JPH10337546A - Vapor-phase washing device and vapor-phase washing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the degree of washing and washing efficiency for a jig for use in chemical analysis or an object to be washed produced in another industrial process. SOLUTION: In the vapor-phase washing device which comprises an airtight vessel 5, a mesh plate 6 which is provided in the vessel 5 to support an evaporating dish 2, an acid solution 3 stored in the vessel 5, and a heater 7 for vaporizing the solution 3, the dish 2, to the surface of which a sample is attached, is supported by the plate 6 and the solution 3 is vaporized by a heater 7 to saturate within the vessel 5 with the vapor of the solution 3, whereby the vapor of the solution 3 is condensed into droplets on the surface of the dish 2 so that the sample is eluted into the droplets and the droplets are caused to drop from the dish 2 to remove the sample from the dish 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vapor-phase cleaning apparatus and a vapor-phase cleaning method for cleaning an object to be cleaned to which dirt adheres.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, as industrial materials have been miniaturized and highly purified, it has become necessary in various industrial processes to clean high-purity dirt and impurities attached to devices or jigs for handling these devices. is there.

Here, as an example, a conventional cleaning method for cleaning an evaporating dish to which a sample used in chemical analysis has adhered will be described with reference to FIG.

[0004] First, a plurality of evaporating dishes 2 (see the perspective view of FIG. 4) on which a sample adheres are placed in a beaker 1 in a stacked manner, and an acid, which is a cleaning liquid, is placed in the beaker 1 so that all the evaporating dishes 2 are immersed. Solution 3 flows in. Then, after the beaker 1 is covered with a Teflon watch glass 4, the sample adhering to the surface of the evaporating dish 2 is eluted into the acid solution 3 by heating the bottom of the beaker 1, and the evaporating dish 2 is washed. .

[0005]

However, when the evaporating dish is washed using the above-mentioned conventional washing method, the sample adhering to the evaporating dish is eluted into the acid solution, and then the same evaporating dish or another evaporating dish is again used. There is a problem of sticking to the dish. In chemical analysis, trace analysis in the order of ppt or ppq may be performed. At this time, if a sample remains in the evaporating dish, the analysis accuracy is greatly impaired.

In addition, as the washing of the sample progresses, the impurity concentration in the acid solution increases, and the elution efficiency of the sample decreases. Further, it is necessary to immerse the entire evaporating dish in the acid solution. However, there is a problem that the amount of the acid solution used is inevitably increased.

The present invention provides a vapor phase cleaning apparatus and a vapor phase cleaning apparatus capable of improving the degree of cleaning and the cleaning efficiency of not only an evaporating dish but also other jigs used for chemical analysis or the like, or other objects to be cleaned generated in other industrial processes. It is an object to provide a vapor phase cleaning method.

[0008]

According to the present invention, there is provided a gas-phase cleaning apparatus comprising: an airtight container; supporting means provided in the airtight container for supporting an object to be cleaned; and stored in the airtight container. Cleaning liquid, and cleaning liquid vaporizing means for vaporizing the cleaning liquid.

A gas-phase cleaning method according to the present invention comprises: an airtight container; supporting means provided in the airtight container for supporting an object to be cleaned; and a cleaning liquid stored in the airtight container.
The supporting means in the vapor phase cleaning apparatus having a cleaning liquid vaporizing means for vaporizing the cleaning liquid supports an object to be cleaned having dirt adhered to the surface, and vaporizes the cleaning liquid using the cleaning liquid vaporizing means. Thereby, the inside of the hermetic container is saturated with the vapor of the cleaning liquid, whereby the vapor of the cleaning liquid is condensed on the surface of the object to be cleaned to form droplets, and the dirt is eluted in the droplets. The dirt is separated from the object to be cleaned by dropping the droplet from the object to be cleaned.

According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the dirt adhering to the object to be cleaned from being once eluted into the cleaning liquid and then adhering to the object to be cleaned again. This is because the wastewater has a very high boiling point and does not include waste in the vapor of the cleaning liquid.

[0011]

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

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a vapor phase cleaning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, an evaporating dish 2 to be cleaned is placed in a Teflon airtight container 5 having a lid 5a.
, For example, a mesh plate 6 is provided. An acid solution 3 as a cleaning liquid is stored at the bottom of the airtight container 5. The minimum amount of the acid solution 3 is a sufficient amount to evaporate the acid solution 3 so that the inside of the hermetic container 5 is in a supersaturated state of the vapor of the acid solution 3. This is an amount at which the liquid level is at a position slightly lower than the position where the mesh plate 6 is provided. At the bottom of the airtight container 5, a heater 7 for heating and evaporating the acid solution 3 is provided. An ultrasonic vaporizer may be used instead of the heater 7.

