JPH026051Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] Industrial Application Field This invention relates to an article conveyance device in a factory that manufactures and conveys articles in a clean air atmosphere, such as a semiconductor manufacturing factory.

BACKGROUND TECHNOLOGY Working in a dust-free, sterile, clean air atmosphere is increasingly becoming an essential condition for manufacturing products that require ultra-high precision, such as semiconductor parts, pharmaceuticals, and medical equipment. In particular, in the semiconductor manufacturing industry, as we enter the era of ultra-LSI technology, the work rooms of semiconductor manufacturing factories are required to have an ultra-clean air atmosphere.

These requirements require that a clean air atmosphere be maintained in the workroom by downflowing clean air from the ceiling to the floor, and that goods can be transported within the workroom or between multiple workspaces on the same floor by unmanned transport. Achieved by unmanned vehicles, etc., this type of horizontal goods transportation system is expected to have significant results in preventing goods contamination. However, due to factors such as the location of the factory, work rooms are set up over multiple floors within a single building, each work room is maintained in a clean air atmosphere with downflow of clean air, and goods are transferred between work rooms on each floor. In a vertical article conveyance system in a factory where articles are conveyed vertically, there remains the problem that measures to prevent article contamination are still insufficient.

For example, an unmanned article transport system between work rooms on each floor generally uses an elevator system, and an example of its basic structure will be explained with reference to FIG. In FIG. 5, A ₁ , A ₂ , . . . are work rooms on each floor, and the drawing shows up to the 5th floor as an example. B is an article transport chamber [elevator room] that vertically passes through each of the work rooms _A1 to _A5 , 1 is a transport box [elevator] that moves up and down within the article transport chamber B, and 2 is a suspension that moves transport box 1 up and down. This is a box drive system such as a drive machine. Each of the work rooms _A1 to _A5 is equipped with clean units 4, 4, etc. that cause clean air 3 to flow down from the ceiling to the floor to maintain a clean air atmosphere, and the article transfer room B is also equipped with a similar clean unit 4'.
will be equipped. Each work room A ₁ to _{A 5} and article transfer room B
are connected by article entrances and exits 5, 5... provided in the partition wall, and these article entrances and exits 5, 5... are external doors 6, 6... that are installed on the side of article transport chamber B so that they can be opened and closed vertically. Closed. Transport box 1 is article 7
There is an inner door 8 on the front that opens and closes up and down.
It has a clean unit 9 at the top that allows clean air to flow down into the article storage chamber.

The transport box 1 containing the articles 7 closes the inner door 8, moves up and down the article transport chamber B, and stops at a fixed position in front of the article entrance 5 of the work room A ₃ on the third floor, for example. The outer door 6 of the article entrance 5 and the inner door 8 of the transport box 1 are opened, and the article 7 in the transport box 1 is transferred into the work room _A3 . Further, when another article 7 is carried into the transport box 1 from the work room A ₃ as necessary, both doors 6 and 8 are closed and the transport box 1 is raised or lowered [Utility Application No. 60-14388
issue〕.

Problems to be solved by the invention In the above-mentioned clean goods conveyance system, the distance from the ceiling to the floor of each work room _A1 to _A5 is relatively small, and the indoor air cleanliness due to the downflow of clean air is extremely low. However, the article conveyance chamber B is vertically long, and the air purification effect of the downflow of clean air is weak. Since there are many sources of dust to be scattered, the air cleanliness of the article transport chamber B is not expected to be high. Therefore, the transport box 1 moves up and down in the article transport chamber B in this contaminated air atmosphere.
A clean unit 9 is installed in the transport box 1 to have a self-cleaning function, and the contaminated air in the transport chamber B is removed from the transport box 1.
The article 7 inside is protected. However, when the transport box 1 is stopped at a fixed position in front of the article entrance 5 of the work room A ₃ and both doors 6 and 8 are opened to transfer the article 7, the connection between the article entrance 5 and the transport box 1 is caused. From the gap, article transport room B
The contaminated air may flow into the work room A ₃ or into the transport box 1, and the articles 7 may be contaminated at this time.

