KR20040106154A - Micro expansion valve using micro-electro-mechanical device and manufacturing method micro-electro-mechanical device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A small expansion valve using a micro electro-mechanical device, and a method for manufacturing a micro electro-mechanical valve device are provided to realize an inexpensive and small valve by mass-producing and easily assembling the valve. CONSTITUTION: A lower substrate(7) has a micro flow channel processed in through-hole shape. A valve stopper(5) freely moves in horizontal direction in parallel with a surface of the lower substrate. An elastic spring(3-1) is installed on the lower substrate for supporting the valve stopper and providing restoring force. An in-plane micro actuator(8) is installed on the lower substrate for driving the valve stopper in horizontal direction. A conductor line and electrode pad(9) is formed on the lower substrate for applying driving power source to the micro actuator. An upper substrate has a micro flow channel opening(6-1) communicated with the micro flow channel of the lower substrate, and is opened and shut by the valve stopper.

Description

MICRO EXPANSION VALVE USING MICRO-ELECTRO-MECHANICAL DEVICE AND MANUFACTURING METHOD MICRO-ELECTRO-MECHANICAL DEVICE}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a fluid valve for regulating or regulating the flow of a fluid flowing in a flow channel. The present invention relates to a liquid such as a refrigerant used in a cooling device such as an air conditioner or a refrigerator. To a fluid valve device that regulates the flow of gas and regulates the flow rate, or regulates the flow rate of a predetermined gas flowing in a tube or the flow of a liquid in a liquid state and a gas state, and in particular, a refrigeration cycle expansion device. As an apparatus, a micromechanical element which performs a function of adiabatic expansion and expansion of a liquid refrigerant having a high temperature / high pressure in a low temperature / low pressure state by a throttling action, and at the same time controlling and supplying a predetermined amount of refrigerant required for a cooling device. The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a micro expansion valve and a micromechanical valve element.

In the case of a linear fluid control valve according to the prior art, in order to adjust the opening degree of the orifice, the opening area of the opening is linearly adjusted by moving a needle-shaped valve rod from the opening by a predetermined displacement. The operation is made. In order to move the needle-shaped valve rod, a conventional linear flow control valve is a gear or screw that converts the rotation of the valve rod connected to the rotor shaft of the electric stepping motor into a linear movement. A method is used in which the valve rod is displaced in the axial direction in proportion to the number of pulses of the driving power applied to the step motor by connecting to a screw structure. However, since the motor for generating displacement of the valve rod is expensive, the unit price of the valve device is increased, and a hermetic sealing between the rotational axis of the motor part and the flow path tube in which the valve rod is located is required to manufacture the valve device. The assembly process is difficult and the process cost increases. Another conventional linear flow regulating valve is to connect a thin diaphragm or membrane to a part of the valve rod to adjust the position of the valve rod, and to adjust the pressure behind the diaphragm to which the valve rod is connected. The diaphragm valve which uses the displacement of the valve rod which produces | generates another pressurization space and deforms the diaphragm by the expansion pressure which arises by heating the predetermined fluid filled in this pressurization space is also used. Since the diaphragm valve also needs to provide a separate pressurized space, it is difficult to miniaturize the valve device, and as the diaphragm valve uses the expansion pressure by heating the pressurized space, the response speed of the valve for linear operation is slow and the power consumption by the heat generation is high. There is this. In addition, the valve using the solenoid actuator is suitable for the application limited to the opening and closing operation, but it is not suitable for the linear control of the fluid, there is a disadvantage that the components are complicated and the noise is severe during the opening and closing operation.

The present invention is to solve the problems of the existing expansion valve as described above, by applying an integrated micro electromechanical device (micro electro mechanical device) to reduce the number of parts, miniaturization of the valve, the need for precise assembly In addition, to provide a micro expansion valve and a micromechanical valve element manufacturing method using a micromechanical element to control the flow rate by a digital control method by configuring a plurality of ultra-small microvalve in an array form. There is a purpose.

More specifically, the object of the present invention is as follows.

(1) An object of the present invention is to provide a micro flow control valve device that intermittently regulates the flow of a fluid in a flow path tube or adjusts its flow rate.

(2) In addition, a valve stopper, a valve opening, an elastic spring element for supporting the valve stopper and providing a restoring force, and a fine driver for driving the valve stopper to open and close the opening with the valve stopper are provided on the same substrate. It is to provide a fine valve device that is a micromechanical element integrated in the.

In addition, the fine valve structure is processed in the form of a plurality of arrangements on the same substrate to provide a so-called digital flow rate adjustment function to control the flow rate by opening a predetermined number of valves and closing the rest.

④ includes a microvalve or valve array integrated and processed on the same substrate, an input / output port, a mounting groove for mounting the microvalve structure, and an orifice shape in which adiabatic expansion action takes place Disclosed is a micro expansion valve configured by assembling a valve housing.

