JPH0515933B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a clean work room (clean room) for creating a clean work environment necessary for semiconductor manufacturing and the like.

FIG. 1 shows a typical example of a clean work room (full-scale downflow clean room) conventionally used in semiconductor manufacturing processes. In Figure 1, 1 is a building, 2 is a clean room interior, 3 is a high-performance filter, 4 is a lighting lamp, 5 is a ceiling perforated plate, 6 is a floor perforated plate, 7 is an air supply duct from an air conditioner, 8 9 is the return duct to the air conditioner, 9 is the exposure, etching,
This is work equipment for each production line such as diffusion and metallization, and as shown by the arrow in the figure, there is a high-performance filter 3.
By blowing the treated clean air into the room 2 in a laminar flow form from the entire ceiling and exhausting the room air through the floor, the entire room can be maintained at an almost uniformly high level of cleanliness (for example, class 100), and the entire process can be The work can be done in this clean atmosphere.

Although this full-scale downflow clean room was considered the best method for increasing the cleanliness of the entire room, it had the following drawbacks.

(1) Equipment costs are extremely high because the area to be cleaned and air conditioned is wide and many expensive high-performance filters are used.

(2) Lining costs such as air conditioning maintenance costs and filter conversion costs are high.

(3) Since the entire room is air-conditioned, it is not possible to control the air-conditioning temperature for each production line (each process).

(4) Since work equipment and piping are repaired inside the clean room, the resulting dust generation has a large impact on other manufacturing lines (processes).

Therefore, the present inventors investigated a method of cleaning each production line. An example of this is shown in Figures 2 and 3 as a reference example. To explain its configuration with reference to FIG. 2, an inverted L-shaped main body case 10 consisting of a side wall and a ceiling contains a blower 11, a high-performance filter 12, and a lighting lamp 13, and cleans the outside air taken in through a pre-filter 14. The air is blown down from the clean air outlet 15 on the ceiling surface, and the side panel 16
Unit A, which has an exhaust port 17 at the bottom of the unit A, is hung from the ceiling of the building 1 using a hanging device 18 with an interval that allows for people to pass through, and is installed facing each other, with a Built-in blower 19 and high-performance filter 20, clean air outlet 2 on the bottom
Hang the box-shaped unit B with 1 from the ceiling of building 1 to a height that allows people to pass under it.
Units A and B are connected by a partition plate 22 to assemble a tunnel-shaped cover, and work equipment 9 is suspended and supported by 8, and a tunnel-shaped cover is assembled by connecting units A and B with a partition plate 22. The working section 23a where the air conditioner is installed and the central passage section 23b are each provided continuously in the longitudinal direction of the tunnel-like cover, and by connecting the air conditioning air supply duct 7 to the air suction port of unit B, As shown by the arrows in the figure, temperature-controlled clean air is blown into the room from the clean air outlet 15 of unit A and the clean air outlet 21 of unit B, and the indoor air discharged from the exhaust outlet 17 is directed to the surrounding conservation area. 24 to the air conditioning return duct 8 to achieve room-like air conditioning and cleaning.

Figure 3 is an external view of a clean work room using the above method, which is constructed by connecting a number of modular tunnel-shaped covers, and the piping necessary for water, gas, etc. work is located in the external maintenance area 24 (see Figure 2). It is connected to the internal work equipment 9 through the exhaust hole 17 of the unit A. The side plate 16 of unit A is the work equipment 9
Parts of the pipe can be removed for piping or repairs.

The system shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 achieves cleaning and air conditioning for each production line by covering only the working parts and passages of the production line in a tunnel-like manner, but this also has the following drawbacks.

(1') It is necessary to suspend and support Unit A and Unit B from the ceiling of the building, which increases the cost of construction work.

(2′) Because it is a suspended support, earthquake resistance is weak.

(3') Unit B in the center protrudes in a convex shape, increasing the overall height of this part, making it difficult to install air conditioning ducts between it and the ceiling of the building.

(4′) When controlling air conditioning temperature for each production line,
It is necessary to connect air conditioning air supply ducts to the air suction ports of unit A and unit B, which increases construction costs.

The purpose of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks (1) of the prior art.
In addition to (4), the above-mentioned drawbacks of the reference example (1)' to (4)' are further improved, and the purpose is to provide a clean work room that can effectively utilize the space above the passageway space. .

