JPH0512669Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] This invention relates to clean rooms used for various cleanliness operations such as LSI manufacturing, ultra-precision mechanical parts manufacturing, and chemical manufacturing. An air outlet is provided to blow out clean gas in a laminar flow almost vertically downward over the entire area of the highly clean area, and a vertically The wall is extended downward from the edge of the air outlet to prevent the highly clean area where LSIs and other items required for cleanliness are located from being contaminated by dust entering from the low clean area. The present invention relates to a clean room that is prevented from blowing clean gas out in a vertically downward laminar flow over the entire area and by the partitioning action of hanging walls.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, in this type of clean room, as shown in Figure 3, there are a high cleanliness area A and a low cleanliness area B.
Air outlet 1 for highly clean area A
A simple flat hanging wall 16 is extended vertically downward from the edge of the wall, or as shown in Japanese Utility Model Application No. 57-100483,
It was simply disposed between the highly clean area A and the low clean area B in an inclined position such that the lower end thereof is located closer to the low clean area B side.

In addition, in Figure 3, 2 and 5 are highly clean area A.
9 and 12 are exhaust ports, and 11 is a high-performance filter equipped at the air outlet 1 for the air outlet 1 and the air outlet 4 for the low clean area B, 9 and 12 are exhaust ports, and 11 is for circulating the exhaust gas from the room wall side air outlet 9 to the air outlet 1 on the high clean area side. circulation fan,
7 is a supply air duct from the air conditioner; 14 is a return air/exhaust duct that returns exhaust gas from the low-level clean area side exhaust port 12 to the air conditioner and discharges a portion of it to the outside of the system;
Further, 15 is a workbench for cleaning work installed in the highly clean area A.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

However, if the flat hanging wall 16 is simply extended vertically downward or arranged in an inclined position as described above, a strong vortex will occur at the boundary between the highly clean area A and the low clean area B. The reality is that it is not possible to sufficiently avoid dust intrusion into the highly clean area A due to the vortex flow, and in particular, the work bodies such as workers and work robots located in the low clean area B are not allowed to enter the highly clean area A. When the workpiece approaches, the turbulence of the airflow caused by the presence of the workpiece makes the vortex at the boundary between the highly clean area A and the low cleanliness area B even more intense, and a large amount of dust is generated from the workpiece. There was a problem in which the cleanliness of the highly clean area A decreased significantly.

The purpose of this invention is to suppress and prevent the generation of vortices between the high cleanliness area and the low cleanliness area through rational and simple improvements to the hanging walls, and to further improve the airflow form. The purpose is to improve the cleanliness of a clean area and maintain it at a high level.

[Means for solving problems]

The characteristic configuration of the clean room according to the present invention is that an air outlet is provided that blows out clean gas in a laminar flow almost vertically downward over the entire area of the highly clean area in the room. In a configuration in which a hanging wall extends downward from an edge of the air outlet between the low-grade clean area,
The wall surface of the hanging wall on the side of the highly clean area is located closer to the lower end thereof toward the lower level of clean area, and
It is formed into a curved surface that curves convexly toward the high-level clean area side in the vertical direction, and the wall surface on the low-level clean area side of the hanging wall is formed into a substantially vertical plane, and the hanging wall is formed under the vertical clean area side. The reason is that the edge is formed into an airfoil-like cross-sectional shape with a pointed cross-sectional shape, and its functions and effects are as follows.

[Effect]

In other words, according to the above feature configuration, the following (a), (b), and (c)
(See Figure 2).

(b) In the conventional configuration where a simple flat hanging wall is provided, airflow separates at the corners of the square cross-sectional shape of the lower edge of the flat hanging wall, causing dust to enter the highly clean area A. A strong eddy current occurs at the boundary between the highly clean area A and the low clean area B, but in this regard, according to the above-mentioned characteristic configuration of the present invention, the lower edge of the hanging wall 16 is formed into a pointed cross-sectional shape. Due to this, in forming the pointed cross-sectional shape, the wall surface 16A on the high clean area A side of the hanging wall 16 is located closer to the low clean area B side as the lower end thereof approaches, and the height is lower in the vertical direction. The hanging wall 16 is formed into a curved surface convexly curving toward the clean area A side, and the wall surface 16B on the low clean area B side of the hanging wall 16 is formed into a substantially vertical plane, so that the cross-sectional shape of the hanging wall 16 is so-called streamlined. By having the airfoil shape, it is possible to effectively suppress and prevent the generation of vortices due to the separation of airflow as described above.

