Air shower device and method for controlling air shower device

Abstract

To provide an air shower device which can prevent entrainment of dust or the like into a clean room.SOLUTION: An air shower device comprises: an air shower room having a front room side door and a clean room side door, and having a function of injecting an air jet; a sensor for detecting an entrance of a person into the air shower room; a front room side door switch for detecting an open / closed state of the front room side door; a clean room side door switch for detecting an open / closed state of the clean room side door; and a control unit for actuating an air jet when a person who enters the air shower room is a person who has entered the clean room by using detection signals of the sensor, the front room side door switch and the clean room side door switch. The control unit determines that an entering person is a person who entered the clean room and performs control for actuating an air jet in a case where the sensor detects an entering person within a half time after an opening / closing time detected by the front room side door switch is divided into a first half and a second half, and in a case where the sensor detects an entering person within a prescribed time after the lapse of the opening / closing time.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an air shower apparatus and a method for controlling an air shower apparatus. [Background technology]

[0002] Air shower devices are installed at the entrances of clean rooms used for manufacturing semiconductors and precision machinery, and for processing food, etc., and use an air jet to remove dust, pollen, etc. that has adhered to people (users, etc.) entering and leaving the clean room, preventing them from bringing dust, etc. into the clean room.

[0003] A typical air shower device is equipped with an air shower room having an air jet mechanism for spraying air jets, a front room door provided on the entrance side of the air shower room (opposite the clean room), and a clean room door for entering and leaving the clean room. The air shower device is also equipped with a human detection sensor for detecting the presence of a person in the air shower room (entrant), a front room door switch for detecting the open / closed state of the front room door, and a clean room door switch for detecting the open / closed state of the clean room door. The device is also equipped with a control unit that uses detection signals from the front room door switch, the clean room door switch, and the sensor to determine whether a person in the air shower room is an "enterer" (a person entering the clean room) or, conversely, a "leaver" (a person leaving the clean room to leave the air shower room), and controls the operation of the air jet and the opening / closing of the door.

[0004] Since the air shower device is a device for preventing dust and pollen adhering to people from being brought into the clean room, it is necessary to control the device so that the air jet is always operated (air is sprayed) to remove dust and other particles before allowing people to enter the clean room. On the other hand, since there is no need to remove dust and other particles in principle when someone is leaving the clean room, it is possible to allow the person to leave without operating the air jet. For this reason, air shower devices are usually controlled so that the air jet is operated for people entering the room and not operated for people leaving the room.

[0005] An air shower device that performs such control is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 6-101882 (Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 6-101882 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] In general air shower devices, the control of a person entering the room is performed when the sensor detects a person immediately after the front room door switch has been opened and closed (the time from when the door begins to open to when it is completely closed), and the air jet is activated (the control unit drives the air jet mechanism to spray air).

[0008] However, with this control method, if a person (user, etc.) enters the air shower room through the anteroom door and passes through the sensor's detection range and moves in front of the clean room door before the anteroom door is completely closed, the control unit cannot correctly determine that the person is an "enter" and cannot activate the air jet. In other words, even if the sensor detects an entrant (person) while the anteroom door is opening or closing, the person in the air shower room is not determined to be an entrant, and the air jet cannot be activated. In such a case, a so-called "slip-through" occurs, bringing dust and other particles into the clean room.

[0009] It is therefore an object of the present invention to solve these problems, by providing an air shower apparatus and a control method for an air shower apparatus which can recognize a person as an entrant and reliably operate the air jet even if the person enters the air shower room before the anteroom door has finished opening and closing. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, one example of the present invention is an air shower device comprising: an air shower room equipped with an antechamber door and a clean room door and equipped with the function of spraying an air jet at entrants; a sensor for detecting that a person has entered the air shower room; an antechamber door switch for detecting whether the antechamber door is opened or closed; a clean room door switch for detecting whether the clean room door is opened or closed; and a control unit for controlling operation of the air jet when a person in the air shower room is entering the clean room using detection signals from the sensor, the antechamber door switch, and the clean room door switch, wherein the control unit determines that a person has entered the clean room when the sensor detects a person within the second half of the opening and closing time detected by the antechamber door switch, which is divided into a first half and a second half, and when the sensor detects a person within a predetermined time after the opening and closing time has elapsed, and activates the air jet.

