JP2006019604A - Cooling water filter unit and device to be cooled - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent stoppage of a device to be cooled when a filter is clogged and to enable easy maintenance. <P>SOLUTION: A cooling water bypass path 6 with a cooling water filter 5 is connected to a cooling water supply path 4 with a cooling water filter 2 and a water pressure meter 3 via a bypass path release means 7. A bypass path release control means 8 is provided, which outputs a signal for making the bypass path release means 7 carry out release operation when the detected output of the water pressure meter 3 exceeds a preset pressure. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a cooling water filter unit and a device to be cooled, and in particular, an operation caused by clogging of a cooling water filter unit for circulating water cooling a heat generating unit used in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus that can be at a high temperature. The present invention relates to a cooling water filter unit and a device to be cooled that are characterized by a configuration for preventing cancellation.

  In general, a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus includes a heat generating unit that tends to be a high temperature part such as a heating wire, a magnet coil, a compressor, a heat exchanger, or a vacuum pump. Therefore, in order to stably operate the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, cooling water is supplied. Circulation is used to prevent the apparatus from being stopped due to heating of the heat generating unit (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Various types of cooling units used in such semiconductor manufacturing apparatuses are supplied with 3k-based (3 kg / cm ² supply pressure) or 5k-based (5 kg / cm ² supply pressure) cooling water. .

  The cooling water used for such a purpose does not require water quality as high as that of pure water. Therefore, general inexpensive water called industrial water or city water is used, or the recovered pure water is These are circulated and supplied at room temperature, for example, 20 ° C. without particularly cooling them.

  Of these, industrial water or city water contains more elemental components such as Mg, Al, Ca, Fe, etc. than recovered pure water, so these elemental components are scaled (scale scale) on the inner wall of the cooling water pipe. ) Is likely to clog the cooling water piping.

  In this way, when the pipe diameter of the part to be cooled becomes narrow due to the accumulation of scale and clogging occurs, the cooling unit needs to be replaced or overhauled, which increases the damage to the production equipment. It is generally well known to install a filter on the supply side (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

However, in this case as well, clogging of the filter itself is unavoidable, so the pressure or flow rate of the cooling water is monitored.
For example, it is possible to visually check changes in cooling water pressure or flow over time by daily inspection or weekly inspection, or by installing an interlock on the semiconductor manufacturing equipment side to monitor the flow of cooling water, and the flow rate of the flow meter is the specified value. The equipment is shut down when the value falls below.

That is, when clogging occurs, the heat generating unit of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is not sufficiently cooled, and the apparatus stops due to the temperature rise due to self-heating, and depending on the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, the processing is interrupted and product clogging occurs. Need to be monitored.
International Publication No. 01-003169 JP 2001-143986 A

  However, when filter clogging is detected by monitoring, it is necessary to replace the filter, but depending on the filter installation method, if no bypass path is provided, stop all cooling units. After that, it is necessary to replace the filter, and there is a problem that the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is forced to stop during the filter maintenance, and sometimes stops for a long time.

  Further, since the cooling water filter is usually replaced by replacing the cooling water filter, expertise is required for the filter maintenance work, and there is a problem that the maintenance work cannot be easily performed.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to prevent the cooled device from stopping when a filter clogging occurs and to facilitate maintenance work.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the basic configuration of the present invention. Means for solving the problems in the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the present invention provides a cooling water bypass unit including a cooling water filter 5 in a cooling water supply path 4 including a cooling water filter 2 and a water pressure gauge 3 in the cooling water filter unit 1. Bypass path opening means for connecting the path 6 via the bypass path opening means 7 and outputting a signal for causing the bypass path opening means 7 to perform an opening operation when the detection output of the water pressure gauge 3 exceeds a preset pressure. Control means 8 is provided.

  In this way, when the detection output of the water pressure gauge 3 exceeds the preset pressure in the bypass path 6, the bypass path opening control means 8 for outputting a signal for causing the bypass path opening means 7 to perform an opening operation is provided. Therefore, when the clogging exceeding the allowable standard occurs, the bypass path 6 is automatically opened, so that the cooled device 9 such as a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus does not stop operation. Will not occur.

  Further, by providing the cooling water filter 5 also in the bypass path 6, scale does not accumulate on the inner wall of the pipe on the cooled device 9 side even if the cooling water is passed through the bypass path 6. After the production for the period is finished, the cooling device 9 may be stopped and the clogged cooling water filter 2 may be replaced, so that the production efficiency can be improved.

