Disclosure of Invention
The invention provides a material supply device externally connected with a single crystal furnace, aiming at the technical defects of the existing feeding device outside the single crystal furnace. The material supply device can be accurately butted with a single crystal furnace, the polycrystalline silicon material feeding speed and the feeding amount are effectively controlled, the overall height of the material supply device can be reduced, the material feeding operation is easy, the safety and the convenience of the material feeding operation are improved, operators are saved, the material feeding time is shortened, and the manufacturing cost is reduced.
The invention also provides a crystal growth system with the material supply device.
One scheme adopted by the invention is as follows: the feeding mechanism is provided with a feeding passage which is used for inputting materials from the outside of the furnace body to the inside of the furnace body and is opposite to the crucible, the feeding passage is butted with the feeding passage, and the materials are guided into the feeding passage through the feeding passage and are input into the crucible through the feeding passage.
As one of the preferable embodiments of the technical scheme of the invention, the material control body is suspended at the discharge port of the charging barrel and can be attached to and far away from the discharge port of the charging barrel; the shape of the material control body is matched with that of the discharge hole of the charging barrel, and the size of the bottom surface of the material control body is not smaller than that of the discharge hole of the charging barrel.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the material control body is connected to a traction rope, and the traction rope passes through the cylinder and is connected to a traction power part installed outside the cylinder.
In a preferred embodiment of the technical solution of the present invention, the material controlling body is a cone or a circular truncated cone, the discharge port of the charging barrel is cylindrical, and the diameter of the bottom surface of the cone or the circular truncated cone is not smaller than the diameter of the discharge port of the charging barrel.
Furthermore, a guide cylinder is arranged in the furnace body and is arranged above the crucible, and the feeding passage is arranged on the inner side or the outer side of the guide cylinder or is inserted into the guide cylinder and extends to the upper part of the crucible.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the feeding passage is provided inside the guide cylinder, and the feeding passage is held on the surface of the guide cylinder by a feeding fixing block.
As one of the preferable embodiments of the technical solution of the present invention, the feeding path includes a feeding inlet located at the upstream and a feeding outlet located at the downstream, a feeding funnel is disposed at the feeding inlet of the feeding path, the feeding path is butted with the feeding funnel, and the feeding outlet of the feeding path is close to the crucible.
Further, the furnace body is provided with an opening, the feeding passage is communicated with the furnace body through the opening, the feeding passage comprises an upstream end and a downstream end which are opposite, the upstream end is positioned outside the furnace body and is provided with an isolation valve, the downstream end extends or withdraws inside the furnace body, and the isolation valve enables the feeding passage and the furnace body to be kept in an airtight state.
As one of the preferable embodiments of the technical solution of the present invention, the feeding mechanism is installed outside the furnace body and is butted with an opening of the furnace body, and a portion of the feeding path outside the furnace body is received in the feeding mechanism.
As one of the preferable embodiments of the technical scheme of the invention, a corrugated pipe is arranged outside the opening of the furnace body, and the feeding mechanism is butted with the opening of the furnace body through the corrugated pipe.
Further, the feeding mechanism has a feeding lifting device for effecting extension or retraction of the feeding pathway relative to the feeding pathway.
As one of the preferable embodiments of the technical scheme of the invention, a feeding passage fixing sleeve is arranged outside the feeding passage, the feeding passage fixing sleeve is connected with the feeding lifting device, and the feeding passage fixing sleeve move along with the feeding lifting device.
Further, the material supply device further comprises a material guide mechanism, wherein the material guide mechanism is arranged between the material storage mechanism and the feeding mechanism and used for guiding the material in the material storage mechanism into a feeding passage of the feeding mechanism in an airtight state.
As one of the preferable embodiments of the technical solution of the present invention, the material guiding mechanism includes a material guiding passage, the material guiding passage is an obliquely arranged tubular passage, and the material in the material guiding passage moves to the feeding mechanism by the self-weight of the material.
As one of the preferable embodiments of the technical solution of the present invention, the material guiding mechanism further includes a material guiding cylinder, the material guiding cylinder is installed below the material guiding cylinder, at least a discharge port of the material guiding cylinder extends into the material guiding cylinder, and the material guiding passage is communicated with the material guiding cylinder and located at the downstream of the material guiding cylinder.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of vent holes are formed at a connection portion between the charging barrel and the guide barrel.
Further, the material supply device further comprises a docking mechanism, wherein the docking mechanism is arranged between the material guide passage and the feeding mechanism and used for guiding the material in the material guide passage into the feeding passage of the feeding mechanism in an airtight state.
As one of the preferable embodiments of the technical solution of the present invention, the docking mechanism includes a docking guide tube and a docking corrugated tube, which are connected in sequence and are communicated with each other, the docking guide tube is located at the upstream of the docking corrugated tube, the upstream end of the docking guide tube is docked with the guide passage, and the downstream end of the docking corrugated tube is connected with the isolation valve at the upstream end of the feeding passage.
As one of the preferable embodiments of the technical solution of the present invention, a butt joint blanking pipe is arranged inside the butt joint material guiding pipe and the butt joint corrugated pipe, an upstream end of the butt joint blanking pipe is in butt joint with the material guiding passage, and a downstream end of the butt joint blanking pipe can be communicated with the feeding passage through the isolation valve.
