JP6009836B2 - Cleaning method for goods - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for cleaning an article.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known a method for cleaning an article that removes dirt from an object to be cleaned using a cleaning agent containing a non-aqueous solvent and water, such as a semi-aqueous cleaning agent and an emulsion cleaning agent. In such a cleaning method, after cleaning an object to be cleaned, the object to be cleaned is rinsed with a single solvent or a mixture of solvents such as well water, pure water, or hydrocarbon, and thereby adheres to the object to be cleaned. It is known to remove detergent components.
Since the cleaning agent used in this cleaning method contains a non-aqueous solvent, the removal performance is not good by rinsing with water. For this reason, when removing a cleaning agent component using well water or pure water, water resources, such as a large amount of well water and pure water, are required.
In addition, a large amount of wastewater is generated by this, but since this wastewater contains a lot of detergent components, particularly solvents, it cannot be discharged into the river unless a large-scale wastewater treatment using activated sludge is performed.
For this reason, for example, in Patent Document 1, for the purpose of downsizing the wastewater treatment facility and improving the treatment efficiency, a water treatment agent that is hardly soluble or insoluble in water is brought into contact with the drainage of the rinse water to drain the rinse water. A water treatment method for separating non-water components contained in water and water has been proposed.

Japanese Patent No. 3471155

However, the above-described conventional methods for cleaning articles have the following problems.
When well water or pure water is used for rinsing an object to be cleaned, according to Patent Document 1, wastewater treatment using a smaller facility is possible compared to wastewater treatment using activated sludge, but the amount of wastewater to be treated. It does not change. Therefore, there is a problem that even if it can be downsized to some extent, a water treatment facility for treating a large amount of wastewater is required.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and when a cleaning agent containing a non-aqueous solvent and water is used, the object to be cleaned can be efficiently rinsed. It aims at providing the washing | cleaning method of the articles | goods which can suppress the usage-amount.

In order to solve the above problems, a method for cleaning an article according to the present invention includes a cleaning step of cleaning an object to be cleaned by bringing it into contact with a cleaning agent containing at least a non-aqueous solvent and water, and alcohol and water. Rinse the object to be cleaned that has been washed in the washing step with a rinse solution that has an azeotropic composition comprising a solution that contains the collected rinse solution used in the rinse step, and distill it. And a regeneration treatment step of forming a regeneration rinse liquid having the same components as the rinse liquid used .

Further, the method of cleaning an article of the present invention, the pre-Symbol rinsing process, when the reproduction rinsing liquid is formed, it is possible to rinse the cleaning object by the rinsing liquid containing the regeneration rinse solution.

  In the method for cleaning an article of the present invention, the alcohol concentration in the rinsing liquid can be less than a concentration at which a flash point appears by flash point measurement.

  According to the method for cleaning an article of the present invention, since a rinsing liquid comprising a solution containing alcohol and water is used in the rinsing step, an object to be cleaned can be efficiently used when a cleaning agent containing a non-aqueous solvent and water is used. Rinsing can be performed, and the amount of use of the rinse liquid can be suppressed.

It is a typical system block diagram of the washing | cleaning system used for the washing | cleaning method of the articles | goods of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a typical system block diagram of the washing | cleaning system used for the washing | cleaning method of the articles | goods of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a typical system block diagram of the washing | cleaning system used for the washing | cleaning method of the articles | goods of the 3rd Embodiment of this invention.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In all the drawings, even if the embodiments are different, the same or corresponding members are denoted by the same reference numerals, and common description is omitted.

[First Embodiment]
A method for cleaning an article according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 1 is a schematic system configuration diagram of a cleaning system used in the article cleaning method according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

The cleaning method for an article according to the present embodiment is a method for cleaning the object to be cleaned when it is necessary to perform cleaning using a cleaning agent containing a non-aqueous solvent and water because the soil of the object to be cleaned contains oil. This is a method capable of efficiently rinsing the non-aqueous solvent agent adhering to the cleaning object.
First, with reference to FIG. 1, a system configuration of a cleaning system 1 capable of performing the article cleaning method of the present embodiment will be described.

  The article to be cleaned W (article) to be cleaned by the cleaning system 1 is not particularly limited as long as it can be cleaned by the cleaning agent 10 described later and can be rinsed by using the rinse liquid 11 described later. Examples of the object to be cleaned W include, for example, optical elements such as polished lenses, metal processed parts to which cutting oil is attached, mounting substrates to which flux is attached, and the like.

The cleaning agent 10 used in the present embodiment is a liquid cleaning agent containing a non-aqueous solvent and water.
The non-aqueous solvent is a component for dissolving and removing these dirt components from the article to be cleaned W when the dirt component of the article to be cleaned W includes oil dirt such as flux, wax, grease, etc. An appropriate solvent can be employed according to the type of dirt on the article W to be cleaned.
The type of the cleaning agent 10 is not particularly limited as long as it contains a non-aqueous solvent and water. Specific examples of the cleaning agent 10 include so-called semi-aqueous cleaning agents and emulsion cleaning agents.
The semi-aqueous detergent is a detergent containing about 5 wt% to 20 wt% of water and mixed with, for example, a glycol solvent, a petroleum solvent, a water-insoluble solvent, an alcohol solvent, a surfactant and the like. Specific examples include CLEANTHROUGH (registered trademark) 750HN (trade name; manufactured by Kao Corporation).
The emulsion-based detergent is a detergent obtained by emulsifying a non-aqueous solvent such as a petroleum solvent and water by the action of a surfactant. Specifically, for example, Sunwash (registered trademark) LH series (trade name; manufactured by Lion Corporation) can be used.
Below, the cleaning agent 10 demonstrates as an example the example in the case of the semi-aqueous type cleaning agent which contains 7% of water, for example, CLEAN THROUGH (trademark) 750HN.

