JP7670771B2 - Vacuum Sealing Valve - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a vacuum sealing valve that opens and closes an opening in a partition wall that separates a vacuum chamber.

Devices that have a vacuum chamber, such as electron microscopes, are provided with a partition wall to separate the inside of the vacuum chamber and a vacuum sealing valve to seal the opening in the partition wall.

For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a gate valve (vacuum sealing valve) that includes a valve body for airtightly sealing an opening, a base body that holds the valve body via a link mechanism, and a shaft member that is connected to one end of the base body and moves the base body. When the shaft moves, the insertion portion of the base body engages with the receiving hole of the fixing means, and the valve body airtightly seals the opening body.

JP 2006-200709 A

However, in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, when the insertion portion engages with the receiving hole, metals slide against each other, generating particles. In particular, since the engagement method in Patent Document 1 is screwing, the male and female screws slide against each other, and friction easily generates a large number of particles. If the particles fall near the opening, they will hinder the airtight sealing of the opening.
The present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and provides a vacuum seal valve that suppresses the generation of particles.

To solve the above problem, the device is provided with a valve body that seals/unseals an opening formed in a wall body, a shaft member that can move back and forth approximately parallel to the wall body, a link mechanism that displaceably connects the valve body and the shaft member to each other, and a roller that abuts against the shaft member or the valve body and moves the valve body toward the opening, the roller being a cylindrical rotating body having a shaft portion with a reduced diameter at both ends, the shaft portion being journaled in a shaft hole so as to be rotatable, and an elastic member that is biased to push back the shaft portion is disposed in the shaft hole.

In one embodiment, the end surface of the shaft portion of the roller is a curved surface that protrudes outward, the elastic member is a leaf spring, the shaft hole is configured as a through hole, and is positioned to close the outer opening of the through hole.

In one embodiment, the roller is provided with a guide groove that guides the movement of the shaft member or the valve body that it contacts.

In one embodiment, the opening is formed in a step portion provided in the wall body, the shaft hole is provided, and a support member that supports the roller is attached to the wall body at a distance from the step portion.

In one embodiment, the roller is a lower roller that is disposed in front of the valve body and abuts against the front surface of the valve body as the shaft member moves back and forth, converting the back and forth movement of the shaft member into movement of the valve body toward the opening via the link mechanism, and/or an upper roller that is disposed in a position facing the opening across the shaft member and abuts against the shaft member when the valve body is sealed, suppressing deformation of the shaft member.

The above configuration provides a vacuum sealing valve that suppresses particle generation.

1 is a schematic diagram of an electron microscope equipped with a vacuum sealing valve according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. FIG. 2 is a side view of the vacuum seal valve (some components are not shown for the purpose of illustration). FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the vacuum seal valve. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the opening and closing mechanism, showing the open state. 6A and 6B are explanatory diagrams showing the opening and closing process of the opening and closing mechanism, in which Fig. 6A shows the open state (unsealed state) and Fig. 6D shows the closed state (sealed state). FIG. FIG. 9 is an end view of the opening/closing mechanism taken along line IX-IX shown in FIG. 8 . 9 is an end view of a conventional opening and closing mechanism.

(Electron microscope 100)
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an electron microscope 100 including a vacuum seal valve 1 according to an embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, the electron microscope 100 includes an electron gun 101, an electron beam control mechanism 102 including a lens mechanism for converging the electron beam EB emitted from the electron gun 101 onto a predetermined portion of the sample W and a scanning mechanism for scanning the electron beam EB, and a lens barrel 103 that houses the electron gun 101 and the electron beam control mechanism 102.

The electron microscope 100 is a scanning electron microscope (SEM) that detects secondary electrons and the like generated by irradiating a sample W with an electron beam EB emitted from an electron gun 101, and displays a sample image based on this detection signal in synchronization with two-dimensional scanning of the electron beam EB on the sample W. The configuration of the present disclosure is not limited to application to the electron microscope 100, but is also suitable for a transmission electron microscope (TEM) that irradiates the sample W with an electron beam EB and magnifies and observes the electrons that have passed through it, an electric wire drawing device, an electron beam exposure device, and the like. Also, an ion gun may be used instead of the electron gun 101 to irradiate an ion beam.

