KR20140106217A - Method for continuous supply apparatus of ingot raw material and its continuous supply apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a continuous feed apparatus of an ingot raw material, which continuously supplies a raw material for ingot growth at a fixed quantity, and to a continuous feed method thereof. The continuous feed apparatus of an ingot raw material comprises a hopper (22) for the input of raw material (21) for ingot growth; a discharge unit (23) formed at the lower part of the hopper (22) so as to discharge the raw material (21); a hopper lifting means (26) lifting and lowering the hopper (22) so as to open and close the discharge unit; a lifting guide means (27) guiding the lifting and lowering of the hopper (22); a means (29) for discharging the raw material through the lifting of the hopper (22) to a secondary hopper (28) thereunder at a fixed quantity; a raw material transfer means (31) transferring the fixed quantity of the raw material falling into the secondary hopper (28) to a feed pipe (30); the feed pipe (30) guiding and supplying the raw material transferred by the raw material transfer means (31) to the space (32) between the inner/outer crucibles (2, 3); an upper opening/closing means (34) and a lower opening/closing means (35) installed on a conduit (32) of the feed pipe (30) and alternately opened/closed; and a controller (36). Accordingly, an ingot raw material is continuously supplemented by the amount of the reduced volume in order to grow an ingot, and the ingot raw material is continuously supplied at a fixed quantity, which drastically improves the productivity of the ingot and provides for a uniform quality of ingot. Furthermore, the continuous feed apparatus of an ingot raw material blocks the high heat lifting and flowing into the continuous feed apparatus (20) and maintains a vacuum state inside the apparatus when continuously supplying the ingot raw material.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ingot raw material continuous feeder,

The present invention relates to an ingot raw material continuous feeder for continuously and continuously feeding an ingot growth raw material and a continuous feed method thereof.

Generally, an ingot growing apparatus by a Czochralski crystal growth method is a system in which a solid material such as polysilicon (or gallium arsenide) and impurities is added to a crucible provided in a hot zone region And heated and melted by an electric heater to form a silicon melt. Then, the single crystal seed is brought into contact with the silicon melt and slowly rotated and pulled up to obtain a single crystal ingot having a predetermined length and a predetermined diameter .

Chunk Poly and Granule Poly are used for the ingot growth material Poly Silicon and a predetermined amount of boron or phosphorus is used as the dopant. The boron is used for P-type ingot growth, and phosphorus is used for N-type ingot growth.

Since the raw materials are in a solid state, in order to melt them to form a silicon melt (hot melt), impurities are added to the crucible and the polysilicon masses are stacked in the form of a dome to be stacked and the polysilicon mass, Is filled in the crucible and melted, the volume of the gap formed between the silicon ingot and the lump is reduced.

Further, when the level of the silicon melt is gradually consumed as the ingot grows, and the level (liquid level) is lowered, the level displacement is detected using the distance measuring means while the crucible is elevated by the elevating means so that the silicon melt surface is kept constant However, since it is difficult to precisely control and it is not easy to supply the raw material in a fixed amount, the diameter of the ingot is not uniform, and the concentration of the impurity changes in the direction in which the ingot is pulled up, And the like.

Therefore, in order to grow the ingot uniformly while keeping the quality of the ingot uniform, it is necessary to quantitatively continue the ingot raw material (polysilicon and impurities) by the volume (or the required volume) reduced by the ingot growth A continuous supply method and apparatus for replenishment are required.

Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 10-2012-0122563 (entitled "Raw material dispenser," issued on Nov. 07, 2012) Korean Patent Registration No. 10-0811989 (entitled "Intermittent injection technology for increasing the melting rate of polycrystalline silicon," published on Mar. 10, 2008)

An object of the present invention is to provide an ingot raw material continuous feeding device for continuously feeding ingot raw materials as much as a volume reduced in order to grow an ingot and a continuous feeding method therefor.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a continuous feed system for continuous feed of an ingot and a continuous supply method thereof, in which raw materials for growing an ingot are continuously supplied and supplied in a constant amount, and productivity is greatly improved and the quality is uniform.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an opening and closing means for shutting off a high temperature rising up to a continuous supply device and maintaining a vacuum state when supplying a raw material necessary for the ingot growth.

A continuous ingot raw material feeder according to the present invention includes a hopper into which raw materials for ingot growth are introduced, an outlet formed in a lower portion of the hopper so that the raw material can be discharged, a hopper elevating means for opening and closing the outlet by raising and lowering the hopper, A fixed amount discharge means for discharging a raw material discharged by the rising of the hopper to a lower auxiliary hopper, a raw material transfer means for transferring the quantitative raw material dropped by the auxiliary hopper to a supply pipe, A supply pipe for guiding and supplying the raw material conveyed by the raw material conveying means to a space between the inner and outer crucibles, an upper opening and closing means, a lower opening and closing means, and a controller installed in the duct of the supply pipe.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the hopper elevating means includes a worm formed on the outer circumferential surface of the discharge port of the hopper, a worm gear and the other worm gear which are mounted on both sides of the worm and are axially mounted to support the hopper, And a first encoder for detecting the amount of rotation of the elevating motor (or the rotational direction and the rotational number, the rotational direction and the rotational angle, or the angular displacement), and then inputting the detected amount to the controller.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the elevation guiding means includes a guide plate vertically installed on one side of the hopper, a guide hole formed in the vertical direction of the guide plate, a guide hole provided on a side surface of the hopper, And guide rods that guide the vertical lift.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the metering means includes a one-side pulley and a second side pulley, an endless type conveyor belt provided on the outer surface of the pulley, a metering motor connected to the shaft of the one side pulley, And then input to the controller.

