JP2003081405A - Purified air circulation type storage equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide purified air circulation type storage equipment capable of avoiding of air flows a large amount to the outside of the equipment through an opening part for carrying in and out articles. SOLUTION: A rack body having a plurality of storage parts in vertically arranged state and an article conveying means are installed in an installation space having the opening part for carrying in and out articles and a fresh air inlet and dividedly formed in outside air shielded state. A rear side circulation passage formed on the rear side of the rack body and a front side air circulation passage for purification are provided in the state of communicating with each other. A plurality of purified air blowing units suck air inside a rear side circulation passage and circulate purified air into a plurality of storage spaces of the storage part in the direction from the rear to the front side thereof. A circulation means for discharge is installed to suck and discharge a part of the air for purification circulatingly flowing through the front circulating passage and rear circulation passage by the air circulation of the plurality of purified air circulation units.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a storage facility for storing articles such as liquid crystal display elements and semiconductor products in a clean environment with little dust, and more specifically, to an opening for carrying in and out articles and an outside air. An installation space that is partitioned and formed in a state where the outside air is shielded with an intake port is provided, and in the installation space, a shelf body that is provided with a plurality of storage units that are provided with storage spaces for storing articles in a vertically aligned manner, And an article transporting unit located on the front side of the shelf body for transporting articles between the article loading / unloading opening and the plurality of storage sections, and a rear side portion of the shelf body. The air purifying filter is provided in a state in which the back side purifying air ventilation passage formed in the front side and the front side purifying air ventilation passage in which the article conveying means is arranged at the front side of the shelf body communicate with each other. And blast A plurality of purified air blowing units, each of which sucks the air in the back side purification air ventilation passage, into each of the storage spaces of the plurality of storage units, from the back side to the front side. The present invention relates to a purified air ventilation type storage facility installed on the back side of the shelf body in a state of passing purified air.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In the purified air ventilation type storage facility having the above-mentioned structure, conventionally, as shown in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-345206, a plurality of purified air blowing units installed on the back side of a shelf body. By this, the air in the back side purification air ventilation path is sucked, and the purifying air is ventilated from the back side to the front side in the storage spaces of the plurality of storage sections, and the front of the shelf body is Circulation ventilation is provided to the back side purification air ventilation passage through the front side purification air ventilation passage in which the article conveying means is disposed at the side location and the communication passage formed in the lower portion of the shelf body. . Then, a part of the air that is circulated and ventilated is passed through an outlet formed at the lower end of the shelf main body and an article loading / unloading opening that is opened for loading / unloading the article to the outside of the apparatus. It is configured to be discharged to. In addition, this storage facility is configured to be installed in a clean room,
The clean air blown downward from the ceiling of the clean room is taken in through the outside air intake formed at the upper end of the back side purification air ventilation passage.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned conventional structure, while the circulating ventilation is performed as described above, the plurality of purified air blowing units as described above ventilate the purified air, so that, for example, the article conveying means conveys the air. By removing the fine dust, etc. generated by the operation and the fine dust floating in the air, purified air is constantly supplied to the storage space of each storage section where the items are stored. We try to create a clean environment with little dust.

However, in the above-mentioned conventional structure, the purified air is ventilated by the plurality of purified air blowing units, and the air ventilated from all the purified air blowing units is the front side purifying air ventilation passage, that is, Since the article conveying means is configured to gather in the moving space in which the article conveying means moves to circulate and ventilate the air, the internal air pressure inside the front side purification air ventilation passage may increase. For example, if the air volume adjustment amount of each of the plurality of purified air blowing units is set to be slightly larger, the internal air pressure inside the front side purification air ventilation passage, which is the place where the supply air gathers, becomes too high. For example, there is a possibility that a large amount of air may flow out of the apparatus through the article loading / unloading opening that is opened for loading / unloading the article. In particular,
When the number of storage units in the shelf main body is increased in order to increase the storage amount of articles, the amount of externally discharged air as described above increases. When a large amount of air flows out of the apparatus through the article loading / unloading opening as described above, there is a disadvantage that dust adhering to the external apparatus is wound into the air, and improvement has been desired. For example, in the case of installation in a clean room, the flow of purified air blown downward from the ceiling of the clean room may be disturbed to cause a turbulent flow, and dust may rise.

