KR100925159B1 - Rectangular Gate Valve for Semiconductor producing process - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A rectangular gate valve for a semiconductor producing process is provided to reduce a risk of damage of bellows formed on a valve shaft by forming a space for particle P at the lower part of a blade. CONSTITUTION: In a rectangular gate valve for a semiconductor producing process, a blade(110) shuts tightly a wafer channel by using a sealing member(112). A bonnet(120) isolates a process space(S1) and an outer space(S2) of a blade. A valve shaft(130) is extended from the bottom of the blade to the top of bonnet through the bonnet. The valve shaft driving unit(140) operates the valve shaft upward/ downward. The bonnet includes a depression part which is sunk downward from neighboring a location through which the valve shaft is passed. In a bottom shaft(134), the bellows(135) protruded as a thin plate space from the outer circumference of the member of a rod shape is formed.

Description

Rectangular gate valve for semiconductor manufacturing process

1A and 1B show a conventional rectangular gate valve.

2 is a view showing a conventional problem.

3 is a view showing a rectangular gate valve for a semiconductor manufacturing process according to the present invention.

4A is a view showing the bonnet 120 of the present invention, Figure 4B is a view showing the valve shaft 130 of the present invention.

5A and 5B are views showing an operation diagram of the present invention.

6 is an enlarged view of the periphery of the valve shaft hole.

7A is a view showing a peripheral enlarged view of the depression of the bonnet according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 7B, 7C, and 7D are plan views, side cross-sectional views, and enlarged views of the dust seal 150 of FIG. 7A, respectively.

8A is a view showing a peripheral enlarged view of the depression of the bonnet according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8B illustrates a modified embodiment of FIG. 8A.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a rectangular gate valve used in a process of manufacturing a semiconductor device, and more particularly, to a wafer crack flake by preventing recesses in the bonnet and bellows formed in the valve shaft not being exposed to the process space. The present invention relates to a rectangular gate valve in which the bellows is prevented from being broken by.

In the manufacturing process of the semiconductor device, a specific pressure is maintained or a space is sealed to the outside depending on the characteristics of the manufacturing process. Usually, this space is specified as a space called a chamber, which is enclosed with the outside to define the physicochemical characteristics of the space by a specific pressure and a specific process gas. However, in this process step, the wafer must move between different process steps, so opening and closing between the spaces used in different processes is very important. In addition, opening and closing between the outside space and the process space other than the process space is also very important. In general, a rectangular gate valve is widely used as a means of achieving such opening and closing.

1A and 1B show a conventional rectangular gate valve, and FIG. 2 shows a conventional problem.

FIG. 1A is a view illustrating a state in which the valve shaft is moved downward and the valve is opened, and FIG. 1B is a view illustrating a state in which the valve shaft is moved upward and the valve is closed.

The conventional rectangular gate valve 1 includes a blade 10, a bonnet 20, a valve shaft 30 and a drive unit 40. The blade 10 functions to seal the wafer movement path of the semiconductor device manufacturing process by using the sealing member 12. The bonnet 20 serves to isolate the process space s1 and the outer space s2 as a flat member located under the blade. The through-hole 32 is formed in the bonnet 20. The valve shaft 30 is a rod-shaped member whose one end is connected to the blade and the other end is connected to the driving unit 40 and extends through the valve shaft hole 32 and extends in the process space s1 and the external space s2. On the outer circumferential surface of the valve shaft 30, many thin metal bellows bellows 34 are formed. The drive unit 40 swings the valve shaft by the drive means. The drive unit is located in the outer space s2.

In the opening and closing operation of the valve 1, the driving unit swings the valve shaft so that the blade opens and closes the inlet (not shown) of the chamber. At this time, even though the valve shaft 30 is extended and operated in the process space s1 and the external space s2 by the bellows 34, the process space and the external space are always kept in an isolated state, that is, in a physicochemically separated state. . The function of bellows is well known.

However, according to such a conventional rectangular gate valve, there are the following problems.

