JPH0754284Y2 - Conveyor type sputtering film forming equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of use] The present invention relates to a carrier type sputtering film forming apparatus for substrates such as magnetic recording media and semiconductor wafers.

[Conventional technology]

A transport-type sputtering film forming apparatus is known as mass production equipment for sputtering film forming apparatuses for substrates such as magnetic recording media and semiconductor wafers. This device deposits a film on a tunnel bell jar that is held at a high degree of vacuum while the substrate is mounted on a carrier truck and moves inside the bell jar. It is held by and is driven and run along the rail laid in the bell jar.

Here, the structure of the conventionally used carrier truck will be described in more detail. A carrier body having a holder for holding a substrate on the top thereof has six to eight wheels mounted on both sides thereof, and Each wheel has an axle having a pair of wheels attached to the left and right ends, and is mounted on the floor surface side of the carriage holder. As a traveling drive system, for example, a rack is attached to the floor surface side of the bogie body, and the rack is engaged with a drive belt laid along the rails to travel.

[Problems to be solved by the device]

By the way, when the above-mentioned transport carriage is used to drive the inside of the sputtering film forming apparatus, the following problems may occur during traveling.

That is, foreign matters such as a sputter peeling film generated in the film forming process or dust generated from a transport carriage exist inside the bell jar of the sputtering film forming apparatus, and these foreign particles may adhere to the rail surface. Moreover, if foreign matter adheres to the rail, a step will be created on the rail surface, which will add sway when the wheels of the carrier truck ride on this step while traveling, and this sway will spread to the entire trolley and balance. In the worst case, the truck may derail from the rail.

Moreover, if the above-mentioned derailment accident occurs in a sealed bell jar, it will take a great deal of time to restore the derailment accident, which will greatly hinder the production plan of the product. A highly reliable traveling stability function is required for the carrier truck.

In view of the above-mentioned points, the present invention makes it possible to stably move a carrier truck without being affected by foreign matter such as a sputter peeling film adhered on a rail surface, and thus a high vacuum in a sealed bell-shaped bell jar is provided. An object of the present invention is to provide a transport type sputtering film forming apparatus capable of continuously performing a plurality of times of sputtering film formation in a stable state for a long period of time while maintaining the temperature.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a carrier that travels via a pair of rails laid in a sealed tunnel-shaped bell jar and a plurality of wheels on the pair of rails abutting the rails. A trolley, a running drive tooth profile belt laid along the rail between the pair of rails, and a rack attached to the lower center of the main body of the transport trolley so as to engage with the tooth profile belt. And a transport-type sputtering film-forming apparatus for holding a substrate to be film-formed vertically in the main body of the carrier and moving the film in the tunnel-shaped bell jar held at a high degree of vacuum. In the above, it is characterized in that the main body of the carrier is provided with an independent suspension type suspension mechanism for mounting the plurality of wheels respectively.

[Action]

In the above-mentioned configuration, the suspension mechanism is, for example, one in which an axle supporting wheels is bent in an L shape so as to be vertically movable with respect to the bogie main body, and a suspension spring is interposed between the axle and the bogie main body. This suspension mechanism is provided for each wheel.

With this configuration, even when a wheel rides up a foreign substance adhering to the rail surface, only that wheel moves up and down by the step of the rail surface, and the vibration energy associated with this up and down movement is generated by the suspension spring. Since it is absorbed and attenuated, it does not spread to the trolley body, and it is possible to reliably avoid problems such as the transport trolley tilting and losing its running posture or derailing from the rail.

〔Example〕

1 and 2 show the construction of a carrier truck according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which 1 is a rail laid inside the bell jar of a sputtering film forming apparatus, and 2 is a rail. The carriage 2 is a carriage, and the carriage 2 includes a carriage body 4 having a holder 3 for holding a substrate (not shown) such as a magnetic recording medium, six wheels 5 mounted on the left and right of the carriage body 4, and wheels 5 It is composed of an independent suspension type suspension mechanism 6 for attaching the to the trolley body 4. In addition, 7 is a toothed belt for traveling drive laid along the rail 1, 8
Is a rack attached to the center of the lower surface of the carriage main body 4 so as to engage with the belt 7.

Here, the structure of the suspension mechanism 6 described above will be described in detail. The wheel 5 is attached to one end of the wheel 5 via a bearing 9.
A V-shaped axle 10 is supported so as to be movable up and down with respect to the bogie main body 4, and a suspension spring 11 as a compression coil spring is interposed between the rising shaft portion of the axle 10 and the bogie main body 4. It constitutes the mechanism.

With such a configuration, when the wheels 5 ride on the foreign matter adhered to the rail surface while the carriage 2 travels along the rail 1, only the wheels riding on the foreign matter are displaced in the vertical direction (arrow P) together with the axle 10. Moreover, this displacement vibration is absorbed and damped by the suspension spring 11 and hardly propagates to the carriage main body 4. Therefore, troubles such as disturbance of the traveling posture of the carriage main body 4 and derailment can be avoided.

[Effect of device]

According to the present invention as described above, by using a carrier truck having an independent suspension type suspension mechanism in which a plurality of wheels are respectively attached to a carriage body holding a substrate,
Since the carrier truck is designed to run stably without being affected by foreign matter such as spatter peeling film that adheres to the rail surface, multiple times of sputtering can be performed while maintaining a high degree of vacuum in the sealed tunnel bell jar. The membrane can be continuously and stably operated for a long period of time.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front sectional view showing the structure of a carrier vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG. In the figure, 1: rail, 2: carrier truck, 3: substrate holder, 4: truck body, 5: wheel, 6: suspension mechanism.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A pair of rails laid in a closed tunnel-shaped bell jar, a carrier truck traveling on the pair of rails via a plurality of wheels abutting the rails, and the pair of rails. A toothed belt for running drive laid along the rails between the rails, and a rack attached to the center of the lower surface of the main body of the transport carriage so as to engage with the toothed belts, should be formed. In a transfer-type sputtering film forming apparatus configured to perform film formation in a process of holding a substrate vertically in the main body of the transfer carriage and moving inside the tunnel-shaped bell jar held at a high degree of vacuum, a main body of the transfer carriage is provided. A transport-type sputtering film-forming apparatus, characterized in that it is provided with an independent suspension type suspension mechanism for mounting the plurality of wheels respectively.