JP5896452B2 - Gas purification device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a gas purification device that purifies gas.

  An organic electroluminescence element (hereinafter referred to as an organic EL element) is a self-luminous element utilizing a phenomenon in which an organic material between two electrodes is excited by a voltage and light is emitted when returning to its original state. Then, n × m organic EL elements of RGB light emitting layers are arranged in a matrix to constitute an organic electroluminescence display (hereinafter referred to as an organic EL display).

  Such an organic EL display has the characteristics of low power consumption, little heat generation, and thin and light weight. Furthermore, the image quality of the organic EL display has excellent characteristics such as good color reproducibility, high contrast, moving image response and high peak luminance, and no viewing angle dependency.

  The organic material of such an organic EL display has a characteristic that it easily deteriorates when exposed to water or oxygen. Therefore, in the manufacture of organic EL displays, RGB light-emitting layers and metal electrode materials are deposited on a substrate by vacuum deposition in a vacuum or in an inert gas atmosphere such as nitrogen gas or argon gas. The sealing glass is bonded and sealed without touching.

  Now, in manufacturing an organic EL display, a long production line is used, but generally it is often performed in an inert gas atmosphere. In this case, the entire production line is covered with a sealing cover, and this sealing cover is filled with an inert gas. However, there are cases where the inert gas is contaminated by dust or minute pieces (hereinafter simply referred to as foreign matter) generated during the production, and the inert gas in the sealing cover is usually cleaned using a gas purification device. The foreign matter is removed.

  As conventional techniques relating to the manufacture of such an organic EL display, for example, Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-198364, title of invention: case-contained blower and gas circulation purification device) and Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2008-128224). , Title of the invention: case storage type blower and gas circulation purification device). In the inventions described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, the electric blower is housed in a case with good airtightness. In Cited Document 1, heat is exchanged by bringing a gas into contact with a cooling plate, and heat is exhausted by a water-cooled pipe in contact with the cooling plate. Furthermore, in Cited Document 2, self-cooling is performed to cool the motor of the electric blower with the wind generated by the electric blower.

JP 2007-198364 (FIG. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 3) JP 2008-128224 A (FIG. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 3, FIG. 4)

  The apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 of Patent Document 1 has a problem that foreign gas may be mixed into the inert gas because the inert gas is brought into contact with the motor 4 to be cooled. Similarly, the apparatus shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4 of Patent Document 2 has a problem that foreign gas may be mixed into the inert gas because the inert gas is brought into contact with the motor 4 to be cooled.

  Moreover, although the apparatus of FIG. 3 of patent document 1 and the apparatus of FIG. 3 of patent document 2 are demonstrated as a prior art, since inert gas exists in the closed path | route, a foreign material mixes in inert gas. The fear is reduced. However, unless the air blowing mechanism has an airtight structure, air may be mixed in from the surroundings of the air blowing mechanism in addition to foreign substances. It is not easy to completely air-tighten a blower mechanism composed of many parts. As described above, when the atmosphere is mixed, there is a problem that the organic material deteriorates by contact with water or oxygen, a defect called a dark spot that cannot emit light occurs, and the organic EL display becomes defective.

  There is a problem that foreign matter contamination and air intrusion cannot be avoided by using any of the conventional techniques described in Patent Documents 1 and 2.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a gas purification device that purifies gas while preventing both foreign matter and air from entering the atmosphere.

In order to achieve the above object, a gas purification apparatus according to claim 1 comprises:
A pre-filter for removing foreign substances contained in the cleaning target gas flowing in from the outside;
A blower for pumping the cleaning target gas flowing from the pre-filter,
A HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filter for removing foreign matters contained in the cleaning target gas flowing from said blower,
And a sealing portion where the same gas as the cleaning target gas to cover the periphery of the blower is located inside the gas space,
A blower drive unit disposed outside the sealing unit to drive and control the blower ,
The cleaning target gas is caused to flow into the prefilter from a production line outside the sealing portion .

The gas purifying apparatus according to 請 Motomeko 2, in a gas purifying apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sealing portion is allowed to flow into the same gas as the cleaning target gas to the gas space through the gas supply path A gas inflow port and a gas outflow port for allowing the same gas as the cleaning target gas to flow out from the gas space to the gas supply path are provided, and the gas in the gas space is circulated.

The gas purifying apparatus according to 請 Motomeko 3, shielding the gas purifying apparatus according to claim 1, in the gas space, the sealing portion from the periphery with the same gas is filled with the cleaning target gas It is characterized by being.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the gas purification apparatus which purifies gas can be provided, preventing both foreign material mixing and air | atmosphere invasion.

