JP2002364878A - Dry room system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a dry room system that can be operated by dry air having a small air volume. SOLUTION: A conveyor 14 for carrying a work W is installed in a room 10, and a duct 16 is provided so that it surrounds the conveyor 14. The dry air is supplied only into the duct 16, and only the inside of the duct 16 is dried. Additionally, a resistance plate 18 is installed in the duct 16 with a specific gap, and pressure variation due to the travel of the work W is inhibited by the resistance plate 18.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a dry room system, and more particularly to a dry room system for supplying dry air having a low dew point into a room to dry the room.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Lithium batteries used for batteries of personal computers, mobile phones, electric vehicles and the like are manufactured in a dry room because the electrolyte easily reacts with moisture. The dry room used for manufacturing such a lithium battery has a dew point temperature of −60 ° C. only in an area where an electrolyte is handled.
(Moisture 10 ppm), and the supply air volume of the dry air is designed in consideration of the maximum load so that the dew point temperature becomes −30 ° C. to −40 ° C. in other areas depending on human load.

[0003]

The load in the dry room is mainly water released from humans. Therefore, when setting the amount of dry air to be supplied to the dry room, the maximum load is set to the maximum number of persons entering the dry room. I do. For this reason, there has been a drawback that the amount of supplied air tends to be excessive and the running cost increases accordingly.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and has as its object to provide a dry room system that can be operated with a small amount of dry air.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a dry room system for supplying dry air to a room in which a work is conveyed along a predetermined conveying path to dry the work. A duct arranged along the conveying path, inside which the work is conveyed,
Dry air supply means for supplying dry air adjusted to a predetermined dew point temperature into the duct, and a resistor disposed at a predetermined interval in the duct to suppress pressure fluctuation when the work moves in the duct. And a dry room system comprising: a plate;

In the present invention, dry air is supplied only to a duct in which a work is conveyed, and only the inside of the duct is dried. Thus, it is only necessary to supply dry air that is necessary for making the inside of the duct dry, so that it is possible to operate with a smaller amount of dry air than when supplying dry air to the entire room. Further, since the resistance plate is provided in the duct, pressure fluctuation can be suppressed even when the work moves in the duct. Thus, stable operation can always be performed even with a small amount of dry air.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of a dry room system according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a dry room system according to the present invention applied to a lithium battery production line.

[0009] As shown in FIG.
A chamber 12 for manufacturing (lithium battery) is provided, and a conveyor 14 for carrying in and out the work W into and out of the chamber 12 is provided along a predetermined transport path. A tunnel-shaped duct 16 is provided so as to cover the conveyor 14. The work W is transported in the duct 16.

The duct 16 is communicated with the chamber 12 and, as shown in FIG.
Are arranged at predetermined intervals. The resistance plate 18 is installed so as to be orthogonal to the transport direction of the work W, and has an opening 20 through which the work W passes. As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG.
A pair of left and right slide plates 22, 2 that slide in the left and right direction.
2 and the vertical slide plate 24 that slides in the vertical direction can change the opening amount.

As shown in FIG. 3, the pair of left and right slide plates 22 are slidably supported on a pair of guide rails 26 laid horizontally on the front surface of the resistance plate 18, respectively. The left and right slide plate 22 is provided with a screw rod 30 connected to an output shaft of a left and right slide plate drive motor 28.
The right and left slide plate driving motor 28 is driven to move in the left-right direction.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4, the upper and lower slide plates 24 are slidably supported on a pair of guide rails 34, 34 vertically laid on the back side surface of the resistance plate 18. The vertical slide plate 24 is connected via a nut member 40 to a screw rod 38 connected to an output shaft of a vertical slide plate drive motor 36. Move in the direction.

The resistance plate 18 adjusts the opening amount of the opening 20 regulated by the left and right slide plates 22 and the upper and lower slide plates 24 according to the size of the work W conveyed in the duct 16.

Dry air adjusted to a predetermined dew point temperature (about −60 ° C.) is supplied from a dehumidifier 42 to the chamber 12 to which the duct 16 is connected.

