EP0410098B1 - Modular special climate room system - Google Patents

Abstract

In a modular special climate room system (1) with at least one production module (3) which contains residential and working regions, to which air flows prepared in different ways are supplied, and with a number of technical modules (4, 5) which can be added to the production module and in which aggregates are contained which serve for air preparation and/or air transport into the production module, there is provided, to achieve greater flexibility and better adaptation to the spatial conditions of the respective installation site, for at least two of the air flows in each case an individual technical module and an individual supply flow path leading from this technical module to the relevant region of the production module. If air flowing out of the residential and working regions of the production module is to be returned within the system, then for at least one of the air flows an individual return flow path is also provided, which leads to the associated technical module. <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to a modular special climate room system of the type mentioned in the preamble of claim 1.

Special climate rooms are in many industrial areas, such as electronics, optics, chemistry, biotechnology, space travel, etc., both in research and test laboratories and in certain production sections, always required when working in "normal" ambient air is difficult or impossible and / or by-products or waste products, especially in the form of gases, mist or dust that should not simply be released into the environment or should not get into other work areas.

In addition to individually created and therefore unchangeable special climate rooms in conventional construction technology Variable systems are known, in which different, coordinated modules are prefabricated in series according to function and size so that functional groups can be put together from them according to the modular principle. The prefabricated units are transported to the installation site and assembled there, with the greatest possible degree of geometric variability being desired in order to be able to adapt optimally to the respective spatial conditions.

The central component of such a modular special climate room system, as described, for example, in the magazine "Reinraumtechnik", 1st year, November 1987, pages 16 to 18, is a so-called production module, in the interior of which is accessible via a door. and work areas for which the respective special climate is to be created and maintained.

This means that air must be supplied to these areas either continuously or intermittently, which is specially prepared so that it e.g. has a degree of purity and / or a temperature and / or a relative humidity which differ from the corresponding parameters of the outside air. It may be desirable to keep the temperature and / or the humidity constant at a predeterminable value or to vary it over time according to a predefinable program.

To the same extent that new air is supplied to the production module, "old" air must flow out of it, which in some cases can only be released to the environment or returned within the system after a certain post-processing such as filtering, disinfection, dehumidification etc.

If there is an increased space requirement for the living and working areas equipped with a special climate, then several production modules can be attached to one another in a gas-tight and particle-tight manner, leaving out the corresponding side and / or end walls, so that a continuous interior space results. Other components of the well-known modular special climate room system that can be attached to the production module (s) as required are, for example, a changing module in which cleanroom clothing is put on and taken off, or a lock module that can be arranged between the changing and production module, for example serves to remove residual particles deposited on the clean room clothing and for air-technical shielding of the interior of the production module.

Most of the units used for air conditioning and / or post-processing such as filters, cooling or heating devices, humidifiers or dehumidifiers etc., as well as the blowers for air circulation are all housed in a so-called technology module according to the prior art, which is connected to the or the production modules are added and coupled with the rest of the arrangement for the manufacture of continuous air flow paths and line connections. It is possible to connect several such technology modules to larger complexes, but all of them have the same structure and the same functions.

However, it is not always necessary or expedient to supply air treated in an identical manner to all areas of the interior of the product module or modules. For example, it is known to allow the air coming from the technology module and pre-filtered there to flow into a ceiling cavity that extends almost over the entire floor area of the production module, from which it can then be passed into high-purity areas, where particularly high demands are made on particle freedom Ceiling floor arranged fine filter emerges while it flows into the other clean room areas through less fine filters or simply through perforated plates or outlet nozzles in the ceiling floor. The excess air is sucked out through a floor cavity that is also continuous, the air components coming from the above-mentioned different areas mixing with one another and, after a possible aftertreatment, returned together into the ceiling cavity or discharged to the outside.

This known arrangement has a number of disadvantages: it is possible to vary the volumes of the differently processed air flows delivered to the different areas of the production module interior per unit of time within certain limits by changing the flow resistances for these air flows differently, which is what e.g. can be done by opening and closing controllable flaps or the like.

However, it is not possible to supply the required air to one of the areas at different time intervals than other areas. Also, for the different air streams, only the preparation can be carried out in different ways, which is carried out directly when passing through the openings in the ceiling floor; this is practically just the final filtering, so that the air flows can only differ from one another in terms of their purity class. Different heating or cooling, humidification or dehumidification etc. is not possible.

Furthermore, all of the air extracted from various production module areas must be post-treated in a uniform manner, for example sterilized or washed, even if this would actually only be necessary for the air flow from a certain sub-area, for example from the area of one or more work tables.

Finally, the technology module must be designed so large that it can accommodate and connect all conceivable air conveying and processing units that are required in the most extreme individual case. This means that in most applications in which only a part of these units is required, the technology module encloses a lot of empty space which must be available on the outside of the arrangement so that the module group in question can be set up at all. It is particularly disadvantageous that this comparatively large space requirement for the technology module is always concentrated at a single point in the entire arrangement.

In contrast, the invention has for its object to develop a modular special climate room system of the type mentioned so that with the least possible technical Effort the greatest possible flexibility and variability of the system with regard to its adaptation to the functions required in the various applications and the respective spatial possibilities is achieved, and that during its operation the air volumes to be supplied to the individual processing operations can be kept as small as possible.

To achieve this object, the invention provides the features summarized in claim 1.

