JP5984622B2 - Flushing device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a washing apparatus, and more particularly, to a washing device capable of suppressing the occurrence of mold in the cleaning chamber.

  In various apparatuses such as a surface treatment apparatus such as plating and etching, a cooling tower, and an exhaust treatment apparatus (scrubber), a water holding tank that holds water in a part of the tank is used. For example, in a printed circuit board manufacturing process, a water washing apparatus using a water holding tank is used in processes such as formation of wiring by etching and formation of a protective film for the formed wiring. In the water washing apparatus, the surface of the printed circuit board is washed by ejecting water from the ejecting apparatus to the printed circuit board conveyed by the conveying apparatus in the apparatus (for example, refer to Patent Document 1). And the water used for washing | cleaning is hold | maintained at the bottom part in an apparatus. By using such a water washing device, unnecessary substances attached to the surface of the printed circuit board can be removed.

JP 2001-345544 A

  However, there are cases where molds, viruses and the like are easily generated and proliferated in the water holding tank such as the above-described water washing apparatus. For example, when mold is generated and propagated in the washing apparatus, mold particles adhere to the surface of the printed board. Such adhesion of particles causes an increase in the defect rate in the printed circuit board manufacturing process. Therefore, the inside of a water holding tank such as a water washing device needs to be cleaned every predetermined period. And frequent internal cleaning has the problem that the operating rate of an apparatus falls and manufacturing efficiency, such as a printed circuit board, falls.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to provide a water washing apparatus capable of suppressing the occurrence of mold and the like inside.

The water washing apparatus of the present invention includes a washing chamber in which a carry-in port and a carry-out port through which a conveyor through which an object to be washed passes is formed, a water tank provided under the conveyor in the washing chamber, and ozone to generate ozone. Ozone supply device that supplies air to the water tank through the gas supply path, spray that draws water from the water tank in the cleaning chamber and sprays it from the top of the conveyor, and sucks and cleans the atmospheric gas in the cleaning chamber And an exhaust device that makes the room have a negative pressure with respect to the outside air.

The object to be cleaned may be a printed board.

  As is clear from the above description, according to the water holding tank of the present invention, it is possible to provide a water holding tank capable of suppressing the occurrence of mold and the like inside.

It is the schematic which shows an example of the structure of a water washing apparatus. It is the schematic which shows an example of the structure of an ozone supply apparatus.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In addition, the same reference number is attached | subjected to the part which is the same or it corresponds in the following drawings, and the description is abbreviate | omitted.

  With reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the water washing apparatus 1 which is a water holding tank in one embodiment of this invention is demonstrated. Referring to FIG. 1, a water washing apparatus 1 is an apparatus for washing the surface of a printed circuit board 99 that is an object to be processed with water (pure water). The water washing apparatus 1 includes a cleaning chamber 10 as a main body, an ozone supply device 20, a spray device 30 as an injection unit, a conveyor 40 as a transport unit, and an exhaust device 50.

  The cleaning chamber 10 includes a water tank 11 that holds water 91 and a cleaning area 12 that is arranged on the water tank 11 and is an area where water is sprayed onto the printed circuit board 99 that is transported inside. The cleaning region 12 is a region that is not filled with water in the cleaning chamber 10. Further, the cleaning chamber 10 has a carry-in port 13 for carrying a work (printed circuit board 99) into the cleaning room 10 and a carry-out port for carrying the work (printed circuit board 99) out of the cleaning room 10 to the outside. 14 are formed.

  The ozone supply device 20 supplies air containing ozone into the cleaning chamber 10. The ozone supply device 20 includes an ozone generation unit 21 that generates air containing ozone, and a resin tube 22 that is connected to the ozone generation unit 21 and serves as a flow path for flowing the ozone-containing air to the cleaning chamber 10. This resin tube 22 corresponds to the gas supply path of the present invention. The gas discharge port 23, which is the end of the resin tube 22 opposite to the side connected to the ozone generator 21, is immersed in the water 91. That is, the gas discharge port 23 is disposed in the water tank 11 of the cleaning chamber 10. The inside of the resin tube 22 is maintained at high humidity by water droplets and water vapor flowing from the water tank 11. By reacting this moisture with ozone, OH radicals are generated in advance before air is supplied to the water tank 11.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the ozone generator 21 of the ozone supply device 20 is connected to the plasma electrode 26, the high-voltage power supply 25 that is connected to the plasma electrode 26 and supplies a high voltage to the plasma electrode 26, and sucks external air. , An air pump 27 serving as an air supply unit for sending the air to the plasma electrode 26, and an air flow path 28 connecting the outside of the ozone generation unit 21 and the air pump 27.