(B) Also, regarding the wall surface 16A of the hanging wall 16 on the high-level clean area A side, for example, the above-mentioned method in which a simple flat hanging wall is arranged in an inclined position such that the lower end thereof is positioned closer to the low-level clean area B side. As in the conventional example, when the wall surface of a hanging wall on the side of highly clean area A is formed into a flat surface, and the lower end thereof is simply an inclined plane located on the side of lowly clean area B, the wall surface on the side of highly clean area A is The inclination angle of the hanging wall is the air outlet 1.
is uniform from the edge of the hanging wall to the lower end of the hanging wall, and is blown out in a laminar flow in a vertically downward direction from the outlet 1 to the highly clean area A, whereas the inclined wall surface of the hanging wall on the highly clean area A side Because the edge of the outlet 1 has a considerable angle of inclination, it is difficult to make the clean gas blown from the outlet 1 flow along the hanging inclined wall surface on the highly clean area A side. Within A, highly clean area A
Airflow stagnation areas and vortex areas tend to occur between the vertically downward gas flow path from the side hanging wall and the vertically downward gas flow path from the outlet 1, and the generation of these stagnation areas and vortex areas results in a high degree of cleanliness. There is a risk of reducing the cleanliness of area A.

In this regard, according to the characteristic configuration of the present invention, the hanging wall 1
6, the lower end of the wall surface 16A on the side of the highly clean area A is located closer to the side of the lower clean area B, and
It is formed into a curved surface that curves convexly toward the highly clean area A side in the vertical direction, so that the hanging wall surface 16A on the highly clean area A side can handle the clean gas blown out in a laminar flow in a vertically downward direction from the air outlet 1. The angle of inclination is hanging wall 16
Since the shape increases gradually toward the lower end, by effectively applying the Coanda effect, the flow line near the hanging wall of the clean gas blown from the outlet 1 is gradually increased toward the lower end of the hanging wall 16. By changing the direction to the low degree clean area B side, the clean gas blown out from the air outlet 1 can be made to flow smoothly along the convex curved wall surface 16A on the high degree clean area A side of the hanging wall 16. As a result, it is possible to prevent stagnation and the formation of a vortex area between the hanging wall surface on the highly clean area A side and the vertically downward gas flow path from the outlet 1, as described above, within the highly clean area A. The clean gas on the highly clean area A side flowing down along the hanging wall surface 16A on the highly clean area A side is transferred to the highly clean area A and the low clean area B below the hanging wall 16, while avoiding disturbance of the airflow. It can be made to project toward the low-grade clean area B side at the boundary.

Even if some vortex still remains at the boundary between the highly clean area A and the low clean area B despite the effect of (a) above, the clean gas will overhang to the low clean area B side. By shifting the eddy current generation point toward the low-level clean area B, it is possible to more reliably prevent dust from entering the high-level clean area A, and to prevent the work of workers, robots, etc. located in the low-level clean area B. It is also possible to effectively suppress the intrusion of dust into the highly clean area A due to the vortex generated when the body approaches the highly clean area A, by extending the clean gas toward the low clean area B side.

In short, in the characteristic configuration of the present invention, the wall surface 16A on the highly clean area A side of the hanging wall 16 is
Forming the hanging wall 16 into a curved surface that is located closer to the lower end of the lower end and curves convexly toward the higher cleanliness region A in the vertical direction means that the hanging wall 16 is located below the lower end of the lower end. The cross-sectional shape of an airfoil with a pointed edge is used to suppress and prevent the generation of vortices, and to reduce the amount of clean gas in the highly clean area A while avoiding airflow turbulence within the highly clean area A. It functions to both suppress and prevent dust from entering the highly clean area A by extending it toward the highly clean area B side.

