JP2687114B2 - Static elimination method and device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a static elimination method and apparatus for removing static electricity of a charged object to be treated.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventional AC and DC high voltages (6000 V-
(12000 V) is discharged from a needle electrode, air is ionized, and this ion wind is blown onto a charged object to be processed to erase the electric charge on the surface of the object. However, with this method, the amount of ozone (O ₃ ) generated increases as the cleanliness of the work environment increases, and this has a large effect on the human body. Therefore, this device is removed and the humidity is increased by air conditioning to prevent static electricity. There are also things.

[0003]

However, the above-mentioned ionization of air by high voltage discharge is mostly the case that fine dust-like particles (about 40 μ or less) which are suspended in the air are monopolarly charged particles. It is considered that oxygen (O ₂ ) in the air was partially activated to ozone (O ₃ ) when the number of such dust-like particles was small. Therefore, it is considered that in a place where dust-like particles with low cleanliness are present, a state in which a line of electric force lines is formed by adhesion of particles of different polarity charged by a single pole to suppress divergence of electric force lines is eliminated. Therefore, it is consistent with this fact that this method is said to be more effective for the more fine dust particles. In addition, the static eliminator using this high-voltage discharge forcibly sends air with a blower and blows it as ion wind to increase the speed of static elimination, but this also forcefully sends in a lot of fine dust particles. ing. Then, when the object to be treated that seems to have been decharged at first glance is rubbed, the amount of static electricity regenerated dramatically increases. This is because static electricity newly generated by the adherents of the unipolar charged dust-like particles attached to the non-charged portion is added. In addition, the higher the cleanliness, the more ozone is generated. Further, in the high humidity condition by the latter method, the human body is adversely affected, and the machine is rusted or the insulation is deteriorated, which is a bad condition from the viewpoint of maintenance of the machine and equipment, and it is also sufficient as a countermeasure against static electricity. is not.

Therefore, the present invention does not forcibly charge the dust-like particles of the related art, but instead of this, a large number of clusters, which are aggregates of water molecules, are formed, and the clusters are unipolarly charged to be treated. It is an object of the present invention to provide a reliable and clean static elimination method and device that eliminates static electricity and does not adversely affect a human body or a machine.

[0005]

The invention according to claim 1 produces air containing water in a cluster state and having a humidity of about 100%, and the other end of the air passage is directed toward the object to be treated. By sending to the end, the relative humidity is lowered by warming the air to room temperature or higher by the heater provided in the air passage, and then passing the air through the discharge area of the high-voltage discharge electrode provided in the air passage, The cluster is unipolarly charged and discharged from the opening of the ventilation passage, and by hitting the object to be treated, the charge on the opposite side of the object to be treated is adsorbed and the electric charge is canceled out. The static elimination method was used to remove the electric charge of the processed material. The cluster, which is an aggregate of water molecules, generally has 5 to 13 molecules and has a particle size of several microns or less.
The present invention includes water particles having a size that is invisible to the naked eye.

[0006] In the above method, when the air is heated by a heater in the air flow passage, the molecular motion of the clusters therein is activated, and at the same time, the vaporization is promoted, and the number of molecules of the particles is several to ten. Down to a few levels.
In this way, the particles of clusters change with temperature and become smaller, and since the relative humidity is low, there is no short-circuit current due to these clusters even when they pass around the high-voltage discharge electrode, and the insulating state is maintained and discharge is performed. . When the air is heated by a heater, the relative humidity is once lowered, but when the air is discharged from the opening of the air passage, the temperature is lowered to room temperature and the air becomes supersaturated, and the monopolar charged clusters are further divided. Then, in some of these clusters, the positively-charged clusters and the negatively-charged clusters are aggregated to form water droplets and lose their electric charges, but are further unipolarly charged by the discharge from the high-voltage discharge electrode. In addition, the other part does not aggregate and remains unipolarly charged. In this state, by applying these clusters to the object to be processed, the charges charged on the object to be processed and the clusters charged to the opposite pole are adsorbed and the charges are canceled, and then the clusters are vaporized and the surface of the object to be processed is evaporated. Nothing is left behind.

