Crucible material supplementing device

Abstract

The utility model discloses a crucible material supplementing device which comprises a material supplementing container and a jacking assembly, the jacking assembly is movably connected with the material supplementing container, the upper end of the material supplementing container is open, and the inner wall of the material supplementing container and the upper end face of the jacking assembly define a containing cavity used for containing materials to be plated. The jacking assembly is used for stretching into the crucible to abut against the residual to-be-plated material located in the crucible, and when the material supplementing container moves downwards to make contact with the crucible, the jacking assembly moves in the material supplementing container so that the capacity of the containing cavity can be reduced to the needed material supplementing capacity. Due to the design, the residual to-be-plated material which is not evaporated in the crucible does not need to be cleaned, the damage probability of the crucible can be reduced, the service life of the crucible is prolonged, the material supplementing amount can be flexibly controlled, the material supplementing process is more controllable, and the production efficiency is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to the technical field of evaporation, and more specifically to a crucible feeding device. Background Art

[0002] As a vacuum coating technology of physical vapor deposition, evaporation is a process method in which a certain heating evaporation method is used to evaporate the coating material (or film material) under vacuum conditions and vaporize it, and the particles fly to the surface of the substrate to condense into a film. Its working principle is: put the substrate into a vacuum chamber, heat the film material by resistance, electron beam, laser and other methods, so that the film material evaporates or sublimates, and vaporizes into particles (atoms, molecules or atomic groups) with a certain energy (0.1-0.3eV). The gaseous particles are rapidly transmitted to the substrate in a linear motion without collision. Part of the particles reaching the surface of the substrate are reflected, and the other part is adsorbed on the substrate and diffuses on the surface. Two-dimensional collisions occur between the deposited atoms to form clusters. The particle clusters constantly collide with the diffused particles, or adsorb single particles, or release single particles. This process is repeated. When the number of aggregated particles exceeds a certain critical value, they become stable nuclei, and then continue to adsorb diffused particles and gradually grow. Finally, a continuous film is formed through the contact and merging of adjacent stable nuclei.

[0003] In the traditional evaporation process, the material to be plated is first placed inside the crucible, and then the crucible is heated to cause the material to be plated to melt and evaporate. The evaporated material atoms or molecules then migrate in a vacuum environment and are finally deposited on the target substrate to form the desired film. However, in practical applications, sometimes the material to be plated in the crucible cannot be completely evaporated. Since the amount of evaporated material determines the number of gaseous atoms or molecules generated during the evaporation process, if the remaining material to be plated in the crucible is not cleaned up, the number of gaseous atoms or molecules generated during the next evaporation will inevitably increase accordingly. These gaseous atoms or molecules have more opportunities to condense on the substrate during their movement toward the substrate, resulting in the formation of a film that is too thick. Therefore, when this happens, the traditional treatment method is to stop the evaporation process, remove the crucible from the vacuum chamber, and manually clean the remaining material to be plated that has not evaporated in the crucible. This method is not only cumbersome and inefficient, but also easy to damage the crucible during the cleaning process, thereby affecting the overall performance and life of the evaporation equipment. Utility Model Content

[0004] In order to overcome the deficiencies of the prior art, the utility model provides a crucible replenishing device to solve the problem that the crucible needs to be cleaned after evaporation, the cleaning is difficult and the crucible is easily damaged.

[0005] The technical solution of the utility model is as follows: A crucible feeding device comprises:

[0006] refill container,

[0007] A lifting assembly, wherein the lifting assembly is movably connected to the feeding container, the upper end of the feeding container is an open mouth, the inner wall of the feeding container and the upper end surface of the lifting assembly form a accommodating cavity for placing the material to be plated, the lifting assembly is used to extend into the crucible to abut against the remaining material to be plated in the crucible, and when the feeding container moves down to contact the crucible, the lifting assembly moves in the feeding container to reduce the capacity of the accommodating cavity to the required feeding capacity.

[0008] Furthermore, the radius of the accommodating cavity is D, wherein D satisfies the relationship: D 2 / d 2 =a, d is the radius of the inner cavity of the crucible, a=ρ0 / ρ1, ρ0 is the density of the material to be plated remaining in the crucible, and ρ1 is the density of the material to be plated to be added into the crucible.

[0009] Furthermore, the outer wall of the feeding container is provided with a material guide member arranged in an inclined shape, an overflow groove is formed inside the material guide member, a discharge port is provided at the lower end of the material guide member, and the overflow groove and the discharge port are connected.

