Line source maintenance device

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of evaporation systems, in particular to a line source maintenance device. The line source maintenance device comprises a guide rail base; the maintenance vehicle body is arranged on the guide rail base in a sliding manner; the lifting platform is arranged on the maintenance vehicle body, and a locking ring used for installing and bearing a line source is arranged on the lifting platform; the lifting driving mechanism is used for driving the lifting platform to do lifting motion relative to the maintenance vehicle body; the sensor assembly is arranged on the maintenance vehicle body and used for detecting the position of the lifting platform; and the jacking air cylinder is arranged on the lifting platform and used for jacking the line source when the lifting platform reaches a preset position. According to the line source maintenance device, locking of the lifting mechanism is avoided, and the sealing degree of the line source and the process cavity is guaranteed.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of vapor deposition system technology, and in particular to a line source maintenance device. Background Technology

[0002] In high-end manufacturing fields such as semiconductors, photovoltaics, and vacuum coating, line sources (such as evaporation sources and sputtering sources) within process chambers are key components for realizing core process functions. As mass production lines place increasingly higher demands on equipment uptime and stability, the ease of maintenance, reliability, and safety of line sources, as consumables requiring regular maintenance, cleaning, or replacement, have become crucial.

[0003] In the prior art, in order to replace and maintain the wire source, a maintenance device is needed that can install and remove the wire source at the bottom of the process chamber. The maintenance device usually uses a motor and screw drive to lift and move the wire source to facilitate disassembly and maintenance.

[0004] While this method allows for the installation and removal of the wire source at the bottom of the process chamber, the screw's movement relies on its thread lead, resulting in microscopically discrete and discontinuous displacement. When the wire source assembly rises to the critical point of contact with the bottom of the process chamber, the screw lead prevents the thread from being perfectly aligned with the sealing surface at the moment of contact—a "perfect position" for parallel contact. At this point, under the powerful motor drive, the wire source assembly experiences a massive instantaneous impact and bidirectional stress due to its own weight and the upward lifting force of the screw. This prolonged and repeated stress can easily lead to plastic deformation or wear on the threaded contact surfaces of the screw and nut, ultimately causing the mechanism to "lock up." This results in a small gap or insufficient contact pressure between the wire source and the sealing surface at the bottom of the process chamber, directly causing abnormal vacuum levels and excessive leakage in the process chamber, ultimately leading to the scrapping of the entire batch of products and severely restricting equipment capacity and yield. Summary of the Invention

[0005] To address the shortcomings of existing technologies, the purpose of this application is to provide a wire source maintenance device to prevent the lifting mechanism from "locking up" and to ensure the sealing between the wire source and the process chamber.

[0006] To achieve the above objectives, this application provides a power supply maintenance device, comprising: Guide rail base; The maintenance vehicle body is slidably mounted on the guide rail base; A lifting platform is installed on the maintenance vehicle body, and the lifting platform is equipped with a locking ring for installing a load-bearing power source; A lifting drive mechanism is used to drive the lifting platform to move up and down relative to the maintenance vehicle body; A sensor assembly, mounted on the maintenance vehicle body, is used to detect the position of the lifting platform; A lifting cylinder is installed on the lifting platform and is used to lift the power source when the lifting platform reaches a predetermined position.

[0007] Furthermore, the lifting drive mechanism also includes: The lifting screw is connected to the output end of the screw lifting motor; At least one guide shaft is arranged parallel to the lifting screw; The lifting platform is connected to the lifting screw via a threaded connection and is raised and lowered via a linear bearing connected to the guide shaft.

[0008] Furthermore, one lifting screw is provided on each of the four sides of the maintenance vehicle body.

[0009] Furthermore, it also includes a horizontal drive mechanism, which is mounted on the guide rail base and is used to drive the maintenance vehicle body to move horizontally.

[0010] Furthermore, the guide rail base is provided with a track, and the bottom of the maintenance vehicle is provided with rollers that are compatible with the track.

[0011] Furthermore, the sensor assembly includes: The sensor chip is mounted on the lifting platform; Several lifting sensors are installed on the maintenance vehicle body along the moving direction of the lifting platform. They are used to confirm the position of the lifting platform by detecting the sensor plate, so that when the lifting platform reaches the predetermined position, the lifting drive mechanism stops running and triggers the lifting cylinder to lift.

[0012] Furthermore, the lifting sensor is a position sensor or a proximity switch.

[0013] Furthermore, the lifting cylinder is a floating joint cylinder.

[0014] To achieve the above objectives, this application also provides a vapor deposition apparatus, including a process chamber and a wire source maintenance device as described above, the wire source maintenance device being used to install a wire source to the bottom of the process chamber or to remove it therefrom.

[0015] This application discloses a line source maintenance device that solves the technical problem of existing lifting mechanisms easily "locking up" at the end position. By employing a collaborative working mode of "coarse positioning by a screw lifting motor + fine positioning and lifting by a cylinder," the original rigid lifting process is decomposed into two stages. The screw lifting motor is responsible for completing most of the stroke and bearing the main load; while in the critical stage near the sealing surface, the cylinder, with buffering and self-adaptive capabilities, takes over. This design completely avoids the instantaneous huge bidirectional stress caused by the uncontrollable screw lead, making the mechanism operate smoothly and reliably, fundamentally eliminating the "locking up" phenomenon, and ensuring the continuity and success rate of maintenance operations.

