KR20180028241A - Steam generation apparatus using the evaporation of heating unit surface - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a steam generating device using evaporation of a heating object surface. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the steam generating device using evaporation of a heating object surface comprises: a steam generating unit configured to allow liquid to touch a surface of a heating object to generate steam by using a phenomenon where liquid is evaporated to gas; a power supply unit configured to supply power for heating the heating object; and a nozzle unit configured to spray the steam, generated by the steam generating unit, onto a target object.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to a steam generator using vaporization of a surface of a heating element,

The present invention relates to a steam generating apparatus using vaporization of a surface of a heating element, and more particularly, to a steam generating apparatus for generating steam vaporized by bringing a liquid into contact with a surface of a heated heating element to rapidly generate steam using a small amount of energy, To a steam generator using vaporization of steam.

There are a lot of contaminants such as residual organic materials, particles, organic matter, and inorganic substances on the surface of many workpieces such as semiconductor wafer, flat panel display glass substrate and metal plate. In the semiconductor device manufacturing process, a cleaning process is repeated in which a wafer is patterned and then cleaned. The reason for cleaning the wafer is to remove organic materials such as a photoresist film and a polymer film, particles and the like. Since the organic matter or particles generate defects in the product, the importance of the cleaning process for removing the organic matter and particles is increasing.

In industrial applications such as semiconductors, wet cleaning methods, which are inexpensive and have proven technology compatibility, are widely used. However, since the wet cleaning mainly uses strong acids and strong bases which are very toxic, its use is regulated due to problems such as environmental pollution and safety. Further, as the degree of integration of semiconductor devices is increased, the purity of the cleaning agent and the ultra-pure water must be kept high, and the cost is increasing. In particular, wet cleaning is difficult to apply to a cluster tool system for performing continuous processes in conjunction with vacuum equipment. A dry cleaning method has been developed and applied to overcome and solve the drawbacks of the wet cleaning method. Dry cleaning, also referred to as vapor cleaning, includes ultrasonic cleaning, ionizing ozone cleaning, excimer ultraviolet (EUV) cleaning, and plasma cleaning. Dry cleaning equipment is complicated in configuration and has a wide area.

On the other hand, steam cleaning equipment using an environmentally friendly high-temperature and high-pressure steam having excellent washing power has been developed. The steam cleaning equipment uses a heater to heat water contained in a large-capacity container to generate steam, which is sprayed onto the wafer to clean the wafer.

Most of such steam cleaning equipment uses a large capacity vessel to generate steam in large quantities, and thus the scale of the cleaning system, which occupies a part of the semiconductor device manufacturing process, is inevitably increased.

In addition, since the large-sized steam cleaning equipment makes the steam transfer path from the steam generating point to the steam injecting point long, it takes a considerable effort to move the generated steam to a desired position while maintaining the temperature and pressure conditions need. That is, as the steam transfer path becomes longer, the generated steam can be converted into the liquid state water by condensing the steam in the gaseous state due to the temperature change. Accordingly, in such a cleaning system, it may be necessary to provide an additional facility for maintaining the steam temperature and the pressure state, or to apply a technique for controlling the temperature and pressure of the steam.

Also, since the specific heat of water is relatively larger than that of other materials, the temperature change does not appear to be significant. Due to the nature of this water, the steam cleaning equipment must prepare a large amount of steam prior to starting the steam cleaning process by heating the water in a large capacity container using a heater.

In other words, since conventional steam cleaning equipment is difficult to control the temperature of water, it is difficult to generate steam in a short time. This means that a large amount of steam must be prepared in advance in order to cope with the object to be treated (for example, a wiper, a glass, a substrate, etc.) coming into the steam process in a short time in the steam cleaning process.

In addition, steam generated when particles are generated inside the container may be contaminated by particles. When the contamination of the steam is sprayed onto the wafer, the cleaning ability of the wafer deteriorates.

Therefore, the conventional steam cleaning equipment can miniaturize the scale of the steam system to provide steam without a separate steam transfer path, and can generate steam at a high speed that can cope with the object to be processed in a short time There is a need to propose a system.

