JP4908294B2 - Flow control valve - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a flow control valve that operates a valve body using fluid pressure such as air pressure, and more particularly to a flow control valve that includes an adjustment member that adjusts the opening position of the valve body.

  In the fields of semiconductor wafer manufacturing technology, liquid crystal substrate manufacturing technology, multilayer wiring board manufacturing technology, etc., chemical solutions such as photoresist solutions and alkaline and acidic processing solutions are used. In order to supply each chemical solution, a chemical solution supply device having a container, a pump for supplying the chemical solution contained therein, and a nozzle for discharging the chemical solution guided through the flow path by the operation of this pump is used. ing. In such a chemical solution supply apparatus, since it is necessary to adjust the supply amount of the chemical solution with high accuracy, for example, a flow rate control valve for adjusting the opening position of the valve body as disclosed in Patent Document 1 is used. ing.

  Patent Document 2 discloses a flow control valve that adjusts an opening position of a valve body in order to adjust a liquid supply amount with high accuracy in a supply device that supplies liquid.

  The flow rate control valve includes a flow rate adjusting screw that adjusts the flow rate from the valve hole when the piston is closed. The flow rate adjusting screw is penetrated and screwed into the cover, and can be screwed along the axial direction by rotating the adjusting knob. A lock nut is interposed between the flow rate adjusting screw and the adjusting knob. The lower end of the flow rate adjusting screw is inserted into the engagement hole of the piston so as to be displaceable along the axial direction, and the large diameter portion of the lower end is hooked to the upper end of the inner wall surface of the engagement hole by the biasing force of the elastic biasing means. Yes.

When adjusting the opening position of the valve body, the main valve, piston, and rod are resisted against the biasing force of the elastic biasing means by rotating the flow rate adjusting screw by a predetermined amount in the loosening direction by the adjustment knob. The flow rate adjusting screw is locked with a lock nut after the main valve is moved away from the valve hole and adjusted to a predetermined valve opening degree by being raised together.
JP 2003-322275 A Microfilm of Japanese Utility Model Application No. 2-068710 (Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 4-027279)

  The flow regulating valve described in Patent Document 2 described above has the following problems. That is, when the flow rate adjusting screw is not locked, the flow rate adjusting screw is pulled in the downward direction by the biasing force of the elastic biasing means. When the screw is locked by the lock nut, the flow rate adjusting screw is pulled in the upward direction. In other words, the flow rate adjusting screw is raised by the backlash due to the backlash between the male screw portion of the flow rate adjusting screw and the female screw portion of the cover to which the flow rate adjusting screw is fastened. As a result, the main valve also rises with the flow rate adjusting screw, and deviates from the initially adjusted valve opening. That is, there is a problem that the valve opening must be adjusted again and again.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a flow rate control valve in which a flow rate adjusting screw is not pulled in an upward direction when the flow rate adjusting screw is locked by a lock nut.

  More specifically, the object of the present invention is to provide a flow rate by backlash between the male screw portion of the flow rate adjusting screw and the female screw portion of the cover to which the flow rate adjusting screw is fastened when the flow rate adjusting screw is locked by a lock nut. An object of the present invention is to provide a flow control valve in which the adjusting screw is not displaced and does not deviate from the initially adjusted valve opening.

