JPH0919662A - Washing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To attain shortening of the washing time and miniaturizing of the device by simultaneously performing the carrying-in and -out of an object to be washed into a washing room and the opening and closing of the washing room. SOLUTION: This device is equipped with a washing room 1 provided with an entrance and exit 12 of the object 10 to be washed, a cap 7 for closing the entrance and exit 12 of this washing room 1, an evacuation means 13 for evacuating the washing room 1, a solvent recovering means 15 for recovering a solvent in the waste gas connected with a discharge part of this evacuation means 13, a mounting means 9 for mounting the object to be washed 10, and a single driving means 5 for freely moving the cap 7 and the mounting means 9 forward and backward against the washing room 1. The mounting means 9 and the cap 7 move integrally to carry in and out of the object 10 to be washed and to open and closed the washing room 1 simultaneously.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cleaning device for cleaning an object to be cleaned such as optical parts and metal parts using an organic solvent.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Cleaning using an organic solvent is largely divided into a dipping method in which an object to be cleaned is immersed in the organic solvent itself and a vapor cleaning method in which vapor of the organic solvent is adhered to the object to be cleaned. Be separated. In the case of the dipping method, when pulling up the object to be cleaned from the organic solvent, even if the organic solvent overflows, the oil floating on the liquid surface of the organic solvent adheres to the object to be cleaned and deteriorates the cleaning performance. However, there is a problem that it is difficult to collect the solvent adhering to the object to be cleaned and the amount of solvent consumption increases. On the other hand, the steam cleaning method is widely used because it does not have this problem.

There are various cleaning devices used in the steam cleaning method. For example, a vertically long cleaning chamber with an entrance in the upper part is provided, the organic solvent is stored in the lower part of this cleaning chamber, and a heating coil for evaporating this organic solvent by steam etc. is provided in the organic solvent and A cooling coil for cooling and liquefying the vapor of the organic solvent is arranged in a portion, and further, there are two positions, a position which is driven up and down by a cylinder to face the object to be cleaned facing the inlet and outlet, and an upright position of the stored organic solvent. Some have elevators that move between them.

However, in such a cleaning apparatus, a space for carrying in and out the object to be cleaned must be secured in the upper part of the cleaning chamber, and in order to prevent the vapor from scattering through the space, There was a constraint that the installation position of the cooling coil had to be as high as possible, and the cleaning chamber inevitably had to have a high overall height. On the other hand, since it is necessary to install the cooling coil while avoiding the object to be cleaned that is moved up and down by the elevator, the inside diameter of the cleaning chamber is also large.

That is, the cleaning chamber as a whole is extremely large and requires a large installation space for the apparatus.
In addition, since the organic solvent used for cleaning must be evaporated at all times, a large amount of energy is required for heating, and there is a problem that running cost increases in combination with a large capacity of the cleaning chamber.

Japanese Patent Publication No. 4-34473 discloses a conventional cleaning device which solves such a problem. This cleaning device has an entrance and exit door for the object to be cleaned and a door for opening and closing it on the side of the cleaning room, and a placing table for directly receiving the object to be cleaned that has been carried in horizontally from the entrance to the cleaning room to clean the object to be cleaned. Only when the cleaning is performed, the organic solvent vapor is supplied to the cleaning chamber.

[0007]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional cleaning device, although there is some improvement in downsizing of the cleaning chamber, opening and closing of the entrance / exit when carrying in / out the object to be cleaned into / from the cleaning chamber. It is necessary to open and close the door to close and open the cleaning chamber, but since this opening and closing is done separately from the work loading and unloading work, the number of cleaning work steps increases and the mechanism However, there is a problem in that its operation becomes complicated.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems of the conventional apparatus, and does not always fill the cleaning chamber with steam, and also carries the object to be cleaned into and out of the cleaning chamber and opens / closes the door of the entrance / exit. It is an object of the present invention to provide a cleaning device capable of shortening the tact time, downsizing the structure, and simplifying the structure by simultaneously performing the above steps. In addition to these, it is another object of the present invention to provide a cleaning device capable of improving the recovery efficiency of an organic solvent.