The cover 5a has a safety valve for exhausting these gases to the outside of the hermetic container 5 when the total pressure of the cleaning liquid vapor or other gas in the hermetic container 5 becomes higher than a predetermined pressure. 8 are provided. FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the safety valve 8. In FIG. 2, the safety valve 8 is disposed so as to cover the distal end of the pipe 5c communicating with the hole 5b provided in the lid 5a, and the bottom of the safety valve 8 is provided when the safety valve 8 is pushed up by the internal pressure. Is provided with an exhaust port 8a for exhausting the vapor of the acid solution 3 to the outside.

Next, a vapor phase cleaning method for an evaporating dish using the vapor phase cleaning apparatus will be described. First, an object to be cleaned is supported on the mesh plate 6 of the vapor phase cleaning apparatus. That is, the plurality of evaporating dishes 2 are placed on the mesh plate 6 in a state where they are face down. Next, the heater 7 is energized to heat the acid solution 3, thereby evaporating the acid solution 3 and bringing the inside of the airtight container 5 into a supersaturated state of the vapor of the acid solution 3. At this time, the vapor of the acid solution 3 gradually condenses on the surface of the evaporating dish 2 to form droplets, and the sample adhering to the surface of the evaporating dish 2 elutes in the droplets.

Since the evaporating dish 2 is placed on the mesh plate 6 in a prone state, when the vapor of the acid solution 3 is further condensed and the droplets become larger, the droplets containing the eluted sample are The sample falls into the acid solution 3 stored at the bottom of the airtight container 5, and the sample is mixed into the acid solution 3.

When the heater 7 is continuously energized, steam is continuously generated from the liquid surface of the acid solution 3. However, the sample (eg, NaCl) mixed in the acid solution 3 has a very high boiling point and does not evaporate. Is the vapor of the pure acid solution 3. Therefore, the sample once separated from the evaporating dish 2 does not adhere to the evaporating dish 2 again, and the acid solution 3
The evaporation and condensation are repeatedly performed cyclically, whereby the evaporating dish 2 can be washed with high purity.

The vapor of the acid solution 3 condenses on the surface of the mesh plate 6 and the inner wall of the washing vessel 5 to form droplets.
These droplets also fall into the acid solution 3, repeat vaporization and condensation again, and circulate in the closed vessel 5.

Although the vapor phase cleaning method of the evaporating dish has been described above, the object to be cleaned can be applied not only to the evaporating dish but also to cleaning of other instruments used in impurity analysis and electronic material manufacturing processes.

The closed container 5 is preferably made of a material having water repellency and hardly adsorbing impurities.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The object to be cleaned can be cleaned with high purity and high efficiency by using a small amount of the cleaning liquid.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway perspective cutaway view of a vapor phase cleaning apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of a safety valve of the gas-phase cleaning device.

FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway perspective view of a conventional cleaning device.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of an evaporating dish.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Beaker 2 Evaporating dish 3 Acid solution 4 Teflon watch glass 5 Airtight container 5a Cover 5b Hole 5c Tube 6 Mesh plate 7 Heater 8 Safety valve 8a Exhaust port

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. An airtight container, supporting means provided in the airtight container and supporting an object to be cleaned, a cleaning liquid stored in the airtight container, and a cleaning liquid vaporizing for vaporizing the cleaning liquid. Means for cleaning a gas phase. 2. The vapor-phase cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said cleaning liquid vaporizing means comprises a heater. 3. The vapor phase cleaning apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said cleaning liquid vaporizing means comprises an ultrasonic vaporizer. 4. The airtight container according to claim 1, further comprising a safety valve for exhausting the gas in the airtight container when the pressure in the airtight container exceeds a predetermined pressure. The vapor-phase cleaning device according to any one of the above. 5. An airtight container, supporting means provided in the airtight container and supporting an object to be cleaned, a cleaning liquid stored in the airtight container, and a cleaning liquid vaporizing for vaporizing the cleaning liquid. Means for supporting the object to be cleaned having contaminants adhered to the surface thereof, and vaporizing the cleaning liquid using the cleaning liquid vaporizing means, so that the inside of the hermetic container is cleaned with the cleaning liquid. To condense the vapor of the cleaning liquid on the surface of the object to be cleaned, form a droplet, elute the dirt in the droplet, and convert the droplet to the object to be cleaned. And removing the waste from the object to be cleaned by dropping the waste from the object. 6. The vapor phase cleaning method according to claim 5, wherein said cleaning liquid vaporizing means comprises a heater. 7. The vapor phase cleaning method according to claim 5, wherein said cleaning liquid vaporizing means is constituted by an ultrasonic vaporizer. 8. The airtight container according to claim 5, further comprising a safety valve for exhausting the gas in the airtight container when the pressure in the airtight container exceeds a predetermined pressure. The gas phase cleaning method according to any one of the above. 9. The gas phase cleaning method according to claim 5, wherein the object to be cleaned is an evaporating dish, and the cleaning liquid is an acidic solution.