The rinsing liquid 11 used in the present embodiment is for removing the cleaning agent 10 attached to the article W to be cleaned, and is made of a solution containing alcohol and water.
The alcohol used for the rinse liquid 11 is not particularly limited as long as it is liquid at 25 ° C. and can form a solution with water.
However, since it becomes water-insoluble when the carbon number increases, the carbon number of the alcohol is preferably 1-7. For example, in the case of monohydric alcohol, examples of suitable alcohol include methanol, ethanol, 1-propanol, 2-propanol, 1-butanol, 2-butanol, 1-pentanol, 2-pentanol, 1-hexanol, Examples thereof include 1-heptanol.

A non-aqueous solvent containing dirt components such as oil removed from the object to be cleaned W adheres to the surface of the object to be cleaned W that has been cleaned by the cleaning agent 10. Since this non-aqueous solvent does not dissolve in water, a large amount of water is required when rinsing with water alone.
In the present embodiment, since the rinsing liquid 11 contains alcohol, the non-aqueous solvent is easily removed from the surface of the article W to be cleaned by dissolving it in the alcohol. Thereby, compared with the case where water is rinsed as a rinse liquid, the liquid quantity of the rinse liquid 11 can be reduced.

The concentration ratio of alcohol and water is not particularly limited as long as the cleaning agent 10 adhering to the object to be cleaned W can be satisfactorily removed. However, if the alcohol concentration is too low, the ability to dissolve the non-aqueous solvent becomes insufficient. For this reason, it is preferable that alcohol concentration is 20 wt% or more, and it is more preferable that it is 40 wt% or more.
The rinse liquid 11 may contain components other than alcohol and water. For example, an amphoteric substance such as glycol ether may be included. In this case, the amphoteric substance itself can dissolve the solvent component in the cleaning agent, and the rinsing ability of the rinsing liquid is improved, which is preferable.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the rinse liquid 11 has an azeotropic composition. Table 1 below shows the azeotropic point and azeotropic composition when the rinsing liquid 11 is composed of alcohol and water, together with the boiling point of the alcohol and the number of carbons of the alcohol. Although methanol does not have an azeotropic composition, a solution of methanol and water can also be used as the rinse liquid 11. Therefore, boiling point information is shown for reference.

When the rinsing liquid 11 has an azeotropic composition, impurities contained in the rinsing liquid 11 can be removed by distilling the rinsing liquid 11 after being used for rinsing, and the composition of the distilling liquid also has an azeotropic composition. Become. For this reason, the concentration ratio of the distilled liquid is the same as the concentration ratio of the unused rinse liquid 11.
For this reason, the distilled liquid can be immediately mixed with the unused rinse liquid 11 and reused without adjusting the concentration.

Moreover, it is more preferable that the alcohol concentration of the rinsing liquid 11 is less than the concentration at which the flash point is expressed by the flash point measurement.
When the alcohol concentration of the rinsing liquid 11 is low, the flash point is not expressed by the flash point measurement, and therefore, for example, it does not correspond to the “dangerous goods” defined by the Fire Service Law. For this reason, since handling becomes easy and fire prevention measures can be reduced, the apparatus configuration of the cleaning system 1 can be simplified and the cost can be reduced.
In particular, alcohols having 1 to 3 carbon atoms fall under the category of non-dangerous substances when the alcohol concentration is less than 60 wt% according to the law. For this reason, it is preferable to use C1-C3 alcohol as alcohol concentration less than 60%.
Examples that correspond to non-hazardous materials and have an azeotropic composition include azeotropic compositions of 1-butanol and water (alcohol concentration 59.5 wt%), azeotropic compositions of 1-pentanol and water (alcohol concentration 45). .6 wt%), azeotropic composition of 1-hexanol and water (alcohol concentration 32.8 wt%), azeotropic composition of 1-heptanol and water (alcohol concentration 27.0 wt%), and the like. .

  Hereinafter, the rinse liquid 11 will be described as an example of an azeotropic composition solution in which 1-butanol and water are mixed to have concentrations of 59.5 wt% and 40.5 wt%, respectively.

Next, the apparatus configuration of the cleaning system 1 will be described.
The schematic configuration of the cleaning system 1 includes a cleaning tank 2, a first rinse tank 3, a second rinse tank 4, a distiller 9, a drying tank 5, and a transport mechanism 8.
In the present embodiment, the cleaning tank 2, the first rinsing tank 3, the second rinsing tank 4, and the drying tank 5 are arranged in this order along the horizontal direction.

The cleaning tank 2 is a storage tank opened upward for storing a stock solution of the cleaning agent 10 in order to remove dirt on the object to be cleaned W, and the object to be cleaned W can be taken in and out from above through this opening. Is possible.
The cleaning tank 2 is equipped with an ultrasonic vibrator 20 that applies ultrasonic vibrations to the cleaning agent 10 in the cleaning tank 2. For this reason, the workpiece W immersed in the cleaning agent 10 in the cleaning tank 2 is ultrasonically cleaned.
The article to be cleaned W may be a single item or a plurality of items may be held by a holding jig (not shown).
Further, the cleaning tank 2 is connected to a spare tank 6 for temporarily storing the used cleaning agent 10 through a recovery line 6a and a supply line 6b.

The preliminary tank 6 includes a heater 21 that keeps the temperature of the cleaning agent 10 at an appropriate temperature. The cleaning agent 10 recovered through the recovery pipe line 6a is stored in the preliminary tank 6 in a state of being kept warm. As an example, the temperature of the heater 21 in the present embodiment is adjusted so that the liquid temperature of the cleaning agent 10 in the cleaning tank 2 is maintained at 50 ° C.
The supply pipe 6 b includes the pump 22 that sends the cleaning agent 10 stored in the preliminary tank 6 to the cleaning tank 2, and the used cleaning agent 10 sent out by the pump 22 is filtered and included in the cleaning agent 10. A filtration filter 23 for removing impurities is disposed.
With such a configuration, the filtered cleaning agent 10 is supplied to the cleaning tank 2 through the supply pipe 6b. When the same amount of used cleaning agent 10 as the supply amount overflows (overflows) from the opening of the cleaning tank 2, the cleaning agent 10 is circulated and used by being recovered in the preliminary tank 6 through the recovery pipe 6 a. The

The first rinsing tank 3 and the second rinsing tank 4 are both storage tanks that open upward and store the rinse liquid 11. The workpiece W can be taken in and out from above through the openings.
The first rinsing tank 3 (second rinsing tank 4) is equipped with an ultrasonic vibrator 20 that applies ultrasonic vibrations to the rinsing liquid 11b (11a) in the first rinsing tank 3 (second rinsing tank 4). ing. For this reason, the to-be-cleaned object W immersed in the rinse liquid 11b (11a) in the 1st rinse tank 3 (2nd rinse tank 4) is ultrasonically cleaned.

