A multi-station vacuum coater suitable for various substrate sizes

Abstract

The present invention discloses a multi-station vacuum coating device suitable for various substrate sizes, the vacuum coating device includes a furnace body; a target assembly for carrying a target material for coating processing; a substrate assembly for carrying a substrate for coating processing; a turntable with a plurality of substrate slots provided along its circumference; and a central driver for outputting a driving force; the target assembly, the substrate assembly and the turntable are all arranged in the furnace body; the target assembly is connected to the furnace body; the central driver is connected to the furnace body, and the turntable is sleeved on the power output shaft of the central driver and connected thereto; the substrate assembly is adapted to the substrate slot, the substrate assembly is embedded in the substrate slot, and each substrate assembly is detachably connected to the turntable. Compared with the prior art, the multi-station vacuum coating device suitable for various substrate sizes provided by the present application has the beneficial effects of having many stations, strong adaptability, convenient driving, and convenient and flexible use.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of vacuum coating, and in particular relates to a coating device. Background Art

[0002] Vacuum coating refers to the process of evacuating the vacuum chamber containing the substrate and target material, treating the target material by evaporation and sputtering, and finally coating a thin film on the surface of the substrate. When the target material is treated by evaporation, the surface components of the target material are evaporated in the form of atomic groups or ions, which will settle on the surface of the substrate and form a thin film after the film forming process; when the sputtering method is used for coating, the target material is bombarded with electrons or high-energy lasers, so that the surface components of the target material are sputtered out in the form of atomic groups or ions, and finally deposited on the surface of the substrate, undergoing the film forming process, and finally forming a thin film on the substrate. Regardless of whether the target material is processed by evaporation or sputtering, the coating equipment is required to be able to construct a vacuum chamber with a specified vacuum degree and to ensure that there is a sufficient and stable target distance between the target material and the substrate. This requires that a fixed station be set for the substrate in the vacuum coater. Before vacuum coating, the operator needs to mount the substrates one by one on the corresponding station to ensure that the substrates are stably mounted during reprocessing and the required distance is maintained between the substrate surface and the target material. Only then can the vacuum coater be evacuated and the vacuum coating process of the substrate be started.

[0003] The vacuum coaters provided in the prior art often have obvious disadvantages of few workstations, poor adaptability and complex transmission: the vacuum coaters provided in the prior art often have a single target material. In order to ensure the film quality, the workstations for hanging the substrates to be coated are set facing the target material, and the number is often small. A large number of substrates need to be queued up for processing in batches and multiple times in and out of the vacuum coater. The multiple entry and exit of the substrates in the vacuum coating chamber will undoubtedly destroy the vacuum environment in the coating chamber. The coater must repeatedly build a vacuum environment for each batch of substrates processed, which not only greatly reduces the processing efficiency, but also greatly increases the processing cost, causing great inconvenience to the processing process; at the same time, once the vacuum coater provided in the prior art is assembled and put into use, the distance between the internal workstation and the target material is set and cannot be changed. In this way, the same vacuum coater can only process substrates of the same shape or the same appearance size. Once the shape of the substrate to be coated changes or another substrate needs to be processed, a new vacuum coater must be developed and manufactured accordingly, which brings great inconvenience to the coating process.

[0004] In order to solve the above problems, the prior art provides a coating device with multiple stations that can process more substrates at one time, see Figure 1 ,like Figure 1The figure shows a coater with a double-layer station provided in the prior art, in which A1 is the outer substrate, A2 is the inner substrate, and B is the target material; when the coater is applied to a specific substrate coating processing scenario, the operator can mount the inner and outer substrates at one time, and use the target material to coat the inner and outer substrates at the same time. In this way, the number of substrates that can be processed by the same coater at a time is greatly increased, and the processing efficiency of the coater will be greatly improved. However, since the inner substrate mounting position and the outer substrate mounting position are set at the same time, the coater needs to set corresponding rotation and transportation mechanisms for the inner substrate and the outer substrate, so as to drive the inner substrate and the outer substrate respectively to obtain a good coating effect at the same time, which will undoubtedly increase the manufacturing difficulty and manufacturing cost of the coater itself. At the same time, since the target material is arranged between the inner substrate and the outer substrate, once the coater is assembled, the target material and the inner substrate or the target material and the outer substrate will have corresponding distances respectively. The distance is subject to the mounting position of the target material and the inner substrate or the mounting position of the target material and the outer substrate, and is fixed. Although the coater solves the aforementioned processing efficiency problem, it still cannot solve the problem of processing substrates of different sizes.

