US-12618143-B2 - Vacuum coating apparatus for uniformly distributing metal vapor using uniform mixing buffer structure

US12618143B2US 12618143 B2US12618143 B2US 12618143B2US-12618143-B2

Abstract

Disclosed in the present invention is vacuum coating apparatus for uniformly distributing metal steam using a uniform mixing buffer structure, comprising a crucible, wherein an induction heater for heating molten metal in the crucible to form metal steam is arranged outside of the crucible. A top of the crucible is connected to a flow distribution tank body by means of a metal steam pipeline. A horizontal core rod and a pressure stabilizing plate are arranged inside the flow distribution tank body. The core rod is located below the pressure stabilizing plate. A coating nozzle is arranged at the top of the flow distribution tank body. An induction coil is arranged on the outer side of the flow distribution tank body. A pressure regulating valve is arranged on the metal steam pipeline. A plurality of axial heating holes are provided inside the core rod, resistance wires are arranged inside the heating holes, and a primary guide plate, a secondary guide plate and a tertiary guide plate are arranged on the surface of the core rod; and a buffer groove is provided on the inner wall of the flow distribution tank body, and the buffer groove corresponds to the core rod in position. According to the present invention, when high-temperature steam makes contact with a low-temperature steel plate, a uniform coating is formed on the surface of the steel plate.

Inventors

Sanbing Ren
Fei Xiong
Junfei Fan
Yueming Zhou
Shanqing Li

Assignees

BAOSHAN IRON & STEEL CO., LTD.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20210721
Priority Date: 20200721

Claims (18)

