JPH05293761A - Powdery material feeding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the working efficiency of a processing device by feeding a powdery material from a powdery material storage chamber to a reserve chamber even during processing of a work, in a powdery material feeding device for a processing device which performs etching processing or coating processing through injection of a powdery material against a work, such as a glass base sheet and a semiconductor substrate. CONSTITUTION:A reservoir chamber 2 is connected to a mixing chamber 2 through a bellows 36 by means of first and second housings 39 and 40. A first triangle valve 37 is arranged to the first housing 39 on the reservoir chamber 4 side and a second triangle valve 38 is disposed in the second housing 40 on the mixing chamber 2 side.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a processing apparatus for injecting powdery powder onto an object to be processed such as a glass substrate or a semiconductor substrate to perform etching or coating (so-called deposition). The present invention relates to a powder supply device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in manufacturing semiconductor integrated circuits, printed wiring circuits, and various functional elements such as magnetic heads, various fine processes have been required, and sophisticated etching techniques and thin film forming techniques have been required. ing.

Under such circumstances, researches on processing techniques have been advanced in various fields. For example, as an etching technique for processing the surface of a semiconductor wafer using a resist mask, argon ions are electrically accelerated to form a surface to be processed. Ion etching method (IBE) in which the surface is collided with the surface and is etched by physical destruction, or an active gas ion such as fluorine or chlorine is collided with the surface to be processed in the same manner, and etching is performed by a physical or chemical action. Active ion etching (RIE) and the like have been developed.

On the other hand, as a thin film forming technique, a sputtering method in which ions of an inert gas are accelerated and collide with a target in a vacuum, the target is knocked out, and the target is deposited on the substrate to form a thin film, or a film forming method. Material, for example, ceramic powder is melted in the air or under reduced pressure by heat of plasma, burner, etc. and sprayed to form a thin film, or heat of plasma is used to react gas. There is known a vapor phase growth method (CVD) or the like in which a reaction product is deposited on a substrate to form a film.

However, the above-mentioned etching method is
All of them have problems such as slow processing speed, high equipment cost, and complicated maintenance and maintenance. Further, with respect to the thin film forming technique, the conventional method is insufficient in terms of processing speed and the like, and there is a large restriction on the substrate at the time of film formation, and therefore, a drastic improvement is desired.

Therefore, as a processing method replacing the above-mentioned etching method and thin film forming technology, a so-called sand blast processing method in which powder is mixed with compressed air and jetted is proposed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 64-34670. I am collecting.

Next, an example of the above sandblasting apparatus will be described with reference to FIG. The sandblasting apparatus used in this example is roughly divided into an air compressor 1 for supplying compressed air, a mixing chamber 2 for storing powder mixed with the compressed air sent from the air compressor 1, and a compressed air together with the compressed air. A processing chamber 3 for injecting a fixed amount of powder to process the surface of a workpiece, a reserve chamber 4 for temporarily storing the powder in the processing chamber 3 for feeding to the mixing chamber 2, and a processing chamber. The air exhaust unit 5 sucks and collects the powder from the chamber 3 to the reserve chamber 4, and the powder storage chamber 6 that supplies the powder to the reserve chamber 4.

The sand blasting apparatus will be described in detail below. The air supply pipe 7 drawn from the air compressor 1 is branched into a first supply pipe 8 and a second supply pipe 9, which are respectively connected to the mixing chamber 2. Has been done. The first supply pipe 8 is provided with an adjusting valve 10 and an electric air valve 11 for adjusting the pressure of the compressed air supplied to the mixing chamber 2, and the second supply pipe 9 is connected to the processing chamber 3 into the mixing chamber. An adjusting valve 12 for adjusting the pressure air supplied together with the powder in 2 is provided.

The mixing chamber 2 is composed of a cylindrical container, and a powder 13 made of fine particles is contained in the container. The bottom of the mixing chamber 2 has a conical shape, and a disk-shaped filter 14 made of cermet (a porous material having innumerable fine holes formed by cutting out metal powder) is provided on the bottom surface of the air compressor 1. The first supply pipe 8 is connected to the back side of the filter 14. Therefore, the compressed air supplied to the first supply pipe 8 passes through the filter 14 and the mixing chamber 2
The air introduced into the inside of the mixing chamber 2 is discharged to the outside from the blower 5 through the exhaust pipe 15.