The flow rate control valve of the present invention includes a flow channel block in which an inflow side flow channel into which a fluid flows in, an outflow side flow channel from which the fluid flows out, and a flow rate adjusting opening that connects these flow channels are formed, and the flow channel block A flow rate adjusting housing provided opposite to the flow rate adjusting opening and a valve body for adjusting the opening of the flow rate adjusting opening are attached to the cylinder chamber of the flow rate adjusting housing. A flow rate adjusting piston that divides the cylinder chamber into a spring chamber in which a spring member for biasing a spring force in a direction to close the valve body is incorporated and a pressure chamber to apply fluid pressure in a direction to open the valve body, A guide cylinder that is provided in the flow rate adjustment housing and has an internal female thread portion for adjustment on the inner periphery, and a male screw portion for fastening on the outer periphery that protrudes from the flow rate adjustment housing; and the flow rate adjustment pin. And an adjustment male screw portion that is screwed to the adjustment female screw portion and is formed on the outer periphery. The stopper has a stopper that restricts the position of the flow adjustment piston in the direction toward the flow adjustment opening. A lock formed with an adjusting screw member, a fastening female screw portion that is screw-coupled to the fastening male screw portion, and a fastening surface that presses a contact surface provided on the adjusting male screw portion in a direction to close the valve body A valve body side tooth surface that faces the valve body side of the adjustment male screw portion is in contact with a tooth surface of the adjustment female screw portion. In this state, the adjusting screw member is fastened by pressing the valve-side tooth surface against the tooth surface of the adjusting female thread portion by the lock nut.

  In the flow control valve of the present invention, the adjustment screw member has a hollow shaft in which the adjustment male screw portion is formed and a differential female screw portion having a pitch different from that of the adjustment male screw portion is formed on an inner peripheral surface. A differential male screw portion that is screw-coupled to the differential female screw portion, and includes the stopper, the rotation of the flow rate adjusting piston is restricted, and the flow rate adjustment is relatively movable in the axial direction. And a differential shaft coupled to the piston.

  The flow control valve of the present invention includes an opening / closing housing provided in the flow path block so as to face an opening / closing opening formed in the flow path block and communicating the inflow side flow path and the outflow side flow path. A valve body for opening and closing the opening / closing opening is mounted, and the valve body is incorporated in a cylinder chamber of the opening / closing housing to separate the valve body from the opening / closing opening and to be in contact with the opening / closing opening. Open / close piston that drives to the fully open position, fluid supply means that supplies fluid pressure to the open / close piston toward at least one of the fully closed position and the fully open position, and screw connection to the open / close housing And a fully open adjusting screw member that contacts the open / close piston and restricts the fully open position of the valve body.

  In the flow control valve of the present invention, the stopper engages with a connecting piece attached to the spring chamber side of the flow rate adjusting piston, and a contact surface of the stopper that engages with the connecting piece is a spherical surface. It is characterized by that.

  According to the present invention, the lock nut is fastened to the guide cylinder, and the lock nut is not fastened to the adjustment screw member, and the contact surface formed on the lock nut is provided on the adjustment male screw portion of the adjustment screw member. Since the contact surface thus formed is configured to press the valve body in the closing direction, the adjustment screw member is not pulled in the upward direction when the adjustment screw member is locked by the lock nut.

  At that time, the adjustment screw member is pressed by the lock nut in the direction of closing the valve body in a state where the valve body side tooth surface of the adjustment male thread portion facing the valve body side is in contact with the tooth surface of the adjustment female thread portion. As a result, it is pulled downward.

  Then, the valve body side tooth surface facing the valve body side of the adjustment male screw portion is pressed against the tooth surface of the adjustment female screw portion, and the adjustment screw member does not deviate from the backlash and deviates from the valve opening adjusted first. Nor.

  Therefore, by adjusting and locking the adjusting screw once, the valve opening degree can be adjusted with high accuracy, and the liquid supply amount can be adjusted.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a flow rate control device including a flow rate control valve according to an embodiment of the present invention. This flow control device sets an opening / closing control valve 11 for switching the opening degree of the flow path between a fully open state and a fully closed state, and sets the opening degree of the flow path to an arbitrary opening degree between the fully open state and the fully closed state. The opening / closing control valve 11 and the flow control valve 12 are attached to a flow path block 13.

  The flow path block 13 is integrally provided with a first joint portion 14 in which a first port 14a is formed and a second joint portion 15 in which a second port 15a is formed. Pipes (not shown) are attached to the joint portions 14 and 15 by union nuts 16 screwed to the joints 14 and 15. The flow path block 13 is formed with a first flow path 17 communicating with the first port 14a and a second flow path 18 communicating with the second port 15a on the same axis. A communication channel 19 is formed between 18 through a partition wall. The flow path block 13 further includes an opening / closing opening 21 that allows the communication flow path 19 and the first flow path 17 to communicate with each other, and a flow rate adjustment opening that allows the second flow path 18 and the communication flow path 19 to communicate with each other. 22 is formed.

