JP4312768B2 - Transport system for decompression chamber - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a production system that continuously produces products in a reduced pressure environment, and more particularly to a conveyance system that conveys products or materials.

  For certain products, it may be preferable to produce the product in an environment where the pressure is reduced from atmospheric pressure.

  When mass-producing such products, a decompression chamber equipped with a vacuum pump will be provided to produce the products, but at the same time, an inlet and a loading system for loading materials, and an outlet and unloading for unloading products. A system is required.

  In the prior art, a spare chamber provided with two automatic doors and a vacuum pump is provided in front of the decompression chamber, and the product or material is stored in a container, and the container is conveyed by a belt conveyor.

  In addition, a switch that detects the approach of the container is installed before and after the automatic door. The automatic door opens when the switch installed in front of the automatic door turns from OFF to ON, and automatically when the switch installed after the automatic door turns from ON to OFF. I was trying to close the door.

There are the following similar technologies that are not mass-produced.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-313036

  In the prior art, the outside air flows into the spare room at the moment when the container enters and leaves the outside air.

  The outside air flowing into the spare room is removed by a vacuum pump provided in the spare room, but it takes some time to reduce the pressure in the spare room.

  For this reason, when trying to increase the transfer capability of a product or material, the transfer capability is limited by the exhaust capability of the vacuum pump installed in the spare chamber, and the transfer capability cannot be increased further.

  The front and back surfaces of the container in the direction of travel are composed of an inclined plane or curved surface with a straight line extending in the vertical or horizontal direction as the apex, and the open / close door is in close contact with the inclined plane or curved surface of the container to be vertically or horizontally A structure that opens and closes.

  In addition, the spare room is formed by connecting two parallel doors that are opened and closed in the vertical and horizontal directions, upper and lower and right and left walls that form a sealed space together with the door, and connecting the sealed space and the outside air toward the outside air. The exhaust pipe is provided with a check valve for flowing air, and the intake pipe is provided with a check valve for connecting the sealed space and the decompression chamber to flow air toward the sealed space.

  In the first aspect of the present invention, when the container is transported by the transporter and the tip of the container reaches the opening / closing door, the opening / closing door gradually opens while closely contacting the inclined flat surface or curved surface of the container.

  Since the lower end of the door is adapted to the shape of the front surface of the container, the amount of outside air that flows into the decompression chamber while the door is open is small.

  As the container progresses, the lower end of the open / close door reaches the ceiling of the container, then proceeds while contacting the ceiling of the container, and gradually descends while closely contacting the inclined flat surface or curved surface of the rear surface of the container. .

  Since the lower end portion of the door is adapted to the shape of the ceiling and rear surface of the container, the amount of outside air flowing into the decompression chamber while the door is closed is small.

In the first aspect of the present invention, when the container pushes open the first opening / closing door and enters the spare chamber, the pressure in the spare chamber increases by the volume of the container that enters the spare chamber, and the pressure in the spare chamber is increased. When the pressure rises above the atmospheric pressure, the air in the preliminary chamber is discharged into the outside air through the exhaust pipe until it becomes equal to the outside air pressure.

  When the volume of the container contained in the spare chamber decreases as the container passes, the pressure in the spare chamber decreases, and when the pressure in the spare chamber becomes lower than the pressure in the decompression chamber, it becomes equal to the pressure in the decompression chamber. The air in the decompression chamber is sucked into the spare chamber through the intake pipe.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, every time the container passes through the spare chamber, the air in the decompression chamber passes through the spare chamber and is discharged into the outside air.

  Therefore, if the volume of the spare chamber and the interval through which the container passes through the spare chamber are appropriately designed, the amount of air entering the decompression chamber and the amount of air discharged from the decompression chamber into the outside air can be offset. Can do.

  As a result, the vacuum pump in the decompression chamber can be made inexpensive with a low exhaust capacity.

  Further, since there is no vacuum pump in the spare chamber, it is possible to construct a high-speed transfer system that is not restricted by the exhaust capacity of the vacuum pump in the spare chamber.

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the outline of the invention described in claim 1.

  In FIG. 1, 1 is a decompression chamber, 2 is a vacuum pump, 3 is a wall of the decompression chamber 1, 4 is an opening / closing door, 5 is a storage space for the opening / closing door 4, and 6 is an opening / closing door. 4 is a bearing for smoothing up and down movement of 4, 7 is an airtight wall installed before and after the door 4, 8 is a cover of the door 4, 9 is a roller, 10 is a roller 9 is a bearing, 11 is a container, 12 is a cover of the container 11, 13 is a bearing, 14 is a reaction plate for a linear motor, 15 is a conveying track, and 16 is a linear motor 1 The next coil.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the decompression chamber 1 is kept airtight by the wall 3, the opening / closing door 4 and the weathering 8, and the internal pressure is reduced by the vacuum pump 2.

  The container 11 inclines with a gentle slope as the front surface with respect to the traveling direction goes to the lower part, and the rear surface with respect to the traveling direction inclines with a steep slope as it goes to the lower part, and reduces friction resistance with the floor at the bottom part. A bearing 13 and a plastic cover 12 for suppressing the inflow of outside air at the bottom are provided, and the left and right side surfaces are largely opened to facilitate taking in and out of products and materials.

  The container 11 has a linear motor reaction plate 14 made of aluminum attached to the bottom, and is directed in FIG. 1 due to the interaction with the linear motor primary coil 16 embedded in the transport track 15. And move from right to left.

  The airtight walls 7 are installed on both sides of the transport track 15 before and after the door 4, and the space between the airtight walls 7 is exactly the same as the width of the container 11.

