WO2019149315A1

WO2019149315A1 - Vacuum chamber and method for producing a vacuum chamber

Info

Publication number: WO2019149315A1
Application number: PCT/DE2019/100087
Authority: WO
Inventors: Andreas MÜLLER; Michael Wüstrich; Erik Ansorge
Original assignee: Meyer Burger (Germany) Gmbh
Priority date: 2018-01-30
Filing date: 2019-01-28
Publication date: 2019-08-08
Also published as: DE102018101966A1; CN110094396A; CN210423307U

Abstract

The invention relates to a vacuum chamber or part of a vacuum chamber comprising multiple components, in particular chamber walls and connection flanges, which form the vacuum chamber. The invention also relates to a method for producing the vacuum chamber and to methods for providing the vacuum chamber. The aim of the invention consists in disclosing a vacuum chamber which can be produced in an inexpensive manner and a method for producing the vacuum chamber. This is achieved by a vacuum chamber which has an adhesive connection that connects at least two components of the vacuum chamber.

Description

Vacuum chamber and method for producing a vacuum chamber

The present invention relates to a vacuum chamber or a part of a vacuum chamber with a plurality of the vacuum chamber forming components, in particular chamber walls and connecting flanges, a method for producing the vacuum chamber and a method for processing the vacuum chamber.

Vacuum chambers have many applications in research and industry. In the

Vacuum chambers can be provided with a vacuum or a clean gas filling, so that then within the vacuum chamber, for example, an analysis method or a manufacturing method can be performed.

Vacuum chambers are partially made in one piece in the prior art. For example, a recess is produced from an aluminum block by milling, which later than

Chamber volume of a vacuum chamber is used. A disadvantage of such a manufacturing process is poor utilization of the raw material. For the production of large vacuum chambers with dimensions larger than one meter, correspondingly large and expensive portal milling machines are required. Limited availability of such milling machines can result in delivery bottlenecks of vacuum chambers or milled parts of a vacuum chamber.

In the prior art, partial welding processes are used to fabricate vacuum chambers to add individual walls to a chamber or to secure pipes in holes in walls. A disadvantage of welding is the resulting distortion of the parts welded together, which requires reworking.

The object of the invention is to show a cost-producible vacuum chamber and a method for producing the vacuum chamber.

The object is achieved by a vacuum chamber which has an adhesive bond connecting at least two components of the vacuum chamber. The vacuum chamber according to the invention thus has one or more adhesive bonds, with which, for example, a plurality of individual chamber walls are connected to an open chamber container. The open chamber container can be closed by a chamber lid, wherein a part of a vacuum chamber, a complete vacuum chamber is formed. An adhesive bond may also connect a pipe or flange to a mating bore in a chamber wall. The adhesive bond is under Using an adhesive made. In this case, the application and curing of the adhesive is often carried out at such low temperatures that the components glued together are precisely positioned and the components retain their original shape during joining and do not warp. Unlike welded components, glued components require little or no post-processing. For welded components, however, a

Post-processing may be required, for example, by straightening, milling or pickling. Compared to the Fierstellung a vacuum chamber made of a metal block much less starting material is required for the Fierstellung the glued vacuum chamber. The individual components of a glued vacuum chamber, for example, five substantially flat lower chamber walls of a cuboid vacuum chamber, are easy to produce. Individual walls require much less storage space than entire vacuum chambers. The components of the vacuum chambers according to the invention can be manufactured in different sizes and stored to save space. As a result, vacuum chambers according to the invention can be produced and offered modularly with different, small graduated grid dimensions. If aluminum components are glued instead of screwed, then the problematic creeping of screw connections in aluminum can be avoided by the adhesive bond. Glued chambers can be made quickly with simple and inexpensive tools. In the prior art, the use of adhesives in the Fierstellung of vacuum chambers was prohibited because adhesives were considered not vacuum suitable, for example, because plastic adhesives were attributed to large permeation rates. For example, the ban was given as a design rule to be followed by designers.

By using suitable adhesives and properly designed adhesive surfaces can

Surprisingly, nevertheless sufficiently tight vacuum chambers are produced. In part, the adhesive bonds are also used for Fierstellung a structure, such as a cooling channel on the outside of a chamber wall, where the vacuum tightness is irrelevant.

