JPH032483Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] Industrial Application Field The present invention relates to a rotating shelf device for storing and taking out articles in a dust-free and sterile environment.

Conventional technology Recently, when manufacturing precision instruments, electronic components such as LSI, and pharmaceuticals, it has become necessary to work in an environment where even the smallest amount of dust or pollutants are not present, in order to avoid the negative effects of dust and pollutants in the atmosphere. In response to this demand, clean rooms that clean certain spaces are being developed.

Such a clean room uses HEPA to convert outside air into
It is filled with clean air introduced through a high-performance filter such as a filter, and
In order to eliminate the causes of dust generation in the clean room,
For example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 60-31410, dust generated from moving parts such as means for driving a rotating shelf is isolated using a separate plate, and dust is prevented from flowing into a clean room having a rotating shelf. I have to.

An opening/closing door is also provided at the entrance for carrying articles into and out of the rotating shelf, and the door is opened only when necessary to suppress the inflow of outside air as much as possible.

In addition, clean air is supplied from above the clean room and flows through the slit in the separate plate into the mechanical room that houses the rotating shelf drive means.
It is designed to be exhausted from the upper part of the mechanical room.

Furthermore, the rotating shelf has an upright side surface that is suspended from an arm rod attached to an endlessly circulating drive chain.

Problems to be solved by the invention In the conventional example described above, clean air supplied from above into the clean room flows into the mechanical chambers on both sides, becomes an upward flow, and is discharged from the upper part of the mechanical chamber. When the door is opened, there is a risk that outside air will be attracted by the airflow flowing into the mechanical room from the clean room and flow into the clean room through the opening/closing door, contaminating the clean room. It was not possible to leave it open.

In addition, since both sides of the shelf stand up in order to suspend the rotating shelf, items can only be carried in and out of the shelf by moving forward and backward, and cannot be carried out from either side of the shelf. Ta.

This invention keeps the entrance for carrying in and out of goods open at all times without allowing dust to enter the clean room, and allows goods to be carried in and out from the front and both sides of the shelf freely without the need for standing surfaces on both sides of the shelf. The purpose of this system is to support the shelves in a manner similar to that, and to prevent the rotating shelves from swinging due to suspension, thereby eliminating the cause of dust generation or damage caused by mutual interference and collision of articles on the shelves.

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention connects one end of the rotary shelf support shaft, which is inserted through a vertical annular slit penetrating the partition wall between the clean room and the two-side rotary shelf driving chamber, to one end of the rotary shelf support shaft. It is fixed to the lower end of a suspension rod attached to an endless drive chain suspended from a pair of chain wheels arranged vertically apart in the drive chamber, and the other end of the support shaft is fixed to the pair of chain wheels in the drive chamber on the other side. The chain wheel is attached to an endless drive chain suspended from a pair of chain wheels located below the chain wheel by the length of the suspension rod, and the shelf is kept in a horizontal state without swinging while endlessly circulating in the vertical direction. A descending laminar flow is created in the clean room and rotating shelf driving chamber by attaching a front cover plate to the upper half of the front of the clean room and pumping air from the upper or rear part of the clean room through a high-performance filter. At the same time, a front cover plate provided in the upper half of the front face blows out from the lower half open part of the front face including the article loading/unloading opening, thereby preventing outside air from flowing into the clean room from the open lower half of the front face of the clean room. By cutting off part of the partition walls on both sides of the clean room to the extent that the front and both sides of the items on the rotating shelf are exposed at the lower end of the front cover plate in the upper half of the front of the clean room, and providing an opening for loading and unloading items. , items can be carried in and out from three sides: the front and both sides of the shelf.