[0011] Another example of the present invention is a control method for an air shower apparatus comprising an air shower room having an antechamber door and a clean room door and having the function of spraying an air jet at a person entering the air shower room, a sensor for detecting when a person has entered the air shower room, an antechamber door switch for detecting whether the antechamber door is opened or closed, and a clean room door switch for detecting whether the clean room door is opened or closed, and which controls to operate the air jet when a person in the air shower room is entering the clean room based on detection signals from the sensor, the antechamber door switch, and the clean room door switch, wherein the opening and closing time detected by the antechamber door switch is divided into a first half and a second half, and when the sensor detects the person within the second half of the time, or when the sensor detects the person within a predetermined time after the opening and closing time has elapsed, it is determined that the person has entered the room and the air jet is activated. Effect of the Invention

[0012] Effects of the Invention The present invention provides an air shower apparatus and a method for controlling an air shower apparatus that can reliably operate the air jet even if a person enters the air shower room while the antechamber door is opening or closing. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional plan view showing an air shower apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] 4 is a time chart for explaining the entry / exit determination operation in the first embodiment. [Diagram 3] 4 is a control flowchart of the air shower device in the first embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to specific examples. Note that the present invention is not limited to the examples described below. In addition, in the drawings used in the following description, the same symbols (numbers) are used for the same devices, and duplicated descriptions of devices and operations that have already been described may be omitted. In the following description, a person entering the clean room from the air shower room is referred to as an "enterer," and a person moving from the clean room through the air shower room to the outside is referred to as an "exiter." Furthermore, a person entering the air shower room is referred to as an "enterer."

[0015] Example Fig. 1 is a sectional plan view of an air shower apparatus in an embodiment of the invention. Fig. 2 is a time chart for explaining an entry / exit determination operation in embodiment 1. Fig. 3 is a control flow chart of the air shower apparatus in embodiment 1.

[0016] First, the overall configuration of the air shower device will be described with reference to FIG. 1. In FIG. 1, the air shower room 1 is composed of an antechamber door 3, a clean room door 4, side walls 21 and 22 on both sides, and a ceiling (not shown). Air jet mechanisms 21a and 22a are installed on the side walls 21 and 22 of the air shower room 1, respectively, and the air jet mechanisms are driven and controlled by a control unit 8 to spray air jets. The antechamber door switch 5 is installed to detect the open / closed state (open / close time) of the antechamber door 3, and maintains an ON state during the open / close time from when the antechamber door 3 starts to open until when it closes. Similarly, the clean room door switch 6 is also installed to detect the open / close time of the clean room door 4, and maintains an ON state during the open / close time from when the clean room door 4 starts to open until when it closes. The antechamber door 3 is also equipped with a door knob 30. A person 100 can operate the door knob 30 to open the antechamber door 3 and enter the air shower room 1, and conversely, can exit the air shower room 1. Similarly, the clean room side door 4 is also provided with a doorknob 40. Person 100 can use this doorknob 40 to open the clean room side door 4 and enter the clean room from the air shower room 1, and conversely, can enter the air shower room 1 to leave the clean room.

[0017] The sensor 7 is provided to detect a person 100 (entrant) who has entered the air shower room 1. The control unit 8 can determine whether or not the person 100 is in the air shower room 1 (the presence or absence of an entrant) by receiving a detection signal from the sensor 7. The sensor 7 in this embodiment is, for example, composed of a light projector and a light receiver, and when the person 100 is not in the air shower room, the light projected from the side wall 21 side is received by the light receiver provided on the side wall 22 side, and when the person blocks the light, it detects that the person 100 has entered the air shower room 1. The sensor 7 is not limited to one that uses light, and may be one that detects infrared rays, etc. In other words, the sensor 7 may be any type that can detect the entry (presence) of a person in the air shower room 1.