According to the invention, therefore, for the applications in which different areas of the production module interior are supplied with air streams prepared in different ways, instead of the one, a number of differently equipped technology modules are provided with regard to their processing functions, which can be modularly added to the production module or modules as required and one of which is used to generate and process one of the various air flows. It is important that the flow paths for these air flows are kept separate from each other, so that it is possible to blow differently prepared air volumes into the interior of the production module without prior mixing.

This does not conflict with the fact that, according to a preferred development, controllable flap arrangements which close completely tightly in the closed state can be built into the walls which separate different flow paths and, if desired, allow a more or less strong partial mixing of the different air flows depending on the degree of opening.

Since, if desired, each of the technology modules used can contain its own fan arrangement, the volumes conveyed per unit of time in each of the various air streams can be controlled completely independently of the other air streams. In particular, this control can be carried out by changing the delivery capacity of the respective blower, so that a variation in flow resistances which may result in performance losses is not necessary. As a result of this, as well as the fact that only the air quantities for which the respective processing step is actually required are supplied to the individual processing units, a system according to the invention operates with optimum efficiency.

Since different, separate technology modules are provided for different types of preparation, the size of these modules can be optimally designed. In addition, in principle each of these modules can be directly attached to the production module (s), so that the space required for several processing units can be "distributed" around the production module arrangement, which e.g. It is always advantageous if a module combination is to be set up in an existing building and there are elongated but narrow free spaces around the production module unit, which does not require the installation of a technology module that includes all the necessary units, as is known in the prior art would allow.

In a modular special climate room system, in which, as is usually the case, the air that is excess due to the supply of freshly prepared air in the production module is not simply released into the environment but is returned within the system 1 provided that at least for one, as a rule for all recirculated air flows, there is a separate flow path which is in principle separated from the flow paths of the other air flows and generally leads back to the technology module which supplies the area of the production module with air from which the air flow in question is subtracted becomes. However, this flow path does not have to lead directly back to the output technology module. If necessary, one or more post-treatment technology modules can be interposed here, which, for example, provide for a disinfection and / or dehumidification etc. of the air coming out of the production module before it is released into the environment or fed to a new treatment and recycling.

A particular advantage of this development can be seen in the fact that in many cases the individual preparation steps are repeatedly supplied with the same air, which flows through the associated area of the production module between two successive passes through the preparation unit (s), but frequently only there with relatively little termination is, so that the total processing effort required is greatly reduced.

Even in the case of the return flow paths, which are fundamentally kept separate from one another, it is possible, if desired, to bring about partial air mixing by means of controllable flap arrangements.

According to a preferred embodiment, the feed flow paths leading to the individual areas of the production module interior and / or the return flow paths leading away from there are arranged in vertically superimposed planes. This initially applies to the production module itself, but preferably also to the technology modules, in which then the flow path sections lie essentially in the same plane as in the production module. These measures make it possible to provide a large number of inlet and outlet openings in the side walls of the modules for each flow path, all of which are at the same height and are connected to one another within the respective module. As a result, the technology modules can be attached to the production module in any orientation at a large number of positions in such a way that the inlet and outlet openings belonging to the same flow path lie exactly opposite one another. In order to obtain a dense flow path, it is then sufficient to seal the inlet and outlet openings that are not required by inserting appropriate closure elements in a gas-tight and particle-tight manner and to place the open inlet and outlet openings in a ring-surrounding sealing arrangement between the opposite outer walls of the modules the module outer walls are also gas and particle-tight.

The fact that the inlet and outlet openings are arranged in a grid pattern in the module side walls results in such a large number of possible positions in which the technical modules can be added to both the longitudinal and the end faces of the production modules that also at suitable installation geometry can be found in very complicated and narrow outdoor spaces.

The flexibility of a system according to the invention in this regard is further increased if, according to a particularly preferred embodiment, at least one through-flow path section is provided for at least one type of technology module for an air flow which originates from another technology module or leads back to another technology module, this another Technology module of the same or a different type can belong to technology modules. This passage flow path section is preferably arranged at the same level or height as the sections belonging to the same flow path in the other module types, so that it can be inserted into further flow paths in the same way via correspondingly arranged inlet and outlet openings in the module side walls, as described above.

What is special about these passage flow path sections, which do not belong to the flow paths that start or end from the technology module in which they are located, is that they enable the technology modules to be "serially" attached to the production module or modules. With such an arrangement, an air flow which is generated by a technology module arranged further away from the production module passes through the passage flow path sections of the technology modules located closer to the production module without mixing with the air flows generated there. The same also applies to air flows returning from the production module to a remote technology module. If, due to the external spatial conditions, it is only possible to add technology modules at a single point in the production module, a whole series of such modules can still be used here without the basic principle according to the invention of separately guiding differently prepared or prepared air streams having to be abandoned .

Fig. 1

in perspektivischer Außenansicht ein erstes Anordnungsbeispiel des erfindungsgemäßen modularen Sonderklima-Raumsystems,

Fig. 2

eine perspektivische Außenansicht des Systems aus Fig. 1 von der anderen Seite her gesehen,

Fig. 3

einen Schnitt durch die Anordnung der Fig. 1 und 2 längs der Linie III-III,

Fig. 4

einen der Fig. 3 entsprechenden Schnitt durch ein weiteres Ausführungsbeispiel eines erfindungsgemäßen modularen Sonderklima-Raumsystems, und

Fig. 5

im Detail eine Verbindungsstelle zwischen zwei Modulen des erfindungsgemäßen Systems.

