JPH0659466U - Gate valve for vacuum film forming equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] To prevent gas from leaking from the atmosphere side into the vacuum chamber and improve the sealing performance. A valve box 6 provided with a communication port 18 provided in a vacuum chamber wall 3 of a vacuum film forming apparatus so that a valve port 17 is in communication therewith, and having a communication port 18 with the atmosphere side, and the like. A valve body 7 having a partition surface 22 parallel to the partition surface 19 formed on the inner peripheral surface of the valve opening 17 in the valve box 6 and fitted to be movable parallel to the valve box partition surface; The inner and outer double sealing O-rings 15 and 16 provided on the partition surface 22, the back plate 9 having the opening / closing operation rod 8 fitted on the back surface of the valve body 7, the valve body 7 and the back plate 9. It is composed of two parallel links 10 that are connected to each other and press the O-rings 15 and 16 against the partition surface 19 of the valve box, and a valve element return spring 11 provided between the valve element 7 and the back plate 9. An exhaust passage 21 communicating with a closed space 25 formed between the partition surfaces 19 and 22 and both O-rings 15 and 16 is provided,
The closed space 25 can be operated and exhausted.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a sluice valve that opens and closes a passage provided in a wall of a vacuum chamber of a vacuum film forming apparatus such as ion plating and sputtering.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 Generally, in a vacuum film forming apparatus, a sluice valve is used as a barrier between an evacuation device and the atmosphere or as a partition between two adjacent chambers of a continuous processing type vacuum film forming apparatus. Conventionally, as this kind of sluice valve, the one illustrated in FIG. 5 is known. The sluice valve 41 is attached through an O-ring 47 so that the valve port 46 communicates with a passage port 45 provided in a vacuum chamber wall 44 that separates the vacuum chamber 42 from the atmosphere side 43 and communicates with the atmosphere side 43. A valve box 49 having a port 48, a valve body 51 movably fitted in the valve box 49 in parallel with the partition surface 50, and a valve body 51 fitted in the valve box 49 between the valve body 51 and the communication port 48. Mounted back plate 53 with rod 52, and a set of means for connecting the valve body 51 and the back plate 53 and for pressing the partition surface 54 of the valve body 51 to the partition surface 50 of the valve box 49 so as to be separable. It is composed of links 55, 55, a spring 56 for returning the valve body 51 to the back plate 53 side, and an O-ring 57 for sealing provided on the partition surface 54 of the valve body 51.

In the normal state of the sluice valve 41, the valve body 51 is in a state in which the valve body 51 is attracted to the back plate 53 by the spring 56, and the gap of the valve body 51 between the sluice face 50 of the valve box 49 is large. There is a gap to allow the ride. Therefore, when the rod 52 is pushed by the driving means such as an air cylinder in the direction indicated by the arrow (a) in FIG. 5 when the valve is closed, the valve body 51 first contacts the bottom 58 of the valve box 49. When contacted and further pushed, the link 55 presses the valve body 51 toward the valve box partition surface 50 against the tensile force of the spring 56, and the O-ring 57 is pressed against the valve box partition surface 50 to secure the seal. .

When the valve is opened, the rod 52 is driven in the direction of the arrow (b) in FIG. 5, whereby the valve element 51 moves away from the valve box partition surface 49 and moves to the open position. By the way, in the sluice valve 41 shown in FIG. 5, the deposit that has not become a film on the object to be processed in the processing chamber of the film forming apparatus is also applied to the valve opening 46 and the valve partition surface 54 as well as the inner wall of the processing chamber. Deposit as dust D. The vapor deposition dust D deposited on the valve body 51 may fall due to a shock when the valve is opened and closed, and a weakly adhered film attached to a jig or the like of the object to be processed may peel off and fly off. However, it often enters between the valve body 51 and the valve box 49.

The deposit dust D and the debris of the peeling film which have fallen from the valve body 51 adhere to the sealing O-ring 57 at the next valve opening / closing operation, and the pressure applied to the O-ring 57 at the closing operation also. In combination, the O-ring 57 is punctured and scratched. In this way, the scratches generated on the O-ring 57 significantly reduce the sealing performance of the O-ring 57 and impair the function of the gate valve itself. Therefore, it is necessary to frequently clean and replace the O-ring 57, which is a factor in increasing downtime of the apparatus.

