WO2021130847A1

WO2021130847A1 - Plasma apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2021130847A1
Application number: PCT/JP2019/050550
Authority: WO
Inventors: 慎二瀧川; 卓也岩田; 航日下; 一輝柳原
Original assignee: 株式会社Ｆｕｊｉ
Priority date: 2019-12-24
Filing date: 2019-12-24
Publication date: 2021-07-01
Also published as: JP7248821B2; CN114830834A; JPWO2021130847A1

Abstract

The present invention aims to provide a plasma apparatus capable of making more accurate determinations about the state of the apparatus when an error has occurred.　This plasma apparatus comprises: an error detection device that detects errors; and a control device that stores, for each prescribed time period, state information pertaining to the state of the plasma apparatus and stores error state information pertaining to the state of the plasma apparatus when the error detection device has detected an error.

Description

Plasma device

The present disclosure relates to a plasma device that generates plasma.

Conventionally, various plasma devices for generating plasma have been proposed. For example, in the plasma apparatus of Patent Document 1 below, a processing gas is supplied to a reaction chamber in which a pair of electrodes are arranged, and a discharge is generated between the pair of electrodes to turn the processing gas into plasma. This plasma device stores the state of the device in a storage device.

International Publication No. WO2019 / 145990

In this type of plasma device, for example, information related to the state of the device is stored in a storage device as a history at regular intervals. When the plasma device detects an abnormality in the device, it stores the history from the time when the abnormality is detected to a predetermined time before in association with the generated abnormality. However, in this storage process, since only the history at regular time intervals is stored, it is difficult to determine the state of the plasma apparatus when an abnormality occurs from the history.

The present disclosure has been proposed in view of the above problems, and an object of the present disclosure is to provide a plasma device capable of more accurately determining the state of the device at the time of occurrence of an abnormality.

In the present specification, the abnormality detection device for detecting an abnormality and the state information related to the state of the plasma device are stored at predetermined time intervals, and the abnormality related to the state of the plasma device when the abnormality is detected by the abnormality detection device. A plasma device including a control device for storing state information is disclosed.

According to the plasma device of the present disclosure, it is possible to store the state information related to the state of the device at predetermined time intervals and the abnormal state information of the device when an abnormality is detected. As a result, the state at the time of abnormality can be grasped from the abnormal state information, and the state before and after the abnormality can be grasped from the state information. Therefore, it is possible to more accurately determine the state of the device when an abnormality occurs.

It is a figure which shows the plasma apparatus. It is a perspective view of a plasma head. It is sectional drawing which cut the plasma head in the X direction and Z direction at the position of the electrode and the plasma passage on the main body side. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of a plasma apparatus. It is a block diagram which shows the connection structure of a current sensor, a pressure sensor and the like. It is a figure for demonstrating the process of storing state information, abnormal state information, setting information, and operating time information. It is a figure for demonstrating the process of storing the state information, the abnormal state information, the setting information, and the operation time information of another example. It is a figure which shows the display screen of the operation part. It is a figure which shows the display screen of the operation part. It is a figure which shows the display screen of the operation part. It is a figure which shows the display screen of the operation part.

Hereinafter, one form for implementing the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the figures. As shown in FIG. 1, the plasma device 10 of the present embodiment includes a plasma head 11, a robot 13, and a control box 15. The plasma head 11 is detachably attached to the tip of the robot 13. The robot 13 is, for example, a serial link type robot (also called an articulated robot). The plasma head 11 can irradiate plasma gas while being attached to the tip of the robot 13. The plasma head 11 can be moved three-dimensionally by being moved according to the drive of the robot 13 and being able to change its direction.

The control box 15 is mainly composed of a computer and controls the plasma device 10 in an integrated manner. The control box 15 has a power supply unit 15A that supplies electric power to the plasma head 11 and a gas supply unit 15B that supplies processing gas to the plasma head 11. The power supply unit 15A is connected to the plasma head 11 via a power cable 16 and a control cable 18. The power supply unit 15A controls the voltage applied to the electrode 33 (see FIG. 3) of the plasma head 11 and controls the temperature of the heater 43 (see FIG. 4), which will be described later, based on the control of the control box 15.

Further, the gas supply unit 15B is connected to the plasma head 11 via a plurality of (four in this embodiment) gas supply tubes 19. The gas supply unit 15B supplies a reaction gas (an example of a processing gas), a carrier gas (an example of a processing gas), and a heat gas (an example of a processing gas), which will be described later, to the plasma head 11 based on the control of the control box 15. The control box 15 controls the gas supply unit 15B, and controls the amount and the flow velocity of the processing gas supplied from the gas supply unit 15B to the plasma head 11. Then, the plasma device 10 operates the robot 13 under the control of the control box 15 to irradiate the object W placed on the table 17 with plasma gas from the plasma head 11.

Further, the control box 15 includes an operation unit 15C having a touch panel and various switches. The control box 15 displays various setting screens, operating states (for example, gas supply state, etc.) and the like on the touch panel of the operation unit 15C. Further, the control box 15 receives various information by inputting an operation to the operation unit 15C.