It is a block diagram of the gas purification apparatus of the form for implementing this invention. It is an external view of the gas purification apparatus of the form for implementing this invention, Fig.2 (a) is a top view, FIG.2 (b) is a front view. It is an external view of the gas purification apparatus of the form for implementing this invention, Fig.3 (a) is a front view, FIG.3 (b) is a right view. It is an external view of the gas purification apparatus of the form for implementing this invention, Fig.4 (a) is a left view, FIG.4 (b) is a front view. It is an external view of the gas purification apparatus of the form for implementing this invention, Fig.5 (a) is a top view, FIG.5 (b) is a rear view. It is an external view of the gas purification apparatus of the form for implementing this invention, Fig.6 (a) is an AA sectional view, FIG.6 (b) is an internal view of the sealing part seen from the back surface. It is an external view of the gas purification apparatus of the form for implementing this invention, Fig.7 (a) is an inside view of the sealing part seen from the right side surface, FIG.7 (b) is the sealing part seen from the front view FIG. It is a block diagram of the gas purification apparatus of the other form for implementing this invention. It is an external view of the gas purification apparatus of the other form for implementing this invention, Fig.9 (a) is a top view, FIG.9 (b) is a front view. It is an external view of the gas purification apparatus of the other form for implementing this invention, Fig.10 (a) is a front view, FIG.10 (b) is a right view. It is an external view of the gas purification apparatus of the other form for implementing this invention, Fig.11 (a) is a BB sectional drawing, FIG.11 (b) is a front view. It is an external view of the gas purification apparatus of the other form for implementing this invention, Fig.12 (a) is a lower internal view seen from the plane, FIG.12 (b) is an internal view seen from the back surface. It is an external view of the gas purification apparatus of the other form for implementing this invention, Fig.13 (a) is an upper interior figure seen from the plane, FIG.13 (b) is an interior view seen from the front. It is a block diagram of the gas purification apparatus of the other form for implementing this invention.

  Then, the gas purification apparatus of the form for implementing this invention is demonstrated below, referring a figure. As shown in the block diagram of FIG. 1, the gas purification apparatus 100 includes a pre-purification gas inlet 1, a prefilter 2, a first gas flow path 3, a blower 4, a second gas flow path 5, a HEPA filter 6, and a purified gas. An outflow port 7, a blower driving unit 8, a sealing unit 9, a gas inflow port 10, and a gas outflow port 11 are provided. The appearance of the gas purification device 100 is as shown in FIGS.

  Such a gas purification apparatus 100 is connected to, for example, a production line of an organic EL display, and is inert gas such as nitrogen or argon (hereinafter simply referred to as gas and filled in the production line). ), The cleaning is performed, and the purified gas is circulated and supplied again. The same applies to the gas purification apparatuses 200 and 300 described below.

