Suction device and suction method

Abstract

To provide a suction apparatus and a suction method where constant suction air speed can be kept according to a sucking opening area.SOLUTION: A suction apparatus 1 comprises: a tank 2; a suction unit 5; an adjustment window 8; an adjustment window drive unit 81; an anemometer 82; a manometer 83; and an air quantity control unit 84. The tank 2 stores excessive treatment liquid in which a tank inside 3 is partitioned by a partition 27 into a front chamber 32 and a rear chamber 33; the front chamber 32 is communicated with the rear chamber 33; and the tank has a suction opening part 4 where a workpiece 7 can be mounted and a sucking opening area is variable. The suction unit 5 sucks and exhausts air in the tank inside 3. The air quantity control unit 84 makes the adjustment window drive unit 81 based on measured value of the anemometer 82 measuring wind speed in the tank inside 3 and measured value of the manometer 83 measuring negative pressure in the tank inside 3 actuate the adjustment window 8 adjusting suction air quantity to change a sucking opening area so that the suction air quantity is within a prescribed range.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a suction device and a suction method. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, in the manufacturing process of various products, there are known devices and systems that suck up excess processing liquid remaining in the gaps of a workpiece after the processing step using the processing liquid. For example, Patent Document 1 describes a "liquid recovery system that prevents the scattering of excess processing liquid and efficiently recovers it." [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication No. 2021-41340 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] As an example of a workpiece to be treated, a heat exchanger used in an air conditioner for a vehicle has wavy fins formed between multiple stacked tubes as disclosed in Figures 2 and 3 of Patent Document 1. After hydrophilic dip coating in the surface treatment process of this heat exchanger, it is required to remove and recover the excess liquid remaining in the gaps between the fins and tubes and to efficiently reuse the expensive hydrophilic liquid.

[0005] A liquid recovery system 101 disclosed in Fig. 1 of Patent Document 1 includes a liquid recovery tank 201 in which a workpiece mounting port 40 that opens to the top side is formed, a suction device 5, and a discharge pump 6 that discharges processing liquid accumulated at the bottom of the liquid recovery tank. The liquid recovery tank 201 has an inner bottom plate 26 that descends from one side plate 22 to the other side plate 23, which is provided above a horizontally installed outer bottom plate. The portion sandwiched between the lower end of the inner bottom plate 26 and the side plate 23 forms a liquid pool 36 in which the processing liquid pools.

[0006] When the workpiece 70 is attached to the workpiece attachment port 40 and the suction device 5 sucks the air from the liquid recovery tank 201 to create a negative pressure inside, the excess processing liquid is discharged from the workpiece 70 into the liquid recovery tank 201. The processing liquid Lacc accumulated in the liquid reservoir 36 is discharged from the liquid recovery tank 201 by the discharge pump 6 and stored in a reuse liquid tank (not shown).

[0007] In a suction device with a variable suction opening area, it is necessary to adjust the suction air volume to keep the suction air speed constant. Regarding this, paragraph

[0022] of Patent Document 1 states that the suction air volume "can be adjusted by the power supplied from the inverter to the motor...". However, the propeller diameter of the intake fan is large, making inertia control difficult, and this type of control has poor responsiveness.

[0008] Furthermore, when it is necessary to adjust the suction air volume, a variable air volume damper is generally used. However, when used to recover excess processing liquid, there are several issues: (1) the suction opening area needs to be adjusted due to the wide variety of work sizes; (2) the damper cannot be installed in the suction path because sticky and corrosive chemicals tend to stick; and (3) if a filter is installed before the damper to prevent sticking, the filter will stick and become clogged immediately.

[0009] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a suction device capable of making the suction air speed constant according to the suction opening area. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] [First aspect] The suction device (1) of the present invention is a device that suctions excess processing liquid remaining in gaps of a workpiece (7) after a processing process using the processing liquid. The processing process includes immersing the workpiece in the processing liquid, spraying the processing liquid onto the workpiece, applying the processing liquid, etc. The suction device includes a tank (2), a suction device (5), an adjustment window (8), an adjustment window drive device (81), an anemometer (82), a pressure gauge (83), and an air volume control unit (84).