[0009]

According to the present invention, there is provided a cleaning chamber having an inlet / outlet port for an object to be cleaned, a lid for sealing the inlet / outlet port of the cleaning chamber, a mounting means for mounting the object to be cleaned, and And a single drive means that allows the lid and the mounting means to move back and forth with respect to the cleaning chamber. Further, according to the present invention, a cleaning chamber provided with an inlet / outlet port for an object to be cleaned, a lid body for sealing the inlet / outlet port of the cleaning chamber, a decompression unit for decompressing the cleaning chamber, and an exhaust port connected to the exhaust port of the decompression unit. A solvent recovery means for recovering the solvent in the gas, a mounting means for mounting the object to be cleaned, and a single drive means for moving the lid and the mounting means forward and backward with respect to the cleaning chamber. It is characterized by having. In these cleaning devices, the mounting means can be configured to be connected to the lid body so as to move back and forth integrally with the lid body.

In the above structure, when cleaning the object to be cleaned, the placing means is carried out of the cleaning chamber by the opening operation of the lid, and the object to be cleaned is placed on the placing means. Then, the driving means is operated to close the lid, and the cleaning chamber is sealed. By this closing operation of the lid, the object to be cleaned placed on the mounting means is carried into the cleaning chamber. After that, the object to be cleaned is cleaned in the sealed cleaning chamber. After the completion of cleaning of the object to be cleaned, the drive means is operated to open the lid, so that the object to be cleaned placed on the mounting means is simultaneously carried out of the cleaning chamber. Therefore, the object to be cleaned is carried in and out of the cleaning chamber at the same time when the lid is opened and closed, and the object to be cleaned can be carried in and out without requiring many steps.

In the cleaning apparatus having the depressurizing means, the object to be cleaned is depressurized by the operation of the depressurizing means in the sealed cleaning chamber which has been carried in. When the pressure inside the cleaning chamber is reduced, solvent vapor is introduced into the cleaning chamber, and the object to be cleaned is cleaned by the solvent vapor. Further, the decompression means decompresses the inside of the cleaning chamber to dry the object to be cleaned. At this time, the solvent vapor in the cleaning chamber exhausted by the decompression means is cooled and liquefied by the solvent recovery means and recovered. Carrying out the object to be cleaned after cleaning is performed in the same manner as described above.

The structure having such a depressurizing means is particularly convenient when the cleaning chamber is depressurized to perform cleaning with solvent vapor, but it is not necessarily used only in the case of depressurizing cleaning. In the present invention, any cleaning method can be used as long as the cleaning chamber can be reliably hermetically sealed when cleaning the object to be cleaned.
Therefore, if the cleaning liquid is highly flammable and it is necessary to prevent the vaporized gas from leaking to the outside, or even if a cleaning liquid harmful to cleaning is used, etc. It is highly effective to use.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

(First Embodiment of the Invention) FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the present invention, in which 1 is a cleaning chamber having an opening 12 formed in an upper surface thereof, and a lower portion thereof is a solvent vapor through a butterfly valve 3. Generator 2
Is connected to Inside the solvent vapor generator 2, an organic solvent such as hydrocarbon or silicone is stored, and
The heating coil 4 is disposed and heats the stored organic solvent to generate solvent vapor.

Above the cleaning chamber 1, there is arranged a vertical movement mechanism 5 as a driving means composed of a cylinder or the like, and a lid 7 is attached to a piston rod 6 of the vertical movement mechanism 5. The lid 7 closes the opening 12 of the cleaning chamber 1, and a mounting table 9 as a mounting means is provided below the opening 7.
Are connected via the columns 8. By operating the vertical movement mechanism 5 in the vertical direction with the object 10 to be cleaned placed on the upper surface of the mounting table 9, the object 10 to be cleaned can be carried in and out of the cleaning chamber 1 together with the mounting table 9. .

At the same time as the mounting table 9 moves up and down, the lid 7 also moves up and down, and at the lower end position, the lower surface of the lid 7 comes into close contact with the seal member 11 provided on the upper surface of the cleaning chamber 1,
The inside of the cleaning chamber 1 is sealed. FIG. 2 shows a closed state of the lid 7. On the other hand, at the upper end position, the inside of the cleaning chamber 1 is opened.

