Vacuum Coating Device

Abstract

The present invention discloses a vacuum coating device, comprising: a crucible, an induction heater provided on the periphery of the crucible, a flow distribution box connected to the top of said crucible via a steam pipe, wherein said steam pipe is provided with a pressure regulating valve, said flow distribution box is provided inside with a horizontal pressure stabilizing plate, said flow distribution box is connected on the top with a nozzle, and a deflector being arranged above said nozzle along the emitting direction of the steam. Wherein a distance Da from nozzle outlet to steel plate is 10˜200 mm, a height Db of said deflector is 10˜199 mm; a distance Dc from top of said deflector to steel plate is 1˜190 mm; an angle Dd between said deflector and said nozzle outlet is 60°˜135°. The vacuum coating device in the present invention can improve the yield of the coating, and also can form a uniform coating with consistent thickness.

Claims

1. A vacuum coating device, comprising: a crucible, an induction heater provided on the periphery of the crucible, a flow distribution box connected to the top of said crucible via a steam pipe, wherein said steam pipe is provided with a pressure regulating valve, said flow distribution box is provided inside with a horizontal pressure stabilizing plate, said flow distribution box is connected on the top with a nozzle, a deflector being arranged above said nozzle along the emitting direction of the steam, and wherein a distance Da from nozzle outlet to steel plate is 10˜200 mm, a height Db of said deflector is 10˜199 mm; a distance Dc from top of said deflector to steel plate is 1˜190 mm; an angle Dd between said deflector and said nozzle outlet is 60°˜135°.

2. The vacuum coating device of claim 1, wherein said pressure stabilizing plate is of multi-hole structure, the holes being rectangular, circle or triangular in shape, and running in linear or curvilinear direction or having a multilayer structure.

3. The vacuum coating device of claim 1, wherein said nozzle outlet is of a slit shape or multi-hole.

4. The vacuum coating device of claim 3, wherein said nozzle outlet is of a linear slit or a curvilinear slit.

5. The vacuum coating device of claim 3, wherein the multi-hole nozzle outlet is rectangular, round or trapezoidal in shape.

6. The vacuum coating device of claim 3, wherein said nozzle is made of graphite, ceramic or metal.

7. The vacuum coating device of claim 1, wherein Da, Db, Dc, and Dd satisfy the following relationships:
Da=Db+Dc; when Da=100˜200 mm and Db=(⅕˜½)Da, Dd=60°˜90°; when Da=100˜200 mm and Db=(½˜⅔)Da, Dd=70°˜110°; when Da=100˜200 mm and Db=(⅔˜⅘)Da, Dd=80°˜135°; when Da=10˜100 mm and Db=(⅕˜½)Da, Dd=60°˜100°; when Da=10˜100 mm and Db=(½˜⅔)Da, Dd=70°˜120°; when Da=10˜100 mm and Db=(⅔˜⅘)Da, Dd=80°˜135°.

8. The vacuum coating device of claim 1, further comprising a vacuum chamber, said flow distribution box and said steel plate being placed in said vacuum chamber.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0031] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of application BE1009321A6;

[0032] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of application BE1009317A61;

[0033] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of application JPS59177370A;

[0034] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of application U.S. Pat. No. 4,552,092A;

[0035] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of application WO2018/020311A1;

[0036] FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of application CN103249860A;

[0037] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of application CN101175866A;

[0038] FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of the square shell in FIG. 7;

[0039] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the vacuum coating device of the present invention;

[0040] FIG. 10 is a side view of the vacuum coating device of FIG. 9; and

[0041] FIG. 11 is an enlarged view of the flow distribution box, the deflector and the steel plate in the vacuum coating device of FIG. 9.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0042] The technical solutions of the present invention are further described below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

[0043] Referring to FIG. 9 and FIG. 10, the present invention provides a vacuum coating device. Said vacuum coating device is located underneath the steel plate 100 when in use. The vacuum coating device comprises a crucible 13, and the crucible 13 contains the molten metal 14. An induction heater 15 is arranged on the periphery of the crucible 13, the molten metal 14 and metal steam 22 can be obtained after the metal materials in crucible 13 are heated by the induction heater 15. The power of the induction heater 15 is adjustable, thus the pressure of the metal steam 22 in crucible 13 can be controlled. A flow distribution box 17 is connected to the top of said crucible 13 via a steam pipe 16, wherein said flow distribution box 17 and said steel plate 100 are placed in the vacuum chamber 23. A pressure regulating valve 18 is arranged in said steam pipe 16, the exchange between the steam in crucible 13 and the steam in the flow distribution box 17 and the vacuum chamber 23 can be blocked by the pressure regulating valve 18. A horizontal pressure stabilizing plate 19 is arranged in said flow distribution box 17, and a nozzle 20 is connected to the top of said flow distribution box 17. In addition, a deflector 21 is arranged at the top of said nozzle 20 along the direction of steam emission to increase the yield. When said pressure regulating valve 18 on said steam pipe 16 is open, said metal steam 22 reaches said steel plate 100 through said pressure stabilizing plate 19 and said nozzle 20, and then a coating is formed.

[0044] Preferably, said deflector 21 serves to make the steam through said nozzle outlet as vertical as possible towards said steel plate 100, avoiding flow deflection and thus increasing the yield of coating on the steel plate 100.

[0045] Wherein, the distance D.sub.a from the outlet of said nozzle 20 to said steel plate 100 is 10˜200 mm; the height D.sub.b of said deflector 21 is 10˜199 mm; the distance D.sub.c from the top of said deflector 21 to said steel plate 100 is 1˜190 mm; the angle D.sub.d between said deflector 21 and the outlet of said nozzle 20 is 60°˜135°.