To solve this problem, when transferring goods between the work room and the transport box, a sealing means is installed on the transport box side to temporarily block the space between the work room's goods entrance and exit and the transport box from the goods transport chamber. It has been proposed that the For example, a sealing means 10 that moves as shown in FIGS. 6 to 8 is attached to the transport box 1. This sealing means 10 is attached to the periphery of the article loading/unloading opening 11 of the transport box 1 and expands and contracts in the axial direction.For example, as shown in FIG. 9, one end is fixed to the periphery of the opening 11. Double cylindrical bellows-shaped sealing material 12, 12' and sealing material 12, 1
Square-shaped packing material 13 fixed to the tip of 2'
and a seal driving source 14, such as an air cylinder, which is fixed to the lower part of the transport box 1 and expands and contracts the sealing materials 12, 12' in the axial direction. In FIGS. 6 to 8, 15 is an opening/closing drive mechanism for the outer door 6, and 16 is an opening/closing drive mechanism for the inner door 8.

The sealing means 10 has the following function. As shown in FIG. 6, the transport box 1 is, for example, a work room.
When it stops at the fixed position in front of the goods entrance 5 of _A3 ,
First, the seal drive source 14 is activated and the seal material 12,
12' is stretched, and as shown in FIG. 7, the packing material 13 is pressed against the periphery of the article entrance/exit 5 to bring it into close contact. As a result, the article entrance/exit space m between the article entrance/exit 5 and the transport box 1 can be
It is isolated from the article transport chamber B by 12'.
Next, as shown in FIG. 8, both the inner and outer doors 6, 8 are opened to transfer the article 7. When this article delivery is completed, both doors 6 and 8 are closed, and then the sealing materials 12 and 12' are contracted together with the packing material 13 toward the transport box, and the transport box 1 is raised or lowered.

In this manner, the sealing means 10 blocks the article entry/exit space m from the contaminated air of the article transport chamber B during article delivery, thereby preventing contamination of the article 7. However, this measure to prevent contamination of goods had the following deficiencies. That is, in the state shown in FIG. 6, the local space m between the closed outer door 6 and inner door 8 is in the contaminated air atmosphere of the article transfer chamber B, and in this state, as shown in FIG. When the materials 12 and 12' are stretched,
The local space m is a space in which contaminated air is confined.
Therefore, when both doors 6 and 8 were opened, there was a possibility that the contaminated air in the local space m would contaminate the article 7. Although this possibility is small, in product manufacturing factories that require manufacturing in ultra-clean air atmospheres, such as ultra-LSI manufacturing factories, even the slightest possibility of product contamination can have a significant impact on quality and yield. There is a need for the emergence of new technologies that influence and eliminate the above-mentioned possibilities.

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention was made in view of the above-mentioned needs, and includes a work room maintained in a clean air atmosphere, an article transfer room connected to the work room by an article entrance/exit opened and closed by a door. a transport box for storing and transporting goods that moves within the goods transport chamber and transfers goods to and from the work room at a fixed position in front of the goods entrance; the transport box is located at a fixed position in front of the goods entrance; In the article transporting apparatus, the article transporting device has an axially expandable cylindrical sealing means that blocks a gap with the periphery of the article entrance/exit when the transport box is in the transport box, the sealing means extending to the periphery of the article entrance/exit. The above-mentioned conventional problems have been solved by adding a vacuum means that sucks the air in the space surrounded by the sealing means, the goods entrance door, and the transport box and introduces clean air into the work room. It is something.

Function The vacuum means attached to the transport box in the present invention is located between the work room where the goods are being delivered and the transport box, and the air in the space surrounded by the seal means extending from the transport box is contaminated air. Even if this happens, the air is sucked out of the system and replaced with clean air in the work room. Therefore, if you open the goods entrance and exit door and start handing over goods after this air exchange, the goods will be contaminated. No more contact with air.

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. This embodiment is applied to the article conveying apparatus shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, and the same parts in FIGS. 1 to 4 as in FIGS. 6 to 8 are given the same reference numerals.

The difference from the conventional apparatus in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 is that a clean unit 9 is installed in the transport box 1.
A vacuum means 17 is provided which utilizes the vacuum as a power source for evacuation. Here, FIG. 1 shows the state before the outer door 6 is opened, and FIG. 3 shows that part in an enlarged manner. Further, FIG. 2 shows the operating state when the outer door 6 is slightly opened, and FIG. 4 shows that part in an enlarged manner. In this configuration, in the vacuum means 17, 18, 18... are the outer sealing material 12 and the inner sealing material 1 of the sealing means 10.
This flexible pipe is led out to the outside through the pipe 2', and is installed at a total of four locations on the square-shaped sealing material 12, 12', for example, at the top, bottom, left and right. A relay pipe 19 is connected to the outer ends of the four transport chambers 18, 18, and is fixed to the upper part of the transport box 1. 20 is connected to the pipes 18, 18 via the relay pipe 19.
The duct is connected to and communicates with... and has a valve 21, such as a solenoid valve, which appropriately shuts off the internal air flow path approximately in the center. The tip opening on the non-pipe side of the duct 20 is
It is set in a part of the air intake port of the clean unit 9 of the transport box 1.