The invention according to claim 2 creates an air generator which blows high-pressure air into water to produce air containing water in a cluster state and having a humidity of around 100%.
An air passage connected to the air generator is provided, the opening of the air passage is directed toward the object to be processed, and a heater for warming the air is provided in the air passage, and air is blown between the heater and the opening. A static eliminator was provided with a high-voltage discharge electrode for unipolarly charging the clusters in the air in the passage.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, the apparatus used in the present invention will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the apparatus is an air generating apparatus 1 for generating air containing water in a cluster state and having a humidity of about 100%, and a ventilation device for blowing ion air on a workpiece. It is composed of the road 2. The air generator 1
Is provided with a water tank 3 below the box 1a, and above the water tank 3 is provided a first filter 5 that closes the cross section of the box 2 through a first hollow portion 4, and further the first filter 5
Closes the cross section of the box body 2 via the second hollow portion 6 above
A second filter 7 having a coarser mesh than the first filter 5 is provided, and a third hollow portion 8 is provided above the second filter 7.
Is provided. Further, a first high-pressure air jet 9 is provided in the water tank 3, and a second high-pressure air jet 10 is provided in the second hollow portion 6. Further, the water tank 3 is provided with an inlet 11.

The air passage 2 is formed by the air generator 1
Has an entrance 12 next to the air duct 2
A heater 13 for warming the air inside is provided. In addition, 6000V to 12000 near the opening 14 of the air duct 2.
A high-voltage discharge electrode 15 of V is provided, and the opening 14 of the air passage 2 faces the object 16 to be processed.

FIG. 2 shows a high-pressure air generator for supplying high-pressure air to the first high-pressure air ejection port 9 and the second high-pressure air ejection port 10 of this embodiment, in which high-pressure air is supplied from the compressor 17 to the air tank 18. The air is supplied from the air tank 18 to the filter 20 through the pressure regulator 19, and the two paths 2 are provided from the filter 20.
1, 22 and branch to the above-mentioned first high-pressure air jet port 9 and second high-pressure air jet port 10 through pressure adjusting devices 23, 24 and electromagnetic valves 25, 26, respectively.

In the case of this embodiment, the water tank 3 is filled with pure water having a resistance value of 10 ⁶ to 10 ¹⁰ Ω through the inlet 11.
High-pressure air is jetted into the pure water from the first high-pressure air jet port 9. As a result, the first hollow portion 4 is filled with air containing a large number of clusters, and this air enters the second hollow portion 6 through the first filter 5. Also the second
In the hollow portion 6, high-pressure air is jetted from the second high-pressure air jet port 10, whereby the air in the second hollow portion 6 is transferred to the third hollow portion 8 through the second filter 7. In this way, the particles of the cluster are carefully selected into small ones by passing through the first filter 5 and the second filter 7,
In the third hollow portion 8, air having a humidity of about 100% and containing clusters of pure water particles of several microns is produced.

This air is the second high pressure air jet 1 described above.
It is jetted from the inlet 12 into the ventilation passage 2 by high pressure air from 0, and is heated by the heater 13 to about 30 ° C to 90 ° C. As a result, the clusters inside are activated, vaporization is promoted, each particle becomes smaller, and the relative humidity of the air is lowered to 30 to 50%. After that, the high-voltage discharge electrode 1 provided with the air in the air passage 2
The large number of clusters are unipolarly charged by passing through the discharge region 5 and discharged from the opening 14 of the ventilation passage 2. The temperature of the air discharged from the opening 14 drops to room temperature and becomes supersaturated, and the unipolarly charged clusters are further divided.

Then, in some of these clusters, the positively charged clusters and the negatively charged clusters are aggregated to form water droplets, and the electric charge disappears, but the discharge from the high-voltage discharge electrode 15 further causes unipolar charging. .
In addition, the other part does not aggregate and remains unipolarly charged. By applying these clusters to the object to be processed 16 in this state, the charges charged on the object to be processed 16 and the clusters charged to the opposite pole are adsorbed and the charges are canceled, and then the clusters are vaporized and the object to be processed is evaporated. Nothing remains on the surface of 16. Further, since many clusters are sent around the high-voltage discharge electrode one after another, ozone is less likely to be generated by the discharge.

