Coating equipment with tilted transport pallets

Abstract

The present invention discloses a coating device for an inclined transport tray, comprising: a tray for placing a substrate and a transport track for transporting the tray, the transport track having an inclined transport section, the inclined transport section being provided with at least one coating device; when the inclined transport section transports the tray, an angle θt is formed between the tray and a horizontal plane, and the coating device projects a coating on the substrate in the tray. The present invention can easily realize double-sided coating of the substrate, has high coating efficiency and good production quality of the substrate.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to the technical field of substrate coating, and in particular to coating equipment for an inclined transport pallet. Background Art

[0002] RPD coating equipment is used to coat the surface of a substrate with a transparent conductive oxide film. The substrate here refers to a silicon wafer, glass or a plate made of various materials. The substrate has an upper surface and a lower surface. Double-sided coating equipment can simplify the production line and increase production capacity. In the existing technology, two types of RPD equipment are mainly used to achieve double-sided coating. The first type is the more common horizontal RPD coating equipment, such as Figure 1 As shown, the angle of the evaporation source is perpendicular to the X-axis of the equipment, and the angle θp between the end face of the coating chamber and the horizontal plane is 0 degrees. Due to the design limitation of the target material supply system of the coating chamber, the RPD equipment cannot be suspended to make the angle θp between the end face of the coating chamber and the horizontal plane 270 degrees, that is, the coating is carried out from top to bottom. Moreover, when coating from top to bottom, more dust will fall on the substrate, causing the yield of the substrate to decrease. Therefore, the aforementioned current horizontal RPD coating mechanism requires a flipping device to complete double-sided coating. This flipping device is the production capacity bottleneck of the RPD coating equipment; the second type is the upright RPD coating equipment, which must be equipped with a complex substrate fixing mechanism so that the substrate can be placed on a vertical tray. Moreover, the mounting parts used to fix the substrate on the substrate fixing mechanism will increase the substrate shielding area, resulting in uncoated areas on the substrate, and the quality of the produced substrates is lower.

[0003] Therefore, how to design a coating equipment with simple structure and high efficiency is a technical problem that needs to be solved urgently in the industry. Summary of the invention

[0004] In order to solve the defects of the prior art such as complex structure and low coating efficiency, the present invention proposes a coating device with an inclined transport pallet.

[0005] The technical solution adopted by the present invention is to design a coating device with an inclined transport pallet, including: a tray for placing a substrate and a transmission track for transporting the pallet, the transmission track has an inclined transport section, and the inclined transport section is provided with at least one coating device; when the inclined transport section transports the pallet, there is an angle θt between the pallet and the horizontal plane, and the coating device projects the coating onto the substrate in the pallet.

[0006] Preferably, the transport track includes: a first transport section and a second transport section located higher than the first transport section. The inclined transport section is connected between the first transport section and the second transport section, the first transport section and the second transport section transport the pallet in a horizontal direction, and the inclined transport section transports the pallet in a direction forming an angle θt with the horizontal plane.

[0007] Preferably, a coating device is provided on the upper side of the inclined transport section, and the opening of the coating device on the upper side of the inclined transport section faces the upper working surface of the substrate; a coating device for projecting coating to the substrate in the tray is provided below the second transport section, and the opening of the coating device below the second transport section faces the lower working surface of the substrate.

[0008] Preferably, coating devices are provided on both the upper and lower sides of the inclined transport section; the coating device opening on the upper side of the inclined transport section faces the upper working surface of the substrate, and the coating device opening on the lower side of the inclined transport section faces the lower working surface of the substrate.

[0009] Preferably, the two coating devices on the upper and lower sides of the inclined transport section have the same height and their openings face oppositely.

[0010] Preferably, the inclined transport section comprises: a lower rail line and an upper rail line arranged obliquely above the lower rail line, the inclined transport section transports the pallet in a horizontal direction, and when the pallet is placed on the inclined transport section, the pallet is in an inclined state with an angle θt with the horizontal plane.