An object of the present invention is to provide a steam generator using vaporization of a surface of a heating element for generating steam vaporized by contacting a liquid to a surface of a heated heating element to quickly generate steam using a small amount of energy.

The present invention relates to a steam generator for generating steam by using a phenomenon in which a liquid is brought into contact with a surface of a heating element to vaporize the liquid into a gas; A power supply unit for supplying power for heating the heating element; And a nozzle unit for spraying the steam generated by the steam generating unit to the object.

The steam generating unit may further include: a liquid supply unit for supplying a liquid to a surface of the heating element; A surface vaporizing part for placing the heating element inside the chamber and generating vapor by bringing the liquid supplied from the liquid supplying part into contact with the surface of the heating element to vaporize the liquid; And a gas supply unit for mixing the compressed air with the steam generated through the surface vaporization unit to increase the speed and pressure of the compressed air injected to the nozzle unit.

Further, the apparatus further includes a liquid drainage part for draining the liquid that has come into contact with the surface of the heating element and is not vaporized but left as it is, into the nozzle part.

The nozzle portion includes a mixing region for contacting the surface of the heating element to mix the vaporized vapor and the liquid separated through the liquid drainage portion.

The heating element is a structure having a circular, square, triangular, heart, V-shaped cross section.

The steam generator includes: a liquid supply unit for supplying a liquid to a surface of the heating element; The liquid supply portion and the heating element are formed in the chamber and the heating element is disposed on the lower side of the liquid supply portion according to rows and columns so that liquid supplied from the liquid supply portion is vaporized by contacting with the surface of the heating element to generate steam A surface vaporizing portion for vaporizing the gas; And a gas supply unit for mixing the compressed air with the steam generated through the surface vaporization unit to increase the speed and pressure of the compressed air injected to the nozzle unit.

The steam generator includes: a liquid supply unit for supplying a liquid to a surface of the heating element; The liquid supply part and the heating element are formed in the chamber and the liquid supply part and the heating element are staggered in the left and right side walls of the chamber so that the liquid supplied from the liquid supply part comes into contact with the surface of the heating element, A surface vaporizing portion for generating a vaporizing gas; And a gas supply unit for mixing the compressed air with the steam generated through the surface vaporization unit to increase the speed and pressure of the compressed air injected to the nozzle unit.

The heating elements are formed so as to overlap each other at a center line that can virtually form an outer circumferential surface between the left side wall and the right side wall when the heating elements are staggered on the right and left side walls.

The heating element is heated using carbon fibers.

The nozzle unit includes a vapor oscillating unit that vibrates in a mixing region by a high frequency signal to finely divide the size of bubble particles of the vapor.

The nozzle unit may be made of one of titanium, quartz, ceramics, and Teflon.

In the present invention, a liquid is brought into contact with the surface of a heated exothermic body to generate a vaporized vapor, so that a small amount of energy can be used to rapidly generate the vapor.

Further, the present invention can prevent the case where the vapor transfer path is short and the steam is condensed or changed into water due to the temperature change. Therefore, the present invention does not need to have additional facilities for maintaining the temperature and pressure state of the steam.

In addition, since the present invention does not generate steam by heating water contained in a large capacity container using a heater, it is possible to prevent the generation of foreign substances in the large-capacity container and generate steam quickly.

In addition, the present invention can miniaturize the scale of the steam system to provide steam without a separate steam transfer path, and can generate steam at a high speed that can cope with an object to be processed in a short time.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a steam generator using vaporization of a surface of a heating element according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the steam generator of FIG. 1,
3 is a sectional view taken along the line AA 'of the steam generator of FIG. 2,
4A to 4E are views showing various embodiments of a heating element of the steam generator of FIG. 2,
5A and 5B are views showing the internal structure of a heating element of the steam generator of FIG. 2,
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a steam generator according to a second embodiment of the present invention,
7A and 7B are a sectional view taken along the line BB 'of the steam generator of FIG. 6,
FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the steam generator of FIG. 1 according to the third embodiment. FIG.
9A and 9B are cross-sectional views taken along the line CC 'of the steam generator of FIG. 8,
9C is a view of a heating element mounting method,
FIG. 10 is a view of the steam vibration portion disposed in the nozzle portion of FIGS. 7A and 9A.