[0018] The control unit 8 is provided to control the entire air shower apparatus, and receives detection signals from the front room door switch 5, the clean room door switch 6, and the sensor 7 to determine whether a person has entered or left the room, and controls the operation of the air jet mechanism to operate the air jets. In this embodiment, the control unit 8 is provided inside the side wall 21 to make the entire apparatus compact, but it may be provided on the other side wall 22 or externally. This control unit 8 can be realized by a device having the functions of a normal computer, such as a PLC or a microprocessor.

[0019] In this embodiment, the control unit 8 includes a door timer 10 that uses the detection signal of the front room door switch 5 to count the opening and closing time (open time) from opening to closing of the front room door 3, and a sensor timer 11 that counts the time during which the sensor 7 does not detect an occupant while the front room door 3 is open. For this reason, "(10, 11)" is written next to the reference symbol indicating the control unit 8 in FIG. 1. The control unit 8 uses the count value of the door timer 10 and the count value of the sensor timer 11 to determine whether or not a person entering the air shower room 1 is a "room entrant," and activates the air jet if it is determined to be a room entrant. The specific method of this determination (determination processing operation) will be described later.

[0020] In addition, the display setting unit 9 is installed on the side wall 21 of the air shower room 1 and is provided for making settings related to the operation of the air shower device and for displaying precautions (guidance) for the user, etc.

[0021] In this embodiment, the front room side door 3 and the clean room side door 4 are manual doors, but they may be automatic doors that are opened and closed automatically by a motor, or sheet shutter type doors. Also, in this embodiment, one door is installed on the front room side and one on the clean room side, but the present invention can also be implemented in an air shower room with two or more front room side doors or two or more clean room side doors.

[0022] Next, the operation of the air shower device will be described with reference to Figures 1 and 2. First, the operation will be described when a person 100 (user, etc.) enters the air shower room 1 through the antechamber door 3. When the person 100 places his or her hand on the doorknob 30 of the antechamber door 3 and begins to open the door, the antechamber door switch 5 changes from OFF to ON. The person 100 can enter the air shower room 1 when the antechamber door 3 opens to a certain degree or more, making entry possible. Here, the antechamber door switch 5 is designed to maintain the ON state while the antechamber door 3 is open even slightly (opening / closing time T). This state is shown in Figure 2 (1).

[0023] Now, in the case of normal entry, person 100 passes through the detection range of sensor 7 after the anteroom door 3 is closed (after the opening and closing time has elapsed) and moves towards the clean room door 4. During this movement, sensor 7 turns ON and detects the person (enter). This state is shown in FIG. 2 (2). In this case, the control unit 8 determines that person 100 is a person entering the clean room, that is, a "room entrant", and activates the air jet.

[0024] However, when person 100 enters the air shower room 1, if they quickly move in front of the clean room side door 4 before the anteroom side door 3 closes, they will pass through the detection range of the sensor 7 before the anteroom side door 3 is fully closed (before the opening / closing time has elapsed), and the control unit 8 will not be able to determine that the occupant is a "person entering the room" and will not be able to activate the air jet, which has been a problem for some time. Therefore, in this embodiment of the invention, even if the sensor 7 detects a person (ON operation) within the time from when the anteroom side door 3 begins to open until it is fully closed (opening / closing time), if certain conditions are met, the person is determined to be a "person entering the clean room" and the air jet is controlled to be activated.

[0025] Here, consider the situation when person 100 opens the antechamber door 3, enters the air shower room 1, and then enters the clean room. Person 100 who wishes to enter the clean room opens the antechamber door 3 and enters the air shower room 1, but cannot enter until the antechamber door 3 is opened to a certain degree or more (usually fully open or close to it). In other words, as shown in FIG. 2 (1), no matter how quickly one tries to enter, it is practically impossible to enter during the first half of the opening and closing time T of the antechamber door 3 because the door is not open enough, and it is only possible to enter during the second half of the opening and closing time T2.

[0026] Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in Fig. 2 (3), if the sensor 7 detects a person 100 and turns ON during the latter half time T2 of the opening / closing time T, it is controlled to determine that the person is an entrant. In other words, even in a case like Fig. 2 (3), the control unit 8 controls to determine that a person has entered the room and activate the air jet. As a result, even if the person 100 enters during the opening / closing time T of the front room side door 3 and the sensor 7 turns ON, it is possible to determine that the person has entered the room, and the air jet can be reliably activated for the entrant. This makes it possible to prevent the introduction of dust and other particles into the clean room due to a slip-through motion, which was a conventional problem.

