Continuous winding magnetron sputtering coating equipment for flexible polymer base material

Abstract

The utility model provides continuous winding magnetron sputtering coating equipment for a flexible polymer base material, which relates to the technical field of physical vapor deposition coating and comprises an unwinding chamber, a winding chamber and a vacuum coating chamber, a magnetron sputtering coating mechanism, an unwinding buffer mechanism and a winding buffer mechanism are arranged in the vacuum coating chamber, and the winding buffer mechanism is arranged in the unwinding chamber. The buffer mechanism at least comprises a group of fixed rollers and movable rollers, and the movable rollers of the unwinding buffer mechanism are configured to move towards the fixed rollers when the unwinding chamber needs to change materials, so that the distance between the movable rollers and the fixed rollers is shortened; therefore, the stored material wound between the movable roller and the fixed roller is conveyed to the magnetron sputtering coating mechanism; the movable roller of the winding buffer mechanism is configured to move in the direction away from the fixed roller when the winding core of the winding chamber needs to be replaced, so that the distance between the movable roller and the fixed roller is increased, the containing space of a base film after plating is increased, and continuous coating without shutdown is achieved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to the technical field of physical vapor deposition coating, and particularly to a continuous winding magnetron sputtering coating device for flexible polymer substrates. Background Art

[0002] Vacuum winding coating technology is a technology for preparing one or more functional films on the surface of a rolled substrate in a vacuum chamber by methods such as thermal evaporation or magnetron sputtering. Vacuum winding coating equipment mainly has the following characteristics: First, the substrate to be coated is a flexible substrate, that is, it has winding flexibility; Second, the coating process is continuous, that is, the coating is continuously carried out within one working cycle; Third, the coating process needs to be carried out in a high-vacuum environment. During the unwinding and rewinding processes of the winding coater, the surface of the substrate is coated with a film, and the coating structure is the working part of the vacuum winding coating equipment. It is located between the unwinding and rewinding of the substrate, and the working principle of the working part can be any one of resistance evaporation, induction evaporation, electron beam evaporation, magnetron sputtering or other vacuum coating methods. After a roll of substrate is coated by the existing coating machine equipment, it is necessary to stop the machine, break the vacuum and open the chamber to replace the substrate, which destroys the original good process environment of the vacuum coating chamber. And the preparation of the substrate takes a certain amount of time. After the work such as film replacement and threading is completed, the equipment is restarted to evacuate the vacuum and start coating. The initial film quality is also mostly in an unstable state. And it takes a section of the substrate to lead the substrate from the unwinding roller to the rewinding roller, and the wasted substrate cannot be reused for coating. Therefore, each material change causes serious waste of the substrate and increases the coating cost. Summary of the Utility Model

[0003] The utility model discloses a continuous winding magnetron sputtering coating device for flexible polymer substrates, aiming to improve the problems of material waste and increased coating cost caused by stopping the machine to change the film and thread the film in the existing coating.

[0004] The utility model adopts the following scheme:

[0005] A flexible polymer substrate continuous winding magnetron sputtering coating device, comprising an unwinding chamber, a winding chamber and a vacuum coating chamber. A magnetron sputtering coating mechanism, an unwinding buffer mechanism and a winding buffer mechanism are arranged in the vacuum coating chamber. The substrate enters the unwinding buffer mechanism from the unwinding chamber, is coated by the magnetron sputtering coating mechanism, and is transmitted to the winding chamber through the winding buffer mechanism; wherein, the buffer mechanism at least includes a set of fixed rollers and moving rollers. The moving roller of the unwinding buffer mechanism is configured to move towards the fixed roller when the unwinding chamber needs to change materials, so as to shorten the distance between the moving roller and the fixed roller, thereby conveying the stored material wound between the moving roller and the fixed roller to the magnetron sputtering coating mechanism; The moving roller of the winding buffer mechanism is configured to move away from the fixed roller when the winding chamber needs to replace the core, so as to increase the distance between the moving roller and the fixed roller, thereby increasing the accommodation space of the coated base film and realizing continuous coating.

[0006] As a further improvement, the buffer mechanism includes multiple groups of fixed rollers and moving rollers arranged alternately in the vertical direction, and the moving rollers can be driven by a driving member to move horizontally.

[0007] As a further improvement, the unwinding buffer mechanism and the winding buffer mechanism have the same number of fixed rollers and moving rollers.

