JPH05309205A - Device for regenerating drying liquid - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To normally regenerate drying liquid even if continuous washing is performed to keep the purity of the drying liquid constant by providing a washing tank for housing nonaqeous drying liquid and a separating tank for separating dehydrating liquid dissolved in the drying liquid and circulating the drying liquid between the washing tank and the separating tank. CONSTITUTION:Drying liquid 5 mixed with IPA in an inner tank 2 of a washing tank 1 overflows from the top of the inner tank 2 to flow in an external tank 3 and is discharged from a hole 10 of a drying liquid discharge pipe 8 into separating liquid 9 in a separating tank 7 through a recovery pipe 6. Since the separating liquid 9 has higher compatibility to IPA than the drying liquid 5, the IPA in the drying liquid 5 is dissolved in the separating liquid 9 and the regenerated drying liquid 5 layer is deposited on the separating liquid 9. The drying liquid 5 in a layer above a separating tank 7 is supplied to the inner tank 2 from the bottom of the washing tank 1 through a regenerated liquid circulating pipe 11. On the other hand, the separating liquid 9 in which IPA is mixed is discharged to a drain storage tank through a separated liquid discharge pipe 20, and simultaneously, the separating liquid 9 is supplied from pure water supply device through a separated liquid supply pipe 19.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for regenerating a drying liquid used in a drying process for cleaning optical parts such as glass lenses and prisms.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, chlorine-based organic solvents such as freon or trichloroethane have been used for cleaning industrial products. However, the use of CFCs, trichloroethane, etc. is said to cause the destruction of the ozone layer in the atmosphere, and there is a tendency to globally prohibit the use thereof.Therefore, alternatives to the above chlorine-based organic solvents have been developed. There is. Surfac
e Control & Cleaning Design No. 49 (Recently published by editorial company ; ^, 91.4.1; P2 to 11) describes a cleaning liquid containing a silicone compound as a main component. Further, as a procedure for cleaning the optical parts, as shown in FIG. 5, a cleaning process by cleaning → rinsing process with water or pure water → IPA
A dehydration process with (isopropyl alcohol) → a drying process with CFC vapor is common (for example, precision cleaning device and latest applied technology, pages 570 to 574, Industrial Materials Center Co., Ltd. (issued November 8, 1991).

[0003]

Optical components such as lenses are coated with antireflection coating as a final manufacturing process. Therefore, in order to prevent film peeling, a high degree of cleaning property is required for cleaning. However, in the cleaning procedure of the optical parts, if the drying liquid containing the above silicone compound as the main component is used instead of CFC, the IPA adhered to the cleaning object
The concentration increases. As a result, there has been a problem that the drying speed of the dried liquid from the surface of the washed product varies and stains and unevenness occur. The present invention has been made in view of the above conventional problems, the purity of the drying liquid does not decrease even after continuously cleaning a plurality of optical components, and in order to maintain good appearance quality, the drying liquid An object is to provide a reproducing device.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, the first structure of the present invention is such that a cleaning tank for containing a non-aqueous dry liquid and a dehydrating liquid having low compatibility with the dry liquid. A separation tank that contains a highly compatible separation liquid in the lower part and separates the dehydrated liquid dissolved in the drying liquid, a pipe that guides the cleaning liquid from the cleaning tank to the lower part of the separation tank, and a drying liquid from the upper part of the separation tank to the cleaning tank And a pump for circulating the dry liquid between the cleaning tank and the separation tank. The second configuration of the present invention is that the non-aqueous dry liquid is contained in the upper portion, and the separated liquid having low compatibility with the dry liquid and high compatibility with the dehydrated liquid is contained in the lower portion and dissolved in the dry liquid. A cleaning tank for separating the dehydrated liquid, a pipe for guiding the dry liquid discharged from the upper part of the cleaning tank to the lower part of the cleaning tank, and a pump for circulating the dry liquid between the upper part of the cleaning tank and the lower part of the cleaning tank. Is provided and configured.