For a better understanding of the present invention, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. The embodiments of the present invention may be modified into various forms, and the scope of the present invention should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments described in detail below. The present embodiments are provided to enable those skilled in the art to more fully understand the present invention. Therefore, the shapes and the like of the elements in the drawings can be exaggeratedly expressed to emphasize a clearer description. It should be noted that in the drawings, the same members are denoted by the same reference numerals. Detailed descriptions of well-known functions and constructions which may be unnecessarily obscured by the gist of the present invention are omitted.

1 is a configuration diagram of a steam generator using vaporization of a surface of a heating element according to an embodiment of the present invention.

1, a steam generator (hereinafter referred to as "steam generator") 1 using vaporization of a surface of a heating element according to an embodiment of the present invention is a device in which a liquid is brought into contact with the surface of a heating element, The steam can be formed at a high speed by generating the steam using the phenomenon that the steam is vaporized. Here, the 'object 40' includes, for example, a semiconductor substrate, a glass substrate, a lens, a disk member, a precision machined member, a molded resin member, a printed circuit board (PCB) The term " treatment " is carried out on an object and includes, for example, peeling, cleaning, processing, vapor deposition and the like, but is not limited thereto.

For this purpose, the steam generator 1 may include a steam generator 10, a power supply unit 20, and a nozzle unit 30. The steam generating unit 10 includes a liquid supply unit 110, a gas supply unit 120, and a surface vaporization unit 130.

The liquid supply unit 110 may supply a predetermined liquid (for example, pure water or ultra-pure water) to the surface vaporizing unit 130 in the form of water droplets. That is, it is preferable that the liquid supply unit 110 is provided in a form showing the trajectory of the liquid dropping discontinuously or in a form spraying the liquid in spray form. The liquid supply unit 110 can adjust the speed or flow rate of the liquid to be dropped or sprayed, if necessary.

The gas supply unit 120 may supply compressed air (CDA) to the surface vaporizing unit 130 to improve the jetting rate of the vapor sprayed toward the object 40 through the surface vaporizing unit 130 .

The surface vaporization unit 130 may generate vapor by vaporizing the liquid supplied from the liquid supply unit 110 with vapor, which is a gas. At this time, the surface vaporizing unit 130 includes a heating element inside, and heats the heating element by a power source supplied from the power supply unit 20. Accordingly, the heating element vaporizes the liquid by vapor when the liquid supplied from the liquid supply part 110 comes into contact with the surface. As described above, the surface vaporizing unit 130 heats the heating element disposed therein, and can generate the vapor through the vaporization action of the liquid occurring on the surface of the heated heating element.

The power supply unit 20 supplies power to a heating element inside the surface vaporizing unit 130. The power supply unit 20 can separately supply power such as alternating current or direct current according to the type or specification of the heating element.

The nozzle unit 30 may collect the steam generated from the surface vaporizing unit 130 and spray the steam to clean the surface of the object 40. The nozzle unit 30 may be a structure in which the surface of the object 40 is cleaned in accordance with the movement of the object 40 by functioning as a fixed nozzle after being manufactured as an integrated module in the surface vaporizing unit 130, The surface of the object 40 may be cleaned in consideration of the moving position or the stop position of the object 40 by connecting the object 40 to the nozzle 130 through a vapor transfer path and functioning as a movable nozzle.

2 is a perspective view of an embodiment of the steam generator of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the steam generator of FIG. 2, and FIGS. 4a to 4e are views of the steam generator of FIG. FIGS. 5A and 5B are views showing the internal structure of a heating element of the steam generating apparatus of FIG. 2. FIG.

