JP6130712B2 - Gas purification device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a gas purification apparatus suitable for use in, for example, a manufacturing process of an organic EL (electroluminescence) display or the like.

An organic EL element is a spontaneous light emitting element that utilizes a phenomenon in which an organic material between two electrodes is induced by a voltage and light is emitted when it returns to its original state. Then, a plurality of organic EL elements for each light emitting layer of RGB are arranged in a matrix to constitute an organic EL display.
This organic EL display has the characteristics of low power consumption, little heat generation, thin and light weight. Furthermore, the image quality of the organic EL display has excellent characteristics such as good color reproducibility, high contrast, high video response and high peak accuracy, and no viewing angle dependency.

  The organic material of the organic EL display has a characteristic that it easily deteriorates when exposed to water or oxygen. Therefore, in the production of an organic EL display, metal electrode materials such as RGB light emitting layers are formed on a substrate by vacuum deposition under vacuum or in an inert gas atmosphere such as nitrogen gas or argon gas, The glass is bonded and sealed without touching.

  When manufacturing an organic EL display under an inert gas atmosphere, the entire long production line may be covered with a cover, and the inside of the cover may be filled with an inert gas. However, the inert gas may be contaminated by dust or minute pieces (hereinafter simply referred to as foreign matter) generated during the manufacturing process. Normally, the gas purifier cleans the inert gas in the cover and removes the foreign matter. Like to do.

Here, as a conventional technique related to the manufacture of an organic EL display, for example, devices described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 are known.
In the apparatuses described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, the electric blower is housed in a sealed container. Patent Document 1 employs a structure in which gas is brought into contact with a cooling plate to exchange heat, and heat is exhausted by a water-cooled pipe in contact with the cooling plate. Moreover, in patent document 2, self-cooling is performed by cooling the motor of an air blower with the wind which an electric air blower produces.

JP 2007-198364 A (FIGS. 1-3, etc.) JP 2008-128224 A (FIGS. 1-4, etc.)

The apparatus described in FIGS. 1 and 2 of Patent Document 1 has a problem that since the heat exchange is performed by a small cooling mechanism, the contact area with the inert gas is small and the cooling effect is weak.
Moreover, in the apparatus described in FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 of Patent Document 2, since the cooling fan blows an inert gas to cool the motor, the foreign matter emitted from the cooling fan mechanism becomes the inert gas. There was a risk of mixing. In addition, if the cooling fan mechanism is not airtight, air may enter from the surroundings in addition to foreign substances. If air enters, the organic material will deteriorate due to contact with water or oxygen, resulting in a defective area called a dark spot that cannot emit light. As a result, there was a problem that the yield of the product deteriorated.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a gas purification device that purifies gas while preventing the entry of foreign substances and the intrusion of the atmosphere, and that can efficiently cool the motor in the blower.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, a gas purification apparatus according to claim 1 includes a sealed case having an internal space partitioned from the outside,
A gas introduction part for introducing gas purified by a filter into the internal space;
A blower for air supply of gas that is sucked from the inner space is accommodated in the sealed casing,
A cooling means arranged to cover the periphery of the blower and cooling the gas introduced into the internal space from the gas introduction part ;
A gas outlet portion of the blower is led out to the outside Ruga scan to air,
A gas purification device having a sealed air source having
The sealed air source is
A gas inlet through which the gas supplied from the outside flows, and an open discharge portion with a through hole that is disposed between the gas inlet and the blower and discharges the gas to the internal space; The gas outlet section has an air supply section through which the gas supplied by the blower passes, and a gas outlet for discharging the gas that has passed through the air supply section to the outside. Features.

A gas purification device according to claim 2 includes a sealed case having an internal space partitioned from the outside,
A gas introduction part for introducing gas purified by a filter into the internal space;
A blower that is housed in the hermetically sealed case and feeds inhaled gas from the internal space;
A cooling means arranged to cover the periphery of the blower and cooling the gas introduced into the internal space from the gas introduction part;
A gas deriving unit for deriving the gas supplied by the blower to the outside;
A gas purification device having a sealed air source having
The sealed air source is
It said gas introduction portion is provided with a gas inlet for gas supplied from the outside flows, and a pipe for discharging gas into the internal space is disposed between the gas inlet and the blower, before Symbol The gas outlet section includes an air supply section through which the gas supplied by the blower passes, and a gas outlet for discharging the gas that has passed through the air supply section to the outside.

