Laminar flow clean room

A clean room having provision for supplying filtered air vertically therethrough under substantially laminar flow conditions, and which is characterized by the substantial absence of migration of dust or dirt particles laterally through the room, and comprising

• a clean room enclosure including a top wall, a bottom wall, and bounding side walls,
• a filter bank positioned parallel to the spaced below said top wall, said filter bank comprising
• (a) a supporting latticework defining a plurality of rectangular open areas, with said latticework including a plurality of generally X-shaped connectors disposed at the interior corners of the rectangular open areas, with each connector composed of four extensions radiating from a common central location at right angles to each other, a coupling member disposed at said central location, means engaging said coupling member of each connector for supporting the same from said top wall, and a plurality of channels interconnected respectively between the aligned pairs of extensions of each adjacent pair of connectors, and
• (b) a plurality of high efficiency air filters positioned on said supporting latticework with the filters covering respective ones of said open areas, and
• means for introducing air above each of said filters of said filter bank such that the air flows downwardly through said filters at a predetermined flow rate,
• each of said extensions of said connectors and each of said channels including side walls of a corresponding, generally V-shaped outline in cross section so as to provide a substantially laminar flow therealong and so as to substantially eliminate turbulence below the connectors and channels of a degree able to entrain dust or dirt particles and move the same laterally through the room, each of said extensions and said channels further including an internal plate extending between said side walls and so that each extension and channel has a cross sectional configuration in the general form of an inverted A and said internal plate and side walls define an open receptacle, and
• a sealant disposed within said open receptacles of said extensions and said channels and forming a seal between said latticework and said filters.

A clean room having provision for supplying filtered air vertically therethrough under substantially laminar flow conditions, and comprising

• a clean room enclosure including a top wall, a bottom wall, and bounding side walls,
• a filter bank positioned parallel to and spaced below said top wall, said filter bank comprising
• (a) a supporting latticework composed of a plurality of interconnected members which define a plurality of rectangular open areas, and with each of said members being shaped to define an upwardly facing open receptacle along its length and with the receptacles being in communication about the periphery of each of said open areas,
• (b) a sealant disposed in said receptacles of said members and so as to extend continuously about the periphery of each of said open areas, said sealant comprising an essentially non-volatile and non-hardening moldable gum-like uncured polysiloxane gum having a consistency substantially the same as modeling clay, and a viscosity of at least about 500,000 centipoise,
• (c) a plurality of high efficiency air filters positioned on said interconnected members of said supporting latticework, with the filters covering respective ones of said open areas, and with each filter including a peripheral flange which has a continuous cross sectional outline generally corresponding to that of the associated open area, and with a portion of the peripheral flange being positioned within the receptacles of the associated members and sealably embedded in said sealant, and
• means for introducing air above each of said filters of said filter bank such that the air flows downwardly through said filters at a predetermined flow rate.