The plasma head 11 is detachably provided with respect to the mounting plate 13A provided at the tip of the robot 13. As a result, the plasma head 11 can be replaced with a different type of plasma head 11. As shown in FIG. 2, the plasma head 11 includes a plasma generation unit 21, a heat gas supply unit 23, a nozzle 35, and the like. The plasma generation unit 21 generates plasma gas by converting the processing gas supplied from the gas supply unit 15B (see FIG. 1) of the control box 15 into plasma. Further, the plasma head 11 heats the processing gas supplied from the gas supply unit 15B by the heater 43 (see FIG. 4) provided inside to generate heat gas. The temperature of the heat gas is, for example, 600 ° C to 800 ° C. The plasma head 11 of the present embodiment ejects the plasma gas generated in the plasma generation unit 21 together with the heated heat gas to the object W to be processed shown in FIG. The processing gas is supplied to the plasma head 11 from the upstream side to the downstream side in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. The plasma head 11 may not be provided with a heater 43 for heating the heat gas. That is, the plasma apparatus of the present disclosure may have a configuration that does not use heat gas.

As shown in FIG. 2, on the connection surface 11A of the plasma head 11, a mounting portion 11B for attaching the power cable 16 is provided in a substantially central portion. Further, at one end of the connection surface 11A, a mounting portion 11C for mounting the control cable 18 is provided. Further, a mounting portion 11D for mounting the gas supply tube 19 is provided on the side opposite to the mounting portion 11C with the mounting portion 11B sandwiched between them. The mounting portion 11D is connected to, for example, a mounting member 25 provided at the tip of the gas supply tube 19. The mounting portion 11D and the mounting member 25 are, for example, so-called one-touch joints, and the gas supply tube 19 is detachably mounted on the plasma head 11.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the plasma generation unit 21 includes a head body unit 31, a pair of electrodes 33, a nozzle 35, and the like. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the positions of the pair of electrodes 33 and a plurality of plasma passages 71 on the main body side, which will be described later, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. The head main body 31 is formed of a ceramic having high heat resistance, and a reaction chamber 37 for generating plasma gas is formed inside the head main body 31. Each of the pair of electrodes 33 has, for example, a cylindrical shape, and is fixed in a state where its tip is projected into the reaction chamber 37. In the following description, the pair of electrodes 33 may be simply referred to as electrodes 33. Further, the direction in which the pair of electrodes 33 are arranged is referred to as the X direction, the axial direction of the cylindrical electrodes 33 is referred to as the Z direction, and the directions orthogonal to the X direction and the Z direction are referred to as the Y direction.

The heat gas supply unit 23 includes a gas pipe 41, a heater 43, a connecting unit 45, and the like. The gas pipe 41 and the heater 43 are attached to the outer peripheral surface of the head main body 31 and are covered with the cover 47 shown in FIG. The gas pipe 41 is connected to the gas supply unit 15B of the control box 15 via the gas supply tube 19 (see FIG. 1). Heating gas (for example, air) is supplied to the gas pipe 41 from the gas supply unit 15B. The heater 43 is attached in the middle of the gas pipe 41. The heater 43 heats the heating gas flowing through the gas pipe 41 to generate heat gas. Further, the heater 43 is provided with a thermocouple 92 (see FIG. 5) for detecting the heating temperature of the heater 43.

As shown in FIG. 4, the connecting portion 45 connects the gas pipe 41 to the nozzle 35. When the nozzle 35 is attached to the head main body 31, the connecting portion 45 is connected at one end to the gas pipe 41 and the other end to the heat gas passage 51 formed in the nozzle 35. Heat gas is supplied to the heat gas passage 51 via the gas pipe 41.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a part of the outer peripheral portion of the electrode 33 is covered with an electrode cover 53 made of an insulator such as ceramics. The electrode cover 53 has a substantially hollow tubular shape, and openings are formed at both ends in the longitudinal direction. The gap between the inner peripheral surface of the electrode cover 53 and the outer peripheral surface of the electrode 33 functions as a gas passage 55. The opening on the downstream side of the electrode cover 53 is connected to the reaction chamber 37. The lower end of the electrode 33 projects from the opening on the downstream side of the electrode cover 53.

Further, a reaction gas flow path 61 and a pair of carrier gas flow paths 63 are formed inside the head main body 31. The reaction gas flow path 61 is provided in a substantially central portion of the head main body portion 31, is connected to the gas supply portion 15B via the gas supply tube 19 (see FIG. 1), and supplies the reaction gas supplied from the gas supply portion 15B. It flows into the reaction chamber 37. Further, the pair of carrier gas flow paths 63 are arranged at positions sandwiching the reaction gas flow path 61 in the X direction. Each of the pair of carrier gas flow paths 63 is connected to the gas supply unit 15B via each of the pair of gas supply tubes 19 (see FIG. 1), and the carrier gas is supplied from the gas supply unit 15B. The carrier gas flow path 63 allows the carrier gas to flow into the reaction chamber 37 through the gas passage 55. The four gas supply tubes 19 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 include, for example, two gas supply tubes 19 that supply carrier gas to each of the pair of carrier gas flow paths 63, and one gas supply tube 19 that supplies reaction gas. A gas supply tube 19 and a gas supply tube 19 for supplying heat gas (heating gas before heating).

Oxygen (O2) can be used as the reaction gas (seed gas). The gas supply unit 15B allows, for example, a mixed gas of oxygen and nitrogen (N2) (for example, dry air (Air)) to flow between the electrodes 33 of the reaction chamber 37 via the reaction gas flow path 61. Hereinafter, this mixed gas may be referred to as a reaction gas for convenience, and oxygen may be referred to as a seed gas. Nitrogen can be used as the carrier gas. The gas supply unit 15B allows carrier gas to flow in from each of the gas passages 55 so as to surround each of the pair of electrodes 33.

