A cleaning device

Abstract

The application relates to the technical field of product cleaning, in particular to a cleaning device. The cleaning device provided by the application comprises a conveying mechanism, a brush assembly and an air knife assembly. The conveying mechanism is used for conveying target objects; the brush assembly and the air knife assembly are used for cleaning the target objects; the air knife assembly is arranged downstream of the brush assembly; the target objects are first cleaned by the brush assembly and then blown by the air knife assembly. The cleaning device adopts the combined cleaning mode of the brush assembly and the air knife assembly, the target objects are first comprehensively physically cleaned by the brush assembly to remove large-particle impurities and reduce the adhesion of surface particles, and then the target objects are strongly blown by the air knife assembly to remove residual particles. The double action of the brush assembly and the air knife assembly realizes efficient and thorough cleaning.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of product cleaning technology, and in particular to a cleaning device. Background Technology

[0002] With the development of the photovoltaic industry, the industry's requirements for the photoelectric conversion efficiency of solar cells are constantly increasing. In solar cell manufacturing, physical vapor deposition (PVD coating process) is a key step. After the solar cells are coated in the PVD coating chamber, they will then enter various stages of inspection to promptly detect and reject unqualified solar cells, ensuring the efficiency of subsequent processes.

[0003] However, during the PVD coating process, equipment wear and tear generate metal particles, and sputtering of the target also produces metal particles. These particles easily adhere to the surface of the solar cells, blocking the effective light-receiving area and thus affecting photoelectric conversion efficiency and reducing product competitiveness. Current solutions involve installing air-blowing pipes in the post-PVD coating inspection stage, using air pressure to create an "air knife" to remove particles. However, some particles are not simply floating on the surface; due to electrostatic adsorption and other reasons, they are firmly attached to the solar cell surface, making complete removal by the air knife impossible, resulting in persistent particle residue. Utility Model Content

[0004] Therefore, it is necessary to provide a cleaning device to address the above problems and solve the problem of incomplete cleaning of particulate matter adhering to the surface of battery cells in the prior art.

[0005] This application provides a cleaning device, comprising:

[0006] A conveying mechanism for conveying a target object along a first preset direction;

[0007] A brush assembly comprising at least one brush body, each of the brush bodies extending from one side of the conveying mechanism perpendicular to the first preset direction to the other side.

[0008] An air knife assembly is disposed downstream of the brush assembly, such that the target object is first swept by the brush assembly and then blown by the air knife assembly; the air knife assembly includes at least one air knife body, each of the air knife bodies extending from one side of the conveying mechanism perpendicular to the first preset direction to the other side.

[0009] Alternatively, in the above-described cleaning device, the angle between the direction in which each of the brush bodies extends and the first preset direction is 80°-100°.

[0010] Alternatively, in the above-described cleaning device, the number of brush bodies is multiple, and the multiple brush bodies are parallel to each other.

[0011] Alternatively, in the cleaning device described above, each of the brush bodies includes a support and a brush head, the brush head being connected to the side of the support near the conveying mechanism.

[0012] Alternatively, in the above-described cleaning device, the angle between the direction in which each of the air blade bodies extends and the first preset direction is 80°-100°.

[0013] Alternatively, in the above-described cleaning device, there are multiple air knife bodies, and the multiple air knife bodies are parallel to each other.

[0014] Alternatively, in the above-described cleaning device, each of the air knife bodies includes a plurality of evenly arranged air outlets, the air outlets being directed toward the conveying mechanism.

[0015] Alternatively, the cleaning device described above may further include a lifting assembly, the lifting assembly comprising interconnected components:

[0016] Mounting base, the mounting base being used to mount the air knife body and the brush body;

[0017] The first driving component is used to drive the mounting base, the air knife body and the brush body to rise and fall, thereby adjusting the distance between the air knife body and the brush body and the conveying mechanism.

