JPH0219465A - Vacuum film forming device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the falling of a work from a conveying means when the pressure is returned to normal pressure by avoiding an effect of an air current on the work when the pressure of the inlet and outlet chamber is returned to normal pressure in the title device for continuously depositing a film on both sides of the work without discharging a holder from a vapor-deposition chamber. CONSTITUTION:The vapor-deposited work 27 is discharged into a discharge chamber 22b from the vapor-deposition chamber 1 through a load lock chamber 4b by opening an upper cover 3a, lifting a conveyor table 6 to the uppermost position, and evacuating the chamber 4b. The work 27 is then placed on a conveyor holder 87, the chamber 4b is closed, an evacuating system is closed, and air is introduced from a leak system through a leak hole 78 to return the pressure in the chamber 4b to normal pressure. At this time, since the leak hole 78 is direction downward, the gas is injected downward from the leak hole 78, hence the work 27 on the conveyor holder 87 is not blown off, and the work 27 is not dropped from the conveyor holder 87.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Application Field) The present invention provides a method for depositing a thin film on the surface of a workpiece in an empty atmosphere at t1, for example. The present invention relates to a vacuum film forming apparatus 6 for producing a film.

(Prior art) Conventionally, as an apparatus for forming a thin film on a work surface in a vacuum atmosphere by a vacuum evaporation method, a sputtering method, or C1) method, a batch type evaporation apparatus or a load-lock type evaporation apparatus a is used. It has been known.

As shown in FIG. 8, the patch type vapor deposition apparatus takes a holder I02 to which a large number (usually 100 to 400) of works 103 are attached into a vapor deposition chamber 1, evacuates this chamber to a high vacuum, and then evacuates the workpieces 103 to a high vacuum. A vapor deposition material 104 provided in a crucible 109 in the room is evaporated, and a thin film is deposited on the surface of the work 103.

This apparatus 11 is provided with a door 107 in the vapor deposition chamber 1, and the holder is taken out and taken in from this door every time the same vapor deposition process is completed, and the conditions such as the degree of vacuum are adjusted each time. I am trying to configure the settings.

In addition, in the figure, 108 is a vacuum seal provided between the vapor deposition chamber I and the door 107 in order to maintain the airtightness of the vapor deposition chamber I, and 106 is a vacuum seal for creating a vacuum atmosphere inside the vapor deposition chamber I. It is an exhaust valve, and 105 is an evaporation flow that evaporates from the evaporation material 104.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 9, the load-lock type vapor deposition apparatus has a vapor deposition chamber 111 and a load-lock chamber 129 connected to each other via a gate valve 116, so that the vapor deposition chamber I11 is always kept in a vacuum atmosphere. This is what I did. That is, the opening/closing mechanism 119 of the door +18 provided on the side of the load/lock chamber 129
From here, the holder 112 with a large number of workpieces 14 attached thereto is put into the load lock chamber 129, and then the door 118 is closed and the load lock chamber is evacuated to a high vacuum, and the gate valve 116 is opened. Holder 11
2 is transferred from the load/lock chamber 129 to the AN chamber 111, and then the evaporation material 115 in the evaporation source 113 is evaporated to adhere this thin film to the surface of the workpiece +14.

In the figure, 124 is an evaporation stream that evaporates from the evaporation material 125.

In addition, in FIG. 9, 120 is the load lock chamber 12.
9 is an exhaust valve provided for the vapor deposition chamber 111, and 121 is an exhaust valve provided for the vapor deposition chamber 111.
+17 is a lx vertical movement holder gripping mechanism provided on the -L side of the load/lock chamber 129, and 115 is a holder gripping mechanism provided on one side of the vapor deposition chamber 111.

In all of the conventional vacuum evaporation apparatuses described above, the holder is taken out from the evaporation chamber and the workpiece attached to the holder is removed every time the evaporation is completed. Then, the next new workpiece is attached to the holder from which this workpiece was removed, and after this holder is accommodated in the vapor deposition chamber, vapor deposition is performed in the same manner as above.

(Problem to be solved by the invention) However, conventionally, the above-mentioned work of removing and attaching the workpiece from the holder and the work of taking the holder into and out of the vapor deposition chamber have all been done manually. In cases where 100 to 400 workpieces are usually attached to one holder, there is a drawback that a large amount of work-in-progress is generated between the 13ij X stage and the subsequent process.

