JP3387630B2 - Block valve - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is mainly used in equipment for handling high-purity gas such as a cylinder cabinet of semiconductor manufacturing equipment. The present invention relates to a block valve capable of significantly improving the purging efficiency when switching the supply gas.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 12 shows an example of a flow system of a cylinder cabinet of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. Gas from a cylinder C is supplied to a process side through a high pressure block valve VH and a low pressure block valve VB. When switching the supply gas, the purge gas from the H-N ₂ system is used for gas replacement and gas purging of both block valves VH, VL, and finally, the actual gas is used for the inside of both block valves VH, VL. Is purged. In FIG. 12, MFM is a mass flow meter,
VG is a vacuum generator, RG is a pressure regulator, F is a filter, and C is a check valve.

13 and 14 show a high pressure block valve VH used in the conventional cylinder cabinet, and FIG. 15 is a gas flow path system diagram thereof. In the figure, a, b, and c are so-called direct-touch type diaphragm valves, in which the metal diaphragm is pressed by the actuator and abuts against the valve seat to close the flow path. Further, when the pressing force of the actuator disappears, the diaphragm is separated from the valve seat by its elastic force, and the fluid flow path is opened. In addition, d, e, f, and g are joints.

When switching the type of gas to be supplied to the block valve VH, first, the gas is replaced in the block valve VH, and then the actual gas purge by the post-supply gas is performed to block first. It is necessary to expel the gas supplied to the valve VH. However, in the block valve configured as shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, when the purge gas supplied from the joint d is extracted to the joint g, the passages of S ₁ and S _{2 in} FIG. 15 become so-called dead spaces, Even if the purge gas H flows from the joint d to the joint g for a long time, the residual gas in the passages S ₁ and S ₂ does not easily escape.

16 to 18 show an example of a conventional low pressure block valve VL used in the cylinder cabinet. In the low pressure block valve VL, when the gas is purged from the joint d to the joint e, the passage S ₃ becomes a dead space. As a result, there is a problem that the residual gas inside does not easily escape and the purging time is prolonged, or the residual gas deteriorates the purity of the post-delivery gas.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has the above-mentioned problems in the block valve of this type, that is, the structure of the block valve causes a large dead space for the purge operation in the interior thereof, and the purge time is prolonged. The present invention aims to solve the problem that the gas purity of the post-conveyance gas is lowered, and to provide a block valve capable of virtually eliminating the dead space during the purging operation.

[0007]

The invention described in claim 1 of the present application is to the left of the upper part of the block valve body 9 when viewed from the front.
More 1 2 aisle metal diaphragm valve Va and two 3 aisle metal diaphragm valve Vb, and Vc adjacent sequentially
In a block valve formed by integrally assembling these elements, the two-passage-type and three-passage-type metal diaphragm valves Va, Vb, Vc are provided on the upper surface of the block valve main body 9 at intervals. Three valve holes 7 perforated, a bonnet 12 welded to the upper opening of each valve hole 7, a valve seat 2 and an opening / closing passage 8 formed on the bottom surface of each valve hole 7, and a three-passage metal diaphragm valve Two fluid passages 6b, 6b communicating with the bottom surface of the valve hole 7 of Vb, Vc, and one fluid passage 6a communicating with the bottom surface of the valve hole 7 of the two-passage metal diaphragm valve Va.
A metal diaphragm 1 arranged to face the valve seat 2;
The diaphragm retainer 3 arranged above the metal diaphragm 1 is inserted into the bonnet 12 and the valve hole 7, and the tip of the diaphragm presses the outer peripheral edge of the diaphragm 1 toward the main body 9 side and supports the actuator 10 at the base end. and fixed guide member 5, so as to form a guide body fixed member 13 for pressing and fixing is attached to the bonnet 12 by the guide member 5 to block valve body 9 side, a positive outer surface of the block valve body 9
In a plan view, the first joint 14a is provided on the right side surface and the rear side
The second joint 14b on the side surfaces, the third joint 14c to the side of the left
And a fourth joint 14d on the side surface on the front side, and between one fluid passage 6b and the first joint 14a of one of the three passage type metal diaphragm valves Vb, between the fluid opening / closing passage 8b and the second joint 14b, and the other. Fluid passage 6b of the other three-passage metal diaphragm valve Vc, between one fluid passage 6c of the three-passage metal diaphragm valve Vc, between the fluid opening / closing passage 8c and the third joint 14c, and between the other fluid passage 6c and the two-passage metal diaphragm valve Va. 8a
And the fluid passage 6 of the two-passage type metal diaphragm valve Va
It is a basic configuration of the invention that a is communicated with the fourth joint 14g by the passages 15, respectively.

