Gate Valve Parallel Actuation and Hardened Pressure Receiving Members
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing gate valves in semiconductor processing apparatuses face challenges in miniaturization and maintaining a reliable, stable closed state, as they tend to increase in height dimension and lack effective load-bearing mechanisms for maintaining the valve disk seated on the valve seat.
Innovation Solution
The gate valve design incorporates a yoke connected to a drive shaft, a displacement member, an engagement member with rollers, and pressure receiving members with higher hardness than the frame, allowing parallel arrangement of the driving section and displacement member, which reduces height and ensures stable load-bearing capabilities for maintaining the valve closed state.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If the driving section and displacement member are arranged along a straight line, then the height dimension increases, but the structural simplicity is maintained
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from a linear arrangement to a parallel arrangement of the driving section and displacement member, utilizing spatial reconfiguration in multiple dimensions. This dimensional change allows the components to be positioned side-by-side rather than end-to-end, thereby reducing the overall height dimension while distributing structural complexity across different spatial planes.
2Reliability
If the valve disk is seated on the valve seat, then the passage is sealed, but the load on the inner wall increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces pressure receiving members as intermediary elements between the valve disk and the inner wall. These members have higher hardness than the frame and are positioned to face the groove, allowing them to receive and distribute the load generated when the valve disk is seated on the valve seat. This intermediary structure prevents direct load imposition on the inner wall, thereby maintaining reliable sealing while reducing stress concentration.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs materials with different hardness properties for different components. Specifically, the pressure receiving members are formed from materials having higher hardness than the frame, creating a composite material system where each material is optimized for its specific function. The harder pressure receiving members withstand the sealing load, while the softer frame provides structural support and shock absorption.
Data Source
AI summary
Roller insertion grooves are formed along the longitudinal direction of inner wall portions of side frames, which are provided in the interior of a housing that makes up a gate valve. Respective pairs of retaining rollers are inserted into the roller insertion grooves. A valve disk is tilted, such that in a valve closed state in which the valve disk is seated on a valve seat, a load imposed from a displacement block, which is connected to a valve rod and tiltably displaced thereby, is imposed on the retaining rollers, the load being borne by first and second pressure receiving bodies, which abut against the retaining rollers and are disposed on the side frames. The first and second pressure receiving bodies are formed from a material having a hardness greater than that of the side frames.