The contact surfaces on the adhesive bond can be constructed with such an orientation or gradation or combination of alignment and grading and with a thickness of the components, in particular the chamber walls, that all forces acting on the adhesive surface forces, in particular compressive shear forces, peel forces and other forces under for the adhesive critical limits are limited. The reliability of the adhesive bonds is thereby ensured by the fact that the forces occurring at least to a substantial extent as

unproblematic pressure forces are intercepted, because permissible limits for pressure forces of the adhesive are greater than limits of other forces. Peeling forces pull the glued component off the adhesive surface, with limits for permissible peeling forces are smaller than the limits of the compressive forces. Consequently, compliance with small peel forces is an important constructive goal in the construction of the adhesive surface.

The peel forces occurring on the adhesive joints of the chamber can be minimized. The

Minimization can take place both on a simulation model and on real measured values.

The contact surfaces on the adhesive joint of a vacuum chamber or a part thereof may be constructed so that the largest forces acting on the adhesive bond are compressive forces. This means that compressive forces or compressive force components on the adhesive bond are substantially larger than other forces or force components. Typical forces acting on walls of a vacuum chamber are atmospheric pressure forces pushing the walls towards the evacuated chamber interior. The adhesive surfaces or parts of the adhesive surfaces may have an orientation in which the contact surfaces are compressed so charged to pressure.

The contact surfaces on the adhesive joint of a vacuum chamber or a part thereof can also be designed so that the at least one step portion of a stepped

Adhesive bonding acting compressive forces maximized and thereby other forces acting on the adhesive bond forces, in particular peeling forces and shear forces are minimized. For example, the adhesive surfaces have a step shape and at least a portion of the step shape is of

atmospheric pressure loaded with a compressive force. It often does not have to be the entire adhesive surface oriented so that the existing force acts as a compressive force on the adhesive surface, it is often sufficient if the force acts as a compressive force on a portion of a step shape to sufficiently limit shear forces and peel forces on the adhesive surface.

The contact surfaces on the adhesive bond may have a roughness less than or equal to Rz 40 and greater than or equal to Rz 16. The roughness gives the glue hold. Positive results were made with a roughness Rz 16, where the average surface roughness in the direction of the surface normal is 16 pm. This roughness is a good compromise between a good adhesion on the one hand and a complete filling of depressions with the adhesive on the other hand. The avoidance of unfilled cavities at the adhesive surfaces is desirable for achieving low leakage rates. The

Determination of other suitable, larger or smaller roughnesses adapted to the particular adhesive is at the discretion of a person skilled in the art.

The components glued together may consist of the same or different materials, in particular steel and / or aluminum. Vacuum chambers are usually Made of stainless steel or aluminum. It can be glued components of different materials together, for example, several

Steel components or several aluminum components. The vacuum chamber according to the invention can also consist of different materials, glued together

Have components. For example, an aluminum chamber may have glued steel flanges.

The adhesive may be a commercially available two-component epoxy resin adhesive. In addition, other suitable adhesives can be used, both other plastic adhesives and other types of adhesives, such as ceramic adhesives. Next, the adhesive may contain additives that are chemical, mechanical or electrical

Influence properties of the adhesive. For example, embedded in the adhesive metal particles to increase the electrical conductivity of the adhesive. This can be advantageous, for example, if a plasma process using electromagnetic waves is carried out in the chamber. In such a process, not only does the adhesive bond

Requirement to be vacuum tight, but also the requirement to include the electromagnetic energy in the chamber. One measure to achieve this goal may be that the length of the bond along the cross-section is longer than a quarter of the wavelength of the electromagnetic waves used. The conductivity of the adhesive can be used for the conductive connection of individual components, so that the electrical potentials are defined at the individual components of the vacuum chamber.

In one embodiment of the invention, the adhesive bond of the vacuum chamber according to the invention or a part thereof essentially extends from an outside of the vacuum chamber provided at atmospheric pressure to an inside of the vacuum chamber provided under vacuum pressure. In this case, the adhesive bond extends across the entire wall of the vacuum chamber and thus is itself a part of the wall. Adhesive connections can also be arranged completely within a vacuum chamber, for example around

To secure room divider walls within the vacuum chamber.

In another embodiment, the adhesive bond of the vacuum chamber is used to form a cooling channel by the adhesive bond a groove cover for closing a groove attached to the edge of the groove or by attaching an open hollow profile on a surface. On other devices than vacuum chambers can be connected to a component of the Device, a cooling channel by sticking a lid on a groove, be made by sticking a profile on a surface or by a similar adhesive method.