According to an aspect of the present invention, the raw material conveying means includes a screw having a predetermined pitch, which is installed in the case, a screw motor connected to the screw shaft so as to rotate the screw, And a third encoder for input to the controller.

According to an aspect of the present invention, the upper opening / closing means includes a housing having an inlet and an outlet formed at an upper portion and a lower portion, a ball valve installed in the housing, a through hole formed in the ball valve, An upper motor connected to the rotary shaft, and a fourth encoder installed in the upper motor for detecting the amount of rotation and then inputting the amount of rotation to the controller.

According to an aspect of the present invention, the lower opening / closing means includes a housing having an inlet and an outlet formed at an upper portion and a lower portion, a ball valve installed in the housing, a through hole formed in the ball valve, And a fifth encoder installed in the lower motor to sense the amount of rotation and then input to the controller.

According to one aspect of the present invention,

The endless conveyor belt is divided into a plurality of chambers by a "V" -shaped protrusion formed at a predetermined interval on the surface, and protrusions are formed on both sides.

According to an aspect of the present invention, an inlet formed at an upper portion of one side of the case is hermetically connected to an auxiliary hopper, a discharge pipe is provided at an outlet formed at the lower portion of the other side of the case, A connection pipe is connected to the lower part of the upper opening and closing unit, a lower opening and closing unit is installed in the lower part of the connection pipe, and a supply pipe is connected to the lower part of the lower opening and closing unit.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the controller is configured to control the ON / OFF of the controller at the input of the control unit, the selection of the kind of raw material, the setting of the amount of raw material supply, the resetting, A load cell 13 for measuring the weight of the ingot 11 being grown and a first encoder 12 for detecting the amount of rotation of the elevation motor 44. [ A second encoder 56 for detecting the amount of rotation of the screw motor 50, a third encoder 64 for detecting the amount of rotation of the metering motor 55, And a fifth encoder 76 for detecting the amount of rotation of the lower motor 75 are connected to the control unit C. The silicon melt surface ML is provided on the input / And a CCD camera / laser range finder 16 for measuring the temperature and level (or level displacement) A display unit D for displaying an operation mode, a set value, a current value, an operation state of various equipments, various anomalies, and the like, and a hopper elevating means for elevating and lowering the hopper 22 to guide the discharge of the raw material 21 26 for conveying the raw material 21 discharged from the hopper 22 by a conveyor belt 53 and a fixed amount discharging means 29 for discharging the raw material to be discharged in a fixed amount An upper motor 69 for opening and closing the ball valve 66 of the upper opening and closing means 34 and a lower opening and closing means for opening and closing the lower opening and closing means 34 And a lower motor 75 for opening and closing the ball valve 72 of each of the first and second valves 35,

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for producing a silicon melt, comprising the steps of: inputting an ingot growth material into a hopper of a continuous material supply apparatus; detecting the level displacement of the silicon melt surface on the crucible; A step of raising the hopper to a predetermined height by a hopper elevating means so as to allow the raw material of the hopper to be discharged and then discharging the raw material discharged from the hopper in a fixed amount by using a fixed amount discharging means, Closing the upper opening and closing means, and then closing the upper opening and closing means, and then opening the lower opening and closing means to open the lower opening and closing means, Closing the lower opening and closing means, and then feeding into the crucible When detecting the level of the silicon melt liquid surface displacement required raw material In a method for repeating the step for continuously supplying raw material to the amount is provided.

In order to grow the ingot, the ingot raw material is continuously supplied in a reduced volume, and since the ingot growing raw material is continuously supplied in a constant amount, the productivity of the ingot is greatly improved and the quality is uniformly effected .

According to the present invention, it is possible to continuously feed the raw materials necessary for the ingot growth, and thus the ingot can be grown to a desired size (diameter and / or length).

In the present invention, when the ingot material is continuously supplied in a constant amount, the high temperature rising to the supply pipe is blocked by the upper / lower opening / closing means installed in the supply pipe line to protect the continuous supply device. In addition, It is a very useful invention with effects such as.