The invention according to claim 2 is the same as the invention according to claim 1, wherein the upper surface side of the block valve body 9 is a flat surface 11
The inclined surfaces 11a and 11b are provided opposite to each other on both sides of c, and the flat surface 11c is provided with a valve hole 7 for the other three-passage metal diaphragm valve Vc vertically and the inclined surface 11a. , 11b facing each other with a predetermined inclination angle α and one 3-passage metal diaphragm valve Vb,
The valve holes 7, 7 for the two-passage type metal diaphragm valve Va are bored, and the guide body fixing member 13 is attached to the bonnet 12.
It is a bonnet nut that is screwed in.

[0009]

In the case of the low pressure block valve, the actual gas for purging supplied from the first joint 14a passes through the valve chamber of the three-passage metal diaphragm valve Vb and the open / close passage 8a and the fluid passage of the two-passage metal diaphragm valve Va. Second through 6a
Opening / closing passage 8b of the three-passage diaphragm valve Vb discharged to the joint 14b and connected to the third joint 14c of the process system
No gas enters into. Therefore, the inside of the purge gas passage is completely replaced with the actual purge gas. Similarly, in the case of the high-pressure block valve, since no gas enters the open / close passages 8b and 8c of the three-passage metal diaphragm valves Vb and Vc, the actual purge gas supplied from the first joint 14a is The valves Vb and Vc are discharged to the second joint 14b through the opening / closing passage 8a of the valve chamber valve Va, the valve chamber 7a, and the flow passage 6a, and the inside of the purge passage is completely replaced by the actual purge gas.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below based on the embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing an essential part of a three-passage type diaphragm valve VB, VC used in a block valve of the present invention, in which 1 is a stainless steel diaphragm and 2 is a diaphragm.
Is a valve seat, 3 is a diaphragm holder, 4 is an actuator shaft, 5 is a guide body, 6 is a fluid passage, 7 is a valve hole, and 7a.
Is a valve chamber, 8 is an opening / closing passage, 9 is a block valve body, and 10 is an actuator. That is, when the actuator shaft 4 operates and the diaphragm 1 is pressed against the valve seat 2, the opening / closing passage 8 is closed, and the gas flowing from one fluid passage 6 flows through the valve chamber 7 a and the other fluid passage 6. .

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing an essential part of a two-passage diaphragm valve Va used in the block valve of the present invention. The two fluid passages 6 and 6 of the three-passage diaphragm valve are shown in FIG. One is removed. That is, except that there is only one fluid passage 6, it is structurally completely the same as the three-passage diaphragm valves VB and VC.

FIGS. 3 to 6 show a first embodiment of the present invention, which is used as a low pressure block valve or the like of the cylinder cabinet, and as shown in FIG.
The purging fluid supplied from a is taken out to the outside from the second joint 14b. Further, the third joint 14c is connected to the process side. In the first embodiment, the block valve body 9 having a pentagonal cross section, the three-passage type diaphragm valve Vb and the two-passage type diaphragm valve Va having the main body 9 in common, each side surface 11d of the block valve body 9, 11e,
From the joints 14a, 14b, 14c attached to 11f, the fluid passages 6a, 6b and the opening / closing passages 8a, 8b of both diaphragm valves Vb, Va, and the passages 15 communicating between the respective joints 14a, 14b, 14c, the block valve, etc. V is formed.