Further, the fact that the sealing O-ring 57 projects from the valve body partition surface 54 promotes damage to the O-ring 57. However, it is functionally impossible to change the positional relationship of the O-ring 57. Therefore, a dust-preventing O-ring is provided on the inner peripheral side of the O-ring 57 provided on the partition surface 54 of the valve body 51, and deposit dust is deposited and deposited in the inner area of the dust-preventing O-ring, which is generated during valve opening / closing operation. The dust to be removed is first retained by the dust-preventing O-ring and dropped, so that the amount of dust reaching the sealing O-ring is reduced and the dust is preferentially caught in the dust-preventing O-ring when the valve is closed. A sluice valve designed to maintain the sealing performance has been proposed.

[0007]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 However, even if double O-rings are provided on the valve body partition surface as described above, damage to the O-rings can be completely prevented and gas leakage from the atmosphere side into the vacuum chamber cannot be prevented. There is a problem. The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and an object thereof is to prevent a gas from leaking from the atmosphere side into the vacuum chamber and to provide a partition for a vacuum film forming apparatus having excellent sealing performance. It is in providing a valve.

[0008]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 In order to achieve the above object, the present invention takes the following technical means. That is, the present invention relates to a valve box having a valve port attached to a port provided in a vacuum chamber wall of a vacuum film forming apparatus so that the valve port is in a communication state, and a valve port having a port for communicating with the atmosphere side, etc. A valve body having a partition surface parallel to the partition surface formed inside the valve port and / or the inner peripheral surface of the communication port, and fitted to be movable parallel to the valve box partition surface, and the valve body or valve box In the partition valve consisting of sealing material provided at two locations for partitioning the partition surface and means for pressing the sealing material against the partition surface of the valve box so as to be separable from each other, it is formed between the two sealing materials when the valve is closed. The feature is that it is possible to operate exhaust air between the closed chambers.

[0009]

[Action]

 According to the present invention, when the valve is closed, the closed space formed between the opposing partition surfaces of the valve box and the valve body and the inner and outer double seal materials is sucked and exhausted by a vacuum pump (so-called working exhaust (generally used in the vacuum technology field). Therefore, when the seal material is damaged, the gas leaking from the atmosphere side into the closed space is discharged without flowing into the vacuum chamber.

At this time, by operating and exhausting more than the amount of gas leaking from the atmosphere side, the closed space becomes a vacuum atmosphere, and both the vacuum chamber and the closed space have the same gauge pressure of 0 kg / cm ² . Compared to the pressure difference of 1 kg / cm ² (gauge pressure) when pressure is not used and conventional exhaust is not used (conventional example), there is almost no flow of leaking gas.

[0011]

【Example】

 An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention, 1 is a sluice valve, 2 is a vacuum chamber of a vacuum film forming apparatus, 3 is a vacuum chamber wall provided with a through port 4, and the sluice valve 1 is provided in the vacuum chamber wall 3. Are attached via a sealing O-ring 5.

The sluice valve 1 includes a valve box 6, a valve body 7, a valve body holding back plate 9 having an opening / closing operation rod 8, and a pair of two links 10 connecting the valve body 7 and the back plate 9. And a valve body retraction spring 11, an exhaust pipe 12, a switching valve 13 and a vacuum pump 14 provided in the middle of the exhaust pipe 12, and inner and outer O-rings 15 and 16 made of an elastic body for sealing. There is. The valve box 6 is provided with a valve port 17 corresponding to the port 4 and a communication port 18 for communicating with the atmosphere on the same axis, and the inner periphery of the valve port 17 serves as a partition surface 19. An annular groove 20 is formed concentrically with the valve port 17 at 19, and an exhaust passage 21 communicating with the concave groove 20 is provided at the bottom 6A of the valve box, and the exhaust pipe 12 is connected to the exhaust passage 21. ing.

The partition surface 22 of the valve body 7 is opposed to and parallel to the partition surface 19 of the valve box 6, and ring grooves 23 and 24 are provided at two locations inside and outside the partition direction. Inner and outer O-rings 15 and 16 are fitted, respectively. Therefore, when the valve is closed, the closed space 25 is formed between the inner and outer O-rings 15 and 16, so that the gas in the closed space 25 is exhausted by the vacuum pump 14 to perform the operation exhaust. Can be made into a sky atmosphere.

