The present invention relates to particle removing apparatus, and especially to a particle removing apparatus for cleaning anti-dust clothing.
Generally, a large number of dust-free clothes are worn by workers in clean rooms in the semiconductor industry and related industries. These clothes are made of special materials that resist contamination.
Nowadays, the semiconductor industry makes chips with very high levels of circuit integration. Some of the wafers made may also be particularly thin. In addition, the manufacturing of some product components such as LCDs (liquid crystal displays) also requires clean rooms. Some modern LCDs are large, and great care is needed to keep them uncontaminated. Thus the level of cleanliness required in clean rooms is becoming increasingly stringent. Finding a way of lower the quantity and the cost of dust-free clothes is therefore becoming increasingly important.
An exemplary particle removing apparatus includes a main body having a chamber; a hollow roller being capable of rotating in the chamber, the roller includes an air inlet and a rear portion opposite to the air inlet; a first motor for driving the roller to rotate about a rotational axis thereof; an agitator located in the roller, the agitator being capable of rotating in the roller, and spanning at least most of a distance from the air inlet to the rear portion; and an air feeding unit connecting with the chamber for introducing air into the roller via the air inlet.
Another exemplary particle removing apparatus includes a main body having a chamber; a roller capable of rotating in the chamber, the roller comprising an air inlet and a rear portion opposite to the air inlet; an agitator extended from the rear portion to the air inlet of the roller; a motor coupled to the agitator for driving the agitator to rotate about a rotational axis; and an air feeding unit connecting with the chamber for introducing air into the roller via the air inlet.
Other advantages and novel features will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, all the views are schematic.
Reference will now be made to the drawings to describe the preferred embodiments in detail.
The main body 10 includes a chamber 11, and a hollow roller 12 capable of rotating in the chamber 11 about the rotational axis A. The hollow roller 12 includes an air inlet 123, and a rear portion 124 opposite to the air inlet 123. The rear portion 124 includes a plurality of through holes 125 for discharging air. The hollow roller 12 further includes a plurality of first blades 121 disposed on an inner wall thereof. Each first blade 121 is oriented along a direction parallel to the rotational axis A, and spans a full length of the hollow roller 12. A maximum radial width of each first blade 121 gradually increases from the end near the air inlet 123 to the opposite end near the rear portion 124. Further, referring also to
The main body 10 also includes an agitator 13 disposed in a middle portion of the hollow roller 12. The agitator 13 spans substantially from the air inlet 123 to the rear portion 124, and is also capable of rotating about the rotational axis A. The agitator 13 includes a plurality of second blades 131 extending from a main axle thereof. A radial width of each second blade 131 also gradually increases from the end near the air inlet 123 to the opposite end near the rear portion 124. Referring also to
The main body 10 further includes two motors 14 and 15, for driving the hollow roller 12 and the agitator 13 respectively. The motor 14 is coupled to a wheel 122 near the air inlet 123 of the hollow roller 12 via a belt 141, for driving the hollow roller 12 to rotate about the rotational axis A. The motor 15 is coupled to a wheel 132 of the agitator 13 via a belt 151, for driving the agitator 13 to rotate about the rotational axis A. The motors 14 and 15 are controlled by a motor controlling unit (not shown), which can adjust rotation speeds and rotation directions of the motors 14 and 15. In addition, the motors 14 and 15 may be equipped with deceleration units in order to adjust rotation speeds and rotation directions of the motors 14 and 15.
The air feeding unit 20 includes an air feeding passage 21 connecting with the chamber 11, an air feeding fan 22 disposed in the air feeding passage 21 for introducing air from the ambient environment into the hollow roller 12 via the air feeding passage 21, an air filter 23, and a pair of air filters 24. The air filter 23 is disposed at a front side of the air feeding fan 22. The air filter 23 has a lower density, and is used for filtering particles with a large diameter. The air filters 24 are disposed at a rear side of the air feeding fan 22. Each air filter 24 can be a high efficiency particulate air filter. The quantity of air filters 24 employed may be varied to ensure that the air introduced into the roller 12 matches with applicable cleaning standard requirements. In the illustrated embodiment, two high efficiency particulate air filters 24 are disposed at the rear side of the air feeding fan 22.
The air discharging unit 30 includes an air discharging passage 31 connecting with the chamber 11 and with the hollow roller 12 via the through holes 125, and an air discharging fan 32 disposed in the air discharging passage 31 for discharging air from the chamber 11 and the hollow roller 12. The air discharging unit 30 includes a frustum-shaped portion connecting with the main body 10, and a cylindrical portion distal from the main body 10. A diameter of the cylindrical portion is less than a diameter of the main body 10. A particle sensor 33 is disposed at an inner wall of the air discharging passage 31 at the cylindrical portion of the air discharging unit 30, for detecting particles in the air being discharged. The particle sensor 33 measures an amount of dust in the air being discharged, and can provided a corresponding readout for an operator.
The quantity of the first and second blades 121 and 131 is not limited to the quantity shown in the drawings. The number of first and second blades 121 and 131 can be configured according to particular cleaning requirements.
It is believed that the present embodiments and their advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the examples hereinbefore described merely being preferred or exemplary embodiments of the invention.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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200520120944.9 | Dec 2005 | CN | national |