[0005] In summary, how to improve the structure of the vacuum coater and propose a multi-station vacuum coater that can adapt to substrates of different sizes and has convenient transmission and vacuum coating processing requirements is a technical problem that technical personnel in this field urgently need to solve. Summary of the invention

[0006] In order to solve the above problems, the purpose of the present invention is to provide a vacuum coating device, which is easy to operate, has multiple workstations, can adapt to the installation and processing requirements of substrates of different sizes, and is easy to promote widely.

[0007] To achieve the above object, the technical solution of the present invention is as follows:

[0008] A multi-station vacuum coating device suitable for various substrate sizes, the vacuum coating device comprising:

[0009] A furnace body having an internal space for constructing a vacuum coating environment;

[0010] Target assembly for carrying target materials for coating processing;

[0011] A substrate assembly for carrying a substrate for coating processing;

[0012] A turntable having a plurality of substrate slots formed along its circumference;

[0013] and, a central driver for outputting a driving force;

[0014] The target material assembly, substrate assembly and turntable are all arranged in the furnace body; the target material assembly is connected to the furnace body; the central drive is connected to the furnace body, and the turntable is sleeved on the power output shaft of the central drive and connected to it; the substrate assembly is adapted to the substrate slot, the substrate assemblies are all embedded in the substrate slot, and each substrate assembly is detachably connected to the turntable.

[0015] Furthermore, each substrate assembly includes a substrate mounting component, and the substrate mounting component includes a substrate base and a substrate shaft; the substrate shaft is plugged into the substrate base and connected to the substrate base.

[0016] Furthermore, the turntable includes a turntable body, and substrate slots are provided on the turntable body; each substrate slot is adapted to the substrate base, and the substrate base is inserted into the slot opening of the substrate slot and slides along the substrate slot between the slot opening and the slot bottom.

[0017] Furthermore, the substrate groove is in a "U" shape, and the groove depth is not less than the width of a substrate base.

[0018] Furthermore, the central drive includes a central drive motor, a star wheel bearing and a central star wheel; the body of the central drive motor is connected to the furnace body, and its motor output shaft extends into the furnace body; the star wheel bearing is sleeved on the motor output shaft of the central drive motor, and its inner bearing is connected to the motor output shaft of the central drive motor; the central star wheel is sleeved on the star wheel bearing, and the outer bearing of the star wheel is connected to the central star wheel.

[0019] Furthermore, the substrate mounting member also includes a substrate wheel; the substrate wheel is sleeved on the substrate shaft and connected to the substrate shaft, and the substrate wheel is drivingly connected to the central star wheel.

[0020] Furthermore, the substrate assembly also includes a transmission member, which includes a transmission base and a transmission wheel. The transmission wheel is inserted into the transmission base and connected to the transmission base; the transmission wheel is meshed with the central star wheel, and the transmission wheel is also meshed with the substrate wheel nearby.

[0021] Furthermore, the target material assembly includes an inner target and an outer target; the inner target includes an inner target motor and an inner target shaft, the body of the inner target motor is connected to the furnace body, the motor output shaft thereof extends into the furnace body, and the inner target shaft is connected to the motor output shaft of the inner target motor; the outer target includes an outer target motor and an outer target shaft, the body of the outer target motor is connected to the furnace body, the motor output shaft thereof extends into the furnace body, and the outer target shaft is connected to the outer target motor.

[0022] Furthermore, the inner target shaft is erected at a position of the bottom of the substrate groove close to the rotation center of the turntable body; the outer target shaft is erected at a position of the groove opening of the substrate groove close to the edge of the turntable body.

