1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a chamber facility which supplies clean air to a chamber while exhausting air from the chamber to maintain a predetermined degree of cleanliness of air within the chamber, a robot cell including the chamber facility, and a chamber ventilating method.
2. Related Art
A manufacturing device which includes an air supply unit for supplying clean air to a chamber from an upper position of the chamber, and an air exhaust unit which exhausts air from a lower position of the chamber is known (see JP-A-61-125121). This type of manufacturing device discharges dust produced during a manufacturing process toward below by using downflow of air.
According to this chamber, the air supply unit (fan filter unit) is disposed on a top wall area. Thus, other manufacturing device and the like cannot be equipped (suspended) on the top wall area. In this case, the entire area of the top wall cannot be used for other purpose, and thus other manufacturing device and the like cannot be positioned throughout the top wall area.
It is an advantage of some aspects of the invention to provide a chamber facility capable of efficiently discharging dust produced within a chamber while allowing other manufacturing device to be disposed on a top wall of the chamber, a robot cell including the chamber facility, and a chamber ventilating method.
A chamber facility according to a first aspect of the invention includes: an air supply unit which supplies clean air to the inside of a chamber; an air supply port section which has one end communicating with the air supply unit and the other end opened into the chamber; an air exhaust unit which exhausts air within the chamber from an exhaust port formed at a lower position of the chamber. The air supply port section has a plurality of air supply port units which generate rotational flow around a vertical axis within the chamber.
A chamber ventilating method which ventilates the inside of a chamber by supplying and exhausting clean air to and from the chamber according to a second aspect of the invention includes: generating rotational flow within the chamber by supplying the clean air from the side of the chamber while exhausting the air from a lower position of the chamber.
According to these structure and method, rotational flow around the vertical axis is generated within the chamber, and the air is exhausted from the lower position of the chamber. Thus, the air within the chamber moves downward while rotating around the vertical axis, thereby producing rotational downflow. As a result, the air flows throughout the chamber, and air staying space is reduced. In addition, dust generated within the chamber is removed toward below. Accordingly, a high degree of air cleanliness can be maintained within the chamber. Moreover, since the downflow can be produced by the structure not necessarily requiring the air supply port section on the top wall area (the ceiling area), an unoccupied space can be secured in the top wall area.
According to the chamber facility described above, it is preferable that each of the air supply port units includes an air manifold communicating with the air supply unit, and a plurality of blowoff ports communicating with the air manifold.
According to this structure, air can be uniformly blown off from the plural blowoff ports, and thus the rotational flow can be easily produced. In addition, the structure of the respective air supply port units can be simplified.
In this case, it is preferable that the air manifold extends in the vertical direction, and that the plural blowoff ports are disposed in line in the vertical direction along the air manifold.
The “in line” condition herein refers to a condition in which the blowoff ports are positioned in a line. It is more preferable that the blowoff ports are disposed at equal intervals since air can be uniformly blown off in the vertical direction.
According to this structure, the rotational flow can be generated throughout the area in the vertical direction by disposing the plural blowoff ports in line in the vertical direction. Thus, air staying space can be further reduced.
In this case, it is preferable that each of the blowoff ports can vary the direction of blowing off clean air.
According to this structure, the blowoff directions of the respective blowoff ports can be controlled. Thus, the rotational flow appropriate and suited for various requirements can be produced.
According to the chamber facility described above, it is preferable that each of the air supply port units includes an air manifold communicating with the air supply unit, and a slit-shaped blowoff port communicating with the air manifold.
According to this structure, each of the air supply port units has simplified structure requiring only the slit-shaped blowoff port. In addition, the rotational flow can be produced throughout the area in the vertical direction by using the blown off air.
In this case, it is preferable that the chamber has a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and that the plural air supply port units are at least the two air supply port units disposed at least at two diagonally positioned vertical corners included in four vertical corners formed by peripheral side walls of the chamber.
According to this structure, the respective air supply port units are disposed at the vertical corners formed by the peripheral side walls of the rectangular parallelepiped chamber. Thus, unoccupied space can be secured in the peripheral side wall area. Moreover, since air is blown off from the positions of the vertical corners where air easily stays, no air staying space is further produced. The portion “vertical corner” refers to a portion corresponding to a corner of the chamber in the plan view.
In this case, it is preferable that the air exhaust unit is disposed in a lower space immediately below a floor portion of the chamber and exhausts air within the chamber and within the lower space via an exhaust filter which removes a contaminant contained in the air.