As one of the preferable embodiments of the technical solution of the present invention, the docking mechanism further includes a docking limiting device, and the docking limiting device is installed outside the docking guide tube and the docking corrugated tube, and is used for limiting the amount of telescopic deformation of the docking corrugated tube.
Further, the material feeding device further comprises a movable lifting platform, and the movable lifting platform is at least used for bearing the material storage mechanism and changing the position of the material storage mechanism relative to the furnace body.
The other technical scheme adopted by the invention is as follows: a crystal growth system, comprising: a furnace body; the crucible is arranged in the furnace body and is used for containing materials; and the material supply device conveys a controllable amount of material to the crucible.
Compared with the existing feeding device, the material feeding device has at least the following beneficial effects.
The material supply device comprises a material storage mechanism, a material guide passage, a butt joint mechanism, a feeding mechanism and a feeding passage which is arranged above a crucible in advance. The feeding mechanism and the butt joint mechanism are fixedly arranged outside the furnace body and are in butt joint with the material guide passage. The material storage mechanism and the material guide passage are arranged on the movable lifting platform, and can be butted with a plurality of feeding mechanisms on the furnace bodies. The storage mechanism quantitatively conveys external materials to the material guide passage through the material control body. The material guide passage, the butt joint discharging pipe in the butt joint mechanism, the feeding passage of the feeding mechanism and the feeding passage arranged above the crucible in advance form an external material conveying passage, and external materials in the material storage mechanism are conveyed into the crucible in the furnace body. In addition, an isolation valve is arranged at the upstream end of the feeding mechanism to protect the atmosphere in the furnace body from being influenced. The invention can realize the conveying of external materials into the crucible without stopping the furnace, and the auxiliary chamber of the furnace body does not need to be isolated and purified, thereby greatly improving the production efficiency, shortening the charging proportion time, simultaneously improving the utilization rate of the quartz glass crucible and reducing the cost of the charging link.
Moreover, the feeding passage is fixed on the guide cylinder in advance, so that the length of the feeding passage is shortened, the stroke of the feeding passage is shortened, the height of the feeding mechanism outside the furnace cover is reduced, and the gravity center position of the feeding mechanism is lowered. Therefore, the feeding mechanism and the material guiding mechanism are conveniently butted at a lower station, and the stability and the safety of the operation of the material supply device are improved. In addition, compared with a material supply device without a preset feeding passage, the device can feed external materials into the quartz glass crucible without waiting for the pulling device to drive the single crystal silicon rod to move upwards to a higher position, so that the waiting time is obviously shortened, and the production efficiency of the single crystal silicon rod is improved.
In a word, the material supply device meets the requirement of large feeding amount, and the single feeding amount can reach more than 150 kg; meanwhile, the defect of the built-in feeder of the auxiliary chamber is overcome, feeding is completed at one time, isolation and purification times can be reduced to the maximum extent on the premise of meeting the requirement of large feeding amount, and environmental pollution in the furnace caused by repeated isolation is avoided. The purification and feeding processes of the material supply device and the cooling process of the single crystal silicon rod can be performed in parallel, and the time consumption in the feeding process is obviously reduced.
Detailed Description
The invention is described in detail below with reference to the figures and specific embodiments. For the description of the directions in the description, "up and down" means that the up and down directions shown in fig. 1 are taken as references. The term "inside and outside" means the position of the internal and external space of the furnace body as a reference. However, the present invention is not to be construed as being limited to the manner in which it is described in this direction.
Example 1
The material supply device described in this embodiment is used for feeding external materials from the outside of thefurnace body 7 into thecrucible 11 provided inside thefurnace body 7. In the present embodiment, thefurnace body 7 is a single crystal furnace that can pull up the singlecrystal silicon rod 9 from thecrucible 11 by the Cz method, unless otherwise specified. This single crystal furnace has an elongated cylindrical sub-chamber of a small diameter in which a singlecrystal silicon rod 11 is cooled, and a pullingdevice 8 for pulling up the singlecrystal silicon rod 11 is installed in the sub-chamber.
The single crystal furnace also comprises afurnace cover 71 and afurnace cylinder 72 which are arranged below the auxiliary chamber. Thefurnace lid 71 is connected to and disposed below the sub-chamber, and generally has a certain curvature. Part of the structure of the material supply apparatus, such as thefeeding mechanism 4, described in this embodiment is fixed to thecover 71. Whereas the subchamber is generally disposed at the center of thehood 71 and is relatively fixed in position, thefeeding mechanism 4 is preferably installed at a side of thehood 71. In order to feed the external material into thefurnace body 7 through thefeeding mechanism 4, more precisely, the material falls into thecrucible 11 inside thefurnace body 7, an opening is opened at a suitable position on the side of thefurnace cover 71, and the feedingpath 43 of thefeeding mechanism 4 can extend into thefurnace body 7. As for the number of openings provided in thelid 71, it is preferable that at least one opening is provided in thelid 71.