[0027] In this way, a person in the air shower room 1 is not only determined to be an “entrant” and the air jet is activated when the sensor 7 turns ON within a predetermined time after the opening and closing time T of the antechamber door 3 has elapsed (as in the case shown in (2) of Figure 2), as has been done in the past, but is also determined to be an “entrant” and the air jet is activated when the sensor 7 turns ON during the time period T2 in the latter half of the opening and closing time of the antechamber door 3 (as in (3) of Figure 2).

[0028] In this embodiment, in other cases, the system basically does not determine that a person has entered the room, and controls the air jet not to operate. There are several cases when the system does not determine that a person has entered the room. Specific examples of cases when the system does not determine that a person has entered the room are shown in (4) and (5) in Figure 2.

[0029] First, the case of (4) in FIG. 2 will be described. In the case of (4) in FIG. 2, the sensor 7 does not turn ON even after a predetermined time has elapsed after the time during which the antechamber door switch 5 is ON (opening / closing time T) has passed. In other words, it is possible that the person 100 puts his / her hand on the doorknob 30 to open the antechamber door 3, turning the antechamber door switch 5 ON, but for some reason the person 100 does not enter the air shower room 1, and the sensor 7 does not turn ON even after a predetermined time has elapsed after the opening / closing time has elapsed. In other words, the case of (4) in FIG. 2 is an operation in which the antechamber door 3 is merely opened and closed during the act of entering the air shower room 1, or the sensor 7 is not turned ON between entering and closing the antechamber door 3 and leaving the room to the antechamber side. In this case, the control unit 8 does not determine that the person is an entrant and does not operate the air jet.

[0030] Next, the case of (5) in FIG. 2 will be described. In the case of (5) in FIG. 2, the sensor 7 turns ON immediately after the antechamber door switch 5 turns ON. As already explained, when a person 100 enters the air shower room 1 from the antechamber door 3, the antechamber door 3 is not open enough (not open enough for a person to pass through) immediately after the antechamber door switch 5 turns ON, so even if the sensor 7 turns ON, it is clear that the person is not entering through the antechamber door 3, and is not determined to be an entering person. In the case of (5) in FIG. 2, it is considered that a person leaving the room from the clean room door 4 side moves quickly through the air shower room 1 and tries to open the antechamber door 3 at almost the same time as passing the installation position of the sensor 7. In other words, since it is difficult for a person in front of the antechamber door 3 to enter, the only possible cases are that the person leaving the room tries to open the antechamber door 3 at almost the same time as the sensor 7 turns ON or slightly later. In addition, whether or not a person is leaving the room can be determined more reliably by turning on the sensor 7 after the clean room side door switch 6 is actuated (ON). In any case, in this embodiment, the control unit 8 does not judge (judge) a case such as that of (5) in Fig. 2 as a "person entering the room" and does not operate the air jet.

[0031] 2(5) is not determined to be an entry person for the reasons described above, the air jet is not activated, but it is also possible to control the air jet to be activated even if the sensor 7 is turned on in the first half of the time T1 within the opening and closing time T of the front room side door 3. Such control includes cases where the air jet is activated even when the person is not the intended entry person, which may result in unnecessary operation of the air jet, but it is expected to have the effect of more reliably preventing slipping through, and more reliably preventing the introduction of dust and the like into the clean room.

