JP7513399B2 - Clean bench equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a clean bench device.

Conventionally, when assembling precision parts such as semiconductor parts and optical machine parts, assembly is sometimes carried out in a clean environment in order to maintain high quality by preventing the adhesion or infiltration of foreign matter into the parts. A typical clean environment is a clean room in which the entire room is maintained at a specified level of cleanliness, but so-called clean benches are also used, in which a clean area is locally formed in part of a normal room to improve space and cost efficiency.

As an apparatus for achieving localized cleaning like the above-mentioned clean bench, Patent Document 1 discloses an apparatus that includes an upper first chamber for performing cleaning work, and a lower second chamber that is separated from the first chamber by a partition wall, has a communication port that communicates with the first chamber, and is provided with a transport mechanism that supplies and transports workpieces to and from the first chamber through the communication port. In this apparatus, a cleaning unit that cleans the workpieces is provided in the second chamber, and the workpieces cleaned by the cleaning unit are transported from the second chamber to the first chamber. In addition, clean air is supplied from the cleaning unit provided in the first chamber into the first chamber, and the clean air flows through the communication port in the partition wall toward the transport mechanism or the second chamber.

JP 2010-101526 A

In the device disclosed in the above Patent Document 1, the cleanliness of the first chamber where the cleaning work is performed depends on the performance of the clean unit that supplies clean air to the first chamber, and it is difficult to obtain an air cleanliness level higher than that performance. Therefore, in order to improve the air cleanliness of the first chamber, it is possible to install a higher performance clean unit in the first chamber. However, such clean units are expensive, which leads to the inconvenience of incurring costs despite being a clean bench. In addition, because of the two-tier structure in which the second chamber is provided above the first chamber, it is difficult to construct it compactly. Therefore, there is a demand for a clean bench device that can obtain a high air cleanliness level while being low cost and compact.

A clean bench apparatus according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes a first clean room, a first clean air supply unit provided on the ceiling of the first clean room and supplying clean air to the inside of the first clean room, a second clean room arranged inside the first clean room and having a work table inside, a second clean air supply unit provided on the ceiling of the second clean room, receiving air supplied from the first clean air supply unit and sending clean air to the inside of the second clean room, and an air flow path formed inside the first clean room, the air flow path having a path that passes from the first clean air supply unit through the second clean air supply unit, enters the second clean room, and then exits below the work table, and then ascends through the space outside the second clean room and the space inside the first clean room, before being reintroduced into the second clean air supply unit.

According to one aspect, it is possible to provide a clean bench device that is low cost and compact while still achieving high air cleanliness.

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a clean bench apparatus according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 is a view taken along the line II-II of FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the clean bench apparatus of a portion corresponding to the III-III arrow view in FIG. 2, showing the route of the air flow path in the first clean room. FIG.

(Embodiment)
Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. Figures 1 to 3 show a clean bench apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 1, the clean bench apparatus 1 is installed on a floor F of a normal room (general room) R where the air is not purified, for example.

As shown in Figures 1 to 3, the clean bench apparatus 1 comprises a first clean room 10, a first clean air supply section 11, a second clean room 20 disposed inside the first clean room 10, a second clean air supply section 21, and an air flow path 30 formed inside the first clean room 10. The clean bench apparatus 1 also comprises an assembly section 2, a transport section 3, and a loading/unloading section 4 inside the first clean room 10.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the first clean room 10 has a rack section 12, a ceiling section 13, and a curtain section 14 that covers the periphery of the rack section 12. The rack section 12 has pillar sections 12a erected at the four corners, a bottom section 12b that connects the lower ends of the pillar sections 12a to form a rectangular frame, and legs 12c that are provided at the four corners of the bottom section 12b and grounded to the floor F. The ceiling section 13 is fixed to the upper ends of the pillar sections 12a at the four corners. The ceiling section 13 has a frame 13a and a transparent sheet (not shown) that is stretched over the frame 13a. The curtain section 14 is composed of a transparent sheet divided into multiple sections. The curtain section 14 is provided in a state that covers the spaces between the pillar sections 12a of the rack section 12.