(5) Another object is to apply the flow control valve to an expansion valve for controlling the flow rate, expansion and cooling performance of a fluid such as a refrigerant, such as an outdoor unit or an indoor unit of an air conditioner.

(6) In the example of the air conditioner, it is to provide a valve for driving in both directions (or forward and backward directions) that can control the flow of the reverse fluid even when the fluid flow for the heating is reversed.

FIG. 1 is a view showing a microfluidic fluid control valve for adjusting a flow rate using a micro electro mechanical device according to the present invention.

1A is a partially cutaway perspective view.

1B is a plan view of the upper housing removed.

FIG. 1C is a schematic view of the A-A cross section of FIG. 1B. FIG.

2 shows the structure of a micromechanical valve element unit cell,

2A is a perspective view.

2b is a plan view.

FIG. 2C is a cross-sectional view taken along the line B-B in FIG. 2B. FIG.

3 is a view showing the opening and closing operation of the micromechanical valve element,

3A is a partial cross-sectional view and a partial longitudinal cross-sectional view showing the valve open.

3B is a partial cross-sectional view and a partial longitudinal cross-sectional view showing the closed state of the valve.

Figure 4 shows a micromechanical valve array composed of a plurality of arrangements,

4A is a perspective view of a micromechanical valve array arranged in 3x3 rows.

4B is a top plan view of the micromechanical valve array arranged in 3x3 rows.

5 is a flow control expansion valve configured by assembling the fine valve array and the valve housing,

5A is a cross-sectional view.

Figure 5b is a perspective view of the fine valve array assembled to the mounting groove of the lower housing before the upper housing is assembled.

Figure 6 is a graph showing the adjustment characteristics of the output flow rate according to the number of valves opened in the fine valve array according to the present invention.

7 is a machining process diagram for the upper substrate component of the fine valve.

8 is a process chart of a lower substrate component having a fine flow path, conductor wiring, and electrode pads formed thereon;

Figure 9 is a process diagram showing the manufacturing process step by step of bonding the upper and lower substrate components (bonding) finally to complete the fine valve.

10 is a device showing an embodiment of the configuration of a heat exchanger (heat exchanger) for a cooling device such as an air conditioner or a refrigerator using a fluid control valve using an micromechanical valve element or an array as an expansion valve according to the present invention. Diagram.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

1: upper valve housing 1-2: fine suspension gap

3-1: spring 4: upper substrate

5: valve cap 6: fine passage

6-1: micro-channel opening 7: lower substrate

8 horizontal fine driver 9 conductor wiring and electrode pad

9-1: conductor thin film 10: micromechanical valve element

11 substrate 20 gasket

21: fluid inlet 22: fluid outlet

23: electrode feed-through 24: insulator

25: mounting groove 51: etching mask

51, 52: thin film 53: thin film

54 etching mask 100 fine mechanism valve element array

200: micro fluid control valve device 200 ': expansion valve

300: compression device 301: euro tube

310: condensation device 320: vaporization device

330: temporary storage

The present invention relates to a fluid flow control valve for controlling the flow of the fluid flowing through the tube (tube or pipe) or to arbitrarily control the flow rate in order to achieve the above object, a conventional linear expansion valve (linear expansion valve) or To provide a flow control function similar to a solenoid valve having an opening / closing function, a valve structure, a working principle, and a manufacturing method are provided.

The fluid control valve (miniature microvalve) by the micromechanical element according to the present invention is connected to a microfluidic channel through which a fluid passes, a valve cap microstructure capable of blocking an opening at one end of the channel, and a valve connected to the valve cap. An elastic spring element that supports the stopper and provides a restoring force proportional to the displacement of the valve stopper, an anchor microstructure for securing one side of the spring element to the substrate, And a microactuator or the like for providing a horizontal driving force to the valve cap, wherein the components are formed integrally on a single substrate. In particular, one side opening of the fine flow path is formed in a direction perpendicular to the substrate surface, and the valve cap for opening and closing the opening of the flow path is characterized in that it is configured to be driven in a direction parallel to the substrate surface. In addition, the valve housing in which the valve microstructure is mounted has a valve mounting groove for easily assembling and attaching the valve microstructure substrate, and inlet and outlet ports of the fluid are formed. An orifice in which adiabatic expansion of the fluid occurs is further included in the input and output ports. The valve housing includes a lower part including a microvalve mounting groove and a fluid output port, an upper part configured to include a feed-through for supplying power to the fluid input port and the microvalve and the upper lower part. It is composed of a sealing gasket (gasket) and the like for maintaining the airtightness between the two parts.

More specifically, the micromechanical valve element according to the present invention includes a lower substrate in which a micro flow path is processed in the form of a through hole, a valve stopper freely formed in a horizontal direction parallel to the surface of the lower substrate, and the valve stopper. A gripping means formed on the lower substrate so as to be able to flow and provide a restoring force, a horizontal micro driver formed on the lower substrate to drive the valve cap in a horizontal direction, and applying driving power to the micro driver. A conductive substrate and an electrode pad formed on the lower substrate, and an upper substrate having a micro channel opening communicating with the micro channel of the lower substrate and opened and closed by the valve cap, wherein the micro structures are integrated; The lower substrate is joined.