Due to these drawbacks, the following problems arise.

(1) As mentioned above, if there is a large amount of work-in-progress between the pre-process and post-up process, it will cost a huge amount of money to manage this work-in-progress.

(2) To take out the workpiece after vapor deposition, the holder is taken out to the outside. At this time, unnecessary gas molecules such as 11□0 vapor are adsorbed onto the holder surface, and - after each vapor deposition process, the vacuum is removed. Efforts must be made to maintain the atmosphere.

(3) When vapor deposition is performed on both sides of a workpiece, usually after completing the vapor deposition on one side, the holder is first removed from the vapor deposition chamber, the vapor deposition surface of each workpiece is turned over, and then the holder is returned to the vapor deposition chamber. There is a need to. Therefore, if these operations are performed manually, the effort required for each process becomes extremely troublesome, and the labor cost required for this process becomes enormous.

(4) In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, if a large number of workpieces are deposited in one evaporation cycle, the holder becomes larger, and therefore the entire evaporation apparatus must also become larger.
As a result, evacuation requires a long time, and an evacuation system of the type A is required.

A vacuum film forming apparatus which forms a film on a work without taking out a holder holding the work into the atmosphere from a vacuum container is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-253768.

This device has a structure for maintaining the vacuum in the vacuum container as described above, and has a zone called a workpiece exchange zone where a workpiece after vapor deposition processing is exchanged with a new workpiece, and a holder (in this invention, , parallel to the co-rotating conveyance member) from the vacuum container to the workpiece exchange zone, this zone is maintained in a vacuum atmosphere, and when the workpiece is exchanged for a new one, this zone is kept in the atmosphere. After exposure, the zone is evacuated and the holder is transferred into a vacuum container. .

However, with such a device, it is necessary to change the atmosphere in the workpiece exchange zone each time - pieces of workpieces are exchanged, which requires extremely labor-intensive work when processing large pieces of workpieces. do.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present inventors minimized the production of work-in-progress by continuously performing the vapor deposition process on both sides of the workpiece without taking out the holder from the vapor deposition chamber. ! A vacuum film forming apparatus has already been proposed that can simplify the single manufacturing work and reduce manufacturing costs.

The present invention relates to such a vacuum film forming apparatus.

In a vacuum film forming apparatus such as L, when transporting the workpiece after film formation from the vapor deposition chamber of the apparatus 6 to the next process, evacuation is performed during the process to maintain the vacuum atmosphere in the vapor deposition chamber. An entrance/exit chamber is provided for the workpiece transfer means to enter and exit, and after this entrance/exit chamber is closed and evacuated to a vacuum atmosphere and the workpiece is transferred to the ejection/exit chamber, the access/exit chamber is isolated from the deposition chamber. I am trying to restore normal pressure.

However, when the normal pressure in the access chamber is restored by the inflow of gas from the leak system, an air flow is generated in the access chamber, causing the inconvenience that the workpiece held by the conveyance means falls off from the conveyance means.

The present invention has been made to solve these problems, and when the workpiece after film formation is taken out of the vacuum atmosphere through the entrance/exit chamber, the workpiece is An object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum film forming apparatus which prevents the film from falling off from the conveyance means.

(Means for Solving the Problems) ■In order to achieve the above-mentioned problems, the vacuum film forming apparatus of the present invention deposits a film on the work surface at 1-r or 1° in the entire film forming apparatus. A work transport stage for transporting the workpiece from a vacuum atmosphere to an atmospheric pressure atmosphere, and an entry/exit chamber for the transport means to move in and out are provided, and the workpiece iii is transported by the transport means to +ii.
The present invention is characterized in that the workpiece is prevented from falling off from the +iiij conveyance stage due to air flow during restoration of the +iii entry/exit room after being introduced into the entry/exit room.

(Function) [-In the configuration described above, a workpiece conveyance means for conveying a workpiece from a vacuum atmosphere to an atmospheric pressure atmosphere and an entry/exit chamber for entering and exiting the conveyance means are provided. With this configuration, the workpiece is transferred from the vacuum atmosphere to the popular I4 atmosphere through the entry/exit chamber while being held by the transfer means.

In such an apparatus, after the workpiece is introduced into the access chamber by the conveyance means, the atmosphere in the access chamber is changed from a vacuum atmosphere to an atmospheric vacuum atmosphere, so that it is necessary to restore normal pressure in the access chamber. When the normal pressure in the entrance/exit chamber is restored, there is a risk that the workpiece held in the conveying means may fall off due to the airflow flowing in from the leak system.