[0008] As a further improvement, the fixed rollers of the unwinding buffer mechanism and the fixed rollers of the unwinding mechanism are symmetrically arranged on both sides of the magnetron sputtering coating mechanism.

[0009] As a further improvement, the magnetron sputtering coating mechanism includes a coating cold roller, a magnetron sputtering coating body and a reversing roller arranged on the periphery of the coating cold roller. The substrate is wound around the reversing roller and the coating cold roller, and the magnetron sputtering coating body performs coating operations on the substrate.

[0010] As a further improvement, the fixed rollers of the unwinding buffer mechanism and the fixed rollers of the winding buffer mechanism are both arranged close to the coating cold roller.

[0011] As a further improvement, vacuum lock gates are arranged on both sides of the vacuum coating chamber, and the entry of the substrate or the output of the coated base film is controlled through the vacuum lock gates.

[0012] As a further improvement, a tape connecting mechanism and a material changing mechanism are arranged in both the unwinding chamber and the winding chamber.

[0013] By adopting the above technical solutions, the following technical effects can be achieved by the present utility model:

[0014] During the initial coating of this application, the substrate is wound around the unwinding buffer mechanism and the winding buffer mechanism. When the substrate in the unwinding chamber is exhausted, the moving roller on the unwinding buffer mechanism moves towards the fixed roller, so that the stored material between the moving roller and the fixed roller can continue to supply the magnetron sputtering coating mechanism, ensuring the continuous progress of the coating operation. After a new substrate is replaced in the unwinding chamber, it is connected to the end of the previous substrate, and the moving roller is driven to move away from the fixed roller to perform the next material storage action. When the coated base film on the winding shaft in the winding chamber reaches the upper limit of the roll material and the core needs to be replaced, the moving roller of the winding buffer mechanism is driven to move away from the fixed roller to accommodate the coated base film. After the new core is replaced, it is fed with the material, and the coated base film is output. At the same time, the moving roller moves towards the fixed roller to prepare for the buffering of the next coated base film. In this way, continuous coating without stopping is realized, avoiding the destruction of the process environment in the vacuum coating chamber during material replacement, and having the advantages of saving coating materials, saving waiting time for material replacement, improving coating efficiency, and ensuring process stability. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present utility model, the drawings required for the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. It should be understood that the following drawings only show some embodiments of the present utility model, and therefore should not be regarded as limiting the scope. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other related drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative efforts.

[0016] Figure 1 is a schematic structural diagram of one embodiment of the present utility model.

[0017] ICON:

[0018] 1 - Unwinding chamber; 11 - Unwinding shaft;

[0019] 2 - Winding chamber; 21 - Winding shaft;

[0020] 3 - Vacuum coating chamber; 31 - Magnetron sputtering coating mechanism; 311 - Coating cold roller; 312 - Magnetron sputtering coating body; 313 - Reversing roller; 32 - Unwinding buffer mechanism; 33 - Winding buffer mechanism; 34, 35 - Fixed rollers; 36, 37 - Moving rollers; 38, 39 - Vacuum lock gates. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0021] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of the present utility model clearer, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present utility model will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present utility model. Apparently, the described embodiments are some but not all of the embodiments of the present utility model. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present utility model without creative efforts fall within the scope of protection of the present utility model. Therefore, the following detailed description of the embodiments of the present utility model provided in the accompanying drawings is not intended to limit the scope of the claimed present utility model, but merely represents selected embodiments of the present utility model. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present utility model without creative efforts fall within the scope of protection of the present utility model.

[0022] Embodiment

[0023] Combined with Figure 1 , this embodiment provides a flexible polymer substrate continuous winding magnetron sputtering coating device, which includes an unwinding chamber 1, a winding chamber 2, and a vacuum coating chamber 3. A magnetron sputtering coating mechanism 31, an unwinding buffer mechanism 32, and a winding buffer mechanism 33 are provided in the vacuum coating chamber 3. The substrate enters the unwinding buffer mechanism 32 from the unwinding chamber 1, is coated by the magnetron sputtering coating mechanism 31, and is transmitted into the winding chamber 2 through the winding buffer mechanism 33. Among them, the buffer mechanism includes at least a set of fixed rollers (34, 35) and moving rollers (36, 37). The moving roller 36 of the unwinding buffer mechanism 32 is configured to move towards the fixed roller 34 when the unwinding chamber 1 needs to change materials, so as to shorten the distance between the moving roller 36 and the fixed roller 34, thereby conveying the stored material wound between the moving roller 36 and the fixed roller 34 to the magnetron sputtering coating mechanism 31. The moving roller 37 of the winding buffer mechanism 33 is configured to move away from the fixed roller 35 when the winding chamber 2 needs to replace the core, so as to increase the distance between the moving roller 37 and the fixed roller 35, thereby increasing the accommodation space for the coated base film and realizing continuous coating.