A bimorph vibrator 16 is provided on the slope of the mixing chamber 2 around the filter 14. The bimorph vibrator 16 is composed of a pair of upper and lower piezoelectric elements and electrodes, and is arranged in an annular shape so that its free end faces above the filter 14, and its base end portion is formed on the conical slope of the mixing chamber 2. It is fixed.

The bimorph oscillator 16 can vibrate its free end in the vertical direction by applying a predetermined AC voltage, for example, and mechanically disperses the powder 13 and agitates it with the compressed air from the filter 14. An air vibrator effect of mixing can be imparted.

A delivery pipe 17 penetrating the bottom of the mixing chamber 2 is provided at the center of the filter 14 so that the upper end of the delivery pipe 17 opens into the mixing chamber 2. The powder 13 stirred and dispersed by compressed air is sent out. The tip of the second supply pipe 9 is arranged at the lower end of the delivery pipe 17, and the negative pressure generated by the air flow of the compressed air supplied from the second supply pipe 9 causes the inside of the delivery pipe 17. The powder 13 is sucked, mixed with the compressed air, and sent out. And the above-mentioned delivery pipe 17
A dust collector 18 is supported on the upper part of the container in the container of the mixing chamber 2 by means not shown. Further, a delivery pipe 19 is connected to the delivery pipe 17, extends to the processing chamber 3, and an injection nozzle 20 is provided at the tip end portion thereof.

The mixing chamber 2 constructed as described above is mounted on the electric balance 21 and measures the total weight of the mixing chamber 2 including the powder 13. That is, the electric balance 21 is intended to monitor that a fixed amount of the powder 13 ejected from the mixing chamber 2 is ejected from the ejection nozzle 20, that is, the total weight in the mixing chamber 2 can be constantly reduced. The reduction amount of the total weight of the mixing chamber 2 measured by the electric balance 21 is input to the control unit 22, and the opening / closing amount of the electric air valve 11 of the first supply pipe 8 or the bimorph oscillator is input based on the reduction amount. The voltage value to 16 is controlled by the control unit 22
Are controlled by.

On the other hand, in the processing chamber 3, an injection nozzle 20 provided from the mixing chamber 2 to the tip of the delivery pipe 19 is arranged, and the workpiece 23 is supported by a means (not shown) facing the injection nozzle 20. .. The powder recovery hose 24 connected to the bottom of the processing chamber 3 is connected to the cyclone 25 of the reserve chamber 4. At the bottom of the reserve chamber 4, a screw conveyor 26 is arranged in a horizontal state and can be rotated by a motor 27, and is fed through a bellows 29 to a feed path 28a vertically provided at the end of the reserve chamber 4. The passage 28b is connected, and the lower end of the feeding passage 28b is connected to the upper portion of the mixing chamber 2. A triangular valve 30 that can be opened and closed is provided in the feeding path 28b.

An exhauster 5 collects the powder 13 accumulated at the bottom of the processing chamber 3 into the reserve chamber 4. That is, since the inside of the powder recovery hose 24 connected to the cyclone 25 becomes a negative pressure due to the exhaust action of the exhaust fan 5, the powder in the processing chamber 3 is sucked through the powder recovery hose 24, and the reserve chamber. It is led to the cyclone 25 of 4. Here, the exhaust flow is exhausted to the outside through the exhaust pipe 31, and only the powder passes through the cyclone 25 and is accommodated in the reserve chamber 4.

The powder storage chamber 6 is heated by a heater while stirring the powder 13 in the storage chamber 6 by a stirrer (not shown) to bring the powder 13 into a dry state. A powder supply hose 32 connected to the bottom of the powder storage chamber 6 is connected to the air compressor 1 and the cyclone 25.

Next, the operation of the sandblasting machine configured as described above will be described. The powder in the mixing chamber 2 is oscillated by the bimorph vibrator 16 and the first supply pipe 8
From the filter 14 through the filter 14 into the mixing chamber 2 under pressure to be agitated and mixed. Then, the powder in the mixing chamber 2 is sent out by the compressed air that is pressure-fed in the second supply pipe 9 so that the pressure in the delivery pipe 17 becomes negative,
A certain amount of powder is sucked out from the sending pipe 17.
The powder is pressure-fed together with the compressed air in the delivery pipe 19, and the powder is jetted together with the pressure air from the jet nozzle 15 to process the workpiece 23.

