Patent ID: 9297065
Filing Date: 2016-03-29
CPC Classification: C23C

Claim Text:
1. A treatment installation for vacuum treatment, in particular vacuum coating, of at least one region of a front side of a substrate in strip form, comprising: a first process chamber with a first process roller and at least one process source; a second process chamber with a second process roller and at least one process source; a transfer chamber disposed between the first and second process chambers such that the first process chamber is disposed at a first end of the transfer chamber and the second process chamber is disposed at a second end of the transfer chamber, the first and second ends being oppositely disposed along a longitudinal axis of the transfer chamber, wherein the transfer chamber is coupled with both process chambers and can be separated in terms of pressure from at least one of the process chambers, wherein the transfer chamber comprises an unwinding device with a removable unwinding reel and a winding-up device with a removable winding-up reel for the substrate to be treated as well as an outside air lock for loading and unloading the unwinding reel and/or winding-up reel, the transfer chamber being disposed such that the unwinding device and the winding-up device are positioned between the first and second process chambers, wherein the substrate to be treated is facing with a rear side toward the first and second process rollers and can be guided through the transfer chamber from the unwinding device to the first process roller, from the first process roller to the second process roller and from the second process roller to the winding-up device, wherein the substrate to be treated wraps around the first process roller in the first process chamber in a first process region of the at least one process source of the first process chamber and wraps around the second process roller in the second process chamber in a second process region of the at least one process source of the second process chamber, wherein at least during a predetermined operating state, the substrate after treatment in the first process chamber is only facing with a rear side towards a guiding device or guiding devices and/or the substrate after treatment in the second process chamber is only facing with a rear side towards a guiding device or guiding devices before being up-winded by the winding-up device; wherein the first and second process chambers and the first and second process rollers each includes a generally circular cross-section, each of the first and second process rollers being disposed concentrically within an outer wall of each of the first and second process chambers respectively about a respective central axis, the at least one process source of each of the first and second process chambers being arranged concentrically about the respective central axis between the outer wall and the process roller in the respective process chamber; wherein the transfer chamber is elongated and extends from the first process chamber to the second process chamber along the longitudinal axis where the longitudinal axis is substantially perpendicular to and intersects the central axes, at least one of the first and second process chambers having a cross-sectional width greater than that of the transfer chamber.