Various fields of application of adhesive bonds can be combined with each other. The production of cooling ducts with adhesive bonds can replace the production of cooling ducts by deep hole drilling in the volume of chamber walls. In the production of

Cooling channels by milling a groove, e.g. In a chamber wall and closing the groove by a glued groove cover different, such as meandering geometries can be produced precisely and at low cost. A cooling channel can also be produced by pressing and / or gluing a cooling hose into a groove. This causes the

Adhesive bond better mechanical stability and better heat transfer between the cooling hose and the edges of the groove than in a pressed-only and not glued cooling hose.

A vacuum chamber according to the invention can be several same, bonded together

Have system components of a vacuum chamber system. The vacuum chamber can thus be made of a modular system, within the modular system, the production of different sized vacuum chambers using different many, same size

System blocks is provided. For example, a process chamber with six plasma sources can be composed of system components, in each of which two plasma sources can be built.

The adhesive bond may be formed in a gap, wherein the gap is set in particular by spacers, dowel pins, screws or the like to a gap width of 0.1 to 0.3 mm. The gap defines the thickness of the adhesive, which in turn fills the gap to form the adhesive bond. The width of the gap corresponding increased thickness of the adhesive may be advantageous both in terms of ease of manufacture and on the reliability of the adhesive bond.

The vacuum chamber may have a frame and at least one adhered to the frame

Have chamber wall. Glued chamber walls therefore do not have to be joined directly to one another; other components, in particular frames, can also be involved in the connection between two chamber walls or in the fastening of a chamber wall. On an edge or corner with at least one adhesive bond, an angle element or a corner element may be glued. The angle element or the corner element can serve as a mechanical reinforcement, which improves the load capacity and durability of the vacuum chamber in the area of the reinforced edge or corner. A vacuum chamber may also include the frame and the angle member or the corner member or more such components.

The object of the invention is also achieved by a method for producing a vacuum chamber according to the invention or a part thereof, wherein the vacuum chamber is produced by bonding at least two components to form at least one adhesive bond.

Bonding is a cost-effective manufacturing process that has found its way into other technical areas such as vehicle construction or aircraft construction and there others because of its advantages

Joining has replaced. The present invention breaks with the prejudice that bonded joints are useless for the manufacture of vacuum chambers. Furthermore, the object of the invention is achieved by a process for the preparation of a vacuum chamber according to the invention, wherein the process comprises a partial process step of dissolving the adhesive bond by heating the same, and / or the process comprises a partial process step of

Restoring an adhesive bond has. Adhesive bonds, for example those made using epoxy adhesives, can be obtained by heating the

Adhesive bond to be solved via a softening temperature. This property of

Adhesive bonds can be used, for example, a glued defective component of the vacuum chamber, beispielswese a damaged flange, by an undamaged

Replace component and thus repair the vacuum chamber.

The present invention will be further illustrated below with reference to figures. Show

1 is a three-dimensional view of a vacuum chamber,

2 is a plan view of a part of the vacuum chamber,

3 is a vertical cross section of a part of a vacuum chamber,

4 shows a three-dimensional view of a vacuum chamber with cooling channels,

5 is a three-dimensional view of the bottom of a vacuum chamber,

Fig. 6 shows the cross section through a chamber lid with glued flange and Fig. 7 different variants of glued joints. 1 shows a vacuum chamber 1 according to the invention, in which the lower five chamber walls 2 are connected to one another by adhesive bonds 4. The sixth chamber wall, the detachable lid 10, closes the vacuum chamber 1 using a gasket. With adhesive bonds 4 not only chamber walls 2 can be connected to each other, but also others

Components, for example, connection flanges 3 on a chamber wall. 2

In Fig. 2, the vacuum chamber of Fig. 1 is shown schematically without add-on components

removed cover in a plan view of the bonded together side walls of the vacuum chamber 1 shown. The outer visible chamber walls 2 each have laterally in each case a step-shaped to the adjacent chamber wall 2 complementarily shaped adhesive surface. There, an adhesive bond 4 is formed in each case by using an adhesive. In the illustrated embodiment, the adhesive surface each has a step-shaped course. At a

Force effect of atmospheric pressure on the chamber walls 2, one or two sections of the step shape or the staircase form are loaded by compressive forces, these outweigh the peel forces on the adhesive bond 4. Peeling forces are kept as low as possible by the structural design of the adhesive surfaces.