AC voltage is applied to the pair of electrodes 33 from the power supply unit 15A of the control box 15. By applying a voltage, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, a pseudo arc A is generated between the lower ends of the pair of electrodes 33 in the reaction chamber 37. When the reaction gas passes through the pseudo arc A, the reaction gas is turned into plasma. Therefore, the pair of electrodes 33 generate the discharge of the pseudo arc A, turn the reaction gas into plasma, and generate the plasma gas.

Further, in the portion of the head main body 31 on the downstream side of the reaction chamber 37, a plurality of (six in this embodiment) main body side plasma passages 71 are formed. The upstream end of the plurality of main body side plasma passages 71 is open to the reaction chamber 37, and the downstream end of the plurality of main body side plasma passages 71 is open to the lower end surface of the head main body 31. There is.

The nozzle 35 is molded of, for example, a ceramic having high heat resistance. The nozzle 35 is fixed to the lower surface of the head main body 31 by bolts 80. Therefore, the nozzle 35 is detachable from the head main body 31, and can be changed to a different type of nozzle. The nozzle 35 is formed with a pair of grooves 81 that open on the upper end surface. Each of the pair of grooves 81 communicates with, for example, three main body-side plasma passages 71 that open on the lower end surface of the head main body 31. Further, the nozzle 35 is formed with a plurality of nozzle-side plasma passages 82 (10 in this embodiment) penetrating in the Z direction. Grooves 81 (for example, five grooves each) are connected to the upper end of the nozzle-side plasma passage 82. The shape and structure of the nozzle 35 shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is an example.

Further, the nozzle 35 is formed with a heat gas passage 95 so as to surround the nozzle-side plasma passage 82. The upper portion of the heat gas passage 95 is connected to the connecting portion 45 of the heat gas supply portion 23 via the heat gas passage 51. The lower end of the heat gas passage 95 is open on the lower surface of the nozzle 35.

With such a structure, the plasma gas generated in the reaction chamber 37 is ejected together with the carrier gas into the groove 81 via the plasma passage 71 on the main body side. Then, the plasma gas diffuses inside the groove 81 and is ejected from the opening 82A at the lower end of the nozzle-side plasma passage 82 via each of the plurality of nozzle-side plasma passages 82. Further, the heat gas supplied from the gas pipe 41 to the heat gas passage 51 flows through the heat gas passage 95. This heat gas functions as a shield gas that protects the plasma gas. The heat gas flows through the heat gas passage 95 and is ejected from the opening 95A at the lower end of the heat gas passage 95 along the plasma gas ejection direction. At this time, the heat gas is ejected so as to surround the plasma gas ejected from the opening 82A of the nozzle-side plasma passage 82. By ejecting the heated heat gas around the plasma gas in this way, the efficacy (wetting property, etc.) of the plasma gas can be enhanced.

Next, the detailed configuration of the control box 15 will be described. As shown in FIG. 5, in the control box 15, in addition to the power supply unit 15A, the gas supply unit 15B, and the operation unit 15C described above, the controller 100, the drive circuit 105, the control circuit 106, the communication unit 107, the leakage detection device 110, and the like. It includes a current sensor 111, a storage device 116, and the like. The controller 100 is mainly composed of a computer including a CPU, ROM, RAM, etc. (not shown). The controller 100 controls the plasma head 11, the heat gas supply unit 23, and the like by executing a program on the CPU and controlling the power supply unit 15A, the drive circuit 105, the gas supply unit 15B, and the like. The controller 100 that executes the program on the CPU may be simply described by the device name. For example, the description "the controller 100 is" may mean "the controller 100 that executes the program on the CPU".

Further, the controller 100 is connected to the operation unit 15C via the control circuit 106. The controller 100 changes the display on the touch panel of the operation unit 15C via the control circuit 106. Further, the controller 100 receives an operation input to the operation unit 15C via the control circuit 106. Further, the storage device 116 is configured by combining, for example, a hard disk drive, RAM, ROM, and the like. The controller 100 stores, for example, the state information 118 related to the state of the plasma device 10 and the abnormal state information 119 related to the state of the plasma device 10 when an abnormality is detected in the storage device 116. Further, the controller 100 stores the setting information 120 and the operating time information 121 related to the setting of the plasma device 10 in the storage device 116. Details of the state information 118, the abnormal state information 119, the setting information 120, and the operating time information 121 will be described later.

Further, the communication unit 107 communicates with a communication device connected to a network (not shown). The form of communication is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include LAN and serial communication. The controller 100 does not store the state information 118, the abnormal state information 119, the setting information 120, and the operating time information 121 in the storage device 116 in the control box 15, but the server device or the like on the network via the communication unit 107. You may memorize it.

The leakage detection device 110 is a device that detects the leakage current of the power cable 16 that connects the power supply unit 15A and the plasma head 11 (electrode 33). The configuration of the earth leakage detection device 110 is not particularly limited. For example, the leakage detection device 110 includes a conductive shield member that shields the power cable 16 and a ground cable that causes a ground fault of the shield member, and detects a leakage current flowing through the ground cable. The earth leakage detection device 110 outputs the current value of the detected earth leakage current to the controller 100.

