KR20030027221A - An isolation valve for semiconductor manufacturing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An isolation valve for a semiconductor fabricating apparatus is provided to minimize fine metal particles generated by damage and abrasion of a spring by installing a buffer cap in the upper and lower ends of the spring which expands and contracts to operate valve. CONSTITUTION: An inlet and an outlet are formed in a housing(100) to circulate vacuum pumping force. A bellows(122) expands and contracts inside the housing to make the inlet and the outlet open and shut. A driving axis(120) make the bellows expand and contract, connected to the bellows. A pad to which the driving axis is axially coupled is installed inside a lid(130) coupled to an open portion at a side of the housing. A driving plate(110) is installed between the housing and the lid. An air pressure supplying path is formed in the driving plate to supply air pressure to a side surface of the pad and to vertically drive the pad inside the lid. The spring(140) is installed between an inner side end of the lid and the pad. A buffer unit buffers and supports collision force applied to an end of the spring, installed in the spring.

Description

Isolation valve for semiconductor manufacturing apparatus

The present invention relates to an isolation valve for a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, and more particularly, to an isolation valve for a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus which enables efficient buffering of mutual collisions during operation for vacuum pumping and blocking.

In general, various semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses are such that the semiconductor manufacturing process for each process is performed in a vacuum state.

Therefore, these semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses are provided with a separate vacuum pump for forming such a vacuum state and separate isolation valves for vacuum formation and vacuum interruption by the vacuum pump. To form.

However, in the conventional isolation valve, the driving shaft is operated by the expansion and contraction of the spring which is operated by the pressure by the external pneumatic injection, and since the friction parts of the springs are all made of metal, Breakage and wear occur quite seriously.

Moreover, the damage of the spring not only decreases the durability of the valve, but also causes a problem that the fine metal particles generated at this time are introduced into the process chamber of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, thereby causing a process failure.

The present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, an object of the present invention is to be able to buffer the impact applied to the upper and lower springs of the isolation valve to minimize the breakage and wear of the spring and the generation of metal particles during valve operation It is to provide an isolation valve for a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

1 is a perspective view showing an isolation valve for a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention.

2 is an exploded perspective view showing an isolation valve for a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention.

3A is a cross-sectional view illustrating an operating state at the time of vacuum interruption of an isolation valve for a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention.

3B is a cross-sectional view showing an operating state during vacuum formation of an isolation valve for a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention.

** Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings **

100 ... Housing

110 ... driving plate

120 ... drive shaft

122 ... Bellows

130 ... cover

140 ... spring

200 ... Top buffer cap

210 ... Bottom buffer cap

Isolation valve for a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention for achieving the above object is a housing formed with an outlet and an inlet to enable the distribution of the vacuum pumping force for the vacuum; A bellows to expand and contract inside the housing to allow opening and closing of the outlet and the inlet; A drive shaft coupled to the bellows and configured to stretch the bellows; A cover having a pad coupled to one opening of the housing and having a shaft coupled to the driving shaft; A driving plate installed between the housing and the cover and configured to provide an air pressure to one side of the pad so that the pad is driven up and down inside the cover; A spring provided between the inner end of the cover and the pad; It is provided with a buffer means for cushioning the impact force applied to the end of the spring is provided.

And preferably the buffer means is provided at one end in contact with the inner surface of the cover of the spring includes a top buffer cap for buffering the support between the cover and one end of the spring.

In addition, the buffer means is installed on the other end in contact with the pad of the spring is characterized in that it comprises a lower buffer cap for buffering between the pad and the other end of the spring.

Hereinafter, one preferred embodiment according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

The isolation valve for a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention is installed between a process chamber of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and a vacuum pump to perform the operation for forming a vacuum pressure and an atmospheric pressure in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. It is possible to form a vacuum pressure inside the process chamber by the vacuum pump, and to switch to the atmospheric pressure state by the valve is turned off.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3a, the isolation valve for a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention has a housing 100 which is generally cylindrical in shape and a cover 130 which is coupled to the upper end of the housing 100. In addition, a coupling between the housing 110 and the cover 130 is provided with a driving plate 110 to allow the external driving air pressure to be injected into the cover 130.

