JP2003095433A - Cleanliness control device of automated guided vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cleanliness control device of an automated guided vehicle making it possible to maintain the inside of a member storage compartment at an optimum difference of air pressure at which no air intrudes the compartment through clearance in a door from the outside even in the turbulence of air streams, while enabling a clean unit to consume less power. SOLUTION: Air pressure around the automated guided vehicle and air pressure in the member storage compartment are monitored by a cleanliness control unit 400. The cleanliness control unit 400 measures a difference between the air pressure around the automated guided vehicle and the air pressure in the member storage compartment with a measuring part 410 through probes 411 and 412. The data on the difference of air pressure measured are stored in a storage part 430 and a determining/directing part 440 compares the data to a preset value. If the difference is higher than the set value, the speed of a fan 210 of the clean unit 200 is slowed down to reduce the amount of air admitted into the storage compartment from the outside, so as to make the difference equal to the set value.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an unmanned guided vehicle equipped with a clean unit for loading members in a clean room and traveling between processes, for controlling a clean state in a member storage of the unmanned guided vehicle. Degree control device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Since dust floating in a clean room has a great influence on the yield of products, the cleanliness of the clean room is maintained at a predetermined standard by an air conditioning system or the like. Furthermore, when installing multiple clean rooms with different cleanliness, the air pressure in the clean rooms with low cleanliness is higher than that in the clean rooms with low cleanliness so that the air in the clean rooms with low cleanliness does not flow into the clean rooms with high cleanliness. Designed to be high.

An automated guided vehicle equipped with a clean unit having a fan and a filter is usually operated by a battery, and is controlled by the installed clean unit so as to maintain the degree of cleanliness in a member storage at a predetermined standard. .

FIG. 3 shows an example of an automatic guided vehicle equipped with a clean unit. Here, a downflow system will be described as a system of air flow by the clean unit of the automatic guided vehicle. Note that FIG. 3A is a view showing a cross section along the traveling direction of the automatic guided vehicle, and FIG.
[Fig. 3] is a view showing a cross section taken along line III-III in (a).

The clean unit 200 mounted on the automated guided vehicle 100 is loaded on the top of the automated guided vehicle 100, and a member storage 1 provided inside the automated guided vehicle 100.
A member 300 is stored in 50. Automated guided vehicle 10
When the 0 transfers the member 300, the opening / closing door 11
0 is opened, the transfer robot 120 transfers the member 300 between the process device and the automatic guided vehicle 100, and when the transfer is completed, the opening / closing door 110 is closed.

Next, a method for maintaining the cleanliness inside the member storage 150 will be described with reference to FIG. 4 (a) is a diagram showing the flow of air in a cross section along the traveling direction of the automatic guided vehicle, and FIG. 4 (b) is
It is a figure which shows the IV-IV line arrow cross section in (a). The clean unit 200 of the automated guided vehicle 100 includes a fan 210
The air is taken in from the outside of the automated guided vehicle 100. The air taken in is filtered by the filter 220 to a predetermined degree of cleanliness, and the member 3 stored in the member housing 150 is stored.
00, and is discharged to the outside through the lower part of the automatic guided vehicle 100 and the gap between the opening / closing door 110. Therefore, even if the cleanliness of the clean room during traveling is lower than the predetermined standard, it is possible to convey the members in the member storage 150 while maintaining the cleanliness of the predetermined standard.

Further, when the clean unit 200 takes in air from the outside into the member storage 150, the inside of the member storage 150 becomes a positive pressure as compared with the outside. Therefore, even if the cleanliness of the outside is worse than the predetermined standard, the air does not enter the member storage 150 through the gap of the opening / closing door 110, and the member 300 in the member storage 150 is not intruded.
There is an effect that can be conveyed in a state where the cleanliness of a predetermined standard is maintained.

Further, when the automated guided vehicle 100 moves between a plurality of clean rooms having different cleanliness, a method of operating at a constant fan speed corresponding to the cleanroom having the highest cleanliness is available regardless of the change in cleanliness. Generally adopted.

A method of detecting the difference in cleanliness of a clean room and changing the speed of the fan 210 of the clean unit 200 is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei-1.
No. 0-181871. This is to read the display means installed in each of a plurality of clean rooms with different cleanliness by the display reading means provided in the automatic guided vehicle, and change the speed of the fan in the clean unit according to the result. A characteristic control method is disclosed.

[0010]

Generally, when a plurality of clean rooms having different degrees of cleanliness are installed side by side, the clean room having a high cleanness has a higher atmospheric pressure than the clean room having a low cleanness. Therefore, when the automatic guided vehicle moves from a clean room with high cleanliness to a clean room with low cleanliness, the atmospheric pressure around the automatic guided vehicles drops. In the opposite case, the atmospheric pressure around the automated guided vehicle will rise.