The dehumidifier 42 comprises a dehumidifying section 44 and a regenerating section 46, and the dehumidifying drum 4 provided for dehumidification in the dehumidifying section 44.
8 is reproduced by the reproducing unit 46. The dehumidifying section 44 and the regenerating section 46 are provided in a main body case 5 formed in a cylindrical shape.
A dehumidifying drum 48 is provided so as to straddle the dehumidifying part 44 and the regenerating part 46 in the main body case 50.

The dehumidifying drum 48 is formed by forming a honeycomb-shaped nonwoven fabric impregnated with a dehumidifying agent such as lithium chloride or silica gel into a drum shape, and is driven by a dehumidifying drum driving motor (not shown) to rotate.

In FIG. 1, the dehumidifying section 44 has a left end formed as an inlet 54 for processing air and a right end formed as an outlet 56 for dry air. A first cooler 58A and a second cooler 58B are provided in front of the inlet 54, and outside air is introduced to the dehumidifying section 44 through the first cooler 58A and the second cooler 58B. Further, between the first cooler 56 and the second cooler 58, return air from the chamber 10 is introduced via a return air duct 60, and is mixed with the outside air that has passed through the first cooler 58A. In the dehumidifying unit 44,
This mixed air is introduced as processing air. Moisture contained in the processing air is removed in the process of passing through the first cooler 58A and the second cooler 58B.

In the dehumidifying section 44, a dehumidifying fan 62 is provided on the inlet 54 side of the dehumidifying drum 48, and an aftercooler 64 is provided on the outlet 56 side. The processing air introduced into the dehumidifying unit 44 via the dehumidifying fan 62 is dehumidified by passing through the dehumidifying drum 48, and thereafter,
It is cooled by the after cooler 64. The air cooled by the aftercooler 64 is supplied as dry air into the chamber 12 through the air supply duct 66. A part of the air dehumidified by the dehumidifying drum 48 is directly discharged to the outside air and mixed with the outside air introduced into the regenerating unit 46.

In FIG. 1, the regenerating section 46 has a right end formed as an outside air inlet 68 and a left end formed as an exhaust air outlet 70.
It is formed as. In the regenerating section 46, a heater 72 is provided on the inlet 68 side with the dehumidifying drum 48 interposed therebetween, and a regenerating fan 74 is provided on the outlet 70 side. Outside air introduced into the regenerating unit 46 via the regenerating fan 74 is heated by passing through the heater 72, and then passes through the dehumidifying drum 48 to regenerate the dehumidifying drum 48. The air used for regeneration of the dehumidifying drum 48 is discharged from the outlet 70 as exhaust air, is cooled by a cooler 76 provided at a stage subsequent to the outlet 70, and is then discharged into the outside air.

The operation of the dry room system according to the present embodiment configured as described above is as follows.

First, the opening amount of the work passage opening 20 formed in each resistance plate 18 installed in the duct 16 is adjusted. The opening amount is set based on the outer dimensions of the work W to be conveyed, and is set to be substantially the same as the outer dimensions of the work W. That is, the work W is
Is set so that the opening can pass through the end. At this time, the opening amount is adjusted by sliding the left and right slide plates 22, 22 and the up and down slide 24, as shown in FIGS.

After the above setting is completed, the dehumidifier 42 is operated. First, a dehumidification drum driving motor (not shown) is driven to rotate the dehumidification drum 30. At the same time, the dehumidifying fan 62 and the regenerating fan 74 are driven.

When the dehumidifying fan 62 is driven, the chamber 10
The return air is introduced between the first cooler 58A and the second cooler 58B via the return air duct 60. At the same time, the outside air is introduced into the first cooler 58A, and the outside air cooled by the first cooler 58A is mixed with the return air and introduced into the second cooler 58. Then, the mixed air of the outside air and the return air that has passed through the second cooler 58B is introduced into the dehumidifying section 44 of the dehumidifier 42 as processing air. The cooling air introduced into the dehumidifying section 44 is dehumidified to a dew point temperature of about −60 ° C. by passing through a dehumidifying drum 48, and thereafter, is cooled by an aftercooler 64, and then is supplied to the chamber 12 through an air supply duct 66. Supplied within.

On the other hand, when the regenerating fan 74 is driven, a mixed air of a part of the dry air passing through the dehumidifying drum 48 and the outside air is introduced into the regenerating section 46 from the inlet 68. The air introduced into the regenerating section 46 is heated by passing through the heater 72, and the heated air is rotated by the dehumidifying drum 4.
8, the dehumidifying drum 48 is regenerated.

