JP3426077B2 - Air purification equipment - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air purification apparatus which is optimal for use in cleaning air in a closed space such as a clean room for manufacturing semiconductor devices.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an air purifying device for cleaning the air in a closed space, a HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filter containing glass fiber as a constituent component and a ULPA (Ultra Low Penetrati) with higher efficiency are used.
on Air) filters are generally known.

An air purifying device using these filters is effective for removing particulate contaminants,
Gaseous or mist-like chemical pollutants (ionic substances)
Can not be expected to be effective. on the other hand,
It is also widely known to remove chemical contaminants using a chemical filter filled with a chemical adsorbent such as activated carbon.

Filters of this type were housed in a case in series with each other in the front-rear direction, that is, in a state where they were successively superposed along the direction of air flow. However, when the filter is arranged in this way, the pressure loss of the air blown by the blower is high and the life of the filter is shortened.

Therefore, a set of two filters is arranged vertically while facing each other so as to draw a V-shape in which the filters spread in one direction in the horizontal direction. A filter has been developed that reduces the pressure loss of the blown air and extends the life of the filter.

Further, by using a non-woven fabric or the like made of ion exchange fibers as a chemical filter, the atmosphere is passed through gaps of several microns to several tens of microns existing between the ion exchange fibers to adsorb the ionic substance to the non-woven fabric. It has been proposed to remove ionic (sometimes acidic and basic) contaminants at extremely low concentrations in a closed space such as a clean room with high efficiency.

[0007]

However, in the case of the conventional example using the chemical filter filled with the above chemical adsorbent, the adsorbent is liable to be powdered and dust is easily generated during the replacement work of the chemical filter. In a particularly clean place, such as a semiconductor manufacturing plant or a biochemical laboratory,
Not suitable for use in hospitals, etc.

[0008] Further, although the ion-exchange fiber can be used as a chemical filter to remove ionic substances with high efficiency, it can be exchangeably mounted inside the air purifying device, and the ion-exchange capacity of the ion-exchange fiber can be efficiently consumed. There has been a strong demand for the development of such a thing.

In view of the above, the present invention provides an ion exchange fiber capable of removing chemical pollutants with high efficiency and having no risk of dust generation as a filter for efficiently consuming the ion exchange capacity of the ion exchange fiber. It is an object of the present invention to provide an air purification device which is used and can be easily replaced.

[0010]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, the invention according to claim 1, 2
Filters as a set, and this set of filters as a set
Facing each other and drawing in a V-shape that expands in one direction
In several filter units arranged, the filter unit
Inside the rectangular frame-shaped case knit, off the filter cassette housing while folding the ion-exchange fibers to the pleated shape, with elastically sandwiched bracing the ends
An air purifier characterized by being elastically and detachably attached by means of a filter holding lid .

According to the present invention constructed as described above, a filter cassette containing ion exchange fibers having a high removal rate for chemical contaminants as a filter and having no fear of dust generation is provided inside the filter unit. The ion exchange capacity of the ion exchange fiber can be efficiently consumed by arranging them so as to be attachable to and detachable from each other and arranging them so as to face each other and inclined in the horizontal direction.

The invention according to claim 2 is the air purifying device according to claim 1, characterized in that the thickness of the filter cassette is set to 50 to 70 mm, and has a high ion exchange efficiency in a practical range. Can be maintained. Claim 3
The invention according to claim 1 is the air purification apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the width of the opening end of the V-shape is set to be approximately twice the thickness of the filter cassette. The cassette space can be densely filled without causing pressure loss, and the device space can be effectively used.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 4 show an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a vertical sectional front view showing a state in which a filter cassette is mounted in the filter unit, FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG.
[Fig. 4] is an attachment diagram of a filter cassette, and Fig. 4 is a diagram attached to an explanation when attaching the filter cassette.

In this embodiment, four filter cassettes 1 are used.
2 is an example in which two filter units are detachably mounted in the box-shaped filter unit 2 from the front and rear directions of the unit 2, and each filter cassette 1 has a rectangular frame-shaped case 3 inside. The non-woven fabric 4 made of ion-exchange fiber is folded and housed in a pleated shape to form a rectangular flat plate, and a gasket 5 is formed on the peripheral portion of the back surface thereof, and a stopper 6 is formed on the front upper surface thereof. It is fixed.