First, as shown in Figure 2, because the bellows is always exposed to the process space, there is a problem that the bellows is broken by the wafer crack flakes (P, wafer crack particles) generated in the process. That is, according to the conventional valve, the bellows 34 is always exposed to the process space when the valve is operating, the process space s1 has a lot of foreign matters such as process gas and wafer crack flakes, so that they are between the thin metal flakes of the bellows Insertions or chemical reactions cause problems such as physical breakage and chemical deformation of the bellows, which reduces the replacement cycle of the bellows. In particular, reduced sealing performance due to a broken bellows is an interruption of the entire process, leading to enormous economic losses in manufacturing.

Secondly, this phenomenon is further increased when the valve is opened, i.e., when the valve moves downward, further increasing the possibility of breakage of the bellows. There is little space between the blade 10 and the bonnet 20 when the valve is opened, i.e. when the valve is moved downward. That is, the wafer crack flakes P existing between the blade 10 and the bonnet 20 in the process space are not easily moved to other places with respect to the lower movement of the blade. As a result, the flakes P are more likely to enter the space between the bellows and the likelihood of breakage of the bellows is further increased.

Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, an object of the present invention is to reduce the sealing by the metal foil of the bellows due to the valve shaft is located in the process space when opening and closing the valve in the gate valve for semiconductor device manufacturing It is an object of the present invention to provide a rectangular gate valve which is prevented from becoming.

In addition, an object of the present invention is to provide a rectangular gate valve that is prevented the problem of the bellows damage while using as it is without modifying the structure of the existing valve body or drive unit.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention, in the rectangular gate valve 100 for a semiconductor device manufacturing process for opening and closing the wafer movement passage, the blade 110 for sealing the wafer movement passage of the semiconductor device manufacturing process using a sealing member. ); A bonnet positioned below the blade and extending in the direction of the process line of the manufacturing process, the bonnet separating the process space s1 and the external space s2 on the blade side; A valve shaft 130 extending through the bonnet at a lower end of the blade and extending downward in the bonnet; And a valve shaft driving unit 140 positioned below the bonnet and connected to one side of the valve shaft to drive the valve shaft in an up and down direction. The bonnet 120 has the valve shaft 130 penetrated therethrough. And a depression 122 having a shape recessed downward in the periphery of the position, wherein the valve shaft 130 includes a rod-shaped upper shaft 132; And a lower shaft 134 disposed below the upper shaft and having a bellows 135 protruding in a thin plate shape on an outer circumferential surface of the rod-shaped member, wherein a boundary point between the lower shaft and the upper shaft is the valve. When the valve shaft is moved up and down by the shaft driving unit, the upper shaft is moved to move only in the upper portion of the bottom of the depression and the lower shaft is characterized in that it is determined to be moved to move only below the bottom of the depression.

In one embodiment, a ring-shaped member surrounding the outer circumferential surface of the upper shaft 132, characterized in that it further comprises a dust seal 150 mounted on the upper portion of the bottom of the depression.

In one embodiment, the dust seal 150 is characterized in that the cross-sectional inclination downward as the dust seal proceeds outward from the surface in contact with the upper shaft.

In one embodiment, the bonnet 120 is characterized in that it further comprises a horizontal bonnet projection 127 protruding in the horizontal direction in the direction of the valve shaft from the upper surface of the depression (122).

In one embodiment, the bonnet 120 is characterized in that it further comprises a vertical bonnet projection 128 protruding upward in the vertical direction in the periphery of the recess 122 in the upper surface of the bonnet 120 .

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a view showing a rectangular gate valve for a semiconductor device manufacturing process according to the present invention, Figure 4a is a view showing the bonnet 120 of the present invention, Figure 4b is a view showing the valve shaft 130 of the present invention. .

Square gate valve 300 according to the present invention includes a blade 110, the bonnet 120, the valve shaft 130 and the valve shaft driver 140.

The blade 110 seals the movement path of the wafer in the semiconductor device manufacturing process by using the sealing member 112. The shape and function of the blade 110 is the same as the conventional blade 10 of FIG. 1A and is well known in the art. The sealing member 112 is the same as that widely known in the art, so-called 'parking' in the art, and is thus formed of an elastic member such as rubber.