The 1st rinse tank 3 and the 2nd rinse tank 4 are arrange | positioned in this order from the washing tank 2 side in the state adjacent to each other. The upper opening of the first rinsing tank 3 is adjacent to the upper opening of the second rinsing tank 4 at a lower position. For this reason, when the rinsing liquid 11 overflows from the opening of the second rinsing tank 4, the rinsing liquid 11 moves into the first rinsing tank 3 through the opening of the first rinsing tank 3.
Hereinafter, when it is necessary to distinguish the rinse liquids 11 respectively stored in the first rinse tank 3 and the second rinse tank 4 from each other, they are referred to as rinse liquids 11b and 11a, respectively.

In order to circulate the rinse liquid 11, one end of a recovery line 7 a for recovering the used rinse liquid 11 overflowing from the opening of the first rinse tank 3 is connected to the first rinse tank 3. The other end of the recovery pipe line 7a is connected to a storage tank 7 for temporarily storing the used rinse liquid 11 recovered through the recovery pipe line 7a.
The storage tank 7 includes a heater 24 that keeps the temperature of the rinsing liquid 11 in the first rinsing tank 3 and the second rinsing tank 4 at an appropriate temperature, and the rinsing liquid 11 recovered through the recovery pipe line 7a is in a state of being kept warm. It is stored at. As an example, the temperature of the heater 24 in the present embodiment is adjusted so that the temperature of the rinsing liquid 11 in the first rinsing tank 3 and the second rinsing tank 4 is maintained at 40 ° C.
Hereinafter, when it is necessary to distinguish the rinse liquid 11 stored in the storage tank 7 from other rinse liquids 11, the rinse liquid 11 is referred to as a rinse liquid 11 c.

The supply pipe line 7b includes a pump 25 for sending the rinse liquid 11c stored in the storage tank 7 to the second rinse tank 4, and a used rinse liquid 11c sent by the pump 25, which is filtered and included in the rinse liquid 11c. A filter 26 for removing impurities is disposed.
With such a configuration, the filtered rinse liquid 11d is supplied to the second rinse tank 4 through the supply pipe line 7b.
For this reason, a part of the rinsing liquid 11 in the first rinsing tank 3 and the second rinsing tank 4 is circulated through a circulation path (referred to as a filtration path) via the recovery pipe line 7a, the storage tank 7, and the supply pipe line 7b. used.

The distiller 9 is connected to the storage tank 7 through a recovery pipe line 9a, and is connected to the second rinsing tank 4 through a supply pipe line 9b. Thereby, the distiller 9 distills the rinse liquid 11c sent from the storage tank 7 through the recovery pipe line 9a to form a distilled rinse liquid 11e (regenerated rinse liquid), and the second rinse tank 4 through the supply pipe line 9b. The rinsed liquid 11e after distillation can be supplied.
The structure of the distiller 9 is a continuous distillation device that monitors the liquid level of the distillation kettle and supplies the sewage liquid when the liquid level drops. In addition to the liquid level of the distillation kettle, the temperature of the liquid and steam in the kettle Examples of continuous distillation equipment that can monitor and distill mixed liquids consisting of multiple components, distillation equipment that has the function of monitoring the physical properties such as specific gravity and refractive index of the regenerated liquid and replenishing insufficient components Can be mentioned.
For this reason, the rinsing liquid 11c in the storage tank 7 is circulated in the first rinse tank 3 and the second rinse tank 4 via the recovery pipeline 7a, the storage tank 7, the recovery pipeline 9a, the distiller 9, and the supply pipeline 9b. It is circulated through a route (referred to as a regeneration route).

The drying tank 5 accommodates the article W to be cleaned after being immersed in the rinsing liquids 11b and 11a of the first rinsing tank 3 and the second rinsing tank 4 and applying hot air to the article W to be cleaned. The rinse liquid 11 adhering to the surface of the article W to be cleaned is removed. In the present embodiment, the inlet / outlet for the object to be cleaned W is provided in the upper part of the drying tank 5.
The temperature of the hot air in the drying tank 5 can be appropriately set depending on the type of the rinsing liquid 11. In the present embodiment, the temperature is set to 80 ° C. corresponding to the fact that the rinsing liquid 11 is a solution having an azeotropic composition of 1-butanol and water.

The transport mechanism 8 immerses the object W to be cleaned in the cleaning tank 2, the first rinsing tank 3, and the second rinsing tank 4 in this order, and then carries them into the drying tank 5, and after drying, from the drying tank 5. It is to be taken out. The transport mechanism 8 includes a plurality of holding units 8a that hold the article to be cleaned W, and a transport moving unit 8b that moves each holding unit 8a in the horizontal direction.
Each holding portion 8 a is provided so as to be movable up and down in the vertical direction, and can be swung along the vertical direction in the cleaning tank 2, the first rinse tank 3, and the second rinse tank 4.
The holding unit 8a holds the holding jig when the object to be cleaned W is held by the holding jig.

Next, the operation of the cleaning system 1 will be described focusing on the article cleaning method of the present embodiment performed using the cleaning system 1.
The article cleaning method of the present embodiment includes a cleaning process, a rinsing process, a drying process, and a regeneration process process.
Here, the cleaning process, the rinsing process, and the drying process are performed by sequentially moving the objects to be cleaned W to the cleaning tank 2, the first rinsing tank 3, the second rinsing tank 4, and the drying tank 5 of the cleaning system 1. .
On the other hand, the regeneration treatment process is performed in parallel with these processes by the distiller 9.