As described above, by using the non-woven fabric 4 made of the ion-exchange fiber for the filter, it is possible to eliminate the risk of dust generation and remove the chemical contaminants with high efficiency.

Here, the pitch p of the folded portions of the non-woven fabric 4 is set to 3 to 4.5 mm. This is because the required number of non-woven fabrics having a thickness of about 1 mm are laminated and a trial experiment is conducted. As a result, it is easy to fabricate the non-woven fabrics by bending them with a separator having a thickness of 3 to 4.5 mm.
Even when ventilating an atmosphere containing about ppm of ammonia,
This is because it has been found that the removal rate of 95% or more can be maintained for several hours.

Further, the thickness t of the filter cassette 1
Is set to 70 mm in order to efficiently use the ion exchange capacity of the non-woven fabric (ion exchange fiber) 4.

That is, using the non-woven fabric having the above pitch, the opening portion is 265 mm × 265 mm, and the thickness is 70 mm, 150 mm, 2
Three types of filter cassettes having a length of 90 mm were prototyped, and ammonia of the same concentration was aerated under the same conditions, and the aeration was stopped when the ammonia removal rate decreased to 90% or less.
Then, when the consumption rate of the ion exchange capacity in each filter cassette is calculated from the ratio of the ion exchange capacity left in the nonwoven fabric of each filter cassette and the exchange capacity in which this nonwoven fabric is completely regenerated, it is about 70 mm in thickness. 75%, 150 mm
It was found that the number of the samples decreased in the order of about 65% for 290 mm and about 55% for those of 290 mm. From this result, it is considered that economically, the one having a thickness of 70 mm can be efficiently used for the ion exchange capacity.

[0019] Incidentally, the thickness is 70mm or less, although seems to be used efficiently ion exchange capacity more in, on the ion exchange capacity is that a small removal rate the area of the nonwoven fabric is reduced is likely to decrease Therefore, at least a thickness of 50 mm is considered to be economically limited.

In each of the following embodiments, the filter cassette 1 having the same structure as described above is also used.

The filter unit 2 is installed in a size that is common among contractors who construct clean rooms, that is, the opening surface is 610 mm × 610 mm, and the depth dimension is about 440 mm. A cassette mount is provided. Two of the cassette mounting portions located at the uppermost stage and the third stage are opened on the right side in FIG. 1, and the filter cassette 1 is moved leftward from this opening.
And the other two are similarly opened on the left side, and the filter cassette 1 is mounted on the right side.

The filter mounting portion extends over substantially the entire length of the filter unit 2 in the depth direction, an angle 8 for supporting the lower surface of the pushing end portion of the filter cassette 1, and a position above the angle 8. It mainly comprises a filter retainer fitting 9 for elastically sandwiching the push-in end portion of the filter cassette 1 with the angle 8 and a filter retainer lid 10 located on the front surface of the filter cassette 1 for preventing the escape. There is.

The filter pressing lid 10 is rotatably supported by the filter unit 2, and an upper portion thereof extends rearward, and a bulging portion 10a bulging downward in a slightly angular manner in the extended portion. Is formed, and the bulging portion 10a is hooked on the stopper 6 to prevent the filter unit 2 from coming out.

When the filter cassette 1 is mounted on each of the filter mounting portions, a pair of filter cassettes 1 and 1 positioned vertically facing each other are arranged in one horizontal direction (left direction in FIG. 1). It is arranged at a predetermined position so as to draw a V-shape that widens toward the side.

That is, one filter cassette 1 located above the pair of filter cassettes 1 and 1 is located at the upper left in FIG. 1, and the other filter cassette 1 is located at the lower left in the figure. In the example, two pairs of four filter cassettes 1 in total are provided, and the four filter cassettes 1 draw a W shape.