A gas purification device according to claim 3 is the gas purification device according to claim 1 or 2 ,
The sealing blowing source is a gas inlet of the gas inlet, a gas outlet of the gas outlet portion, characterized further comprising a Rukoto a second cooling means for cooling the surrounding.

The gas purification apparatus according to claim 4 is a prefilter through which gas supplied from the outside passes, and a sealed air source according to any one of claims 1 to 3, to which gas that has passed through the prefilter is supplied. The heat exchanger which cools the gas discharged | emitted from this airtight ventilation source, and the HEPA filter through which the gas cooled by this heat exchanger passes are provided .

The gas purification device according to claim 5 is the gas purification device according to claim 4, wherein the prefilter, the sealed air source, the heat exchanger, and the HEPA filter are housed in a single casing. And

The gas purification apparatus according to claim 6 is a prefilter through which gas supplied from the outside passes, and a sealed air source according to any one of claims 1 to 3, to which gas that has passed through the prefilter is supplied. And a HEPA filter through which the gas discharged from the sealed air source passes .

A gas purification device according to a seventh aspect is the gas purification device according to the sixth aspect, wherein the prefilter, the hermetic air source, and the HEPA filter are housed in a single casing .

A gas purification device according to an eighth aspect is the gas purification device according to the sixth aspect , wherein the filter unit in which the pre-filter and the HEPA filter are accommodated and the hermetic air source are connected via a gas flow path. It is formed to be separable .

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a gas purification apparatus that purifies a gas while cooling it and supplies it to the outside again without mixing foreign substances into the collected gas or entering the atmosphere. Further, by configuring the gas flow path so as to cool the motor in the blower using the gas cooled in the internal space of the sealed case, the motor in the blower can be efficiently cooled.

It is the internal block diagram which looked at the inside of the sealed ventilation source used for the gas purification apparatus of this invention from the side surface. It is the internal block diagram which looked at the inside of the sealed ventilation source used for the gas purification apparatus of this invention from the front. It is the internal block diagram which looked at the inside of the sealed air source used for the gas purification apparatus of this invention from the back. It is a block diagram of the gas purification apparatus which concerns on 1st Example of this invention. It is a block diagram of the gas purification apparatus which concerns on 2nd Example of this invention. It is a block diagram of the gas purification apparatus which concerns on 3rd Example of this invention. It is a block diagram of the gas purification apparatus which concerns on 4th Example of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the other example of the sealed air source used for the gas purification apparatus of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the other example of the sealed air source used for the gas purification apparatus of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the other example of the sealed air source used for the gas purification apparatus of this invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a structural view of the inside of a sealed air source 100 used in the gas purification apparatus of the present invention as viewed from the side, FIG. 2 is a structural view as viewed from the front, and FIG. 3 is a structural view as viewed from the back. is there. 1 to 3, a sealed air source 100 includes a sealed case 101 having a lid 101 a and a bottomed cylindrical container 101 b, a vortex blower 102 housed in the sealed case 101, And a cooling pipe 103 arranged in a spiral shape on the peripheral surface.

Reference numeral 104 denotes a gas inlet to which an inert gas (for example, nitrogen (N ₂ ) gas) from the production line is supplied. The inert gas flowing in from the gas inlet 104 passes through the open discharge part 105. It is designed to be supplied to the internal space. The gas inlet 104 and the open discharge part 105 are specific examples of the gas introduction part. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the open discharge part 105 is provided with a large number of through holes 105 a. The inert gas is released from the through hole 105a of the open discharge part 105. The inert gas contacts the spiral cooling pipe 103 and is cooled, and then flows into the vortex blower 102 through the intake port 102a of the vortex blower 102 as shown in FIG. It is configured to reach the gas outlet 107 through the air supply unit 106. These air supply part 106 and gas outlet 107 are specific examples of the gas outlet part.

  Both ends of the cooling pipe 103 are connected to a cooling water supply port 103a and a cooling water discharge port 103b. When cooling water sent from an external cooling pump (not shown) passes through the cooling pipe 103, The gas filling the internal space is cooled. The cooling pipe 103 is formed in a spiral shape and greatly increases the contact area with the inert gas. The cooling of the inert gas in the sealed air source 100 is referred to as primary cooling.