[0018] Alternatively, in the above-described cleaning device, the conveying mechanism includes a conveyor track, or...

[0019] The conveying mechanism includes multiple conveying tracks arranged side by side along a direction perpendicular to the first preset direction.

[0020] Alternatively, in the above-described cleaning apparatus, each of the conveying tracks is a vacuum conveying track, the vacuum conveying track comprising:

[0021] Second drive unit;

[0022] A pulley, which is connected to the second drive member via a belt, rotates under the drive of the second drive member;

[0023] A conveyor belt is fitted between at least two pulleys to move as the pulleys rotate; the conveyor belt is provided with a plurality of vacuum holes;

[0024] A vacuum support is provided below the conveyor belt; the vacuum support continuously provides a vacuum so that the conveyor belt can adsorb the target object placed above the conveyor belt through the vacuum holes.

[0025] Alternatively, the cleaning device described above may further include a blower connected to the vacuum conveying track via a pipe for providing airflow to the vacuum conveying track.

[0026] The cleaning device proposed in this application has at least the following beneficial effects:

[0027] The cleaning apparatus provided in this application includes: a conveying mechanism, a brush assembly, and an air knife assembly. Among them,

[0028] The conveying mechanism transports the target object; the brush assembly and air knife assembly clean the target object. The air knife assembly is positioned downstream of the brush assembly, so the target object is first swept by the brush assembly and then blown away by the air knife assembly. This cleaning device uses a combination of brush and air knife assemblies to achieve a thorough cleaning process. The brush assembly first performs a comprehensive physical cleaning of the target object, removing large particles and reducing the adhesion of surface particles. Then, the non-contact air knife assembly powerfully blows away any remaining particles. The dual action of the brush and air knife assemblies achieves highly efficient and thorough cleaning. Attached Figure Description

[0029] Figure 1 This is a partial structural schematic diagram of a cleaning device provided in one embodiment of this application.

[0030] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of the brush assembly and air knife assembly provided in one embodiment of this application.

[0031] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the conveying mechanism provided in one embodiment of this application.

[0032] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a blower provided in one embodiment of this application.

[0033] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a pipeline conversion device provided in one embodiment of this application.

[0034] Explanation of reference numerals in the attached figures

[0035] 100-Cleanliness device;

[0036] 110-Conveying mechanism, 111-Second driving component, 112-First pulley, 113-Second pulley, 114-Conveyor belt, 115-Vacuum support component, 116-Belt, 117-Mounting bracket, 118-Vacuum hole, 119-Airflow interface;

[0037] 120-Brush assembly, 121-Brush body, 122-Support, 123-Brush head;

[0038] 130 - Air knife assembly, 131 - Air knife body;

[0039] 140 - Lifting assembly; 141 - Mounting base;

[0040] 150 - Blower; 151 - Air inlet; 152 - Air outlet; 160 - Pipe conversion device. Detailed Implementation

[0041] To make the technical solution and beneficial effects of this application more apparent and understandable, a detailed description is provided below by listing specific embodiments. The accompanying drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, and local features may be enlarged or reduced to more clearly show the details of the local features; unless otherwise defined, the technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meanings as those in the technical field to which this application pertains.

[0042] As a specific embodiment of this application, such as Figure 1 As shown, this application provides a cleaning device 100, which includes a conveying mechanism 110, a brush assembly 120, and an air knife assembly 130. The conveying mechanism 110 conveys a target object along a first preset direction. The brush assembly 120 includes at least one brush body 121, each brush body 121 extending from one side of the conveying mechanism 110 perpendicular to the first preset direction to the other side. The air knife assembly 130 is disposed downstream of the brush assembly 120, so that the target object is first cleaned by the brush assembly 120 and then blown by the air knife assembly 130. The air knife assembly 130 includes at least one air knife body 131, each air knife body 131 extending from one side of the conveying mechanism 110 perpendicular to the first preset direction to the other side.