According to this structure, air containing a contaminant (dust) within the chamber and the lower space can be cleaned by using the provided exhaust filter. Thus, clean air can be exhausted to the outside. Accordingly, the external atmosphere is not contaminated by the exhaust air from the chamber facility. In addition, air around the air exhaust unit where dust and the like are easily produced can be ventilated.
A chamber facility according to a fourth aspect of the invention includes: an air supply unit which supplies air to the inside of a chamber having a polygon pole shape surrounded by a top wall, a bottom wall, and a plurality of side walls; an air supply section which has one end communicating with the air supply unit and the other end communicating with the chamber room; and an air exhaust unit which exhausts air within the chamber from an exhaust port formed on the bottom wall of the chamber. The air supply section has air units which are disposed at least at two corners included in plural corners formed by the plural side walls of the chamber and which extend in the vertical direction. Each of the air units has a blowoff port whose blowoff direction shifts from a vertical axis of the chamber at an angle of larger than 0 degree.
The “polygon pole shape” herein refers to a rectangular parallelepiped shape (square pole shape), a triangle pole shape, a pentagon pole shape, a hexagon pole shape, or other polygon pole shapes.
According to this structure, each blowoff direction of the blowoff ports shifts from the vertical axis of the chamber at an angle of larger than 0 degree. Thus, rotational flow around the vertical axis can be produced within the chamber. Moreover, the air can be exhausted from the lower position of the chamber by using the air exhaust unit. In this case, the air within the chamber moves downward while rotating around the vertical axis, thereby producing rotational downflow. As a result, the air flows throughout the chamber, and air staying space is reduced. In addition, dust generated within the chamber is removed toward below. Accordingly, a high degree of air cleanliness can be maintained within the chamber.
Moreover, since the downflow can be produced by the structure not necessarily requiring the air supply port section on the top wall area (the ceiling area), an unoccupied space can be secured in the top wall area.
In this case, it is preferable that each of the air units has a plurality of blowoff ports, and that the plural blowoff ports are disposed in line at equal intervals in the vertical direction.
According to this structure, the rotational flow can be generated throughout the area in the vertical direction by disposing the plural blowoff ports in line in the vertical direction. Thus, air staying space can be further reduced.
Similarly, it is preferable that each of the air units has a slit-shaped blowoff port extending in the vertical direction.
According to this structure, each of the air supply port units has simplified structure requiring only the slit-shaped blowoff port. In addition, the rotational flow can be produced throughout the area in the vertical direction by using the blown off air.
The invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like numbers reference to like elements.
A robot cell including a chamber facility according to an embodiment of the invention is hereinafter described with reference to the appended drawings. This robot cell accommodates a suspension type industrial robot and performs various processes for a workpiece within a work area contained in a chamber. The characteristic point of the robot cell is that appropriate flow of air can be efficiently produced within the chamber.
As illustrated in
The robot cell 1 includes a chamber facility 11 which has the chamber 26 and maintains a predetermined degree of cleanliness of air within the chamber 26, the industrial robot (robot) 12 suspended from a top wall 26b of the chamber 26, and the controller 13 for controlling the chamber facility 11 and the industrial robot 12. The robot cell 1 further has various types of manufacturing equipment (including a palette or a work table on which a workpiece is placed) on the chamber 26 or the support plate 2 to function as a manufacturing device or assembling device of a workpiece.
The industrial robot 12 is a suspension type horizontal articulated robot (so-called scalar robot) which actuates an arm and an end effecter to perform various operations.
The chamber facility 11 includes the chamber 26 surrounding the upper space 3, an air supply mechanism (air supply section) 27 for supplying clean air to the inside of the chamber 26, two horizontal air supply port units 28 provided in the horizontal direction at the corners formed by the top wall 26a and four peripheral walls 26b of the chamber 26 (hereinafter referred to as horizontal corners), four vertical air supply port units 29 provided in the vertical direction at the corners formed by the four peripheral walls 26b of the chamber 26 (hereinafter referred to as vertical corners), and an air exhaust mechanism (air exhaust unit) 30 provided on the side walls of the lower external wall 5.
Clean air supplied from the air supply mechanism 27 is introduced through the respective horizontal air supply port units 28 and vertical air supply port units 29 into the chamber 26. The air within the chamber 26 is exhausted from the lower space 4 to the outside of the robot cell 1 by using the air exhaust mechanism 30. Air supply port units according to the appended claims correspond to the four vertical air supply port units 29.
