JP2002276825A - Gate valve - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To provide a gate valve in which a gate valve and a chamber can be manufactured at low cost and the sealing property between the box and the chamber is good. SOLUTION: The box body 2, a shaft through hole 2a formed in the upper part of the box body 2, and an elevating device arranged inside the box body 2, and the outside of the box body 2 through the shaft through hole 2a. The gate valve 1 includes a shaft 4 protruding through the cutting portion 21 of the chamber, a valve body support 7 supported by the shaft 4, and a valve body 3 supported by the valve body support 7. The shaft 4 and the valve body support 7 are formed separately from each other, the two are detachably connected to each other, and the chamber 2 is provided around the shaft through hole 2 a of the box 2.
A circular O-ring 6 having a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the shaft that seals the periphery of the cutting portion 21 is disposed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a gate valve used for a wafer processing apparatus in a semiconductor manufacturing process.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIGS. 5A and 5B show a structure of a conventional gate valve and a method of attaching the same to a chamber. The gate valve 1 is directly attached to the chamber 20 of the wafer processing apparatus, and the chamber opening 22 is sealed by the valve 3. Conventionally, the gate valve 1 mainly includes a box 2, a shaft 4, a valve body support 7, and a valve body 3, and the valve body support 7 for supporting the valve body 3 which is long in the lateral direction is shown in FIG. As shown in (b), it is welded to the upper part of the shaft 4 in a circumferential shape and integrated. W is a weld. The gate valve 1 is attached to the chamber 20 by removing the valve body 3 from the gate valve 1 and raising the shaft 4 and the valve body support 7 welded to the shaft 4 from below the chamber 20 in the direction of the arrow. After passing through the cutting section 21, the mounting hole 5 and a screw hole (not shown) provided below the chamber cutting section 21 are fastened by bolts. The box 2 and the chamber 20 are sealed with a rectangular O-ring 6 larger than the chamber cutting portion.
Next, the opening and closing operation of the gate valve will be described with reference to FIG. When the inside and the outside of the chamber 20 are kept closed, the gate valve stops the valve body 3 and the shaft 4 fastened to the valve body support 7 at the upper part as shown by B part in FIG. The chamber opening 22 is sealed by the valve body 3 via the chamber O-ring 23 attached to the chamber side. On the other hand, when the inside and the outside of the chamber 20 are opened, as shown by a part C in FIG.
The valve body 3 and the shaft 4 fastened to the valve body support 7 are stopped at the lower part. As described above, the gate valve has a role of keeping the inside and the outside of the chamber 20 in an open state or a closed state.

[0003]

However, such a conventional gate valve has the following problems. (1) Since the valve body support 7 is welded to the shaft 4 in an integrated structure, when the gate valve is mounted on the chamber 20, the chamber cutting portion 21 that allows the valve body support 7 to pass therethrough.
Is required. Moreover, since the shape of the valve body support 7 is long in the lateral direction, the chamber cutting portion 21 is widened, so that the processing cost of the chamber increases. (2) The sealing length of the O-ring 6 between the box 2 and the chamber 20 is increased, and the pressing force per unit area on the O-ring 6 is reduced, so that the sealing performance is deteriorated. (3) The valve body support 7 is machined after welding to secure dimensional accuracy such as parallelism and flatness of the valve body support 7 with respect to the chamber opening 22 which is the sealing surface of the valve body 3. Need to be performed, which increases the machining cost and manufacturing time when manufacturing the gate valve. The present invention has been made in order to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a gate valve in which a gate valve and a chamber can be manufactured at low cost and a sealing property between a box body and a chamber is excellent. It is assumed that.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a box, a shaft through-hole formed in an upper portion of the box, and a lifting / lowering unit provided inside the box. A shaft that is attached to the device and protrudes from the shaft through hole to the outside of the box body and passes through a cutting portion of the chamber; a valve body support supported by the shaft; and a valve body supported by the valve body support In the gate valve, the shaft and the valve body support are formed separately, and the two are detachably connected to each other, and the cutting portion of the chamber is provided around a shaft through hole of the box. A circular O-ring having a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the shaft for sealing the periphery of the O-ring is provided.

