JPH0615074B2 - Air shower device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention has a function of removing dust adhering to the surface of a human body or an object which is installed in an entrance passage leading to a clean room and passes through the entrance passage in a normal state. The present invention relates to a configuration of an air shower device having a function of keeping inside air clean.

[Conventional technology]

As shown in the above, an air shower device that is installed in the entrance passage leading to the clean room and has the function of removing dust adhering to the surface of the human body and objects passing through it, and the function of keeping the air inside the passage clean during steady operation. When a human body or an object passes, a high-speed jet stream is jetted into the passage from a jet stream jet opening that is opened on the side wall of the passage. The one in which a minimum amount of clean air necessary for maintaining clean air is down-flowed at a low speed to circulate and blow has been put into practical use.

Here, an example of a conventional air shower device is shown in FIG.
It is shown in FIG. In the figure, 1 is an entrance passage leading to a clean room (not shown), and both ends of the passage 1 are provided with doors 2. A side wind tunnel 3 is defined on both sides of the passage 1 on the left and right sides thereof, and an upper wind tunnel 4 is defined on the ceiling side thereof, and the passage 1 is formed on the side wall of the side wind tunnel 3 on the passage side.
A number of jet airflow outlets 5 and a return airflow inlet 6 with a prefilter at the lower end, and a circulating airflow outlet 7 toward the passage 1 in the ceiling partition of the upper wind tunnel 4. .

On the other hand, the inside of the side wind tunnel 3 is a suction side passage 3b which communicates between the return air flow suction port 6 and the upper wind tunnel 4 by a partition wall 3a, and a blowout side passage 3c which communicates with the jet air flow outlet 5. The main air blower 8 is installed behind the return airflow suction port 6 in the suction side passage 3b. Further, inside the upper wind tunnel 4, a HEPA filter 9 is provided behind the circulating air flow outlet 7 as a high performance filter, and further, between the outlet side of the HEPA filter 9 and the outlet side passage 3c of the side wind tunnel 3 described above. Is equipped with a booster blower 10. In addition, 11 is a door switch that detects opening and closing of the door 2,
Reference numeral 12 is a photoelectric sensor as a means for detecting passage of a human body or an object arranged across the passage 1, and 13 is an operation controller.

With this configuration, the main fan 8 is operated and the booster fan 10 is stopped and controlled in a steady state in which the door 2 is closed and no human body or object passes through the passage 1. As a result, the return air flow sucked from the air flow suction port 6 follows the path of arrow A and blowers 8 and H.
After being cleaned through the EPA filter 9, the circulating airflow outlet 7 downflows toward the inside of the passage 1 at a low speed, and is circulated and blown back to the airflow inlet 6. This keeps the air in the passage clean. On the other hand, when a human body or an object passes through the passage 1 when a person goes in or out of the clean room or carries in articles, the main blower 8 is instructed by the controller 13 based on the detection signals from the door switch 12 and the photoelectric sensor 13. In addition, the booster blower 10 is put into operation. As a result, a part of the clean air flow blown through the main blower 8 and the HEPA filter 9 follows the path of arrow B and is boosted by the booster blower 10, and then enters the blowout side passage 3c of the side wind tunnel 3, From here, a high-speed jet stream is jetted into the passage from the side through the jet stream jet port 5 to remove dust adhering to the surface of the human body or object. The return airflow of the jet airflow that has washed away the human body and objects is sucked from the return airflow suction port 6 together with the circulating airflow, and circulates so as to return to the main blower 8.

In the above configuration, an example in which a main blower and a booster blower are arranged in series as an air blowing method in the wind tunnel is shown. In addition, a system is also practiced in which air is independently formed, and a dedicated blower, a HEPA filter, or the like is provided for each blowing path to separately blow air.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

