Patent Publication Number: US-2019168249-A1

Title: Coating apparatus

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE 
     This application is based upon and claims the priority of the Chinese Patent Application No. 201721687021.0, filed on Dec. 6, 2017 in the Chinese National Intellectual Property Office, entitled “PLATES COATING APPARATUS WITH THE FUNCTION OF PREVENTING GAS FLOWING”, the entire contents thereof are incorporated herein by reference. 
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates to the field of transportation vehicles, and in particular to a solar transportation vehicle. The present disclosure relates to a coating apparatus, and in particular to a coating apparatus with the function of preventing gas flowing. 
     BACKGROUND 
     In the coating apparatus, according to the different preparation process requirements of the substrate film layers, the substrate needs to pass through several coating chambers in turn, and the corresponding film layer to meet the different demand is produced in turn. In addition, according to the different preparation requirements of the different film layers, the sputtering gas in each target material coating chamber is adjusted accordingly. Sometimes, in addition to the main sputtering gas, different auxiliary sputtering gases can be added as needed. For example, auxiliary sputtering gases such as O 2 , H 2 , N 2  may be added to the coating process of different chambers. Therefore, the target materials and the sputtering gases of each target material coating chamber are different. In order to prevent the sputtering gas from the adjacent target material coating chamber escaping through the substrate transmission channel and affect the coating quality, the gases in the different target material coating chat should be separated to ensure the coating quality. 
     SUMMARY 
     In order to solve at least some of the technical problems existing in the related techniques, the present disclosure provides a coating apparatus which can effectively isolate the sputtering gases in the different coating chambers of the coating apparatus, prevent the sputtering gases flowing between the adjacent coating chambers, and ensure the coating quality. The coating apparatus has the advantages of simple structure and low manufacturing cost. 
     According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a coating apparatus is provided for coating the substrate surface. 
     The coating apparatus includes a plurality of separation chambers and a plurality of target material coating chambers, wherein at least one separation chamber is arranged between the two adjacent target material coating chambers; 
     a plurality of diaphragms, which divide the internal of the coating apparatus into the plurality of separation chambers and a plurality of target material coating chambers, wherein each of the diaphragms is provided with a slit, so that the substrate moves between the target material coating chamber and the separation chamber through the slit; 
     a blowing device, which is arranged in one separation chamber and blows gas through the slit to the target material coating chamber adjacent to the slit. 
     In the embodiments of the present disclosure, an isolation chamber is arranged between the adjacent target material coating chambers of the coating apparatus, and a blowing device is arranged in the separation chamber, through which a pressure barrier can be formed at the slit. On the other hand, the gas from the target material coating chamber can be blown back into the target material coating chamber, which can effectively isolate the various target material coating chambers of the coating apparatus, reduce gases flowing between the target material coating chambers, and improve the quality of coating. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present disclosure, the drawings used in the embodiments and the related art description will be briefly described below. Apparently, the drawings in the following description are only some implementations of the present disclosure. For those skilled in the art, other equivalent embodiments and modifications may be obtained in accordance with the exemplary embodiments disclosed herein without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 1  is a top view of a coating apparatus according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a top view of a coating apparatus according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 3  is an axonometric view showing the configuration and arrangement position of a first blowing device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 4  is an axonometric view showing the configuration and arrangement position of a second blowing device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic view showing an angle between nozzles and the plate surface of the first diaphragm according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 6  is a schematic view showing a configuration of a gas pipe and a slit according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail below with reference to the drawings in which identical or similar elements or elements having the same or similar functions are represented by the same or similar labels. It should be understood that the following embodiments described by reference to the drawings are exemplary and can only be used to explain this disclosure and cannot be interpreted as limiting the disclosure. 
