Slit valve assembly having a spacer for maintaining a gap

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016377183-A1
Application number	US-201615257329-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 6, 2016
Priority date	Dec 7, 2012
Publication date	Dec 29, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A spacer for maintaining a gap between a slit valve door and a sealing surface of a slit valve body, such as a metallic insert is described. The spacer can extend the life of a seal by limiting the line of sight exposure of the seal to corrosive gases within a wafer processing chamber, for example, and by controlling the compression percentage of the seal. The spacer may be located on an outer ambient side of the slit valve away from any corrosive gasses that may exist in the chamber. The spacer may be attached to the slit valve door partially in a depression therein, and may be integral with the seal. Further, the present invention provides improvements to a standard slit valve assembly that enhance the effectiveness of the slit valve and the spacer. These improvements include a barrier material to protect the seal, a labyrinth to reduce particle energy, a skew-plane slit valve door, and a recess with sidewalls to continue the geometry of the process chamber in order to move the collision plane away from the seal plane.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A slit valve assembly comprising:
a slit valve body having a slit valve opening and a facing surface surrounding the slit valve opening; a slit valve door for use in a slit valve assembly moveable between open and closed positions to respectively permit and block flow through the slit valve opening, the slit valve door having a facing surface for sealing against the facing surface of the slit valve body; an actuation device that effectuates movement of the slit valve door; an annular seal disposed in a first groove in one of the facing surfaces and interposed therebetween to effectuate the sealing; and a spacer interposed between the facing surfaces for maintaining a minimum gap between the facing surfaces when the door is in a closed position; wherein the spacer is formed integral with the annular seal, extending radially outward therefrom and disposed at least partially in a second groove in the same one of the facing surfaces.

2 . The slit valve assembly of claim 1 , wherein the facing surfaces are multi-plane facing surfaces wherein the multi-plane facing surfaces are substantially perpendicular to the flow through the slit valve opening, and the actuation device effectuates movement of the slit valve door along an axis of movement substantially perpendicular to the flow through the slit valve opening.

Assignees

• Parker Hannifin Corp

Inventors

• Coppola Stephen
• Kamibayashiyama Julian

Classifications

• F16K3/0281

  Guillotine or blade-type valves, e.g. no passage through the valve member · CPC title

• F16K3/0236 Primary

  the packing being of a non-resilient material, e.g. ceramic, metal · CPC title

• F16K51/02 Primary

  specially adapted for high-vacuum installations · CPC title

• F16K3/16

  with special arrangements for separating the sealing faces or for pressing them together (F16K3/10, F16K3/14 take precedence) · CPC title

• F16K3/0227

  Packings · CPC title