Appeal No. 2000-1010 Page 2
Application No. 08/951,402
more than one substrate can be simultaneously treated in the
apparatus. A further understanding of the invention can be
derived from a reading of exemplary claim 6, which is reproduced
below.
6. A vacuum treatment apparatus for simultaneously
depositing thin layers on at least two three-dimensional
substrates, said apparatus comprising:
a vacuum chamber having a generally circular
cylindrical vacuum chamber wall;
an inner cylinder inside said vacuum chamber wall, said
inner cylinder supporting substrate chambers for rotation
relative to said vacuum chamber wall;
said vacuum chamber wall having openings therein with
which the substrate chambers can be aligned and through
which a three-dimensional substrate in the substrate chamber
can be accessed;
the vacuum chamber supporting treatment stations and
airlock stations tangential to and extending radially
outwardly from the vacuum chamber wall, said stations each
being associated with a respective opening in said vacuum
chamber wall and being configured to communicate with the
substrate chamber when aligned therewith;
said airlock stations being arranged diametrically
opposite each other on the vacuum chamber wall;
substrate transport conveyors each operatively
associated with a respective airlock station, said conveyors
each alternating between transferring a three-dimensional
substrate to the associated airlock station and transferring
a three-dimensional substrate in the associated airlock
station away therefrom, said transferring being performed
dependent on turns of the inner cylinder;
said inner cylinder, when rotated a first turn, moving
the substrate chamber communicating with the airlock
stations to positions aligned with the openings
communicating with the treatment stations, so that at least
two three-dimensional substrate in said substrate chambers
are simultaneously acted upon by treatment agents at the
treatment stations, and, when said inner cylinder is rotated
a further turn, said three-dimensional substrates and
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