U.S. patent application number 14/409399 was filed with the patent office on 2015-12-03 for plasma equipment for treating powder.
The applicant listed for this patent is KOREA BASIC SCIENCE INSTITUTE. Invention is credited to Hyun Young JEONG, Yong Ho JUNG, Dong Chan SEOK.
Application Number | 20150348760 14/409399 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 50934621 |
Filed Date | 2015-12-03 |
United States Patent
Application |
20150348760 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
SEOK; Dong Chan ; et
al. |
December 3, 2015 |
PLASMA EQUIPMENT FOR TREATING POWDER
Abstract
A powder plasma processing apparatus is disclosed. The powder
plasma processing apparatus is a powder plasma processing apparatus
of a circular surface discharge plasma module, and the apparatus
includes a plate-like electrode layer serving as an external
surface of the circular surface discharge plasma module, an
insulating layer disposed on an internal surface of the plate-like
electrode layer, and a plasma generating electrode disposed on the
insulating layer, wherein the circular surface discharge plasma
module rotates, an alternating voltage is applied to the plasma
generating electrode and the plate-like electrode layer to generate
plasma around the plasma generating electrode, and a powder for
plasma processing is processed by the plasma within the circular
surface discharge plasma module.
Inventors: |
SEOK; Dong Chan; (Daejeon,
KR) ; JUNG; Yong Ho; (Seoul, KR) ; JEONG; Hyun
Young; (Gunsan-si, KR) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
KOREA BASIC SCIENCE INSTITUTE |
Daejeon |
|
KR |
|
|
Family ID: |
50934621 |
Appl. No.: |
14/409399 |
Filed: |
December 6, 2013 |
PCT Filed: |
December 6, 2013 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/KR2013/011273 |
371 Date: |
December 18, 2014 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
156/345.24 ;
156/345.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H05H 2001/2431 20130101;
H01J 37/32568 20130101; H01J 37/32348 20130101; H05H 2001/2412
20130101; B01J 2219/0879 20130101; H01J 37/32532 20130101; H01J
37/32009 20130101; B01J 2219/083 20130101; H05H 1/2406 20130101;
B01J 19/088 20130101 |
International
Class: |
H01J 37/32 20060101
H01J037/32 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Dec 10, 2012 |
JP |
10-2012-0142764 |
Claims
1-7. (canceled)
8. A powder plasma processing apparatus of a cylindrical surface
discharge plasma module, the apparatus comprising: a plate-like
electrode layer serving as an external surface of the cylindrical
surface discharge plasma module; an insulating layer disposed on an
internal surface of the plate-like electrode layer; and a plasma
generating electrode disposed on the insulating layer, wherein the
cylindrical surface discharge plasma module is configured to
rotate, an alternating voltage is applied to the plasma generating
electrode and the plate-like electrode layer to generate plasma
around the plasma generating electrode, and a powder for plasma
processing is processed by the plasma within the cylindrical
surface discharge plasma module, wherein the apparatus comprises a
driving unit configured to rotate the cylindrical surface discharge
plasma module while the cylindrical surface discharge plasma module
is in a horizontal state.
9. The powder plasma processing apparatus of claim 8, wherein a
high voltage is applied to the plate-like electrode layer, and the
plasma generating electrode is a ground electrode.
10. The powder plasma processing apparatus of claim 8, wherein a
high voltage is applied to the plasma generating electrode, and the
plate-like electrode layer is a ground electrode.
11. The powder plasma processing apparatus of claim 8, wherein a
plurality of the plasma generating electrodes are arranged on the
insulating layer at intervals in the circumferential direction of
the surface discharge plasma module, and extend in the longitudinal
direction of the surface discharge plasma module.
12. The powder plasma processing apparatus of claim 8, wherein a
plurality of the plasma generating electrodes are arranged on the
insulating layer at intervals in the longitudinal direction of the
surface discharge plasma module, and extend in the circumferential
direction of the surface discharge plasma module.
