Cleanroom parameter monitoring device

Abstract

Cleanroom parameter monitoring device for recording and transmitting physical parameters of the atmosphere prevailing in a cleanroom, comprising a sensor system and at least one bus interface, as well as an acoustic and / or optical fault status or alarm display device, characterized in that an air interface is provided for transmitting and monitoring data from the sensor system via a cloud gateway, wherein sensor data is recorded and stored internally, even in idle or offline mode, and fault and / or operating messages or related data from components or systems located within the cleanroom or capable of influencing its operation are connected via the bus interface or potential-free contacts and transmitted to a secure internet portal.so that operators or users can also access a digital twin with all current states or parameters of the respective cleanroom.

Description

The invention relates to a clean room parameter monitoring device for detecting and transmitting physical quantities of the atmosphere prevailing in a room, comprising a sensor system and at least one bus interface as well as an acoustic and / or optical fault state or alarm display device according to claim 1.A clean room has a controlled concentration of air borne particles and is constructed and operated accordingly to minimize the introduction, generation and retention of particles within the room. Moreover, other relevant parameters such as temperature, humidity and pressure are appropriately controlled.In other words, a clean room is one in which air contamination by suspended particles is limited in particle sizes and number per cubic meter of air. ISO standard 14644 defines clean room classes based on the number of particles at a particular particle size.Clean rooms are used, among other things, for carrying out certain technological processes. Clean rooms are known in the semiconductor industry, but also in the pharmaceutical or in the field of the production of medical products.DE 20 2021 101 608 U1 discloses a clean room with a mobile filter unit. The clean room is designed here as a volume which is defined by partition walls which are assigned to one another and fastened to the floor and, if appropriate, to at least one building wall. In addition, the clean room has at least one blower filter unit, i.e. a so-called FFU (Filter Fan Unit). Furthermore, at least one pressure sensor is present within the volume of the clean room and at least one microcontroller is present, which makes it possible to regulate the at least one blower filter unit as a function of the pressure measured by the at least one pressure sensor in order to obtain the desired pressure within the volume of the clean room. The microcontroller is responsible for regulating the FFU.The clean room may further include at least one sensor that measures the quality or other characteristics of the air in the clean room. The sensor may be at least one of a volatile organic compound sensor, a fine particle sensor, a carbon dioxide sensor, an oxygen sensor, and a temperature or humidity sensor.These sensors transmit their measured values to the microcontroller, which is then capable of appropriately controlling the operation of the FFU or of supporting monitoring of the clean room conditions.Furthermore, DE 20 2007 003 977 U1 discloses a clean room condition parameter display device for displaying at least one parameter of an atmosphere prevailing in a room of a building to be monitored. The display device is intended to serve in particular for displaying the environmental conditions in clean rooms.Flexible adaptation of the display values during operation is intended to take place via a bus system. In addition, a message of area violations by flashing, color change and / or acoustic signal is possible. The present bus interface forms a data bus, for example an MOD bus.The previously known room monitoring device is thus used to determine the clean room conditions on the basis of a measurement system for ascertaining at least one parameter of the room conditions or of the room atmosphere. Furthermore, the device serves for the direct display of the at least one parameter in the clean room itself, for which a display is present.It has been found from many years of user experience by the applicant that considerable effects and feedback are present on the devices which are required for setting the desired clean room atmosphere, especially due to the installations or components located in the clean room or the processes which are carried out or are to be carried out in the clean room; feedback is also to be understood here as meaning the filter-fan units used.If these feedbacks are not observed or are observed only insufficiently, operating problems can occur as a result of deteriorated conditions in the clean room. In order to prevent this, in many cases an often unnecessary parameter change for the operation of the fans or an excessively early replacement of the filter in question is conducted into the paths.In addition, the data recorded by known measurement or sensor systems in the clean room is not available, or is available only to a very limited extent, to the operator of the components or systems located in the clean room. Therefore, energy-efficient operation of the filter-fan units is in many cases possible only empirically or based on empirical values.From the foregoing, it is therefore an object of the invention to provide an improved clean room parameter monitoring device for detecting and transmitting physical quantities of the atmosphere prevailing in a room, which device enables a provision of detected data on a protected portal not only for the operation of the clean room, but also for the operator or user of the components or installations which are located in the clean room itself.The object of the invention is achieved by a clean room parameter monitoring device according to the combination of features according to claim 1, wherein the dependent claims comprise at least practical embodiments and developments.Accordingly, a clean room parameter monitoring device for detecting and transmitting physical quantities of the atmosphere prevailing in a room, in particular a clean room, is assumed, which has a sensor system and which has at least one bus interface and an acoustic and / or optical fault state or alarm display device.According to the invention, it is possible to implement a transmission and monitoring of data of the sensor system via an air interface via a cloud gateway, wherein sensor data are acquired internally and stored even in the idle or offline mode. In this respect, corresponding non-volatile memory units are provided.Via the bus interface or further potential-free contacts, fault and / or operating reports or related data of components or installations which are located within the clean room or influence the operation thereof can be switched on. This data, like the further data of the sensor system, is then transmitted to a protected Internet portal.This protected Internet portal is also provided for the operator or user to gain access to the created digital twin of the respective clean room with current states or parameters.The digital twin of the clean room thus contains all parameters which are required for comprehensive assessment of the state within the clean room, and specifically also taking into account the influences of persons within the clean room, for example, installations or components which are operated in the clean room and which possibly cause faults or themselves have faults, such as air conditioners, refrigerators, conveyor belts, sorting devices or the like.The representation of the digital twin of the clean room on the protected portal also comprises a virtual image of all relevant filter-fan units of or for the respective clean room.The sensor system mentioned comprises the temperature in and outside the clean room, the air quality, pressure ratio, such as air humidity and / or the number of particles in the respective clean room.On the basis of data of the components and installations and the respective technological process running in the clean room, energy monitoring is carried out and a prediction with respect to the transmission of the filter-fan units of the clean room is ensured by a controllable learning process. As a result, the operation of the filter-fan units can be carried out in a manner adapted to the atmosphere situation in the clean room.The air interface can be designed as a WLAN access or as a telecommunication interface or the like.The state display mentioned at the beginning is preferably designed as a traffic light with color signaling.The bus interface of the clean room parameter monitoring device can be used to connect filter fan modules to programmable or parameterizable onboard controllers.The invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to an exemplary embodiment.A clean room parameter monitoring device of the type according to the invention comprises a room box with a telecommunication device for connecting and transmitting data via a public telecommunication network. Furthermore, there are several remote sensor assemblies. An exemplary sensor assembly includes sensors for sensing temperature and relative humidity. A further sensor assembly serves for detecting the differential pressure for assessing the condition within the clean room. A further component is a visual display in the form of a traffic light. The traffic lights here signal normal, attention or fault states. In addition, a further component comprises a cloud gateway.The room box has the necessary connections for the sensors, the sensors serving directly to detect the atmospheric conditions of the clean room. In addition, the room box also has additional connections for external sensors.Data transmitted from the room box reach an access-protected portal on which the data can be called up from each Internet-capable device in a password-protected manner.By means of a digital input module, further components which are provided on the operator side or on the user side can be connected up. This connection is either effected by means of potential-free contacts or by means of MOD bus connection for monitoring these components and displaying them in the common portal.External components or installations are to be understood as being those in the clean room, such as air conditioners, lifting installations, pumps or the like.If a particle counter is used and a connection to the system according to the invention is made, the approach or exceeding of limit values can be established independently of pressure values and energy-optimized operation of the filter-fan units can be carried out.In this respect, the protected portal gives the representation of a digital twin of the fan filter modules and the entire state in the respective clean room, which is subject to constant changes, in particular during operation of the installations or components located there.According to an exemplary embodiment, the data of the monitoring system is thus uploaded to a cloud server via a secure and encrypted path in the cloud concept. The data stored in the cloud server can be called up by each Internet-capable terminal via a secure access.In contrast to the cloud solution, in a further example according to the invention all components of the monitoring system are connected to one another in a closed network. However, the determined and acquired data are also processed on a central server. External access from an off-network side is not provided in this embodiment.References included in the specificationThis list of documents cited by the applicant has been produced in an automated manner and is only included for the better information of the reader. The list is not part of the German patent application or utility model application. The DPMA does not take any adhesion for any faults or omissions.Patent Literature citedDE 20 2021 101 608 U1

