Pendulum-type control valve

Abstract

The present invention relates to a pendulum-type control valve provided in a gas discharge passage between a process chamber and a vacuum pump to open and close the gas discharge passage, the pendulum-type control valve comprising: a valve body (110) having a gas inlet (111) in communication with the gas discharge passage at the upper part thereof, and a gas outlet (113) in communication with the vacuum pump at the lower part thereof; a cover (120) coupled to one side of the valve body (110); a gate (130) which rotates inside the valve body (110) and the cover (120) and closes or opens the gas outlet (113); a gate drive unit (140) which drives the gate (130) so that the gate (130) rotates and moves up and down; and a drive box (150) coupled to the lower part of the valve body (110) and accommodating the gate drive unit (140) therein.

Description

pendulum control valve

[0001] The present invention relates to a pendulum control valve, and more specifically, to a pendulum control valve capable of minimizing wafer damage by preventing particle generation when opening and closing a gate.

[0002] In general, most of the processes for manufacturing LCD substrates, semiconductor devices, and solar cells are carried out in a vacuum, and in particular, an etching process is performed to form a micro-pattern during the semiconductor device manufacturing process.

[0003] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram schematically illustrating the configuration of a typical etching device. As illustrated, the etching device has a process chamber (20) equipped with a substrate loading platform (21) on which a substrate (W) is loaded, and a vacuum pump (30) provided at the bottom of the process chamber (20).

[0004] A gas supply port (25) is formed at the top of the process chamber (20) to supply gas (G) required for the etching process, and a gas discharge passage (23) is provided at the bottom to discharge the gas (G) to a vacuum pump (30).

[0005] The process chamber (20) generates plasma using gas (G) and performs an etching process using the plasma. As the etching process is performed, residual gas inside is discharged through a vacuum pump (30).

[0006] At this time, a pendulum-type control valve (10) is used, which is provided in the gas discharge passage (23) connecting the process chamber (20) and the vacuum pump (30) and controls the internal pressure by adjusting the conductance of the gas discharge passage (23).

[0007] As shown in (a) of Fig. 2, the pendulum control valve (10) has a gate (16) positioned inside the valve body (12) to close the gas discharge passage (23), and as shown in (b) of Fig. 2, the gate (16) rotates toward the cover (17) to open the gas discharge passage (23). In this way, the pendulum control valve (10) adjusts the degree of opening and closing of the gas discharge passage (23) by rotating the gate (16) between the valve body (12) and the cover (17).

[0008] Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional pendulum control valve (10) in an open state, and Figure 4 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional pendulum control valve (10) in a closed state.

[0009] As shown, the conventional pendulum control valve (10) has a gate (16) that rotates by a rotation shaft (15) to open and close a gas discharge port (12b) connected to a gas discharge passage (23), and the valve body (12) is provided with a sealing ring (11) that moves up and down to pressurize the gate (16) to prevent gas leakage.

[0010] At this time, sealing members (11a, 11b) are provided on the bottom surface and upper outer periphery of the sealing ring (11) to prevent gas leakage. The sealing ring (11) moves up and down by the elastic force of the hydraulic member (13) and the spring (13a), thereby pressurizing the sealing ring (11).

[0011] However, in the conventional pendulum control valve (10), when the gate (16) is switched from a closed state as shown in FIG. 4 to an open state as shown in FIG. 3, the upper sealing member (11b) moves upward and comes into contact with the valve body (12), causing friction.

[0012] To prevent damage to the upper sealing member (11b) due to such friction, a large amount of lubricant is applied to these surfaces.

[0013] However, these lubricants come into contact with the high-temperature gas discharged from the process chamber (20), harden, and then become particles. Then, the particles formed by the hardening of the lubricant by the pressure when the gate (16) is opened and closed fly into the process chamber (20) and then adhere to the surface of the substrate (W), thereby contaminating and damaging the substrate (W) and causing defects in the substrate (W).