The invention is described below using exemplary embodiments with reference to the drawing; in this shows:

Fig. 1

in a perspective exterior view, a first arrangement example of the modular special climate room system according to the invention,

Fig. 2

2 shows a perspective external view of the system from FIG. 1 from the other side,

Fig. 3

2 shows a section through the arrangement of FIGS. 1 and 2 along the line III-III,

Fig. 4

a section corresponding to FIG. 3 through a further embodiment of a modular special climate room system according to the invention, and

Fig. 5

in detail a connection point between two modules of the system according to the invention.

1 and 2 show a set-up example of the modular special climate room system 1 according to the invention, which is designed as a clean room arrangement and comprises a production module 3, a circulating air module 4 and an outside air module 5. Each of these modules is constructed as a compact, transportable unit that can be prefabricated as standard and then set up at the place of use with comparatively simple means. The example shown is an embodiment as it is installed within an existing building. The same units are used for outdoor installation, but with an additional one against weather influences protective outer skin.

1 and 2, the modules 2, 3 and 4 all have the same height and the same width, while the length is adapted to the respective interior requirements.

Naturally, the length of the production module 3 is greatest because the interior contains the living and working areas for which a special climate is to be provided. Since 3 people are inside the production module and work there, it has a door 6, in front of which a lock module can be arranged if necessary, and a row of windows 7.

The production module 3 has a frame, not particularly shown in the figures, which forms the supporting structure and in which a hollow ceiling area 9 and a hollow floor area 10 are integrated. The longitudinal walls are each formed by four wall panels, which are designed, for example, as window panels 12, as door panels 13, as closed wall panels 14, as panels with inlet / outlet openings 17, etc. and are fastened to the frame so that they are seamless and gas and particle-tight to one another connect. These panels can be exchanged for one another or for other panels, not shown, as required.

The end walls of the production module 3 are formed by end wall plates 18 fastened to the frame, of which only one is visible in FIG. 2, while the other one is largely covered by the air circulation module 4 in FIG. 1.

In the hollow ceiling and hollow floor areas 9, 10, a large number of inlet / outlet openings 19 are provided both in the longitudinal and in the end walls of the production module 3, all of them in the ceiling cavity 20 located behind (see FIG. 3) or the floor cavity located behind 21 (Fig. 3) open. With the exception of the inlet / outlet openings 19, which are located in the end wall plate 18 covered by the air-circulation module 4 in FIG. 1, all inlet / outlet openings 19 are sealed gas-tight and particle-tight by closure elements (not shown).

3, the production module 3 according to the invention is divided into five levels E1 to E5, which are arranged vertically one above the other. The top level E1 corresponds to the ceiling cavity 20, which, like the floor cavity 21 corresponding to the level E5, extends practically over the entire floor area of the production module 3. In contrast, the second and fourth levels (counted from above) E2 and E4 comprise flow path sections 23 and 24, which only extend over parts of the plan area. Level E3 corresponds to the living and working area of the people working in the production module. The entry / exit openings 19 are assigned to the levels E1 and E5, while the entry / exit openings 17 belong to the levels E2 and E4. Since the latter, as will be explained in more detail with reference to FIG. 4, can each be subdivided into two sub-planes E2a and E2b or E4a and E4b arranged vertically one above the other, those entry / exit openings 17 which are not required can be closed by two closure elements which can be used or removed independently of one another in order to enable individual connection of the sublevels E2a, E2b or E4a, E4b.

If the interior of a single production module is not sufficient, two or more of such production modules 3 can also be placed with their long sides and / or their end faces and connected to one another in an airtight and particle-tight manner, the corresponding longitudinal wall panels or the corresponding end wall panels 18 then being omitted. 1 and 2, the air recirculation module 4 has inlet / outlet openings 17 and 19 both in its side walls and in its end wall facing the production module 3, which are arranged in height in accordance with the level arrangement described above in such a way that they are aligned with the corresponding inlet / outlet openings of the production module 3 if the two modules 3 and 4 are set up on a common, flat floor surface. In contrast, in this exemplary embodiment only the inlet / outlet openings 19 belonging to the uppermost or lowest level E1 or E5 are provided in the end face facing the outside air module 4. The inlet / outlet openings 17 and 19 of the circulating air module 4 located in the side walls are again tightly closed by closure elements.

The outside air module 5 also has in all side and end walls the levels E1 and E5 associated with inlet / outlet openings 19, of which, however, only those are not sealed by closure elements which are located in the end wall facing the air circulation module 4. A horizontal row is located below the inlet / outlet openings 19 assigned to level E1 or above the level E5 assigned to the two end walls and in the longitudinal side wall of the outside air module 5 visible in FIG. 2 of inlet / outlet openings 26, which are assigned to the already mentioned sub-levels E2a and E4b, as will be explained in more detail with reference to FIG. 4. Since these inlet / outlet openings 26 are not required in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 3, they are sealed by closure elements (not shown in more detail). In its roof 27, the outside air module 5 has an intake opening 28 for ambient air and an air discharge opening 29. If desired, a partition can be arranged between these two openings on the roof 27 in order to prevent air flowing out of the outlet opening 29 from being sucked in again immediately.