More specifically, the housing 100 is implemented in a form in which both upper and lower ends are opened, the boss 104 is formed on the outer periphery of the upper end, the coupling hole 104a is formed in the boss (104). In addition, an inlet 101 is formed at a side to which a vacuum pressure supply pipe (not shown) extending from a vacuum pump (not shown) is coupled, and an outlet 102 communicating with the inlet 101 is formed at a lower end thereof.

In addition, a bellows 122 is installed inside the housing 100 to vertically expand and contract along the inner diameter of the housing 100 so that communication and closing of the inlet 101 and the outlet 102 is performed. A stepped portion 103 is formed for limiting the driving width of the 122 and maintaining the snow state inside the housing 100.

In addition, the inside of the bellows 122 is provided with a drive shaft 120 is equipped with a coupling plate 123 is coupled to the end of the bellows 122 at the bottom, the outer periphery of the drive shaft 120 is a separate coupling The screw part 121 is formed.

Next, the drive plate 110 is formed in the shape of a circular ring having a through-hole 115 in the center, the outside air pressure is introduced into the inside of the center of the drive plate 110 so that the air pressure is provided to the cover 130 described above. The air pressure supply path 112 which is open upwardly in the part is formed.

In addition, the air pressure supply path 112 is formed with an injection hole 111 that is laterally opened to provide external air pressure, and a plurality of couplings for coupling the housing 100 and the cover 130 to be described later are formed at a peripheral edge thereof. The hole 114 is formed.

Subsequently, the cover 130 described above is installed above the driving plate 110. The cover 130 is formed to protrude upward from the central portion and the vent 131a is formed on the upper side. In addition, an insertion part 131 into which the spring 140 to be described later is inserted is provided, and the coil spring 140 described above is installed inside the insertion part 131.

In addition, a boss 132 is formed at the outer circumference of the lower end of the insertion part 131, and a plurality of coupling holes 132a are formed in the boss 132. In addition, the upper and lower buffer caps 210 and the lower buffer caps 210 are installed at the upper and lower ends of the springs 140 for cushioning and supporting the friction and collision parts of the springs 140 when the springs 140 are stretched. .

Here, the upper buffer cap 200 is located between the inside of the insertion portion 131 of the cover 130 and the top of the spring 140, the top of the spring 140 is inserted into the interior of the upper buffer cap 200. To be combined. In addition, a vent 201 is formed in the center of the upper buffer cap 200 for air distribution.

And the lower buffer cap 210 is also formed so that the lower end of the spring 140, like the upper buffer cap 200 is fitted inward, the center has a larger diameter than the upper buffer cap 200 described above and the nut ( The through hole 210a in which the 170 and the washer 160 are positioned is formed.

Here, each of the buffer caps 200 and 210 may be implemented in a ring shape made of Teflon material, and may be manufactured by injection molding integrally with the upper and lower ends of the spring 140.

Subsequently, the pad 150 is provided in a substantially pulley shape, and a through hole 151 through which the upper threaded portion 121 of the driving shaft 120 is penetrated is formed at the center thereof, and an upper portion of the through hole 151 is formed. The furnace is provided with a nut 170 engaged with the threaded portion 121 of the drive shaft 120. And a separate washer 160 is mounted between the nut 170 and the pad 150. Here, the pad 150 is preferably made of a material such as rubber having a predetermined elastic force.

The housing 100, the driving plate 110, and the cover 130 are coupled to each other by coupling a plurality of fastening members 180 to the coupling holes 104a, 114, and 132a respectively formed therein.

Hereinafter, an operation state of the isolation valve for a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention configured as described above will be described.

The isolation valve according to the present invention is installed between the process chamber and the vacuum pump of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus to selectively implement a vacuum pumping state and a vent in the process chamber.