That is, the both diaphragm valves Vb, Va
Is 60 on the upper slopes 11a and 11b of the block valve body 9.
They are fixedly installed in a V-shaped posture with an inclination angle interval of °. Further, each diaphragm valve Va, Vb has a valve hole 7 of a predetermined depth formed in the block valve body 9 and a valve hole 7
A valve seat 2, a fluid opening / closing passage 8 and a flow passage 6 formed on the bottom surface of the valve, a bonnet 12 welded to the opening of the valve hole 7, and a diaphragm 1 disposed inside the valve hole 7 so as to face the valve seat 2. ,
The diaphragm retainer 3 and the guide body 5, the bonnet nut 13 that inserts and fixes the guide body 5 into the valve hole 7 and presses and fixes the diaphragm 1 by the guide body 5, and the actuator 10 fixed to the base end portion of the guide body 5. Etc. are formed respectively. In this embodiment, two diaphragm valves Va and Vb are attached to the block valve main body 9 in a V shape, but the upper surface of the main body 9 is planar and both valves Va and Vb are vertically spaced. It may be attached in a shape. Further, in this embodiment, the guide body fixing body 13 is of the bonnet nut type, but it is of course possible to use the flange type.

In the block valve body 9, one flow passage 6b of the three-passage diaphragm valve Vb and the first joint 14 are provided.
Between a, the other flow passage 6 of the three-passage diaphragm valve Vb
b and the opening / closing passage 8a of the two-passage diaphragm valve Va, 3
Opening / closing passage 8b of passage-type diaphragm valve Vb and third joint 1
4c, and the flow passage 6 of the two-passage diaphragm valve Va
Fluid passages 15 are provided to connect between a and the second joint 14b.

7 to 9 show a second embodiment of the present invention, which is used for the high pressure block valve VH of the cylinder cabinet. That is, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9, the purging fluid supplied from the first joint 14a or the fourth joint 14d is discharged to the outside through the second joint 14b. The third joint 14c is connected to the process side. In the second embodiment, two three-passage diaphragm valves Vb, Vc and one two-passage diaphragm valve Va that share the block valve body 9 in common, and each diaphragm valve V.
b, Vc, Va and each joint 14a, 14b, 14c, 14
A block valve V is formed from the fluid passage 15 and the like communicating between d. The three-passage diaphragm valve Vb,
The configurations of Vc and the two-passage diaphragm valve Va are exactly the same as in the first embodiment.

That is, the block valve body 9 is formed in a hexagonal trapezoidal shape in a sectional view, and an upper portion thereof is formed with a flat surface 11c at the center and inclined surfaces 11a and 11b on both sides. Further, the three-passage diaphragm valves Vc, V are provided on the flat surface 11c of the block valve body 9 and the one inclined surface 11a.
b, and a two-passage diaphragm valve Va is attached to the other slope 11b with an inclination angle interval α of 45 ° C., respectively. Further, the side surfaces 11d to 11 of the block valve body 9 are
g includes a first joint 14a, a second joint 14b, and a third joint 14
c and the fourth joint 14d are fixed respectively. The upper surface of the block valve body 9 is a flat surface, and each diaphragm valve V
It is of course possible to arrange a, Vb, and Vc in a vertical manner with a space therebetween, and the bonnet nut type guide body fixing body 13 may be a flange type guide body fixing body 13.

Inside the block valve body 9, as shown in FIG. 7, one fluid passage 6 of the three-passage diaphragm valve Vb is provided.
b and the first joint 14a, between the other fluid passage 6b and the fluid passage 6c of the three-passage diaphragm valve Vc, between the opening / closing passage 8b of the diaphragm valve Vb and the fourth joint 14d, and between the opening / closing passage 8c of the diaphragm valve Vc and the third A fluid passage 1 that communicates between the joints 14c, between the other fluid passage 6c of the diaphragm valve Vc and the opening / closing passage 8a of the two-passage diaphragm valve Va, and between the flow passage 6a of the diaphragm valve Va and the second joint 14a.
5 is drilled.

