KR20190076558A - Gate valve assembly - Google Patents

Abstract

According to the present invention, a gate valve assembly opening and closing an inlet and outlet passage of a substrate coming into a chamber and coming out of the chamber, comprises: a gate unit opening and closing the inlet and outlet passage of the substrate; a piston connected to the gate unit and reciprocally moving the gate unit; a cylinder forming an accommodation space accommodating the piston and forming a cylinder flow path supplying a fluid to the accommodation space and discharging the fluid from the accommodation space; and at least two guide units arranged in the movement direction of the piston to guide a reciprocal movement of the piston and having a guide flow path supplying the fluid to the accommodation space and discharging the fluid from the accommodation space. Therefore, the present invention supplies and discharges the fluid alternately through the cylinder flow path and the guide flow path to make a piston head perform a linear reciprocal movement, thereby being capable of selectively opening and closing the inlet and outlet passage of the substrate and accordingly enhancing process treatment efficiency of the substrate.

Description

[0001] GATE VALVE ASSEMBLY [0002]

The present invention relates to a gate valve assembly, and more particularly, to a gate valve assembly that is disposed between a plurality of chambers for processing a substrate and opens and closes a take-out inlet of a substrate to be drawn into and out of the chamber.

The substrate processing apparatus is a manufacturing apparatus for processing a substrate. Generally, a substrate processing apparatus has a plurality of chambers arranged in a serial or cluster manner, and processes the substrate. The substrate processing method is a method in which the substrate is passed through a plurality of chambers depending on the process purpose of the substrate.

Here, the plurality of chambers of the substrate processing apparatus include a load lock chamber, a process chamber, and a transfer chamber. These load lock chambers, process chambers, and transfer chambers must maintain a vacuum atmosphere for process processing of the substrate. Or the maintenance of the substrate processing apparatus, one of the load lock chamber, the process chamber, and the transfer chamber becomes an atmospheric atmosphere, and the other chambers need to be mutually isolated in order to maintain a vacuum atmosphere.

On the other hand, the substrate processing apparatus places gate valves between the chambers to maintain a vacuum atmosphere in each of the chambers. The gate valve opens and closes the outlet opening and out of the chamber between the chamber and the chamber. The gate valve has various structures, for example, a gate for opening and closing the outflow inlet of the substrate, and a cylinder and a piston for providing a driving force to the gate.

However, in the conventional method of providing the driving force to the gate by using the cylinder and the piston, since the piston may linearly move together with the linear motion during the linear movement of the piston, the driving force transmitted to the gate may be lost .

In addition, the conventional method of providing the driving force of the cylinder and the piston has a problem that the load of the gate valve structure may increase due to the method of supplying and discharging the fluid to one side of the piston.

Korean Registered Patent No. 10-1685753; Gate valve apparatus and substrate processing apparatus and substrate processing method thereof

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a cylinder providing a driving force for opening and closing a drawing inlet path of a substrate, and a gate valve assembly improved in the structure of a piston type.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a gate valve assembly for opening and closing a draw-in inlet path of a substrate drawn into and out of a chamber according to the present invention, the gate valve assembly comprising: A piston connected to the gate portion and reciprocating the gate portion, a cylinder defining a receiving space for receiving the piston and having a cylinder flow passage for supplying the fluid to the receiving space and discharging the fluid from the receiving space, Wherein at least two guide paths are provided along the direction of the piston to guide the reciprocating movement of the piston and to guide the fluid to the accommodation space and to discharge the fluid from the accommodation space. .

Here, the accommodation space is divided into a pressurized region to which the fluid is supplied with respect to the piston and a negative pressure region to which the fluid is discharged, and the pressurized region and the negative pressure region are provided in the fluid supplied to and discharged from the cylinder channel and the guide channel It can be altered alternately.

When the fluid is supplied to the cylinder channel, the fluid is discharged through the guide channel. When the fluid is supplied through the guide channel, the fluid is discharged to the cylinder channel, thereby alternating the pressurized region and the negative pressure region.

Wherein the piston includes a piston head accommodated in the accommodating space and linearly reciprocating according to a fluid supplied to the accommodating space and discharged from the accommodating space, a piston rod interconnecting the gate portion and the piston head, And a guide groove formed in the guide portion and into which the guide portion is inserted.

The gate valve assembly may further include a bellows surrounding the piston rod accommodated in the accommodation space and blocking a pressure change in the accommodation space by blocking the space between the accommodation space and the outside of the cylinder.