[0005]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a gate valve showing a first embodiment. In FIG. 1, 1 is a gate valve,
2 is a box, 3 is a valve, 4 is a shaft, 5 is a mounting hole,
6 is an O-ring, 7 is a valve body support. The shaft 4
Is attached to an elevating device (not shown) disposed inside the box 2, and projects out of the box 2 through the shaft through hole 2a, and passes through a cutting portion of the chamber as described later. Further, the shaft 4 and the valve body support 7 are separate parts, and the shaft 4 has a structure that can fix the valve body support 7 with screws. Therefore, the valve body 3 is detachably attached to the shaft 4 via the valve body support 7. The O-ring 6 has a circular shape having a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the shaft 4. Next, a detailed fastening structure of the shaft 4, the valve body 3, and the valve body support 7 will be described with reference to FIG. The shaft 4 has a screw hole formed in a semicircular shape so that the valve body support 7 can be attached. The valve body support 7 is L-shaped and has a hole for mounting the shaft 4. The valve body 3 has a screw hole for mounting the shaft 4 and the valve body support 7. Further, the shaft 4 and the valve body support 7 ensure flatness, parallelism, and dimensional accuracy between the shaft 4 and the sealing surface of the chamber opening opened and closed by the valve body 3. When the shaft 4, the valve body support 7 and the valve body 3 are attached, the time to reach vacuum can be reduced by using a vent hole screw 30 or the like. Next, a method of attaching the gate valve having the above structure to the chamber will be described. FIG. 3 is a perspective view after the gate valve according to the present invention is attached to the chamber. In FIG.
Reference numeral 20 denotes a chamber, and a chamber cutting portion 21 provided in the chamber 20 has a hole having a diameter slightly larger than a shaft diameter. First, with the valve body 3 and the valve body support 7 removed from the lower part of the chamber, the shaft 4 is passed through the chamber cutting part 21, and the box body 2 is fastened to the chamber 20 with bolts through mounting holes. Thereafter, the valve body support 7 is fastened to the shaft 4 and the valve body 3 is attached. FIG.
3 shows a fastening structure between the shaft 4 and the valve body 3 and the valve body support 7 in the embodiment. Like the first embodiment, the shaft 4 is formed into a semi-circular shape having dimensional accuracy and the like, and has a screw hole for fixing the valve body support 7 in the Z direction. The valve body support 7 has an L-shape in which dimensional accuracy and the like are secured, and has a hole for mounting the shaft 4 and the valve body 3. The mounting procedure is as follows.
And the shaft 4 are fastened in the Z direction, and then the valve body 3 and the valve body support 7 are fastened in the X direction. By doing so, it is possible to provide a gate valve having a shaft structure in which the welding structure in the conventional valve body support is eliminated and the valve body support is detachable. This also reduces the chamber cutting portion and reduces the processing cost of the chamber, and eliminates the need for welding the shaft and the valve body support, thereby reducing the processing cost of the gate valve. Moreover,
By reducing the seal length of the chamber cutting portion, the pressing force per unit area against the O-ring is increased, and the sealing performance between the chamber and the box is improved.

[0006]

As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. (1) It is possible to provide a gate valve having a shaft structure in which a welding structure in a conventional valve body support is eliminated and the valve body support is detachable. (2) The chamber cutting portion is reduced, and the processing cost of the chamber is reduced. (3) The welding of the shaft and the valve body support becomes unnecessary, and the processing cost of the gate valve is reduced. (4) Due to the decrease in the seal length of the chamber cutting portion, the pressing force per unit area against the O-ring increases, and the sealing performance between the chamber and the box improves.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a gate valve according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing a fastening structure of a shaft, a valve body, and a valve body support in the gate valve of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a state in which a gate valve according to the first embodiment of the present invention is attached to a chamber.

FIG. 4 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 2, showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

5A is a perspective view showing a conventional example, FIG. 5A is a perspective view showing a gate valve and a chamber, and FIG. 5B is a partial perspective view of part A in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a side sectional view showing a state where a conventional gate valve is attached to a chamber.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 gate valve, 2 box, 2a shaft through hole, 3 valve, 4 shaft, 5 mounting hole, 6 O-ring, 7 valve support, 20 chamber, 21 chamber cutting part, 22 chamber opening, 23 chamber O Ring, 30 vent hole screw

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A box, a shaft through-hole formed in an upper part of the box, and an elevating device provided inside the box, and protruding from the shaft through-hole to the outside of the box, And a shaft passing through the cutting portion of the chamber, a valve body supporter supported by the shaft, and a gate valve including a valve body supported by the valve body support, wherein the shaft and the valve body supporter And a circular O-ring with a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the shaft that seals the periphery of the cutting portion of the chamber around the shaft through hole of the box and that connects the two in a separable manner. A gate valve, comprising: