Patent ID: 8042221

Claim:
A board cleaning apparatus for cleaning a circuit board which is moved in a board transporting direction by a board transporting apparatus having a pair of board transporting rails, the board cleaning apparatus comprising: a box-shaped case having an opened face opposed to a surface of the circuit board, the box-shaped case extending in a width direction of the circuit board perpendicular to the board transporting direction; a rotary brush installed in the case for rotating about an axis extending in a direction perpendicular to the board transporting direction; a motor for rotatably driving the rotary brush; a duct communicated with and connected to the case so as to permit suction of air inside the case; an effector plate having a first end attached to the case or the duct and a second end extending from the case or the duct and contacting a peripheral portion of the rotary brush, the effector plate being disposed so as to wipe off foreign matter adhering to the rotary brush and to prevent particles from being drawn upward into the case to be re-circulated; a first fixed brush attached to an upstream portion of the case, the upstream portion being located at an upstream side of the case in the board transporting direction with respect to the rotary brush, the first fixed brush being disposed so as to contact the surface of the circuit board over an entire width of the circuit board; and a second fixed brush attached to a downstream portion of the case, the downstream portion being located at a downstream side of the case in the board transporting direction with respect to the rotary brush, the second fixed brush being disposed so as to contact the surface of the circuit board over an entire width of the circuit board, wherein the first fixed brush and the second fixed brush are arranged such that an area is defined between the first fixed brush and the second fixed brush in which a negative pressure applied to the case via the duct sucks air in the case while the motor rotates the rotary brush to remove foreign matter adhering to the surface of the circuit board, wherein a part of the upstream portion of the case is tilted toward the downstream side of the case, wherein the first fixed brush is attached to the part of the upstream portion of the case such that the first fixed brush is tilted in the same direction as the part of the upstream portion of the case wherein a rotary direction of the rotary brush in an area that the rotary brush comes into contact with the circuit board is opposite to the board transporting direction, and wherein the duct is disposed upstream of the tilted part of the upstream portion of the case.