JP3519513B2 - Air conditioner mounted on the main unit - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an air conditioner attached to a main body of various devices for supplying clean air to the main body of the device.
For example, it is installed and used in the upper part of the main body of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus installed in a clean room.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is installed in a clean room because it is necessary to perform various kinds of processing on a substrate in a space kept in an extremely clean environment.
An air conditioner is installed on the upper part of the main body of the device so that more purified air is supplied to the main part of the device. As an air conditioner installed on the top of the main body of semiconductor manufacturing equipment,
Conventionally, a structure as shown in FIG. 3 has been used.

An air conditioner 40 whose schematic front sectional view is shown in FIG. 3 has fan units 44, 44 in a box 42.
Solvent removal filter 48 and ammonia / acid removal filter 5
The air conditioner 40 is configured by accommodating a filter unit 46 in which 0 and 0 are stacked, and a dust filter 52.
Is installed on the apparatus main body 54 to be integrated with the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. The box 42 is provided with an opening 56 for replacement of the filter unit 46, and the opening 56 is closed by a cover plate 58 so as to be openable and closable. In the air conditioner 40, the ambient air is introduced into the box 42 by the fan units 44, 44, and the air introduced into the box 42 is passed through the filter unit 46. While the air passes through the filter unit 46, solvent components in the air are adsorbed and removed by the solvent removal filter 48, so that ammonia.
The acid removal filter 50 removes a trace amount of corrosive gases such as ammonia and acidic substances in the air by a chemisorption reaction.
Next, the air that has passed through the filter unit 46 is passed through a dust filter 52 such as a hepa (HEPA) filter or a ULPA (ULPA) filter, and minute dust in the air is adsorbed and removed by the dust filter 52. Then, the air from which the corrosive gas and dust have been removed is supplied to the apparatus main body 54.

[0004]

A conventional air conditioner 40
As shown in FIG. 3, the fan units 44, 44,
Solvent removal filter 48 and ammonia / acid removal filter 5
Since the filter unit 46 in which 0 and 0 are stacked and the dust filter 52 are housed in the box 42, the entire size is increased and the mountability to the apparatus main body 54 is poor. In addition, the filter unit 46 is a box 4
It is necessary to take it out of the box 42 and insert it into the box 42 through the opening 56 provided in No. 2, so that the maintainability (periodic replacement workability) is also poor. Furthermore, depending on the atmosphere in the clean room where the semiconductor manufacturing equipment is installed, the solvent removal filter 48 and ammonia
It may be necessary to increase such acid removal filter 50 filtration surface area of the chemical substance removing filter occurs, and a conventionally
In the configuration like the air conditioner 40, it is necessary to remake the box 42 to increase its height dimension or planar shape.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, enables downsizing of the apparatus, has good maintainability, and chemical substances depending on the atmosphere of the room in which the apparatus body is installed. Even if it is necessary to change the filtration surface area of the removal filter and the number and thickness of the filter are increased or decreased, it is possible to easily respond by simple work without recreating the box itself like the conventional device. An object of the present invention is to provide an air conditioner attached to a main body.

[0006]

The invention according to claim 1 is
A fan unit for sending atmospheric air to the apparatus body, a dust removal filter for removing dust contained in the air introduced to the apparatus body, a solvent or ammonia contained in the air introduced to the apparatus body, an acid A fan unit having one or more kinds of chemical substance removing filters for removing trace gases such as substances, wherein the fan unit has a box shape, and surfaces facing each other are an air intake surface and an air discharge surface, respectively. The filter unit has a box shape, and the surfaces facing each other are an air inflow surface and an air outflow surface, respectively, and the filter unit is attached to a box installed so as to cover the upper surface opening of the apparatus main body, In an air conditioner attached to a device body for cleaning air introduced into the device body, the air discharge surface or air of the fan unit The shape of the placed surface and shape of the air inflow surface or air outflow surface of the filter unit was assembled in the same,
A fan unit and a filter unit, with detachably connected by joining the surfaces together the same shape, the ball
A plurality of openings are formed on the upper surface of the box, the shape of the air outflow surface of the filter unit or the air discharge surface of the fan unit and the shape of each opening formed on the upper surface of the box are the same, Place the fan unit and filter unit outside the top of the box and
Each adapts the air discharge surface of the air outflow surface or fan unit of the filter unit to the position of each opening, characterized in that secured detachably to.

