Continuous deposition reactor

Claim 2

A continuous deposition reactor according to claim 2 wherein there are a plurality of the pyramid-like deposition chamber associated with said means to heat and move said pallets and each of the pyramidal interior shaped deposition chambers is oriented relative to one another with one bottom edge side of its rectangularly shaped opening being parallel with one side of the rectangularly shaped opening of an adjoining deposition chamber.

Claim 3

A continuous deposition reactor according to claim 3 wherein adjoining deposition chambers share a common wall structure.

Claim 4

A continuous deposition reactor according to claim 4 wherein said common wall structure is cooled to prevent deposition on the interior wall surface of the deposition chambers.

Claim 5

A continuous deposition reactor according to claim 3 wherein an elongated venting chamber is provided along both sides of said row of deposition chambers for exhausting gas from within said chambers through a gap between the bottom edge of its outside walls and the surface.

Claim 6

A continuous deposition reactor according to claim 6 wherein the bottom outside edges of said deposition chamber walls include a flange attached thereto and extending downward below the bottom edge of the deposition chamber forming walls in a manner to form a gap for exhausting the chambers into the vacuum chambers that is below the top surface of a pallet to be passed along the heated surface, whereby deposited particles move into the vacuuM chamber.

Claim 7

A continuous deposition reactor according to claim 6 wherein each of the deposition chambers is held to a frame that is adjustable in elevation relative to the surface, whereby the deposition gas pressure within the chambers may be controlled.

Claim 8

A continuous deposition reactor according to claim 1 which additionally comprises a preheat section adjacent one end of the deposition chamber for heating a pallet to a predetermined temperature before it enters the deposition chamber, said preheat section including: a heated surface and means for advancing a pallet thereacross, a gas inlet introducing a gas flow downward against said heating surface to isolate the deposition chamber from the atmosphere, and a plurality of small tube-like structures placed substantially perpendicular to the heating surface in the path of the gas flow for collimating said gas flow above said heated surface.

Claim 9

A continuous deposition reactor according to claim 9 wherein said plurality of tubular gas collimating members are formed of a honeycomb cellular material.

Claim 10

A continuous deposition reactor according to claim 1 which additionally comprises a cooling section positioned adjacent one end of the deposition chamber for cooling a pallet after passing through the deposition chamber, said cooling section including: a cooling surface and means for advancing a pallet thereacross, a gas inlet introducing a gas flow downward onto the cooling surface in order to isolate the deposition chambers from the atmosphere, and a plurality of tube-like elements positioned substantially perpendicular to said cooling surface with their lower edges a distance from said cooling surface that allows a pallet to pass therebetween, said tubular structures additionally positioned in the path of the gas flow for collimating it.

Claim 11

A continuous deposition reactor according to claim 11 wherein said plurality of tubular gas collimating members are formed of a honeycomb cellular material.

Claim 12

A continuous deposition reactor according to claim 1 wherein said means for giving motion to said member and to each of said pair of pallet supporting elements includes a single motor means that drives each of these elements.

Claim 13

A continuous deposition reactor, comprising: a deposition chamber including a gas inlet for introduction of deposition gas thereinto and a bottom surface, means for heating a pallet passing along said bottom surface through said deposition chamber, an elongated carrier having a plurality of pins periodically spaced along its length, said carrier positioned for movement along the bottom surface for driving pallets continuously therealong, a pair of transmission members positioned for movement along the bottom surface on either side of said elongated carrier and oriented substantially parallel thereto, and means for providing motion to said carrier and to said transmission members along their lengths in a manner that a pallet resting on said transmission members and being pulled by a pin of said elongated carrier travels through said deposition chamber along the bottom surface while simultaneously being rotated about the pin.

Claim 14

A continuous deposition reactor according to claim 14 wherein said elongated carrier travels along the bottom surface in a slot provided therein, said carrier being held below said surface in a position for its pins to protrude upward above said surface for engaging a pallet, and further wherein said heating means includes means beneath the bottom surface for heating said surface, whereby pallets passing thereover are heated from the bottom surface.

Claim 15

A continuous deposition reactor according to claim 14 wherein each of said pair of transmission members is guided along a predetermined path on the bottom surface by an associated groove in said bottom surface that restrains the cable against lateral movement and holds a portion of the cable above the bottom surface so that a pallet moving along the bottom surface is not in direct contact therewith but rather is carried by said pair of cables.

Claim 16

A continuous deposition reactor according to claim 14 which additionally comprises: a slot extending along the length of said bottom surface for carrying said elongated carrier, a pair of removable plates for attachment to a supporting structure to form said bottom surface, said plates being held apart from one another over said slot a distance sufficient to allow the pins of said elongated carrier to extend upward from said slot above said bottom surface for engaging an aperture in a pallet, and an elongated groove extending along each of said plates for guiding one of said pair of transmission members, said groove being shaped to support a portion of the transmission member above said bottom surface so that a pallet supported thereby does not directly contact said bottom surface.

Claim 17

A continuous deposition reactor according to claim 14 wherein said elongated carrier and said pair of cables are all given motion by a common motor source through appropriate motion transmitting elements.

Claim 18

A continuous deposition reactor according to claim 14 wherein the relative speeds of each of the pair of transmission members relative to the speed of the elongated carrier is such that a pallet carried by said transmission members and a pin of said carrier is rotated about said pin without significant slippage between either of said pair of transmission members and said pallet.

Claim 19

A continuous deposition reactor according to claim 18 wherein each of said pair of transmission members is formed from a single continuous wire cable and further wherein each of said pair of cables is driven in opposite directions relative to the heated surface, the distance between said elongated carrier and each of said pair of cables being different and further being calculated so that a pallet carried by said cables will be given rotary motion about one of said pins that engages the pallet without substantial slippage between either of the cables and said pallet.

Claim 21

A continuous deposition reactor, comprising: a plurality of deposition chambers positioned adjacent one another in a row, each chamber having an opened area at its bottom and a gas nozzle therein positioned near its top for introduction of deposition gas into the chamber, a preheat station adjacent a deposition chamber at one end of the row of deposition chambers, said preheat station including a gas stream flowing downward through a honeycomb structure and thence across an opening between the preheat station and a deposition chamber as a collimated gas stream, an elongated heat slab extending beneath each of said deposition chambers and said preheat station honeycomb material for forming a hot surface along which a pallet may be advanced from the preheat station through the row of deposition chambers, a cooling station adjacent a deposition chamber at another end of said row of deposition chambers, said cooling station including means for providing a gas flow through a honeycomb material and thence as a collimated gas flow downward across an opening between the cooling station And an adjacent deposition chamber, said cooling station additionally including a cooling slab beneath said honeycomb material for cooling the pallets as they exit from the adjacent deposition chamber, a flexible ribbon extending the length of said heat slab and across said cooling slab in a groove provided along the length of said slabs, said flexible ribbon having a plurality of periodically spaced pins extending outward therefrom and through a slot in the heating and cooling surfaces for engaging an aperture in the bottom of a pallet for moving said pallet therealong, a pair of cables positioned on opposite sides of said ribbon groove and guided by additional grooves in the heating and cooling slabs, said heating slab grooves permitting said cable to extend above the heating surface to support a pallet being carried therealong, and means for giving motion to said flexible ribbon and to said pair of cables for advancing a pallet through the preheat station, the row of deposition chambers and the cooling station while simultaneously providing rotary motion to the pallet by the cable motion in at least that portion of the heating slab within the row of deposition chambers.