Fig. 3 shows the opened vacuum chamber 1 schematically in a vertical cross-section. In this view, the stepped shape of the adhesive surfaces 4 between the bottom plate and the

Side walls of the vacuum chamber 1 can be seen. The two horizontal sections of the step shape of these adhesive surfaces are loaded by the weight forces of the side walls with compressive forces. The atmospheric external pressure presses the sidewalls against the central vertical portion of the stepped adhesive surface. Overall, these adhesive surfaces are therefore mainly loaded with compressive forces.

4 schematically illustrates further applications of adhesive bonds 4. In the vacuum chamber 1 'according to the invention, not only the side walls and the bottom plate are glued together. In addition, the cover 10 of the vacuum chamber 1 'on a cooling channel 5, which is made by sticking a groove cover 6 on a groove 7. In the front wall shown on the right side of a cooling hose is pressed into the groove 7. In the illustrated

Embodiment is in the cooling hose to a stainless steel corrugated tube, which is plastically deformed when pressed into the groove. Flood chambers can be filled with thermal paste or a thermally conductive adhesive. At the other, shown on the front left Side wall is another way of forming cooling or tempering channels illustrated. At this point, a cooling channel 5 by gluing of U-shaped

Profile sections of an open hollow section 8 made on the planar side wall.

In Fig. 5, a vacuum chamber according to the invention is shown from below, in the illustrated

Embodiment has cooling channels 5 with pressed cooling hoses. In addition, feet 9 glued to the bottom of the chamber are visible in this view.

Fig. 6 shows the cross section through the lid 10 of a vacuum chamber 1, in which a flange 3 is glued.

FIG. 7 schematically shows different variants of adhesive bonds 4 between chamber walls 2 and forces F _p , F _n , F _s occurring thereon. Due to the pressure difference between Normalduck outside and vacuum inside in the vacuum chamber 1 act on the chamber walls 2 pressure forces F _p . If the adhesive surfaces, as shown in Fig. 7 in the upper right corner and in the lower right corner, have stepped portions, then the compressive forces F _{p act} directly as normal forces F _n on the corresponding stepped portions, as in the right bottom corner with power arrows of the respective compressive force F _{p is} sketched.

In the lower left corner, the glued joint is inclined at an angle of 45 ° to the

Pressure forces F _p and the chamber walls 2 aligned. The compressive forces F _p can here each be decomposed into a normal force F _n perpendicular to the adhesive surface of the adhesive bond 4 and a shear force F _s parallel to the adhesive surface, the normal force F _n acting as a compressive force on the adhesive bond 4. At least part of the occurring forces F _p is intercepted by the oblique orientation of the adhesive bond 4 relative to the chamber wall 2 as a normal pressure force F _n to the adhesive surface 4, so that remaining forces or force components, such as the shear forces F _s shown here, remain below admissible limit values.

In the corner shown on the top left, it is outlined that the angle of orientation of the adhesive bond can be optimized so that the shear forces F _s emanating from the upper chamber wall 2 and the smaller left side wall 2 are the same. It can be seen from the force triangles that the greater compressive force F _{p is} absorbed by the upper chamber wall 2 predominantly as a normal force F _n or as a compressive force normal to the adhesive surface.

At step-shaped adhesive surfaces, the length of the individual step portions may be designed in proportion to the forces occurring, as it is outlined in the corner top right in Fig. 7. Next the sketched simple variants of glued joints 4 more sophisticated forms such as tongue and groove joints and Flinterschneidungen are possible at the discretion of a person skilled in the art. In any case, acts at least a portion of the forces occurring as a normal compressive force F _n on the adhesive joint 4 a.