  An inflow side pipe is connected to the first joint part 14, and an outflow side pipe is connected to the second joint part 15. Therefore, with respect to the flow control valve 12, the first flow path 17 and the communication flow path 19 are inflow side flow paths, and the second flow path 18 is an outflow side flow path. 1 flows from the first port 14a toward the second port 15a. However, the chemical solution may flow from the second port 15a side toward the first port 14a side, and in that case, the second flow path 18 becomes the inflow side flow path.

  The flow path block 13 is provided with an opening / closing housing 23 facing the opening / closing opening 21 and a flow rate adjusting housing 24 facing the flow rate adjusting opening 22. The opening / closing housing 23 has a first housing member 23a and a second housing member 23b fixed to the first housing member 23a, and the flow rate adjusting housing 24 is a first housing member 24a and a second housing fixed to the first housing member 24a. Each of which is assembled to the flow path block 13 by a screw member (not shown).

  A diaphragm type open / close valve body 25 is attached to the flow path block 13 so as to cover the opening / closing opening 21, and a diaphragm type adjustment valve body is provided in the flow path block 13 so as to cover the flow rate adjusting opening 22. 26 is attached. The on-off valve body 25 and the regulating valve body 26 are respectively annular portions 25a and 26a fixed between the flow path block 13 and the respective housings 23 and 24, and shaft portions 25b and 26b arranged inside the annular portions. And diaphragm portions 25c and 26c provided between them, and are integrally formed. The flow path block 13 and the respective valve bodies 25 and 26 are such that the liquid flowing in the flow path is a metal corrosive liquid such as a photoresist liquid, and therefore fluorine such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) having corrosion resistance. It is made of resin. However, the flow path block 13 and the valve bodies 25 and 26 may be formed of other resin or metal depending on the chemical solution.

  An opening / closing piston 28 is accommodated in the cylinder chamber 27 formed in the opening / closing housing 23 so as to be reciprocally movable in the axial direction. The opening / closing piston 28 has a shaft portion 28 a connected to the opening / closing valve body 25. The cylinder chamber 27 is partitioned into an opening pressure chamber 27a and a closing pressure chamber 27b by the opening / closing piston 28. The opening / closing housing 23 is formed with a supply / discharge port 29a communicating with the opening pressure chamber 27a and a supply / discharge port 29b communicating with the closing pressure chamber 27b. When compressed air is supplied from the supply / discharge port 29a, A thrust in the direction of opening the opening / closing opening 21 is applied to the opening / closing valve body 25 by the opening / closing piston 28, and when compressed air is supplied from the supply / discharge port 29 b, the opening / closing opening section is opened by the opening / closing piston 28. A thrust in the direction of closing 21 is applied. A compression coil spring 31 that applies thrust in the opening direction to the opening / closing valve body 25 is mounted in the opening pressure chamber 27a, and compressed air and spring force are applied to the opening / closing valve body 25 in the opening direction. However, you may make it apply the thrust of the direction opened by only a spring force or only compressed air.

  A guide cylinder 32 is attached to the opening / closing housing 23 so as to be positioned in the closing pressure chamber 27b, and the guide cylinder 32 is a fastening nut that is screwed to a male screw 32a formed at a protruding end portion of the guide cylinder 32. 33 is fixed to the opening / closing housing 23. A differential shaft 34 is incorporated in the guide cylinder 32 so as to be capable of reciprocating in the axial direction, and an engagement pin 35 attached to the tip of the differential shaft 34 in the radial direction extends in the guide cylinder 32 in the axial direction. The engagement groove 36 is formed. A hollow shaft 37 is rotatably fitted on the outside of the differential shaft 34, and a fully-open adjustment screw member 38 is formed by the differential shaft 34 and the hollow shaft 37. A male screw 37 a formed on the outer peripheral surface of the hollow shaft 37 is screwed to a female screw 32 b formed on the inner peripheral surface of the guide cylinder 32, and is an adjustment knob 39 fixed to the end of the hollow shaft 37. When the hollow shaft 37 is rotated, the hollow shaft 37 moves in the axial direction and the fully open position of the on-off valve body 25 is set.

