Patent Application
20080067273
The above and other objects, features and other advantageous effects of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
Hereinafter, a long-tape deposition apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to accompanying drawings.
As shown in drawings, a strip of tape 20 having the surface to be deposited with predetermined substance is wound along a helical-shaped guide groove formed on the outer surface of a drum 30. The tape 20 is supplied from a supply reel 50 disposed at a side of the drum 30 in continuing manner and is wound around a retreat reel 60 disposed at the opposite side of the drum 30 after predetermined substance is deposited on the surface of the tape 20.
The predetermined substance includes all substances which can be deposited in a vacuum chamber 10, and preferably be a high temperature superconductive material, a semiconductor material, or a metal.
All of the above-described elements are disposed in the vacuum chamber 10 in which the vacuum state is kept, and at least one deposition source 40 for an evaporation deposition apparatus, a sputtering deposition apparatus, a physical deposition apparatus or a chemical deposition apparatus is disposed at a side of the drum 30 while being distanced from the drum 30 in a longitudinal direction of the drum 30.
A first composition is emitted from the deposition source 40 in vapor or plasma state, and is deposited as a second composition on the upper surface of the tape 20 wound around the drum 30, which faces the deposition source 40. At this time, the drum 30 is connected to a driving motor so that it is continuously rotated, and the tape 20 wound around the drum 30 along the guide groove 31 is moved at a predetermined constant speed as the retreat reel 60 rotates. As a result, the tape 20 is continuously supplied from the supply reel 50, and a large area on the tape can be deposited with predetermined substance in a short time.
The supply reel 50 and the retreat reel 60 are driven by a driving motor dm so that the tape 20 is moved toward the drum 30 with a predetermined tension. The supply reel 50 and the retreat reel 60 are disposed in the drum 30 or disposed in a manner such that they are sealed from the deposition source 40 or a heater, such that unnecessary substance is added to the specific substance deposited on the tape 20.
When the tape 20 moves, the tape 20 is in contact with the guide groove 31 of the drum 30. As the drum 30 has larger size, the tape 20 is longer, and the tape 20 is wider, frictional force caused by contact resistance becomes larger.
Further, due to the shape of the drum 30, heat from the heater can not uniformly reach the entire surface of the tape 20, so that expansion of the tape 20 is not uniform all over the areas. As a result, when the tension is adjusted by the driving motor dm for driving the supply reel 50 and the retreat reel 60, some portions of the tape 20 can receive excessive tension, resulting damage of the tape 20.
In order to reduce friction caused due to contact resistance and prevent excessive tension from being exerted onto the tape 20, a slip-roller 100 is provided. Thanks to the slip-roller 100, the tape 20 does not move along the guide groove 31 of the drum 30 in a state in which it is in contact with the surface of the guide groove 31 during movement of the tape 20 but slips over the guide groove 31 of the drum 30 at some locations of the drum 30.
The slip-roller 100 may have a cylindrical shape and extends along the longitudinal direction of the drum 30. The main part of the slip-roller 100 is installed to be near the outer circumferential surface of the drum 30 and to protrude from the outer surface of the drum 30. The slip-roller 100 is connected to a driving motor cm, so that it rotates in the same direction as moving direction of the tape 20, which is the same as the rotational direction of the drum 30.
Further, the deposition apparatus according to the present invention includes a plurality of slip-rollers 100 instead of one. The slip-rollers 100 are arranged at regular intervals along the circumferential direction of the drum 30. The slip-rollers 100 are linked by a rotation chain 200 connected to the driving motor cm so that they rotate at the same time. If needed, contact pressure between the tape 20 and the guide groove 31 can be adjusted.
The slip-roller 100 is installed in a manner such that most of a body thereof is received in a depression which is formed on the outer surface of the drum 30 and has a diameter slightly larger than that of the slip-roller 100 and the rest thereof is not received in the depression but protrudes outward the drum 30. In the case in which the drum 30 is a cylinder without depressions, the entire bodies of the slip-rollers 100 are installed to protrude from the circumferential outer surface of the drum 30. The slip-rollers are coupled to supports 300 installed in the drum 30 so that the slip-rollers 100 are suspended at a position where the slip-rollers 100 are not in contact with the surface of the depression or the outer circumference of the drum 30. The supports 300 are connected to the rotation shaft of the drum 30 and are coupled to the slip-rollers 100 using bearings in order to minimize friction therebetween.
That is, since the slip-rollers 100 are installed to slightly protrude from the circumferential surface of the drum 30, the slip-rollers 100 can suspend the tape 20 moving along the guide groove 31 of the drum 30 from the surface of the guide groove 31 at portions near the slip rollers 100, so that the tape 20 can be moved slipping because the tape 20 is not in contact with the surface of the guide groove 31, resulting in reduction of contact resistance.
Further, in the case in which the expansion of the tape 20 is not uniform over its locations due to heat which does not uniformly reach the tape, since highly expanded portion of the tape 20 slips just little in the moving direction of the tape 20, so that variation of tension which is caused by uneven heat expansion of the tape 20 is automatically compensated. Accordingly, tension of the tape 20 caused by the supply reel 50 and the retreat reel 60 is uniformly maintained.
According to the present invention, since the slip-rollers extending in a longitudinal direction of the drum and installed to protrude from the outer circumferential surface of the drum rotate in the same direction as the direction along which the tape moves in order to complement movement of the tape, the tape can slip over the surface of the drum, resulting in decrease of friction between the tape and the surface of the drum. Thus, when the tape moves, there is almost no tension of the tape, so that the tape is continuously and smoothly supplied to the drum without damage thereof. That is, the long strip of tape deposited with specific substance can be continuously produced.
Further, specific substance with a uniform composition ratio can be deposited on undamaged tape. Still further, in the case in which the specific substance is a high temperature superconductive film, the present invention can produce a long strip of tape with high temperature superconductive film with superconductive property which is not degraded.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2006-0089525 | Sep 2006 | KR | national |