The column 103 has therein an electron gun chamber 104 that houses the electron gun 101, a control mechanism chamber 105 that houses the electron beam control mechanism 102, and a partition wall 106 that separates them. The partition wall 106 has an opening 107 that connects the electron gun chamber 104 and the control mechanism chamber 105. Due to the characteristics of the electron microscope 100, the electron gun chamber 104 is evacuated to a vacuum (ultra-high vacuum of 10 ^-5 Pa or less, or extremely high vacuum of 10 ^-8 Pa or less) by a vacuum exhaust mechanism 108A. Similarly, the control mechanism chamber 105 is evacuated to a vacuum by a vacuum exhaust mechanism 108B.

The electron microscope 100 is equipped with a vacuum seal valve 1 as a mechanism for sealing/unsealing (hereinafter referred to as opening and closing) the opening 107. The vacuum seal valve 1 is supported by passing through a through hole 109 provided in the side wall 103a of the microscope tube 103, which is approximately perpendicular to the partition wall 106. Since it takes time to evacuate the electron microscope 100, when repairing the electron gun 101 or replacing the sample W, the vacuum seal valve 1 is used to maintain the electron gun chamber 104 or the control mechanism chamber 105 at a vacuum. In addition, when transporting the electron microscope 100, the opening 107 is sealed with the vacuum seal valve 1.

(Vacuum sealing valve 1)
The vacuum seal valve 1 will be described in detail with reference to Figures 2 to 4. Figure 2 is a perspective view of the vacuum seal valve 1. Figure 3 is a side view of the vacuum seal valve 1. Figure 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the vacuum seal valve 1. In Figure 3, some components are omitted for ease of explanation.

As shown in Figures 2 to 4, the vacuum sealing valve 1 is provided with an opening/closing mechanism 2 at the tip that opens and closes the opening 107. The opening/closing mechanism 2 is composed of a moving side mechanism 7 and a fixed side mechanism 8 that is fixed to the partition wall 106. The moving side mechanism 7 of the opening/closing mechanism 2 is connected to a bellows 4 via a connection mechanism 3, and the bellows 4 is connected to an actuator 6 via a fixed part 5.

The actuator 6 is the driving source of the vacuum sealing valve 1. When the actuator 6 moves back and forth approximately parallel to the partition wall 106, this movement is transmitted to the opening and closing mechanism 2, which converts the back and forth movement of the actuator 6 into a motion for opening and closing the opening 107, thereby opening and closing the opening 107.

In this embodiment, a double-acting air cylinder is used for the actuator 6. A retractable single-acting air cylinder may be used, and when the electron gun 101 is not in use, the cylinder is maintained in a forward position by the bias of a compression spring or the like to keep the opening/closing mechanism 2 in a closed position, and only when the electron gun 101 is in use, the cylinder is moved backwards by air pressure to open the opening/closing mechanism 2. The bias of the compression spring makes it easy to maintain the opening/closing mechanism 2 in a closed position. The actuator 6 is not limited to this, and any known driving mechanism may be used.

As shown in FIG. 4, the bellows 4 is arranged to cover the periphery of the transmission shaft 41 arranged inside. The transmission shaft 41 is connected to the actuator 6 via a connection shaft 42. An end of the bellows 4 is fixed to the surface of the fixed part 5, and the internal space of the bellows 4 communicates with the internal space 51 provided in the fixed part 5. In this communicated internal space, the transmission shaft 41 moves forward and backward integrally with the actuator 6. By using the bellows 4, the transmission shaft 41 can be moved forward and backward by obtaining power from the actuator 6 located outside the electron gun chamber 104 (atmospheric side) while maintaining the vacuum atmosphere of the electron gun chamber 104.

The transmission shaft 41 is connected to the main shaft 71 that constitutes the moving mechanism 7 of the opening/closing mechanism 2 via the connection mechanism 3, and the forward and backward movement of the actuator 6 is transmitted to the opening/closing mechanism 2 as they move together.

(Opening and closing mechanism 2)
The opening/closing mechanism 2 will be described in detail with reference to Figures 5 and 6. Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of the opening/closing mechanism 2 in an open state.

As described above, the opening/closing mechanism 2 is composed of a fixed side mechanism 8 that is fixed to the partition wall 106, and a movable side mechanism 7 that moves in accordance with the forward and backward movement of the actuator 6.

The fixed side mechanism 8 includes a support member 81, a first upper roller 82, a second upper roller 83, and a lower roller 84. The movable side mechanism 7 includes a main shaft 71, an auxiliary member 72, a spring 73, two pairs of links 74, 74, a valve body 75, an O-ring 76, and a bolt 77.