(c) Furthermore, the wall surface 16B of the vertical wall 16 on the low cleanliness zone B side is, for example, a simple flat vertical wall disposed in an inclined position such that its lower end is positioned closer to the low cleanliness zone B as in the above-mentioned conventional example.
If the wall surface of the vertical wall on the side of the low cleanliness zone B is formed as a flat surface and the lower end of the flat surface is an inclined plane positioned toward the low cleanliness zone B, dust is likely to accumulate on the inclined wall surface of the vertical wall on the side of the low cleanliness zone B. Furthermore, as described above in (b), the clean gas in the high cleanliness zone A has a tendency to protrude toward the low cleanliness zone B and flows down the boundary between the high cleanliness zone A and the low cleanliness zone B, which causes the air inside the low cleanliness zone B near the vertical wall to flow along the wall surface of the vertical wall on the low cleanliness zone B. Since the flow direction is diagonally downward along the inclined wall surface of the vertical wall on the low cleanliness zone B, a large vortex-like convection area is likely to be formed in the low cleanliness zone B, which is likely to lead to a decrease in the cleanliness of the low cleanliness zone B. Ultimately, these factors are likely to cause the problem of promoting a decrease in the cleanliness of the high cleanliness zone A. In this respect, according to the characteristic configuration of the present invention, the wall surface 16B on the side of the low cleanliness zone B of the vertical wall 16 is formed as a substantially vertically oriented flat surface.
This prevents dust from accumulating on the vertical wall surface 16B on the low cleanliness area B side, and the above-mentioned attraction action causes the flow direction of the air inside the low cleanliness area B flowing along the vertical wall surface 16B on the low cleanliness area B side to approach a vertical downward direction, thereby suppressing and preventing the formation of the above-mentioned vortex convection area within the low cleanliness area B.

In short, in the characteristic configuration of the present invention, forming the wall surface 16B on the low-level clean area B side of the hanging wall 16 into a plane with a substantially vertical posture means that the hanging wall 16 has a sharp lower edge as described in (a) above. The cross-sectional shape of an airfoil with a head cross-sectional shape suppresses and prevents the generation of vortices, avoids dust accumulation in the low-level clean area B, and improves the cleanliness of the high-level clean area A as described in (b) above. By keeping the airflow condition of the low-level clean area B good and suppressing and preventing a decrease in the cleanliness of the low-level clean area B, the high-level clean area A It functions both to contribute to the maintenance of cleanliness.

[Effect of idea]

That is, according to the present invention, due to the effect described in (a) above, it is possible to effectively suppress and prevent the generation of vortices between the highly clean area and the low clean area, which causes dust to enter the highly clean area. In addition, in order to prevent the generation of vortices, the lower edge of the hanging wall has a pointed cross-sectional shape. The above-mentioned effects (b) and (c) obtained by having a rational surface shape combine to greatly improve the cleanliness of the highly clean area compared to the conventional hanging wall configuration.
And we were able to maintain it at a high level.

As a result, the quality of products such as LSIs and ultra-precision mechanical parts can be improved, the occurrence of defective products can be greatly reduced, and large amounts of clean gas are blown out unnecessarily to maintain cleanliness. Since there is no need to supply air, it is possible to reduce the amount of blowing power.
Furthermore, since it is simply a shape improvement for a hanging wall, there is an advantage that the equipment cost can be kept low.

By the way, the cleanliness of the highly clean area A has been improved,
In addition, for the purpose of maintaining the clean gas at a high level, a part of the blown clean gas is placed directly below the air outlet 1 in the high clean area A in the low clean area B, as shown in Figure 4.
Curved plate-shaped guide plate 18 for deflection to the side
By diverting the clean gas toward the low-level clean area B side by the deflection guide plate 18, the formation location of the vortex generated near the lower edge of the hanging wall 16 is directed to the low-level clean area B.
In addition, the intrusion of dust into the highly clean area A is facilitated by the vortex generated by the worker or work robot located in the low clean area B coming close to the highly clean area A. It is also conceivable that it may have been necessary to suppress this.

