Patent ID: 8187555

Claim:
A conveyor assembly for use in a vapor deposition apparatus wherein a sublimed source material is deposited as a thin film on a photovoltaic (PV) module substrate, said assembly comprising: a conveyor operably disposed within said vapor deposition apparatus, said conveyor movable in an endless loop path having an upper leg that moves in a conveyance direction to carry a substrate through a deposition area of said vapor deposition apparatus; a heat source disposed relative to said endless loop path so as to heat said conveyor at a location along said endless loop path generally after a point where the substrate leaves said conveyor, said heat source configured to heat said conveyor to a temperature effective for sublimating source material from said conveyor; and a cold trap disposed along said endless loop path and maintainable at a temperature effective for causing sublimated source material generated from heating said conveyor to plate out onto a collection member configured with said cold trap.