JP3777342B2 - Cleaning nozzle - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a cleaning nozzle that is extremely suitable for cleaning precision parts such as flat panel displays, semiconductor-related parts, and light-related parts.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In cleaning precision parts such as flat panel displays, semiconductor-related parts, and light-related parts, it is necessary to sufficiently remove fine dust, particles, and the like. For example, in recent years, flat panel displays and semiconductor-related parts have been highly integrated and highly densified, and cleaning of these precision parts is targeted for removal of sub-micron particles. Further, in such cleaning of precision parts, it is also required that the surface of the precision part having a fine pattern or the like is not damaged. For this reason, by mixing the cleaning liquid and gas using a high-pressure cleaning nozzle, the cleaning liquid becomes fine particles, and the finely cleaned cleaning liquid is sprayed onto the object to be cleaned, or the surface is cleaned using a brush. Cleaning is performed by rubbing.
[0003]
FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing an example of a cleaning nozzle used for such cleaning. The cleaning nozzle 50 is provided with a mixing chamber 2 for mixing the cleaning liquid and gas therein. The mixing chamber 2 is provided with a cleaning liquid supply port 3, a gas supply port 5, and a cleaning liquid jet port 6. At the time of cleaning, a cleaning liquid such as a solvent, a detergent, or pure water is supplied from the cleaning liquid supply port 3, and a gas such as compressed air is supplied from the gas supply port 5. The cleaning liquid and the gas are mixed inside the mixing chamber 2 due to the supply pressure of the gas, and become fine particles. Then, the cleaning target is cleaned by spraying the cleaning liquid that has been finely divided into the cleaning target from the cleaning liquid jet port 6.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, such a cleaning nozzle has a drawback in cleaning recent highly integrated precision parts. In other words, such a cleaning nozzle relies on the supply pressure of the liquid or gas for the most part of the power for atomizing the cleaning liquid and spraying it. Therefore, in order to atomize the cleaning liquid into a sufficiently fine size and eject it with a necessary ejection pressure, it has been necessary to increase the supply pressure of the liquid or gas. For this reason, a high-pressure pump of 80 kg or more is required, which may increase the cost of the cleaning work.
[0005]
Further, the cleaning nozzle as described above has a drawback that the size of the fine particles of the cleaning liquid to be ejected is large, the density of the fine particles is insufficient, and the fine particles of the cleaning liquid to be ejected are uneven. Therefore, when cleaning highly-integrated precision parts in recent years, dust and particles of submicron size adhering to fine patterns cannot be completely removed, and the required cleaning effect cannot be obtained. was there. Further, if the gas supply pressure is further increased in order to obtain a sufficient cleaning effect, the fine pattern of the precision component may be damaged. Further, when the gas supply pressure is increased, the cleaning liquid is wasted more than necessary, and the cleaning cost is deteriorated.
[0006]
Moreover, even if the surface is cleaned with a brush other than the nozzle, there is variation, and the residue of fine particles remains in the brush and damages the surface. Low-frequency ultrasound removes micron-sized dirt and high-frequency sub-micron dirt. However, damage to the washed product, damage to the ultrasonic oscillator and transducer, and higher costs There are drawbacks.
[0007]
An object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning nozzle that can improve the drawbacks of the conventional cleaning nozzle and can make the gas fine particles contained in the sprayed cleaning liquid small, large in quantity, and uniform. is there.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention for solving the above-mentioned problems is a cleaning nozzle, comprising at least a stirring chamber having a cleaning liquid supply port and a liquid discharge port, and the stirring chamber and the liquid discharge port communicating with each other. The mixing chamber has a mixing chamber, and the stirring chamber stirs the cleaning liquid supplied from the cleaning liquid supply port and collides with the wall of the stirring chamber, thereby generating gas fine particles and supplying the liquid containing the gas fine particles to the liquid discharge port. And the mixing chamber mixes the liquid containing gas fine particles supplied from the liquid discharge port and the gas supplied from the gas supply port, and jets the cleaning liquid from the cleaning liquid outlet. This is a cleaning nozzle .
