JPH02126981A - Multi-vessels type cleaning apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent contamination of cleaning liquid in each cleaning vessel with the cleaning liquid in the previous cleaning vessel at the time of carrying plural materials to be cleaned at each between the cleaning vessels by separating the plural materials to be cleaned from a cleaning basket and at the same time, carrying to each between the cleaning vessels. CONSTITUTION:The material 20 to be cleaned having hole is inserted in order in plural cleaning vessels 2-6 straightly arranged and cleaned step by step. Then, the cleaning basket 22, which holds the plural materials 20 to be cleaned at the same time and is ascended/descended to the cleaning liquid, is arranged at each cleaning vessel 2-6. Then, in carrying mechanism composed, of carrying arms 11-16, rotating shaft 25, running parts 27a-27c and rails 29a, 29b, a carrying pin 24 is inserted into hole in the plural materials 20 to be cleaned held to the cleaning basket 22 at the same time and the plural materials 20 to be cleaned are held with the carrying pin 24 at the same time and the held plural materials 20 to be cleaned are carried at the same time between the cleaning baskets 22 in the mutually adjacent cleaning vessels 2-6.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a multi-tank cleaning device for cleaning objects having holes, such as magnetic disks and optical disks.

[Summary of the invention]

In a multi-tank cleaning device in which objects to be cleaned having holes are sequentially inserted into a plurality of washing tanks arranged in series and cleaned in stages, only the plurality of objects to be cleaned are separated from the washing basket. By configuring it so that it can be transferred simultaneously between adjacent cleaning tanks, when multiple objects to be cleaned are transferred between cleaning tanks at the same time, the cleaning liquid in each cleaning tank is carried into the adjacent cleaning tank by each cleaning basket. This was done so that it would not happen.

[Conventional technology]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, multi-tank type single-layer and single-wafer type cleaning apparatuses have been used as apparatuses for cleaning objects having holes such as magnetic disks and optical disks.

Generally, the cleaning tanks in multi-tank cleaning equipment include a surfactant cleaning tank, a pure water tank, and isopropyl alcohol (TPA).
tank, Freon vapor tank (or LPA paper tank) 4
Tanks are the basics. In addition, if precision cleaning is required,
Among the cleaning tanks, the pure water tank and the IPA tank may each be divided into a plurality of tanks. The object to be cleaned is then cleaned in the respective cleaning tanks in the following order. That is, in the surfactant cleaning tank, dirt adhering to the object to be cleaned is removed, and in the pure water tank, the surfactant adhering to the object to be cleaned is removed in the front tank. Next, in the IPA tank, the water adhering to the object to be cleaned is replaced with IPA in the front tank, and finally the surface of the object to be cleaned is dried in the freon vapor tank.

In each of the above-mentioned cleaning tanks, an ultrasonic cleaning device such as that disclosed in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 159091/1988 is used in combination, as required.

A plurality of objects to be cleaned are actually washed using a multi-tank type cleaning device, and a plurality of objects to be cleaned are simultaneously immersed in a cleaning liquid in a cleaning tank using a cleaning basket to perform the above-mentioned predetermined cleaning process. Thereafter, the washing basket is hoisted above the washing tank using an overhead crane or the like, and then transported to the next washing tank and lowered into the washing tank again. In this way, a plurality of objects to be cleaned are simultaneously conveyed sequentially between the cleaning tanks while being placed in the cleaning basket, with the cleaning basket being used as a distribution unit.

In addition, when cleaning objects using a single-wafer type cleaning device, the type of cleaning tank required for cleaning is basically the same as the above-mentioned multi-tank type cleaning device, but without using a cleaning basket. The difference is that the objects to be cleaned are directly conveyed one by one between the cleaning tanks.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

Comparing the above two types of cleaning equipment in terms of productivity, i.e. how many items can be cleaned in a certain amount of time, the single wafer type cleaning equipment can only clean one item at a time in each cleaning tank. Since it cannot be processed, even if productivity is increased, there will not be enough time for cleaning, and if sufficient time is taken for cleaning, productivity will decrease. However, in a multi-tank type cleaning device, a plurality of objects to be cleaned can be placed in a cleaning basket at the same time and a predetermined cleaning process can be performed simultaneously in each cleaning tank, so productivity is good.