[0011] Preferably, coating devices are provided on both sides of the inclined transport section; the coating device opening on one side of the inclined transport section faces the upper working surface of the substrate, and the coating device opening on the other side of the inclined transport section faces the lower working surface of the substrate.

[0012] Preferably, the openings of the two coating devices on the left and right sides of the inclined transport section face oppositely.

[0013] Preferably, the opening of the coating device projects the coating in a horizontal direction or projects the coating at an angle with the horizontal plane.

[0014] Preferably, θt ranges from 1° to 80°.

[0015] Compared with the prior art, the present invention achieves effective coating on the front side of the substrate by tilting the transport pallet and configuring a coating device on the inclined transport section of the transmission track. When the substrate is tilted, it will be stably positioned in the pallet under the action of gravity, and no complicated substrate fixing structure is required. When coating on the front side, the film surface can be expanded to the entire substrate, maximizing the coating area on the substrate, thereby improving the substrate quality and production efficiency. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] The present invention is described in detail below with reference to the embodiments and accompanying drawings, wherein:

[0017] Figure 1 It is a structural schematic diagram of a horizontal coating device in the prior art;

[0018] Figure 2 It is a first structural schematic diagram of the first embodiment of the present invention;

[0019] Figure 3It is a second structural schematic diagram of the first embodiment of the present invention;

[0020] Figure 4 It is a schematic structural diagram of the second embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] like Figures 2 to 4 As shown, the coating equipment proposed by the present invention includes: a tray 1, a transmission track 2 and a coating device. The tray 1 is used to place a substrate, and the substrate material can be silicon wafers, metals, glass or plastics, etc. The transmission track 2 has an inclined transport section 21, and the inclined transport section 21 can tilt the tray 1. When the inclined transport section 21 is in the inclined transport section, there is an angle θt between the tray 1 and the horizontal plane, and the range of θt is preferably 1° to 80°. When the substrate is tilted, it will be stably positioned in the tray 1 under the action of gravity. The transmission track is composed of two rails, and the two rails are arranged on both sides of the tray to support and guide the tray 1 to move. The design of the transmission track determines the transportation direction and tilt angle of the tray 1. The inclined transport section 21 is provided with at least one coating device 3. When the inclined transport section 21 transports the tray 1, the tray 1 will pass through the opening of the coating device 3, and the coating device 3 projects the coating on the substrate in the tray 1.

[0022] It should be further explained that the coating equipment has a transfer chamber TR1 and a transfer chamber TR3, and the coating device is located between the transfer chamber TR1 and the transfer chamber TR3. The coating device has a coating chamber 31, a plasma source 32 for providing plasma to the coating chamber 31, and a furnace 33 provided with a target material. The opening of the coating device faces the upper active surface or the lower active surface of the substrate to project the coating onto the substrate.

[0023] The coating device of the present invention has various embodiments, and only two preferred embodiments are described in detail below.

[0024] In the first embodiment, if Figure 2 , 3 As shown, the transport track 2 includes: a first transport section and a second transport section, the second transport section is located higher than the first transport section, and the inclined transport section 21 is connected between the first transport section and the second transport section. In this embodiment, the first transport section and the second transport section transport the pallet 1 in a horizontal direction, that is, the first transport section and the second transport section transport the pallet 1 in a direction parallel to the horizontal plane, and the inclined transport section 21 transports the pallet 1 in a direction forming an angle θt with the horizontal plane.

[0025] This transmission track structure can achieve double-sided coating by arranging two coating devices.

[0026] like Figure 2As shown, the first implementation method is to set a coating device 3 on the upper side of the inclined transport section 21 and set another coating device 3 below the second transport section. The opening of the coating device 3 on the upper side of the inclined transport section 21 faces the upper working surface of the substrate, and the opening of the coating device 3 below the second transport section faces vertically upward. When the tray 1 moves on the second transport section, the opening of the coating device 3 below the second transport section faces the lower working surface of the passing substrate. During the transportation of the tray 1, a thin film is first deposited on the upper working surface of the substrate on the inclined transport section 21, and then a thin film is deposited on the lower working surface of the substrate in the second transport section to complete the double-sided coating work. It should be noted that in this method, the first transport section and the second transport section can be set to other angles according to the process requirements, and the coating device 3 can adjust its opening direction accordingly.