In the front and side walls visible in FIG. 1, the outside air module 5 each has a door 30 through which part of the interior of this module is accessible for maintenance and repair work. The two opposite end walls of the outside air module 5 and the recirculating air module 4 likewise have door openings through which the units of the recirculating air module 4 can be reached from the interior of the outside air module 5. Furthermore, 5 shaft openings 32 are provided in the above-mentioned walls of the outside air module, which, in connection with corresponding openings in the walls of the other modules, e.g. enable continuous pipelines and / or electrical lines connecting the modules to one another. If desired, these openings can also be closed tightly.

Gaps are left between the opposite end walls of the modules, in which there are sealing arrangements 34, which are the unclosed inlet / outlet openings 17, 19 each surround in a ring and are attached or bear tightly against the outer walls of the modules in such a way that there are dense, continuous flow paths, ie flow paths extending from module to module, as will be described in more detail below.

1 and 2 clearly show that all the inlet / outlet openings 17, 19, 26 required for the production of separate flow paths are arranged in a grid pattern on the modules on all four walls such that, in addition to the serial arrangement shown, the two technology modules 4 , 5 each of them can also be attached directly to the production module 5 in a parallel arrangement either with at least one of its end walls or with each of its two side walls, thereby obtaining a "parallel" arrangement of the technology modules. If one of the two technology modules is to be attached to one or both longitudinal side walls of the production module 3, the appropriate wall panels are installed at the relevant point. Inlet / outlet openings 17, 19, 26 required for the production of continuous flow paths are each left open, while all others are closed. The same also applies to the other modules belonging to the room system according to the invention and not shown in the figures.

In Fig. 3 it can be seen that a first blower 36 is arranged in the interior of the outside air module 5, which sucks in outside air through a duct 37 which is connected to the surroundings via the suction opening 28 and which, before it reaches the blower 36, in a first one Coarse filter 38 is pre-filtered. Behind the blower 36, the sucked-in outside air flows into a chamber 40, in which further air treatment units are accommodated, which in the illustration in FIG. 3 is of simplicity for the sake of being omitted. The air flows from the chamber 40 through a vertical shaft 41, in which a further filter 42 is arranged, upwards into a ceiling cavity 43 of the outside air module 5, into which the inlet / outlet openings 19 and 26 arranged in the side walls of this module open. With the exception of the inlet / outlet openings 19a, which are located in the right-hand end wall of the outside air module 5 in FIG. 3, all of these inlet / outlet openings 19, 26 are closed airtight in the manner already mentioned by closure bodies. Through the inlet / outlet openings 19a, of which only one can be seen in the section of FIG. 3, the air emitted by the blower 36 flows through the sealing arrangements 34 and the likewise unclosed inlet / outlet openings 19a in the left end wall in FIG. 3 of the air circulation module 4 into a ceiling cavity 45 of this module, which it leaves through the unclosed inlet / outlet openings 19a in the right end wall of this module, through the sealing arrangements 34 located between the air circulation module 4 and the production module 3 into the ceiling cavity 20 of the production module 3 reach. The bottom wall 46 of this ceiling cavity 20 has no openings in the left part of FIG. 3, so that the air in FIG. 3 must flow to the right, where it through the air outlet grille 47 provided in the bottom wall 46 or the perforated perforated plates 48 in the general clean room area 50 of the production module 3 arrives. From there, it flows through inlet openings 52 provided in the base plate 51 into the floor cavity 21, which it can only leave through the inlet / outlet openings 19a provided in the left end wall of the production module 3, through the sealing arrangements 34 and those in the right end wall of the circulating air module 4 provided entry / exit openings 19a to get into a floor cavity 54 of the air recirculation module.

From there it flows further via the inlet / outlet openings 19a provided in the left end wall of the air-circulator module 4, the sealing arrangements 34 located behind it and the adjoining inlet / outlet openings 19a located in the right-hand end wall of the outside air module 5 into a floor cavity 55 of the outside air module 5, in which in turn lead to a multiplicity of the inlet / outlet openings 19 and 26, which, however, are all closed except for the openings 19a already mentioned. From the floor cavity 55, the air passes through a vertical shaft 56, in which there is a filter 57 for post-processing, to a second fan 58, the suction effect of which supports the previously described air flow movement and which blows the air passing through it into a shaft 59, which communicates with the air discharge opening 29 so that air can be discharged into the environment here.

Three controllable flap arrangements 61, 62, 63 are provided in the two shafts 37 and 59 and in the wall 60 separating them from one another. These flap assemblies 61, 62, 63 can be controlled independently of one another so that they either assume one of two extreme positions in which they are fully open or completely closed, or any position between these two extreme positions. In this way it is possible, for example, to completely close the flap arrangements 61, 63 and to fully open the flap arrangement 62. With this flap position, the outside air module 5 also works in pure recirculation mode, ie the air extracted from the production module 3 is fed back to the production module completely after appropriate preparation, without any outside air components being admixed. In contrast, if the two flap arrangements 61, 63 are completely open and the flap arrangement 62 is completely closed, then the Production module 3 only freshly sucked in and treated air supplied and the air removed from the production module completely released again to the environment. Arbitrary transitions are possible between these two operating cases, in which the air supplied to the production module 3 contains selectable portions of air sucked out of the production module 3 and freshly supplied from the outside.

