Cleanroom Transfer Containers for Dust-Safe Warehouse Storage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems face challenges in maintaining cleanliness of articles susceptible to dust while avoiding increased installation costs due to the installation of a warehouse inside a clean room, as well as ensuring cleanliness when the warehouse is outside the clean room.
Innovation Solution
A method involving the use of enclosure containers that transport cleaning targets between clean rooms and an automated warehouse, utilizing airtight containers and airlock rooms to maintain cleanliness, and a manufacturing system that includes clean rooms, an automated warehouse, and control devices to manage the transport of these containers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the warehouse is installed inside the clean room, then the cleanliness of articles is maintained, but the installation costs of facilities increase and the floor area is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the storage function into two parts: the automated warehouse stores only enclosure containers (external storage), while the clean room stores only cleaning targets (internal storage). This segmentation allows the warehouse to be located outside the clean room without compromising cleanliness, as the enclosure containers act as sealed intermediaries that can be stored in the general environment.
Solution Approach 2:
The enclosure container serves as an intermediary between the general environment (automated warehouse) and the clean environment (clean room). By placing the cleaning target inside the sealed enclosure container, the system enables storage in the automated warehouse outside the clean room while maintaining cleanliness during transport and storage.
2Device complexity
If the warehouse is installed outside the clean room, then the installation costs are reduced, but the cleanliness of manufactured articles cannot be maintained
Solution Approach 1:
The airtight container is nested inside the enclosure container, creating a double-containment system. The inner airtight container maintains the immediate cleanliness of the cleaning target, while the outer enclosure container provides additional protection during transport through the airlock room and storage in the automated warehouse outside the clean room.
Solution Approach 2:
The airlock room acts as an intermediary space between the clean room and the automated warehouse. It allows the enclosure container to be transferred from the clean environment to the general environment without exposing the cleaning target to dust, as the sealed container prevents contamination during the transition.
3Area of stationary object
If the cleaning target is transported from the clean room to the automated warehouse, then the floor area is optimized, but the risk of contamination increases
Solution Approach 1:
The airlock room serves as an intermediary chamber that mediates the transfer of the enclosure container between the clean room and the automated warehouse. This allows the cleaning target to be transported outside the clean room environment without direct exposure to the general environment, as the sealed enclosure container and airlock mechanism prevent contamination during transit.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a portable clean environment by using the sealed enclosure container as a mobile clean space. Instead of requiring the entire warehouse to be a clean room, the cleanliness is copied into the sealed container, allowing storage in the general environment while maintaining the clean state of the contents.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is a product manufacturing method including: first transport step of transporting an enclosure container enclosing a cleaning target to a first storage position in an automated warehouse; second transport step of transporting the enclosure container from the first storage position to a first clean room; cleaning step of cleaning the cleaning target by a cleaning device and accommodating the cleaned cleaning target in an airtight container; third transport step of transporting the enclosure container enclosing the airtight container from the first clean room to a second storage position in the automated warehouse; fourth transport step of transporting the enclosure container from the second storage position to a second clean room; and assembly step of assembling the cleaning target taken out of the airtight container transported to the second clean room in an assembly region to manufacture a product.