[0011] The tank is divided into an inside (3) and an outside, the inside of the tank is divided into a front chamber (32) and a rear chamber (33) by a hanging partition wall (27), the front chamber and the rear chamber are connected, the front chamber has a suction opening (4) that opens to the top side on the front chamber side to allow attachment of a workpiece and whose suction opening area can be changed according to the size of the workpiece, and stores excess processing liquid discharged from the workpiece attached to the suction opening. Here, "top side" means the top side relative to the ground side, and does not necessarily mean that the suction opening opens to the top plate.

[0012] The suction device sucks and exhausts the air inside the tank on the rear chamber side, creating a negative pressure inside the tank, and sucks up excess processing liquid from the workpiece and releases it into the tank.

[0013] One or more adjusting windows are provided on the rear chamber side of the tank to adjust the suction air volume. The adjusting window drive device drives the adjusting window to change the adjusted opening area of ​​the adjusting window. The anemometer measures the wind speed of the air inside the tank that is sucked in by the suction device. The pressure gauge measures the negative pressure caused by the air inside the tank that is sucked in by the suction device. The air volume control unit issues a command to the adjusting window drive device based on the measured values ​​of the anemometer and pressure gauge to change the adjusted opening area so that the suction air volume falls within a predetermined range.

[0014] The suction device 5 of the liquid recovery system 101 of Patent Document 1 has poor responsiveness because it indirectly controls the suction air volume by adjusting the power supplied to the motor. In contrast, the present invention adopts an adjustable window mechanism with variable air volume instead of an air volume variable damper, which has the problem of chemical solution adhesion. With this mechanism, when sucking and exhausting the air inside the tank, feedback control is performed based on the measured data of the wind speed and negative pressure inside the tank, and the suction air speed can be kept constant in response to the suction opening area that changes for each workpiece size, further improving the efficiency of the conventional liquid recovery system 101.

[0015] [Second aspect] The suction method of the present invention is a method for suctioning excess processing liquid remaining in gaps between workpieces (7) after a processing step using the processing liquid. This suction method includes a workpiece mounting step (S1), a suction and exhaust step (S2), and an air volume adjustment step (S3). These steps are essentially performed in the order described above, but other than the workpiece mounting step, they can also be performed simultaneously in parallel or with some overlap.

[0016] The workpiece mounting step is a step of mounting a workpiece on the suction opening of "a tank (2) in which the inside (3) and the outside are partitioned, the inside of the tank is partitioned into a front chamber (32) and a rear chamber (33) by a hanging partition wall (27), the front chamber and the rear chamber are connected, the tank has a suction opening (4) that opens to the top side on the front chamber side to allow a workpiece to be mounted and whose suction opening area can be changed according to the size of the workpiece, and the tank stores excess treatment liquid discharged from the workpiece mounted on the suction opening." As with the suction device, the "top side" means the top side relative to the ground side, and does not necessarily mean that the suction opening opens on the top plate.

[0017] The suction and exhaust step is a step in which the suction device (5) sucks and exhausts the air inside the tank (3) on the rear chamber side, creating a negative pressure inside the tank and discharging excess processing liquid from the works into the tank.

[0018] The air volume adjustment step is a step in which the air volume control unit (84) instructs the adjustment window drive device (81) to drive one or more adjustment windows (8) provided on the rear chamber side of the tank for adjusting the suction air volume, based on the measured values ​​of an anemometer (82) that measures the wind speed of the air inside the tank sucked in by the suction device and a pressure gauge (83) that measures the negative pressure caused by the air inside the tank sucked in by the suction device, and changes the adjusted opening area of ​​the adjustment window so that the suction air volume falls within a predetermined range.

[0019] With the above-mentioned configuration, the suction method provides the same effects as the above-mentioned suction device. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0020] [Figure 1]FIG. [Diagram 2] FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the configuration of a suction device. [Figure 4] 5A to 5C are schematic diagrams showing the opening and closing operation of an adjustment window. [Diagram 5] 1 is a flow chart of a suction method. [Figure 6] 5 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of an air volume control unit. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0021] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the suction device and the suction method will be described with reference to the drawings. Since the present invention is an improved invention of the invention described in Patent Document 1 ("Patent Invention 1"), Patent Document 1 can be referred to for information not described in the specification of the present invention.