The conventional air shower device described above has the following problems in terms of equipment. That is, in the conventional configuration, the blower for air flow and the blower for high-speed jet air flow are separately installed separately, and accordingly, the partition wall of the passage in the wind tunnel and the individual HEPA filter are installed. As a result, the number of equipments to be incorporated into the apparatus is increased in terms of equipment, and the size of the entire air shower apparatus is increased to increase the equipment cost. Moreover, as the equipment grows in size, various restrictions will be added to the delivery and construction work to the site.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object thereof is to provide an air shower device capable of reducing the number of devices used in the device in terms of equipment and making the entire device compact and compact. To provide.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the air shower device is provided so as to straddle between the return air flow inlet port and the jet air flow outlet port which are opened at the lower part of the passage inside the device. A blower capable of high-speed and low-speed switching operation and a HEPA filter are provided in the side wind tunnel defined on the side of the passage, and the upper wind tunnel defined on the ceiling side including the circulating air flow outlet and the side section. To communicate with the wind tunnel,
And, at a communication point between the two wind tunnels, a shutter plate that closes a communication hole provided at the communication point due to a pressure increase in the side wind tunnel, and between the communication point and the shutter plate An air damper having an elastic member that is interposed and that restricts the movement of the shutter plate against the pressure in the side wind tunnel is provided.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, an air shower device is provided,
A blower capable of high-speed / low-speed switching operation in a side wind tunnel defined laterally of the passage extending between a return airflow inlet opening at the bottom of the passage and a jet airflow outlet, and While deploying a HEPA filter,
The upper wind tunnel defined on the ceiling side including the circulating air flow outlet and the side wind tunnel are communicated with each other, and the communication hole between the wind tunnels is closed at a communication location between the two wind tunnels. And an air damper having means for electrically opening and closing the shutter plate in response to an operating speed switching signal of the blower.

[Action]

With the above configuration, the blower and the HEPA filter are commonly used for high-speed jet airflow and clean air circulation. In particular, the blower is based on the detection signals of the human body passing through the passage and the detection means of the human body. The control is switched to high-speed operation when an object passes and low-speed operation when the object does not pass.

Here, when a human body or an object passes through the passage, the blower is operated at high speed based on the detection signal of the detection means, and at the same time, the air damper is closed. Therefore, the pressure inside the side wind tunnel increases,
A high-speed jet stream is jetted into the passage through the jet stream outlet opening on the side wall of the passage, and dust is wiped off from the surface of the human body and objects. On the other hand, in a steady state where no human body or object passes, the blower switches to low speed operation and the air damper opens. Therefore, the clean air that has been blown through the HEPA filter and the air damper is circulated at a low speed so as to flow down through the emotional airflow outlet opening to the ceiling side of the passage, thereby minimizing power consumption of the blower. The air in the passage can be kept clean with the required air volume.

Further, according to the configuration of the air damper of the first aspect of the present invention, the elastic member interposed between the shutter plate and the communicating portion between the wind tunnels serves as a buffer member for the operation of the shutter plate and the operation of the shutter plate. Acts as a member for smoothing. That is, when the wind pressure instantaneously rises, the shutter plate rises so as to close the communication hole, but the elastic force of the elastic member opposes the pressure increase in the side wind tunnel, so that the shutter plate is There is no sudden collision with the communication point. Further, even when the orientation of the shutter plate becomes unstable and the shutter plate meshes with the communication hole, the elastic force of the elastic member to push down the shutter plate allows the shutter plate to be easily opened.

Further, according to the configuration of the second aspect of the present invention, since the shutter plate operates electrically, similarly to the above, even when the shutter plate is engaged with the communication hole, the shutter plate is forcibly and smoothly opened. It

[Embodiment] FIGS. 1 and 2 are configuration diagrams of an air shower device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are configuration diagrams of an air damper incorporated in the air shower device. Figure, No. 6
The same members corresponding to the drawings are designated by the same reference numerals.

That is, according to the present invention, the inside of the side wind tunnel 3 defined on the lateral side of the passage 1 over the return air flow suction port 6 and the jet air flow outlet 5 which are opened in the lower portion of the passage 1 is high. , Blower 14 capable of low-speed switching operation, and HEPA
The filter 9 is provided, and the upper wind tunnel 4 and the side wind tunnel 3 defined on the ceiling side including the circulating air flow outlet 7 are communicated with each other, and a communication point between the wind tunnels is denoted by reference numeral 15 The air damper shown by is deployed.

This air damper 15 is closed during high speed operation of the blower 14,
The opening operation is performed at low speed operation, and concrete examples thereof are shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. In the figure, 16 is a mounting board having a ventilation window 17 that is a circular communication hole in the center, and the lower surface side of the board 16 is movable on a support shaft 18 fixed to the board 16 facing the window 17. The shutter plate 19 and the balance weight 20 connected to the shutter plate 19 are mounted. Reference numeral 21 is a spring provided on the shaft of the support shaft 18.

The air damper 15 having such a structure is attached to the partition wall between the side wind tunnel 3 and the upper wind tunnel 4 with the mounting substrate 16 facing upward,
Here, when the wind pressure inside the side wind tunnel 3 is low, the weight of the balance weight 20 causes the shutter plate 19 to descend to the open position shown by the chain line in FIG. On the other hand, when the wind pressure in the side wind tunnel 3 increases, the shutter plate is resisted against the balance weight 20.
19 is pushed up to the position shown by the solid line in the drawing to operate so as to close the ventilation window 17.