Next, each part will be described.
As shown in FIG. 1, the pre-purification gas inlet 1 has an upstream opening formed outside the sealing portion 9, and a downstream opening formed inside the sealing portion 9. The flow path of the pre-purification gas inlet 1 communicates between the space of the production line (not shown) and the prefilter 2 in the gas space 91 of the sealing portion 9, and the gas before purification from the production line. (Hereinafter referred to as pre-purification gas). The pre-purification gas inlet 1 is provided so as to protrude from the sealing portion 9 as shown in FIGS. 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the prefilter 2 is connected to the downstream opening of the pre-purification gas inlet 1. The pre-filter 2 generates a semi-clean gas from which most foreign matters have been removed from the pre-purification gas flowing in from the pre-purification gas inlet 1 and flows it out to the subsequent stage. The prefilter 2 is disposed inside the sealing portion 9 as shown in FIGS.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the first gas flow path 3 has an upstream opening connected to the pre-filter 2 side and a downstream opening connected to the blower 4 side. The first gas flow path 3 is disposed in the sealing portion 9 as shown in FIGS. 1, 6 and 7, and more specifically, is formed in a substantially U shape as shown in FIG. 6 (a). Thereby, an internal structure can be made into a compact arrangement | positioning.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the blower 4 is connected to the downstream opening of the first gas flow path 3 and is connected to the upstream opening of the second gas flow path 5. The blower 4 pumps the semi-purified gas from which the foreign matters are almost removed by the pre-filter 2 to the downstream side. The blower 4 is disposed inside the sealing portion 9 as shown in FIGS.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the second gas flow path 5 has an upstream opening formed inside the sealing portion 9 and a downstream opening formed outside the sealing portion 9. The second gas flow path 5 allows the semi-purified gas fed from the blower 4 to flow into the subsequent HEPA filter 6. The second gas channel 5 is provided so as to protrude upward from the sealing portion 9 as shown in FIGS. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the HEPA filter 6 is connected to the downstream opening of the second gas passage 5 and to the upstream opening of the purified gas outlet 7. The HEPA filter 6 removes foreign matter from the semi-purified gas output from the pre-filter 2 at a high particle collection rate (for example, 99.97% or more for particles having a rated air volume and a particle size of 0.3 μm: JIS Z 8122) After removing, let it flow downstream. The HEPA filter 6 is disposed outside the sealing portion 9 as shown in FIG. 1, and more specifically, outside the sealing portion 9 as shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 3, FIG. 4, FIG. It is arranged on the upper side.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the purified gas outlet 7 has an upstream opening connected to the HEPA filter 6 and a downstream opening connected to a production line via a pipe or the like (not shown). The flow path of the purified gas outlet 7 communicates with a space of a production line (not shown) and allows the purified gas to flow out to the production line. The purified gas outlet 7 is provided so as to be fixed to the HEPA filter 6 as shown in FIGS. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the blower drive unit 8 drives and controls an electric motor (not shown) built in the blower 4, and is an inverter device, for example. The blower drive unit 8 is arranged on the outer upper side of the sealing unit 9 as shown in FIGS. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the sealing portion 9 has a gas space 91 formed therein, and the prefilter 2 and the blower 3 are disposed in the gas space 91. Thus, the sealing part 9 has a function of isolating the pre-filter 2 and the blower 3 from the outside and sealing them from the outside. The gas space 91 is filled with the same kind of clean gas as the gas filled in the production line. And it has a highly airtight structure such as sealing at a mechanical connection point so that this gas does not leak.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the gas inlet 10 has an upstream opening formed outside the sealing portion 9, and a downstream opening formed inside the sealing portion 9. The flow path of the gas inlet 10 communicates between a gas supply path (not shown) and the gas space 91 of the sealing portion 9 and allows gas from the gas supply path to flow in. The gas inlet 10 is provided so as to protrude from the sealing portion 9 as shown in FIGS. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the gas outlet 11 has an upstream opening formed inside the sealing portion 9, and a downstream opening formed outside the sealing portion 9. The flow path of the gas outlet 11 communicates between a gas supply path (not shown) and the gas space 91 of the sealing portion 9 and allows gas to flow out to the gas supply path. The gas outlet 11 is provided so as to protrude from the sealing portion 9 as shown in FIGS. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7.

  Next, an actual route will be described. As shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B, the pre-purification gas flows into the pre-filter 2 through the pre-purification gas inlet 1 and flows out as a semi-purified gas from which other foreign substances have been removed. The semi-purified gas flowing out from the prefilter 2 flows into the blower 4 in the sealing portion 9 through the first gas flow path 3.

  The semi-purified gas is pumped by the blower 4 and flows out from the sealing portion 9 through the second gas flow path 5 as shown in FIGS. 6 (a), 7 (a), and (b). As shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B, the gas flows into the HEPA filter 6. The purified gas flowing out of the HEPA filter 6 flows out to a production line (not shown) through the purified gas outlet 7.

  Next, the air intrusion prevention technology that characterizes the present invention will be described. In the present invention, in particular, the blower 4 is disposed in the gas space 91 of the sealing portion 9 having high airtightness and is filled while circulating the gas in the gas space 91 through the gas supply path including the gas inlet 10 and the gas outlet 11. . This gas is the same gas that fills the production line. When the blower 4 pumps the semi-purified gas flowing through the first gas flow path 3, the blower 4 and the second gas flow path 5, the blower 4 leaks the semi-purified gas from the blower 4. The gas around the gas is sucked and mixed with the semi-purified gas.

  If the periphery of the blower is covered with the atmosphere, the atmosphere may enter the production line through the blower, and may be affected by oxygen in the atmosphere, resulting in defective products. However, in the present invention, since the gas around the blower 4 is filled with the same gas as the production line, even if the gas around the blower 4 flows into the blower 4, the atmosphere is not mixed, and the production line Since the inside is still filled only with gas, for example, an organic EL display is reduced in the risk of producing a defective product to be manufactured that hates oxygen in the atmosphere. Further, even if the semi-clean gas leaks from the blower 4, it remains in the gas space 91 or the gas supply path, so that no gas is consumed.

