KR20010019019A - An apparatus for forming polymer continuously on the surface of metal by dc plasma polymerization - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A continuous plasma polymerization device is provided to improve cohesion of a polymerization film and a sample by using an additional heater for increasing a temperature of surface of a sample which is exhausted into a sample discharge area outside a deposition chamber. CONSTITUTION: A continuous plasma polymerization device comprises an unwinding chamber (13) including an unwinding roll (15) unwinding a sample (2) of which surface is treated so as to transfer the sample (2) to other chamber, a deposition chamber (1) plasma polymerizing both surfaces of the sample (2) with DC discharging plasma by installing separate electrodes which are oppositely directed to upper and lower sides of the sample (2) introduced from the unwinding roll (15) of the unwinding chamber (13), a heater (20) installed in a sample discharge area outside the deposition chamber (1), a winding chamber (14) including a winding roll (16) winding a sample (2) of which surface is treated at the deposition chamber (1) and passes through the heater (20), a pumping means for maintaining the deposition chamber (1) in vacuum, and a gas inlet introducing a reactive gas and non reactive gas.

Description

Plasma polymerization continuous processing equipment {AN APPARATUS FOR FORMING POLYMER CONTINUOUSLY ON THE SURFACE OF METAL BY DC PLASMA POLYMERIZATION}

The present invention relates to a plasma polymerization continuous processing apparatus.

When a thin film is coated on the surface of a sample such as a metal plate using plasma, a coating layer having excellent hardness, wear resistance, and the like is formed. Products with a coating layer are used for magnetic disks, optical disks, ultra hard tools, and the like. In addition, when the coating film formed on the surface of the steel sheet is subjected to plasma treatment, the coated steel sheet is hardened and excellent in durability, corrosion resistance and the like is obtained. In particular, the surface modification effect of improving the hydrophilicity or hydrophobicity can be obtained by polymerizing the surface of the sample, and the surface-modified material has been applied to various ranges.

A typical example of the plasma polymerization apparatus is the apparatus disclosed in WO 99/28530. (See FIG. 1) The configuration of the apparatus is largely a vacuum chamber 1, an electrode 4 installed in the chamber, and a vacuum for adjusting the pressure of the vacuum chamber. Pumps 5, 6, gauges 7 and 8 for measuring the degree of vacuum, power supplies 3 for generating potential differences in the electrodes, and non-reactive gases such as nitrogen and reactive gases around the sample to be surface treated. It consists of the reaction gas regulators 9, 10 etc. which are injected.

An example of the plasma polymerization treatment by the above apparatus will be described.

After installing the sample (2) in the chamber (1) and starting the rotary pump (5) to confirm that the pressure inside the chamber is maintained in a vacuum of about 10 ^-3 Torr by a thermocouple gauge (7), The diffusion pump 6 is started to confirm with the ion gauge 8 that the pressure inside the chamber is maintained at about 10 ^-6 Torr. The sample is positioned biased to the anode (or active electrode) by the power supply 3, and the opposite electrode 4 is grounded. When the pressure in the chamber is maintained at a constant vacuum, reactive and non-reactive gases are injected in turn around the desired location. The mixing ratio of the gas is controlled by the pressure of the thermoelectric meter. When the pressure in the vacuum chamber reaches a constant pressure, it is discharged by direct current or high frequency. Then, the molecular bonds of the gases are broken in the plasma generated by direct current or high frequency, and the broken chains and activated cations or anions combine to form a polymer on the sample surface placed between the electrodes.

However, in the case of the device, the continuous processing is not possible, so productivity is lowered. On the other hand, the apparatus shown in Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a part of the apparatus capable of continuously performing plasma polymerization, and is particularly advantageous for thin film coating a large-area sample. In addition, since the opposite electrodes are arranged on both sides of the sample electrode, polymerization can be performed at the same time, which brings a great effect on productivity. The apparatus regulates the pressure inside the chamber by starting the vacuum pump 5 while transferring the sample 2 to the chamber 1 from the inlet 11 to the outlet 12. There is also an electrode 4 for generating a potential difference in the sample. While the pressure in the chamber is maintained at a constant vacuum, the reaction gas is injected into the reactive gas inlet 9 and generates a plasma. During plasma discharge, the molecular bonds of the reaction gases are broken, and the broken chain and the activated cations or anions combine to form a polymer on the sample surface located between the electrodes.

However, the above-described continuous device has the following problems. As the plasma polymer is formed while the sample is transferred from the inlet to the outlet in the chamber, the uniformity of the film polymerized on the surface of the sample generally decreases. The nonuniformity of the film may be caused by various factors, such as due to the voltage difference between the counter electrodes of the sample, carbonization of the reaction gas during the polymerization process, and other causes and all of the above causes. . When the polymerized film is not uniform, the adhesion of the polymer formed on the surface of the sample is not good enough to reach the desired performance, and the durability of the polymerized film is poor, resulting in a fatal result in product quality.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and provides a plasma polymerization continuous processing apparatus for forming a polymer film having excellent durability by providing a means for increasing the adhesion of a film polymerized to a sample when the plasma polymerization treatment is performed continuously. There is this.

