CN204644462U - The synchronous filming equipment of successive type - Google Patents

Abstract

A continuous synchronous coating equipment, comprising: a vacuum cavity, n cathode sputtering target combinations, multiple carriers, and a transmission mechanism. The vacuum chamber includes (n+1) buffer rooms and n coating areas arranged in turn along an arrangement direction, where n≥2 and is a positive integer. Each cathode sputtering target combination is correspondingly arranged in each coating zone and has at least one target material. The carriers carry one object to be plated respectively, and can be controlled to move among the plurality of coating intervals and the plurality of buffer zones. The transmission mechanism is set continuously between the buffer zones and the coating zone, and is used to transmit the carriers to perform various coating procedures. By improving the structure of the buffer zone and the coating zone in the vacuum chamber and matching the configuration of the carriers, each carrier can execute each coating process in each coating zone at the same time, so as to make good use of each Coating interval.

Description

Continuous synchronous coating equipment

technical field

The utility model relates to a coating device, in particular to a continuous (in-line) synchronous coating device.

Background technique

At present, the application of vacuum sputtering (sputtering) technology is becoming more and more widespread. For example, the 3C industry that coats the shell of portable 3C electronic products with anti-electromagnetic interference (EMI) coating, or even coats transparent lenses with optical film (optical film) ) of the optical lens industry, all of which use vacuum sputtering equipment. Among various vacuum sputtering equipment, continuous multi-chambers (multi-chambers) coating equipment is widely used because of its advantages of fast speed, high output, excellent coating quality, and can greatly reduce production costs. It is used in the process of mass coating.

Referring to Fig. 1, China Taiwan No. M258101 Approval Announcement No. Utility Model Patent Case (hereinafter referred to as the previous case) discloses a general continuous coating device 9, which includes a vacuum chamber 91, a vacuum chamber 91 that can move along a Direction Y moves and carries a carrier 92 of an object to be plated (not shown), a plurality of transmission mechanisms 93 arranged in the vacuum chamber 91, a front lifting unit 94, a rear lifting unit 95, and a set A return module 96 under the vacuum cavity 91 .

Along the direction Y, the vacuum chamber 91 sequentially includes a feeding section 911 , a coating section 912 provided with a plurality of cathode sputtering targets, and a discharging section 913 . The front lifting unit 94 and the rear lifting unit 95 are respectively adjacent to the feeding section 911 and the discharging section 913 of the vacuum cavity 91 .

The carrier 92 loaded with the object to be plated is first introduced into the feeding section 911 of the vacuum chamber 91 through the front lifting unit 94, so as to pass through the transmission mechanism 93 arranged in the vacuum chamber 91 After being transported into the coating section 912 to perform multiple coating procedures through the cathode sputtering target and making a finished product coated with a multi-layer film, it is sent into the discharge section 913 to pass through the discharge section 913 The transmission mechanism 93 leads out of the discharge section 913 and is located on the rear lifting unit 95 . Finally, after taking the finished product manually or by a mechanical arm, the carrier 92 after clearance is displaced downward through the rear lifting unit 95 and introduced into the return module 96, and returns to the return module 96 through the return module 96. On the front lifting unit 94, another object to be plated is placed to form a circulation. In this way, the above-mentioned coating procedures are repeated continuously to produce finished products in sequence.

Yet, because the quantity of the carrier 92 that is configured in this general continuous type film coating equipment 9 is only one, this carrier 92 that is loaded with this object to be plated must finish each road coating film procedure, just can carry after emptying. Another object to be plated is placed on tool 92 to re-carry out each coating process. Therefore, when the carrier 92 performs one of the sputtering targets in the coating area 912 to perform one of the coating procedures, other sputtering targets will be left idle, which cannot effectively increase the production capacity and reduce the man-hours of mass production.

From the above description, it can be seen that improving the structure of the continuous coating equipment to solve the problem of idle sputtering targets, thereby increasing the production capacity and reducing the man-hours of mass production is a difficult problem for those skilled in the art to break through.

Contents of the invention

The purpose of the utility model is to provide a continuous synchronous coating equipment.