The support members 81 are a pair of L-shaped brackets that face each other in a position that does not impede the movement of the electron beam EB or the moving mechanism 7, are fixed to the partition wall 106 on a horizontal plane, and rotatably support the first upper roller 82, the second upper roller 83, and the lower roller 84 on a vertical plane (see FIG. 2). For the sake of explanation, one of the support members 81 located on the front side of the paper is omitted in FIG. 3 and FIG. 6.

The first upper roller 82 and the second upper roller 83 are rotating bodies for preventing deformation of the main shaft 71, that is, for preventing the main shaft 71 from bending upward due to the reaction force generated by pressing the valve body 75 against the opening 107. They are arranged in parallel to the forward and backward movement direction of the main shaft 71, and their rotation axes are perpendicular to the forward and backward movement direction of the main shaft 71. Since they do not function as a conveyor to guide the forward and backward movement of the main shaft 71, it is preferable that they approach the main shaft 71 in the open state but do not come into contact with it.

The first upper roller 82 and the second upper roller 83 are arranged above the main shaft 71 in a position facing the opening 107 below with the main shaft 71 in between in the up-down direction. In addition, with respect to the forward and backward direction (front-to-back direction) of the main shaft 71, the second upper roller 83 is arranged at the tip side of the main shaft 71 and the first upper roller 82 is arranged at the base end side of the main shaft 71 with the opening 107 as the reference. By arranging the first upper roller 82 and the second upper roller 83 to sandwich the opening 107, deformation of the main shaft 71 can be stably and firmly suppressed.

The valve body 75 has a roughly rectangular parallelepiped shape and is linked and connected to the main shaft 71 by two pairs of links 74, 74. It moves up and down in accordance with the forward and backward movement of the main shaft 71, thereby directly opening and closing the opening 107. The two pairs of links 74, 74 are what is called a dual link mechanism, and face each other on both sides of the valve body 75, linking and connecting the valve body 75 to the main shaft 71. The two pairs of links 74, 74 of the same configuration are connected to the valve body 75 in a horizontal state, with their axes horizontal and parallel to each other, and furthermore, the pair of links 74 are arranged parallel to each other. Therefore, the valve body 75 is held by the two pairs of links 74, 74, and is supported so as to be rotatable up and down around the rotation axis of the links 74 while remaining in a horizontal state.

The spring 73 is an elastic body that biases the valve body 75 in a direction that maintains the valve body 75 in an open state. The forward bias of the spring 73 is converted to an upward bias by the links 74, 74, and in the open state, the valve body 75 is held apart from the partition wall 106.

The lower roller 84 is disposed in front of the valve body 75, facing the second upper roller 83 across the main shaft 71. When the main shaft 71 moves back and forth, the lower roller 84 comes into contact with the front surface of the valve body 75, moving the valve body 75 in the up and down direction.

The auxiliary member 72 is an auxiliary member for holding the spring 73, and is formed with a deep recess 72a for holding the spring 73. The auxiliary member 72 is disposed on the back surface of the valve body 75 and is fixed to the bottom surface of the main shaft 71 by bolts 77 so that the spring 73 can efficiently bias the valve body 75. It is also possible to have a configuration in which the spring 73 is held directly by the main shaft 71 without using the auxiliary member 72.

The O-ring 76 is a sealing member for airtightly sealing the opening 107. A dovetail groove 75a is provided in an annular shape on the underside of the valve body 75, and the O-ring 76 fits into this groove, thereby attaching it to the underside of the valve body 75.

The valve body 75 is connected to the link 74 at a thin-walled portion 75b with its side cut away so that there is no step between the valve body 75 and the link 74 and the link 74 is connected smoothly. This reduces the width of the moving mechanism 7.

The valve body 75 and the main shaft 71 are provided with beam insertion holes 75c and 71c, respectively, as through holes for passing the electron beam EB. When the opening/closing mechanism 2 is assembled, the beam insertion holes 75c and 71c are configured to communicate with each other. When the opening/closing mechanism 2 is in the open state, the positioning is adjusted so that the opening 107 and the beam insertion holes 75c and 71c are aligned in a straight line in the vertical direction. This ensures a path for the electron beam EB.

Of course, the valve body 75 and the main shaft 71 are made of non-magnetic material so as not to adversely affect the electron beam EB. By providing holes in the valve body 75 and the main shaft 71 that serve as a path for the electron beam EB, the valve body 75 can be positioned above the opening 107 even in the open state, reducing the amount of forward and backward movement of the main shaft 71 required to open and close the opening 107, minimizing the generation of particles due to metal sliding.

