JPH0219138B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a vacuum processing apparatus for processing a workpiece in a vacuum processing chamber.

For example, plasma treatment of plastics, especially vinyl chloride resin films, can prevent plasticizer migration, surface wettability, antistatic, antiblocking, improve printing properties, wear resistance, weather resistance,
Since it imparts useful properties such as stain resistance, it has traditionally been carried out using small-scale equipment such as batch processing, but various problems have arisen when carrying out it on an industrial scale.

For example, several proposals have been made regarding batch continuous processing equipment, but if the film contains plasticizers, stabilizers, or other internal additives, such as soft vinyl chloride resin film, is set inside the device, and when the initial pressure is set, the film changes in quality due to the volatilization and dissipation of these internal additives, and at the same time, due to the dissipation of this volatile matter and the gas coexisting in the film roll, the initial pressure is set. It has the essential drawback of requiring a considerable amount of time.

However, in general, low-temperature plasma treatment is performed at a pressure of 0.01
This is done by applying high frequency power of several KHz to several hundred KHz in the range of ~10 Torr, and the gas supplied for plasma generation is selected according to the desired processing characteristics. In order to ensure uniform processing, the pressure must be kept constant;
It is important to avoid contamination of gas other than the selected gas, such as air, as much as possible.

The above problem is a fatal drawback, especially if it adversely affects the plasma processing efficiency.

Furthermore, when performing low-temperature plasma processing, it is necessary to maintain the pressure in the vacuum processing chamber at around 0.1 Torr in order to efficiently impart the processing effect, but this operation must be performed for each batch. It was on, so
Loss time is too large, productivity is poor, and it is difficult to put it into practical use due to processing costs.

The present inventors have completed the present invention as a result of intensive research to develop an apparatus for continuous vacuum processing of objects to be processed, taking the above points into consideration.

In view of the above points, it is an object of the present invention to provide a vacuum processing apparatus that not only performs and obtains excellent vacuum processing of the physical properties of the object to be processed, but is also suitable for mass production.

Hereinafter, a pre-vacuum chamber made of multi-stage seal rolls, particularly a pre-vacuum chamber made of three-stage seal rolls, will be explained using examples.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, 1 is a vacuum processing chamber in which a flexible workpiece F such as a plastic molded product is subjected to continuous plasma processing in a vacuum state, and the inside of this vacuum processing chamber 1 is connected to a vacuum by pump 4
It is evacuated through the exhaust pipe 5 to maintain a vacuum pressure of about 10 ^-2 Torr. Further, although not shown in the drawings, the vacuum processing chamber 1 includes an anode, a cathode, and the like for performing plasma processing in a vacuum state. Reference numeral 2 denotes a plurality of preliminary vacuum chambers arranged on the front side of the vacuum processing chamber 1, and numeral 3 denotes a plurality of preliminary vacuum chambers arranged on the rear side of the vacuum processing chamber 1. Inside these preliminary vacuum chambers 2 and 3, A vacuum pump 6 connected thereto evacuates the chamber through an exhaust pipe 7 so as to maintain the vacuum pressure at a level slightly higher than the vacuum pressure in the vacuum processing chamber space 1.