However, in the present invention, the above-mentioned situation is prevented by providing a means for preventing the workpiece from falling off from the conveying means due to the air flow when the normal pressure is restored.

(Example) Examples of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a main part of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
The periphery of workpiece intake 1 in the vacuum film forming apparatus shown in the figure is shown.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line 8-Δ in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view showing a modification of the device shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the overall configuration of a vacuum film forming apparatus using the apparatus shown in the iris diagram.

FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line B-I3 in FIG. 4.

FIGS. 6(a) to 6(d) are schematic cross-sectional views of the vicinity of the load-lock chamber, illustrating the operation of transferring a workpiece from the intake port into the deposition chamber.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of application of the two embodiments.

Hereinafter, the vacuum film forming apparatus of the present invention is configured as an apparatus for depositing a thin film on the surface of a workpiece that has been heated and pressure-molded from molten glass and processed into the shape of an optical element f.

In this apparatus, as shown in FIG.
The workpiece 27 transferred to is put into the vapor deposition chamber 1 from the load lock chamber 4a provided at this intake point, and after undergoing a predetermined vapor deposition process, is transferred to the vapor deposition chamber! Workpiece removal rJ
22b, and is transported to the next process.

First, the workpiece conveyance means in the workpiece intake port 22a will be explained with reference to FIG.

The workpiece intake port 22a constitutes a conveyance path that is continuously formed from the front upper part, and is partitioned by a wall 83 and placed in a normal pressure atmosphere 81. The partition wall 84 on one side of the intake wall 831 constitutes the bottom of the vapor deposition chamber 1 (see FIG. 4), and the inside of the vapor deposition chamber 1 is maintained at a vacuum atmosphere 82.

A load lock chamber 4 a is formed by a load lock chamber wall 78 on the open L1 portion 11 side of the partition wall 84 .

An exhaust gas [185 is provided on the side of the load rotor chamber 4a,
An exhaust valve +6a and an exhaust system connected thereto are provided as shown in FIG.
I am trying to do air exhaust.

Inside the load lock chamber 4a, 1.
A transport daple 6a is provided which is connected to the dot mechanism 7a (shown in FIG. 4) and moves up and down from the uppermost position yI as shown in the figure to the lowest dotted position indicated by the double-dot chain l1I79.

The transport table 6a is slidably mounted on a bearing 73 on the floor of the intake 1122a.A double action rod 60a and a table portion 60 constituting the F section of the transport table 6a are provided.
It consists of b.

The workpiece 27 is placed on the upper end of the table portion 60b (
A workpiece conveyance platform 87 is provided. As shown in FIG. 2, the workpiece conveyance table 87 is formed of a plurality of spaces (four spaces in this embodiment) and four claws 87a to 87d.

At the end of the daple part 60b, there is a communication hole 8 formed with a notch corresponding to the blank space directed toward the side of the daple part 60b.
0 is set. In addition, in FIG. 2, the two-dot chain line indicates the mounting position of the lens 27.

In such a configuration, when exhausting the inside of the load lock chamber 4a, a part of the air flow tJ passes through the communication hole 80 from the space between the claws 87a to 87d and flows into the exhaust gas 1185.

An upper cover 3a connected to the human mechanism 5a (shown in FIG. 4) by a rod 70 is provided at the side opening [1-)J of the load-lock chamber 4a.

This cover 38 consists of 1. The double-dashed chain line 7 in the figure is indicated by the F mechanism 5a! From the position shown in the figure to the position where it abuts the upper end of the load lock chamber wall 78, use the E manual to move the load lock 9.
The seven-side opening section of the storage chamber 4a can be opened and closed. 40
is a vacuum seal for maintaining the airtightness of the H side opening of the load lock chamber 4a during this closing.

(11) A rectifying plate 75 is provided inside the cover 38 via a support 76. The rectifying plate 75 is configured to have a predetermined distance from the workpiece conveyance table 87 at the end of the rectifying conveyance table E when the conveyance table 6a is in the highest raised position. As mentioned above, load lock chamber 4
When evacuating the inside of a, a part of the exhaust flow is caused to flow between the upper cover 3 a and the rectifier plate 75 and between the rectifier plate 75 and the workpiece carrier 87 due to the rectifier plate 75 .