At this time, as described above, since the filter cassette 1 has a thickness of 70 mm and the height of the filter unit 2 is 610 mm, the width W of the V-shaped opening is such that the filter cassette 1 can be mounted. 150mm considering the margin
Is set to. By thus setting the width of the V-shaped opening end to be approximately twice the thickness of the filter cassette, the cassette is tightly packed without pressure loss at the opening end, and the device space is effectively used. be able to.

Here, the gas to be treated is introduced into the inside of the filter unit 2 from the outside of the V-shaped contraction portion formed by the pair of filter cassettes 1 and 1, and passes through the inside of the filter cassette 1 here. After that, the V-shaped opening is pulled out to the outside of the filter unit 2.

By arranging the filter cassette 1 in this way, the amount of air received by one filter is reduced,
Moreover, the filter area can be increased, and as a result, the life of the filter cassette 1 can be extended.

Next, the operation of mounting the filter cassette 1 inside the filter unit 2 in the above embodiment will be described.

First, when the filter cassette 1 is mounted, the filter pressing lid 10 is opened, and the pushing end of the filter cassette 1 is located on the upper surface of the angle 8, and the angle 8 and the filter pressing metal fitting 9 are used to connect the filter pressing lid 10 and the filter pressing metal. elastically pushes the filter cassette 1 so as to clamp.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 4 (a), when the tip of the filter holding metal fitting 9 is lowered, the filter cassette 1 is manually pushed up from the back side.
The filter holder 1 with the filter cassette 1
Be careful not to bend.

When the pushing end of the filter cassette 1 comes under the filter holding metal 9, the inner gasket 5 hits the end of the angle 8 as shown in FIG.
Since the filter cassette 1 cannot be pushed all the way in, push this end from the bottom of the back side, and be careful not to damage the gasket 5 on the back side with the angle 8 of the filter unit 2. Push in.

The filter cassette 1 is replaced with the filter unit 2
Then, the filter pressing lid 10 is closed, and the bulging portion 10a is hooked on the stopper 6 of the filter cassette 1. At this time, when the filter pressing lid 10 is not caught, the rising portion of the filter pressing lid 10 is closed. Is stretched, and the bulging portion 10a is slightly bent to adjust the force of the filter pressing lid 10.

When the filter cassette 1 is removed from the filter unit 2, the reverse operation of the above operation is performed.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show another embodiment. FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional front view showing a state in which a filter cassette is mounted in a filter unit, and FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of an essential part of FIG. is there. In this embodiment, inside the filter unit 2,
It shows an example in which four filter cassettes 1 are detachably mounted in the same direction (from right to left in FIG. 5).

That is, the cassette mounting portion is provided inside the filter unit 2 at substantially the same position as in the above embodiment, but in this embodiment, two types of filter mounting portions are provided. .

The first filter mounting portion is for mounting the two filter cassettes 1 located at the uppermost stage and the third stage, and includes a holding plate 11 that supports the filter cassette 1 from below, and this holding plate. A filter retainer 12 which is located below 11 to move the filter retainer up and down is provided.
The filter cassette 1 is vertically held between the holding plate 11 and the filter support 13 arranged above the holding plate 11 and is held immovably.

The second filter mounting portion is for mounting the other two filter cassettes 1, and includes a holding plate 14 located above the filter cassette 1 and above the holding plate 14. A filter retainer 12 that is positioned and moves up and down is provided, and the retainer plate 14 is moved downward to move the filter cassette 1 from above and below between the retainer plate 14 and the filter support 15 disposed below the retainer plate 14. It is designed to be clamped and held immovably.

Here, the filter retainer 12 has a bolt portion 16, a rotatable knob 17 screwed into the bolt portion 16, and a stopper 18 for preventing the knob 17 from coming out.
And a coil spring 19 interposed between the knob 17 and the pressing plate 11 or 14.

Then, the knob 17 is rotated to rotate the bolt 1
When 6 is moved forward by a predetermined amount, the screwing of both is released, and the pressing plate 11 or 14 is biased outward by the elastic force of the coil spring 19.

Next, the operation of mounting the filter cassette 1 in the filter unit 2 in this embodiment will be described.

