JPH0987875A - Washing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To lessen the readhesion of oil stains, etc., at the time of pulling up wash by using a high-purity regenerated reflux washing liquid and incessantly stirring the liquid in a tank, thereby preventing the suspension and aggregation of the oil stains, etc., on a liquid surface at the time of washing parts by an aq. detergent. SOLUTION: This device is constituted to include a stirring means, oil-water separating means and circulating means of the washing liquid after the sepn. of oil and water. The aq. washing liquid 12 in the washing tank 11 is subjected to the sepn. of the oil stains, etc., by the oil-water separator 21 and the regenerated washing liquid of high purity is ejected from a washing liquid ejection nozzle 27 disposed in the tank. The washing liquid is stirred by this ejection for the purpose of dispersing the particulates of the oil stains, etc., in the aq. washing liquid 12 and accelerating the removal of the stains from the wash. The oil-water separator 21 flocculate, coarsen and float the fine oil drops by passing the washing liquid 12 from the washing tank through a hydrophilic elements 33 and discharges only the floating oil stains X3 to a waste oil receiver 37. As a result, the efficiency of the oil and water sepn. is enhanced and the recovery rate of the surfactants in the washing water is enhanced as well.

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 various industrial parts, which replaces a cleaning device using a chlorofluorocarbon-based solvent or a chlorine-based solvent.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Various parts such as metal parts, plated parts, painted parts, electronic parts, semiconductor parts, plastic parts, etc. are subject to various stains such as processing oil and dust in the manufacturing process and assembly process. Adhere to. Conventionally, various parts having such a stain are generally washed with a CFC-based solvent (halogenated hydrocarbon-based solvent) typified by CFC or a chlorine-based solvent such as trichloroethane, tetrachloroethylene or carbon tetrachloride. Met.

However, CFC-based solvents and chlorine-based solvents have been regarded as problematic for their effects on the environment, such as ozone layer destruction and groundwater pollution. For this reason, various cleaning agents have been proposed which can be replaced by CFC-based solvents and chlorine-based solvents and which do not adversely affect the environment. As an alternative cleaning agent for such CFC-based solvents and chlorine-based solvents, water-based cleaning agents that have been conventionally used and solvent-based cleaning agents that are substantially free of chlorine typified by hydrocarbon-based solvents have received attention. ing.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the structure of a cleaning apparatus using an aqueous cleaning agent. In this cleaning device, oil stains 2'dispersed in the aqueous cleaning liquid 2 in the cleaning tank 1 are removed from the aqueous cleaning liquid 2
Of the water-based cleaning liquid 2 is caused to overflow into the overflow tank 3 provided next to the cleaning tank 1. In the overflow tank 3, oil stains 2'in the water-based cleaning liquid 2 float up due to the difference in specific gravity from high-concentration oil components, and the floating oil stains 2'are collected in the waste oil receiver 4 as waste liquid. Further, the water-based cleaning liquid 2 having a relatively low concentration of dirt accumulated at the bottom of the overflow tank 3 is returned by the pump 5 to the cleaning tank 1 through the cleaning liquid circulation pipe 6 for reuse.

However, in such a conventional cleaning apparatus, since oil stains 2'float and collect on the surface of the water-based cleaning liquid 2 in the cleaning tank 1, when the object 7 to be cleaned is pulled up, the surface 2 High-concentration oil stains will reattach. Therefore, it is necessary to take out the object to be cleaned 7 from the cleaning tank 1 and then rinse it with water or the like. However, since rinsing and washing with water discharge a large amount of waste liquid, there is a problem that enormous equipment investment and complicated maintenance are required for treating this waste liquid.

Further, in the above-mentioned conventional cleaning apparatus, even the water-based cleaning liquid 2 is included in the waste liquid recovered from the overflow tank 3. In particular, the surfactant, which is the main component of the water-based cleaning liquid, tends to collect on the liquid surface in the cleaning tank 1 and is easily collected together with oil stains. For this reason, the amount of the aqueous cleaning liquid 2 is reduced and the life of the cleaning liquid 1 is shortened in the cleaning tank 1. Therefore, frequent replacement and replacement of the cleaning liquid are required.

[0007]

As described above, in the cleaning apparatus configured to collect oil stains and the like by the conventional overflow method, when the object to be cleaned is lifted from the cleaning tank, There has been a problem that high-concentration oil stains and the like collected on the surface of the cleaning liquid redeposit. Also,
Since the water-based cleaning liquid, especially the surfactant which is a main component therein, is collected as waste liquid at the same time as the dirt such as oil content, there is a problem that the amount of the water-based cleaning liquid in the cleaning tank is reduced and the service life is shortened.