[0022] The suction device of the present invention keeps the suction air speed constant according to the suction opening area when sucking the excess treatment liquid remaining in the gap of the workpiece after the treatment process with the treatment liquid. The following embodiment illustrates a suction device and a suction method for sucking the excess treatment liquid after the surface treatment process with the hydrophilic treatment liquid, using a heat exchanger used in a vehicle air conditioner as the workpiece.

[0023] (One embodiment) 1 shows the appearance of the suction device 1 according to one embodiment as seen from the rear side. In addition to the tank 2, the suction device 5, and the pump 6, the suction device 1 of this embodiment is equipped with an "adjusting window 8, an adjusting window drive device 81, an anemometer 82, a pressure gauge 83, and an air volume control unit 84." Hereinafter, the five elements in double quotation marks will be referred to as the "adjusting window mechanism."

[0024] 2 shows the main parts of the suction device 1 as viewed from the front side. In this way, the suction device 1 can be attached to the suction opening 4 where the workpiece 7 (dotted line part) opens to the front side and the top side of the tank 2. As described later, the suction device 5 is operated with the workpiece 7 attached to the suction opening 4, and the air inside the tank 3 is forcibly exhausted and placed on the negative pressure side, so that the excess processing liquid remaining in the gaps inside the workpiece 7 is gradually sucked in and dripped down for recovery.

[0025] The configuration of the suction device 1 is shown in Fig. 3. Here, the upper side of the paper is the "vertical top side" and the lower side of the paper is the "vertical bottom side". Also, the approximate cross section shown on the paper is shifted parallel to the back side of the paper. Furthermore, there are members parallel to the paper (not shown) on the front and back sides of the paper, and the tank interior 3 and the outside of the tank 2 are separated by a structure that does not leak liquid.

[0026] At this time, as is clear by comparing Figure 3 with Figure 1 of Patent Document 1 (the names and symbols in Patent Invention 1 which correspond to the names and symbols in the present invention are shown in parentheses in this paragraph), the present invention and Patent Invention 1 have a roughly common structure, such as the suction device 1 (liquid recovery system 101) being equipped with a tank 2 (liquid recovery tank 201), a suction device 5 (same), and a pump 6 (discharge pump 6), and the reservoir 36 (liquid pool 36) being provided at the end of the inclined inner bottom plate 26 (same), but the present invention differs in that it further includes an "adjustment window mechanism" as described below.

[0027] The tank 2 is a hollow container that is partitioned into a tank interior 3 and an exterior. Here, the tank 2 is partitioned as a space surrounded by members including a top plate 21, a front plate 22, a back plate 23, and a bottom plate 24. In this case, the inside of the tank 2, i.e., the tank interior 3, is partially partitioned into a front chamber 32 (the recovery chamber 32 in the cited invention 1) and a rear chamber 33 (the suction chamber 33 in the cited invention 1) by a partition wall 27 that hangs down from the top plate 21. The front chamber 32 is a space located directly below the opening 4, and the rear chamber 33 is a space connected to the suction device 5. Meanwhile, the front chamber 32 and the rear chamber 33 are in communication with each other via a communication passage 34, which is a space between the lower end of the partition wall 27 and the inner bottom plate 26.

[0028] The tank 2 also has a suction opening 4 which is an opening that communicates between the tank interior 3 and the outside. The suction opening 4 is open to the outside at the top side on the front chamber 32 side. The suction opening 4 is provided on an inclined surface 25 that spans the top plate 21 and the front plate 22, inclined with respect to the horizontal plane. The suction opening 4 functions as a workpiece mounting opening to which the workpiece 7 can be attached, and is configured so that the size of the workpiece mounting opening (suction opening area) can be changed according to the size of the workpiece 7. The workpiece 7 is held by slide plates 43, 44 at a position overlapping the suction opening 4 (FIG. 3).