  For this reason, the amount of outside air flowing in through the side of the container 11 is small.

  A roller 9 is connected to the lower end of the open / close door 4 on the decompression chamber 1 side via a bearing 10, and an S-shaped hard plastic weathering 8 is attached to the lower end of the open / close door 4 on the outside air side. Are connected through.

  When the front surface of the container 11 comes into contact with the roller 9, the roller 9 climbs while rotating the inclination of the front surface of the container 11, and moves backward on the ceiling portion of the container 11 while rotating the ceiling portion of the container 11. Get off while rotating the inclination of the rear surface of the container 11.

  In conjunction with this operation, the open / close door 4 opens and closes up and down, but due to the flexibility of the polyfilm connected to the cover 8, the door 8 always sticks to the transport track 15 or the side or ceiling of the container 11. The amount of outside air that flows in through the upper part of the air is small.

  With these functions, the amount of outside air flowing in along with opening / closing of the opening / closing door 4 is suppressed to a very small amount, and the increase in the amount of outside air flowing into the decompression chamber 1 accompanying the increase in the conveyance frequency of the container 11 is slight. It will be a thing.

2 and 3 show the effect of the best embodiment of the invention of claim 1, wherein.

  In FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, 4 a and 4 b are open / close doors, and a space surrounded by the open / close doors 4 a and 4 b, the wall 3, and the transfer track 15 is a spare chamber 17.

  The spare chamber 17 is connected to an exhaust pipe 18 connecting the outside air and the spare chamber 17 and an intake pipe 20 connecting the decompression chamber 1 and the spare chamber 17. The exhaust pipe 18 includes a check valve 19 that opens toward the outside air. The intake pipe 20 includes a check valve 21 that opens toward the spare chamber 17.

  FIG. 2 shows a moment when the container 11 enters the spare chamber 17 from the decompression chamber 1.

  In FIG. 2, due to the entrance of the container 11, the air in the spare chamber 17 has no place to go, and the air pressure in the spare chamber 17 increases.

  When the atmospheric pressure in the preliminary chamber 17 becomes higher than the external atmospheric pressure, the check valve 19 opens toward the outside air, and the air in the preliminary chamber 17 is exhausted into the outside air through the exhaust pipe 18.

  The air in the spare chamber 17 is exhausted until the volume of the container 11 occupying the spare chamber 17 is maximized.

  FIG. 3 shows the moment when the container 11 exits from the spare chamber 17 into the outside air.

  In FIG. 3, the volume occupied by the container 11 in the spare chamber 17 decreases as the container 11 exits the spare chamber 17.

  As a result, the volume occupied by the air in the preliminary chamber 17 increases relatively, and the atmospheric pressure in the preliminary chamber 17 decreases.

  When the pressure in the reserve chamber 17 becomes lower than the pressure in the decompression chamber 1, the check valve 21 opens toward the reserve chamber 17, and the air in the decompression chamber 1 flows into the reserve chamber 17.

  The inflow of air into the spare chamber 17 continues until the container 11 exits the spare chamber 17.

  The amount of air exhausted into the outside air through the exhaust pipe 18 and the amount of air flowing into the auxiliary chamber 17 through the intake pipe 20 are substantially the same.

  For this reason, the amount of air in the decompression chamber 1 is substantially the same as the amount of air exhausted into the outside air every time the container 11 passes.

  Thus, in the invention according to the second aspect, the preparatory chamber 17 functions to discharge the air in the decompression chamber 1 to the outside air in the same manner as the vacuum pump 2.

For this reason, the amount of the air flowing into the decompression chamber 1 and the amount of the air discharged from the decompression chamber 1 are substantially balanced by appropriately designing the volumes of the spare chamber 17 and the container 11 according to the conveyance frequency of the container 11. As a result, the vacuum pump 2 can be made inexpensive with a small exhaust capacity.

  The invention described in claim 1 can also be applied to the conveyance of products or materials in the pressure-up chamber where the indoor air is not desired to flow out.

  The present invention can also be applied to a clean room where dust is not desired to be brought into the room.

It is a figure explaining the outline of the invention of Claim 1. It is a figure explaining the effect | action of the best embodiment of invention of Claim 1 . It is a figure explaining the effect | action of the best embodiment of invention of Claim 1 .

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Decompression chamber 2 Vacuum pump 3 Wall 4, 4a, 4b Open / close door 5 Storage space of open / close door 4 6 Bearing 7 Airtight wall 8 Cover 9 Roller 10 Roller 9 bearing 11 Container 12 Cover 13 Bearing 14 Reaction plate for linear motor DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 15 Transfer track 16 Primary coil for linear motors 17 Spare chamber 18 Exhaust pipe 19 Check valve opened toward outside air 20 Intake pipe 21 Check valve opened toward reserve chamber 17

Claims (2)

  A container having a front surface and a rear surface formed by an inclined flat surface or curved surface with a straight line extending horizontally or vertically as an apex, and the container is in close contact with the inclined flat surface or curved surface of the container, and is moved up and down or left and right as the container progresses. A pipe provided with doors arranged in parallel to each other, upper and lower and right and left walls forming a sealed space together with the door, and a check valve that connects the sealed space and the outside air and flows air only toward the outside air And a spare chamber configured by a pipe having a check valve that connects the sealed space and the decompression chamber and allows air to flow only toward the sealed space. A conveyance system characterized in that indoor air is exhausted to outside air.   The container according to claim 1, which is used for the transport system according to claim 1.

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