As further shown in FIG. 3, the circulating air module 4 has its own fan 64, which presses the air sucked in from the production module 3 upward into a cavity 65 assigned to the plane E2, into which the inlet / outlet openings 17 open. With the exception of the inlet / outlet openings 17a located in the right-hand end wall of the recirculating air module 4 in FIG. 3, all of these openings are closed, so that the air conveyed by the blower 64 only through the last-mentioned openings, the sealing arrangements 34 connected to them and the in The left end wall of the production module 3, which is provided in FIG. 3 and is not closed, enters into a flow path section 23 which is formed by an upper box suspended under the ceiling of the product module 3, in the bottom of which there are fine filters 66 through which the air passes flows down into a high-purity clean room area 70 of the production module 3. A work table 71 is arranged in this area. Through the perforated table top 72 and an air grille 73 arranged in the front wall of this work table 71, the air flowing through the high-purity clean room area 70 is sucked off into a cavity forming the flow path section 24, from which it passes through the inlet / outlet openings left open in the left end wall of the production module 3 17a, the sealing arrangements 34 located behind it and the adjoining inlet / outlet openings 17a in the right end wall of the air-circulation module 4 flows into a lower cavity 75 located there, from which it passes through a filter 76 used for post-processing to the blower 64, from which it is fed again into the circuit just described.

As clearly shown in FIG. 3, the annular sealing arrangements 34 located between the air circulation module 4 and the production module 3 are designed such that they keep the flow paths leading back from the outside air module 5 to the production module 3 and from there again completely separate from the flow paths leading from the air circulation module 4 lead to the production module 3 and back from there. Each of the openings 19a and 17a is thus completely surrounded by an annular sealing body in such a way that the air passing through the respective opening cannot pass into the adjacent flow path.

However, in the walls 77, 78 of the circulating air module 4 separating the flow paths of the outside air module from the flow paths of the circulating air module, air flap arrangements 79, 80 are installed, which can be controlled in such a way that they are either completely closed or completely open, or each lying between these two extreme positions Can take intermediate state. With the help of these air flap arrangements 79, 80, a certain mixing between the outside air module and recirculating air flows can be brought about.

Without prejudice to these possibilities, FIG. 3 shows very clearly the basic principle of the invention, after the air flows just described are supplied to two different areas 50, 70 of the production module 3 prepared differently and come from two separate technology modules 4, 5 or return to them, basically separated from each other being held. Furthermore, it can be seen that it is not necessary to arrange the circulating air module 4 between the outside air module 5 and the production module 3 in the manner shown. Rather, the outside air module 5 can also be connected directly to the production module at almost any location, without changing the principle of the separate air flows. Then only the inlet / outlet openings 19 of the production module located at the connection point are opened, so that the air emerging from the upper inlet / outlet openings 19a of the outside air module 5 enter directly into the ceiling cavity 20 and the excess air in the general clean room area 50 of the production module through the Bottom cavity 21 can get back into the bottom cavity 55 of the outside air module 5. The openings 19a of the air circulation module 4 provided in the left end wall in FIG. 3 are closed in this case, so that there is no connection to the surroundings here. According to the invention, the circulating air module 4 does not necessarily have to be connected to one of the end walls of the production module 3 in such a case. Rather, it can also be connected to the production module via one of the side walls, in which case a panel corresponding to the panel 15, in which the closure bodies of the openings 17 have been removed, is then used at the relevant point. It is thus possible to change the division between the general clean room area 50 and the ultra-clean room area 70 in the production module 3 in any manner and in particular to arrange the work tables 71 arranged in the high-clean room area 70 also at a different location than that shown in FIG. 3.

The embodiment shown in Fig. 4 on a smaller scale again comprises a production module 3, a recirculation module 4 and an outside air module 5. These modules have essentially the same structure and are arranged in the same manner as that with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 has been described. The same parts are provided with the same reference numerals and reference can be made to the above description with regard to their arrangement and mode of operation. In the following, only those parts are explained, with respect to which the exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 4 differs from the previously described example.

The main difference is that a further technology module 82 is inserted into the serial arrangement between the outside air module 5 and the recirculating air module 4, to which a further air flow through the production module 3, at least partially separated from the other air flows, is assigned. In order to be able to carry out this partial separation, in this exemplary embodiment the levels E2 and E4 are split into sub-levels E2a, E2b or E4a and E4b.

This is shown in the outside air module, which is otherwise identical to the outside air module 5 of the previous exemplary embodiment, in that the openings 26a provided in the right end wall are not closed, so that the air flow rising through the vertical duct 41 divides the ceiling cavity 43 of the outside air module 5 into two in the following flow paths separated from one another, namely on the one hand through the inlet / outlet openings 19a and on the other hand through the inlet / outlet openings 26a. Sealing arrangements 34 are again located behind both types of opening, which forward the respective air flow into a ceiling cavity 83 or an upper cavity 85 of the further technology module. From the ceiling cavity 83, the air flow passes through inlet / outlet openings 19a provided in the right end wall of the further technology module 82 into the ceiling cavity 45 of the air-circulation module 4, from where it flows in the same way into the ceiling cavity 20, the general clean air area 50, and the floor cavity 21 of the production module 3 and flows from there into the floor cavity 54 of the air circulation module 4, as has already been explained above with reference to FIG. 3. From the floor cavity 54, the air flow continues through a floor cavity 86 of the further technology module 82 into the floor cavity 55 of the outside air module 5, from where it is passed on via the vertical duct 56 and the second fan 58 in the same manner as described above. It can thus be seen that in this serial arrangement the ceiling cavity 83 and the floor cavity 86 of the further technology module 82 only serve as forwarding flow path sections for this air flow.