The clean unit 9 includes a fan 22, a fan drive source 23 that rotates the fan 22, and an air filter 24. The rotation of the fan 22 sucks air from the article transport chamber B through the air intake port 25, and the air filter 24, the dust is removed and the air is turned into clean air, which is then flowed down into the transport box 1. Although not shown, the clean unit 9 may be one that circulates and sucks clean air that has flowed down inside the transport box 1.

The valve 21 of the vacuum means 17 is normally closed and opens for a predetermined period of time only in the state shown in FIG. That is, the transport box 1 is, for example, a working room A ₃
The sealing member 12, 12' of the sealing means 10 is stopped at a fixed position in front of the article entrance/exit 5 (as shown in FIG. 1).
Stretch the packing material 13 to make it tightly fit around the article entrance 5, and then open the outer door 6 as shown in FIG.
When the valve 21 opens only a little, the valve 21 is fully opened.
Then, the air (contaminated air) in the local space m surrounded by the outer door 6, the sealing materials 12, 12', and the inner door 8 flows into the pipe 18, which protrudes from the four locations of the inner sealing material 12'.
18... and is sucked into the clean unit 9 through the duct 20. This pipe 18, 18...
In response to the air suction, cleaning air from the work room A ₃ flows into the local space m through the gap between the slightly opened outer door 6 and the article entrance 5. Therefore, the air in the local space m is rapidly replaced with clean air, and the valve 21 is automatically closed by timer control or the like even after sufficient time for this air replacement to occur. After that, the outer door 6 is fully opened, the inner door 8 is opened, and the work room is opened.
Handles goods between _A3 and transport box 1. At this time, since the local space m has been replaced with clean air, there is almost no fear that the article 7 will be contaminated.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, but can be similarly applied to a structure in which a ring-shaped balloon is used as a sealing means on the front surface of a transport box. Further, the vacuum means is not limited to one in which the vacuum pipe is passed through the sealing material of the seal means, but it is also possible to arrange the vacuum pipe so as to avoid the seal means.

Detailed Description of the Invention According to the invention, even if the air quality in the article transfer chamber through which the transfer box passes is poor, the air between the transfer box and the work chamber can be removed immediately before the transfer of articles between the transfer box and the work chamber. Since the air in the space for entering and exiting goods separated by the sealing means is purified by the vacuum means, the problem of contamination of goods at the time of goods delivery is solved, and manufacturing and transportation in ultra-high clean air atmospheres such as ultra-LSIs are possible. A suitable transport device for the required articles can be provided.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 and 2 are side sectional views of main parts in various operating states showing an embodiment of the article conveying device according to the present invention,
FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. FIG. 5 is a schematic side sectional view of a conventional article conveyance device in an article vertical conveyance system;
6 to 8 are side cross-sectional views of essential parts of the article conveying device, which is the premise of the present invention, in various operating states, and FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of a part of FIG. 6. A ₁ to A ₅ ...Working room, B...Goods transport room, 1...
...Transportation box, 5...Article entrance/exit, 6...Door (outer door), 7...Article, 10...Sealing means, 17
...Bakyum means.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] A work room maintained in a clean air atmosphere, an article transport room connected to this work room through an article entrance opened and closed by a door, and an article transport room that is moved within this article conveyance room and is located in front of the article entrance. a transport box for storing and transporting goods through which goods are delivered to and from the work room at a fixed position, and when the transport box is at the fixed position in front of the goods entrance, the transport box closes a gap with the peripheral edge of the goods entrance. In an article conveyance device having an axially expandable cylindrical sealing means for blocking, when the sealing means extends to the peripheral edge of the article entrance/exit to the conveyance box, the sealing means, the door of the article entrance and the conveyance box 1. An article conveyance device characterized in that it is equipped with vacuum means for sucking air from a space surrounded by air and introducing clean air into a working room.