[0010] Furthermore, the feeding container includes a first base, a second base and a connector, the first base is connected to the second base via the connector, and the inner diameter of the connector gradually decreases from top to bottom along the axial direction of the connector.

[0011] Furthermore, the jacking assembly includes a jack, a top plate arranged at the upper end of the jack, and a bottom plate arranged at the lower end of the jack, and the diameter of the top plate is greater than or equal to the diameter of the bottom plate.

[0012] Furthermore, the connecting body includes a base and a limiting portion fixedly connected to the base, and a through hole for the push rod to pass through is arranged in the limiting portion.

[0013] Furthermore, a protrusion is provided on the bottom surface of the bottom plate, and the protrusion is used to abut against the remaining material to be plated in the crucible.

[0014] Furthermore, the first substrate, the second substrate and the connector are an integral structure.

[0015] Further, when the push rod is in contact with the connector, the distance between the lower end of the push rod and the lower end of the feeding container is H1, and H1 satisfies the relationship: H1=H, wherein H is the depth of the inner cavity of the crucible.

[0016] Furthermore, an annular boss is provided at the lower end of the feeding container, and the annular boss is used to abut against the top of the crucible.

[0017] The utility model according to the above scheme has the beneficial effect that: the utility model provides a crucible feeding device, including a feeding container and a lifting assembly, the lifting assembly and the feeding container are movably connected, the upper end of the feeding container is an open mouth, the inner wall of the feeding container and the upper end surface of the lifting assembly are surrounded to form a accommodating cavity for placing the material to be plated, the lifting assembly is used to extend into the crucible to abut against the remaining material to be plated in the crucible, when the feeding container moves down to contact the crucible, the lifting assembly moves in the feeding container to reduce the capacity of the accommodating cavity to the required feeding capacity. When the crucible feeding device and the crucible are used in conjunction, a portion of the lifting assembly extends into the inner cavity of the crucible. When the lifting assembly abuts against the remaining material to be plated in the inner cavity of the crucible, due to the active connection between the lifting assembly and the feeding container, the feeding container continues to move downward until it contacts the crucible, thereby prompting the lifting assembly to move upward along the inner wall of the feeding container to change the capacity of the accommodating cavity. In this way, when the feeding container is pre-filled with material, as the lifting assembly moves upward along the inner wall of the feeding container, the capacity of the accommodating cavity changes accordingly, so that the material to be plated in the accommodating cavity is lifted up by the lifting assembly, and the material to be plated that is lifted up beyond the horizontal height of the open mouth is recycled, thereby reducing the material to be plated in the accommodating cavity to the actual feeding amount required for the crucible. Similarly, after the capacity of the accommodating chamber changes to the required replenishing capacity, the material to be plated can be added into the accommodating chamber to obtain the actual required replenishing amount of the crucible, thereby eliminating the need to clean up the remaining unevaporated material to be plated in the crucible. This not only reduces the chance of damage to the crucible and extends the service life of the crucible, but also allows the amount of replenishing to be flexibly controlled, making the replenishing process more controllable and helping to improve production efficiency. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative work.

[0019] Figure 1 This is a front view of the crucible feeding device and the crucible in the embodiment of the utility model when they are aligned up and down;

[0020] Figure 2 for Figure 1 A cross-sectional view of

[0021] Figure 3 It is a three-dimensional schematic diagram of the crucible feeding device and the crucible in the embodiment of the utility model when they are aligned up and down;

[0022] Figure 4It is a front view of the crucible feeding device in the embodiment of the utility model when it is in contact with the crucible;

[0023] Figure 5 for Figure 4 A cross-sectional view of

[0024] Figure 6 for Figure 5 A is a partial enlarged schematic diagram.

[0025] In the figure, 1. feeding container; 11. first substrate; 12. second substrate; 13. connector; 131. base; 132. limiting portion; 14. annular boss; 2. material guide; 21. overflow trough; 22. discharge port; 3. lifting assembly; 31. ejector rod; 32. top plate; 33. bottom plate; 331. protrusion; 4. crucible. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] The following detailed description and drawings of the embodiments of the present invention are used to illustrate the principle of the present invention, but cannot be used to limit the scope of the present invention, that is, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described.

[0027] In order to better understand the present invention, the present invention is further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments:

[0028] See also Figure 1 As shown, a crucible feeding device provided by an embodiment of the utility model comprises a feeding container 1 and a lifting assembly 3, wherein the lifting assembly 3 and the feeding container 1 are movably connected.

