JP2582015B2 - Emergency stop device in clean room - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an emergency stop device in a clean room, which is installed in a clean room and automatically stops devices such as heat generation and ignition in an emergency.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There are various processes in the manufacture of semiconductor devices. However, depending on the manufacturing apparatus (including processing or processing) used, there are those which generate heat or ignite or use dangerous gases. For example, there are a CVD apparatus and an etching apparatus using a process gas such as siborane, phosphine, and silane, and these manufacturing apparatuses are usually installed in a clean room.

[0003] In these manufacturing apparatuses, fires, earthquakes,
Manufacturing equipment is stopped due to an emergency, etc., and unprocessed process gas is prevented from diffusing into the clean room or the atmosphere, thereby preventing human harm or fire. In order to preserve the environment inside, it is required to immediately close the valve of the gas source and the valve on the outlet side of the device in accordance with the guidelines of the High Pressure Gas Safety Association.

[0004]

However, in the prior art, the operation of each valve is manually performed based on the judgment of a site worker or an emergency stop signal (which is issued based on a detection signal of a gas leak sensor). I have. For this reason, individual differences are likely to occur, and when the number of installed devices increases, a large amount of time (eg, about one hour) is required to complete the work, and the operator may forget to close the valve. There is concern about expansion.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide an emergency stop device in a clean room that can automatically and automatically stop and switch a gas supply source and an exhaust system of a manufacturing apparatus in an emergency.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a process that involves the supply of a process gas from a gas source, performs a process involving heat generation and ignition, or supplies a hazardous gas from the gas source. In a clean room in which a manufacturing apparatus that performs predetermined processing in response to the abnormal conditions is installed, an abnormality detection unit that detects the occurrence of an emergency that makes it impossible to continue the operation, and an exhaust filter that performs detoxification processing on exhaust gas containing harmful gas. Harm device,
A valve for supplying exhaust gas supplied from the clean room to the atmosphere or one of the exhaust gas abatement apparatuses, and switching the valve to the exhaust gas abatement apparatus when the abnormality detection unit detects an abnormality, and the gas source And a control unit for stopping gas supply from the control unit.

[0007]

According to the above means, when an emergency such as a fire, earthquake, gas leak, or occurrence of an abnormal signal occurs that makes it impossible to continue the operation, the control unit performs control to stop gas supply from the gas source. At the same time, the atmosphere exhaust gas from the clean room side is led to an exhaust gas abatement apparatus, and is subjected to detoxification processing before being released into the atmosphere. Therefore, a gas that causes ignition or heat generation or a harmful gas can be quickly removed from the clean room to prevent a disaster from spreading into the clean room and prevent the harmful gas from being released into the atmosphere.

[0008]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of an emergency stop device in a clean room according to the present invention. It should be noted that, in practice, there are several tens of devices installed in the clean room, but here, only four devices are shown for convenience of explanation.

An abnormality detection unit 2 is connected to a control unit 1 which forms a central part of the present invention and executes various controls using a microcomputer. The abnormality detection unit 2 detects the occurrence of a fire or an earthquake and generates an abnormality signal, or generates an abnormality signal based on a detection signal of a gas leak sensor, and furthermore, a monitor (or a worker) detects the abnormality. An abnormal signal is generated based on the ON operation of the push button operated when the button is pressed.

On the other hand, in the clean room 3, manufacturing apparatuses 4, 5 (here, CVD apparatuses) and manufacturing apparatuses 6, 7
(Here, an etching apparatus) is installed. The gas input ports of the same type of apparatus are commonly connected, and in the manufacturing apparatuses 4 and 5, the gas input ports are connected to a gas source (A) 10 via a gas pipe 8 and a valve 9 (for example, an electromagnetic valve) in that order. Similarly, in the manufacturing apparatuses 6 and 7, the gas pipe 11, the valve 1
2 (for example, an electromagnetic valve) and a gas source (B) 1
3 is connected.

Further, each of the outlets of the manufacturing apparatuses 4 to 7 has:
Each of the atmosphere exhaust pipes 14 to 17 in the apparatus housing is connected, and each of the valves 18 to 21 is connected to an end thereof. The valves 18 to 21 have the same specifications, and have a structure that can be controlled by the control unit 1 and has a function of a switching valve. A first port, which is a normal outlet of the valves 18 to 21, is commonly connected by an exhaust pipe 22, and a second port, which is an emergency outlet, is commonly connected to each type of processing apparatus. That is, the valve 1
8 and 19, they are commonly connected by an exhaust pipe 23 and connected to an exhaust gas abatement apparatus 24, and valves 20 and 21 are commonly connected by an exhaust pipe 25 and connected to an exhaust gas abatement apparatus 26. In addition, the exhaust gas abatement device 24,
The outlet 26 is open to the atmosphere. In order to detoxify the exhaust gas, which is usually processed process gas, exhaust gas piping 3
1, and an exhaust gas treatment device 32 are connected to the manufacturing device.