The gripping means supports the valve stopper and provides an elastic spring that provides a restoring force in a direction opposite to the displacement in proportion to the displacement of the valve stopper, and fixing both ends of the spring to a lower substrate to provide a reference position to the displacement of the valve stopper. It is configured to include a fixing portion to provide.

In addition, the present invention is a micro-electric appliance, characterized in that the micromechanical valve element is mounted inside the valve housing having fluid inlet and outlet, respectively, and a power supply means for supplying power to the micromechanical valve element is included. Subminiature fluid control valve using element.

Another embodiment of the present invention is integrated in the upper and lower substrates in the form of a plurality of micromechanical valve elements are arranged in the form of a micromechanical valve array.

The micromechanical valve array is mounted inside the valve housing provided with fluid inlet and outlet, and the conductor wiring and the electrode pads of the micromechanical valve elements are easily assembled to facilitate assembly of the electrode feedthrough for power connection to the outside. It may be formed so as to gather at a predetermined position of the edge region of the lower substrate.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a micromechanical valve element, using a silicon substrate in a wafer form as a starting material, respectively, forming a thin film, which is used as an anti-etch mask in an subsequent etching process, on the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate; Etching the lower surface of the silicon substrate exposed between the etching mask thin films formed on the lower surface of the silicon substrate to a predetermined depth to form a fine suspension gap, and selectively etching and removing the etching mask thin film; Forming an etch mask thin film for forming a junction portion and a micro flow path opening, and etching the silicon portion exposed between the etch mask thin films formed in the step to a predetermined depth to open the micro flow path and selectively removing the etch mask film And a conductor thin film on one surface of the lower substrate wafer. Forming an etching mask for processing the conductor wiring and the electrode pad shape by patterning the conductor thin film; etching and removing the conductor exposed between the etching mask and removing the residual etching mask; Forming an electrode pad, forming a lower substrate micro-channel by aligning the conductor wiring and the electrode pad and processing through holes at a predetermined position, and forming the upper substrate component and the lower substrate component processed by the individual process. And bonding the microchannel openings formed in the upper substrate component and the microchannels formed in the lower substrate component to overlap each other, and the upper substrate portion exposed between the etching masks formed on the upper substrate surface to the bonding surface with the lower substrate. Valve stopper by etching, horizontal fine drive, fine sphere of fine flow path opening The step of completing the water-like, and a residual the etch mask is selectively removed, and cut the substrate wafer in a separate chip unit or a plurality of units comprising the step of completing the micro-mechanism of the valve element or micro-mechanism valve array.

In the present invention, it is intended to disclose the structure, driving principle and manufacturing method of the fluid control valve, the details and configuration of the invention will become more apparent in the detailed description of the invention.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings, the present invention will be described in detail as follows.

1 is a view showing a microfluidic fluid control valve for flow rate control using a micro electro mechanical device, FIG. 1A is a partially cutaway perspective view, FIG. 1B is a plan view of an upper valve housing removed, and FIG. 1C is an AA cutaway schematic view. Is showing each.

First, referring to FIG. 1, a microfluidic fluid control valve for controlling a flow rate according to an embodiment of the present invention in which a micromechanism valve device 10 is mounted and assembled inside the valve housings 1 and 2. The structure of is shown.

As shown in the drawing, a micro driver 8 for performing opening and closing driving of the valve plug 5 is provided along with a basic valve micro structure such as an upper substrate 4 structure having an opening or gate 6-1 formed therein. The micromechanism valve element 10 formed in an integrated form on the lower substrate 7 is processed at a predetermined position of the lower valve housing 2 in which the fluid outlet port 22 is formed, and thus the micromechanism valve element 10. An upper valve housing 1, which is another valve housing joined to and mounted to a mounting groove 25 for aligning and mounting a fluid inlet port 21, is formed in the lower valve housing 2. In combination with the hermetic assembly, the microfluidic fluid control valve is completed. The valve housing (1), (2) may be configured by further coupling a gasket (gasket) component for blocking the leakage of fluid (leakage).

In addition, the upper valve housing 1 has an electrode feed-through 23 for applying driving power to the micromechanical valve element 10 sealed and mounted between the valve housings 1 and 2. Is formed to supply driving power from the outside of the valve, and in the case where the upper valve housing 1 is made of metal, it is hermetically sealed using the insulator 24 between the electrode feed-through 23 and the electrode feed-through 23. Configure. The fluid outlet 22 of the lower valve housing 2 may be formed of an orifice in the form of a tube having a narrow width such that the fluid passing through the micromechanical valve element 10 may cause adiabatic expansion, In this case, the microfluidic control valve device may be used as an expansion valve.