13. The powder plasma processing apparatus of claim 12, wherein the
driving unit includes a rotational speed control unit configured to
control the speed at which the driving unit rotates the cylindrical
surface discharge plasma module.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The present invention relates to a powder plasma processing
apparatus, and more particularly, to a powder plasma processing
apparatus that uniformly processes a powder using a circular
surface discharge plasma module.
[0003] 2. Discussion of Related Art
[0004] Plasma is an ionized gas. When a gas consisting of atoms or
molecules is excited using energy, plasma consisting of electrons,
decomposed gases, photons, and the like is generated. This plasma
is widely used for surface treatment of objects to be processed
(e.g., a substrate or the like).
[0005] Pulsed corona discharge and dielectric film discharge are
well known as techniques of generating plasma. Pulsed corona
discharge is a technique that uses a high-voltage pulse power
supply to generate plasma, and dielectric film discharge is a
technique in which a dielectric is formed on at least one of two
electrodes and a power having a frequency of several Hz to several
tens of Hz is applied to the two electrodes to generate plasma.
[0006] A dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) technique is employed
as the representative dielectric film discharge. In a plasma
processing apparatus using the DBD technique, when an object to be
processed is disposed between plate electrodes and an inert gas is
used to cause the dielectric film discharge to occur, plasma is
generated and then brought into contact with a surface of the
object to be processed, thereby processing the surface of the
object to be processed.
[0007] However, in the plasma processing apparatus described above,
since the object to be processed is disposed between the plate
electrodes, although it is not difficult to process one surface or
both surfaces when the object to be processed is a plate-like
member, it is difficult to process an entire surface of the object
to be processed when the object to be processed is a powder. A
plasma processing apparatus for processing the object to be
processed is thus required when the object to be processed is a
powder.
[0008] A plasma processing apparatus of the prior art for
processing an object to be processed when the object to be
processed is a powder is disclosed in an application filed with the
title "Tubular plasma processing apparatus" as Korean application
No. of 10-2012-0078234 by the present inventors. According to this
literature, it is possible to perform surface treatment on a powder
but difficult to perform uniform processing on the powder.
[0009] The present inventors have recognized the problems of the
prior art and solved the problems of the conventional plasma
processing apparatus through research. Further, the present
inventors have developed a powder plasma processing apparatus that
can provide a method of controlling a contact time between an
object to be processed and plasma and efficiently performing
uniform processing on a powder.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] The present invention is directed to a powder plasma
processing apparatus of a circular surface discharge plasma module,
the apparatus including: a plate-like electrode layer serving as an
external surface of the circular surface discharge plasma module;
an insulating layer disposed on an internal surface of the
plate-like electrode layer; and a plasma generating electrode
disposed on the insulating layer, wherein the circular surface
discharge plasma module rotates, an alternating voltage is applied
to the plasma generating electrode and the plate-like electrode
layer to generate a plasma around the plasma generating electrode,
and a powder for plasma processing is processed by the plasma
within the circular surface discharge plasma module.
[0011] For example, a plurality of the plasma generating electrodes
are arranged on the insulating layer at intervals in the
circumferential direction of the surface discharge plasma module,
and extend in the longitudinal direction of the surface discharge
plasma module.
[0012] As another example, a plurality of the plasma generating
electrodes are arranged on the insulating layer at intervals in the
longitudinal direction of the surface discharge plasma module, and
extend in the circumferential direction of the surface discharge
plasma module.
[0013] According to an embodiment of the present invention, a high
voltage is applied to the plate-like electrode layer, and the
plasma generating electrode is a ground electrode.
[0014] According to another embodiment of the present invention, a
high voltage is applied to the plasma generating electrode, and the
plate-like electrode layer is a ground electrode.
[0015] The apparatus includes a driving unit. The driving unit is
configured to rotate the circular surface discharge plasma module
while the circular surface discharge plasma module is in a
horizontal state. The specific method in which the circular surface
discharge plasma module is rotated is not a characteristic of the
present invention, and it will be recognized that various methods
of rotating the circular surface discharge plasma module may be
employed for the present invention.