  A male screw 34 a formed on the outer peripheral surface of the differential shaft 34 is screwed to the female screw 37 b formed on the inner peripheral surface of the hollow shaft 37, and the male screw 34 a has a smaller pitch than the male screw 37 a of the hollow shaft 37. It has become. Therefore, when the hollow shaft 37 is rotated by the adjustment knob 39, the hollow shaft 37 moves in the axial direction by the difference between both male screws 37a and 34a, and the opening degree of the opening and closing piston 28 is highly accurate. Can be set. A lock nut 40 is screwed to the male screw 37 a, and when the lock nut 40 is pressed against the end surface of the guide cylinder 32, the hollow shaft 37 is fixed to the opening / closing housing 23.

  FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a part of the flow control valve 12 shown in FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG.

  A flow rate adjusting piston 42 is accommodated in the cylinder chamber 41 formed in the flow rate adjusting housing 24 of the flow rate control valve 12 so as to be capable of reciprocating in the axial direction. The flow rate adjustment piston 42 has a shaft portion 42a connected to the adjustment valve body 26. The cylinder chamber 41 is partitioned into a pressure chamber 41a and a spring chamber 41b by the flow rate adjustment piston 42, and the spring chamber 41b has a cylinder chamber 41b. A compression coil spring 43 for applying a spring force in a closing direction to the adjustment valve body 26 via the flow rate adjustment piston 42 is incorporated as a spring member. The flow rate adjusting housing 24 includes a supply / exhaust port 44a communicating with the pressure chamber 41a and a bleed port 44b communicating with the spring chamber 41b. When compressed air is supplied from the supply / exhaust port 44a into the pressure chamber 41a. The thrust for opening the adjusting valve body 26 against the spring force is applied to the flow rate adjusting piston 42. At this time, the air in the spring chamber 41b is discharged to the outside from the bleed port 44b. On the other hand, when the air in the pressure chamber 41a is discharged, a thrust in the closing direction is applied to the adjustment valve body 26 by the spring force by the flow rate adjustment piston 42.

  A guide cylinder 45 is attached to the flow rate adjusting housing 24 so as to be positioned in the spring chamber 41b. The guide cylinder 45 is screwed to a fastening male screw portion 45a formed at a protruding end portion thereof. The fastening nut 46 is fixed to the flow rate adjusting housing 24. However, the guide cylinder 45 and the fastening nut 46 may be formed integrally with the flow rate adjusting housing 24. In FIGS. 2 and 4, the guide cylinder 45 and the fastening nut 46 are provided in the flow rate adjusting housing 24. Are integrally formed.

  A concave portion is formed on the spring chamber 41b side of the flow rate adjusting piston 42, and a cylindrical portion 47a screwed to a female screw formed on the inner peripheral surface of the concave portion and an end wall portion 47b integrated with the end portion are provided. A connecting piece 47 is fixed to the flow rate adjusting piston 42, and the connecting piece 47 constitutes a part of the flow rate adjusting piston 42.