Wherein the cylinder has a cylinder body having one side opened and the other side disposed with the bellows and forming an accommodation space and a cylinder head closing one side of the cylinder body which is opened, Two can be arranged.

At least two of the guide portions may be disposed at regular intervals in a cross-sectional shape in the transverse direction of the movement direction of the piston.

The guide portion may be screwed to the cylinder head.

The guide path includes a first guide path formed in the cylinder for supplying a fluid from the outside and discharging fluid from the cylinder, and a second guide path communicating with the first guide path and passing through the guide part, And a second guide passage for discharging the fluid from the negative pressure region.

The details of other embodiments are included in the detailed description and drawings.

The effect of the gate valve assembly according to the present invention is as follows.

First, the fluid is alternately supplied and discharged through the cylinder flow path and the guide flow path, and the piston head is linearly reciprocated to selectively open and close the outflow path of the substrate, thereby improving the processing efficiency of the substrate .

Second, since at least two guide portions inserted into the piston head can be arranged to prevent the piston head from rotating during the reciprocating movement of the piston head, the operation reliability of the gate portion can be secured.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a layout of a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention,
Figure 2 is a perspective view of the gate valve assembly shown in Figure 1,
Figure 3 is a first operational view of the gate valve assembly shown in Figure 2;
Figure 4 is a second operational view of the gate valve assembly shown in Figure 2;
Figure 5 is a third operational view of the gate valve assembly shown in Figure 2;
6 is a first operating sectional view of the VI-VI line shown in FIG. 4,
Figure 7 is a second operational cross-sectional view of the gate valve assembly shown in Figure 4;

Hereinafter, a gate valve assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Although the gate valve assembly according to the embodiment of the present invention is described as being used in a cluster type substrate processing apparatus, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the substrate processing apparatus having a plurality of chambers It can be used in devices.

1 is a layout of a substrate processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

1, a substrate processing apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a load lock chamber 100, a transfer chamber 200, a process chamber 300, a buffer chamber 400, (700). Although the substrate processing apparatus 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention is configured in a cluster system as described above, the substrate processing apparatus 10 may be arranged in various shapes such as a serial system.

The load lock chamber 100 forms a space through which the substrate S to be processed is drawn and the substrate S to which the process is completed is drawn out. A transfer chamber 200 is disposed between the load lock chamber 100 and the process chamber 300 to guide movement of the substrate S between the load lock chamber 100 and the process chamber 300. The process chamber 300 is, as one embodiment of the present invention, disposed three with respect to the transfer chamber 200. The process chamber 300 forms a process space for performing various substrate processing processes such as etching or deposition.

The buffer chamber 400 is disposed between the load lock chamber 100, the process chamber 300 and the transfer chamber 200 and the buffer chamber 400 receives the gate valve assembly 700. The buffer chamber 400 forms a buffer space between the load lock chamber 100, the transfer chamber 200, and the process chamber 300 to maintain a respective vacuum atmosphere. The outflow path 500 is formed in the load lock chamber 100, the transfer chamber 200, the plurality of process chambers 300 and the plurality of buffer chambers 400,

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the gate valve assembly shown in Figure 1, Figure 3 is a first operating view of the gate valve assembly shown in Figure 2, Figure 4 is a second operating view of the gate valve assembly shown in Figure 2, 5 is a third operational view of the gate valve assembly shown in Fig.

2 to 5, the gate valve assembly 700 includes a gate portion 710, a cylinder 740, a piston 770, and a guide portion 790 (see Figs. 6 and 7). The gate valve assembly 700 is disposed in each buffer chamber 400 and includes a load lock chamber 100 and a transfer chamber 200 and a substrate S between the transfer chamber 200 and the plurality of process chambers 300. [ Out opening 500 of the main body 500 is opened or closed. The gate valve assembly 700 further includes an elevating portion 720, a driving portion 730, a branching portion 750, a tube 760, and a bellows 780 as an embodiment of the present invention . The structure of the elevating portion 720, the driving portion 730, the branching portion 750 and the tube 760 is only an embodiment of the present invention. According to the design change, the gate portion 710, the cylinder 740, Various structures may be applied that can raise and lower the guide portion 770 and the guide portion 790 and supply the fluid F to the cylinder 740 to open and close the outflow inlet 500 of the substrate S. [

The gate unit 710 opens and closes the outgoing inlet path 500 of the substrate S. The gate 710 has a shape corresponding to the shape of the outgoing inlet 500 of the substrate S. [ The gate portion 710 has a rectangular plate shape as an embodiment of the present invention. The gate portion 710 corresponds to the area of the outgoing inlet 500 which increases in accordance with the size of the substrate S, that is, the size of the substrate S. The gate portion 710 is reciprocated between an open position for opening the outgoing inlet passage 500 of the substrate S and a closed position for closing the substrate S in accordance with the linear reciprocating movement of the piston 770.