In order to mount thefeeding mechanism 4 relatively firmly on thelid 71, as shown in fig. 1, abase 14 is mounted at the opening, and thefeeding mechanism 4 is mounted on thebase 14. Since the interior of thefurnace body 7 needs to maintain a special atmosphere, inert gas such as argon is generally introduced into the interior of thefurnace body 7, and in order to not destroy the atmosphere inside thefurnace body 7, it is necessary to prevent air from entering thefurnace body 7 to cause pollution to thefurnace body 7, and anisolation valve 43 is further installed at the opening. Theisolation valve 43 is provided to control the opening and closing of the opening and to block the atmosphere inside thefurnace body 4 from the outside. In view of the fact that thecrucible 11 is used for melting materials and needs a high temperature, thebase 14 near the opening usually contains a rubber gasket, and in order to prevent the gasket from being easily aged by heat and not having a high sealing performance meeting requirements, thebase 14 is preferably communicated with a water circulation system to achieve the effect of cooling the same.
Thefurnace tube 72 is arranged below thefurnace cover 71, the part above the working surface is a cylinder with a larger diameter, thecrucible 11, theheater 12 for heating thecrucible 11 to melt the material in thecrucible 11 and theguide cylinder 10 above thecrucible 11 are arranged in thefurnace tube 72. In the present embodiment, thecrucible 11 is generally referred to as a quartz glass crucible for containing an external material, and the external material is melted in thecrucible 11 as a liquid material.
As shown in fig. 1, the main body of the material supply device comprises astorage mechanism 1, amaterial guide passage 2, adocking mechanism 3, afeeding mechanism 4 and afeeding passage 5 pre-embedded inside afurnace body 7. As a further preference of the material supply device, the material supply device may further comprise amobile lifting platform 6.
Thematerial storage mechanism 1 and thematerial guide passage 2 are arranged on themovable lifting platform 6 and are close to or far from thefurnace body 7 along with themovable lifting platform 6 so as to change the position relative to thefurnace body 7. The buttjoint mechanism 3 and thefeeding mechanism 4 are fixedly arranged outside thefurnace body 4, specifically, thefeeding mechanism 4 is fixedly arranged on abase 14 outside the opening, and the buttjoint mechanism 3 is positioned above thefeeding mechanism 4 and is in butt joint to form a passage for conveying materials. Thefeeding passage 43 of thefeeding mechanism 4 can extend into thefurnace body 7 through the opening and is butted with thefeeding passage 5. From the functional realization that each main part constitutes above-mentioned,material storage mechanism 1 can store the material to with the material with controllable mode ration to thematerial passageway 2 transport external material. Thematerial guide passage 2 is used for containing quantitative materials input by thematerial storage mechanism 1, is in butt joint with the buttjoint mechanism 3 and conveys the materials to the buttjoint mechanism 3. The buttjoint mechanism 3 conveys the materials to thefeeding mechanism 4, and thefeeding mechanism 4 is used for conveying the materials to the interior of thefurnace body 7. Thefeeding passage 5 is arranged inside thefurnace body 7, is butted with thefeeding passage 43 of thefeeding mechanism 4 and further conveys the materials into thecrucible 11, and the feeding operation is completed.
Material storage mechanism
The main structure of thestoring mechanism 1 is a chargingbarrel 101. Thecartridge 101 can temporarily contain the material during the time the material is conveyed, and thecartridge 101 may be divided into a cylindrical main body portion and a cone portion located below the main body portion. Of course, thecartridge 101 may be designed in other shapes depending on the application. The discharge port of the chargingbarrel 101 is opened at the lower end of the cone portion, and the feeding port thereof is opposite to the discharge port thereof and is disposed at the upper end of the main body portion. Thecartridge 101 has acartridge cover 102 fitted thereto, and thecartridge cover 102 is provided at the upper end of the main body. In order to facilitate the filling of the material into thecartridge 101, thecartridge cover 63 is preferably arranged in a quick-release manner, and the sealing of thecartridge 101 can be quickly realized, so that the material in thecartridge 101 is prevented from being polluted by the surrounding environment. Thecartridge cover 102 can maintain an airtight state with respect to the external atmosphere when the material is transferred to theguide cylinder 104 below thecartridge 101.
Thecartridge 101 and thecartridge lid 102 may both be made of stainless steel metal. To avoid introducing metal impurities into the material in thebarrel 101, liners are provided on the inner surfaces of both thebarrel 101 and thebarrel cover 102 to block the material from contacting the surfaces of thebarrel 101 and thebarrel cover 102.
Thecartridge 101 may be provided with anevacuation port 1051, and as shown in fig. 1, theevacuation port 1051 may be provided at a suitable position on the main body of thecartridge 101 near thecartridge cover 102. Theevacuation port 1051 communicates with an evacuation device (not shown), and a vacuum valve is usually installed on an evacuation line connected to theevacuation port 1051 to control the degree of vacuum inside thecartridge 101. The purpose of evacuating the chargingbarrel 101 is to maintain thestock mechanism 1 at a certain vacuum degree and prevent air from entering thefurnace body 7 and damaging the atmosphere inside thefurnace body 7.
