JPS61174982A - Steam washer - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a steam cleaning device used for cleaning various optical/electronic parts, jigs, products, etc. An example of such a device was the one shown in FIG. This is an example in which the apparatus is combined with an ultrasonic cleaning apparatus, and a steam cleaning tank 1 containing a liquid that easily vaporizes, such as fluorocarbon, and an ultrasonic cleaning tank 2 are arranged adjacent to each other. The liquid in the steam cleaning tank 1 is heated by a heater 3 provided at the bottom, boils, and generates steam. The steam is cooled and liquefied in the upper condensing coil 4, and after water is removed in the water separator 5, it enters the ultrasonic cleaning tank 2. The liquid overflowing from the ultrasonic cleaning tank 2 returns to the steam cleaning tank 1.

The object to be cleaned 6 is cleaned in the ultrasonic cleaning tank 2 by ultrasonic vibrations generated by the transducer T, and then placed in the steam of the steam cleaning tank 1 and cleaned by the cleaning liquid condensed on the surface.
Thereafter, it is taken out onto the vapor line 8 formed in the condensing coil 4 and dried, completing a series of cleaning steps.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, in such a conventional steam cleaning device, when the liquid level in the steam cleaning tank 1 decreases due to consumption of the liquid, the heater 3 becomes in a dry state, which may cause damage to the device. Alternatively, even if this situation is avoided by replenishing the liquid in the steam cleaning tank 1, the temperature of the liquid will drop and until it reaches the boiling point, cleaning will not be possible and the operating rate will drop. There was a problem.

[Failure to solve the problem]

In order to solve these problems, the present invention provides a liquid level holding tank that contains the same liquid as the liquid contained in the steam cleaning tank and is equipped with a means for keeping the liquid level constant. The tank is further provided with means for replenishing the liquid, and the liquid level holding tank and the steam cleaning tank are communicated through an opening provided at least below the liquid level.

[Effect]

Due to the principle of the communication pipe, the liquid level in the steam cleaning tank is always equal to the liquid level in the liquid level holding tank, and is kept constant.

〔Example〕

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, in which a liquid in a steam cleaning tank 1, for example, fluorocarbon, is heated and vaporized by a heater 3 consisting of an electric heater, and then cooled by a condensing coil 4 at the top. The process of liquefying the liquid again and entering the ultrasonic cleaning tank 2 via the water separator 5 and the object to be cleaned 6 using the ultrasonic vibrations generated by the vibrator 7, followed by steam cleaning and transfer is the conventional procedure. It is exactly the same.

However, in this embodiment, in addition to these, an auxiliary tank 11 for storing condensed liquid and a liquid level holding tank 13 connected to this auxiliary tank 11 via a pump 12 are provided. The liquid overflowing from the tank 2 passes through the pipe 14 and enters the auxiliary tank 11 after removing contaminants by the filter 15.

The liquid accumulated in the auxiliary tank 11 is transferred to the pipe 16 by the pump 12.
The liquid is sent to the liquid level holding tank 13 through. When the liquid accumulated in the liquid level holding tank 13 overflows from the side wall 131 as shown in FIG. 2, it returns to the auxiliary tank 11 through the piping 17.

Therefore, the liquid level in the liquid level holding tank 13 becomes equal to the height of the side wall 131. On the other hand, since the steam cleaning tank 1 is connected to the liquid level holding tank 13 via a pipe 18 opened at the bottom,
The liquid level is always equal to the liquid level in the liquid level holding tank 13 due to the principle of the communicating pipe. In addition, regarding the consumption of the liquid that still occurs even after such recycling, the auxiliary tank 11 should be
Replenishment is performed as needed from a supply source (not shown) via a valve 19.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention. Basically, there is no difference from the embodiment described above, but in this embodiment, an auxiliary tank is provided between the ultrasonic cleaning tank 2 and the steam cleaning tank 1.
1A, and the liquid overflowing from the ultrasonic cleaning tank 2 is directly received in this auxiliary tank 11A.

Furthermore, the ultrasonic cleaning tank 2 itself can also be used as an auxiliary tank.

In the embodiment described above, the overflow from the side wall 131 was used as a means to keep the liquid level in the liquid level holding tank 13 constant, but as shown in FIGS. It is also possible to raise the opening of the pipe 17A returning to the pipe 11 to a certain height and use the overflow caused by the liquid level holding tank 13A. In this embodiment, the filter 20 is also provided on the discharge side of the pump 12, but such a filter may be placed anywhere in the piping.

Furthermore, in all of the embodiments described above, liquid is always continuously supplied from the auxiliary tank to the liquid level holding tank by the pump 12, and liquid that overflows in the liquid level holding tank is returned to the auxiliary tank through piping. Although the liquid level in the liquid level holding tank is kept constant, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a float type liquid level gauge is provided in the liquid level holding tank, and when the liquid level falls below a certain level, the pump is activated. A configuration may also be adopted in which the liquid is supplied to the liquid level holding tank. However, in the case of continuous operation using overflow as in each of the above-mentioned embodiments, the structure is simple and the liquid at a low temperature does not reach the liquid level holding tank 1.
．． 13A to the steam cleaning tank 1 via the pipe 18, and the temperature of the liquid does not drop significantly.
Highly desirable.

Note that the heater 3 is not limited to an electric heater, and may be, for example, a hot water circulation coil. Further, the cleaning liquid is not limited to chlorofluorocarbon and is not particularly limited as long as it is a liquid normally used for steam cleaning, such as trichlorethylene, acetone, xylene, alcohol, etc.

Further, although an example in which the present invention is combined with an ultrasonic cleaning device has been described above, it may also be combined with a cleaning device other than the ultrasonic cleaning device, such as scrub cleaning or jet cleaning, or may be used alone.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, there is provided a liquid level holding tank equipped with a means for accommodating cleaning liquid and keeping the liquid level constant, and a means for replenishing the cleaning liquid to the liquid level holding tank, and By communicating the tank with the steam cleaning tank, the steam cleaning tank can always maintain an appropriate liquid level, and it is possible to avoid damage caused by dry firing and a decrease in operating efficiency due to sudden liquid replenishment.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a plan view showing a liquid level holding tank, Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 4 is a block diagram showing the present invention. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a liquid level holding tank, and FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram showing a conventional example. 1... Steam cleaning tank, 2... Ultrasonic cleaning tank, 3...
... Heater, 4 ... Condensing coil, 6 ... Object to be cleaned, 8 ... Paper line, 11.11A ...
・Auxiliary tank, 12...Pump, 13.13A...
Liquid level holding tank, 14, 16, 1γ. 17A, 18...Piping, 131...Side wall.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A steam cleaning tank containing a liquid that is vaporized by heating and used to clean objects to be cleaned with the vapor, and a means for accommodating the liquid and keeping the liquid level constant at all times, and an opening provided at least below the liquid level. 1. A steam cleaning device comprising: a liquid level holding tank communicating with the steam cleaning tank through a portion; and means for replenishing the liquid level holding tank with the liquid.