The elevating portion 720 is connected to the gate portion 710 to move the gate portion 710 up and down. In one embodiment of the present invention, the lift portion 720 may have a structure that can be lifted by the fluid F, or may have various known structures such as a structure that lifts the rack and the pinion structure . The elevating portion 720 moves the gate portion 710 up and down with respect to the outgoing inlet passage 500 of the substrate S.

The driving unit 730 is connected to the elevating unit 720 to provide a driving force to the elevating unit 720. The driving unit 730 has a configuration such as a motor or a fluid supply source that provides various driving forces in accordance with the structure of the elevating unit 720.

6 is a first operating cross-sectional view of the VI-VI line shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 7 is a second operational cross-sectional view of the gate valve assembly shown in FIG.

The cylinder 740 defines a receiving space 747 for receiving the piston 770 therein, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7. The cylinder 740 is connected to fluid supply means (not shown) for supplying the fluid F from the outside. The accommodating space 747 of the cylinder 740 is connected to the pressurizing area 748 to which the fluid F is supplied by the piston head 772 of the piston 770 to be described later and the pressurizing area 748 of the fluid F provided to the pressurizing area 748 And a negative pressure region 749 which is a region where the piston head 772 is moved by pressure. Specifically, the pressure region 748 is the region to which the fluid F is supplied and the negative pressure region 749 is the region where no fluid is supplied, that is, the negative pressure region 749 does not provide pressure to the piston head 772 .

As the fluid F supplied to the cylinder 740, air for generating air pressure is used as an embodiment of the present invention, but hydraulic oil for generating the hydraulic pressure may also be used. Since substantially pneumatic pressure has a quick response to hydraulic pressure, fluid F, as an embodiment of the present invention, uses air to generate pneumatic pressure for a fast process cycle. However, it is preferable to use hydraulic oil when the size of the gate portion 710 is large and heavy.

The cylinder 740 is disposed on the plate surface of the gate portion 710 in the embodiment of the present invention. Of course, the two cylinders 740 are only one embodiment of the present invention, and more than two can be arranged depending on the size of the gate 710. [ The cylinder 740 includes, as one embodiment of the present invention, a cylinder body 742, a cylinder head 744, and a cylinder flow passage 746. The cylinder body 742 is provided in a cylindrical shape having one side opened and a bellows 780 disposed on the other side to form a receiving space 747. One side of the cylinder body 742 has an open area corresponding to the cross sectional area of the cylindrical body 742 and the other side has a through area through which the piston rod 774 described later passes.

The cylinder head 744 closes an open side of the cylinder body 742. A guide portion 790 is coupled to the cylinder head 744. The cylinder fluid passage 746 is formed to supply the fluid F to the pressure area 748 and discharge the fluid F contained in the pressure area 748. [ That is, a part of the receiving space 747 becomes the pressing area 748 by the fluid F supplied to the cylinder channel 746, and the fluid F accommodated in the pressing area 748 flows into the cylinder channel 746 The pressurized region 748 becomes a negative pressure region 749. A cylinder flow path 746 is formed in the cylinder head 744.

The branching section 750 interconnects the two cylinders 740. The branching section 750 forms a flow path of the fluid F supplied to the two cylinders 740 and a flow of the fluid F discharged from the two cylinders 740.

The tube 760 is connected to the branch portion 750 to form a supply and discharge flow path for the fluid F. [ The tube 760 is made of a flexible material so as to correspond to the lifting and lowering of the gate 710 as an embodiment of the present invention. The tube 760 is connected to fluid supply means not shown in the present invention. Here, the tube 760 may be formed not only of a flexible material but also of a piping structure according to the structure of the lift portion 720.

The piston 770 is connected to the gate portion 710 and reciprocates the gate portion 710 linearly. The piston 770 is moved between an open position for opening the outflow path 500 of the substrate S and a closed position for closing the outflow path 500 of the substrate S by a linear reciprocation . The piston 770 includes, as one embodiment of the present invention, a piston head 772, a piston rod 774, and a guide groove 776.

