A clean room is a room that is going to be environmentally controlled to prevent any sort of outside pollutants from getting in and contaminating the interior. This type of room is generally going to be used in the fields of scientific research, medical facilities, or in manufacturing when stringent conditions are necessary. It is important, when working in these fields, to prevent microbes, dust, or vapors from entering the room and contaminating the products that are being created there. Generally, the amount of contamination in a specific room is going to be determined by the number of particles per cubic meter for a given size of a particle.
So what is a Die Cutting Clean Room?
A die cutting clean room is a clean room that is used to create products for use in other clean rooms or in sterilized environments. Generally, this room will have a cutting press, some cutting dies, and the materials that need to be die cut. It will also include equipment and other things which are used in the die cutting operation itself. These will generally compose the full die cutting system. Without these specific pieces of equipment, the process would not go well. The entire purpose of this process is to keep the manufactured goods sterile. Thus, the entire die cutting process is done inside of a clean room itself.
The equipment that is used in the clean room must be made in such a way as to remove the possibility of contamination by air. The clean room that is used in the die cutting press and the dies themselves are, thus, designed to produce the least particulate matter as possible to cut down on aerosolized particles. They also need to be made so that they will be easy to clean. Die cutting clean rooms are utilized primarily in electronic companies, biomedical facilities, and facilities that produce pharmaceutical products. All of these applications are extremely sensitive to potential environmental contamination.
One thing to note about these types of rooms is that the air that is entering is going to be filtered extensively when it comes in from the outside. This is going to help to remove any particles or dust from the air. Once inside, the air will then be circulated throughout the room and through high efficiency particulate filters. It may also be sent through ultra low particulate air filters in order to help remove any internally created particles in the air. The staff will come in and leave through an airlock which sometimes includes shower areas. They usually have to wear protective clothing when they are inside as well.
Clean room die cutting processes play a very important role in keeping medical and sensitive equipment sterile. It is an entirely different process, and much more involved, than traditional die cutting would utilize. With that being said, it is not that different than normal die cutting. The difference is, of course, in the process is that clean room die cutting has to minimize the amount of particulate matter released by the process.