JPH06182304A - Ultrasonic cleaning device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve working environment by muffling a cavitation noise of high audible area to a minimum permissible limit without reducing cavitation strength, in an ultrasonic cleaning device which circulates a cleaning liquid and, at the same time, emits an ultrasonic oscillation into the cleaning liquid for cleaning an article to be cleaned by ultrasonic wave. CONSTITUTION:A cleaning liquid which is supplied to a side chamber 6 from a circulation pump 14 through a filter 15, a regulation valve 16 and a flow detection device 17 by driving of the circulation pump 14, is allowed to spew out into the cleaning liquid 3 in an ultrasonic cleaning tank 1 from jet holes 13 near a liquid level which are opened on a lateral plate 10. Then, the cleaning liquid runs uniformly in a laminar flow, near the liquid level in the ultrasonic cleaning tank 1, i.e., over an article to be cleaned. Most of the cleaning liquid flows into the ultrasonic cleaning tank 1 and overflows into an overflow tank 2 across side chamber 5. The cleaning liquid in an area other than near the liquid level, i.e., around the article to be cleaned which is soaked, is aspirated into the side chamber 5 from suction holes 11 provided on a lateral plate 9.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ultrasonic cleaning device for ultrasonically cleaning electronic parts, precision machine parts and the like using a water-soluble detergent.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In ultrasonic cleaning, ultrasonic vibrations are radiated into a cleaning liquid, and the vibrations of liquid molecules and cavitation (cavity phenomenon) loosen and remove the dirt that is strongly bonded to the surface of the object to be cleaned. This is a technology for removing dirt by the synergistic effect of promoting the chemical action of the cleaning agent and the cleaning agent, and the necessity is increasing more and more with the rapid development of the semiconductor industry and the like.

However, in the conventional ultrasonic cleaning apparatus, unpleasant cavitation noise in the high audible range is generated when ultrasonic waves are oscillated, which may impair the working environment. This cavitation noise is considered to be generated when the cavity generated in the cleaning liquid disappears (ruptures), and has a frequency that is an integral multiple of ultrasonic vibration.

In particular, the cavitation noise appears remarkably when the cleaning liquid in the cleaning tank is disturbed, that is, when the object to be cleaned is put in or taken out, and the noise level (90 to 100 dB) is such that the cleaning operator feels pain. May reach.

Therefore, in order to suppress such cavitation noise, a method has been tried in which the cleaning liquid in the ultrasonic cleaning tank is caused to flow substantially uniformly from one wall surface to the other wall surface like a laminar flow. .

[0006]

However, in the conventional method in which the cleaning liquid in the ultrasonic cleaning tank is made to flow from one wall surface to the other wall surface almost uniformly like a laminar flow,
Sometimes the disturbing cavitation noise could not be suppressed due to the disturbed state of the cleaning liquid. Therefore, there is a problem that it is necessary to reduce the cavitation strength and a sufficient cleaning effect cannot be obtained.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an ultrasonic cleaning apparatus capable of suppressing the noise level to the minimum without lowering the cavitation strength. To aim.

[0008]

In order to achieve this object, an ultrasonic cleaning apparatus of the present invention comprises a cleaning tank for containing a cleaning liquid and an ultrasonic wave generating means for generating ultrasonic vibrations in the cleaning liquid. And a liquid supply / drainage means for generating different liquid flow states in the upper part and the lower part of the cleaning liquid in the cleaning tank.

The liquid supply / drainage means includes a plurality of ejection holes provided above one wall surface of the cleaning tank facing each other, a plurality of suction holes provided on substantially the entire other wall surface, and It may be constituted by a circulation means for taking in the cleaning liquid from the suction hole and ejecting it from the ejection hole.

[0010]

In the ultrasonic cleaning apparatus of the present invention having the above construction, the cleaning tank contains the cleaning liquid, and the ultrasonic wave generating means generates ultrasonic vibrations in the cleaning liquid. The liquid supply / drain means generates different liquid flow states between the upper portion and the lower portion of the cleaning liquid in the cleaning tank.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an ultrasonic cleaning apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a cleaning tank of the ultrasonic cleaning apparatus of the present invention.

This ultrasonic cleaning device is a device that uses water or a water-soluble detergent as a cleaning liquid, and comprises a cleaning tank 1 and an overflow tank 2. The length of the cleaning tank 1 is about 400 m
m, the depth is about 200 mm, the depth is about 350 mm, and the cleaning liquid 3 is stored therein. An ultrasonic transducer 4 serving as an ultrasonic wave generation unit is attached to the lower portion of the cleaning tank 1. As the ultrasonic oscillator 4, for example, one having a frequency of 40 kHz and an input of 600 W is used.

The opposite left and right side walls of the cleaning tank 1 are composed of side chambers 5 and 6 having a double wall structure. Left and right side chambers 5,
6 is communicated with the outside via piping sockets 7 and 8.

A large number of minute suction holes 11 are provided on the side plate 9 inside the cleaning tank of the side chamber 5 over substantially the entire surface of the side plate 9. On the other hand, on the side plate 10 inside the cleaning chamber of the side chamber 6, a large number of minute ejection holes 12 are provided only in the upper part of the side plate 10, for example, over a range of a depth of about 1/3 from the liquid surface of the cleaning chamber 1. There is.

The side chamber 5 also serves as a partition wall that separates the cleaning tank 1 and the overflow tank 2, and has an upper surface inclined so that the cleaning liquid 3 in the cleaning tank 1 can overflow and flow into the overflow tank 2.