[0014] The purpose of the present invention is to solve the above-described problem, and to provide a pendulum control valve that can block the use of a lubricant and prevent particles from being generated due to hardening of the lubricant.

[0015] The above objects and various advantages of the present invention will become more apparent to those skilled in the art from the preferred embodiments of the present invention.

[0016] The above-described object of the present invention can be achieved by a pendulum control valve provided in a gas discharge passage between a process chamber and a vacuum pump to open and close the gas discharge passage. The pendulum control valve of the present invention comprises: a valve body (110) having a gas inlet (111) provided at an upper portion thereof in communication with the gas discharge passage, and a gas discharge port (113) provided at a lower portion thereof in communication with the vacuum pump; a cover (120) coupled to one side of the valve body (110); a gate (130) that rotates within the valve body (110) and the cover (120) to close or open the gas discharge port (113); a gate driving unit (140) that drives the gate (130) so that the gate (130) rotates and moves up and down; It is characterized by including a drive box (150) that is coupled to the lower part of the valve body (110) and accommodates the gate drive unit (140) therein.

[0017] According to one embodiment, the gate driving unit (140) may include a rotary motor (145a) that generates a rotary driving force; a rotary shaft (144) that receives the rotary driving force of the rotary motor (145a) and rotates forward and backward; an elevating driving unit (147) that elevates the rotary shaft (144) by air pressure; and a gate connecting bar (141) that connects the upper portion of the rotary shaft (144) and the gate (130).

[0018] According to one embodiment, the lower outer periphery of the gate (130) is provided with an outlet sealing member (131) that contacts the inner wall surface of the valve body (110) and prevents gas leakage when the gate (130) is in a closed state with the gas outlet (113) closed, and the gate driving unit (140) is preferably configured to raise the rotation shaft (144) by the elevation driving unit (147) when the gate (130) is switched from a closed state to an open state so that the gate (130) is raised and the outlet sealing member (131) is spaced apart from the inner wall surface of the valve body (110), and the rotation motor (145a) is operated so that the gate (130) rotates the rotation shaft (144) to open the gas outlet (113).

[0019] The pendulum control valve according to the present invention eliminates the configuration of a sealing ring that moves up and down inside the valve body, and the gate rotates and moves up and down to open and close the gas outlet of the valve body.

[0020] Accordingly, gas leakage can be stably blocked without using the lubricant that was previously applied around the sealing ring, thereby solving the problem of particles generated when the lubricant hardens upon contact with gas contaminating the substrate.

[0021] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram schematically showing the configuration of a general etching equipment.

[0022] Figure 2 is a plan view illustrating the operation process of a conventional pendulum control valve.

[0023] Figures 3 and 4 are cross-sectional examples showing the open and closed states of a conventional pendulum control valve.

[0024] Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the cross-sectional configuration of a closed state of a pendulum control valve according to the present invention.

[0025] Figure 6 is a plan view showing the coupling state of the electric member and the drive shaft of the pendulum control valve according to the present invention.

[0026] Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view showing the cross-sectional configuration of the pendulum control valve according to the present invention in a mid-open state.

[0027] Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view showing the cross-sectional configuration of the open state of the pendulum control valve according to the present invention.

[0028] To fully understand the present invention, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The embodiments of the present invention may be modified in various forms, and the scope of the present invention should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments described in detail below. These embodiments are provided to more completely explain the present invention to those with average knowledge in the art. Therefore, the shapes of elements in the drawings may be exaggerated to emphasize a clearer description. It should be noted that in each drawing, the same parts are sometimes depicted with the same reference numerals. Detailed descriptions of well-known functions and configurations that may unnecessarily obscure the gist of the present invention are omitted.

[0029]

[0030] FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the configuration of a closed state of a pendulum control valve (10) according to the present invention, FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the configuration of a mid-open state of a pendulum control valve (100), and FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the configuration of an open state of a pendulum control valve (100).