As described above, the dehumidifying drum 48 is used while rotating to repeatedly perform dehumidification and regeneration, and stably supplies dry air having a dew point temperature of about −60 ° C. into the chamber 12.

The dry air supplied into the chamber 12 is exhausted into the chamber 10 through a duct 16 communicating with the chamber 12.

Here, since the work W is moving inside the duct 16, the internal pressure may fluctuate.
Since a plurality of resistance plates 18, 18,... Are installed inside 6, the pressure fluctuation can be suppressed (see FIG. 5). Therefore, even when the small amount of dry air is supplied, the inside of the duct 16 can always be maintained in a stable environment.

Further, since the inside of the duct 16 can always be maintained at a constant environment without being affected by the surrounding environment, the chamber 12 and the duct 16
It is sufficient to supply only enough dry air to keep the inside in a predetermined environment (dew point temperature -60 ° C environment).
Only a small amount of dry air needs to be supplied. As a result, the running cost associated with the operation of the system can be reduced.

In the above-described embodiment, the dry air is supplied from the dehumidifier 42 to the chamber 12. However, as shown in FIG. 6, the duct 16 is divided by the resistance plates 18, 18,. Each space 17, 17, ... in
May be supplied directly to the In this case, the air supply duct 66 branches into a plurality at the tip end, and this branch duct 66
A, 66A,... Are spaces 17, 17,.
Communicate with And each branch duct 66A, 66A, ...
Are provided so that the supply amount can be adjusted individually. Thereby, the environment in the duct 16 can be kept more stable.

In the present embodiment, the area of the opening 20 of the resistance plate 18 installed in the duct 16 can be changed according to the external dimensions of the work W. May be constant. Also,
In the present embodiment, the opening amount is adjusted electrically, but may be adjusted manually.

The opening 2 formed in the resistance plate 18
The method of changing the area of 0 is not limited to the present embodiment, and may be changed using other means. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, door members 80, 80 formed of an elastic material such as rubber, which can be opened and closed right and left.
To form the resistance plate 82, and the door members 80, 80 may be pushed right and left to spread the work W. According to the resistance plate 82, as shown in FIG. 7B, the door members 80, 80 are opened only when the work W passes, and after the work W passes, as shown in FIG. Since the door members 80 and 80 are closed by (elastic restoring force), the duct 16 is always closed.
The pressure inside can be kept constant.

[0032]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since dry air is supplied only to the duct where the work is transported and only the inside of this duct is made dry,
Only the amount of dry air required to dry the inside of the duct needs to be supplied, and the system can be operated with a smaller amount of dry air than before.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a dry room system according to the present invention applied to a lithium battery production line.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a schematic configuration of a main part of a dry room system according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing a configuration of a resistance plate.

FIG. 4 is a rear view showing a configuration of a resistance plate.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a pressure fluctuation state in a duct in a case where a resistance plate is provided and a case where a resistance plate is not provided;

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of another embodiment of a method for supplying dry air.

FIG. 7 is a front view showing another embodiment of the resistance plate.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 room, 12 chamber, 14 conveyor, 16 duct, 18 resistance plate, 20 opening, 42 dehumidifier, 44
... dehumidifying unit, 46 ... regenerating unit, 66 ... air supply duct, W ... work

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A dry room system for supplying dry air into a room in which a work is conveyed along a predetermined conveyance path to dry the room, wherein the work is arranged along the conveyance path of the work, and the inside of the work is arranged inside the conveyance path. A duct to be conveyed; dry air supply means for supplying dry air adjusted to a predetermined dew point temperature into the duct; and a dry air supply unit disposed at a predetermined interval in the duct to allow the work to move through the duct. A dry room system comprising a resistance plate for suppressing pressure fluctuation. 2. The resistance plate according to claim 1, wherein the resistance plate has an opening through which the work can pass, and an opening amount of the opening is variable according to an outer dimension of the work. Dry room system. 3. The dry room system according to claim 1, wherein the dry air supply unit individually supplies dry air to each space in the duct partitioned by the resistance plate.