As shown in FIG. 1, a gap 14a is formed between the lower end of the curtain section 14 and the floor F, through which air from the room 10a of the first clean room 10 is exhausted. The room 10a of the first clean room 10 has an internal space that is almost separated from the room R by the ceiling section 13 and the curtain section 14. The curtain section 14 may have a glove section for the worker M, which allows the worker M to insert his/her arm from the outside and perform manual work inside the first clean room 10.

As shown in FIG. 2, the first clean room 10 has an entrance/exit 19 on the left and right sides of the front (lower side in FIG. 2). The left and right entrance/exit 19 are used to transport parts (not shown) assembled in the assembly section 2 to the outside of the clean bench apparatus 1, as described below.

The first clean air supply unit 11 is provided above the ceiling 13 of the first clean room 10. The first clean air supply unit 11 is an electrically operated air filtration device such as an FFU (fan filter unit). Air whose temperature and humidity have been controlled by, for example, an air conditioner is supplied to the first clean air supply unit 11 through a duct. The first clean air supply unit 11 purifies the supplied air by removing harmful foreign matter such as suspended particles present in the air, and blows the purified air downward into the interior 10a of the first clean room 10.

The second clean room 20 constitutes the assembly section 2. The assembly section 2 is a place where predetermined parts are assembled by an assembly robot 29 in the room 20a of the second clean room 20.

As shown in FIG. 2, the second clean room 20 is disposed at the rear (upper side in FIG. 2) of the interior 10a of the first clean room 10. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, it has a rear wall 22a, left and right side walls 22b, a ceiling 23, and a workbench 24. The ceiling 23 is fixed to the upper end of the wall 22.

As shown in FIG. 3, the workbench 24 is installed on a stand 25 having a rectangular box shape and is provided in the interior 20a of the second clean room 20. The stand 25 is installed on the floor F via legs 25c. An opening 25b is provided at the bottom of the stand 25. The interior 20a of the second clean room 20 is partitioned by the rear wall 22a, the left and right side walls 22b, the ceiling 23, and the workbench 24. The second clean room 20 has a front opening 20b that opens forward.

The workbench 24 includes a porous plate 26 that connects the space above the workbench 24 (the interior 20a of the second clean room 20) to the space below (the internal space 25a of the stand 25). The porous plate 26 has a large number of holes 26a that connect the interior 20a of the second clean room 20 to the internal space 25a of the stand 25.

As shown in FIG. 2, an articulated arm type assembly robot 29 is disposed behind the work table 24 in the interior 20a of the second clean room 20. The assembly robot 29 assembles parts supplied onto the work table 24.

As shown in FIG. 1, a foreign matter removal device 40 and a static elimination device (ionizer) 50 are provided in the chamber 20a of the second clean room 20.

The foreign matter removal device 40 may be a vacuum brush that sucks up and removes foreign matter such as dust that has entered the second clean room 20 or adhered to parts supplied to the workbench 24. The foreign matter removal device 40 may be provided so that it can be operated by the worker M, or it may be provided in association with the assembly robot 29 and operable by the assembly robot 29. The foreign matter removal device 40 may be provided with a static elimination function such as an ionizer. In this case, it is possible to suck up and remove foreign matter that has adhered to the parts, and the charge of the parts is neutralized to prevent the foreign matter from re-adhering.

The static eliminator 50 is a device that neutralizes the charge of the parts supplied to the workbench 24, and prevents the parts from becoming charged with static electricity. The static eliminator 50 is a well-known type that ionizes the surrounding air by generating a corona discharge to eliminate static electricity.

The static elimination device 50 can be of a DC type equipped with positive and negative electrodes, in which the polarity of the ions released by applying a DC voltage is determined, or an AC type in which positive and negative ions are alternately released from one electrode by applying an AC voltage. Since the AC type has the characteristic of relatively localized static elimination, in this embodiment, a DC type that ionizes the entire interior 20a of the second clean room 20 is preferably used.

