Patent ID: 7997227

Claim:
An apparatus for providing a vacuum coating to a workpiece, comprising: (a) a coating chamber adapted to contain a coating material, said coating chamber being operable at an elevated temperature and a sub-atmospheric pressure; (b) an electron beam gun mounted to said coating chamber, said electron beam gun being operable to project an electron beam onto said coating material so as to melt said coating material and to evaporate molten coating material; and, (c) a mechanism for supporting and manipulating said workpiece in said coating chamber, comprising: (1) a shaft member extending through a wall of said coating chamber and rotatably mounted in a bearing mounted in said wall of said coating chamber; (2) a joint connected to an end of said shaft member within said coating chamber, said joint rotatable with the shaft member and operable for tilting movement in at least two mutually perpendicular axes; (3) an intermediate member extending from said joint, said intermediate member having a central axis; (4) a rotational drive system disposed outside the coating chamber for rotating said intermediate member, said rotational drive system coupled to the intermediate member through the shaft member and the joint; and (5) a coupling device connected to the intermediate member, the coupling device operable to retain said workpiece; and (6) a first mechanical linkage connected to said intermediate member and to a first drive system disposed outside the coating chamber, said mechanical linkage and first drive system operable to tilt said intermediate member and said workpiece about said joint to a selected tilt angle within a range of tilt in a designated plane, wherein the first mechanical linkage is coupled to the intermediate member through a bearing which permits rotation of said intermediate member about said central axis.