[0029] Referring again to Figure 2, the suction opening 4 of the tank 2 is composed of slide plates 41, 42, and 43 so that the suction opening area S4 can be changed. The slide plates 41 and 42 slide in opposite directions, and the slide plate 43 slides the inclined suction opening so as to rise from the bottom side to the top side. The suction opening area is changed by these slide plates 41, 42, and 43.

[0030] In addition, in Fig. 5 of the cited document 1, the driving method of the slide plates 41, 42, 43 is illustrated as servo motor type linear variable mechanisms 45, 46, 47 driving the slide plates 41, 42, 43. On the other hand, in Fig. 3, suction opening drive devices 47, 48 are illustrated as driving the slide plates 43, 44, but this is for the convenience of illustrating Fig. 3 in a schematic cross section, and Fig. 5 of the cited document 1 is the form according to this embodiment. Although the cited invention 1 describes a "servo motor type" linear variable mechanism, this is not limited to the servo motor type as long as it is a linear variable mechanism.

[0031] The suction device 5 is composed of, for example, an intake fan rotated by a motor. Due to the structure of the tank interior 3 formed by the partition wall 27, when the suction device 5 is operated, the air in the rear chamber 33 and therefore the tank interior 3 is sucked in and exhausted, creating a negative pressure in the tank interior 3. When the tank interior 3 is made negative pressure with the workpiece 7 after the processing process attached to the suction opening 4, the excess processing liquid remaining in the gaps between the workpiece 7 is sucked in and released (dribbled) toward the bottom of the front chamber 32.

[0032] The bottom of the tank 2 is formed in a double layer, and is composed of a bottom plate 24 and an inner bottom plate 26. The inner bottom plate 26 is provided at an angle so as to descend from the front chamber 32 side toward the rear chamber 33 side. As a result, the excess treatment liquid discharged into the front chamber 32 flows further downward along the inner bottom plate 26, and is stored in a reservoir 36, which is a space sandwiched between the lower end of the inner bottom plate 26 and the rear plate 23.

[0033] If the reservoir 36 were placed on the front chamber 32 side, the processing liquid that had once accumulated at the bottom would be gradually sucked in from the liquid surface and would turn into a mist, which could reduce recovery efficiency. Therefore, the reservoir 36 is placed mainly on the rear chamber 33 side, rather than on the front chamber 32 side, i.e., in a position that is not directly below the suction opening 4. This allows excess processing liquid to be efficiently recovered into the rear chamber 33 side.

[0034] The pump 6 discharges the excess processing liquid accumulated in the reservoir 36 to a processing liquid reuse tank (not shown) located outside the tank 2. In addition, the configuration of the heat exchanger 70 given as an example of the work 7 is as described in the cited document 1, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted in this specification and the like.

[0035] The suction air volume of the suction device 5 can be adjusted to some extent by controlling the power supplied from the inverter to the motor, but as mentioned above, the suction fan has a large propeller diameter, making inertia control difficult, resulting in poor response. In order to overcome this poor response to air volume adjustment via the power supplied to the suction device 5, an "adjustment window mechanism" is added to the suction device 1, thereby achieving efficient suction air volume adjustment.

[0036] The "adjustment window mechanism" will be described with reference to Fig. 3. The wind speed and pressure in the anterior chamber 32 can vary from moment to moment due to fluctuations associated with changes in the suction opening area of ​​the suction opening 4 in accordance with the size of the attached workpiece 7, as well as the influence of the amount of excess processing liquid accumulated in the reservoir 36 and changes in air resistance passing through the workpiece 7 as the recovery of the processing liquid progresses. In addition to adjusting the air volume via adjustment of the power supply to the suction device 5 according to the conventional technology, the present invention employs an "adjustment window mechanism" for keeping the suction wind speed constant.

