JPH0318518B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a steam cleaning method for cleaning contaminants adhering to the surface of a workpiece by using the steam of a cleaning liquid made of a chlorinated organic solvent. It is.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, for example, when cleaning contaminants adhering to the surface of resin parts such as urethane bumpers for automobiles, steam cleaning equipment that uses the vapor of a cleaning liquid made of a chlorinated organic solvent such as trichloroethane has been widely used. ing. An example of this will be explained with reference to the sectional view of FIG.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 51 denotes a cleaning tank formed in the shape of a box with an open top, and a cleaning solution H made of a chlorinated organic solvent such as trichloroethane is stored at the bottom of the cleaning tank 51. A pipe 52 supported by a cleaning tank 51 is disposed in the cleaning liquid H. And this pipe 52
A valve 53 is provided in the middle of the pipe 52 to control the amount of heating medium such as steam supplied into the pipe 52.

Further, a cooling pipe 54 using water or the like as a cooling medium is spirally arranged around the inside upper part of the cleaning tank 51, and the cooling pipe 54 is sequentially arranged from the top of the cleaning tank 51 to the cooling area A,
It is formed into three areas: cleaning area B and cleaning liquid area C.

Furthermore, a conveyor 55 is installed above the cleaning tank 51 in the longitudinal direction, and is inclined downward sequentially from the loading side of the cleaning tank 51.
It is formed horizontally at the center of the upper part, and is arranged so as to be inclined upward in sequence on the delivery side. and,
This conveyor 55 carries resin parts W as objects to be processed.
A plurality of supports 56 are suspended to support the cleaning tank 51 and carry it into the cleaning area B of the cleaning tank 51, and a plurality of supports 56 are provided at appropriate intervals.

Thereby, the resin parts W are transferred into and out of the cleaning tank 51 as the conveyor 55 moves in the direction of the arrow D.

When cleaning the surface of the resin part W,
The cleaning liquid H contained in the cleaning tank 51 is heated by a heating medium such as steam supplied to the pipe 52 to form a vapor layer of the cleaning liquid H in the cleaning area B, and a support 56 is formed in the vapor layer. While the resin parts W supported by the resin parts W are carried in and transported by the conveyor 55, contaminants adhering to the surfaces of the resin parts W are cleaned with steam.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, in such a steam cleaning apparatus, after steam cleaning of the resin parts W is finished, the resin parts W are lifted up at once by the conveyor 55 and carried out outside the cleaning tank 51, so that the resin parts W
A large amount of the cleaning liquid H condensing on the surface of the cleaning area B is not removed sufficiently and is carried out of the cleaning tank 51, and the stability of the vapor layer formed in the cleaning area B is disturbed and the cleaning liquid H is not removed sufficiently. may overflow. This not only increases the amount of cleaning fluid used, but also causes environmental pollution within the factory.

Therefore, this invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems.After steam cleaning, when the workpiece is pulled up from the cleaning tank, it is cooled in the cooling area and then removed from the cleaning tank. By slowing down as much as possible, the amount of cleaning fluid taken out is reduced and environmental pollution within the factory is prevented.

[Means for solving problems]

That is, in the steam cleaning method according to the present invention, a cleaning liquid made of a chlorinated organic solvent such as trichloroethane or trichlorethylene is stored,
The workpiece is cleaned of contaminants adhering to the surface of the workpiece in the cleaning tank, which has a cleaning zone made of a vapor layer of cleaning liquid above it and a cooling pipe surrounding it to form a cooling zone. After being immersed in a vapor layer of cleaning liquid and cleaning by condensing steam on its surface, the object to be treated is cooled in a cooling zone, and when the object is transported from the cooling zone to the outside of the cleaning tank. It is designed to be carried out at a conveyance speed of 5 m/min or less.

It is desirable that the transport time for cooling the processed object in the cooling zone after cleaning is as slow as possible in order to allow the cleaning liquid that has condensed on the surface of the processed object to fall. Specifically, it is 0.3 minutes to 3 minutes. A range of 3 minutes is suitable. If the conveyance time is less than 0.3 minutes, the cleaning liquid condensed on the surface of the workpiece cannot be sufficiently dropped, and if it is more than 3 minutes, there is a problem that productivity decreases.

In addition, if the conveyance speed when transporting the workpiece from the cooling zone to the outside of the cleaning tank is 5 m/min or more, an unsaturated vapor layer formed below the cooling zone will cause the workpiece to be pulled up. It may be agitated by the airflow generated by the cleaning tank and overflow outside the cleaning tank.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the steam cleaning method according to the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional view of a cleaning device for carrying out the steam cleaning method according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a cleaning tank formed in a box shape from a metal material, and only the upper part of the cleaning tank 1 is open, and the upper part has a bulged part 1a that expands outward. is formed, and the bottom portion 1b is a flat surface. A plurality of cooling pipes 2 using water, cold air, etc. as a cooling medium are spirally arranged around the bulging portion 1a.
A cooling area A is formed inside and above the cleaning tank 1.

