JPH07180027A - Sealing mechanism for vacuum film forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a sealing mechanism which is capable of cleaning the sealing parts of an opening/closing member at all times and executing stable film forming treatment with good working efficiency in spite of unattended continuous operation of a vacuum film forming device. CONSTITUTION:The surfaces of a flange 5 of a vacuum vessel 2, which face each other at the time of closing, are provided with O-rings 10, 11 and a groove 13. A dry gaseous nitrogen source 20 as a high-pressure gas supply source is connected via a pipeline to this groove 13 and further, this pipeline is provided with a solenoid valve 19 which is temporarily opened in order to blow the high pressure gas to the O-rings 10, 11 just before the vacuum vessel 2 is closed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vacuum film forming apparatus sealing mechanism for sealing an opening / closing portion of a vacuum film forming apparatus for performing ion plating, sputtering and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to perform various surface treatments under a vacuum condition, an ion plating method, a sputtering method and the like are performed, and a vacuum film forming apparatus is used for that purpose. In this vacuum film forming apparatus, an opening / closing member such as a lid is provided in a vacuum container that forms a space for performing vacuum film forming, the opening / closing member is opened to put a work, and after closing the inside, the vacuum container is evacuated. The film forming process is performed, and after the process is completed, the opening / closing member is opened, the work is taken out, and the work is replaced with the next work.

During such work, the opening / closing member for opening / closing the vacuum container needs to be sealed so that air does not leak from the closed portion of the opening / closing member when the vacuum container is closed and the inside is evacuated. An O-ring is provided at the closed part. Further, even if a slight damage is caused to the sealing material such as the O-ring, the O-ring is provided inside and outside of the closed portion so as to minimize the leak from the atmosphere side to the vacuum side to the minimum. It has been proposed to open an exhaust hole in a seal space formed between them and connect a vacuum pump to this exhaust hole to exhaust the seal space to a vacuum (see JP-A-4-269822). .

[0004]

In a vacuum film forming apparatus having such a sealing mechanism, coating particles adhere to the closed portion when the opening / closing member is opened, and when the opening / closing member is closed as it is, the coating particle is attached to the O-ring. It may be caught and damage the O-ring, and when the external air tries to enter the internal vacuum seal part through a gap in the sealing surface of the outer O-ring during closing, dust from the external air, etc. May adhere to the sealing surface and accumulate, and dust may adhere to the sealing portion.

Therefore, when the opening / closing member is manually opened / closed for each batch during the film forming process in the vacuum container, dust such as coating particles is not caught in the O-ring, or It is checked whether dust or the like is attached to the O-ring and the closed portion, and after removing dust or replacing the O-ring, the opening / closing member is closed.

However, in recent years, automatic operation has been considered in order to improve the operating rate of the vacuum film forming apparatus and improve the productivity. When performing such automatic driving,
It is not possible to attach dust or the like to the O-ring and the closed portion or to bite dust or the like during the manual work every time the open / close member of the vacuum container is opened / closed. Therefore, even if particles or the like that are generated during the film formation process such as sputtering and adhered to the inner wall of the container are separated and floated when the opening / closing member is opened after the process is completed and fall onto the seal surface of the O-ring, etc. The opening / closing member is closed for the next batch of film forming processing without detecting the above. Therefore, if the inside of the vacuum container is evacuated while these particles and the like are sandwiched between the O-rings, the middle part between the double O-rings can be exhausted while the amount of particles is small, but the amount of adhered particles However, the amount of leakage from the atmosphere side into the vacuum container increases, which adversely affects the film forming process.

Therefore, according to the present invention, even if the vacuum film forming apparatus is continuously operated unattended, the sealing portion of the opening / closing member can be constantly cleaned, and stable film forming processing can be performed with high operating efficiency. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a sealing mechanism.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention of claim 1 is a vacuum chamber in which a sealing member is provided on the closed portion of the opening / closing member of the vacuum container or on the opposite surface of the closed portion when the closed portion is closed. In a sealing mechanism for a film device, a seal for cleaning a vacuum film forming device, wherein a sealing material cleaning means for cleaning the sealing material by blowing a high-pressure gas to the sealing material immediately before the opening / closing member is closed is provided in the vicinity of the sealing material. It is a mechanism. According to the invention of claim 2, in the invention of claim 1,
The sealing material cleaning means is a closed portion of the opening / closing member of the vacuum container or a nozzle hole provided on a facing surface when the closed portion is closed, and a high-pressure gas supply source connected to the nozzle hole via a pipeline. A sealing mechanism for a vacuum film forming apparatus having a valve provided in the conduit and temporarily opened to blow a high-pressure gas to the sealing material immediately before the opening / closing member is closed.

[0009]

[Operation] When the opening / closing member is opened to perform the film forming process in the vacuum container, the work is put in the container, and the opening / closing member is closed,
Immediately before the closing, high-pressure gas is blown to the sealing material by the sealing material cleaning means to clean the sealing portion provided on the closing portion of the opening / closing member or the facing surface of the closing portion and the periphery thereof. After the closed portion is cleaned in this way, the opening / closing member closes the vacuum container in a completely sealed state, evacuates the vacuum container, and performs a predetermined film forming process.