As shown in FIG. 6, the power supply unit 15A generates high-frequency AC power to be supplied from a commercial power source to the electrode 33, and supplies the generated AC power to the electrode 33. The current sensor 111 detects the current flowing through the power cable 16 for supplying power from the power supply unit 15A to the electrode 33. Specifically, the current sensor 111 includes, for example, a current transformer, AD-converts the detection voltage according to the current value flowing through the power cable 16 detected by the current transformer, and outputs the digital value corresponding to the current value to the controller 100. Hereinafter, the digital value corresponding to the current value may be simply described as the current value.

Further, the gas supply unit 15B includes a gas generator 109, a plurality of mass flow controllers 112 (F1 to F5 in FIG. 6), a plurality of pressure sensors 113 (white squares in the figure), and the like. The gas generator 109 is a supply source device that supplies each of the reaction gas, the carrier gas, and the heating gas. The gas generator 109 supplies, for example, nitrogen (N2), oxygen (O2), and air (Air, dry air, etc.). The gas generator 109 includes a compressor as an air supply source, a dryer for removing the moisture of the air supplied from the compressor, a separation device for separating nitrogen and oxygen from the dry air, and the like. The gas generator 109 may use oxygen-containing air or dry air as the oxygen of the seed gas of the reaction gas.

The gas generator 109 supplies each of the reaction gas (oxygen, nitrogen), the carrier gas (nitrogen), and the heating gas (air) as the processing gas. The plurality of mass flow controllers 112 are provided, for example, corresponding to each of the processing gases, and control the flow rate of each processing gas based on the control of the controller 100. Each mass flow controller 112 outputs a value (measured value) of the flow rate actually supplied after adjustment to the controller 100.

Further, the plurality of pressure sensors 113 detect the pressure value of the processing gas whose flow rate is adjusted by each mass flow controller 112. Further, the pressure sensor 113 detects the pressure value of the mixed gas in which the reaction gas (oxygen, nitrogen) is mixed by the mixer 115. Therefore, the pressure sensor 113 detects the pressures of oxygen (O2), which is a reaction gas (seed gas), nitrogen (N2) to be mixed with oxygen, and the mixed gas (dry air) after mixing. Further, the pressure sensor 113 individually detects the pressure of the carrier gas flowing through the gas supply tubes 19 connected to each of the pair of carrier gas flow paths 63. Further, the pressure sensor 113 detects the pressure value of the heating gas (air before heating) supplied to the gas pipe 41. Each pressure sensor 113 outputs the detected pressure value to the controller 100.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the heater 43 and the thermocouple 92 attached near the heater 43 are electrically connected to the drive circuit 105. The drive circuit 105 outputs a temperature corresponding to the output value of the thermocouple 92 to the controller 100. The drive circuit 105 controls the heating temperature of the heater 43 based on the output value of the thermocouple 92 so as to reach the target temperature instructed by the controller 100. The temperature sensor 114 is provided in, for example, the plasma head 11. The temperature sensor 114 has, for example, a thermocouple, detects the temperature of the plasma gas, and outputs the detected temperature to the controller 100.

Next, the storage process executed by the controller 100 of the present embodiment will be described. When the controller 100 receives an instruction to start plasma processing via the touch panel of the operation unit 15C, for example, the controller 100 starts plasma generation control. In the plasma generation control, the controller 100 starts the power supply unit 15A to supply a predetermined electric power to the electrode 33, and causes the gas supply unit 15B to start supplying the processing gas (carrier gas, reaction gas, heating gas). .. The gas supply unit 15B starts supplying the processing gas at a predetermined gas flow rate and gas pressure based on the setting information 120 and the like. Further, the controller 100 controls the drive circuit 105 to control the heating temperature of the heater 43 so as to reach a predetermined temperature.

Further, when the controller 100 starts the plasma generation control, the state information 118 related to the state of the plasma device 10 is stored in the storage device 116 at predetermined time intervals. FIG. 7 shows a time series of processes for storing the state information 118, the abnormal state information 119, the setting information 120, and the operating time information 121. When the controller 100 starts the plasma generation control, for example, the controller 100 stores the state information 118 every 1S (seconds). For example, the controller 100 outputs the current value of the leakage current detected by the leakage detection device 110, the current value output from the current sensor 111, the flow rate value output from the gas supply unit 15B, and the pressure sensor 113 as the state information 118. The pressure value to be generated, the temperature output from the drive circuit 105 and the temperature sensor 114, and the like are stored in the storage device 116 in association with the time every second. For example, when the controller 100 stores the state information 118 every second and stores the state information 118 for the period T1 for 10 seconds (10 times), the oldest state information 118 is overwritten with the new state information 118. As a result, the controller 100 can record the latest state information 118 for 10 seconds (period T1) as a history. The predetermined time (1 second) for storing the state information 118 and the period T1 (10 seconds) for storing the state information 118 are examples.

Further, as shown in FIG. 7, when the controller 100 detects some abnormality in the plasma device 10, the state information of the plasma device 10 at the time of detecting the abnormality is stored as the abnormal state information 119. Further, the controller 100 stores the setting information 120 when the abnormality is detected and the operating time (operating time information 121) up to the time when the abnormality is detected. Then, when the controller 100 detects an abnormality, the state information 118 for 10 times (or immediately before) from the time when the abnormality is detected, that is, the latest state information 118, is subjected to the abnormality state information 119, the setting information 120, and the operating time. It is stored in the storage device 116 in association with the information 121.