1 is a process diagram showing an example of the present invention.
2 is a configuration diagram showing an example of the present invention.
3 is a perspective view of the constant-quantity continuous feeder shown in one example of the present invention.
Fig. 4 is a front view of the constant-quantity continuous feeder shown in one example of the present invention.
5 is a cross-sectional view of the hopper according to the present invention in an elevated state;
6 is a cross-sectional view of the hopper according to the present invention in a descended state;
Fig. 7 is a sectional view showing the state of use of the constant-quantity continuous feeder shown in one example of the present invention, in which the quantified raw material has fallen into the closed upper open-close means.
Fig. 8 is a sectional view showing the state in which the constant-quantity continuous feeder shown in the embodiment of the present invention is in use;
Fig. 9 is a sectional view showing the state of use of the constant-quantity continuous feeder shown in the embodiment of the present invention,
The state in which the upper opening and closing means is closed and the lower closing means is opened and the raw material is introduced into the crucible.
10 is a circuit block diagram of the controller shown as one example of the present invention.
11 is a flowchart showing the continuous supply of the raw materials shown as one example of the present invention.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the following description of the embodiments of the present invention, the same components as in the drawings are denoted by the same reference numerals as possible, and detailed descriptions of known configurations and functions are omitted so as not to obscure the gist of the present invention.

Fig. 1 shows a continuous feeding method of the ingot raw material according to the present invention,

a. Feeding the ingot growth material into a hopper of the continuous feed apparatus,

b. Detecting a level displacement of a charged silicon melt surface on a crucible;

c. Determining a raw material supply amount based on the level displacement,

d. A step of raising the hopper to a predetermined height by the hopper elevating means so that the raw material of the hopper can be discharged;

e. Discharging the raw material discharged from the hopper in a fixed amount using a fixed amount discharging means;

f. A step of dropping the raw material discharged in a fixed amount by using the raw material transfer means by the upper opening and closing means,

g. Closing the upper opening and closing means to drop the raw material by the lower opening and closing means and closing the upper opening and closing means,

h. Opening the lower opening / closing means to supply the raw material to the crucible, and then closing the lower opening / closing means;

i. If the level displacement of the silicon melt surface injected into the crucible is detected and the raw material input is necessary, ~ h. Step is repeated to continuously supply the raw materials in a constant amount.

The upstream and downstream opening / closing means are alternately opened and closed to continuously supply a predetermined amount of raw material to the crucible while protecting the continuous supply device by blocking the high temperature rising through the raw material supply pipe, The flow is interrupted.

Fig. 2 shows an example of a Czochralski method ingot growing apparatus (or ingot producing apparatus) to which continuously supplying apparatus 20 of the present invention for continuously and quantitatively feeding an ingot growing raw material is additionally provided.

The ingot growing apparatus comprises a main chamber 1 provided with a cooling means, an inner crucible 2 and an outer crucible 3 installed inside the main chamber 1 for melting polysilicon, A pedestal 5 for supporting the inner and outer crucibles 2 and 3 and inner and outer crucibles 2 and 3 for communicating the lower portion of the outer crucible 2 A power supply means for supplying a large electric power to the electrothermal heater 6 and a power supply means for supplying power to the internal and external crucibles 2 and 3 and the pedestal 5, A dome chamber 9 provided above the main chamber 1, a gate valve and a viewport provided in the dome chamber 9, a dome chamber 9 mounted on the dome chamber 9, A pulling means 12 installed on the pulling means 10 and pulling up the ingot 11 and a pulling means 12 for pulling up the ingot 11, (11) is measured A CCD camera and a laser distance meter 16 for picking up an image of the melt surface ML of the silicon melt M through the view port 15, a seed chuck 14 provided at the lower end of the pull-up cable 11, ), A vacuum means, a cooling means, a sensing means, a control means, and a measuring means.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a continuous feeder 20 shown in the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a front view of the hopper 22 in which raw material 21 for ingot growth is fed, A hopper gate 24 for closing the upper portion of the hopper 22 to maintain the airtightness, a drive means 25 for opening and closing the hopper gate 24, A hopper elevating means 26 for opening and closing the outlet 23 by raising and lowering the hopper 22 so that the raw material 21 of the hopper 21 can be discharged in a fixed amount, A fixed amount discharging means 29 for discharging the raw material 21 discharged by the rising of the hopper 22 to the lower auxiliary hopper 28 in a fixed amount and a discharging means 29 for discharging the raw material 21 discharged from the auxiliary hopper 28 A raw material transfer means 31 for dropping and discharging the quantitative raw material 21 into the supply pipe 30 and a raw material transfer means 31 for transferring the raw material 21 of a fixed quantity to be dropped and discharged into a space 32 between the inner / outer crucibles 2, (High heat) rising from the crucibles 2 and 3 while being alternately opened and closed is installed in the supply pipe 30 and the pipe 33 of the supply pipe 30 to supply the continuous supply device And a controller 36 that protects the vacuum chamber 20 and also maintains a vacuum state (atmospheric pressure cutoff).

The driving means may be an air cylinder, a hydraulic cylinder, or a motor and a power transmitting means.

In the present invention, the actuator, such as a motor, is provided with detection means for detecting the degree of rotation so that the motor can be controlled. Examples of the detecting means include an encoder, a touch sensor, a proximity sensor, an optical sensor, and the like. In the present invention, an encoder is exemplified for convenience of explanation.

The hopper 22 is installed in the case 37 and has a funnel shape with a narrow upper portion and a narrow bottom portion in which the discharge port 23 is located so that the raw material 21 can be easily injected as shown in FIGS. The upper portion of the case 37 is provided with a hopper gate 24 that is opened or closed in a sliding manner by a manual or automatic or mechanical opening and closing means 25 or is opened or closed around the shaft pin 38 as shown in FIG. The vacuum of the continuous feeder 20 is prevented while the atmospheric pressure is shut off and the solid (tight) airtightness of the case 37 is maintained.