The present invention has been made by paying attention to such a point, and an object thereof is to carry in and out the articles as described above even when the number of storing parts in the shelf main body is increased. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a storage facility of a purified air ventilation type, which makes it possible to prevent a large amount of air from flowing out of the apparatus through the opening for use.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an installation space partitioned and formed in an outside air shielding state with an opening for carrying in and out articles and an outside air intake port, and the installation space is provided in the installation space. A shelf main body provided with a plurality of storage parts having storage spaces for storing articles arranged in a vertical direction, and the article loading / unloading opening and the plurality of storages located on the front side of the shelf main body And an article transporting means for transporting articles between the shelf body and a back side purification air ventilation path formed at a rear side portion of the shelf body, and the article transporting means at a front side portion of the shelf body. Is provided in a state in which the front side purifying air ventilation passage to which is deployed are in communication with each other, a plurality of purified air blowing units provided with an air purifying filter and a blower, the air in the back side purifying air ventilation passage Aspirate and store in multiple storage compartments In the storage facility of the purified air ventilation type installed on the back side of the shelf main body in a state where the purified air is ventilated from the back side to the front side of each of the storage spaces, the plurality of purified air Exhaust that sucks a part of the purification air that is circulated and flows through the front-side purification air ventilation passage and the back-side purification air ventilation passage by the ventilation of the blower unit and discharges it to an exhaust location outside the installation space. A ventilation means is provided.

That is, the exhaust ventilation means circulates a portion of the purification air circulated and flowed through the front purification air ventilation passage and the back purification air ventilation passage by the ventilation of the plurality of purification air ventilation units. It is sucked and discharged to a discharge place outside the installation space. Then, when the air ventilated by the plurality of purified air ventilation units gathers in the front side purification air ventilation passage and is circulated, and the internal air pressure inside the front side purification air ventilation passage becomes high. In this case, the exhaust ventilation unit sucks a portion of the purification air that is circulated and flows and discharges it to the discharge location outside the installation space, thereby lowering the internal air pressure inside the front-side purification air ventilation passage. This makes it possible to prevent a large amount of air from flowing out of the apparatus through the opening for loading and unloading articles.

Therefore, for example, when the air volume adjustment amount of each of the plurality of purified air blowing units is set to be slightly larger than an appropriate value, or in order to increase the number of storable articles, the shelf main body Even when the number of storage parts of the device is increased, it is possible to prevent the internal air pressure inside the front-side purification air ventilation passage from increasing and to increase the amount of air through the opening for loading and unloading articles. It has become possible to provide a storage facility of purified air ventilation type that can avoid the disadvantage of flowing out of the device.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the exhaust ventilation means is configured such that the ventilation amount can be changed and adjusted.

That is, since the exhaust ventilation unit is capable of changing and adjusting the ventilation amount, by changing and adjusting the ventilation amount, for example, the internal air pressure inside the front-side purification air ventilation passage can be adjusted according to the usage condition. Even when the pressure changes, it can be maintained in an appropriate state by changing the internal pressure so that the internal air pressure is always appropriate, and a suitable means for carrying out claim 1 can be obtained.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect, there is provided a partition member for partitioning the back side purification air ventilation passage into an upper ventilation region located on an upper side and a lower ventilation region located on a lower side. By the ventilation operation of each of the purified air blowing units provided corresponding to the upper ventilation area, the air outside the installation space is taken in from the outside air intake port, and the air is provided corresponding to the upper ventilation area and the upper ventilation area. Ventilation to the front side purification air ventilation passage through each of the accommodating parts, and ventilation to the front side purification air ventilation passage by the ventilation operation of each purification air ventilation unit provided corresponding to the lower ventilation region. Part of the purified air is ventilated to the front side purifying air ventilation passage through the lower ventilation region and each storage portion provided corresponding to the lower ventilation region, and the front side purifying air is purified. Characterized in that it is configured to discharge a part of the remaining clean air to be ventilated to the air ventilation path outside the installation space.

That is, the back side purification air ventilation passage is vertically divided by the partition member, and the ventilation operation of each purified air blowing unit provided corresponding to the upper ventilation region is performed from the outside air intake to outside the installation space. The air is taken in and passed through the upper ventilation region to the front side purification air ventilation passage through the respective storage portions provided corresponding to the upper ventilation region. On the other hand, by the ventilation operation of each purified air blowing unit provided corresponding to the lower ventilation region, a part of the purified air that is ventilated to the front side purification air ventilation passage,
The lower ventilation region is circulated and ventilated to the front side purification air ventilation passage through the respective storage portions provided corresponding to the lower ventilation region. Then, since the remaining part of the purified air ventilated in the front side purifying air ventilation passage is discharged to the outside of the installation space, the purifying air blowing unit of each purifying air ventilation unit provided corresponding to the upper ventilation region It is possible to prevent the air that is ventilated by the ventilation operation from staying in the front-side purification air ventilation passage and increasing the internal pressure of the internal space.

