JPS6332466Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (a) Industrial application field The present invention relates to an on-off valve such as a gate valve used for maintaining a vacuum state in a vacuum system.

(b) Prior art An on-off valve such as a gate valve that opens and closes an opening in a vacuum system, etc. is required to be able to seal the opening when the opening is closed in order to maintain the vacuum system, etc. in a vacuum state. . However, if the valve body of the gate valve or the like is fixed to an arm that brings the valve body into contact with and separates from the valve seat, a gap may be created due to subtle differences in the placement positions of the valve body and the valve seat when the valve body is closed. This often occurs, making it difficult to maintain a vacuum state. On the other hand, if the valve body is rotatable relative to the arm,
Closing the opening itself is often difficult. Therefore, conventional gate valves of this type include a valve seat provided at the open end of a vacuum system, an arm whose tip can move forward and backward in the direction of the valve seat, and a pivot valve attached to the tip of the arm. a valve body that moves toward and away from the valve seat as the arm advances and retreats, and a rotation restriction mechanism that restricts rotation of the valve body with respect to the arm to within a range of minute rattling; This rotation restriction mechanism has a hole provided on the valve body side, and a pin fixed to the arm side and fitted into the hole, and within the tolerance between the pin and the hole. Generally, the valve body and the valve seat can be brought into close contact by allowing the valve body to wobble.

However, with these types of devices, the degree of rattling is adjusted by adjusting the tolerance between the hole and the pin, so once it is set, it is difficult to readjust it, and the pin is subject to an impactful shearing force. Since the pin is constantly applied, there is a disadvantage that the pin is easily fatigued and easily broken.

(c) Purpose The present invention was developed in view of the above circumstances, and is an opening/closing device that has a rotation regulating mechanism that allows easy initial setting and readjustment of the degree of rattling, has a high fatigue limit, and has a long life. It provides a valve.

(D) Structure In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention includes a first tooth-shaped body fixed to the arm side, and a backlash to the first tooth-shaped body fixed to the valve body side. and a second tooth profile that meshes with the first tooth profile, and for adjusting the size of the buckle by changing the relative distance between the first tooth profile and the second tooth profile. It is characterized by being provided with an adjustment mechanism.

(E) Embodiment FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing a workpiece loading portion of an in-line vacuum evaporation system. This workpiece loading section has a tunnel-shaped chamber 2 connected to the entrance 1a of the vacuum deposition chamber 1, and a workpiece loading roller 4 that is continuous with the workpiece support roller 3 in the vacuum deposition chamber 1 is provided within this chamber 2. . The inlet 1a of the vacuum deposition chamber 1 and the chamber 2
Gate valves 5 and 6, which are a type of on-off valve, are provided at the inlet 2a of the inlet 2a, and these gate valves 5 and 6 are opened and closed at different timings by air cylinders 7 and 8, respectively. That is, first, the gate valve 6 is opened to introduce the work A into the chamber 2, and after the gate valve 6 is closed, the next gate valve 5 is opened to carry the work A into the vacuum deposition chamber 1. It's getting old.

By the way, as shown in detail in FIGS. 2 and 3, the gate valve 5 has a valve seat 9 provided on the opening end face at the inlet 1a of the vacuum deposition chamber 1, and a tip 11a that moves forward and backward in the direction of the valve seat 9. An arm 11 is pivotally mounted on a tip end 11a of the arm 11 via a support shaft 12, and the valve seat is moved forward and backward as the tip end 11a moves forward and backward, that is, as the arm 11 rotates. 7, and a rotation regulating mechanism 14 that restricts the rotation of the valve body 13 relative to the arm 11 within the range of slight wobbling. It is rotated by an air cylinder 7. The valve body 13 has an O-ring 1 for sealing in close contact with the valve seat 7 on the front surface.
3a, and has bracket portions 13b and 13c on the back surface thereof, which rotatably engage with the support shaft 12. Further, the rotation regulating mechanism 14 includes a gear 16 which is a first toothed body fixed to one end of the support shaft 12 via a key 15, and a gear 16 which is fixed to the bracket portion 13b of the valve body 13 using a screw 17. The gear 18 is a second tooth profile that meshes with the gear 16 with a backlash. The first gear 16 is a normal spur gear, and the second
The gear 18 is constituted by a portion of a spur gear. Note that the support shaft 12 is fixed to the arm 11 using a set screw 19. A backlash adjustment mechanism 20 is provided on this support shaft 12. This backlash adjustment mechanism 20 adjusts each axis l of a portion 12a of the support shaft 12 in sliding contact with the bracket portion 13c and a boss portion 16a in sliding contact with the bracket portion 13b of the first gear 16 to the support shaft 12 and It is eccentric by a minute distance e with respect to the axis m of the first gear 16.