Further, an upper cover 20a is attached between the J-10 motion rod 0a and the daple portion 60b.

This upper cover 20a covers the human mechanism 7 of the transfer table 6a.
The door side opening part of the load lock chamber 4a can be opened and closed in accordance with the ten-toe movement by the load lock chamber 4a. That is, as shown in FIG.
When it comes into contact with the partition wall 84 of the vapor deposition chamber 1, the load rotor chamber 4a
The D side opening of the load lock chamber 4a is closed. 5, 41 is a vacuum seal for maintaining the airtightness of the D side opening of the load lock chamber 4a during this closing.

A leak pipe '77 that is connected to an external leak system and communicates with the human motion rod 60a, and a leak hole 78 that is connected to the leak pipe '77 are provided in the table part 60b. The tip of this leak hole 78 is oriented in the direction F, and when the normal pressure is restored, gas flows in from the leak system and the gas flow sent from the leak system is injected downward into the load rotor chamber 4a.

Here, the gas flow condition of the upper blade of the workpiece carrier 87 when the load lock chamber 4a is evacuated will be described in more detail.

14, when the inside of the load lock chamber 4a is evacuated from the exhaust port 85, the gas flow in seven directions of the workpiece carrier 87 is caused by the gap between the rectifying plate 75 and the workpiece carrier 87 and the claws 87a- It flows toward the exhaust port 85 through the gap from the space between d and to the communication #L80. Under such gas flow conditions, the workpiece 27 is placed on the workpiece transfer table 87). It is in a state where it is placed.

Therefore, in order to prevent this workpiece from falling off the workpiece carrier during vacuum evacuation, the exhaust air in the gap from the space between the claws 87 a to 87 d to the communication hole 80 should be adjusted to It is necessary to adjust the gap between the plate 75 and the workpiece carrier 87 so that the gap is larger than the exhaust field in the gap.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a modified history of the workpiece conveyance system described above. The workpiece conveyance system of this modified example has the above-mentioned rectifier plate 7.
5, and instead of this rectifying plate, the inner surface 90 of the second side cover 3a is curved to form the + side cover 38.
As described above, the exhaust flow rit in the gap between the claws 87a and 87 and the exhaust flow 1- passing through the communication hole 80 from the space between the claws 87a to 1 communicate with each other from the space between the claws 87a, z, and d. The hole 80 is configured to be larger than the hole 80. With this configuration, even if the rectifying plate 76 is not provided, the table transport platform 871 can be used when the load lock chamber 4a is evacuated, similar to the configuration described above. work 27
A2 can be prevented from falling off.

Note that the workpiece transport system provided in the intake LJ 22a having the configuration L is also provided with a similar configuration in the takeout LJ 22b, and the workpiece 27 that has been vapor-deposited in the vapor deposition chamber l is taken out 1. It can be taken out from j22b and transported to the primary stage.

Here, the operation of transferring the workpiece 27 that has been taken in and transported to the deposition chamber 1 using the above-described configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. 6(a) to 6(d).

For convenience of explanation, in FIG.
4. Indicates the leak system installed to pass through a in 1 or more.
, 6.7, it is arranged in line with the exhaust system 9) and communicated with the load lock chamber 4a.

When the transport table 6a is at the lowest position 1δ, the cover 3
A is in a state where the side opening 1 of the load lock chamber 4a is closed. At this time, the leak valve 18a is opened and the exhaust valve 16a is closed. At this time, only one workpiece 27 transported from the 011 step to the intake port 22a is placed on the table 68 by, for example, an automatic hand.

At this time, the intake t, -122 in the load rotor chamber 4a
It is in the same atmospheric state as a. (Fig. 6(a)) Next, close the leak valve 18a and open the exhaust valve +
6a is also kept closed, and the transport table 6a is moved to the highest position. At this time, the cover 20a closes the door side opening r-j ffi of the load-lock chamber 4a, and the upper door opening [part of the load-lock chamber is in a closed state]. (Fig. 6(b)) Then, the leak valve] 8
a remains closed, and the exhaust valve 16a is opened to bring the inside of the load lock chamber 4a to a predetermined vacuum state 10-''~lO-'
Evacuate to a vacuum atmosphere with i' orr culmness. (Figure 6 (
C)) After that, while the leak valve +8a remains closed, the exhaust valve 16a is also closed, and the cover 3a on one side of the load lock chamber 4a is moved to the opposite side, so that the inside of the load lock chamber is closed relative to the deposition chamber 1. Open. (FIG. 6(d)) By such an operation, the workpiece 27 is transferred into one vapor deposition chamber without breaking the vacuum atmosphere within the vapor deposition chamber.