At this time, the air pressure difference between the member storage of the automatic guided vehicle and the outside is widened (or narrowed in the opposite case). However, due to the turbulence of the air flow caused by the change in the air pressure difference, the gap between the door and the outside is opened. Air may enter through the component storage through. At this time, if the external cleanliness is below a predetermined standard, the cleanliness of the member housing cannot be maintained, and dust adheres to the transport member, resulting in defectiveness / yield reduction.

Therefore, the inside of the member storage of the automatic guided vehicle is at a positive pressure as compared with the outside, and the turbulence of the air flow causes the air to enter the member storage from the outside through the gap of the opening / closing door to achieve the optimum pressure difference. It is necessary to hold the inside of the hangar.

Further, since the automatic guided vehicle is operated by the battery, it is necessary to shorten the time spent for charging the battery in order to improve the operating rate. Here, it is a portion related to the operation of the clean unit that has a great influence on the power consumption of the automatic guided vehicle. for that reason,
Power saving of the clean unit is an important issue.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and the inside of the member housing of the automatic guided vehicle is at a positive pressure as compared with the outside, and the opening / closing door is opened from the outside by the turbulent air flow. A cleanliness control device for an automated guided vehicle that enables the inside of the member storage to be maintained at an optimal pressure difference that does not allow air to enter the member storage through the gap, and also enables power saving of the clean unit. The purpose is to do.

[0015]

A cleanness control device according to the present invention is a cleanness control device for an automated guided vehicle that travels in a clean room and is equipped with a clean unit having a fan. Measuring means for measuring the atmospheric pressure difference between the atmospheric pressure of the surrounding environment of the vehicle and the atmospheric pressure of the member storage of the automatic guided vehicle, a storage means for storing the data of the atmospheric pressure difference measured by the measuring means, and the storage means The air pressure difference data and a predetermined set value, and based on the comparison result, a determining unit that determines the speed of the fan of the clean unit, and the fan based on the information from the determining unit. Control means for controlling the speed of the.

According to the cleanliness control device of the present invention, the difference between the atmospheric pressure of the environment surrounding the automatic guided vehicle and the atmospheric pressure of the member storage of the automatic guided vehicle, which is measured by the measuring means,
Compare with a preset value, and if it is higher than the preset value, make it equal to the preset value, and slow the fan speed of the clean unit to reduce the amount of air taken into the component storage from the outside by the clean unit. Determine its fan speed.

When the value is lower than the set value, the fan speed of the clean unit is determined so as to be equal to the set value so that the fan speed of the clean unit is increased in order to increase the amount of air taken into the member storage from the outside by the clean unit. . Once the fan speed is determined, the fan speed of the clean unit is controlled so that the speed is reached.

Here, the set value is a positive pressure in the member storage of the automatic guided vehicle as compared with the outside, and air does not enter the member storage from the outside through the gap of the opening / closing door due to the turbulent air flow. It shows the optimum pressure difference.

As described above, when the automatic guided vehicle moves between a plurality of clean rooms having different cleanliness, the fan speed of the clean unit is controlled so that the clean unit can increase or decrease the amount of air taken into the member storage from the outside. Thus, the optimum atmospheric pressure difference is always maintained between the component storage and the outside. As a result, it is possible to prevent air from entering the member storage from the outside through the gap between the opening and closing doors and maintain the cleanliness of the member storage at a predetermined standard.

Further, according to the present invention, the fan speed of the clean unit is controlled every time the automatic guided vehicle moves between a plurality of clean rooms having different cleanliness levels, so that the constant fan corresponding to the clean room having the highest cleanliness level is controlled. It is possible to reduce power consumption as compared with a general method of operating at speed.

[0021]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 is a diagram showing a cross section along the traveling direction of the automatic guided vehicle in the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a cleanness control device for the automatic guided vehicle in the present embodiment. Parts having the same functions as those of the conventional automatic guided vehicle are designated by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the difference from the conventional automated guided vehicle shown in FIG. 3 is that a cleanness control unit 400 is provided. Automated guided vehicle 100
The atmospheric pressure in the vicinity and the atmospheric pressure in the member storage 150 are monitored by the cleanliness control unit 400. In the cleanness control unit 400, the probes 411, 412
Through the measurement section 410, the difference between the atmospheric pressure around the automated guided vehicle 100 and the atmospheric pressure inside the member storage 150 is measured.

Next, the measured pressure difference data is stored in the storage unit 4.
Store in 30. Next, the determination / command unit 440 compares the stored pressure difference data with a predetermined set value. When the atmospheric pressure difference is higher than the set value, the amount of air taken into the member storage 150 from the outside by the clean unit 200 is reduced so that it becomes equal to the set value, so that the speed of the fan 210 of the clean unit 200 is slowed down. Determines fan speed. Further, when the air pressure difference is lower than the set value, the fan 21 of the clean unit 200 is increased to increase the amount of air taken into the member storage 150 from the outside by the clean unit 200 so as to be equal to the set value.
The speed of the fan 210 is determined so that the speed of 0 is increased.