       FIG. 1  is a top view of a coating apparatus according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in  FIG. 1 , in a coating apparatus provided by one embodiment of the present disclosure, according to the sputtering process requirements of the different target materials, the coating apparatus is provided with two interconnected target material coating chambers  100 , and an separation chamber  200  is arranged between the two interconnected target material coating chambers  100 . A molecular pump  300  is arranged in the separation chamber  200 , which is used to absorb the gas that flows to the separation chamber  200  from one of the target material coating chamber  100  to the separation chamber  200 . A flip valve  400  is installed on each side of the separation chamber  200  to replace a door sheet between the separation chamber  200  and the target material coating chamber  100 , so as to realize the gas isolation of the different target material coating chambers  100 . 
       FIG. 2  is a top view of a coating apparatus according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in  FIG. 2 , the present disclosure provides a coating apparatus according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. The coating apparatus is used to reduce gas flowing between the adjacent target material coating champers  1 . The coating apparatus includes a plurality of separation chamber  3  and a plurality of target material coating champers  1 . In one optional embodiment, at least one separation chamber  3  is arranged between two adjacent target material coating champers  1 , such as one or two separation chamber  3 , to meet the different gas isolation requirements between the adjacent target material coating champers  1 . The coating apparatus also includes a plurality of diaphragms  5 , by which a plurality of separation champers  3  and a plurality of target material coating champers  1  are divided. Each of the diaphragms  5  is provided with a slit. The substrate moves through the slit between the target material coating chamber  1  and the separation chamber  3 . The coating apparatus also includes a blowing device arranged in the separation chamber  3 . The blowing device blows through the slit to the target material coating chamber adjacent to the slit. It should be noted that the term “the target material coating chamber adjacent to the slit” here means the target material coating chamber directly adjacent to the diaphragm on which the slit is located. 
     In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in  FIG. 2 , two adjacent target material coating chambers in the coating apparatus include a first target material coating chamber  1  and a second target material coating chamber  2 . The diaphragms include a first diaphragm  5  and a second diaphragm  6 . The slits include a first slit  7  and a second slit  17 . The first diaphragm  5  is arranged between the first target material coating chamber  1  and the adjacent separation chamber  3 . The first diaphragm  5  is provided with a first slit  7  (see  FIG. 3 ). The second diaphragm  6  is arranged between the second target material coating chamber  2  and the adjacent separation chamber  3 . A second slit  17  is provided on the second diaphragm  6  (see  FIG. 4 ), The first slit  7  and the second slit  17  are the transmission channels of the substrate through the first target material coating chamber  1  and the second target material coating chamber  2 . The first blowing device  8  is used to blow air through the first slit  7  to the first target material coating chamber  1  adjacent to the slit  7 . The second blowing device  18  is used to blow air through the second slit  17  to the second target material coating chamber  2  adjacent to the slit  8 . 
     In one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the first blowing device  8  blows out the same gas as the gas in the first target material coating chamber  1 , and the second blowing device  18  blows out the same gas as the gas in the second target material coating chamber  2 . In an optional embodiment, in order to reduce the contamination of gas in the first target material coating chamber  1 , and the second target material coating chamber  2 , which is produced by the first blowing device  8  and the second blowing device  18 . The gas passed through to the first blowing device  8  is the same as the main sputtering gas in the first target material coating chamber  1 , and the gas passed through the second blowing device  18  is the same gas as the main sputtering gas in the second target material coating chamber  2 . In addition, it should be understood that, for ease of manufacture, the first diaphragm  5  and the second diaphragm  6  may have the same structure. 
     In one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in  FIG. 2 , the coating apparatus also includes a first pump chamber  13 , a second pump chamber  14  and a molecular pump  4 . The first pump chamber  13  is arranged in a first target material coating chamber  1 , and the first pump chamber  13  is arranged near the first diaphragm  5 . The second pump chamber  14  is arranged in the second target material coating chamber  2 , and the second pump chamber  14  is arranged near the second diaphragm  6 . The first pump chamber  13  and the second pump chamber  14  are respectively provided with a molecular pump  4 . The molecular pump  4  in the first pump chamber  13  is used to absorb gas blown back from the first slit  7  by the first blowing device  8 . The molecular pump  4  in the second pump chamber  14  is used to absorb the gas blown back from the second slit  17  by the second blowing device  18 . By setting the molecular pumps  4 , the gas returned by the first blowing device  8  or the gas returned by the second blowing device  18  can all be absorbed, respectively, so as to avoid the mixture of the blown gas and the gas in the target material coating chamber. The gas diffusion between the first target material coating chamber  1  and the second target material coating chamber  2  is further reduced. 