[0024] Exemplarily, the substrate is a flexible polyester film. During the initial coating, the substrate is wound around the unwind buffer mechanism 32 and the rewind buffer mechanism 33. When the substrate in the unwind chamber 1 is exhausted, the moving roller 36 on the unwind buffer mechanism 32 moves towards the fixed roller 34, so that the stored material between the moving roller 36 and the fixed roller 34 can continue to supply the magnetron sputtering coating mechanism 31, ensuring the continuous progress of the coating operation. After a new substrate is replaced in the unwind chamber 1, it is connected to the end of the previous substrate, and the moving roller 36 is driven to move away from the fixed roller 34 to perform the next material storage action. When the coated base film on the winding shaft 21 in the rewind chamber 2 reaches the upper limit of the coil material and a new core needs to be replaced, the moving roller 37 of the rewind buffer mechanism 33 is driven to move away from the fixed roller 35 to accommodate the coated base film. After the core is replaced, it is fed with the material, and the coated base film is output. At the same time, the moving roller 37 moves towards the fixed roller 35 to prepare for the buffering of the next coated base film. In this way, continuous coating without stopping is realized, avoiding the destruction of the process environment in the vacuum coating chamber 3, and having the advantages of saving coating materials, saving waiting time for material replacement, improving coating efficiency, and ensuring process stability.

[0025] In a preferred embodiment, the buffer mechanism includes multiple groups of fixed rollers (34, 35) and moving rollers (36, 37) arranged in a staggered manner in the vertical direction. The moving rollers (36, 37) can be driven by a driving member to move horizontally. The driving member can be a structure of a motor and a rack. The motor is electrically connected to a control member (such as a PLC or a PCB) to ensure that the moving speed of the moving rollers (36, 37) matches the coating feeding speed. Each moving roller (36, 37) can move sequentially from top to bottom, or move synchronously, or move sequentially from bottom to top, without specific limitation. The duration of material replacement in the unwind chamber 1 can be determined first. Multiplying this duration by the normal feeding speed can obtain the minimum stored material length. Thus, by setting the moving distance and quantity of the moving roller 36, the stored material length of the unwind buffer mechanism 32 is not less than the minimum stored material length. The design of the rewind buffer mechanism 33 is the same and will not be elaborated here. It should be noted that in other embodiments, the buffer mechanism can be arranged in a staggered manner in the horizontal direction, and the moving rollers (36, 37) can be arranged to move longitudinally, not limited to this, without specific limitation.

[0026] Preferably, the unwind buffer mechanism 32 and the rewind buffer mechanism 33 have the same number of fixed rollers and moving rollers. The fixed roller 34 of the unwind buffer mechanism 32 and the fixed roller 35 of the rewind buffer mechanism 33 are symmetrically arranged on both sides of the magnetron sputtering coating mechanism 31. Thereby reducing the space occupied by the buffer mechanism and improving the space utilization rate inside the equipment.

[0027] Based on the above embodiments, in an optional embodiment of the present utility model, the magnetron sputtering coating mechanism 31 includes a coating cooling roller 311, a magnetron sputtering coating body 312 disposed on the periphery of the coating cooling roller 311, and a reversing roller 313. The substrate is wound around the reversing roller 313 and the coating cooling roller 311, and the substrate is coated by the magnetron sputtering coating body 312. Preferably, the fixed roller 34 of the unwinding buffer mechanism 32 and the fixed roller 35 of the winding buffer mechanism 33 are both arranged close to the coating cooling roller 311, so that the feeding path of the winding buffer mechanism 33 is the shortest during normal transmission, thereby improving the conveying efficiency.

