Patent Application
20240288184
The present application relates to the technical field of clean room, in particular to a clean room module.
A clean room refers to a well-sealed space in which air cleanliness, temperature, humidity, pressure, noise and other parameters are controlled as required. The development of clean room is closely linked with modern industry and cutting-edge technologies. Since precision machinery, semiconductor, pharmaceuticals, aerospace, medical treatment and similar industries have higher requirements for the environment, clean room technology has been continuously developed. In such fields, clean rooms have been widely used.
In the prior art, a circulation system with an air inlet and an air outlet is usually provided in the clean room module, so as to ensure cleanliness of the clean room module. A filter is installed in the air intake of the system to filter gas entering the clean room module from outside.
However, for the circulation system provided with an air inlet and an air outlet, degradation of the filter is relatively large due to continuous introduction of dirty outside air. Meanwhile, due to a continuous need to filter the intake air, a relatively long time is required to achieve the preset cleanliness.
In order to solve or at least partially solve the above-mentioned technical issues, the present application provides a clean room module, comprising: a housing defining an accommodation cavity therein and formed with an air inlet and an air outlet; a gas circulation device arranged at the housing, with two ends thereof being connected to the air inlet and the air outlet respectively, the housing and the gas circulation device being both sealed to define a confined space without gas exchange with the outside; and a filter arranged in the gas circulation device, wherein the gas in the accommodation cavity is drawn out from the air outlet through the gas circulation device, filtered by the filter, and sent back to the accommodation cavity from the air inlet.
In the clean room module provided by the embodiments of the present application, two ends of the gas circulation device are respectively connected to the air inlet and the air outlet, so that the gas only circulates inside the clean room module. Therefore, compared with the prior art, the clean room module of the present application can significantly reduce the time required for the accommodation cavity to reach a preset cleanliness after the cleaning function is activated. In this case, as the gas only circulates continuously in the clean room module, degradation of the filter is relatively small, and the service life of the consumables is prolonged.
To better explain embodiments of the present application, relevant drawings will be briefly described below. It is to be understood that, drawings described below are only used to illustrate certain embodiments of the present application, and those of ordinary skill in the art can perceive many other technical features and connections not mentioned herein, based on these drawings.
1. housing; 11. accommodation cavity; 12. side cover; 13. air inlet; 14. air outlet; 15. silicone rubber ring; 16. first cavity; 17. second cavity; 2. gas circulation device; 21. cassette; 22. pipe; 23. fan; 24. top cover; 3. partition wall; 31. communication hole; 4. filter; 5. observation window.
The application will be described in detail below in conjunction with the drawings.
It is found that the clean room in the prior art is usually a manual clean room. In order to ensure that the operator within the clean room can perform operation comfortably, it is necessary to set a circulation system with an air inlet and an air outlet. A filter is arranged in the air intake of the system to filter gas entering the clean room module from outside.
However, for the circulation system provided with an air inlet and an air outlet, degradation of the filter is very rapid due to continuous introduction of external air containing much dust. At the same time, due to a continuous need to filter the intake air, a relatively long time is required to reach a preset cleanliness.
In light of the above, a clean room module is proposed in the embodiments of the present application.
The first embodiment of the present application proposes a clean room module, as shown in
The housing 1 defines an accommodation cavity 11 therein, and is formed with an air inlet 13 and an air outlet 14. In the present application, the housing 1 is configured as a cuboid, a cube, or other polyhedrons with flat upper and lower surfaces, or a cylindrical shape and the like. The actual shape of the housing may be determined as needed, and a cube is preferable. The air inlet 13 and the air outlet 14 may be arranged on any surface of the housing 1, and may be arranged separately, or arranged on the top surface of the clean room module as shown in
The gas circulation device 2 is arranged at the housing 1, with two ends thereof connected to the air inlet 13 and the air outlet 14 respectively. The housing 1 and the gas circulation device 2 are both sealed to define a confined space without gas exchange with the outside. The gas circulation device 2 may mainly be blown via the fan 23.
The filter 4 is arranged in the gas circulation device 2, and the gas in the accommodation cavity 11 is drawn out from the air outlet 14 through the gas circulation device 2, filtered by the filter 4, and sent back to the accommodation cavity 11 from the air inlet 13. The filter 4 may be implemented in various forms for filtering. For example, the filter 4 may be provided with a multi-stage filter mesh including a HEPA mesh, or simply a HEPA mesh. Further, an electrostatic dust removal solution may be introduced to perform particle filtration with high-precision.
Alternatively, referring to
The gas circulation device 2 is arranged on the top of the housing 1. The filter 4 is installed in the cassette 21 and independently arranged on the top outside of the clean room module, and can be conveniently maintained and replaced. In addition, the housing 1 is further provided with a side cover 12, which is openable to facilitate the input and output of materials. Optionally, each movable joint of the clean room module is provided with a silicone rubber ring 15. The provided silicone rubber ring 15 can fill the joints to ensure sealing effect of the accommodation cavity 11. An observation window 5 may be provided in the housing 1 for observing working conditions in the clean room module.
Also referring to
The filter 4 has a relatively limited lifespan under normal circumstances, therefore when the filter 4 is set in the cassette 21, it is necessary to consider the issue of facilitating replacement and disassembly. With the detachable top cover 24 provided, replacement of the filter 4 can be facilitated.