A caster and a stopper are attached to the bottom surface of the sealed case 101 to facilitate movement and fixing of the sealed air source 100.
Further, a control unit such as an inverter for driving a motor provided inside the vortex blower 102 may be housed in the sealed case 101 or may be disposed outside the sealed case 101.

Next, FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the gas purification apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
In FIG. 4, the inert gas recovered from the manufacturing process passes through the pre-filter 201 in the filter unit 200 via the flow path 501 and flows from the flow path 502 into the gas inlet 104 of the sealed air source 100.
As a manufacturing process, for example, in the manufacturing process of an organic EL display, a dust removal device that removes the surface of the substrate with an inert gas can be considered. After the dust is removed, the inert gas is collected and purified while cooling, and after cooling and purification. Gas is again supplied to the dust remover. The pre-filter 201 is provided for primary purification by removing most foreign substances from the gas before purification.

The operation of the sealed air source 100 is as described above, and the primarily purified inert gas is discharged from the gas inlet 104 to the internal space in the sealed case 101 through the through hole 105a of the open discharge portion 105. The inert gas released into the internal space is primarily cooled by the cooling pipe 103, flows into the vortex blower 102 through the intake port 102 a of the vortex blower 102, and flows from the gas outlet 107 through the air supply unit 106 to the outside. To be discharged. The inert gas discharged from the gas outlet 107 is supplied to the heat exchanger 300 via the flow path 503 in FIG.
As described above, the inertly cooled inert gas flows into the vortex blower 102 and is discharged from the air supply unit 106, whereby the motor inside the vortex blower 102 can be efficiently cooled.

The heat exchanger 300 is for secondary cooling of the inert gas sent from the sealed air source 100 while appropriately adjusting the temperature, and the temperature of the gas after the secondary cooling is a temperature suitable for the manufacturing process. Thus, the cooling water temperature, the amount of water, and the like are controlled by a controller (not shown).
The temperature of the gas recovered from the manufacturing process often reaches, for example, 60 to 80 [° C.]. When this high temperature gas is purified and returned to the manufacturing process, various problems such as deterioration of the substrate and electrode materials are caused. Produce. For this reason, the heat exchanger 300 cools the gas to a room temperature of about 23 [deg.] C., for example, and supplies the cooled gas to the manufacturing process, thereby preventing product deterioration and defects and improving yield. be able to.

In FIG. 4, the gas after the secondary cooling that has passed through the heat exchanger 300 is secondarily purified by a HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filter 202 in the filter unit 200 via the flow path 504, and then via the flow path 505. Supplied to the manufacturing process. The HEPA filter 202 has a high particle collection rate (for example, 99.97 [%] or more with respect to particles having a rated air volume and a particle size of 0.3 [μm]) from the secondary cooled gas (primary purified gas): JIS Z 8122) is used to remove minute foreign matters.
Here, the flow paths 501 to 505 are configured by pipes or hoses.

As described above, in the gas purification apparatus of the first embodiment, the inert gas primarily purified by the prefilter 201 is filled in the sealed case 101 of the sealed air source 100 for primary cooling, and then the primary cooling gas is supplied. The temperature is adjusted by secondary cooling by the heat exchanger 300, and the highly efficient secondary purification is performed by the HEPA filter 202, and then supplied to the manufacturing process.
Therefore, there is no possibility that foreign matter may further enter the inert gas in the sealed case 101 from the outside, and even if some foreign matter is generated from the motor of the vortex blower 102, the foreign matter is removed from the HEPA filter 202 in the subsequent stage. Therefore, the purified gas with high purity is supplied to the manufacturing process.
In addition, even if the inert gas recovered from the manufacturing process is high-temperature by performing primary cooling of the inert gas by the sealed air source 100 and secondary cooling with temperature adjustment by the heat exchanger 300, Can be cooled to a predetermined temperature and supplied again to the manufacturing process, and the substrate can be dedusted under appropriate temperature conditions.