(Valve disc movement)
The shape and movement of the valve body 75 will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 6 shows the process in which the opening 107 is opened and closed by the opening/closing mechanism 2 as the valve body 75 moves with the forward movement of the main shaft 71. The black arrow in FIG. 6 indicates the direction of movement of the main shaft 71, and the white arrow indicates the direction of movement of the valve body 75. FIG. 6(A) shows the open state of the opening/closing mechanism 2. FIG. 6(D) shows the closed state of the opening/closing mechanism 2. FIG. 6(B) and FIG. 6(C) show the intermediate states of opening and closing. In FIG. 6, the fixing members on the front side of the page are not shown for the sake of explanation, and all the rollers are shown in cross section. In FIG. 6, the main shaft 71 is ideally disposed between the upper rollers 82 and 83 and the lower roller 84, and moves forward as it is. In reality, due to its own weight, the main shaft 71 advances while remaining in contact with the lower roller 84 , and after the valve body 75 abuts against the partition wall 106 , the main shaft 71 is warped upward due to the reaction force of the pressure and comes into contact with the upper rollers 82 , 83 .

The front surface of the valve body 75 is formed with an inclined surface 75d that is inclined downward from the horizontal state, and a vertical surface 75e that continues from the upper end of the inclined surface 75d. When the main shaft 71 moves forward, the lower roller 84 first abuts against the inclined surface 75d and then against the vertical surface 75e, moving the valve body in the vertical direction. Since the valve body 75 moves along the shape of the abutment surface while abutting against the lower roller 84, the movement of the valve body 75 depends on the shape of the front surface, which is the abutment surface of the valve body 75.

The movement of the valve body 75 will be described in detail using Figure 6. As shown in Figure 6 (A), when the opening/closing mechanism 2 is in the open state, the forward bias of the spring 73 is converted upward by the links 74, 74, and the valve body 75 is biased upward and held in a spaced apart state from the partition wall 106. In the open state, the valve body 75 is held horizontally against the partition wall 106 by the links 74, 74.

When the main shaft 71 is advanced to seal the opening 107 from the open state of the opening/closing mechanism 2, the valve body 75 also advances together with the main shaft 71, and the inclined surface 75d on the front side of the valve body 75 abuts against the lower roller 84 (see FIG. 6(B)).

After the valve body 75 comes into contact with the lower roller 84, when the main shaft 71 is moved forward, the valve body 75 moves in the gradient direction of the inclined surface 75d while being held by the links 74, 74. The inclined surface 75d is an inclined surface that slopes downward as it approaches the front, and the valve body 75 moves diagonally forward and downward along the inclined surface 75d. The valve body 75 is held by two pairs of links 74, 74 and moves diagonally downward and forward while maintaining a horizontal state (see Figure 6 (C)).

When the main shaft 71 is further advanced, the valve body 75 moves forward and downward along the gradient of the inclined surface 75d while remaining in contact with the lower roller 84, and the vertical surface 75e then comes into contact with the lower roller 84. At this time, the O-ring 76, which is placed on the bottom surface of the valve body 75, is positioned directly above the opening 107 and close to the partition wall 106. When viewed from above, the opening 107 is located approximately in the center of the inside of the O-ring 76.

As shown in FIG. 6, the partition wall 106 around the opening 107 has a slightly higher step 106a formed above the surrounding area. This is to reduce the possibility of particles falling into the sealed area even if they are generated by the sliding of metal parts due to the movement of the opening/closing mechanism 2. Furthermore, particles that fall from the step 106a are less likely to climb back up onto the step 106a, i.e., the sealed area, so a decrease in sealing performance can be suppressed.

The valve body 75 moves along the gradient of the contact surface, so as the main shaft 71 advances, the valve body 75 now moves vertically downward. The valve body 75 moves straight down, and the O-ring 76 attached to the bottom surface of the valve body 75 presses against the partition wall 106, sealing the opening 107 (see FIG. 6 (D)).