1 is a schematic diagram showing a plasma polymerization processing apparatus according to the prior art.

2 is a cross-sectional view showing a part of a plasma polymerization continuous processing apparatus.

3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a plasma polymerization continuous processing apparatus equipped with a heater according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 4 is a perspective view showing in detail the structure of the heater in the plasma polymerization continuous processing apparatus according to the present invention.

*** Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawing ***

1: Deposition chamber 2: Sample

3: power supply 4: counter electrode

5: rotary pump 6: diffusion pump

7: Thermometer 8: Ion gauge

9: gas regulator 10: gas regulator

11: Inlet 12: Outlet

13: Unwind chamber 14: Winding chamber

15: Unwinding Roll 16: Winding Roll

17: tension roll 18: tension roll

20: heater 21: heating wire

22: SUS pipe 23: SUS terminal

24: insulation insulator 25: power supply

The present invention relates to a plasma polymerization continuous processing apparatus, and as a means for solving the above problems, from the unwinding chamber including a unwinding roll for releasing the surface-treated sample and transfer to another chamber, and from the unwinding roll of the unwinding chamber In the deposition chamber for providing a separate electrode opposed to the upper and lower sides of the sample to be introduced, the plasma polymerization process on both surfaces of the sample by a direct-current discharge plasma, a heater installed in the sample discharge region outside the deposition chamber, and in the deposition chamber A plasma comprising a winding chamber including a winding roll for winding the sample which has been surface treated and passed through the heater, pumping means for maintaining the deposition chamber in vacuum, and a gas inlet for introducing a reactive gas and a non-reactive gas. Provided is a polymerization continuous apparatus.

The heater is a coil-type hot wire installed in a plurality of spaced on both sides of the sample, a SUS terminal for applying power to the heating wire from the power supply device, a power supply for supplying power to the heating wire, and the heating wire It is composed of a SUS pipe surrounding the and insulator for insulation located at both ends of the pipe.

In addition, the temperature of the sample surface is increased and maintained in the range of 80-150 degreeC by a heater.

When the temperature is increased while the sample surface on which the polymer is formed is uneven, the branching activity of the polymer film formed on the sample surface becomes active. This active molecular activity changes the molecular arrangement of the polymerized membrane and results in a uniform arrangement. The homogeneous molecular arrangement results in improved adhesion of the plasma polymerized sample surface.

The present invention solves the problems of the prior art by additionally providing a plasma polymerization continuous processing apparatus with a heater having a plurality of coil type hot wires as a temperature increasing means based on the above principle.

3 shows an embodiment according to the present invention. Referring to FIG. 3, the sample 2 transferred from the unwinding roll 15 to the deposition chamber through the injection hole 17 is plasma-polymerized by the counter electrode 4, and then transferred to the winding roll 16 through the discharge port. It can be seen that the heater 20 is provided between the deposition chamber and the winding roll. In the embodiment shown in Figure 3 shows a heater provided with two coil-type heating wire 21 on each side of the sample. In FIG. 3, the heater is located between the deposition chamber and the winding chamber, but the heater may be positioned in another region. For example, a heater may be installed in the winding chamber and the sample surface temperature may be increased by the heater before the sample is wound on the winding roll to improve the adhesion of the polymer film. The heater of the present invention shown in FIG. 3 exemplifies a roll heater, and may replace the tension roll 18 with the roll heater. In addition, although not shown as a heater of this invention, it can implement with a plate type | mold, a linear heater, etc. other than a roll type.

Figure 4 is a perspective view showing in detail the structure of the heater in the plasma polymerization continuous processing apparatus having a heater according to the present invention. In FIG. 4, for convenience, one coil-type heating wire 21 is illustrated, but the number of the heating wires may be increased according to a polymerization process. As shown in FIG. 4, the heater is provided with a coil-type heating wire 21, an SUS terminal 23 in the heating wire, an SUS pipe 22 surrounding the heating wire, and an insulator 24 provided at both ends of the pipe and a power supply. The apparatus 25 is comprised.

According to the present invention, by further comprising a heater in order to increase the temperature of the sample surface discharged to the sample discharge region outside the deposition chamber in the conventional continuous plasma polymerization apparatus, by increasing the temperature of the sample surface active molecular activity Accordingly, a polymer film having a uniform molecular arrangement can be formed, and as a result, a plasma polymerization continuous processing apparatus can be provided in which adhesion between the polymer film and the sample is improved.

Claims (1)

An unwinding chamber including a unwinding roll for releasing the surface treated sample and transferring it to another chamber; A deposition chamber in which a separate electrode opposed to the upper and lower sides of the sample introduced from the unwinding roll of the unwinding chamber is plasma-polymerized on both surfaces of the sample by a direct-current discharge plasma; A heater installed in a sample discharge area outside the deposition chamber; A winding chamber including a winding roll for winding a sample which is surface treated in the deposition chamber and passed through a heater; Pumping means for maintaining the deposition chamber in vacuum; A plasma polymerization continuous processing apparatus comprising a gas inlet for introducing a reactive gas and a non-reactive gas.