A seal member such as an O-ring or a packing having excellent wear resistance, airtightness (airtightness) and heat resistance is used as a hermetic (air tight or vacuum) holding means between the case 37 and the hopper gate 24.

The volume of the hopper 22 is large enough to accommodate the raw material 21 in an amount exceeding an amount necessary to grow the ingot 11 once and the hopper 22 is raised and lowered The hopper elevating means 26 is provided.

The hopper elevating means 26 includes a worm 40 formed on the lower portion of the hopper 22 such as the outer circumferential surface of the discharge port 23 and a hopper 22 provided on the opposite sides of the worm 40, A lift motor 44 which is connected to the shaft rod 43 of the worm wheel 41 of one side and a worm wheel 41 which supports the worm wheel 41 and the worm wheel 41 of the one worm wheel 41 and the rotation amount A direction and a rotation angle, or an angular displacement) of the first encoder 45 and then inputs it to the controller 36.

The elevation guide means 27 provided at one side of the hopper 22 includes a guide plate 47 vertically installed at one side of the hopper 22, a guide hole 48 formed in a direction perpendicular to the guide plate 47, And a guide rod 49 installed on a side surface of the hopper 22 and coupled to the guide hole 48 to guide the vertical lift up while suppressing the rotation of the hopper 22. [

The elevation guiding means 27 may be configured as an LM guide. That is, the LM rail is provided instead of the guide plate 47, and the LM block is formed instead of the guide rod 49, so that more stable lifting and lowering of the hopper 22 can be achieved.

The fixed quantity discharge means 29 provided below the discharge port 23 of the hopper 22 includes a pair of left and right pulleys 51 and 52 and pulleys 51 and 52 The endless type conveyor belt 53 includes a constant amount motor 55 that is connected to the shaft rod 54 of the one side pulley 51 and an amount of rotation A rotation angle, or an angular displacement), and then inputs it to the controller 36.

At both sides of the endless conveyor belt 53, projections 58 are formed to prevent the raw material 21 from falling to the side.

V-shaped protrusions 57 extending to the projections 58 are formed on the surface of the endless conveyor belt 53 at predetermined intervals to be divided into a plurality of chambers and a raw material 21 (Amount of supply) is determined and the amount of the raw material 21 flowing into the compartment is determined according to the predetermined height h of the hopper 22 .

An auxiliary hopper 28 is provided at the bottom of the case 37 in which the raw material 21 falls by the fixed amount discharging means 29 and raw material conveying means 31 is installed below the auxiliary hopper 28 do.

The raw material conveying means 31 includes a screw 46 having a predetermined pitch provided inside the case 39 in which airtightness is maintained and a screw shaft 46a and a screw shaft 46a for rotating the screw 46. [ (Or the rotational direction and the rotational speed, the rotational direction, the rotational angle, or the angular displacement) of the screw motor 50 and then inputs the rotational amount and the rotational angle of the screw motor 50 to the controller 36 An inlet 60 formed at an upper portion of one side of the case 39 is hermetically connected to the auxiliary hopper 28 and an outlet 61 formed at the other side of the case 39 The upper opening and closing means 34 is connected to the lower part of the discharge pipe 62 and the connection pipe 63 is connected to the lower part of the upper opening and closing means 34. In the lower part of the connection pipe 63, And a supply pipe 30 is connected to a lower portion of the lower opening / closing means 35. [

The raw material transfer means 31 is provided with a screw 46 having a predetermined pitch horizontally and the raw material flowing into the inlet 60 is uniformly discharged to the outlet 61 by the rotation of the screw 46, So that the drop impact is reduced.

The upper opening and closing means 34 includes a housing 65 in which an inlet and an outlet are formed on the upper side and a lower side respectively and a ball valve 66 provided inside the housing 65 and a through hole An upper motor 69 axially connected to the rotary shaft 68 and an upper motor 69 connected to the rotary shaft 68. The upper motor 69 and the upper motor 69 are connected to each other through a through hole 67, And a fourth encoder 70 for detecting the amount of rotation (or rotation direction and rotation number, rotation direction and rotation angle, or angular displacement), and then inputting the detection amount to the controller 36.

The lower opening and closing means 35 includes a housing 71 formed with an inlet and an outlet at the top and a bottom respectively and a ball valve 72 provided inside the housing 71 and a through hole 73 formed in the ball valve 72 A lower motor 75 axially connected to the rotation shaft 74 and a lower motor 75 connected to the lower motor 75. The lower motor 75 is connected to the lower motor 75, And a fifth encoder 76 which detects the amount of rotation (or rotation direction and rotation number, rotation direction and rotation angle, or angular displacement) and inputs the rotation amount to the controller 36.

The motors 4, 50, 55, 69 and 75 are motors capable of forward rotation or forward / reverse rotation and whose rotational speed is variable under the control of the controller C.