[0023] When the coating device provided in this application is used in a specific application, the operator can select different mounting methods according to the specific substrate size:

[0024] When the substrate size is small, the operator can choose to mount the target material on the inner target shaft and the outer target shaft at the same time, and set two substrate mounting parts and a transmission part for each substrate groove; after the first substrate mounting part is embedded along the groove of the base groove, a transmission part is embedded into the substrate groove, and finally the second substrate mounting part is embedded. When necessary, the technician can use certain means such as screw threading to fix the second substrate mounting part to the turntable body, so that it remains at the current embedded groove depth position without moving, and ensure that the transmission wheel in the transmission part is meshed with the central star wheel, and the substrate wheels on the two substrate mounting parts are also meshed with the transmission wheels in the transmission part respectively. Finally, the substrates are mounted on the two substrate mounting parts respectively. For smaller substrates, the coater can coat two rows of substrates at the same time in the form of internal and external targets. Not only is the amount of furnace input large, but each substrate can also be coated by the targets mounted on the inner and outer targets at the same time, which can achieve better coating effects.

[0025] When the substrate size is slightly large, the operator can choose to mount one of the targets between the inner target shaft and the outer target shaft. Taking mounting the target on the inner target shaft as an example, after mounting the target on the inner target shaft, the operator can set a substrate mounting part and a transmission part for each substrate slot; after embedding the transmission part into the substrate slot from the slot, the substrate mounting part is embedded. When necessary, the technician can use certain means such as screw threading to fix the second substrate mounting part to the turntable body, so that it remains at the current embedded slot depth position without moving, and ensure that the transmission wheel in the transmission part is meshed with the center star wheel, and the substrate wheels on the substrate mounting part are also meshed with the transmission wheels in the transmission part respectively, and finally the substrate is mounted on the substrate mounting part. For substrates with slightly larger sizes, the coater uses the target mounted on the inner target shaft for coating processing, which can not only ensure the target spacing requirements for coating processing, but also make full use of each substrate slot to mount as many substrates to be coated as possible, and the operation is also very convenient.

[0026] When the substrate size is large, the operator can replace the gear radius of the transmission wheel in the transmission part, take the transmission wheel with a larger gear radius and connect it to the transmission base, and then select one of the inner target shaft and the outer target shaft to mount the target material. Taking the mounting of the target material on the outer target shaft as an example, after the operator mounts the target material on the outer target shaft, a substrate mounting part and a transmission part with a larger radius transmission wheel replaced can be set for each substrate slot; after the substrate mounting part is embedded into the substrate slot from the slot, the replaced transmission part can be embedded. When necessary, the technician can adopt The second substrate mounting part is fixed to the turntable body by certain means such as screw connection, so that it remains at the current embedded groove depth position without moving, and the large-radius transmission wheel in the transmission part is meshed with the central star wheel, and the substrate wheels on the substrate mounting part are also meshed with the transmission wheels in the transmission part respectively. Finally, the substrate is mounted on the substrate mounting part. After artificially increasing the distance between the target material and the substrate, the target spacing of this coating processing is guaranteed not to be affected by the target material size, thereby ensuring the film quality and avoiding collision between adjacent targets to damage the surface film layer.

[0027] When the substrate size is too large and the depth of a single substrate groove cannot meet the target spacing requirement of this coating process, the operator can choose to mount the substrate with one or more substrate grooves spaced apart.

[0028] Compared with the prior art, the vacuum coating device provided in this application has the following advantages:

[0029] Many workstations: There are substrate slots on the turntable body. In each substrate slot, one or more substrate mounting parts can be embedded at the same time depending on the specific size of the substrate, and one or more substrates can be hung. There are many workstations, and the overall furnace input capacity of the coater is large, so as to process as many substrates as possible at one time.

[0030] Convenient driving: When the central driving motor is started, its motor output shaft will drive the turntable body to rotate, and all the transmission parts embedded in the substrate slots will be driven by the turntable body to revolve around the motor output shaft of the central driving motor. Since each transmission part embedded in the substrate slot revolves with the turntable body, each transmission part will also revolve around its own rotation center because each transmission part is also meshed with the central star wheel. This will then drive the substrate wheel in the substrate mounting part meshed with the transmission part to rotate, and then drive the connection with the substrate shaft, and finally drive the substrate mounted on the substrate shaft to rotate and rotate around the substrate shaft. It can be seen that the coating device provided in the present application can drive the substrate to rotate and revolve at the same time with a single central driving motor, and the driving is very convenient.