According to a second aspect of the invention, in the air conditioner of the first aspect of the invention, the air discharge surface of the fan unit and the air inflow surface of the filter unit are joined together.

The invention according to claim 3 is claim 1 or claim
In the air conditioner of the invention according to item 2, there is provided a solvent removal filter for removing a solvent contained in air, and an ammonia / acid removal filter for removing ammonia and an acidic substance contained in the air. It is characterized in that the above filter unit is configured by stacking in the circulation direction of.

[0009]

In the air conditioner according to the present invention, the shape of the air discharge surface of the box-shaped fan unit is the same as the shape of the air inflow surface of the box-shaped filter unit, and both surfaces are connected to each other. Therefore, the atmospheric air that has flown into the air intake surface of the fan unit flows into the air inflow surface of the filter unit as it is from the air discharge surface of the fan unit, and the air from which the solvent and trace gases have been removed from the air outflow surface of the filter unit. leak. Alternatively, since the shape of the air outflow surface of the box-shaped filter unit and the shape of the air intake surface of the box-shaped fan unit are the same and both surfaces are joined together, it was sucked into the air inflow surface of the filter unit. The ambient air is removed of the solvent and trace gas while passing through the filter unit, flows into the air intake surface of the fan unit as it is from the air outflow surface of the filter unit, and is discharged from the air discharge surface of the fan unit. Therefore, a box for housing the fan unit and the filter unit becomes unnecessary. The shape of the air outlet surface of the filter unit or the air outlet surface of the fan unit is the same as the shape of each opening on the upper surface of the box installed on the apparatus body, and the filter unit is located at each opening of the box. the air outflow surface or air discharge surface of the fan unit it
Since the fan unit and the filter unit are removably fixed to the outside of the upper surface of the box in conformity with each other, it is possible to easily remove the filter unit and the fan unit from the box and attach them to the box.

Further, since the fan unit and the filter unit are detachably connected to each other, when performing maintenance (regular replacement work) of the filter unit, the old filter unit is detached from the fan unit and the new filter unit is replaced by the fan unit. All you have to do is attach it to the unit. Further, for example, when the number of filters is increased or decreased in order to change the filtration surface area of the chemical substance removal filter that constitutes the fan unit or the filters are replaced with filters of different thickness, depending on the atmosphere in the clean room, the filter unit and the fan Detach the unit,
Further, it is only necessary to carry out the work of mounting them. Furthermore
In this air conditioner, since a plurality of openings are formed on the upper surface of the box and the fan unit and the filter unit are respectively arranged at the positions of the openings, the individual fan unit and the filter unit are small, This makes it easy to remove the filter unit or fan unit from the box and attach it to the box.

In the air conditioner according to the second aspect of the present invention, the atmospheric air taken in by the fan unit is pushed into the filter unit, and the air from which the solvent and the trace amount of gas have been removed flows out from the filter unit. As in the case of reversing the arrangement with the fan unit, atmospheric air leaks from the gap between the joint surface of the filter unit and the fan unit and is sucked into the fan unit, and the solvent and trace gas are not removed from the fan unit. There is no need to worry that some of the air will be discharged.

In the air conditioner according to the third aspect of the present invention, while the air passes through the fan unit, the solvent contained in the air is removed by the solvent removal filter, and the ammonia and the acidic substances contained in the air are mixed with ammonia. It is removed by the acid removal filter.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1 and 2 are front sectional views schematically showing an embodiment of the present invention in which an air conditioner is installed above the main body of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus or the like. FIG. 2 is an air conditioner. It is the whole appearance perspective view.

