JPH0571315B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field]

This invention has no negative impact on the environment.
The present invention relates to an apparatus for washing and drying industrially manufactured articles.

[Prior art and problems to be solved]

In the manufacture of electronic parts and precision machinery, a cleaning process is essential to remove dirt that has adhered to parts or products due to processing or chemical treatment. Among such cleanings, it is well known that liquefied chlorofluorocarbon gas or trichlorene is conventionally used as a cleaning medium for advanced cleaning. However, as it has become clear that the large amounts of fluorocarbon gas consumed in this type of cleaning is involved in the destruction of the ozone layer in the atmosphere surrounding the earth, there is a trend toward restrictions on the use of fluorocarbons worldwide. Yes, and our country is no exception. Further, even when trichlene is used, there are problems in that it has strong volatility, which worsens the working environment and makes it difficult to dispose of. Therefore, it is important for the electronic parts industry and the precision machinery industry to provide a cleaning method that can perform the same high level of cleaning as fluorocarbons, etc., without having a negative impact on the global environment, instead of cleaning with fluorocarbons. This is an urgent and important issue in Japan's industrial world, which has traditionally used a large amount of cleaning media such as fluorocarbons. In addition, as a method of performing relatively high-level cleaning while using a cleaning medium other than Freon, there has also been a method of using water, preferably pure water, as the cleaning medium and spraying it onto the object. However, since this method simply sprays water from a nozzle, there are limits to the degree of cleaning and cleaning efficiency. This invention was devised under the above-mentioned circumstances.With a simple structure, it is possible to achieve a cleaning level comparable to that using fluorocarbons without using fluorocarbons, and a cleaning level that is incomparable to conventional methods. It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for washing and drying articles that can achieve efficiency and also perform a drying process following a washing process.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention takes the following technical measures. That is, the washing/drying apparatus of the present invention includes a first conveying means that continuously conveys the loaded articles;
and a cleaning unit equipped with a cleaning nozzle that cleans the articles on the first conveying means by spraying a liquid cleaning medium mixed with a low-pressure, high-speed gas flow in the form of droplets or mist; The method is characterized by comprising: a second conveying means for continuously conveying the articles that have been washed; and a drying section equipped with a heating means for heating the articles on the second conveying means.

[Action and effect]

For example, water is used as the liquid cleaning medium. Furthermore, the low-pressure, high-speed gas flow is, for example, an air flow. The cleaning nozzle of the cleaning section in the present invention firstly injects a low-pressure, high-speed gas flow, and secondly,
The functional feature is that a liquid cleaning medium (cleaning liquid) is mixed into this low-pressure, high-speed gas flow in the form of droplets or mist. That is, the cleaning nozzle is
Rather than injecting only liquid or only gas, it is possible to inject gas mixed with liquid cleaning medium in the form of droplets or mist from a gauge pressure of, for example, 0.2 atm.
Injects at a low pressure of 1.0 atmospheres and at high speed. The generation of such a low pressure gas flow, eg air flow, is easily obtained by conveying a low pressure air flow from a low pressure blower, such as a Roots blower, to the cleaning nozzle. Since this air flow has a low pressure, it is possible to achieve a large flow rate, and it is not difficult to achieve a velocity of 200 meters/second immediately after being ejected from the nozzle, for example. In order to achieve such an extremely high-speed air flow, by providing a simple liquid injection means at any part of the gas transport path up to the nozzle, the injected liquid can move at high speed within the gas transport path. It easily becomes droplets or atomized by the turbulent energy or dynamic pressure of the turbulent gas flow. The articles continuously moving on the first conveying means in the cleaning section are bombarded by the liquid cleaning medium in the form of droplets or mist, which is sprayed on top of the extremely high-velocity gas stream as described above. Very high quality cleaning is achieved without damaging the surface. Although such an effect has already been demonstrated by the inventor, the effects of injecting only a liquid cleaning medium onto an article and when only a gas stream is injected onto an article were compared and considered. Then it will become clearer. That is, impinging only the liquid cleaning medium onto the article at, say, 200 m/s firstly
Second, the need for a huge pressure-generating device makes the device itself difficult and expensive to fabricate, and secondly, even if such high-velocity liquid flow is achieved, it impinges on the articles to be cleaned. This exposes a crucial flaw in that the object is destroyed by the huge kinetic energy of the liquid flow, making it impossible to clean. For this reason, when only liquid is sprayed, the speed must be kept to a relatively low speed that does not damage the items to be cleaned.