On the other hand, in single-wafer cleaning equipment, a cleaning basket is not used and the objects to be cleaned are directly transferred one by one between each washing tank. The cleaning liquid brought into the cleaning tank is only a very small amount of cleaning liquid that has adhered to the surface of the object to be cleaned. Therefore, there is little possibility that the cleaning liquid in the adjacent cleaning tank (post-process cleaning tank) will be contaminated by the cleaning liquid in the previous cleaning tank (previous-process cleaning tank).

On the other hand, in multi-tank cleaning equipment, multiple items to be cleaned are placed in the cleaning basket and transferred sequentially between each cleaning tank, so a large amount of cleaning liquid is carried into the adjacent cleaning tank by the cleaning basket. . Well, the amount of cleaning liquid brought in is,
In some cases, one transfer may amount to as much as 5 cc.

As a result, the cleaning liquid in each cleaning tank is contaminated by the cleaning liquid and dirt from the previous cleaning tank, and the quality of each cleaning liquid is impaired. For this reason, one pure water tank and one IPA tank is insufficient, and two to three tanks are also required.

Furthermore, if the IPA tank is contaminated with water, bleeding tends to occur on the surface of the object to be cleaned after drying, so in order to avoid this, it is necessary to control the water concentration in the IPA tank. In particular, when precision cleaning is required, a system is required to constantly supply new IPA to the IPA tank in order to keep the water concentration in the rPA tank below a certain value, which poses the problem of increased costs. .

The present invention provides a multi-tank cleaning device that prevents the cleaning liquid in each cleaning tank from being contaminated by the cleaning liquid in the previous cleaning tank when a plurality of objects to be cleaned are simultaneously transferred between each cleaning tank. purpose.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a multi-tank cleaning device in which an object to be cleaned having holes is sequentially inserted into a plurality of cleaning tanks arranged in series and cleaned in stages. In the tank type cleaning device, each of the cleaning tanks is provided with a cleaning basket that holds a plurality of objects to be cleaned at the same time and moves them up and down relative to the cleaning liquid, and the plurality of objects to be cleaned that are simultaneously held in the cleaning basket are provided in each of the cleaning tanks. A transfer pin is inserted into the hole at the same time, the plurality of objects to be cleaned are simultaneously held by the transfer pin, and the plurality of objects to be cleaned are simultaneously transferred between the washing baskets in the washing tank adjacent to each other. The structure is equipped with a transfer mechanism for transferring.

[Effect]

The multi-tank cleaning device of the present invention simultaneously holds a plurality of objects to be cleaned in a cleaning basket and performs a predetermined cleaning process in the cleaning tank, and then raises the cleaning basket to remove the plurality of objects to be cleaned. The transfer pins of the transfer mechanism are inserted into the holes at the same time, the transfer pins simultaneously hold the plurality of objects to be cleaned, and the held plurality of objects to be cleaned are separated from the washing basket and transferred to the adjacent washing tank. They are simultaneously transferred to the provided washing basket. Thereafter, in the adjacent cleaning tank, the cleaning basket is lowered into the cleaning liquid in the cleaning tank while simultaneously holding the plurality of objects to be cleaned, and a predetermined cleaning process is performed.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of a multi-tank cleaning apparatus to which the present invention is applied will be described below with reference to the drawings.

This embodiment uses a disk-shaped object 2 to be cleaned, such as a magnetic disk or an optical disk, which has a hole 21 formed in the center in advance.
This is for cleaning 0.

FIG. 1 shows a plan view of the multi-tank cleaning apparatus of this embodiment.

