JPH0326383A - Cleaning device using organic solvent - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To rapidly lower the pressure in a cleaning tank and to enhance the degree of vacuum in the cleaning tank without using a high-capacity and high-performance vacuum pump by providing a stop valve to the outlet and inlet connection pipes of a closed vessel having a cooling means and provided between the cleaning tank and a regenerating and recovering means. CONSTITUTION:The closed vessel 26 provided with a cooling pipe 27 and the cleaning tank 2 are connected by a first connection pipe 29 having a first stop valve 28, and a still 12 and the vessel 26 are connected by a second connection pipe 31 provided with a second stop valve 30. The bottom of the vessel 26 and the lower side surface of the still 12 are connected by a third connection pipe 33 provided with a third stop valve 32. The vapor of an org. solvent is condensed in the vessel 26, and the liquefied org. solvent is supplied into the still 12. Consequently, the performance of the vacuum pump 13 for discharging the gas in the tank 2 need not be enhanced, the org. solvent used in cleaning a material is rapidly discharged from the tank 2, and the degree of vacuum in the tank 2 is enhanced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Field of Industrial Application) A cleaning device using an organic solvent according to the present invention is used to remove dirt such as oil attached to the surface of various articles using an organic solvent such as Freon. It is something to be used.

(Prior art) Molds, porous sintered metal for air bearings, IC boards, etc.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It is common practice to clean oil and other stains adhering to the surfaces of various articles by using organic solvents such as fluorocarbons and trichlorethylene as a cleaning liquid.

An example of a cleaning device that performs cleaning work by using such an organic solvent as a cleaning liquid is disclosed in Utility Application No. 1983-
This will be explained using the device shown in No. 54595 as an example.

As shown in FIG. 3, this cleaning device includes a cleaning tank 2, which has a cylindrical shape with an open top and a bottom, and has an M1 that can airtightly close the top opening, and a heater 3 for heating and evaporating the organic solvent. a steam supply means 4 which has a built-in system and sends relatively high-temperature organic solvent vapor into the inside of the washing m2 through a pipe 5; A pipe 7 connecting the storage tank 6 and the cleaning tank 2;
A distiller 12 is constructed by combining a heater 10 for heating and evaporating a liquid organic solvent and a cooler 11 for condensing organic solvent vapor, and a distiller 12 sends the condensed organic solvent to the storage tank 6. A pipe 8 connecting the distiller 12 and the storage tank 416 and a liquid feeding pump 9 installed in the middle of the pipe 8 are combined with the pipes 7 and 8 to connect the washing tank 2 and the storage tank 6 or the distiller 12. A supply/discharge means 20 for supplying and discharging a liquid organic solvent between them, and an intake pipe 16 for supplying air into the cleaning tank 2;
The organic solvent vapor discharged from the cleaning tank 2 is connected to each end of a discharge pipe 19 with a vacuum pump l3 installed in the middle.
It is comprised of an exhaust pipe 14 that sends air into the distiller 12 and an exhaust pipe 15 that exhausts air from the cleaning tank 2.

When cleaning the object 17 to be cleaned using the cleaning apparatus of the earlier invention configured as described above, the lid 1 is opened and the object 17 is stored in the cleaning tank 2, and then the lid 1 is closed. Then, the vacuum pump 13 is operated to exhaust the air in the cleaning tank 2 through the exhaust pipe 15.

After the air in the cleaning tank 2 is discharged, the organic solvent in the storage tank 6 is sent into the cleaning tank 2 through the pipe 7 that constitutes the supply/discharge means 2o, and the object 17 to be cleaned is cleaned. At this time, by energizing the ultrasonic vibrators 18, 18 fixed to the bottom of the cleaning tank 2, ultrasonic vibrations are applied to the organic solvent in the cleaning tank 2, so that the object to be cleaned 17 can be efficiently cleaned. Make it.

After the cleaning work with the liquid organic solvent is completed, by operating the liquid feeding pump 9 constituting the supply/discharge means 20,
While the liquid organic solvent in the cleaning 4ffz is gradually fed into the distiller 12 through the pipe 8, organic solvent vapor is supplied from the vapor supply means 4 into the cleaning tank 2.