[0016] This application discloses a wire source maintenance device that significantly improves the reliability of the vacuum seal between the wire source and the process chamber. The cylinder, as the actuating element for precise positioning and lifting, provides a flexible and uniform lifting force. When there is a slight non-parallelism between the sealing surfaces of the wire source chamber and the process chamber, the floating characteristics of the cylinder can adapt to this deviation, ensuring uniform contact and consistent force at all points on the sealing surface. This eliminates vacuum anomalies caused by poor sealing, providing a stable vacuum environment for high-end manufacturing processes (such as semiconductors and photovoltaic coating).

[0017] Other features and advantages of this application will be set forth in the following description, and will be apparent in part from the description, or may be learned by practicing this application. Attached Figure Description

[0018] The accompanying drawings are provided to further illustrate the present application and form part of the specification. Together with the embodiments of the present application, they serve to explain the present application but do not constitute a limitation thereof. In the drawings: Figure 1 This is an isometric view of the power supply maintenance device according to Embodiment 1 of this application; Figure 2 This is an isometric view of the power supply maintenance device from another perspective of Embodiment 1 of this application; Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the maintenance vehicle body according to Embodiment 1 of this application; Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the guide rail base of Embodiment 1 of this application; In the diagram: 100-guide rail base, 101-rail, 102-horizontal drive mechanism, 200-maintenance vehicle body, 201-lifting platform, 202-locking ring, 203-sensor assembly, 204-roller, 300-lifting drive mechanism, 301-guide shaft, 302-lifting screw, 400-wire source, 500-lifting cylinder. Detailed Implementation

[0019] Embodiments of this application will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. While some embodiments of this application are shown in the drawings, it should be understood that this application can be implemented in various forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided to provide a more thorough and complete understanding of this application. It should be understood that the drawings and embodiments of this application are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of protection of this application.

[0020] It should be understood that the steps described in the method embodiments of this application may be performed in different orders and / or in parallel. Furthermore, the method embodiments may include additional steps and / or omit the steps shown. The scope of this application is not limited in this respect.

[0021] The term "comprising" and its variations as used herein are open-ended inclusions, meaning "including but not limited to". The term "based on" means "at least partially based on". The term "one embodiment" means "at least one embodiment"; the term "another embodiment" means "at least one additional embodiment"; the term "some embodiments" means "at least some embodiments". Definitions of other terms will be given in the description below.

[0022] It should be noted that the terms "one" and "multiple" used in this application are illustrative rather than restrictive, and those skilled in the art should understand that, unless explicitly stated otherwise in the context, they should be understood as "one or more". "Multiple" should be understood as two or more.

[0023] The embodiments of this application will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0024] Example 1 One embodiment of this application provides a power supply maintenance device. Figure 1 This is a schematic flowchart of the power supply maintenance device according to Embodiment 1 of this application, as follows: Figure 1 As shown, the power supply maintenance device of this application includes: The guide rail base 100 has a rail 101 on it. The maintenance vehicle body 200 has rollers 204 adapted to the rail 101 at its bottom. The maintenance vehicle body 200 is slidably mounted on the guide rail base 100. The guide rail base 100 is also provided with a horizontal drive mechanism 102, which is used to drive the maintenance vehicle body to move horizontally. In this embodiment, the horizontal drive mechanism 102 consists of a servo motor and a screw. The screw is threadedly connected to the maintenance vehicle body 200, and the servo motor drives the movement of the maintenance vehicle body.

[0025] The lifting platform 201 is installed on the maintenance vehicle body 200, and the lifting platform 201 is equipped with a locking ring 202 for installing the load-bearing wire source 400; The lifting drive mechanism 300 is used to drive the lifting platform 201 to move up and down relative to the maintenance vehicle body 200, including: The lifting screw 302 is connected to the output end of the screw lifting motor; The guide shaft 301 is arranged parallel to the lifting screw 302; The lifting platform 201 is connected to the lifting screw 302 via a threaded connection, and is raised and lowered via a linear bearing and a guide shaft 301. In this embodiment of the application, four sets of lifting screws 302 and guide shafts 301 are arranged in pairs around the maintenance vehicle body 200.

[0026] Sensor assembly 203, mounted on maintenance vehicle body 200, is used to detect the position of lifting platform 201, including: A sensor is installed on the lifting platform 201. When the lifting sensor detects the sensor, the lifting drive mechanism 300 stops running and triggers the lifting cylinder 500 to lift. Several lifting sensors are installed on the maintenance vehicle body 200 along the moving direction of the lifting platform 201. They are used to confirm the position of the lifting platform 201 by detecting the sensor chip, so that when the lifting platform 201 reaches the predetermined position, the lifting drive mechanism 300 stops running and triggers the lifting cylinder 500 to lift. In the embodiments of this application, the lifting sensor is a position sensor or a proximity switch.

