Multi-cavity vacuum coating equipment and control method

Abstract

The invention relates to multi-cavity vacuum coating equipment and a control method, the multi-cavity vacuum coating equipment structurally comprises a feeding and discharging machine table, two sets of rail cars, a plurality of process cavities and a plurality of cooling cavities, the process cavities are sequentially arranged, the cooling cavities are sequentially arranged, the process cavities and the cooling cavities are linearly distributed, the process cavity at one end is adjacent to the cooling cavity at one end, and the process cavity at the other end is adjacent to the cooling cavity at the other end. Rails for the rail car to move are arranged along all the process cavities and the cooling cavities, and the rails further pass through the two temporary storage platforms. The multi-cavity vacuum coating equipment has the advantages that the equipment structure and the control method are reasonable in design, the multi-cavity vacuum coating equipment is adopted, the multi-cavity process can be operated at the same time, the production efficiency is improved, and the multi-cavity vacuum coating equipment has the characteristics of redundancy expansion and flexible arrangement and is high in applicability.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to multi-cavity vacuum coating equipment and a control method, belonging to the technical field of vacuum coating. Background Art

[0002] In the vacuum coating processes such as ALD\PECVD\CVD of photovoltaic cells, it generally involves loading and unloading machines, buffer platforms, cooling chambers, process chambers, etc., including the arrangement of various components of the coating equipment and the operating mechanism of the metal boat circulation method.

[0003] In the existing photovoltaic cell coating process, the front film, back film, ALD and other coating processes generally adopt a multi-tube layout. The motion mechanism is generally composed of a two- / three-axis truss mechanism and an in-and-out boat-paddle mechanism. This solution is limited by the height and width of the factory building and adopts a stacked reaction chamber. Each chamber requires an independent control system and vacuum system. The machine body is large and is limited by the in-and-out furnace mechanism. It cannot be produced efficiently and the single-machine production capacity is limited. Summary of the invention

[0004] The present invention proposes a multi-cavity vacuum coating device and a control method, the purpose of which is to overcome the above-mentioned deficiencies in the prior art, realize the simultaneous operation of multi-cavity processes, and improve production efficiency.

[0005] The technical solution of the present invention is: a multi-cavity vacuum coating equipment, whose structure includes a loading and unloading machine platform, two sets of rail cars, a plurality of process chambers and a plurality of cooling chambers, the process chambers are arranged in sequence, the cooling chambers are arranged in sequence, the process chambers and the cooling chambers are distributed in a straight line, the process chamber at one end and the cooling chamber at one end are arranged adjacent to each other, and tracks for the movement of the rail cars are arranged along all the process chambers and cooling chambers, and the tracks also pass through two cache platforms.

[0006] Preferably, the loading and unloading machines are a separate loading and unloading machine and a separate unloading machine respectively arranged on both sides of the equipment, and a buffer platform is respectively arranged at both ends of all process chambers and cooling chambers. It is suitable for assembly line type production workshops.

[0007] Alternatively, preferably, the loading and unloading machine is a loading and unloading machine arranged on one side of the equipment, and two buffer platforms are arranged outside the outermost cooling cavity. Suitable for production plants with limited length.

[0008] Preferably, a metal boat carrying mechanism is provided in the cache platform, process chamber and cooling chamber, and the metal boat carrying mechanism is driven by a servo motor and has the ability to move up and down.

[0009] Preferably, the process chamber and the cooling chamber have a shielding function, which facilitates maintenance work during operation, thereby ensuring uninterrupted production.

[0010] Preferably, the rail vehicle is driven by a servo motor and has the ability to move up and down, left and right, and forward and backward.

[0011] A control method for multi-cavity vacuum coating equipment comprises the following steps: 1) The front-end equipment loads the silicon wafers into a metal boat, which is then placed on a buffer platform by a loading machine or a loading and unloading machine to wait; 2) A rail car takes the metal boat and puts it into a process chamber for processing; 3) After the coating process is completed, a rail car takes out the metal boat and puts it into a cooling chamber for cooling; 4) After cooling, a rail car takes out the metal boat and places it on another buffer platform to wait; 5) The unloading machine or loading and unloading machine takes down the metal boat and hands it over to the subsequent equipment for unloading.

[0012] The advantages of the present invention are as follows: the equipment structure and control method are reasonably designed, and a multi-cavity vacuum coating equipment is used, which can run multiple cavity processes simultaneously to improve production efficiency, and has the characteristics of redundant expansion and flexible arrangement, and has high applicability. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] Figure 1 It is a structural schematic diagram of a vacuum coating device in the prior art.

[0014] Figure 2 It is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of the multi-cavity vacuum coating equipment of the present invention.

[0015] Figure 3 It is a schematic structural diagram of another embodiment of the multi-cavity vacuum coating equipment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0016] The present invention is further described in detail below with reference to examples and specific implementation modes.

[0017] A multi-cavity vacuum coating equipment, whose structure includes a loading and unloading machine or a separate loading machine and an unloading machine, two sets of rail cars, a plurality of process chambers and a plurality of cooling chambers, the process chambers are arranged in sequence, the cooling chambers are arranged in sequence, the process chambers and the cooling chambers are distributed in a straight line, the process chamber at one end and the cooling chamber at one end are arranged adjacent to each other, and tracks for the movement of the rail car are arranged along all the process chambers and cooling chambers. A cache platform is respectively provided at both ends of all the process chambers and cooling chambers as a whole, then a separate loading and unloading machine is respectively arranged at both ends of the track, or two cache platforms are provided on the outside of the outermost cooling chamber, then a loading and unloading machine is arranged at one end of the track close to the two cache platforms.