[00010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. When performing a film forming process on various materials by ion plating, sputtering, etc., it is necessary to perform the process in a vacuum, so the film is formed in the process chamber 3 inside the vacuum container 2 mounted on the fixed table 1. Put the material to be processed,
The inside of the processing chamber 3 is evacuated by a vacuum pump (not shown) to perform a predetermined film forming process. In addition, after the film forming process is completed, the vacuum container 2 is opened to atmospheric pressure and then taken out, the next film forming material is put into the vacuum container 2, the vacuum container 2 is closed, and the same operation as above is repeated. The film forming process is performed automatically and continuously.

Various means can be adopted as the opening / closing means of the vacuum container 2, but in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the vacuum container 2 is moved vertically up and down, or the vacuum container is opened by a hinge at the end (not shown). By swinging, the vacuum container itself serves as an opening / closing member, and the flange 5 serving as the closed portion 4 thereof.
Is configured to move up and down with respect to the surface of the fixed table 1.

On the other hand, when the vacuum container 2 is closed, inner and outer double ring grooves 8 and 9 are formed on the surface 7 of the edge portion 6 of the fixed table 1 which the flange 5 faces, and a sealing material is formed therein. The O-rings 10 and 11 are stored. Both O-rings 10 and 11 project somewhat from the surface 7 of the edge 6 of the fixed table 1 in the normal state, and when the vacuum container 2 is closed and the flange 5 is lowered and closed, the closing surface 1 of the flange 5 is closed.
2 is in contact with the protruding O-ring to perform a sealing action.

Between the inner and outer ring grooves 8 and 9 of the edge portion 6 of the fixed table 1, a groove 13 is formed as a nozzle hole on the surface 7 along the ring groove, and a through hole communicating with this groove 13 is formed. 14 is provided, and the ventilation pipe 15 is connected to the through hole 14. The ventilation pipe 15 has a branch portion 16 and one of which is a solenoid valve 17
To the vacuum pump 18 via the solenoid valve, and the other is connected via the solenoid valve 19 to the dry nitrogen gas source 2 as a high pressure gas supply source.
It communicates with 0.

Both solenoid valves 17 and 19 are controlled to be opened / closed by a control device 21, and the control device 21 also controls the operation part 22 of the film forming apparatus such as the opening / closing operation of the container 2. The control device 21 receives a signal from a position sensor 23 that detects that the flange 5 is lowered and the closing surface 12 of the flange 5 is lowered to a position where it forms a slight gap with the facing surface 7 of the fixed table. There is. The groove 13 as the nozzle hole, the dry nitrogen gas source 20 as the high pressure gas supply source connected through the through hole 14 and the ventilation pipe 15, and the solenoid valve 19 which is controlled to be opened and closed by the control device 21 are the O-ring 1
A seal member cleaning means for cleaning 0 and 11 is configured.

In the operation of the above embodiment, the control device 2
1 is a vacuum container 2 with both solenoid valves 17 and 19 closed.
In order to open the above, the portion of the flange 5 is raised by a driving device (not shown). After the vacuum container 2 is opened, the film forming material to be subjected to the film forming process is carried into the vacuum container 2, and the flange 5 is driven in the direction of closing the vacuum container 2. When the closing surface 12 of the flange 5 descends to a predetermined position, the position sensor 23
Outputs a signal to the control device 21, and in response to this, the control device 21 temporarily stops the lowering of the flange 5 and temporarily opens the solenoid valve 19 for a predetermined time. Solenoid valve 1
By opening 9, the nitrogen gas from the dry nitrogen gas source 20 is ejected from the groove 13 as a nozzle hole through the solenoid valve 19, the ventilation pipe 15, and the through hole 14. The ejected nitrogen gas is
As indicated by the chain line in FIG. 1, a high velocity flows right and left in the drawing through a gap 24 between the closing surface 12 of the flange 5 and the surface 7 of the fixed table 1. O-rings 10 and 11 are generated by this nitrogen gas flow.
Even if dust such as coating particles is attached to the surface of the O, it can be blown off and cleaned including the vicinity of the O-rings 10 and 11.

The control device 21 then closes the solenoid valve 19,
The flange 5 is lowered again, and its closing surface 12 is brought into close contact with both O-rings 10 and 11. Then open the solenoid valve 17,
The vacuum pump 18 is driven to suck the air in the space between the O-rings 10 and 11 through the vent hole 15, the through hole 14, and the groove 13 to evacuate this portion. At the same time, the processing chamber 3 in the vacuum container 2 is evacuated, and a predetermined film forming process is performed in the processing chamber 3. After the film forming process is completed, the inside of the process chamber 3 is set to atmospheric pressure, the flange 5 is raised, the vacuum container 2 is opened, the film forming process finished product is carried out, and the next film forming material is carried into the vacuum container 2. After that, by repeating the same operation as described above, the film forming apparatus continuously performs the film forming process unattended.