[0032] Next, the case of (6) in FIG. 2 will be described. (6) in FIG. 2 shows an example in which the sensor 7 operates multiple times. This occurs when a person entering and a person leaving the room enter the air shower room 1 at almost the same time and pass each other. As with (5) in FIG. 2, the person leaving the room enters the air shower room 1 and moves outside while pushing the antechamber door 3, so the sensor 7 turns ON when the person leaving moves while opening the antechamber door 3, and turns OFF when the antechamber door is fully open. A person attempting to enter the air shower room 1 through the antechamber door 3 may enter while keeping the antechamber door 3 open after the person leaving has gone outside. In that case, the person 100 attempting to enter moves inside the air shower room 1 in the direction of the clean room door 4. At that time, the sensor 7 turns ON and detects the person entering. As described above, the timing at which sensor 7 turns ON is within the latter half of time T2 of the opening and closing time T of the antechamber door 3, so in such a case control unit 8 determines that a person has entered the room and activates the air jet. In this way, even if sensor 7 turns ON multiple times, such as when multiple people enter or leave the room, or when a person moves within the air shower room 1, if sensor 7 turns ON in the latter half of the opening and closing time of the antechamber door (later half time T2), person 100 in the air shower room 1 is determined to be a "person entering the room" and the air jet can be activated.

[0033] Next, a method for using a timer to determine whether to operate the air jet, that is, the operation of (3) in Fig. 2, even if a person 100 passes through the detection range of the sensor 7 and moves immediately in front of the clean room side door 4 while the anterior room side door 3 is open and then the anterior room side door 3 is closed, will be described. First, when the anterior room side door 3 is opened, the anterior room side door switch 5 turns ON, and the door timer 10 and the sensor timer 11 start counting. The door timer 10 is a timer that counts the open time of the anterior room side door 3, and the sensor timer 11 is a timer that counts the time while the sensor 7 is OFF while the anterior room side door 3 is open.

[0034] As shown in FIG. 1, a person 100 enters the air shower room 1, passes through the detection range of the sensor 7, and stands in front of the clean room door 4. At this time, the sensor timer 11 stops counting and is initialized when the sensor 7 turns ON, i.e., when the person 100 is detected. Then, as the person 100 passes through the detection range of the sensor 7, the counting starts again. Almost simultaneously with this, or shortly thereafter, the antechamber door 3 closes. When the antechamber door 3 closes, the count value of the door timer 10 is divided by the set value 12 to obtain a judgment value 13. Then, the judgment value 13 is compared with the count value of the sensor timer 11, and if the count value of the sensor timer 11 is smaller than the judgment value 13, the person 100 who turned ON the sensor 7 is judged to be an "enterer" and the air jet is activated. At this time, the door timer 10 and the sensor timer 11 are initialized.

[0035] If the count value of the sensor timer 11 is equal to or greater than the judgment value 13, it is not determined that a person has entered the room, and the air jet is not activated. At this time, the door timer 10 and the sensor timer 11 are initialized. If the count value of the sensor timer 11 is smaller than the judgment value 13, it is determined that a person has entered the room, and the air jet is activated. This corresponds to the case of (3) in Figure 2. In other words, during the opening and closing time T of the front room door 3, the sensor 7 is ON during the latter half of the time T2.

[0036] The reason for providing the set value 12 here is to change the time ratio of the division when the opening / closing time T of the front room side door 3 is divided into a first half time T1 and a second half time T2. Therefore, it is also possible to simply divide the opening / closing time T by two and make T1=T2 without providing the set value 12. The set value 12 is a value for roughly dividing the open time of the front room side door 3 into a first half time T1 and a second half time T2, and may be determined in advance and stored in the control unit 8, or may be stored and set in the control unit 8 using the display setting unit 9.

[0037] Next, the action of the person 100 when opening the door to enter or leave the room will be described. The action of the person 100 entering or leaving the room can be roughly divided into three elements: the action of opening the door, the action of the person moving, and the action of closing the door. Here, in the case of a manual door, for example, the door is automatically closed by the door closer mechanism attached to the door, and the time to open and close the door by hydraulic pressure is almost equal. As shown in FIG. 2 (1), if the action of manually holding and fixing the door when opening it is ignored and the time to enter or leave the room is only the time to open and close the door (opening and closing time T), the time can be divided into the first half time T1 from opening to fully opening, the middle time at the time of fully opening, and the second half time T2 from fully opening to fully closing. The manual door of the air shower room 1 is generally opened and closed by opening the door toward the outside of the air shower room 1, so in both cases of entering and leaving the room, the person 100 is outside the air shower room 1 when it is fully opened. Usually, after the anteroom door 3 is fully or almost fully open, person 100 enters the air shower room 1 and is detected by sensor 7. Also, when person 100 wants to leave the room, he or she opens the clean room door 4, turns on the clean room door switch 6, turns on sensor 7, and then opens the anteroom door 3 before leaving the air shower room 1.