The cleaning efficiency is significantly lower than when using the cleaning nozzle of the present invention. Next, even if only gas is blown at a very high speed, it can only be a blow, and no cleaning effect can be expected from the liquid cleaning medium. The articles that have been subjected to the above-described cleaning action on the first conveying means are then heated on the second conveying means in the drying section, so that the liquid cleaning medium remaining on the surface during cleaning is evaporated. The article washing/drying device of the present invention achieves high-quality cleaning as described above, and even when water is used as the cleaning medium, it exhibits a cleaning effect that is no inferior to conventional cleaning using Freon. .
In addition, since the liquid cleaning medium in the form of droplets or mist is injected toward the item using a low-pressure, high-speed gas stream, the cross-sectional area of the jet can be increased by generating a large gas stream, resulting in extremely high cleaning efficiency. . Furthermore, since the article is wet after washing, that is, the amount of liquid cleaning medium attached to the article surface is small, drying in the drying section is performed quickly. In addition, since the gas conveyance path to the nozzle only needs to be configured for low pressure, the device is lightweight and Simple and low cost.

[Explanation of Examples]

Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. FIGS. 1 and 2 show cleaning and cleaning of the article of the present invention.
1 shows a schematic configuration of an embodiment of a drying device. The apparatus of the present invention includes a cleaning section A that performs a cleaning process on articles using a low-pressure high-speed gas flow mixed with liquid particles sprayed from a cleaning nozzle, and after the above-mentioned cleaning process,
The basic configuration includes a drying section B that dries the liquid remaining on the surface of the article, but in the embodiment, between the cleaning section A and the drying section B, the liquid droplets adhering to the article are removed by gas. A blow process section C is interposed in which water is blown away by a flow to perform so-called draining. Examples of the cleaning section A, the blowing process section C, and the drying section B will be sequentially explained below. The washing section A has a first section that continuously transports articles inputted from an article inputting chute 2 on one side into a cleaning chamber 1 partitioned by sheet metal members so as to cross the inside of the cleaning chamber 1. It is generally configured to include a conveying means 3 and a plurality of cleaning nozzles 4 arranged toward the articles on the first conveying means 3. As shown in FIG. 2, the first conveying means 3 includes a pair of upper cylindrical rollers 7 and 8 that are rotatably supported across the front and rear side walls 5 and 6 of the cleaning chamber 1. An endless mesh belt 11 is suspended between the lower cylindrical rollers 9 supported in the same way, and the front and rear ends of the belt 11 running between the upper cylindrical rollers 7 and 8 are connected to a pair of front and rear rollers. It is pressed down by rotating drums 12 and 13, and is constructed by attaching a plurality of oblique feeding fins 14 to the surface of a mesh belt 11. The endless mesh belt 11 is connected to one of the four cylindrical rollers, that is, in the illustrated example, the lower cylindrical roller 9 via a drive belt 15 to a motor 1.
It is constructed so that it can be made to run by being rotated by 6. Each of the rotating drums 12 and 13 has a tapered inner surface whose diameter increases toward the feeding direction (leftward in FIG. 1). The articles input from the article inputting chute 2 are fed into the press drum 12, and are conveyed onto the mesh belt by the taper of its inner surface, and then, as the net belt 11 rotates, the articles are transferred into a pair. The upper cylindrical rollers 7, 8 and a pair of front and rear rotating drums 12, 13 run the net belt 11, which is formed in a substantially U-shape and opens upward, continuously while being stirred by the feed fins 14. sent forward.