  The spray device 30 cleans the printed circuit board 99 by spraying water (pure water) onto the printed circuit board 99. The spray device 30 includes a water pump 32 disposed outside the cleaning chamber 10 and a first cleaning water flow connected to the water tank 11 of the cleaning chamber 10 at one end and to the water pump 32 at the other end. It includes a channel 31 and a second cleaning water flow path 33 that is connected to the water pump 32 on one side and enters the cleaning chamber 10 so that the other side is located in the cleaning region 12 of the cleaning chamber 10. A plurality of spray nozzles 34 for injecting water in the second cleaning water flow path 33 toward the printed circuit board 99 on the conveyor 40 are installed in the area of the second cleaning water flow path 33 located in the cleaning area 12. Has been.

  The conveyor 40 is disposed so as to penetrate the cleaning region 12 of the cleaning chamber 10. As a result, the plurality of printed circuit boards 99 placed on the conveyor 40 enter the water washing apparatus 1 through the carry-in port 13 from the apparatus (not shown) in the previous process, and after passing through the water washing apparatus 1, It is conveyed to the outside of the water washing apparatus 1 through the carry-out port 14. Then, the printed circuit board 99 that has been subjected to the water washing process is conveyed by a conveyor 40 to an apparatus (not shown) in a subsequent process. The plurality of spray nozzles 34 are arranged side by side along the conveyance direction of the printed circuit board 99.

  The exhaust device 50 includes an exhaust duct 51 and an exhaust pump 52. The exhaust duct 51 is connected at one end to the wall surface of the cleaning region 12 of the cleaning chamber 10, more specifically, to the upper wall surface (ceiling) of the cleaning chamber 10, and at the other end, an exhaust gas treatment device (not shown). )It is connected to the. The exhaust pump 52 is installed in the exhaust duct 51, and sends the atmospheric gas in the cleaning chamber 10 to the exhaust gas processing device through the exhaust duct 51.

  Next, the operation of the water washing apparatus 1 will be described. Referring to FIG. 1, for example, a printed circuit board 99 that has been etched is placed on a conveyor 40, and conveyed through a carry-in port 13 into a cleaning region 12 of the cleaning chamber 10. The printed circuit board 99 in the cleaning region 12 moves at a predetermined speed along a predetermined transport direction (arrow α). On the other hand, the water 91 stored in the water tank 11, which is the bottom of the cleaning chamber 10, is taken out by the water pump 32 through the first cleaning water channel 31 and then sent to the second cleaning water channel 33. And the water in the 2nd washing water flow path 33 is sprayed from the spray nozzle 34 as the washing water 92, and the printed circuit board 99 is wash | cleaned. Thereby, for example, unnecessary substances attached to the printed circuit board 99 in the etching process are removed by the cleaning water 92.

  Here, an organic substance or the like attached to the printed circuit board 99 in the previous process is brought into the cleaning chamber 10 and mixed into the water 91 by the water washing. For this reason, the inside of the cleaning chamber 10 is an environment in which mold or the like is likely to be generated and propagated. When particles such as mold adhere to the printed circuit board 99, there is a possibility of causing problems such as an increase in the defective rate.

  On the other hand, the water washing apparatus 1 in this Embodiment is provided with the ozone supply apparatus 20. FIG. The ozone supply device 20 operates as follows. With reference to FIG. 2, first, external air is taken into the ozone generator 21 through the air flow path 28 by the air pump 27. The taken-in air is sent to the plasma electrode 26 by the air pump 27 (arrow β). A high voltage is supplied to the plasma electrode 26 from the high voltage power supply 25. As a result, ozone is formed from oxygen contained in the air by the discharge from the plasma electrode 26 in the air sent from the air pump 27, and air containing ozone is generated. The generated air containing ozone is sent to the water tank 11 of the cleaning chamber 10 through the resin tube 22 with reference to FIG. At this time, the gas discharge port 23, which is the end of the resin tube 22 opposite to the side connected to the ozone generator 21, is immersed in the water 91. Therefore, the air containing ozone is supplied into the water 91 as the bubbles 93 and is released into the cleaning region 12 after rising to the water surface.