Since the lower part of the supply pipe 21 is located in the hot zone area and is exposed to high temperature (high temperature), it is a material having sufficient heat resistance, such as a quartz tube, or a structure in which a water cooling chamber is formed and forced water cooling is performed.

5 is a sectional view of the hopper 22 lifted at a predetermined height h by the hopper lifting means 26. The raw material 21 fed into the hopper 22 is conveyed to the conveyor belt 53 through the outlet 23, 6 is a sectional view of a state in which the hopper 22 is lowered by the hopper lifting means 26 and brought into contact with the conveyor belt 53. Initially, the raw material 21 is put into the hopper 22 Or the feeding of the raw material 21 is temporarily stopped.

5, when the worm gear 40 is rotated in the clockwise direction, the hopper 22 and the hopper 22 are rotated by the action of the worm 40 engaged with the worm gears 41 and 42, The first encoder 45 provided on the rotating shaft of the elevating motor 44 is rotated by the amount of rotation of the elevating motor 44 And the controller 36 detects the rotation value input from the first encoder 45 and the rotation angle of the CCD camera and the laser The level of the silicon melt surface ML is measured using the distance measuring device 16 and the weight of the growing ingot 11 is measured using the load cell 13 to compare the calculated reference value (raw material input amount) The elevating motor 44 is stopped to stop the hopper 22 at the elevation height.

And is assisted by the elevation guide means 27 when the hopper 22 ascends.

That is, since the guide rod 49 provided on the side surface of the hopper 22 is coupled to the guide hole 48 of the guide plate 47 so that the vertical movement of the hopper 22 is permitted while the rotation of the hopper 22 is restricted, And descends.

The one side worm gear 41 is a driving gear and the other side worm gear 42 is a driven gear and the gear engagement is maintained by mutual action.

When the quantitative discharging means 29 rotates counterclockwise (in the direction D) of the dosing motor 55 in a state in which the hopper 22 is lifted at a predetermined height h in the direction A in Fig. 5, The raw material 21 is moved along the conveyor belt 53 while being placed on the surface of the conveyor belt 53 and then dropped and discharged in the direction of the auxiliary hopper 28 (direction C).

A plurality of chambers are defined by the V-shaped protrusions 57 on the surface of the conveyor belt 53 to prevent unnecessary movement due to the flow or vibration of the raw material 21 seated in some chambers, Protruding portions 58 are respectively formed to prevent the raw material 21 from falling down on the side.

On the other hand, when the supply of the raw material 21 is temporarily or temporarily stopped, this is accomplished by stopping the metering motor 55 and the conveyor belt 53.

6 shows a state in which when the elevation motor 44 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction when the raw material 21 is put into the hopper 22, the worm 40 is engaged with the worm gears 41 and 42, Of the raw material 21 is prevented from flowing out or falling down by the hopper 22 and the conveyor belt 53 in a state in which the raw material 21 is in contact with the surface of the conveyor belt 53 while descending.

7 to 9 show a state in which the raw material 21 to be discharged in a fixed amount is supplied to the crucible space 19 while the upper opening and closing means 34 and the lower opening and closing means 35 are alternately opened and closed. Continuous supply of the raw material 21 is achieved in a state where airtightness is maintained by the upper opening and closing means 34 and the ball valves 66 and 72 of the lower opening and closing means 35.

The fourth and fifth encoders 70 and 76 are used to rotate the upper and lower motors 69 and 75 (or the rotational direction and the rotational speed or the rotational direction and the rotational angle or the angular displacement) The controller 36 compares the amount of rotation and the rotational load signal input from the fourth and fifth encoders 70 and 76 with a predetermined reference signal and supplies the ball valve 66 ) 72 to control the upper / lower motors 69 and 75. [0064]

The airtightness (airtightness or vacuum) is achieved by the upper and lower opening and closing means 34 and the lower opening and closing means 35 by the respective ball valves 66 and 72 having excellent heat resistance, wear resistance and airtightness Accurate and quick opening and closing can be achieved, so that no separate sealing member such as an O-ring or a packing is required.

7 shows a state in which the upper opening and closing means 34 and the lower opening and closing means 35 are closed respectively such that the through holes 67 and 73 of the ball valves 66 and 72 are held horizontally, A predetermined amount of the raw material 21 is dropped by the raw material transfer means 31 to the upper opening and closing means 34 while the upper and lower airtightness of the upper motor 69 is maintained, The raw material 21 falls and moves to the lower opening and closing means 35 while the through hole 67 of the ball valve 66 is opened vertically. The airtightness of the channel 33 is still maintained by the ball valve 72 of FIG.

9 shows that the through hole 73 of the lower ball valve 72 is rotated by the lower motor 75 in a vertical state when the pipeline 33 is closed by the upper ball valve 66 and the airtightness is maintained A predetermined amount of the raw material 21 falls into the supply pipe 30 and is supplied to the crucible space 21. When the lower ball valve 72 is fully opened for a predetermined time and the raw material 21 falls down The through hole 73 of the ball valve 72 rotates in a horizontal state by the lower motor 75 as shown in FIG. 7 to block the pipeline 33 and keep the airtightness. By repeating this process, The raw materials are continuously supplied.