The material falls naturally by gravity inside thebarrel 101. In order to achieve a quantitative discharge of the material from the outlet of the cartridge, acontrol body 1033 is arranged at the outlet of the cartridge. The geometric shape of thematerial control body 1033 is matched with the discharge hole of the charging barrel. As a preferred embodiment, thematerial control body 1033 is in the form of a geometric cone, such as a cone or a circular truncated cone, the material outlet of the charging barrel is preferably in a tubular (cylindrical) structure, the cross section of the material outlet of the charging barrel is circular, and the edge of the material outlet of the charging barrel can be tightly attached to the surface of thematerial control body 1033. Through the cooperation of accusematerial body 1033 and feed cylinder discharge gate, can realize the control of load. In order to achieve a tight abutment of thematerial control body 1033 with the discharge opening of the cartridge, it is easy to understand that the diameter of the bottom surface of thematerial control body 1033 is not smaller than the diameter of the discharge opening of the cartridge. So set up, when accusematerial body 1033 docks with the feed cylinder discharge gate, the material just can not be discharged fromfeed cylinder 101.
As a preferred embodiment, the up and down movement of thematerial control body 1033 is controlled by atraction power part 1031, and thetraction power part 1031 may be understood as a traction motor. Thetraction power part 1031 is connected to thematerial control body 1033 through atraction rope 1032, thetraction rope 1032 is led out from thetraction power part 1031 and extends into the interior of the chargingbarrel 101, and thetraction power part 1031 can be installed on the chargingbarrel cover 102 or installed outside the chargingbarrel 101. The working principle of thematerial control body 1033 can be described as follows: thetraction power part 1031 acts on thematerial control body 1033 through atraction rope 1032 to enable thematerial control body 1033 to be lifted or dropped relative to the material outlet of the charging barrel; if thematerial control body 1033 moves downwards and is far away from the discharge hole of the charging barrel, the discharge hole of the charging barrel is opened, and the material in the chargingbarrel 101 falls into theguide cylinder 104; thematerial control body 1033 is lifted upwards and close to the discharge port of the charging barrel, the bottom surface of thematerial control body 1033 is attached to the discharge port of the charging barrel, and the discharge port of the charging barrel is closed.
Thematerial control cone 1033 functions not only as described above, but also functions to divert and buffer material. When the chargingbarrel 101 discharges materials, thematerial control body 1033 is suspended below the discharge port of the charging barrel, and in view of the conical structure of thematerial control body 1033, most of the materials are firstly contacted with thematerial control body 1033, and the original vertical falling direction is changed, so that the materials are dispersed along the circumferential direction of theguide cylinder 104, and the materials are prevented from forming conical accumulation at the discharge port of theguide cylinder 104. This also facilitates the discharge of material from theguide cylinder 104 into theguide passage 2.
Thematerial storing mechanism 1 adopting thematerial control body 1033 has wider applicability to materials. That is, thestoring mechanism 1 can be applied to large lump materials, small lump materials, regular granular materials or powder materials. Meanwhile, thematerial storage mechanism 1 also eliminates the defect of limitation of applicable materials of other material control and feeding devices, such as a spiral feeding device.
Material guiding mechanism
The material guiding passage is used in a broad sense and functions to convey the material discharged from thematerial storing mechanism 1 to thedownstream docking mechanism 3. As for the shape and structure of the material guiding passage, corresponding changes can be made, i.e. this function can be achieved in many ways, such as by the material weight, or by the material conveying belt, or by the material conveying plate. The present embodiment does not limit the functional implementation of the material guiding passage, and the following description of the material guiding passage is only a specific preferred embodiment.
In this section, the material guiding mechanism includes amaterial guiding cylinder 104 and amaterial guiding passage 2 which are communicated with each other. As shown in fig. 1 to 3, theguide cylinder 104 is disposed below the chargingcylinder 101. Theguide cylinder 104 has a similar or identical geometric shape to thecharging cylinder 101, and preferably, theguide cylinder 104 may be divided into a cylindrical main body and a conical part below the main body. Referring to the internal arrangement of thematerial guide cylinder 101, a lining is disposed on the inner surface of thematerial guide cylinder 104, and preferably, the lining may be disposed on the inner surface of thematerial guide cylinder 104 by bonding.
In a preferred embodiment, the diameter of the main body of the guidingcylinder 104 is smaller than the diameter of the main body, the discharge port of the charging cylinder extends into the guidingcylinder 104, the upper edge of the guidingcylinder 104 is connected with the conical part of the chargingcylinder 101, and the discharge port of the guidingcylinder 104 is communicated with the guidingpassage 2. Preferably, the upper edge of theguide cylinder 104 is welded to the tapered portion of thecylinder 101. Thematerial control body 1033 is suspended inside thematerial guide cylinder 104, and thematerial control body 1033 can move in a region between the inside of thematerial guide cylinder 104 and the discharge port of the material guide cylinder, and preferably, thematerial control body 1033 can move along the central line of thematerial guide cylinder 101.
As shown in fig. 1 to 3, a plurality of vent holes 105 are formed at or near the joint between the chargingbarrel 101 and theguide barrel 104. Thevents 105 function differently, for example, the vent holes 105 include at least anevacuation port 1051, anargon flow port 1053, and aleak detection port 1052. Preferably, at the same time, at least oneevacuation opening 1051 may be opened on the main body portion of thecartridge 101 close to thecartridge cover 102. Theevacuation port 1051 of the chargingbarrel 101 and theevacuation port 1051 of thematerial guiding barrel 104 are connected in series and communicated with a vacuum pumping system, so that the material supplying device described in this embodiment can maintain a certain vacuum degree when supplying materials to thefurnace body 7. Theargon flow port 1053 is communicated with an argon gas supply system, and argon gas is filled into the material supply device through theargon flow port 1053 to ensure that the atmosphere inside thefurnace body 7 is the same as that in the material supply device. As will be readily appreciated,leak detection port 1052 is used to detect the hermeticity of the interface between the components of the material supply apparatus.