The continuous synchronous coating equipment of the utility model comprises: a vacuum cavity, n cathode sputtering target combinations, multiple carriers, and a transmission mechanism. The vacuum chamber includes (n+1) buffer rooms and n coating areas, the buffer rooms and the coating areas are arranged in turn along an arrangement direction, and n≧2 is a positive integer. The cathode sputtering target combinations are correspondingly arranged in the n coating intervals, and each cathode sputtering target combination has at least one target material. The carriers each carry an object to be plated and can be controlled to move between the plurality of coating areas and the plurality of buffer zones, wherein, when each carrier executes a coating program in each coating area, it can Each coating section and the buffer zone before and after each coating section move among the three. The transmission mechanism is arranged in the vacuum chamber, and is continuously arranged between the buffer zone and the coating zone, and is used for transmitting the carrier to perform various coating procedures.

In the continuous synchronous coating equipment of the present utility model, the transmission mechanism includes (2n+1) conveying components, and (2n+1) motors for respectively driving the conveying components, the (2n+1) of the transmission mechanism Two conveying components are correspondingly arranged between the buffer zone and the coating zone.

In the continuous synchronous coating equipment of the present invention, each conveying component of the transmission mechanism has a plurality of rollers, and the rollers of each conveying component are used to support and transport the carrier to carry out various coating procedures.

In the continuous synchronous coating equipment of the present utility model, the transmission mechanism also includes (2n+1) induction units, and the (2n+1) induction units are correspondingly arranged between the buffer zone and the coating interval respectively, and are used to detect Measure the position of the vehicle.

In the continuous synchronous coating equipment of the utility model, each sensing unit has a front sensor and a rear sensor.

The continuous synchronous coating equipment of the present utility model, the continuous synchronous coating equipment also includes an inlet valve arranged at the end of the vacuum chamber corresponding to the first buffer zone, an inlet valve arranged at the end of the vacuum chamber corresponding to the (nth +1) an outlet valve at the other end of the buffer zone, and an automatic return unit connecting the outlet valve and the inlet valve.

In the continuous synchronous coating equipment of the present utility model, the automatic return unit includes a load-out chamber connected with the outlet valve, a load-in chamber connected with the inlet valve, and a load-out chamber connected with the load-in chamber return mechanism.

In the continuous synchronous coating equipment of the present utility model, the return mechanism has a settling section connected with the load-out cavity and capable of making the carrier move downward from the load-out cavity, a settling section connected with the load-in cavity and The carrier can be controlled to move upwards to the climbing section of the loading chamber, and a relay section between the settling section and the climbing section.

In the continuous synchronous coating equipment of the present utility model, the settling section, the climbing section, the load-out cavity, and the load-in cavity each have a conveying assembly and a motor for driving the conveying assembly, and the relay section It has at least one conveying component and at least one motor for driving the conveying component.

The continuous synchronous coating equipment of the present utility model further includes at least one vacuum unit connected to the vacuum chamber, and the load-out chamber and the load-in chamber of the automatic reflow unit respectively have an air pump.

The beneficial effect of the utility model is that, by improving the structure of the buffer zone and the coating zone in the vacuum cavity and matching the configuration of the carriers, each carrier can perform each coating in each coating zone at the same time. The program can make proper use of each coating interval, avoiding the problem that in the past, the cathode sputtering target in the coating interval could not be effectively increased and the man-hours for mass production could not be effectively increased.

Description of drawings

Other features and effects of the present utility model will be clearly presented in the implementation manner with reference to the drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a side view, illustrating the general continuous coating equipment disclosed in the utility model patent case of the No. M258101 Approval Announcement of Taiwan, China;

Fig. 2 is a top view, illustrating an embodiment of the utility model continuous synchronous coating equipment;

Fig. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along the line III-III of Fig. 2, illustrating the configuration relationship and movement of multiple carriers in this embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 4 is a partially enlarged view taken from Fig. 3, illustrating the detailed structure of a coating section, part of the transmission mechanism and part of the return mechanism in this embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view illustrating the detailed structure of the coating section of the embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed ways

Referring to Fig. 2, Fig. 3 and Fig. 4, an embodiment of the continuous synchronous coating equipment of the present invention includes: a vacuum chamber 1, n cathode sputtering target combinations 2, multiple carriers 3, and a transmission mechanism 4. An inlet valve 5 , an outlet valve 6 , an automatic return unit 7 , and at least one vacuum unit 8 connected to the vacuum chamber 1 .