Next, FIG. 5 is a block diagram of the gas purification apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
In the first embodiment shown in FIG. 4, it is planned that the prefilter 201 and the HEPA filter 202 are housed in a single casing to form the filter unit 200. However, as shown in FIG. The source 100, the heat exchanger 300, the prefilter 201, and the HEPA filter 202 may be housed in a single casing 401. In this case, a small gas purification device can be realized as a whole by devising the arrangement of each device and setting the length of the flow paths 502 to 504 to the shortest.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a gas purification apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention.
The third embodiment corresponds to the second embodiment of FIG. 5 with the heat exchanger 300 removed, and the sealed air source 100, the prefilter 201, and the HEPA filter 202 are housed in a single casing 402. .
When the gas recovered from the manufacturing process does not become so high, or when the temperature can be adjusted during the primary cooling in the sealed air source 100, the heat exchanger 300 is removed as shown in FIG. A gas purifier having a simpler configuration and a smaller size than those of the first embodiment and the second embodiment can be realized.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a gas purification apparatus according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.
In the fourth embodiment, the filter unit 200 and the sealed air source 100 are separated, and the pre-filter 201 and the filter unit 200 in the filter unit 200 are connected by joints 512 and 513 attached to the ends of the flow paths 502 and 503 of the sealed air source 100. It is configured to be coupled to the HEPA filter 202. In the fourth embodiment, the heat exchanger 300 is not used.

  In the third embodiment of FIG. 6, the entire gas purification apparatus is housed in the casing 401, but the installation space may not be sufficient and the casing 401 may not be installed. In such a case, as shown in the fourth embodiment, if the filter unit 200 and the sealed air source 100 are separated and the flow paths 502 and 503 are formed by, for example, flexible hoses, the filter unit 200. And the sealed air source 100 can be installed in an arbitrary positional relationship, so that a narrow space can be used effectively. At the same time, if the filter unit 200 and the sealed air source 100 are separated from each other, maintenance and inspection work for each part can be facilitated, and a gas purifying apparatus having excellent maintainability can be provided.

  In addition, the relative positional relationship of each part in casing 401,402 in 2nd Example of FIG. 5 and 3rd Example of FIG. 6 is not specifically limited, Each part is arrange | positioned planarly or laminated | stacked on the orthogonal | vertical direction. For example, it may be designed arbitrarily considering the installation space of the gas purification device.

  Next, FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing another example of a sealed air source used in the gas purification apparatus of the present invention. In this sealed air source 100A, a normal pipe 108 is arranged instead of the open discharge part 105. This pipe 108 is a pipe without a through hole, and an inert gas is injected from only one opening on the lower side. The gas inlet 104 and the pipe 108 are specific examples of the gas introduction part.

That is, the inert gas supplied from the external flow path 502 (see FIGS. 4 to 7) is discharged from the gas inlet 104 to the internal space of the sealed case 101 through the pipe 108. The inert gas contacts the cooling pipe 103 and is cooled, and then flows from the intake port 102a of the vortex blower 102 to the inside of the vortex blower 102 and the air supply unit 106 and from the gas outlet 107 to the external flow path 503 (FIG. 4). To FIG. 7). Such a sealed air source may be used.
The sealed air source 100A in FIG. 8 is applicable to all the gas purification apparatuses shown in FIGS.

  Next, FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing another example of a sealed air source used in the gas purification apparatus of the present invention. The hermetic air source 100B employs a configuration in which the inert gas is further cooled so that the cooling water passes around the gas inlet 104 and the gas outlet 107. The sealed case 101 includes a cooling water supply port 101c and a cooling water discharge port 101d in addition to the lid 101a and the container 101b. The lid 101a is formed with a flow path that passes through the cooling water supply port 101c and the cooling water discharge port 101d, and the cooling water from the cooling water supply port 101c flows out of the cooling water discharge port 101d through this flow path. Is done. These function as a second cooling means.

  In such a sealed air source 100B, the inert gas cooled at the gas inlet 104 of the lid 101a is discharged into the internal space of the sealed case 101 and supplied to the vortex blower 102. Thereby, the effect of further lowering the temperature inside the vortex blower 102 can be expected. By lowering the internal temperature of the vortex blower 102, there are various advantages such as extending the bearing life in the blower. Then, after the inert gas is further cooled in the vicinity of the gas outlet 107 of the lid 101a, the air is supplied. Thereby, further cooling effect of the inert gas can be expected.

Next, FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing another example of a sealed air source used in the gas purification apparatus of the present invention. In this sealed air source 100C, the flow path of the inert gas is reversed from the example of FIG.
That is, the inert gas supplied from the external flow path 502 (see FIGS. 4 to 7) is supplied from the gas inlet 104 </ b> A to the inside of the vortex blower 102 through the air supply unit 106, and is exhausted from the vortex blower 102. The inert gas released into the internal space of the sealed case 101 from 102b is cooled by coming into contact with the cooling pipe 103, and then the external flow path 503 (from the gas outlet 107A through the through hole 105B of the open collection unit 105A. 4 to 7).