10 is a block diagram showing an example of the ON / OFF (OFF) state of the controller 36 to the input of the control block C, which is constituted by a circuit block road of the controller 36 shown in the present invention and a PLC or a central processing unit or a microcomputer. A set portion S composed of a plurality of keypads and a touch screen so as to be able to select and input various kinds of data and to select a raw material type setting, a raw material supply amount setting, a reset, A first encoder 45 for detecting the amount of rotation of the elevation motor 44; a second encoder 56 for detecting the amount of rotation of the screw motor 50; A third encoder 64 for detecting the amount of rotation of the motor 55, a fourth encoder 70 for detecting the amount of rotation of the upper motor 69, a fifth encoder 70 for detecting the amount of rotation of the lower motor 75, And an encoder 76 are respectively connected to the input and output of the control unit C and a CCD camera / The laser distance meter 16 is connected.

The output of the control unit C includes a display unit D for displaying various operation states, operation modes, set values, current values, operation states of various devices, various kinds of anomalies, and the like, and a hopper 22 for raising and lowering the hopper 22, The elevation motor 44 of the hopper elevating means 26 for guiding the discharge of the raw material 21 discharged from the hopper 22 and the quantitative discharging means 29 for discharging the raw material 21 discharged from the hopper 22 by a conveyor belt 53 A motor 55 and a screw motor 50 of a raw material feed means 31 for dropping the raw material to be discharged in a fixed amount into the upper closing means 34 and a ball valve 66 of the upper opening and closing means 34 The upper motor 69 and the lower motor 75 for opening and closing the ball valve 72 of the lower opening and closing means 35 are respectively connected.

The input / output of the control unit C includes a memory unit including various types of recording media such as a hard disk, a flash memory, a ROM (Read Only Memory), and an SSD (Solid State Driver) The data is stored in the memory unit, read out, and updated.

Although not shown in the drawings, a driving drive for driving various actuators is connected to the output of the control unit C, and the setting unit S can use or mix a normal keypad, a switch group, a touch screen, etc., respectively.

The display unit D displays an operation state of a power indicator, a power indicator, and various sensors and actuators to display a power supply state. The display unit D includes a liquid crystal display (LCD), a seventh segment, a light emitting diode, Accordingly, the display unit can be configured with a touch screen to facilitate the use.

11 is a flowchart showing the continuous feeding of the ingot raw material 21 shown in an example of the present invention to the crucible space 32. The hopper 22 is lowered by the hopper elevating means 26 to be conveyed to the upper surface of the conveyor belt 53 (S1) of preventing the discharge of the raw material to be supplied by contacting; Opening the upper portion of the hopper 22 so that the hopper gate 24 can be opened by the driving means 25 to feed the raw material 21 (Step S2); A step (S3) of injecting the ingot growth material 21 into the hopper 22 in an amount or amount necessary for one-time growth of the ingot 11; The step of closing the hopper gate 24 with the driving means 25 to keep the airtightness around the hopper 22 and the hopper 22 (step S4); Measuring the level of the silicon melt surface ML using the CCD camera and the laser range finder 16 and measuring the weight of the growing ingot 11 using the load cell 13 (step S5); Calculating and determining an input amount of the raw material 21 based on the measured value (step S6); Controlling the amount of the raw material discharged by adjusting the elevation height of the hopper 22 by the hopper elevating means 26 (S7); The height of the hopper 22 is adjusted until the amount of the raw material discharged reaches the actual discharge amount (Step S7), and the amount of the raw material discharged from the hopper 22 is compared with the actual discharge amount discharged by the quantity discharging means 29, , And a stopping step (S8) of stopping the hopper elevating means 26 when the amount of raw material discharged reaches the actual discharge amount. When the hopper elevating means 26 stops when the amount of raw material discharge reaches the actual discharge amount, the fixed amount discharging means 29 is operated to drop the hopper 28 into the auxiliary hopper 28 (Step S10); A step S11 of dropping and transferring the raw material falling and discharged from the auxiliary hopper 28 to the upper opening / closing means 34 by using the raw material conveying means 31; The screw rotation time of the raw material conveying means 31 is compared with the raw material conveying time to the upper opening and closing means 34, and the conveying screw is continuously rotated until the screw rotation time reaches the raw material conveying time, (S11), stopping the raw material conveying means (31) when the screw rotation time reaches the raw material conveying time (S12); When the raw material conveying means 31 is stopped (S13), the upper opening / closing means 34 is opened and the raw material is dropped by the lower opening / closing means 35 (S14). The upper opening and closing means 34 is opened until the raw material falling time reaches the screw stopping time by comparing and comparing the raw material falling time to the upper opening and closing means 34 and the screw stopping time of the raw material feeding means 31 (S15) for closing the upper opening / closing means 34 when the material drop time reaches the screw stop time; When the upper opening / closing means 34 is closed (S16), the lower opening / closing means 35 is opened for a predetermined time to supply a predetermined amount of raw material to the crucible space 32 through the supply pipe 30 (S17); Closing the lower opening / closing means 35 for a predetermined time, and maintaining the opened state of the lower opening / closing means 35 when the predetermined time has not elapsed, so as to continuously supply the predetermined amount of raw material (S18); In the above-described process, the continuous feeding of the raw material 21 is achieved by returning to the above step (S5) until the ingot growth is completed, and when the ingot growth is completed, the continuous supply of the raw material 21 is stopped and terminated (Step S19).