The piston head 772 is received in the receiving space 747. The piston head 772 is linearly reciprocated according to the fluid F exiting the supply and reception space 747 into the receiving space 747. The piston head 772 divides the accommodation space 747 into a pressure area 748 to which the fluid F is supplied and a negative pressure area 749 to which the fluid F is not supplied. The pressure region 748 and the negative pressure region 749 defined by the piston head 772 are connected to the fluid F supplied to and discharged from the cylinder fluid channel 746 and the fluid F supplied to and discharged from the guide fluid channel 796 F). ≪ / RTI >

The piston rod 774 interconnects the gate portion 710 and the piston head 772. The piston rod 774 linearly reciprocates the gate portion 710 between the open position and the closed position in conjunction with the linear reciprocating movement of the piston head 772. [

The guide groove 776 is recessed in the piston head 772. The guide groove 776 is formed to be inserted into the guide portion 790. The guide groove 776 guides the sliding movement of the piston head 772 between the guide groove 776 and the guide portion 790. Substantially the guide groove 776 is formed through the piston head 772 along the linear reciprocating direction of the piston head 772. [ The guide grooves 776 correspond to the number of the guide portions 790 and are formed in plural numbers.

The bellows 780 surrounds the piston rod 774 received in the receiving space 747 and blocks the space between the receiving space 747 and the outside of the cylinder 740 from each other. The bellows 780 is disposed on the other side of the cylinder body 742 in detail to cut off a through area through which the piston rod 774 penetrates. Thus, the bellows 780 blocks the outside of the accommodation space 747 and the outside of the cylinder 740 to prevent the pressure change of the accommodation space 747 from occurring. Further, the bellows 780 contacts the piston head 772 and is expanded and contracted in accordance with the linear reciprocating movement of the piston head 772.

Next, the guide portion 790 is disposed along the moving direction of the piston 770. At least two guide portions 790 are disposed at regular intervals. As the guide portions 790 are disposed at two equal intervals, the piston head 772 can be prevented from rotating during the linear reciprocating movement of the piston head 772. The two guide portions 790 are inserted into the two guide grooves 776 to slide the piston head 772 in accordance with the pressure of the fluid F supplied to the pressing region 748 .

The guide portion 790 of the present invention includes a first guide portion 792, a second guide portion 744, and a guide passage 796. The first guide portion 792 has threads to be screwed into the cylinder head 744. The second guide portion 744 extends from the first guide portion 792 and is inserted into the guide groove 776. The second guide portion 744 is slidably movable with respect to the guide groove 776 to guide the linear reciprocating movement of the piston head 772.

The guide passage 796 is formed through the guide portion 790 and discharges the fluid F from the supply and reception space 747 of the fluid F into the accommodation space 747. The guide passage 796 includes a first guide passage 796a and a second guide passage 796b. The first guide passage 796a is formed in the cylinder 740 to supply the fluid F from the outside and discharge the fluid F from the cylinder 740. [ The first guide passage 796a is formed in the cylinder head 744 in detail. The second guide passage 796b communicates with the first guide passage 796a and is formed through the guide portion 790. [ The second guide passage 796b supplies the fluid F to the pressure region 748 and discharges the fluid F from the negative pressure region 749. [

The operation of the gate valve assembly 700 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

As shown in Fig. 6, the gate portion 710 is located in the open position to open the drawing-in path 500 of the substrate S. [ The fluid F is supplied through the guide passage 796 of the guide portion 790 and the left region of the accommodation space 747 with respect to the piston head 772 is pressed against the pressurizing region 748). At this time, on the right side of the piston head 772, the fluid F is discharged through the cylinder fluid passage 746 to become the negative pressure region 749.

7, when the fluid F is supplied through the cylinder fluid passage 746, the right side relative to the piston head 772 becomes a pressurizing region 748 that provides pressure to the piston head 772. As shown in Fig. At this time, the fluid F is supplied through the cylinder passage 746 and the fluid F accommodated in the left pressing region 748 with respect to the piston head 772 is discharged through the guide passage 796, The negative pressure region 749 is changed.

When the fluid F is supplied from the cylinder fluid passage 746 and the fluid F is discharged into the guide passage 796, the piston head 772 is linearly moved to move the gate portion 710 from the open position to the closed position. The gate portion 710 is moved from the open position to the closed position in accordance with the pressure provided to the piston head 772 so that the outgoing inlet passage 500 of the substrate S is closed.

