Monitoring the performance of a cryopump
OwnerJohn Casello, Mark Steven Collins +1inventors
InventorsJohn Casello, Mark Steven Collins, Charles Hamilton Young
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of monitoring the performance of a cryopump, the circuitry for monitoring the performance and the cryopump are disclosed. The method comprises: following completion of a regeneration cycle controlling said cryopump to perform a predetermined test routine for testing a performance of said cryopump under predetermined conditions; monitoring said cryopump during said predetermined test routine to collect data indicative of said performance of said cryopump; storing data collected during said monitoring.
Claims19
A method of monitoring the performance of a cryopump, said method comprising:
- following completion of a regeneration cycle controlling said cryopump to perform a predetermined test routine for testing a performance of said cryopump under predetermined conditions;
- monitoring said cryopump during said predetermined test routine to collect data indicative of said performance of said cryopump;
- storing said data indicative of said performance collected during said monitoring.
A method according to any preceding claim, wherein said step of controlling said cryopump to perform a predetermined test routine comprises:
- controlling a variable speed motor controlling a flow of refrigerant through a refrigerating system of said cryopump to operate at a predetermined speed;
- setting a first predetermined temperature for a first stage of a refrigerator and a second predetermined temperature for a second stage of said refrigerator;
- and
- controlling heaters associated with said first and second stages of said refrigerator such that said first and second predetermined temperatures are maintained;
- and
- said step of determining the performance of said cryopump comprises determining power applied to said heaters maintaining said first and second predetermined temperatures.
(canceled)
A control and diagnostic circuitry for a cryopump,
- said control circuitry being configured to determine when a regeneration cycle has completed and to control said cryopump following completion of said regeneration cycle to perform a predetermined test routine for testing a performance of said cryopump under predetermined conditions;
- and
- said diagnostic circuitry is configured to:
- monitor said performance of said cryopump during said predetermined test routine;
- and
- store data indicative of said performance obtained from said monitoring.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.