For example, when the number of storage parts is increased to increase the storage amount, all of the purified air that is ventilated to the front side purification air ventilation passage by all the purified air blowing units is in the back part. If each purified air blowing unit is configured to circulate through the side purification air ventilation passage, the vertical ventilation path in the back side purification air ventilation passage becomes longer, and the ventilation resistance increases accordingly, so that in the installation space Although the air pressure may increase, as described above, the purified air blower units provided corresponding to the lower ventilation region are circulated and ventilated, and the purified air blower units provided corresponding to the upper ventilation region are supplied to the purified air blower units. As a result, by ventilating the air taken in from the outside air intake after discharging it out of the installation space, it is possible to prevent the air pressure in the installation space from increasing. Duck, sufficient air for all clean air blowing unit is supplied, it is possible to ventilate sufficiently purified air to each compartment. Therefore, suitable means for carrying out claim 1 or 2 is obtained.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, purified air ventilation type storage equipment according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Figure 1
In addition, for example, a purified air ventilation type storage facility installed in a clean indoor space with little dust for manufacturing semiconductor products, liquid crystal display elements and the like is shown. Work-in-process or semi-finished products in the course of manufacturing such as those mentioned above need to be stored in an environment with little dust such as fine dust, but the storage facility is intended to store such articles. Items are stored in a clean space with little dust.

The installation space in which this storage facility is installed will be described. As described above, the room in which the manufacturing apparatus for the above-mentioned products, the transfer apparatus, etc. are installed is
It is configured as a so-called clean room, and the floor of the clean room R1 is formed in a mesh-shaped grating floor 1 having a large number of ventilation holes, and an intake space Q is formed below the grating floor 1. An intake room R2 is provided, and as shown in the figure, the air in the clean room R1 is taken in by the ventilation fan F through the space in the intake room R2 and the circulation path Q, and
The sucked air passes through an air chamber 3 formed above the ceiling surface 2 of the clean room R1 and is purified through an air filter 4 such as a HEPA filter provided on the ceiling surface 2 of the clean room R1. After that, it is blown down and supplied toward the inside of the clean room R1. Therefore, the air in the clean room R1 is circulated and ventilated through the path as described above, and the purified air is constantly supplied in a state of being blown downward from the ceiling surface 2 so that a high cleanliness state can be maintained. Has become.

The storage facility is installed on the floor 5 in the intake room R2, and is inserted through the insertion hole 6 formed in the grating floor 1 to provide a ceiling surface 2 of the clean room R1. It is formed to be long in the vertical direction so as to be close to and close to it, and is configured to maximize the number of storable articles.

Next, the structure of the storage facility will be described.
As shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 3, and FIG. 4, the substantially box-shaped cover body 7 that covers the outer periphery thereof forms an installation space that is partitioned and formed in the outside air shielding state. Inside the established installation space, a plurality of shelf main bodies 9A and 9B provided with a plurality of storage parts 8 for storing the articles C are arranged side by side in a horizontal direction at predetermined intervals in a state of being arranged in parallel in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction. And the pair of shelf bodies 9A and 9B
A stacker crane 10 as an article transporting means for transporting articles to and from a plurality of storage sections 8 and to a conveyor device 11 described later is provided in the intermediate portion of the above. This stacker crane 10 travels on a traveling rail 10a installed on the floor surface, and an upper end is guided along a guide rail 10b installed on a ceiling portion to a movable carriage 10c which can travel laterally, A transfer device 10d for transferring articles between a plurality of storage units 8 and a conveyor device 11 described later is provided so as to be vertically movable. Then, as shown in FIG. 2, an article C is received from the stacker crane 10 by utilizing a space of a part of the plurality of storage sections 8 of the one shelf main body 9A, and the article unloading and loading formed on the cover is carried out. A conveyor device 11 is provided for transporting the article C through the opening K for use.

Each of the shelf main bodies 9A and 9B has a side facing each other, that is, the stacker crane 10 side is the front side and the opposite side is the back side, and the back side portions of the respective shelf main bodies 9A and 9B are located. The shelf body 9A, 9
Back side purification air ventilation paths L (hereinafter, referred to as back side ventilation paths) are respectively formed between B and the cover body 7,
Further, a front side purification air ventilation passage M (hereinafter, referred to as a front side ventilation passage), which is a space in which the stacker crane 10 is installed, is formed at a front surface side portion of each of the shelf main bodies 9A and 9B. ing.