The above configuration allows the valve body 75 to move in two stages. After the valve body 75 is positioned opposite the opening 107, the valve body 75 is moved directly downward, and the opening 107 can be sealed from directly above by the O-ring 76. When the forward motion of the main shaft 71 is converted into the downward movement of the valve body 75 by the lower roller 84, the valve body 75 moves downward. When the O-ring 76 presses against the partition wall 106, the partition wall 106 exerts an upward reaction force on the valve body 75. This reaction force causes the main shaft 71 to warp upward, but the first upper roller 82 and the second upper roller 83 arranged above the main shaft 71 come into contact with the main shaft 71, suppressing deformation of the main shaft 71. The valve body 75 can provide an efficient force and provide an airtight seal.

(Roller type)
The opening/closing mechanism 2 is configured to suppress the generation of particles due to metal sliding. This will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the opening/closing mechanism 2. Fig. 7(A) is an overall perspective view of the opening/closing mechanism 2. Fig. 7(B) is a view of Fig. 7(A) with the support member 81 on the front side of the page (the right hand side in the forward direction of the shaft) omitted. Fig. 8 is a plan view of the opening/closing mechanism 2. Fig. 9 is an end view taken along line IX-IX in Fig. 8.

The first upper roller 82, the second upper roller 83, and the lower roller 84 have the same configuration. For this reason, the second upper roller 83 will be described in detail as a representative example. As shown in FIG. 9, the second upper roller 83 is an integrated shaft body and rotating body, has a roughly cylindrical outer shape, and has shaft portions 83a with reduced diameters at both ends. The shaft portions 83a at both ends are supported horizontally in shaft holes 81b provided in the support member 81, so that the second upper roller 83 is supported rotatably about a horizontal axis.

The end face of the shaft portion 83a is a semispherical curved surface. Furthermore, the shaft hole 81b, which is a through hole in which the shaft portion 83a is supported, has its outer opening blocked by a leaf spring 85. The leaf spring 85 is made of a thin metal plate and is attached in a cantilevered state by being fixed at one point to the outer surface of the support member 81 by a fixing member 86. The leaf spring 85 is positioned to push back inward with a reaction force the shaft portion 83a that abuts against the shaft hole 81b as it tries to protrude outward.

(Action and Effect)
The effect of the roller having the above configuration will be described in comparison with a conventional product. FIG. 10 is an end view of the opening/closing mechanism 902 of the conventional product. It corresponds to FIG. 9. As shown in FIG. 10, the second upper roller 983 of the conventional product is composed of a shaft body 983a fixed to the shaft hole 981b of the support member 981 and a cylindrical rotating body 983b inserted into the shaft hole of the shaft body 983a. In the second upper roller 983 of the conventional product, the rotating rotating body 983b contacts the shaft body 983a on the entire surface of the shaft hole provided on the inside, so that the contact area between the metals is large, and a lot of particles are generated due to metal sliding. In addition, since the rotating body 983b is disposed between the two support members 981, it is disposed near the opening 907. Therefore, the particles generated by the metal sliding of the rotating body 983b may fall onto the sealing surface on the upper surface of the step portion 906a where the opening 907 is provided, thereby reducing the sealing performance.

In contrast, in this embodiment, the second upper roller 83, which integrates the shaft body and the rotating body, is used to reduce the contact area between the metals, thereby reducing the generation of particles due to metal sliding. The rotatably supported shaft body and the part that abuts against the moving main shaft 71 are made into a single part, thereby reducing the metal sliding area. Furthermore, the shaft portion 83a slides against the shaft hole 81b that it contacts, but particles generated by the sliding fall near the support member 81. Not only is the generation of particles suppressed, but even if particles are generated, the position at which the particles are generated can be kept away from the opening 107.

Furthermore, as mentioned above, a step 106a is formed in the partition wall 106 around the opening 107. The support member 81 is attached at a distance from the step 106a, and a gap SP is formed between the step 106a and the support member 81. Particles generated by the metal sliding of the shaft portion 83a fall into the gap SP and do not climb up again onto the upper surface of the step 106a, i.e., the sealing surface, thereby suppressing a decrease in sealing performance due to particles.

The second upper roller 83 is also made of a metal, such as beryllium copper, which is softer than the components of the support member 81 and main shaft 71. By using different metals, friction on the sliding surfaces is reduced, making it easier for the two to slide (rotate). By making the second upper roller 83 side out of a soft metal, the second upper roller 83 is scraped upon contact, reducing friction upon contact. This makes it easier for the second upper roller 83 to rotate, and suppresses the generation of particles even when the metal slides.