3 and 4 show details of the preliminary vacuum chambers 2 and 3, in which both ends of 8 and 9 are rotatably connected to the housing 10 via a radial bearing 11 and an eccentric bearing housing 12, and upper and lower The upper and lower rolls (first and second rolls) for sealing are supported so as to be movable in the direction, and the upper and lower rolls 8, 9
A hard nickel chrome layer 13 is applied to the surface. Reference numeral 14 denotes a middle roll (first roll) for sealing, which is arranged so as to be in contact with the upper and lower rolls 8 and 9, and has an elastic material 15 such as rubber or soft resin integrally baked on its surface. So, this medium roll 14
is rotatably supported at both ends by a horizontal case 10 via a radial bearing 11 and a fixed bearing housing 16. And lower roll 9 and middle roll 14
A workpiece F is inserted between the two. Reference numeral 17 denotes an upper roll support receiver fixed to the upper case 18 and disposed on the outer peripheral surface side of the upper roll 8; A contacting soft resin film 19 with a low coefficient of friction is baked on. Reference numeral 20 denotes a lower roll support receiver fixed to the lower case 21 and disposed on the outer peripheral surface side of the lower roll 9;
A soft resin film 22 with a low coefficient of friction that is in contact with the surface of the lower roll 9 is baked onto the inner circumferential surface of the lower roll 9 . Fifth
The figure shows the installation state of the side piece 23 interposed between the upper, lower, middle rolls 8, 9, 14 and both ends of the upper and lower cases 18, 21, the horizontal case 10, and the eccentric bearing housing 12. A soft resin film 24 with a low coefficient of friction is provided on the upper, lower and middle rolls 8, 9, and 14 of the side piece 23 on their surfaces facing the end surfaces.
This side piece 23 is pressed against the side case 10 via a coil spring 26 by tightening a bolt 25. At this time, gaps of about 20 μm are formed between the upper, lower, and middle rolls 8, 9, and 14 and the soft resin film 24 of the side piece 23. In addition, the pressing force of the side piece 23 is determined by the gap H between the side piece 23 and the bolt 25.
regulated by.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for moving the upper, lower, and middle rolls 8, 9 upwardly and downwardly by the eccentric bearing housing 12. In FIG. 6, the center position A of the eccentric bearing housing 12 is the upper and lower rolls 8 and 9.
The eccentric bearing housing 12 is provided eccentrically (eccentricity C) with respect to a center position B, and this eccentric bearing housing 12 is rotated in the direction of the arrow shown in the figure by a hydraulic cylinder device (not shown) about the center position A as a rotation center. At this time, the upper and lower rolls 8 and 9 move upward or downward, that is, in the direction of pressing against the middle roll 14 or in the direction of moving away from the middle roll 14. Therefore, by adjusting the rotation angle of the eccentric bearing housing 12, the pressing force between the upper roll 8 and the middle roll 14 or the lower roll 9 and the center roll 14 can be arbitrarily changed, and the pressure between the lower roll 9 and the middle roll 14 can be arbitrarily changed. roll 1
The object to be processed F can be easily inserted into the gap No. 4.

1 and 2, 27 is a delivery device for transporting the workpiece F through the preliminary vacuum chamber 2 into the vacuum processing chamber, and 28 is a delivery device for transporting the workpiece F subjected to plasma processing in the vacuum processing chamber 1 winding device,
29 is a driving motor, and the driving force of this driving motor 29 is used to drive the upper, lower, middle rolls 8,
Rotate 9 and 14.

In the preliminary vacuum chambers 2 and 3 configured as described above, the seal between the upper roll 8 and the middle roll 14 is achieved by pressing the upper roll 8 against the middle roll 14 by means of the eccentric bearing housing 12, and by using the elasticity of the middle roll 14. This is done by bending the material 15. Similarly, the seal between the lower roll 9 and the middle roll 14 is
This is done by pressing the lower roll 9 against the middle roll 14 and bending the elastic material 15 of the middle roll 14. Furthermore, the seals between the upper roll 8 and the upper roll support receiver and between the lower roll 9 and the lower roll support receiver 20 keep the gaps between them very small, for example.
This is possible by setting the thickness to about 20 μm.

Next, the operation of the vacuum processing apparatus of the present invention will be explained.

First, by operating the vacuum pumps 4 and 6, the inside of the vacuum processing chamber 1 and the preliminary vacuum chambers 2 and 3 are evacuated. At this time, the pressure within the vacuum processing chamber 1 is maintained lower than the pressure within the preliminary vacuum chambers 2 and 3. Furthermore, argon gas, nitrogen gas, or the like is vented into the vacuum processing chamber 1 to improve plasma characteristics. Next, the upper, lower, and middle rolls 8, 9, and 14 of the preliminary vacuum chambers 2 and 3 are rotated by the driving force of the drive motor 29, and the plasma device in the vacuum processing chamber 1 is operated. In this state, the workpiece F is continuously introduced from the delivery device 27 into the vacuum processing chamber 1 via between the lower roll 9 and the middle roll 14 of the preliminary vacuum chamber 2. In the vacuum processing chamber 1, plasma processing is performed on the surface of the workpiece F by plasma discharge generated between the anode and the cathode. The workpiece F whose surface has been plasma-treated in the vacuum processing chamber 1 immediately passes between the lower roll 9 and the middle roll 14 of the preliminary vacuum chamber 3 and is wound up by the winding device 28 . In this way, the workpiece F has a good sealing effect in the equipped vacuum chamber and is plasma treated in a short time in the vacuum processing chamber 1, so that internal additions such as plasticizers contained in plastic molded products, etc. The volatilization and dissipation of the agent are controlled, and the workpiece F is continuously introduced into the vacuum equipment, so there is little contamination of air, etc., and the process can be performed steadily using the target gas and target pressure. This makes it possible to impart good modification properties.