As described above, in the conventional cleaning apparatus, it has been a subject to improve the performance of removing various stains including the reattachment of stains, and to suppress the reduction of the amount of the aqueous cleaning liquid and the shortening of the life.

The present invention has been made in order to solve such a problem, and can prevent redeposition of dirt such as high-concentration oil content when the object to be cleaned is pulled up from the cleaning tank, and further, in the cleaning tank. It is an object of the present invention to provide a cleaning device capable of effectively suppressing a reduction in the amount of an aqueous cleaning liquid and a reduction in life.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cleaning device for cleaning an object to be cleaned by immersing the object to be cleaned in a cleaning tank containing an aqueous cleaning solution. In, a stirring means for stirring so that fine particles of dirt contained in the aqueous cleaning liquid contained in the cleaning tank are evenly dispersed in the liquid, and an oil-water separating means for separating oil-water of the aqueous cleaning liquid in the cleaning tank. And a cleaning liquid circulating means for introducing the water-based cleaning liquid in the cleaning tank into the oil-water separating means and returning the water-based cleaning liquid from which oil and the like have been separated and separated by the oil-water separating means to the cleaning tank.

In the cleaning apparatus of the present invention, by constantly stirring the aqueous cleaning liquid in the cleaning tank, it is possible to prevent oil stains and the like from floating and collecting on the surface of the aqueous cleaning liquid in the cleaning tank. It is possible to significantly reduce the amount of redeposition of oil stains and the like on the surface of the object to be cleaned when the object to be cleaned is pulled up from above.

Further, in the cleaning apparatus of the present invention, the water-based cleaning liquid in the cleaning tank is constantly stirred so that the surface active agent, which is one of the main components of the water-based cleaning liquid, collects on the surface of the water-based cleaning liquid like oil stains. Can be prevented.
As a result, it is possible to prevent the surface active agent from being collected as a waste liquid together with oil stains and the like, and it is possible to suppress a decrease in the life of the aqueous cleaning liquid in the cleaning tank.

Further, according to the present invention, as an oil / water separating means, a lipophilicity is used for passing an aqueous cleaning liquid introduced from a cleaning tank to agglomerate and coarsen oil stains dispersed in the aqueous cleaning liquid to float the liquid surface. A structure comprising an element and a means for collecting oil dirt and the like (usually called coalescing method) for collecting oil dirt and the like that are aggregated and coarsened by the lipophilic element and floated on the liquid surface To be done.

The oil-water separation means thus constructed has a higher oil-water separation rate than the conventional oil-water separation method using the overflow method, and has a practically required level as the average concentration of dirt in the water-based cleaning liquid in the cleaning tank. Can be secured. Moreover, since the loss of the water-based cleaning liquid is extremely small, the replenishment cycle of the water-based cleaning liquid can be significantly extended.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

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

In the figure, 11 is a cleaning tank containing an aqueous cleaning liquid 12. As the water-based cleaning liquid 12, various known detergents (detergents) containing water can be used, and specifically, an aqueous solution of an inorganic acid, an organic acid, an alkali or the like, a detergent containing a surfactant as a main component, and an aqueous solution thereof. Further, those added with various additives are exemplified.

In this cleaning apparatus, the object to be cleaned 13 is stored in the cleaning basket 14 and immersed in the aqueous cleaning liquid 12 in the cleaning tank 11 to remove oil stains and the like adhering to the surface of the object to be cleaned.
Cleaning is achieved. For example, water-soluble stains are water-based cleaning liquid 1
2 is dissolved in 2 to be removed from the object to be cleaned, and non-water-soluble stains such as oils and fats are peeled off from the surface of the object to be cleaned by the action of the surfactant in the aqueous cleaning liquid 12.

A cleaning liquid discharge port 15 is provided at the bottom of the cleaning tank 11. A high-performance oil / water separator 21 (hereinafter referred to as an oil / water separator) is passed through the cleaning liquid discharge port 15 through a cleaning liquid circulation pipe 20 in which a valve 16, a Y-type strainer 17, a circulation pump 18, a prefilter 19 and the like are inserted in the order in which the cleaning liquid flows. Is called).
The cleaning liquid discharge port 23 of the oil / water separator 21 is connected to a cleaning liquid injection nozzle 27 provided in the cleaning tank 11 through a cleaning liquid circulation pipe 26 having a circulation pump 24 and a valve 25 interposed therebetween.