[0009]
As described above, by providing a stirring chamber that stirs the cleaning liquid to generate gas fine particles, even if the gas supply pressure is lower than that of the conventional cleaning nozzle, the gas in the cleaning liquid is sufficiently finely sized. Fine particles can be supplied to the object to be cleaned with a required jet pressure. Further, since the gas in the cleaning liquid is first atomized in the stirring chamber, the generated gas fine particles of the cleaning liquid have a finer size and higher density than before, and the cleaning effect is improved. Therefore, parts, devices, and the like having fine precision patterns can be cleaned extremely uniformly and with high accuracy. Further, since the fine gas particles in the cleaning liquid have a finer size than before, the surface of the precision component is not damaged, and the cleaning liquid is not wasted more than necessary.
[0010]
In this case, the stirring chamber is preferably divided into a plurality of stages by a partition having an opening .
As described above, since the stirring chamber is divided into a plurality of stages, the efficiency of atomizing the gas in the cleaning liquid is further improved, and further, the cleaning liquid containing fine gas fine particles at the jet nozzle is added to the object to be cleaned. Can be injected.
[0011]
In this case, it is preferable that the cleaning liquid ejection port, the liquid discharge port, and the opening have a slit shape .
As described above, if the cleaning liquid ejection port, the liquid discharge port, and the opening are slit-shaped, the cleaning liquid is ejected from the cleaning liquid ejection port without unevenness, and at the same time, it is possible to clean a wide area without unevenness. Therefore, it is particularly suitable for cleaning a substrate-like object to be cleaned such as a flat panel display.
[0012]
In this case, it is preferable that the cleaning liquid outlet, the liquid discharge outlet, and the opening have a smaller area from the upstream stage of the stirring chamber to the cleaning liquid outlet of the mixing chamber .
In this way, by making the area through which the finely divided cleaning liquid passes from the upstream side to the downstream side, that is, from the upstream stage of the stirring chamber to the cleaning liquid outlet of the mixing chamber, the fine gas fine particles can be efficiently collected. Thus, the cleaning liquid can be supplied to the object to be cleaned with a sufficient discharge pressure.
[0013]
The mixing chamber has a plurality of gas supply ports, and a plurality of kinds of gases supplied from the gas supply ports are mixed with a liquid containing gas fine particles supplied from the liquid discharge port, and the cleaning liquid is discharged from the cleaning liquid outlet. Can be ejected .
[0014]
Thus, by providing a plurality of gas supply ports in the mixing chamber, it is possible to mix a plurality of types of gases and liquids containing gas fine particles, and to wash a desired mixed gas according to the cleaning purpose. Can be used.
[0015]
In this case, the mixing chamber has a single or a plurality of solid supply ports, and includes one or more types of solids supplied from the solid supply ports and gas fine particles supplied from the liquid discharge ports. The cleaning liquid can be ejected from the cleaning liquid outlet .
[0016]
Thus, by providing the solid supply port in the mixing chamber, a desired solid can be mixed with the cleaning liquid according to the purpose. Therefore, for example, it is possible to mix fine particles, powders, and the like made of synthetic resin in the cleaning liquid and enhance the cleaning power as necessary. Note that the solid supply port can also supply gas and solid by gas.
[0017]
In this case, the cleaning liquid supply port, the gas supply port, and the solid supply port may be supplied with pulsated cleaning liquid, gas, and solid, respectively .
As described above, the cleaning liquid, the gas and the solid are supplied with pulsation, whereby the cleaning effect can be enhanced by utilizing the interaction of these pulsations.
[0018]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, but the present invention is not limited thereto.
FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing an example of the cleaning nozzle of the present invention. Two chambers, a stirring chamber 1 and a mixing chamber 2, are provided inside the cleaning nozzle 10 of the present invention. The stirring chamber 1 has a cleaning liquid supply port 3 and a slit-shaped liquid discharge port 4. The mixing chamber 2 has a gas supply port 5 and a slit-shaped cleaning liquid jet port 6, and communicates with the stirring chamber 1 through a liquid discharge port 4. In both the slit-shaped liquid discharge port 4 and the cleaning liquid jet port 6, the cleaning liquid jet port 6 has a smaller area than the liquid discharge port 4. However, the cleaning liquid jet port 6 may have a larger area than the liquid discharge port 4.
[0019]
A feature of the cleaning nozzle 10 of the present invention is that, in addition to the mixing chamber 2 provided in the conventional cleaning nozzle 50 as shown in FIG. 5, a stirring chamber 1 for stirring the cleaning liquid into gas fine particles is separately provided. There is in being.
[0020]
In the conventional cleaning nozzle, as shown in FIG. 5, since the cleaning liquid directly supplied in the mixing chamber 2 and the gas are mixed, the size of the gas fine particles in the cleaning liquid generated in the mixing chamber 2 is the gas supply. It depends on the supply pressure of the gas supplied from the port 5, and it was only possible to generate gas particles having a relatively large size and unevenness. Therefore, in order to obtain gas microparticles with a size that has been reduced to meet the requirements, the gas supply pressure has to be very large.
[0021]
On the other hand, in the cleaning nozzle of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, first, in the stirring chamber 1, the cleaning liquid supplied from the cleaning liquid supply port 3 is stirred and collided with the inner wall of the stirring chamber 1 to generate gas particulates. The cleaning liquid supplied from the cleaning liquid supply port 3 at a flow rate of about 200 L / min, for example, is stirred in the stirring chamber 1 and collides with the inner wall and is scattered. The scattered cleaning liquid is stirred and mixed in the stirring chamber 1 together with the gas dissolved in the cleaning liquid and air or the like originally present in the stirring chamber 1 to generate gas fine particles. The liquid containing the gas fine particles is sent to the mixing chamber 2 communicating from the slit-shaped liquid discharge port 4.
[0022]
In the mixing chamber 2, the liquid containing the gas fine particles is mixed with the gas supplied from the gas supply port 5, mixed with the gas from the cleaning liquid outlet 6 having a slit shape, and ejected as a cleaning liquid. In the cleaning nozzle 10 of the present invention, the cleaning liquid has already been atomized in the stirring chamber 1 at the front stage of the mixing chamber. Therefore, unlike the conventional cleaning nozzle, it is not necessary to atomize the cleaning liquid only by the pressure of the supplied gas, and it is not necessary to excessively increase the pressure of the supplied gas. Furthermore, since the cleaning liquid already containing the gas fine particles is mixed with the gas and supplied to the object to be cleaned, the cleaning liquid becomes a gas mixed liquid uniformly, and the size of the fine particles can be made finer than before. Therefore, it can wash | clean with high washing | cleaning efficiency and can prevent damaging a to-be-washed | cleaned object. Further, since the pressure of the gas to be supplied can be reduced, the flow rate of the cleaning liquid to be used can be reduced, and the cleaning cost can be reduced.
[0023]
In the cleaning nozzle 10 shown in FIG. 1, two gas supply ports 5 are provided. However, the same type of gas is not necessarily supplied. For example, one gas is used depending on the actual purpose of use. Compressed air is supplied from the supply port, and another gas (carbon dioxide gas) is supplied from the other gas supply port, and both are mixed with a liquid containing gas fine particles supplied from the liquid discharge port 4, and a cleaning liquid jet is mixed. It can also be ejected from the outlet 6. Further, the gas to be supplied may be a mixed gas (for example, air and carbon dioxide gas) and supplied from the same supply port. Alternatively, a separate gas supply port may be provided, and a plurality of types of gases may be supplied and mixed for use.