In the above embodiment, the O-ring grooves 8 and 9 and the groove 13 as a nozzle hole for injecting high pressure gas are provided on the fixed table 1 side, but as shown in FIG. Is fixed, the table 1 is provided in the opening so as to be openable and closable, and an O-ring is provided.
May be provided. Further, an O-ring groove may be provided on the flange 5 side.

Further, it is not always necessary to provide two inner and outer O-rings, only the outer O-ring 11 is provided as shown in FIG. 3, and the surface of the fixed table 1 is opposed to the inner surface 25 of the flange 5 on the processing chamber 3 side. 7 to L-shaped shield member 2
6 may be provided so as to project, and high-pressure gas may be supplied from the through hole 14. At this time, the through hole 14 does not communicate with the vacuum pump, but acts exclusively as a nozzle hole for supplying high pressure gas, and the high pressure gas injected from the through hole 14 is shielded by the shield member 26.
Due to the difficulty of flowing into the processing chamber 3, most of them are O-rings 1.
Flow over the surface of No. 1 at high speed to clean this part.

In the above embodiment, the O-ring 11 and the through hole 14 are provided on the fixed table 1 side, but as shown in FIG. 4, the O-ring 11 and the through hole 14 are provided on the flange 5 side. May be.

Further, it is not always necessary to provide the nozzle hole for supplying the high pressure gas in the fixed table 1 or the flange 5, and as shown in FIG. 5, when the lowering of the flange 5 is stopped, the high pressure gas such as nitrogen gas is supplied into the processing chamber 3. Alternatively, the high pressure gas may be ejected from this gap by using the gap 24 itself under the flange 5 as a nozzle hole. At this time, the shield member 26 used in the above embodiment is not used.

Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the fixed table 1
A step is formed on the surface 7 of the edge portion 6 to lower the table surface 27, and a gap 29 between the step portion 28 and the inner peripheral surface 25 of the flange 5 is set as small as possible, or as shown in FIG. As shown, a protrusion 30 is formed on the surface 7 of the edge portion 6 of the fixed table 1 on the processing chamber 3 side of the through hole 14, and on the flange 5 side, a concave portion 3 that forms a minute gap with the protrusion 30.
By providing the labyrinth packing part by forming the shield member 1, the shield member 2 shown in FIGS.
It is also possible to make 6 unnecessary. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the step portion 28 and the protrusion 30 may be formed on the flange side.

On the other hand, in the previous embodiment, an example was shown in which the vacuum container was placed on the fixed table and moved on the container side. For example, as shown in FIG. The present invention can be applied to a vacuum film forming apparatus in which the door 35 is swingably provided by the hinge 34 at the end of the flange 33 of the opening 32, and at that time, it will be illustrated. As described above, the sealing mechanism having the same configuration as that of FIG. 1 is applied to the flange 33.

Further, in the vacuum film forming apparatus shown in FIG.
As the sealing mechanism, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10,
It is also possible to apply the same sealing mechanism as that of the embodiment of FIGS. 4 and 7.

[0024]

According to the sealing mechanism for a vacuum film forming apparatus of the present invention, since it is constructed and operates as described above, the sealing portion of the opening / closing member of the vacuum film forming apparatus can be automatically cleaned. Even when the film processing is automated and the processing operation is continuously performed, it is possible to prevent the defective seal or the seal from being damaged, and thus it is possible to contribute to performing the stable film forming process with good operation efficiency.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partial cross-sectional view showing the overall configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view showing still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional view showing still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view showing still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a partial cross-sectional view showing still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a partial cross-sectional view showing still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a partial cross-sectional view showing still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a partial cross-sectional view showing still another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a partial cross-sectional view showing still another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Fixed Table 2 Vacuum Vessel 3 Processing Chamber 4 Closing Part 5 Flange 6 Edge 7 Surface 8 Ring Groove 9 Ring Groove 10 O-ring 11 O-ring 12 Closing Surface 13 Groove 14 Through Hole 15 Vent Pipe 17 Solenoid Valve 18 Vacuum Pump 19 Electromagnetic Valve 20 Dry nitrogen gas source 21 Control device 23 Position sensor

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A sealing mechanism for a vacuum film forming apparatus, wherein a sealing material is provided on a closed portion of an opening / closing member of a vacuum container or a facing surface of the closing portion when the closing portion is closed, and a high pressure is applied to the sealing material immediately before the opening / closing member is closed. A sealing mechanism for a vacuum film forming apparatus, wherein a sealing material cleaning means for cleaning the sealing material by blowing gas is provided in the vicinity of the sealing material. 2. The seal material cleaning means is connected to a nozzle hole provided in a closed portion of the opening / closing member of the vacuum container or a surface of the closed portion facing the closed portion, and the nozzle hole is connected to the nozzle hole via a pipe line. A high-pressure gas supply source, provided in the conduit,
The sealing mechanism for a vacuum film forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a valve that is temporarily opened to blow a high-pressure gas to the sealing material immediately before the opening / closing member is closed.