In this embodiment, as described above, the spring 21, which is an elastic member, is provided on the shaft of the support shaft 18. Therefore, even when the blower is switched to high speed operation, the repulsive force of the spring 21 causes the shutter plate 19 to rise relatively slowly and the ventilation window 1
Block 7 Therefore, when the shutter plate 19 and the mounting substrate come into contact with each other, no abnormal sound is generated due to a collision. That is, the spring 21 is used as a cushioning member against the wind pressure. Further, in this embodiment, the shutter plate 19 is provided with the balance weight 20, but the balance weight 20 is not necessary if the weight of the shutter plate 19 and the elastic force of the spring 21 are appropriately selected with respect to the wind pressure. be able to. Although the springs 21 are arranged above and below the shutter plate 19 in FIG. 3, they may be arranged only above the shutter plate 19. Further, the shutter plate 19 may be suspended only by the spring 21, but the position of the shutter plate 19 may become unstable only by the spring 21, so that the guide member such as the support shaft 18 as in the present embodiment. Is preferably provided.

Next, the operation of the air shower device having the above structure will be described. First, when a person, a device, etc. pass through the passage 1 of the air shower device, the blower 14 is operated at a high speed by a command from the controller 13 based on the detection signal of the door switch 11 and the passage of the human body and an object. Become. As a result, the air sucked through the return air suction port 6 is blown into the side wind tunnel 3 through the blower 14 and the HEPA filter 9. Moreover, in this case, since the blower air pressure of the blower 14 is high, the air damper 15 described above is used.
Shutter plate closes. Therefore, the air blown into the side wind tunnel 3 is jetted into the passage as a high-speed jet airflow as shown by the arrow B through the jet airflow outlet 5 to remove dust adhering to the surface of a human body or an object passing through the passage. Get rid of it. The return airflow is sucked through the suction port 6 and returns to the blower 14.

On the other hand, when the door 2 is closed and the human body or the object does not pass through the passage 1 in the steady state, the blower 14 is instructed by the controller 13.
Is switched to low speed operation. Therefore, the internal pressure of the side wind tunnel 3 drops, and the shutter plate 19 of the air damper 15 opens so that the side wind tunnel 3 and the upper wind tunnel 4 communicate with each other. When the shutter plate 19 is opened, if the shutter plate 19 is in a closed state and is engaged with another member (for example, the window edge of the substrate 16) due to the bias of the balance weight 20, the balance weight 20 is not limited to its own weight. A situation may occur in which the shutter plate 19 does not open smoothly. However, according to this embodiment, since the spring 21 which is an elastic member is provided, the force of the spring 21 causes the shutter plate 19 to move.
Is forcibly released. This allows blower 14, HEPA
The clean air flow discharged into the wind tunnel through the filter 9 passes through the air damper 15 into the upper wind tunnel 4, and from there, flows down through the circulating air outlet 7 into the passage as indicated by arrow A. The air flow blown into the passage 1 is circulated and returned to the blower 14 through the return air flow suction port 6.

If it is necessary to continuously blow a part of the clean air flow as a downflow from the circulating airflow outlet 7 on the ceiling side into the passage even when the jet airflow is jetting, the air damper 15
Even if the shutter plate 19 is closed, an opening window that allows the required amount of air to pass through is provided in advance in the shutter plate, or
Alternatively, this can be dealt with by ensuring a gap between the substrate 16, the window edge and the shutter plate 19. Next, referring to FIG. 1, an embodiment in which the side wind tunnel 3 is extended to the ceiling of the air shower device, and the air damper 15 is installed on the side surface of the upper wind tunnel 4 so that the shutter plate 19 is substantially vertical. Describe.
In this case, since the shutter plate 19 moves in the horizontal direction, the balance weight 20 is unnecessary. When the blower 14 enters the high-speed operation state, the shutter plate 19 moves to the spring 2
The repulsive force of 1 is overcome to close the ventilation window 17. Blower 1
When 4 returns to low speed operation, the pressure inside the side wind tunnel 3 becomes low, and the shutter plate 19 is opened by the repulsive force of the spring 21.