[0018] A metal boat bearing mechanism is provided in the cache platform, process cavity and cooling cavity, which is driven by a servo motor and has the ability to move up and down.

[0019] The process chamber and cooling chamber are shielded to facilitate maintenance work during operation, thus ensuring uninterrupted production.

[0020] The rail car is driven by a servo motor and has the ability to move up and down, left and right, and forward and backward.

[0021] The two rail cars can complete all production processes independently and can also cooperate with each other. The rail cars can be combined with the control program to automatically allocate work according to whether the platform and cavity need to enter and exit the metal boat.

[0022] A control method for a multi-cavity vacuum coating device comprises the following steps: 1) The front-end equipment loads the silicon wafers into a metal boat, which is then placed on a buffer platform by a loading machine or a loading and unloading machine to wait; 2) A rail car takes the metal boat and puts it into a process chamber for processing; 3) After the coating process is completed, a rail car takes out the metal boat and puts it into a cooling chamber for cooling; 4) After cooling, a rail vehicle takes out the metal boat and places it on another buffer platform to wait; 5) The unloading machine or loading and unloading machine takes down the metal boat and hands it over to the subsequent equipment for unloading.

[0023] According to the layout of the factory, two specific machine forms are derived as shown in Examples 1 and 2, and the two forms can be freely combined. Example 1

[0024] A separate loading machine and an unloading machine are located on both sides of the equipment, which is suitable for assembly line type production workshops.

[0025] The priority of the operating areas of the two rail vehicles in the free state is: The first rail car preferentially works in the process chamber area and the cache platform on one side of the process chamber; the second rail car preferentially works in the cooling chamber area and the cache platform on one side of the cooling chamber; the second rail car preferentially works between the process chamber and the cooling chamber, followed by the first rail car. Example 2

[0026] The loading and unloading machines are on one side of the equipment, which is suitable for production plants with limited length.

[0027] The priority of the operating areas of the two rail vehicles in the free state is: The first rail car works preferentially in a cache platform and a cooling chamber area, and the second rail car works preferentially in a process chamber area. The second rail car works between cooling chambers and process chambers, and the first rail car works between the cooling chamber and another cache platform.

[0028] When two railcars work at the same time, the following principles are followed, where n and m are the sequential numbers of the same mechanism, the initial position of the first railcar is on the side with a smaller mechanism number, and the initial position of the second railcar is on the side with a larger mechanism number: Principle 1: If the first railcar goes to mechanism n, and the second railcar goes to mechanism m in the opposite direction, and n < m, then they do not interfere with each other; Principle 2: If the first rail car goes to mechanism n and the second rail car goes to mechanism m in the opposite direction, and n>m, then whichever of the two moves first will stop and wait for the other to finish the operation, and then continue to follow principle 1 or principle 2; Principle 3: If the first railcar goes to mechanism n and the second railcar goes to mechanism m in the same direction, and n<m, the anti-collision mechanism takes effect, that is, a safe distance is always ensured behind the front railcar moving in the same direction. If the rear railcar enters the safe distance, it stops and waits.

[0029] Principle 4: Based on Principle 2, the waiting party can run to the n+1 (first rail car goes first) or n-1 (second rail car goes first) position of the leading party's target position to wait.

[0030] When the process chamber and the cooling chamber work at the same time, follow the following principles, according to the mechanism number: Principle 1: Shielded cavities do not participate in queue sorting; Principle 2: The cavity follows the first-in, first-out principle; Principle 3: The cavities enter the boat and are arranged in order from the smallest to the smallest.

[0031] All the components mentioned above are prior art, and those skilled in the art can use any model and existing design that can achieve their corresponding functions.

[0032] The above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention. It should be pointed out that a person skilled in the art can make several modifications and improvements without departing from the inventive concept of the present invention, which all belong to the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A multi-cavity vacuum coating device, characterized in that: It includes loading and unloading machines, two sets of rail cars, several process chambers and several cooling chambers. The process chambers are arranged in sequence, and the cooling chambers are arranged in sequence. The process chambers at one end and the cooling chambers at one end are arranged adjacent to each other. Tracks for the movement of rail cars are arranged along all process chambers and cooling chambers, and the tracks also pass through two cache platforms.

2. The multi-cavity vacuum coating equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that: The loading and unloading machines are a separate loading and unloading machine and a separate unloading machine respectively arranged on both sides of the equipment, and a buffer platform is respectively arranged at both ends of all process chambers and cooling chambers.

3. The multi-cavity vacuum coating equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that: The loading and unloading machine is a loading and unloading machine arranged on one side of the equipment, and two buffer platforms are arranged outside the outermost cooling cavity.

4. A multi-cavity vacuum coating device as claimed in claim 2 or 3, characterized in that: The cache platform, process cavity and cooling cavity are provided with a metal boat bearing mechanism, which is driven by a servo motor and has the ability to move up and down.

5. A multi-cavity vacuum coating device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The process chamber and the cooling chamber have shielding functions.

6. A multi-cavity vacuum coating device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The rail vehicle is driven by a servo motor and has the ability to move up and down, left and right, and forward and backward.

7. A control method for a multi-cavity vacuum coating device as claimed in claim 2 or 3, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: 1) The front-end equipment loads the silicon wafers into a metal boat, which is then placed on a buffer platform by a loading machine or a loading and unloading machine to wait; 2) A rail car takes the metal boat and puts it into a process chamber for processing; 3) After the coating process is completed, a rail car takes out the metal boat and puts it into a cooling chamber for cooling; 4) After cooling, a rail car takes out the metal boat and places it on another buffer platform to wait; 5) The unloading machine or loading and unloading machine takes down the metal boat and hands it over to the subsequent equipment for unloading.

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