JP2003090576A - Clean space constructing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the difficulty with prior art that it is wasteful to dispose many clean benches locally forming a highly clean space in a clean room. SOLUTION: A clean bench is constructed with a blow unit 1 for blowing clean air through a filter 4, and a drain unit 5 for sucking air supplied from the blow unit 1 through the filter 7. An interval between the units is adjustable.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a clean space forming device capable of locally forming a clean environment.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In semiconductor device manufacturing factories, pharmaceutical factories, precision machinery factories, etc., where cleanliness is required, the inside of the factory is divided according to the work content, and a cleanliness class is set for each divided area. In a region where high cleanliness is required, install a clean room equipped with an air purifier equipped with a filter that collects dust and, if necessary, a filter that adsorbs and removes substances that are corrosive or reactive. It manages the internal cleanliness. Clean room cleanliness class 1000-2
In 00000, the turbulence method is cleanliness class 100 to 10
In 00, a horizontal laminar flow method and a vertical laminar flow method are adopted, and in each case, a filter for collecting suspended dust is arranged on the ceiling, and purified air is circulated in the room through this filter. In order to maintain good cleanliness in the clean room, it is important not to bring dust into the clean room, to not generate dust in the clean room, to quickly remove dust even if it occurs, and to not accumulate dust. In consideration of these points, indoor equipment is arranged, and workers are covered with dust-free clothing, dust-free caps, dust-free shoes, dust-free gloves, etc. to prevent dust generation in the clean room as much as possible.

Further, in the semiconductor manufacturing process in which submicron-scale fine processing is performed, a super clean environment with a cleanliness of 1 or less is required, and a manufacturing apparatus equipped with an air purifier is arranged in a clean room of cleanliness of 100 or less. In order to prevent dust generation, we have realized a super clean environment locally, and have the robot handle the supply and unloading of semiconductor wafers, which is fully automated.

The manufacturing device has a control device for controlling the device,
A measuring device for performing maintenance, inspection, and repair of manufacturing equipment, a repairing equipment, and a management equipment for managing the production state are required. The control device and management device are usually arranged in a clean room adjacent to the super clean room so that the operation status of the manufacturing device can be easily monitored, maintained, inspected, and repaired, and any troubles can be dealt with immediately. A turbulent flow system or a horizontal laminar flow system is adopted as a clean room for control and management where workers frequently go in and out. Inside, workers wear dust-free clothing and cleanliness class 1000-
It is kept at 5000.

The above-mentioned super clean room and control,
An air pressure difference is provided between the clean room for management to prevent air with low cleanliness from entering the super clean room.Furthermore, an opening / closing door equipped with an air shutter is placed on the back of the manufacturing facility. Through the open / close door, major parts of manufacturing equipment are taken out to a clean room with low cleanliness for periodic inspection and repair.

In a clean room of low cleanliness, dust is significantly less than in the external environment. However, if dust adheres to main parts during inspection or repair, it is returned to the super clean room and dust is generated, which causes semiconductor wafer There is a risk of degrading quality. Especially the dust that has entered the disassembled main parts
It cannot be removed by air blow after assembly, and if it floats inside the manufacturing equipment during long-term operation and adheres to the surface of the semiconductor wafer or to major parts inside the manufacturing equipment, such as the lenses and masks of the exposure equipment, the quality of the semiconductor wafer deteriorates. There is a risk.

Therefore, a clean bench or a clean booth is installed in the clean room, and the main parts taken out from the super clean room are packed on the spot so that they do not come into contact with the outside air, and a high cleanliness level is created locally in the control and management clean room. After unpacking, checking, and repairing work in the environment, after this work is completed, it is repacked, unpacked in a super clean room, and reattached to the manufacturing equipment.