Reference numeral 13 is a vacuum pump which is connected to the cleaning chamber 1 through a valve 14 and serves as a decompressing means. An exhaust port thereof is connected to a gas recovery device 15 which is a solvent recovery means. A cooling coil 16 is disposed in the gas recovery device 15, and cooling water is circulated in the cooling coil 16 to cool and liquefy the organic solvent introduced from the cleaning chamber 1 into the gas recovery device. Can be collected.

In order to clean the object to be cleaned 10 using the apparatus having the above-mentioned structure, first, the vertical movement mechanism 5 is operated to raise the mounting table 9 to the upper surface of the cleaning chamber 1 as shown in FIG. .
In this state, the article to be cleaned 10 is placed on the placing table 9. In addition,
The operation of placing the article to be cleaned 10 on the placing table 9 may be performed manually by an operator or automatically by providing a transport mechanism (not shown). In the case where the carrying mechanism is provided and is automatically carried out, the carrying height of the carrying mechanism is matched with the height of the article 10 to be cleaned when the mounting table 9 is raised to the upper end position by the vertically moving mechanism 5.

Next, with the object 10 to be cleaned placed on the mounting table 9, the vertical movement mechanism 5 is operated in the descending direction to insert the object 10 to be cleaned together with the mounting table 9 into the cleaning chamber 1. By this insertion, as shown in FIG. 2, the lid 7 fixed to the vertical movement mechanism 5 descends together with the mounting table 9, and the opening 12 of the cleaning chamber 1 is sealed via the seal member 11.

The vacuum pump 13 is operated with the cleaning chamber 1 sealed, the valve 14 is opened to reduce the pressure in the cleaning chamber 1, and then the valve 14 is closed. Then, in a state where the pressure inside the cleaning chamber 1 is reduced, the butterfly valve 3 is opened to supply the solvent vapor from the solvent vapor generator 2 into the cleaning chamber 1. When the cleaning of the object to be cleaned 10 with the solvent vapor is completed, the butterfly valve 3 is closed and the supply of the solvent vapor is stopped. Next, the valve 14 is opened again, the pressure inside the cleaning chamber 1 is further reduced to about 50 Torr,
The article to be cleaned 10 is dried.

Here, the solvent vapor in the cleaning chamber 1 exhausted by the vacuum pump 13 is exhausted into the gas recovery device 15,
Cooled by the cooling coil 16 in the gas recovery device 15,
It is liquefied and stored in the gas recovery device 15.

After the completion of drying, the leak valve 17 is opened and the inside of the cleaning chamber 1 is returned to atmospheric pressure. After the cleaning and drying of the object to be cleaned 10 is completed, the vertical movement mechanism 5 is operated to raise the mounting table 9 so that the lid 7 is also raised at the same time. Therefore, the opening 12 of the cleaning chamber 1 is opened, and the object 10 to be cleaned can be easily taken out as shown in FIG.

In the embodiment of the present invention as described above, the object 10 to be cleaned can be carried in and out of the cleaning chamber 1 and the cleaning chamber 1 can be opened and closed at the same time, and the apparatus can be downsized. In addition, the takt time for cleaning can be shortened, and moreover, it is not necessary to constantly fill the inside of the cleaning chamber 1 with the solvent vapor, and the consumption amount of the solvent can be reduced. In addition, in the embodiment of the present invention, since the object to be cleaned 10 is carried in and out just above the cleaning chamber 1, it is possible to reduce the lateral space.

(Second Embodiment of the Invention) FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the second embodiment of the present invention. The same elements as those of the first embodiment of the present invention are designated by the same reference numerals. And its description is omitted. In FIG. 3, an opening 12 is formed on the left side surface of the cleaning chamber 1, and a forward / backward moving mechanism 20 including a cylinder or the like is arranged in front of the opening 12. The lid 2 is attached to the piston rod 21 of the forward / backward movement mechanism 20.
2 are connected. A mounting table 23 on which the article to be cleaned 10 is mounted is connected to the lid 22.

