JPH09143726A - Continuous vacuum deposition apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To increase the film thickness of vapor deposited films by decreasing the ineffective vapor deposited materials with a continuous vacuum deposition apparatus. SOLUTION: This continuous vacuum deposition apparatus has a crucible 5 which stores a material to be evaporated, an electron gun 3 which heats and evaporates the material 4 to be evaporated by irradiating the material 4 to be evaporated in the crucible with an electron beam 3 and a vacuum chamber which houses the crucible and the electron gun and evaporates the material to be evaporated by evaporation on the continuously traveling band-shaped substrate 1. The apparatus has two lifting looper rolls 11 for guiding the traveling of the substrate 1 by coming into contact with the front surface of the substrate 1 and an actuator 13 for lifting these lifting looper rolls 11 above the crucible 5. The substrate 1 is attached and detached to and from the crucible 1 by lifting the lifting looper rolls 11.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a continuous vacuum vapor deposition apparatus for vacuum vapor deposition of an evaporation material such as metal on a continuous running substrate such as a steel plate or a film.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Vacuum vapor deposition
Is a film forming process in which a metal is heated and evaporated in a vacuum, and an evaporation material is vapor-deposited on the surface of a substrate (material to be processed) to form a film. In such a film forming process, a continuous vacuum vapor deposition apparatus has been conventionally known in which an electron beam is used to heat a metal for vapor deposition (evaporation material) and vapor deposits the metal on a strip-shaped substrate that continuously runs. This continuous vacuum deposition apparatus has the advantages that it is capable of continuous deposition of two kinds of metals and has a high deposition rate.

FIG. 3 is an overall configuration diagram of a conventional vacuum vapor deposition apparatus. The vacuum vapor deposition apparatus shown in the figure consists of a vacuum sealing device provided on the inlet and outlet sides, a preheating chamber, a film forming chamber, etc.
A strip (substrate 1) such as a steel plate rewound from an uncoiler at atmospheric pressure is put into a vacuum state through an inlet-side vacuum seal device, preheated in a preheating chamber, then film-formed in a film-forming chamber, and then exit-side after film-forming. The vacuum state is released through a vacuum seal device, and the product is taken out into the atmospheric pressure and wound by a recoiler. The substrate 1 is heated by the electron beam in the preheating chamber.

The film forming chamber is composed of an electron gun 3 which emits an electron beam 2, a crucible 5 which contains an evaporation material 4, and a vacuum chamber 6 which contains them and is evacuated.
The surface of the molten metal is irradiated with an electron beam 2 to heat and evaporate, and a vapor-deposited material is vapor-deposited on a strip-shaped substrate 1 that continuously runs in a vacuum chamber 6 to form a film (hereinafter referred to as a vapor deposition film). ing. The electron beam 2 is deflected by a magnetic field generated by a deflection electromagnet (not shown) and is applied to the molten metal surface of the evaporation material 4.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the film forming chamber. As shown in the figure, a shutter 7 is provided below the substrate in the vacuum chamber 6. When the continuous vacuum vapor deposition apparatus is started, the shutter 7 hits the substrate 1 which is standing by waiting radiant heat from the crucible 5 until the evaporation material 4 in the crucible 5 is heated and melted to be evaporated. The substrate 1 is provided to prevent distortion, and the inside is water-cooled. The shutter 7 is opened and closed by an actuator (not shown). Reference numeral 8 is a roller attached to both sides of the shutter, 9 is a rail on which the roller travels, and 10 is a bracket for supporting the rail, one end of which is fixed to the wall surface of the vacuum chamber 6.

[0006]

In the above continuous vacuum vapor deposition apparatus, the substrate 1 is used to increase the thickness of the vapor deposition film.
I want to move the electron beam closer to the crucible 5 but the electron beam 2 from the electron gun 3
Due to restrictions such as the orbit of (1) and the shutter 7 having to be provided between the substrate 1 and the crucible 5, the substrate 1 and the crucible 5 are inevitably separated from each other by several hundred mm. Further, in order to increase the film thickness, the energy of the electron beam 2 emitted from the electron gun 3 may be increased, but it takes time from the increase of the energy until the film thickness is increased. Even if the amount of evaporation is increased, a part of it does not deposit on the substrate 1 and becomes an ineffective deposit attached to the wall surface of the vacuum chamber 6 or the like.

The present invention was devised in view of the above problems of the prior art. By bringing the substrate closer to the crucible,
An object of the present invention is to provide a continuous vacuum vapor deposition apparatus that increases the vapor deposition film thickness.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the continuous vacuum vapor deposition apparatus of the present invention heats an evaporation material by irradiating the crucible for storing the evaporation material and the evaporation material in the crucible with an electron beam. In a continuous vacuum vapor deposition apparatus comprising an electron gun for vaporization and a vacuum chamber for accommodating the electron gun and depositing an evaporation material on a belt-shaped substrate that continuously travels, contact the upper surface of the substrate above the crucible. Two lifting looper rolls for guiding the traveling of the substrate and an actuator for lifting the lifting looper roll are provided, and the lifting looper roll is raised and lowered to bring the substrate close to and away from the crucible.