Further, an embodiment in which the air damper 15 is electrically operated will be described. In this case, the basic structure is the same as that of the above embodiment. However, the air damper 15 shown in FIG.
In, the balance weight 20 becomes unnecessary. As the electrically operated type, the shutter plate 1 can be operated by a servo motor.
Examples thereof include those for operating 9 and those for electromagnetically operating the shutter plate 19 by a plunger. For example, if the air damper 15 is provided with a signal circuit means for operating the shutter plate 19 in synchronization with a blower operation speed switching signal from the controller 13, the speed switching of the blower and the opening / closing of the shutter plate 19 are synchronized. . Also in the case of the electrically operated air damper 15, smooth operation can be realized even when the above-mentioned trouble such as meshing occurs. Further, if the spring 21 which is an elastic member is provided as in the above-described embodiment, the generation of the abnormal sound can be prevented as in the above. However, the spring 21 is not necessary in the case of using the servo motor.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the first invention and the second invention of the present invention, as a result of adopting the above-described configuration, the same blower is shared by both inventions to blow a high-speed jet airflow and a clean circulation airflow. Therefore, the number of devices used including the HEPA filter can be reduced as compared with the conventional configuration, and the passage partition in the wind tunnel can be simplified to make the air shower device small and compact. The equipment cost can be reduced. Also, the movement of the shutter plate of the air damper becomes smooth,
Particularly, according to the air damper of the first invention, it is possible to prevent the generation of abnormal sound when the shutter plate is closed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the overall construction of the air shower apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a lateral sectional view of FIG. 1, and FIG.
FIG. 4 and FIG. 4 are a sectional view of the structure of the air damper incorporated in the apparatus of FIG. 1, and a partially cutaway bottom view thereof, respectively.
FIG. 6 and FIG. 6 are a longitudinal sectional view and a transverse sectional view, respectively, showing the structure of a conventional air shower device. In each figure, 1: aisle, 2: aisle door, 3: side wind tunnel, 4: upper wind tunnel,
5: Jet air flow outlet, 6: Return air flow inlet,
7: Circulating air flow outlet, 9: HEPA filter, 11: Door switch, 12: Human body, photoelectric sensor as an object passage detecting means, 14: Blower capable of switching between high and low speed, 15: Air damper, 17: Ventilation window, 19 : Shutter plate, 20: Balance weight, 21: Spring.

Continuation of the front page (56) Reference JP-A-58-106339 (JP, A) JP-A-60-11038 (JP, A) Actual opening 63-101729 (JP, U) Actual opening 59-135187 (JP , U) Actually open Sho 59-166888 (JP, U) Actually open Sho 59-190388 (JP, U) Japanese Patent Sho 59-26856 (JP, B2)

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A circulating airflow outlet which is installed in an inlet passage leading to a clean room and which jets a high-speed jet airflow into the passageway from a jet airflow outlet opening on the side wall of a passageway when a human body or an object passes therethrough, and which is open to the ceiling in a steady state. In an air shower device in which a clean air flow is further down-flowed into the passage to circulate the air, a side of the passage is provided across the return air flow inlet opening at the bottom of the passage and the jet air flow outlet. A blower capable of high-speed / low-speed switching operation and a HEPA filter are provided in the defined side wind tunnel, and between the upper wind tunnel defined on the ceiling side including the circulating air flow outlet and the side wind tunnel. And a shutter plate that communicates between the two wind tunnels and closes a communication hole provided at the communication location due to a pressure increase in the side wind tunnel, and the communication location. Air shower apparatus characterized in that it comprises an air damper having an elastic member is interposed against the pressure of the side wind in the body to restrict movement of said shutter plate between said shutter plate. 2. The air shower device according to claim 1, wherein the shutter plate is provided with a balance weight which is advanced and retracted in a substantially vertical direction. 3. A circulating air flow outlet which is installed in an inlet passage leading to a clean room, ejects a high-speed jet air flow into the passage from a jet air flow outlet opening on the side wall of the passage when a human body or an object passes therethrough, and is opened on the ceiling in a steady state. In an air shower device in which a clean air flow is further down-flowed into the passage to circulate the air, a side of the passage is provided across the return air flow inlet opening at the bottom of the passage and the jet air flow outlet. A blower capable of high-speed / low-speed switching operation and a HEPA filter are provided in the defined side wind tunnel, and the upper wind tunnel and the side wind tunnel defined on the ceiling side including the circulation airflow outlet are provided. And a shutter plate that closes a communication hole provided at the communication location between the wind tunnels, and a shutter plate that responds to an operating speed switching signal of the blower. Air shower apparatus characterized in that it comprises an air damper and means for electrically operated opening and closing the jitter plate.