JPH07190214A - Flow dividing valve - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve gas replaceability by forming a valve chest, a fluid passage and a passage for flow dividing in a body, bending the fluid passage in an angular shape so that its intermediate part draws near the bottom surface of the valve chest and communicating the intermeciate part and the valve chest to each other by a small hole. CONSTITUTION:A body 1 is formed in a roughly reactangular parallelopiped shape of stainless steel, etc., and a recessed valve chest 14 with its upper part opened is formed on the upper part of the body 1. Additionally, a fluid passage 15 having an inlet 15a and an outlet 15b and with its intermediate part bent in an angular shape to draw near the bottom surface side of the valve chest 14 is formed on the body 1. Furthermore, a small hole 16 making the intermediate part of the fluid passage 15 and the valve chest 14 in a communicated state and a passage 17 for flow dividing communicated to the valve chest 14 and having an outlet 17a are respectively formed on the body 1. Additionally, a valve seat 1a is formed integrally with the body 1 in the circumference of the opening of the small hole 16 on the bottom surface of the valve chest 4. Consequently, when the outlet and the inlet of the fluid passage are directly connected to a gas supply piping, a part of gas in the fluid passage flows to the valve chest and the side of the-passage for flow dividing through the small hole.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a diversion valve which is mainly used by incorporating it into a gas supply pipe of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus or the like, and which can divert gas from the gas supply pipe.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, when a gas is diverted from a gas supply pipe of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus or the like, a pipe line as shown in FIG. 3 is used. The pipeline is the gas supply pipeline 30.
The diversion pipe 31 is connected to the diversion pipe 3 and
1 has a flow dividing valve V incorporated therein. Therefore,
When the pressurized gas is flowing in the gas supply pipe 30 in the pipe line, the gas in the gas supply pipe 30 is branched to the side of the flow dividing pipe 31 by opening the flow dividing valve V. If the gas supply pipe 30 has a vacuum,
The secondary side of the diversion valve V is evacuated by a vacuum pump (not shown) to maintain the pressure lower than that of the gas supply pipe 30 side, and the diversion valve V is opened in this state, whereby the inside of the gas supply pipe 30 is closed. The gas is divided into the diversion pipe 31 side.

On the other hand, a valve for high-purity gas used in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus or the like is strictly required to have so-called particle-free and dead space-free characteristics. For this reason, the diversion valve V is often a direct diaphragm valve which is structurally easy to meet the requirements of particle-free and dead space-free. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the diversion valve V is composed of a body 32, a diaphragm 33, a presser adapter 34, a bonnet 35, a bonnet nut 36, a diaphragm presser 37, a disk 38, a stem 39, etc., and a stem 39. Is lowered, the central portion of the diaphragm 33 is pushed downward by the disk 38 and the diaphragm retainer 39 to be seated against the valve seat 40, and when the stem 39 is raised, the central portion of the diaphragm 33 causes elastic force and fluid. It rises by pressure and separates from the valve seat 40. The diversion valve V has excellent practical effects such as generation of particles and leakage of gas from the valve chamber. In FIG. 4, 41 is a fluid passage formed in the body 32, 41a is an inlet of the fluid passage 41, 41b is an outlet of the fluid passage, and 42 is a valve chamber.

[0004]

By the way, in the diversion valve V, since only one inlet 41a and one outlet 41b are formed in the body 32, the gas supply pipe 3
In the case of directly incorporating it into 0, the gas could not be diverted, so that it had to be incorporated into the diverting pipe 31 for use. Therefore, when the diversion valve V is opened to divert the gas from the gas supply pipe 30, the gas is distributed to a part of the diversion pipe 31 (a part surrounded by a dashed line in FIG. 3) and the body 32 of the diversion valve V. Since it is taken out through the formed fluid passage 41, there is a problem that the gas cannot be taken out quickly. Also, the diversion valve V
Since it is built into the diversion pipe 31, the diversion pipe 31
Of the fluid passage 41 of the body 32 (the inlet 4
The gas easily accumulates in the portion 1a to the valve chamber 42, and the space in this portion becomes the gas accumulation space. However, the volume of this retention space is relatively large. As a result, when the gas type is switched or the residual gas is extracted, the gas replaceability is significantly reduced, and
There is a problem that the residual gas cannot be extracted quickly.