The first upper roller 82, the second upper roller 83, and the lower roller 84 are configured as described above. Of these, only the second upper roller 83 has a guide groove 83b provided around its periphery for guiding the main shaft 71. The opening/closing mechanism 2 is configured to be long in the forward/backward direction so that it can be removed from the telescope tube 103, and so may swing left and right when moving forward and backward. This horizontal sliding of the main shaft 71 is suppressed by providing a guide groove 83b in the second upper roller 83. By suppressing unnecessary movement of the main shaft 71 in the direction perpendicular to the roller rotation, sliding with each abutting roller is also suppressed.

The outer opening of the shaft hole 81b, where the shaft portion 83a of the second upper roller 83 is supported, is covered by a leaf spring 85 that is larger than the opening, and when the second upper roller 83 swings left or right, the leaf spring 85 pushes back, pushing the second upper roller 83 back to the center, correcting the left or right swing. This reduces the amount of swing of the second upper roller 83 left or right, and reduces the amount by which the second upper roller 83 slides against the shaft hole 81b and the main shaft 71. Metal sliding of the second upper roller 83 is suppressed, and particle generation is suppressed.

Since the end face of the shaft portion 83a is a hemispherical curved surface, the contact between the shaft portion 83a and the leaf spring 85 is almost at one point, the contact area is small, and metal sliding between the leaf spring 85 and the shaft portion 83a is also suppressed. With the leaf spring 85 and the hemispherical shaft portion 83a, even if the shaft portion 83a abuts against the leaf spring 85, a space that becomes a gap is generated in the shaft hole 81b. Particles generated by the metal sliding between the leaf spring 85 and the shaft portion 83a fall into this space, and the amount of particles that fall toward the support member 81 side is suppressed. In addition, since the end face of the shaft portion 83a is hemispherical, the contact area with the shaft hole 81b itself is also reduced, and the metal sliding area can be reduced.

In this embodiment, a leaf spring 85 is used, but it is sufficient if an elastic member arranged in the shaft hole 81b is used to bias the shaft portion 83a back to the correct position. It is preferable that the elastic member is arranged so that it does not come into contact with the shaft portion 83a in the correct position, but comes into contact with the rollers and main shaft 71 when they slide horizontally to correct the shaft portion 83a to the correct position.

In this embodiment, the guide groove 83b is provided only on the second upper roller 83, but it may also be provided on the first upper roller 82 or the lower roller 84, or guide grooves may be provided on multiple rollers.

The above describes the preferred embodiment of the present invention, but modifications are possible based on the knowledge of those skilled in the art, and such modifications are within the scope of the present invention.

1: Vacuum sealing valve 2: Opening and closing mechanism 71: Main shaft (shaft member)
74: Link 75: Valve body 81: Support member 81b: Shaft hole 82: First upper roller 83: Second upper roller 83a: Shaft portion 83b: Guide groove 84: Lower roller 85: Leaf spring 106: Partition wall (wall body)
106a: Step portion 107: Opening

Claims (5)

a valve body for sealing/unsealing an opening formed in the wall body;
A shaft member that is movable back and forth substantially parallel to the wall body;
a link mechanism that displaceably connects the valve body and the shaft member to each other;
a roller that contacts the shaft member or the valve body to move the valve body toward the opening;
Equipped with
The roller is a cylindrical rotating body having a shaft portion whose both ends are reduced in diameter, and the shaft portion is supported in a shaft hole so as to be rotatable.
An elastic member is disposed in the shaft hole and is biased so as to push back the shaft portion.
A vacuum seal valve characterized by: an end surface of the shaft portion of the roller is a curved surface that protrudes outward;
The elastic member is a leaf spring, the shaft hole is configured as a through hole, and is disposed to close an outer opening of the through hole.
2. The vacuum seal valve according to claim 1. The roller is provided with a guide groove for guiding the movement of the shaft member or the valve body that comes into contact with the roller.
2. The vacuum seal valve according to claim 1. The opening is formed in a step portion provided in the wall,
a support member having the shaft hole and supporting the roller is attached to the wall body at a distance from the step portion;
2. The vacuum seal valve according to claim 1. The roller is a lower roller that is disposed in front of the valve body, comes into contact with the front surface of the valve body as the shaft member moves back and forth, and converts the back and forth movement of the shaft member into movement of the valve body toward the opening via the link mechanism, and/or an upper roller that is disposed at a position facing the opening across the shaft member, comes into contact with the shaft member when the valve body is sealed, and suppresses deformation of the shaft member.
2. The vacuum seal valve according to claim 1.