The vacuum chamber 1 includes (n+1) buffer zones 11 and n coating zones 12, where n≧2 is a positive integer. The buffer zone 11 and the coating zone 12 are arranged in turn along an arrangement direction X in sequence. The cathode sputtering target assemblies 2 are respectively arranged in the n coating sections 12 , and each cathode sputtering target assembly 2 has at least one target material 21 . It should be noted here that the target 21 may be made of the same material or different materials. In this embodiment of the present invention, the number of targets 21 in each cathode sputtering target combination 2 is three. The carriers 3 are respectively loaded with an object to be plated (not shown) and can be controlled to move between the plurality of coating zones 12 and the plurality of buffer zones 11, wherein each carrier 3 is in each coating zone When executing a coating program in 12, it can move between each coating section 12 and the buffer zone 11 before and after each coating section 12.

Referring to Fig. 2, Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 together with Fig. 5, the transmission mechanism 4 is arranged in the vacuum chamber 1, and is continuously arranged in the buffer zone 11 and the coating zone 12 to transmit the The carrier 3 performs various coating procedures. The transmission mechanism 4 includes (2n+1) conveying assemblies 41 respectively correspondingly arranged in the buffer zone 11 and the coating area 12, (2n+1) motors 42 for respectively driving the conveying assemblies 41, (2n+1) anti-plating plates 43 respectively arranged in the buffer zone 11 and the coating zone 12 to avoid cavity contamination, and (2n+1) correspondingly arranged in the buffer zone 11 respectively and the coating area 12, and the sensing unit 44 used to detect the position of the carrier 3. Each conveying assembly 41 of the conveying mechanism 4 has a plurality of rollers 411 . In addition, the anti-plating plate 43 that is arranged in each buffer zone 11 and each coating film interval 12 is to expose the rollers 411 of each conveying assembly 41 of this transmission mechanism 4, so that the roller 411 exposed outside each anti-plating plate 43 can Supporting and transporting the carrier 3 to perform various coating procedures. Each sensing unit 44 has a front sensor 441 and a rear sensor 442 (as shown in FIG. 4 ). In this embodiment of the utility model, each front and rear sensor 441, 442 of the transmission mechanism 4 adopts a proximity switch.

It should be added that the sensing unit 44 provided corresponding to each buffer zone 11 and each coating zone 12 is used to detect the position of the carrier 3 . Therefore, when adjusting the number of times that each carrier 3 reciprocates between each coating section 12 and the buffer zones 11 before and after the coating section 12, or when considering the waiting time of each carrier 3 between each buffer zone 11, it is possible to pass the preceding steps. The sensor 441 and the rear sensor 442 are used to determine the correct position of each carrier 3 .

Taking the coating section 12 shown in FIG. 4 as an example, when the coating section 12 is loaded into the carrier 3 on which the object to be coated (not shown) is placed, the front sensor 441 corresponding to the coating section 12 will detect Receive a first signal signal and determine that the carrier 3 has entered the coating zone 12, and simultaneously output the first signal to a central processing unit to notify the motor 42 ( See Fig. 2) drive the roller 411 of its transport assembly 41 to drive the carrier 3 to move; when the carrier 3 leaves the coating zone 12 and enters the next buffer zone 11 (not shown in Fig. The rear sensor 442 disposed in the coating area 12 detects a second signal and simultaneously outputs the second signal to the central processing unit to notify the motor 42 disposed outside the coating area 12 to stop running. Similarly, corresponding to the signals detected by the front and rear sensors 441 and 442 disposed in the next buffer zone 11 , the same actions as the front and rear sensors 441 and 442 in the coating zone 12 are performed. In addition, the number of times each carrier 3 moves back and forth between each coating section 12 and the buffer zones 11 before and after the coating zone 12, or even the waiting time each carrier 3 stays in each buffer zone 11, can also be processed by the central Conditions such as the rotating speed of each motor 42 of this transmission mechanism 4, opening time and closing time are set by the device. The setting conditions of the central processing unit corresponding to the transmission mechanism 4 are not the technical focus of the present invention, and will not be repeated here.