The present invention was devised in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to expedite the extraction of gas rapidly and to reduce the volume of the space in which the gas is retained to replace the gas. It is intended to provide a diversion valve capable of improving the above.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the diversion valve of the present invention has a concave valve chamber having an open upper portion, an inlet and an outlet, and an intermediate portion having a bottom surface of the valve chamber. Close to the fluid passage, a small hole that makes the intermediate portion of the fluid passage and the valve chamber communicate with each other, a flow dividing passage that communicates with the valve chamber and has an outlet, and around the opening of the small hole at the bottom of the valve chamber. A body provided with a formed valve seat; a diaphragm that is disposed in the valve chamber, maintains airtightness of the valve chamber, and moves up and down with its central portion to move toward and away from the valve seat; The bonnet covers the valve chamber, and the stem is supported by the bonnet so as to be able to move up and down, and the central portion of the diaphragm rests on the valve seat.

[0007]

The flow dividing valve of the present invention is used by being incorporated in the gas supply pipe for high-purity gas used in semiconductor manufacturing equipment, etc., and the inlet and outlet of the fluid passage are connected to the gas supply pipe side. Has been done. A diversion pipe is connected to the outlet of the diversion passage. Then, when the stem is lifted, the diaphragm is displaced upward due to its elastic force and fluid pressure to separate from the valve seat. As a result, part of the gas flowing from the inlet to the outlet in the fluid passage flows into the valve chamber through the small hole, and then flows to the diversion pipe side through the diversion passage.

In the diversion valve of the present invention, a part of the gas in the fluid passage is guided to the valve chamber and the diversion passage side through a small hole having a very short distance. Gas can be taken out quickly and easily. Further, in this diversion valve, the fluid passage is bent in a chevron shape so that the intermediate portion thereof is close to the valve chamber, and the intermediate portion and the valve chamber are communicated with each other through a small-diameter small hole. The volume of the staying space (mainly in the small holes) can be significantly reduced. As a result, when the type of gas is switched or the residual gas is extracted, the replaceability of the gas is greatly improved and the residual gas can be extracted quickly.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a diversion valve according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which the diversion valve is capable of performing highly accurate fine flow rate control by a manual operation, and 1 is a body and 2 is a body. Is a diaphragm, 3 is a presser adapter, 4 is a bonnet, 5 is a bonnet nut, 6 is a disc, 7 is a spring, 8 is a diaphragm retainer, 9 is a stem consisting of a slide stem 10 and a rotary stem 11,
Reference numeral 12 is a handle, and 13 is a stopper.

The body 1 is formed of a metal material such as stainless steel into a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and a concave valve chamber 14 whose upper side is opened is formed in the upper part. Further, the body 1 has an inlet 15a and an outlet 15b, and the fluid passage 15 is bent in a chevron shape so that an intermediate portion thereof approaches the bottom surface side of the valve chamber 14, and an intermediate portion of the fluid passage 15 and the valve chamber 14 are provided. A small hole 16 for communicating with the valve chamber 14 and a flow dividing passage 17 communicating with the valve chamber 14 and having an outlet 17a are formed respectively. Furthermore,
A valve seat 1 a is integrally formed with the body 1 around the opening of the small hole 16 on the bottom surface of the valve chamber 14. 1 and 2, 18 is a sleeve welded to the outlet 15b of the fluid passage 15, 19 is a union nut rotatably and slidably fitted on the sleeve 18, and 20 is a sleeve 18. Bearings interposed between the union nut 19 and 2
Reference numeral 1 denotes a sleeve welded to the outlet 17a of the flow dividing passage 17.

The diaphragm 2 is formed in a plate shape with a central portion bulging upward by a thin metal plate made of stainless steel, Inconel (trademark), shape memory alloy, or the like.
The outer peripheral edge portion is placed on the outer peripheral edge portion of the bottom surface of the valve chamber 14, and the central portion moves up and down to come in contact with and separate from the valve seat 1a. The diaphragm 2 is the body 1
By tightening the bonnet nut 5 screwed onto the bonnet, the annular presser adapter 3 inserted into the valve chamber 14 and the lower end of the bonnet 4 press the valve chamber 14 toward the bottom surface side and hold and fix it in an airtight state. ing.