The chamber 26 is produced by attaching the top wall 26a and the four peripheral walls (peripheral side walls) 26b to a rectangular parallelepiped frame body via seals. The four peripheral walls 26b have four side walls detachably attached to the frame body. The entire area of the chamber 26 except for the support plate 2 (floor wall) corresponding to the floor part of the chamber 26 is closed, and communicates with the lower space 4 positioned immediately below the floor part via the plural communicating holes 6 of the support plate 2.
The air supply mechanism 27 includes an air supply equipment 36 for supplying compressed air, a main flow path 37 whose upstream end is connected with the air supply equipment 36, two flow branches 38 branched from the main flow path 37 in two directions, and three individual flow paths 39 branched from each of the two flow branches 38 in three directions. The downstream ends of the three individual flow paths 39 of each of the two flow branches 38 are connected with the air supply port units 28 and 29 as different types of units. In this structure, the air supplied from the air supply equipment 36 is branched in six directions to be supplied to the two horizontal air supply port units 28 and the four vertical air supply port units 29.
A regulator 45, an opening and closing valve 46, and a filter 47 are provided on the main flow path 37 in this order from the air supply equipment 36. The regulator 45 controls the pressure of the supplied air based on a command issued from the controller 13. The filter 47 is a so-called HEPA filter (high efficiency particulate air filter) which cleans (removes contaminants from) the air supplied from the air supply equipment 36 to produce clean air. Thus, the air supplied from the air supply equipment 36 is introduced into the respective air supply port units 28 and 29 after pressure control by the regulator 45 and cleaning by the filter 47. An opening and closing valve connected with the controller 13 may be provided for each of the individual flow paths 39 such that air supply to the air supply port units 28 and 29 can be controlled individually.
As illustrated in
The horizontal manifold 51 is an air manifold extending in the horizontal direction along the horizontal corner. The plural slit nozzles 52 are provided in line in the extending direction of the horizontal manifold 51 (horizontal direction) in such a condition that each of the slit nozzles 52 communicates with the horizontal manifold 51. Each of the slit nozzles 52 has a slit-shaped blowoff port having a horizontal blowoff direction. That is, the respective slit nozzles 52 are provided in such a manner as to blow off a part of clean air toward the top surface (inner surface of the top wall 26a) of the chamber 26. The two horizontal air supply port units 28 are disposed opposingly each other, and the respective slit nozzles 52 of one of the two horizontal air supply port units 28 face the corresponding slit nozzles 52 of the other air supply port unit 28. Thus, the respective slit nozzles 52 blow off clean air in such a manner as to generate mutually inward flow. The blowoff direction of each of the slit nozzles 52 is variable by a flexible ball joint. The “variable” condition herein refers to a condition that the angle of the blowoff port is variable. By this structure, the air blowoff direction can be easily varied when desired to be changed according to the purpose of use, for example.
As illustrated in
The vertical manifold 53 is an air manifold which extends in the vertical direction along the vertical corner. The plural slit nozzles 54 are provided in line in the extending direction of the vertical manifold 53 (vertical direction) in such a condition that each of the slit nozzles 54 communicates with the horizontal manifold 53. Each of the slit nozzles 54 has a slit-shaped blowoff port having a blowoff direction extending obliquely downward and following the circumferential direction of the chamber 26 around the vertical axis corresponding to the center of the chamber 26. Thus, the respective slit nozzles 54 blow off clean air in such a manner as to generate rotational flow around the vertical axis within the chamber 26.
More specifically, the respective slit nozzles 54 are provided in such a condition that the blowoff direction of each of the slit nozzles 54 forms an angle allowing deviation of the blowoff direction from a vertical center axis V (vertical axis) corresponding to the center of the chamber 26 in the horizontal direction (see
As illustrated in
While the chamber 26 in this embodiment has a rectangular parallelepiped shape, more particularly, a square pole shape, the shape of the chamber 26 may be a triangle pole shape, a pentagon pole shape, a hexagon pole shape, or other polygon pole shapes. The vertical air supply port units 29 (vertical manifolds 53) provided on the chamber 26 are only required at two vertical corners of the plural vertical corners.