From the viewpoint of workability at the time of mounting, the mounting procedure is such that the lower, ie, the second and fourth stage filter cassettes 1 are mounted first, and then the upper cassette filter 1 is mounted. First, the filter holder 12 of the second cassette mounting part
The holding plate 14 is raised by tightening the knob 17 of. In this state, insert the filter cassette 1 into the gasket 5
So that it faces downward, and while gently lifting, push it in until it touches the inside of the filter unit 2.

After the filter cassette 1 is pushed in until it touches the inside, the nop 17 of the filter retainer 14 is loosened and the retainer plate 1
4 is lowered and the filter cassette 1 is fixed by the elastic force of the coil spring 19. At this time, if the knob 17 is fully loosened (until the stopper 18 hits the rattling of the filter cassette 1), this torque suddenly decreases.
When the filter cassette 1 is removed from the filter unit 2, the reverse operation of the above operation is performed.

Next, the holding plate 11 is lowered by tightening the knob 17 of the filter holder 12 of the first filter mounting portion. In this state, the filter cassette 1 is pushed in along the guide of the filter support 13 with the gasket 5 facing upward until it comes into contact with the back of the filter unit 2.

After the filter cassette 1 is pushed to the back, the knob 17 of the filter retainer 12 is loosened and the retainer plate 1 is released.
1 is raised and the filter cassette 1 is fixed by the elastic force of the coil spring 19. At this time, in order to prevent one-sided tightening, the knob 17 is gradually and evenly loosened, and when the knob 17 is loosened to the full extent (until the backlash of the filter cassette 1 hits the stopper 19), this torque suddenly decreases. This filter cassette 1 is used as a filter unit 2
When removing from, perform the reverse operation to the above.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged vertical sectional front view of a main part showing still another embodiment. The difference from this embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 is that the presser foot 12 is used instead of the filter presser 12. The point is that the bolt 20 is used and the filter cassette 1 is fixed by the tightening force of the holding bolt 20. In the case of this embodiment, unlike the embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the filter cassette 1 cannot be fixed with a constant tightening force, but it is structurally simple.

[0047]

Since the present invention has the above-mentioned structure,
By using the ion-exchange fiber as a filter, not only can chemical pollutants be removed with high efficiency, but also the weight can be reduced and the risk of dust generation can be eliminated.
Further, the ion exchange capacity of the ion exchange fiber can be efficiently consumed and this exchange can be easily performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is likewise an enlarged view of a main part of FIG.

FIG. 3 is likewise a mounting view of the filter cassette.

FIG. 4 is a diagram similarly attached to the description when attaching the filter cassette.

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

6 is likewise an enlarged view of a main part of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional front view showing still another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Filter cassette 2 Filter unit 3 cases 4 Non-woven fabric (ion exchange fiber) 9 Filter holder 10 Filter cover 11,14 Presser plate 12 Filter foot

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Makoto Yamaguchi 11-1 Haneda Asahi-cho, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside the EBARA CORPORATION (56) Reference JP-A-8-24534 (JP, A) JP-A 4-247207 (JP, A) JP 59-19516 (JP, A) JP 4-300612 (JP, A) JP 52-122022 (JP, A) JP 7-299317 (JP, A) JP 7-289826 (JP, A) JP 7-230108 (JP, A) JP 7-24234 (JP, A) JP 6-177569 (JP, A) JP 6 -126119 (JP, A) Actual development 61-79620 (JP, U) Actual development 64-17319 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B01D 46/52 F24F 7/06

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A set of two filters is set as a set.
V shape that expands toward one side while facing each other's filter
Odor for multiple filter units arranged in a shape
Inside the rectangular frame-shaped case of the filter unit ,
The <br/> filter cassette housing while folding the ion-exchange fibers to the pleated shape, elastically sandwiched and bracing the ends
Air purification device, characterized in that mounted freely resiliently removable by the filter presser lid while lifting. 2. The thickness of the filter cassette is 50 to 7
The air purification apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the air purification apparatus is set to 0 mm. 3. The air purifying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the width of the V-shaped open end is set to be approximately twice the thickness of the filter cassette.