The cleaning process of the object 20 to be cleaned by this multi-tank cleaning device is as follows: cleaning process with a detergent consisting of a surfactant, etc. - cleaning process with pure water - cleaning process with pure water → cleaning process with IPA → drying process with Freon vapor , is carried out in this order. Therefore, this multi-tank cleaning device is constructed by arranging the cleaning tanks in series in the order shown in FIG.

That is, an object supply stand 1, a detergent tank 2, a pure water tank 3,
A pure water tank 4, an IPA tank 5, a flon paper tank 6, and a stand 7 for carrying out items to be cleaned are arranged in this order.

In these cleaning tanks, detergent tank 2, pure water tank 3.4, and IPA tank 5 perform a predetermined cleaning process using a cleaning liquid, and in fluoropaper tank 6, drying is performed using steam. Further, the object to be cleaned supply stand 1 is provided to receive the object to be cleaned 20 from the previous process, and the object to be cleaned discharge stand 7 is provided to deliver the object to be cleaned 20 which has been cleaned to the next process.

Further, in order to transfer the object to be cleaned 20, a total of six transfer arms 11 to 16, one for each from the object to be cleaned supply stand 1 to the front paper tank 6, are arranged at the front of the cleaning device. . These transfer arms 11 to 16 are all connected by a rotating shaft 25.

Furthermore, a transfer pin 24 is provided at a right angle on an example surface of the distal end of each of the transfer arms 11 to 16. The diameter of this transfer pin 24 is equal to the diameter of the hole 21 in the center of the object 20 to be cleaned.
It is configured smaller.

Further, the length of the transfer pin 24 is set to a length that allows the transfer pin 24 to be sufficiently inserted into the holes 21 of a plurality of objects 20 to be cleaned, for example, five objects 20 lined up at regular intervals. Thing 2
■ or U groove 2 to hold 0 simultaneously at regular intervals
4a are formed, and the spacing between these grooves is the same as the spacing between V or U grooves 23d formed in the supports 23a to 23c of the cleaning basket 22, as will be described later.

In addition, a cleaning basket 22 is arranged in each of the cleaning tanks 2 to 6 so that a plurality of objects 20 to be cleaned can be held at the same time.The cleaning basket 22 is arranged as shown in FIG. The plurality of objects to be cleaned 20 held in this cleaning basket 22 are arranged so that the side surfaces thereof are perpendicular to the direction in which the tanks are arranged in series. In addition, a supply cassette and a discharge cassette (not shown) for holding the object 20 to be cleaned are arranged in the object supply stand 1 and the object discharge stand 7, respectively.

These cassettes are arranged so that the plurality of objects 20 held in the cassettes are in the same relative position as the objects 20 held in the washing basket 22 described above.

FIG. 2 shows a side view of the multi-tank cleaning device of this embodiment, taking the detergent tank 2 as an example. In the figure, a transfer arm 11,
The relative positional relationship in the vertical direction of the detergent tank 2 and the washing basket 22 is shown. Further, an elevating mechanism (not shown) for elevating the washing basket 22 is provided at the rear of this device, and is configured to lower or raise the washing cage 22.

FIG. 3 shows the entire washing basket 22. The washing basket 22 is
A plurality of supports 23a, 23b, and 23C are provided to support the outer circumferences 20a of the plurality of objects 20 to be cleaned. These supports 23a to 23C have a plurality of grooves 23d formed at regular intervals in order to vertically line up a plurality of objects 20, for example, five objects to be cleaned, at regular intervals. A plurality of objects 2 to be cleaned are connected by fitting the outer periphery 20a of the objects 20 into these grooves 23d.
0 can be held accurately at regular intervals.