  Further, since such a cooling water supply system is integrated as the cooling water filter unit 1, the maintenance work becomes very easy, and the cooling water filter unit 1 is connected to the water distribution pipe even in the first installation of the apparatus to be cooled. Since it is not necessary to change the configuration of the water pipe itself, it is easy to install.

  In addition, it is desirable to provide a flow meter in such a cooling water filter unit, and the cooling effect can be more reliably enhanced by monitoring together with the water pressure.

  Moreover, as the water pressure gauge 3 in this case, it is desirable to use a pressure gauge with a contact having a function of outputting an alarm output when the water pressure exceeds a preset pressure, and thus a pressure gauge that has been conventionally used. Therefore, it is not necessary to change the design of the basic configuration of the cooling water filter unit.

In addition, as the bypass path opening means 7, it is desirable to use a pneumatic valve that is reliable in switching operation, has high confidentiality of the cooling water path at the time of switching, and has a high operating speed.
When a pneumatic valve is used, the bypass path opening control means 8 is typically a relay box having an electromagnetic valve that supplies driving air to the bypass path opening means 7 as an air signal.

  In addition, when the bypass path 6 is opened, it is desirable to provide a monitoring unit using an LED or the like that indicates that the bypass path 6 has been opened, whereby the cooling water operation status can be accurately grasped.

  Moreover, by providing the cooling water filter unit 1 described above, the apparatus 9 to be cooled such as a manufacturing apparatus such as a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus or a non-manufacturing apparatus such as a large computer can be normally operated without stopping operation.

  According to the present invention, when the filter is clogged, it is automatically detected and the cooling water is allowed to flow through the bypass. Therefore, the operation of the apparatus can be continued without interrupting the processing.

  In addition, when the cooling water supply path including the cooling water filter and the water pressure gauge, the cooling water bypass path including the cooling water filter, the bypass path opening means, and the detection output of the water pressure gauge exceed the preset pressure, the bypass path Since the bypass path opening control means for outputting a signal for causing the opening means to perform the opening operation is integrated into a unit, the maintenance work when the filter is clogged becomes easy.

  The present invention relates to a cooling water supply path provided with a water pressure gauge such as a cooling water filter and a pressure gauge with a contact, a cooling water bypass path provided with a cooling water filter, a bypass path opening means comprising a pneumatic valve, etc., a detection output of the water pressure gauge A bypass path opening control means for outputting a signal for causing the bypass path opening means to perform an opening operation when the pressure exceeds a preset pressure, for example, an electromagnetic valve for supplying driving air to the bypass path opening means as an air signal A cooling water filter unit is configured by integrating a relay box.

Here, with reference to FIG. 2, the cooling water filter unit of Example 1 of this invention is demonstrated.
See Figure 2
FIG. 2 is a conceptual configuration diagram of the cooling water filter unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The cooling water filter unit 10 includes a cooling water supply pipe 21, valves 22, 25, a filter 23, and a contact pressure gauge. A cooling water main pipe 20, a cooling water supply pipe 31, valves 32 and 34, a cooling water bypass pipe 30 consisting of a filter 33 and connected in parallel to the cooling water main pipe 20, and a pressure gauge 12. And a relay box 16 having an electromagnetic valve (Solenoid Valve) for sending driving air 14 to the pneumatic valve 11 as an air signal 15 to turn on the pneumatic valve 11 by a detection signal 13 from the pressure gauge 25 with a contact. Consists of.

  In this case, the filter 23 and the filter 33 are for removing elemental components such as Mg, Al, Ca, and Fe contained in industrial water and city water used as cooling water. The filter is the same as a filter attached to a faucet in a general household, and the performance and characteristics of the filter element provided inside are different.

  In addition, the pressure gauge 24 with a contact is a normal pressure gauge that only monitors the water pressure, but when a preset threshold value is exceeded, an alarm contact with which an electrical contact comes into contact is pulled out to give an alarm. Therefore, it is only necessary to replace the conventional pressure gauge, so that it is not necessary to change the design of the cooling system including the piping system.

The pneumatic valve 11 may be an air operated valve generally used in the field of semiconductor manufacturing technology. Here, an NC (normally closed) type pneumatic valve that is normally closed is used.
Such a pneumatic valve 11 has characteristics that the switching operation is reliable, the confidentiality of the cooling water path at the time of switching is high, and the operation speed is high.

The driving air 14 in this case is composed of high-pressure air of about 5 to 8 kg / cm ² , and this high-pressure air is supplied to the relay box 16 in advance, and an alarm is issued from the pressure gauge 24 with a contact. In this case, high-pressure air is sent as an air signal 15 to the pneumatic valve 11 via the electromagnetic valve, and the pneumatic valve 11 is opened.