2 and 3, the steam generating unit 10 includes a liquid supply unit 110, a gas supply unit 120, and a surface vaporization unit 130. The steam generating unit 10 may be connected to the nozzle unit 30 in an integrated structure so that the generated steam may be injected to the object 40 through the nozzle unit 30. [

The surface vaporizing unit 130 may have a heating element 131 disposed inside the circular chamber. At this time, the liquid supply unit 110 positions the liquid to fall along the locus toward the center of the heating element 131. At this time, the liquid separated from the liquid supply part 110 partially reaches the surface of the heating element 131 and is vaporized to become vapor. The other part of the liquid touches the surface of the heating element 131 and is not vaporized, And drops to the nozzle unit 30 through the liquid drainage unit 132. [

The vaporized vapor which reaches the surface of the heating body 131 is rapidly pushed into the nozzle unit 30 by the pressure of the gas supplied from the gas supply unit 120. At this time, the nozzle portion 30 forms a mixing region 31 therein. Here, the vapor portion contacting the surface of the heating body 131 and the liquid separated through the liquid drain portion 132 are mixed with each other for cleaning Heat effect phenomenon can be caused. That is, when continuously mixed under a constant pressure in the mixing zone 31 of the nozzle unit 30 having a constant capacity due to the temperature difference between the vapor and the liquid, the vapor is cooled by pure water and contracted, It is heated and expands. In this way, heat exchange between the two generates vibration having a certain frequency, and by this vibration, the water molecule H ₂ O is decomposed into the hydrogen ion H + and the hydroxide ion OH-. Since the hydrogen ion H + and the hydroxide ion OH- are in a very unstable state, they are going to return to the water molecule H ₂ O. The object 40 can be cleaned by converting the high energy generated at this time into a mechanical impact.

4A to 4E, the heating element 131 may be formed to be long along the longitudinal direction of the surface vaporizing part 130. 4A), a square (see FIG. 4B), a triangle (see FIG. 4C), a heart (see FIG. 4D), and a V (see FIG. 4E) ) Can be formed. The heating element 131 as shown in FIGS. 4A to 4C has a structure in which the non-vaporized liquid immediately falls into the nozzle portion 30 after the liquid supplied from the liquid supply portion 110 is contacted, The heating element 131 has a structure in which the liquid supplied from the liquid supply part 110 does not directly fall to the nozzle part 30 but stays in the heating element 131 to some extent and is vaporizable.

Referring to FIGS. 5A and 5B, the case where the heating element 131 has a circular shape will be described by way of example. The heating element 131 can function as a heat source through induction heating or resistance heating. In the case of FIG. 5A, the heating element 131 may have a structure in which both ends are divided by a left-right symmetrical frame 131a, and a heat source 131b may be inserted into the frame 131a. 5B, the heating element 131 may have a structure of a single-piece frame 131a, and a heat source 131b may be inserted into the insertion hole formed in the frame 131a. As described above, the frame 131a may be made of a metal material having a high heat transfer efficiency, and the heat source 131b may generate heat through induction heating or resistance heating. When the heat source 131b generates heat through induction heating, it is preferable that the insulating material is coated on the frame 131a to generate eddy current by electromagnetic induction to generate heat.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the steam generator of FIG. 1 according to the second embodiment, and FIGS. 7a and 7b are cross-sectional views taken along line B-B 'of the steam generator of FIG.

Referring to FIGS. 6, 7A and 7B, the steam generating unit 10 includes a liquid supply unit 110, a gas supply unit 120, and a surface vaporization unit 130. Although the surface vaporizing unit 130 is connected to the power supply unit 20, it will be omitted in FIGS. 6, 7A and 7B. The steam generating unit 10 may be connected to the nozzle unit 30 in an integrated structure so that the generated steam may be injected to the object 40 through the nozzle unit 30. [

The surface vaporizing part 130 forms a rectangular chamber and chambers 130a and 130b generating steam by surface vaporization are symmetrically formed on both sides of the chambers 130a and 130b, ) Can be formed. At this time, the vapors generated from the chambers 130a and 130b may be gathered by the nozzle unit 30 as one steam passage and may be injected into the object 40. The chambers 130a and 130b may be formed of only one chamber.