The bonnet 4 is formed in a tubular shape, and the inner diameter of the lower portion inserted into the body 1 is formed to be a large diameter, and serves as a housing portion 4a for the disk 6. Further, the inner diameter of the central portion of the bonnet 4 is formed to be slightly smaller and serves as a guide portion 4b of the slide stem 10 described later. Furthermore, the inner diameter of the upper part of the bonnet 4 is formed to be slightly larger,
A female screw portion 4c is formed on the inner peripheral surface of the rotary stem 11, which will be described later. In this embodiment, the female screw portion 4
The thread pitch of c is set to 0.55 mm. The lower part of the bonnet 4 is inserted into the valve chamber 14 of the body 1, and by tightening the bonnet nut 5,
It is pressed and fixed to the body 1 side. A cylindrical indicator 22 is fitted on the outer peripheral surface of the upper portion of the bonnet 4, and is prevented from coming off by a cap nut 23 screwed onto the upper portion of the bonnet 4.

The disk 6 is vertically inserted into the accommodating portion 4a of the bonnet 4, and the lower end surface of the disk 6 is fitted with a synthetic resin diaphragm retainer 8 which is always in contact with the upper surface of the central portion of the diaphragm 2. . The disc 6 is biased upward by a spring 7 interposed between the disc 6 and the presser adapter 3.

The stem 9 is inserted into the hood 4 so as to be able to move up and down, presses the disk 6 and the diaphragm retainer 8 downward, and causes the central portion of the diaphragm 2 to rest against the valve seat 1a. Rotating stem 1
1 and 1. That is, the slide stem 10
Has a hollow shape, and is inserted into the guide portion 4b of the bonnet 4 so as to be lifted and lowered while being prevented from rotating, and its lower end surface is in contact with the disk 6. In this embodiment,
A state in which the slide stem 10 is prevented from rotating with respect to the bonnet 4 by engaging a tip end portion of a rotation stop screw 24 screwed to the bonnet 4 into a vertically oriented guide groove 10b formed on the outer peripheral surface thereof. It is designed to move up and down. Further, on the inner peripheral surface of the slide stem 10, a female screw portion 10a having a screw pitch smaller than the screw pitch of the female screw portion 4c of the bonnet 4 is formed. In this embodiment,
The screw pitch of the female screw portion 10a is set to 0.5 mm. On the other hand, the rotating stem 11 is formed by integrally connecting and fixing an inner shaft-shaped first member 11 ′ and an outer cylindrical second member 11 ″ and above the slide stem 10 and coaxial therewith. It is arranged in a core shape and is attached to the bonnet 4 so as to be able to move up and down so that the upper part thereof projects upward from the bonnet 4. Specifically, the first member 11 'is a shaft having a tapered portion 11b in the middle portion. A first male screw portion 11a that is screwed into the female screw portion 10a of the slide stem 10 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the lower portion, and the upper portion thereof is screwed into the slide stem 10 so as to project from the bonnet 4. In this embodiment, the screw pitch of the first male screw portion 11a is set to 0.5 mm. Further, the second member 11 ″.
Has a cylindrical shape, and has a second male screw portion 11c formed on the outer peripheral surface of the lower portion, which is screwed into the female screw portion 4c of the bonnet 4,
The upper part thereof is screwed into the bonnet 4 so as to project from the bonnet 4. In this embodiment, the second male screw portion 1
The screw pitch of 1c is set to 0.55 mm.
The first member 11 ′ and the second member 11 ″ are the first member 1
The upper part of 1'is inserted into the second member 11 ", and the second member 11" is inserted.
By projecting upward and tightening this portion with a fixing nut 25, they are integrally connected and fixed. At this time, both members 11 ', 11 "are centered by the taper portion 11b, and the first male screw portion 11a and the second male screw portion 11c are concentric with each other. The female screw portion 4c of the bonnet 4 and the slide stem 10 of the female screw portion 10a, the first male screw portion 11a of the first member 11 'and the second male member 11''of the second member 11''.
The direction of the screw of the male screw portion 11c is set so that the slide stem 10 also descends when the rotating stem 11 is rotated and lowered.