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a clean working room having a clean space formed by a working part provided in a building and in which working equipment is arranged, and a passage part formed in parallel to this working part. In this case, there is a ceiling plate that is substantially flat on both its inner and outer surfaces, a cover that has side walls on both sides of the ceiling plate and surrounds the clean space to isolate it from the space inside the building, and a cover that surrounds the clean space so as to isolate it from the space inside the building. A ventilation chamber is installed at the corner formed by the side wall to hold the pressurized air blown out from the blower, and a ventilation chamber is installed at the corner at the bottom of the ventilation chamber and at the side of the passageway and supplied from the ventilation chamber. A working section filter that purifies the air and blows it out downwardly toward the working section, and a passage filter that blows out sideways toward the passage section. It was placed on the side.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Figures 4 to 6 are views of an embodiment in which the production line is located on both sides of the passage, Figure 4 is a sectional view perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the tunnel-shaped cover, Figure 5 is an enlarged view of the main part, and Figure 6 The figure is a perspective view showing the external appearance. In FIG. 4, the work equipment 9 of the production line is arranged facing each other, and two lines constitute one set. Pillar 25
A gate-shaped frame is assembled with the cross beams 26, and side plates 27 and a top plate 28 on both sides are attached to this to form a tunnel-shaped cover that covers the manufacturing line. A working part 29a in which working equipment 9 is installed in the room and a passage part 29b are provided continuously in the longitudinal direction of the tunnel-shaped cover. 10
Reference numerals 1 and 102 denote a clean air outlet for an indoor working section and a clean air outlet for a passage section, respectively.
Between the clean air outlet 101 for the working area and the top plate 28, air purifying elements such as blowers 32 and 33, blow chambers 34 and 35, and high performance filters 36 and 3 are installed.
7 and the work section illumination light 38, and the illumination light 38
A grid-shaped work section diffuser plate 30 is installed below.
These equipments are suspended and supported from the cross beam 26 via support members (not shown). 39 is an air intake port, 40 is a prefilter, and 41 is a decorative plate for partitioning between the clean air outlet 101 for the working section and the clean air outlet 102 for the passage section. An air passage 42 is provided between the passage part clean air outlet 102 and the top plate 28, and a passage part illumination lamp 43 is housed therein, and a lattice-shaped passage part diffuser plate 31 is installed below it. The position of the clean air outlet 102 for the passage section is set high enough for workers to stand and pass through, and the position of the clean air outlet 101 for the working section is set low as long as it does not interfere with work (for example, Air outlet height 2200mm, work area air outlet height 1800mm
mm). This is because the lower the height of the working part air outlet, the less turbulence in the airflow in the working part space and the better the cleanliness maintenance performance.

In this case, since a high-performance filter, blower, etc. are not housed above the clean air outlet 102 for the passage, even if the height of the passage air outlet is increased, the entire top plate 28 is kept at approximately the same height. , the overall height can be reduced.

By operating the blowers 32 and 33, external air is sucked in from the air suction port 39 through the prefilter 40. The air sent out from the working area blower 32 passes through the ventilation chamber 34 and is purified by the working area high performance filter 36, and then is blown downward from the working area clean air outlet 101 to the indoor working area 29a. On the other hand, the air sent out from the passage blower 33 passes through the ventilation chamber 35 and is purified by the passage high-performance filter 37.
The air enters the air passage 42 and is blown downward from the passage part clean air outlet 102 to the indoor passage part 29b. The arrows in the figure indicate this air flow. The light scattering plates 30 and 31 are provided for scattering the illumination and rectifying the clean air current. 44 in Fig. 5 is the passage section 2
This is a punching plate for adjusting the wind speed distribution of 9b.

For example, the wind speed of the clean air flow is determined at the working section 29a.
It is set according to the required cleanliness of each part, such as 0.4 m/s and 0.2 m/s for the passage section 29b. By doing so, the cleanliness of the working section 29a can be made higher than the cleanliness of the passage section 29b.

The clean air flow blown into the room flows as shown by the arrows in the figure, and is discharged to the outside from exhaust ports 45 provided at the lower portions of the side plates 27 on both sides. Since the indoor pressure becomes positive with respect to the outside air by the pressure loss at the exhaust port 45, it is possible to prevent contaminated air from flowing in from the outside. The exhaust port 45 is also used for drawing in piping for water, gas, etc. and electric wires to the work equipment 9. The side plate 27 is made partially removable using screws or hooks for repairing piping or equipment. Furthermore, in order to improve the indoor working environment and to control work from the outside, a portion of the side plate 27 may be made of a transparent plate.

FIG. 5 shows the appearance of a cleaning work chamber constructed by this method, which is constructed by connecting a large number of modular tunnel-like covers.