Therefore, the controller 100 of the present embodiment stores the state information 118 and the abnormal state information 119 in association with each other based on the detection of the abnormality by the detection value of the leakage detection device 110 or the like. The controller 100 stores the state information 118 included in the period from the time when the abnormality is detected to a certain time before (the period including the period T1 of 10 seconds).

According to this, when the controller 100 detects an abnormality, it stores the abnormal state information 119 at the time of the abnormality in association with the state information 118. As the state information 118, the controller 100 stores the state information 118 from the time when the abnormality is detected to a certain time before. As a result, it is possible to memorize what kind of state the device was in before the abnormality occurred, and it is possible to more accurately grasp the state of the device at the time of the occurrence of the abnormality.

Note that the state information 118 stored by the controller 100 in association with the abnormal state information 119 is not limited to the information before the occurrence of the abnormality. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the controller 100 may store the state information 118 for 10 seconds sandwiching the time when the abnormality is detected in association with the abnormal state information 119. Alternatively, the controller 100 may store the state information 118 for 10 seconds (10 times) after the abnormality occurs in association with the abnormal state information 119.

Further, the controller 100 stores the setting information 120 related to the setting of the plasma device 10 and the setting information 120 when an abnormality is detected in association with the abnormality state information 119. The settings used by the operator, such as the threshold value for determining the plasma gas generation state and the flow rate of the processing gas, are important information for determining the cause of the abnormality. .. Such setting information that can be changed on the user side and setting information 120 (see FIG. 11) at the time of occurrence of an abnormality is stored in association with the abnormality state information 119. This makes it possible to more accurately grasp the state of the device when an abnormality occurs.

When the controller 100 detects, for example, an abnormality in the device, it stops the power supply to the electrode 33, stops the supply of the processing gas, stops the operation of the heat gas supply unit 23, and ends the plasma generation control. As a result, the plasma generation of the plasma device 10 is stopped. When the controller 100 detects the abnormality and ends the plasma generation control, the controller 100 displays the detected abnormality information on the screen of the operation unit 15C.

FIG. 9 shows an example of the display screen of the operation unit 15C displaying the abnormality information. As shown in FIG. 9, the controller 100 displays the item column 143, the status display column 145, the representative abnormality list 147, the back button 149, and the scroll button 151 on the display screen 141 (touch panel) of the operation unit 15C. The item column 143 indicates the title of the screen displayed on the display screen 141. The controller 100 displays the characters "alarm details" as the title of the screen for displaying the representative abnormality list 147.

Further, the controller 100 displays the current state of the plasma device 10 in the state display column 145. The states displayed in the state display column 145 are various states such as, for example, starting, initializing, waiting, and plasma processing. The back button 149 is a button for returning to the previous display state.

The representative abnormality list 147 is a display column for displaying the detected abnormalities in chronological order. The controller 100 is, for example, a detection value of at least one of various sensors (leakage detection device 110, current sensor 111, mass flow controller 112, pressure sensor 113, temperature sensor 114, thermocouple 92, etc.) included in the plasma device 10. When the abnormality is detected, it is determined that the abnormality has occurred in the plasma device 10. In the controller 100, for example, at least one of the reaction gas, the carrier gas, the flow rate of the heating gas supplied from the gas supply unit 15B, the voltage value applied from the power supply unit 15A to the electrode 33, and the current value flowing through the electrode 33 is abnormal. When the value indicates, it is judged that an abnormality has occurred. As shown in FIG. 9 and FIG. 12 described later, the controller 100 detects, for example, a plasma leakage abnormality, a gas pressure rise abnormality, a gas pressure sensor abnormality, a low current abnormality, a MAIN (GAS1) flow rate abnormality, and the like as abnormalities. The type of abnormality detected by the plasma device 10 is not particularly limited. For example, when the current value of the leakage current detected by the leakage detection device 110 exceeds the threshold value of the setting information 120, the controller 100 determines that the plasma leakage is abnormal. Further, for example, when the pressure value of the processing gas detected by the pressure sensor 113 or the like exceeds the threshold value of the setting information 120, the controller 100 determines that the gas pressure sensor is abnormal.

Further, the controller 100 displays in the representative abnormality list 147 so that the date and time when the abnormality occurs is in chronological order. For example, the controller 100 displays the display name of the latest abnormality at the top of the representative abnormality list 147, and displays the display name of the oldest abnormality in order from the top to the bottom of the representative abnormality list 147. The controller 100 displays numbers 1, 2, ... In order from the new abnormality to the left of each display name. The controller 100 displays an abnormality display name or the like that cannot be displayed in the representative abnormality list 147 based on the operation input for the scroll button 151.