1 . Vacuum coating apparatus for uniformly distributing a metal steam using a uniform mixing buffer structure, comprising a crucible, wherein an induction heater for heating a molten metal in the crucible to form the metal steam is arranged outside the crucible; a top of the crucible is connected to a flow distribution tank body by a metal steam pipeline; a uniform mixing groove and a pressure stabilizing plate, which extend in a horizontal direction, are arranged inside the flow distribution tank body; the uniform mixing groove is located below the pressure stabilizing plate; a coating nozzle is arranged on top of the flow distribution tank body; an induction coil is arranged outside the flow distribution tank body; a pressure regulating valve is arranged on the metal steam pipeline; the uniform mixing groove is provided in a shape of a circular arc plate, and has a concave arc surface facing the metal steam pipeline; one or more heating holes extending in an axial direction of the uniform mixing groove are formed in the uniform mixing groove; a resistance wire is arranged inside each heating hole, the uniform mixing groove is provided with an overflow hole, and the overflow hole penetrates through the uniform mixing groove in a radial direction of the uniform mixing groove; and a buffer groove is formed in an inner wall of the flow distribution tank body, corresponds to the uniform mixing groove in position, and is provided with a plurality of deceleration walls therein.
2 . The vacuum coating apparatus for uniformly distributing a metal steam using a uniform mixing buffer structure according to claim 1 , wherein the buffer groove is arranged opposite to the uniform mixing groove in the horizontal direction such that the buffer groove corresponds to the uniform mixing groove in position.
3 . The vacuum coating apparatus for uniformly distributing a metal steam using a uniform mixing buffer structure according to claim 1 , wherein the overflow hole is provided as a circular hole, an elliptical hole, a trapezoidal hole or a rectangular hole.
4 . The vacuum coating apparatus for uniformly distributing a metal steam using a uniform mixing buffer structure according to claim 3 , wherein a plurality of overflow holes are provided, and include a combination of one or more of a circular hole, an elliptical hole, a trapezoidal hole or a rectangular hole.
5 . The vacuum coating apparatus for uniformly distributing a metal steam using a uniform mixing buffer structure according to claim 1 , wherein an overflow opening of the overflow hole is provided in a shape of a continuous overflow slit.
6 . The vacuum coating apparatus for uniformly distributing a metal steam using a uniform mixing buffer structure according to claim 1 , wherein a cross section of the buffer groove is set to be rectangular or trapezoidal.
7 . The vacuum coating apparatus for uniformly distributing a metal steam using a uniform mixing buffer structure according to claim 1 , wherein the deceleration walls are set to be of a rectangular strip shape or a trapezoidal strip shape with a porous structure.
8 . The vacuum coating apparatus for uniformly distributing a metal steam using a uniform mixing buffer structure according to claim 7 , wherein a number of the deceleration walls is 1-10.
9 . The vacuum coating apparatus for uniformly distributing a metal steam using a uniform mixing buffer structure according to claim 1 , wherein a total area S overflow of the overflow opening of the overflow hole in the uniform mixing groove, a total area S inflow of an airflow inlet channel of the uniform mixing groove, a distance D 2 from the top of the deceleration walls to an outer surface of the uniform mixing groove, the number of the deceleration walls, a porosity P 1 of the deceleration walls, a distance DW between two adjacent deceleration walls, a total power W 1 of the resistance wires, and the pressure of the metal steam in the metal steam pipeline satisfy the following relationship: the pressure of the metal steam in the metal steam pipeline is 5000-100000 Pa, S inflow /S overflow =0.5-4, D 2 =3-10 mm, DW=10-30 mm, the number of the deceleration walls is set to be 1-10, the deceleration walls are set to be of a continuous strip shape, the porosity of the deceleration walls are set to be 0.2-0.7, and the resistance wires have a total power W 1 =1-10 KW/m.
10 . The vacuum coating apparatus for uniformly distributing a metal steam using a uniform mixing buffer structure according to claim 1 , wherein a total area S overflow of the overflow opening of the overflow hole in the uniform mixing groove, a total area S inflow of the airflow inlet channel of the uniform mixing groove, a distance D 2 from the top of the deceleration walls to the outer surface of the uniform mixing groove, the number of the deceleration walls, a porosity P 1 of the deceleration walls, a distance DW between two adjacent deceleration walls, a total power W 1 of the resistance wires, and the pressure of the metal steam in the metal steam pipeline satisfy the following relationship: as the pressure of the metal steam in the metal steam pipeline is increased, a value of S inflow /S overflow is increased, a value of D 2 is increased, a value of DW is increased, the number of the deceleration walls is increased, the deceleration walls are set to be of a continuous strip shape, the porosity of the deceleration walls are reduced, and the total power W 1 of the resistance wires is increased.
11 . The vacuum coating apparatus for uniformly distributing a metal steam using a uniform mixing buffer structure according to claim 9 , wherein, when the pressure of the metal steam in the metal steam pipeline is 50000-100000 Pa, S inflow /S overflow =2-4, D 2 =7-10 mm, DW=20-30 mm, the number of the deceleration walls is set to be 6-10, the deceleration walls are set to be of the continuous strip shape, the porosity of the deceleration walls are set to be 0.2-0.3, and the resistance wires have the total power W 1 =7-10 KW/m; when the pressure of the metal steam in the metal steam pipeline is 10000-50000 Pa, S inflow /S overflow =1-2, D 2 =5-7 mm, DW=15-20 mm, the number of the deceleration walls is set to be 4-6, the deceleration walls are set to be of the continuous strip shape, the porosity of the deceleration walls are set to be 0.3-0.5, and the resistance wires have the total power W 1 =5-7 KW/m; when the pressure of the metal steam in the metal steam pipeline is 5000-10000 Pa, S inflow /S overflow =0.5-1, D 2 =3-5 mm, DW=10-15 mm, the number of the deceleration walls is set to be 1-4, the deceleration walls are set to be of the continuous strip shape, the porosity of the deceleration walls are set to be 0.5-0.7, and the resistance wires have the total power W 1 =1-5 KW/m.
12 . The vacuum coating apparatus for uniformly distributing a metal steam using a uniform mixing buffer structure according to claim 11 , wherein the pressure stabilizing plate is set to be of a porous structure, and a ratio of a total hole area S total hole area of the pressure stabilizing plate to an airflow channel area S outlet at an outlet of the coating nozzle is greater than or equal to 0.1, such that S total hole area /S outlet ≥0.1.
13 . The vacuum coating apparatus for uniformly distributing a metal steam using a uniform mixing buffer structure according to claim 12 , wherein the holes in the pressure stabilizing plate are circular, square or triangular.