The bonnet 120 is a plate-shaped member which is located below the blade 110 and extends along the process line of the manufacturing process of the semiconductor device. It is responsible for separating s2. The bonnet 120 has a valve shaft hole 122 having a hole shape connecting the process space s1 and the external space s2, which is located between the process space s1 and the external space s2.

The valve shaft 130 is a rod-shaped member having one side connected to the blade and the other side connected to the driving unit 140. The valve shaft 130 is inserted into the valve shaft hole 124 and extends between the process space s1 and the external space s2. The valve shaft 130 has a bellows 135 formed on an outer circumferential surface thereof, and the bellows 135 and the valve shaft hole 124 are closely contacted with each other. Thus, the valve shaft 130 has a process space s1 and an outer space s2. Isolate each other while extending them vertically.

The bellows 135 is a member formed repeatedly in a thin plate shape and serves to seal the outer space and the inner space. It is mainly a member that maintains the sealing between two spaces when the shaft moves between the two spaces. The construction and function of such bellows are well known in the art.

The valve shaft driver 140 is positioned below the bonnet 120 to drive the valve shaft in the vertical direction. The valve shaft driver 140 may be implemented in various driving methods, and is widely known in the art. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, when the piston 145 moves downward due to the flow rate introduced into the cylinder 146 from the outside, the moving gear 143 of the actuator modules 142, 143, and 144 is moved, and moving. As the link 141 connected to the gear 143 moves downward, the valve shaft 130 moves downward.

Hereinafter, the configuration of the bonnet 120 and the valve shaft 130 of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B.

4A is a view showing the bonnet 120 of the present invention in comparison with the conventional bonnet 20, and FIG. 4B is a view showing the valve shaft 130 of the present invention in comparison with the conventional valve shaft 30. As shown in FIG.

In the present invention, as shown in FIG. 4A, the bonnet 120 has a recessed shape in which the valve shaft 130 penetrates, that is, recessed downward from the upper surface of the valve shaft hole at the periphery of the valve shaft hole 124. Part 122 is included.

In addition, in the present invention, as shown in Figure 4b, the valve shaft 130 includes a rod-shaped upper shaft 132 and the lower lower shaft 134 located in the upper, the lower shaft 134 is the upper A bellows 135 is formed below the shaft 132 and protrudes in a thin plate shape on the outer circumferential surface of the rod-shaped member.

In addition, in the present invention, the boundary L2 of the upper shaft 132 and the lower shaft 134 is the upper shaft 132 when the valve shaft 130 moves up and down by the valve shaft drive unit 140, Only the upper portion of the bottom of the depression 122, the lower shaft is characterized in that it is determined to move only in the lower portion of the bottom of the depression. That is, the lower shaft 134 having the bellows 135 formed on the outer circumferential surface thereof does not protrude to the upper portion of the bottom surface of the depression 122 while the valve shaft moves.

 In addition, as shown in FIG. 4A, the thickness t2 of the bonnet 120 of the present invention is much larger than the thickness t1 of the conventional bonnet 20. This is because the length of the valve shaft hole 124 of the present invention is larger than the length of the conventional valve shaft hole 32, which means that the valve shaft 130 is the upper shaft 132 and the lower shaft 134 in the present invention. The lower shaft 132, which is formed separately and has a bellows 135, needs to extend the length of the valve shaft hole 124 of the bonnet 120 so as not to protrude upward of the valve shaft hole 124. Because.

5A, 5B and 6 are views showing the effect of the present invention. FIGS. 5A and 5B are views showing the operation of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of the periphery of the valve shaft hole.

Figure 5a is a view showing a state in which the gate valve is closed by the valve shaft is raised, Figure b is a view showing a state in which the gate valve is opened by the valve shaft is lowered.

In FIG. 5A, when the valve shaft is raised, there are many particles P in the space between the bonnet 120 and the blade 110 due to the physicochemical characteristics of the process space s1. When the valve shaft is lowered in FIG. 5B, the particle P tends to be compressed between the bonnet 120 and the blade 110 to fit between the bellows of the valve shaft. However, in the present invention, even when the valve shaft is lowered by the space s3 generated by the depression, particles between the bonnet and the blade are naturally induced into the space s3 formed by the depression 122. That is, even if the blade descends to the end, a space in which particle P can be provided is greatly reduced, so that the probability of particle P invading between bellows 135 is greatly reduced. Therefore, the probability of breakage of the bellows is greatly reduced.