A concave portion 26 is formed on the back surface of the valve body 7, one end of each of the links 10 is pivotally attached so as to be able to swing up and down, and one end of the spring 11 is fixed. The back plate 9 is fitted in the valve box 6 in parallel with the valve body 7 and in parallel movement (vertical movement) with the partition surfaces 19 and 22, and corresponds to the recess 26 of the valve body 7 and has a recessed portion 27. The other end of each of the links 10 is pivotally mounted in the recess 27 so that the other ends of the links 10 can swing in the vertical direction and the links 10 are parallel to each other. A parallel link mechanism is formed to constitute a valve body pressing means. Further, the other end of the spring 11 is fixed to the recessed portion 27, and the valve body 7 is always pulled toward the back plate 9.

In the first embodiment, FIG. 1 shows a valve open state, in which the valve body 7 is pulled toward the back plate 9 side by the pull-back spring 11, and the valve box partition surface 19 and the O-rings 15 and 16 are pulled. There is a gap between and, the vacuum chamber 2 and the atmosphere side are in communication, and the valve body 7 can be easily slid up and down. Therefore, when closing the valve, when the opening / closing operation rod 8 is pushed downward (indicated by the arrow (a) in the figure) by a driving means such as an air cylinder, the valve body 7 slides downward together with the back plate 9. When it abuts on the bottom surface 6B of the valve box 6 and further pushes the rod 8 downward, the link 10 stands up against the tensile force of the pull-back spring 11, and the valve body 7 is separated from the back plate 9 by the partition surface 19. The O-rings 15 and 16 are strongly pressed against the partition surface 19 of the valve box to seal the valve box. A closed space 25 is formed between the inner and outer O-rings 15 and 16.

Even when the O-rings 15 and 16 are new and are not damaged and there is no risk of gas leakage, the switching valve 13 is opened and the vacuum pump 14 is operated. By doing so, in the unlikely event that the O-rings 15 and 16 are damaged, the gas in the closed space 25 is operated and exhausted, and as a result, from the atmosphere side on one side of the partition surface to the vacuum side on the other side. It will be possible to prevent the leak.

The amount of this working exhaust is larger than the amount of gas leaking from the atmosphere side, and the closed space 25 is in a vacuum atmosphere. At this time, the pressure in the closed space 25 and the pressure in the vacuum chamber 2 are both 0 kg / cm ^{2 which is} the same as the gauge pressure. Therefore, compared to the conventional differential pressure of 1 kg / cm ² without operating exhaust, the flow of gas that causes leakage hardly occurs and excellent sealing performance is obtained. Even if the sealing performance is impaired, a predetermined sealing performance as a sluice valve can be secured.

Further, when the valve is opened, the opening / closing operation rod 8 is pulled upward (indicated by an arrow (b) in the figure) to raise the back plate 9 and release the pressing force of the link 10. The valve body 7 is pulled back toward the back plate 9 by the pull-back spring 11, the O-rings 15 and 16 are separated from the partition surface 19 of the valve box 6, the closed space 25 is opened, and the valve body 7 is placed on the bottom surface 6B of the valve box 6. And the valve is opened.

Further, at this time, when the both sides of the partition are vacuum, the closed space 25 is kept operating and exhausted, but when both sides of the partition are atmospheric, the closed space 25 is brought to the atmospheric pressure via the switching valve 13, and the valve is closed. The body 7 is prevented from being unnecessarily pressed against the partition surface 19 to facilitate opening and closing of the valve body. In the first embodiment, the sealing material is the O-rings 15 and 16 made of an elastic body, but the closed space 25 for operating and exhausting should be sufficiently large, and the vacuum pump capacity should be large to increase the exhausting capacity. As a result, a metal seal with a small amount of elastic deformation can be used to fully exert the vacuum sealing effect, and it can be used as a high temperature sluice valve.

FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. The difference from the first embodiment is that the groove on the partition wall 19 of the valve box is eliminated and the groove 20 is formed on the partition surface 22 of the valve body 7. An exhaust passage 21 communicating with the groove 20 is provided in the valve body 7, and an exhaust passage 21A is also provided in the operating rod 8 to connect the exhaust passages 21 and 21A with a flexible exhaust pipe 21B. Since the exhaust pipe 12 is connected to the exhaust passage 21A of the rod 8, the same action and effect as those of the first embodiment can be achieved.