[0027] like Figure 3 As shown, the second implementation method is that coating devices 3 are arranged on both the upper and lower sides of the inclined transport section 21, the coating device 3 on the upper side of the inclined transport section 21 opens toward the upper working surface of the substrate, and the coating device 3 on the lower side of the inclined transport section 21 opens toward the lower working surface of the substrate. The two coating devices 3 on the upper and lower sides of the inclined transport section 21 are at the same height, and the openings of the two coating devices 3 face each other. During the transportation of the tray 1, a thin film is deposited on the upper and lower working surfaces of the substrate at the inclined transport section 21 at the same time, completing the work of double-sided coating. Similarly, in this method, the first transport section and the second transport section can be set to other angles according to process requirements.

[0028] In the second embodiment, if Figure 4 As shown, the inclined transport section 21 includes: a lower rail and an upper rail arranged obliquely above the lower rail. The inclined transport section 21 transports the pallet 1 in the horizontal direction. When the pallet 1 is placed on the inclined transport section 21, the upper rail is supported on the upper side of the pallet 1, and the lower rail is supported on the lower side of the pallet 1. The pallet 1 is in an inclined state with an angle θt with the horizontal plane. Coating devices 3 are arranged on both sides of the inclined transport section 21. The coating device 3 on one side of the inclined transport section 21 opens toward the upper working surface of the substrate, and the coating device 3 on the other side of the inclined transport section 21 opens toward the lower working surface of the substrate. The openings of the two coating devices 3 on the left and right sides of the inclined transport section 21 face each other. During the transportation of the pallet 1, a thin film is deposited on the upper working surface and the lower working surface of the substrate at the inclined transport section 21 at the same time, completing the work of double-sided coating. The most significant difference between the second embodiment and the first embodiment is that the pallet 1 is always transported in the horizontal direction, and the height position of the pallet 1 will not change during the transportation process. The two coating devices 3 can also be installed on the horizontal plane, and no additional structure is required to raise it to the specified position, so the installation is relatively simple.

[0029] In the present invention, the length of the transmission track 2 and the inclination angle of the inclined transport section 21 are determined by mechanical properties. The conveying speed of the tray 1 and the opening angle of the coating device 3 can be designed according to specific process requirements. The opening of the coating device 3 can project the coating in the horizontal direction or at an angle to the horizontal plane, or project the coating in the vertical direction or at an angle to the vertical plane. The number of coating devices is set according to specific process requirements. The coating devices 3 can be set in the same cavity or separately and independently.

[0030] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions and improvements made within the spirit and principles of the present invention should be included in the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A coating device, comprising: A transport track for placing a tray for a substrate and a transport tray, characterized in that the transport track has an inclined transport section, the transport track is composed of two rails, the two rails are arranged on both sides of the tray to support and guide the tray to move, and the inclined transport section is provided with at least one coating device; When the inclined transport section transports the tray, an angle θt is formed between the tray and the horizontal plane, and the range of θt is 1° to 80°. When the substrate is placed obliquely, it will be stably positioned in the tray under the action of gravity, and the coating device projects coating on the substrate in the tray; The transport track comprises: a first transport section and a second transport section located higher than the first transport section; the inclined transport section is connected between the first transport section and the second transport section, the first transport section and the second transport section transport the pallet along a direction parallel to a horizontal plane, and the inclined transport section transports the pallet along a direction forming an angle θt with the horizontal plane; The coating device is arranged on both the upper and lower sides of the inclined transport section; the coating device opening on the upper side of the inclined transport section faces the upper working surface of the substrate, and the coating device opening on the lower side of the inclined transport section faces the lower working surface of the substrate. The two coating devices on the upper and lower sides of the inclined transport section have the same height and their openings face opposite to each other, and the openings of the coating devices project the coating in the horizontal direction.

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