Powder is deposited on the bottom of the processing chamber 3 in which the workpiece 23 is processed with powder. This powder is collected in the reserve chamber 4 by the air exhaust action of the air exhaust device 5.
At this time, the triangular valve 30 between the reserve chamber 4 and the mixing chamber 2
To close. That is, since the inside of the powder recovery hose 24 connected to the cyclone 25 becomes a negative pressure due to the exhaust action of the exhaust fan 5, the powder in the processing chamber 3 is sucked through the powder recovery hose 24, and the reserve chamber. It is led to the cyclone 25 of 4. Here, the exhaust flow is exhausted to the outside through the exhaust pipe 31, and only the powder passes through the cyclone 25 and is accommodated in the reserve chamber 4.

The amount of powder in the reserve chamber 4 is detected by the ultrasonic sensor 33. That is, the ultrasonic sensor 33
When the decrease of the powder in the reserve chamber 4 is detected by
The signal from the control box 34 operates the air compressor 1 and the exhaust fan 5. At this time, reserve room 4
The triangular valve 30 between the mixing chamber 2 and the mixing chamber 2 is closed. When air is pressure-fed from the air compressor 1 to the powder supply hose 32, a negative pressure is generated at the connection port of the powder storage chamber 6 by the ejector action, and the powder in the powder storage chamber 6 is sucked into the powder supply hose 32. It The sucked powder is guided to the cyclone 25 together with the pressure-fed air, and the pressure-fed air is discharged to the exhaust pipe 3 here.
The powder is exhausted from the exhaust fan 5 to the outside through 1 and only the powder is supplied into the reserve chamber 4 through the cyclone 25. When the ultrasonic sensor 33 detects that the powder is quantitatively supplied into the reserve chamber 4, the air compressor 1 and the exhaust fan 5 are stopped by a command from the control box 34.

Next, when the powder in the mixing chamber 2 is reduced by the measurement of the electric balance 21 and there is a command to supply the powder into the mixing chamber 2, the control unit 22 opens the triangular valve 30 and the screw. By driving the conveyor 26, the powder is supplied into the mixing chamber 2 through the feeding path 28a, the bellows 29, and the ball feeding path 28b. Then, when a predetermined amount of powder is stored in the mixing chamber 2, the electric balance 21 detects the total weight of the mixing chamber 2, and the triangular valve 30 is detected by a signal from the control unit 22.
Is closed and the screw conveyor 26 is stopped at the same time,
The powder supply is stopped.

[0021]

In the conventional sandblasting apparatus having the above-mentioned structure, the feed passages 28a, 2a connecting the reserve chamber 4 and the mixing chamber 2 via the bellows 29 are provided.
8b, the triangular valve 3 is provided only in the feeding passage 28b on the mixing chamber 2 side.
Since 0 is provided, when the powder is supplied from the powder storage chamber 6 to the reserve chamber 4, the triangular valve 30 is closed, but the blower 5
Due to the exhaust action of the air, the inside of the reserve chamber 4 becomes a negative pressure state through the cyclone 25, the bellows 29 between the reserve chamber 4 and the mixing chamber 2 contracts, and a suction force that tries to pull up the mixing chamber 2 is generated, Unnecessary vibration occurs in 2.

Therefore, the vibration of the mixing chamber 2 is directly transmitted to the electric balance 21 and the measurement becomes unstable, so that the control system for stabilizing the powder amount fed from the mixing chamber 2 becomes impossible. Therefore, when the powder is supplied from the powder storage chamber 6 to the reserve chamber 4, it is necessary to stop the feeding of the powder from the mixing chamber 2 and stop the processing of the work piece, so that the processing device is operated. There was a problem that the rate dropped significantly.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and powder can be supplied from the powder storage chamber to the reserve chamber even during processing of the workpiece. An object of the present invention is to obtain a powder supply device capable of improving the operating rate of the processing device.

[0024]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, a powder supply apparatus according to the present invention comprises an air compressor for supplying compressed air, and a powder mixed with compressed air delivered from the air compressor. , A reserve chamber for storing powder to be supplied to the mixing chamber, a processing chamber for processing a workpiece by injecting a certain amount of powder from the injection nozzle into the mixing chamber, and a powder for the reserve chamber. In a powder supply device of a processing device comprising a powder storage chamber for supplying a body, a mixing chamber and a reserve chamber are connected by a powder feed passage through a bellows type feed passage, and the mixing chamber side and the reserve chamber An opening / closing valve for opening / closing the powder feeding path on each side is provided.