As shown in fig. 1, thematerial guiding passage 2 is a tubular passage having a main body portion communicating with the passage and inclined. The materials move to the buttjoint mechanism 3 in thematerial guide passage 2 through the self weight of the materials. Specifically, thematerial guiding path 2 includes a material guidinginlet pipe 21, a material guidingdelivery pipe 22 and a material guidingoutlet pipe 23 which are communicated with each other. The material guiding and feedingpipe 21 is located at the upstream end of thematerial guiding path 2 and is butted with the discharge hole of thematerial guiding barrel 104. Preferably, the material guiding and feedingpipe 21 is vertically butted with the discharge port of thematerial guiding barrel 104, that is, thematerial barrel 101 is collinear with thematerial guiding barrel 104 below, and the central line of the material guiding and feedingpipe 21 is collinear. The material guiding and transportingpipe 22 is a main body part of thematerial guiding passage 2 and is located between thematerial feeding pipe 21 and the material guiding and dischargingpipe 23. The material guiding and conveyingpipe 22 is obliquely arranged, and materials move to the material guiding and dischargingpipe 23 in the material guiding and conveyingpipe 22 through the self weight of the materials. The material guiding and dischargingpipe 23 is located at the downstream end of thematerial guiding passage 2 and is butted with thebutting mechanism 3.
As shown in FIG. 1, thematerial guide pipe 22 is inclined, and the material naturally slides down in thematerial guide pipe 22 by gravity. As for theguide passage 2, particularly, the inclination angle of theguide delivery pipe 22 needs to be selected within a suitable range. If the inclination angle of the material guiding and conveyingpipe 22 is large, the material obtains a large sliding speed in the material guiding and conveyingpipe 22, and the material will certainly impact thedownstream docking mechanism 3; if the angle of inclination of thematerial guiding pipe 22 is small, the material will slip down thematerial guiding pipe 22 at a low speed, which may prolong the feeding time to complete the feeding operation. Therefore, the choice of the angle of inclination of theguide conveyor 22 is a matter of general consideration, and the angle of inclination shown in FIG. 1 is merely illustrative of an embodiment and does not represent a practical limitation on the angle of inclination.
Thematerial guiding passage 2 may be made of a metal material such as stainless steel, and an inner liner may be preferably provided on an inner surface thereof, and preferably, the inner liner may be provided on the inner surface of thematerial guiding passage 2 by means of bonding. As a protection for thematerial guiding passage 2, a protective casing made of a metal material may be provided on the outer surface thereof.
Docking mechanism
The buttjoint mechanism 3 is arranged at the downstream of thematerial guide passage 2 and is used for receiving the materials input by thematerial guide passage 2 and transmitting the materials to thefeeding mechanism 4 communicated with the furnace body. The buttjoint mechanism 3 is arranged above thefeeding mechanism 4 and is fixedly arranged outside thefurnace body 7, and the positions of the buttjoint mechanism 3 and thefeeding mechanism 4 are not changed relative to thefurnace body 7. Anisolation valve 13 is arranged at the joint of thedocking mechanism 3 and thefeeding mechanism 4, or theisolation valve 13 is arranged between thedocking mechanism 3 and thefeeding mechanism 4. Theisolation valve 13 is used for keeping thefeeding mechanism 4 and thefurnace body 7 which are communicated in an airtight state. Theisolation valve 13 is opened, the insides of thedocking mechanism 3 and thefeeding mechanism 4 are the same, and the material from thematerial guide passage 2 can enter thefeeding mechanism 4 through thedocking mechanism 3.
Regarding the structural arrangement of thedocking mechanism 3, as shown in fig. 4, as a preferred embodiment, thedocking mechanism 3 includes adocking guide tube 35 and a docking bellows 31 which are connected and communicated in sequence. The butt jointmaterial guiding pipe 35 is located at the upstream of the buttjoint mechanism 3, and the butt jointmaterial guiding pipe 35 is used for containing the materials in the material guiding and dischargingpipe 23. Thedocking guide pipe 35 is connected to the upstream end of the docking bellows 31 by a dockingsecond flange 36. The downstream end of the abutment bellows 31 is connected to theisolation valve 13 by an abutmentfirst flange 34. Adocking baiting tube 33 is fixedly arranged in the inner space of thedocking mechanism 3. The upstream end of the buttjoint blanking pipe 33 is preferably funnel-shaped and is positioned inside the butt jointmaterial guiding pipe 35, so that the material in the material guiding and dischargingpipe 23 can be better contained; the rest of the buttjoint discharging pipe 33 except for the upstream end in the shape of a funnel is in a tubular structure, the downstream end of the buttjoint discharging pipe 33 is positioned in the inner space of the butt jointcorrugated pipe 31, and the downstream end of the buttjoint discharging pipe 33 can be butted with thefeeding mechanism 4 through theisolation valve 13 to convey materials to thefeeding mechanism 4.