A heater 28, a liquid temperature sensor 29, a float sensor 30 and the like are arranged in the cleaning tank 11. The float sensor 30 prevents the heater 28 from being cooked in the air.

In this cleaning apparatus, the aqueous cleaning liquid 12 in the cleaning tank 11 is constantly stirred so that fine particles such as oil stains therein are dispersed in the liquid evenly. As a means for stirring the water-based cleaning liquid 12, the above-mentioned cleaning liquid injection nozzle 27 is arranged in the cleaning tank 11 of this cleaning device. From the cleaning liquid injection nozzle 27, the oil / water separator 2
A high-purity water-based cleaning liquid obtained by separating and removing oil stains and the like in 1 is sprayed, and the cleaning liquid spraying causes the water-based cleaning liquid 12 in the cleaning tank 11 to disperse fine particles such as oil stains therein evenly. Be stirred. Further, the spray of the cleaning liquid simultaneously produces an action of promoting the removal of dirt on the surface of the object to be cleaned immersed in the cleaning tank 11.

The oil / water separator 21 has a lipophilic element 33 as an element for obtaining the high-performance oil / water separating action. Here, the principle of oil-water separation using the lipophilic element 33 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2A, fine oil droplets (fine particles such as oil stains) X ₁ dispersed and emulsified in the aqueous cleaning liquid 12 are adsorbed by the lipophilic element 33 when passing through the lipophilic element 33. (In the figure, arrow Y indicates the flow of liquid). Aqueous cleaning solution 12
The fine oil droplets X ₁ are aggregated as the passage amount of
As shown in (b), the coarse oil particles X ₂ are obtained. In this way, by coarsening the fine oil droplets X ₁ ,
The oil particles X ₂ float on the surface of the water-based cleaning liquid 12 due to the difference in specific gravity. As the lipophilic element 33, for example, a filter made of lipophilic fiber such as polypropylene fiber is used.

As shown in FIG. 1, a dirt collecting pipe 34 is inserted in the upper part of the oil / water separator 21. When the amount of oil stains X ₃ floating in the oil-water separator 21 exceeds a certain amount, a signal from a float sensor 35 arranged above the inside of the oil-water separator 21 inserts the oil stains in the recovery pipe 34. The electromagnetic valve 36 thus opened is opened, and oil stains X ₃ are collected in the waste oil receiver 37. Reference numeral 38 denotes a manual valve, which is used when discarding the waste oil in the waste oil receiver 37.
Keep closed.

The oil-water separator 21 using the lipophilic element 33 has the advantages that the oil-water separation rate is much higher than that of the conventional overflow-type oil-water separator, and that the loss of the cleaning liquid is very small. There is.

A highly pure water-based cleaning liquid 12 from which oil stains and the like have been separated and removed by passing through the oil-water separator 21.
Is supplied to a cleaning liquid injection nozzle 27 in the cleaning tank 11 through a cleaning liquid circulation pipe 26, and is injected into the cleaning tank 11 from this nozzle 27 in the liquid. By this spray of the cleaning liquid, the aqueous cleaning liquid 12 in the cleaning tank 11 is agitated so that fine particles such as oil stains therein are dispersed in the liquid evenly.

As described above, according to the cleaning apparatus of the present embodiment, by constantly stirring the water-based cleaning liquid 12 in the cleaning tank 11, oil stains and the like float and collect on the surface of the water-based cleaning liquid 12 in the cleaning tank 11. Can be prevented. Therefore, the amount of redeposition of oil stains or the like on the surface of the object to be cleaned when the object 13 to be cleaned is pulled up from the cleaning tank 11 can be significantly reduced.

Further, according to this cleaning device, the cleaning tank 11
By constantly stirring the water-based cleaning liquid 12 therein, it is possible to prevent the surface active agent, which is one of the main components of the water-based cleaning liquid 12, from collecting on the surface of the water-based cleaning liquid 12 like oil stains. There is no concern that the composition of the water-based cleaning liquid 12 may change.

Further, according to this cleaning device, the cleaning tank 1
The average concentration of the dirt of the water-based cleaning liquid 12 in 1 can be suppressed to about 0.1% by the oil-water separating action of the high-performance oil-water separator 21 using the lipophilic element 33, and the water-based cleaning liquid 12 that is practically required. The sufficient purity can be secured.