FIG. 7 is a view of another embodiment in which the production line is located on one side of the passage, and shows a cross section perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the tunnel-like cover. In Figure 7,
The same reference numerals as in Fig. 4 indicate corresponding parts.
The embodiment is substantially the same as the embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 except that one side of the passage portion 29b is closed by a side plate 27.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of construction of a clean work room using this method. This example is a case where two sets of clean work rooms with a line shape on both sides as shown in Figs. End panels 46 with doors are attached to both sides of the tunnel-shaped cover to partition the interior 29 covered by the tunnel-shaped cover from an external conservation area 47. Conservation area 47 in the same building is indoor 2
The clean air discharged from the room 9 cleans the room to some extent, but the cleanliness is lower than that of the room 29. Piping 48 for water, gas, etc. used in the production line is installed in the conservation area 47, so these piping 48
Maintenance can be performed in the maintenance area 47. Further, by partially removing the side plate 27, most of the repairs to the production line equipment 9 can be performed from the maintenance area 47. Moreover, since the maintenance area 47 can be accessed from the general room outside without passing through the clean room, dust generated by maintenance work hardly affects other production lines.

If air conditioning temperature control is required for each production line, an air supply duct connection port 49 is provided on the top surface of the tunnel cover as shown in Figure 8b, and this is connected to the air conditioning air supply duct in the ceiling of the building. 50.
In the clean work room according to this method, since the entire top plate 28 is formed at the same height, the air supply duct 50 can be connected between it and the ceiling of the building by simply constructing the ceiling partition plate 51 above the conservation area 47. It can be easily installed.

In addition, although Figures 4 to 8 show an example in which indoor air in a clean work room is discharged from the exhaust ports 45 on both sides, a perforated plate is used on the floor of the work room as in the conventional method shown in Figure 1. If a part or all of the room air is discharged from under the floor, the clean air flow in the room can be made into a completely downward flow, and the cleanliness of the indoor work area can be further improved. Furthermore, according to this embodiment, since the tunnel-like structure is independent, there is no need to suspend and support it from the ceiling of the building, which greatly simplifies building construction. Furthermore, since it is a self-supporting structure with a gate-shaped frame, earthquake resistance is significantly improved compared to a ceiling-suspended structure.

As is clear from the above explanation, according to the present invention, compared to the full-scale downflow clean room, which has been considered the best method for semiconductor manufacturing,
The above-mentioned problems can be solved as described below while ensuring the required cleanliness of the production line part, and a clean work room can be obtained in which the space above the passage space can be used effectively.

(1) Equipment costs will be reduced by about half because the clean areas and areas subject to air conditioning will be significantly reduced.

(2) Running costs can be reduced by about half, resulting in energy savings.

(3) It becomes possible to control the air conditioning temperature for each production line (each process), which was difficult with the all-over downflow system.

(4) Inside the cover, the ventilation chamber, filter for the work area, and filter for the passageway are placed in the corner formed by the ceiling plate and the side wall on the side of the work area, so the load is applied to the ceiling plate above the passageway. Since the ceiling above the passageway of the cover can be made lightweight, earthquake resistance is greatly improved.

(5) Since the inner surface of the ceiling board is almost flat, there is less turbulence in the airflow blown out from the passageway filter.
The cleanliness of the passage can be improved.

(6) There is no protruding part like the air purification unit B in Figures 2 and 3 above the indoor passage, and the entire top plate can be made at almost the same height, so the floor height of the building can be lowered. This also makes it easier to install air conditioning ducts between the building ceiling and the ceiling.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a full-scale down-flow clean room that is a prior art technology, Figure 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a tunnel-shaped clean room with ceiling suspension structure shown as a reference example, and Figure 3 is a perspective view showing its external appearance. Figure 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of an embodiment of the cleaning workroom according to the present invention (when the production line is on both sides of the aisle), Figure 5 is an enlarged view of its main parts, and Figure 6 shows its external appearance. A perspective view, FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional view of another embodiment of the clean work room according to the present invention (in a case where the production line is located on one side of the passage), and FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of construction of the clean work room according to the present invention. Here, a is a cutaway plan view and b is a side sectional view. 25: Post, 26: Cross beam, 27: Side plate, 28:
Top plate, 29a: Indoor working section, 29b: Indoor passage section, 101: Clean air outlet for working section, 10
2: Clean air outlet for passage section, 32: Blower for working section, 33: Blower for passage section, 34, 35: Ventilation chamber, 36: High performance filter for working section, 3
7: High-performance filter for passage section, 39: Air intake port, 40: Pre-filter, 42: Air passage on passage ceiling, 45: Exhaust port, 9: Work equipment.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a clean work room that has a clean space formed by a work section where work equipment is installed in a building and a passageway formed in parallel to this work section, both the inside and outside surfaces are approximately flat. A cover having a ceiling plate and side walls on both sides of the ceiling plate to surround the clean space so as to isolate it from the space inside the building, and inside the cover, the ceiling plate and the side wall on the side of the work section are formed. A blow chamber disposed at a corner to hold pressurized air blown out from the blower; and a blow chamber installed at the corner at a lower part of the blow chamber and a side portion on the passage side to be supplied from the blow chamber. A working section filter that purifies air and blows it out downward toward the working section, and a passage filter that blows out sideways toward the passage section, each of which is provided above the passage section. A clean work room characterized by being located on the side.