[0038] Here, in the case of automatic doors or sheet shutter doors, the door is kept open for a certain period of time to allow people to pass through, so if the door open time is divided into two parts, the first and second halves, the sensor 7 may not turn ON during the second half of the time T2 even during entry. In this case, the above-mentioned set value 12 can be set small in the display setting unit 9 to shorten the first half of the time T1, allowing for an accurate determination of who is entering the room. Even in the case of manual doors, the strictness of the entry / exit determination can be changed by changing the set value 12.

[0039] Incidentally, the air jet is not operated when entering the air shower room 1 after opening and closing the clean room side door 4, in other words, when passing through the air shower room 1 from the clean room to exit the anteroom, but if it is desired to operate the air jet even in the above operation, the air jet may be operated by changing the setting of the control unit 8. This setting may be set in advance or may be changed by the display setting unit 9. In this operation as well, the air jet can be operated using the above judgment process.

[0040] Next, the operation flow of the room entry operation performed by the control unit 8 in the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

[0041] In Fig. 3, first, the air shower device in standby state in step S1 detects the open / close state of the front room door 3 in step S2. If the front room door 3 is not open, step S2 is repeated and the device waits until the front room door 3 is opened. If it is determined in step S2 that the front room door 3 is open, the device proceeds to step S3. In step S3, the door timer 10 and the sensor timer 11 start counting.

[0042] While the front room door 3 is open (within the opening and closing time), a person 100 (user) enters the air shower room 1. In step S4, it is determined whether the front room door 3 is open, i.e., whether the front room door switch 5 is ON or not. During this time, the door timer 10 and sensor timer 11 continue to count.

[0043] In step S5, if the person 100 enters and the sensor 7 turns ON, the process proceeds to step S6, where the count of the sensor timer 11 is stopped and initialized. In step S7, it is determined whether the front room door 3 is open, and in step S8, if the person 100 passes through the detection range of the sensor 7 and the sensor 7 turns OFF, the process proceeds to step S9.

[0044] In step S9, the counting of the sensor timer 11 is restarted. At this time, if the person 100 has not entered the air shower room 1, or if the person has entered but the sensor 7 is not ON, the process waits until the front room door 3 closes in step S10, and if the person has not entered the room, the door timer 10 and the sensor timer 11 are initialized in step S11 and the process returns to step S1.

[0045] When the front room door 3 closes, the door timer 10 and the sensor timer 11 are reset. If the front room door 3 closes while the sensor 7 is ON in step S7, the person 100 who turned on the sensor 7 in step S13 is determined to be an "enterer," and the air jet is activated in step S14. If the front room door 3 is closed but the sensor 7 is not ON, the person is similarly determined to be an entrant when the sensor 7 turns ON in step S12 after the front room door 3 is closed, and the air jet is activated in step S14.

[0046] When the user 2 moves in front of the clean room side door 4 before the anteroom side door 3 is closed and the sensor 7 that was turned ON in step S5 is turned OFF in step S8, the sensor timer 11 that was stopped and initialized in step S6 starts counting again in step S9.

[0047] Thereafter, when the front room door 3 is closed in step S10, the value of the door timer 10 is divided by the set value 12 in step S15 to obtain a judgment value 13. The set value 12 is a value for dividing the value of the door timer 10, that is, the time from when the front room door 3 is opened to when it is closed, into a first half and a second half, and the latter half of that time becomes the judgment value 13.

[0048] In step S16, the judgment value 13 is compared with the value of the sensor timer 11, and if the value of the sensor timer 11 is smaller than the judgment value 13, it is determined that a person has entered the room, the door timer 10 and the sensor timer 11 are initialized, the air jet is activated, and the process returns to step S1 (steps S17, S18).

[0049] If the value of the sensor timer 11 is equal to or greater than the judgment value 13, it is not determined that a person has entered the room, and the door timer 10 and the sensor timer 11 are initialized and the air jet is not activated. After that, the process returns to step S12, but if the sensor 7 turns ON, the air jet is activated (step S14).