While being conveyed on the net belt 11 in this manner, the article is agitated and washed from all directions by the cleaning nozzle 4, which will be described in detail later. In addition, a plurality of openings 17 are formed in the front end of the front rotating drum 13, and the mesh belt 11 is fed from the right to the left in FIG. The articles introduced into the drum 13 are sent forward in the axial direction of the rotating drum 13 and are dropped downward from the opening 17. A plurality of the cleaning nozzles 4 are arranged by supporting means (not shown) so that their nozzle holes face the articles that are continuously moving forward on the mesh belt 11. In addition, if the support means is configured to swing a plurality of cleaning nozzles 4..., the articles on the net belt 11 can be cleaned over a wider range, increasing efficiency. High-speed, low-pressure air from a low-pressure air supply source 19 is introduced into each of the cleaning nozzles 4 through a hose 18, and water as a liquid cleaning medium is introduced through a hose 20, and the interior of the nozzle is The above-mentioned water is mixed with high-speed, low-pressure air in the form of droplets or mist, and is injected together with the air at high speed. The internal structure of the cleaning nozzle 4 is shown in detail in FIG. A nozzle head 22 having a bench lily-shaped reduced diameter portion is integrally connected to the front end of the cylindrical nozzle body 21, and the air introduction hose 18 is connected to the rear end of the nozzle body 21. Further, a pipe 23 connected to a water supply hose 20 is inserted into the nozzle body 21 slightly upstream of the nozzle head 22 . When water is introduced from the hose 20 or pipe 23 while flowing low-pressure, high-speed air from the hose 18 into the nozzle 4, this water is instantly absorbed by the turbulent energy of the air flowing at high speed through the nozzle body 21 or nozzle head 22. The water is split into fine droplets or mist, and from the cleaning nozzle 4, high-speed air into which droplets or mist water has been introduced is ejected. Note that a Roots blower is suitable as a low-pressure air supply source, and the gauge pressure of the air flow generated by this blower is 0.2
It is operated at atmospheric pressure to 1.0 atmosphere, preferably about 0.5 atmosphere. Further, the inventor has confirmed that the flow velocity of the air ejected from the cleaning nozzle 4 can reach 200 meters/second. In the illustrated example, a blower serving as a low-pressure air supply source 19 is installed on a table 25 that covers the upper part of a water tank 24 provided adjacent to the cleaning chamber 1, and the low-pressure large flow rate generated by the blower is The air flow passes through the air pipe 26 to the header 2 in the cleaning chamber 1.
7, the hoses 18 are branched from the header 27 in correspondence with the number of cleaning nozzles 4.
. . to each cleaning nozzle 4 . . . On the other hand, water as a cleaning medium is supplied from a cleaning water tank 29 installed on the ceiling plate 28 of the cleaning chamber 1 and an introduction pipe 30 introduced into the cleaning chamber 1 while communicating with the bottom wall of this cleaning water tank 29. The hoses 20 are branched in accordance with the number of cleaning nozzles 4, and are connected to the respective cleaning nozzles 4, thereby supplying water to each cleaning nozzle 4. Note that the cleaning water injected together with air from the nozzle 4 flows into the water storage tank 24 via a filter from the inclined water bed 31 formed at the bottom of the cleaning chamber 1, and the water in the water storage tank 24 is returned to the water pump 32. The water is returned to the wash water tank 29 from the conduit 33 by means of the pipe 33. In this case, cleaning water will be sent to each nozzle 4 by the power of the water pump 32. Note that the reference numeral 34 indicates a water conduit pipe introduced from the water supply in order to introduce water into the washing water tank 29 or to replenish the water. In the above configuration of the washing section A, the articles introduced from the input chute 2 onto the mesh belt 11, which is the first conveying means, are sent forward while being stirred by the rotation of the mesh belt 11. A plurality of cleaning nozzles 4 . . . spray high-speed, large-flow air mixed with droplet-like or mist-like cleaning water, resulting in high-level cleaning. In particular, when cleaning resin molded electronic parts, even dirt that has strongly adhered to the surface due to static electricity is removed by the effective droplets. Furthermore, it has been confirmed that by adjusting the amount of cleaning liquid mixed into the air flow from the cleaning nozzle, even burrs generated during resin molding can be effectively removed by droplets hitting the article at high speed.
Furthermore, when a Roots blower generates an air flow with a pressure of about 0.5 atm, the temperature of the air flow inside the cleaning nozzle during steady operation is 60°C to 80°C.
