Detachable Gate Valve Plates for In-Place Seal Maintenance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing gate valves in semiconductor manufacturing require extensive time and effort for maintenance as they need to be detached from the chamber position to replace deteriorated seal members, and maintaining a lightweight design to keep costs low is challenging.
Innovation Solution
A gate valve design featuring a fastening mechanism with clamp pieces and fastening members that allow detachable and disengageable engagement with the valve shaft, enabling maintenance without full detachment, and a support mechanism for reduced weight and cost.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of repair
If the whole gate valve is detached to replace seal members, then maintenance can be performed, but time and effort are significantly increased
Solution Approach 1:
The gate valve is divided into separable components: the valve body remains installed while the valve plates and support plate can be detached independently. This segmentation allows maintenance personnel to access and replace seal members on individual valve plates without removing the entire valve assembly from the chamber, thereby reducing maintenance time while ensuring proper maintenance accessibility.
2Ease of operation
If a support plate is added to enable maintenance without full detachment, then maintenance workability improves, but the weight near valve plates increases
Solution Approach 1:
The support plate is designed with detachable connections to the valve shaft, allowing it to be removed when not needed for maintenance. This dynamic configuration enables the system to transition between a lightweight operational state (support plate removed) and a maintenance-accessible state (support plate attached), thus improving maintenance workability while minimizing weight increase during normal operation.
3Ease of repair
If the valve plates are made detachable for easy maintenance, then maintenance ease improves, but the structural complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The detachable connection mechanism is segmented into simple, standardized components: clamp pieces with fastening members that connect to corresponding engagement portions on the valve shaft. This segmentation creates a modular fastening system that is easier to manufacture and assemble than a fully integrated design, reducing the practical complexity despite enabling easy valve plate replacement.
Solution Approach 2:
The clamp pieces and fastening members serve multiple functions: they secure the valve plates to the valve shaft during operation, enable easy detachment for maintenance, and provide a standardized connection interface that simplifies the overall assembly process. This multi-functionality reduces the need for specialized components, thereby managing device complexity while improving repair ease.
Data Source
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AI summary
A gate valve (10) is configured to be disposed between first (1) and second (4) chambers thereby allowing a first opening (12a) leading to the first chamber and a second opening (13a) leading to the second chamber to be communicated with each other or individually opening and closing the first opening and the second opening. The gate valve includes a valve shaft (17), first and second valve plates (21, 22) that are attached to a leading end part of the valve shaft, an operation mechanism (24) that is configured to move these valve plates to an evacuation position at which the first opening and the second opening are communicated with each other, a first closed position at which the first opening is closed by the first valve plate, and a second closed position at which the second opening is closed the second valve plate by operating the valve shaft, a fastening mechanism (30) that detachably attaches these valve plates to the leading end part of the valve shaft by disengageably fastening these valve plates and the valve shaft to each other in a state where the inner surfaces (21b, 22) are in contact with the leading end part of the valve shaft which is held between these valve plates, and at least one pair of support mechanisms (50) that disengageably fasten these valve plates to each other at least at both end parts of these valve plates in a longitudinal direction.