Next, the operation of the block valve according to the present invention will be described. With reference to FIGS. 3 to 6, in the block valve VL, the valve Va is closed and the valve Vb is opened, and the first joint 1
Gas from 4a is fed to the process through the third fitting 14c. When switching the gas supplied to the process, first, the valve Va is opened and the valve Vb is closed, and the first joint 14a is closed.
The purge gas is supplied from the above to discharge the supply gas remaining in the internal passage of the block valve body VL. In the present invention,
The purge gas supplied from the first joint 14a includes passage 15-passage 6b-valve chamber 7b of valve Vb-passage 6b-opening / closing passage 8a-valve chamber 7a of valve Va-passage 6a-second joint 14b.
Is discharged to the outside through. Further, since the opening / closing passage 8b communicating with the third joint 14c is closed by the valve seat 2b, it does not become a dead space for the flow passage of the purge gas. As a result, it is possible to significantly reduce the time required for parsing, and it is possible to prevent a decrease in the purity of the post-delivery gas due to the residual gas in the dead space.

Similarly, in the block valve V of the second embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 9, the purge gas supplied from the first joint 14a (or the fourth joint 14d) is the valve VB.
Passage 6b-valve chamber 7b-passage 6b-valve Vc passage 6c-
Valve chamber 7c-passage 6c-opening / closing passage 8a of valve Va-valve chamber 7a
-Passage 6a-Purged to the outside through the second joint 14b. In this case, since the valves Vb and Vc are closed, the opening / closing passages 8b and 8c are completely separated from the purge gas flow passage and do not become a dead space for the purge gas flow passage. As a result, the purge time can be shortened and the purity of the post-delivery gas can be completely prevented from decreasing.

10 and 11 show the replacement characteristics of the block valve according to the present invention and the conventional block valve by the continuous purge gas, and the curve P indicates the block valve of the present invention,
Curve Q shows the characteristics of the conventional block valve. That is, in FIGS. 10 and 11, He gas is caused to flow into each of the block valves VL and VH of the present invention shown in FIGS. 3 and 7, and the valves are appropriately opened and closed so that He is distributed in the system. The inside is set to 100 <%> He. Next, a part of the He gas emitted from the second joint 14b side is introduced into the quadrupole mass spectrometer by the sampling valve, and the analysis and measurement of He is started by the personal computer at an interval of 1 sec. Further, after 30 seconds, the He gas supplied from the first joint 14a is switched to the N ₂ gas, and the replacement state of the gas in the block valve V is displayed by the decrease of the He ion intensity. The flow rate of the purge gas N ₂ is 100 SCC
It was M. As is clear from the measured values in FIGS. 10 and 11, the block valves VL and VH according to the present invention both have excellent gas replacement characteristics, and the internal gas can be replaced more quickly.

[0021]

In the present invention, the block valve body 9
One 2-passage metal diaphragm valve Va and one or two 3-passage metal diaphragm valves Vb (or Vb, Vc) are integrally assembled, and the purge gas is closed. Valve Vb (or Vb,
Vc) valve chamber 7b, open 2-passage diaphragm valve V
a through the valve chamber 7a and the fluid passage 6a to the outside,
Moreover, the opening / closing passage 8b of the three-passage diaphragm valve Vb (or Vb, Vc) is connected to the process side (or the process side and the replacement gas supply side). As a result, the purging gas passage does not form a so-called dead space in the process side passage (or the process side and the replacement gas supply side) connected to the purging gas passage, and the block valve VL or The residual gas in the block valve VH is smoothly and easily discharged to the outside of the system. As described above, the present invention has a particularly excellent effect in terms of downsizing and gas displacement characteristics.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a main part of a three-passage diaphragm valve used in a block valve of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a main part of a two-passage diaphragm valve used in the block valve of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view of a block valve according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AOA of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a bottom view of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a flow system diagram of the block valve of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional view of a block valve according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a bottom view of FIG. 7.

9 is a flow system diagram of the block valve of FIG. 7. FIG.

FIG. 10 is an actual measurement diagram of gas displacement characteristics of the block valve of the first embodiment.

FIG. 11 is an actual measurement diagram of gas replacement characteristics of the block valve of the second embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a flow system diagram of a cylinder cabinet for a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

FIG. 13 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a conventional high pressure block valve.

14 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

15 is a flow system diagram of FIG.

FIG. 16 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a conventional low pressure block valve.