The sealed air source 100C is slightly inferior to the sealed air source 100 of FIG. 1 in terms of the cooling function of the motor in the vortex blower 102, but the recovered gas is cooled in the sealed space and supplied to the outside again. 1 has the same function as that of the closed air source 100.
In addition, 100 C of sealed air sources of FIG. 10 are applicable to all the gas purification apparatuses shown in FIGS.

  The gas purification apparatus of the present invention is not limited to purification of inert gas in the production process of an organic EL display or the like, but can be used for purification of gas in various production facilities, air conditioning facilities, measurement / test facilities, and the like.

100, 100A, 100B, 100C: Sealed air source 101: Sealed case 102: Vortex blower 102a: Inlet port 102b: Exhaust port 103: Cooling pipe 103a: Cooling water supply port 103b: Cooling water discharge port 104, 104A: Gas inlet 105: Open discharge part 105a: Through hole 105A: Open collection part 105B: Through hole 106: Air supply part 107, 107A: Gas outlet 200: Filter unit 201: Prefilter 202: HEPA filter 300: Heat exchanger 401, 402 : Casing 501-505: Flow path 512, 513: Joint

Claims (8)

A sealed case having an internal space partitioned from the outside;
A gas introduction part for introducing gas purified by a filter into the internal space;
A blower for air supply of gas that is sucked from the inner space is accommodated in the sealed casing,
A cooling means arranged to cover the periphery of the blower and cooling the gas introduced into the internal space from the gas introduction part ;
A gas outlet portion of the blower is led out to the outside Ruga scan to air,
A gas purification device having a sealed air source having
The sealed air source is
A gas inlet through which the gas supplied from the outside flows, and an open discharge portion with a through hole that is disposed between the gas inlet and the blower and discharges the gas to the internal space; The gas outlet section has an air supply section through which the gas supplied by the blower passes, and a gas outlet for discharging the gas that has passed through the air supply section to the outside. A gas purification device characterized. A sealed case having an internal space partitioned from the outside;
A gas introduction part for introducing gas purified by a filter into the internal space;
A blower that is housed in the hermetically sealed case and feeds inhaled gas from the internal space;
A cooling means arranged to cover the periphery of the blower and cooling the gas introduced into the internal space from the gas introduction part;
A gas deriving unit for deriving the gas supplied by the blower to the outside;
A gas purification device having a sealed air source having
The sealed air source is
It said gas introduction portion is provided with a gas inlet for gas supplied from the outside flows, and a pipe for discharging gas into the internal space is disposed between the gas inlet and the blower, before Symbol Gas purification characterized in that the gas outlet part has an air supply part through which the gas supplied by the blower passes and a gas outlet for discharging the gas that has passed through the air supply part to the outside apparatus. In the gas purification apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 ,
The sealed air source is
Wherein the gas inlet of the gas inlet, a gas outlet of the gas discharge portion, further comprising a gas purification apparatus according to claim Rukoto a second cooling means for cooling the surrounding. A prefilter through which a gas supplied from the outside passes, a sealed air source according to any one of claims 1 to 3 to which gas passing through the prefilter, and a gas discharged from the sealed air source are provided. A gas purification apparatus comprising: a heat exchanger for cooling; and a HEPA filter through which a gas cooled by the heat exchanger passes . In the gas purification apparatus according to claim 4,
The gas purification apparatus characterized in that the prefilter, the sealed air source, the heat exchanger, and the HEPA filter are housed in a single casing . A prefilter through which gas supplied from the outside passes, a sealed air source according to any one of claims 1 to 3 to which gas passing through the prefilter, and a gas discharged from the sealed air source are A gas purification apparatus comprising: a HEPA filter that passes therethrough . In the gas purification apparatus according to claim 6,
A gas purification apparatus , wherein the prefilter, the sealed air source, and the HEPA filter are housed in a single casing . In the gas purification apparatus according to claim 6 ,
A gas purification device , wherein the filter unit in which the pre-filter and the HEPA filter are accommodated and the hermetic air source are formed so as to be connectable and separable via a gas flow path .

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