Each of the chambers 130a and 130b includes a plurality of liquid supply portions 110a and 110b formed along the longitudinal direction of the chambers 130a and 130b and a plurality of heat generating elements 110a and 110b disposed below the liquid supply portions 110a and 110b. (133a, 133b) are arranged in rows and columns. At this time, a small hole is formed in the surface of the liquid supply portions 110a and 110b to supply the liquid to the heat emitting bodies 133a and 133b in a spraying manner or to drop the liquid little by little to supply the liquid to the heat emitting bodies 133a and 133b .

The plurality of heating elements 133a and 133b are preferably arranged in such a structure that when the liquid supplied from the liquid supply portions 110a and 110b comes into contact with each other, the surface vaporization of the liquid efficiently occurs and a large amount of vapor can be generated . That is, the plurality of heat generating elements 133a and 133b may be formed in various arrangements according to the positions and intervals. Here, the plurality of heating elements 133a and 133b may be arranged in a structure having the same interval on the upper side and the lower side, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

Referring to FIG. 7B, the plurality of heating elements 133a and 133b may be arranged in a 2x3 matrix structure. At this time, the plurality of heating elements 133a and 133b may be bundled and fixed by a supporting bar (not shown) having an insertion hole formed therein.

When the liquid supplied from the liquid supply portions 110a and 110b comes into contact with the upper side heating element 133-1, the liquid firstly generates vapor through surface vaporization. At this time, the liquid comes in contact with the upper side heating element 133-1, The liquid which has not evaporated can further generate vapor through surface vaporization of the lower side heating element 133-2 by further contacting with the lower side heating element 133-2. As described above, the surface vaporizing section 130 provides a structure in which vaporization of liquid can occur several times on the surfaces of the heat generating elements 133a and 133b by using the arrangement structure of the plurality of heat generating elements 133a and 133b, The contact frequency of the heating elements 133a and 133b can be increased, and the steam can be generated quickly and in large quantities.

The heating elements 133a and 133b may be heated using a resistance heating method or an induction heating method. First, in the case of using the resistance heating method, the heating elements 133a and 133b are directly connected to the power supply unit 20 and heated by joule heat generated when current flows. Here, the heating elements 133a and 133b may be formed of a metal heating element (iron / chrome / aluminum type, nickel / chromium type alloy, single metal or the like), a non-metallic heating element (silicon carbide, molybdenum dioxide, tantalum chromite, ), A sieve heater, a ceramic heater, or the like can be used. Next, in the case of using the induction heating method, the heating elements 133a and 133b use electromagnetic induction phenomenon. When a conductive metallic material is placed in the high frequency AC magnetic field generated when a high frequency alternating current flows in the heating coil, Eddy current is generated on the surface, and the heat is generated by the principle that joule heat is generated by the skin resistance of the metal material.

Meanwhile, the steam generated in the surface vaporizing unit 130 can be automatically introduced into the nozzle unit 30 through the opening / closing valves 32a and 32b. That is, the open / close valves 32a and 32b are automatically opened when the pressure is high and automatically closed when the pressure is low.

The nozzle unit 30 can improve the injection pressure of the steam by mixing the steam introduced through the open / close valves 32a and 32b and the compressed air supplied from the gas supply unit 120 in the mixing region 34. [ At this time, the steam vibration unit 33 may be disposed in the mixed region 34. [ The steam vibration unit 33 generates vibration by a high-frequency signal (i.e., an RF signal) to finely divide the size of bubbles of the steam, thereby inducing miniaturization of the steam. This means that as the bubble particles of the steam are miniaturized, it is possible to more effectively cope with the processing of the fine pattern or the like area of the object 40. [ Further, the steam vibration unit 33 receives a high-frequency signal and grounds the surface of the mixed region 34 corresponding to the steam vibration unit 33. In addition, the nozzle unit 30 can form a venturi pipe 34, which is formed in the vapor passage, to increase the velocity of the vapor sprayed onto the object 40.