The cleaning process is a process of cleaning the article to be cleaned W by bringing it into contact with the cleaning agent 10.
This step is performed by moving the workpiece W held in the holding unit 8 a of the transport mechanism 8 into the cleaning tank 2.
The cleaning agent 10 filtered by the filter 23 and adjusted in liquid temperature is supplied to the cleaning tank 2. For this reason, a flow from the supply line 6b toward the recovery line 6a is formed in the cleaning tank 2.
Ultrasonic vibration is applied to the cleaning agent 10 in the cleaning tank 2 by the ultrasonic vibrator 20.

When the article to be cleaned W is moved into the cleaning tank 2, the holding portion 8 a is moved up and down to swing the article to be cleaned W in the vertical direction in the cleaning tank 2. In this state, the workpiece W is immersed in the cleaning agent 5 for 5 minutes.
The dirt adhering to the surface of the object to be cleaned W comes into contact with the cleaning agent 10 and is subjected to ultrasonic vibration through the cleaning agent 10, thereby being peeled from the object to be cleaned W and dissolved in the cleaning agent 10. Thereby, dirt is removed from the surface of the article W to be cleaned.
When 5 minutes have elapsed, the holding portion 8a is raised and the object to be cleaned W is pulled up above the cleaning tank 2.
This completes the cleaning process.

Next, a rinsing step is performed. This process is a process of rinsing the article W to be cleaned that has been cleaned in the cleaning process using the rinse liquid 11.
This step is performed by sequentially moving the article W to be cleaned held in the holding portion 8a of the transport mechanism 8 to the first rinsing tank 3 and the second rinsing tank 4.
The second rinse tank 4 is supplied with the filtered rinse liquid 11 d filtered by the filter 23 and the distilled rinse liquid 11 e supplied from the distiller 9.
The rinse liquid 11a overflowing from the opening of the second rinse tank 4 moves to the first rinse tank 3 and is temporarily stored as the rinse liquid 11b. The rinsing liquid 11b overflowed from the first rinsing tank 3 is recovered in the storage tank 7 by the recovery pipe line 7a and temporarily stored in the storage tank 7 as the rinsing liquid 11c.
The liquid temperature in the second rinsing tank 4 and the liquid temperature in the first rinsing tank 3 are 40 ° C. due to temperature adjustment by the heater 21 in the storage tank 7.
Ultrasonic vibration is applied to the rinse liquids 11 b and 11 a in the first rinsing tank 3 and the second rinsing tank 4 by the ultrasonic vibrator 20, respectively.

First, after the article to be cleaned W is moved into the first rinse tank 3, the holding portion 8 a is moved up and down to swing the article to be cleaned W in the vertical direction within the first rinse tank 3. In this state, the article W to be cleaned is immersed in the rinsing liquid 11b for 5 minutes.
The cleaning agent 10 adhering to the surface of the object to be cleaned W comes into contact with the rinsing liquid 11b and receives ultrasonic vibration through the rinsing liquid 11b, so that it is peeled from the object to be cleaned W and dissolved in the rinsing liquid 11b. Go. Thereby, the cleaning agent 10 attached to the surface of the article to be cleaned W is removed from the surface of the article to be cleaned W.
When 5 minutes have elapsed, the holding portion 8a is raised and the object to be cleaned W is pulled up above the first rinsing tank 3.

Next, the object to be cleaned W is moved into the second rinsing tank 4, and the holding part 8 a is moved up and down in the same manner as in the first rinsing tank 3 to move the object to be cleaned W in the vertical direction in the second rinsing tank 4. Swing along. In this state, the article W to be cleaned is immersed in the rinsing liquid 11a for 5 minutes.
Since the rinsing liquid 11a in the second rinsing tank 4 has a higher degree of cleanliness than the rinsing liquid 11b, the cleaning agent 10 that could not be removed by rinsing in the first rinsing tank 3 and the contamination component remaining in the rinsing liquid 11b were re-applied. The deposits are further removed by the action of the rinse liquid 11a and ultrasonic vibration.
When 5 minutes have elapsed, the holding portion 8a is raised and the object to be cleaned W is pulled up above the second rinsing tank 4.
The rinsing process is thus completed.

Here, the reproduction processing process of this embodiment performed in parallel with the rinsing process will be described.
The regeneration treatment step is a step of recovering and distilling the rinse liquid 11c used in the rinsing process to form a regenerated rinse liquid having the same components as the unused rinse liquid 11.
In the present embodiment, the rinsing liquid 11 c is recovered by the recovery pipe 9 a and distilled by the distiller 9.
Since the rinsing liquid 11 has an azeotropic composition, it boils at the azeotropic point. Therefore, when the vapor of the rinsing liquid 11 is condensed, 1-butanol and water are condensed as a solution having an azeotropic composition without being separated, and a distilled rinsing liquid 11e is obtained.
For this reason, the distilled rinse liquid 11e is a regenerated rinse liquid from which impurities contained in the rinse liquid 11c are removed and having the same components as the unused rinse liquid 11.

By having such a regeneration treatment step, in the present embodiment, alcohol and water are separated from the rinsing liquid 11c, and a mixed solution having the same components (concentration ratio) as the unused rinsing liquid 11 is prepared. The distilled rinse liquid 11e can be put directly into the second rinsing tank 4 without taking the trouble of performing. For this reason, the rinse solution 11 can be regenerated and reused by a simple process of only distillation. As a result, the distiller 9 can also have a compact configuration, and the cleaning system 1 can be reduced in size and space.
The distilled rinse liquid 11e is a solution having an azeotropic composition and is the same solution as the unused rinse liquid 11. Therefore, impurities contained in the rinsing liquid 11c that cannot be removed by the filtration filter 26 are also removed, and the rinsing liquid 11c is cleaner than the filtered rinsing liquid 11d.

