rolling while the bias voltage is applied by the sphere moving device, and the spheres are coated during this movement. Therefore, regardless of the amount of spheres delivered by the delivery mechanism, all spheres can be coated under the same conditions, and a large number of spheres can be coated at once.

Further, when a conversion member for shifting the rotation axis of the sphere is provided in the sphere moving device, the spherical portions of the sphere appearing in the coatable area are sequentially replaced, and the metal ions are closely attached to the surface of the sphere. A uniform coating film is formed on the surface of the.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a continuous arc ion plating device for spheres of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a coating chamber.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a delivery mechanism.

FIG. 4 is a view showing a sphere moving device.

5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

6 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a conventional arc ion plating apparatus.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a table of a conventional arc ion plating apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 1st lock chamber 2 Coating chamber (vacuum chamber) 3 2nd lock chamber 15 Evaporation source 16 Extraction box 17 Receiving box 18 Sphere moving device 20 Arc power supply 25 Sending mechanism 28 Guide member 30 Inclination part (converting member) 33 Bias power supply 34 Support member 35 Moving conveyor S Sphere

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A sphere comprising a delivery mechanism for sequentially delivering spheres, and a sphere moving device connected to a bias power source for moving the sphere delivered from the delivery mechanism while rolling the sphere. Continuous arc ion plating device. 2. The continuous arc ion plating device for a sphere according to claim 1, wherein the sphere moving device is provided with a conversion member for shifting a rotation axis of the sphere.