[0043] The cleaning device 100 of this application is a combination of a brush assembly 120 and an air knife assembly 130. The brush assembly 120 first performs a thorough physical cleaning of the target object, removing large particles or reducing the adhesion of particles to the object's surface. Then, the air knife assembly 130 powerfully blows away any remaining particles. The combined effect of the brush assembly 120 and the air knife assembly 130 achieves thorough cleaning of the surface of target objects such as battery cells.

[0044] Furthermore, the non-contact purging of the air knife assembly 130 in this embodiment effectively avoids damage to the surface of the battery cells.

[0045] In this embodiment, the target object can be a battery cell (not shown in the figure). For example... Figure 1 As shown, the first preset direction is the x-direction, and the battery cells flow to the next workstation along the first preset direction under the drive of the conveying mechanism 110. The length extension direction of the conveying mechanism 110 is parallel to the first preset direction.

[0046] In some embodiments, the number of brush bodies 121 may include multiple brush bodies 121 arranged parallel to each other, with each brush body 121 spanning across the conveying mechanism 110. For example... Figure 2 As shown, this embodiment includes two brush bodies 121. This application achieves multiple brushings of the same target surface using multiple parallel brush bodies 121, ensuring that particles on the target surface have been partially removed or dust particles adsorbed on the surface have been loosened before entering the subsequent purging stage.

[0047] In some embodiments, there are multiple air knife bodies 131, which are arranged parallel to each other, with each air knife body 131 spanning across the conveying mechanism 110. For example... Figure 2 As shown, this embodiment includes three air knife bodies 131. By using multiple air knife bodies 131, this application achieves multiple purging of the target surface, resulting in better dust removal.

[0048] In this embodiment, the width direction of the target object ( Figure 1 The y-direction is perpendicular to the first preset direction. The extension dimension of the brush body 121 and the air knife body 131 along the y-square is greater than or equal to the dimension in the width direction of the target object, so as to achieve full coverage and cleaning of the target object in the width direction.

[0049] In some embodiments, the brush assembly 120 and the air knife assembly 130 may also act simultaneously on the same target surface.

[0050] In this embodiment, the solar cells produced by the PVD coating process are moved from the carrier plate to the solar cell conveying mechanism 110 for inspection and dust removal. During dust removal, the solar cells are first brushed by the brush assembly 120 to remove some impurities or reduce the adhesion between particles and the solar cells. Then, they pass through the air knife assembly 130, which easily removes particles from the surface of the solar cells. The cleaning device 100 of this application is used to clean the surface of photovoltaic solar cells. By removing light-blocking particles, it increases the effective light-illuminated area, reduces the impact of particles on the quality of the solar cells, and significantly improves the conversion efficiency of the solar cells.

[0051] As a specific embodiment of this application, the angle between the extension direction of each brush body 121 of the cleaning device 100 and the first preset direction is 80°-100°. For example, the angle between the brush body 121 and the first preset direction can be 80°, 85°, 90°, 95°, or 100°. In this embodiment, the angle is preferably 90°. By setting the brush body 121 to an angle of 80-100° (preferably 90°) with the conveying direction, this embodiment allows the brush body 121 to contact the surface of the target object from the front, maximizing the cleaning contact area. Simultaneously, it avoids excessive space occupation by the brush body 121 due to an excessively large tilt angle between the brush body 121 and the target object's width direction. Therefore, the overall structure of the cleaning device 100 is more compact, and the production cost is lower.

[0052] As a specific embodiment of this application, each brush body 121 of the cleaning device 100 includes a support 122 and a brush head 123. The brush head 123 is connected to the side of the support 122 near the conveying mechanism 110, and the brush head 123 directly faces the target object. When cleaning the target object, the brush head 123 directly contacts the surface of the target object to be cleaned. As an optional embodiment, the brush head 123 of the brush body 121 can be made of a soft and non-shedding material such as nylon to avoid scratches on the surface of the target object during use. The diameter of a single bristle of the brush head 123 is preferably less than 0.1 mm.

