JP2012065720A - Clean room and method of cleaning low floor thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a clean room and a method of cleaning the floor thereof which can reduce work burden and working hours and can secure safety for a worker and can remove dust accumulated on the low floor under a grating panel of the clean room at a low cost without changing the interior moisture and air cleanliness.SOLUTION: Dust accumulated on the low floor under the grating panel of the clean room is removed by using an autonomous floor cleaning apparatus. A charger is provided on the low floor under the grating panel of the clean room. The autonomous floor cleaning apparatus is propelled by electric power supply from the charger and has predetermined functions such traveling to the charger for charging by itself after finishing cleaning or when a remaining amount of electric power becomes a predetermined set value.

Description

  The present invention relates to a clean room used for manufacturing and inspection of semiconductor products, precision machines, pharmaceuticals, etc. and a method for cleaning the bottom floor thereof.

  In the manufacture and inspection of semiconductor products such as LSI, precision machinery such as semiconductor manufacturing equipment, pharmaceuticals such as antibacterial agents, etc., in order to prevent floating dust from adhering to the product and causing quality defects The above-described steps are performed in a clean room maintained at a clean air level.

  In a clean room, in order to remove dust in the air, highly clean air that has passed through a high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter is sent into the room, and the air sucked from the room is exhausted or circulated. And in order to prevent the inflow of dust from the outside, the indoor pressure is normally a positive pressure that is about 5 to 10 Pa higher than the outside pressure. In a clean room for semiconductor products, not only air cleanliness but also temperature, humidity, and chemical substance concentration are managed.

  Here, a laminar flow system is adopted in a clean room where high air cleanliness is required. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the laminar flow clean room has a grating panel 105 in which the floor of the work area 104 has a large number of lattice-shaped openings. The structure is such that dust that is guided under the grating panel through the opening of the grating panel 105 and accumulates in the lower area 107 of the grating panel is accumulated.

  Due to such a structure, even if an operator walks in the work area 104, dust accumulated on the bottom floor 108 under the grating panel is not rolled up, and the air cleanliness in the work area 104 can be kept high. .

  In the clean room as described above, the falling dust accumulated under the grating panel accumulates on the floor surface of the bottom floor 108, and therefore it is necessary to periodically clean and remove this accumulated dust. At the time of this cleaning, the grating panel 105 was removed from the work area 104 side to expose the floor surface of the bottom floor 108, and then the accumulated dust was removed and the floor surface was cleaned.

  Here, in a clean room where high air cleanliness is required, since the height from the bottom floor 108 to the grating panel 105 is, for example, about 1.5 m, an operator is placed in the lower area 107 of the grating panel for the above cleaning. I had to get off and work.

  However, since the grating panel 105 is usually made of metal and heavy in weight, when the grating panel 105 in the entire cleaning range is manually removed, it is a heavy burden on the operator and the work time is also long. In addition, there is a risk that the operator may be injured when attaching / detaching the grating panel 105.

  On the other hand, when only a part of the grating panel 105 is removed due to the apparatus and piping, the worker who performs the cleaning work is in a middle waist posture, and is not attached to the pipe 109 or the like disposed in the lower area 107 of the grating panel. There is a danger of being taken off or hitting the grating panel 105 that has not been removed.

  Therefore, as a cleaning method for avoiding the above-mentioned danger, a shower facility is provided in the lower area 107 of the grating panel without performing a cleaning operation by an operator, and the accumulated dust on the bottom floor 108 is washed away with shower water (patent Document 1), a cleaning method has been proposed in which the opening of the grating panel 105 is shielded during cleaning, and the dust in the bottom floor 108 is removed by sucking air in the lower area 107 of the grating panel from the vacuum outlet (patent). Reference 2).