The structure of the single micromechanical valve element 10 is shown in detail in FIG. 2, FIG. 2A is a perspective view, FIG. 2B is a top view, and FIG. 2C is a B-B cut cross-sectional view, respectively.

Referring to FIG. 2 below, a valve stopper 5 which is free to move in an in-plane parallel to the surface of the lower substrate 7, which is supported and displaces in proportion to the displacement of the valve stopper 5. An elastic spring 3-1 which provides a restoring force in the opposite direction of and a side of the spring 3-1 fixed to the lower substrate 7 so as to be a reference position to the displacement of the valve stopper 5 an anchor 3 providing a reference position, and also a horizontal in-plane microactuator 8 for driving the valve stopper 5 in-plane. And a lower channel 7 in which the micro channel 6 is processed in the form of a through hole, and a micro channel of the upper substrate 4 and the lower substrate 7 bonded to the lower substrate 7. is formed in the upper substrate 4 so as to be in communication with the flow channel 6 and is closed or opened by the movement of the valve stopper 5. Microchannels opening bored in the horizontal direction on the surface (6-1) is the integrated such microstructure consists of (integrated). In FIG. 2, 8-1 shows a driving force transmission unit.

In particular, a conductor wiring and an electrode pad 9 for applying driving power to the micro driver 8 are formed on the lower substrate 7 to be electrically connected to the micro driver 8. 9) the electrode feed through 23 formed in the upper valve housing 1 is contacted to supply driving power.

In addition, the valve cap 5 and the elastic spring 3-1 are configured to be spaced apart from the lower substrate 7 by a predetermined gap so that the valve cap 5 can freely move on the lower substrate 7. The fine suspension gap 1-2 provides this function in the cross-sectional structure of the micromechanical valve element 10 shown in FIG. 2C.

In the micromechanical valve element 10 according to the present invention, the micro driver 8 providing the opening and closing operation of the valve cap 5 generates a drive displacement in-plane with the substrate surface as described above. An electrostatic actuator using an electrostatic driving force, an electro-thermal actuator using a thermal strain force as a driving force, or a complex driver incorporating the above driving principle can be configured.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing a valve opening and closing operation of one micromechanical valve element 10, and FIG. 3A shows a partial cross-sectional view and a partial longitudinal cross-sectional view showing a valve open state, and FIG. 3B shows a closed state of the valve. The partial cross sectional and partial longitudinal cross sectional views shown are shown, and the illustrated figure shows two valve operations, an open state 3a and a closed state 3b. When a predetermined drive voltage or drive current is applied to the horizontal micro driver 8 through the conductor wiring and the electrode pad 9, the valve plug 5 is moved by horizontal actuation to open the micro flow path. (6-1), the removal of the drive voltage or current causes the valve stopper (5) to return to the initial position of Figure 3a by the restoring force of the elastic spring (3-1) structure connected to the valve stopper (5) The valve will open.

By adjusting the magnitude of the drive voltage or drive current so that the valve stopper 5 stays at a predetermined position between the fully open position (FIG. 3A) and the fully closed position (FIG. 3B), the fluid passing through the fine valve It is possible to control the analog flow which can adjust the amount of. In addition, the driving voltage (or current) required for opening and closing the microvalve is applied as a pulse in the form of a square wave, and is repeatedly performed at a predetermined frequency, and the valve is opened and closed. The flow rate can also be controlled by so-called pulse width modulation, which arbitrarily alters the duty ratio to control the average hourly flow rate of the fluid through the valve.

The above-described driving principle relates to the control of a microfluidic fluid regulating valve to which one micromechanical valve element 10 is applied. In the present invention, the micromechanical valve is formed in a plurality of arrays and sealed in a valve housing. A microfluidic control valve configured is also disclosed.

4 is a perspective view 4a and a schematic plan view 4b of the micromechanism valve element array 100 in which a plurality of micromechanism valve element structures by the parallel driving are arranged (3x3 arrangement in the drawing), and each microvalve structure is shown in FIG. It is the same as the single micromechanical valve element 10 described above, and has a structure in which the components of the valve are integrated in an array form on the lower substrate 7 having a plurality of microchannels 6 formed therein. It is preferable to collect the conductor wirings and the electrode pads 9 in a predetermined edge region of the lower substrate 7 so as to facilitate the assembly of the electrode feed through 23 for power connection to the outside.

In the figure, four of the nine fine valves are arranged in which the valve cap 5 is driven to the fully closed position, and the rest are kept fully open.

In the present invention, a discrete drive method of opening a predetermined number of valves in the array and adjusting the flow rate of the fluid passing through the microvalve element array 100 is disclosed. In other words, by using an arbitrary N identical microvalve element array, the flow rate of N + 1 stages can be adjusted, and in this case, individual microvalve can be controlled by digitized opening / closing operation, thereby taking advantage of simple digital control features. have.