As an example of a clean bench, JP-A-60-
No. 213753 (Prior Art 1), Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 62-18
Japanese Patent No. 9531 (Prior Art 2), Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 12283/1990.
No. 4 publication (Prior Art 3) and the like. Each of them has a rectangular box shape, has an opening in the front, and a workbench is arranged at an intermediate position in the height direction. The clean air that has passed through the filter is blown from above the box to the workbench below, and Is designed to work on the main parts on the workbench by inserting hands through the opening, and by taking measures such as placing an air shutter in the opening to prevent outside air from entering the workbench. Achieves a locally highly clean environment in a clean room.

[0009]

On the other hand, if the number of clean benches installed is small, the distance between the main bench take-out position on the super clean room side and the clean bench becomes long, the reciprocating time becomes long, and the packing surface of the main parts becomes large. If a large amount of dust adheres to the product and cannot be completely removed even if the dust on the packing surface is removed by air blow before packing on the clean bench, there is a risk that foreign matter floating during unpacking will adhere to the main parts. there were.

Although such a problem can be solved by adding a clean bench to the equipment of a super clean room, if a clean bench is added to an existing clean room, the circulation state of air inside the clean room changes and air stagnation occurs. It is necessary to re-examine the circulation state of air because dust may be accumulated in some places. There is also a problem that the work space is reduced due to the increase of the installation area of the clean bench.

Further, in a general clean room, due consideration is not given to corrosive and reactive gases, so it is necessary to supply the main parts taken out from the super clean room to a clean bench capable of removing corrosive and reactive gases. However, when a large number of such benches are arranged, there is a problem that the replacement work of the filter increases and the maintenance cost becomes high.

[0012]

The present invention has been proposed for the purpose of solving the above-mentioned problems, and a filter is arranged on an opening surface opened in a part of a plenum chamber for compressing and storing inhaled air. It is equipped with a blower unit that blows out purified air through this filter, and a drain unit that arranges a filter on the opening surface that is opened in a part of the suction chamber where the inside pressure is reduced and sucks outside air through this filter. Provided is a clean space configuring device, wherein each filter of each unit is erected so as to face each other, and the facing interval of each filter can be adjusted.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A clean space forming device according to the present invention is one in which two units of a blow unit and a drain unit are arranged to face each other to form a space of clean air between filters, and the device can be moved in a clean room. The facing interval can be changed, and a local super-clean environment can be realized by circulating air between each unit, and the influence on the circulation of air in the clean room can be minimized.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.
In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a blow unit, which is a box-shaped plenum chamber with an opening on one side.
ber) 2, an intake pump 3 that sucks external air into the plenum chamber 2 and compresses it, and a filter 4 that closes the opening surface of the plenum chamber 2. A drain unit 5 is composed of a box-shaped suction chamber 6 having one surface opened and a filter 7 having the opening surface closed. In each unit 1 and 5, filters 4 and 7 are vertically installed on a floor surface 8 of a clean room, and the vertically installed filters 4 and 7 are arranged to face each other. In the illustrated example, the blow unit 1 is fixed to the floor surface 8, the suction chamber 6 is movable, and after adjusting the facing distance between the units 1 and 5, the blow unit 1 is fixed to the floor surface 8. Although not shown, the wheels can be easily moved by mounting the wheels on the bottom surface of either one of the units 1 and 5. Reference numeral 9 denotes an air communication portion (duct) having both ends connected to the units 1 and 5 and connecting the units to each other. The air discharged from the blow unit 1 and sucked by the drain unit 5 is returned to the blow unit 1. The air cleaned by removing dust by the filter 4 is blown out from the unit 1 and is sucked by the opposing unit 5, so that a clean space having a higher cleanliness than the cleanliness class of the surrounding clean room is provided between the units 1 and 5. Thus, dust-free work can be performed on a bench (not shown) arranged between the units 1 and 5.