  A differential shaft 48 is incorporated in the guide cylinder 45 so as to be capable of reciprocating in the axial direction, and the differential shaft 48 passes through a through-hole formed in the end wall portion 47b of the connecting piece 47. A stopper 49 incorporated in the cylindrical portion 47a is provided at the end of 48. Under the state where the stopper 49 is engaged with the end wall portion 47 b of the connecting piece 47, the flow rate adjusting piston 42 restricts the movement in the direction toward the flow rate adjusting opening 22. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, in the stopper 49, the contact surface 49 a that is a surface that engages with the end wall portion 47 b of the connecting piece 47 is a spherical surface. The position, that is, the position of the flow rate adjusting piston 42 is stabilized. The stopper 49 is formed with an engagement groove 52 that extends in the axial direction and engages with an engagement pin 51 fixed to the cylindrical portion 47a. That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the stopper 49 has a bifurcated shape, and a slit-like engagement groove 52 is formed between the bifurcated portions. Since the engagement pin 51 fixed to the cylindrical portion 47 a is engaged with the slit-like engagement groove 52, the stopper 49 cannot be rotated about the axis of the differential shaft 48. Yes. Then, when compressed air is supplied to the pressure chamber 41 a and the flow rate adjusting piston 42 is driven in a direction away from the flow rate adjusting opening 22, the flow rate adjusting piston 42 moves together with the engaging pin 51 with respect to the differential shaft 48. Will move in the direction. However, the position of the movement limit of the flow rate adjusting piston 42 in this direction is restricted by the connection piece 47 coming into contact with the end surface of the guide cylinder 45.

  A hollow shaft 53 is rotatably fitted on the outside of the differential shaft 48, and an adjustment screw member 54 is formed by the differential shaft 48 and the hollow shaft 53. The adjusting male threaded portion 53 a formed on the outer peripheral surface of the hollow shaft 53 is screwed to the adjusting female screw portion 45 b formed on the inner peripheral surface of the guide cylinder 45, and is fixed to the end of the hollow shaft 53. When the hollow shaft 53 is rotated by manually operating the portion of the adjustment knob 55, the hollow shaft 53 moves in the axial direction and the opening degree of the adjustment valve body 26 is set.

  A male screw portion 48a formed on the outer peripheral surface of the differential shaft 48 is screwed to the female screw portion 53b formed on the inner peripheral surface of the hollow shaft 53. The pitch of the male screw portion 48a and the adjustment of the hollow shaft 53 are The pitch of the male screw portion 53a is slightly different. For example, the pitch of the adjusting male screw portion 53a of the hollow shaft 53 is 0.5 mm, the pitch of the adjusting male screw portion 48a of the differential shaft 48 is 0.45 mm, and both are right-handed screws. Therefore, when the hollow shaft 53 is rotated once by the adjustment knob 55, the differential shaft 48 whose rotation is restricted by the engagement pin 51 moves in the axial direction by 0.05 mm which is the difference between both pitches. . In this way, the adjustment screw member 54 is a differential mechanism having the differential shaft 48 and the hollow shaft 53, so that the amount of movement of the adjustment screw member 54 in the axial direction per one rotation can be reduced. The amount of direction movement, that is, the opening degree of the adjusting valve body 26 can be set with high accuracy. However, the adjustment screw member 54 may be formed by one screw member, and in that case, the stopper 49 is provided at the end of one screw member having the adjustment male screw portion 53a.

  In order to fix the adjustment screw member 54 to the flow rate adjusting housing 24 in a fastening state, a lock nut 56 is rotatably attached to the adjustment screw member 54. The lock nut 56 has a cylindrical portion 57 and an end wall portion 58 integrated with the cylindrical portion 57, and the cylindrical portion 57 has a female screw portion for fastening which is screwed to a male screw portion 45 a for fastening of the guide cylinder 45. 56a is formed, and the inner surface of the end wall portion 58 comes into contact with a contact surface 59 formed by a step portion provided on the hollow shaft 53 and presses the adjusting valve body 26 against the hollow shaft 53 in the closing direction. 58a.