[0005] DE 20 2007 003 977 U1

[0008]

Claims

Clean room parameter monitoring device for detecting and transmitting physical quantities of the atmosphere prevailing in a clean room, having a sensor system and at least one bus interface and an acoustic and / or optical fault state or alarm display device, characterized in that an air interface is provided for transmitting and monitoring data of the sensor system via a cloud gateway, wherein sensor data is detected internally and stored, even in the idle or offline mode, and fault and / or operating messages or related data of components or installations which are located within the clean room or can influence the operation thereof are also connected on internally and are transmitted to a protected internet portal via the bus interface or potential-free contacts, so that access to a digital twin can also be effected on the operator side or on the user side with all current states or parameters of the respective clean room.Clean room parameter monitoring device according to claim 1, characterised in that the representation of the digital twin on the protected portal comprises a virtual image of all relevant filter-fan units of the respective clean room.Clean room parameter monitoring device according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the sensor system detects the temperature, the air quality, pressure conditions, the air humidity and / or the number of particles in the respective clean room.Clean room parameter monitoring device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that energy monitoring is carried out on the basis of data of the components or installations and the respective technological process running in the clean room, and prediction is carried out with respect to the operation of the filter-fan units of the clean room via a controllable learning process.Clean room parameter monitoring device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the air interface is designed as a WLAN access or as a telecommunication interface.Clean room parameter monitoring device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the status display is designed as a multi-coloured traffic light.Clean room parameter monitoring device according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a connection of filter fan modules to programmable or parameterizable onboard controllers can be realized via the bus interface.