As shown in fig. 4, thedocking mechanism 3 further includes a docking limiting device 32. The docking limiting device 32 is installed outside thedocking guide tube 35 and the dockingcorrugated tube 31, and is used for limiting the amount of expansion and contraction of the dockingcorrugated tube 31. When thedocking mechanism 3 is docked with thematerial guiding passage 2 and materials are conveyed into thedocking mechanism 3, thedocking mechanism 3 is extruded by thematerial guiding passage 2, so that thedocking mechanism 3 is deformed to a certain extent, accordingly, the dockingcorrugated pipe 31 is compressed, and thedocking discharging pipe 33 inside thedocking mechanism 3 also moves towards the direction close to thefeeding mechanism 4. However, the compression deformation of the abuttingcorrugated tube 31 is limited, and the outer edge of the abuttingsecond flange 36 at the joint of theabutting guide tube 35 and the abuttingcorrugated tube 31 contacts the lower end of the abutting limiting device 32, so as to prevent the abuttingcorrugated tube 31 from further compressing. When the external pressure is removed, usually after the charging operation is completed, the docking bellows 31 recovers its shape and extends, and thedocking discharge pipe 33 inside thedocking mechanism 3 moves away from thefeeding mechanism 4. The outer edge of the abutmentsecond flange 36 will contact the upper end of the abutment stop 32, thereby preventing further stretching of the abutment bellows 31. It can be seen that the arrangement of the docking limiting device 32 can well protect thedocking mechanism 3 and thefeeding mechanism 4 downstream thereof.
Regarding the structure of the docking limiting device 32, the present embodiment does not give detailed structural limitation, but its function is to limit the amount of expansion and contraction of the docking bellows 31, so as to protect thedocking mechanism 3 and thefeeding mechanism 4 downstream thereof. Any structure of the docking limiting device 32 that can achieve this function can be considered as a specific embodiment of this embodiment, and can be taught from the functional description of this embodiment, and further structural optimization can be made.
Feeding mechanism
Thefeeding mechanism 4 is butted with an opening on thefurnace cover 71 and is fixedly arranged on thebase 14 for conveying the materials of thebutting mechanism 3 to the interior of thefurnace body 7. Thefeeding mechanism 4 includes a feeding bellows 44, and afeeding path 43 installed at the feeding bellows 44. A feed bellows 44 is butted against the opening, and its downstream end is fixedly provided on thebase 14 and its downstream end is connected below afeed lifting device 45.
Thefeeding passage 43 is used for feeding external materials into thefurnace body 7 and is butted with thefeeding passage 5 in thefurnace body 7. A feedpath fixing sleeve 42 is provided outside thefeed path 43, and the feedpath fixing sleeve 42 extends in the axial direction of thefeed path 43 and is fixedly installed inside the feed bellows 44. The feedpath fixing sleeve 42 is preferably a tubular structure member and is provided on the outer surface of thefeed path 43, and the feedpath fixing sleeve 42 is fixedly provided on the inner surface of the feed bellows 44. So set up, feeding path fixedsleeve 42 can both play the guard action to feedingpath 43, play the effect of guide to the removal of feedingpath 43 again simultaneously.
Afeed hopper 41 is provided at the upstream end of thefeed path 43. When the buttjoint discharging pipe 33 moves towards the direction close to thefurnace body 7, the buttjoint discharging pipe 33 can be in butt joint with thefeeding hopper 41, and materials are conveyed to thefeeding hopper 41. In order to avoid the overflow of the materials at the feedingfunnel 41, the inner diameter of the feedingfunnel 41 is not smaller than the inner diameter of the butted feedingpipe 33. Meanwhile, the feedingfunnel 41 has certain blocking and buffering effects on the materials falling from the butted dischargingpipes 33, changes the movement path of the materials, and prevents the materials from flying out of the area where the feedingfunnel 41 is located. Generally, thefeeding passage 43 is made of quartz or other high temperature ceramic material.
The butt joint of the downstream end of thefeeding passage 43 and thefeeding passage 5 is realized by afeeding lifting device 45, and thefeeding lifting device 45 can realize the synchronous change of the positions of the feedingcorrugated pipe 44 and thefeeding passage 43 relative to thefurnace body 7. Thefeeding lifting device 45 may be of an existing device or structure, and preferably, as shown in fig. 4, includes aslider 455, a feedinglifting driving part 451, afeeding lifting frame 452, and afeeding lifting screw 453 and afeeding lifting rail 454 mounted on thefeeding lifting frame 452. The feedinglift 452 is fixedly disposed on thebase 14. The slidingblock 455 is respectively sleeved on thefeeding lifting screw 453 and the feeding liftingguide rail 454, and the slidingblock 455 can move up and down under the action of the feedinglifting driving part 451. At the same time, the movement of the slidingblock 455 can drive the expansion and contraction of the feeding bellows 44 and the position of the feedingpath 43 relative to thefurnace body 7. The upstream end of the feeding bellows 44 is fixedly disposed on the lower surface of theslider 455, and theslider 455 is internally provided with a cavity in which thefeeding hopper 41 is received, or the cavity is penetrated by thebutt feeding pipe 33. The feedinglifting driving part 451 may be a motor or a hand wheel as shown in fig. 4, and the feedinglifting driving part 451 acts on thefeeding lifting screw 453 to drive theslider 455 connected to the feeding bellows 44 to move.