The front side of each of the storage sections 8 is in an open state for loading and unloading the articles C by the stacker crane 10, and the back side of each of the storage sections 8 is, as shown in FIG. As a plurality of purified air blowing units for sucking air in the back side ventilation passage L and passing purified air from the back side to the front side of the storage spaces of the plurality of storage sections 8 respectively. Fan filter unit 1
2 are installed respectively. This fan filter unit 12 is, as shown in FIG.
The air purifying filter 14 for purifying the air and the motor-driven blower 15 that ventilates air from the back side toward the front side are configured, and the blower 15 removes the air in the back side ventilation passage L. By sucking and ventilating the air into the storage space of the storage portion 8 from the back side to the front side, dust such as fine dust contained in the passing air is filtered by the air purification filter 14. The removed and cleaned air is supplied to the storage space of the storage section 8. Each of the plurality of fan filter units 12 has a configuration in which the amount of air blow can be changed and adjusted by changing and adjusting the rotation speed of each blower 15.

As shown in FIG. 2, in each of the pair of back side ventilation passages L, an upper ventilation region L1 located on the upper side of each back side ventilation passage L and a lower ventilation located on the lower side thereof. A partition member 16 for partitioning the area L2 is provided, and an outside air intake port 17 is formed in each of the vertical intermediate portions of the side surfaces of the cover body 7 located on both sides in the rack alignment direction. Then, each outside air intake port 17 is provided at a position corresponding to a lower end side position of the upper ventilation region L1 of each of the pair of back side ventilation passages L. In addition, at the lower end of each of the shelf main bodies 9A and 9B, a communication passage 18 that communicates the front air passage M and the pair of back air passages L and L, respectively, and a part of the air that circulates. An exhaust unit 19 is formed for discharging the gas to the outside of the apparatus.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, each fan filter unit 12 executes the air blowing operation,
The air outside the installation space is taken in through the outside air intake port 17, is sucked into each fan filter unit 12 provided corresponding to the upper ventilation region L1 through the upper ventilation region L1, and is accommodated in each fan filter unit 12. After passing through the portion 8, the air is ventilated toward the front side ventilation passage M. On the other hand, by the ventilation operation of each fan filter unit 12 provided corresponding to the lower ventilation region L2, a part of the purified air ventilated in the front ventilation passage M is partially blown to the lower ventilation region L2 and below it. The front ventilation passage M is circulated through each storage portion 8 provided corresponding to the side ventilation region L2. Then, the front side ventilation passage M
The remaining part of the purified air that is ventilated through the exhaust air is discharged to the outside of the installation space through the exhaust portion 19. By taking in the outside air as described above, it is possible to prevent the temperature of the air in the installation space from rising due to heat or the like generated by the stacker crane.

Then, a part of the purification air circulated and flowed through the front side ventilation passage M and the back side ventilation passage L is sucked into this storage facility by the ventilation of the plurality of fan filter units 12, A forced exhaust fan 20 is provided as an exhaust ventilation unit that discharges to an exhaust location outside the installation space. This forced exhaust fan 20 has a front side ventilation passage M.
The internal air is sucked through the intake path 21 and discharged to the space inside the intake room R2 as a discharge point outside the installation space. Also, this forced exhaust fan 2
0 is configured so that its ventilation amount can be changed and adjusted, and the internal air pressure in the installation space can be adjusted to an appropriate value by changing and adjusting the ventilation amount. The appropriate internal air pressure in the installation space means a state in which air is not expelled vigorously through the opening and is a pressure slightly higher than the external space so as not to suck dust and the like from the external space through the gap. In this way, by sucking the air inside the front side ventilation passage M and discharging it to the outside of the installation space, for example, the internal air pressure inside the installation space becomes high, and the air is passed through the opening K for carrying in and out the articles. It is possible to prevent the flow of the clean air that is blown out vigorously and is blown downward in the clean room R1 to be disturbed, or the dust attached to the external device to be blown into the air.

[Other Embodiments] Other embodiments will be listed below.

(1) In the above-described embodiment, the back side ventilation passage L is vertically partitioned, and the air taken in from the outside air intake port is provided in correspondence with the upper ventilation region and the upper ventilation region. Through the front side ventilation passage M, and a part of the purified air that is ventilated in the front side ventilation passage M is provided in the lower ventilation region and each storage portion provided corresponding to the lower ventilation region. Although it has been configured to circulate and ventilate the front side purification air ventilation passage through the above, it is not limited to such a configuration, and the back side ventilation passage L is not vertically divided and is ventilated to the front side ventilation passage M. The entire amount of the purified air may be circulated to the front side ventilation passage M through all the storage portions.