4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a part of FIG. The opening degree of the flow rate adjusting opening 22 is set by the axial position of the adjusting valve body 26. When setting the opening degree, the operator operates the adjustment knob 55 to rotate the hollow shaft 53. . At this time, since the spring force is applied to the flow rate adjustment piston 42 in the direction of closing the adjustment valve body 26, as shown in FIG. 4, the valve element side tooth surface of the male thread portion 48a of the differential shaft 48, that is, the adjustment valve The tooth surface facing the body 26 is in contact with the tooth surface opposite to the adjustment valve body 26, that is, the outer tooth surface of the female screw portion 53b of the hollow shaft 53, and the outer tooth surface of the male screw portion 48a. gap corresponding to the backlash shown exaggerated in FIG. 4 is formed between the valve body side tooth surface of the female screw portion 53 b. Similarly, the valve body side tooth surface of the adjustment male thread portion 53 a of the hollow shaft 53 is in contact with the outer tooth surface of the adjustment female thread portion 45 b of the guide cylinder 45.

  Accordingly, when the lock nut 56 is rotated and the hollow shaft 53 of the adjusting screw member 54 is fastened to the flow rate adjusting housing 24, the lock nut 56 is rotated and the fastening surface 58 a of the lock nut 56 is pressed against the contact surface 59. Then, the valve body side teeth of the adjustment male screw portion 53a are in a state where the valve body side tooth surface of the adjustment male screw portion 53a of the hollow shaft 53 is in contact with the outer tooth surface of the adjustment male screw portion 45b of the guide cylinder 45. The hollow shaft 53 is fastened by the lock nut 56 so that the surface is subsequently pressed against the outer tooth surface of the adjusting female thread 45b of the guide cylinder 45. Thus, the opening degree of the adjusting valve body 26 set by rotating the hollow shaft 53 is maintained without being affected by the backlash between the adjusting male screw portion 53a and the adjusting female screw portion 45b. The adjustment valve body 26 is fastened and fixed at the position. When the fastening and fixing are completed, the fastening female thread portion 56 a of the lock nut 56 is in close contact with the valve body side tooth surface of the fastening male thread portion 45 a of the guide cylinder 45.

  FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a part of a flow control valve as a comparative example, and FIG. 5 shows a portion corresponding to FIG. 2 showing a flow control valve 12 according to an embodiment of the present invention. . FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view showing a part of FIG. 5 and 6, members that are the same as those shown in FIG. 2 are given the same reference numerals.

As shown as a comparative example, the lock nut 60 is directly fastened to the male threaded portion 53 a of the hollow shaft 53 of the adjustment screw member 54, and the lock nut 60 is pressed against the end surface of the flow rate adjusting housing 24. When the fastening is performed, the contact state between the tooth surface of the male screw portion 53a of the hollow shaft 53 and the tooth surface of the female screw portion 60a of the lock nut 60 at the time of fastening and fixing is as shown in FIG. That is, when the adjustment knob 55 is rotated to adjust the opening of the adjustment valve body 26, the hollow shaft 53 is pressed toward the adjustment valve body 26 by the spring force of the compression coil spring 43. In this state, when the lock nut 60 is rotated to fasten the hollow shaft 53, the outer tooth surface of the female screw portion 60 a of the lock nut 60 is fastened in close contact with the valve body side tooth surface of the male screw portion 53 a of the hollow shaft 53. Since the hollow shaft 53 is fixed, the hollow shaft 53 moves in a direction away from the adjustment valve body 26 by a backlash gap between the female screw portion 60a and the male screw portion 53a. For this reason, it will deviate from the initially adjusted valve opening, and the adjustment of the valve opening must be performed again and again.

  However, in the flow control valve 12 of the present invention, the lock nut 56 is not directly screwed to the hollow shaft 53 of the adjustment screw member 54 but is fastened to the guide cylinder 45 and formed on the lock nut 56. The fastening surface 58 a is configured to press the contact surface 59 provided on the adjustment screw member 54 in a direction to close the adjustment valve body 26. Therefore, when the adjusting screw member 54 is locked by the lock nut 56, the adjusting screw member 54 does not move in a direction away from the valve body. As described above, the adjusting screw member 54 is locked to the lock nut under the state in which the valve body side tooth surface facing the valve body side of the hollow shaft 53 constituting the adjusting screw member 54 is in contact with the tooth surface of the adjusting female screw portion 45b. 56 is pressed in the direction in which the valve body is closed, so that the tooth surfaces in contact with each other are pressed in a direction in which the tooth surfaces are in close contact with each other. Therefore, the valve opening degree can be adjusted with high accuracy by adjusting and locking the adjusting screw once, and the flow rate control valve 12 of the present embodiment shown in FIGS. By adjusting the opening degree, that is, the flow rate opening amount, it is possible to adjust the passage flow rate of a fluid such as a chemical solution with high accuracy.