When materials need to be added into thecrucible 11 in thefurnace body 7, the feedlifting driving part 451 drives the slidingblock 455 to move towards the direction close to thefurnace body 7, meanwhile, the feed corrugatedpipe 44 is compressed, and the compression of the feed corrugatedpipe 44 drives thefeed passage 4 in the feed corrugated pipe to be close to thecrucible 11 in thefurnace body 7 and complete butt joint with thefeed passage 5. It should be noted that, since theisolation valve 13 is installed at the upper end of thefeeding mechanism 4, the feeding bellows 44 and thefeeding path 4 inside thereof are communicated with the inside of thefurnace body 7, and a part of thefeeding path 4 can be retained inside thefurnace body 7, after the charging operation is completed, thefeeding path 4 does not necessarily need to be lifted to the outside of thefurnace body 7. In this way, it is possible to shorten both the required length of thefeeding path 4 and the required stroke thereof.
Feeding passage
Thefeeding passage 5 is pre-embedded in thefurnace body 7 and is used for containing the materials conveyed by thefeeding passage 43 and feeding the materials into thecrucible 11. Three preferred embodiments are given in this section with respect to the mounting position of the chargingchannel 5 inside thefurnace body 7.
In one embodiment, as shown in fig. 1 and 5, the chargingpath 5 is installed inside theguide shell 10. As can be seen from fig. 5, thefeed channel 5 is arranged in the region between the singlecrystal silicon rod 9 and theguide shell 10. Generally, thedraft tube 10 is an annular structure having an inner and outer shroud. The inner side of theguide shell 10, namely thefeeding channel 5, is arranged on the inner side of the inner screen.
In a second preferred embodiment of thefeeding path 5, as shown in fig. 6, thefeeding path 5 is inserted into theguide shell 10 and penetrates through the side wall of theguide shell 10, and extends to the upper side of thecrucible 11, i.e. thefeeding path 5 is arranged between the inner shield and the outer shield. Or, thefeeding passage 5 is embedded in theguide shell 10 and extends to the upper side of thecrucible 11 along the extension direction of theguide shell 10. As will be readily understood, this alternate mounting requires that theguide shell 10 be pre-provided with a through hole for allowing the insertion of thefeeding passage 5, the through hole extending from the upper edge of theguide shell 10 to the lower edge of theguide shell 10, and thefeeding passage 5 being inserted and fixed in the through hole.
Fig. 7 shows a third preferred installation of thedosing channel 5. As shown in FIG. 7, the chargingpath 5 is provided outside theguide shell 10, and the material in the chargingpath 5 falls into thecrucible 11 through the region between the outside of theguide shell 10 and the inside of the sidewall of thecrucible 11.
Specifically, the chargingpath 5 includes a chargingportion 51 and a dischargingportion 52. The feedingpart 51 is positioned at the upper end of thefeeding passage 5 and is butted with thefeeding passage 43 to receive the materials in thefeeding passage 43. The butt joint of thefeeding path 5 and the feedingpath 43 is shown in fig. 5. The charging and dischargingportion 52 extends along the longitudinal direction of the chargingpath 5 and extends above thecrucible 11. Generally, thefeeding passage 5 is made of quartz material or other high temperature resistant ceramic material.
The feeding port of the feedingportion 51 has a feedingfunnel 53, and the feedingpath 43 may extend to the inside of the feedingfunnel 53 so that the material is entirely dropped into the feedingfunnel 53. Thefeeding passage 5 is fixed on the surface of theguide shell 10 through afeeding fixing block 54 and extends towards the bottom of theguide shell 10. Specifically, thefeeding fixing block 54 is disposed at the base of the feedingfunnel 53 and fixed to the top of theguide cylinder 10. The material falls into thecrucible 11 through the feeding and dischargingportion 52, and in order to reduce the momentum of the material and prevent the molten material in thecrucible 11 from splashing, the feeding and dischargingportion 52 is designed with a certain angle, that is, at least the upper half of the feeding and dischargingportion 52 is bent to form an included angle towards the long axis direction of thefeeding passage 5. The corner design of the feeding and dischargingpart 52 firstly changes the material moving direction in thefeeding passage 5 and firstly avoids the material from interfering the singlecrystal silicon rod 9 above the liquid level of the molten silicon. Meanwhile, the extension position of the charging and dischargingpart 52 is preferably set so as not to affect the growth and cooling of the singlecrystal silicon rod 9.
The material supply device is provided with afeeding passage 5 in advance in afurnace body 7. When materials are conveyed to thefurnace bodies 7 with the same specification, the stroke of thefeeding passage 4 can be shortened by adopting the material supply device, namely, the materials can be conveyed to thefeeding passage 5 by using theshorter feeding passage 4. The advantages of the material supply device are obvious, at least the longitudinal length of the feed bellows 44 can be shortened, which also means that the overall weight of thefeed mechanism 4 arranged on thefurnace cover 71 can be reduced, and the center of gravity of thefeed mechanism 4 is lowered, thereby facilitating the butt joint with the movablematerial guiding passage 2, and more importantly, the safety and reliability of the material feeding operation are improved.