FIG. 5 shows a microfluidic control valve 200 formed by encapsulating the micromechanical valve element array 100 in the valve housings 1 and 2, and FIG. 5A is a cross-sectional view, and FIG. 5B is an upper valve. A perspective view of a microvalve element array mounted and assembled to the lower valve housing 2 of the stage prior to assembling the housing 1 is shown.

This figure shows the structure of a micro expansion valve machined by adding a narrow orifice in which adiabatic expansion action occurs to the fluid outlet 22 formed in the lower valve housing 2.

FIG. 6 is a graph illustrating an adjustment characteristic of an output flow rate according to the number of valves opened in the microvalve element array according to the present invention, in which the micromechanical valve element array 100 is operated by the above-described digital driving control. This graph shows the output flow characteristics of.

In the figure, the horizontal axis represents the number of open fine valves in an arbitrary number of microvalve element arrays, and the vertical axis represents the output flow q corresponding to the number of open fine valves. As shown in the figure, as the number of open valves increases, the output flow rate increases in a stepped form. In this case, we obtain N + 1 stage flow regulation characteristics approximating the ideal linear control characteristics.

7 to 9 are views showing processes of manufacturing the micromechanical valve element 10 or the microvalve element array 100 according to the present invention, by process, and FIG. 7 illustrates the upper substrate 4 of the microvalve. 8 shows a machining process of the component, FIG. 8 shows a machining process of the components of the lower substrate 7 having the fine flow path 6, the conductor wiring and the electrode pad 9, and FIG. 9 shows the lower substrate 7 After bonding, the manufacturing process is finally shown to complete the fine valve. The manufacturing method shown in the figure shows one embodiment of a mass production method of the micromechanical valve using silicon micromachining technology and a semiconductor batch fabrication process.

Hereinafter, a method of manufacturing a micromechanical valve element or array 10, 100, which is a component of the microfluidic control valve 200 according to the present invention, will be described in detail with reference to the process flowcharts illustrated in FIGS. 7 to 9. Is as follows. In the actual manufacturing process, a semiconductor processing process is performed in which a process is performed on a wafer-type substrate in which a plurality of devices shown in the figure are formed.

First, the machining process of the upper substrate component of the microvalve will be described with reference to FIG. 7. As shown in FIG. 7A, the upper and lower portions of the substrate 11 are formed using a wafer-shaped silicon substrate 11 as a starting material. The thin films 51 and 52, which are used as etch masks, are formed on the surfaces, respectively, in an etching process. The material of the anti-etch mask is a semiconductor device such as coating, vapor deposition, plating, etc., which has a high etch selectivity with silicon depending on the etching method and the chemicals causing the etching reaction in the subsequent silicon etching process. Form by the technology of the process. As an etching mask material, a dielectric thin film such as a silicon oxide film or a silicon nitride film and a photoresist coated with a predetermined thickness may be used by patterning by photolithography. Various metal thin films, such as these, can also be used.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 7B, the surface of the lower silicon substrate exposed between the etching mask thin films 52 formed on the lower surface of the silicon substrate 11 is etched by a predetermined depth to release a fine suspension gap 1-2. Next, the etching mask thin film 52 is selectively etched and removed.

Subsequently, as illustrated in FIG. 7C, a photo-drawing process followed by a thin film deposition process is performed on the etching mask thin film 53 for forming a bonding area and the microchannel opening 6-1 on the lower surface of the substrate 11. To form.

Subsequently, the silicon portions exposed between the etching mask thin films 53 formed in the step as shown in FIG. 7C are etched to a predetermined depth by a micromachining technique such as silicon deep reactive ion etching. After the fine flow path opening 6-1, the etch mask thin film 53 is selectively removed.

In addition, referring to FIG. 8, a process of fabricating a lower substrate component including a microchannel, conductor wiring, and electrode pad is described below. A wafer for a lower substrate 7, such as glass or silicon, separately prepared as illustrated in FIG. 8A. A conductive thin film 9-1, such as a metal, is deposited on one surface of a wafer. The deposition method may be performed by various methods such as sputtering, evaporation, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), and electroplating, which are conventional semiconductor device manufacturing techniques.

Subsequently, an etching mask 54 such as a photoresist for processing the shape of the conductor wiring and the electrode pad 9 by patterning the conductor thin film such as the metal on the surface of the conductive thin film such as metal deposited as shown in FIG. 8B. Is formed by a photo drawing process.

Subsequently, as illustrated in FIG. 8C, conductors such as metals exposed between the etching masks 54 are etched and removed, and the residual etching masks 54 are removed to complete the conductor wiring and the electrode pad 9.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 8D, the conductor wirings and the electrode pad patterns are aligned to form through holes at predetermined positions to form the lower substrate micro-channels 6.

Through-hole machining can be carried out by a variety of methods, such as drilling by precision machining, electro-discharge machining, anisotropic etching.