Next, the means for adjusting the flow rate of the liquid by the flow rate control device shown in FIG. 1 will be described. In the opening / closing valve body 25, the opening / closing opening 21 is fully opened from the valve seat. On the other hand, when the flow control device is not used, the on-off valve body 25 is fully closed by supplying compressed air into the closing pressure chamber 27b.

  In order to set the flow rate of the liquid flowing in the flow path block 13, the adjustment knob 55 is rotated while the lock nut 56 is loosened to set the opening degree of the adjustment valve body 26. Even if the lock nut 56 is fastened in this state, the adjustment valve body 26 can maintain the set opening degree as described above.

  When compressed air is supplied from the supply / exhaust port 44a to the pressure chamber 41a, the flow rate adjusting piston 42 moves to a retracted limit position where it contacts the guide cylinder 45 against the spring force of the compression coil spring 43, thereby adjusting the valve body. 26 is a backward limit position. In this state, the flow rate adjusting opening 22 is in a fully open state, and the opening is in a maximum setting.

  In this embodiment, the adjusting screw member 54 is formed by the hollow shaft 53 and the differential shaft 48, but the adjusting screw member may be an integral body of the hollow shaft 53 and the differential shaft 48.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, the illustrated chemical solution supply apparatus is used to apply a resist solution to a semiconductor wafer W as an object to be coated. However, the chemical solution is not limited to a resist solution, and the object to be coated is also limited to the wafer W. However, various objects can be targeted. Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the flow control valve 12 and the on-off control valve 11 were attached to the flow path block 13, you may comprise separately independently. Further, the pitches of the male screw portions of the hollow shaft 53 and the differential shaft 48 constituting the adjusting screw member 54 are not limited to 0.5 mm and 0.45 mm. Furthermore, the female thread portions on the outer circumferences of the hollow shaft 53 and the differential shaft 48 are both right-handed threads, but both may be left-handed threads. Alternatively, a differential type adjusting screw member may be attached to one of the flow control valve 12 and the opening / closing control valve 11, and one non-differential type adjusting screw member may be attached to the other. In the above embodiment, the fluid pressure for differentially controlling the flow rate control valve 12 and the open / close control valve 11 is the air pressure by the compressed air, but it is not limited to the air pressure.

It is sectional drawing which shows the flow control apparatus provided with the flow control valve which is one Example of this invention. It is sectional drawing which expands and shows a part of flow control valve shown by FIG. It is sectional drawing which follows the AA line of FIG. It is sectional drawing which expands and shows a part of FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows a part of flow control valve as a comparative example. It is sectional drawing which expands and shows a part of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