When the fluid F is supplied to the cylinder channel 746 and the fluid F is discharged to the guide channel 796, the piston head 772 is moved from the closed position to the open position, The piston head 772 is moved from the open position to the closed position when the fluid F is supplied to the cylinder channel 746 and the fluid F is discharged to the cylinder channel 746. [ That is, when the fluid F is supplied to the guide passage 796 and the fluid F is supplied to the guide passage 796 when the fluid F is supplied to the cylinder passage 746, (F) is discharged, and the pressure region 748 and the negative pressure region 749 are alternately changed. As the pressure region 748 and the negative pressure region 749 are alternately changed, the piston head 772 is slid along the guide portion 790, so that the gate portion 710 is reciprocated between the open position and the closed position, .

As a result, the fluid is alternately supplied and discharged through the cylinder flow path and the guide flow path, and the piston head linearly reciprocates to selectively open and close the outflow path of the substrate, thereby improving the processing efficiency of the substrate .

In addition, since at least two guide portions inserted into the piston head can be arranged to prevent the piston head from rotating during the reciprocating motion of the piston head, the operation reliability of the gate portion can be secured.

While the present invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be practical exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, . Therefore, it should be understood that the above-described embodiments are illustrative in all aspects and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the detailed description and all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalents are to be construed as being included within the scope of the present invention do.

10: substrate processing apparatus 400: buffer chamber
500: withdrawal inlet 700: gate valve assembly
710: gate part 740: cylinder
742: cylinder body 744: cylinder head
746: Cylinder flow path 747: Capacity space
748: pressure area 749: negative pressure area
770: Piston 772: Piston head
774: Piston rod 776: Guide groove
790: guide portion 792: first guide portion
794: second guide portion 796: guide channel
796a: first guide passage 796b: second guide passage

Claims (9)

CLAIMS 1. A gate valve assembly for opening and closing a draw-in inlet passage of a substrate drawn into and out of a chamber,
A gate portion for opening / closing the outgoing inlet of the substrate;
A piston connected to the gate portion and reciprocating the gate portion;
A cylinder defining a receiving space for receiving the piston, the cylinder having a fluid passage for supplying the fluid to the containing space and a cylinder channel for discharging the fluid from the containing space;
And at least two guides disposed along the moving direction of the piston to guide the reciprocating movement of the piston and to guide the fluid to the accommodating space and to discharge the fluid from the accommodating space. Valve assembly.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the accommodation space is divided into a pressurized region to which the fluid is supplied and a negative pressure region to which the fluid is discharged based on the piston,
Wherein the pressure region and the negative pressure region are alternately changed in accordance with the fluid supplied to and discharged from the cylinder passage and the guide passage.
3. The method of claim 2,
The fluid is discharged through the guide channel when the fluid is supplied to the cylinder channel, and the fluid is discharged to the cylinder channel when the fluid is supplied to the guide channel, thereby alternating between the pressurized region and the negative pressure region . ≪ / RTI >
The method according to claim 1,
The piston,
A piston head accommodated in the accommodation space and linearly reciprocating according to a fluid supplied to the accommodation space and discharged from the accommodation space;
A piston rod interconnecting the gate portion and the piston head;
And a guide groove formed in the piston head and into which the guide portion is inserted.
5. The method of claim 4,
The gate valve assembly comprising:
Further comprising a bellows surrounding the piston rod accommodated in the accommodating space and intercepting the accommodating space and the outside of the cylinder so as to prevent a pressure change in the accommodating space.
6. The method of claim 5,
Wherein the cylinder includes a cylinder body having one side opened and the other side forming a receiving space in which the bellows is disposed and a cylinder head closing an opened side of the cylinder body,
Wherein at least two guide portions are disposed in the cylinder head.
7. The method according to claim 1 or 6,
Wherein the at least two guide portions are disposed at equal intervals in a cross-sectional shape in the transverse direction of the movement direction of the piston.
6. The method of claim 5,
Wherein the guide portion is threaded to the cylinder head.
3. The method of claim 2,
In the guide passage,
A first guide passage formed in the cylinder for supplying a fluid from the outside and discharging the fluid from the cylinder;
And a second guide passage communicating with the first guide passage and penetrating the guide portion to supply the fluid to the pressure region and discharge the fluid from the negative pressure region.

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