APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR VACUUM COATING SURFACES OF OBJECTS

Abstract

An apparatus for coating surfaces of objects by a gas deposition method under vacuum conditions in process chambers, including at least one treatment chamber for receiving the objects to be coated and at least one additional process chamber, connected to the at least one treatment chamber, for conducting gases to be deposited and/or discharging portions of non-deposited partial gas quantities. A measuring unit for detecting the coating thickness on a surface or sections of the surface of the process chambers is arranged in at least one additional process chamber. The measuring unit is connectable to a control and evaluation unit. The measuring unit detects ACTUAL data of the coating thickness on a surface of the at least one additional process chamber as measured value and these ACTUAL data are forwarded to an evaluation device, in which these ACTUAL data are compared with NOMINAL data.

Claims

1. An apparatus for coating surfaces of objects by means of a gas deposition method tinder a vacuum provided by a vacuum system, said apparatus having process chambers (12), including at least one treatment chamber for receiving the objects to be coated and at least one additional process chamber (12), connected to the at least one treatment chamber, for conducting gases to be deposited and/or discharging portions of non-deposited partial gas quantities, wherein a measuring unit (14) for detecting the coating thickness on a surface or on sections of the surface of the process chambers (12) is arranged in at least one additional process chamber (12), wherein the measuring unit (14) is connectable to a control and evaluation unit.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the measuring unit (14) comprises a coating thickness detection element (15), which has a sensor section, and the sensor section comprises a strain measuring strip and/or resistance measuring strip and/or capacitive sensor measuring strip and/or magnetic induction measuring strip.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the measuring unit (14) comprises a carrier and seal section and a sensor section, wherein the sensor section can be non-destructively connected to and releasably combined with the carrier and seal section.

4. The apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the sensor section has a measuring tongue and an interface section, via which the connection to the carrier and seal section can be established.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the measuring unit (14) has a transponder, with which data and/or signals can be transmitted from the control and evaluation unit wirelessly to a receiving station.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the measuring unit (14) is arranged in an area of the at least one additional process chamber (12) which is accessible without having to open the entire vacuum system.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the measuring unit (14) is arranged in a bypass, in a separable chamber or line section, in a vacuum line (7) of the vacuum system, in a supply line to the treatment chamber or in a discharge line from the treatment chamber.

8. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the measuring unit (14) protrudes into a pipeline of the vacuum system.

9. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the measuring unit (14) comprises a carrier (23) for the coating thickness detection element (15) which is attached to a vacuum feedthrough (24), wherein the vacuum feedthrough (24) can be connected to a flange pipe (25) which opens into a hole (13) in the wall of the at least one additional process chamber (12), and wherein the coating thickness detection element (15) can be arranged in the area of the hole (13).

10. A method for monitoring surfaces in line paths of an apparatus for coating surfaces of objects according to claim 1, in which the measuring unit detects ACTUAL data of the coating thickness on a surface of the at least one additional process chamber as measured value and these ACTUAL data are forwarded to an evaluation device, in which these ACTUAL data are compared with NOMINAL data.

11. The method according to claim 10, in which the comparison of the ACTUAL data with the NOMINAL data is effected continuously or sequentially.

12. The method according to claim 10, in which in the case of predetermined configurations a signal with which a message, in particular a fault report or a warning message, is generated is produced when the ACTUAL data and the NOMINAL data are compared.

13. The method according to one of claim 10, wherein maintenance and/or shutdown times are predicted depending on the gradient of the measured value over time.

14. The method according to one of claim 10, wherein measurements are taken at several locations and messages about the need for maintenance and/or cleaning are notified by section and/or a shutdown is predicted.

15. The method according to one of claim 10, wherein the measuring unit, in particular the sensor section, is removed and is evaluated outside the apparatus for coating surfaces of objects.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0037] Further details and advantages of the invention will now be explained in more detail with reference to an embodiment represented in the drawings.