[0031] The pendulum control valve (100) according to the present invention is provided in the gas discharge passage (23) between the process chamber (20) and the vacuum pump (30) shown in FIG. 1, and controls the internal pressure by controlling whether or not the gas (G) that has performed the process on the substrate (W) in the process chamber (20) is discharged.

[0032] The pendulum control valve (100) of the present invention includes a valve body (110) provided in a gas discharge passage (23), a cover (120) coupled to one side of the valve body (110), a gate (130) that rotates horizontally between the valve body (110) and the cover (120) to open and close the gas discharge passage (23), a gate driving unit (140) that drives the gate (130) to rotate and move up and down, and a driving box (150) coupled to the lower part of the valve body (110) to accommodate the gate driving unit (140).

[0033] The pendulum control valve (100) of the present invention eliminates the sealing ring (11) that used to pressurize the gate (130) inside the valve body (110) of the past, and is provided so that the gate (130) also functions as a sealing ring. Accordingly, the sealing member (11a, 11b) required for the operation of the sealing ring (11) is eliminated, thereby fundamentally blocking the generation of particles or particles due to hardening of the lubricant applied to the sealing members (11a, 11b). Accordingly, the conventional problem of particles entering the process chamber (20), contaminating the substrate (W), and causing defects in the substrate can be solved.

[0034]

[0035] The valve body (110) and the cover (120) are connected to each other so as to form a space inside in which a gate (130) can rotate. A gas inlet (111) is formed through the upper surface of the valve body (110) to communicate with the gas discharge passage (23) and through which gas (G) flows in from the gas discharge passage (23), and a gas discharge port (113) is formed through the lower surface to discharge gas (G) moved to the gas inlet (111) to a vacuum pump (30).

[0036] The side of the valve body (110) is formed through a hole to communicate with the cover (120). An external sealing member (117) is provided in the joint area of ​​the valve body (110) and the cover (120) to prevent external leakage of gas (G).

[0037] A rotary shaft coupling hole (115) for inserting a rotary shaft (144) into the interior is formed through the joint area with the drive box (150) at the bottom of the valve body (110).

[0038] The cover (120) is combined with the valve body (110), and a space is formed inside the valve body (110) and the cover (120) in which the gate (130) can rotate.

[0039]

[0040] The gate (130) is rotated by the gate driving unit (140) and opens and closes the gas outlet (113) of the valve body (110) to control the movement of gas (G). The gate (130) is formed in a disc shape and is provided with an outer diameter larger than the gas outlet (113). An outlet sealing member (131) is provided on the bottom surface of the gate (130) to prevent leakage of gas (G) between the gate and the gas outlet (113).

[0041] A coupling bar (133) is provided on the upper part of the gate (130) to fix the gate coupling bar (141) of the gate driving unit (140) and the gate (130).

[0042]

[0043] The gate driving unit (140) causes the gate (130) to rotate and move up and down to open and close the gas discharge port (113). The gate driving unit (140) includes a gate coupling bar (141) coupled to the gate (130), a rotational shaft (144) that transmits rotational force to the gate coupling bar (141), a rotational shaft driving unit (145) that generates rotational force to rotate the rotational shaft (144), and an elevation driving unit (147) that causes the rotational shaft (144) to move up and down.

[0044] The rotary shaft (145) and the lifting drive (147) are housed inside the drive box (150). The drive box (150) is provided at the lower part of the valve body (110).

[0045] The rotation shaft (144) is positioned so as to protrude from the inside of the drive box (150) into the inside of the valve body (110) through the rotation shaft coupling hole (115) of the valve body (110). The upper part of the rotation shaft (144) is fixed to the coupling bar coupling member (133) provided at the center of the gate (130) by the gate coupling bar (141).

[0046] The lower part of the rotation shaft (144) is fixedly connected to the power member (145c) of the rotational shaft main body (145) by a connecting bolt (145c-1) and receives the rotational force of the rotational shaft main body (145) to rotate forward and backward.