[0053] As a specific embodiment of this application, in the cleaning device 100 described above, the angle between the extension direction of each air knife body 131 and the first preset direction is 80°-100°. For example, the angle between the air knife body 131 and the first preset direction can be 80°, 85°, 90°, 95°, or 100°. In this embodiment, the angle is 90°. By setting the extension direction of the air knife body 131 and the conveying direction to an angle of 80-100° (preferably 90°), this embodiment enables the airflow generated by the air knife body 131 to cover the width direction of the entire conveying mechanism 110 more evenly. After the target object is cleaned by the upstream brush assembly 120, the airflow of the air knife body 131 directly blows away the particulate matter on the surface of the target object. At the same time, it avoids the air knife body 131 occupying too much space due to an excessively large tilt angle between it and the width direction of the target object. The overall structure of this cleaning device 100 is more compact and the production cost is lower.

[0054] As a specific embodiment of this application, the cleaning device 100 described above includes multiple evenly arranged air outlets (not shown in the figure) in each air knife body 131, with the air outlets pointing towards the conveying mechanism 110. Each air knife body 131 includes an internally hollow strip cavity, and multiple evenly arranged air outlets are formed on the cavity wall of the strip cavity. This embodiment achieves multi-point air delivery by evenly arranging multiple air outlets on the air knife body 131, ensuring uniform airflow from the air duct body 131 and avoiding the problem of uneven cleaning intensity at different parts of the target object surface due to uneven airflow, which could result in particulate matter residue at the target object.

[0055] In this embodiment, the air knife assembly 130 and the brush assembly 120 are arranged parallel to each other and spaced apart, and the brush assembly 120 and the air knife assembly 130 are respectively perpendicular to a first preset direction. In some embodiments, the device for providing an air source for the air knife assembly 130 is a high-pressure blower or a centrifugal blower. The high-pressure blower or centrifugal blower is connected to one end of the air knife body 131.

[0056] As a specific embodiment of this application, the cleaning device 100 described above further includes a lifting assembly 140, which includes a mounting base 141 and a first driving member (not shown in the figure) connected to each other. The mounting base 141 is used to mount the air knife body 131 and the brush body 121. The first driving member is used to drive the lifting and lowering of the mounting base 141, the air knife body 131, and the brush body 121, thereby adjusting the distance between the air knife body 131, the brush body 121, and the conveying mechanism 110. Optionally, the first driving member can be a cylinder, an electric cylinder, a hydraulic cylinder, etc.

[0057] This application, by setting up a lifting component 140, makes the distance between the air knife body 131, the brush body 121 and the conveying mechanism 110 adjustable. This allows users to adjust the distance between the air knife body 131, the brush body 121 and the surface of the target object placed on the conveying mechanism 110 according to the product thickness of the target object and the specific situation of particulate contaminants, thereby achieving optimal cleaning of the target object surface.

[0058] As a specific embodiment of this application, the cleaning device 100 described above includes a conveying mechanism 110 comprising a single conveying track, or the conveying mechanism 110 comprising multiple conveying tracks arranged side by side along a first preset direction. When multiple tracks are provided, the brush assembly 120 and the air knife assembly 130 span both sides of the multiple tracks, ensuring that the brush assembly 120 and the air knife assembly 130 can clean and cover the target object on each conveying track.

[0059] The cleaning device 100 proposed in this application allows for flexible configuration of the number of conveyor tracks, enabling it to efficiently clean and process target objects of different sizes and types. For example... Figure 3As shown, in this embodiment, two conveyor tracks are provided, which allows the cleaning device 100 to clean multiple target objects in parallel, thereby improving the overall cleaning efficiency.

