JP4187847B2 - Dust-free stocker - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a dust-free stocker suitable for storing a clean suit. Here, no dust means that there is no dust exceeding the allowable value, and the stocker means a storage container such as a rocker or a storage box.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In order to enter a clean room for semiconductor production lines or a clean room for bioresearch, it is required to change ordinary clothes to clean suits (dust-free clothes) and remove dust in the air shower room. This is because the cleanliness of the clean room decreases when dust is brought in. Clean suit management is important in promoting dust-free operation, and if a clean suit that has already been treated with dust is placed in a normal environment, it will become dirty immediately, so keep it in a dust-free stocker like a clean room. Is desirable.
[0003]
As a technique related to such a dust-free stocker, for example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 62-147835 “Rocker device with air shower” is known, and the locker 5 of this locker device (the symbol is diverted from the publication). According to FIG. 1 of the publication, it is arranged in the changing room 4 adjacent to the air shower room 3, and according to FIG. 2, which is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II of FIG. A part of the clean air that is forcedly circulated through the changing room 4 is branched, blown from the punching metal of reference numeral 26, and returned through the floor prefilter 13 to lock the locker 5 It is said that the inside of can be kept clean.
[0004]
As apparent from FIGS. 1 and 2 of the above publication, the locker 5 is handled as an accessory of the clean room, and has been an important fixture to be installed with the air shower room 3 and the changing room 4 installed together with the clean room CR.
As a matter of course, the locker 5 formed integrally with the changing room 4 cannot be changed in number or position.
The number of people entering and exiting a clean room can vary greatly due to changes in the products handled in the clean room and increases and decreases in production. However, the structure of the locker 5 cannot cope with changes in the number of personnel. Therefore, a dust-free stocker that can be transported is required.
[0005]
FIG. 6 is an external view of a typical representative dust-free stocker. The dust-free stocker 100 has a transparent sheet 106 through the front opening of a box comprising a bottom 101, left and right walls 102 and 103, a back wall 104, and a ceiling 105. 107, and a fan filter unit 110 (details will be described in the next figure) is attached to the ceiling 105. 108 is a caster, 109 is a level adjuster, and the duster stocker 100 is moved to a desired location by the caster 108, and the level adjuster 109 is extended to level the dustless stocker 100 and fix it to the floor. be able to.
[0006]
FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view and an operation diagram of FIG. 6. The fan filter unit 110 has a cloth filter 112, a motor-equipped fan 113, and a high-performance filter 114 arranged in order from the top to the bottom in a duct 111.
If the clean suit 116 is suspended from the saddle member 115 and the fan 113 with motor is operated, the outside air is cleaned by the cloth filter 112 and the high performance filter 114, and this clean air fills the space of the dustless stocker 100. After that, it goes out of the dustless stocker 100 through the through hole 117 of the floor 101. In this way, by filling the storage space of the dust-free stocker 100 with clean air, the clean suit 116 can be kept in a cleaner state.
[0007]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, the transparent sheets 106 and 107 must be opened each time the clean suit 116 is taken in and out, and there is a possibility that outside air may enter the dustless stocker 100 each time. Since the outside air contains more dust than clean air, the inside of the dustless stocker 100 becomes dirty. As a countermeasure, the capacity of the fan filter unit 110 must be remarkably increased. In this case, the fan filter unit 110 is increased in size and power consumption is doubled, and both the equipment cost and the operating cost are increased.
Accordingly, one of the objects of the present invention is to provide a dust-free stocker structure in which there is no concern that outside air will enter the dust-free stocker when an article such as a clean suit is put in and out.
[0008]
Further, since the transparent sheets 106 and 107 are opened manually, the transparent sheets 106 and 107 are likely to be contaminated with fingerprints and the like, which causes deterioration of the cleanliness of the dustless stocker 100.