However, in this case, the presence of the drifting guide plate 18 disturbs the laminar flow of clean gas in the highly clean area A, and the accumulation of dust on the upper surface of the drifting guide plate 18 causes the This leads to a decrease in the cleanliness of the clean area A.
8, the present invention is more effective in improving and maintaining the cleanliness of the highly clean area.

〔Example〕

Next, an example will be described.

Figures 1 and 2 show a so-called clean tunnel that forms a manufacturing line for LSIs, ultra-precision mechanical parts, etc. In a tunnel-shaped room, a highly clean area A where manufactured products are located is located at both ends of the tunnel width direction. and a low-grade clean area B as a passage area for workers.
is arranged at the center in the tunnel width direction, and both areas A and B extend in the tunnel longitudinal direction.

A first outlet 1 that blows out clean air in a laminar flow almost vertically downward over the entire area of the highly clean area A is configured with an opening on the discharge side of a high-performance filter 2,
The first air outlet 1 and the first air supply chamber 3 therefor extend in the longitudinal direction of the tunnel above the highly clean area A within the tunnel-shaped room.

A second air outlet 4 that diffusely blows out clean air to the low-grade clean area B, and a second air supply chamber 6 with a built-in high-performance filter 5 for the second air outlet 4 are distributed in the longitudinal direction of the tunnel. The air supply duct 7 from the air conditioner is connected to each of the first air supply chamber 3 and the second air supply chamber 6.

A first
An exhaust port 9 is provided extending in the longitudinal direction of the tunnel, and the first exhaust port 9 and the first air supply chamber 3 are connected via a circulation air passage 10 having a double wall configuration. A circulation fan 11 is provided which pressurizes and supplies exhaust air from the port 9 to the first air supply chamber 3.

A lattice-shaped second exhaust port 12 is provided in the indoor floor located corresponding to the low-grade clean area B so as to extend in the longitudinal direction of the tunnel, and the exhaust air from the second exhaust port 12 is returned to the air conditioner. Further, the second exhaust port 12 is connected to a return air/exhaust duct 14 via an exhaust chamber 13 having a double floor configuration so as to exhaust a portion of the air to the outside of the system.

In other words, while the clean air purified by the high-performance filter 2 is blown out and supplied to the highly clean area A in a downward laminar flow, a part of the clean air supplied to this highly clean area A is sent to the first exhaust port. By exhausting air from the sidewall 9, contamination of the highly clean area A due to dust generation from the side wall 8 is prevented, and the remainder of the clean air supplied to the highly clean area A is supplied to the low clean area B. By exhausting air from the second exhaust port 12, the intrusion of dust from the low-level clean area B to the high-level clean area A is avoided, and the contamination of the high-level clean area A due to the infiltrated dust is prevented. .

In addition, by purifying the exhaust air from the first exhaust port 9 with the high-performance filter 2 and circulating it to the highly clean area A, the amount of air processed on the air conditioner side is reduced as much as possible, resulting in a compact equipment configuration. While maintaining the cleanliness of the highly clean area A, a large amount of clean air can be supplied to the highly clean area A.

15 in the figure is a workbench for manufacturing LSIs, ultra-precision mechanical parts, etc.

A hanging wall 16 is provided between the highly clean area A and the low clean area B, extending downward from the edge of the first air outlet 1 for the highly clean area A and continuing in the longitudinal direction of the tunnel. With the partitioning effect of this hanging wall 16, the cleanliness of the highly clean area A can be maintained more effectively.

Regarding the specific structure of the hanging wall 16, the wall surface 16A of the hanging wall 16 on the highly clean area A side is located closer to the lower end of the wall surface 16A toward the lower clean area B, and is convex toward the highly clean area A side in the vertical direction. At the same time, the wall surface 16A of the hanging wall 16 on the low-grade clean area B side is formed into a plane with a substantially vertical posture, and the cross-sectional shape of the hanging wall 16 when viewed in the longitudinal direction of the tunnel is The lower edge is formed into an airfoil shape with a pointed cross section.

In other words, by forming the hanging wall 16 into an airfoil shape whose lower edge has a pointed cross-section, the highly clean area A
Effectively suppresses the generation of vortices at the boundary between highly clean area A and low clean area B, which causes dust to enter the area.
It is designed to prevent this.