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is clearly understood that the same is by way of illustration and example only and is not to be taken by way of limitation, It is self-evident to those of ordinary skill.

(1) - main chamber (2) - internal crucible
(3) - external crucible (6) - electrothermal heater
(10) - lifting means (11) - ingot
(12) - impression cable (13) - load cell
(16) - CCD camera / laser range finder (20) - Continuous feeder
(21) - Raw material (22) - Hopper
(23) - outlet (24) - hopper gate
(25) - gate drive means (26) - hopper elevating means
(27) - elevating guide means (28) - auxiliary hopper
(29) - Quantitative discharge means (30) - Supply pipe
(31) - Feed conveying means (32) - Space
(33) - the conduit (34) of the supply pipe - the upper opening and closing means
(35) - Lower opening / closing means (36) - Controller
(37) (39) - Case (38) - Pivot pin
(40) - worm (41) (42) - worm gear
(43) (54) - Axle (44) - Lift motor
(45) (56) (64) (70) (76) - Encoder (46) - Screw
(46a) - screw shaft (47) - guide plate
(48) - Guide Ball (49) - Guide Ball
(50) - Screw motors (51) (52) - Pulleys
(53) - Conveyor belt (55) - Quantitative motor
(57) -projection (58) -projection
(60) - inlet (61) - outlet
(62) - discharge pipe (63) - connector
(65) (71) - Housing (66) (72) - Ball valve
(67) (73) - through holes (68) (74) - rotating shaft
(69) - upper motor (75) - lower motor
(C) -controller (D) -display unit
(S) - Setting section (h) - Height
(M) - Silicon melt (ML) - Silicon melt surface

Claims (12)