As a result, a part of the object 17 to be cleaned in the cleaning tank 2 is exposed above the surface of the liquid organic solvent, and the vapor of the organic solvent condenses in this exposed portion, and the condensed amount is used to clean the object 17. The surface is cleaned, so-called steam cleaning. Also, distiller 12
The used dirty organic solvent sent into the distiller 12 is heated by the heater 10 provided in the distiller 12, evaporated, and then regenerated by being condensed and liquefied by the cooler 11. will be returned to.

After all the liquid organic solvent in the cleaning Paz is sent to the distiller 12 while performing steam cleaning, the vacuum pump 13 installed in the middle of the discharge pipe 19 is operated to remove the organic solvent remaining in the cleaning tank 2. The solvent vapor is passed through the exhaust pipe 14 to the distiller 1.
Discharge within 2 hours. In this way, the organic solvent vapor discharged into the distiller 12 through the discharge pipe 19 and the exhaust pipe 14 is
It is condensed and liquefied by a cooler 11 provided in this distiller 12 and recovered. The organic solvent vapor that was not completely recovered by the cooler 11 is recovered by the secondary cooler 21, and the trace amount of organic solvent vapor that could not be recovered by the secondary cooler 21 is captured by the activated carbon filter 22. collected.

When the inside of the cleaning tank 2 reaches a predetermined degree of vacuum with the operation of the vacuum pump 13, the vacuum pump 13 is stopped;
Air is sent into the cleaning tank 2 through the intake pipe 16.

As a result, when the pressure inside the cleaning tank 2 rises to about atmospheric pressure, the lid 1 of the cleaning tank 2 is opened and the object 17 to be cleaned which has been cleaned is taken out.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, the cleaning device according to the previous invention, which is constructed and operates as described above, has the following disadvantages.

That is, when starting the cleaning operation, the object to be cleaned 17 is cleaned by feeding the organic solvent into the cleaning tank 2, and after the liquid organic solvent is discharged from the cleaning tank 2,
The air or organic solvent vapor present in the cleaning tank 2 is discharged by the vacuum pump 13. Determined by 13 abilities.

In order to increase the cleaning effect, it is effective to blow off the dirt attached to the surface of the object to be cleaned 17 by causing the droplets attached to the object to be cleaned 17 to bump, but by causing the droplets to bump in this way. For this purpose, it is necessary to increase the rate of gas discharge from the cleaning tank 2.

Furthermore, in order to reduce the amount of organic solvent vapor that diffuses into the surroundings when M1 is opened after the cleaning operation is completed, it is necessary to increase the degree of vacuum that can be achieved.

In order to deal with the above-mentioned problems, it is necessary to use a large or high-performance vacuum pump 13. However, if the vacuum pump 13 is made larger or has higher performance, Not only does the installation space increase, but the cost of the vacuum pump becomes extremely high (especially when increasing the degree of vacuum)
Therefore, it is not desirable.

A cleaning device using an organic solvent according to the present invention solves the above-mentioned disadvantages.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The cleaning device using an organic solvent of the present invention, like the conventional cleaning device described above, includes a cleaning tank that can be sealed while storing the object to be cleaned, and an interior of the cleaning tank. A supply means that can freely feed an organic solvent for cleaning into the tank, a used organic solvent discharged from the cleaning tank to regenerate it, and a gas discharged from the vacuum pump to remove the gas present in the gas. and a solvent regeneration and recovery means for recovering organic solvent vapor.

Furthermore, in the cleaning device using the organic solvent of the invention, a closed container having a cooling means inside is provided between the cleaning tank and the regeneration recovery means, and the closed container and the cleaning tank and a first connection pipe having a first on-off valve in the middle, and a closed container and the inside of the regeneration recovery means, respectively, by a second connection pipe having a second on-off valve in the middle. ing.

(Function) The function itself when cleaning an object to be cleaned with the cleaning device using the organic solvent of the present invention configured as described above is as follows.
This is similar to the cleaning device of the previous invention described above.