[0029] In this embodiment, the upper end of the feeding container 1 is an open mouth, and the inner wall of the feeding container 1 and the upper end surface of the lifting component 3 are arranged to form a containing cavity for placing the material to be plated, and the lifting component 3 can be moved in the feeding container 1 to change the capacity of the containing cavity.

[0030] For the purpose of explanation, this embodiment provides a specific process of the crucible feeding device and the crucible 4 being used in conjunction with each other as follows:

[0031] First, a portion of the lifting assembly 3 extends into the inner cavity of the crucible 4. When the lifting assembly 3 abuts against the remaining material to be plated in the inner cavity of the crucible 4, the lifting assembly 3 and the feeding container 1 are movably connected, and the feeding container 1 continues to move downward until the lower end surface of the feeding container 1 contacts the upper end surface of the crucible 4 (such as Figure 4As shown), the lifting assembly 3 is prompted to move upward along the inner wall of the feeding container 1 to change the capacity of the accommodating chamber. In this way, when the feeding container 1 is pre-filled with material, as the lifting assembly 3 moves upward along the inner wall of the feeding container 1, the capacity of the accommodating chamber changes accordingly, so that the material to be plated in the accommodating chamber is lifted up by the lifting assembly 3, and the material to be plated that is lifted up beyond the horizontal height of the open mouth is recycled, thereby reducing the material to be plated in the accommodating chamber to the actual amount of replenishment required for the crucible 4. Similarly, after the capacity of the accommodating chamber changes to the required replenishment capacity, the material to be plated can be added to the accommodating chamber to obtain the actual required amount of replenishment for the crucible 4, thereby eliminating the need to clean up the remaining material to be plated that has not evaporated in the crucible 4. This can not only reduce the probability of damage to the crucible 4 and extend the service life of the crucible 4, but also flexibly control the amount of replenishment, making the replenishment process more controllable and helping to improve production efficiency.

[0032] In this embodiment, after the evaporation is completed, the remaining material to be plated in the crucible 4 cools and solidifies into a block at the bottom of the crucible 4, and the material to be plated to be added to the crucible 4 is in the form of particles. Based on this, the radius of the accommodating cavity of the feeding container 1 provided in the embodiment of the utility model is D, where D satisfies the relationship: D 2 / d 2 =a, d is the radius of the inner cavity of the crucible 4, a=ρ0 / ρ1, ρ0 is the density of the material to be plated remaining in the crucible 4, and ρ1 is the density of the material to be plated to be added into the crucible 4.

[0033] Preferably, the outer wall of the feeding container 1 is provided with a material guide 2 arranged in an inclined shape, an overflow groove 21 is formed inside the material guide 2, and a discharge port 22 is provided at the lower end of the material guide 2, and the overflow groove 21 is connected to the discharge port 22. The material to be plated that is lifted up by the lifting component 3 and exceeds the horizontal height of the open port is gathered to the discharge port 22 through the overflow groove 21, and then is recycled through the discharge port 22.

[0034] In this embodiment, in order to further explain the specific use method of the crucible filling device of the utility model embodiment;

[0035] Method of use 1: Assuming that there is no remaining material to be plated at the bottom of the crucible 4, the amount of material required to be added to the crucible 4 is M grams. First, M grams of material to be plated is placed in the accommodating cavity of the material-adding container 1 in advance, and then the crucible-adding device moves downward as a whole, and the lower end of the lifting component 3 extends into the inner cavity of the crucible 4. When the lifting component 3 abuts against the remaining material to be plated in the inner cavity of the crucible 4, the lifting component 3 and the material-adding container 1 are movably connected, and the material-adding container 1 continues to move downward until the lower end surface of the material-adding container 1 is in contact with the upper surface of the crucible 4. The end faces are in contact, thereby prompting the lifting component 3 to move upward along the inner wall of the replenishing container 1 to change the capacity of the accommodating chamber. The material to be plated in the accommodating chamber is lifted up by the lifting component 3, and the material to be plated that is lifted up beyond the horizontal height of the open mouth is recycled. The recycled material to be plated is m grams, and then the material to be plated in the accommodating chamber is reduced to (Mm) grams. (Mm) grams of material to be plated is the actual replenishing amount required for the crucible 4. Thereafter, the material to be plated in the accommodating chamber can be replenished into the crucible 4.