The to-be-cleaned object W taken out from the second rinsing tank 4 performs a drying process.
This step is a step of evaporating the rinsing liquid 11 attached to the surface of the object to be cleaned W and drying the surface of the object to be cleaned W.
This step is performed by moving the object to be cleaned W held by the holding unit 8 a of the transport mechanism 8 to the drying tank 5.
Since the object to be cleaned W moved to the drying tank 5 is sprayed with hot air of 80 ° C., the droplets of the rinsing liquid 11 attached to the surface of the object to be cleaned W are blown off or evaporated to be cleaned. It is removed from the object W. Thereby, the to-be-cleaned object W is dried.
This is the end of the drying process.
The dried article W to be cleaned is moved to the outside of the drying tank 5 by the transport mechanism 8 and carried out of the cleaning system 1.
The article cleaning method of this embodiment is thus completed.
The objects to be cleaned W held in the holding unit 8a are sequentially moved by the transport mechanism 8, whereby the cleaning process, the rinsing process, and the drying process described above are performed. As a result, the other objects to be cleaned W are also cleaned through the same process as described above.

According to the article cleaning method of the present embodiment, since the rinsing liquid 11 is used in the rinsing step, when the cleaning agent 10 containing a non-aqueous solvent and water is used, the non-aqueous solvent dissolves in the alcohol, It is easily removed from the cleaning object W. For this reason, compared with the case where it rinses only with the water which a non-aqueous solvent does not melt | dissolve, the cleaning agent 10 can be rinsed off efficiently. Further, since the amount of liquid required for rinsing is smaller, the amount of the rinsing liquid 11 used can be suppressed. In the present embodiment, since the rinse liquid 11 is recycled, the amount of liquid to be finally drained can be significantly reduced.
As described above, since the amount of the rinsing liquid 11 used is smaller than in the case of rinsing with only water, the cleaning system 1 becomes a smaller system.
In particular, the distiller 9 that regenerates the rinse liquid 11 can be downsized by setting the rinse liquid 11 to an azeotropic composition.
Moreover, in this embodiment, since the rinse liquid 11 has a low alcohol concentration, there is no risk of ignition. For this reason, the cleaning system 1 can simplify the apparatus configuration in that it is not necessary to take fire prevention measures for preventing the rinsing liquid 11 from being ignited. For example, since it is not necessary to perform rinsing under an inert gas atmosphere, the apparatus configuration is simplified. In addition, the workability of the worker is improved.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a method for cleaning an article according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 2 is a schematic system configuration diagram of a cleaning system used in the article cleaning method according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

The article cleaning method according to the present embodiment is different from the article cleaning method according to the first embodiment in that a rinse liquid having an azeotropic composition is used, whereas a rinse liquid having an azeotropic composition is used.
Hereinafter, a description will be given centering on differences from the first embodiment.

First, with reference to FIG. 2, a system configuration of a cleaning system 51 capable of performing the article cleaning method of the present embodiment will be described.
In the cleaning system 51, a rinsing liquid 31 is used instead of the rinsing liquid 11 of the first embodiment.
The rinse liquid 31 is made of a solution containing alcohol and water, like the rinse liquid 11 of the first embodiment, and is different in that it is not an azeotropic composition.
In this embodiment, as an example, a solution in which 1-propanol and water are mixed so as to have a concentration of 50.0 wt% and 50.0 wt%, respectively, is employed.
According to such a configuration, since the alcohol concentration is less than 60 wt%, the flash point of the rinse liquid 31 is not measured. For this reason, the rinse liquid 31 does not correspond to the “dangerous goods” defined by the Fire Service Act, for example.

In the cleaning system 51, an in-line densitometer 32 and a pure water supply unit 33 are added to the cleaning system 1 of the first embodiment. The in-line concentration meter 32 and the pure water supply unit 33 are provided in order to make the concentration ratio of 1-propanol and water of the rinse liquid 31 discharged from the storage tank 7 coincide with the concentration ratio of the unused rinse liquid 31. It is a configuration.
Hereinafter, when the storage locations of the rinse liquid 31 are distinguished, the rinse liquids 31a, 31b, and 31c are referred to as corresponding to the rinse liquids 11a, 11b, and 11c of the first embodiment, respectively.

The in-line densitometer 32 measures the concentration of 1-propanol in the rinsing liquid 31 c stored in the storage tank 7.
The pure water supply unit 33 supplies pure water 34 that is diluted to keep the concentration of 1-propanol in the storage tank 7 at 50.0 wt%, and the storage tank 7 is provided via a supply line 33a including an automatic opening / closing valve 33b. It is connected to the.
The opening / closing operation of the automatic opening / closing valve 33b is controlled by a control device (not shown) so that the measured value of the concentration of 1-propanol in the in-line concentration meter 32 becomes 50.0 wt%.
In the present embodiment, the supply line 7b, the recovery line 9a, and the supply line 33a are all connected in the vicinity of the inline densitometer 32. For this reason, the concentration of 1-propanol in the rinsing liquid 31c guided to the second rinsing tank 4 and the distiller 9 by the supply line 7b and the recovery line 9a, respectively, matches the concentration measured by the inline densitometer 32.

  Next, the operation of the cleaning system 51 will be described focusing on the article cleaning method of the present embodiment performed using the cleaning system 51. However, a description similar to that of the first embodiment will be omitted as appropriate, and a description will be given focusing on differences from the first embodiment.

The article cleaning method of the present embodiment includes a cleaning process, a rinsing process, a drying process, and a regeneration process process.
Here, the cleaning process, the rinsing process, and the drying process are performed by sequentially moving the objects to be cleaned W to the cleaning tank 2, the first rinsing tank 3, the second rinsing tank 4, and the drying tank 5 of the cleaning system 51. .
On the other hand, the regeneration treatment process is performed in parallel with these processes by the distiller 9.

  The cleaning process of this embodiment is exactly the same as the cleaning process of the first embodiment.

Next, the rinsing process of this embodiment is performed. This step is different from the rinsing step of the first embodiment only in that the rinse liquid 31 is used when rinsing the article W to be cleaned that has been cleaned in the cleaning step.
The second rinse tank 4 in the present embodiment is supplied with the filtered rinse liquid 31d filtered by the filter 26 and the distilled rinse liquid 31e supplied from the distiller 9. The rinsing liquid 31a in the second rinsing tank 4 overflows and moves to the first rinsing tank 3 (rinsing liquid 31b), and is further collected in the storage tank 7 (rinsing liquid 31c).
The liquid temperature in the 2nd rinse tank 4 and the liquid temperature in the 1st rinse tank 3 are 40 degreeC similarly to the said 1st Embodiment.