As illustrated in
The flow of air within the robot cell 1 is now explained with reference to
The respective slit nozzles 54 of the four vertical air supply port units 29 blow off clean air in such a manner as to generate rotational flow around the vertical axis. As a result, rotational flow around the vertical axis is produced within the chamber 26 in the area other than the vicinity of the top wall 26a. Since the air exhaust mechanism 30 is disposed at the lower position of the chamber 26, the supplied air moves downward while rotating and forms rotational downflow.
The air having reached the support plate 2 by the predetermined flow of air thus formed is introduced into the lower space 4 through the communicating holes 6. The air within the lower space 4 is exhausted through the exhaust port 61 by the function of the air exhaust mechanism 30. During operation of the industrial robot 12, therefore, clean air is kept supplied and exhausted to and from the chamber 26 to ventilate the chamber 26 by utilizing the predetermined airflow.
According to the structure including the vertical air supply port units 29 each of which has the vertical manifold 53 and the plural slit nozzles 54, air can be uniformly blown off from the plural slit nozzles 54, and thus preferable rotational flow can be generated. In addition, the structure of the respective vertical air supply port units 29 can be simplified.
Moreover, the arrangement of the plural slit nozzles 54 in line in the vertical direction allows the rotational flow to be generated in the entire area in the vertical direction. Thus, no air staying space is further produced. In addition, appropriate downflow can be produced without requiring an air supply port section on the top wall 26a.
Furthermore, according to the structure which includes the slit nozzles 54 whose blowoff directions are variable, the blowoff directions of the respective slit nozzles 54 can be controlled. Thus, appropriate rotational flow satisfying various requirements can be produced.
While the blowoff directions of the respective slit nozzles 54 are obliquely downward directions to promote downflow in this embodiment, the blowoff directions of the slit nozzles 54 may be the horizontal direction instead of the obliquely downward direction.
A modified example of the vertical air supply port units 29 is now explained with reference to
According to the vertical air supply port units 29 each of which has the vertical manifold 53 and the slit hole 65, the structure of the vertical air supply port units 29 can be simplified, and the rotational flow can be generated throughout the area in the vertical direction by using the air uniformly blown off. Thus, no air staying space is further produced.
According to this structure, the rotational flow around the vertical axis is generated within the chamber 26, and the air is exhausted from the lower position of the chamber 26. Thus, the air within the chamber 26 moves downward while rotating around the vertical axis, thereby producing rotational downflow. As a result, the air flows throughout the chamber 26, and no air staying space is produced. In addition, dust generated within the chamber 26 is removed toward below. Accordingly, a high degree of air cleanliness can be maintained within the chamber 26. Moreover, since the downflow can be produced by the structure not necessarily requiring an air supply port section on the top wall 26a area (the ceiling area), an unoccupied space can be secured in the top wall 26a area.
According to the rectangular parallelepiped chamber 26 which has the vertical air supply port units 29 at the vertical corners formed by the four peripheral walls 26b, an unoccupied space can also be secured in the area of the four peripheral walls 26b. In addition, since air is blown off from the vertical corners where air easily stays, no air staying space is further produced.
According to the structure which includes the exhaust filter 62, air containing contaminants (dust) within the chamber 26 and the lower space 4 is cleaned, and thus clean air is exhausted to the outside. Thus, the outside atmosphere is not contaminated by the air exhausted from the chamber facility 11 (the robot cell 1). In addition, the air around the air exhaust mechanism 30 where dust and the like are easily produced can be ventilated.
While the chamber facility 11 according to this embodiment of the invention is applied to the robot cell 1 which uses the suspension type industrial robot 12, the chamber facility 11 may be applied to other various types of manufacturing devices and the like. In addition, the technology according to this embodiment of the invention having been applied to the chamber 26 which has the flat top wall 26a is also applicable to the chamber 26 which does not have the air supply port section on the top wall 26a due to the shape of the top wall area.
While the vertical air supply port unit 29 is provided at each of the four vertical corners in this embodiment, the vertical air supply port unit 29 may be equipped only at two vertical corners of the four vertical corners. For example, two units of the vertical air supply port unit 29 may be provided at the diagonally positioned vertical corners.
While the vertical air supply port units 29 are provided at the vertical corners of the chamber 26 in this embodiment, the vertical air supply port units 29 may be disposed at the central portions of the four peripheral walls 26b with respect to the vertical corners.
The entire disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2009-146053, filed Jun. 19, 2009 and 2010-065803, filed Mar. 23, 2010 are expressly incorporated by reference herein.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2009-146053 | Jun 2009 | JP | national |
2010-065803 | Mar 2010 | JP | national |