However, in the case of the cleaning apparatus using the organic solvent of the present invention, gas can be quickly discharged from the cleaning tank, and if necessary, the degree of vacuum in the cleaning tank can be increased.

That is, in the cleaning device of the present invention, when discharging the gas in the cleaning tank, first close the first on-off valve, and while the communication between the cleaning tank and the closed container is cut off, open the second valve. Open the on-off valve to remove the organic solvent vapor present inside the regeneration and recovery means.
Introduce into the above airtight container.

Once the organic solvent vapor is introduced into the sealed container, both the first and second on-off valves are closed and the cooling means provided in the sealed container is operated to condense the organic solvent vapor in the sealed container. liquefy.

As a result, the pressure inside the sealed container decreases, so if you open the first on-off valve that was previously closed while keeping the second on-off valve closed, the gas present in the cleaning tank will flow into the airtight container. It is sucked in, and the pressure inside the cleaning tank drops rapidly.

If organic solvent vapor is included in the gas that is sucked into the sealed container, this organic solvent vapor is condensed and liquefied one after another by the cooling means inside the sealed container, and the pressure inside the sealed container is reduced, so cleaning is not possible. The suction of the gas containing the organic solvent vapor from the tank to the closed container continues thereafter.

(Example) Next, the present invention will be explained in more detail while explaining the illustrated embodiment.

FIG. 1 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view showing the main parts of a first embodiment of a cleaning device using an organic solvent according to the present invention.

A closed container 26 is provided between the cleaning tank 2, which is provided with a lid 1 at the upper end opening and can be closed tightly with the object to be cleaned stored therein, and the distiller 12, which is a regeneration and recovery means.

A cooling vibrator 27 serving as a cooling means is disposed inside the closed container 26 so that the gas sent into the closed container 26 can be freely cooled.

The airtight container 26 and the cleaning tank 2 are connected by a first connection pipe 29 having a first on-off valve 28 in the middle, so that the gas present in the cleaning tank 2 can be transferred to the first connection pipe 29. tube 29
Through this, suction can be freely drawn into the closed container 26.

Further, the other end of the second connecting pipe 31, which is provided through the side surface of the closed container 26 and has a second on-off valve 30 in the middle, is passed through the side surface of the middle part of the distiller 12, and the distiller 12 to drain the organic solvent vapor present in the distiller 12.
It can be freely introduced into the closed container 26.

Further, the other end of a third connecting pipe 33, which has one end connected to the bottom of the closed container 26 and a third on-off valve 32 provided in the middle, penetrates the lower side surface of the distiller 12 and is connected to the distiller. An opening is opened into the distiller 12 so that the liquid organic solvent produced by condensing the organic solvent vapor in the closed container 26 can be freely fed into the distiller 12 .

Furthermore, in the middle of the first connection pipe 29, the first on-off valve 2
A three-way valve 34 is provided between the container 8 and the closed container 26. Two of the three boats are connected to the first connection pipe 29 of the three-way valve 34, and one end of the suction pipe 35 is connected to the remaining one boat.
The other end of 5 is connected to the suction port of vacuum pump 13.

The other end of the discharge pipe 36, one end of which is connected to the discharge port of the vacuum pump 13, passes through the hermetic container 26 in an airtight manner and opens into the hermetic container 26.

The other components of the cleaning device using an organic solvent of the present invention configured as described above and the operation itself when cleaning the object to be cleaned stored in the cleaning tank 2 are similar to those of the earlier invention described above. It is similar to the device.

However, in the case of a cleaning device using the organic solvent of the present invention, a vacuum pump 13 for discharging the gas in the cleaning chamber 2 is provided.
Even if the performance of the cleaning a! is not particularly improved, after cleaning the object using a liquid organic solvent, the liquid organic solvent can be quickly discharged from the cleaning tank 2, and the cleaning a!
The degree of vacuum inside 2 can be increased.