[0024]
The cleaning liquid is ejected from the slit-shaped cleaning liquid outlet 6 and supplied to the object to be cleaned. Since the cleaning liquid outlet 6 has a slit shape, a wide area can be uniformly cleaned even when a substrate-shaped object is cleaned in a flat panel display, a semiconductor-related component, or the like. When the cleaning liquid reaches the object to be cleaned, the gas in the cleaning liquid containing the gas fine particles is crushed on the surface of the object to be cleaned, and at the same time, a weak ultrasonic wave is generated to efficiently remove particles and dirt attached to the surface. Yes, even if there is a precise pattern, it will not be damaged.
[0025]
FIG. 2 is a view showing another embodiment of the cleaning nozzle of the present invention. In this embodiment, the stirring chamber 1 is divided into a plurality of stages by the partition wall 7 having the opening 8. The cleaning liquid ejection port 6 and the liquid discharge port 4 have a slit shape as in the cleaning nozzle 10 of FIG. 1, and the opening 8 has a slit shape as well. Further, it is preferable that the opening 8, the liquid discharge port 4, and the cleaning liquid outlet 6 have a smaller area from the lowermost stage (upstream stage) of the stirring chamber 1 to the cleaning liquid outlet 6 of the mixing chamber 2.
[0026]
When cleaning is performed by the cleaning nozzle 20, first, the cleaning liquid is supplied from the cleaning liquid supply port 3 to the lower side of the stirring chamber 1 divided by the partition wall 7, and the cleaning liquid is stirred as in the cleaning nozzle of FIG. Gas particulates are generated by colliding with the inner wall of the lower stirring chamber 1. The liquid containing the gas fine particles moves to the upper stage side of the stirring chamber 1 from the opening 8 of the partition wall 7 and repeats stirring and collision here as well as the lower stage side. On the upper side of the stirring chamber 1, since the cleaning liquid containing the gas fine particles is already further stirred and collided on the lower side, the cleaning liquid with finer particles can be obtained. The liquid containing finer gas particles is discharged from the slit-shaped liquid discharge port 4 smaller than the opening 8, mixed with the gas in the mixing chamber 2, and jetted toward the object to be cleaned.
[0027]
In the embodiment of FIG. 2, the stirring chamber 1 is divided into two stages by one partition wall 7. However, by providing a plurality of partition walls 7, the stirring chamber can be further divided into multiple stages. Even in this case, it is preferable that the opening 8 has a smaller area from the lower stage to the upper stage, and the cleaning liquid can be efficiently mixed with the gas fine particles and ejected.
[0028]
FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing still another aspect of the cleaning nozzle of the present invention. In this embodiment, a solid supply port 9 is provided in the mixing chamber 2. At the time of cleaning, a granular or powdered solid or the like is supplied from the solid supply port 9 into the mixing chamber 2 according to the state of the object to be cleaned, the purpose of cleaning, and the like. By doing so, for example, when it is desired to perform strong cleaning, a powdery synthetic resin or the like can be mixed into the cleaning liquid to enhance the cleaning power. Alternatively, different gases and solids can be supplied to the plurality of gas supply ports and the solid supply port, respectively, and mixed for use. The solid and the gas are supplied from separate supply ports, but they may be mixed in advance and supplied to the mixing chamber 2.
[0029]
Note that the cleaning liquid, gas, and solid supplied to the cleaning nozzle of the present invention do not necessarily have to be supplied at a steady pressure. For example, the cleaning liquid is supplied with pulsation using an intermittent pump or the like, and the gas supplied from the gas supply port is supplied with pulsation to enhance the cleaning effect by utilizing the interaction of these pulsations. be able to.
[0030]
FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing another example of the cleaning nozzle of the present invention. In this embodiment, the stirring chamber 1 is provided inside the mixing chamber 2. In this cleaning nozzle 40, the cleaning liquid supplied from the cleaning liquid supply port 3 to the stirring chamber 1 in the mixing chamber 2 contains gas particulates in the stirring chamber 1, as in the above-described cleaning nozzle of FIGS. 1 to 3. The liquid containing the gas fine particles is discharged from the nozzle-like liquid discharge port 4 to the mixing chamber 2, mixed with the gas supplied from the gas supply port 5, and jetted from the cleaning liquid jet port 6. ing.