Next, the configuration inside the vapor deposition chamber 1 will be explained with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5.

The vapor deposition chamber 1 is evacuated to a high vacuum by an exhaust valve 3 ( ) and an exhaust system connected to it, and the vacuum inside the vapor deposition chamber is approximately 10 -
It is maintained in a vacuum atmosphere of 'Torr.

A transfer arm mechanism 13 that is rotated and moved by a motor connected to a control device (not shown) is provided in the vapor deposition chamber 1. The transfer arm mechanism 13 has a transfer arm 13a that extends, for example, in four radial directions around the rotation axis of the transfer arm mechanism, and has a notch hole 13b at its tip.

In addition, pushers 12a and +2b having position indexing mechanisms are located directly on the notch hole 13b at the tip of the transfer arm mechanism 13 on the L-marked work intake ml 22a side and the workpiece take-out rl 22b side, respectively. Transfer arm 13a
E) It is arranged so that it can move through the notch hole 13b at the tip.

The holder 10 is normally placed in the cutout hole 13b of the transfer arm 13a. This holder has
For example, about 10 pieces of workpieces 27 are arranged, and one of the workpiece mounting IW holes 10a where one side of the workpiece is exposed is arranged at equal intervals on the concentric circle -1- of the holder.

When one of the transfer arms +3a of the transfer arm mechanism 13 rotates to the pusher 12a k disposed on the intake port 22a side, the transfer arm mechanism stops, and then the pusher 12a moves to the tip of the transfer arm 13a. When the holder 10 is lifted up through the notch hole 13't), the holder 10 held in the notch hole is pushed up and held by the button.

As described above, the indexing mechanism of the bushing 128 moves the holder held by the bushing 12a to the adjacent workpiece a.
It operates to sequentially rotate and move by an interval of 1η river holes 10a.

Above each of the pushers 2a and 12b, a holder cover II is provided which is lowered by the 1-door mechanism 14b and holds each workpiece 27 placed in the holder IO&:a1a. This holder cover.

After being placed on the holder 10 after being lowered,
(10)" is removed from the mechanism 14b.

A workpiece transfer mechanism 98 having a hanging hand for gripping the workpiece 27 at its tip is provided between the transfer arm mechanism 13 and the load lock chamber 48 mentioned above.

Here, the operation of transferring the workpiece 27 on the transfer table 6a to the holder IO of the transfer arm mechanism 131 using the configuration described below will be described.

First, by the hand of the workpiece transport mechanism 9a.

The workpiece 27 of the transport table 6a-hi which has been moved to the highest position in the load lock chamber 4a is held.

Next, this work transport mechanism 98 is moved to the pusher +2aJ.
Rotate to −.

On the other hand, on the transfer arm 13aL on the side of the transfer arm machine 13! !
The placed holder 10 is moved to pushers +2a, t by rotation of this transfer arm mechanism. Next, when this holder 10 is held by the first prong of the bushing 12a, the position indexing mechanism of the bushing is activated to align the work device hole 10a of the holder 10 with the workpiece 27 transferred by the work transport mechanism 9a. Move straight to Do. After that, the workpiece 27 is removed from the workpiece transport mechanism 9a and transferred to the workpiece device hole 10 of the holder 10.
a Place a on F.

Furthermore, after rotating the button shear 12a and performing the above-described operation for each hole 10a for aiii of the holder 10, the holder cover II is held from above the holder 10, and the holder cover is held by the 1-lower mechanism. 14a, and lowers the button shear 12a.

In this way, when the holder lO that has finished holding the workpiece 27 is placed on the transfer arms +3a and I-, the transfer arm mechanism 13 rotates by a quarter of a second in order to hold the workpiece 27 on the next empty holder 10. At this time, the holder 10, which has already held the work 27, is transferred to a vapor deposition area, which will be described later.

Next, using FIG. 5, the vapor deposition source 2 and the holder gripping mechanism 17 are
and the holder exchange mechanism 51 will be explained.