As shown in FIG. 1, the second clean air supply unit 21 is disposed above the ceiling 23 of the second clean room 20 and directly below the first clean air supply unit 11. The second clean air supply unit 21 is an electric air filtration device having a configuration similar to that of the first clean air supply unit 11. As shown in FIG. 3, the ceiling 23 has an air outlet 23a. The second clean air supply unit 21 introduces air (clean air) supplied from the first clean air supply unit to the room 10a of the first clean room 10, and also blows the clean air downward to supply it to the room 20a of the second clean room 20.

The air flow path 30 has a path 31 indicated by the white arrow in FIG. 3. The path 31 passes from the first clean air supply unit 11 through the second clean air supply unit 21, enters the interior 20a of the second clean room 20, then exits below the workbench 24, and then rises through the space outside the second clean room 20 and inside the first clean room 10, before being introduced again into the second clean air supply unit 21. A portion of the clean air supplied from the first clean air supply unit 11 to the interior 10a of the first clean room 10 circulates in a loop around the path 31 within the interior of the first clean room 10.

In more detail, the air circulating through the path 31 flows as follows. The clean air supplied from the first clean air supply unit 11 to the room 10a of the first clean room 10 is introduced from the first clean air supply unit 11 to the second clean air supply unit 21 and passes through the second clean air supply unit 21, where it is further purified by the second clean air supply unit 21 and supplied to the room 20a of the second clean room 20. The air supplied into the room 20a of the second clean room 20 fills the room 20a. A portion of the air filling the room 20a of the second clean room 20 passes through a large number of holes 26a in the porous plate 26 that constitutes the workbench 24 and enters the internal space 25a of the stand 25. The air that has entered the internal space 25a flows out from the opening 25b of the stand 25 below the stand 25 and flows to the side, then rises between the curtain section 14, the stand 25, and the second clean room 20, and is introduced again into the second clean air supply section 21. In addition, a portion of the air that has filled the room 20a of the second clean room 20 is exhausted from the front opening 20b of the second clean room 20 into the room 10a of the first clean room 10.

The interior 10a of the first clean room 10 and the interior 20a of the second clean room 20 are pressurized with air supplied from the first clean air supply unit 11 and maintained at a positive pressure. Therefore, even when parts or workers M enter or exit by opening or closing part of the curtain unit 14, the intrusion of foreign matter such as dust into the interior 10a of the first clean room 10 is suppressed. A part of the air that makes the interior 10a of the first clean room 10 positive pressure flows out to the outside of the clean bench device 1 through the gap 14a between the curtain unit 14 and the floor F.

The conveying unit 3 conveys parts assembled on the workbench 24 of the assembly unit 2 to the carry-in/out unit 4. As shown in FIG. 2, the conveying unit 3 has a conveying table 61 provided from the assembly unit 2 to the carry-in/out unit 4. The conveying table 61 is composed of an NC table with a one-axis drive function or the like. The parts assembled on the workbench 24 of the assembly unit 2 are placed on the conveying table 61 and conveyed to the carry-in/out unit 4 through the front opening 20b through which the parts and the conveying table 61 can pass.

The loading/unloading section 4 is a section that unloads the parts transported by the transport section 3 to the left and right loading/unloading openings 19. As shown in FIG. 2, the loading/unloading section 4 has left and right loading/unloading tables 65 and a multi-joint arm type transfer robot 66 that transfers the parts transported by the transport table 61 to the left and right loading/unloading tables 65. The loading/unloading tables 65 are composed of a belt-type conveyor or the like. In the loading/unloading section 4, the transfer robot 66 transfers the parts transported by the transport table 61 to one of the loading/unloading tables 65, and the loading/unloading table 65 unloads the parts to the loading/unloading opening 19. At the loading/unloading opening 19, the parts are handed over from the loading/unloading table 65 to the worker M. As shown in FIG. 1, the transfer robot 66 is placed on a robot stand 67 installed on the floor F via the legs 67c.