[0025]

In the powder feeder according to the present invention having the above-described structure, an opening / closing valve for opening / closing the passage is provided on each of the mixing chamber side and the reserve chamber side of the powder feeding passage connecting the mixing chamber and the reserve chamber. By providing the powder from the mixing chamber and closing the open / close valve on the reserve chamber side while the workpiece is being processed in the processing chamber, the powder is transferred from the powder storage chamber to the reserve chamber. Even if you operate the blower to supply
The exhaust effect of the exhaust fan is only negative pressure in the reserve chamber, and the bellows type feed passage is not sucked up by negative pressure.Therefore, it is possible to eliminate vibration of the mixing chamber due to negative pressure. , The reliability of the electric scale can be improved.

[0026]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an overall configuration diagram of the powder supply apparatus according to the present example. The part different from the conventional example device described in FIG. Therefore, the same parts are designated by the same reference numerals, and duplicate description will be omitted. That is, the valve mechanism 35 described above.
Is a bellows type feeding path (hereinafter, simply referred to as bellows) 36 in the middle of the feeding path connecting the mixing chamber 2 and the reserve chamber 4.
A first triangular valve 37 serving as an opening / closing valve is provided above the bellows 36, that is, in the feed passage on the reserve chamber 4 side, and a second triangle valve 37 is provided below the bellows 36, that is, in the feed passage on the mixing chamber 2 side. The triangular valve 38 is provided.

An example of the details of the valve mechanism 35 described above will be described below with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. The supply path on the reserve chamber 4 side is composed of a first housing 39, and the upper part of the first housing 39 is connected to the reserve chamber 4.
The feeding path on the side of the mixing chamber 2 is composed of a second housing 40, and the lower part of the second housing 40 is connected to the mixing chamber 2. The lower portion of the first housing 39 and the upper portion of the second housing 40 have the bellows 36 described above.
Connected by. In addition, the inner surface of the bellows 36 has a first
A cylindrical body 39a hanging from the housing 39 is inserted to prevent the bellows 36 from being deformed by an external force.

A first air cylinder 41 is supported by the first housing 39, and the first air cylinder 41 is supported.
One end of a link 43 is supported by the rod 42 of the. The other end of the link 43 is rotatably attached to one end of a shaft 44 penetrating the first housing 39 and rotatably supported. One end of a lever 45 is rotatably attached to the shaft 44 in the housing 39. The rod 46 of the first triangular valve 37 is supported at the other end. Then, the first triangular valve 37 can come into contact with and separate from the seal ring 47 formed on the inner wall of the first housing 39. With this configuration, when the first air cylinder 41 is operated and the rod 42 is moved in and out, the link 43 and the lever 45 are set with the shaft 44 as a rotation fulcrum.
Can be linearly rotated to move the rod 46 up and down to open and close the first triangular valve 37.

The second housing 40 also has the above-mentioned mechanism, and although detailed description is omitted, the rod 49 of the second air cylinder 48 is moved in and out to use the shaft 50 as a pivotal fulcrum. Link 51 and lever 52
Can be rotated to move the rod 53 up and down to bring the second triangular valve 38 into and out of contact with the seal ring 54 to open and close it.

Next, the relationship between the opening / closing operations of the above-mentioned two triangular valves 37 and 38 and the processing apparatus of FIG. 1 will be described.
When the powder is supplied from the powder storage chamber 6 to the reserve chamber 4, the first
In the state where the triangular valve 37 is closed and the second triangular valve 38 is closed or opened, the air supply from the air compressor 1 to the powder supply hose 32 and the exhaust air from the exhaust hose 31 by the exhaust fan 5 are performed. Is done. That is, although the inside of the reserve chamber 4 is in a negative pressure state via the cyclone 25 due to the exhaust air effect of the exhaust fan 5, the bellows 36 has a negative pressure because the first triangular valve 37 on the reserve chamber 4 side is closed. Therefore, the mixing chamber 2 is not sucked up and vibrates due to the influence of 1. Therefore, the mixing chamber 2 is not affected by negative pressure.