Further, the gate valve 6 also has the same configuration as the gate valve 5.

If the gate valve 5 has such a configuration, the valve body 13
is connected to the arm 11 by the first and second gears 16,1
Since the valve element 13 can wobble within the range of the backlash of the valve element 8, the valve body 13 can be brought into close contact with the valve seat 9 without any gaps, similar to the conventional valve body. Moreover, since the gears 16 and 18 have a much higher fatigue limit than conventional pins, they have the advantage of being less likely to break and have a correspondingly longer life. Furthermore, the magnitude of backlash can be changed by simply changing the distance between the axes of the first gear 16 and the second gear 18, so the magnitude of backlash of the valve body 13 can be controlled relatively easily. Another advantage is that it can be adjusted.

In particular, in the case of this embodiment, since the bracket portions 13b and 13c of the valve body 13 are supported eccentrically with respect to the axis l of the support shaft 12, the second gear 1
8 from the bracket part 13b and loosen the set screw 19 to rotate the support shaft 12 by the required angle with respect to the arm 11. Then, tighten the set screw 19 to fix the support shaft 12 to the arm 11. At the same time, the second gear 18
By attaching the gears 16 and 18 to their original positions, the distance between the axes of the gears 16 and 18 can be changed. Therefore, the amount of rattling of the valve body 13 can be easily adjusted without machining or the like.

It should be noted that the present invention is of course not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and the first gear of the rotation regulating mechanism is not limited to a spur gear. However, according to the embodiment described above, there is an advantage that the range of backlash can be appropriately adjusted by a simple operation of rotating the support shaft.

Further, the second gear of the rotation restriction mechanism is not limited to the illustrated embodiment in which the second gear is a part of the spur gear, but may be, for example, the spur gear itself.

Furthermore, the second gear is not limited to one that is fixed in a fixed position, but may be one that can move forward and backward by sliding in the axial direction of the first gear, for example. By sliding the second gear, the range of backlash with the first gear can be adjusted. Moreover, especially in this case, racks can be used instead of both gears. Therefore, the tooth profile body is not limited to only gears.

Further, the present invention is not limited to gate valves, but can be used for a wide range of opening/closing valves in general, such as automatic opening/closing doors of vacuum chambers.

Further, the application of the present invention is not limited to in-line vacuum evaporation systems or vacuum chambers, but can be widely used for open ends that require sealing.

Furthermore, the opening/closing means for the opening/closing valve is not limited to an air cylinder.

Various other modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

(f) Effects As explained above, in the present invention, the rotation regulating mechanism is configured by toothed bodies that mesh with each other, so it is possible to disperse the stress acting on the member and increase the fatigue limit. Therefore, it is difficult to break and can ensure high durability.

Moreover, the degree of rattling of the valve body with respect to the arm can be adjusted simply by changing the relative distance between the two toothed bodies using the backlash adjustment mechanism, making initial setting and readjustment much easier than with conventional methods. It can be done easily. That is,
When adjusting the tolerance by selecting the tolerance of the hole and pin, there are constraints such as the degree of rattling cannot be set to the desired value unless highly accurate machining is performed, and it is difficult to change it once it is set. However, with the present invention, the degree of rattling can be initialized during assembly, and readjustment can be made as many times as desired after that, thus eliminating all of the conventional limitations at once. It is something that can be done.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a schematic front sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a partially cutaway front view showing the opening/closing valve portion of the same embodiment, and Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the - line in Fig. 2. be. 5, 6...Opening/closing valve (gate valve), 9...Valve seat, 1
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Arm, 13... Valve body, 14... Rotation regulating mechanism, 16... First tooth profile body (gear), 18...
Second tooth profile body (gear), 20...Bullet-crush adjustment mechanism.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A valve seat provided on an opening end surface, an arm whose tip portion is movable in the direction of the valve seat, and a valve that is pivotally connected to the tip portion of the arm and moves toward and away from the valve seat as the arm moves back and forth. and a rotation restriction mechanism that restricts the rotation of the valve body relative to the arm to within a range of slight rattling, the rotation restriction mechanism being fixed to the arm side. The first
and a second tooth profile that is fixed to the valve body side and meshes with the first tooth profile with a backlash, and a combination of the first tooth profile and the second tooth profile. An on-off valve characterized in that it is provided with a backlash adjustment mechanism for adjusting the size of the backlash by changing the relative distance to the toothed body.