That is, in the cleaning apparatus of the present invention, cleaning 4iy is performed after cleaning.
When discharging the organic solvent vapor remaining in the cleaning tank 2, first close the second on-off valve 28 provided in the middle of the first connecting pipe 29, cutting off communication between the cleaning tank 2 and the closed container 26. Then, the second on-off valve 3o is opened, and the organic solvent vapor present in the distiller 12, which is a regeneration and recovery means, is transferred to the second connection pipe 31.
The liquid is introduced into the closed container 26 through the airtight container 26. At this time, the three-way valve 34 in the middle of the first connecting pipe 29
(the first connecting pipe 29 and the suction pipe 35 are not in communication with each other).

After introducing the organic solvent vapor into the closed container 26 in this way, the first, second, and third on-off valves 28, 30, 32
By closing both of them and circulating the refrigerant into the cooling vibe 27, which is a cooling means, provided in the airtight container 26,
The organic solvent vapor in the closed container 26 is condensed and liquefied.

As a result of condensation and liquefaction of the organic solvent vapor within the closed container 26, the pressure within the closed container 26 decreases.

Therefore, while keeping the second and third on-off valves 30 and 32 closed, the first on-off valve 28, which had been closed until then, was opened, and the organic solvent vapor remaining in the cleaning tank 2 was discharged into the airtight container. 26
suction inside.

Since the organic solvent vapor in the cleaning tank 2 is sucked into the closed container 26 through the first connecting pipe 29 within a short period of time, the pressure in the cleaning tank 2' drops rapidly. The organic solvent droplets adhering to the object to be cleaned stored in the cleaning tank 2 bump and blow away the dirt adhering to the surface of the object to be cleaned, thereby improving the cleaning effect of the subsequent cleaning operation. let

The organic solvent vapor sucked into the sealed container 26 through the first connecting pipe 29 is cooled by the cooling vibe 27 provided in the sealed container 26, and is condensed and liquefied one after another. Even if organic solvent vapor is sucked into the container 26, the pressure inside the closed container 26 hardly increases, and the cleaning tank 2
The suction of the organic solvent from the cleaning container 26 to the closed container 26 continues thereafter, and the pressure inside the cleaning Paz decreases.

As mentioned above, by condensing and liquefying the organic solvent vapor in the closed container 26, the pressure inside the cleaning tank 2 can be considerably reduced.
! If the vacuum inside the cell is insufficient, use the first incubation pipe 2.
The three-way valve 34 in the middle of the vacuum pump 13 is switched to a state where the first connecting pipe 29 and the suction pipe 35 of the vacuum pump 13 are connected to each other, and the vacuum pump 13 is operated.

When the vacuum pump 13 is operated in this way, the cleaning tank 2
The organic solvent vapor in the first connecting pipe 29, the suction pipe 35,
The liquid is fed into the closed container 26 through the vacuum pump 13 and the discharge pipe 36, and is condensed and liquefied in the closed container 26.

When discharging steam by the vacuum pump 26 in this way, the discharge port of the vacuum pump 13 communicates with the inside of the closed container 26, and the suction port communicates with the inside of the cleaning tank 2. Since the pressure is considerably low, the pressure difference between the suction side and the discharge side of the vacuum pump can be reduced.
Even without using a particularly high-performance vacuum pump 13 (high vacuum type), the degree of vacuum in the cleaning N2 can be sufficiently increased.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 2 will be described.

In this embodiment, when the liquid organic solvent accumulated at the bottom of the closed container 26 is discharged into the distiller 12, the organic solvent vapor present in the distiller 12 is not consumed all at once.
The amount of organic solvent flowing out from the distiller 12 is suppressed to a lower level.

That is, in the case of the first embodiment, the liquid organic solvent produced by condensing the organic solvent vapor discharged from the cleaning a12 in the closed container 26 is fed into the distiller 12 through the third connecting pipe 33. At this time, the organic solvent vapor present in the distiller 12 is sucked into the closed container 26, which has a low pressure close to vacuum.

Since the volume of the closed container 26 is large enough to rapidly reduce the pressure inside the cleaning tank 2,
As described above, when the liquid organic solvent accumulated at the bottom of the closed container 26 is sent to the distiller 12, the amount of organic solvent vapor sucked from the distiller 12 into the closed container 26 also increases.