Next, when the powder is supplied from the reserve chamber 4 to the mixing chamber 2, the two triangular valves 37 and 38 are opened. As a result, the powder in the reserve chamber 4 is carried by the screw conveyor 26, and the first housing 39 and the bellows 3
6 and the second housing 40 to be supplied into the mixing chamber 2.

Next, the powder in the mixing chamber 2 is injected into the nozzle 20.
The first triangular valve 37 is opened or closed and the second triangular valve 38 is closed during processing of the workpiece to be jetted from.

On the other hand, the powder in the mixing chamber 2 is sprayed by a nozzle 20.
When the powder is supplied from the powder storage chamber 6 to the reserve chamber 4 at the same time as the processing state of being sprayed from the two triangular valves 3
Both 7, 38 are closed. That is, although the inside of the reserve chamber 4 is in a negative pressure state via the cyclone 25 by the exhaust action of the exhaust fan 5, the first triangular valve 37 on the reserve chamber 4 side and the second triangular valve 38 on the mixing chamber 2 side. Is closed, the bellows 36 is not sucked up by the negative pressure and does not vibrate, and the mixing chamber 2 is not affected by the negative pressure. As a result, even when the powder is being supplied from the powder storage chamber 6 to the reserve chamber 4, the amount of reduction of the powder by the electric scale 21 can be accurately measured.
It does not lower the operating rate of the powder feeder.

Further, the above-mentioned two triangular valves 37 and 38 are provided.
Is controlled by the control unit 22 in association with each operation of the processing apparatus.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. For example, although the case where the air cylinders 41 and 48 are used as the driving means of the two triangular valves 37 and 38 of the valve mechanism 35 has been described in the embodiment, a solenoid device may be used. Further, in the powder supply apparatus according to the present invention, the case where the work piece is etched by the sandblasting apparatus has been described in the embodiment. However, powdery powder is jetted onto the work piece and deposited (so-called deposition). It is also applicable as a powder supply device for a sandblasting device.

[0036]

As described above, the powder feeding device according to the present invention is provided on the mixing chamber side and the reserve chamber side of the powder feeding passage in which the mixing chamber and the reserve chamber are connected via the bellows type feeding passage. By providing the open / close valves for opening / closing the passages respectively, even if the powder is fed from the mixing chamber and the workpiece is being processed in the processing chamber, by closing the open / close valve on the reserve chamber side, The function of exhausting air by the air blower does not cause the bellows type feeding passage to be sucked up by the negative pressure only by the negative pressure in the reserve chamber, and the vibration of the mixing chamber due to the negative pressure can be eliminated. As a result, at the same time as the powder is supplied from the powder storage chamber to the reserve chamber, the workpiece can be processed by spraying the powder from the mixing chamber through the spray nozzle, enabling continuous use of the powder feeder. There is an advantage that the rate can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a powder supply device in this example.

FIG. 2 is a detailed partial cross-sectional view of the valve mechanism.

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

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a conventional sandblasting apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Air Compressor 2 Mixing Room 3 Processing Room 4 Reserve Room 5 Exhaust Machine 6 Powder Storage Room 13 Powder 16 Bimorph Oscillator 17 Outlet Pipe 20 Injection Nozzle 21 Electric Scale 22 Control Unit 25 Cyclone 31 Exhaust Hose 32 Powder Supply Hose 35 Valve mechanism 36 Bellows (bellows type feed passage) 37 First triangular valve (open / close valve) 38 Second triangular valve (open / close valve) 39 First housing (feed passage) 40 Second housing (feed passage) ) 41 first air cylinder 48 second air cylinder

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An air compressor for supplying compressed air, a mixing chamber containing powder to be mixed with compressed air delivered from the air compressor, and a reserve chamber containing powder to be supplied to the mixing chamber. , A powder supply of a processing device comprising a processing chamber for processing a workpiece by spraying a fixed amount of the powder from a spray nozzle in the mixing chamber, and a powder storage chamber for supplying the powder to the reserve chamber In the apparatus, the mixing chamber and the reserve chamber are connected by a powder feed passage through a bellows type feed passage, and the passages are provided in the powder feed passages on the mixing chamber side and the reserve chamber side, respectively. A powder supply device having an opening / closing valve for opening / closing. 2. The powder supply apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the on-off valve is operated by a drive means such as an air cylinder or a solenoid.