Further, in order to synchronize the transfer arms 11-16 in the planar direction shown in FIG. 1 and in the vertical direction shown in FIG. 2, the transfer arms 11-16 are connected to a common rotating shaft 25. This rotating shaft 25 is supported by a plurality of running parts 27a, 27b, and 27C equipped with bearings, and each of these running parts has a pair of wheels 28a, 28b, and these running parts are shown in FIG. A pair of tracks 29a, 2 provided on the platform 26 of the transfer arm in the longitudinal direction of this platform.
It is configured to run on the transfer arms 9b together with the transfer arms 11-16. Further, by rotating the rotation shaft 25, the transfer arms 11 to 16 are rotated, and the transfer pin 24 is moved up and down. For example, an electric motor can be used as a power source for moving the transfer arms 11 to 16, and the overall control is performed by controlling a series of operations to be described later of the elevating mechanism of the transfer arms 11 to 16 and the washing basket 22. This can be done using a sequencer like this.

The transfer mechanism for the transfer pin 24 is composed of the transfer arms 11 to 16, the traveling parts 27a to 27c, an electric motor, and the like.

FIG. 4 shows possible positions of the transfer arm 11 in the plane direction. That is, in the case of the plane direction, all the transfer arms 11 to 16 move synchronously, so to explain the transfer arm 11 as an example as shown in FIG. 4, the positions A, B, C, Move D in the following order. The transfer arm 1,1 first moves a distance β1 from A to B, then a distance β2 from B to C, and then from C to D! ,
It moves a distance of , then moves a distance of 12 from D to A and returns to its original position WA.

In addition, in the case of the vertical direction, as shown in FIG. 25 in synchronization with the direction of the arrow m or the direction of the arrow n. In actual operation, the transfer arm 11 is configured such that the positions A-D in the plane direction and the positions E and F in the vertical direction move in relation to each other.

FIG. 2 also shows a washing basket 22 provided in the detergent tank 2.
Although the vertical position of is also shown, this washing basket is raised and lowered by the lifting mechanism as described above, and is configured to reciprocate between the raised position G and the lowered position IH. In addition, at the elevated position G, the cleaning basket 22 is
This is the position where 0 is received or delivered, and the transfer pin 2
This corresponds to the lowered position F of No.4. Also, the lowering position H
is a position where a plurality of objects to be cleaned 20 held in a cleaning basket 22 are immersed in a cleaning liquid in each cleaning tank and a predetermined cleaning process is performed. Similarly, in each of the other cleaning tanks, the cleaning basket 22 is configured to move up and down synchronously between a raised position G and a lowered position H.

In addition, FIG. 5 shows that at the lowered position F of the transfer pin 24,
The cleaning basket 22 shows a state in which the transfer pin 24 is inserted into the hole 21 of the object 20 set in the cleaning basket 22.
This is shown in a side view. At this lowered position F, the center of the transfer pin 24 is made to coincide with the center of the hole 21 of the object to be cleaned 20 set in the cleaning basket 22 at the raised value iZG. In addition, the lowering position F indicated by the one-dot chain line
At position F' slightly above the bottom of the V or U groove 24a formed in the transfer pin 24 and the hole 21 of the object to be cleaned 20
and the top of the inner circumferential edge 21a are at the same height.

The operation of sequentially cleaning a plurality of objects 20 while transporting them using the multi-tank cleaning apparatus of this embodiment will be described below.

First, a state in which a plurality of objects to be cleaned 20 are loaded into a supply cassette and supplied to the object to be cleaned supply stand 1 will be described.

In order to indicate the positions of the transfer pins 24 of the transfer arms 11 to 16, the positions A, B, C, and D in the plane direction shown in FIG.
For example, the position where the position of the transfer pin 24 in the plane direction is A and the position in the vertical direction is E is expressed as (A, E ).

1. The transfer arm 11 is stopped at (A, E). In this position, the transfer arm 11 is rotated and lowered in the direction of arrow n in FIG.
, F), it stops. Next, the transfer arm 11
Moving in the direction of the arrow in the figure, the transfer pin 24 is inserted into the holes 21 of the plurality of objects to be cleaned 20 held in the supply cassette, and the transfer arm 11 stops when it reaches (BSF).

