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Vacuum chamber slit valve
| Details |
Inventors: Toshima, Masato;
Assignee: Applied Materials, Inc. (Santa Clara, CA)
Primary Examiner: Hall; George T.
Assistant Examiner:
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Flehr, Hohbach, Test, Albritton & Herbert
A slit valve for sealing an access opening in a vacuum chamber. The slit valve body or door is pivotally mounted adjacent the opening and has a pair of cam blocks mounted at its opposite ends. Cam follower rollers are mounted on a swing arm for reversible pivotal door opening and closing movement effected by a pneumatic cylinder. During closing movement of the swing arm, the cam followers engage the cam block and resiliently pivot the slit valve against the opening. Upon reversed, pivotal opening movement, the cam followers release from the cam block, allowing a spring to return the door to a normally opened position. The slit valve mounting is adapted to provide equal compressive sealing, both top-to-bottom and side-to-side. |
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION In view of the above discussion, it is an object of the present invention to provide a compact wafer entrance slit and slit closure valve mechanism for a vacuum chamber.
It is another related object to provide such a slit valve mechanism which is slightly reliable and of low unit cost.
It is also an object to provide such a slit valve whose operation is characterized by low particulate generation.
It is another, related object to provide a slit valve which provides compensated, uniform top-to-bottom and left-to-right sealing action.
In one aspect, a slit valve embodying my present invention, which meets the above and other objectives, comprises: bracket means preferably including a pair of brackets mounted adjacent and on opposite sides of an opening in a vacuum chamber wall, the brackets rotatably mounting a shaft with its axis generally parallel to the opening; a slit valve body mounted on the shaft to pivotal movement therewith to open and close the opening, the slit valve body having a sealing member mounted therein facing the wall for forming a seal between the wall and body about the periphery of the opening; biasing means operatively connected to the slit valve body for biasing the body to a normally open pivotal position; and means for closing the slit valve body over the opening comprising at least one cam block mounted on the side of the body opposite the wall and having a camming surface, a rotatable shaft, a swing arm mounted on the shaft for rotation therewith and carrying an eccentric cam follower on the end thereof opposite the shaft, and actuator means for reciprocally rotating the shaft and the cam follower in first and second directions for engaging the cam block camming surface during movement in the first direction to cam the slit valve body closed and for releasing from the cam block during movement in the second direction to permit the biasing means to pivot open the slit valve body.
Preferably, the brackets have an elongated slot therein oriented transverse to the plane of the chamber wall for rotatably mounting the slit valve shaft, and the slit valve mechanism includes spring means biasing the slit valve body toward the outside end of the slot
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Lighting 