Similar to the first embodiment, the article to be cleaned W held by the holding unit 8a of the transport mechanism 8 is sequentially moved to the first rinsing tank 3 and the second rinsing tank 4. The rinsing operation performed in the first rinsing tank 3 and the second rinsing tank 4 is exactly the same as in the first embodiment.
In each case, the non-aqueous solvent of the cleaning agent 10 adhering to the cleaning object W is dissolved in 1-propanol of the rinsing liquid 31 and removed from the cleaning object W.

Here, the reproduction processing process of this embodiment performed in parallel with the rinsing process will be described.
The regeneration treatment step is a step of collecting and distilling the rinse liquid 31c used in the rinsing process to form a regenerated rinse liquid having the same components as the unused rinse liquid 31.
In this step, as in the first embodiment, the rinsing liquid 31c is recovered by the recovery conduit 9a and distilled by the distiller 9.
In the distiller 9, distillation is performed at a temperature setting such that 1-propanol and water can be separated from impurities dissolved therein. Distilled rinse liquid 31e formed in this way is free of impurities contained in rinse liquid 31c that cannot be removed by filtration filter 26 by distillation, and is cleaner than filtered rinse liquid 31d.
However, since the distilled rinse liquid 31e supplied from the distiller 9 has an azeotropic composition, the concentration of 1-propanol is 71.5 wt%. Therefore, the regenerated rinse liquid cannot be formed only by the distiller 9.
Therefore, in this embodiment, the concentration of 1-propanol is measured by the in-line densitometer 32 provided in the storage tank 7, and based on this measurement value, the concentration of 1-propanol is 50.0 wt%. Pure water 34 is supplied from the water supply unit 33.
The filtered rinsing liquid 31d supplied by the supply pipe line 7b agitates the rinsing liquid 31a in the second rinsing tank 4, so that the concentration of 1-propanol in the rinsing liquids 31a and 31b is made uniform. For this reason, the components of the rinsing liquid 31 in the second rinsing tank 4 and the first rinsing tank 3 are controlled so that the concentrations of 1-propanol and water are 50.0 wt%, respectively, and are the same as the initial stage of the rinsing liquid 31. Ingredients are kept.

Thus, in the present embodiment, the distilled rinse liquid 31e having a high 1-propanol concentration and the pure water 34 contained in the filtered rinse liquid 31d are mixed in the second rinse tank 4, A regenerative rinse is formed.
In this embodiment, the pure water 34 is automatically supplied according to the measurement value of the in-line densitometer 32. Therefore, after forming the distilled rinse liquid 31e, a pure solution is added to adjust the components. There is no need to provide a preparation process or apparatus. For this reason, the rinse liquid 31 can be regenerated and recycled by a simple process. As a result, the distiller 9 can also have a compact configuration, and the cleaning system 51 can be reduced in size and space.

The drying process is exactly the same as that in the first embodiment.
The article cleaning method of this embodiment is thus completed.

According to the method for cleaning an article of the present embodiment, since the rinse liquid 31 is used in the rinsing step, when the cleaning agent 10 containing a non-aqueous solvent and water is used, the non-aqueous solvent is dissolved in alcohol, It is easily removed from the object W to be cleaned. For this reason, compared with the case where it rinses only with the water which a non-aqueous solvent does not melt | dissolve, the cleaning agent 10 can be rinsed off efficiently. Further, since the amount of liquid required for rinsing is smaller, the amount of the rinsing liquid 31 used can be suppressed. Further, in the present embodiment, since the rinse liquid 31 is recycled, the amount of liquid to be finally drained can be significantly reduced.
As described above, since the amount of the rinsing liquid 31 used is small as compared with the case of rinsing with only water, the cleaning system 51 becomes a smaller system.
Moreover, in this embodiment, since the rinse liquid 31 has a low alcohol concentration, there is no risk of ignition. For this reason, the cleaning system 51 can simplify the apparatus configuration in that it is not necessary to take fire prevention measures for preventing the rinsing liquid 31 from being ignited.

[Third Embodiment]
Next, a method for cleaning an article according to the third embodiment of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 3 is a schematic system configuration diagram of a cleaning system used in the article cleaning method according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

The article cleaning method of the present embodiment uses a rinse liquid that is not an azeotropic composition, whereas the article cleaning method of the first embodiment uses a rinse liquid having an azeotropic composition and recycles the rinse liquid. The difference is that no recycling is used.
Hereinafter, a description will be given centering on differences from the first embodiment.

First, with reference to FIG. 3, a system configuration of a cleaning system 61 capable of implementing the article cleaning method of the present embodiment will be described.
In the cleaning system 61, a rinsing liquid 41 is used instead of the rinsing liquid 11 of the first embodiment.
The rinsing liquid 41 is different from the rinsing liquid 11 of the first embodiment in that it is made of a solution containing alcohol and water and is not an azeotropic composition.
In the present embodiment, as an example, a solution in which ethanol and water are mixed so as to have concentrations of 30.0 wt% and 70.0 wt%, respectively, is employed.
According to such a configuration, since the alcohol concentration is less than 60 wt%, the flash point of the rinse liquid 41 is not measured. For this reason, the rinse liquid 41 does not correspond to “dangerous goods” defined by, for example, the Fire Service Law.

  The schematic configuration of the cleaning system 61 is that the distiller 9, the recovery pipe 9a, and the supply pipe 9b of the cleaning system 1 of the first embodiment are deleted and replaced with the first rinsing tank 3 and the second rinsing tank 4. The first rinse tank 63 and the second rinse tank 64 are provided, and a storage tank 68 is added.