FIG. 9 is a process diagram illustrating a manufacturing process in which a fine valve is finally completed after bonding upper and lower substrate components. The upper substrate processed by the independent individual processes as shown in FIG. 4) The components and the lower substrate 7 parts are aligned so that the micro channel openings 6-1 formed in the upper substrate 4 part overlap with the micro channel 6 formed in the lower substrate 7 part so as to overlap each other. Bonding. In the bonding method, when the upper substrate 4 is silicon and the lower substrate 7 is sodalime glass, silicon glass anodic bonding technology, which is one of micromachining techniques, may be applied. Solder bonding in which solder is inserted into the bonding portions of both substrates, and an epoxy bonding method using a predetermined adhesive may be used.

Subsequently, a portion of the upper substrate 4 exposed between the etching mask 51 for patterning the upper surface of the substrate formed on the upper substrate 4 surface as shown in FIG. 9B is lowered by a silicon deep RIE method. By etching to the junction surface with the board | substrate 7, the microstructure shape, such as the valve plug 5, the horizontal micro driver 8, and the micro channel opening 6-1, is completed.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 9C, the remaining etching mask 51 may be selectively removed, and the lower substrate wafer may be cut in units of individual chips, thereby removing the fine mechanism valve element 10 or the array 100. Complete

The micro-electromechanical valve element or array-type component integrated and processed through the above process steps is mounted and bonded to the lower valve housing 2 in which the mounting groove 25 is processed, and the gasket for hermetic assembly After inserting (20), the upper valve housing (1) is assembled and the two valve housings are sealed to complete the microfluidic control valve (200).

10 is a heat exchanger for a cooling device such as an air conditioner or a refrigerator using the fluid control valve 200 using the micromechanical valve element 10 or the array 100 as an expansion valve according to the present invention. A device configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the configuration).

Referring to the configuration of this heat exchange device along the flow of the fluid, a gaseous refrigerant compressed by a high pressure in the compressor (300) is condensed (condenser) through the flow pipe (301) It flows into the 310 and condensation (condensation) in the liquid state. Latent heat released from the refrigerant during the condensation process is dissipated to the external environment through the condensation device. The refrigerant R liquefied after passing through the condensation device 310 is expanded through a flow path tube 301 through a refrigerant temporary reservoir 330 and an expansion valve using the fluid control valve 200 according to the present invention. 200 '. Although not shown in the drawing, the temporary storage device 330 is a filter for filtering particles that may be mixed in or generated in the refrigerant, and an evaporation device for removing impurity components such as moisture mixed in the refrigerant. (drier) and the like are further included. The refrigerant flowing into the inlet 21 of the expansion valve 200 ′ flows into the fluid outlet 22 as much as desired by digital flow control of the micromechanical valve element array 100. Refrigerant ejected to a low pressure output end side through a narrow orifice 22a formed in addition to the fluid outlet 22 as shown in FIG. 5A has a low temperature and low density particles due to the adiabatic expansion principle of the fluid. It is atomized. This adiabatic expansion action can be controlled by approximating the linear characteristics by digitizing and adjusting the number of open fine valves of the micromechanical valve element array 100 according to the present invention as described above, thereby facilitating cooling efficiency or cooling ability. It provides a function to control. The refrigerant atomized by the adiabatic expansion is transferred to an evaporator 320 connected to the fluid outlet 22 side of the fluid control valve 200, in which the granulated refrigerant is granulated. The vaporization takes place from the environment around the vaporization device 320 to vaporize (vaporize) to perform a cooling function. The vaporized refrigerant enters the compression device 300 again through the flow path tube 301, and a fluidic circuit or cycle for the cooling device in which the aforementioned process is repeatedly circulated is completed. In this circulation process, if the flow rate passing through the expansion valve 200 'is arbitrarily adjusted by the flow control valve composed of the micromechanical valve element array according to the present invention, the cooling (or cooling) efficiency can be arbitrarily adjusted.

As described above, the micro-expansion valve according to the present invention is a valve stopper, an elastic spring element, a flow path and the valve composed of micro-miniature structures processed by micromachining technology and a semiconductor batch fabrication process The micro driver for driving the stopper is integrated on the substrate, and further includes a valve housing to which the microstructure valve component is mounted, a flow path input / output port and orifice, and a power connection means are added. It is configured by. In addition, the present invention discloses the principle of controlling the flow rate by opening and closing any number of valves by forming the microvalve microstructure in one or more arrays, and in this case, each microvalve opens or closes in two states. It has the characteristics of digital control to control. The operation of the valve microstructure according to the present invention is performed by driving a valve member for opening and closing a valve seat in a direction lateral to a substrate surface on which the structure is formed. A substrate surface in-plane microactuator integrated in the substrate is configured to provide opening and closing driving force of the valve stopper. In particular, the in-plane micro driver may be configured by applying an electrostatic actuator using an electrostatic force, an electro-thermal actuator using a thermal strain force of a resistor, and the like.

Summarizing the technical features of the present invention as described above are as follows.