JP-A-5-187676 JP-A-2005-207166

  However, the cleaning methods described in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 described above are not practical because the equipment cost is high. Further, in the above-described cleaning method of Patent Document 1, there is a possibility that the humidity in the clean room may fluctuate. With the cleaning method of Patent Document 2, the interior of the room is not downflowed during cleaning, and the atmospheric pressure before and after cleaning. May fluctuate and turbulent flow may occur, which may reduce the air cleanliness.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to reduce the work load of bottom floor cleaning, shorten the work time, and further ensure the safety of the operator, while maintaining the humidity in the room. Another object of the present invention is to provide a clean room and its bottom floor cleaning method capable of removing dust accumulated on the bottom floor under the grating panel of the clean room at low cost without changing the air cleanliness.

  As a result of various studies, the present inventor has installed a charger on the bottom floor under the grating panel in the clean room, can receive power supply from the charger, and can self-run. By removing dust accumulated on the bottom floor under the grating panel of the clean room using an autonomous floor cleaning device having a predetermined function such as self-charging by running to the charger automatically according to the remaining amount, The present invention has been completed by finding that the problems can be solved.

  That is, the invention according to claim 1 of the present invention includes a self-propelled mechanism using an electric driving force, an internal power supply mechanism capable of supplying and charging power to the self-propelled mechanism, a charger for supplying power to the internal power supply mechanism, and A communication mechanism, a cleaning mechanism that removes accumulated dust on the surface that travels by the self-propelled mechanism, a detection mechanism that detects an obstacle in the path traveled by the self-propelled mechanism, and the self-propelled mechanism, the internal power supply mechanism, An autonomous floor that includes the communication mechanism, the cleaning mechanism, and a control mechanism that controls the detection mechanism, and automatically travels to the charger and self-charges according to the end of a predetermined cleaning or a predetermined remaining power level. In the clean room, the charger used in the cleaning device is disposed on the bottom floor below the grating panel of the clean room.

  Further, the invention according to claim 2 of the present invention includes a self-propelled mechanism using an electric driving force, an internal power supply mechanism capable of supplying and charging power to the self-propelled mechanism, a charger supplying power to the internal power supply mechanism, A communication mechanism, a cleaning mechanism that removes accumulated dust on the surface that travels by the self-propelled mechanism, a detection mechanism that detects an obstacle in the path traveled by the self-propelled mechanism, and the self-propelled mechanism, the internal power supply mechanism, An autonomous floor that includes the communication mechanism, the cleaning mechanism, and a control mechanism that controls the detection mechanism, and automatically travels to the charger and self-charges according to the end of a predetermined cleaning or a predetermined remaining power level. It is a clean room characterized in that the power supply mechanism for the charger used in the cleaning device is disposed under the grating panel of the clean room.

  Further, the invention according to claim 3 of the present invention is that a barrier for limiting a range in which the autonomous floor cleaning device travels to a predetermined section is formed on the bottom floor under the grating panel of the clean room. It is a clean room in any one of Claims 1-2 characterized by the above-mentioned.

  The invention according to claim 4 of the present invention is the clean room according to claim 3, wherein the barrier is formed of infrared rays.

  The invention according to claim 5 of the present invention includes a self-propelled mechanism using an electric driving force, an internal power supply mechanism capable of supplying and charging power to the self-propelled mechanism, a charger for supplying power to the internal power supply mechanism, and A communication mechanism, a cleaning mechanism that removes accumulated dust on the surface that travels by the self-propelled mechanism, a detection mechanism that detects an obstacle in the path traveled by the self-propelled mechanism, and the self-propelled mechanism, the internal power supply mechanism, An autonomous floor that includes the communication mechanism, the cleaning mechanism, and a control mechanism that controls the detection mechanism, and automatically travels to the charger and self-charges according to the end of a predetermined cleaning or a predetermined remaining power level. A method for cleaning the bottom floor of a clean room, characterized in that dust accumulated on the bottom floor under the grating panel of the clean room is removed using a cleaning device.

  The invention according to claim 6 of the present invention is characterized in that at least one of a brush, adhesive paper, and non-woven fabric is used as a member for removing accumulated dust in the cleaning mechanism. It is a clean floor bottom floor cleaning method described.

  According to the present invention, the dust that accumulates on the bottom floor under the grating panel in the clean room is cleaned using an autonomous floor cleaning device. Need not be performed, and therefore the risk of hitting a grating that has not been removed is greatly reduced.