In this structure, the object 10 to be cleaned is placed in the cleaning chamber 1 together with the table 23 by operating the back-and-forth moving mechanism 20 in the front-back direction with the object 10 to be cleaned placed on the upper surface of the table 23. It becomes possible to carry in and out. This table 23
The lid 22 also moves back and forth at the same time as the back and forth movement of the sealing member 1 provided on the side surface of the cleaning chamber 1 at the front end position.
The back surface of the lid body 22 is in close contact with the container 1, and the inside of the cleaning chamber 1 is sealed. At the rear end position, the inside of the cleaning chamber 1 is opened. FIG. 4 shows a state in which the object to be cleaned 10 is carried into the cleaning chamber 1 and the cleaning chamber 1 is sealed.

In order to clean the object 10 to be cleaned by the apparatus having the above structure, first, the forward / backward moving mechanism 20 is operated to move the mounting table 23 back to the front surface of the cleaning chamber 1 as shown in FIG.
In this state, the article 10 to be cleaned is placed on the placing table 23. Next, with the object 10 to be cleaned placed on the mounting table 23, the forward / backward movement mechanism 20 is operated in the forward direction, and the object 10 to be cleaned is inserted into the cleaning chamber 1 together with the mounting table 23. By this insertion, as shown in FIG. 4, the lid 22 connected to the forward / backward moving mechanism 20 advances together with the mounting table 23, and the opening 12 of the cleaning chamber 1 is sealed via the seal member 11.

In this state, the object 10 to be cleaned is washed and dried as in the first embodiment of the present invention. Cleaning object 10
After the cleaning and drying of the
Is operated to retract the mounting table 23, the lid 23 is integrally retracted, and the inside of the cleaning chamber 1 is opened. As a result, the object to be cleaned 10 can be taken out as shown in FIG.

The embodiment of the present invention has the same operation as that of the first embodiment of the present invention, and the object to be cleaned 1
Since 0 is carried straight in and out of the cleaning chamber 1 from the side, the height of conveyance of the object to be cleaned 10 becomes low, and the workability becomes good.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention, the lid for opening and closing the opening of the cleaning chamber can be automatically opened and closed with the operation of loading and unloading the object to be cleaned into and out of the cleaning chamber. Therefore, it is not necessary to perform a complicated opening / closing operation of the lid body, and it is possible to easily carry in / out the article to be cleaned. Further, since the lid is opened and closed and the object to be cleaned is carried in and out of the cleaning chamber at the same time, the cleaning process can be shortened.

Further, when the object to be cleaned is carried into the cleaning chamber, the opening of the cleaning chamber is automatically closed, so that the solvent vapor is washed only when necessary for cleaning or drying the object to be cleaned. When the solvent vapor supplied to the cleaning chamber is exhausted by the decompression means, the solvent recovery means cools, liquefies and recovers the solvent vapor, so that the recovery efficiency of the organic solvent is improved and used. The amount of the solvent is reduced and the running cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall sectional view of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing sealing of a cleaning chamber.

FIG. 3 is an overall sectional view of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing sealing of a cleaning chamber.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Washing room 5 Vertical movement mechanism 7 Lid body 9 Mounting table 10 Cleaning object 15 Gas recovery device

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A cleaning chamber provided with an inlet / outlet for an object to be cleaned, a lid for sealing the inlet / outlet of the cleaning chamber, a mounting means for mounting the object to be cleaned, and the lid and the mounting means. A cleaning device comprising a single drive means that can move back and forth with respect to the cleaning chamber. 2. A cleaning chamber provided with an inlet / outlet of an object to be cleaned, a lid for sealing the inlet / outlet of the cleaning chamber, a decompression unit for decompressing the cleaning chamber, and an exhaust gas connected to an exhaust port of the decompression unit. A solvent recovery means for recovering the solvent therein, a mounting means for mounting the object to be cleaned, and a single drive means for moving the lid and the mounting means forward and backward with respect to the cleaning chamber. A cleaning device characterized in that 3. The mounting means is connected to the lid body and moves back and forth integrally with the lid body.
The cleaning device according to the above.