Mobile platform
In this embodiment, as shown in fig. 1, the material supplying apparatus may further include a moving elevatingplatform 6. Themovable lifting platform 6 is used for carrying thestorage mechanism 1 and thematerial guiding passage 2, and is opposite to thefurnace body 7, so that thestorage mechanism 1 and thematerial guiding passage 2 move towards and away from thefurnace body 7.
In order to relatively safely and firmly arrange thematerial storing mechanism 1 and thematerial guiding passage 2 on themovable lifting platform 6, a proper supporting frame or a fixing frame is arranged on themovable lifting platform 6. Specifically, the movable elevatingplatform 6 includes a movable elevatingframe 62, a movable supportingframe 63, and a movable elevating drivingpart 61. Thematerial storing mechanism 1 and thematerial guiding passage 2 are arranged on themovable lifting frame 62, and themovable lifting frame 62 is lifted relative to the movable supportingframe 63 under the action of the movablelifting driving part 61. Themobile support 63 is placed on the work surface and has a liftingscrew 631 and aguide rod 632 acting on themobile crane 62. The movablelifting driving part 61 is generally mounted on the movable supportingframe 63, and preferably, the movablelifting driving part 61 is a lifting motor. The movablelifting driving part 61 acts on the liftingscrew rod 631, and the liftingscrew rod 631 lifts themovable lifting frame 62 along the guidepolished rod 632, so that the positions of thematerial storage mechanism 1 and thematerial guide passage 2 relative to thefurnace body 7 can be adjusted.
It is easy to understand that a plurality of wheels are installed at the base of themovable support frame 63, so as to flexibly change the positions of thestorage mechanism 1 and thematerial guiding passage 2 relative to thefurnace body 7, and at the same time, the possibility is provided for a plurality of furnace bodies to share one set of thestorage mechanism 1, thematerial guiding passage 2 and themovable lifting platform 6, namely, the external materials can be supplied to the plurality offurnace bodies 7 in batches.
In addition, themobile lifting platform 6 also comprises a horizontalfine adjustment mechanism 64. The horizontalfine adjustment mechanism 64 can adjust the relative distance to each other with a small margin when thematerial guiding passage 2 and thedocking mechanism 3 are docked. In the present embodiment, the horizontalfine adjustment mechanism 64 has a handle for the operator to operate, and the handle is rotated to drive thematerial guiding path 2 and thematerial storing mechanism 1 to generate small-amplitude displacement. Therefore, the horizontalfine adjustment mechanism 64 can change the positions of thematerial guide passage 2 and thematerial storage mechanism 1 in the horizontal direction, so that thematerial guide passage 2 is located at a proper position and is convenient to be in sealed butt joint with the buttjoint mechanism 3, meanwhile, the extrusion and collision between thematerial guide passage 2 and the buttjoint mechanism 3 are reduced as much as possible, and the safety and convenience of butt joint operation are improved.
Other modifications
The specific configuration of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment and modification examples, and various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.
One of the key measures for the material supply device to achieve its function is thefeeding passage 5 fixed on the surface of thedraft tube 10, and the structure of the main body components outside thefurnace body 7, such as thefeeding mechanism 4, the guidingpassage 2, thestoring mechanism 1, etc., can be optimized and improved differently from the present embodiment. In another embodiment, thestoring mechanism 1 may not include thematerial controlling body 1033, or may avoid other precise material controlling methods, for example, the chargingbarrel 101 may be provided with a mechanism for controlling the amount of the falling material. This makes it possible to reduce at least the height of themagazine 1.
A doping device is installed at a proper position of thematerial guiding passage 2, and the doping device can place the dopant in thematerial guiding passage 2 in a reasonable manner, and the dopant is conveyed to the interior of thefurnace body 7 along with the external material. In addition, the structure and function of thematerial guiding passage 2 can also be realized by other modes, for example, a conveying belt, a vibrator and other devices are adopted to convey materials to thedocking mechanism 3, and meanwhile, the accurate control of the blanking amount can also be realized.
An intelligent control system is arranged on themovable lifting platform 6, and through the intelligent control system, the self-adaptive butt joint of thematerial guide passage 2 and the buttjoint mechanism 3 can be realized, the remote control can be realized, and an enlightening idea is provided for the intelligent charging of the single crystal furnace.
The material supply device can also be applied to different internal structures of thefurnace body 7, in particular tocrucibles 11 with different structures. Thecrucible 11 shown in FIG. 5 is generally referred to as a normal crucible, and with the normal crucible shown in FIG. 5, the singlecrystal silicon rod 9 can be charged by the material supply means only when it is lifted to the proper position A by the pullingmeans 8, and continuous pulling in the true sense is not achieved. If the common crucible is replaced by a double crucible, or a quartz glass crucible with a weir structure, and the material supply device is modified appropriately, for example, the arrangement position or structure of thefeeding passage 5 is adjusted, it also falls within the protection scope of the present invention.
Example 2
This embodiment provides a crystal growth system comprising at least afurnace body 7, and acrucible 11 installed inside thefurnace body 7. Thecrucible 11 is used for containing the external material as described above, and the external material is melted into a liquid state in thecrucible 11. In particular, such a crystal growth system also comprises the above-mentioned material supply device, which, as a whole, delivers a controlled amount of external material to thecrucible 11.