The part of the air flow coming from the outside air module 5 which flows into the upper cavity 85 flows through a filter arrangement 87 in this cavity and reaches an intermediate ceiling cavity 89 of the recirculating air module 4 via inlet / outlet openings 26a left open in the right end wall of the further technology module 82 shown air recirculation module 4 has a slightly different structure than the air recirculation module 4 described above, which is also expressed in the fact that it has in its longitudinal and front side walls the sub-levels E2a and E4b assigned inlet / outlet openings 26, of which the in the Longitudinal side walls provided entry / exit openings 26 are closed, while the entry / exit openings provided in the end side walls 26a are opened and are connected by ring-shaped sealing arrangements 34 to the inlet / outlet openings 26a of the neighboring modules. The air flow just described flows from the false ceiling cavity 89 of the recirculating air module 4 into a false ceiling cavity 90 of the production module 3, where it passes through a first upper box 91 into a second upper box 92, from which it passes down through a fine filter 66 into a second, high-purity clean room area 93 of the production module 3 exits. From this area, the air flow passes through the air outlet grille 73 provided in the side wall of the work table 71 into an intermediate floor cavity 95 of the production module 3, from where it flows into an intermediate floor cavity 96 through an inlet / outlet opening 26 provided in the left end wall and the sealing arrangement 34 located behind it Air circulation module flows. From there it passes through inlet / outlet openings 26a in the two opposite end walls of the recirculating air module 4 and the further technology module 82 into a cavity 98 in which the gas flowing through is washed, for example. The washed gas flow passes from the cavity 98 through a filter 99 and a shaft 100, through which it flows downward, to the inlet / outlet openings 26a provided in the lower region of the left end wall of the further technical module 82. Here it enters the bottom cavity 55 of the outside air module 5 through the sealing arrangement 34 located between the technology modules and the inlet / outlet openings 26a provided at the bottom in the right end wall of the outside air module 5, where it deals with the air flow coming from the bottom cavity 86 of the further technology module 82 mixed and continued together with this.

It can thus be seen that the further technology module 82 in the present case is a "passive" technology module which does not have its own fan and therefore only in series with a technology module arranged behind it and having a fan module to the production module 3 either (as shown) can be connected directly or indirectly.

In order to make room for the false ceiling and false floor cavities 89 and 96, the upper cavity 65 and the lower cavity 75 are formed somewhat lower in the recirculation air module 4 shown here than in the exemplary embodiment described above. The same also applies to the partially closed and partially open inlet / outlet openings 17 and 17a, with which these two cavities can be inserted or are inserted into further flow paths. In Fig. 4, this further flow path leads from the upper cavity 65 into the interior of the first upper box 91 assigned to the lower level E2b in the production module 3, from where the air enters through a fine filter 66 into the first high-purity clean room area 70 of the production module, which here is on the surface of the work table 71 is limited. The worktop 72 of this worktable 71 is perforated again, so that the air flow through the upper cavity 101 of the worktable 71 and the associated inlet / outlet openings 17a, the sealing arrangements 34 located behind it and the inlet / outlet openings 17a in the lower region of the right end wall of the circulating air module 4 can get into the lower cavity 75 there.

With this arrangement, the interior of the production module 3 is therefore in three different areas, namely a general clean room area 50, a first high-purity clean room area 70 and a second high-purity clean room area 92 split. These areas are flowed through by air flows that are largely separate from one another, the air flow flowing through the second high-purity clean room area 92 being first subjected to additional pretreatment in the further technology module 82 and additional post-treatment after flowing through the production module 3.

As can be seen in FIG. 4, the further technology module 82 could also be arranged between the recirculation air module 4 and the production module 3 due to the inlet / outlet openings 19 and 26 provided therein, without the basic flow patterns changing anything.

In addition to the illustrated further technology module 82, the system according to the invention also comprises further active and passive technology modules, which can be arranged between the air circulation module 4 and the production module 3, for the additional air flow generated by the air circulation module 4 through the production module 3 for an additional pre- and / or post-treatment to undergo.

The split of the upper level E2 into two sublevels does not always have to go hand in hand with a split of the lower level E4 into two sublevels and vice versa. If, for example, the air stream emerging from the second high-purity clean room area 92 is not to be supplied to a separate aftertreatment, it can already be mixed in the production module 3 or in one of the subsequent technology modules with the air stream flowing through the floor cavity 21 before it reaches the floor cavity 55 of the outside air module 5 . In addition to the division of the height of the special climate room system according to the invention into five to seven levels described in connection with the above exemplary embodiments, a division into more than seven levels is also possible within the scope of the invention.

A connection point between a production module 3 and a technology module 103 is shown on an enlarged scale in FIG. 5, all the inlet / outlet openings which are not required for the reproduced connection being omitted.

It can be seen that two only partially reproduced flow paths extend through the two modules 3 and 103, one of which flows from the ceiling cavity 45 of the technology module 103 through the inlet / outlet opening 19a, the sealing arrangement 34 located behind it and the subsequent inlet / outlet opening 19a in the ceiling cavity 20 of the production module 3 runs from where the air moving along this flow path flows into the general clean room area of the production module 3, not shown in FIG. 5, in order to get from there into the floor cavity 21, as is the case, for example, in FIG. 3 and 4 is shown. From the floor cavity 21 of the production module 3, the flow path shown goes back through two inlet / outlet openings 19a and the sealing arrangement 34 in between back into the floor cavity 54 of the technology module 103.