1- Centering on the transfer arm mechanism 13, P, the buttonshaft
A vapor deposition source 2 is provided on one side substantially perpendicular to 12a, and a holder exchange mechanism 51 is provided on the other side, and further on the vapor deposition source 2 side, for vapor-depositing one side of the workpiece 27 deposited by the vapor deposition source. A holder reversing mechanism 17 is provided for reversing the holder exchanging mechanism.

A vapor deposition material 44 is housed in the vapor deposition source 2, and the vapor deposition material is evaporated and scattered above the vapor deposition source 2 (hereinafter, this area will be referred to as a vapor deposition area). This evaporation source 2 is equipped with an automatic replenishment device (not shown) that can replenish the evaporation material 44 without breaking the vacuum.

Deposition prevention covers 52a and 52b are provided on the upper outer periphery of the vapor deposition source 2 and on one side above the vapor deposition source 2 to prevent the vapor deposition material 44 from scattering outside the vapor deposition area.

The holder gripping mechanism 17 has a holder finger 17a, and the holder gripping mechanism 17 has a holder finger 17a. It is provided so that the holder 10 and holder cover 11 can be held and rotated together from the side. When the transfer arm mechanism 13 rotates and the holder 10 reaches the vapor deposition area, the transfer arm mechanism 13 stops at the vapor deposition position, and the holder gripping mechanism 17 grips the inner side of the holder IO together with the holder cover 11. Next, the transfer arm mechanism 13 is rotated to pass from the deposition position, and then a thin film of a predetermined thickness is deposited on the side surface of the workpiece held in the holder 10.

Further, when the vapor deposition on one side of the workpiece 27 is completed, the holder gripping mechanism 17 is rotated 180 degrees to perform vapor deposition on the inside of the reflection, thus completing the M film formation on both sides of the workpiece 27.

The holder exchange mechanism 51 is used when the holder 10 becomes heavily soiled due to repeated vapor deposition as described above, or when the holder needs to be exchanged, such as when changing the shape of the workpiece. This holder exchange mechanism 51 takes out the old holder into a holder cassette 54 provided outside the vapor deposition chamber l, and places a new holder stored in the cassette in the transfer arm mechanism 13'' inside the vapor deposition chamber. It is constructed. When replacing the old and new holders, the interior of the holder covert 54 is maintained in a vacuum atmosphere, so that the vacuum atmosphere in the deposition chamber 1 is maintained even when the holders are replaced.

Next, the means for taking out the workpiece after vapor deposition will be explained.

The holder 10 on which vapor deposition has been completed is moved from the vapor deposition area to the pusher +2b disposed on the take-out side 122b by rotation of the transfer arm set 13.

A work pushing mechanism 31 is provided near the busher 12b for pushing upwardly the work 27 in the holder 10 that has been transferred to the busher. To operate this work extrusion mechanism, first push the button
The holder cover 11 provided above 2b is moved downward by E tT: The holder cover is raised by mechanism +4b. After that.

The work pushing mechanism 31 is operated to push up the work 27 placed a on the holder 10. This pushed up workpiece is gripped by a transport mechanism 9b equipped with a gripping function,
Due to the rotational movement of the transport mechanism, the material is transported in the direction of the load lock chamber 4b provided on the extraction port side.

Retrieval [Transfer table 6b around the load lock chamber 4b on the J 22 b side, leak hole 78 of the transfer table
, upper cover 3b, and side cover 20b.

- Vertical mechanism 5b of F side cover 3b, 'F side cover 20b
The vertical mechanism 7b and the like have the same structure and operation as those in the intake port 22all. Therefore, take out [
] 22 Work 2 in the load lock chamber 4b on the b side
7 can be carried out by an operation opposite to the operation in the load lock chamber 4a provided on the side of the workpiece intake 22a, and even when the workpiece is taken out in the loadlock chamber 4b, the vacuum atmosphere in the vapor deposition chamber l is maintained. maintained.

In particular, the table portion 60b in the load loading chamber 4b is connected to an external leakage system,
Similarly to the table portion 60a in the load lock chamber 4a, the leak pipe 77 communicating with the leak pipe 77 and the leak hole 78 connected thereto are provided with their tips facing downward.