Further, the upper and lower rolls 8 and 9 whose surfaces are the nickel chrome layer 13, the middle roll 14 whose surface is the elastic material 15, the upper and lower rolls 8 and 9, and the upper and lower rolls whose surfaces are the soft resin films 19 and 22 are supported. Uke 17, 20
Since this is a sliding movement between a metal layer and a non-metal layer, the frictional force is small and it can withstand long-term operation.

FIG. 7 shows another embodiment of the axial sealing means between the roll and case of the preliminary vacuum chamber and the rolls in the present invention.

In FIG. 7, the same reference numerals as in FIGS. 3 and 4 indicate the same parts.

32 and 33 are lip members made of urethane rubber or the like that are in continuous contact with parts of the upper roll 8 and lower roll 9 along the axial direction and are removably supported by the upper and lower cases 18 and 21; This lip member 3
Reference numerals 2 and 33 consist of lip seals, 34 and 35, and lip mounts 36 and 37.

By arranging the lip members 32 and 33 so as to be in contact with a portion of the upper roll 8 and lower roll 9, it is possible to obtain a good sealing effect in the axial direction between the rolls, the case, and the rolls. Improves durability.

Further, since the lip members 32 and 33 are removably supported by the upper and lower cases, even if the lip members become unusable due to frictional force, they can be easily replaced.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a case has been described in which the preliminary vacuum chambers 2 are arranged at the front and rear sides of the vacuum processing chamber 1, but as shown in FIG. It is also possible to arrange the chamber 2 and feed the workpiece F into the vacuum processing chamber 1 from between the middle roll and the lower roll of the preliminary vacuum chamber 2, and send it out from between the upper roll and the middle roll.

By arranging the preliminary vacuum chamber 2 in the front side of the vacuum processing chamber 1 in this way, the number of seal rolls constituting the preliminary vacuum chamber 2 can be halved, reducing the number of vacuum leakage points and reducing the Cost-effective equipment becomes possible.

In addition, in one embodiment of the present invention, a three-stage seal roll was also described as a roll seal.
Of course, the same effect can be achieved with a two-stage seal roll.

Moreover, although the structure in which the seal rolls are arranged vertically has been described, the same effect can be achieved even if the seal rolls are arranged horizontally.

As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possible to significantly improve the durability of the seal in the preliminary vacuum chamber and the seal portion. This makes it possible to significantly improve productivity.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of the device of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a plan view of FIG. 1, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are enlarged views of essential parts for explaining the sealing roll of the preliminary vacuum chamber in the apparatus of the present invention, the case, and the sealing means between the rolls. 4 is a side view of FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of essential parts for explaining the sealing means between the seal roll end faces in the apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. FIGS. 7 and 8 are explanatory diagrams for moving the upper and lower rolls in the vertical direction using eccentric bearings in the apparatus of the invention, and are views showing other embodiments of the apparatus of the invention. 1... Vacuum processing chamber, 2, 3... Preliminary vacuum chamber, 8
...Upper roll, 9...Lower roll, 14...Medium roll, F...Object to be processed.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A vacuum processing apparatus in which at least one pre-vacuum chamber is arranged on both sides or one side of a vacuum processing chamber, and a workpiece to be processed is vacuum-processed in the vacuum processing chamber, wherein the pre-vacuum chamber is a first vacuum chamber. 1 seal roll and this first seal roll.
1. A vacuum processing apparatus comprising second and third seal rolls that are in contact with the seal roll, a case that surrounds these seal rolls, and a sealing means that provides an axial seal between the seal roll and the case. 2. The vacuum treatment according to claim 1, wherein the sealing means between the seal roll and the case is constituted by a seal member that continuously contacts the seal roll along the axial direction of the seal roll. Device. 3. The vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the seal rolls are arranged in a vertical direction. 4. The vacuum processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the seal roll is composed of a first roll made of an elastic material and second and third rolls made of a rigid material. .