According to the clean room module described above, the present application also provides an operation process of the clean room module as follows:
(1). The side cover 12 is opened and materials is input into the clean room module, and then the side cover 12 is closed to enclose the accommodation cavity 11.
(2). The gas circulation device 2 is turned on to make gas in the clean room module begin to circulate. Each time the gas passes through the filter 4, it will be repeatedly filtered, therefore the accommodation cavity 11 can quickly reach the cleanliness required, and can achieve a higher cleanliness.
(3). The equipment in the clean room module is turned on, and operations are performed on the input materials.
(4). After completion of the operation, the gas circulation device 2 may be closed, and the side cover 12 may be opened to take out the materials.
The clean room module provided in the application is very suitable for unattended operating environments. It is to be understood that, in the clean room module provided in this application, various equipment and instruments that need to work in a dust-free environment, such as robotic arms, distributors and spectrometers, can be set up and operated in a fully automatic or remote control manner. The input materials may be silicon wafers, integrated circuits, biochips and the like that need to be operated under higher cleanliness. In the present disclosure, both ends of the gas circulation device 2 are respectively connected to the air inlet 13 and the air outlet 14, so the gas can circulate only inside the clean room module. Therefore, compared with the prior art, the clean room module of the present application can significantly reduce the time required for the accommodation cavity 11 to reach a preset cleanliness after the cleaning function is activated. In this case, as the gas only continuously circulates in the clean room module, degradation of the filter 4 is relatively small, and the lifetime of the consumables used by the filter 4 is prolonged.
In order to realize miniaturization of the gas circulation device 2, reduce the length of the pipe 22 and improve sealing performance, it is usually recommended to install the gas circulation device 2 on one surface of the housing 1. Nonetheless, if the air inlet 13 and the air outlet 14 are both located on the same side of the accommodation cavity 11, it is easy to cause the gas on this side to circulate repeatedly, and the gas far away from this side is difficult to enter the circulation channel.
In view of this, the second embodiment of the present application provides an improvement of the clean room module, on the basis of the first embodiment. As shown in
The partition wall 3 divides the accommodation cavity 11 within the housing 1 into a first cavity 16 and a second cavity 17. Further, the air inlet 13 is provided at a part of the housing 1 corresponding to the first cavity 16, and the air outlet 14 is provided at a part of the housing 1 corresponding to the second cavity 17. A communication hole 31 is provided in the partition wall 3.
Gas in the second cavity 17 is drawn out from the air outlet 14 through the gas circulation device 2, filtered by the filter 4, sent into the first cavity 16 from the air inlet 13, and returned to the second cavity 17 through the communication hole 31. In
Alternatively, the communication hole 31 may be provided on a side of the partition wall 3 away from the gas circulation device 2 so that the gas can circulate in a larger range. In another embodiment, a plurality of communication holes 31 may be dispersedly arranged in the partition wall 3, so that the gas exchange is more uniform.
Referring to
It is to be understood that the purpose of the partition wall 3 is to divide the accommodation cavity 11 into a first cavity 16 corresponding to the air inlet 13 as well as a second cavity 17 corresponding to the air outlet 14. Therefore, when the partition wall 3 is arranged at a corner of the accommodation cavity 11, the air outlet 14 shall also be located at a corner of the housing 1.
In actual use, some instruments and equipment are intended to minimize airflow disturbance acting on them. In other words, it is desired to minimize the wind directly blowing against this part of instruments in use.
In view of this, the third embodiment of the present application provides another different clean room module, based on the second embodiment. As shown in
It is also to be understood that the size of communication holes 31 can be correspondingly reduced, and the number of the communication holes 31 can be increased at the same time, so as to further reduce the airflow disturbance.
The fourth embodiment of the present application proposes a further different clean room module, based on any of the first to third embodiments. As shown in
The filter 4 is arranged in the cassette 21, and the cassette 21 is installed at the air outlet 14 so that the filter 4 is close to the air outlet 14. The pipe 22 is configured with one end being connected to the cassette 21 and the other end being connected to the air inlet 13.
The fan 23 is arranged beside the filter 4, with two sides thereof respectively facing the filter 4 and a connection port between the duct 22 and the cassette 21. The blowing direction of the fan 23 and a direction in which the air outlet 14 is directed are perpendicular to each other.
The difference from the previous embodiments is that, in this embodiment, the fan 23 is not directly facing the air inlet 13 or the air outlet 14, so that the airflow disturbance caused by direct blowing of the fan 23 or the suction of air in the accommodation cavity 11 can be further reduced. Additionally, in case the fan 23 is arranged in this position, the filter 4 can be replaced quickly and conveniently by simply opening the top cover 24, without being hindered by the fan 23, and it is more convenient to disassemble and clean the fan 23 itself.
Finally, it should be understood that those of ordinary skill in the art can understand that, in order to enable readers to better understand this application, many technical details are proposed in the implementation of this application. However, even in the absence of these technical details as well as various changes and modifications based on the foregoing embodiments, the technical solutions pursued by the respective claims of this application can be basically realized. Therefore, in practical applications, various changes can be made to the above-mentioned embodiments in form and details, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present application.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22021033238.7 | Jun 2021 | HK | national |
This Application is a National Stage Application under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of PCT Application No. PCT/CN2022/095403, filed May 27, 2022 which claims priority to Hong Kong patent application Ser. No. 22/021,033238.7, filed Jun. 17, 2021, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference herein
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/CN2022/095403 | 5/27/2022 | WO |