(2) In the above embodiment, the outside air intake port is formed at an intermediate position in the vertical direction on the front and rear side surfaces of the cover body, but the present invention is not limited to such a structure, and the upper end of each shelf body is Alternatively, the clean air blown from the ceiling surface of the clean room R1 may be directly introduced, or the clean air may be formed in another place.

(3) In the above-mentioned embodiment, the exhaust ventilation means is exemplified to be configured so that the ventilation amount can be changed and adjusted. However, the ventilation amount is not limited to such a configuration, and the ventilation amount is set to a predetermined constant value. It may be configured to operate by ventilation.

(4) In the above embodiment, a stacker crane is exemplified as the article transporting means, but the article transporting means is not limited to the stacker crane.
That is, an elevating table is provided so as to be able to move up and down over substantially the entire width of the device, and on this elevating table, articles can be moved between the storage units and the container device for unloading so as to be movable along the lateral width. The present invention can be implemented in various forms such as a transfer device provided with a transferable article transfer device.

(5) In the above embodiment, a pair of shelves main bodies are provided so as to face each other. However, the present invention is not limited to such a construction, and a single shelves main body may be provided. The present invention can be applied as long as the back side purification air ventilation passage is formed at the back side portion of the shelf body and the front side purification air ventilation passage is formed at the front side portion of the shelf body. Further, the shelf main body is not limited to a configuration in which a plurality of storage units are provided in parallel in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction, but may be configured to be provided in a line in the vertical direction in various forms. It can be carried out.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an installation state of storage equipment.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing the configuration of storage equipment.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing the configuration of storage equipment.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing the configuration of storage equipment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of a fan filter unit.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the flow of air.

[Explanation of symbols]

8 storage 9A, 9B Shelf body 10 article transport means 12 Purified air blowing unit 14 Air purification filter 15 blower 16 partition members 17 Outside air intake 20 Exhaust ventilation means K opening L Back side purification air ventilation passage L1 upper ventilation area L2 lower ventilation area M Air purification passage for front side purification

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An installation space partitioned and formed in an outside air shielding state is provided with an opening for loading and unloading articles and an outside air intake, and a plurality of storage spaces for storing articles are provided in the installation space. A shelf main body having storage units arranged in a vertical direction, and
Located on the front side of the shelf body, an article transporting means for transporting articles between the article loading / unloading opening and the plurality of storage sections is provided, and is formed at a rear side portion of the shelf body. The back side purifying air ventilation path and the front side purifying air ventilation path in which the article conveying means is arranged at the front side of the shelf main body are provided so as to communicate with each other, and an air purifying filter and a blower are provided. A plurality of purified air blowing units, each of which sucks the air in the back side purification air ventilation passage, into each of the storage spaces of the plurality of storage units, from the back side to the front side. A storage device of a purified air ventilation type installed on the back side of the shelf main body in a state of passing purified air, wherein the front side purification air ventilation passage and the above-mentioned purification air ventilation unit are ventilated. Through the air ventilation passage for purification on the back side By sucking a portion of the cleaning air is circulated flow, the installation space outside the storage facilities of the clean air ventilated exhaust ventilation means for discharging are provided in the discharge position. 2. The purified air ventilation type storage facility according to claim 1, wherein the exhaust ventilation unit is configured so that the ventilation amount can be changed and adjusted. 3. A partition member is provided to partition the back side purification air ventilation passage into an upper ventilation region located on the upper side and a lower ventilation region located on the lower side, and provided corresponding to the upper ventilation region. By the ventilation operation of each of the purified air blowing units, the air outside the installation space is taken in from the outside air intake port, and the front side purification air is passed through the upper ventilation region and each storage portion provided corresponding to the upper ventilation region. A part of the purified air that is ventilated to the front side purifying air ventilation passage is vented to the front side purifying air ventilation passage by the ventilation operation of each purified air blowing unit provided corresponding to the lower ventilation region. Remaining purified air that is circulated and ventilated to the front side purification air ventilation passage through the respective storage portions provided corresponding to the side ventilation area and the lower side ventilation area, and is ventilated to the front side purification air ventilation path. 3. The purified air ventilation type storage facility according to claim 1 or 2, which is configured to discharge a part of the exhaust gas to the outside of the installation space.