Therefore, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 are given and detailed description thereof is omitted. FIG. 3 shows a third embodiment of the present invention. The difference from the first embodiment is that the partition surface 19 on the valve opening 17 side of the valve box 6 is not provided with a concave groove and the partition surface 22 of the valve body 7 is A sealing O-ring 15 is provided at one place, the inner circumference of the communication port 18 of the valve box 6 is used as a partition surface 19A, and a sealing O-ring 16 is provided on the back plate 9 facing the partition surface 19A. It is the point that the working space is exhausted as the closed space 25.

In the third embodiment, it is possible to expect the same effects as the first embodiment. Therefore, also in FIG. 3, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. FIG. 4 shows a fourth embodiment of the present invention. The difference from the third embodiment is that the back plate is eliminated and the opening / closing operation rod 8 is directly connected to the valve body 7, and both sides of the valve body 7 are separated by the partition surface 2. 2A and 22B, ring grooves 28 and 29 are provided respectively, and in-flat (flexible / extendable) tube seals 30 and 31 are incorporated, and compression is performed in the valve body 7 through the ring grooves 28 and 29 to the tube seals 30 and 31. Air supply / exhaust passages 32 and 33 are provided, and compressed air as a pressing means is supplied into the tube seals 30 and 31 via the switching valve 34 to expand the seals 30 and 31 to perform sealing. This is the point that the compressed air in 30, 31 is discharged and contracted.

The same parts as those in FIG. 3 are assigned the same reference numerals and explanations thereof will be omitted. In the fourth embodiment, the same effect as that of the third embodiment can be expected, and since the inflat tube seals 30 and 31 expand and contract at every valve opening / closing operation, the seals 30 and 31 can be expanded. Even if deposits of dust, etc. are deposited on the surface, they easily drop and are hardly damaged, ensuring a vacuum seal and improving durability. Further, since the pressing means for pressing the partition surfaces 19 and 19A of the seals 30 and 31 uses compressed air, the complicated pressing link mechanism as in the first to third embodiments is not necessary, and it is large and inexpensive. It can be a sluice valve.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, but the design can be changed as appropriate, and for example, the metal seal can be adopted also in the second and third embodiments. Further, the sealing material may be provided on the valve box.

[0025]

[Effect of device]

 The present invention, as described above, includes a valve box having a communication port provided on the wall of the vacuum chamber of the vacuum film-forming apparatus so that the valve port is in communication with the atmosphere side. A valve body having a partition surface parallel to the partition surface formed on the inner peripheral surface of the valve opening and / or the communication opening in the valve box, the valve element being fitted so as to be movable parallel to the partition surface of the valve box; A partition valve comprising a seal member provided at two locations in a partition direction of a partition surface of a body or a valve box, and a means for pressing the seal material to the partition surface of the valve box so that the seal material can be detachably contacted to the partition surface of the valve box. Since it is characterized in that the closed chambers formed between them can be operated and exhausted, the damage of the seal material is reduced, and even if the seal material is damaged and a leak occurs in the closed space, it operates. Exhaust air creates a vacuum atmosphere in the closed space to prevent gas leakage between the atmosphere side and the vacuum chamber or between the vacuum chambers. , It is possible to improve the sealing performance.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the second embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view showing the third embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view showing the fourth embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Gate Valve 2 Vacuum Chamber 3 Vacuum Chamber Wall 4 Port 6 Valve Box 7 Valve Body 14 Vacuum Pump 15 Inner O Ring (Seal Material) 16 Outer O Ring (Seal Material) 17 Valve Port 18 Communication Port 19 Partition Surface 19A Partition Surface 22 Partition surface 22A Partition surface 22B Partition surface 25 Closed space 30 Inflat tube seal (seal material) 31 Inflat tube seal (seal material)

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A valve box having a valve port, which is attached to a port provided in a wall of a vacuum chamber of a vacuum film forming apparatus so as to be in communication with each other, and a port for communicating with an atmosphere side, and the inside of the valve box. A valve body having a partition surface parallel to the partition surface formed on the inner peripheral surface of the valve port and / or the communication port and movably fitted parallel to the partition surface of the valve box; In a sluice valve comprising a sealing material provided at two locations in the partitioning direction of the partitioning surface and a means for pressing the sealing material to the partition surface of the valve box so as to be separably contacted with each other, it is formed between the two sealing materials at the time of closing. A sluice valve for a vacuum film forming apparatus, which is capable of operating and exhausting air between closed chambers.