[0046] Further, D.sub.a, D.sub.b, D.sub.c, and D.sub.d satisfy the following relationships:

D.sub.a=D.sub.b+D.sub.c;

when D.sub.a=100˜200 mm and D.sub.b=(⅕˜½)D.sub.a, D.sub.d=60°˜90°;
when D.sub.a=100˜200 mm and D.sub.b=(½˜⅔)D.sub.a, D.sub.d=70°˜110°;
when D.sub.a=100˜200 mm and D.sub.b=(⅔˜⅘)D.sub.a, D.sub.d=80°˜135°;
when D.sub.a10˜100 mm and D.sub.b=(⅕˜½)D.sub.a, D.sub.d=60°˜100°;
when D.sub.a=10˜100 mm and D.sub.b=(½˜⅔)D.sub.a, D.sub.d=70°˜120°;
when D.sub.a=10˜100 mm and D.sub.b=(⅔˜⅘)D.sub.a, D.sub.d=80°˜135°.

[0047] Preferably, said nozzle 20 operates with an internal pressure of 500˜500,000 Pa.

[0048] Preferably, the nozzle 20 is made of graphite, ceramic or inert metals, as well as other materials that are resistant to high temperature, wear and can be processed.

[0049] Preferably, said nozzle outlet is of a slit shape or multi-hole. Wherein, the slit shape nozzle outlet is linear of curvilinear, and the multi-hole outlet is rectangular, round or trapezoidal in shape.

[0050] Preferably, said pressure stabilizing plate 19 has a multi-hole structure, the holes in said pressure stabilizing plate are rectangular, circle or triangular in shape. Or, the hole shape can be arbitrary polygonal or circle, the present application does not specifically limit the shape of the holes. And those holes run in linear or curvilinear direction or have a multilayer structure.

[0051] Preferably, said molten metal 14 contains metals such as zinc, magnesium, aluminum, tin, nickel, copper, iron, etc., in addition to low melting point (below 2000° C.) oxides of these metals.

[0052] Preferably, the steel plate 100 is cleaned by plasma or other devices before vacuum coating, and the preheating temperature reaches 80˜300° C.

[0053] The specific steps for using the vacuum coating device of the present invention are as follows.

[0054] 1) Solid metal is melted into molten metal 14 in the crucible 13 by the induction heater 15, and then the molten metal 14 begins to vaporize at a high overheat temperature and low pressure, gradually forming the metal steam 22.

[0055] 2) In the beginning phase, the pressure regulating valve 18 arranged in the steam pipe 16 connected to the crucible 13 is closed.

[0056] 3) As the molten metal 14 continuously vaporizes the steam pressure in the inner chamber of the crucible 13 increases. When the pressure of the inner cavity of the crucible 13 reaches a certain value, for example, 5,000˜500,000 Pa, the pressure regulating valve 18 is opened to allow the steam to flow out at a constant pressure.

[0057] 4) Increasing the power of induction heater 15 so as to compensate for the reduced pressure due to the opening of the pressure regulating valve 18, and adjusting the power of induction heater 15 to make sure that the pressure of the inner cavity of the crucible 13 is maintained in a certain range.

[0058] 5) After the pressure regulating valve 18 opens, the metal steam 22 flows along the steam pipe 16. When the metal steam 22 enters into the flow distribution box 17, the pressure of the high-velocity stream formed by the metal steam is reduced due to the restriction of the pressure stabilizing plate 19. And the distribution of holes in the pressure stabilizing plate distributes the high-velocity stream, so that the metal steam flows uniformly along the holes in the pressure stabilizing plate 19 and subsequently flows uniformly from the nozzle 20 at the top of the flow distribution box 17.

[0059] 6) Due to the arrangement of the deflector 21 at the top of the nozzle 20, the deflected flow after the steam is emitted from the nozzle 20 is reduced during the coating process, so that the metal steam 22 can flow out from both sides of the steel plate 100 after passing through the steel plate 100, thus improving the yield of the coating.

[0060] 7) Due to the narrow outlet of the nozzle, the metal steam 22 flows out at a large speed. At this time, a moving steel plate 100 is arranged above the nozzle outlet, the temperature of the metal steam 22 is high, when the metal steam reaches the low-temperature steel plate 100, it solidifies rapidly, forming a metal coating 24.

Embodiment

[0061] The steel plate 100 is galvanized, and the width of the steel plate 100 is 1,000 mm. After cleaning and drying, the steel plate 100 is heated to 120° C. Zinc on steel plate surface is vaporized by the induction heater 15, and then adjust the power of the induction heater to raise the pressure in the crucible 13 to 20,000 Pa, at which point the pressure regulating valve 18 is closed. When the pressure in the crucible 13 reaches 20,000 Pa, the pressure regulating valve 18 is opened, and then the metal steam 22 enters into the flow distribution box 17 through the steam pipe 16. The pressure stabilizing plate in the flow distribution box 17 has a multi-hole structure or adopts a pressure stabilizing plate made of multi-hole media. The working pressure in the flow distribution box 17 is 5,000 Pa. The nozzle 20 is made of graphite, and the nozzle outlet is of a linear slit.

[0062] The deflector 21 is rectangular, and the relevant parameters are as follows:

D.SUB.a.=120 mm;

D.SUB.b.=70 mm;

D.SUB.c.=50 mm;

D.SUB.d.=90°.

[0063] The yield of coating reaches 95%.

[0064] Those of ordinary skill in the art should realize that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the present invention, but not used to limit the present invention. Changes and modifications made to the above embodiments without departing from the essential spirit scope of the present invention shall all fall within the scope of the claims of the present invention.