[0027] In this embodiment of the application, at least two lifting sensors are provided to detect whether the lifting platform 201 has risen to a first predetermined position or fallen to a second predetermined position. The first predetermined position is the position where the wire source and the process chamber are close to being sealed, and the second predetermined position is the position where the wire source 400 is completely detached from the process chamber.

[0028] It is understandable that the lifting cylinder 500 is activated to assist in sealing only when the lifting platform 201 is detected to rise to a position where the line source and process chamber are close to being sealed. The main vehicle body 200 can only be moved by the horizontal drive mechanism 102 when the lifting platform 201 is detected to descend to a position where the line source 400 is completely detached from the process chamber.

[0029] A lifting cylinder 500 is installed on the lifting platform 201 and is used to lift the wire source 400 when the lifting platform 201 reaches a predetermined position. The output end of the lifting cylinder 500 is fixedly connected to a connecting plate, and the connecting plate is fixedly connected to the bottom of the wire source 400.

[0030] In this embodiment, the lifting cylinder 500 is a floating joint cylinder.

[0031] The working process of this embodiment is as follows: When the wire source 400 needs to be maintained or replaced, the lifting drive mechanism 300 drives the lifting platform 201 to descend. When it descends to the position away from the process chamber, the maintenance vehicle 200 is moved out by the horizontal drive mechanism 102 for replacement or repair of the wire source. After the replacement or repair is completed, the maintenance vehicle 200 is moved into the lower part of the process chamber by the horizontal drive mechanism 102, and then the lifting drive mechanism 300 drives the lifting platform 201 to rise. When it rises to the position where the wire source and the process chamber are close to being sealed, the lifting drive mechanism 300 stops running, and the lifting cylinder 500 lifts the wire source to complete the sealing of the wire source and the process chamber.

[0032] Example 2 One embodiment of this application provides a vapor deposition apparatus, including a process chamber and a wire source maintenance device as described above, the wire source maintenance device being used to install a wire source to or remove it from the bottom of the process chamber.

[0033] The above description is merely a partial embodiment of this application and an explanation of the technical principles employed. Those skilled in the art should understand that the scope of disclosure in this application is not limited to technical solutions formed by specific combinations of the above-described technical features, but should also cover other technical solutions formed by arbitrary combinations of the above-described technical features or their equivalents without departing from the above-described concept. For example, technical solutions formed by substituting the above features with (but not limited to) technical features with similar functions disclosed in this application.

[0034] Furthermore, while the operations are described in a specific order, this should not be construed as requiring these operations to be performed in the specific order shown or in sequential order. Multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous in certain environments. Similarly, while several specific implementation details are included in the above discussion, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of this application. Certain features described in the context of individual embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented individually or in any suitable sub-combination in multiple embodiments.

[0035] Although the subject matter has been described using language specific to structural features and / or methodological logic, it should be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or actions described above. Rather, the specific features and actions described above are merely illustrative examples of implementing the claims.

Claims

1. A power supply maintenance device, characterized in that, include: Guide rail base; The maintenance vehicle body is slidably mounted on the guide rail base; A lifting platform is installed on the maintenance vehicle body, and the lifting platform is equipped with a locking ring for installing a load-bearing power source; A lifting drive mechanism is used to drive the lifting platform to move up and down relative to the maintenance vehicle body; A sensor assembly, mounted on the maintenance vehicle body, is used to detect the position of the lifting platform; A lifting cylinder is installed on the lifting platform and is used to lift the power source when the lifting platform reaches a predetermined position.

2. The power supply maintenance device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The lifting drive mechanism also includes: The lifting screw is connected to the output end of the screw lifting motor; At least one guide shaft is arranged parallel to the lifting screw; The lifting platform is connected to the lifting screw via a threaded connection and is raised and lowered via a linear bearing connected to the guide shaft.

3. The power supply maintenance device according to claim 2, characterized in that, One lifting screw is installed on each of the four sides of the maintenance vehicle.

4. The power supply maintenance device according to claim 1, characterized in that, It also includes a horizontal drive mechanism, which is mounted on the guide rail base and is used to drive the maintenance vehicle body to move horizontally.

5. The power supply maintenance device according to claim 4, characterized in that, The guide rail base is provided with a track, and the bottom of the maintenance vehicle is provided with rollers that are adapted to the track.

6. The power supply maintenance device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The sensor assembly includes: The sensor chip is mounted on the lifting platform; Several lifting sensors are installed on the maintenance vehicle body along the moving direction of the lifting platform. They are used to confirm the position of the lifting platform by detecting the sensor plate, so that when the lifting platform reaches the predetermined position, the lifting drive mechanism stops running and triggers the lifting cylinder to lift.

7. The power supply maintenance device according to claim 6, characterized in that, The lifting sensor is a position sensor or a proximity switch.

8. The power supply maintenance device according to claim 3, characterized in that, The lifting cylinder is a floating joint cylinder.

9. A vapor deposition apparatus, characterized in that, It includes a process chamber and a wire source maintenance device as described in any one of claims 1-8, the wire source maintenance device being used to install a wire source to or remove it from the bottom of the process chamber.

Images