Therefore, one of the objects of the present invention is to eliminate the transparent sheet that is manually opened and closed.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, claim 1 is a front wall which is provided at the center of the height and is always open and has an article inlet and a lower part, and a floor, left and right walls, and a back wall. And an article storage box in which the front opening of the article storage space enclosed by the ceiling is closed, an air discharge hole opened in the floor, a plurality of air discharge holes opened in the ceiling, an air discharge hole and an air discharge hole An air duct to be connected and a fan and a filter interposed in the air duct are provided, and an appropriate amount of air is always blown from the article inlet / outlet, and the same amount of air is taken in from the outside air inlet.
[0010]
The article entry / exit opening opened at approximately the center of the height of the front wall is always open.
Articles such as clean suits are put in and out through the goods entrance.
Due to the action of the air duct and the fan, an appropriate amount of air is always blown out from the article inlet / outlet, and the same amount of outside air is taken in from the outside air inlet.
Therefore, there is no concern that outside air will enter from the article entry / exit, and there is no concern that the article storage space will be contaminated by outside air.
[0011]
Claim 2 is a front wall provided with an article entry / exit opening which is provided at a substantially central height, and has a front opening of an article storage space surrounded by a floor, left and right walls, a back wall and a ceiling. A closed article storage box, an air discharge hole opened in the floor, a plurality of air discharge holes opened in the ceiling, an air duct connecting the air discharge hole and the air discharge hole, and a fan and a filter interposed in the air duct And an outside air intake port attached to the air duct on the primary side of the fan, wherein an appropriate amount of air is always blown out from the article entry / exit port, and the same amount of air is taken in from the outside air intake port. .
[0012]
As in the first aspect, the article access opening opened at approximately the center of the height of the front wall always remains open. Articles such as clean suits are put in and out through the goods entrance. Due to the action of the air duct and the fan, an appropriate amount of air is always blown out from the article inlet / outlet, and the same amount of outside air is taken in from the outside air inlet.
Therefore, there is no concern that outside air will enter from the article entry / exit, and there is no concern that the article storage space will be contaminated by outside air.
[0013]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, the air discharge hole opened in the floor is provided in the vicinity of the front edge of the floor.
Thereby, it is possible to prevent the dust of the floor from rising due to the airflow from the outside air intake.
[0014]
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a slit for forming an air curtain is provided on the front edge of the ceiling.
A part of the clean air passing through the duct is blown out to the article storage space through the air discharge hole, and the remaining part is blown out to the article storage space through the slit. However, since the slit is provided at the front edge, the air curtain flows down along the back surface of the front wall and exits from the article entrance. Compared to air that blows air only from the air discharge hole to the article storage space, if the air is divided into the air curtain and the air discharge hole, the air curtain has a large blocking action, so it is possible to suppress the entry of outside air with a small amount of air. it can. Therefore, the amount of air discharged from the fan can be suppressed. If the amount of air discharged from the fan is small, it is possible to save electric energy necessary for operating the fan.
[0015]
5. The outer floor, the outer back wall, and the outer ceiling are arranged at intervals on the outside of the floor, the rear wall, and the ceiling, and the air duct includes the floor and the outer floor, the rear wall and the outer back wall, and the ceiling and the outer ceiling. By constructing the main part, an air duct is built in a large box.
Adopting a double wall structure and making the space between the walls an air passage, the air duct is not exposed and the appearance is improved.
[0016]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The dust-free stocker 10 according to claims 1 and 3 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3, and the dust-free stockers 10B and 10C according to claims 2 and 3 will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a dustless stocker according to the present invention. A dustless stocker 10 includes a front wall 23 having an article inlet / outlet 21 at a substantially central height and an outside air inlet 22 at a lower portion, a floor 24, The left and right walls 25, 25 (the front wall 25 is not shown), the rear wall 26 and the article storage box 20 with the front opening 29 of the article storage space 28 enclosed by the ceiling 27 closed, and the vicinity of the front edge of the floor 24 Opened air discharge holes 31 (... indicates a plurality; the same applies hereinafter), a plurality of air discharge holes 32 formed at equal intervals in the ceiling 27, and a slit formed in the front edge 33, an air duct 40 connecting the air discharge hole 31 and the air discharge hole 32, and a primary filter 41, a motor-equipped fan 42 and a secondary filter 43 interposed in the air duct 40.