     It is understood that in order to enable the substrate to move through the target material coating chamber and the separation chamber  3 , a slit is also arranged between the first pump chamber  13  and the separation chamber  3 , and the second pump chamber  14  and the separation chamber  3  are also provided with a slit. In one embodiment of the present disclosure, on the one side, the gas blown out by the first blowing device  8 , and the gas dissipated from the first pump chamber  13  to the first slit  7  are all blown into the first pump char fiber  13  and extracted by the molecular pump  4  in the first pump chamber  13 ; On the other side, the gas blown by the first blowing device  8  will form a relative high pressure shielding area around the first slit  7  to prevent the gas at the side of the first pump chamber  13  from escaping through the first slit  7  to the adjacent separation chamber  3 . It should be understood that, for ease of manufacture, the second purge  18  has the same structure, the same position and the same function as the first blowing device  8  respectively. 
     Further, in one optional embodiment, as shown in  FIG. 2 , a molecular pump  4  is also provided in the separation chamber  3 . The molecular pump  4  of the separation chamber  3  is used to absorb a small amount of gas in the separation chamber  3  diffused from the first target material coating chamber  1  and the second target material coating chamber  2  under extreme conditions. 
     In one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in  FIG. 2 , the first blowing device  8  is located on the side of the first diaphragm  5  facing to the separation chamber  3 , and the second blowing device  18  is located on the side of the second diaphragm  6  facing to the separation chamber  3 . Optionally, the first blowing device  8  is located next to the first slit  7  (shown in  FIG. 3 ). The second blowing device  18  is located next to the second slit  17  (shown in  FIG. 4 ). Based on this arrangement, the blowing range of the first blowing device  8  completely covers the absorption range of the molecular pump  4  in the first pump chamber  13 , and the blowing range of the second blowing device  18  completely covers the absorption range of the molecular pump  4  in the second pump chamber  14 . In addition, the first blowing device  8  does not blow the gas in the separation chamber  3  into an area outside of the first pump chamber  13 , and the second blowing device  18  does not blow the gas in the separation chamber  3  into an area outside of the second pump chamber  14 . It should be understood that the first blowing device  8  may be fixed to the first diaphragm  5  through a fastener or a magnetic member, and the second blowing means  18  may be fixed to the second diaphragm  6  through a fastener or a magnetic member. Thus, the first blowing device  8  and the second blowing device  18  may be disassembled and installed as separate components, respectively. Of course, the fixing mode of the first blowing device  8  and the second blowing device  18  provided by the present invention are not limited to this, and the first blowing device  8  and the second blowing device  18  may also be fixed respectively by an additional support arranged in the separation chamber  3 . The specific setting position and height of the support may be set according to experience of the ordinary technical personnel in the art, at the same time ensured that the arrangement of the first blowing device  8  corresponds to the first slit  7 , and the second blowing device  18  corresponds to the second slit  17 . 
     In one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the first blowing device  8  of the second blowing device  18  may employ any device with a blowing function, but in order to ensure the isolation effect, the present embodiment provides a first blowing device  8  having the configuration shown in  FIG. 3  and a second blowing device  18  having the configuration shown in  FIG. 4 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , the first blowing device  8  includes: an end plate  10 , a pipe  9 , a pipeline  15 , one or more nozzle  12 , and a flow control valve  11 . The end plate  10  is fixed at the first slit  7 . The pipe  9  is fixed on the end plate  10 . And the pipe  9  extends along the length of the first slit  7 . The nozzles  12  is arranged on the pipe  9 . The pipeline  15  is used to connect the pipe  9  and a gas source  16 . The flow control valve  11  is arranged on the pipeline  15 , and the switch of the flow control valve  11  can be adjusted to adjust the gas volume to meet the requirements of the coating process. It should be understood that, for ease of manufacture, the first blowing device  8  and the second blowing device  18  may have the same structure, described above only as examples with the first blowing device  8 , and the coating apparatus is provided by the present disclosure. Of course, in order to achieve different functions, the first blowing device  8  and the second blowing device  18  may also have different structures. 