  In addition, it is not necessary to manually remove and install the grating panels in the entire cleaning range, and the work to be performed by removing the grating panels is only to dispose the accumulated dust collected by the autonomous floor cleaning device from the autonomous floor cleaning device. At that time, since the grating panel to be removed is only the location where the charger is disposed, the work load is greatly reduced, the work time is short, and the risk of injury to the operator is extremely low.

  In addition, since showers and vacuum discharge as described above are not used, cleaning can be performed at low cost without affecting the humidity and air cleanliness in the clean room.

It is a block diagram which shows the example of the clean room which concerns on this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the example of the autonomous floor cleaning apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the example of the conventional clean room.

(Clean room)
First, the clean room according to the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an example of a clean room according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a clean room 1 according to the present invention includes a HEPA filter 3 between a ceiling area 2 and a work area 4, and clean air flows from the ceiling side to the floor side of the work area 4. It is like that.

  The floor of the work area 4 is composed of a grating panel 5 having a large number of lattice-shaped openings, and the downflow air from the ceiling is guided to the bottom of the grating panel through the openings of the grating panel and floats. The dust is accumulated in the lower area 7 of the grating panel.

  The air that has flowed into the lower area 7 of the grating panel is sucked into the exhaust port 10 and part of the air is exhausted to the outside of the clean room, but the rest is passed through the circulation path 11 by the circulation fan 12 from the outlet 13 to the ceiling area 2. It is circulated to.

  Under the grating panel 5, there is a support 6 for supporting the grating panel 5. Usually, various piping 9 are accommodated in the lower area 7 of the grating panel in order to use the space of the work area 4 effectively.

  And in the clean room 1 which concerns on this invention, the charger 14 used for an autonomous floor cleaning apparatus is arrange | positioned on the bottom floor 8 of the grating panel lower area 7 further. Although not shown, a power supply mechanism (for example, a power outlet) for the charger 14 is also provided in the lower area 7 of the grating panel.

  Since the above-described charger 14 is disposed on the bottom floor 8 of the lower area 7 of the grating panel, in the clean room according to the present invention, the autonomous floor cleaning device may end the predetermined cleaning, or It is possible to automatically run to the charger according to the remaining amount of power and perform self-charging.

  Moreover, in the clean room 1 which concerns on this invention, it is preferable that the barrier for restrict | limiting the range which an autonomous floor cleaning apparatus drive | works to a predetermined division is formed in the grating panel lower area 7 of a clean room. The main reason is to prevent the autonomous floor cleaning device from moving away to a distance at which it cannot communicate with the charger 14, and in addition, the autonomous floor cleaning device may not enter an undesired area. There are reasons for preventing it and for efficiently completing the cleaning within a predetermined time.

The barrier may be formed of an intangible object such as an infrared ray in addition to a wall or a fence made of a normal tangible object. For example, by providing a pressure sensor on the outer periphery of an autonomous floor cleaning device, it is possible to sense the presence of a barrier by contacting a tangible wall or fence, and by providing an infrared sensor, No infrared barrier can be perceived.
(Autonomous floor cleaning device)
Next, the autonomous floor cleaning apparatus according to the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of an autonomous floor cleaning apparatus according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the autonomous floor cleaning apparatus 20 according to the present invention includes a self-propelled mechanism 21 using an electric driving force, an internal power supply mechanism 22 that can supply and charge power to the self-propelled mechanism 21, and the internal power supply. A communication mechanism 23 with a charger 14 that supplies power to the mechanism 22, a cleaning mechanism 24 that removes accumulated dust on a surface that travels by the self-propelled mechanism 21, and an obstacle in a route that travels by the self-propelled mechanism 21 are detected. And a self-propelled mechanism 21, the power supply mechanism 22, the communication mechanism 23, the cleaning mechanism 24, and a control mechanism 26 that controls the detection mechanism 25. It is programmed so that it can automatically travel to the charger 14 and self-charge according to a predetermined remaining power.