  Further, since the semi-purified gas is supplied to the blower 4 after passing through the pre-filter 2, even if the semi-purified gas leaks from the blower 4 to the gas space 91 in the sealing portion 9 and is released together with the foreign matter, the amount is small. The gas circulates in the gas supply path such that clean gas flows into the gas space 91 from the gas inlet 10 and flows out from the gas outlet 11 to the gas supply path. Therefore, foreign matter does not increase in the gas space. If there is a high-performance filter (not shown) (for example, a HEPA filter) that is not shown in the middle of the gas supply path, this foreign matter is also removed, so that the gas space 91 is continuously filled with clean gas. In addition, foreign matter generated from the blower 4 itself or foreign matter floating in the gas space 91 is reliably removed by the HEPA filter 6 even if it is sucked into the blower 4 and mixed into the semi-purified gas. There is almost no risk of foreign objects reaching.

  Further, the path formed by the first gas flow path 3, the blower 4 and the second gas flow path 5 has improved airtightness so that surrounding gas does not flow in, and in this respect as well, there is a risk that foreign matter may reach the production line. Almost lost.

  As shown in FIG. 7A, the function of cooling the blower 4 by directly applying the gas flowing in from the gas inlet 10 to the blower 4 so that the blower 4 exists on the axis of the gas inlet 10. Also have. If a gas having a sufficiently low temperature is applied to the blower 4, an increase in the temperature of the blower 4 can be suppressed.

Next, another embodiment of the gas purification apparatus for carrying out the present invention will be described below.
As shown in the block diagram of FIG. 8, the gas purification apparatus 200 includes a pre-purification gas inlet 1, a prefilter 2, a first gas flow path 3, a blower 4, a second gas flow path 5, a HEPA filter 6, and a purified gas. An outflow port 7, a blower driving unit 8, and a sealing unit 20 are provided. The external appearance of the gas purification apparatus 200 is as shown in FIGS.

  Compared to the previous embodiment, first, the sealing portion 20 is different in that there is no gas inlet or gas outlet and the gas space is completely shielded. Furthermore, although the configuration in which the sealing portion 9 is integrally formed with the main body has been described in the previous embodiment, the present embodiment is different in that the sealing portion 20 is separated from the main body. In the following, the sealing portion 20 will be particularly described, and the other components will be denoted by the same reference numerals and redundant description will be omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the sealing unit 20 has a gas space 201, and the blower 4 is disposed in the gas space 201. Thus, the sealing part 20 has a function of sealing the blower 4 from the outside. The gas space 201 is filled with a gas that fills the production line.

  As shown in FIGS. 9, 10, and 11, the appearance of the sealing portion 20 is that the sealing portion 20 and the casing 21 are separated, and the first gas flow path 3 and the second gas flow path 5 are used. The flow path between the sealing part 20 and the housing | casing 21 is connected. As shown in FIGS. 8, 12, and 13, the blower 4 is disposed in the gas space 201 inside the sealing unit 20. A drive line 22 is connected to the blower drive unit 8 and the blower 4, and is passed between the sealing unit 20 and the housing 21.

  Next, an actual route will be described. As shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B, the pre-purification gas flows into the pre-filter 2 through the pre-purification gas inlet 1, and flows out as a semi-purified gas from which other foreign substances have been removed. The semi-purified gas flowing out from the prefilter 2 flows into the blower 4 in the sealing portion 20 through the first gas flow path 3.

  The semi-purified gas is pumped by the blower 4 and flows out from the sealing portion 20 through the second gas flow path 5 as shown in FIGS. 12 (a), 13 (a), and (b). As shown in FIGS. 13A and 13B, the gas flows into the HEPA filter 6. The purified gas flowing out of the HEPA filter 6 flows out to a production line (not shown) through the purified gas outlet 7.

  Next, the air intrusion prevention technology that characterizes the present invention will be described. In the present invention, in particular, the blower 4 is disposed in the gas space 201 of the sealing portion 20 and the gas space 201 is filled with gas. This gas is the same gas that fills the production line. When the blower 4 pumps the semi-purified gas flowing through the first gas flow path 3, the blower 4, and the second gas flow path 5, the blower 4 sucks a slight amount of gas around the blower 4, and this semi-purified gas. Into.