Further, when the controller 100 detects a plurality of types of abnormalities at the same time, the controller 100 selects one type of abnormality as the representative abnormality from the plurality of types of abnormalities and displays it in the representative abnormality list 147. Specifically, the controller 100 determines the detection values of various sensors in, for example, a monitoring cycle shorter than the one-second cycle in which the state information 118 is stored. When the controller 100 detects a plurality of abnormalities from a plurality of detected values detected in the same monitoring cycle, the controller 100 processes those abnormalities as abnormalities that have occurred at the same time. The controller 100 selects a representative abnormality from a plurality of abnormalities that have occurred (detected) at the same time, and displays the selected representative abnormality in the representative abnormality list 147. Further, the controller 100 collectively displays a plurality of simultaneously occurring abnormalities including a representative abnormality on the display screen 167 of FIG. 12, which will be described later. The controller 100 displays the display names of the representative abnormalities that occurred at different times in the representative abnormality list 147 in chronological order. According to this, when a plurality of types of abnormalities occur at the same time, a representative abnormality can be selected from the plurality of types of abnormalities and displayed in the representative abnormality list 147. The abnormalities detected at the same time in the present disclosure are not limited to those in which two or more abnormalities are detected at the same time (same timing) as described above, but are continuous for a short time such as 1 second. Anomalies detected in the same way may be treated as anomalies detected at the same time.

In addition, the method of selecting a representative abnormality from a plurality of types of abnormalities is not particularly limited. For example, the plasma device 10 may be set in advance so that the vendor side of the plasma device 10 collects statistics on the frequency of occurrence of abnormalities and displays the abnormalities having a higher frequency of occurrence as representative abnormalities. Alternatively, the controller 100 collects statistics on the types of abnormalities that have occurred in the usage environment since the actual use of the plasma device 10 is started on the production line or the like, and the abnormalities that occur more frequently or the abnormalities that occur less frequently occur. May be selected as the representative abnormality. Further, the controller 100 may, for example, classify the types of abnormalities such as current abnormality, gas, and heat from among a plurality of types of abnormalities, and select a representative abnormality from the types with a large number of occurrences.

As shown in FIG. 9, the controller 100 displays the representative abnormality list 147 on the display screen 141, and when any one of the representative abnormalities displayed on the representative abnormality list 147 is touch-operated, FIG. The display screen 153 shown in the above is displayed on the operation unit 15C. The controller 100 displays the number of the representative abnormality selected on the display screen 141 of FIG. 9 as the item field 143 of the display screen 153. Item column 143 in FIG. 10 shows, as an example, the case where the first (plasma leakage abnormality) of the representative abnormality list 147 is selected (when alarm 1 is selected).

Further, the controller 100 collectively lists the abnormality state information 119 and the state information 118 when the representative abnormality selected in FIG. 9 (in this case, the plasma leakage abnormality of the alarm 1) is detected on the display screen 153. Displayed in unit 155. As shown in FIG. 10, the abnormality list unit 155 displays the abnormality state information 119 and the state information 118 by dividing them into a plurality of matrices.

At the top of the abnormality list section 155, the item names that explain each column are displayed. At the top of the abnormality list unit 155, for example, Time, MG1 (FR), MG2 (FR), S1 (FR), S2 (FR), H (FR), ... Is displayed. In this embodiment, for example, 17 item names are set in the abnormality list unit 155. In FIG. 10, out of the 17 item names, only 6 item names are displayed in the abnormality list unit 155. The controller 100 displays the item name on the right side that is not displayed based on the operation of the scroll button 157 on the right side of the abnormality list unit 155.

In the column whose item name is Time, the abnormal state information 119 is displayed at the top, and the information of the state information 118 is displayed below it. The state information 118 displays the latest 10-second information at the time when the abnormality occurs. The state information 118 displays the latest information (Time 1), then the new information (Time 2), and so on, in order from the top, that is, the old information is displayed every 1s as it goes down. There is. In FIG. 10, out of the 10 state information 118s, only 4 state information 118s are displayed in the abnormality list unit 155. The controller 100 displays the undisplayed state information 118 (before 5S) based on the operation of the scroll button 159 below the abnormality list unit 155.

Further, the items (columns) after MG1 (FR) indicate the information stored as the abnormal state information 119 and the state information 118. MG1 (FR) is a value obtained by detecting the flow rate of nitrogen (N2) mixed with oxygen (O2) of the reaction gas (seed gas) by the mass flow controller 112 of the gas supply unit 15B. MG2 (FR) is a value obtained by detecting the flow rate of oxygen (O2) of the reaction gas (seed gas) with the mass flow controller 112. S1 (FR) is a value obtained by detecting the flow rate of the carrier gas (nitrogen (N2)) supplied to one of the pair of carrier gas flow paths 63 (gas supply tube 19), and S2 (FR) is the value obtained by detecting the flow rate of the carrier gas (nitrogen (N2)). It is a value obtained by detecting the flow rate of the carrier gas (nitrogen (N2)) supplied to the other side of the gas flow path 63. H (FR) is a value obtained by detecting the flow rate of the heating gas (air) used as the heat gas.

In addition to the above information, the controller 100 stores, for example, the heating temperature of the heater 43 detected by the thermocouple 92 as abnormal state information 119 and state information 118. Similarly, the controller 100 stores the temperature of the plasma gas detected by the temperature sensor 114. Further, the controller 100 stores the number of times the pseudo arc A that generates the plasma gas is turned off (cut off). In the controller 100, for example, the current value (current value detected by the current sensor 111) flowing from the power supply unit 15A to the electrode 33 becomes equal to or more than a predetermined value, and after the pseudo arc A is generated, the current value becomes equal to or less than the predetermined determination value. Then, it is determined that the pseudo arc A is turned off, and the number of times of current loss is increased by one. For example, each time the plasma gas generation control is started, the controller 100 resets the number of times of current shortage, newly measures the number of times of current shortage, and stores it as state information 118 or abnormal state information 119. The controller 100 may accumulate and measure the number of times of lack of current for each plasma generation control without resetting.

