| 摘要 |
The vacuum seal unit of a workpiece transfer apparatus includes a plurality of seal rings and a cooling flow passage formed so as to circulate through inside a rotating shaft and a workpiece transfer mechanism. The seal rings adjacent to each other with a spacing therebetween, out of the plurality of seal rings, and the rotating shaft define a first space and a second space independent from each other and respectively surrounding the periphery of the rotating shaft. An end portion of the cooling flow passage communicates with the first space, and the other end of the cooling flow passage communicates with the second space. Even when the rotating shaft is rotating about the axial center, a coolant supplied to the second space can flow through the cooling flow passage and be supplied to the first space, thereby enabling cooling with high efficiency without restriction on the angle of rotation. |
| 主权项 |
1. A workpiece transfer apparatus comprising:
a workpiece transfer mechanism configured to transfer a workpiece inside a vacuum chamber; a base member that rotates the workpiece transfer mechanism from outside of the vacuum chamber; and a vacuum seal unit configured to seal a gap between the workpiece transfer mechanism and the base member, wherein the vacuum seal unit includes:
a rotating shaft connecting the workpiece transfer mechanism and the base member,a support bearing portion configured to support the rotating shaft so as to rotate about the axial center thereof,a plurality of annular seal members each disposed between the rotating shaft and the support bearing portion, anda cooling flow passage through which a coolant flows, the cooling flow passage being formed so as to circulate through inside the rotating shaft and inside the workpiece transfer mechanism, the annular seal members adjacent to each other with a spacing therebetween, out of the plurality of annular seal members, and the rotating shaft define a first space and a second space independent from each other and respectively surrounding the outer circumferential surface of the rotating shaft, an end portion of the cooling flow passage communicates with a portion of the outer circumferential surface of the rotating shaft corresponding to the first space, and the other end portion of the cooling flow passage communicates with a portion of the outer circumferential surface of the rotating shaft corresponding to the second space, so as to allow the coolant introduced into the second space to flow through the cooling flow passage and to reach the first space, even when the rotating shaft is rotating about the axial center. |