Function: A pair of upper and lower chain wheels around which a drive chain is attached, which is rotatably attached to the upper end of a suspension rod fixed to one end of the base end support shaft of the rotary shelf, and the other end of the base end support shaft is rotatable. The pair of upper and lower chain wheels around which the drive chain attached to the rack is placed are shifted vertically by the length of the suspension rod, so the rotary shelf remains horizontal and circulates endlessly in the vertical direction. Both ends of the base end support shaft of the rotary shelf are inserted through the partition wall that separates the rotary shelf driving chamber, which houses the drive chain and chain wheel, from the clean room, which houses the rotary shelf. Since the annular slit extends vertically along the locus, the rotary shelf driving chamber, which has many moving parts that cause dust generation, is completely isolated from the clean room except for the annular slit part.
As will be described later, the annular slit serves as a path for clean air to flow out from the clean room to the rotating shelf driving chamber, so even if dust is generated in the rotating shelf driving chamber, the generated dust will not flow into the clean room.

In addition, since it is supported in a cantilever manner by the base end support shaft of the rear edge of the rotating shelf, the front and both sides of the rotating shelf are open without any members, and the suspension rod is attached to the drive chain. Since a unidirectional moment is applied around the upper end of the rotary shelf, there is no problem in loading and unloading items from the front and both sides of the rotating shelf, and there is no problem with the vertical linear movement path of both ends of the base support shaft. By providing guide rails for each,
Both ends of the proximal support shaft always move while being pressed against the guide rail, and there is a recess that supports the free end of the proximal support shaft in the rotary shelf drive chamber on one side that houses the suspension rod. By arranging the restraining disk having the same height as the pair of chain wheels in the rotating shelf drive chamber on the other side, even when the rotating shelf moves around the chain wheels, the moment is not applied to the base end support shaft. Since the free end is pressed against the recess on the restraining disk, both ends of the base end support shaft of the rotary shelf are supported, so that the rotary shelf can circulate without swinging during suspension.

Furthermore, since the lower front half of the clean room is open, the clean air in the clean room is blown from the top or back of the clean room to form a descending laminar flow, and some of the clean air is rotated through the annular slit. The air is blown out into the shelf driving chamber to form a downward flow within the rotating shelf driving chamber.

In addition, a front cover plate is attached to the upper half of the front of the clean room, and the lower half of the front is open. The laminar flow of clean air that is guided by the front cover plate and descends is blown outward from the article loading/unloading opening, which is cut out to the extent that the front and both sides of the rotating shelf are exposed. Even if turbulence occurs in the airflow blown out from the article loading/unloading opening, it is guided by the front cover plate and is rectified by merging with the descending laminar flow of clean air that descends from above the loading/unloading opening to cover the entire surface of the opening. Since the air is blown out as a descending laminar flow, even if the article loading/unloading opening is always open, outside air carrying dust and contaminants will not flow into the clean room from outside.

The loading and unloading of articles to and from the carousel is performed by a transfer means (not shown) when the carousel stops at the article loading/unloading opening. For example, in the case of silicon wafers, the box containing the silicon wafer is transferred The transfer means not only carries in and out of the rotating shelf from the front of the rotating shelf, but also
Articles can be transferred to and from the rotating shelf from either side of the rotating shelf.

Embodiment FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing a rotating shelf in a clean room, and FIG. 2 is a front view of the clean room and rotating shelf driving room. It has a clean room 3 in which 2 circulates endlessly in the vertical direction, and rotating shelf drive chambers 5a and 5b provided on both sides of the clean room 3 through partition walls 4 and 4, respectively. An endless drive chain 7a is suspended around a pair of chain wheels 6a, 6a spaced apart from each other, and the upper end of a suspension rod 8, which suspends the base end support shaft of the rotary shelf 2 at a constant interval, rotates on the chain 7a. The lower end of the suspension rod 8 is fixed to one end of the base end support shaft 9 of the rotary shelf 2. In addition, in the rotating shelf drive chamber 5b on the other side, a pair of chain wheels 6b, 6b spaced apart vertically is located below the mounting position of the pair of chain wheels 6a, 6a by the length of the suspension rod 8. An endless drive chain 7b is suspended between the chain wheels, and the other end of the base end support shaft 9 of the rotary shelf is rotatably attached to the chain 7b.