(1) The fluid control valve according to the present invention is a micro electro mechanical device (micro electro mechanical device) composed of a micro flow path, a valve opening (valve seat or gate), a valve stopper, a valve stopper elastic spring element, a valve stopper And a fine driver for providing a driving force for adjusting the displacement of the valve cap to open and close the valve opening.

② The valve microstructure is a valve opening is formed perpendicular to the substrate surface, the displacement is controlled by a horizontal in-plane actuator in a direction parallel to the substrate surface so that the valve plug can open and close the valve opening Fine valve. In particular, the elastic spring element for supporting the valve stopper is configured on one side is anchored (anchoring) to the substrate, and on the substrate to be responsible for providing a restoring force proportional to the drive displacement of the valve stopper It is formed integrally.

③ The micro-structure having an operating principle of controlling a predetermined flow rate by integrating the valve microstructures in a plurality of arrays on the same substrate to drive each valve independently or by opening and closing any number of valves simultaneously. Fluid control valve. That is, a micro valve having a characteristic of controlling the number of valves opened in proportion to the required flow rate, and in the case of any N valve arrangement, the regulated flow rate is discretized and controlled in N steps. At this time, the driving of each valve is characterized in that it is adjusted by the opening and closing operation of opening or closing the valve opening.

(4) A flow regulating valve for using a valve operated according to the above principle for on / off use of intermittent flow or for flow control for arbitrarily adjusting the flow rate of the fluid flowing in the pipe.

⑤ The fluid in the flow path pipe whose flow is controlled by the valve includes a gas state, a liquid state, a super critical state in which gas and liquid states are mixed.

⑥ A mounting groove is formed to align and mount the substrate on which the microfabricated valve or the valve array is formed, and a plurality of mounting grooves for supplying driving power to the input / output port of the fluid passing through the microvalve and the driver of the microvalve A valve housing further comprising electrical feed-through.

(7) A fluid control valve device configured to align and bond the microvalve or valve array element to a mounting groove of the lower housing, and insert a gasket or the like between the upper housing and the lower housing for hermetic bonding.

⑧ The valve applies a predetermined pressure difference between the inlet port and the outlet port, and the fluid of the input stage subjected to the high pressure flows through the narrow flow path of the orifice and has a relatively low pressure. It is used as a fluid expansion valve using an adiabatic expansion phenomenon in which the volume expands and the temperature drops as it is ejected to the output stage.In particular, the amount of fluid supplied to or drawn from the opening is transferred to a valve or valve array composed of micromechanical elements. Expansion valve that operates in an adjustable manner.

⑨ In the fluid valve, the pressure of the input stage is higher than that of the output stage, so that the flow of the fluid flows from the input stage to the output stage in the forward direction, and the pressure of the output stage is higher than the input stage. Reverse flow control valve that can also control the flow in the reverse direction.

미세 The micro actuator of the structure is valved by an electrostatic actuation principle using electrostatic force or an electro-thermal actuation principle using thermal strain force or an in-plane microactuator corresponding to the driving force. An expansion valve using the adiabatic expansion action of a fluid that applies the micro flow control valve to an apparatus for controlling a temperature of a cold heater such as an air conditioner and a refrigerator, and the expansion valve and a compressor. And a condenser, an evaporator, and a flow path tube in the form of a pipe connected to the element and providing a flow path through which a fluid, such as a refrigerant, circulates.

Although the above has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment of the present invention by way of example, the scope of the present invention is not limited only to these specific embodiments, it can be changed as appropriate within the scope described in the claims.

As described above, the flow control valve according to the present invention has a small number of components and is easy to mass-produce and assemble by an integrated processing process, thereby providing an inexpensive valve and suitable for miniaturization. In particular, the opening and closing operation of the micromechanical valve element or array of the fluid control valve according to the present invention can be used as an expansion valve when the flow rate is adjusted in an analog manner or a discrete digital manner. One method of manufacturing the micromechanical valve element or micromechanical valve array can be inexpensively manufactured in large quantities using semiconductor integrated manufacturing processes and micromachining techniques.

The fluid control valve according to the present invention is applied to an expansion valve for adjusting the flow rate, expansion, and cooling performance of a fluid, such as a refrigerant, such as an outdoor unit or an indoor unit, such as an air conditioner, thereby improving cooling (or cooling) performance. A fluid heat exchanger that can be easily adjusted arbitrarily can be provided at a lower cost and miniaturization.