[0060] As a specific embodiment of this application, such as Figure 3 As shown, each conveying track of the cleaning device 100 is a vacuum conveying track, which may include: a second drive unit 111, a pulley, a conveyor belt 114, and a vacuum support unit 115.

[0061] Specifically, this embodiment includes two pulleys (a first pulley 112 and a second pulley 113). The first pulley 112 is connected to the output end of a second drive unit 111 (such as a geared motor), and the second pulley 113 is connected to the first pulley 112 via a belt 116. When the second drive unit 111 drives the first pulley 112 to rotate, the second pulley 113 rotates under the drive of the belt 116. Since the second pulley 113 is connected to the conveyor belt 114, when the second pulley 113 rotates, the conveyor belt 114 moves along a first preset direction to transport the target object. The vacuum conveyor track is mounted on the factory ground or a fixed base via a mounting bracket 117. In other embodiments, the number of pulleys can be multiple, and the second drive unit 111 can also be a servo motor, a stepper motor, etc.

[0062] In this embodiment, multiple rows of vacuum holes 118 are arranged in parallel on the conveyor belt 114. For example... Figure 3 As shown, each conveyor track is provided with three rows of vacuum holes 118. Vacuum supports 115 are positioned below the conveyor belt 114. When the conveyor belt 114 conveys the target object, the vacuum supports 115 continuously provide a vacuum so that the conveyor belt 114 can absorb the target object placed above it through the vacuum holes 118. Furthermore, the conveyor track of this application can remove particles swept from the target object surface by the brush assembly 120 and the air knife assembly 130 through the vacuum holes 118, preventing the swept particles from falling back onto the target object surface.

[0063] This embodiment employs a vacuum conveyor track, utilizing vacuum adsorption to keep the target object relatively stable as it is conveyed along the conveyor belt 114. This effectively prevents the target object from shifting during the cleaning processes of the brush assembly 120 and the air knife assembly 130, ensuring a stable and reliable cleaning process. The vacuum conveyor track provided in this embodiment is used to convey various target objects and adsorbs them during transport, preventing displacement on the conveyor track. Furthermore, the vacuum conveyor track of this application can suck away particles swept from the target object surface by the brush assembly 120 and the air knife assembly 130 through the vacuum holes 118, preventing the swept particles from falling back onto the target object surface and causing secondary pollution.

[0064] As a specific embodiment of this application, such as Figure 4-5 As shown, the cleaning device 100 also includes a blower 150, which is connected to the vacuum conveying track via a pipe to provide a vacuum for the vacuum conveying track. Specifically, the vacuum support 115 has multiple airflow ports 119 on both sides. The air inlet 151 of the blower 150 is connected to the airflow port 119 on one side of the vacuum support 115 via a pipe conversion device 160, and the airflow port on the other side of the vacuum support 115 is connected to the air outlet 152 of the blower 150. The blower 150 of this application provides negative pressure to the vacuum conveying track of the conveying mechanism 110, stably adsorbing target objects such as battery cells onto the surface of the conveying track and preventing them from shifting during cleaning and conveying. In addition, the negative pressure can suck away the particles swept from the surface of the target object by the brush assembly 120 and the air knife assembly 130 through the vacuum hole 118, so as to prevent the swept particles from falling back onto the surface of the target object.

[0065] In this application, the terms "center," "longitudinal," "lateral," "length," "width," "thickness," "height," "upper," "lower," "front," "rear," "left," "right," "vertical," "horizontal," "top," "bottom," "inner," "outer," "clockwise," and "counterclockwise" indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings. They are used only for the purpose of simplifying the description of this application and do not indicate that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. In other words, they should not be construed as limitations on this application.

[0066] In this application, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be construed as indicating the relative importance of the indicated features or the number of indicated technical features. Therefore, a feature specified as "first" or "second" may explicitly include at least one of those features. In this application, "multiple" means at least two, such as two, three, etc.; "several" means at least one, such as one, two, three, etc., unless otherwise explicitly specified.