As means for agitating the water-based cleaning liquid 12 in the cleaning tank 11, there may be some means other than the method of in-liquid injection of the water-based cleaning liquid by the injection nozzle 27 described above. For example, the ultrasonic cleaning liquid 12 can be ultrasonic waves.
There is a method of giving a minute vibration to the, a method of swinging or rotating the cleaning basket, a method of using a pulsator, and the like. further,
There is also a method of using a liquid stirring pump as shown in FIG.
In addition, various known means can also be applied. Further, these can be used in combination.

Further, the method of oil / water separation is not limited to the one using the lipophilic element in the present invention, and any oil / water separation effect equivalent to this can be obtained.
Any oil-water separation method may be adopted.

By the way, relatively large dust such as chips is deposited on the bottom of the cleaning tank 11. This settling dust is the cleaning tank 1
It is very difficult to remove the water-based cleaning liquid 12 from the cleaning tank 11 when the water-based cleaning liquid 12 is stored in the first cleaning liquid.
I had to remove all 2 and then remove the dust.
In this cleaning device, in order to efficiently perform the work of removing the settled dust, as shown in FIG. 3A, a net 4 that can be taken out so as to entirely cover the bottom of the cleaning tank 11.
1 was laid. The net 41 is preferably made of a metal net or the like, but may be made of other materials such as resin and cloth. The net 41 is provided with a handle 42 for easy removal from the cleaning tank 11. Further, in order to easily put the dust trapped on the net 41 into the dust container, the net 41 is, for example, as shown in FIG.
As shown in, the structure is such that it can be folded in half in the middle.

The structure of the net 41 is not limited to the above, and any structure may be used as long as it can collect dust such as chips.

[0033]

As described above, according to the cleaning apparatus of the present invention, oil stains and the like float and collect on the surface of the aqueous cleaning solution in the cleaning tank by constantly stirring the aqueous cleaning solution in the cleaning tank. Therefore, the amount of redeposition of oil stains on the surface of the object to be cleaned when the object to be cleaned is pulled up from the cleaning tank can be significantly reduced.

Further, according to the present invention, by constantly stirring the water-based cleaning liquid in the cleaning tank, it is possible to prevent the surface active agent, which is one of the main components of the water-based cleaning liquid, from condensing on the surface of the water-based cleaning liquid like dirt. . As a result, it is possible to prevent the surface active agent from being collected as a waste liquid together with oil stains, etc., and it is possible to suppress the composition variation of the water-based cleaning liquid in the cleaning tank and to suppress the life of the water-based cleaning liquid.

Further, according to the present invention, by using the oil / water separating means having the lipophilic element, it is possible to sufficiently secure the practically required level as the average concentration of dirt of the aqueous cleaning liquid in the cleaning tank. Moreover, since the loss of the water-based cleaning liquid is extremely small, the replenishment cycle of the water-based cleaning liquid can be significantly extended.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a view for explaining the principle of oil / water separation of the oil / water separator applied to the cleaning apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a means for efficiently removing settling dust in a cleaning tank.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of a conventional cleaning device.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a stirring means for an aqueous cleaning liquid.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 ... Cleaning tank 12 ... Water-based cleaning solution 13 ... Cleaning object 20, 26 ... Cleaning solution circulation pipe 21 ... High-performance oil / water separator (oil / water separator) 27 ... Cleaning solution injection nozzle 33 ... Lipophilic element

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A cleaning apparatus for cleaning an object to be cleaned by immersing the object to be cleaned in a cleaning tank containing an aqueous cleaning solution, wherein oil stains and the like contained in the aqueous cleaning solution in the cleaning tank are contained in the cleaning solution. Stirring means for stirring so as to be uniformly dispersed in, an oil-water separation means for performing oil-water separation of the water-based cleaning liquid of the cleaning tank, and introducing the water-based cleaning liquid of the cleaning tank to the oil-water separation means,
A cleaning liquid circulating means for returning the water-based cleaning liquid from which oil stains have been separated and removed by the oil-water separating device to the cleaning tank. 2. The cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the oil-water separating means passes the water-based cleaning liquid introduced from the cleaning tank to agglomerate and coarsen oil stains and the like dispersed in the water-based cleaning liquid. A cleaning device comprising: a lipophilic element for floating the liquid surface; and a means for collecting oil dirt or the like that collects oil dirt that has been aggregated and coarsened by the lipophilic element and floated on the liquid surface.