Further, the controller 100 stores the pressure of the reaction gas (nitrogen + oxygen) after mixing, the pressure of the carrier gas (for each gas supply tube 19), and the pressure of the heating gas as state information 118 and abnormal state information 119. .. The controller 100 can detect these pressures by the pressure sensor 113.

Further, the controller 100 stores the current value of the leakage current detected by the leakage detection device 110. For example, the leakage current flowing from the shield member of the power cable 16 to the ground flows due to electromagnetic induction during power supply for generating plasma, that is, it is constant in a normal power supply in which the power cable 16 is not broken. Current value flows. Therefore, the controller 100 may store a reference value as a reference at the time of normal power supply, and an upper limit value and a lower limit value having a certain range from the reference value. The upper limit value and the lower limit value are for determining an electric leakage abnormality. The 17 item names from Time and MG1 (FR) to the upper limit value and the lower limit value are examples, and can be appropriately changed according to the configuration of the plasma apparatus 10.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 10, the controller 100 of the present embodiment has abnormal state information 119 and state information when a representative abnormality is detected based on an operation input to the operation unit 15C (touch operation of the representative abnormality list 147). 118 are grouped in a matrix and displayed on the operation unit 15C. According to this, the user can display and confirm the abnormal state information 119 and the state information 118 of the representative abnormality together by operating the operation unit 15C. It is possible to easily confirm the state, such as comparing the abnormal state information 119 and the state information 118 at the time of abnormality in chronological order to see if there is an abnormal value.

As shown in FIG. 10, when the device information button 161 under the abnormality list unit 155 is touch-operated while the abnormality list unit 155 is displayed on the display screen 153, the controller 100 touches the display screen 163 shown in FIG. Is displayed on the operation unit 15C. The controller 100 displays the time information of the representative abnormality selected on the display screen 141 of FIG. 9 as the item field 143 of the display screen 163.

Further, the controller 100 displays the setting information 120 and the operating time information 121 on the display screen 163. As shown in FIG. 11, the controller 100 sets, for example, a version (Control ver.) Of a program (control program used for plasma generation control) executed by the CPU of the controller 100, and an operating version (System ver.). It is stored as information 120 and displayed on the display screen 163. Similarly, the controller 100 depends on the gas pressure (kPa), the target pressure of the plasma gas (plasma pressure), and the heater 43, which are thresholds for determining the change in the gas pressure (pressure of the reaction gas, etc.) due to the attachment / detachment of the nozzle 35. The warm-up completion pressure for determining the completion of warm-up is stored and displayed as the setting information 120. While the threshold value and the target pressure for determining these can be changed by the user, they are important information for determining the cause of the abnormality. Therefore, the controller 100 stores the threshold value and the like at the time of abnormality as the setting information 120 and displays it on the display screen 163.

Further, the controller 100 stores, for example, the operating time of the plasma head 11, the electrode 33, the nozzle 35, and the control box 15 as the operating time information 121, and displays the operating time on the display screen 163. Therefore, the operating time information 121 can be adopted as information for storing various operating times related to the plasma device 10, such as the operating time of the plasma device 10 itself and the operating time of each device included in the plasma device 10. The controller 100 continuously measures the operating time of each device, and when an abnormality is detected, stores the operating time up to that point in the storage device 116 as operating time information 121. The controller 100 stores the operating time information 121 in association with the abnormal state information 119 and the like, and then displays it on the display screen 163. As shown in FIG. 11, the controller 100 may display the remaining time of the notification time for notifying the periodic cleaning of the plasma head 11 as the operating time information 121.

Further, the setting information 120 and the operating time information 121 shown in FIG. 11 are examples. The controller 100 may store and display, for example, information indicating the type of the nozzle 35, a set flow rate of the carrier gas or the like, a set value of the heating temperature of the heater 43, and the like. The controller 100 displays the setting information 120 and the operating time information 121 that could not be displayed on the display screen 163 each time the OK button 165 displayed at the lower part of the display screen 163 is touched.

Therefore, the controller 100 of the present embodiment stores the setting information 120 related to the setting of the plasma device 10, the setting information 120 when the representative abnormality is detected, and the operating time information 121 when the representative abnormality is detected. The controller 100 displays the setting information 120 and the operating time information 121 on the operation unit 15C based on the touch operation of the device information button 161 on the operation unit 15C. According to this, the user can confirm the setting information 120 and the operating time information 121 when the representative abnormality is detected by operating the operation unit 15C. The state of the device at the time of abnormality can be easily checked collectively.