The surface vaporization unit 130 and the nozzle unit 30 may be made of either a metal material or a nonmetal material. Specifically, the surface vaporization unit 130 and the nozzle unit 30 may be made of titanium (Ti) in the case of a metal material, and quartz, And so on.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the steam generator of FIG. 1 according to a third embodiment of the present invention. FIGS. 9A and 9B are cross-sectional views of the steam generator of FIG. to be.

Referring to FIGS. 8, 9A and 9B, the steam generating unit 10 includes a liquid supply unit 110, a gas supply unit 120, and a surface vaporization unit 130. The surface vaporizing unit 130 is connected to the power supply unit 20, but will not be described in FIGS. 8, 9A, and 9B. The steam generating unit 10 may be connected to the nozzle unit 30 in an integrated structure so that the generated steam may be injected to the object 40 through the nozzle unit 30. [ The components described in Figs. 8, 9A and 9B will be omitted from the description overlapping with the components shown in Figs. 6, 7A and 7B.

As shown in FIG. 9A, the surface vaporizing unit 130 includes chambers 130c and 130d on both sides where vapor due to surface vaporization is generated symmetrically, and the nozzle unit 30 is formed around both chambers 130c and 130d .

Each of the chambers 130c and 130d may form therein a liquid supply portion 110c or 110d formed along the longitudinal direction of the surface vaporization portion 130. [ In addition, the chambers 130c and 130d can form a rectangular structure in which the interval between the upper and lower side walls is relatively larger than the interval between the left and right side walls.

The liquid supply units 110c and 110d may be mounted on any one of the right and left side walls of the chambers 130c and 130d. Here, the liquid supply units 110c and 110d are mounted at the center of the chambers 130c and 130d.

A plurality of heating elements 134c and 134d can be mounted on the right and left side walls of the chambers 130c and 130d together with the liquid supply portions 110c and 110d in a zigzag manner. 9C, the chambers 130c and 130d are formed by mounting a plurality of heating elements 134c on the left side wall 130-1 and mounting a plurality of heating elements 134d on the right side wall 130-2 , And a predetermined gap (d). The distance d between the left side wall 130-1 and the right side wall 130-2 is a distance between the left side wall 130-1 and the right side wall 130-2 when mounting the plurality of heat generating elements 134c and 134d in a zigzag manner. The outer circumferential surface of each of the heating elements 134 disposed in the left and right side walls 130-1 and 130-2 can be formed to overlap with the center line lm that can be formed virtually between the left side wall 130-1 and the right side wall 130-2. The liquid sprayed from the liquid supply part 110 is prevented from contacting between the heating elements 134c and 134d mounted on the left side wall 130-1 and the heating elements 134c and 134d mounted on the right side wall 130-2 Most of the heat can be vaporized from the surface of the heat generating elements 134c and 134d by steam, by making contact with the heating elements 134c and 134d which are staggered without being passed through.

The liquid supplied from the liquid supply units 110c and 110d may generate steam through the surface vaporization several times while passing through the plurality of heating elements 134c and 134d mounted in a zigzag fashion. As described above, the surface vaporizing section 130 provides a structure in which vaporization of the liquid can occur several times on the surfaces of the heat emitting bodies 134c and 134d by using the arrangement structure of the plurality of heat emitting bodies 134c and 134d, The contact frequency of the heating elements 134c and 134d can be increased and steam can be generated quickly and in large quantities.

The heating elements 134c and 134d have a structure capable of increasing the efficiency of generating steam through surface vaporization when mounted on the left side wall 130-1 or the right side wall 130-2, Can be adjusted. For example, the heating elements 134c and 134d may be arranged at equal intervals in the left side wall 130-1 or the right side wall 130-2, or may be arranged in the lower portion of the liquid supply portions 110c and 110d in which the steam is generated, .