The blower unit 1 is constituted by the air communicating portion 9 described above.
When a circulation path is formed between the blow unit 1 and the drain unit 5, the blow unit 1 does not suck air from the clean room, and the drain unit 5 mainly sucks the air blown from the blow unit 1 and the suction amount from the clean room is small. Since the sucked air is returned to the blow unit 1 without being discharged into the clean room, the air flow in the clean room is not disturbed. The air communication portions 9 may be attached to the units 1 and 5 fixed to the floor by adjusting the distance between them, but the outer end portions of the blower unit 1 side and the drain unit 5 side may have different diameters. By connecting the air communication portion 9 and inserting the outer end of one air communication portion 9 into the outer end of the other air communication portion 9, each unit 1, while maintaining the communication state of the air communication portion 9, The spacing of 5 can be adjusted. Further, by using the air communicating portion 9 having the middle connected by the tubular connecting member made of a bellows-like or pressure-resistant expanding / contracting member, each of the units 1, 5 can be connected with the air communicating portion 9 connected.
You can freely adjust the interval.

Further, the filter 4 may be a filter unit alone for collecting dust, but in the case of parts for manufacturing equipment used in a super clean room, a chemical filter unit for adsorbing and removing corrosive and reactive chemical substances is laminated. It can also be used. Further, as the filter 7, a laminated filter similar to the filter 4 can be used, but in order to enhance suction efficiency, a filter for collecting dust may be omitted and the chemical filter unit may be used alone.

In this device, the air blow-out portion and the air suction portion are unitized and each unit 1, 5 can be moved in the clean room. Therefore, each unit 1, 5 is placed at the take-out position of the main parts on the super clean room side. They can be placed close to each other, and the main parts of the manufacturing equipment taken out for inspection or repair can be moved on the clean bench in the shortest distance. Further, since the moving distance can be shortened, the amount of dust floating in the clean room is small, and the packing during the movement can be omitted or simplified, and the packing and unpacking work can be shortened.

Since the working distance can be shortened as much as possible by moving the units 1 and 5 as described above, it is not necessary to add a clean bench to the existing clean room, and the working space in the clean room is not reduced.
Further, the circulation state of the air in the clean room is stable, and the air is not locally stagnated and dust is not accumulated. In addition, the amount of chemical filters used to remove corrosive and reactive gases is small, and maintenance costs required for filter replacement can be reduced.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, reference numeral 10 denotes a blower unit, which has a box-shaped plenum chamber 11 having one surface opened, an intake pump 12 for sucking external air into the plenum chamber 11 and compressing the plenum chamber 11, and an opening surface of the plenum chamber 11. The filter 13 is closed. 14 is a drain unit,
Box-shaped suction chamber 15 with one surface open
And an exhaust pump 17 for making the inside of the suction chamber 15 into a negative pressure state and sucking outside air into the suction chamber 15 through the filter 16. Each of the units 10 and 14 has a filter 13 or 16 for the floor surface 18 of the clean room.
Is provided vertically so that the filters 13 and 16 face each other at a predetermined interval. Further, the intake port 12a of the intake pump 12 and the exhaust port 17a of the exhaust pump 17 face each other below the floor surface 18 to form an air communication portion 19. In each unit 10, 14, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, rails 20, 20 are arranged on a floor surface 18, and bearings 21, 21 connected to the chambers 11, 15 are arranged.
It is movable by wheels 22 and 22 pivotally supported on the rails, and a slit 18a is formed between the rails 20 and 20, and the intake port 12a and the exhaust port 17a can be arranged below the floor surface 18 through the slit 18a.