The second flow path runs from the cavity 65 of the technology module 103 through two inlet / outlet openings 17a and the sealing arrangement 34 in between into the flow path section 23 formed by an upper box of the production module 3, from there through a fine filter 66 into the high-purity clean room area 70 of the production module, from where the air passes through the perforated table top 72 of the work table 71 into the flow path section 24 formed by the table box, which it leaves through the two inlet / outlet openings 17a and the sealing arrangement 34 located therebetween in order to get into the cavity 75 of the technology module 103. Assuming that this is one of the air recirculation modules 4 from FIGS. 3 and 4 is the corresponding technical module, the air is passed from the cavity 75 with the aid of a blower, not shown, into the upper cavity 65, where it can go through further processing steps.

As can be seen particularly clearly from FIG. 5, each of the sealing arrangements 34 provided between the two modules 3, 103 comprises a first sealing body 104, which is fastened to the side wall of the technology module 103 facing the production module 3, and each has an inlet / outlet opening 17a and encloses an inlet / outlet opening 19a in a ring. Each of these sealing bodies 104 has an upper transverse web 105, a lower transverse web 106, an intermediate web 107 and two vertical webs, which cannot be seen directly in the sectional view in FIG. 5. The vertical webs and the two transverse webs 105 and 106 form a rectangle which completely surrounds the outer contour of the associated inlet / outlet openings 17a and 19a. The intermediate web 107, which runs parallel to the two transverse webs 105, 106 and also connects the two vertical webs to one another, is arranged in terms of height in such a way that it separates the two flow paths associated with the inlet / outlet openings 17a and 19a.

As can be seen from FIG. 5, each of the webs has a cross section in the form of an elongated isosceles triangle, which rests with its short base on the outer wall of one of the two modules (here the technology module 103) and with its free tip to the opposite outer wall of the other of the two modules (here the production module 3). On this other technology module, a second sealing body 109 is attached, which is made in the same way Web is constructed, as described above for the first sealing body 104 and which also surrounds the two inlet / outlet openings 17a and 19a assigned to it in a ring. The webs of this second sealing body 109 each have an approximately square cross section with an all-round groove that is open toward the opposite module. If the module carrying the first sealing bodies 104 is now pushed towards the module carrying the second sealing bodies 109, the projecting ridge edges of the first sealing bodies 104 formed by the cross-sectional triangular tips engage in the circumferential groove or groove of the second sealing bodies 109, as a result of which a gastight Transition for the flow paths from one module to the other is created.

The space 110 remaining between the two modules 3, 103 joined together is covered all around, ie both on the two vertical sides and on the roof and bottom sides by two essentially L-shaped profiles 112, which have the free end of their long Legs are attached to the outside of the module 3 or 103 concerned in such a way that their short legs protrude outward opposite one another at a short distance. These two short legs can then be connected to one another by a large number of clamping screws 114. The space remaining between the two short, outwardly projecting legs of the two L-shaped profiles 112 is covered by a U-shaped profile 115. With the aid of the elastically mounted tensioning screws 114, the sealing bodies 104 can be somewhat compressed, so that overall there is a vibration-decoupled, tight connection between the modules. The space 110 is not completely sealed. Air can flow into this space 110 via the installation shaft 117 shown in FIG. 5, in which pipes 118 run are blown in, as indicated by the flow arrows in FIG. 5. This air can be tempered, filtered or adjusted to a specific moisture content as required in order to shield the flow path connections formed by the sealing bodies 104, 109 against external influences. Conversely, air can also be withdrawn from the intermediate space 110 via the installation shaft 117 if it is to be prevented that gases escaping from the flow paths into this intermediate space 110 can escape to the outside.

Claims (25)