The liquid supply portions 110c and 110d are provided with small holes on the surface thereof to supply the liquid to the heat emitting bodies 134c and 134d in a spray form or to drop the liquid little by little and to supply the liquid to the heat emitting bodies 134c and 134d in a dripping manner. Here, the liquid supply portions 110c and 110d spray the liquid onto the heat emitting bodies 134c and 134d in a spraying manner, so that the heat can be generated by the heat emitting bodies 134c and 134d located in the periphery.

The plurality of heat generating elements 134c and 134d may be classified in function depending on their relative positions with respect to the liquid supply portions 110c and 110d. That is, a part of the heat generating elements 134c and 134d may be located on the lower side of the liquid supply portions 110c and 110d, and a part thereof may be located on the upper side of the liquid supply portions 110c and 110d.

The heating elements 134c and 134d located on the lower side of the liquid supply portions 110c and 110d function to vaporize the surface of the liquid by supplying liquid from the liquid supply portions 110c and 110d to generate steam, The heating elements 134c and 134d located on the upper side of the heating elements 110c and 110d can perform the function of heating the generated steam to generate saturated steam or heated steam.

It is preferable that the plurality of heating elements 134c and 134d are formed using carbon fibers. That is, the plurality of heating elements 134c and 134d are formed to be thin like carbon fibers, so that the spaces between the right and left side walls of the chambers 130a and 130b can be narrowed.

The heating elements 134c and 134d may be heated using a resistance heating method or an induction heating method. First, in the case of using the resistance heating method, the heating elements 134c and 134d are directly connected to the power supply part 20 and heated by Joule heat generated when a current flows. Here, the heat generating elements 134c and 134d may be formed of a metal heating element (iron / chrome / aluminum type, nickel / chrome type alloy, single metal or the like), a non-metallic heating element (silicon carbide, molybdenum dioxide, tantalum chromite, ), A sieve heater, a ceramic heater, or the like can be used. Next, in the case of using the induction heating method, the heating elements 134c and 134d use electromagnetic induction phenomenon. When a conductive metal material is placed in the high frequency AC magnetic field generated when a high frequency alternating current flows in the heating coil, Eddy current is generated on the surface, and the heat is generated by the principle that joule heat is generated by the skin resistance of the metal material.

On the other hand, the steam generated in the chambers 130c and 130d can be automatically introduced into the nozzle unit 30 through the open / close valves 32c and 32d. That is, the open / close valves 32c and 32d are automatically opened when the pressure is high and automatically closed when the pressure is low.

The nozzle portion 30 introduces steam into the mixing region 34 through the open / close valves 32c and 32d. In addition, the nozzle unit 30 may connect a supply unit (not shown) for supplying liquid (i.e., pure water) or gas (i.e., compressed air) or the like to the mixed region 34.

The chambers 130c and 130d can connect the gas supply units 120c and 120d to the side surfaces. That is, the gas supply units 120c and 120d can improve the injection pressure of the steam discharged through the open / close valves 32c and 32d by mixing compressed air with steam vaporized on the surfaces of the heat emitting bodies 134c and 134d. At this time, the steam vibration unit 33 may be disposed in the mixed region 34. [ The steam vibration unit 33 generates vibration by a high-frequency signal (i.e., an RF signal) to finely divide the size of bubbles of the steam, thereby inducing miniaturization of the steam. This means that as the bubble particles of the steam are miniaturized, it is possible to more effectively cope with the processing of the fine pattern or the like area of the object 40. [ Further, the steam vibration unit 33 receives a high-frequency signal and grounds the surface of the mixed region 34 corresponding to the steam vibration unit 33. In addition, the nozzle unit 30 can form a venturi pipe 34, which is formed in the vapor passage, to increase the velocity of the vapor sprayed onto the object 40.

FIG. 10 is a view of the steam vibration portion disposed in the nozzle portion of FIGS. 7A and 9A.