The control unit 1 connects each of the valves 9 and 12, the manufacturing devices 4, 5, 6 and 7, the valves 18 to 21, and the exhaust gas abatement devices 24 and 26 to each of the signal lines 27, 28, 29 and 30. Control through.

Next, in the above embodiment, the manufacturing apparatuses 4 to
The emergency stop operation during the operation of 7 will be described.

When the manufacturing apparatuses 4 to 7 are operating normally, the valves 9 and 12 are opened, and the valves 18 to 21 are switched to the exhaust pipe 22 side (first port). Gas source (A)
Process gas is supplied from the gas source 10 and the gas source (B) 13 to each of the manufacturing apparatuses 4 to 7, CVD processing and etching processing are performed, and the reacted gas is discharged into the atmosphere via an exhaust gas pipe 31 and an exhaust gas processing apparatus 32. Released during. The atmosphere of the clean room 3 and the manufacturing apparatuses 4, 5, 6, and 7 (no harm when no gas is leaking) is set in the exhaust pipes 14-1.
7. Released into the atmosphere via valves 18 to 21 and exhaust pipe 22.

On the other hand, if any one of a fire, an earthquake, a gas leak, and an operation of an emergency button occurs and the operation cannot be continued, the abnormality detecting unit 2 sends an abnormal signal to the control unit 1. Send out. The control unit 1 that has received the abnormality signal issues a command to close the valves 9 and 12, and issues a command to switch the valves 18 to 21 from the first port to the second port. At the same time, control for stopping the manufacturing devices 4 to 7 and control for starting the exhaust gas abatement devices 24 and 26 are performed. As a result, no new gas is supplied to the clean room 3 from the gas source (A) 10 and the gas source (B) 13, and the gas remaining in each pipe after the valves 9 and 12 is discharged to the exhaust gas treatment device 32. Is sucked. In the exhaust gas treatment device 32, the introduced gas is subjected to gas treatment and then released into the atmosphere. Atmospheric exhaust remaining in the clean room 3 and in the exhaust pipes 14 to 17 is sucked into the exhaust abatement devices 24 and 26. Exhaust abatement system 24,
At 26, after performing the detoxification treatment on the introduced exhaust gas,
Release to atmosphere.

As described above, according to the above embodiment,
Since the closing and switching operations of each valve are performed automatically, the time required to complete all operations can be reduced to one minute or less, so that emergency situations can be promptly dealt with and safety can be improved. And environmental preservation becomes possible.

[0017]

As described above, according to the present invention, a process involving heat generation and ignition is performed by receiving a process gas from a gas source, or a predetermined process is performed by receiving a dangerous gas from the gas source. In a clean room where manufacturing equipment is installed, an abnormality detection unit that detects the occurrence of an emergency that makes it impossible to continue operation, an exhaust gas abatement device that performs detoxification processing on exhaust gas containing harmful gas, and a supply from the clean room A valve for supplying the exhaust gas to the atmosphere or one of the exhaust gas abatement apparatuses, and switching the valve to the exhaust gas abatement apparatus when the abnormality detection unit detects an abnormality, and supplying the gas from the gas source. A control unit is provided to shut off gas, which can cause ignition or heat generation, or harmful gas, can be quickly eliminated from the clean room, and disasters spread within the clean room. That the while preventing, it is possible to prevent the release of harmful gases into the atmosphere.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an emergency stop device in a clean room according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Control part 2 Abnormality detection part 3 Clean room 4,5,6,7 Manufacturing apparatus 8,11,14-17,22,23,25 Gas piping 9,12,18-21 Valve 10 Gas source (A) 13 Gas source (B) 24, 26 Exhaust gas abatement system 27, 28, 29, 30 Signal line

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A clean room in which a manufacturing apparatus for performing a process of generating heat and ignition by receiving a process gas from a gas source or performing a predetermined process by receiving a supply of a dangerous gas from the gas source is installed. An abnormality detection unit that detects the occurrence of an emergency that disables continuation of operation, an exhaust gas abatement apparatus that performs detoxification processing on exhaust gas containing harmful gas, and an exhaust gas supplied from the clean room in the atmosphere or A valve for supplying to one of the exhaust gas abatement apparatuses, and a control unit that switches the valve to the exhaust gas abatement apparatus side and stops gas supply from the gas source when the abnormality detection unit detects an abnormality. An emergency stop device for a clean room.