[0005]

According to the first and second configurations, the IPA used as the dehydrating liquid has a high compatibility with the silicone compound used as the drying liquid, and therefore is dissolved in the cleaning tank. Therefore, the dried liquid is passed through a separation liquid containing water having a low compatibility with the silicone compound and a higher compatibility with IPA than that of the silicone compound, so that the IPA dissolved in the silicone compound is dissolved in water. Attracted to. As a result, IPA is removed from the silicone compound. IP because silicone compounds have a lower specific gravity than water
A layer is formed on the water in which A is dissolved. The dried liquid can be easily passed through the separated liquid by accommodating the separated liquid in the lower portion of the separation tank or the washing tank and discharging from the lower portion of the separated liquid. Further, the separated liquid in which the dehydrated liquid is dissolved can be maintained at a high separation capacity by periodically discarding it.

The above-mentioned compatibility can be explained by using SP value (solubility parameter; Solubility Parameter). According to the experiment, water (SP value = 23.
4), IPA (SP value = 11.45), silicone (S
It was confirmed by IR analysis that IPA was more compatible with water than silicone when the three components having a P value of 5.5) were mixed. In the present invention, water or pure water was used as the separation liquid, and IPA was used as the dehydration liquid, but the present invention is not limited to this. As formic acid solution,
Hydrochloric acid solution, nitric acid solution, sulfuric acid solution can be used.
As an alternative to A, acetone, ethanol, methanol,
MEK (methyl ethyl ketone) can be used.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS First, before explaining an embodiment of a drying liquid regenerating apparatus according to the present invention, an example of a procedure for cleaning a cleaning object made of optical parts such as lenses using the drying liquid regenerating apparatus is shown in FIG.
Will be described. In the first cleaning step, cutting oil, organic stains such as fingerprints, or inorganic stains such as cerium oxide and dust adhering to the washed object are removed with a detergent. In the second rinse step, the detergent is washed away with pure water. In the third dehydration step, the water attached to the washed product is replaced with IPA. In the fourth drying step, the apparatus for regenerating the dried liquid of the present invention is used to immerse the washed product in the dried liquid to replace IPA with the dried liquid. After pulling up, drying with warm air with clean air or drying under reduced pressure is completed.

[0008]

[Embodiment 1] FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing Embodiment 1 of a drying liquid regenerating apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a separation tank in the regenerating apparatus. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a cleaning tank, which is composed of an inner tank 2 and an outer tank 3, and an ultrasonic oscillator 4 is provided at the center of the outer bottom of the outer tank 3. The outer tank 3 receives the drying liquid 5 made of a silicone compound that overflows from the inner tank 2, and a recovery liquid 6 recovery pipe 6 is provided at the bottom of the outer tank 3 in the gap between the inner tank 2 and the outer tank 3. It is connected. The recovery pipe 6 is connected to the lower portion of the separation tank 7, and the tip of the recovery pipe 6 serves as a dry liquid discharge pipe 8 and is drawn into the inside of the separation tank 7. A separation liquid 9 composed of the dry liquid 5 and water is stored in the separation tank 7 in a vertically separated state due to the difference in specific gravity. The dry liquid discharge pipe 8 is located in the separated liquid 9 stored below the separation tank 7, and the dried liquid 5 collected by the recovery pipe 6 is collected.
A large number of holes 10 (see FIG. 2) are opened so that the IPA contained therein is efficiently dissolved in the separation liquid 9.