A hopper into which the raw material for growing an ingot is injected;
An outlet formed in a lower portion of the hopper so that the raw material can be discharged;
Hopper lifting means for lifting and lowering the hopper to open and close the outlet;
An elevating guide means for guiding the elevation of the hopper;
A quantitative discharging means for discharging a raw material discharged by the rising of the hopper to a lower auxiliary hopper in a quantitative manner;
A raw material conveying means for conveying the quantitative raw material falling into the auxiliary hopper to a supply pipe;
A feed pipe for guiding and feeding the raw material conveyed by the raw material conveying means to a space between the inner and outer crucibles;
An upper opening / closing means, a lower opening / closing means, and a controller installed on the pipeline of the supply pipe and alternately opened and closed;
And the continuous ingot raw material supply device. The method of claim 1,
The hopper elevating means,
A worm formed on the outer circumferential surface of the outlet of the hopper;
One side worm gear and the other side worm gear which are engaged with both sides of the worm and are axially installed to support the hopper;
A lifting motor axially connected to the shaft rod of the one-side worm gear;
A first encoder for detecting the amount of rotation of the elevating motor and then inputting the detected amount of rotation to the controller;
And the continuous ingot raw material supply device. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
The elevating /
A guide plate vertically installed on one side of the hopper;
A guide hole formed in the vertical direction of the guide plate;
A guide rod installed on a side surface of the hopper and coupled to the guide hole to guide the vertical lift while suppressing the rotation of the hopper;
The continuous feed of the ingot raw material. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
The quantitative discharge means,
One side pulley and the other side pulley;
An endless conveyor belt provided on the outer surface of the pulley;
A metering motor connected to the shaft rod of the one-side pulley;
A second encoder for sensing the amount of rotation of the metering motor and then inputting the amount of rotation to the controller;
And the continuous ingot raw material supply device. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
The raw-
A screw having a predetermined pitch, which is installed inside the case;
A screw motor connected to the screw shaft so as to rotate the screw;
A third encoder for detecting a rotation amount of the screw motor and then inputting the rotation amount to the controller;
And the continuous ingot raw material supply device. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
The upper opening /
A housing having an inlet and an outlet formed at an upper portion and a lower portion, respectively;
A ball valve installed inside the housing;
A through hole formed in the ball valve;
A rotating shaft formed on an outer periphery of the ball valve in a direction perpendicular to the through-hole;
An upper motor coupled to the rotating shaft;
A fourth encoder installed in the upper motor to sense the amount of rotation and then input to the controller;
And the continuous ingot raw material supply device. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
The lower opening /
A housing having an inlet and an outlet formed at an upper portion and a lower portion, respectively;
A ball valve installed inside the housing;
A through hole formed in the ball valve;
A rotating shaft formed on an outer periphery of the ball valve in a direction perpendicular to the through-hole;
A lower motor shaft-connected to the rotary shaft;
A fifth encoder installed in the lower motor to sense the amount of rotation and then input to the controller;
And the continuous ingot raw material supply device. The method of claim 4,
Endless conveyor belt;
Shaped projections formed at predetermined intervals on a surface thereof, and projections are formed on both sides thereof. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
The inlet formed at the upper side of the case is hermetically connected to the auxiliary hopper,
A discharge pipe is provided at an outlet formed at the lower side of the case,
An upper opening / closing means is provided at a lower portion of the discharge pipe,
A connection pipe is connected to the lower portion of the upper opening /
A lower opening / closing means is provided at a lower portion of the connection pipe,
And a supply pipe is connected to the lower portion of the lower opening / closing means. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
The controller,
It is composed of a plurality of keypads or touch screens such as a controller ON / OFF, a material type setting, a raw material supply amount setting, a reset, and the like for inputting and setting various data. A load cell 13 for measuring the weight of the ingot 11 being grown; a first encoder 45 for detecting the amount of rotation of the elevation motor 44; A third encoder 64 for detecting the amount of rotation of the metering motor 55; a fourth encoder 70 for detecting the amount of rotation of the upper motor 69; And a fifth encoder 76 for detecting the rotation amount of the lower motor 75 are respectively connected,
A CCD camera / laser distance measuring device 16 for measuring the temperature and level (or level displacement) of the silicon melt surface ML is connected to the input / output of the controller C,
The output of the control unit C includes a display unit D on which various states are displayed, a lift motor 44 of the hopper elevating unit 26, a metering motor 55 of the metering unit 29, An upper motor 69 for opening and closing the ball valve 66 of the upper opening and closing means 34 and a lower motor 65 for opening and closing the ball valve 72 of the lower opening and closing means 35, (75) are connected to each other. a. Feeding an ingot growth material into a hopper of a continuous feed apparatus;
b. Detecting a level displacement of a charged silicon melt surface on a crucible;
c. Determining a feed amount based on the level displacement;
d. Elevating the hopper to a predetermined height by the hopper elevating means so as to allow the raw material of the hopper to be discharged;
e. Discharging a raw material discharged from the hopper in a fixed amount using a fixed amount discharging means;
f. Dropping the raw material discharged in a fixed amount by using the raw material transfer means by the upper opening and closing means;
g. Closing the upper opening and closing means to drop the raw material by the lower opening and closing means and closing the upper opening and closing means;
h. Opening the lower opening / closing means to supply the raw material to the crucible, and then closing the lower opening / closing means;
i. If the level displacement of the silicon melt surface injected into the crucible is detected and the raw material input is necessary, ~ h. Repeating the steps so as to continuously feed the raw materials in a fixed amount;
Wherein the raw material is continuously fed. Lowering the hopper 22 by the hopper elevating means 26 so as to contact the upper surface of the conveyor belt 53 to prevent discharge of the material to be charged;
Opening the upper portion of the hopper 22 so that the hopper gate 24 can be opened by the driving means 25 to feed the raw material 21;
Then, the amount of the ingot growth material 21 required for one-time growth of the ingot 11 is injected into the hopper 22;
Closing the hopper gate (24) with the drive means (25) to maintain the airtightness;
Measuring the level of the silicon melt surface ML using the CCD camera and the laser distance measuring device 16 and measuring the weight of the growing ingot 11 using the load cell 13;
Calculating and determining an input amount of the raw material (21) based on the measured value;
Controlling the elevation height of the hopper 22 by the hopper elevating means 26 to control the amount of raw material discharge;
Then, the raw material discharge amount discharged from the hopper 22 is compared with the actual discharge amount discharged by the constant amount discharge means 29, the height of the hopper 22 is adjusted until the raw discharge amount reaches the actual discharge amount, Stopping the hopper lifting means (26) when the actual discharge amount is reached;
Subsequently, when the amount of discharged raw material reaches the actual discharge amount and the hopper elevating means 26 stops, the fixed amount discharging means 29 is operated to drop and discharge into the auxiliary hopper 28;
Feeding the raw material falling from the auxiliary hopper 28 to the upper opening / closing means 34 using the raw material feeding means 31;
Then, the screw rotation time of the raw material conveying means 31 is compared with the raw material conveying time to the upper opening / closing means 34, and the conveying screw is continuously rotated until the screw rotation time reaches the raw material conveying time, And stopping the material conveying means (31) when the screw rotation time reaches the material conveying time;
When the raw material conveying means 31 is stopped (S13), the upper opening / closing means 34 is opened and the raw material is dropped by the lower opening / closing means 35;
Next, the raw material falling time to the upper opening and closing means 34 is compared with the screw stopping time of the raw material conveying means 31, the upper opening and closing means 34 is opened until the raw material falling time reaches the screw stopping time, Closing the upper opening / closing means (34) when the dropping time reaches the screw stopping time;
When the upper opening and closing means 34 is closed (S16), the lower opening and closing means 35 is opened for a predetermined time to supply a predetermined amount of raw material to the crucible space 32 through the supply pipe 30;
Closing the lower opening / closing means (35) at a predetermined time, and maintaining the opened state of the lower opening / closing means (35) when the predetermined time has not elapsed,
Continuously supplying the raw material (21) until the ingot growth is completed by the above-mentioned process, and stopping and terminating the continuous supply of the raw material (21) when the ingot is completely grown;
Wherein the raw material is continuously fed.

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