[0031] Strong adaptability and flexible use: The U-shaped substrate groove on the turntable body utilizes the cooperation between the substrate assembly and the turntable. By adjusting the number of substrate mounting parts, the cooperation relationship between the substrate mounting parts and the transmission parts, the radius of the transmission wheel in the transmission parts, etc., it can adapt to substrates of different sizes, greatly improving the adaptability of the coater and facilitating its application in a wider range of substrate coating scenarios. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0032] Figure 1 It is a coater with double-layer workstations provided in the prior art. In the figure, A1 is the outer substrate, A2 is the inner substrate, and B is the target material.

[0033] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of a multi-station vacuum coater suitable for various substrate sizes provided in a specific implementation manner.

[0034] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of a multi-station vacuum coater suitable for various substrate sizes provided in a specific implementation manner.

[0035] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of the first partial structure of a multi-station vacuum coater suitable for various substrate sizes provided in a specific embodiment.

[0036] Figure 5 It is a second partial structural schematic diagram of a multi-station vacuum coater suitable for various substrate sizes provided in a specific embodiment.

[0037] Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of the third partial structure of a multi-station vacuum coater suitable for various substrate sizes provided in a specific embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0038] In order to make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the present invention more clearly understood, the present invention is further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention.

[0039] To achieve the above object, the technical solution of the present invention is as follows:

[0040] See also Figure 2-6 .

[0041] In this specific embodiment, a multi-station vacuum coating device suitable for various substrate sizes is provided, and the vacuum coating device includes:

[0042] A furnace body 1 having an internal space for constructing a vacuum coating environment;

[0043] A target assembly 2 for carrying a target material for coating processing;

[0044] A substrate assembly 3 for carrying a substrate for coating processing;

[0045] A turntable 4 having a plurality of substrate slots formed along its circumference;

[0046] and, a central driver 5 for outputting a driving force;

[0047] The target material assembly 2, the substrate assembly 3 and the turntable 4 are all arranged in the furnace body 1; the target material assembly 2 is connected to the furnace body 1; the central driver 5 is connected to the furnace body 1, and the turntable 4 is sleeved on the power output shaft of the central driver 5 and connected thereto; the substrate assembly 3 is adapted to the substrate slot 42, the substrate assembly 3 is embedded in the substrate slot 42, and each substrate assembly 3 is detachably connected to the turntable 4.

[0048] Furthermore, each substrate assembly 3 includes a substrate mounting member 31 , and the substrate mounting member 31 includes a substrate base 311 and a substrate shaft 312 ; the substrate shaft 312 is plugged into the substrate base 311 and connected to the substrate base 311 .

[0049] Furthermore, the turntable 4 includes a turntable body 41, and substrate slots 42 are opened on the turntable body 41; each substrate slot 42 is adapted to the substrate base 311, and the substrate base 311 is embedded from the slot of the substrate slot 42 and slides along the substrate slot 42 between the slot and the bottom of the slot.

[0050] Furthermore, the substrate groove 42 is in a “U” shape, and the groove depth is not less than the width of one substrate base 311 .

[0051] Furthermore, the central driver 5 includes a central drive motor 51, a star wheel bearing (not shown) and a central star wheel 52; the body of the central drive motor 51 is connected to the furnace body 1, and its motor output shaft extends toward the interior of the furnace body 1; the star wheel bearing is sleeved on the motor output shaft of the central drive motor 51, and its inner bearing is connected to the motor output shaft of the central drive motor 51; the central star wheel 52 is sleeved on the star wheel bearing, and the outer bearing of the star wheel is connected to the central star wheel 52.

[0052] Furthermore, the substrate mounting member 31 further includes a substrate wheel 313 ; the substrate wheel 313 is sleeved on the substrate shaft 312 and connected to the substrate shaft 312 , and the substrate wheel 313 is transmission-connected to the central sun wheel 52 .