  The ozone supplied into the water tank 11 reacts with the water 91 to form OH radicals. And generation | occurrence | production and proliferation of the mold | fungi etc. in the water 91 are suppressed by the sterilization function of this OH radical. In particular, in the water washing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, water 91 containing OH radicals is pumped up by the spray device 30 and sprayed from the spray nozzle 34 as the washing water 92. Therefore, water containing OH radicals is supplied to the entire area of the cleaning region 12 in the form of a mist. Furthermore, since air bubbles containing ozone reaching the water surface are released into the cleaning region 12, they react with the water in the cleaning region 12 to generate further OH radicals. Thus, in the water washing apparatus 1 in the present embodiment, water containing OH radicals is efficiently supplied to the entire area of the cleaning chamber 10 by the combination of bubbling of air containing ozone and mist formation by the spray nozzle 34. Is done. Therefore, generation | occurrence | production of the mold in the washing room 10, etc. are suppressed effectively. As a result, the frequency of cleaning the cleaning chamber 10 can be reduced, and the operating rate of the printed circuit board production line can be improved.

  Here, in the water washing process, the inside of the cleaning chamber 10 is maintained in a negative pressure state with respect to the outside by the operation of the exhaust device 50. More specifically, the atmosphere in the cleaning chamber 10 is sent to an exhaust gas processing device (not shown) by the exhaust duct 51 and the exhaust pump 52, so that the pressure in the cleaning chamber 10 is lower than the atmospheric pressure. Maintained. Therefore, ozone released to the cleaning region 12 of the cleaning chamber 10 is not released to the outside from the carry-in port 13 and the carry-out port 14. The ozone released to the cleaning region 12 is sent to the exhaust gas treatment device, and then converted into another substance using a chemical reaction in the exhaust gas treatment device, and then released to the outside. Is done. As a result, ozone that has not been consumed in the cleaning chamber 10 is prevented from being released to the outside.

  The ozone (plasma) concentration of air introduced from the ozone supply device 20 to the water tank 11 is not particularly limited, but may be in the range of 50 ppm to 5000 ppm. What is necessary is just to adjust according to the quantity of the water stored. Preferably, it may be 500 to 600 ppm. This air is introduced into the water tank 11 at a flow rate of about 5 to 150 L / min and bubbled.

  In the above embodiment, the water washing apparatus 1 having the above structure has been described as an embodiment of the present invention. However, the water holding tank of the present invention is not limited to this, and the water washing apparatus having various structures is used. It can be applied to the device.

  In addition, the water holding tank of the present invention is not limited to the water washing apparatus, and has various structures as long as the apparatus has a water tank in at least a part of the inside, such as a cooling tower and a waste treatment apparatus (scrubber). Can be applied to. Further, the present invention can be applied even to an apparatus that does not have the spray device 30 such as a so-called soaking plating tank. When the present invention is applied to such an apparatus, it is better to make the gas discharge port 23 like a shower head so as to generate many fine bubbles. Also, it can be applied to equipment such as a mold cleaning device.

  In this embodiment, the ozone supply device 20 that generates ozone by high-pressure discharge is used, but the ozone generation method of the ozone supply device 20 is not limited to this. For example, a method using ultraviolet rays or electrolysis can be employed. The present invention also includes a configuration in which an OH radical supply device is used instead of the ozone supply device.

  It should be understood that the embodiments disclosed herein are illustrative and non-restrictive in every respect. The scope of the present invention is not intended to be described above, but is intended to include the scope indicated by the claims, and all modifications and improvements within the meaning and scope equivalent to the claims.

The water washing apparatus of the present invention can be particularly advantageously applied to a water washing apparatus that is required to suppress the utterance of mold and the like.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Water washing apparatus, 10 washing room, 11 water tank, 12 washing | cleaning area | region, 13 carrying-in port, 14 carrying-out port, 20 ozone supply apparatus, 21 ozone generating part, 22 resin tube, 23 gas discharge port, 25 high voltage power supply, 26 plasma electrode, 27 Air pump, 28 Air flow path, 30 Spray device, 31 1st wash water flow path, 32 Water pump, 33 2nd wash water flow path, 34 Spray nozzle, 40 Conveyor, 50 Exhaust device, 51 Exhaust duct, 52 Exhaust pump, 91 Water, 92 Wash water, 93 bubbles, 99 Printed circuit board.

Claims (2)

A cleaning chamber in which a carry-in port and a carry-out port through which a conveyor through which an object to be cleaned is conveyed are formed;
A water tank provided under the conveyor in the cleaning chamber;
An ozone supply device that generates ozone and supplies air containing the ozone into the water tank via a gas supply path;
A spray that draws water from the water tank in the washing chamber and sprays it from above the conveyor to form a mist;
An exhaust device for sucking atmospheric gas in the cleaning chamber and making the cleaning chamber have a negative pressure with respect to outside air;
Flushing device equipped with. The water washing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the object to be cleaned is a printed circuit board.

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