In the clean bench apparatus 1 according to this embodiment, parts are assembled in the assembly section 2. The parts before assembly are supplied to the loading/unloading port 19 by the worker M from outside the first clean room 10, transported to the operating range of the transfer robot 66 by the loading/unloading table 65, and then transported to the loading/unloading section 4 by the transfer robot 66, and then supplied to the assembly position of the assembly robot 29 by the transport table 61. If the curtain section 14 has a glove section for the worker M as described above, the work by the transfer robot 66 may be performed manually by the worker M with his/her arm in the glove section. When assembling the parts, the assembly robot 29 assembles the parts while cleaning the parts using the foreign matter removal device 40. The parts assembled on the workbench 24 are transported to the loading/unloading section 4 by the transport table 61 of the transport section 3. In the loading/unloading section 4, the transfer robot 66 transfers the part being transported by the transport table 61 to one of the loading/unloading tables 65, which then transports the part to the loading/unloading opening 19. At the loading/unloading opening 19, the part is handed over from the loading/unloading table 65 to the worker M.

The clean bench apparatus 1 of this embodiment can be appropriately equipped with various measuring devices that can monitor the environment inside the room 20a of the second clean room 20. Examples of such measuring devices include a dust counter that measures the amount of dust and particles floating in the room 20a, a thermometer and a hygrometer, and a pressure measuring device. For example, the operating conditions of the first clean air supply unit 11 and the second clean air supply unit 21 are controlled by feeding back the measured values of the measuring devices.

The clean bench device 1 according to this embodiment, which has the above configuration, provides the following effects:

The clean bench device 1 according to this embodiment includes a first clean room 10, a first clean air supply unit 11 that is provided on the ceiling 13 of the first clean room 10 and supplies clean air to the interior 10a of the first clean room 10, a second clean room 20 that is provided in the interior 10a of the first clean room 10 and has a work table 24 therein, and a second clean room 20 that is provided on the ceiling 23 of the second clean room 20 and receives air supplied from the first clean air supply unit 11 and supplies clean air to the interior 20a of the second clean room 20. a, and an air flow path 30 formed in the interior 10a of the first clean room 10. The air flow path 30 has a path 31 through which the air flows from the first clean air supply unit 11 through the second clean air supply unit 21 into the interior 20a of the second clean room 20, exits below the workbench 24, and then rises through the space outside the second clean room 20 and the space inside the first clean room 10, before being reintroduced into the second clean air supply unit 21.

The air supplied to the room 20a of the second clean room 20 where the parts are assembled is the air purified by the first clean air supply unit 11, which is further purified by the second clean air supply unit 21 and supplied to the second clean room 20. In addition, the air circulating through the path 31 is always purified by the second clean air supply unit 21 and supplied to the second clean room 20. Therefore, the air in the second clean room 20 can be highly clean. For example, if both the first clean air supply unit 11 and the second clean air supply unit 21 have the performance to supply air with a cleanliness of about Class 1000 (US Federal Standard), the room 20a of the second clean room 20 can have an air cleanliness of about Class 100. Therefore, it is possible to supply high-cleanliness air to the room 20a of the second clean room 20 at low cost without using a high-performance air purification device that can obtain a cleanliness of about Class 100. Furthermore, because the interior 20a of the second clean room 20 can be maintained at a high level of air cleanliness in this manner, even if the worker M performs part of the transport work, etc., the cleanliness within the clean bench apparatus 1 is prevented from decreasing. Furthermore, the clean bench apparatus 1 has a double structure in which the second clean room 20 is disposed within the interior 10a of the first clean room 10. This allows the entire apparatus to be made compact. In other words, the clean bench apparatus 1 according to this embodiment can achieve high air cleanliness while being low-cost and compact.

In the clean bench apparatus 1 according to this embodiment, the work table 24 includes a porous plate 26 that connects the space above the work table 24 (the interior 20a of the second clean room 20) to the space below (the internal space 25a of the stand 25). The porous plate 26 has a large number of holes 26a that connect the interior 20a of the second clean room 20 to the internal space 25a of the stand 25.