[0053] Furthermore, the substrate assembly 3 also includes a transmission member 32, which includes a transmission base 321 and a transmission wheel 322. The transmission wheel 322 is inserted into the transmission base 321 and connected to the transmission base 321; the transmission wheel 322 is meshed with the central star wheel 52, and the transmission wheel 322 is also meshed with the substrate wheel 313 nearby.

[0054] Furthermore, the target assembly 2 includes an inner target 21 and an outer target 22; the inner target 21 includes an inner target motor 211 and an inner target shaft 212, the body of the inner target motor 211 is connected to the furnace body 1, the motor output shaft thereof extends into the furnace body 1, and the inner target shaft 212 is connected to the motor output shaft of the inner target motor 211; the outer target 22 includes an outer target motor 221 and an outer target shaft 222, the body of the outer target motor 221 is connected to the furnace body 1, the motor output shaft thereof extends into the furnace body 1, and the outer target shaft 222 is connected to the outer target motor 221.

[0055] Furthermore, the inner target shaft 212 is erected at a position of the bottom of the substrate groove 42 close to the rotation center of the turntable body 41 ; the outer target shaft 222 is erected at a position of the groove opening of the substrate groove 42 close to the edge of the turntable body 41 .

[0056] The above are only preferred embodiments of the present invention and are 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 multi-station vacuum coater suitable for various substrate sizes, characterized in that: The vacuum coater includes: A furnace body having an internal space for constructing a vacuum coating environment; Target assembly for carrying target materials for coating processing; A substrate assembly for carrying a substrate for coating processing; A turntable having a plurality of substrate slots formed along its circumference; and, a central driver for outputting a driving force; The target assembly, the substrate assembly and the turntable are all arranged in the furnace body; the target assembly is connected to the furnace body; the central drive is connected to the furnace body, and the turntable is sleeved on the power output shaft of the central drive and connected thereto; the substrate assembly is adapted to the substrate slot, and the substrate assemblies are all embedded in the substrate slot, and each substrate assembly is detachably connected to the turntable; Each of the substrate components includes a substrate mounting member, and the substrate mounting member includes a substrate base and a substrate shaft; the substrate shaft is plugged into the substrate base and connected to the substrate base; The turntable includes a turntable body, and the substrate slots are provided on the turntable body; each of the substrate slots is adapted to the substrate base, and the substrate base is inserted from the slot opening of the substrate slot and slides along the substrate slot between the slot opening and the slot bottom; The substrate groove is in a "U" shape, and its groove depth is not less than the width of one substrate base; The target assembly includes an inner target and an outer target; the inner target includes an inner target motor and an inner target shaft, the body of the inner target motor is connected to the furnace body, the motor output shaft thereof extends into the furnace body, and the inner target shaft is connected to the motor output shaft of the inner target motor; the outer target includes an outer target motor and an outer target shaft, the body of the outer target motor is connected to the furnace body, the motor output shaft thereof extends into the furnace body, and the outer target shaft is connected to the outer target motor.

2. The multi-station vacuum coater suitable for various substrate sizes as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The central driver includes a central drive motor, a star wheel bearing and a central star wheel; the body of the central drive motor is connected to the furnace body, and its motor output shaft extends toward the inside of the furnace body; the star wheel bearing is sleeved on the motor output shaft of the central drive motor, and its inner bearing is connected to the motor output shaft of the central drive motor; the central star wheel is sleeved on the star wheel bearing, and the outer bearing of the star wheel is connected to the central star wheel.

3. The multi-station vacuum coater suitable for various substrate sizes as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that: The substrate mounting member also includes a substrate wheel; the substrate wheel is sleeved on the substrate shaft and connected to the substrate shaft, and the substrate wheel is drivingly connected to the central star wheel.

4. The multi-station vacuum coater suitable for various substrate sizes as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that: The substrate assembly also includes a transmission member, which includes a transmission base and a transmission wheel. The transmission wheel is inserted into the transmission base and connected to the transmission base; the transmission wheel is meshed with the central star wheel, and the transmission wheel is also meshed with the substrate wheel near it.

5. The multi-station vacuum coater suitable for various substrate sizes as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: The inner target shaft is erected at a position of the bottom of the substrate groove close to the rotation center of the turntable body; the outer target shaft is erected at a position of the groove opening of the substrate groove close to the edge of the turntable body.

Images