The presented options and embodiments of the invention may, at the discretion of a person skilled in the art, also be combined with one another differently than is explicitly explained here. Randomly described features may not be used as a mandatory combination of features

be misunderstood.

reference numeral

1, 1 'vacuum chamber

2 chamber wall

3 flange

4 adhesive bond

5 cooling channel

6 groove cover

7 in cooling groove pressed cooling hose

8 open hollow profile

9 feet

10 lids

F _p compressive force between atmosphere and vacuum

F _n normal force on an adhesive bond

F _s shearing force on an adhesive bond

Claims

claims

1. Vacuum chamber (1, 1 ') or part of a vacuum chamber (1, 1') with the Mehren

Vacuum chamber (1, 1 ') forming components, in particular chamber walls (2) and / or at least one connecting flange (3),

characterized in that

the vacuum chamber (1, 1 ') has an adhesive bond (4) connecting at least two components of the vacuum chamber (1, 1').

2. Vacuum chamber (1, 1 ') or part of a vacuum chamber (1, 1') according to claim 1, characterized in that contact surfaces on the adhesive bond (4) with such an orientation or gradation or combination of alignment and gradation and with such Thickness of the components, in particular the chamber walls (2) are constructed so that all acting on the adhesive surface forces, namely compressive forces (F _n ), shear forces (F _s ) and peel forces and other forces are limited to critical limits for the adhesive.

3. Vacuum chamber (1, 1 ') or part of a vacuum chamber (1, 1') according to claim 2, characterized in that the adhesive joints (4) of the chamber occurring peel forces are all minimized.

4. Vacuum chamber (1, 1 ') or part of a vacuum chamber (1, 1') according to claim 1, characterized in that contact surfaces on the adhesive bond (4) are constructed so that the largest forces acting on the adhesive bond (4) normal Pressure forces (F _n ) are or that on at least one step portion of a step-shaped adhesive bond (4) normally acting compressive forces (F _n ) maximized and thereby other on the adhesive bond (4) acting forces, in particular peel forces and shear forces (Fs) are minimized.

5. Vacuum chamber (1, 1 ') or part of a vacuum chamber (1, 1') according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the contact surfaces have a roughness less than or equal to Rz 40 and greater than or equal to Rz 16.

6. Vacuum chamber (1, 1 ') or part of a vacuum chamber (1, 1') according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the components bonded together consist of the same or different materials, in particular steel and / or aluminum.

7. Vacuum chamber (1, 1 ') or part of a vacuum chamber (1, 1') according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that as an adhesive

Two-component epoxy resin adhesive is used.

8. Vacuum chamber (1, 1 ') or part of a vacuum chamber (1, 1') according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the adhesive contains additives which influence the chemical, mechanical or electrical properties of the adhesive or the vacuum capability.

9. Vacuum chamber (1, 1 ') or part of a vacuum chamber (1, 1') according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the adhesive bond substantially from an atmospheric pressure provided on the outside of the vacuum chamber (1, 1 ') extends to a vacuum provided on the inside of the respective component of the vacuum chamber (1, 1 ').

10. Vacuum chamber (1, 1 ') or part of a vacuum chamber (1, 1') according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that an adhesive bond (4) for forming a cooling channel (5) is inserted by the adhesive bond (4 ) a groove cover (6) for closing a groove attached to the edge of the groove or by a cooling hose (7) is pressed into a groove and / or glued or by the

Adhesive connection (4) an open hollow profile (8) attached to a surface.

11. Vacuum chamber (1, 1 ') or part of a vacuum chamber (1, 1') according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the vacuum chamber (1, 1 ') has a plurality of identical, glued together system components of a vacuum chamber system.

12 vacuum chamber (1, 1 ') or part of a vacuum chamber (1, 1') according to at least one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the adhesive connection (4) is formed in a gap, wherein the gap in particular by spacers, dowel pins, Screws or the like is set to a gap width of 0.1 to 0.3 mm.

13. Vacuum chamber (1, 1 ') or part of a vacuum chamber (1, 1') according to claim 1, characterized in that the vacuum chamber have a frame and at least one adhered to the frame chamber wall and / or that on an edge or corner with at least one adhesive bond, an angle element or a corner element is glued.

14. A method for producing a vacuum chamber (1, 1 ') or a part of a

Vacuum chamber (1, 1 '), characterized in that the vacuum chamber (1, 1') has properties according to at least one of the preceding claims and is prepared by bonding at least two components to form at least one adhesive bond (4).

15. A method for preparing a vacuum chamber (1, 1 '), characterized in that the vacuum chamber (1, 1') has properties according to at least one of claims 1- 13 and the method comprises a process substep of releasing the adhesive bond (4) by heating has the same, and / or the method a

Method sub-step of restoring an adhesive bond (4).