[0047] The rotary soccer unit (145) includes a rotary motor (145a) housed inside a drive box (150), a drive shaft (145b) that is coupled to the rotary motor (145a) to rotate forward and backward, and a power member (145c) that transmits the rotational force of the drive shaft (145b) to the rotary shaft (144).

[0048] The drive shaft (145b) is connected to the rotary motor (145a) and rotates in conjunction with the forward and reverse rotation of the rotary motor (145a). The drive shaft (145b) is formed to have a certain length, and drive gear teeth (145b-1) are formed along the vertical direction on the outer surface.

[0049] As illustrated in Fig. 6, the electric member (145c) is formed in a fan shape, and is provided with an electric gear tooth (145c-2) at an end that engages with a driving gear tooth (145b-1). The electric gear tooth (145c-2) engages with the driving gear tooth (145b-1) and transmits rotation.

[0050] When the drive shaft (145b) is rotated by the rotation of the rotary motor (145a), the electric member (145c) rotates forward and backward around the coupling bolt (145c-1) coupled to the rotary shaft (144).

[0051] Here, the electric gear tooth (145c-2) of the electric member (145c) is not only engaged with the drive gear tooth (145b-1) and receives rotation, but also moves up and down along the drive gear tooth (145b-1) of the drive shaft (145b) when the rotation shaft (144) moves up and down.

[0052]

[0053] A position adjustment bar (144a) is provided protrudingly at the lower portion of the rotation shaft (144), and the position adjustment bar (144a) is accommodated in the pneumatic valve housing (147a) of the lifting drive unit (147). The position adjustment bar (144a) moves up and down according to the inflow direction of air flowing in from the pneumatic valve housing (147a) and supports the rotation shaft (144) to be raised and lowered.

[0054] A pneumatic sealing member (144a-1) is attached to the end of the position adjustment bar (144a) and is supported by contact with the inner wall surface of the pneumatic valve housing (147a). The pneumatic sealing member (144a-1) is in contact with the inner wall surface of the pneumatic valve housing (147a) and prevents the air inside from leaking when the position adjustment bar (144a) moves up and down inside the pneumatic valve housing (147a).

[0055] The elevator drive unit (147) includes a pneumatic valve housing (147a) that is coupled to surround a rotating shaft (144) inside a drive box (150), and an upper air inlet pipe (147c) and a lower air inlet pipe (147b) that penetrate the drive box (150) and the pneumatic valve housing (147a) and are connected to the inside of the pneumatic valve housing (147a).

[0056] The pneumatic valve housing (147a) is formed so that the inner wall surface has a width that can come into contact with the position adjustment bar (144a), and is formed so that the inner height corresponds to the height at which the gate (130) is raised and lowered.

[0057] The lower air inlet pipe (147b) is connected to the pneumatic valve housing (147a) so as to communicate with the bottom surface of the internal space of the pneumatic valve housing (147a), and the upper air inlet pipe (147c) is connected to the pneumatic valve housing (147a) so as to communicate with the upper surface of the internal space of the pneumatic valve housing (147a).

[0058] The lower air inlet pipe (147b) and the upper air inlet pipe (147c) are each connected to an air tank (not shown). Although not shown in the drawing, an on-off valve (not shown) is provided between the air tank (not shown) and the lower air inlet pipe (147b) and the upper air inlet pipe (147c), and the on-off valve (not shown) is operated by the control unit (not shown) to control the movement of compressed air.

[0059] As shown in Fig. 5, when the gate (130) is to be kept in a state of closing the gas outlet (113), compressed air (A) is introduced into the upper air inlet pipe (147c). The compressed air (A) introduced into the upper part of the pneumatic valve housing (147a) pressurizes the position adjustment bar (144a), causing the position adjustment bar (144a) to descend.