As a result, a large amount of the organic solvent vapor present in the distiller 12 is consumed in a short period of time, and the pressure in the distiller 12 decreases. A relatively large amount of outside air is drawn into the distiller 12 through the distillation device 12 .

The outside air sucked into the distiller 12 in this way is pushed out through the pipe 25 by the organic solvent vapor generated as the heater 10 heats it, but at this time, it is pushed out together with the air. It is inevitable that a small amount of organic solvent vapor will be discharged through pipe 25. In this way, the organic solvent discharged together with the air is collected by the activated carbon filter 22 provided at the end of the pipe 25, but if the amount of organic solvent vapor mixed in the air is large, it is collected by the activated carbon filter 22. This may cause generation of organic solvent vapor that cannot be completely drained off, or premature deterioration of the activated carbon filter 22.

Therefore, in the case of this embodiment, the liquid organic solvent accumulated at the bottom of the sealed container 26 is discharged through the auxiliary sealed container 37 having a small capacity, so that the above-mentioned problems can be solved. are doing.

That is, in the case of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the second connecting pipe 31 is connected to the cleaning tank 2 (FIG. 1) through the second connecting pipe 29.
The bottom part of the closed container 26, which communicates with the distiller 12 through the distiller 12, and the upper part of the auxiliary closed container 37, which has a sufficiently smaller capacity than the closed container 26 and is provided below the closed container 26, are connected to the distiller 12 in the middle. The connection is made through a first auxiliary connecting pipe 39 provided with an auxiliary on-off valve 38.

In addition, a second auxiliary connection having a second auxiliary on-off valve 40 is connected between the bottom of the auxiliary sealed container 37 and a part of the distiller 12 serving as a regeneration recovery means where organic solvent vapor is present. The upper part of the auxiliary sealed container 37 and the distiller 12 are connected by a third auxiliary connection pipe 43 having a third auxiliary on-off valve 42 in the middle.

In the case of this embodiment configured in this way, when the liquid organic solvent accumulated in the closed container 26 is sent to the distiller 12,
This is done through the auxiliary sealed container 37.

That is, if the liquid organic solvent accumulates in the closed container 26, the first and second on-off valves 28 and 30 and the second and third auxiliary on-off valves 40 and 42 are closed. , the first auxiliary on-off valve 38 is opened, and the liquid organic solvent accumulated at the bottom of the closed container 26 is caused to flow down by gravity into the auxiliary closed container 37 through the first auxiliary connecting pipe 39 . At the same time,
The organic solvent vapor present in the auxiliary closed container 37 is sucked into the closed container 26.

As a result, once the liquid organic solvent has been transferred from the airtight container 26 to the auxiliary airtight container 37, the first auxiliary on-off valve 38 is closed, and the second auxiliary on-off valve 40 is opened instead, and the auxiliary airtight container 37 is opened. The liquid organic solvent is transferred from the distiller 12 to the distiller 12. On this occasion,
The 1M solvent vapor present in the distiller 12 is sucked into the auxiliary sealed container 37, but since the volume of this auxiliary sealed container 37 is small, a large amount of the organic solvent vapor present in the distiller 12 is consumed at once. Since the organic solvent vapor is not absorbed into the distiller 12 and a large amount of air is not sucked into the distiller 12,
It is also possible to suppress leakage to the outside.

Note that when starting the operation of the cleaning equipment that uses an organic solvent, the first on-off valve 28 and the third auxiliary on-off valve 42 are closed, and the second on-off valve 30 and the first and second auxiliary on-off valves are closed. Opening/closing valve 38, 4
0, the airtight container 26 and the auxiliary airtight container 37 are opened.
and fill it with organic solvent vapor.

Since organic solvent vapor is heavier than air, when the second on-off valve 30 and the first and second auxiliary on-off valves 38 and 40 are opened, the organic solvent vapor present in the distiller 12 flows from below into the auxiliary closed container. 3
7 and the closed container 26, and the air that had been present inside the auxiliary closed container 37 and the closed container 26 until then enters the upper space of the distiller 12 through the second connecting pipe 31. be discharged.