In addition, as shown in Figure 6, in the present invention, the valve shaft is separated into the upper shaft 132 and the lower shaft 134, the bellows 135 is formed only in the lower shaft 134, the bellows 135 is formed The height L2 is always lower than the bottom surface L1 of the depression 122. Therefore, even if the valve shaft 130 is raised and lowered, the situation in which the bellows is exposed beyond the bottom of the depression 122 does not occur. Therefore, the bellows 135 is not exposed to the particle P, so the probability that the bellows 135 is broken by the particles is greatly reduced.

7A is a view showing a peripheral enlarged view of the depression of the bonnet according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 7B, 7C, and 7D are plan views, side cross-sectional views, and enlarged views of the dust seal 150 of FIG. 7A, respectively.

In the embodiment of FIGS. 7A-7D, a dust seal 150 is added.

The dust seal 150 is a ring-shaped member surrounding the outer circumferential surface of the upper shaft 132 and is mounted on an upper portion of the bottom surface of the recess 122. That is, the dust seal 150 has a valve shaft 130 inserted into the central hole 513, and is fastened to the bottom surface of the recess 122 by the fastening member 512.

According to this embodiment, the lower shaft 134 is further isolated from the particle P of the process space s1 because the lower shaft is located only under the dust seal. The dust seal 150 surrounds the outer circumferential surface of the upper shaft 132 so that the intrusion of the particle P from the process space s1 does not reach the lower shaft 134. That is, the risk of breaking the bellows 135 of the lower shaft 134 by the dust seal 150 is further reduced.

In a preferred embodiment, the cross-sectional shape of the dust seal 150 is characterized in that the inclined downward toward the outer circumferential direction from the surface in which the dust seal 150 contacts the upper shaft 132. When the valve shaft 130 is lowered by the inclined surface S (reference numeral 511) of the dust seal 150, the particles P which are lowered by the pressure of the blade 110 are lowered when the valve shaft 130 is lowered. 150 and the outer circumferential surface of the upper shaft 132 is naturally guided outward from the contact surface. That is, since there is no space connected to the valve shaft hole 124 or the lower shaft 134 outside the dust seal 150, the probability that the particle P breaks the bellows 135 of the lower shaft 134 is further reduced.

FIG. 8A is a view showing a peripheral enlarged view of a depression of a bonnet according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 8B is a view showing a modified embodiment of FIG. 8A.

In the embodiment of FIG. 8A, the bonnet 120 further includes a horizontal bonnet protrusion 127 protruding horizontally in the direction of the valve shaft from the upper surface of the depression 122. The protruding length of the horizontal bonnet protrusion 127 does not protrude enough to completely close the depression 122, and generally is about 1/4 to 1/3 of the depression 122.

According to this embodiment, the particle P, which has been accumulated on the upper surface of the bonnet 120, is partially prevented from entering the depression 122 by the horizontal bonnet protrusion 127. Since the upper portion of the recess 122 is open, particle P, which has accumulated on the upper surface of the bonnet, cannot be completely prevented from entering the recess 122, and considering the risk of damage to the bellows as described with reference to FIG. 3. This is not desirable. However, because the amount of particles accumulated on the upper surface of the bonnet is larger than the amount of particles spread in the process space s1, some countermeasures are necessary. In this embodiment, the inlet of the recess 122 is partially closed by using the horizontal bonnet protrusion 127 to prevent particles P, which are accumulated on the upper surface of the bonnet, from falling too easily into the recess 122.

In FIG. 8B, the bonnet 120 further includes a vertical bonnet protrusion 128 projecting upwardly in the vertical direction around the recess 122 at the upper surface of the bonnet 120. According to the present exemplary embodiment, the particles P, which are accumulated on the upper surface of the bonnet 120 by the vertical bonnet protrusion 128, partially prevent the entry of the recess 122 by the step formed by the vertical bonnet protrusion 128. do. The necessity of preventing the intrusion of the particles into the depression 122 of the upper surface of the bonnet 120 is the same as described in the horizontal bonnet protrusion 127.