[0028] In other embodiments, vacuum lock gates (38, 39) are provided on both sides of the vacuum coating chamber 3, and the entry of the substrate or the output of the coated base film after coating is controlled by the vacuum lock gates. Preferably, a tape connecting mechanism and a material changing mechanism are arranged in both the unwinding chamber 1 and the winding chamber 2. Exemplarily, when the substrate on the unwinding reel 11 in the unwinding chamber 1 is used up, the gate 38 at the end of the unwinding chamber 1 is closed. At this time, no new substrate enters the vacuum coating chamber 3. According to the preset program on the control member, the moving roller 36 is driven to move in sequence to continuously supply the substrate to the magnetron sputtering coating mechanism 31. At this time, the tape connecting mechanism and the material changing mechanism in the unwinding chamber 1 realize automatic material change. After the material change is completed, the vacuum lock gate 38 is opened, and the new substrate is input into the vacuum coating chamber 3. The driving member drives the moving roller 36 away from the fixed roller 34 to realize the next storage of materials. Or, when the winding chamber 2 needs to change the core, the gate 39 at the end of the winding chamber 2 is closed. At this time, no coated base film is output. The driving member drives the moving roller 36 to move to accommodate the coated base film. At the same time, the tape connecting mechanism and the material changing mechanism in the winding chamber 2 realize automatic core change. After the core change is completed, the vacuum lock gate 39 is opened to output the coated base film, and the moving roller 36 can be driven to move to output the accommodated coated base film and shorten the output path at the same time. In other embodiments, storage of materials can also be carried out when the substrate is about to be used up to shorten the conveying path of the substrate in the vacuum coating chamber and improve the coating efficiency. It should be noted that the structures of the tape connecting mechanism and the material changing mechanism are prior arts and will not be elaborated here.

[0029] The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present utility model, and the protection scope of the present utility model is not limited to the above embodiments. All technical solutions falling within the idea of the present utility model belong to the protection scope of the present utility model.

Claims

1. A continuous winding magnetron sputtering coating device for a flexible polymer substrate, characterized in that, It includes an unwinding chamber, a winding chamber and a vacuum coating chamber. A magnetron sputtering coating mechanism, an unwinding buffer mechanism and a winding buffer mechanism are arranged in the vacuum coating chamber. The substrate enters the unwinding buffer mechanism from the unwinding chamber, is coated by the magnetron sputtering coating mechanism, and is transmitted to the winding chamber through the winding buffer mechanism. The buffer mechanism includes at least one set of fixed rollers and movable rollers. The movable roller of the unwinding buffer mechanism is configured to move towards the fixed roller when the unwinding chamber needs to change materials, so as to shorten the distance between the movable roller and the fixed roller, thereby conveying the stored materials wound between the movable roller and the fixed roller to the magnetron sputtering coating mechanism; The movable roller of the winding buffer mechanism is configured to move away from the fixed roller when the winding chamber needs to replace the core, so as to increase the distance between the movable roller and the fixed roller, thereby increasing the accommodating space for the coated base film and realizing continuous coating.

2. The flexible polymer substrate continuous winding magnetron sputtering coating equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that, The buffer mechanism includes multiple sets of fixed rollers and movable rollers arranged in a staggered manner in the vertical direction, and the movable rollers can be driven by a driving member to move horizontally.

3. The flexible polymer substrate continuous winding magnetron sputtering coating equipment according to claim 2, characterized in that, The unwinding buffer mechanism and the winding buffer mechanism have the same number of fixed rollers and movable rollers.

4. The continuous winding magnetron sputtering coating equipment for flexible polymer substrates according to claim 3, wherein, The fixed rollers of the unwinding buffer mechanism and the fixed rollers of the winding buffer mechanism are symmetrically arranged on both sides of the magnetron sputtering coating mechanism.

5. The continuous winding magnetron sputtering coating equipment for flexible polymer substrates according to claim 1, wherein The magnetron sputtering coating mechanism includes a coating cold roller, a magnetron sputtering coating body and a reversing roller arranged on the periphery of the coating cold roller. The substrate is wound around the reversing roller and the coating cold roller, and the magnetron sputtering coating body performs coating operations on the substrate.

6. The continuous winding magnetron sputtering coating equipment for flexible polymer substrates according to claim 5, characterized in that, The fixed rollers of the unwinding buffer mechanism and the fixed rollers of the winding buffer mechanism are both arranged close to the coating cold roller.

7. The continuous winding magnetron sputtering coating equipment for flexible polymer substrates according to claim 1, wherein Vacuum lock gates are arranged on both sides of the vacuum coating chamber, and the entry of the substrate or the output of the coated base film is controlled through the vacuum lock gates.

8. The flexible polymer substrate continuous winding magnetron sputtering coating equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that, The unwinding chamber and the winding chamber are both equipped with a tape connecting mechanism and a material changing mechanism.

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