GB2264954A

GB2264954A - High-vacuum coating apparatus comprising a drive unit with wheels directly attached

Info

Publication number: GB2264954A
Application number: GB9224787A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Klaus Contzen
Original assignee: Leybold AG
Current assignee: Balzers und Leybold Deutschland Holding AG
Priority date: 1992-03-10
Filing date: 1992-11-26
Publication date: 1993-09-15
Anticipated expiration: 2012-11-26
Also published as: ITMI930461A1; IT1272004B; GB9224787D0; GB2264954B; ITMI930461A0; DE4207527A1

Description

HIGH-VACUUM COATING APPARATUS 2264954 The invention concerns a high-vacuum

coating apparatus for coating films, which has a receiver designed as a vacuum tank which can be closed at one side by a carrier plate forming part of a drive unit which has track wheels engaged with rails extending towards the tank. The carrier plate supports a supply roller, a take-up roller and a coating roller on its side facing the tank.

Coating apparatuses of the above type are used for coating films with a metal deposit and are in general known. In these known apparatuses, the drive unit has a bridge-like frame forming a support which has the track wheels and the carrier plate attached to it. An extension arm directed rearwards is likewise mounted on the frame and has cooling and heating devices of the coating apparatus mounted on it.

The frame of the drive unit is a relatively expensive component and involves a relatively large assembly effort. Furthermore, the constructional size of such coating apparatuses is increased considerably due to the frame. The problem on which the invention is based is to develop a high-vacuum coating apparatus of the type mentioned in the first paragraph hereof which can be produced at reduced cost. This problem is resolved according to the invention by means of a construction which avoids the use of a supporting frame. 30 According to this invention there is provided high- vacuum coating apparatus for coating films, comprising a vacuum tank which constitutes a receiver and a drive unit including a carrier plate movable into and out of sealing engagement with one side of the tank, said carrier plate supporting a supply roller, a takeup roller and a coating roller on its side facing 2 - the receiver, and said drive unit being carried on rails extending towards the receiver by means of track wheels carried on wheel supports which are attached directly to the side of the carrier plate facing away from the receiver.

The production costs of the coating apparatus are considerably reduced by omitting the supporting frame of the drive unit without disadvantages being produced compared to the known apparatuses. In any event the receiver plate has a strength such that it is also able to support the track wheels of the basic drive unit because it has to withstand the high vacuum produced in the receiver during the coating process.

Preferably a geared motor is attached to one of the wheel supports to drive the track wheels and drives the track wheel of this wheel support directly and another of the track wheels via a drive shaft extending transversely of the rails. Drives of this type with the wheel supports and track wheels are require for cranes for example and therefore can be obtained inexpensively.

The receiver of a high-vacuum apparatus usually stands on an end part of the rails carrying the drive unit. This principle corresponds to that of a turning lathe, in which the gearless head stands on the bed along which the support can be driven. Apparatuses of this type are also relatively expensive as a result of this principle of construction. Furthermore, the rails stand on the base so that they increase the construction height of the apparatus. These disadvantages can be avoided according to an advantageous further development of the invention, if the rails terminate in front of the open side of the receiver and are attached to the base of the apparatus in alignment with the receiver.

The strength requirement of the carrier plate is reduced if at least one rail extending away from the receiver leads out of the receiver at the top in a manner known per se on which rail the drive unit is supported by means of a track wheel disposed near a bearing plate spaced from the carrier plate at its side nearer the receiver and providing a support for said rollers at their ends remote from the carrier plate.

Further to relieve the carrier plate of moments acting on it, it is useful if the drive unit comprises an attachment which is coupled to the carrier plate by a horizontal axle, which supports cooling and heating devices and which is supported on the rails by track wheels near its end remote from the carrier plate.

The construction height of the high-vacuum coating apparatus is particularly low if the receiver is designed to have a rectangular crosssection and the carrier plate has a corresponding rectangular shape. The wheel supports with the track wheels may be particularly conveniently attached to the carrier plate in the lower external region due to this rectangular shape. They need only extend to a small extent beyond the lower edge of the carrier plate.

one embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 shows a side view of a high-vacuum coating apparatus according to the invention, Figure 2 shows a view of the external side of the carrier plate of the coating apparatus, but on a larger scale than in Figure 1.