[0016] The driving unit includes a rotational speed control unit.
The rotational speed control unit is configured to control the
speed at which the driving unit rotates the circular surface
discharge plasma module. It will be recognized that various methods
of controlling the speed at which the driving unit rotates the
circular surface discharge plasma module may be employed for the
present invention.
[0017] According to the powder plasma processing apparatus of the
present invention, it is possible to perform uniform processing on
the powder and to control the time that the powder spends in
contact with the plasma, thereby allowing efficient powder
processing to be performed.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0018] The above and other objects, features and advantages of the
present invention will become more apparent to those of ordinary
skill in the art by describing in detail exemplary embodiments
thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0019] FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a surface
discharge plasma module of a powder plasma processing apparatus
according to the present invention;
[0020] FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG. 1; and
[0021] FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating another example of
the arrangement in which ground electrodes of the powder plasma
processing apparatus according to the present invention are
arranged
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS
[0022] A powder plasma processing apparatus according to
embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail
below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present
invention may be subjected to many changes and have several forms,
and specific embodiments thereof are illustrated in the drawings
and described in detail in the specification. However, it will be
understood that the present invention is not intended to be limited
to the specific forms set forth herein, and all changes,
equivalents, and substitutions included in the technical scope and
spirit of the present invention are included. Referring to the
drawings, similar reference numerals are used to refer to similar
components. In the accompanying drawings, the dimensions of the
structures may be exaggerated for clarity.
[0023] Terms such as first, second, and the like may be used to
describe various components, but these components should not be
limited by the tenrms. The terms are used only for the purpose of
distinguishing one component from another component. For instance,
a first component may be referred to as a second component, or
similarly, a second component may be referred to as a first
component, without departing from the scope of the present
invention.
[0024] Terms used herein are intended to only explain specific
embodiments of the present invention, not to limit the invention.
The singular forms "a," "an" and "the" are intended to include the
plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates
otherwise. It will be understood that the terms "comprises" or
"have," when used in this specification, are intended to specify
the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations,
components, a combination thereof, but do not preclude the presence
or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps,
operations, components, or a combination thereof.
[0025] Unless otherwise defined herein, all terms used in the
present invention including technical or scientific terms have the
same meanings as terms that are generally understood by those
skilled in the art related to the field of the present invention.
The same terms as those that are defined in a general dictionary
should be understood to have the same meanings as contextual
meanings of the related art. Unless the terms are explicitly
defined in the present invention, the terms should not be
interpreted with ideal or excessively formal meanings.
[0026] FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a surface
discharge plasma module of a powder plasma processing apparatus
according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view of
FIG. 1
[0027] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a circular surface discharge
plasma module 110 is employed as the powder plasma processing
apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The
surface discharge plasma module 110 includes a plate-like electrode
layer 111, an insulating layer 112, and plasma generating
electrodes 113.
[0028] The plate-like electrode layer 111 forms an outer surface of
the circular surface discharge plasma module 110.
[0029] The insulating layer 112 insulates the plate-like electrode
layer 111 from the plasma generating electrodes 113, and the
insulating layer 112 is formed at an inner surface side of the
plate-like electrode layer 111. For example, the insulating layer
112 may be formed of a material such as MgO, MgF.sub.2, LiF,
CaF.sub.2, alumina, glass, ceramic, magnesium oxide, and so
forth.
[0030] A plurality of the plasma generating electrodes 113 are
arranged on the insulating layer 112, and plasma is generated
around the plasma generating electrodes 113. For example, the
plasma generating electrodes 113 may be in the form of a bar and
may protrude on the insulating layer 112. For example, the
arrangement of the plasma generating electrodes 113 may be such
that they are arranged at intervals in the circumferential
direction of the circular surface discharge plasma module 110 or
the plasma generating electrodes 113 may extend in the longitudinal
direction of the surface discharge plasma module 110. As another
example, referring to FIG. 3, the plasma generating electrodes 113
may be arranged at intervals in the longitudinal direction of the
circular surface discharge plasma module 110 or the plasma
generating electrodes 113 may extend in the circumferential
direction of the circular surface discharge plasma module 110.