Each of the partition walls 4, 4 is provided with an annular slit (not shown) through which both ends of the proximal end support shaft 9 are inserted, and which extends along a locus of movement that endlessly circulates in the vertical direction of both ends. There is.

Further, in the rotating shelf driving chamber 5a on one side, a pair of chain wheels 6b, 6 provided in the rotating shelf driving chamber 5b on the other side are provided.
restraining disks 10, 10 having recesses on the circumference with a pitch equal to the mounting pitch of the rotary shelf at opposite positions of b;
is rotatably attached, and the recess supports a guide roller 11 attached to the end fixed to the suspension rod 8 of the base end support shaft 9 of the rotary shelf.

Furthermore, the guide roller 11 is guided by a guide rail (not shown) provided along the annular slit of the partition wall 4 in the vertical linear movement path.

Therefore, when the endless drive chains 7a and 7b circulate in the same direction, the rotating shelf 2 maintains a horizontal state because the mounting heights of the pair of chain wheels in both chambers are deviated by the length of the lifting rod. and restraint disk 10
In addition, the guide roller 11 allows the endless drive chain 7a to move around the proximal support shaft 9, which is not linearly mounted.
The suspension end, which is one end, is prevented from floating, and furthermore, since the rotary shelf 2 is cantilever-supported by the base end support shaft 9, the guide roller 11 is always attached to the guide rail (not shown) on the suspension rod 8. Since the pressing moment is acting, the partition wall 4,
By providing an annular slit in 4, the pair of chain wheels 6a, 6a, 6 in the rotating shelf drive chambers 5a, 5b
b, 6b and the drive chains 7a, 7b can circulately drive the rotating shelf 2 in the clean room 3 without any trouble, and the rotating shelf drive chamber has movable parts that are likely to generate dust in areas other than the annular slit. 5a, 5b and the clean room 3 can be completely isolated.

A front cover plate 12 is covered in the upper half of the front of the clean room 3, and the lower half of the front is open.
4 is cut off in a U-shape to the extent that the side surface of the article A to be placed on the rotating shelf 2 is exposed, thereby providing an opening 13 for loading and unloading the article from the side.

Therefore, clean air supplied into the clean room 3 from above or from the back through the high-performance filter flows down inside the clean room along the partition walls 4, 4 and the front cover plate 12 as a descending laminar flow. At the same time as being blown out from the front lower half-opening part, a part of the descending laminar flow is blown out into the rotary shelf driving chambers 5a, 5b through the annular slit in the partition wall, descending inside the driving chambers 5a, 5b, and will be described later. Since the air is sucked by the blower 14 at the bottom of the clean room, even if dust is generated in the rotary shelf drive chambers 5a and 5b, there is no risk that the contaminated air in the chambers will flow into the clean room 3 through the annular slit, and the article can be carried out. Entrance opening 13
Even during the loading and unloading work of articles in the clean room 3, the articles are loaded and unloaded in an atmosphere in which clean air in the clean room 3 is blown out to the outside, so that outside air containing dust or pollutants does not flow into the clean room 3.

In this embodiment, a drive means 15 for the blower 14 is provided below the lowest position of the rotary shelf, and the air outlet of the blower 14 is connected to an air pressure pump with a high-performance filter 16 formed as a partition wall in the back of the clean room 3. Since the bottom of the clean room 3 was formed with the filter 18 toward the room 17, the clean room 3
A part of the clean air flowing down inside, the air flowing down inside the rotary shelf driving chamber, and the air flowing through the bottom filter 18 of the clean room 3 are transferred to the blower 1.
4, the air is forcibly blown into the air pumping chamber 17, and the air is cleaned through a high-performance filter 16 and then pumped into the clean room 3.