  In addition, the relay box 16 is provided with a monitoring means composed of an LED (light emitting diode) 17 for notifying that the electromagnetic valve is operating, and whether or not the cooling water is flowing in the cooling water bypass pipe 30, accordingly. Then, it is ensured whether or not the filter 23 provided in the cooling water main pipe 20 is clogged.

  Next, the operation of the cooling water filter unit 10 will be described. The cooling water filter unit 10 is connected between a cooling unit 40 of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus such as a CVD apparatus and a cooling water supply pipe 50, so that the During operation, when the filter 23 provided in the cooling water main 20 is clogged and the water pressure exceeds a preset threshold value, an alarm contact with which an electrical contact is brought into contact with the pressure gauge with contact 24 is provided. Pull out and send the detection signal 13 to the relay box 16.

In the relay box 16, the solenoid valve is operated by the detection signal 13, the driving air 14 made of high-pressure air supplied in advance is sent as the air signal 15 to the pneumatic valve 11, and the pneumatic valve 11 is opened to supply cooling water. The cooling water from the pipe 50 is bypassed to the cooling water bypass pipe 30 and supplied to the cooling unit 40, and the state is displayed by the LED 17.
In this case, since the valves 22 and 25 of the cooling water main 20 are kept open, the cooling water is also supplied from the cooling water main 20.

  As described above, when the filter 23 provided in the cooling water main pipe 20 is clogged, the cooling water can be supplied through the cooling water bypass pipe 30, so that the cooling water is always supplied to the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. Since there is no need to stop the operation during the process, product loss does not occur.

  In addition, maintenance can be performed after a series of products have been manufactured, and since periodic inspection or replacement is not required, the maintenance is simplified and the cooling water filter can be used up to the end of its life. Thereby, the running cost can be reduced.

  Further, in the maintenance work, the cooling water filter unit 10 may be replaced as a unit, so that no special piping work is required, and the maintenance work is facilitated.

  Next, a cooling water filter unit according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 3. In this second embodiment, the cooling water main pipe 20 is provided with a flow meter. The configuration is the same as that of the cooling water filter unit of the first embodiment.

See Figure 3
FIG. 3 is a conceptual configuration diagram of the cooling water filter unit according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The cooling water filter unit 10 includes a cooling water supply pipe 21, valves 22, 25, a filter 23, a contact pressure gauge 24, And a cooling water main pipe 20 comprising a flow meter 26, a cooling water supply pipe 31, valves 32 and 34, and a cooling water bypass pipe 30 comprising a filter 33 and connected in parallel to the cooling water main pipe 20, A pneumatic valve 11 having a pressure gauge 12, and a relay box 16 having an electromagnetic valve for sending driving air 14 to the pneumatic valve 11 as an air signal 15 to turn on the pneumatic valve 11 by a detection signal 13 from a pressure gauge 24 with a contact; Consists of.

  In the second embodiment of the present invention, not only the water pressure but also the flow rate of the cooling water flowing through the cooling water main pipe 20 is monitored by the flow meter 26, and when the flow rate falls below a preset threshold, the drive air 14 is changed. A detection signal 18 to be sent as the air signal 15 is output to the relay box 16.

  That is, in the second embodiment, when one of the pressure detected by the contact pressure gauge 24 and the flow rate detected by the flow meter 26 exceeds (or falls below) a preset threshold, the cooling water bypass pipe 30 is used. Since cooling water is allowed to flow through, a more complete cooling effect can be maintained.

  The embodiments of the present invention have been described above. However, the present invention is not limited to the conditions and configurations described in the embodiments, and various modifications are possible. For example, the configurations described in the embodiments. Elements are not limited to themselves.

  For example, in the above embodiment, a pressure gauge with a contact from which an alarm contact can be taken out is used as a pressure gauge. However, the pressure gauge is not limited to a pressure gauge with a contact, and is detected using a normal pressure gauge. Pressure may be output as an electric signal as a voltage value or a current value, and clogging may be determined by comparing the electric output with a voltage value or a current value corresponding to a preset water pressure by a comparator.

  In the above embodiment, the pneumatic valve is used as the bypass path opening means. However, the present invention is not limited to the pneumatic valve, and other valve mechanisms such as an electromagnetic valve may be used.

  In the above embodiment, the cooling water bypass pipe 30 is also provided with the filter 33. However, the cooling water bypass pipe 30 does not necessarily require the filter 33.