However, in this case, the replacement of organic reagent vapor with air is
Based on the difference in specific gravity between the two gases, the process is carried out slowly, and the amount of organic solvent vapor consumed does not greatly exceed the amount of organic solvent vapor generated by heating the heater 10, so in the distiller 12, The position of the boundary layer between the organic solvent vapor and air does not change greatly, and the amount of organic solvent leaking out from the distiller 12 can be suppressed to a very small amount.

(Effects of the Invention) The cleaning device using the organic solvent of the present invention is configured and operates as described above, but the vacuum pump may be enlarged,
It is possible to increase the speed at which the pressure in the cleaning tank is reduced, and even increase the degree of vacuum in the cleaning tank, without increasing the performance, and even when using high-performance cleaning equipment.
This eliminates the need for the installation space of the vacuum pump to become bulky or the cost of the vacuum pump to become extremely high.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view showing the main parts of a first embodiment of the cleaning device using an organic solvent of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic vertical cross-sectional view of the main parts showing the second embodiment, and FIG. The figure is a schematic longitudinal sectional view showing one example of a cleaning device. 1: Lid, 2: Cleaning tank, 3: Heater, 4: Steam supply means,
5: Pipe, 6: Storage tank, 7, 8: Pipe, 9: Liquid pump, 1
0: heater, 11: cooler, 12: distiller, 13, vacuum pump, 14: exhaust pipe, 15: exhaust pipe, 16: suction pipe,
17: Object to be cleaned, 18: Ultrasonic vibrator, 19: Discharge pipe,
20: Supply/discharge means, 21: Secondary cooler, 22; Activated carbon filter, 23, 24: Valve, 25: Pipe, 26: Closed container, 2
7: Cooling pipe, 28: First on-off valve, 29: pfJ connection pipe, 30: Second on-off valve, 31: Second connection pipe, 3
2: Third on-off valve, 33: Third connecting pipe, 34: Three-way valve, 35: Suction pipe, 36: Discharge pipe, 37: Auxiliary sealed container,
38: First auxiliary on-off valve, 39; First auxiliary connection pipe, 4
0: Second auxiliary on-off valve, 41: Second auxiliary connection pipe, 42
: Third auxiliary on-off valve, 43: Third auxiliary connection pipe. Patent applicant Chiyoda Seisakusho Co., Ltd. Agent Kinzo Koyama (one idiot) 2 3 Procedural amendment (method) October 1999 2

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A cleaning tank that can be sealed while storing the items to be cleaned,
A supply means that can freely feed an organic solvent for cleaning into this cleaning tank, a used organic solvent discharged from the cleaning tank, and the gas discharged from the cleaning tank are supplied to regenerate the gas. In a cleaning device using an organic solvent, which comprises a solvent regeneration and recovery means for recovering the vapor of the organic solvent present in the cleaning tank, the cleaning device has an internal cooling means between the cleaning tank and the regeneration and recovery means. A container is provided, and the sealed container and the cleaning tank are connected by a first connecting pipe having a first on-off valve in the middle, and the sealed container and the inside of the regeneration and recovery means are connected with a second on-off valve in the middle. A cleaning device using an organic solvent, characterized in that each is connected by a second connecting pipe having a (2) A cleaning device using an organic solvent according to claim 1, wherein a discharge port of a vacuum pump whose suction port is freely connected to the inside of the cleaning tank is connected to the inside of the closed container. (3) Connect the bottom of the airtight container and the upper part of the auxiliary airtight container, which has a smaller capacity than this airtight container and is provided below the airtight container, into a first auxiliary on-off valve with a first auxiliary on-off valve in the middle. The bottom of the auxiliary sealed container is connected to the part of the regeneration and recovery means where organic solvent vapor is present by a second auxiliary connecting pipe having a second auxiliary on-off valve in the middle. A cleaning device using the organic solvent according to claim 1 or 2, which is connected to the cleaning device.