14 . The vacuum coating apparatus for uniformly distributing a metal steam using a uniform mixing buffer structure according to claim 13 , wherein the holes in the pressure stabilizing plate extend in a straight or curved line.
15 . The vacuum coating apparatus for uniformly distributing a metal steam using a uniform mixing buffer structure according to claim 1 , wherein an outlet of the coating nozzle is set to be of a slit type or a porous type, and an airflow channel area at the outlet of the coating nozzle is S outlet ; an airflow channel area at an interface of the top of the crucible and the metal steam pipeline is S inlet , wherein a ratio of S outlet to S inlet is greater than or equal to 0.05, such that S outlet /S inlet ≥0.05.
16 . The vacuum coating apparatus for uniformly distributing a metal steam using a uniform mixing buffer structure according to claim 15 , wherein the coating nozzle is set to be of the slit type and has a straight or curved profile; or, the coating nozzle is of the porous type, and has a rectangular, circular or trapezoidal profile.
17 . The vacuum coating apparatus for uniformly distributing a metal steam using a uniform mixing buffer structure according to claim 1 , wherein the uniform mixing groove is connected to the flow distribution tank body by means of threads or inlaying.
18 . The vacuum coating apparatus for uniformly distributing a metal steam using a uniform mixing buffer structure according to claim 10 , wherein, when the pressure of the metal steam in the metal steam pipeline is 50000-100000 Pa, S inflow /S overflow =2-4, D 2 =7-10 mm, DW=20-30 mm, the number of the deceleration walls is set to be 6-10, the deceleration walls are set to be of the continuous strip shape, the porosity of the deceleration walls are set to be 0.2-0.3, and the resistance wires have the total power W 1 =7-10 KW/m; when the pressure of the metal steam in the metal steam pipeline is 10000-50000 Pa, S inflow /S overflow =1-2, D 2 =5-7 mm, DW=15-20 mm, the number of the deceleration walls is set to be 4-6, the deceleration walls are set to be of the continuous strip shape, the porosity of the deceleration walls are set to be 0.3-0.5, and the resistance wires have the total power W 1 =5-7 KW/m; when the pressure of the metal steam in the metal steam pipeline is 5000-10000 Pa, S inflow /S overflow =0.5-1, D 2 =3-5 mm, DW=10-15 mm, the number of the deceleration walls is set to be 1-4, the deceleration walls are set to be of the continuous strip shape, the porosity of the deceleration walls are set to be 0.5-0.7, and the resistance wires have the total power W 1 =1-5 KW/m.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS The present application is the U.S. National Stage application of International Application No. PCT/CN2021/107686, filed Jul. 21, 2021, which International Application was published on Jan. 27, 2022, as International Publication No. WO2022/017425. The International Application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202010702653.X, filed Jul. 21, 2020, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to the technical field of vacuum coating, and more particularly, relates to vacuum coating apparatus for uniformly distributing metal steam using a uniform mixing buffer structure. BACKGROUND Physical vapor deposition (PVD) refers to a process technique that a plated metal is heated under vacuum conditions, so that it is deposited in a gaseous state onto a substrate to form a coating, and depending on different heating modes, it is classified as (resistive or inductive) electric heating, electron beam gun heating (EBPVD), or the like. Vacuum coating, serving as a surface modification and coating process, has been widely applied in electronic, glass, plastic, and other industries, and the vacuum coating technology has main advantages that it is environmental, has good coating performance, and achieves a diversity in plated materials. The key to the use of the vacuum coating technology for continuous strip steel lies in several aspects such as continuous coating production, large-scale production, high-rate production, mass production, etc. Since the 1980s, much research has been conducted on the technology by respective steel companies in the world. The technology is receiving unprecedented attention and is considered to be an innovative surface coating process as the hot galvanizing technology and the electro galvanizing technology become mature. A key point in vacuum coating is how to obtain a coating with a uniform thickness by arranging the nozzle. The documents disclosed abroad at present mainly involve the following aspects. 1) An integrated evaporation crucible and flow distribution nozzle structure The European patents BE1009321A6 and BE1009317A61 respectively disclose crucible nozzle structures as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. In the structure of FIG. 1, an upper cover 2 is added on an upper part of a crucible 1 such that a nozzle structure is formed between the upper cover 2 and a furnace wall for direct spraying of evaporated metal. In the structure of FIG. 2, a filter plate 3 is added in the evaporation crucible, and then a slit nozzle at the top is used for spraying the metal steam. In the designs of these two device nozzles, one nozzle employs a Laval nozzle structure, and the other nozzle employs a converging nozzle, and one nozzle is located for lateral spraying, and the other nozzle is located for vertical spraying. The patents JPS59177370A and U.S. Pat. No. 4,552,092A also disclose related evaporation crucible and nozzle structure. FIG. 3 shows a crucible nozzle structure which can automatically replenish a molten metal. A nozzle 4 adopts a wider outlet, and a heater 5 is also arranged at an upper part of the crucible and is used to heat for obtaining a steam, or the like. In the crucible nozzle structure shown in FIG. 4, the structure extends as an arc 6 at one side and achieves a lateral spraying, and a heating pipeline 7 is likewise arranged outside of the crucible wall, for heating the wall surface. 2) A separated evaporation crucible and flow distribution nozzle structure The patent WO2018/020311A1 discloses a separated crucible nozzle structure, as shown in FIG. 5, in which a bottom part of a crucible is connected to a molten metal feed tank 8, and an upper part of the crucible delivers a metal steam through a separated pipeline 9 into a tubular distributor and a steam nozzle which is at a front end, and then the metal steam is sprayed to a steel plate at a high velocity through the nozzle. The patent CN103249860A discloses a separated flow distributor and nozzle structure. As shown in FIG. 6, the steam is delivered into an upper horizontal pipeline 10 through a pipeline, and a top part of the horizontal pipeline 10 is provided with a porous nozzle for uniformly spraying a metal steam onto a surface of a metal plate. The patent CN101175866A discloses a form of a metal steam flow distributor and nozzle. FIG. 7 shows a cross section of the nozzle; a wire is wound outside of a flow distributor pipeline 11 to heat the pipeline; the nozzle has a square housing, as shown in FIG. 8; a circular pipeline made of another material is nested inside the square housing 12 and is used for spraying a metal steam; and a steam outlet used in the nozzle is porous. These patents are all related to specific forms of the nozzles in the coating process, but cannot indicate that these nozzles can achieve uniform coating. The coating uniformity of the surface of a steel plate is a key facto