11 Open / Close Control Valve 12 Flow Control Valve 13 Channel Block 14 First Joint Portion 14a First Port 15 Second Joint Portion 15a Second Port 16 Union Nut 17 First Channel 18 Second Channel 19 Communication channel 21 Opening / closing opening 22 Flow adjusting opening 23 Opening / closing housing 24 Flow adjusting housing 23a, 24a First housing member 23b, 24b Second housing member 25 Opening / closing valve body 26 Adjusting valve body 25a, 26a Annular portion 25b, 26b Shaft portion 25c, 26c Diaphragm portion 27 Cylinder chamber 27a Opening pressure chamber 27b Closing pressure chamber 28 Opening / closing piston 28a Shaft portion 29a, 29b Supply / exhaust port 31 Compression coil spring 32 Guide cylinder 32a Male screw 32b Female screw 33 Fastening nut 34 Differential shaft 34a Male thread 35 Engaging pin 36 Engaging groove 37 Empty shaft 37a Male screw 37b Female screw 38 Fully opening adjustment screw member 39 Adjustment knob 40 Lock nut 41 Cylinder chamber 41a Pressure chamber 41b Spring chamber 42 Flow rate adjustment piston 42a Shaft portion 43 Coil spring 44a Supply / exhaust port 44b Bleed port 45 Guide cylinder 45a male screw part 45b fastening female thread part 46 fastening nut 47 coupling piece 47a tube part 47b end wall part 48 differential shaft 48a adjusting male thread part 49 stopper 49a contact surface 51 engaging pin 52 engaging groove 53 hollow shaft 53a adjustment Male screw portion 53b female screw portion 54 adjustment screw member 55 adjustment knob 56 lock nut 56a fastening female screw portion 57 cylindrical portion 58 end wall portion 58a fastening surface 59 contact surface 60 lock nut 60a female screw portion

Claims (4)

A flow path block formed with an inflow side flow path into which the fluid flows in, an outflow side flow path through which the fluid flows, and a flow rate adjustment opening that connects these flow paths;
A flow rate adjusting housing provided in the flow path block so as to face the flow rate adjusting opening;
A spring member is attached to adjust the opening of the flow rate adjusting opening, and is incorporated in a cylinder chamber of the flow rate adjusting housing to bias a spring force in a direction to close the valve body. A flow rate adjusting piston that divides a spring chamber into which the valve body is incorporated and a pressure chamber that applies fluid pressure in a direction to open the valve body;
A guide cylinder provided on the flow rate adjustment housing, wherein an adjustment internal thread portion is formed on an inner periphery, and a fastening external thread portion is formed on an outer periphery protruding from the flow rate adjustment housing;
The adjustment male screw portion that has a stopper that engages with the flow adjustment piston and restricts the position of the flow adjustment piston in the direction toward the flow adjustment opening, and that is screwed to the adjustment female screw portion An adjustment screw member formed on
A locking nut formed with a fastening female screw portion that is screw-coupled to the fastening male screw portion, and a fastening surface that presses a contact surface provided on the adjusting male screw portion in a direction to close the valve body;
By adjusting the opening degree of the valve body by the rotation of the adjustment screw member, the valve body side tooth surface of the adjustment male screw portion facing the valve body side is in contact with the tooth surface of the adjustment female screw portion. The flow control valve according to claim 1, wherein the valve body side tooth surface is pressed against the tooth surface of the adjustment female screw portion by the lock nut to fasten the adjustment screw member.
  2. The flow control valve according to claim 1, wherein the adjustment screw member is formed with the adjustment male screw portion, and a differential female screw portion having a pitch different from that of the adjustment male screw portion is formed on an inner peripheral surface thereof. A hollow male shaft and a differential male screw portion that is screw-coupled to the differential female screw portion, and is provided with the stopper so that rotation is restricted with respect to the flow rate adjusting piston and is relatively movable in the axial direction. And a differential shaft coupled to the flow rate adjusting piston. In the flow control valve according to claim 1 or 2,
An opening / closing housing provided in the channel block so as to face the opening / closing opening formed in the channel block and communicating the inflow side channel and the outflow side channel;
A valve body for opening and closing the opening / closing opening is attached, and a fully closed position in which the valve body is brought into contact with the opening / closing opening and separated from the opening / closing opening is incorporated in a cylinder chamber of the opening / closing housing. An opening and closing piston that drives to a position;
Fluid supply means for supplying fluid pressure toward the at least one of the fully closed position and the fully open position with respect to the open / close piston;
A flow control valve comprising: a fully open adjusting screw member that is screwed to the open / close housing and abuts on the open / close piston to restrict a fully open position of the valve body. In the flow control valve according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The stopper is engaged with a connecting piece attached to the spring chamber side of the flow rate adjusting piston, and a contact surface engaging with the connecting piece of the stopper is a spherical surface. .

Images