[0031] According to an embodiment of the present invention, a high
voltage is applied to the plate-like electrode layer 111, and the
plasma generating electrodes 113 are ground electrodes.
[0032] According to another embodiment of the present invention,
the plate-like electrode layer 111 is a ground electrode, and a
high voltage is applied to the plasma generating electrodes
113.
[0033] In this surface discharge plasma module 110, an alternating
voltage is applied from the plasma power supply 120 to the plasma
generating electrodes 113 and the plate-like electrode layer 111,
and a plasma reaction gas is injected, thereby generating the
plasma around the plasma generating electrodes 113. For example, a
gas containing oxygen such as O.sub.2 or N.sub.2O, a gas containing
fluorine such as CF.sub.4 or SF.sub.6, a gas containing chlorine
such as Cl.sub.2 or BCl.sub.3, and an inert gas such as Ar or
N.sub.2 may be used alone or in combination as the plasma reaction
gas.
[0034] In addition, both sides of the surface discharge plasma
module 110 in the longitudinal direction may be opened, and a
powder may be supplied and withdrawn (collected) through the opened
sides. The surface treatment is performed on the powder by means of
the plasma while the surface discharge plasma module 110
rotates.
[0035] The present invention includes a driving unit for rotating
the surface discharge plasma module 110. Although not shown, the
driving unit may have a form for rotating the surface discharge
plasma module 110, for example, driving means such as a driving
motor may be connected to the surface discharge plasma module 110.
The driving unit is not specifically limited as long as it can
rotate the surface discharge plasma module 110.
[0036] The driving unit includes a rotational speed control unit.
The rotational speed control unit is configured to control the
speed at which the circular surface discharge plasma module 110 is
rotated. Although not shown, for example, the rotational speed
control unit may be in the form of a control box or a programmable
logic controller (PLC). The rotational speed control unit is not
specifically limited to this configuration. When the rotational
speed of the surface discharge plasma module 110 is adjusted, the
time that the powder spends in contact with the plasma or the
number of times the powder comes in contact with the plasma is
adjusted.
[0037] Hereinafter, the procedure of processing the powder using
the powder plasma processing apparatus according to the present
invention will be briefly described.
[0038] The powder is injected into the surface discharge plasma
module 110.
[0039] An alternating voltage is applied from the plasma power
supply 120 to the plate-like electrode layer 111 and the plasma
generating electrodes 113, and a reaction gas is injected, thereby
generating the plasma around the plasma generating electrodes
113.
[0040] The surface discharge plasma module 110 is rotated by the
driving unit.
[0041] When the surface discharge plasma module 110 is rotated, the
powder within the surface discharge plasma module 110 rises and
falls in the rotational direction of the rotating surface discharge
plasma module 110. This procedure is repeated while the surface
discharge plasma module 110 is rotated. In this case, the powder is
in contact with the plasma.
[0042] The rotational speed of the surface discharge plasma module
110 may be adjusted if necessary.
[0043] When the powder plasma processing apparatus according to the
embodiment of the present invention is employed, the surface
discharge plasma module 110 is circular, and the powder is
processed while the surface discharge plasma module 110 is rotated,
thereby allowing the powder to be uniformly processed.
[0044] In addition, since the speed at which the circular surface
discharge plasma module is rotated is adjusted, the time that the
powder spends in contact with the plasma can be controlled.
[0045] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various
modifications can be made to the above-described exemplary
embodiments of the present invention without departing from the
spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the
present invention cover all such modifications provided they come
within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.
REFERENCE NUMERAL
[0046] 110 Surface discharge plasma module [0047] 111 Plate-like
electrode layer [0048] 112 Insulating layer [0049] 113 Plasma
generating electrode [0050] 120 Plasma power supply
* * * * *