[0031]
In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment. The above-described embodiment is an exemplification, and the present invention has any configuration that has substantially the same configuration as the technical idea described in the claims of the present invention and that exhibits the same effects. Are included in the technical scope.
For example, in the above description, the cleaning liquid ejection port, the liquid discharge port, and the opening have been described mainly with a slit shape, but the present invention is not limited to this, and may be a hole shape such as a circle or a corner. In the drawings, the example in which the jet outlet faces upward is mainly described. However, these usage forms may be arbitrary because the jet outlet may face downward or sideward.
[0032]
【The invention's effect】
As described above in detail, according to the cleaning nozzle of the present invention, it is possible to increase the final spray pressure of the cleaning liquid even with the same gas supply amount as in the past. In addition, since the cleaning liquid contains fine gas particles having a uniform size compared to the prior art, flat panel display-related parts and semiconductor-related parts having a fine pattern in recent years can be cleaned extremely uniformly and efficiently. Furthermore, it is possible to reduce the amount of cleaning liquid used.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing an example of a cleaning nozzle of the present invention. (A) Cross section (B) Vertical section [FIG. 2] It is explanatory drawing which showed another example of the washing nozzle of this invention. (A) Cross section (B) Vertical section FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing another example (longitudinal section) of the cleaning nozzle of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory view showing another example of the cleaning nozzle of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing an example of a conventional cleaning nozzle.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Stirring chamber, 2 ... Mixing chamber, 3 ... Cleaning liquid supply port, 4 ... Liquid discharge port,
5 ... Gas supply port, 6 ... Cleaning liquid spout, 7 ... Partition, 8 ... Opening,
9: Solid supply port,
10, 20, 30, 40, 50 ... Cleaning nozzles.

Claims (7)

A cleaning nozzle, comprising at least a cleaning liquid supply port and a stirring chamber having a slit-shaped liquid discharge port, a mixing chamber having a gas supply port and a cleaning liquid jet port, which are communicated by the stirring chamber and the liquid discharge port, the stirring chamber, a liquid containing a gas particulates from the liquid outlet of the slit-shaped cleaning liquid supplied from the cleaning liquid supply port to generate a gaseous particles by Rukoto to collide with agitated by stirring chamber wall with a stirring chamber is intended to release it, the mixing chamber is for ejecting a cleaning liquid from the cleaning liquid ejection port by mixing a gas supplied from the liquid and the gas supply port comprising gas particles supplied from the liquid discharge port Cleaning nozzle characterized by   The cleaning nozzle according to claim 1, wherein the stirring chamber is divided into a plurality of stages by a partition having an opening. The cleaning nozzle according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning liquid outlet and the opening have a slit shape.   4. The cleaning liquid ejection port, the liquid discharge port, and the opening have a smaller area from the upstream stage of the stirring chamber to the cleaning liquid ejection port of the mixing chamber. The cleaning nozzle according to any one of claims.   The mixing chamber has a plurality of gas supply ports, and a plurality of types of gases supplied from the gas supply ports are mixed with a liquid containing gas fine particles supplied from the liquid discharge port, and then the cleaning liquid is discharged from the cleaning liquid outlet. The cleaning nozzle according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the cleaning nozzle is ejected.   The mixing chamber has one or a plurality of solid supply ports, and mixes one or more kinds of solids supplied from the solid supply ports with a liquid containing gas fine particles supplied from the liquid discharge ports, The cleaning nozzle according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the cleaning liquid is ejected from a cleaning liquid outlet.   7. The cleaning liquid supply port, the gas supply port, and the solid supply port are respectively supplied with pulsated cleaning liquid, gas, and solid, according to any one of claims 1 to 6. The cleaning nozzle described.

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