[0038] There are shown in:

[0039] FIG. 1—a double coating chamber for containers as well as the supplying and discharging vacuum and gas lines,

[0040] FIG. 2—a sectional view of a pipeline section of the coating apparatus according to the invention, in which a measuring unit is arranged, and

[0041] FIG. 3—a top view of an embodiment of the measuring unit in the pipeline section of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0042] The coating apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 shows a double coating chamber 6 for containers 2 as well as supplying and discharging vacuum and gas lines 7.1 to 7.6. A pipeline section 10, in which a measuring unit 14 is arranged, is shown in front of a vacuum pump 5 in the discharging line 7.1.

[0043] This pipeline section 10 from FIG. 1 is shown again in more detail in FIG. 2. The pipeline section 10 of the apparatus for coating surfaces of objects by means of a gas deposition method under a vacuum provided by a vacuum system has an additional process chamber 12 in the form of a pipeline with measurement connections for receiving a measuring unit 14. A flap valve or flapper 9 (represented to the left of the additional process chamber 12) is connected to this additional process chamber 12. The vacuum pump 5 is attached on the other side (to the right of the additional process chamber 12—not shown here).

[0044] Attached to a wall of the additional process chamber 12 is a measuring unit 14, which is shown in greater detail in FIG. 3, communicating with the interior thereof via a hole 13. This measuring unit 14 is preferably a gravimetric measuring unit. The measuring unit 14 is used for the (preferably gravimetric) detection of the coating thickness on the surface of the process chamber 12 in the area of the hole 13. In a manner not shown in FIG. 2, the measuring unit 14 is connected to a control and evaluation unit for determining the need to clean the surfaces of the process chambers or parts thereof by removing undesired coating.

[0045] As can be seen from FIG. 3, the measuring unit 14 comprises a strip-shaped coating thickness detection element 15 in the form of a strain measuring strip which has two sensor panels 16 and 17, the output signals of which are connected to the control and evaluation unit via in each case two measuring line pairs 18 and 19. The strain measuring strip 15 is attached to a flat sheet element 20, which is mounted over a base plate 21 made of insulating material, which is fixed on an axially cut-open pipe end part 22 of a tubular carrier 23. The two measuring line pairs 16 and 17 pass through the tubular carrier 23 and are guided out of it via a vacuum feedthrough 24.

[0046] As can be seen from FIG. 2, the measuring unit 14 is coupled to the additional process chamber 12 via a flange pipe 25 connected in a vacuum-tight manner to the wall of the additional process chamber 12 in such a way that its detection element 15 comes to rest in the area of the hole 13, but set back from the wall of the additional process chamber 12, in order to determine the thickness of an undesired coating on the surface of the additional process chamber 12 at this location.

[0047] Through the measurement of the coating thickness, the state of the vacuum components can be monitored constantly or continuously (dynamically) during the running maintenance interval. The remaining lifetime (until maintenance) can thus be constantly matched with the planned lifetime and, where appropriate, currently unnecessary maintenance activities are even identified and skipped over or delayed.

[0048] The efficiency of the systems is increased by the present invention, as it can thereby be predicted when the state of maximum tolerable stress will be reached, and thus unplanned outages are avoided.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

[0049] 1 coating apparatus [0050] 2 bottle, hollow body [0051] 5 vacuum pump [0052] 6 double coating chamber for containers [0053] 7 supplying and discharging vacuum and gas lines [0054] 9 flap valve or flapper (butterfly valve) [0055] pipeline section [0056] 12 additional process chamber (e.g. pipe section with measurement connections) [0057] 13 hole [0058] 14 measuring unit coating thickness detection element [0059] 16 sensor panel [0060] 17 sensor panel [0061] 18 measuring line pair [0062] 19 measuring line pair [0063] 20 sheet element [0064] 21 base plate [0065] 22 pipe end part [0066] 23 carrier [0067] 24 vacuum feedthrough [0068] 25 flange pipe