Further, it is preferable to provide fixed looper rolls that come into contact with the lower surface of the substrate on the upstream side and the downstream side of the lifting looper roll.

Next, the operation will be described. Heating and melting of the evaporation material in the crucible is completed, and after the evaporation is started, the shutter is opened and the evaporation is started. After that, the actuator is operated to lower the lifting looper roll to bring the substrate close to the crucible. By moving the substrate closer to the crucible, the amount of ineffective deposits is reduced and the thickness of the deposited film can be increased.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a side view of a main part in a film forming chamber of a continuous vacuum vapor deposition apparatus. In the figure, the dashed-dotted line shows the raised state of the lifting reluper roll, and the dashed-two dotted line shows the position occupied when the shutter is closed.
In FIG. 1, the same components as those described as the conventional technique are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIGS. 2 and 3, and the description thereof will be omitted. Reference numeral 11 in the figure denotes an elevating and lowering looper roll, two of which are provided above the crucible 5 and contact the upper surface of the substrate 1 to guide the traveling of the substrate. A bearing box (not shown) is supported by a common bracket 14 between the two lifting looper rolls 11. The bracket 14 is fixed to the tip of the actuator 13. The actuator 13 may be an air cylinder or a motor-driven screw mechanism. The elevating looper roll 11 can be set to any position between the uppermost position (shown by the one-dot chain line in FIG. 1) and the lowermost position (shown by the solid line in FIG. 1) by the actuator 13. Reference numeral 15 is a controller that sends a command symbol 16 to the actuator 13.

Next, the operation will be described. After the heating / melting of the evaporation material 4 in the crucible 5 by the electron beam 2 is completed and evaporation is started, the shutter 7 is opened. Then, the vapor of the evaporation material 4 reaches the substrate 1 to start vapor deposition. Substrate 1 in that state
When the traveling is started, the actuator 13 is operated to lower the elevating looper roll 11, and the substrate 1 is caused to travel in a state of being brought close to the crucible 5 as shown by a solid line in the figure. By bringing the substrate 1 closer to the crucible 5, more vapor of the evaporation material 4 is vapor-deposited on the substrate and the amount of ineffective deposits is reduced. Therefore, it is possible to increase the film thickness of the vapor deposition film, The dirt on the wall surface is reduced, and long-term continuous operation is possible.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, one crucible 5 is shown in FIG. 1, but two crucibles 5 may be juxtaposed as shown in FIGS. Lifting looper roll 1 when two crucibles 5 are placed side by side
One crucible may be provided with two crucibles, or two crucibles may be provided with two crucibles. Further, the fixed looper roll may not be provided in the vacuum chamber 6 and may also be used as the final roll or the first roll of the inlet / outlet side vacuum sealing device. In that case, the shape of the inlet and outlet of the vacuum chamber changes. Further, although the common actuator 13 is used for the two lifting looper rolls 11, separate actuators 13 may be used.

[0014]

As described above, the continuous vacuum vapor deposition apparatus of the present invention has two lifting looper rolls above the crucible, and the lifting looper roll can be moved up and down to bring the substrate close to the crucible during operation. It has excellent effects such as reducing the amount of vapor deposition and increasing the thickness of the vapor deposition film on the substrate.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of an essential part of a film forming chamber of a continuous vacuum vapor deposition apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a film forming chamber of a conventional continuous vacuum vapor deposition apparatus.

FIG. 3 is an overall side view of a conventional continuous vacuum vapor deposition device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Substrate 2 Electron Beam 3 Electron Gun 4 Evaporation Material 5 Crucible 6 Vacuum Chamber 7 Shutter 11 Lifting Looper Roll 12 Fixed Looper Roll 13 Actuator

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Akihiro Nomura 1 Shin-Nakahara-cho, Isogo-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Ishi Kawashima Harima Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. Technical Research Institute (72) Inventor Yoshiyasu Matsuda Shinnaka, Isogo-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Haramachi No. 1 Ishikawajima Harima Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. Yokohama Engineering Center

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A crucible for storing vaporized material, an electron gun for heating and vaporizing the vaporized material by irradiating the vaporized material in the crucible with an electron beam, and a strip-shaped substrate for accommodating the crucible and the electron gun and continuously running. In a continuous vacuum vapor deposition apparatus comprising a vacuum chamber for vaporizing an evaporation material, two elevating looper rolls that abut the upper surface of the substrate above the crucible to guide the traveling of the substrate, and an actuator that elevates the elevator looper roll. A continuous vacuum vapor deposition apparatus comprising: an elevating and lowering looper roll that moves up and down to bring a substrate closer to and away from a crucible. 2. The continuous vacuum vapor deposition apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising fixed looper rolls, which are in contact with the lower surface of the substrate, on the upstream and downstream sides of the lifting looper roll.