2. At this position, the transfer arm 11 rises while rotating in the direction of arrow m in FIG.
), it will stop. During this process, the transfer pin 24 slightly rises in the direction of the arrow m as shown by the dashed line in FIG. The top of the inner circumferential edge 21a is fitted. Then, since the transfer arm 11 continues to rotate in the direction of arrow m and the transfer pin 24 rises, the plurality of objects 20 to be cleaned are also lifted at the same time. In this way, the transfer pin 24 of the transfer arm 11 can receive the plurality of objects 20 to be cleaned by fitting them into the plurality of grooves 24a and maintaining a constant interval therebetween. The transfer arm 11 then moves its transfer pin 24
While holding the plurality of objects 20 to be cleaned, the robot moves from (B, E) to (C, E) in the direction of arrow U in FIG. 4 and stops.

3. In the detergent tank 2, the washing basket 22 provided therein
is stopped at the raised position G. Continuing with transfer arm 11
rotates downward from (C, E) in the direction of the arrow n in FIG. 2, and when the transfer pin 24 reaches (C, F'), as shown in FIG. is inserted into the washing basket 22 of the detergent tank 2, and the plurality of objects 20 to be washed are
The outer periphery 20a of the plurality of grooves 23 of the supports 23a to 23C
At the same time, it is set to the fitted state. After that, the transfer pin 24 of the transfer arm 11 continues to move slightly downward in the direction of arrow n and stops at (C, F), and the plurality of grooves 24a of the transfer pin 24 are inserted into the plurality of holes of the objects 20 to be cleaned. 21
The plurality of objects 20 to be cleaned are transferred from the transfer pin 24 to the cleaning basket 22 by being removed downward from the top of the inner peripheral edge 21a of the cleaning basket 22 .

Next, the transfer arm 11 moves from (C, F) to (D, F) in the direction of arrow U in FIG. pulled out,
Stop at (D, F).

4. After that, the cleaning basket 22 of the detergent tank 2 is lowered from the raised position G to the lowered position H in the detergent tank 2, and the plurality of objects 20 to be cleaned are immersed in the cleaning liquid at the same time. 2
0 cleaning processes are performed simultaneously. Further, when performing ultrasonic cleaning of the object 20 to be cleaned, ultrasonic vibrations may be applied to each of the cleaning tanks 2 to 6.

5. During the above cleaning, the transfer arm 11 is moved in the direction indicated by the arrow m in FIG.
The transfer pin 24 rotates in the direction and rises, and stops when the transfer pin 24 reaches (D, E), and then the transfer arm 11 moves to (A, E).
Now, turning back in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 4, the transfer arm 11 waits to transfer the next object 20 to be cleaned in the same manner.

Alternatively, this wait may be (A,F).

6. After the cleaning process for a predetermined period of time is completed in the detergent tank 2, the cleaning basket 22 is raised to the raised position G. next,
Transfer arm 12 to the next tank, pure water tank 3.
It is transferred by operations similar to operations 1 to 5 above.

7. By repeating the above operations, a plurality of objects 20 to be cleaned are sequentially transferred as one unit to each cleaning tank, and a predetermined cleaning process is performed in each cleaning tank.

Finally, the plurality of objects 20 to be cleaned are transferred by the transfer arm 16 to the discharge cassette provided in the object discharge stand 7, and the process for cleaning the objects 20 to be cleaned is completed, and the next step is to be carried out. transferred to the process.

As described above, in the multi-tank cleaning apparatus of this embodiment, only the plurality of objects 20 to be cleaned are separated from each cleaning basket 22 in each cleaning tank 2 to 6 and transferred simultaneously between each cleaning tank 2 to 6. Therefore, no cleaning liquid is brought in by the cleaning basket 22 between the cleaning tanks 2 to 6.