  If the periphery of the blower is covered with the atmosphere, the atmosphere may enter the production line through the blower, and may be affected by oxygen in the atmosphere, resulting in defective products. However, in the present invention, since the gas around the blower 4 is filled with the same gas as the production line, even if the gas around the blower 4 flows into the blower 4, the atmosphere does not enter the production line. Since only gas is filled, for example, an organic EL display is reduced in the risk of producing a defective product to be manufactured that hates oxygen in the atmosphere. Further, even if the semi-clean gas leaks from the blower 4, it remains in the gas space 201, so that no gas is consumed.

  In addition, since the semi-purified gas is supplied to the blower 4 after passing through the pre-filter 2, even if the semi-purified gas leaks from the blower 4 to the gas space 201 in the sealing portion 20 and is released together with the foreign matter, the amount is small. Even if foreign matter generated from the blower 4 itself or foreign matter floating in the gas space 201 is sucked into the blower 4 and mixed into the semi-purified gas, it is reliably removed by the HEPA filter 6. There is almost no risk of foreign matter reaching the line.

  Moreover, the path | route by the 1st gas flow path 3, the blower 4, and the 2nd gas flow path 5 has improved airtightness so that surrounding gas may not flow in. Also in this point, it is not in the sealing part 20 or a production line. There is almost no risk of foreign objects reaching.

  The gas purification apparatus 200 of this embodiment has been described above. In this embodiment, various modifications are possible. For example, in this embodiment, the cooling function is not provided as in the previous embodiment. For example, a cooling fin is disposed on the sealing portion 20 or cold air or cold water is applied to the sealing portion 20 from the outside. It is possible to cope with cooling. If at least only the blower 4 is disposed in the gas space 201 and the inside and outside of the sealing portion are connected by the first gas passage 3 and the second gas passage 5, the characteristics of the present invention are satisfied.

  Further, in the present embodiment, it has been described that only the blower 4 is disposed in the gas space 201 of the sealing unit 20. However, like the gas purification apparatus 300 shown in FIG. 14, the gas inlet 10 and the gas outlet 11 are provided to the sealing portion 20, and the gas supply path is provided to the gas inlet 10 and the gas outlet 11. It may be attached to circulate cooling and purifying the gas in the gas space 201. Compared with the gas purification device 100 in which the prefilter 2, the first gas flow path 3 and the blower 4 are arranged as shown in FIG. 1, the prefilter 2 is placed outside the sealing portion 9 and only the blower 4 is placed. Is also arranged in the gas space 91. If at least only the blower 4 is arranged in the gas space 201 (91) and the inside and outside of the sealing portion 20 (9) are connected by the first gas passage 3 and the second gas passage 5, the characteristics of the present invention are satisfied. It is.

  According to the gas purification apparatus of the present invention as described above, in particular, it is possible to prevent both foreign matters and the air from entering, and to send out a clean gas.

  The gas purification apparatus of the present invention can be applied to a production line that requires a clean gas, such as the production of an organic EL display. In addition, the gas purification apparatus of this invention is not limited to organic EL display manufacture, It can apply in the use which circulates and supplies only specific gas (for example, only carbon dioxide etc.).

100, 200, 300: Gas purification device 1: Gas inlet before purification 2: Prefilter 3: First gas flow path 4: Blower 5: Second gas flow path 6: HEPA filter 7: Purified gas outlet 8: Blower Drive part 9: Sealing part 91: Gas space 10: Gas inlet 11: Gas outlet 20: Sealing part 201: Gas space 21: Housing 211: Base part 22: Drive line

Claims (3)

A pre-filter for removing foreign substances contained in the cleaning target gas flowing in from the outside;
A blower for pumping the cleaning target gas flowing from the pre-filter,
A HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filter for removing foreign matters contained in the cleaning target gas flowing from said blower,
And a sealing portion where the same gas as the cleaning target gas to cover the periphery of the blower is located inside the gas space,
A blower drive unit disposed outside the sealing unit to drive and control the blower;
Equipped with a,
The gas purification apparatus, wherein the cleaning target gas is caused to flow into the prefilter from a production line outside the sealing portion . The gas purification device according to claim 1,
The sealing unit allows a gas inlet that allows the same gas as the cleaning target gas to flow into the gas space via a gas supply path, and causes the same gas as the cleaning target gas to flow out from the gas space to the gas supply path. A gas purifier, wherein the gas in the gas space is circulated. The gas purification device according to claim 1,
Wherein the gas space, the gas purifying device, characterized in that the sealing portion is shielded from ambient with the same gas is filled with the cleaning target gas.

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