  Further, in the description of the above embodiment, since the cooling water filter unit is replaced at a time after the production of a series of products is completed, the cooling water is supplied even when the cooling water is flowing through the cooling water bypass pipe 30. Since the valves 22 and 25 of the main pipe 20 remain open, the cooling water is also supplied from the cooling water main pipe 20, but when the cooling water bypass pipe 30 is open, the cooling water main pipe is supplied. It is also possible to close the 20 valves 22 and 25 and replace the filter 23 between them.

  In this case, it is necessary to close the cooling water bypass pipe 30 and return the cooling water supply line to the cooling water main pipe 20 after replacing the filter 23. Therefore, the relay box 16 has a reset function.

The detailed features of the present invention will be described again with reference to FIG. 1 again.
Again see Figure 1
(Supplementary Note 1) A cooling water bypass path 6 having a cooling water filter 2 is connected to a cooling water supply path 4 having a cooling water filter 2 and a water pressure gauge 3 via a bypass path opening means 7, and the water pressure gauge And a bypass path opening control means 8 for outputting a signal for causing the bypass path opening means 7 to perform an opening operation when the detected output of No. 3 exceeds a preset pressure. .
(Additional remark 2) The cooling water filter unit of Additional remark 1 characterized by providing the said cooling water supply path 4 with the flowmeter.
(Supplementary note 3) The cooling water filter according to Supplementary note 1 or 2, wherein the water pressure gauge 3 is a pressure gauge with a contact having a function of outputting an alarm output when the water pressure exceeds a preset pressure. unit.
(Supplementary Note 4) The bypass path opening means 7 includes a pneumatic valve, and the bypass path opening control means 8 includes a relay box including an electromagnetic valve that supplies driving air to the bypass path opening means 7 as an air signal. The cooling water filter unit according to any one of appendices 1 to 3, characterized in that:
(Supplementary note 5) The cooling water filter unit according to supplementary note 4, wherein the relay box is provided with a monitoring means for displaying that the bypass path 6 is opened when the bypass path 6 is opened.
(Additional remark 6) The to-be-cooled apparatus provided with the cooling water filter unit 1 of any one of Additional remark 1 thru | or 5.

  As a practical example of the present invention, a cooling water filter unit for cooling a heat generating portion of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus such as a heat treatment furnace or a CVD apparatus is typical, but it is not limited to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. In addition, the present invention is applied to various manufacturing apparatuses with a heat generating part, and further, as a cooling water filter unit for not only a manufacturing apparatus but also a non-manufacturing apparatus such as a large computer with a heat generating part that requires cooling. Applicable.

It is explanatory drawing of the fundamental structure of this invention. It is a notional block diagram of the cooling water filter unit of Example 1 of the present invention. It is a notional block diagram of the cooling water filter unit of Example 2 of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cooling water filter unit 2 Cooling water filter 3 Water pressure gauge 4 Cooling water supply path 5 Cooling water filter 6 Cooling water bypass path 7 Bypass path opening means 8 Bypass path opening control means 9 Cooled apparatus 10 Cooling water filter unit 11 Pneumatic valve 12 Pressure gauge 13 Detection signal 14 Drive air 15 Air signal 16 Relay box 17 LED
18 Detection signal 20 Cooling water main pipe 21 Cooling water supply pipe 22 Valve 23 Filter 24 Pressure gauge with contact 25 Valve 26 Flow meter 30 Cooling water bypass pipe 31 Cooling water supply pipe 32 Valve 33 Filter 34 Valve 40 Cooling unit 50 Cooling water supply Piping

Claims (5)

A cooling water bypass path having a cooling water filter is connected to a cooling water supply path having a cooling water filter and a water pressure gauge via a bypass path opening means, and the detection output of the water pressure gauge exceeds a preset pressure. In this case, the cooling water filter unit is provided with bypass path opening means control means for outputting a signal for causing the bypass path opening means to perform an opening operation. 2. The cooling water filter unit according to claim 1, wherein a flow meter is provided in the cooling water supply path. The cooling water filter unit according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the water pressure gauge is a pressure gauge with a contact having a function of outputting an alarm output when the water pressure exceeds a preset pressure. The bypass path opening means comprises a pneumatic valve, and the bypass path opening means control means comprises a relay box having an electromagnetic valve for supplying driving air to the bypass path opening means as an air signal. Item 4. The cooling water filter unit according to any one of Items 1 to 3. An apparatus to be cooled, comprising the cooling water filter unit according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

Images