Since the temperature is increased to about 0.degree. C., the temperature of the cleaning water droplets that come into contact with the heated air is also increased, which can improve the cleaning effect. this is,
This is the same logic that washes clothes with hot water more easily than with cold water. In this way, the low-pressure, high-speed, large-flow air flow significantly enhances the cleaning action of the cleaning water, achieving cleaning comparable to Freon cleaning. The articles that have been subjected to the above-mentioned cleaning action are dropped from the opening 17 of the front pressing drum 13, and are conveyed to the blowing process section C, which will be described later, through the water bath 35. The water bath 35 is installed below the pressure drum 13 so as to extend from the washing chamber 1 to the blow chamber 36 adjacent thereto. This water bath 35 is equipped with an ultrasonic generator (not shown) as required. Thereby, the cleaning effect of so-called ultrasonic cleaning can be enjoyed, and the degree of cleaning is further increased. A diagonal belt conveyor 39 is provided between the water bath 35 and the front end of the blow chamber 36, and is constructed by suspending an endless belt 40 between a pair of belt rollers 37, 38. The belt conveyor 39 has its base end immersed in the water bath 35, and the surface of the belt 40 is provided with hooking protrusions 41 at equal intervals for hooking and conveying articles, as described above. After washing, the articles dropped into the water bath 35 are scooped up and transported forward and upward in the blow chamber 36. A plurality of air nozzles 42 are suspended above the belt conveyor 39 by support means (not shown), and these air nozzles 42 blow dry air onto the articles being conveyed on the belt conveyor 39. Put it on,
Water droplets attached to the article by being immersed in the water bath 35 are removed. Each of the above air nozzles 42
In this case, air is introduced from an appropriate blower (not shown) to the head 43 placed in the blow chamber.
It is supplied via each hose 44 branched from 3. Belt conveyor 3 while receiving the above air blow
The articles that have reached the upper end of the belt conveyor 39 are introduced into the drying section B from the shutter 45 provided adjacent to the upper end of the belt conveyor 39. In the drying chamber 46 adjacent to the blow chamber 36, a double cage-shaped drying barrel 47 serving as a second conveying means 67 is supported so as to be rotatable laterally. That is, the drying barrel 47 includes an inner barrel 50 and an outer barrel 51 that are concentrically connected by flange-like connecting members 48 and 49 at both ends. These inner barrel 50 and outer barrel 51 are formed by pasting a resin plate with a large number of ventilation holes on the aggregate spanning between both connecting members 48 and 49, or by providing a metal net. A support shaft 52 is provided at the center of the connecting member 49 on the front end side, protruding in the axial direction of the barrel, and is rotatably supported so as to pass through the side wall of the drying chamber 46. A pulley 55 for receiving rotational driving force from a motor 54 via a belt 53 is attached to the support shaft 52 . The connecting member 48 on the inlet side is formed into a donut disk shape in order to open the inlet of the inner barrel 50, and its outer peripheral portion is brought into contact with and supported by a plurality of rotating support rollers 56. The inlet end side of 47 is rotatably supported. Spiral inward protrusions 57 and 58 are formed on the inner peripheral surfaces of the inner barrel 50 and the outer barrel 51, respectively. The helical directions of these inward protrusions 57 and 58 are opposite to each other, so that when the drying barrel 47 is rotated in one direction, the articles put into the inlet of the inner barrel 50 are placed on the right side in the figure. On the other hand, articles that fall onto the inner circumferential surface of the outer barrel 51 from an opening 59 formed on the left end circumferential surface of the inner barrel 50 are sent from the left side to the right side in the figure. An opening 60 for discharging dried articles from the drying barrel 47 is formed on the circumferential surface of the outer barrel 51 at the right end in FIG. Further, a sheathed heater 61 extending in the axial direction is disposed at the center of the drying barrel 47 to apply heat to the articles moving inside the inner barrel 50, and a separate drying chamber is provided in an appropriate part of the drying chamber 46. A heater means 62 is provided for circulating hot air. In the embodiment, a fan 64 is arranged behind the heater core 63 to constitute the heater means 62. Further, a discharge shutter 65 is provided at the bottom of the drying chamber 46, and guides the dried articles that have fallen from the opening 60 as described above to the discharge port 66. In the above structure of the drying section B, the blow chamber 36
The articles, which have been drained by air blowing, are placed from the shooter 45 into the right-hand inlet of the inner barrel 50 of the drying barrel 47, and while being stirred by the rotation of the drying barrel 47, the articles are passed through the spiral inward protrusion 57.