In addition, in forming the hanging wall 16 into an airfoil shape whose lower edge has a pointed cross-sectional shape, the hanging wall 1
By forming the wall surface 16A on the high clean area A side in 6 into a curved surface that is located closer to the low clean area B side toward the lower end thereof and curves convexly toward the high clean area A side in the vertical direction, While avoiding airflow turbulence within the highly clean area A and effectively applying the Coanda effect, the streamlines near the hanging wall of the clean air blown from the first outlet 1 are directed toward the lower end of the hanging wall 16. The clean air from the highly clean area A side, which is gradually diverted to the low clean area B side and flows down along the hanging wall surface 16A on the highly clean area A side, is transferred to the highly clean area A below the hanging wall 16.
At the boundary between the low-grade clean area B and the low-grade clean area B
By doing so, even if some vortex still remains at the boundary between the highly clean area A and the low clean area B, the clean air is directed to the low clean area B side. By overhanging the eddy current, the area where the vortex is generated is shifted toward the low-level clean area B, thereby more reliably preventing dust from entering the high-level clean area A, and allowing workers located in the low-level clean area B to move to the high-level clean area. The intrusion of dust into the highly clean area A due to the vortex generated by the proximity to A is also effectively suppressed by extending this clean air toward the low clean area B side.

Furthermore, when forming the hanging wall 16 into an airfoil shape whose lower edge has a pointed cross-sectional shape, the hanging wall surface 16B on the other low-grade clean area B side is formed into a plane with a substantially vertical posture. This prevents dust from accumulating on the hanging wall surface 16B on the side of the low-level clean area B, and also because of the attracting effect associated with the flow of clean air that tends to overhang to the side of the low-level clean area B as described above. To,
When the air in the area near the hanging wall 16 on the low-level clean area B side flows along the hanging wall surface 16B on the low-level clean area B side, the flow direction is guided vertically downward to create the low-level clean area. The formation of a vortex-like convection region in B is suppressed and prevented, thereby maintaining the cleanliness of the low cleanliness region B at a high level, thereby further promoting the improvement of the cleanliness of the high cleanliness region A. .

The hanging wall 16 is made of a transparent conductive plastic material, which allows good visibility from the low clean area B side to the high clean area A, and also has conductivity. It is also designed to prevent electrostatic adhesion of dust.

In addition, the transparent hanging wall 16 is formed into a hollow shape, and an illumination lamp 17 is installed inside the hollow part, so that the hanging wall 1
6 is also used as a dust-proof lighting case, and the lighting equipment is compactly constructed.

[Another example]

Next, another embodiment will be described.

If two or more sides of the circumference of the highly clean area A are adjacent to the low clean area B, hanging walls 16 may be provided on the plurality of sides.

The present invention can be applied to clean rooms of various shapes in addition to tunnel-shaped clean rooms, and
The specific purpose of the clean room is also irrelevant.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 and 2 show an embodiment of the present invention, with FIG. 1 being a broken perspective view and FIG. 2 being an enlarged sectional view of the main parts. FIG. 3 is a partially omitted sectional view showing a conventional example, and FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view showing a comparative example. A...Highly clean area, B...Low clean area, 1...
Air outlet, 16... Hanging wall, 16A, 16B... Wall surface.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] An air outlet 1 is provided to blow out clean gas almost vertically downward in a laminar flow over the entire area of the indoor high clean area A, and the indoor low clean area B is connected to the high clean area A and the adjacent indoor low clean area B. In the clean room, a hanging wall 16 is extended downward from the edge of the air outlet 1, and the wall surface 16A of the hanging wall 16 on the high clean area A side is gradually increased toward the lower end thereof. It is located on the clean area B side and is formed into a curved surface that curves convexly toward the high clean area A side in the vertical direction, and the wall surface 16B on the low clean area B side of the hanging wall 16 is approximately vertical. A clean room in which the hanging wall 16 is formed in an airfoil-like cross-sectional shape with a lower edge having a pointed cross-sectional shape.