Slot sealing valve for vacuum coating apparatus
AssigneeAirco, Inc.
InventorMitchell E. Timin
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An elongated gate-type valve is pivotally mounted within vacuum coating apparatus of the multiple-chamber, in-line type, and is operated to vacuum seal an access slot interconnecting vacuum chambers. An actuator for opening and closing the slot valve is connected through transversely spaced thrust links, the actuator ends of which have guide wheels, respectively, that are movable within restraining guide channels for confining the actuator ends to linear, vertical movement. An increasingly large closing and sealing force is applied to the valve, especially during final closure thereof, due to an increasing mechanical advantage of the actuator and thrust link arrangement for valve closing.
Claims8
In equipment for vacuum coating substrates including a vacuum chamber having an access opening in a wall thereof through which a substrate can be moved, an apparatus comprising:
- a sealing valve for said opening pivotally mounted to open for substrate clearance and to close for making a vacuum-tight seal, means for actuating the valve, guide roller means pivotally mounted on the valve actuating means, fixed guide means for guiding the roller means for reciprocal movement along a linear path, and a thrust member mounted co-pivotally with the roller means for interconnecting the actuating means and the valve defining a line-of-thrust therebetween, the acute angle between the line-of-thrust and the line of motion of the actuating means increasing toward 90.degree. as the valve approaches its closed position, whereby the ratio of linear travel of the actuating end of the thrust member to the arcuate travel of the valve-connected end thereof increases materially during the final closing and valve-sealing movement of the thrust member.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.