The air conditioner 10 includes a fan unit 1
2, 12, solvent removal filters 14, 14, ammonia
The filter unit 20 is provided with the acid removal filters 16 and 16 and the dust filter 18, and the solvent removal filters 14 and 14 and the ammonia / acid removal filters 16 and 16 constitute the dust filter 18 that is a HEPA filter or ULPA filter. It is stored in 22. The box 22 is installed on the apparatus main body 24.

The fan unit 12 is formed in a box shape by accommodating rotary blades in a rectangular frame, and its upper and lower surfaces facing each other are an air intake surface 26 and an air discharge surface 28, respectively. . Further, the solvent removal filter 14 and the ammonia / acid removal filter 16 are respectively
The filter material is housed in a quadrangular frame, and the whole is formed in a box shape. The upper and lower surfaces facing each other are air inflow surfaces 30 and 34 and air outflow surfaces 32 and 36, respectively. The shape of the air outflow surface 32 of the solvent removal filter 14 and the air inflow surface 3 of the ammonia / acid removal filter 16
4 has the same shape, and its both surfaces 32 and 34 are joined to each other so that both filters 14 and 16 are connected in the air flow direction and integrated as a filter unit 20. Further, the shape of the air discharge surface 28 of the fan unit 12 and the shape of the air inflow surface 30 of the solvent removal filter 14 are the same, and the both surfaces 28, 30 are joined together to form the fan unit 12 and the filter unit 20. Are connected, and both units 12 and 20 are integrated. Further, openings 38, 38 are formed on the upper surface of the box 22, and the shape of each opening 38 and the shape of the air outflow surface 36 of the ammonia / acid removal filter 16 are the same. Then, the air outflow surface 36 of the ammonia / acid removal filter 16 is fitted to the position of each opening 38 of the box 22, and the filter 16 is fixed to the upper surface of the box 22, so that the fan unit 12 and the filter unit 2 are attached.
The air conditioner 10 is configured by integrating 0 and the box 22.

In the air conditioner 10 having the above structure, the ambient air is sucked into the fan unit 12 and the fan unit 1
The air sucked into 2 is the filter unit 2 as it is.
While being pushed into 0 and passing through the filter unit 12, solvent components are removed by the solvent removal filter 14 and corrosive gases such as ammonia and acidic substances are removed by the ammonia / acid removal filter 16. The air from which the chemical substances have been removed by the filter unit 12 flows into the box 22 through the opening 38,
It passes through the dust filter 18 provided in the inside of the unit 2. Then, the clean air from which the minute dust has been adsorbed and removed by passing through the dust filter 18 becomes the device body 24.
Is supplied to.

In this air conditioner, when the filter unit 20 is regularly replaced, the old filter unit 20
Is removed from the box 22 and the fan unit 12,
A new filter unit is attached to the fan unit 12 and attached to the box 22. Further, depending on the atmosphere in the clean room in which the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus is installed, for example, the number of the ammonia / acid removal filters 16 is increased, the ammonia / acid removal filters having different thicknesses are replaced, or the different types of chemical substance removal filters are used. When adding or replacing the filter unit, after removing the filter unit 20 from the box 22 and the fan unit 12, another filter is added and assembled, or the filter unit is replaced with another filter. The filter unit may be newly assembled, attached to the fan unit 12 and attached to the box 22.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the filter unit 14 is connected to the rear side of the fan unit 12 in the air flow direction. In such an arrangement, As in the case where the arrangement is reversed, atmospheric air leaks from the gap between the joint surfaces of the filter unit and the fan unit and is sucked into the fan unit, and the solvent, ammonia and acidic substances are removed from the fan unit into the box 22. There is no concern that unrestricted air will be discharged, but if the sealing of the joint surface between the filter unit and the fan unit is ensured, the fan unit may be placed behind the filter unit. It doesn't matter. In such an arrangement, when maintaining the filter unit, etc., with the fan unit attached to the box 22,
The workability is improved by simply removing the filter unit from the fan unit and attaching the filter unit to the fan unit. Further, the air conditioner 10 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 has a solvent removal filter 14
Although the filter unit 20 is composed of the filter 16 and the ammonia / acid removal filter 16, only one of the filters may be provided depending on the atmosphere in the clean room, or another type of chemical substance removal may be performed. You may make it comprise a filter unit by adding a filter.