As a result, in this example, the amount of cleaning liquid carried between cleaning tanks is reduced to 115 to 1/10 compared to the conventional device.
Additionally, the dropout characteristics of magnetic disks and optical disks have been significantly improved.

Furthermore, since it is possible to process a plurality of objects 20 to be cleaned, for example, 5 pieces at a time, the cleaning time can be reduced, for example, by 5 times, for the same cleaning productivity compared to a single wafer type cleaning device. In addition, if the cleaning time is the same, for example, five times as many objects 20 to be cleaned can be cleaned, which improves productivity.

As mentioned above, in this embodiment, all the transfer arms are configured to move synchronously both in the plane direction and in the vertical direction, but each transfer arm is individually configured to move in the plane direction and the vertical direction. If a means for moving the transfer arm is provided, it becomes possible to change the set time of each operation described above for each transfer arm, and for example, the cleaning time can be arbitrarily set. Further, if a lifting mechanism for the cleaning basket 22 is also provided for each tank, the cleaning basket can be raised and lowered independently in each cleaning tank. Also, transfer pin 2
4, its transfer machine configuration, and the washing basket 22 can be modified in various ways.

Further, the present invention is not limited to disks such as magnetic disks and optical disks, and can clean various objects having holes.

〔Effect of the invention〕

Since the multi-tank cleaning device according to the present invention has the above-described configuration, it achieves the following effects.

Since multiple items to be cleaned are separated from the cleaning basket and transferred simultaneously between each cleaning tank, when multiple items to be cleaned are transferred between each cleaning tank, the cleaning solution in each cleaning tank is transferred by the cleaning basket to the adjacent cleaning tank. This prevents a large amount from being brought into the tank. Therefore, the cleaning liquids in adjacent cleaning tanks are less likely to be contaminated with each other, and the frequency of regularly exchanging the cleaning liquid in the cleaning tank or supplying new cleaning liquid into the cleaning tank is extremely reduced. do. Further, whereas conventional devices sometimes require a system for constantly supplying fresh cleaning liquid, the device according to the present invention does not require such a system.

In addition, with conventional equipment, multiple cleaning tanks were often required to perform one type of cleaning process (one process), even in non-precision cleaning, in consideration of cleaning tank contamination. In the case of non-precision cleaning, the apparatus according to the present invention can usually reduce the number of cleaning tanks required for one type of cleaning process (l process) to one.

Further, the apparatus according to the present invention can achieve both cleaning productivity and cleaning quality, and both are excellent.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a plan view of the multi-tank cleaning device according to this embodiment, and Figure 2
The figures are a view taken along arrow nn in Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the washing basket, Fig. 4 is a partially enlarged plan view showing the moving position of the transfer arm, and Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the washing basket. FIG. In addition, in the symbols used in the drawings, 2. ---One--
・−Pure water tank 5・−・・−・−１−−−−−−−−−−・
-・-・-・-IPA tank 6--------
・・〜・・・−・・−・・・・−・−・−Transfer arm 2
0−・−・・−・−・−・・・・・・・・−・・
・−・・−・Object to be cleaned 21 ・−・−・−・・−・−−
---1・---
・−1−−−−Washing basket 24 ・−・・−・−・−・・
・・・－・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・Transfer pin.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A multi-tank cleaning device in which objects to be cleaned having holes are sequentially inserted into a plurality of cleaning tanks arranged in series and cleaned in stages, comprising: A cleaning basket is provided in each of the cleaning tanks, and the plurality of objects to be cleaned are simultaneously held in the cleaning basket, and transfer pins are simultaneously inserted into the holes of the plurality of objects to be cleaned. The present invention is characterized by comprising a transfer mechanism that simultaneously holds the plurality of objects to be cleaned by the transfer pin and simultaneously transfers the plurality of held objects to be cleaned between the washing baskets in the washing tanks that are adjacent to each other. Multi-tank cleaning equipment.