[0037] As described above, the "adjusting window mechanism" includes one or more adjusting windows 8, an adjusting window drive device 81, an anemometer 82, a pressure gauge 83, and an air volume control device 84. The adjusting window 8 is provided on the rear chamber 33 side of the tank 2, and serves to release part of the air flow to the outside of the tank 2 when excessive negative pressure is applied to the tank interior 3, thereby weakening the negative pressure. The anemometer 82 measures the wind speed of the air in the tank interior 3 that is sucked by the suction device 5. The pressure gauge 83 similarly measures the negative pressure. The air volume control device 84 changes the adjustment opening area by feedback control that commands the adjusting window drive device 81 based on the measured values ​​of the anemometer 82 and the pressure gauge 83 so that the suction air volume falls within a predetermined range.

[0038] Fig. 4 shows a schematic diagram of the adjustment window 8. Fig. 4(a) shows the adjustment window in a closed state, and Fig. 4(b) shows the adjustment window in an open state with the suction opening area enlarged to nearly the maximum suction opening area (dotted line). Two adjustment windows 8A, 8B are provided on the left and right sides of the rear panel 23 of the tank 2, and each is driven by an adjustment window drive device 81 to slide open and closed left and right to change the adjustment opening area. The adjustment window drive device 81 is provided directly below the adjustment windows 8A, 8B.

[0039] A flowchart of the suction method is shown in Fig. 5. The suction method is a method for sucking excess processing liquid remaining in gaps of the workpiece (7) after a processing step using the processing liquid using the above-mentioned suction device, and includes a workpiece mounting step S1, a suction and exhaust step S2, and an air volume adjustment step S3.

[0040] The workpiece mounting step S1 is a step for mounting the workpiece 7 to the suction opening of the tank 2. In this step, the suction opening area, which is the main factor for determining the optimal suction air volume when a workpiece 7 of a certain size is mounted, is determined.

[0041] The suction and exhaust step S2 is a step in which the suction device 5 is operated to suck and exhaust the air inside the tank 3 on the rear chamber 33 side of the tank 2. As a result, the pressure inside the tank 3 becomes negative due to the flow of the sucked air, and this becomes the driving force for sucking the excess processing liquid from the workpiece 7.

[0042] The airflow adjustment step S3 is a step for adjusting the airflow by the adjustment window mechanism. In this step, as already described, the airflow control unit 84 instructs the adjustment window drive device 81 to drive the adjustment window 8 based on the measured values ​​of the anemometer 82 and the pressure gauge 83 to change the adjustment opening area of ​​the adjustment window.

[0043] Here, the operation of the air volume control unit 84 will be described with reference to Fig. 6. Since there are various work sizes, when sucking multiple work pieces 7 of the same size, it is efficient to first specify the conditions for maintaining the optimal suction air volume for the work pieces 7 of that size. Therefore, first, the target work piece 7 is attached and the suction opening area is fixed according to its size (work piece attachment step S1). After that, the suction device 5 is operated (suction exhaust step S2).

[0044] At this time, the air volume control unit 84 adjusts the air volume in accordance with the following judgment as to whether or not the workpiece can be attached (air volume adjustment step S3) while constantly monitoring the measured values ​​by connecting to the anemometer 82 and the pressure gauge 83 provided inside the front chamber 32. In S31, it is judged whether the air velocity and negative pressure are within the threshold values.

[0045] If the result in S31 is YES (wind speed and negative pressure are within the threshold), it is determined that the workpiece can be attached. If the workpiece has never been unable to be attached, S32 is not necessary.

[0046] If S31 is NO (wind speed or negative pressure is outside the threshold), it is determined that the workpiece cannot be attached, and the following air volume adjustment is performed (S32). If it is determined that the workpiece cannot be attached, the air volume control unit 84 changes the adjusted opening area. When the air volume becomes constant under the changed conditions, the measured values ​​are acquired again, and the S31 judgment is performed. If it is again determined that the workpiece cannot be attached, the adjusted opening area is changed again. This cycle is repeated until the wind speed and negative pressure are stabilized within a preset predetermined range. When it is confirmed from the measured values ​​that the air volume has stabilized within the predetermined range, the air volume control unit 84 determines that the wind speed and negative pressure have stabilized (workpiece can be attached). In this way, an optimal suction air volume is maintained.

