Cleanroom Wall Passthrough With Sealed Fluid Conduit Transfer
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing passthrough configurations for cleanrooms are cumbersome and difficult to switch between sealed and fluid passageway states, making them inefficient for transferring materials while maintaining a pollutant-free environment.
Innovation Solution
A passthrough system with a barrier and housing that includes sealing blocks and doors, allowing for selective isolation of spaces and fluid transfer, featuring a configurable design to accommodate both sealed and fluid-conduit states, with optional valves and manifolds for controlled fluid flow.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a conduit is extended through an opening in the wall to transfer fluids into cleanrooms, then fluid transfer is enabled, but the risk of contaminates entering the cleanroom increases
Solution Approach 1:
The passthrough device is segmented into multiple isolated chambers (first chamber, second chamber, third chamber) separated by sealed walls. Each chamber can be independently sealed with doors, allowing fluid transfer through the conduit while maintaining isolation barriers that prevent contaminates from entering the cleanroom environment.
Solution Approach 2:
The passthrough device acts as an intermediary structure between the dirty environment and the cleanroom. The conduit passes through sealed openings in multiple chambers, creating a controlled intermediate pathway that enables fluid transfer while the sealed chambers and doors prevent direct exposure of the cleanroom to contaminants.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the entire opening is sealed to maintain cleanroom integrity, then contamination is prevented, but fluid transfer capability is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The passthrough device incorporates movable doors (first door, second door) that can selectively open and close to transition between sealed and fluid transfer states. The sealing blocks can be repositioned along the conduit to create seals at different locations, enabling dynamic switching between maintaining cleanroom integrity and enabling fluid transfer capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The sealing mechanism applies local sealing at specific locations rather than sealing the entire opening permanently. Sealing blocks can be positioned at specific chambers to create localized seals, allowing fluid transfer through other chambers while maintaining contamination prevention where needed.
3Ease of operation
If a simple conduit opening is used for material transfer, then ease of operation is improved, but the ability to isolate spaces is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The passthrough device divides the transfer pathway into multiple sealed chambers with individual doors. This segmentation allows simple operation of transferring materials through open doors while maintaining reliable isolation integrity through the sealed chambers and configurable sealing blocks that can isolate specific spaces when needed.
Data Source
AI summary
A passthrough for a barrier separating a first space from a second space includes a housing mounted to an opening that extends through the barrier. First and second doors selectively block the first and second spaces, respectively, from the opening. A frame is disposed within the housing and has first and second apertures configured to receive sealing blocks. When the passthrough is in a first state, sealing blocks seal the first and second apertures. When the passthrough is in a second state, a fluid conduit passes through the first and second apertures and sealing blocks seal the space between the first and second apertures, respectively, and the conduit.