According to the embodiment, it is also possible to use the horizontal bonnet protrusion 127 and the vertical bonnet protrusion 128 simultaneously.

So far I looked at the center of the preferred embodiment for the present invention. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention can be implemented in a modified form without departing from the essential features of the present invention. Therefore, the disclosed embodiments should be considered in descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation. The scope of the present invention is shown in the claims rather than the foregoing description, and all differences within the scope will be construed as being included in the present invention.

As described above, according to the present invention, the depression 122 formed in the bonnet 120 provides a space in which the particle P of the lower portion of the blade 110 may exist when the valve shaft 130 descends. The risk of breakage of the bellows 135 formed in the valve shaft is reduced. Since the risk of breakage of the bellows 135 is reduced, the sealing between the process space s1 and the external space s2 is maintained for a longer time, thereby greatly reducing the operating and maintenance costs of the semiconductor device manufacturing process line.

In addition, according to the present invention, the valve shaft 130, the bellows is formed only in the lower shaft 134, the position L2 is formed with the bellows 134 is determined so that the valve shaft does not protrude higher than the bottom surface of the depression 122 when moving This further reduces the risk of bellows breakage since the bellows are not exposed to the process space.

In addition, according to the present invention, since the bellows is further isolated from the particles by the dust seal 150, the risk of bellows breakage is further reduced.

In addition, according to the present invention, since the particles are guided outward by the inclined surface s of the dust seal 150, the risk of bellows breakage is further reduced.

In addition, according to the present invention, the possibility that the particles P accumulated on the upper surface of the bonnet by the horizontal bonnet protrusion 127 and the vertical bonnet protrusion 128 is invaded into the depression 122, further reducing the risk of bellows breakage.

Claims (5)

In the rectangular gate valve 100 for a semiconductor device manufacturing process of opening and closing the wafer movement passage, A blade 110 for sealing a wafer movement path of a semiconductor device manufacturing process by using a sealing member 112 formed of an elastic material; A bonnet positioned below the blade and extending in the direction of the process line of the manufacturing process, the bonnet separating the process space s1 and the external space s2 on the blade side; A valve shaft 130 extending through the bonnet at a lower end of the blade and extending downward in the bonnet; And Located in the lower portion of the bonnet, connected to one side of the valve shaft includes a valve shaft drive unit 140 for driving the valve shaft in the vertical direction, The bonnet 120 includes a depression 122 having a shape recessed downward in the vicinity of a position where the valve shaft 130 penetrates, The valve shaft 130, the rod-shaped upper shaft 132; And a lower shaft 134 disposed below the upper shaft and having a bellows 135 protruding in a thin plate shape on an outer circumferential surface of the rod-shaped member. The boundary point between the lower shaft and the upper shaft, when the valve shaft is moved up and down by the valve shaft driving portion, the upper shaft is moved only at the top of the bottom of the depression and the lower shaft is below the bottom of the depression Square gate valve for a semiconductor device manufacturing process, characterized in that determined to be located only to move. The method of claim 1, wherein the ring-shaped member surrounding the outer circumferential surface of the upper shaft 132, the semiconductor device manufacturing process characterized in that it further comprises a dust seal 150 mounted on the upper portion of the bottom of the depression Gate valve. 3. The rectangular gate valve of claim 2, wherein the dust seal 150 is inclined downward as the cross-sectional shape moves outward from the surface in which the dust seal contacts the upper shaft. The semiconductor manufacturing process of claim 2, wherein the bonnet 120 further includes a horizontal bonnet protrusion 127 protruding horizontally in the direction of the valve shaft from an upper surface of the recess 122. Square gate valve for The bonnet 120 further comprises a vertical bonnet protrusion 128 protruding upwardly in a vertical direction from the periphery of the recess 122 on the upper surface of the bonnet 120. Rectangular gate valve for semiconductor device manufacturing process.

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