As a result, foreign matter present in the interior 20a of the second clean room 20 passes through the holes 26a of the porous plate 26 along with the downward air flow and flows out into the internal space 25a of the stand 25. Therefore, foreign matter is quickly removed from the interior 20a of the second clean room 20, and the clean state of the second clean room 20 is maintained.

In this embodiment, the clean bench apparatus 1 is provided with a foreign matter removal device 40 in the second clean room 20.

As a result, foreign matter present in the chamber 20a of the second clean chamber 20 is removed by the foreign matter removal device 40, and a decrease in the cleanliness of the second clean chamber 20 can be suppressed. When the foreign matter removal device 40 is the above-mentioned vacuum brush, the vacuum brush is brought into contact with the parts being assembled on the workbench 24 to remove the foreign matter, thereby effectively removing the foreign matter adhering to the parts.

In the clean bench apparatus 1 according to this embodiment, a static elimination device 50 is provided in the second clean room 20 to neutralize the electric charge of the items supplied to the work table 24.

The charge removal device 50 neutralizes the charge on the parts supplied to the interior 20a of the second clean room 20, preventing the parts from becoming charged with static electricity. This prevents foreign matter that has entered the interior 20a of the second clean room 20 from adhering to the parts due to static electricity, thereby preventing contamination of the parts.

In the clean bench apparatus 1 according to this embodiment, the static elimination device 50 is preferably of a DC type in which a DC voltage is applied.

When the static elimination device 50 is of the DC type, the interior 20a of the second clean room 20 can be ionized as a whole to create a static elimination environment. This makes it difficult for foreign matter to adhere to parts in the interior 20a of the second clean room 20, and foreign matter passes through the holes 26a of the porous plate 26 due to the air flow and is quickly removed from the second clean room 20. This maintains a high level of cleanliness in the interior 20a of the second clean room 20.

The present disclosure is not limited to the above-described embodiments and can be modified as appropriate within the scope of the present disclosure.
For example, the first clean room 10 is surrounded by a curtain section 14 and the ceiling section 13 is also covered with a sheet, but the material separating the first clean room 10 from the interior R is not limited to the curtain section 14 or a sheet and may be composed of other materials such as a transparent board.
The second clean room 20 has a front opening 20b and is open to the front, but the front opening 20b may be made openable and closable with a door or the like to increase the degree of sealing, thereby further improving the cleanliness of the interior 20a of the second clean room 20.
The foreign matter removal device 40 is not limited to the above-mentioned vacuum brush, and may be of any type as long as it can remove foreign matter such as dust present within the chamber 20a of the second clean chamber 20.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 clean bench device 10 first clean room 11 first clean air supply unit 13 ceiling unit 20 second clean room 21 second clean air supply unit 24 workbench 26 porous plate 30 air flow path 31 path 40 foreign matter removal device 50 static elimination device

Claims (5)

A first clean room;
a first clean air supply unit provided on a ceiling of the first clean room and supplying clean air to the inside of the first clean room;
a second clean room disposed inside the first clean room and having a work table therein;
a second clean air supply unit provided on a ceiling of the second clean room, into which air supplied from the first clean air supply unit is introduced and which delivers cleaned air into the second clean room;
an air flow path formed inside the first clean room;
the air flow path has a path that passes from the first clean air supply unit through the second clean air supply unit, enters the second clean room, and then exits below the work table, and then ascends through a space outside the second clean room and a space inside the first clean room, and is again introduced into the second clean air supply unit,
A clean bench apparatus further comprising a measuring device that monitors the environment inside the second clean room, and the operating conditions of the first clean air supply unit and the second clean air supply unit are controlled by feeding back the measurement values of the measuring device. The clean bench apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the work table includes a porous plate that connects the space above the work table to the space below the work table. The clean bench apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a foreign matter removal device is provided in the second clean room. The clean bench apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the second clean room is provided with a static elimination device that neutralizes the electric charge of the items supplied to the work table. The clean bench apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the static eliminator is a DC type in which a DC voltage is applied.