The inlet valve 5 is arranged on one end of the vacuum chamber 1 corresponding to the first buffer room 11 (that is, the left end of the leftmost buffer room 11 shown in Figure 2). The outlet valve 6 is disposed at the other end of the vacuum chamber 1 corresponding to the (n+1)th buffer room 11 (ie, the right end of the rightmost buffer room 11 shown in FIG. 2 ). The automatic return unit 7 connects the outlet valve 6 and the inlet valve 5 .

Referring to Fig. 2, Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 again, the automatic return unit 7 includes a load-out chamber 71 connected to the outlet valve 6, a load-in chamber 72 connected to the inlet valve 5, and a load-out chamber connected to the outlet valve 5. 71 and the return mechanism 73 of the loading cavity 72 . The load-out chamber 71 and the load-in chamber 72 of the automatic return unit 7 respectively have an air pump 711 , 721 , a conveying assembly 712 , 722 , and a motor 713 , 723 for driving the conveying assembly 712 , 722 . In this embodiment of the present invention, the operation mechanisms of the conveying components 712 , 722 and the motors 713 , 723 of the load-out chamber 71 and the load-in chamber 72 are similar to those of the conveying component 41 described above.

The return mechanism 73 has a settling section 731 connected with the load-out cavity 71 and capable of making the carrier 3 move downward from the load-out cavity 71, and a settling section 731 connected with the load-in cavity 72 and controllably enabled to The carrier 3 moves upwards to the climbing section 732 of the loading chamber 72 , and a relay section 733 between the settling section 731 and the climbing section 732 . More specifically, the relay section 733 of the return mechanism 73 is disposed below the vacuum chamber body 1 , the load-out chamber 71 and the load-in chamber 72 . The settling section 731 and the climbing section 732 each have a conveying assembly 7311, 7321, and a motor 7312, 7322 for driving the conveying assembly 7311, 7321. The relay section 733 has at least one conveying component 7331 and at least one motor 7332 for driving the conveying component 7331 . The operation mechanism of the conveying components 7311, 7321 and the motors 7312, 7322 of the settling section 731 and the climbing section 732 of this embodiment of the utility model is similar to the transmission mechanism 4, and the conveying assembly of the relay section 733 of this embodiment 7331 refers to the endless conveyor belt.

In this embodiment of the utility model, n=3; the quantity of the vacuum unit 8 is illustrated with (n+1) (that is, four) as an example, and each vacuum unit 8 is correspondingly connected to each The buffer room 11; the operation mechanism of the conveying assembly 7331 and the motor 7332 of the relay section 733 of the return mechanism 73 is similar to the aforementioned transmission mechanism 4, and the conveying assembly 7331 and the motor 7332 of the relay section 733 are respectively arranged in the The loading cavity 72, the buffer zone 11 (the number is n+1), the coating area 12 (the number is n), and the bottom of the loading cavity 71, so the number is (2n+3) ( That is, nine) are taken as an example for illustration, and the settling section 731 and the climbing section 732 of the return mechanism 73 are respectively a lifting device with a pressure cylinder. It should be supplemented here that although this embodiment of the utility model is described with four vacuum units 8 as an example. However, in practical applications, the number of the vacuum units 8 can also be adjusted according to the process requirements or the size of the chamber space.

More specifically, each vacuum unit 8 is used to make each buffer zone 11 and each coating zone 12 of the vacuum chamber 1 have a working pressure (working pressure); the load-out cavity 71, the load-in cavity 72 The air pumps 711 and 721 are used to make the pressures in the load-out chamber 71 and the load-in chamber 72 substantially approach the first buffer zone 11 and the (n+1)th buffer zone 11 respectively. pressure.