The first rinsing tank 63 and the second rinsing tank 64 are both storage tanks that open upward and store the rinse liquid 41. The workpiece W can be taken in and out from above through the openings.
The 1st rinse tank 63 and the 2nd rinse tank 64 are arrange | positioned in this order from the washing tank 2 side so that it may mutually adjoin.
The first rinsing tank 63 (second rinsing tank 64) is equipped with an ultrasonic transducer 20 that applies ultrasonic vibrations to the internal rinse liquid 41. For this reason, the to-be-cleaned object W immersed in the rinse liquid 41 in the 1st rinse tank 63 (2nd rinse tank 64) is ultrasonically cleaned.
Hereinafter, when it is necessary to distinguish the rinse liquid 41 stored in the first rinse tank 63 and the second rinse tank 64 from each other, they are referred to as rinse liquids 41b and 41a, respectively.

  In order to circulate the rinsing liquid 41 in the first rinsing tank 63, as in the first embodiment, the recovery line 7 a that collects the used rinsing liquid 41 overflowing from the opening of the first rinsing tank 63 is used. The storage tank 7 is connected. Hereinafter, when it is necessary to distinguish the rinse liquid 41 stored in the storage tank 7 from the other rinse liquids 41, the rinse liquid 41 is referred to as a rinse liquid 41c.

The storage tank 7 includes a heater 24 as in the first embodiment. However, the heater 24 in the present embodiment maintains the liquid temperature of the rinsing liquid 41b in the first rinsing tank 63 at an appropriate temperature. The temperature of the heater 24 in this embodiment is adjusted so that the liquid temperature of the rinse liquid 41b in the 1st rinse tank 63 may be maintained at 40 degreeC as an example.
The rinse liquid 41 c stored in the storage tank 7 is returned to the first rinse tank 63 through a supply pipe 67 b provided between the storage tank 7 and the first rinse tank 63.

On the supply line 67b, the pump 25 and the filtration filter 26 similar to those in the first embodiment are provided in this order from the storage tank 7 side.
With such a configuration, the first rinse tank 63 is supplied with the filtered rinse liquid 41d filtered by the filter 26 through the supply line 67b.
The pump 25 is connected to a discharge pipe 67c for discharging the rinse liquid 41c in the storage tank 7. The discharge pipe 67c is provided with an on-off valve 27. When the on-off valve 27 is opened, the rinse liquid 41c in the storage tank 7 is discharged.

A storage tank 68 is connected to the second rinsing tank 64 through a collection pipe 68 a that collects the used rinsing liquid 41 that has overflowed from the opening of the second rinsing tank 64 in order to circulate the rinsing liquid 41. Hereinafter, when it is necessary to distinguish the rinse liquid 41 stored in the storage tank 68 from other rinse liquids 41, the rinse liquid 41 is referred to as a rinse liquid 41e.
A branch pipe 68c connected to the storage tank 7 is connected to the intermediate portion of the recovery pipe 68a to guide the rinse liquid 41e to the storage tank 7.
On-off valves 29 and 28 are provided on the branch pipe 68c and on the collection pipe 68a at positions closer to the storage tank 68 than the connection position of the branch pipe 68c.
During the rinsing process, the on-off valve 28 is opened and the on-off valve 29 is closed. On the other hand, as will be described later, when the rinsing liquid 41a is moved to the storage tank 7, the on-off valve 28 is closed and the on-off valve 29 is opened.

The storage tank 68 includes a heater 30 having the same configuration as the heater 24. The heater 30 maintains the temperature of the rinsing liquid 41a in the second rinsing tank 64 at an appropriate temperature. The temperature of the heater 30 in this embodiment is adjusted so that the liquid temperature of the rinse liquid 41a in the 2nd rinse tank 64 may be maintained at 40 degreeC as an example.
The rinse liquid 41e stored in the storage tank 68 is returned to the second rinse tank 64 through a supply pipe 68b provided between the storage tank 68 and the second rinse tank 64.

On the supply pipe 68b, a pump 31 and a filtration filter 32 having the same configuration as the pump 25 and the filtration filter 26 are provided in this order from the storage tank 68 side.
With such a configuration, the rinse solution 41f that has been filtered by the filter 32 is supplied to the second rinse tank 64 through the supply pipe 68b.

  Next, the operation of the cleaning system 51 will be described focusing on the article cleaning method of the present embodiment performed using the cleaning system 51. However, the description similar to that of the first embodiment is omitted, and the description will be focused on differences from the first embodiment.

The method for cleaning an article according to the present embodiment includes a cleaning process, a rinsing process, and a drying process.
Here, the cleaning process, the rinsing process, and the drying process are performed by sequentially moving the objects to be cleaned W to the cleaning tank 2, the first rinsing tank 63, the second rinsing tank 64, and the drying tank 5 of the cleaning system 61. .
Since the cleaning system 61 does not have an apparatus portion that performs a regeneration process such as a distiller, an example in which the regeneration process is not performed will be described below. However, it is also possible to perform the regeneration process step off-line with a wastewater regeneration apparatus installed separately from the cleaning system 61.

  The cleaning process of this embodiment is exactly the same as the cleaning process of the first embodiment.

Next, the rinsing process of this embodiment is performed. This step is different from the rinsing step of the first embodiment in that the rinsing liquid 41 is used to rinse the article W to be cleaned in the cleaning step.
In this embodiment, the filtered rinse liquid 41d (41f) filtered by the filter 26 (32) is supplied to the first rinse tank 63 (second rinse tank 64).
The liquid temperature in the 1st rinse tank 63 (2nd rinse tank 64) is 40 degreeC similar to the said 1st Embodiment.

Similar to the first embodiment, the article W to be cleaned held by the holding portion 8a of the transport mechanism 8 is moved to the first rinse tank 63 and the second rinse tank 64 in order, the first rinse tank 63 and the first rinse tank 63. The rinsing operation performed in the two rinsing tanks 64 is exactly the same as the rinsing operation in the first rinsing tank 3 and the second rinsing tank 4 in the first embodiment.
In each case, the non-aqueous solvent of the cleaning agent 10 adhering to the object to be cleaned W is dissolved in ethanol of the rinse liquid 41 and removed from the object to be cleaned W.