A regeneration liquid circulation pipe 11 is connected to the upper side surface of the separation tank 7 in which the dry liquid 5 is stored, and the other end is connected from the bottom of the outer tank 3 to the bottom of the inner tank 2. The regeneration liquid circulation pipe 11 has a pump 12 and a filter 1 on the way.
3 is arranged, and the dry liquid 5 is circulated in the route of the cleaning tank 1 → the separation tank 7 → the cleaning tank 1. The filter 13 is for removing fine particles in the liquid. The separation tank 7 is provided with an upper lid 14, and the upper lid 14 is provided with a float switch 15 for detecting the liquid level of the drying liquid 5 and a new liquid supply pipe 17 communicating with a new liquid tank 16 of the drying liquid 5. .. The fresh liquid supply pipe 17 is provided with a valve 18 on the way, and when the float switch 15 detects that the liquid level of the dry liquid 5 is lowered, the valve 18 is opened and the fresh liquid of the dry liquid 5 is discharged from the fresh liquid tank 16. It is supplied to the separation tank 7. Furthermore, the separation tank 7
A separated liquid supply pipe 19 and a separated liquid discharge pipe 20 are connected to the bottom of the. The separated liquid supply pipe 19 is connected to a pure water supply device (not shown), and the separated liquid supply pipe 20 is connected to a drainage storage tank (not shown).
The separation liquid supply pipe 19 and the separation liquid discharge pipe 20 are respectively provided with valves 21 and 22 in the middle thereof, so that the separation liquid 9 can be supplied and discharged freely. Then, about half of the water supplied from the pure water supply device via the separation liquid supply pipe 19 is stored as the separation liquid 9 in the separation tank 7.

Next, the operation of the reproducing apparatus of this embodiment will be described. The IPA that has been displaced from water in the dehydration step of the previous step and adhered to the cleaning product is dissolved and mixed in the drying liquid 5 by immersing the cleaning product in the drying liquid 5 of the inner tank 5 of the cleaning tank 12. , And is removed from the cleaning object 5. The IPA-mixed dry liquid 5 overflowing from the upper part of the inner tank 2 and flowing into the outer tank 3 passes through the recovery pipe 6 and the hole 1 of the dry liquid discharge pipe 8.
It is released from 0 into the separated liquid 9. Since the separated liquid 9 has a higher compatibility with IPA than the dried liquid 5, while the dried liquid 5 passes through the separated liquid 9 and reaches the upper surface, the I in the dried liquid 5 is increased.
PA is dissolved in the separation liquid 9, and 5 layers of the regenerated dry liquid are accumulated on the separation liquid 9. The dry liquid 5 in the upper layer of the separation tank 7 is supplied from the bottom of the cleaning tank 1 into the inner tank 2 through the regenerant circulation pipe 11. On the other hand, the separation liquid 9 mixed with IPA is periodically discharged to the discharge storage tank through the separation liquid discharge pipe 20, and is also supplied from the pure water supply device through the separation liquid supply pipe 19 to separate the separation tank 7. The liquid height of the separated liquid 9 is constant and the concentration of the mixed IPA is maintained below a constant.

According to the present embodiment, the IPA concentration in the regenerated dry liquid 5 was analyzed by gas chromatography, and as a result, continuous washing revealed that the regenerator of this embodiment had a high purity when it was not used. It was confirmed that the gradually lowered dry liquid could be maintained at a purity of 99% or higher.

[0012]

Second Embodiment FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a reproducing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The cleaning tank 1 is composed of an inner tank 2 and an inner tank 3, and a mesh-like partition plate 23 is provided at an intermediate portion of the inner tank 2. A recovery liquid recovery pipe 26 is connected to the bottom of the gap between the inner tank 2 and the outer tank 3 of the cleaning tank 1. The other end of the recovery pipe 26 is connected to the upper side surface of the buffer tank 27. On the lower side surface of the buffer tank 27,
A liquid circulation pipe 28 for supplying the dry liquid 5 in the buffer tank 27 into the inner tank 2 is connected.
8 is connected to the lower side surface of the inner tank 2 through the outer tank 3. The tip of the liquid circulation pipe 28 serves as a dry liquid discharge pipe 29, which is drawn into the inner tank 2. The drying liquid discharge pipe 29 has a large number of holes 3 as in the first embodiment.
0 is provided. In the middle of the dry liquid discharge pipe 29. A pump 12 and a filter 13 are provided, and the drying liquid 5
Is circulated in the route of washing tank 1 → buffer tank 27 → washing tank 1.