Next, a description will be given of an embodiment in which the method of the present invention is used by using the apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 above. As an object to be processed, an acrylic plate having a length and width of 100 mm and a thickness of 3 mm is rubbed to obtain 17,000 V. The one charged at the position was used and moved at a speed of 6 m / min. The distance from the high-voltage discharge electrode 15 to the object to be processed is 200 m.
m and a discharge voltage of 8000 V was applied from the electrode 15. As the water, pure water having a resistance value of 10 ⁶ Ω was used, and high-pressure air of 3 kg / cm ² was passed through this pure water to produce air having an air volume of 50 liters / minute, and the temperature around the heater 13 was set to about 60 °. When it was carried out with C, the surface of the object to be treated became 0 V almost immediately. Moreover, no dust or the like adhered to the surface of the object to be treated.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the device according to the present invention, in which the ventilation passage 2 is provided at a position distant from the air generating device 1, and other configurations are the same as those of the embodiment. It is the same as the example, and the operation is exactly the same.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of an air generator for producing air having a humidity of about 100% and containing pure water in a cluster state. The air taken in through a filter 30 is transferred to a humidifier 32 by a blower 31. To do. In this humidifier 32, pure water is sucked up from a tank 33 made of pure water by a suction filter 34, and the air is passed through the suction filter 34 which has been made to be fully condensed, thereby producing air having a humidity close to 100%.

In the above-mentioned embodiments and examples, the water used is pure water having a low resistance value, but this is a case where the cleanliness is particularly required, such as use in a clean room, and other water is used. Ordinary water may be used in the place. Further, the temperature around the heater is about 30 ° C. in the above embodiment.
Although it was warmed to 90 ° C, it should be warmed to room temperature or higher.

[0018]

In the conventional high voltage discharge method, most of the fine dust-like particles floating in the air due to the ionization of air are monopolar charged particles, and these particles are charged to the object to be treated. Dust-like particles remain after the charge is adsorbed and the charges are removed. In the inventions of claims 1 and 2, however, a large number of pure water clusters are supplied by changing to such dust-like particles, These clusters are ionized by high-voltage discharge.The particles of the unipolarly charged clusters cancel each other's charge and charge on the surface of the object to be treated, and the clusters immediately vaporize, so that the surface of the object to be treated has no effect. Does not remain. Therefore, the cleanliness of the surface of the object to be treated is maintained. Since it does not rely on dust particles in this way, it is suitable for static elimination in a clean room. Moreover, since clusters are successively supplied to the high-voltage discharge electrode, ozone is not generated by the discharge.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a high-pressure air generator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an air generating device containing pure water in a cluster state according to another embodiment of the present invention and having a humidity close to 100%.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Air generator 2 Blower 3 Water tank 4 1st hollow part 5 1st filter 6 2nd hollow part 7 2nd filter 8 3rd hollow part 9 1st high pressure air jet 10 10 2nd high pressure air jet 12 Entrance 13 Heater 14 Opening 15 High-voltage discharge electrode 16 Workpiece

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. Humidity 10 containing water in a cluster state
Air of about 0% is created, and this air is sent to the other end of the air duct whose one end opening faces the object to be processed, and the heater provided in this air duct warms the air above room temperature to lower the relative humidity. After that, by passing the air through the discharge area of the high-voltage discharge electrode provided in the air passage, the cluster is unipolarly charged and discharged from the opening of the air passage, and applied to the object to be treated. A method of removing electricity, characterized in that the charge of the object to be treated is adsorbed by a cluster charged to the opposite pole to cancel the charge, and the charge of the object to be treated is removed. 2. An air generator is provided which blows high-pressure air into water consisting of water to produce pure air in a cluster state and having a humidity of around 100%, and a blower connected to this air generator. A passage is provided, the opening of the air passage is directed toward the object to be processed, a heater for warming the air is provided in the air passage, and a cluster in the air is provided in the air passage between the heater and the opening. A static eliminator, comprising a high-voltage discharge electrode for unipolar charging.