As shown in Fig. 10, the nozzle section 30 can arrange the vapor vibration section 33 in the mixing region 34. In the present embodiment, as shown in Fig. The steam vibration unit 33 may be connected to the power supply unit 20 to receive the RF signal. At this time, the nozzle unit 30 electrically grounds the surface facing the steam vibration unit 33. That is, the steam vibration unit 33 vibrates as the RF signal is applied, and can finely divide the size of the bubbles of the vapor introduced into the nozzle unit 30 into a vapor having a fine bubble particle size. Accordingly, the nozzle unit 30 recovers foreign objects sandwiched between the minute gaps of the object 40 due to the explosive force of the minute bubbles, thereby spraying the steam for more precise cleaning.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations may be made in the present invention. Accordingly, it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments. Accordingly, the true scope of the present invention should be determined by the technical idea of the appended claims. It is also to be understood that the invention includes all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

10: steam generator 20: power supply
30: nozzle unit 40: object
110: liquid supply unit 120: gas supply unit
130: surface vaporizing portion

Claims (11)

A steam generator for generating steam by using a phenomenon that a liquid is brought into contact with a surface of a heating element to vaporize the liquid into a gas;
A power supply unit for supplying power for heating the heating element; And
A nozzle unit for spraying the steam generated by the steam generating unit onto the object,
And the vaporization of the surface of the heating element.
The method according to claim 1,
The steam generator includes:
A liquid supply part for supplying liquid to the surface of the heating element;
A surface vaporizing part for placing the heating element inside the chamber and generating vapor by bringing the liquid supplied from the liquid supplying part into contact with the surface of the heating element to vaporize the liquid;
A gas supply unit for mixing the compressed air with the steam generated through the surface vaporizing unit to increase the speed and pressure of the compressed air injected to the nozzle unit,
And the vaporization of the surface of the heating element.
3. The method of claim 2,
And a liquid discharge portion for discharging the liquid which has not been vaporized but dropped as it is on the surface of the heating element to the nozzle portion,
Further comprising a vaporizing means for vaporizing the surface of the heating element.
The method of claim 3,
In the nozzle unit,
And a mixing region for contacting the surface of the heating element to mix vaporized vapor and liquid separated through the liquid drainage portion.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the heating element has a circular, square, triangular, heart, V-shaped cross section.
The method according to claim 1,
The steam generator includes:
A liquid supply part for supplying liquid to the surface of the heating element;
The liquid supply portion and the heating element are formed in the chamber and the heating element is disposed on the lower side of the liquid supply portion according to rows and columns so that liquid supplied from the liquid supply portion is vaporized by contacting with the surface of the heating element to generate steam A surface vaporizing portion for vaporizing the gas;
A gas supply unit for mixing the compressed air with the steam generated through the surface vaporizing unit to increase the speed and pressure of the compressed air injected to the nozzle unit,
And the vaporization of the surface of the heating element.
The method according to claim 1,
The steam generator includes:
A liquid supply part for supplying liquid to the surface of the heating element;
The liquid supply part and the heating element are formed in the chamber and the liquid supply part and the heating element are staggered in the left and right side walls of the chamber so that the liquid supplied from the liquid supply part comes into contact with the surface of the heating element, A surface vaporizing portion for generating a vaporizing gas;
A gas supply unit for mixing the compressed air with the steam generated through the surface vaporizing unit to increase the speed and pressure of the compressed air injected to the nozzle unit,
And the vaporization of the surface of the heating element.
8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the heating element is vaporized on a surface of a heating element which is formed so as to overlap with a center line that can virtually form an outer peripheral surface between the left side wall and the right side wall when staggeredly mounted on the right and left side walls.
8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the heating element uses vaporization of a surface of a heating element which is heated by using carbon fibers.
10. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 9,
Wherein the nozzle unit includes a vapor oscillating unit for finely dividing the size of bubble particles of the steam by generating a vibration by a high frequency signal in a mixing region.
11. The method of claim 10,
Wherein the nozzle unit uses vaporization of a surface of a heating element using any one of titanium, quartz, ceramic, and Teflon.

Images