The buffer tank 27 is provided with an upper lid 31, and the upper lid 31 is provided with a float switch 15 for detecting the liquid level of the dry liquid 5 and a new liquid supply pipe 17 communicating with a new liquid tank 16 of the dry liquid 5. Has been. New liquid supply pipe 17
A valve 18 is provided on the way to the float switch 15
When the decrease in the liquid level of the dry liquid 5 is detected by the valve 18, the valve 18 is opened, and the new liquid of the dry liquid 5 is transferred from the new liquid tank 16 to the buffer tank 27.
To be supplied to. A separation liquid supply pipe 19 and a separation liquid discharge pipe 20 are connected to the bottom of the inner tank 2 through the outer tank 3. The separated liquid supply pipe 19 is connected to a pure water supply device (not shown), and the separated liquid discharge pipe 2
0 is connected to a discharge storage tank (not shown). The separation supply pipe 19 and the separation liquid discharge pipe 20 are provided with valves 21 and 22 in the middle, respectively, so that the separation liquid 9 can be supplied and discharged freely. And in the inner tank 2,
The water supplied from the pure water supply device via the separated liquid supply pipe 19 is stored as the separated liquid 9 under the partition plate 23.

In this embodiment, as in the case of Embodiment 1, the IPA-mixed dry liquid 5 which has been overflowed from the upper portion of the inner tank 2 passes through the recovery pipe 26 and the buffer tank 2
After being stored in 7, the liquid circulation pipe 28 is pumped by the pump 12.
Through which the separated liquid 9 is discharged from the hole 30 of the dry liquid discharge pipe 29. While the dry liquid 5 passes through the separation liquid 9 and reaches the upper surface thereof, IPA in the dry liquid 5 is dissolved in water, and the regenerated dry liquid 5 layer is accumulated on the separation liquid 9. On the other hand, IPA
The separated liquid 9 mixed with is periodically discharged to the discharge storage tank through the separated liquid discharge pipe 20, and is also supplied from the pure water supply device through the separated liquid supply pipe 19 for separation in the inner tank 2. The liquid height of the liquid 9 is constant and the concentration of the mixed IPA is maintained below a certain level.

According to this embodiment, the dry liquid 5 can be regenerated in the inner tank 2 of the cleaning tank 1, and the separation tank of the first embodiment is not necessary. In addition, as a result of analyzing the IPA concentration in the regenerated dried liquid using gas chromatography, it was confirmed that the same effect as in Example 1 was obtained.

[0016]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since the dried liquid can be constantly regenerated even after continuous washing, the purity of the dried liquid can be kept constant, and as a result, it is possible to eliminate appearance defects such as stains and unevenness on the washed product.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a first embodiment of a drying liquid regenerating apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a separation tank in the regenerating apparatus of Example 1.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a cleaning / drying process using the drying liquid regenerating apparatus of each example of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a second embodiment of the drying liquid regenerating apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a conventional cleaning / drying process and the like.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Cleaning Tank 2 Inner Tank 3 Outer Tank 5 Dry Liquid 6 26 Recovery Pipe 7 Separation Tank 9 Separation Liquid 11 Regeneration Liquid Circulation Pipe 12 Pump 28 Liquid Circulation Pipe

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A washing tank containing a non-aqueous dry liquid, and a separated liquid having a low compatibility with the dry liquid and a high compatibility with the dehydrated liquid are contained in a lower portion, and the dehydrated liquid dissolved in the dried liquid is separated. A separation tank, a pipe for introducing the cleaning liquid from the cleaning tank to the lower part of the separation tank, a pipe for introducing the drying liquid from the upper part of the separation tank to the cleaning tank, and a pump for circulating the drying liquid between the cleaning tank and the separation tank. An apparatus for regenerating a dried liquid, comprising: 2. A non-aqueous dry liquid is contained in an upper part, and a separated liquid having a low compatibility with the dry liquid and a high compatibility with a dehydrated liquid is contained in the lower part to separate the dehydrated liquid dissolved in the dry liquid. A cleaning tank, a pipe for guiding the dry liquid discharged from the upper portion of the cleaning tank to the lower portion of the cleaning tank, and a pump for circulating the dry liquid between the upper portion of the cleaning tank and the lower portion of the cleaning tank. Drying liquid recycling device.