The rinse liquids 41b and 41a in the first rinsing tank 63 and the second rinsing tank 64 accumulate dirt components that cannot be removed by the filtration filters 26 and 32 due to such circulation use, and as a result, the rinsing performance gradually deteriorates. To go.
Therefore, in the present embodiment, the degree of deterioration of the rinsing liquid 41a in the second rinsing tank 64 is periodically measured, and when the deterioration exceeding the allowable limit is observed, the cleaning process and the rinsing process are temporarily stopped. . Refractive index measurement is adopted as a method for measuring the degree of deterioration.
During this temporary stop, the rinse liquid 41a is replaced. At that time, the rinsing liquid 41a is clean as compared with the rinsing liquids 41b and 41c even if it exceeds the allowable limit as the final rinsing. For this reason, in this embodiment, the rinse liquids 41b and 41c having low cleanliness are discharged, and the used rinse liquid 41a is circulated in the first rinse tank 63 and the storage tank 7 instead of the rinse liquids 41b and 41c. Reuse as rinse solution 41.
That is, the on-off valve 27 of the discharge pipe 67c is opened to discharge the rinsing liquid 41b in the storage tank 7 from the discharge pipe 67c, and the on-off valve 27 is closed after the discharge is completed. Next, the rinsing liquid 41 a in the second rinsing tank 64 is transferred into the storage tank 7 by closing the on-off valve 28 and opening the on-off valve 29. After the transfer is completed, the on-off valve 28 is opened and the on-off valve 29 is closed.
The used rinse liquids 41b and 41c discharged from the discharge pipe 67c are subjected to wastewater treatment by a wastewater treatment facility (not shown).
The empty second rinse tank 64 and storage tank 68 are filled with unused rinsing liquid 41 and circulation is started.
Since the replacement of the rinsing liquid 41a is thus completed, the cleaning process and the rinsing process are restarted.

The drying process is exactly the same as that in the first embodiment.
The article cleaning method of this embodiment is thus completed.

According to the cleaning method for an article of the present embodiment, since the rinse liquid 41 is used in the rinsing step, when the cleaning agent 10 containing a non-aqueous solvent and water is used, the non-aqueous solvent is dissolved in alcohol, It is easily removed from the object W to be cleaned. For this reason, compared with the case where it rinses only with the water which a non-aqueous solvent does not melt | dissolve, the cleaning agent 10 can be rinsed off efficiently. Further, since the amount of liquid required for rinsing is smaller, the amount of the rinsing liquid 41 used can be suppressed.
As described above, since the amount of the rinse liquid 41 used is small as compared with the case of rinsing with only water, the cleaning system 61 becomes a smaller system.
In the present embodiment, the rinsing liquid 41 has a low alcohol concentration, so there is no risk of ignition. For this reason, the cleaning system 61 can simplify the apparatus configuration in that it is not necessary to take fire prevention measures for preventing the rinsing liquid 41 from being ignited.

  In the description of each of the above embodiments, an example in which the cleaning tank that performs the cleaning process is composed of one tank and the rinsing tank that performs the rinsing process includes two tanks is described as an example. It is also possible to provide two or more tanks. It is also possible to provide three or more rinsing tanks.

  In the description of each of the above embodiments, the example in which the rinsing liquid includes one type of alcohol has been described. However, a solution including a plurality of types of alcohol may be employed.

  In the description of the first and second embodiments, the example in which the filtration path and the regeneration path are included as the rinse liquid circulation path in the rinse tank has been described. However, the filtration path is omitted, and only the regeneration path is provided. It is also possible to circulate the rinse liquid. In this case, since only the regenerative rinsing liquid is supplied to the second rinsing tank 4, the cleanliness is improved and the rinsing performance can be further improved.

  In the description of the first and second embodiments, an example in which a regenerated rinsing liquid having the same components as an unused rinsing liquid can be immediately formed by distillation has been described. It is also possible to prepare a regenerated rinse liquid by adding a deficient component after forming a rinse liquid of a component different from the rinse liquid component.

  In the description of each of the above embodiments, the example in the case of a monohydric alcohol is used as the alcohol contained in the rinsing liquid. However, a polyhydric alcohol may be employed.

  In the description of each of the above embodiments, the alcohol concentration of the rinsing liquid has been described as an example in which the flash point is not expressed by the flash point measurement. For example, the cleaning system is filled with an inert gas. It is also possible to use a rinse solution with a high alcohol concentration by taking a well-known fire prevention measure such as.

  In addition, the components described in the above embodiments and modifications can be implemented by appropriately combining or deleting them within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention.

1, 51, 61 Cleaning system 2 Cleaning tank 3, 63 First rinsing tank 4, 64 Second rinsing tank 5 Drying tank 7, 67, 68 Storage tank 7a, 9a, 68a Recovery line 7b, 9b, 68b Supply line 8 Conveying mechanism 9 Distiller 10 Cleaning agent 11, 11a, 11b, 11c, 31, 31a, 31b, 31c, 41, 41a, 41b, 41c Rinse solution 11d, 31d, 41d, 41f Filtered rinse solution 11e Distilled rinse solution ( Recycle rinse solution)
31e Distilled rinse solution 20 Ultrasonic vibrator 21, 24, 30 Heater 22, 25 Pump 23, 26, 32 Filtration filter 32 In-line concentration meter 33 Pure water supply unit 34 Pure water W Object to be cleaned (article)

Claims (3)

A cleaning step of cleaning the object to be cleaned by bringing it into contact with a cleaning agent containing at least a non-aqueous solvent and water;
Rinsing the object to be cleaned, which has been cleaned in the cleaning step, using a rinsing liquid that is an azeotropic composition comprising a solution containing alcohol and water;
A regeneration treatment step of recovering and distilling the rinse solution used in the rinse step to form a regenerated rinse solution having the same components as the unused rinse solution;
A method for cleaning an article. In the previous Symbol rinsing step,
The method for cleaning an article according to claim 1, wherein when the regenerated rinse liquid is formed, the object to be cleaned is rinsed with the rinse liquid containing the regenerated rinse liquid. The method for cleaning an article according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the alcohol concentration in the rinse liquid is less than a concentration at which a flash point is expressed by flash point measurement.

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