Referring to Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 again, in this embodiment of the utility model, each carrier 3 carrying objects to be plated (not shown in the figure) is carried out along the arrangement direction X before each coating process is actually performed in each coating section 12. The loading chamber 72 is loaded so that each carrier 3 passes through the inlet valve 5 and enters the buffer zone 11 and the coating zone 12 in turn through the transmission mechanism 4 . When each coating program is executed, each carrier 3 is also displaced back and forth between the coating section 12 and the buffer zone 11 located before and after the coating section 12 through the transmission mechanism 4, and the number of back and forth displacements is determined depending on the process requirements. Or even the time to stay in each buffer zone 11. Therefore, the problem of overheating of the object to be plated due to prolonged exposure to the plasma below the target 21 in each coating zone 12 can be avoided. It can be seen from the foregoing description that, as shown in FIG. 3 , when each carrier 3 loaded with objects to be plated enters the vacuum chamber 1 sequentially to perform each coating process, each carrier 3 can perform each corresponding process in each coating section 12 synchronously. In the coating process, none of the coating intervals 12 is idle. Therefore, it is possible to effectively increase production capacity and reduce man-hours for mass production.

Further, each carrier 3 is delivered to the (n+1)th buffer room 11 through the transmission mechanism 4 after performing the last coating procedure in the nth coating section 12 (refer to FIG. A finished product (not shown) is made on the object to be plated. Then, each carrier 3 carrying the finished product is sent away from the (n+1)th buffer room 11 through the transmission mechanism 4 to pass through the outlet valve 6 and the load-out chamber 71 in sequence, and pass through the load-out chamber 71. The conveying assembly 712 of the cavity 71 and the conveying assembly 7311 of the settling section 731 of the return mechanism 73 are jointly guided to the settling section 731 to take each finished product and clear each carrier 3 by a mechanical arm or manually. Each carrier 3 that has been emptied first passes through the pressure cylinder of the settling section 731 and settles to a height equal to or higher than that of the relay section 733, so as to be delivered to the relay section 733 via the settling section 73 conveying assembly 7311. on the conveying assembly 7331, and further guided to the climbing section 732 through the conveying assembly 7331 of the relay section 733 and the conveying assembly 7321 of the climbing section 732 to place another waiting section 732 by a mechanical arm or manually. The plating (not shown) is on each carrier 3 . Finally, after the pressure cylinder passing through the climbing section 732 climbs to a height equal to that of the loading chamber 72, the conveying assembly 7321 of the climbing section 732 and the conveying assembly 722 of the loading chamber 72 return to the loading chamber together. chamber 72, so as to re-execute each coating procedure in the coating section 12 in sequence.

A similar process is repeated continuously, so that each carrier 3 loaded with objects to be plated returns to the loading cavity 72 through the loading cavity 71 and the return mechanism 73 of the automatic reflow unit 7 after completing all the coating procedures. To re-plate another object to be plated.

It can be seen from the above description that the continuous synchronous coating equipment of the present utility model improves the structure of the coating section 12 and the buffer zone 11 of the vacuum chamber 1 and the configuration of the carrier 3, and at the same time cooperates with the transmission mechanism 4 The operation relationship with the automatic reflow unit 7 is to make the carrier 3 continuously execute each coating program in each coating area 12, and it is to be in each coating area 12 and the said coating area 12 before and after each coating area 12 respectively. 11 displacements among the three in the buffer zone. On the one hand, it solves the overheating problem caused by the long-term exposure of the object to be plated to the plasma in the coating zone 12; Proper use of each coating section 12 solves the conventional problem of being unable to effectively increase production capacity and reduce mass production man-hours due to idle cathode sputtering targets in the coating section 912 .

It should be particularly noted here that the continuous synchronous coating equipment demonstrated in the above-mentioned embodiment of the present invention is only illustrated by taking four buffer zones 11 and three coating zones 12 as examples. But in essence, the number of buffer zones 11 and coating zones 12 of the continuous synchronous coating equipment of the present invention can be expanded upwards. To put it simply, the number of buffer zones 11 , the number of coating zones 12 and the number of carriers 3 are (n+1), n and (n+1) or more, respectively. According to the detailed description of the above-mentioned embodiment of the present invention, when the number of coating sections 11 is expanded to four, a sufficient number of carriers 3 must be provided to avoid idleness of the coating sections 12 . Therefore, at this time, the number of vehicles 3 must be four or more.