The handle 12 has a tubular shape and is fixed to the upper part of the rotating stem 11 by a handle fixing screw 26, and the lower end thereof is rotated and moved up and down along the outer peripheral surface of the indicator 22. ing. As a result, the valve opening degree and the flow rate adjustment degree are directly read.

The stopper 13 has an annular shape and is fitted to the upper outer peripheral surface of the second member 11 ″ of the rotary stem 11.
It is fixed to the second member 11 ″ by the fixing screw 27, and when the valve is fully closed (the central portion of the diaphragm 2 is the valve seat 1).
When abutting on a), the stem 9 is brought into contact with the upper surface of the cap nut 23 to regulate the lowering of the stem 9. In addition, stopper 1
The fixed positions of 3 are the rotary stem 11 and the slide stem 10.
It is set so that the stopper 13 and the cap nut 23 come into contact with each other when the disk 6 descends to bring the diaphragm 2 against the valve seat 1a.

Next, the operation of the diversion valve will be described. The diversion valve is used by being incorporated in a gas supply pipe for high-purity gas used in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus or the like, and the inlet 15a and the outlet 1 of the fluid passage 15 are used.
5b is connected to the gas supply pipe (not shown) side.
A diversion pipe (not shown) is connected to the outlet 17a of the diversion passage 17.

When part of the gas is diverted from the gas supply pipe, the handle 12 is turned in the direction in which the valve opens. Then, the rotary stem 11 that is screwed into the bonnet 4 rises while rotating, and along with this, the rotary stem 1
The slide stem 10, which is screwed into the first member 11 'of No. 1, rises in a state in which it is prevented from rotating by the rotation stop screw 24 and the guide groove 10b. At this time, the slide stem 10
Will increase by the difference between the thread pitch of the second male threaded portion 11c and the thread pitch of the first male threaded portion 11a per one rotation of the handle 12. In this embodiment, the handle 12 is moved up by 0.05 mm per rotation. Slide stem 1
When 0 rises, the disk 6 rises due to the reaction force of the spring 7, and the diaphragm 2 is restored to its original shape due to its elastic force and gas pressure, and is separated from the valve seat 1a to open the valve. As a result, a part of the gas flowing from the inlet 15a to the outlet 15b in the fluid passage 15 has a small hole 1
6 flows into the valve chamber 14 and then flows through the flow dividing passage 17 to the flow dividing pipe side. At this time, a part of the gas passes through the small hole 16 having an extremely short distance and then passes through the valve chamber 14 and the diversion passage 1.
Since it flows to the 7 side, it will be quickly taken out from the gas supply pipe.

When the handle 12 is rotated in the valve closing direction, the rotary stem 11 screwed into the bonnet 4 descends while rotating, and the first member 11 'of the rotary stem 11 is screwed. The mating slide stem 10 is also lowered while being prevented from rotating by the rotation stop screw 24 and the guide groove 10b. At this time, the slide stem 10 is lowered by the difference between the screw pitch of the second male screw portion 11c and the screw pitch of the first male screw portion 11a per one rotation of the handle 12. In this embodiment, the handle 12 is lowered by 0.05 mm per rotation. When the slide stem 10 descends, the disc 6 and the diaphragm retainer 8 also descend, pushing down the central portion of the diaphragm 2 and thereby,
The diaphragm 2 is elastically deformed and abuts against the valve seat 1a to close the valve. At this time, the stopper 13 provided on the second member 11 ″ comes into contact with the upper surface of the cap nut 23 so that the rotary stem 1
Since the lowering of the handle 1 is restricted, the handle 12 is not overtightened, and damage or breakage of the diaphragm 2 due to overtightening can be prevented. The slide stem 10
The ascending / descending amount of is directly read from the position of the lower end of the handle 12 on the indicator 22.