  Since the autonomous floor cleaning apparatus according to the present invention includes the internal power supply mechanism 22, it is possible to prevent a problem that the power cord is entangled with the column during cleaning. For the internal power supply mechanism 22, for example, a nickel metal hydride battery or a lithium ion battery can be used.

  The self-propelled mechanism 21 receives power from the internal power supply mechanism 22 described above, and has a configuration that rotates a wheel by driving a motor, for example, and at least one wheel can change a traveling direction. ing.

  Moreover, the autonomous floor cleaning apparatus according to the present invention includes a communication mechanism 23 with the charger 14, and can automatically travel to the charger 14 and perform self-charging.

  The detection mechanism 25 detects an obstacle on a traveling route. For example, the detection mechanism 25 can detect the presence of a barrier by contacting a wall or a fence with a pressure sensor provided on the outer periphery, and an infrared sensor. It is possible to detect an invisible infrared barrier.

  For example, the cleaning mechanism 24 can be configured to provide a cleaning member such as a brush, adhesive paper, or non-woven fabric on the back side of the autonomous floor cleaning device to remove dust accumulated on the floor surface as the vehicle travels. . Any of the brush, the adhesive paper, and the nonwoven fabric may have a rotary structure, and may be configured to rotate as the autonomous floor cleaning apparatus travels. In addition, the cleaning mechanism 24 may be configured to suck accumulated dust with exhaust that does not affect the cleanliness of the clean room.

The autonomous floor cleaning apparatus may include only one of the above cleaning mechanisms, or may include a plurality of different cleaning mechanisms.
(Bottom floor cleaning method)
Next, the bottom floor cleaning method for a clean room according to the present invention will be described.

  The above-mentioned autonomous floor cleaning device and charger are placed on the bottom floor of the lower area of the grating panel, and autonomous floor cleaning is performed by a remote control operation from the work area or a program operation that automatically starts cleaning at a specified time. Since the apparatus can be operated, it is not necessary for the operator to remove the grating and enter the area below the grating panel in normal periodic cleaning.

  As described above, the autonomous floor cleaning apparatus includes a self-propelled mechanism, an internal power supply mechanism, a communication mechanism, a cleaning mechanism, and a control mechanism, and self-propels to remove accumulated dust on the bottom floor under the grating panel.

  And since the autonomous floor cleaning apparatus automatically runs on the charger and self-charges according to the end of the predetermined cleaning or the predetermined remaining power, the work performed by the worker in normal periodic cleaning is: The only thing that can be done is to dispose of the accumulated dust collected by the autonomous floor cleaning equipment outside the clean room.

  Since the autonomous floor cleaning apparatus according to the present invention automatically returns to the charger, the grating panel that needs to be attached / detached is only the location where the charger is disposed even during this disposal operation.

  As described above, according to the clean floor bottom floor cleaning method according to the present invention, the work load is greatly reduced, the work time is short, and the risk of injury to the operator is extremely low as compared with the conventional method. Become.

  As mentioned above, although the clean room and the bottom floor cleaning method concerning the present invention were explained, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment. The above-described embodiment is an exemplification, and the technical idea described in the claims of the present invention has substantially the same configuration and exhibits the same function and effect regardless of the case. It is included in the technical scope of the invention.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described more specifically with reference to examples.
Example 1
On the bottom floor of a laminar flow type clean room (class 100) having a height of 1.5 m from the bottom floor to the grating panel, using Irobot's Rumba (registered trademark) 577 as an autonomous floor cleaning device, A charger is installed, and a section with a floor area of 5 m × 5 m is cleaned by the bottom floor cleaning method of the clean room according to the present invention. ).

  In the above-mentioned cleaning section, there are 16 columns supporting the grating panel at intervals of 1 m. Therefore, a manual cleaning operation using a vacuum cleaner with a power cord causes problems such as the power cord being tangled with the column. However, in the cleaning using the above-described autonomous floor cleaning device, there is no problem that the power cord as described above is entangled because of the battery drive, and the autonomous floor cleaning device does not interfere with the contact with the support column. Cleaning continued, and returned automatically to the charger approximately 1 hour after the start of cleaning.