[0050] In this way, by determining whether or not a person is entering the room by comparing the opening and closing time of the anterior door 3 from opening to closing with the time during which the sensor 7 does not detect a person entering the room, it is possible to determine whether the person 100 in the air shower room 1 is a "person entering the room" or not, and to operate the air jet appropriately.

[0051] According to the embodiment of the present invention described above, in addition to when the sensor turns ON after the opening and closing time of the front room door has elapsed, the air jet can be activated even if the sensor turns ON during the opening and closing time, preventing unnecessary operation of the air jet while preventing the introduction of dust and other particles into the clean room due to a slip-through action. [Explanation of symbols]

[0052] 1...air shower room, 3...front room side door, 4...clean room side door, 5...front room side door switch, 6...clean room side door switch, 7...sensor, 8...control unit, 9...display setting unit, 10...door timer, 11...sensor timer, 12...set value, 13...judgment value, 21...side wall, 22...side wall, 21a...air jet mechanism, 22a...air jet mechanism, 100...people

Claims

1. An air shower device comprising: an air shower room equipped with an antechamber door and a clean room door and having a function of spraying an air jet at an entrant; a sensor for detecting a person entering said air shower room; an antechamber door switch for detecting an open / closed state of said antechamber door; a clean room door switch for detecting an open / closed state of said clean room door; and a control unit for controlling operation of said air jet when a person in said air shower room is entrant to a clean room, using detection signals from said sensor, said antechamber door switch, and said clean room door switch, The control unit is an air shower device that determines that an entrant has entered the room and activates the air jet when the sensor detects an entrant within the latter half of the opening / closing time detected by the front room door switch, which is divided into the first half and the second half, and when the sensor detects an entrant within a predetermined time after the opening / closing time has elapsed.

2. 2. The air shower apparatus according to claim 1, said air shower apparatus comprising: a door timer that uses a detection signal from a front room door switch to count the opening and closing time; and a sensor timer that stops counting and is initialized when the sensor detects a person entering the room, said control unit using the count values ​​of said door timer and said sensor timer to determine the person entering the room and to control the operation of said air jet.

3. The air shower apparatus according to claim 2, the control unit sets a set value for dividing the opening and closing time into a first half and a second half, sets a judgment value obtained by dividing the count value of the door timer by the set value, compares the count value of the sensor timer with the judgment value, and if the count value of the sensor timer is smaller than the judgment value, determines that a person has entered the room and activates an air jet.

4. 2. The air shower apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a display setting section provided inside said air shower room for setting operations and displaying guidance thereon.

5. A method for controlling an air shower apparatus comprising: an air shower room having an antechamber door and a clean room door and having a function of spraying an air jet at a person entering the air shower room; a sensor for detecting a person entering the air shower room; an antechamber door switch for detecting whether the antechamber door is open or closed; and a clean room door switch for detecting whether the clean room door is open or closed, the method controlling the air jet to be operated when a person in the air shower room is entering the clean room based on detection signals from the sensor, the antechamber door switch, and the clean room door switch, This air shower device control method is arranged so that if the sensor detects an occupant within the latter half of the opening / closing time detected by the front room door switch, and if the sensor detects an occupant within a prescribed time after the opening / closing time has elapsed, then it is determined that an occupant has entered the room and the air jet is activated.

6. 6. The method for controlling an air shower apparatus according to claim 5, a door timer that utilizes a detection signal from the front room door switch and counts the opening and closing time, and a sensor timer that stops counting and is initialized when the sensor detects an entrant, the count values ​​of the door timer and the sensor timer are used to determine whether or not a person has entered the room, and the air jet is controlled to be operated.

7. 7. The method for controlling an air shower apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising the steps of: a set value is set for dividing the opening and closing time into a first half and a second half, the count value of the door timer is divided by the set value to set a judgment value, the count value of the sensor timer is compared with the judgment value, and if the count value of the sensor timer is smaller than the judgment value, it is determined that a person has entered the room and an air jet is operated.

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