[0017]
In this example, the air duct 40 has an outer floor 44 disposed below the floor 24, an outer back wall 46 disposed outside the back wall 26, an outer ceiling 47 disposed above the ceiling 27, and air gaps between them. It is a passage. Since it is a so-called double wall structure, the article storage space 28 is smaller than the outer dimension, but the appearance is improved because the air duct 40 is incorporated. However, the air duct 40 may be an outside independent duct. Reference numeral 48 denotes a collar member, 49 denotes a hanger, and 50 denotes a clean suit as an example of an article.
[0018]
The primary filter 41 preferably has a collection efficiency of 45 to 90% by weight method and a pressure loss of 10 to 50 Pa.
The secondary filter 43 is called a high performance filter, and it is preferable that the collection efficiency is 99.97% by a counting method (0.3 μm, D.O.P aerosol), and the initial pressure loss is 18 mm water column (175 Pa). It is.
Since the life of the first and second order filters 41 and 43 is longer as the filter area is larger, a filter having a large area extending in the front and back direction of the drawing is used.
[0019]
The ceiling 27 is preferably made of a punching metal having an aperture ratio {(total hole area / holeless flat plate area) × 100} of 20 to 40%. Punched metal is readily available and inexpensive. However, it is safe to make appropriate holes later in the flat plate without holes.
[0020]
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a dustless stocker according to the present invention, and shows a preferred configuration example of the front wall 23.
The front wall 23 has an upper portion closed with a resin sheet 52 and a lower portion covered with accordion curtains 53 and 53 in order to provide the article entrance 21 at a substantially central height. Are attached in a T shape, a curtain rail 56 is attached to the cross beam 54, and fixed magnets 57 are embedded in the vertical frame 55.
[0021]
Attaching the curtain runners 58 to the upper edges of the accordion curtains 53, 53, fitting the curtain runners 58 to the curtain rail 56, and fixing the left or right end with screws B. Thus, the accordion curtains 53 and 53 can be opened to the left and right only when necessary. However, the accordion curtains 53 are normally closed, and the magnet pieces 59 are attracted to the fixed magnets 57.
The resin sheet 52 and the accordion curtains 53, 53 are preferably transparent antistatic vinyl curtains.
[0022]
The reason why the accordion curtains 53 and 53 are used as the member for closing the lower portion of the front wall 23 is to consider the cleaning of the floor 24, the inspection, and the taking in and out of large items. However, since the frequency is small, an appropriate flat plate may be screwed to the front edges of the left and right walls 25, 25, and from this point of view, the front wall 23 is provided with the article inlet / outlet 21 and the outside air inlet 22 (see FIG. It can be said that the wall is completely covered except for 1).
However, since both the article inlet / outlet 21 and the outside air inlet 22 are provided on the front wall 23, it is possible to easily observe the state of both openings, and it is particularly assumed that the outside air inlet 22 is blocked by foreign matter. However, it is possible to easily take measures such as detecting this and removing foreign matter.
[0023]
The operation of the dustless stocker described above will be described next.
FIGS. 3A and 3B are explanatory views of the operation of the dustless stocker according to the present invention.
In (a), when the fan 42 is operated, the sum (Q1 + Q2) of the air of Q1 below the article storage space 28 and the air of Q2 entering through the outside air intake port 22 by the suction action of the fan 42 is Q1 + Q2. Through to the fan 42. The air of Q1 + Q2 is boosted by the fan 42 and flows downward through the second filter 43. This clean air is divided into Q3 air curtain blowing through the slit 33 and Q4 air blowing through the air discharge holes 32.
[0024]
However, Q3 of the air curtain flows down along the back surface of the resin sheet 52 and flows out from the article entrance 21. Accordingly, it is desirable that the amount of air Q5 leaking from the article entrance / exit 21 is substantially equal to Q3 of the air curtain.