Figure 3 shows a plan view of a drive unit of the coating apparatus.

Figure 1 shows a receiver 1 of rectangular cross-section designed as a vacuum tank in which the coating process is carried out. A drive unit 2, which - 4 can be propelled along rails 3, is arranged on the righ t next to the receiver 1. The drive unit 2 includes a carrier plate 4, which can be placed against the right-hand end of the receiver 1 in a sealing manner by driving the drive unit 2 leftward.

A takeup roller 5, a supply roller 6 and coating roller 7 are supported by one end in bearings on the carrier plate and project from the carrier plate 4 towards the receiver 1. The coating roller 7 is mounted on the plate 4 approximately half way between the rollers 5 and 6. Motors 9, 8 on the side of the carrier plate 4 facing away from the receiver 1 respectively serve to drive the rollers 5 and 6. In order to prevent the drive unit 2 from tipping due to the weight arranged at the front of the carrier plate 4, i.e. on the left in Figure 1, the drive unit 2 is supported by track rollers 10 engaging a rail 11 at its side facing the receiver 1, which rail 11 extends out of the receiver 1 at the top. Diffusion pumps 12, 13 and mechanical pumps 14, 15 serve to evacuate the receiver 1.

It is an important feature of the construction that two wheel supports 16 each carrying one track wheel 17 rolling on the rail are attached directly to the receiver plate 4 near its lower edge. It is also important that an attachment 18 which is attached to the receiver plate 4 and which stands on the rail 3 by means of track wheels 19 on its side facing away from the receiver is pivotably connected to the receiver plate 4 by means of a horizontal axle 20. Cooling and heating devices 21, which are required for the high-vacuum coating plant, are arranged on this attachment 18. The rails 3 terminate in front of the receiver 1 and are aligned precisely with a base 22, so that the drive unit 2 can move the parts of the drive unit disposed in front of the carrier plate precisely into the receiver 1.

It can be seen from Figure 2 that the carrier plate 4 is mounted on two rails 3, 3a. The wheel supports 16, 16a are each bolted to the rear face of the carrier plate 4 near its lower edge. A geared motor 23, which drives the track wheel 17 directly and the opposite track wheel 17a via a transversely extending drive shaft 24, is attached to the wheel support 16.

Figure 3 shows the carrier plate 4 with the wheel supports 16, 16a, the gear motor 23 and the drive shaft 24 indicated in chain lines. The attachment 18, which can pivot about the horizontally extending axle 20, is shown in full lines. Its track wheels 19, 19a near its end further from the axle 20 are shown in broken lines.

6 1.

Claims

High-vacuum coating apparatus for coating films, comprising a vacuum tank which constitutes a receiver and a drive unit including a carrier plate movable into and out of sealing engagement with one side of the tank, said carrier plate supporting a supply roller, a take-up roller and a coating roller on its side facing the receiver, and said drive unit being carried on rails extending towards the receiver by means of track wheels carried on wheel supports which are attached directly to the side of the carrier plate facing away from the receiver.
2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a geared motor is attached to one of the wheel supports to drive the track wheels and drives directly the track wheel carried by said one wheel support and drives another track wheel via a drive shaft extending transversely of the rails.
3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the rails terminate in front of said one side of the tank.
4. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein a further rail extends out of the receiver at the top, the drive unit being additionally supported by means of a track wheel disposed near a bearing plate spaced from the carrier plate at its side nearer the receiver and providing a support for said rollers at their ends remote from the carrier plate.
5. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the drive unit further comprises an attachment which is coupled to the carrier plate by a horizontal axle, which supports cooling and heating devices and which is supported on the rails by track wheels near its end remote from the carrier plate.
6. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the receiver has a rectangular cross-section and the carrier plate has a correspondingly rectangular shape.
7. High-vacuum coating apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.