[0060] Accordingly, the electric member (145c) fixedly connected to the rotating shaft (144) by the connecting bolt (145c-1) descends along the driving shaft (145b), and the gate (130) presses the inner wall surface of the valve body (110) in which the gas discharge port (113) is formed, so that the discharge port sealing member (131) is maintained in a closed state to prevent gas (G) from leaking.

[0061] On the other hand, when the gate (130) must open the gas outlet (113), compressed air (A) is introduced into the lower air inlet pipe (147b) as illustrated in Fig. 7. The compressed air (A) introduced into the lower part of the pneumatic valve housing (147a) pressurizes the lowered position adjustment bar (144a), causing the position adjustment bar (144a) to rise.

[0062] Accordingly, the rotation shaft (144) and the power member (145c) rise along the drive shaft (145b) by the height (h) that the position adjustment bar (144a) rises, and the gate (130) rises and separates from the gas discharge port (113).

[0063]

[0064] The operation process of the pendulum control valve (100) according to the present invention having such a configuration is described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 8.

[0065] While the process for the substrate (W) is in progress in the process chamber (20), the pendulum control valve (100) is maintained in a closed state as shown in Fig. 5. To this end, the rotary shaft drive unit (145) rotates the rotary motor (145a) forward under the control of the control unit (not shown) to rotate the rotary shaft (144) so ​​that the gate (130) is positioned coaxially with the gas outlet (113) and rotates to a position covering the gas outlet (113).

[0066] And, the lift drive unit (147) supplies compressed air (A) to the upper air inlet pipe (147c). The compressed air (A) moved to the upper part of the pneumatic valve housing (147a) pressurizes the position adjustment bar (144a) of the rotary shaft (144) downward. As the position adjustment bar (144a) is pressed downward, the electric member (145c) coupled with the rotary shaft (144) moves downward along the engaged driving shaft (145b), and the gate (130) is pressed against the lower inner wall surface of the valve body (110) so as to cover the gas discharge port (113).

[0067] At this time, the elevator drive unit (147) continuously supplies compressed air (A) to the upper air inlet pipe (147c) so that the pressure for pressing the gate (130) downwards is continuously maintained. By pressing the gate (130) downwards, the discharge port sealing member (131) presses the inner wall surface around the gas discharge port (113) to prevent gas (G) from leaking into the gas discharge port (113).

[0068]

[0069] Meanwhile, when the process for the substrate in the process chamber (20) is completed, the residual gas (G) inside the process chamber (20) is discharged for the next process. To this end, the control unit (not shown) applies an opening signal to the gate (130).

[0070] When an open signal is applied, compressed air (A) is introduced into the lower air inlet pipe (147b) of the lift drive unit (147) as illustrated in FIG. 7, and the position adjustment bar (144a) rises along the inner wall surface of the pneumatic valve housing (147a). As a result, the rotation shaft (144) and the electric member (145c) rise in a state of engagement along the drive shaft (145b), and the gate (130) is spaced upward from the gas discharge port (113).

[0071] When the gate (130) is moved upward, the rotation shaft (144) is rotated by the rotation of the rotation shaft (145). Through the rotation of the rotation shaft (144), the intermediate state is opened and the gas outlet (113) is switched to the open state as shown in Fig. 8.

[0072] When the gas (G) discharge is completed, the gate (130) is closed in the reverse order of the process described above.

[0073]

[0074] The gate (130) of the pendulum control valve (100) of the present invention moves vertically along the inner wall surface of the valve body (110) forming the gas discharge port (113) by the rising and falling of the rotation shaft (144) driven by the lifting and lowering drive unit (147), and then rotates internally by the rotation of the rotation shaft (144). Accordingly, the discharge port sealing member (131) formed at the bottom of the gate (130) moves only up and down, so no frictional force is applied to the inner wall surface of the valve body (110), and there is no need to apply lubricant to the discharge port sealing member (131).

[0075] Accordingly, since no lubricant is applied to the gate (130) and the discharge port sealing member (131) that rotate inside the valve body (110) and the cover (120), the pendulum control valve (100) of the present invention has the advantage of not generating particles due to hardening of the lubricant and not causing damage to the substrate due to particles.