1. A modular specially air-conditioned room system comprising at least one production module containing areas for staying and working in, to which air flows which are treated in different ways are fed, and comprising a plurality of technical modules which can he added to the production module and which contain units serving for air treatment and/or air transportation into the production module, characterised in that provided for each of at least two of the air flows is a respective specific technical module (4, 5, 82, 103) and a specific feed flow path leading from said technical module (4, 5 , 82, 103) to the appropriate area (50, 70, 92) of the production module (3).
2. A modular specially air-conditioned room system according to claim 1 wherein air flowing out of the areas for staying and working in, in the production module, is recycled, characterised in that provided for at least one of the air flows is a specific return flow path which leads back into the associated technical module (4, 5, 82, 103).
3. A modular specially air-conditioned room system according to claim 1 or claim 2 characterised in that feed flow path portions, which extend in the production module (3), for air flows which are fed to different parts of the areas for staying and working in, are arranged in planes (E1, E2) which are disposed vertically one above the other.
4. A modular specially air-conditioned room system according to claim 2 or claim 3 characterised in that return flow path portions, which extend in the production module (3), for air flows which are carried out of various parts of the areas for staying and working in, are arranged in planes (E4, E5) which are disposed vertically one above the other.
5. A modular specially air-conditioned room system according to claim 3 characterised in that the uppermost feed flow path portion in the production module (3) is formed by a ceiling cavity (20) which extends virtually over the entire plan view area of the production module (3) while feed flow path portions disposed therebelow are formed by cavities (23; 90, 92) which each extend only over a respective part of the plan view area of the production module (3).
6. A modular specially air-conditioned room system according to claim 4 characterized in that the lowermost return flow path portion is formed in the production module (3) by a floor cavity (21) which extends virtually over the entire plan view area of the production module (3) while return flow path portions disposed thereabove are formed by cavities (24; 95, 101) which each extend only over a part of the plan view area of the production module (3).
7. A modular specially air-conditioned room system according to one of claims 1 to 6 characterised in that the flow paths for different air flows can be connected together by controllable flap arrangements (79, 80) which sealingly close in the closed condition and which are so controllable that a desired amount of the respective one air flow can be mixed with the respective other air flow.
8. A modular specially air-conditoned room system according to one of the preceding claims characterised in that provided in at least one kind of technical modules (4) is at least one through-flow path portion (45, 54) for an air flow of another technical module (5).
9. A modular specially air-conditioned room system according to claim 8 characterised in that in the technical modules (4, 5, 82, 103) the flow path portions which belong to different air flows extend in planes which are disposed vertically one above the other and the arrangement of which is approximately the same as the arrangement of the corresponding planes (E1, E2, E4, E5) in the production module (3).
10. A modular specially air-conditioned room system according to one of claims 3 to 9 characterised in that the intake/outlet openings (17, 19, 26) for the various flow paths are arranged in vertical walls of the production module (3) and vertical walls of the appropriate technical modules (4, 5, 82, 103) at the level of the plane (E1, E2, E4, E5) in the production module (3) for the respective flow path portion.
11. A modular specially air-conditioned room system according to claim 10 characterised in that for each of the flow paths a respective plurality of intake/outlet openings (17, 19, 26) are provided in at least two vertical walls, which are not opposite each other, of the production module (3), and in at least two vertical walls, which are not opposite each other, of the technical modules (4, 5, 82, 103), and that intake/outlet openings (17, 19, 26) which are not required are gas-tightly closable by insertable closure elements.
12. A modular specially air-conditioned room system according to claim 10 or claim 11 characterised in that the intake/outlet openings (17, 19, 26) of the flow paths are disposed approximately flush in the vertical walls of the production module (3) and the technical modules (4, 5, 82, 103) and that a respective one of two intake/outlet openings (17, 19, 26) which are disposed opposite each other when two modules (3, 103) are fitted together and of which one serves as an outlet opening and the other serves as an intake opening for a flow path, is completely annularly surrounded by a first sealing body (104) which is gas-tightly fixed to the outside of the appropriate side wall of the one module (103) and which projects towards the other module (3) and which, when the modules (3, 103) are fitted together, comes into gas-tight engagement with its freely projecting end edge with a second sealing body (109) which is arranged at the outside of the oppositely disposed module (3) and which annularly surrounds the opening there.
13. A modular specially air-conditioned room system according to claim 12 characterised in that a gas can be blown into the intermediate spaces (110) between assembled modules (3, 103).
14. A modular specially air-conditioned room system according to claim 12 characterised in that gas can be sucked out of the intermediate spaces (110) between assembled modules (3, 103).
15. A modular specially air-conditioned room system according to one of the preceding claims characterised in that one of the technical modules is an external air module (5) which mixes circulatory air sucked out of the production module (3) and external air sucked in from the surrounding atmosphere in a ratio which is variable from 100% circulatory air with 0% external air to 0% circulatory air with 100% external air, and which feeds said air mixture to one of the areas of the production module (3).
16. A modular specially air-conditioned room system according to one of the preceding claims characterised in that one of the technical modules is a circulatory air module (4) which recycles circulatory air which has been sucked out of the production module (3) to one of the areas of the production module (3) after suitable treatment thereof.
17. A modular specially air-conditioned room system according to claim 15 or claim 16 characterised in that the air which flows through the technical module (4, 5, 82, 103) is subjected to at least one treatment step in the technical module.
18. A modular specially air-conditioned room system according to one of claims 15 to 17 characterised in that the air which is fed to the production module (3) from the technical module (4, 5, 82, 103) is subjected to at least one treatment step in the production module.
19. A modular specially air-conditioned room system according to one or more of claims 15 to 18 characterised in that provided in the production module (3) are a general clean-room area (50) which receives air from the external air module (5) and at least one highly-clean clean-room area (70) which receives air from the circulatory air module (4).
20. A modular specially air-conditioned room system according to claim 19 characterised in that the air is fed from the external air module (5) to the general clean-room area (50) by way of the ceiling cavity (20) of the production module (3) and is removed through the floor cavity (21) of the production module (3).
21. A modular specially air-conditioned room system according to claim 19 or claim 20 characterised in that the air which the circulatory air module (4) sucks out of the production module (3) is substantially air from the highly-clean clean-room area (70).
22. A modular specially air-conditioned room system according to one of claims 19 to 21 characterised in that provided in the production module (3) is a further highly-clean clean-room area (92) which receives air from the external air module (5) by way of a flow path which is separate at least within the production module (3) from the flow path for the air which the general clean-room area (50) receives from the external air module (5).
23. A modular specially air-conditioned room system according to one of claims 15 to 22 characterised in that inserted between the external air module (5) and the production module (3) is at least one further technical module (4; 82) through which the air for the general clean-room area (50) flows along separate flow paths.
24. A modular specially air-conditioned room system according to claim 23 characterised in that the further technical module (4; 82) is the circulatory air module (4).
25. A modular specially air-conditioned room system according to claim 23 characterised in that the further technical module (4; 82) is a module (82) in which the air to be fed from the external air module (5) to the further highly-clean clean-room area (92) passes through an additional treatment step.

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