Rough vacuum pump using bulk getter material
AssigneeDanielson Associates, Inc.
InventorPhilip Danielson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A bulk getter-pump, consisting primarily of large beds of heated getter-material for use in pumping down a vacuum chamber to a rough vacuum. The pump is designed for applications now are served by turbo, cryo, diffusion, and ion pumps. The pump consists of a meshed cage filled with bulk getter-material pellets, which cage is housed in a housing coupled to a conduit of a vacuum chamber, so that the bulk getter-material is exposed to the interior of the vacuum chamber. In use, a roughing pump is first used to bring the chamber down to a pressure of about 2 torr, and then the bulk getter-pump of the invention is operatively coupled to the chamber for sorbing gases, in order to reach a desired vacuum.
Claims8
In a vacuum chamber that is to be partially evacuated to a rough vacuum of between approximately 2 torr and 10.sup.-5 torr, the improvement comprising:
- a getter pump operatively coupled to said vacuum chamber for pumping down said vacuum chamber to a rough vacuum of between 2 torr and 10.sup.-5 torr;
- a mechanical roughing pump for initially pumping down said vacuum chamber;
- and valve means for alternately coupling said bulk getter-material pump and said mechanical roughing pump to said vacuum chamber to be pumped down;
- said valve means being operatively connected between said vacuum chamber to be pumped down and said pumps.
In a vacuum chamber that is to be partially evacuated to a rough vacuum of between approximately 2 torr and 10.sup.-5 torr, the improvement comprising:
- a getter pump operatively coupled to said vacuum chamber for pumping down said vacuum chamber to a rough vacuum of between 2 torr and 10.sup.-5 torr;
- said getter pump comprising:
- a bulk getter-material pump comprising a pump-body housing mounted, said pump-body housing comprising an interior;
- a cage-element mounted in said interior of said pump-body housing;
- a supply of bulk getter-material in said cage-element, said bulk getter-material comprising a plurality of separate getter-pellets;
- means for fluidly coupling said bulk getter-material pump to said vacuum chamber to be pumped down;
- and
- heating means operatively associated with said bulk getter-material pump for heating said supply of bulk-getter material.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.