Further, since the air amount Q2 and the air amount Q5 are necessarily equal, Q1 = Q4.
[0025]
Here, specific examples of the pressure, flow velocity, dimensions, etc. of the dustless stocker 10 of the present invention will be described.
Although the article storage space 28 has a difference in pressure between the bottom 24 and the ceiling 27 due to a draft action, it is desired to secure an average value of +0.6 Pa (+ is positive pressure, based on the outside air). For this purpose, the flow velocity relating to Q3 from the slit 33 is set to a range of 0.8 to 1.1 m / s. If it is less than 0.8 m / s, the function of the curtain becomes poor. Further, if it exceeds 1.1 m / s, a turbulent flow is generated, and the cleanliness is lowered by entraining outside air.
[0026]
The air flow velocity relating to Q4 from the air discharge holes 32... Should be rectified within a range of 0.2 to 0.4 m / s. If it is less than 0.2 m / s, it is difficult to keep the article storage space 28 at a positive pressure. On the other hand, if it exceeds 0.4 m / s, rectification cannot be maintained and energy consumption becomes a problem, which is not preferable.
[0027]
The height H1 of the resin sheet 52 may be 100 mm or more in order to stably form the air curtain, but here it is about 600 mm.
The height h1 of the article entry / exit 21 is about 600 mm.
The height H2 of the accordion curtain 53 is about 800 mm.
The height h2 of the outside air inlet 22 is about 50 mm.
[0028]
(B) shows a state when the clean suit 50 is taken out through the article entrance 21 as indicated by a white arrow. The air flow is the same as (a).
If the height dimension of the article entrance / exit 21 is about 600 mm, the clean suit 50 can be put in / out only by the article entry / exit 21 in principle. Even if the clean suit 50 touches the upper resin sheet 52 because of poor handling, the resin sheet 52 is highly flexible and therefore does not hinder the entry / exit of the clean suit 50 as shown in the figure.
[0029]
Even if the resin sheet 52 is slightly curved, the air curtain Q3 flows along the back surface of the resin sheet 52 and blows out from the article entry / exit 21. There is no risk of entering the article storage space 28 via 21.
Further, for the lower accordion curtain 53, the cross beam 54 serves as a protector, and even if the clean suit 50 touches the cross beam 54, there is no possibility of touching the accordion curtain 53.
[0030]
The vicinity of the air discharge hole 31 on the bottom 24 has a negative pressure in order to take in the outside air Q2. However, this negative pressure portion is very limited and is only a part of the bottom of the article storage space 28, so that the outside air is not dispersed in the article storage space 28.
Further, by providing the air discharge hole 31 in the vicinity of the front edge of the floor 24, it is possible to suppress the rising of dust on the floor 24 due to the airflow from the outside air intake 22.
[0031]
4 (a) and 4 (b) are comparative examples for the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 3A, the dust-free stocker 10 of the present invention is provided with the always open article entry / exit opening 21, the outside air intake 22 provided, and the air duct 40 for circulating air. It is a structural feature. The significance of these features will be described with reference to comparative examples.
[0032]
FIG. 4A is a comparative example in which the accordion curtain 53 is extended downward to eliminate the outside air intake. In this comparative example, only the article entry / exit opening 21 is an opening that communicates with the outside air. Therefore, if air is blown from the article entry / exit opening 21 only by Q5, the same amount of air Q6 as Q5 is shown in the figure. Enter the storage space 28. This may cause the clean suit 50 to be contaminated by outside air. Therefore, the outside air inlet provided at a low position is indispensable.
[0033]
FIG. 4B is a comparative example in which an article access port 120 is provided in the middle of the transparent sheets 106 and 107 of the dustless stocker 100 described in the prior art. Of course, the transparent sheets 106 and 107 are fixed plates. You may change.
Assuming that the amount of air blown from the article inlet / outlet 120 is Q5 and the amount of air blown from the through-hole 117 is Q7, the amount of air passing through the fan 113 and the filters 112 and 114 is Q5 + Q7. 112 and 114, especially the filter 114, must be frequently cleaned or replaced, resulting in a significant increase in maintenance costs.