[0036] Method of use two: pull the lifting assembly to the lowest point (that is, the push rod 31 is in contact with the connecting body 13) to ensure that the capacity of the accommodating chamber is at the maximum capacity. After the crucible feeding device and the feeding container 1 are aligned up and down, the crucible feeding device moves downward as a whole, and the lower end of the lifting assembly 3 extends into the inner cavity of the crucible 4. When the lifting assembly 3 abuts against the remaining material to be plated in the inner cavity of the crucible 4, due to the active connection between the lifting assembly 3 and the feeding container 1, the feeding container 1 continues to move downward until the lower end surface of the feeding container 1 contacts the upper end surface of the crucible 4, thereby prompting the lifting assembly 3 to move upward along the inner wall of the feeding container 1 to change the capacity of the accommodating chamber. When the lower end surface of the feeding container 1 contacts the upper end surface of the crucible 4, the material to be plated is put into the accommodating chamber until the accommodating chamber is filled, so as to obtain the actual feeding amount required for the crucible 4, and then the material to be plated in the accommodating chamber can be replenished into the crucible 4.

[0037] See also Figure 1 As shown, the feeding container 1 includes a first base 11, a second base 12 and a connector 13. The first base 11 is connected to the second base 12 through the connector 13. The inner diameter of the connector 13 gradually decreases from top to bottom along the axial direction of the connector 13. In this embodiment, the first base 11, the second base 12 and the connector 13 are made by an integrated molding process. With this design, since there is no joint seam or interface between the first base 11, the second base 12 and the connector 13, the overall structural strength of the feeding container 1 is enhanced. Secondly, the manufacturing process of the feeding container 1 is simplified. Compared with the split structure that needs to be manufactured separately and then assembled, the integrated structure can be directly completed at one time through injection molding or other molding processes, which not only reduces the manufacturing complexity, but also improves the production efficiency.

[0038] In this embodiment, the first base 11, the second base 12 and the lifting assembly 3 are coaxially arranged. In this design, since the central axes of the first base 11, the second base 12 and the lifting assembly 3 coincide with each other, the lifting assembly 3 can move smoothly along the central axis during the lifting process, thereby improving the stability of the movement of the lifting assembly 3. In addition, during the production process, since the first base 11 and the second base 12 are coaxially arranged, production is facilitated and the manufacturing process is simplified.

[0039] See also Figure 2 As shown, when the top rod 31 contacts the connector 13 , the distance between the lower end of the top rod 31 and the lower end of the feeding container 1 is H1 , and H1 satisfies the relationship: H1=H, where H is the depth of the inner cavity of the crucible 4 .

[0040] See also Figure 2 As shown, the connecting body 13 includes a base 131 and a limiting portion 132 fixedly connected to the base 131, and a through hole for the push rod 31 to pass through is arranged in the limiting portion 132. Such a design can ensure the stability of the push rod 31 during the lifting process.

[0041] See also Figure 2-3 As shown, the lifting assembly 3 includes a push rod 31, a top plate 32 arranged at the upper end of the push rod 31, and a bottom plate 33 arranged at the lower end of the push rod 31, and the diameter of the top plate 32 is greater than or equal to the diameter of the bottom plate 33. In this embodiment, the diameter of the top plate 32 is equal to or slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the accommodating cavity. This design, on the one hand, can ensure that the disc-shaped top plate 32 can move up and down smoothly in the accommodating cavity, and can also prevent the material to be plated in the accommodating cavity from falling from the gap between the top plate 32 and the inner wall of the first substrate 11. Similarly, the diameter of the bottom plate 33 is equal to or smaller than the inner diameter of the crucible 4. This design, on the other hand, can ensure that the disc-shaped bottom plate 33 can move up and down smoothly in the inner cavity of the crucible 4, and can also avoid the risk of shaking or tilting of the lifting assembly 3 during the ascent or descent process.

[0042] In this embodiment, since the remaining material to be plated in the crucible 4 may have a bump on its upper surface after being cooled into a block, when the lifting assembly 3 moves downward, the bottom surface of the bottom plate 33 of the lifting assembly 3 is in contact with the bump, so that the bump limits the downward movement space of the lifting assembly 3, which can easily lead to a large error in the amount of material replenishment at a later time.

[0043] Based on this, see Figure 5-6As shown, an embodiment of the utility model proposes an improved scheme, namely: a protrusion 331 is set on the bottom surface of the bottom plate 33, and the protrusion 331 is used to abut against the remaining material to be plated in the crucible 4. Compared with directly contacting with the remaining material to be plated in the crucible 4 through the bottom plate 33, the contact area between the lifting component 3 and the remaining material to be plated in the crucible 4 is reduced by such a design, thereby greatly reducing the probability of the lifting component 3 abutting against the protrusion, thereby improving the accuracy of the material replenishment amount.