17 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

18 is a flow system diagram of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

V is a block valve, Va is a two-passage metal diaphragm valve, Vb and Vc are three-passage metal diaphragm valves, 1 is a stainless steel diaphragm, 2 is a valve seat, 3 is a diaphragm retainer, 4 is an actuator shaft, 5 is Guide body,
6a, 6b and 6c are flow passages, 7 is a valve hole, 7a is a valve chamber,
8a, 8b and 8c are opening / closing passages, 9 is a block valve body, 1
0 is an actuator, 11a and 11b are upper slopes, 11c
Is an upper flat surface, 11d, 11e, 11f and 11g are side surfaces, 12 is a bonnet, 13 is a guide body fixing material (bonnet nut), 14a is a first joint, 14b is a second joint,
14c is a third joint, 14d is a fourth joint, and 15 is a passage.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── --- Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-5-106749 (JP, A) JP-A-6-117559 (JP, A) JP-A-6-281026 (JP, A) JP-A-7- 119844 (JP, A) JP 63-62976 (JP, A) Actually open 5-19746 (JP, U) Actually open 62-179499 (JP, U) Actually open 61-6076 (JP, U) Jikkaihei 6-71979 (JP, U) Jikkoku 2-14090 (JP, B2) Jikkou 4-42913 (JP, Y2) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) F17D 1/00-1/20 F16K 7/00-7/20 F16K 11/00-11/24 F16K 27/00-27/12 H01L 21/02

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A front view of the upper portion of the block valve body (9).
In is in one of the two-passage type metal diaphragm valve Ri I left (Va) and two 3-passage type metal diaphragm valve (V
b) and (Vc) are arranged adjacent to each other in order, and these are integrally assembled. In the block valve, the two-passage type and three-passage type metal diaphragm valves (Va), (V)
b) and (Vc) are welded to three valve holes (7) perforated on the upper surface of the block valve body (9) at intervals and a bonnet (12) welded to the upper opening of each valve hole (7). And a valve seat (2) and an opening / closing passageway (8) formed on the bottom surface of each valve hole (7)
And 3-passage metal diaphragm valve (Vb), (Vc)
Two fluid passages (6) communicating with the bottom surface of the valve hole (7) of
b), (6b) and two-passage type metal diaphragm valve (V
a) A fluid passage (6) communicating with the bottom surface of the valve hole (7).
a), a metal diaphragm (1) arranged to face the valve seat (2), a diaphragm retainer (3) arranged above the metal diaphragm (1), and a bonnet (12).
And a guide body (5) that is inserted into the valve hole (7), presses the outer peripheral edge of the diaphragm (1) toward the main body (9) side at its tip, and supports and fixes the actuator (10) at the base end. , A guide body fixing member (13) attached to the bonnet (12) to press and fix the guide body (5) to the block valve body (9) side, and the outer surface of the block valve body (9). When viewed from the front , the first joint (14a) is on the right side surface and the second joint (14a) is on the rear side surface.
b) , the third joint (14c) on the left side surface , and the front
A fourth joint (14d) is provided on the side surface, and a fluid opening / closing passage (8) is provided between one fluid passage (6b) of the one three-passage metal diaphragm valve (Vb) and the first joint (14a).
b) and the second joint (14b), the other fluid passage (6b)
And the other three-passage metal diaphragm valve (Vc) between one fluid passage (6c), between the fluid opening / closing passage (8c) and the third joint (14c), and between the other fluid passage (6c) and the two-passage metal diaphragm. A block valve configured such that fluid passages (8a) of the valve (Va) and fluid passages (6a) of the two-passage metal diaphragm valve (Va) and the fourth joint (14g) are connected by passages (15), respectively. . 2. The block valve body (9) has an upper surface side in which inclined surfaces (11a), (11b) are provided on opposite sides of a flat surface (11c) so as to face each other, and the flat surface (11c) has the other surface. And a valve hole (7) for the three-passage metal diaphragm valve (Vc) is vertically formed, and the inclined surface (11) is formed.
valve holes (7) and (7) for one three-passage metal diaphragm valve (Vb) and two-passage metal diaphragm valve (Va) so as to face a) and (11b) at a predetermined inclination angle (α). ), And the guide body fixing material (13) is a bonnet nut screwed to the bonnet (12), and the block valve according to claim 1.