Patent ID: 7892320

Claim:
An automatically replaceable collecting apparatus for collecting byproducts produced in a semiconductor production line, the collecting apparatus being constructed so that a trap collecting various kinds of byproducts is installed in a casing which is open at a top and bottom thereof and so that a lid having each of a byproduct inlet port and a byproduct outlet port is mounted to each of upper and lower openings of the casing to close each of the upper and lower openings, and being installed between a process chamber and a vacuum pump, the collecting apparatus comprising: a plurality of trap units mounted to a vertical shaft at regular angular intervals, and rotating leftwards or rightwards between upper and lower plates in response to a driving direction of a servo motor, one of the trap units collecting the byproducts and the rest of the trap units being repeatedly cleaned; the upper and lower plates supporting the vertical shaft to which the trap units are mounted such that the vertical shaft passes through centers of the upper and lower plates, and being installed to be spaced apart from the upper and lower lids by a predetermined interval, so that the upper and lower plates contact the upper and lower openings of the trap units at upper and lower positions of the casing, the upper and lower plates connecting byproduct inlet and outlet ports, cleaning-water supply and discharge ports, and dry-gas supply and exhaust ports to the respective trap units; trap and plate coupling means extended at normal times to air-tightly seal gaps between the upper and lower plates and the trap units, the trap and plate coupling means being contracted when the trap units are rotated in a predetermined direction for the replacement of the trap units, thus allowing the trap units to smoothly rotate; the servo motor mounted to a lower surface of the lower plate while a shaft of the servo motor is connected to a lower end of the vertical shaft, and rotating forwards or backwards in response to a signal output from a control unit, thus rotating the trap units within a predetermined angular range; and the control unit for controlling the operation of the servo motor, the trap and plate coupling means, and various kinds of valves according to a control program.