The units 10 and 14 are fixed at predetermined positions, and the slits 18 exposed outside the units 10 and 14 are provided.
A is closed by a closing member (not shown). In this device, the intake ports 12a and the exhaust ports 17a of the pumps 12 and 17 are separated from each other, but the air discharged from the exhaust ports 17a is pressurized by the pump 17 and is sucked under the floor surface 18 without any obstacle in the middle. Since it is pushed toward the mouth 12a, the exhaust port 17a
Most of the air discharged from the intake port 12a is taken in, and the air communication part 1 is provided between the exhaust port 17a and the intake port 12a.
9 is formed. Further, since the noise generated in the air communication portion 19 is blocked by the floor surface 18, the inside of the clean room can be kept quiet. This device has the same effect as that of the device shown in FIG. 1, and by providing the exhaust pump 17 in the drain unit 14, the output between the intake pump 12 and the exhaust pump 17 is adjusted, so that the air between the units 10 and 14 is adjusted. It is possible to make fine adjustments to the air flow.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, the same parts as those of the apparatus in FIG. In the figure, reference numeral 23 denotes a dolly, which has casters 25 on the lower surface of the chassis 24 and can be moved by a handle 26. Reference numeral 27 denotes a lifting motor fixed to the center of the chassis 24. The table support 27a is fixed to the upper end of the work table 2 mounted on the support 27a.
Set 8 to any height. The work table 28 is not limited to a fixed size, but different sizes may be exchanged, or a folding structure may be used, and a size suitable for the work may be used. Reference numeral 29 denotes guide rails arranged on both sides of the upper surface of the chassis 24. The guide rails 29 support the blow unit 10 and the drain unit 14 arranged on both sides of the work table 28 and guide them so that their facing intervals can be adjusted. After the facing interval is set, it is fixed on the guide rail 29.

The air inlet 12a and the air outlet 17a of each of the units 10 and 14 are provided with pressure-resistant hose 3 shown by a dotted line in the drawing as needed.
0 communicates with each other in the chassis 24, and each unit 1
The air blown from the blower unit 10 by operating 0 and 14 and sucked by the drain unit 14 is returned to the blower unit 10 again. The work table 28 is lifted to a height suitable for work by the lifting motor 27, and is housed below the lower surface of the movement locus of each unit 10 and 14 when descending, so that when the device is not used, the facing surface of each unit 10 and 14 is opposed. Can be abutted.

This device can be easily moved to any place by the carriage 23 and can be operated immediately by connecting to a power source. At the time of operation, the work table 28 between the units 10 and 14 is placed in a super clean state. Can be maintained.
In addition, since the components such as the casters 25 that have been subjected to the gradual electric charge treatment are used, there is no electrostatic adsorption of foreign matter, and when not in use, the units 10 and 14 can be abutted against each other to eliminate the uneven portion and minimize the volume of foreign matter. Accumulation can be prevented.

Generally, maintenance, inspection and repair work accompanied by the generation of foreign matter cannot be performed in the super clean room. However, the apparatus having the above-mentioned effect is to form a local super clean environment in the super clean room. Because you can do it, and you can work anywhere,
Even work involving dust generation can be performed in the super clean room, dramatically improving work efficiency.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, the same parts as those of the apparatus in FIG. In this device, an intake pump 12 for sucking and compressing external air is arranged in a box-shaped plenum chamber 11 having an opening on one side, and is cleaned through a filter 13 which closes the opening surface of the plenum chamber 11. The blow unit 10 that blows out air and the opening surface of a box-shaped suction chamber 15 having one surface opened are closed by a filter 16.
The drain unit 14 is configured to exhaust the air inside by the exhaust pump 17 to bring it into a negative pressure state and suck the outside air through the filter 16. 2 differs from the device shown in FIG. 2 only in that the intake port 12a of the intake pump 12 is opened in the clean room by the side wall of the chamber 11, and the exhaust port 17a of the exhaust pump 17 is opened in the floor surface 18 of the clean room. Therefore, no air communication portion is formed between the units 10 and 14.