     In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in  FIG. 3 , the number of the end plates  10  is two and fixed respectively by screws to the both ends of the first slit  7  alone the length direction, respectively. The pipe  9  is fixed on two end plates  10 , a gas inlet end of the pipe  9  is connected with a gas outlet end of the flow control valve  11 , and a gas inlet end of the flow control valve  11  is connected with the air source  16  through the pipeline  15 . In this way, the flow control valve  11  can control the air supply of the pipe  9  to achieve better blowing effect. 
     As described above, the number of end plates  10  is two, and is fixed respectively on both ends of the first slot  7 . However, the invention is not limited to this. The number of the end plates  10  may be one or more. For example, when the number of the end plate  10  is 1, one end of the pipe  9  may be suspended or the end plate  10  may support the pipe  9  from the bottom of the pipe  9 . This reduces the number of components used in the first blowing device  8 , thereby reducing costs. 
     In one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the end plate  10  is elastic along the length direction “a” of the slit, in order to adjust the size of the end plate  10  to cover the area of the first slit  7  as necessary, and the end plate  10  of such a configuration may reduce the amount of gas being blown into the corresponding chamber, for example, only a small amount of gas enters the separation chamber  3  from the end of the first slit  7 , thus more effectively reducing the gas flowing between the adjacent target material coating chambers. Optionally, the end plate can be stretched through a structure such as a telescopic cylinder. 
     In one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the pipe  9  is detachably inserted into the end plate  10 , so that the pipe  9  and the end plate  10  can be manufactured separately and replaced separately as separate components, thereby reducing the complexity of manufacture and replacement. And when transported or stored, the pipe  9  and the end plate  10  can be separated to reduce the space occupied. 
     In one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the pipe  9  is arranged around the first slit  9 . In an optional embodiment, as shown in  FIG. 3 , the pipe  9  is arranged and closed along the edge of the first slit  7 . That is, the pipe  9  has a ring shape along the circumference of the first slit  7 , and the placing track of the pipe  9  can overlap the edge track of the first slit  7  to achieve a better blowing effect. Further, a plurality of nozzles  12  provided on the pipe  9  may be arranged along the length direction of the slit  7 . Further, a plurality of nozzles are arranged at equal intervals to avoid partial gas dispersion. 
     In one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, an annular pipe  9  is formed by a plurality of segments of pipe splicing. As shown in  FIG. 3 , the annular pipe  9  is arranged around the first slit  7  of the rectangle, in which case the annular pipe  9  may be, for example, composed of four segments corresponding to the four edges of the first slit  7  of the rectangle. In this case, the annular pipe  9  may be composed of four sub-pipes corresponding to the four edges of the first slot  7  of the rectangle. For the pipe  9  with splicing construction, each sub-pipe can be rotated separately to adjust the gas outlet direction of nozzles  12 . It can be seen that the pipe  9  with splicing structure can adapt to various working conditions to achieve better blowing effect. It should be understood that the number of the sub-pipe of the annular pipe  9  can be arranged arbitrarily according to the practical application as long as it can be easily manufactured assembled and can achieve a better blowing effect. 
     In one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in  FIG. 5 , the nozzles  12  of the first blowing device corresponding to the first diaphragm  5  blow towards the first slit  7 . The center axis of the nozzles  12  and the plate surface of the first diaphragm  5  show the first inclination angle α, the first inclination angle α is 30-60 degrees, and the better selection is 45 degrees. Understandably, in order for the gas blown back from the first slit  7  to be absorbed by the molecular pump  4  as soon as possible, the gas outlet of the nozzles  12  is directed to the direction of the molecular pump  4  in the first pump chamber  13 . In this way, the nozzles  12  can realize uniform blowing towards the first slit  7  in the vertical and horizontal direction, thus realizing the best blowing effect. Similarly, the nozzles  12  corresponding to the second diaphragm  6  blows towards the second slit  17 . The center axis of the nozzles  12  has a second inclination angle with the plate surface of the second diaphragm  6 , and the second inclination angle is 30-60 degrees, and the better selection is 45 degrees. It is understood that the gas outlet of the nozzles  12  of the second blowing device corresponding to the second diaphragm  6  is oriented towards the molecular pump  4  in the second pump chamber  14 . 