Air cleanliness measurement, using the particle counter installed in the work area, the sampling rate (collection volume / time) 0.833ft ³ / min, sampling a total volume of 100 ft ^3, granulometry 0.1 [mu] m, 0.2 [mu] m , 0.3 μm, 0.5 μm, 1.0 μm, and 5.0 μm were measured for 2 hours from the start of cleaning in an unattended state. As a result, an increase in particles is not detected at a particle size of 0.1 μm to 5.0 μm, and according to the present invention, the bottom floor of the clean room can be cleaned without deteriorating the air cleanliness of the work area. confirmed.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,100 Clean room 2,102 Ceiling part area 3,103 HEPA filter 4,104 Work area 5,105 Grating panel 6,106 Post 7,107 Grating panel lower area 8,108 Bottom floor 9,109 Piping 10,110 Exhaust port DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11, 111 Circulation path 12, 112 Circulation fan 13, 113 Outlet 14 Charger 20 Autonomous floor cleaning apparatus 21 Self-propelled mechanism 22 Power supply mechanism 23 Communication mechanism 24 Cleaning mechanism 25 Detection mechanism 26 Control mechanism

Claims (6)

  Self-propelled mechanism by electric driving force, internal power supply mechanism capable of supplying and charging power to the self-propelled mechanism, communication mechanism with a charger for supplying power to the internal power supply mechanism, on the surface traveling by the self-propelled mechanism A cleaning mechanism that removes accumulated dust, a detection mechanism that detects obstacles in a path traveled by the self-propelled mechanism, and a control mechanism that controls the self-propelled mechanism, the internal power supply mechanism, the communication mechanism, the cleaning mechanism, and the detection mechanism. A control mechanism that performs a cleaning of a clean room by using an autonomous floor cleaning device that automatically travels to the charger and self-charges according to the end of a predetermined cleaning or a predetermined remaining power level. Clean room characterized by being placed on the bottom floor under the panel.   Self-propelled mechanism by electric driving force, internal power supply mechanism capable of supplying and charging power to the self-propelled mechanism, communication mechanism with a charger for supplying power to the internal power supply mechanism, on the surface traveling by the self-propelled mechanism A cleaning mechanism that removes accumulated dust, a detection mechanism that detects obstacles in a path traveled by the self-propelled mechanism, and a control mechanism that controls the self-propelled mechanism, the internal power supply mechanism, the communication mechanism, the cleaning mechanism, and the detection mechanism. A power supply mechanism for the charger that is used in an autonomous floor cleaning device that automatically travels to the charger and self-charges according to the end of a predetermined cleaning or a predetermined remaining power level. A clean room characterized by being placed under the grating panel of the clean room.   The barrier for restrict | limiting the range which the said autonomous floor cleaning apparatus drive | works to a predetermined division is formed on the bottom floor under the grating panel of a clean room, The any one of Claims 1-2 characterized by the above-mentioned. Clean room.   The clean room according to claim 3, wherein the barrier is formed of infrared rays.   Self-propelled mechanism by electric driving force, internal power supply mechanism capable of supplying and charging power to the self-propelled mechanism, communication mechanism with a charger for supplying power to the internal power supply mechanism, on the surface traveling by the self-propelled mechanism A cleaning mechanism that removes accumulated dust, a detection mechanism that detects obstacles in a path traveled by the self-propelled mechanism, and a control mechanism that controls the self-propelled mechanism, the internal power supply mechanism, the communication mechanism, the cleaning mechanism, and the detection mechanism. On the bottom floor under the grating panel of the clean room using an autonomous floor cleaning device that automatically travels to the charger and self-charges according to the end of predetermined cleaning or predetermined power remaining amount A method for cleaning the bottom floor of a clean room, characterized by removing accumulated dust. The method for cleaning the bottom floor of a clean room according to claim 5, wherein at least one of a brush, adhesive paper, and non-woven fabric is used as a member for removing accumulated dust in the cleaning mechanism.

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