Judgment / command unit 440 is used for automated guided vehicle 100.
The memory 4 for storing the optimum pressure difference as a set value, in which the inside of the member housing 150 has a positive pressure as compared with the outside, and the air does not enter the member housing from the outside due to the turbulent flow of the air flow.
41 and a CPU 442 that determines the speed of the fan 210 from the comparison result of the measured atmospheric pressure difference data and the set value. The judgment / command unit 440 is the fan 2 of the clean unit 200.
When the speed of 10 is determined, an instruction is sent to the fan speed control unit 450, and the fan speed control unit 450 causes the determination / command unit 4 to operate.
The speed of the fan 210 is controlled to the fan speed determined by 40.

The set value, the atmospheric pressure in the member storage 150 of the automatic guided vehicle 100 is a positive pressure as compared with the outside, and the turbulence of the airflow prevents air from entering the member storage from the outside. The value of the atmospheric pressure difference needs to be determined in advance by experiments.

Therefore, even when the automated guided vehicle 100 moves between a plurality of clean rooms having different cleanliness, a change in the atmospheric pressure difference between the inside and outside of the member storage 150 is immediately detected, and the fan 210 of the clean unit 200 operates. By controlling the speed, the amount of air taken into the member storage 150 from the outside by the clean unit 200 is increased / decreased, and the optimum atmospheric pressure difference between the inside and outside of the member storage 150 is always maintained. As a result, the air can be opened and closed from the outside by the door 11
The member 30 stored in the member storage 150 while preventing it from entering the member storage 150 through the gap of 0 and maintaining the cleanliness inside the member storage 150 at a predetermined standard.
It becomes possible to carry 0.

Further, since the speed of the fan 210 of the clean unit 200 is controlled, the power consumption is smaller than that of a general method of operating at a constant fan speed corresponding to a clean room with a high degree of cleanliness.

The downflow method is used as the airflow method by the clean unit of the automated guided vehicle, but the invention is not limited to this and other methods may be used.

It should be understood that the embodiments disclosed herein are illustrative in all respects and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is shown not by the above description but by the claims, and is intended to include meanings equivalent to the claims and all modifications within the scope.

[0030]

According to the automatic guided vehicle equipped with the clean unit for traveling in the clean room based on the present invention, the fan of the clean unit is used when the automatic guided vehicle travels between a plurality of clean rooms having different cleanliness levels. Control the speed and always keep the pressure difference between the component storage and the outside optimal.
It is possible to prevent air from entering from the outside and maintain the cleanliness inside the member storage at a predetermined standard. This makes it possible to avoid the occurrence of defects / reduction in yield.

Further, as described above, the automatic guided vehicle is normally operated by a battery, and one of the largest power consumption is a clean unit. The clean unit is generally operated at a constant fan speed corresponding to a clean room with a high degree of cleanliness, but if the fan speed is optimally controlled as in the present invention, power consumption of the clean unit is reduced, and It is possible to extend the service life of the vehicle and improve the operating rate of automated guided vehicles.

Furthermore, if the fan speed is optimally controlled according to the present invention, clogging of the filter can be reduced and the filter replacement period can be extended.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view showing a cross section along an advancing direction of an automated guided vehicle in the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a cleanliness control device for an automated guided vehicle according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3A is a view showing a cross section along the traveling direction of the automatic guided vehicle, and FIG. 3B is a view showing a cross section taken along line III-III in FIG. 3A.

FIG. 4 (a) is a diagram showing the flow of air in a cross section along the traveling direction of the automated guided vehicle, and FIG. 4 (b) is
It is a figure which shows the IV-IV line arrow cross section in (a).

[Explanation of symbols]

100 automatic guided vehicle, 110 open / close door, 120 transfer robot, 150 member storage, 200 clean unit, 210 fan, 220 filter, 300 member, 400 clean control unit, 410 measuring unit, 411, 412 probe, 430 storage unit, 440
Judgment / command unit, 441 memory, 442 CPU, 45
0 Fan speed controller.

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Yuichi Nakano             22-22 Nagaikecho, Abeno-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka             Inside the company F term (reference) 3F022 BB09 LL07 MM04 MM15 QQ00                 3L061 BE02 BF08                 5F031 GA59 JA45 NA02 NA20

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A cleanness control device for an automated guided vehicle that travels in a clean room and is equipped with a clean unit having a fan, wherein the atmospheric pressure of the surrounding environment of the automated guided vehicle and the atmospheric pressure of a member storage of the automated guided vehicle are provided. Measuring means for measuring the atmospheric pressure difference, storage means for storing the atmospheric pressure difference data measured by the measuring means, and comparing the atmospheric pressure difference data stored in the storing means with a predetermined set value However, a determining unit that determines the speed of the fan of the clean unit based on the comparison result, and a control unit that controls the speed of the fan based on the information from the determining unit are included. Cleanliness control device for automated guided vehicles. 2. The determining means slows the speed of the fan so that the atmospheric pressure difference becomes equal to a set value when the atmospheric pressure difference is higher than a set value, and when the atmospheric pressure difference is lower than the set value, The cleanliness control device for an automated guided vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising control means for increasing the speed of the fan so as to be equal to a set value.