[0034]
In this regard, in FIG. 3A, since a large amount of clean air Q4 (= Q1) mixed with a small amount of outside air Q2 is processed by the filter 43, the maintenance cost of the filter 43 can be suppressed.
Therefore, it can be said that the air circulation system of the present invention is superior to the structure of FIG. 4B (air 1-pass system + article entrance / exit).
[0035]
5A and 5B are diagrams showing another embodiment of the dustless stocker according to the present invention.
As described above, the present invention is a combination of the air circulation method and the outside air intake, and the outside air inlet can be freely provided on the primary side (suction side) of the fan 42.
The dust-free stocker 10B of (a) has the lower part of the front wall closed with a relatively airtight shutter 53B, and the outside air intake port 22B is provided in the air duct 40 in a range below the floor 24 and above the outer floor 44. Is. Further, the air discharge holes 31... Of the floor 24 may be opened in an average dispersed state. As a result, there is no possibility that the outside air Q2 enters the article storage space 28, and the cleanliness of the article storage space 28 can be easily increased.
[0036]
The dust-free stocker 10C in (b) has an outside air intake port 22C attached to the middle of the duct 40, specifically, approximately at the center of the outer back wall 46, and the outside air intake port 22C takes outside air Q2 from it. Just put it in. However, since it is close to the fan 42, Q2 becomes excessive and there is a possibility that the air Q1 cannot be secured. Therefore, it is desirable to attach a valve 61 to the outside air intake port 22C and adjust the flow rate. In general, since heavy dust accumulates on the floor, if the outside air inlet 22C is provided at a sufficiently high position as in this example, outside air with a relatively small dust content can be taken in, and the length of the filter 43 can be increased. Life can be extended.
[0037]
In addition, since the outside air intakes 22B and 22C are provided at appropriate positions of the air duct 40, the degree of freedom in structural design is increased and the structure can be diversified.
[0038]
In contrast to the examples shown in the above (a) and (b), the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 3 (a) is configured such that the air Q1 and the outside air Q2 are collectively brought into the air duct 31 by the air discharge holes 31. It is characterized by having taken in to 40. Therefore, the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 3A has a very simple structure and is easy to use.
Therefore, which of the dust-free stockers 10, 10B, and 10C should be determined in consideration of the use environment, use conditions, cleanliness, and the like.
[0039]
Note that the dustless stocker of claim 1 may be either a built-in air duct 40 as in the present embodiment or an externally placed air duct 40. Furthermore, it may be either provided with a slit 33 for an air curtain or not provided.
In addition, it is preferable to provide the dustless stocker with casters and level adjusters.
[0040]
Furthermore, it is possible to put articles (gloves, shoes, goggles) other than clean suits into the dustless stocker of the present invention, and the types and shapes of the parts are not limited as long as the articles are treated or dustless. .
In this case, a shelf for organizing the articles may be provided, and the shelf is preferably installed near the floor 24 of the back wall 26. This is because the airflow in the article storage space 28 is most difficult to disturb.
[0041]
【The invention's effect】
The present invention exhibits the following effects by the above configuration.
In claim 1, an article entry / exit opening opened substantially at the center of the front wall is kept open, and articles such as a clean suit are taken in / out through the article entry / exit, and the air duct and the fan As a result, an appropriate amount of air is always blown out from the goods entry / exit port, and the same amount of outside air is taken in from the outside air intake. There is no worry of being contaminated.
Since it is not necessary to open the transparent sheet (curtain) every time an article is put in and out, there is no fear that the article storage space is contaminated by dirt such as fingerprints.
[0042]
In addition, since both the article entrance and the outside air inlet are provided on the front wall, both openings can be easily observed, even if the outside air inlet is clogged with foreign matter. Therefore, it is possible to easily take such measures as removing foreign substances.
