Plasma treatment apparatus for producing coatings

Abstract

An apparatus and method for treating layers are provided that use a plasma zone sealed from the outer atmospheric pressure. The apparatus includes a plasma reactor with a substrate carrier in form of a container receiving device and a closing element that is joined with the substrate carrier by a lifting device.

1 - 24 . (canceled) 
     
     
         25 . An apparatus for plasma treatment of containers, comprising:
 at least one container receiver having a container receiving chamber, the chamber having at least one open end through which a container to be treated is insertable in such a manner that an opening of the container faces the open end of the container receiving chamber;   a displaceable closing element which can be brought together with said container receiver by a lifting device, so that while closing by said lifting device by moving said closing element towards said container receiver a container accommodated therein is sealed from the outer atmospheric pressure at an opening thereof;   a plasma generator comprising a pair of electrodes across which an electric or electromagnetic field is generatable in the interior of an accommodated and sealed container, the plasma generator being configured to generate at least one plasma zone sealed from the outer atmospheric pressure, said plasma generator further comprising a gas-tight connection at the closing element for removing residual atmospheric gas from the container; and   at least one treatment tool which can be brought together with the open end of the container receiving chamber of the container receiver for at least one sub-step of the surface treatment of the containers, said treatment tool comprising an organic film applicator, configured to apply an organic film to the inner surface of a container.   
     
     
         26 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 25 , wherein said treatment tool comprises a spray nozzle for spray-depositing a liquid organic film. 
     
     
         27 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 25 , further comprising a low-pressure plasma zone generator comprising a pair of electrodes across which an electric or electromagnetic field is generatable inside an accommodated and evacuated container; said low-pressure plasma zone generator further comprising a vacuum connection at the closing element. 
     
     
         28 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 25 , wherein said plasma generator further comprising a lance, wherein said lance comprises at least one of the following features:
 said lance being configured as one of said pair of electrodes, said electrode being designed as an internal electrode;   said lance being configured as a gas manifold for introducing and distributing process gas for the low-pressure plasma; and   said lance being configured as a gas sucking device for extracting process gas.   
     
     
         29 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 25 , wherein said treatment tool is formed as a lance which is insertable into the container interior of a container accommodated in said container receiving chamber. 
     
     
         30 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 25 , wherein said organic film applicator comprises a reservoir containing an organic substance which is cross-linkable in a plasma. 
     
     
         31 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 25 , comprising at least two treatment stations and a transfer device configured to transfer the container receiver between the at least two treatment stations, wherein a first one of said treatment stations is a treatment station including said organic film applicator and a second one of said treatment stations is arranged downstream of said first treatment station in a transfer direction of the transfer device and comprises said plasma zone generator. 
     
     
         32 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 25 , comprising a lifting device for moving the treatment tool for bringing together the treatment tool and the container receiver. 
     
     
         33 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 25 , wherein the apparatus is adapted for plasma treatment of containers having proximal and distal open ends. 
     
     
         34 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 33 , wherein the container is a syringe or a carpule. 
     
     
         35 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 33 , wherein the apparatus is adapted for plasma treatment of cylindrically symmetric containers having a longitudinal axis, a distal end E 1 , and a proximal end E 2 , with different inner diameters, wherein the inner diameter D E1  of the distal end is smaller than the inner diameter D E2  of the proximal end, wherein the apparatus is adapted to arrange the containers to have an orientation during the spraying with the ends E 1  having the smaller inner diameter facing upwards, with the longitudinal axes thereof in a range from 0° to 45° to the vertical. 
     
     
         36 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 25 , wherein the container receiver comprises at least two treatment chambers for simultaneous treatment of the containers. 
     
     
         37 . The apparatus as claimed in  claim 25 , further comprising a further treatment station for pre-treatment, which is configured as a spray-coating station which serves to apply an intermediate layer to the inner surface of the container. 
     
     
         38 . A method for inside plasma treatment of containers, comprising the steps of:
 inserting a container which has an opening into an open end of a container receiving chamber of a container receiver in such a manner that the opening of the container faces the open end of the container receiving chamber;   bringing together a treatment tool with the open end of the container receiving chamber;   applying an organic film, via said treatment tool inserted in the container receiving chamber, to the inner surface of the container;   closing the container at the opening thereof by displacing a closing element by actuating a lifting device to bring together the closing element with the container receiver, and sealing the container from the outer atmospheric pressure by said closing element;   extracting atmospheric residual gas from the interior of the container via a gas-tight connection at said closing element;   generating a plasma zone inside said container and treating the organic film by said plasma.   
     
     
         39 . The method as claimed in  claim 38 , further comprising centering the container receiver relative to the treatment tools at the treatment stations in a plane perpendicular to the lifting direction of the treatment tools using centering means. 
     
     
         40 . A method for inside plasma treatment of containers, comprising the steps of:
 applying an organic film by a treatment tool to an inner surface of a container accommodated in a container receiving chamber;   closing the container at an opening thereof by a closing element which is brought together with a container receiver by actuating a lifting device, and sealing the container using the closing element;   evacuating an interior of the container using a vacuum connection at said closing element;   generating a low-pressure plasma in the interior of the evacuated container; and   treating the organic film by said low-pressure plasma.   
     
     
         41 . The method as claimed in  claim 40 , further comprising cross-linking the organic film in the plasma. 
     
     
         42 . The method as claimed in  claim 40 , wherein the organic layer comprises a silicone-free organic film comprising fluoroalkyl and/or ethylene groups in the form of a fluid including fluorinated or perfluorinated polyethers. 
     
     
         43 . The method as claimed in  claim 40 , further comprising applying an organic lubricating layer to the inner surface of the container by a treatment tool. 
     
     
         44 . The method as claimed in  claims 40 , wherein the container has proximal and distal open ends and comprises a syringes or a carpule. 
     
     
         45 . The method as claimed in  claim 40 , wherein at least two containers are treated simultaneously using separated plasma treatment zones. 
     
     
         46 . The method as claimed in  claim 40 , further comprising applying an intermediate layer to the inner surface of the container by a spraying process before the step of applying the organic film. 
     
     
         47 . The method as claimed in  claim 46 , further comprising removing volatile components from the interior of the container by:
 drying or curing the intermediate layer;   heat treating the intermediate layer; and   spraying the intermediate layer using compressed air or evacuating atmosphere from the intermediate layer.