Turbomolecular pump with static charge control
AssigneeEdwards Vacuum LLC
InventorFrank Jansen
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention relates to turbomolecular vacuum pumps and an arrangement for reducing or eliminating an accumulated static charge in the rotor caused by an interaction of the rotor with either electrically charged or neutral particles in the pumped media. Electrical charge exchange between the rotor and the electrically grounded stator is effected through a wire or other means of electrical contact, or through charge emission devices such as a field emission tip. In either case, electrostatic charges in the rotor are reduced or eliminated.
Claims10
A turbo-molecular vacuum exhaust pump, comprising:
- a pump housing;
- a turbo-molecular pump rotor mounted for rotation in the housing;
- an insulating bearing system that supports the rotor for rotation and electrically insulates the rotor from the housing;
- and
- a charged particle source for providing charged particles that interact with the rotor, thereby reducing a static electrical charge of the rotor and wherein the charged particle source is a carbon nanotube.
A turbo-molecular vacuum pump, comprising:
- a pump housing;
- a turbo-molecular pump rotor mounted for rotation in the housing;
- an insulating bearing system that supports the rotor for rotation and electrically insulates the rotor from the housing;
- and
- a grounded conductor in contact with the rotor for discharging a static charge of the rotor.
A turbo-molecular vacuum pump, comprising:
- a pump housing;
- a turbomolecular pump rotor mounted for rotation in the housing;
- an insulating bearing system that supports the rotor for rotation and electrically insulates the rotor from the housing;
- and
- a rotor static charge discharger for reducing a static electrical charge of the rotor, wherein the rotor static charge discharger is a grounding wire attached to the housing and positioned to maintain electrical contact with the rotor.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.