     In one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in  FIG. 3 , the pipe  9  has a plurality of nozzles  12  uniformly arranged along the length direction of the first slit  7 . The nozzles  12  can avoid the formation of airflow dead zone and the gas emission in the target material coating chamber. The gas flowing between adjacent target material coating chambers can be effectively reduced and the coating quality can be improved by using this kind of pipe  9  with simple fabrication and low cost. 
     In addition, in one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the inner surface of the first slit  7  is made into the rough surface by a sandblasting process, which may also play the role of reducing the gas flowing. Ideally, the roughness of the rough surface is Ra&gt;6.3, where Ra is a unit of measurement of surface roughness, and Ra is the arithmetic average of the absolute deviation of the contour within the sampling length, Using Ra to express roughness grade is an international measurement method of surface roughness. 
     In one exemplary embodiment of this disclosure, the first slit  7  has a rectangular shape, as shown in  FIG. 3 . The rectangular slit can be suitable for plates coating. But the invention is not limited to this, the first slit  7  may also have any other suitable shape. For example as shown in  FIG. 6  the first slit  7  may have a circular shape and the pipe  9  is arranged in two circles along the extension direction of the first slit  7  to accommodate a cylindrical target material. In this case, the pipe  9  may be arranged as a two-ring pipe, including the inner ring pipe  91  and the outer ring pipe  92 , the inner ring pipe  91  are located within the circular first slit  7  and the outer ring pipe  92  are located outside the circular first slit  7 . A number of nozzles can be further arranged on the outer ring pipe to form two-ring shape, which adapt to the situation that the circular slit may cause a large amount of dissipated gas and need a large amount of blowing gas. It should be understood that in  FIG. 6  a number of nozzles  12  uniformly arranged on the inner ring pipe  91  and the outer ring pipe  92  are omitted in order to clearly show the inner ring pipe  91  and the outer ring pipe  92  of the pipe  9 . 
     In one exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure as described above the gas in the first pump chamber  13 , the second pump chamber  14  and the separation chamber  3  are respectively absorbed through the molecular pump  4  arranged within them. In order to ensure the isolation effect, as shown in  FIG. 2 , the number of molecular pumps  4  in the separation chamber  3  is set to four, and the number of molecular pumps  4  in the first pump chamber  13  and the second pump chamber  14  is set to two. In one embodiment, the number of molecular pumps  4  in the separation chamber  3  is two, the number of the molecular pumps  4  in the first pump chamber  13  and the second pump chamber  14  is one. It is understandable, of course, that the number of the molecular pump  4  can be adjusted respectively according to the width of the target material coating chamber in order to ensure the isolation effect. In another embodiment, the number of molecular pumps in the separation chamber  3  may be set to six, and the number of molecular pumps  4  within the first pump chamber  13  and the second pump chamber  14  may be set to three. In order to ensure an equilibrium of air pressure between the separation chamber and the slit, the number of molecular umps in the first pump chamber  13  and the second pump chamber  14  is equal in one optional embodiment, and the sum of the two is equal to the number of molecular pumps in the separation chamber. Through this structure design, the phenomenon of gas flowing between adjacent target material coating chambers can be effectively reduced, and the coating quality can be improved. 
     Understandably, the above embodiments are only exemplary embodiments used to illustrate the principles of the present disclosure, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For ordinary technical personnel in the art, variations and improvements may be made without departing from the spirit and substance of the present disclosure, which are also regarded as the scope of protection of the present disclosure.