Further, a cleaning liquid H made of a chlorinated organic solvent such as trichlorethylene or trichloroethane is stored at the bottom of the cleaning tank 1, forming a cleaning liquid area C. A pipe 3 supported by a cleaning tank 1 is disposed in the cleaning liquid H, and a valve 4 is provided in the middle of the pipe 3 to prevent steam from entering the pipe 3.
The supply amount of heating medium such as hot air is now controlled.

In addition, a cleaning area B is located between the cooling area A and the cleaning liquid area C of the cleaning tank 1, and the cleaning liquid H is heated and evaporated by supplying a heating medium such as steam or hot air to the pipe 4 to become saturated steam. It has come to form layer Bb. At that time, an unsaturated vapor layer Ba is also formed below the cooling zone A. And cooling area A
is formed higher than the height of the cleaning area B.

Further, a conveyor 5 is installed above the cleaning tank 1 in the longitudinal direction, and is sloped sequentially downward from the loading side of the cleaning tank 1, and is horizontally formed at the top of the cleaning tank 1, approximately in the center. It is formed so as to be sloped upward in sequence. Further, the conveyor 5 is formed horizontally past the substantially central portion, and is arranged to be inclined upward in sequence on the discharge side. A plurality of article supports 6 are suspended from the conveyor 5 to support the objects W to be processed and carry them into the cleaning tank 1, and a plurality of article supports 6 are provided at appropriate intervals.

As a result, the conveyor 5 is operated and the object to be treated is moved in the direction of arrow D, so that the object is transferred to the cleaning tank 1.
It is becoming more and more common to be transported in and out of the country.

In the cleaning apparatus configured as described above, a method for steam cleaning the object W to be processed will be described.

First, a cooling medium such as water or cold air is passed through the cooling pipe 2 provided around the bulging portion 1a of the cleaning tank 1 to form a cooling area A above the cleaning tank 1.
At the same time, a heating medium such as steam or hot air is passed through the pipe 3 to heat and evaporate the cleaning liquid H made of a chlorinated organic solvent in the cleaning tank 1, thereby forming a saturated vapor layer Ba in the cleaning area B. . At this time, an unsaturated vapor layer Bb is formed below the cooling zone A.

Next, the conveyor 5 is operated, and the workpiece W supported by the workpiece support 6 is carried into the saturated steam layer Ba formed in the cleaning area B of the cleaning tank. At this time, since the temperature of the object W to be processed is lower than the temperature atmosphere of the cleaning area B, the cleaning liquid H in a vapor state condenses. Then, the adhesion such as oil and fat adhering to the surface of the workpiece W is removed by the dissolving power of the dew-condensed cleaning liquid H, and the solid content such as dust is removed by the dew-condensed cleaning liquid H.
is removed when it falls.

The workpiece W is supported by the article support 6 and transported in the direction of the arrow D inside the cleaning tank 1, and is washed for a predetermined period of time, and then pulled up to the cooling area A after passing approximately at the center of the cleaning tank 1. is transferred horizontally. At this time, since the surface of the workpiece W is heated in the cleaning area B, most of the condensed cleaning liquid H falls from the surface of the workpiece W to the bottom 1b of the cleaning tank 1.

Further, when the workpiece W is transferred to the discharge side of the cleaning tank 1, it is pulled up from the cooling area A and transported out of the cleaning tank 1. At this time, the transport speed of the workpiece W is set to 5 m/min or less, so that the unsaturated vapor layer Bb formed below the cooling area A is not disturbed. The cleaned workpiece W is then transferred to the next step by the conveyor 5.

Comparing the above-mentioned steam cleaning method with a cleaning method using a conventional steam cleaning device, it was found that the amount attached to the workpiece W and carried out could be reduced by 60%, and by lifting the workpiece W, The amount of overflow due to the generated airflow was reduced by 40%.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, in the steam cleaning method according to the present invention, when the workpiece is pulled up from the cleaning tank after steam cleaning, it is partially cooled in the cooling area, and then carried out of the cleaning tank at a speed of 5 m/3. Since the cleaning liquid is carried out at a conveying speed of less than 1 minute, the amount of cleaning liquid carried out from the cleaning tank and the amount of cleaning liquid overflowing from the cleaning tank can be significantly reduced.

Furthermore, in the steam cleaning method according to the present invention,
By reducing the amount of cleaning liquid carried out and overflowing, it is possible to prevent environmental pollution within the factory.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a cleaning device that implements the steam cleaning method according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a cleaning device that carries out a conventional steam cleaning method. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1...Cleaning tank, 1a...Bulging part, 1b...Bottom, 2...Cooling pipe, 3...Pipe, 4
...Valve, 5...Conveyor, 6...Article support, A...Cooling area, B...Cleaning area, C...Cleaning liquid area, Ba...Saturated vapor layer, H...Cleaning liquid.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A cleaning tank containing a cleaning solution made of a chlorinated organic solvent, and above which a cleaning region made of a vapor layer of the cleaning solution and a cooling pipe are arranged around the tank to form a cooling region, is used to remove particles that adhere to the surface of the workpiece. When cleaning contaminants, the object to be treated is immersed in a vapor layer of a cleaning liquid for cleaning, the object to be treated is cooled once in a cooling zone, and the object to be treated is carried out of the cleaning tank from the cooling zone. A steam cleaning method characterized by carrying out the cleaning at a conveying speed of 5 m/min or less.