is sent to the left side of the figure. At this time, the above article is dried by the heat from the sheathed heater 61 and the hot air circulating in the drying chamber 46. The article that has reached the left end of the inner barrel 50 is dropped into the outer barrel 51 from the opening 59, and is stirred by the rotation of the barrel in the same manner as described above, and is moved to the right side of the figure by the spiral inward protrusion 57. sent to someone. Also at this time, the drying of the article is further promoted by the heat from the sheathed heater 61 and the circulating hot air in the drying chamber. In this example, since the drying barrel 47 has a double barrel structure as described above, the drying time of the article can be doubled to perform efficient drying, and the space efficiency of the apparatus can be significantly increased. . The articles, which have been sufficiently dried and completely drained as described above, are dropped into the discharge chute 65 through the opening 60 at the right end of the outer barrel 51 and taken out from the discharge port 66. As described above, the article washing/drying apparatus of the present invention achieves a high degree of cleaning by using a unique method of spraying fine droplets or mist of cleaning liquid in an ultra-high-speed gas flow in the cleaning section. Cleaning is accomplished. Furthermore, since the cleaning liquid in the form of droplets or mist is injected toward the article using a low-pressure, high-speed gas flow, the cross-sectional area of the jet can be increased with a large flow rate of the gas flow, and the cleaning efficiency is extremely high. Furthermore, since the wetting of the article, that is, the amount of cleaning liquid adhering to the surface of the article, is small, even if the blowing process section provided in the example is omitted, it is expected that drying will be performed quickly in the drying section. be able to. Furthermore, since the gas conveyance path to the cleaning nozzle only needs to be configured for low pressure, the device is lighter and simpler than using high pressure air generated using a compressed air generator such as a compressor. , there is also the additional effect of lower costs. Of course, the scope of the invention is not limited to the embodiments described above. For example, in the embodiment, a blowing process section is provided, but this step may be omitted, and the articles that have been cleaned in the cleaning section may be directly transported to the drying section and dried. In addition, the first conveyance means 3 in the cleaning section A is
The present invention is not limited to a special belt conveying device as in the embodiment. In short, it is only necessary to transport the article a predetermined distance to the next process while receiving spray from the cleaning nozzle 4 in the cleaning section.
You may use the barrel type conveyance device illustrated as the second conveyance means in . That is, a cylindrical barrel is arranged so as to be rotatable laterally, and a spiral protrusion is provided on the inner circumference of the cylindrical barrel, so that when the cylindrical barrel rotates, the articles inside the barrel are agitated.
It is configured to be sent forward in the direction of travel by the spiral protrusion. Similarly, the belt conveyor in the blowing process section C can be replaced with another conveyor.
As a specific configuration thereof, the barrel-type conveyance device exemplified as another configuration of the first conveyance means can also be used. Furthermore, the second conveyance means in the drying section B also includes:
Can be replaced with other transport devices. For example, multiple net belt conveyors are arranged one above the other, and articles sent to the end of the topmost belt conveyor are dropped onto the second belt conveyor and conveyed thereon. Alternatively, the articles may be conveyed in a meandering manner on a plurality of conveyors and finally reach the outlet. Various modifications can be considered for the method of heating the article in the drying chamber 46. For example, in the embodiment, instead of arranging the sheathed heater at the center of the drying barrel 47, if a hot air tube that injects hot air is introduced and arranged at the center of the drying barrel 47, more efficient hot air circulation is expected. Furthermore, the configuration of the cleaning nozzle 4 can also be changed in various ways. For example, in the embodiment, the high-speed, low-pressure air flow and the cleaning liquid are mixed inside the cleaning nozzle 4, but the configuration must be such that the air flow velocity in the air pipes other than the cleaning head 4 is sufficiently increased. For example, it is also possible to mix the cleaning liquid with the air stream at a location other than the cleaning nozzle 4, for example at the header 27. Further, the liquid cleaning medium may be appropriately selected from tap water, pure water, or a mixture thereof with a chemical to further enhance the cleaning effect depending on the purpose of cleaning. Although air is suitable as the gas to be mixed with the cleaning medium, it is not necessarily limited to this, and suitable components may be mixed depending on the purpose. Note that the concept of cleaning here includes not only washing away dirt adhering to the surface of an article with liquid, but also the use of the kinetic energy of droplets to remove, for example, burrs that occur during molding of a molded article. included.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the overall structure of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the - line in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing details of a cleaning nozzle. A...Cleaning section, B...Drying section, C...Blow process section, 1...Cleaning chamber, 3...First conveyance means, 4
...Washing nozzle, 46...Drying chamber, 62...Heater means, 67...Second conveyance means.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A first conveying means for continuously conveying articles loaded therein, and a liquid cleaning medium in the form of droplets applied to the articles on the first conveying means in a low-pressure, high-speed gas flow. or a cleaning section equipped with a cleaning nozzle that performs cleaning by spraying while mixing the atomized articles; a second conveying means for continuously conveying the washed articles; An apparatus for washing and drying articles, comprising: a drying section equipped with a heating means for heating the articles;