Application of the Solidot C3 Valve Terminal in vacuum coating equipment

Vacuum coating (PVD/PECVD/magnetron sputtering) equipment is key process equipment for downstream products such as optical components, consumer electronics structural parts, decorative hardware, and hard-coating tools. It performs thin-film deposition in a high-vacuum environment and places high demands on precise on/off control of process gases, reliable isolation of the vacuum chamber, and synchronized response of action cycles. Valve Terminals are becoming the mainstream choice for pneumatic control in this type of equipment. This case study focuses on vacuum coating equipment to demonstrate the application practice of the Solidot C3 Series Valve Terminal.

Solidot products used in this case

C3 Series Valve Terminal

I. Equipment overview

Vacuum coating equipment performs deposition of functional thin films such as metal films and dielectric films in a vacuum environment, covering process routes including magnetron sputtering, evaporation, ion plating, and PECVD. The equipment integrates a large number of pneumatic actuators, which can be classified into three categories by function:

All of these pneumatic actuators are driven by Solenoid valves — the more pneumatic control valves and cylinders there are, the more Solenoid valve points are required, and a single unit often requires dozens of Solenoid valves.

II. Solidot solution

The vacuum coating process places high demands on the precision of gas on/off control, the reliability of chamber isolation, and the coordinated response of multiple gas paths. With a large number of actuators concentrated in distribution, process gas control and vacuum chamber control need to be managed under a unified system. The solution uses 2 sets of Solidot C3 Series Valve Terminals (PROFINET Protocol), deployed separately in the process gas area and the vacuum chamber area, bringing both types of pneumatic actuators under centralized control. The Valve Terminals are installed on the equipment body, with signals connected to the PLC via the PROFINET bus.

III. Solution architecture

Control layer:

The Siemens S7-1500 PLC serves as the core Controller, uniformly managing the 2 Valve Terminals via the PROFINET bus.

Network layer:

The 2 C3 Valve Terminals are installed in the process gas area and the vacuum chamber area respectively, each connected to the PLC via PROFINET, managed on a single bus with a clear network structure.

Field layer:

Each Valve Terminal independently drives the pneumatic actuators in its corresponding area, with a one-to-one correspondence between valve positions and controlled objects, as shown below:

The fitting specifications of the Valve Terminal support flexible customization (in this case, adjusted from φ6 to φ8), facilitating connection with actuators of different flow rates.

IV. Application results

V. Solidot C3 Series Valve Terminal

The Solidot C3 Valve Terminal supports up to 24 Double Solenoid Valve configurations, with an IP65 Protection rating. Its in-house brand Solenoid valves offer a lifespan of over 50 million cycles, a low power consumption design, and support Online Firmware Upgrade. Fitting specifications and valve position types can be flexibly configured according to on-site process requirements. The entire Valve Terminal supports mainstream industrial Bus protocols such as PROFINET/EtherCAT/EtherNet/IP, and is widely used in high-cycle, high-reliability scenarios such as vacuum coating, optical coating, hard coating, 3C electronics, lithium batteries, semiconductors, and new energy.