[0067] In this application, unless otherwise expressly defined, the terms "installation," "connection," "linking," "fixing," "setting," etc., should be interpreted broadly. For example, "connection" can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral part; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium; it can also refer to the internal communication of two components or the interaction between two components. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in this application according to the specific circumstances.

[0068] In this application, unless otherwise expressly defined, the terms "above," "on top of," "over," "above," "below," "below," "below," or "below" for "first feature over second feature" can refer to the first and second features being in direct contact, or to the first and second features being in indirect contact through an intermediate medium. Furthermore, "above," "over," and "below" for "first feature over second feature" can mean the first feature is directly above or diagonally above the second feature, or simply indicates that the horizontal height of the first feature is higher than the horizontal height of the second feature. Similarly, "below," "below," and "below" for "first feature over second feature" can mean the first feature is directly below or diagonally below the second feature, or simply indicates that the horizontal height of the first feature is lower than the horizontal height of the second feature.

[0069] It should be understood that the above embodiments are exemplary and are not intended to encompass all possible implementations included in the claims. Various modifications and changes can be made to the above embodiments without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Similarly, the various technical features of the above embodiments can be arbitrarily combined to form other embodiments of this application that may not be explicitly described. Therefore, the above embodiments only illustrate several implementations of this application and do not limit the scope of protection of this patent application.

Claims

1. A cleaning device, characterized in that, include: A conveying mechanism for conveying a target object along a first preset direction; A brush assembly comprising at least one brush body, each of the brush bodies extending from one side of the conveying mechanism perpendicular to the first preset direction to the other side. An air knife assembly is disposed downstream of the brush assembly, such that the target object is first swept by the brush assembly and then blown by the air knife assembly; the air knife assembly includes at least one air knife body, each of the air knife bodies extending from one side of the conveying mechanism perpendicular to the first preset direction to the other side.

2. The cleaning device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The angle between the direction in which each brush body extends and the first preset direction is 80°-100°.

3. The cleaning device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, The number of brush bodies is multiple, and the multiple brush bodies are parallel to each other.

4. The cleaning device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, Each of the brush bodies includes a support and a brush head, the brush head being connected to the side of the support near the conveying mechanism.

5. The cleaning device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The angle between the direction in which each of the air blade bodies extends and the first preset direction is 80°-100°.

6. The cleaning device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The number of air knife bodies is multiple, and the multiple air knife bodies are parallel to each other.

7. The cleaning device according to claim 1, characterized in that, Each of the air knife bodies includes multiple evenly arranged air outlets, and the air outlets are directed toward the conveying mechanism.

8. The cleaning device according to claim 1, characterized in that, It also includes a lifting assembly, which comprises interconnected components: Mounting base, the mounting base being used to mount the air knife body and the brush body; The first driving component is used to drive the mounting base, the air knife body and the brush body to rise and fall, thereby adjusting the distance between the air knife body and the brush body and the conveying mechanism.

9. The cleaning device according to claim 1, characterized in that, The conveying mechanism also includes a conveying track, or, The conveying mechanism also includes multiple conveying tracks arranged side by side along a direction perpendicular to the first preset direction.

10. The cleaning device according to claim 9, characterized in that, Each of the aforementioned conveying runways is a vacuum conveying runway, and the vacuum conveying runway includes: Second drive unit; A pulley, which is connected to the second drive member via a belt, rotates under the drive of the second drive member; A conveyor belt is fitted between at least two pulleys to move as the pulleys rotate; the conveyor belt is provided with a plurality of vacuum holes; A vacuum support is provided below the conveyor belt; the vacuum support continuously provides a vacuum so that the conveyor belt can adsorb the target object placed above the conveyor belt through the vacuum holes.

11. The cleaning apparatus according to claim 10, characterized in that, It also includes a blower, which is connected to the vacuum conveying track via a pipe to provide airflow to the vacuum conveying track.

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