In this apparatus, the air pressurized by the intake pump 12 is cleaned by the filter 13 and the unit 1
The air is blown out from 0 and this air is sucked from the drain unit 14 through the filter 16, and the same effect as that of the device in FIG. 1 can be obtained. In addition, this device sucks air in the clean room, but the drain unit 14
Is disposed in a corner of the clean room, and the air flow in the clean room is disturbed by opening the intake port 12a of the blow unit 10 so that the air flow in the clean room and the intake direction of the blow unit 10 coincide with each other. Therefore, the local accumulation of dust can be prevented.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. For example, in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2, the intake air of the intake pump to which the air communication portion for communicating the drain unit and the blow unit is connected. The mouth may be connected to an air intake opening in a part of the plenum chamber so that external air can be taken into the plenum chubba.

In addition to constructing the device with a pair of a blow unit and a drain unit, a first unit having a filter on both sides and a second unit having a filter on one side are prepared, and both sides of the first unit are prepared. Second
The unit can be arranged such that each filter faces each other to form two clean spaces. In this case, the central unit can be used as a blow unit and the units on both sides can be used as drain units, but the capacity of the plenum unit must be increased in order to deliver a large amount of air in a stable manner. Considering that only one of them is operated, it is preferable that the central unit is a drain unit and both units are blow units.

Further, not only the units are arranged in a straight line, but also the units may be arranged in a star arrangement or a cross arrangement as shown in FIGS. 6 (a) and 6 (b), and the intervals between the units may be set arbitrarily.

A sensor detects the flow rate of air moving to the drain unit or the air communication section, and controls the flow rate of air between the units 10 and 14 based on the detection output of this sensor to control the flow rate between the units. It is possible to stabilize the laminar flow state in the work area.

Further, at least one of the blow unit and the drain unit may be made movable, and only the grip portion may be attached to the outer wall of the chamber, which can be lifted and moved, or placed on a carriage and transferred, as shown in FIG. As described above, it is possible to appropriately employ a wheel attached to the rail so that it can move on the rail, a rubber tire attached to the wheel so that it can be moved to an arbitrary place.

In the above embodiment, the clean bench in the semiconductor device manufacturing factory has been described, but it goes without saying that the device of the present invention can be applied to all fields requiring a clean space.

[0033]

As described above, in the device of the present invention, the air blow-out part and the air suction part can be unitized and separately provided, and each unit can be arranged in the most optimal place. The distance traveled with and can be shortened, and packaging for preventing the adhesion of floating dust during movement can be omitted or simplified,
Packing and unpacking work can be shortened.

Further, since the unit is movable, it is not necessary to add a clean bench, and the working space is not reduced by this device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the main part of the apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a side sectional view showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a side sectional view showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing an arrangement example of units of the device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 blow unit 2 Plenum chamber 3 intake pump 4 filters 5 Drain unit 6 Suction chamber 7 filters 9 Air communication section

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A blower unit for arranging a filter on an opening face opened in a part of a plenum chamber for compressing and containing sucked air and blowing out purified air through the filter, and decompressing the inside. A suction unit is provided on the opening surface opened in a part of the suction chamber, and a drain unit for sucking external air through the filter is provided.Each filter of each unit is erected and opposed to each other, and
A clean space forming device characterized in that the facing interval of each filter can be adjusted. 2. The clean space configuring device according to claim 1, wherein a moving means for moving each unit is arranged on at least one of the units. 3. The clean space configuring device according to claim 1, wherein the blow unit and the drain unit are communicated with each other by an air communication unit. 4. The clean space configuring device according to claim 3, wherein an expandable / contractible tubular portion is arranged in an intermediate portion of the air communicating portion. 5. The clean space configuring device according to claim 3, wherein a pressure applying means for applying pressure to the air moving through the air communication portion from the drain unit to the blow unit is disposed. 6. The clean space configuring device according to claim 1, wherein an air shutter is arranged on at least one side surface of a facing region of the blow unit and the drain unit. 7. The blow unit filter is a filter in which a chemical filter unit for adsorbing and removing chemical substances and a filter unit for collecting suspended dust are stacked, and the drain unit filter is a chemical filter. The clean space construction device according to claim 1.