In this flow dividing valve, the inlet / outlet port 15a of the fluid passage 15 is directly connected to the gas supply pipe, and a part of the gas flowing in the fluid passage 15 is passed through a small hole 16 having an extremely short distance to the valve chamber 14. In addition, since the gas is guided to the side of the flow dividing passage 17, the gas can be taken out quickly and easily. or,
This diversion valve has a valve chamber 14 at the middle portion of the fluid passage 15.
Is bent in a chevron shape so as to be close to the air passage, and the intermediate portion of the fluid passage 15 and the valve chamber 14 are communicated with each other by the small hole 16, so that the volume of the space in which the gas stays (mainly in the small hole 16) is reduced. Can be significantly reduced. As a result, when the type of gas is switched or the residual gas is extracted, the replaceability of the gas is greatly improved and the residual gas can be extracted quickly. Further, in this flow dividing valve, since the slide stem 10 is moved up and down by the screw pitch difference between the first male screw portion 11a and the second male screw portion 11c, the vertical movement amount of the slide stem 10 relative to the rotation of the rotating stem 11 is increased. That is, the stroke of the diaphragm 2 can be adjusted extremely finely, and highly accurate fine flow rate adjustment can be performed even by manual operation. However, since the spring 7 for urging the disc 6 upward is interposed between the disc 6 and the presser adapter 3, rattling of the screw portion is prevented, and the stroke of the stem 9 can be adjusted accurately.

In the above-described embodiment, the fluid passage 15 is bent in a chevron shape so that its intermediate portion is brought closer to the bottom surface side of the valve chamber 14, but the fluid passage 15 is formed in a linear shape. The intermediate portion may be arranged close to the valve chamber 14 side.

In the above embodiment, the stem 9 is moved up and down by the manual handle 12. However, a drive device such as a fluid actuator is connected to the upper end of the stem 9 to automatically move the stem 9. It may be moved up and down.

[0023]

As described above, the diversion valve of the present invention is
A fluid passage having a valve chamber, an inlet and an outlet, and a diversion passage having an outlet are formed in the body, and the fluid passage is bent into a chevron shape so that an intermediate portion thereof is close to the bottom surface of the valve chamber. Since the middle part and the valve chamber are configured to communicate with each other through a small hole, if the inlet / outlet of the fluid passage is directly connected to the gas supply pipe, part of the gas in the fluid passage will pass through the small hole with a very short distance. And will flow to the side of the diversion passage. As a result, the gas can be taken out from the gas supply pipe quickly and easily. Also, this diversion valve is
The middle portion of the fluid passage is bent in a chevron shape so as to be close to the bottom surface of the valve chamber, and the middle portion of the fluid passage is communicated with the valve chamber by a small diameter small hole. The volume of (in the small holes) can be significantly reduced. As a result, when the type of gas is switched or the residual gas is extracted, the replaceability of the gas is greatly improved and the residual gas can be extracted quickly. However, since the internal volume is small, it can be performed smoothly and easily even when performing vacuuming.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of a diversion valve according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view in which a part of the diversion valve is cut away.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a pipe line incorporating a conventional diversion valve.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged vertical cross-sectional view of a main part of a conventional diversion valve.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 is a body, 1a is a valve seat, 2 is a diaphragm, 4 is a bonnet, 9 is a stem, 14 is a valve chamber, 15 is a fluid passage, 1
5a is an inlet of the fluid passage, 15b is an outlet of the fluid passage, 16
Is a small hole, 17 is a diversion passage, and 17a is an outlet of the diversion passage.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A concave valve chamber (14) having an open top.
And a fluid passageway (15) having an inlet (15a) and an outlet (15b), the middle portion of which is adjacent to the bottom surface of the valve chamber (14),
A small hole (16) for establishing communication between the intermediate portion of the fluid passage (15) and the valve chamber (14), and a flow dividing passage (17) communicating with the valve chamber (14) and having an outlet (17a), Valve chamber (1
A body (1) having a valve seat (1a) formed on the bottom surface of 4) around the opening of the small hole (16); arranged in the valve chamber (14) and airtight in the valve chamber (14) And a central part of the diaphragm (2) that moves up and down and abuts against the valve seat (1a);
4) covering the bonnet, and a stem (9) supported by the bonnet (4) so as to be able to move up and down so that the central portion of the diaphragm (2) rests on the valve seat (1a). Valve for diversion. 2. The diversion valve according to claim 1, wherein the fluid passage (15) is bent in a chevron shape so that an intermediate portion of the fluid passage (15) approaches the bottom surface of the valve chamber (14).