[0044] See also Figure 3 As shown, an annular boss 14 is provided at the lower end of the feeding container 1, and the annular boss 14 is used to abut against the top of the crucible 4. This design increases the contact area between the feeding container 1 and the crucible 4, ensuring that when the feeding container 1 moves downward to a certain position, the feeding container 1 can contact with the top of the crucible 4 through the annular boss 14. If there is no annular boss 14, the feeding container 1 may be inserted into the crucible 4 or misaligned with the crucible 4 due to operational errors, resulting in leakage of the upper end of the crucible 4. When the upper end of the crucible 4 leaks, it is easy to cause the material to be plated to fall into the crucible 4. The annular boss 14 acts as a physical restriction to ensure that the lower end face of the feeding container 1 can abut against the top surface of the crucible 4.

[0045] The indicated orientation or position relationship is based on the orientation or position relationship shown in the drawings, or the orientation or position relationship in which the product of the application is usually placed when used, or the orientation or position relationship commonly understood by technical personnel in this field, or the orientation or position relationship in which the product of the application is usually placed when used. It is only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, and does not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation on the present application.

[0046] It should be understood that those skilled in the art can make improvements or changes based on the above description, and all these improvements and changes should fall within the scope of protection of the claims attached to the utility model.

[0047] The above is an exemplary description of the utility model patent in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is obvious that the implementation of the utility model patent is not limited to the above-mentioned method. As long as various improvements are made by adopting the method concept and technical solution of the utility model patent, or the concept and technical solution of the utility model patent are directly applied to other occasions without improvement, they are all within the protection scope of the utility model.

Claims

1. A crucible feeding device, characterized in that: include: refill container(1), A lifting component (3) is movably connected to the feeding container (1); the upper end of the feeding container (1) is an open mouth; the inner wall of the feeding container (1) and the upper end surface of the lifting component (3) are arranged to form a receiving cavity for placing the material to be plated; the lifting component (3) is used to extend into the crucible (4) to abut against the remaining material to be plated in the crucible (4); when the feeding container (1) moves down to contact with the crucible (4), the lifting component (3) moves in the feeding container (1) so that the capacity of the receiving cavity is reduced to the required feeding capacity.

2. A crucible charging device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The radius of the accommodating cavity is D, where D satisfies the relationship: D 2 / d 2 =a, d is the radius of the inner cavity of the crucible (4), a=ρ0 / ρ1, ρ0 is the density of the material to be plated remaining in the crucible (4), and ρ1 is the density of the material to be plated to be added into the crucible (4).

3. A crucible charging device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The outer wall of the feeding container (1) is provided with a material guide member (2) arranged in an inclined shape, an overflow groove (21) is formed inside the material guide member (2), a discharge port (22) is provided at the lower end of the material guide member (2), and the overflow groove (21) and the discharge port (22) are connected.

4. A crucible charging device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The feeding container (1) comprises a first base (11), a second base (12) and a connector (13); the first base (11) is connected to the second base (12) via the connector (13); and the inner diameter of the connector (13) gradually decreases from top to bottom along the axial direction of the connector (13).

5. A crucible charging device as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that: The lifting assembly (3) comprises a push rod (31), a top plate (32) arranged at the upper end of the push rod (31), and a bottom plate (33) arranged at the lower end of the push rod (31); the diameter of the top plate (32) is greater than or equal to the diameter of the bottom plate (33).

6. A crucible charging device according to claim 5, characterized in that: The connecting body (13) comprises a base (131) and a limiting portion (132) fixedly connected to the base (131); a through hole for the push rod (31) to pass through is arranged in the limiting portion (132).

7. A crucible charging device according to claim 6, characterized in that: A protrusion (331) is provided on the bottom surface of the bottom plate (33), and the protrusion (331) is used to abut against the remaining material to be plated in the crucible (4).

8. A crucible charging device according to claim 4, characterized in that: The first base body (11), the second base body (12) and the connecting body (13) are an integral structure.

9. A crucible charging device according to claim 5, characterized in that: When the push rod (31) is in contact with the connector (13), the distance between the lower end of the push rod (31) and the lower end of the feeding container (1) is H1, and H1 satisfies the relationship: H1=H, wherein H is the depth of the inner cavity of the crucible (4).

10. A crucible charging device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: The lower end of the feeding container (1) is provided with an annular boss (14), and the annular boss (14) is used to abut against the top of the crucible (4).

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