[0020]

When the air conditioner according to the first aspect of the present invention is used as an air conditioner attached to the main body of a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus or the like, a box having a size for accommodating only the dust filter is provided. Since it is good, the size and weight of the entire device are reduced, and the mountability to the device body is improved.
Also, unlike the conventional device, there is no need to take out the filter unit from the box or insert it into the box for regular replacement work, and remove the filter unit from the top of the box or attach it to the top of the box outside the box. Since it is only necessary to do so, maintainability is improved. Furthermore, since it is necessary to change the filtration surface area of the chemical substance removal filter that constitutes the filter unit according to the atmosphere of the room where the apparatus body is installed, it is possible to increase or decrease the number of filters or change to a filter of a different thickness. Even when changing to a filter, it is not necessary to remake the box itself as in the conventional device, and it is possible to easily cope with it by performing a simple operation. Also, in this air conditioner, the individual fan unit and filter unit are small, so
Maintainability is further improved.

In the air conditioner according to the second aspect of the present invention, even if there is a gap in the joint surface between the fan unit and the filter unit, the ambient air that has not passed through the filter unit is mixed with the air flowing out from the filter unit. Since there is not, it is possible to supply purified air to the apparatus main body.

In the air conditioner according to the third aspect of the present invention, the air from which the solvent, ammonia and acidic substances have been removed can be supplied to the main body of the device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front cross-sectional view that schematically shows a state in which an air conditioner according to an embodiment of the present invention is installed in a device body.

2 is an external perspective view of the air conditioner shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

FIG. 3 is a front sectional view schematically showing a state in which a conventional air conditioner is installed in the main body of the apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 Air conditioner 12 fan units 14 Solvent removal filter 16 Ammonia / acid removal filter 18 Dust filter 20 filter unit 22 boxes 24 Device body 26 Air intake surface of fan unit 28 Air discharge surface of fan unit 30 Air inlet surface of solvent removal filter 32 Air outflow surface of solvent removal filter 34 Air inflow surface of ammonia / acid removal filter 36 Air outflow surface of ammonia / acid removal filter 38 Box opening

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Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A fan unit for sending atmospheric air to the apparatus main body, which has a box shape, and surfaces which face each other are an air intake surface and an air discharge surface, respectively, and are included in the air introduced into the apparatus main body. And a dust removal filter for removing dust that forms a box, and the surfaces that face each other are the air inflow surface and the air outflow surface, respectively, and remove the solvent or trace gas contained in the air introduced into the apparatus main body 1 It is equipped with a filter unit consisting of two or more types of chemical substance removal filters, and is attached to a box installed on the main body of the device so as to cover the upper opening, and cleans the air introduced into the main body of the device. In the air conditioner mounted on the main body of the device, the shape of the air discharge surface or the air intake surface of the fan unit and the air inflow surface or the empty space of the filter unit The shape of the outflow surface in the same, and a fan unit and a filter unit, with detachably connected by joining the surfaces together the same shape, a plurality of openings on the upper surface of the box
Is formed, and the each opening formed on the upper surface of the air outflow surface of the filter unit or the shape of the air discharge surface of the fan unit and the box shape, respectively the same, the upper surface of the box fan unit and a filter unit On the outside of the box, place the air outlet surface of the filter unit or the air outlet surface of the fan unit at the position of each opening of the box.
An air conditioner for mounting the main body of the device, which is adapted to each other and fixed detachably. 2. An air discharge surface of a fan unit and a filter.
The air conditioner attached to the apparatus main body according to claim 1, wherein the air inflow surface of the unit is joined . 3. A solvent removal filter for removing a solvent contained in air, and an filter for removing ammonia and acidic substances contained in air, the filter unit comprising :
It has a monia / acid removal filter, and these solvent removal filter and ammonia / acid removal filter
The air conditioner attached to the apparatus main body according to claim 1 or 2, which is configured by stacking and in a flow direction of air.