For this purpose, the inlet 101 of the housing 100 of the isolation valve is connected to the vacuum pump, and the outlet 102 is connected to the inside of the process chamber.

In such a state, when the vacuum is required for the process to proceed, the vacuum pump is operated and at the same time the on operation of the isolation valve is performed.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 3B, external air is injected through the air inlet 111 of the driving plate 110, and the injected air is supplied through the air pressure supply path 112 of the driving plate 110. Proceeding to the lower side of the pad 150, the pad 150 is driven upward by the supply pressure at this time.

That is, the pad 150 enters into the insertion part 131 of the cover 130. Therefore, the spring 150 is contracted by the operation of the pad 150 at this time, and at the same time, the driving shaft 120 coupled to the pad 150 also moves upward together with the pad 150.

As the driving shaft 120 moves upward, the bellows 122 also contracts in the housing 100, and ultimately, the inlet 101 and the outlet 102 of the housing 100 communicate with each other and are vacuum pumped. Force is applied inside the process chamber to create a vacuum inside the process chamber.

On the other hand, when it is necessary to release the vacuum state inside the process chamber, as shown in FIG. 3A, the contracted spring 140 restores downward to its restoring force by blocking the provision of the external air pressure applied to the air inlet 111. As a result, the pad 150 and the drive shaft 120 are restored downward together.

Accordingly, in this operation, the bellows 122 is blocked between the inlet 101 and the outlet 102 of the housing 100, thereby preventing vacuum pumping.

In this case, the spring 140 has a momentary considerable impact force by blocking the driving air pressure and collides with each contact portion of the pad 150 and the driving plate 110. However, since the impact force at this time offsets the upper portion of the buffer buffer at the lower buffer cap 210, the impact force applied directly to the spring 140 is minimized.

Similarly, when the spring 140 contracts, the upper shock absorbing cap 200 performs such a shock absorbing to minimize the impact and friction in the above-described operating state applied to the spring 140.

Therefore, it is possible to minimize the breakage and wear of the spring 140 that occurred in the conventional stretching operation of the spring 140, and also to prevent the process defects caused by the metal particles generated by this.

The isolation valve of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention as described above is provided with a buffer cap (200) (210) to minimize the impact force generated during the stretching operation of the spring 140 in the upper and lower ends of the spring 140 The buffer caps 200 and 210 may be installed by being inserted into the springs 140 or may be manufactured by injection molding integrally with the springs 140, and may be manufactured in various materials according to the strength and wire diameter of the springs 140. It can also be applied in size. Therefore, if the buffer caps 200 and 210 are installed on the upper and lower ends of the spring 140, all should be regarded as being included in the technical scope of the present invention.

Isolation valve for a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention as described above to install a buffer cap on the upper and lower ends of the spring to expand and contract the operation of the valve to minimize the damage caused by the expansion and contraction of the spring to improve the durability of the valve more In addition, there is an effect to reduce the process defects caused by the fine metal particles generated by the breakage and wear of the spring.

Claims (3)

A housing in which an outlet and an inlet are formed to allow distribution of a vacuum pumping force for a vacuum; A bellows to expand and contract inside the housing to allow opening and closing of the outlet and the inlet; A drive shaft coupled to the bellows and configured to stretch the bellows; A cover having a pad coupled to one opening of the housing and having a shaft coupled to the driving shaft; A driving plate installed between the housing and the cover and configured to provide an air pressure to one side of the pad so that the pad is driven up and down inside the cover; A spring provided between the inner end of the cover and the pad; Isolation valve for a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, characterized in that provided with the buffer means for buffering the impact force applied to the end of the spring. The isolation valve according to claim 1, wherein the buffer means includes an upper buffer cap installed at one end of the spring in contact with the inner surface of the cover and configured to buffer the cover between the cover and one end of the spring. . The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the buffer means includes a lower buffer cap installed at the other end of the spring in contact with the pad, the lower buffer cap buffering the pad and the other end of the spring. Isolation Valve.