In summary, the continuous synchronous coating equipment of the present utility model improves the structure between the buffer zone 11 and the coating zone 12 of the vacuum chamber 1 and cooperates with the configuration of the carrier 3. On the one hand, it makes Each carrier 3 can execute each coating procedure in each coating section 12 synchronously and simultaneously, so as to properly utilize each coating section 12, and no coating section 12 is idle, thereby effectively increasing production capacity and reducing mass production man-hours; On the other hand, each carrier 3 is to move back and forth between the three of the coating zone 12 and its adjacent two buffer zones 11 when performing each coating program, so as to prevent the objects to be plated on each carrier 3 from being exposed to the environment for a long time. The overheating problem generated under the plasma in each coating interval 12 can indeed achieve the purpose of this utility model.

What is described above is only the embodiment of the utility model, and should not limit the scope of implementation of the utility model, that is, all simple equivalent changes and modifications made according to the claims of the utility model and the contents of the description are all Still belong to the scope of the present utility model.

Claims (10)

1. the synchronous filming equipment of successive type, comprises: vacuum cavity, a n (cathode) sputtering target combine, and a transport sector; It is characterized in that: the synchronous filming equipment of this successive type also comprises multiple carrier,

This vacuum cavity, comprises between (n+1) individual buffer zone, and n plated film is interval, is sequentially arrange in turn along an orientation with described plated film interval between described buffer zone, n≤2 and be positive integer;

Described (cathode) sputtering target combines correspondence respectively and is arranged on this n plated film interval, and the combination of each (cathode) sputtering target has at least one target;

Described carrier is placing thing to be plated respectively, and can move between the plurality of plated film interval and the plurality of buffer zone with being controlled respectively, wherein, when each carrier performs a plating run in each plated film interval, can move between three between the buffer zone in each plated film before and after interval and each plated film interval; And

This transport sector is arranged at this vacuum cavity, and between described buffer zone, described plated film interval arranges continuously, carries out each plating run in order to transmit described carrier.

2. the synchronous filming equipment of successive type according to claim 1, it is characterized in that: this transport sector comprises (2n+1) individual conveying assembly, and (2n+1) is individual in order to drive the motor of described conveying assembly respectively, (2n+1) individual conveying assembly of this transport sector respectively correspondence is arranged between described buffer zone interval with described plated film.

3. the synchronous filming equipment of successive type according to claim 2, is characterized in that: each conveying assembly of this transport sector has multiple roller, and the described roller of each conveying assembly transmits described carrier in order to support to carry out each plating run.

4. the synchronous filming equipment of successive type according to claim 2, it is characterized in that: this transport sector also comprises (2n+1) individual sensing unit, this (2n+1) individual sensing unit respectively correspondence is arranged between described buffer zone interval with described plated film, and in order to detect the position of described carrier.

5. the synchronous filming equipment of successive type according to claim 4, is characterized in that: each sensing unit has a front sensor, and sensor after.

6. the synchronous filming equipment of successive type according to claim 1, it is characterized in that: the synchronous filming equipment of this successive type also comprises an inlet valve, being arranged at one end that this vacuum cavity corresponds between first buffer zone and is arranged at the outlet valve that this vacuum cavity corresponds to the other end between (n+1) individual buffer zone, and the automatic back flow unit of this outlet valve of linking and this inlet valve.

7. the synchronous filming equipment of successive type according to claim 6, it is characterized in that: this automatic back flow unit comprise one be connected with this outlet valve set out chamber, a loading chamber be connected with this inlet valve, and one connects this and sets out the loopback mechanism in chamber and this loading chamber.

8. the synchronous filming equipment of successive type according to claim 7, it is characterized in that: this loopback mechanism has one and sets out chamber with this and be connected and described carrier can be made to set out settling section, that chamber moves down and to be connected with this loading chamber from this and can described carrier to be made to be moved upward to the soaring section in this loading chamber with manipulating with manipulating, and one is positioned at this settling section and this soaring intersegmental hop.

9. the synchronous filming equipment of successive type according to claim 8, it is characterized in that: this settling section, this soaring section, this sets out chamber, and this loading chamber respectively has a conveying assembly, and one in order to drive the motor of its conveying assembly, and this hop has at least one conveying assembly and at least one in order to drive the motor of its conveying assembly.

10. the synchronous filming equipment of successive type according to claim 7, it is characterized in that: the synchronous filming equipment of this successive type also comprises at least one vacuum unit being connected to this vacuum cavity, the chamber that sets out of this automatic back flow unit has an off-gas pump respectively with loading chamber.