[0047] (Other embodiments) (a) In the above embodiment, the adjustment window opens and closes from left to right, but the opening and closing mechanism of the adjustment window is not limited to this. As long as the adjustment opening area is variable, it does not have to be a sliding type. There is no limit to the number of adjustment windows, and they can be freely configured. For example, they may be symmetrical not only left to right but also up and down, or two or more different configurations may be combined. There is also no limit to the installation position of the adjustment window, and they may be provided not only on the back panel, but also on the side panel at the front or back of Figure 3, for example, or on the top panel directly above the rear chamber or reservoir.

[0048] (b) There are no particular limitations on the configuration of the tank or the arrangement of the anterior and posterior chambers inside the tank. The tank may be cylindrical (tank-shaped) instead of box-shaped, and may be freely configured depending on the convenience of the installation location, etc.

[0049] (c) There are no particular limitations on the adjusting window drive device, and the most suitable type can be selected according to the situation, such as a servo motor type or a pneumatic type.

[0050] (d) The workpiece is not limited to a heat exchanger having tubes and fins as exemplified, but may be any workpiece in which excess processing liquid may remain in gaps after a processing step using the processing liquid.

[0051] As described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be embodied in various forms without departing from the spirit of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0052] 1 suction device, 2 tank, 3 inside the tank, 36 reservoir, 4 suction opening, 5 suction device, 7 workpiece, 8 adjustment window, 81 Adjusting window drive device, 82 Anemometer, 83 Pressure gauge, 84 Air volume control unit.

Claims

1. A suction device (1) for suctioning excess processing liquid remaining in gaps of a workpiece (7) after a processing step using the processing liquid, a tank (2) in which an inside (3) and an outside are partitioned, the inside of the tank being partitioned into a front chamber (32) and a rear chamber (33) by a hanging partition wall (27), the front chamber and the rear chamber being connected to each other, the tank (2) having a suction opening (4) that opens to the top on the front chamber side, to which the workpiece can be attached and whose suction opening area can be changed according to the size of the workpiece, and which stores excess processing liquid discharged from the workpiece attached to the suction opening; A suction device (5) that suctions and exhausts air inside the tank on the rear chamber side; One or more adjustment windows (8) provided on the rear chamber side of the tank to adjust the amount of suction air; An adjustment window drive device (81) for driving the adjustment window to change the adjustment opening area; an anemometer (82) for measuring the wind speed of the air inside the tank sucked by the suction device; a pressure gauge (83) for measuring a negative pressure caused by the air inside the tank sucked by the suction device; an air volume control unit (84) that issues a command to the adjustment window drive device based on the measurement values ​​of the anemometer and the pressure gauge to change the adjustment opening area so that the suction air volume falls within a predetermined range; A suction device comprising:

2. A method for aspirating excess processing liquid remaining in a gap of a workpiece (7) after a processing step using the processing liquid, comprising: a workpiece mounting step (S1) of mounting the workpiece to the suction opening of a tank (2) in which an inside (3) and an outside are partitioned, the inside of the tank being partitioned into a front chamber (32) and a rear chamber (33) by a hanging partition wall (27), the front chamber and the rear chamber being connected to each other, the tank (2) having a suction opening (4) that opens to the top side on the front chamber side and allows the workpiece to be mounted thereon and whose suction opening area can be changed according to the size of the workpiece, and the tank (2) stores excess processing liquid discharged from the workpiece mounted to the suction opening; a suction and exhaust step (S2) in which a suction device (5) suctions and exhausts air from inside the tank (3) on the rear chamber side; an air volume control step (S3) instructing an adjustment window drive device (81) to drive one or more adjustment windows (8) provided on the rear chamber side of the tank for adjusting the suction air volume based on the measured values ​​of an anemometer (82) for measuring the wind speed of the air inside the tank sucked by the suction device and a pressure gauge (83) for measuring the negative pressure caused by the air inside the tank sucked by the suction device, and the adjustment window drive device drives one or more adjustment windows (8) for adjusting the suction air volume, and changes the adjusted opening area of ​​the adjustment window so that the suction air volume falls within a predetermined range; The suction method includes:

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