In such a configuration, the workpiece 2 after the vapor deposition process is
In order to take out 7 from the deposition chamber 1 through the load lock chamber 4b to the take-out chamber 22b, with the 1 side cover 3b open, the transport table 6b is raised to the uppermost position L, and the entire load lock chamber 4bt-W is removed. After maintaining the atmosphere, the work 27 is placed on the transfer table 87, and the load lock chamber 4b is closed, the exhaust valve tab is closed, and the leak valve 18b is opened to open the leak hole 78 in the take-out chamber 22b.
By allowing more air to flow in, the load flow chamber 4b
Always restore the contents. At this time, since the leak hole 78 is configured to face the direction h, the gas is injected from the leak hole 78 in the direction t according to the direction of the leak hole 78, and the workpiece 27 on the workpiece carrier 87F can be blown away. Without,
The workpiece 27 does not fall off the conveyor table 87.

Note that the heater 8b provided in the load lock chamber 4b
Therefore, the temperature of the workpiece 27 on the transfer table 6bh is 15
The temperature is adjusted to be maintained in a temperature range of 0 to 200°C.

As shown in FIG. 7, the vacuum film forming apparatus B described above is used in the next step of press forming, in which optical elements such as camera lenses are formed by heating and pressurizing molten glass. A thin film can be deposited on the surface of the workpiece 27 formed into an optical #5f shape.

In FIG. 7, 6I is a step of manufacturing molten glass, 6
2 is L for press-forming the molten glass described in E into a 1'f-prepared molded product with a shape similar to the final molded product, and 6:3 is L for press-molding this P-prepared molded product into a high-precision optical element. Culm,
Reference numeral 64 designates the vacuum film forming apparatus of this embodiment. As shown in the figure, the molten glass supplied from the melting process 61 passes through the press stages 62 and 63 one by one and is formed into a desired shape of light 7 glass, then transported into the device. After being subjected to a predetermined film forming process, the film is taken out from [1], and then transferred to the next stage. As can be understood from this figure, the vacuum film forming apparatus of this embodiment is suitable for the film forming process of continuous forming of optical J-F.

Note that the vacuum film forming apparatus of the present invention does not need to be limited to a specific film forming means, and may be used as a vacuum evaporation apparatus that uses a vapor deposition source for multilayer film formation, a sputtering apparatus, a CV l
) It can also be applied as a device.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the above-described vacuum film forming apparatus of the present invention, when the workpiece is transported to an atmospheric pressure atmosphere through the access chamber after being subjected to a film forming process, when the normal pressure in the access chamber is restored. It is possible to prevent the workpiece from falling off from the conveying means due to the air flow, and the workpiece after the film forming process can be taken out from the deposition chamber into the atmospheric pressure atmosphere and conveyed to the next process.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a main part of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
The area around the workpiece intake in the vacuum film forming apparatus shown in the figure is shown. FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG. 1. Fig. S is a partial cross-sectional view, not showing a modification of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1. FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view showing the overall configuration of a vacuum film forming apparatus using the apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 4. 6(a) to 6(d) are schematic cross-sectional views of the vicinity of the load lock chamber to explain the operation of transferring the workpiece from the loading chamber to the receiving chamber.7 FIG. 7 shows the application of this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example. 8 and 9 show conventional apparatuses, FIG. 8 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a batch type vapor deposition apparatus, and FIG. 9 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a load-lock type vapor deposition apparatus. - Vapor deposition chamber - Vapor deposition source 3b - Side cover 4b - Load lock chamber 6b - Transfer table - Heater - Holder - Holder cover +2b - Button - Transfer arm mechanism - Holder reversing mechanism・・G side cover・・Intake port・・Output port・Work・Deposition material・Holder exchange mechanism 1 ・ ・ 2 ・ ・ 3 a. 4a, 6a. 8 a ・ l O Leak hole, communication hole, exhaust port, workpiece carrier

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A vacuum film forming apparatus for forming a film on the surface of a workpiece is provided with a workpiece transport means for transporting the workpiece from a vacuum atmosphere to an atmospheric pressure atmosphere and an entry/exit chamber through which the transport means enters and exits, and the workpiece is deposited by the transport means. A vacuum film forming apparatus, characterized in that the workpiece is prevented from falling off from the conveying means due to air flow when the normal pressure in the entrance/exit chamber is restored after being introduced into the entrance/exit chamber. (2) The conveying means has a claw for holding the workpiece and a rod for fixing the claw, and a leak pipe for restoring the normal pressure is provided via the rod, and an injection port at the tip of the leak pipe is connected to the 2. The vacuum film forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the vacuum film forming apparatus is directed downward with respect to the holding position of the workpiece.