Then, for example, the controller 100 displays the display screen 167 shown in FIG. 12 as the final screen in which the OK button 165 is switched each time the touch operation is performed. In the example shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the controller 100 increases the number on the display screen to 1/3, 2/3, 3/3 in order each time the OK button 165 is touched, for example. The display screen 167 is displayed on 3/3. The controller 100 displays the abnormality list 169 on the display screen 167. For example, the controller 100 displays the representative abnormality selected in the representative abnormality list 147 of FIG. 9 at the top of the abnormality list 169 (below the item of the occurrence alarm), and detects the representative abnormality at the same time under the representative abnormality. The types of other abnormalities that have been detected are displayed in order (low current abnormality in FIG. 12, MAIN (GS1) flow rate abnormality, etc.). If the controller 100 cannot display all the types of abnormalities detected at the same time in the abnormality list 169, the controller 100 displays other types of abnormalities that cannot be displayed in response to a touch operation on the scroll button 171 displayed on the right side of the abnormality list 169. .. When the OK button 165 of the display screen 167 is touch-operated, the controller 100 displays, for example, the display screen 141 shown in FIG.

Therefore, the controller 100 of the present embodiment collectively displays a plurality of types of abnormalities that have occurred simultaneously on the operation unit 15C based on the touch operation of the OK button 165 on the operation unit 15C. According to this, by operating the operation unit 15C, the user can confirm what kind of abnormality has occurred at the same time in addition to the representative abnormality with one display content. When multiple abnormalities occur at the same time, all types of abnormalities can be easily confirmed on the screen display. Further, as shown in FIGS. 9 to 12, the user can confirm the information related to the representative abnormality selected by himself / herself in order by operating the operation unit 15C, and can confirm all the information related to the abnormality by a simple operation. it can. In other words, the plasma device 10 of the present embodiment can centrally manage and display various information related to the abnormality.

The display formats shown in FIGS. 9 to 12 described above are examples. For example, the controller 100 may display the values of the abnormal state information 119 and the state information 118 shown in FIG. 10 in a graph with the time axis horizontal.

By the way, the operation unit 15C is an example of a display device and a reception device. The controller 100 is an example of a control device and an abnormality detection device. The power supply unit 15A, the gas supply unit 15B, the leakage detection device 110, the current sensor 111, the mass flow controller 112, the pressure sensor 113, the temperature sensor 114, and the thermocouple 92 are examples of the abnormality detection device.

According to the embodiment described above, the following effects are obtained.
In one aspect of this embodiment, the controller 100 stores the state information 118 related to the state of the plasma device 10 at predetermined time intervals, and stores the abnormal state information 119 when an abnormality is detected separately from the state information 118. To do. According to this, in addition to the state information 118 related to the state of the device stored at predetermined time intervals, the abnormal state information 119 of the device when an abnormality is detected can be stored. As a result, the state at the time of abnormality can be grasped by the abnormality state information 119, and the state before the abnormality can be grasped by the state information 118. Therefore, it is possible to more accurately determine the state of the device when an abnormality occurs. As shown in FIG. 8, the controller 100 may store the state information 118 before and after the abnormality and the state information 118 after the abnormality.

Further, the content of the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it goes without saying that various improvements and changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure.
For example, the controller 100 may store the state information 118, the abnormal state information 119, the setting information 120, and the operating time information 121 without associating them with each other. In this case, the user can operate the operation unit 15C to individually check the different information stored in the storage device 116.
Further, although the operation unit 15C is provided with a touch panel having both functions of the display device and the reception device, the display device and the reception device may be separately provided.
The type of processing gas supplied by the gas supply tube 19 in the above embodiment is an example. For example, a gas other than oxygen and nitrogen may be used as the processing gas.

10 Plasma device, 15A power supply unit (abnormality detection device), 15B gas supply unit (abnormality detection device), 15C operation unit (display device, reception device), 100 controller (control device, abnormality detection device), 110 leakage detection device ( Abnormality detection device), 111 current sensor (abnormality detection device), 112 mass flow controller (abnormality detection device), 113 pressure sensor (abnormality detection device), 114 temperature sensor (abnormality detection device).

Claims

Anomaly detection device that detects anomalies and
A control device that stores state information related to the state of the plasma device at predetermined time intervals and stores abnormal state information related to the state of the plasma device when an abnormality is detected by the abnormality detecting device.
Plasma device equipped with.
The control device is
Based on the fact that the abnormality is detected by the abnormality detection device, the state information and the abnormality state information are stored in association with each other, and are included in the period from the time when the abnormality is detected by the abnormality detection device to a certain time before. The plasma apparatus according to claim 1, which stores the state information.
The control device is
The plasma device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the setting information related to the setting of the plasma device and the setting information when an abnormality is detected by the abnormality detection device is stored in association with the abnormality state information. ..
Equipped with a display device
The control device is
Claims 1 to 3 in which, when a plurality of types of abnormalities are detected simultaneously by the abnormality detecting device, one type of abnormality is selected as a representative abnormality and displayed on the display device. The plasma apparatus according to any one of the above.
Equipped with a reception device that accepts operation input from the user
The control device is
The plasma device according to claim 4, wherein the abnormal state information when the representative abnormality is detected and the state information are collectively displayed on the display device based on the operation input to the receiving device.
Equipped with a reception device that accepts operation input from the user
The control device is
Setting information related to the setting of the plasma device, the setting information when the representative abnormality is detected by the abnormality detecting device, and the operating time related to the plasma device when the representative abnormality is detected by the abnormality detecting device. Remember,
The plasma device according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the setting information and the operating time are displayed on the display device based on an operation input to the reception device.
Equipped with a reception device that accepts operation input from the user
The control device is
The plasma device according to any one of claims 4 to 6, wherein a plurality of types of abnormalities detected at the same time are collectively displayed on the display device based on an operation input to the reception device.