A piping socket 7 provided at the bottom of the side chamber 5 and a piping socket 13 provided at the bottom of the overflow tank 2.
Are connected to each other via pipes through flow rate adjusting valves 31 and 32, and a circulation pump 14, a filter 15 as a circulation means,
The flow rate adjusting valve 16 and the flow rate detector 17 are connected in this order, and a circulation path leading to the piping socket 8 of the side chamber 6 is provided.
The flow rate adjusting valve 16 has a diameter of, for example, 1 inch and is opened and closed by an actuator 18.

Further, in the ultrasonic cleaning apparatus of this embodiment, the setting switch 19, the flow rate command section 20, and the flow rate control section 21.
And an alarm signal generator 22. The setting switch 19 is for the operator to set the type of cleaning agent used for ultrasonic cleaning. Flow rate command unit 20
Is for instructing the flow rate control unit 21 of a circulation flow rate that is predetermined corresponding to each setting switch according to the operation of the setting switch 19. The flow rate control unit 21 controls the actuator 18 so that the set flow rate is obtained based on the flow rate signal given from the flow rate detector 17 and the flow rate signal given from the flow rate command unit 20.
The alarm signal generator 22 generates an alarm signal when a predetermined flow rate cannot be obtained even when the flow rate adjusting valve 16 is fully opened.

The operation will be described based on the above configuration.

An object to be cleaned (not shown) is carried into the lower part of the cleaning tank 1 through the upper opening of the cleaning tank 1 and immersed in the cleaning liquid 3. Then, the ultrasonic transducer 4 is driven to perform ultrasonic cleaning.

The cleaning liquid is supplied from the circulation pump 14 to the side chamber 6 via the filter 15, the adjusting valve 16 and the flow rate detector 17 by driving the circulation pump 14.
The cleaning liquid supplied to the side chamber 6 is washed from the cleaning liquid 3 in the cleaning tank 1 through a large number of minute ejection holes 12 provided in the upper portion of the side plate 10.
Gush into the inside. At this time, since the ejection holes 12 are provided only in the upper part of the side plate 10, the cleaning liquid becomes a laminar flow in the vicinity of the liquid surface in the cleaning tank 1, that is, the upper part of the object to be cleaned (not shown), and becomes uniform. Flow to. For this reason, cavitation is hardly generated in the upper part of the cleaning liquid, and therefore unpleasant cavitation noise is not generated.

Most of the cleaning liquid that has flowed into the cleaning tank 1 overflows the side chamber 5 and flows into the overflow tank 2. The cleaning liquid other than the vicinity of the liquid surface, that is, the cleaning liquid around the immersed object to be cleaned (not shown) is sucked into the side chamber 5 through a large number of suction holes 11 provided on substantially the entire surface of the side plate 9, and at the side plate 9. It reflects and flows toward the side plate 10. Therefore, the flow of the cleaning liquid around the object to be cleaned placed in the lower portion of the cleaning tank 1 becomes weak. In general, the higher the flow rate, the lower the cavitation strength. Therefore, as described above, the cleaning liquid around the object to be cleaned has a weak liquid flow and thus the cavitation strength is high.

The strength of the liquid flow depends on the flow rate adjusting valves 16, 31, 3
Adjusted by 2. In the flow rate command unit 20, the optimum flow rate is set in advance for each type of detergent, and the setting switch 1
When the detergent to be used is designated in 9, the flow rate control unit 21 opens and closes the flow rate adjustment valve 16 via the actuator 18 so that the set flow rate is achieved. When the flow rate changes due to clogging of the filter 15 or the like, the signal of the flow rate detector 17 changes, so the flow rate control unit 21 compares the flow rate signal from the flow rate detector 17 with the flow rate signal from the flow rate command unit 20. The flow rate adjusting valve 16 is opened and closed via the actuator 18 so that the set flow rate is achieved. When the flow rate signal from the flow rate detector 17 and the flow rate signal from the flow rate command unit 20 do not match even when the flow rate adjusting valve 16 is fully opened, the flow rate control unit 21.
Issues a command to the alarm signal generator 22 to output the alarm signal to the outside.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the cleaning liquid in the ultrasonic cleaning tank is caused to flow like a laminar flow in the vicinity of the liquid surface, without lowering the cavitation strength.
The work environment is improved by suppressing unpleasant cavitation noise.

[0025]

As is clear from the above description,
According to the present invention, unpleasant cavitation noise can be suppressed without lowering the cavitation strength by generating different liquid flow states in the upper part and the lower part of the cleaning liquid in the cleaning tank, and the working environment is improved. To be done.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an ultrasonic cleaning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a cleaning tank of the ultrasonic cleaning apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Cleaning Tank 4 Ultrasonic Transducer 9 Side Plate 10 Side Plate 11 Suction Hole 12 Spout Hole 14 Circulation Pump

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An ultrasonic cleaning device comprising a cleaning tank for containing a cleaning liquid and an ultrasonic wave generating means for generating ultrasonic vibrations in the cleaning liquid, wherein an upper part and a lower part of the cleaning liquid in the cleaning tank are provided. An ultrasonic cleaning apparatus comprising a liquid supply / drainage means for generating different liquid flow states. 2. The liquid supply / drainage means includes a plurality of ejection holes provided above one wall surface of the cleaning tank facing each other, a plurality of suction holes provided on substantially the entire other wall surface, and The ultrasonic cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a circulation unit that takes in the cleaning liquid from the suction port and ejects the cleaning liquid from the ejection port.