[0076]

[0077] As described above, the pendulum control valve according to the present invention eliminates the configuration of a sealing ring that moves up and down inside the valve body, and the gate rotates and moves up and down to open and close the gas outlet of the valve body.

[0078] Accordingly, gas leakage can be stably blocked without using the lubricant that was previously applied around the sealing ring, thereby solving the problem of particles generated when the lubricant hardens upon contact with gas contaminating the substrate.

[0079]

[0080] The embodiments of the pendulum control valve of the present invention described above are merely exemplary, and those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that various modifications and equivalent other embodiments are possible. Therefore, it will be readily understood that the present invention is not limited to the forms mentioned in the detailed description above. Accordingly, the true technical protection scope of the present invention should be defined by the technical spirit of the appended claims. Furthermore, the present invention should be understood to include all modifications, equivalents, and substitutes within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.

[0081]

[0082] [Explanation of symbols]

[0083] 10: Conventional pendulum gate valve 20: Process chamber

[0084] 23: Gas exhaust passage 30: Vacuum pump

[0085] 100: Pendulum control valve 110: Valve body

[0086] 111: Gas inlet 113: Gas outlet

[0087] 115: Rotating shaft joint 117: External sealing member

[0088] 118: Lower sealing member 120: Cover

[0089] 130: Gate 131: Exhaust sealing member

[0090] 133: Joint bar joint member 140: Gate driving part

[0091] 141: Gate coupling bar 144: Rotation axis

[0092] 144a: Position adjustment bar 144b: Bolt joint

[0093] 145: Rotating Soccer East 145a: Rotating Motor

[0094] 145b: Drive shaft 145b-1: Drive gear teeth

[0095] 145c: Power transmission parts 145c-1: Connecting bolts

[0096] 145c-2: Electric gear teeth 147: Elevator drive unit

[0097] 147a: Pneumatic valve housing 147b: Lower air inlet

[0098] 147c: Upper air inlet 147d: Rotating shaft sealing member

[0099] 150: Drive box

[0100] A: Compressed air

Claims

1. In a pendulum-type control valve installed in a gas discharge passage between a process chamber and a vacuum pump and opening and closing the gas discharge passage, A valve body (110) having a gas inlet (111) connected to the gas discharge passage at the top and a gas discharge port (113) connected to the vacuum pump at the bottom; A cover (120) coupled to one side of the valve body (110); A gate (130) that rotates inside the valve body (110) and the cover (120) to close or open the gas discharge port (113); A gate driving unit (140) that drives the gate (130) so that the gate (130) rotates and moves up and down; A pendulum control valve characterized by including a drive box (150) coupled to the lower portion of the valve body (110) and housing the gate drive unit (140) therein.

2. In paragraph 1, The above gate driving unit (140) is A rotary motor (145a) that generates rotary driving force; A rotary shaft (144) that receives the rotary driving force of the above rotary motor (145a) and rotates forward and backward; A lifting drive unit (147) that raises and lowers the above-mentioned rotary shaft (144) by air pressure; A pendulum control valve characterized by including a gate coupling bar (141) connecting the upper portion of the above rotation shaft (144) and the above gate (130).

3. In paragraph 2, The lower outer periphery of the gate (130) is provided with a discharge port sealing member (131) that contacts the inner wall surface of the valve body (110) when the gate (130) is in a closed state with the gas discharge port (113) closed and prevents gas leakage. A pendulum-type control valve characterized in that when the gate driving unit (140) is switched from a closed state to an open state, the lifting driving unit (147) raises the rotation shaft (144) so ​​that the gate (130) is raised and the discharge port sealing member (131) is spaced apart from the inner wall surface of the valve body (110), and the rotation motor (145a) is operated so that the gate (130) rotates the rotation shaft (144) so ​​that the gas discharge port (113) is opened.

Images