Claims (12)

A lower substrate having a micro-channel formed in a through hole, a valve stopper freely formed in a horizontal direction parallel to the surface of the lower substrate, and the lower substrate to support the valve stopper in a flowable manner and provide a restoring force A gripping means formed on the substrate, a horizontal micro driver formed on the lower substrate to drive the valve cap in a horizontal direction, and a conductor wiring and an electrode formed on the lower substrate for applying driving power to the micro driver. And an upper substrate having a pad and a microchannel opening communicating with the microchannel of the lower substrate and opened and closed by the valve stopper, wherein the upper and lower substrates on which the microstructures are integrated are bonded to each other. Micromechanical valve elements. The valve stopper of claim 1, wherein the stopper means supports the valve stopper and provides a restoring force in a direction opposite to the displacement in proportion to the displacement of the valve stopper, and fixing both ends of the spring to a lower substrate to stop the valve stopper. Micromechanical valve element, characterized in that it comprises a fixing portion for providing a reference position to the displacement of. The micromechanical valve element according to claim 1, wherein the valve cap and the elastic spring are spaced apart from the lower substrate by a predetermined gap so that the valve cap moves freely on the lower substrate. . 2. The valve microstructure of claim 1, wherein the valve microstructure is controlled by a horizontal driver in a direction parallel to the substrate surface such that the opening of the valve is formed perpendicular to the substrate surface, and the valve cap opens and closes the valve opening. Elastomeric spring element for supporting the valve cap is configured to be fixed on the substrate, one side is integrated on the substrate to be configured to play a function of providing a restoring force proportional to the drive displacement of the valve cap Mechanism valve element. According to claim 1, The fine driver of the structure is the electrostatic drive principle using the electrostatic force, the electrothermal drive principle using the thermal strain force, the electromagnetic drive principle using the induced magnetic force, or the piezoelectric drive principle using the piezoelectric phenomenon, or An expansion valve using an adiabatic expansion action of a fluid which controls the opening and closing operation of the valve by a fine parallel driving device corresponding to the driving force, and applies a micro flow rate control valve using the micromechanical valve element to a device for controlling a temperature of a cold heater; A micromechanical valve, which is used in a cooling (or heating) device consisting of the expansion valve, the compressor, the condenser, the evaporator, and a pipe-type flow path tube connected to the element and providing a flow path through which a fluid such as a refrigerant circulates device. The micromechanism valve element according to any one of claims 1 to 4 is mounted inside a valve housing having fluid inlet and outlet, respectively, and includes power supply means for supplying power to the micromechanism valve element. Miniature fluid control valve using a fine home appliance, characterized in that configured. According to claim 5, wherein the power supply means is fine electrode device characterized in that the electrode feed through is installed in the upper valve housing, the electrode feed through is configured to be supplied with driving power from the outside in contact with the electrode pad. Subminiature fluid control valve. 6. The fluid outlet of the lower valve housing is formed of a tubular orifice having a narrow width so that adiabatic expansion of the fluid passing through the micromechanical valve element can be suitably used as an expansion valve. Subminiature fluid control valve. The micromechanism valve array according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the micromechanism valve elements are integrally formed on the upper and lower substrates in a plurality of arrangements. The micromechanical valve array according to claim 8 is mounted inside the valve housing provided with fluid inlet and outlet, and conductor wiring of each micromechanical valve element for easy assembly of electrode feedthroughs for power connection to the outside; And configured to form electrode pads at predetermined positions of an edge region of the lower substrate. The operating principle of claim 9, wherein the valve microstructures are integrated in a plurality of arrangements on the same substrate to drive each valve independently, or to control a predetermined flow rate by simultaneously opening and closing any number of valves. It uses a drive method that adjusts the number of valves open in proportion to the required flow rate, in the case of any N valve arrangement, the regulated flow rate is discretized and controlled in N + 1 steps, the drive of each valve The microfluidic control valve of claim 1, wherein the microfluidic valve is configured to be opened or closed by opening or closing the valve opening. Forming a thin film on the upper and lower surfaces of the substrate as a starting material, each of which is used as an anti-etch mask in an subsequent etching process; Etching the silicon lower substrate surface exposed between the etching mask thin films formed on the lower surface of the silicon substrate by a predetermined depth to form a fine suspension gap, and selectively etching and removing the etching mask thin film; Forming an etch mask thin film for forming a junction and a micro channel opening on a lower surface of the silicon substrate; Selectively removing the etch mask thin film after etching the silicon portion exposed between the etch mask thin films formed in the step to a predetermined depth to open a micro flow path; Depositing a conductive thin film on one surface of the lower substrate wafer; Patterning the conductive thin film to form an etch mask for processing conductor wiring and electrode pad shapes; Etching and removing the conductors exposed between the etching masks and removing the residual etching masks to form conductor wirings and electrode pads; Arranging the conductor wiring and the electrode pad and processing the through hole at a predetermined position to form a lower substrate micro-channel; Aligning and joining the upper substrate component and the lower substrate component processed by the individual process so that the microchannel openings formed in the upper substrate component and the microchannels formed in the lower substrate component overlap each other; Etching the upper substrate portion exposed between the etching masks formed on the upper substrate surface to the bonding surface with the lower substrate to complete the shape of the microstructure of the valve cap, the horizontal micro driver, and the micro channel opening; Selectively removing the remaining etch mask and cutting the substrate wafer in individual chip units or in a plurality of units to complete the micromechanical valve element or the micromechanical valve array. .