The clean air pumped into the clean room 3 flows down along the inner surface of the front cover plate 12 toward the front lower half open part, is blown out from the lower end of the cover plate 12, and is used to carry goods in and out of the air outlet position. Since the opening 13 is provided, outside air will not flow into the clean room through the opening 13.
Moreover, since the pressure inside the rotating shelf drive chambers 5a, 5b is also reduced under the influence of the blower 14, a part of the clean air in the clean room 3 can easily flow into the rotating shelf drive chambers 5a, 5b through the annular slit. As a result, dust and other contaminants generated in the rotating shelf drive chambers 5a and 5b are sucked into the blower without entering the clean room 3, and the inside of the clean room 3 is always maintained by a descending laminar flow of clean air. It is filled with energy.

Effects of the invention The present invention uses a partition wall to separate a clean room that houses a rotating shelf from a rotating shelf driving chamber that has moving parts that may generate dust, and also allows clean air to flow from the clean room to the rotating shelf driving chamber through an annular slit in the partition wall. In addition, a front cover plate is installed only in the upper half of the front of the clean room.
Since the clean air flowing down along the front cover plate is blown out from the article loading/unloading opening, even if turbulence occurs in the airflow blowing out from the loading/unloading opening across the rotating shelf, the turbulence will not be affected by the loading/unloading of the articles. It merges with the descending laminar flow guided by the front cover plate that descends from above the opening to cover the entire surface of the opening, is rectified, and is blown out from the opening as a descending laminar flow, thereby eliminating turbulent flow within the article loading/unloading opening. This prevents dust from entering from the outside, and not only is the clean room always filled with clean air, but also the rotary shelf maintains its horizontal position and circulates inside the clean room without swinging. In addition to preventing dust generation, for example, even if the item on the shelf is a transport case containing wafers, there is no risk of the wafers being damaged by shaking in the transport case, and the quality will deteriorate in a clean atmosphere. In addition, with the always-open article loading and unloading opening, articles can be loaded and unloaded from the carousel not only from the front of the shelf but also from both sides. The degree of freedom is expanded, and the loading/unloading work by an automatic transfer machine can be significantly facilitated, and its practical effects are significant.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention, with FIG. 1 being a side sectional view showing the inside of a clean room, and FIG. 2 being a front sectional view showing the inside of the clean room and rotating shelf driving chamber. 1...Rotary shelf, 3...Clean room, 4,4
... Bulkhead, 5a, 5b ... Rotary shelf drive chamber, 6a,
6b... Chain wheel, 7a, 7b... Endless drive chain, 8... Hanging rod, 9... Base end support shaft of rotating shelf,
10...Restriction disk, 11...Guide roller, 12
...Front cover plate, 13...Articles loading/unloading opening, 1
4...Blower, 16...High performance filter, 17...
...Air pressure feeding chamber, 18...Filter.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] It has a clean room having a plurality of rotating shelves that endlessly circulate in the vertical direction, and a rotating shelf driving chamber provided on both sides of the clean room through partition walls, and both ends of the base end support shaft of the rotating shelf are connected to the partition walls, respectively. The support shaft is inserted through a vertical annular slit and projects into the rotary shelf drive chamber, and one end of the protruding support shaft is suspended around a pair of chain wheels spaced apart in the vertical direction within the rotary shelf drive chamber on one side. The other end of the support shaft is fixed to the lower end of a suspension rod attached to the endless drive chain, and the other end of the support shaft is located below the pair of chain wheels by the length of the suspension rod in the rotating shelf drive chamber on the other side. A front cover plate is attached to the upper half of the front of the clean room to form a descending laminar flow of clean air. A rotating shelf having a clean room with an article loading/unloading opening that exposes the front and both sides of articles on the rotating shelf by cutting out a section of the rotating shelf, and forming a descending laminar flow in the clean air supplied to the clean room and the rotating shelf driving chamber. Device.