[0043]
In the second aspect of the present invention, the article entry / exit opening opened substantially at the center of the front wall is always kept open, and articles such as a clean suit are taken in / out through the article entry / exit, As a result, an appropriate amount of air is always blown out from the goods entry / exit port, and the same amount of outside air is taken in from the outside air intake. There is no worry of being contaminated.
Since it is not necessary to open the transparent sheet (curtain) every time an article is put in and out, there is no fear that the article storage space is contaminated by dirt such as fingerprints.
[0044]
In addition, since the outside air inlet is provided at an appropriate position of the air duct, the degree of freedom in structural design is increased and the structure can be diversified.
[0045]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, the air discharge hole opened in the floor is provided in the vicinity of the front edge of the floor. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the dust of the floor from rising due to the airflow from the outside air intake.
[0046]
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a slit for forming an air curtain is provided on the front edge of the ceiling. As a result, a slit that blows out the clean air of the same amount as the amount of outside air taken in from the outside air inlet as an air curtain is provided at the front edge of the ceiling, and the air curtain flows down along the back of the front wall. Therefore, it is possible to effectively prevent the outside air from entering from the article entry / exit port. As a result, it is possible to reduce the capacity of the fan that circulates air, and it is possible to reduce equipment costs and operating costs.
[0047]
According to the fifth aspect, since the air duct is built in the large box, the dustless stocker becomes a simple box and there is no protrusion, so that the appearance is improved.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a dustless stocker according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the dustless stocker according to the present invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the dust-free stocker according to the present invention. FIG. 6 is an external view of a typical representative dust-free stocker. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view and an action diagram of FIG. ]
10, 10B, 10C ... Dust-free stocker, 20 ... Goods storage box, 21 ... Goods entry / exit port, 22, 22B, 22C ... Outside air intake, 23 ... Front wall, 24 ... Floor, 25 ... Wall, 26 ... Back wall 27 ... Ceiling, 28 ... Article storage space, 29 ... Front opening, 31 ... Air discharge hole, 32 ... Air discharge hole, 33 ... Slit, 40 ... Air duct, 42 ... Fan, 43 ... Filter (secondary filter), 44 ... Outer floor, 46 ... Outer back wall, 47 ... Outer ceiling, 48 ... Gutter member, 50 ... Article (clean suit), 52 ... Resin sheet, 53 ... Accordion curtain.

Claims (5)

The front wall of the article storage space, which is provided at the center of the height and is always open and has a front wall with an open air inlet and an outside air inlet at the bottom, surrounded by the floor, left and right walls, back wall and ceiling. Closed goods storage box,
An air discharge hole opened in the floor;
A plurality of air discharge holes opened in the ceiling;
An air duct connecting the air discharge hole and the air discharge hole;
With a fan and a filter interposed in the air duct ,
An appropriate amount of air was always blown out from the article outlet, and the same amount of air was taken in from the outside air inlet.
A dust-free stocker characterized by that . An article storage box provided at the center of the height, with a front wall with an article access opening that is always open , with the front opening of the article storage space enclosed by the floor, left and right walls, back wall, and ceiling closed. When,
An air discharge hole opened in the floor;
A plurality of air discharge holes opened in the ceiling;
An air duct connecting the air discharge hole and the air discharge hole;
A fan and a filter interposed in the air duct,
An outside air intake port attached to the air duct on the primary side of the fan ,
An appropriate amount of air was always blown out from the article outlet, and the same amount of air was taken in from the outside air inlet.
A dust-free stocker characterized by that .   The dust-free stocker according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the air discharge hole opened in the floor is provided in the vicinity of a front edge of the floor.   4. A dustless stocker according to claim 1, wherein a slit forming an air curtain is provided at a front edge of the ceiling.   The outer floor, the outer back wall, and the outer ceiling are arranged at intervals on the outside of the floor, the rear wall, and the ceiling, and the main part of the air duct is composed of the floor and the outer floor, the rear wall and the outer back wall, and the ceiling and the outer ceiling. The dust-free stocker according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein an air duct is built in a large box.

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