A vacuum pumping arrangement comprising multiple pumping stages for evacuating a process chamber and a method of cleaning the vacuum pumping arrangement is discussed. The vacuum pumping arrangement comprises: at least one turbomolecular pumping stage; at least one further pumping stage downstream of the turbomolecular pumping stage; and at least one inlet for admitting radicals into the vacuum pumping arrangement, the at least one inlet being located downstream of the turbomolecular stage and upstream of at least one of the at least one further pumping stage.

Apparatuses, systems and methods are described for a flywheel system incorporating a rotor made from a high-strength material in an open-core flywheel architecture with a high-temperature superconductive (HTS) bearing technology to achieve the desired high energy density in the flywheel energy storage devices, to obtain superior results and performance, and that eliminates the material growth-matching problem and obviates radial growth and bending mode issues that otherwise occur at various high frequencies and speeds.

This is invention relates to a bearing support for a vacuum pump and, in particular, to a polymer bearing support for a vacuum pump. The invention further encompasses vacuum pumps comprising polymer bearing supports, and methods of manufacturing bearing supports.

A turbo-molecular pump comprises: a shaft to be rotatably driven by a motor; a pump rotor; multiple bolts penetrating the pump rotor from a pump suction port side to fasten the pump rotor to a pump suction port side end portion of the shaft; and a seal member configured to seal a clearance between fastening surfaces of the pump rotor and the shaft or a clearance between each bolt and the pump rotor.

The present invention provides bearing cage retainer for a rolling element rotor bearing in a vacuum pump. The bearing cage retainer being configured to have an operational arrangement in which, at the maximum longitudinal axial displacement limit of the outer race in the direction of the retainer, the bearing cage retainer is disengaged from the bearing cage, and a failure configuration characterised by the dislocation of the bearing cage by a longitudinal axial displacement of the bearing cage relative to the outer race in the direction of the retainer and in which the bearing cage retainer engages said bearing cage and the bearing cage maintains the separation of the rolling elements within the bearing.

In the turbo molecular pump, at least one of the multiple stages of the rotor blades and the multiple stages of the stator blades is configured to satisfy any one of a first condition of Xout<Xc and Xin<Xc, a second condition of .Math.XcXin>Xc>Xout where =1.04, or a third condition of Xin<Xc<Xout.Math.Xc where =1.04.

A vacuum pump lubricant supply system has a lubricant reservoir and a wicking element. The body portion has opposed major surfaces and a finger. The lubricant reservoir has a major surface engaging one of the opposed major surfaces of the body portion so that lubricant can migrate through the engaging major surfaces into the body portion. The finger projects from the body portion to engage a lubricant transfer device provided on a rotor shaft so that lubricant can wick from the body portion to the lubricant transfer device via the finger. The body portion has an edge provided with a cut-out so that the major surface of the body portion that engages the major surface of the lubricant container has a total surface area that is less than the total surface area of the major surface of the lubricant container.

A magnetic bearing device comprises a radial magnetic bearing configured to magnetically levitate and support a rotor shaft in a radial direction; an axial magnetic bearing configured to magnetically levitate and support, in an axial direction, a rotor disc rotatable together with the rotor shaft; and an axial displacement sensor disposed on a surface of an electromagnet core of the axial magnetic bearing facing the rotor disc and configured to detect axial displacement of the rotor disc.

In a vacuum pump, the lower Ra sensor target, the fourth spacer, and the Ra electromagnetic target are configured in this order, from the inlet port side toward the outlet port side, at the lower side of the shaft of the 5-axis control magnetic bearing Likewise, at the lower side of the stator, the lower Ra sensor and the lower Ra electromagnet are configured in this order, from the inlet port toward the outlet port. In other words, the lower Ra sensor is disposed above the lower Ra electromagnet. According to this configuration, the third spacer fixed above the lower Ra sensor target is shortened. As a result, the height of the 5-axis control magnetic bearing and the length of the stator column enclosing electrical components constituting the 5-axis control magnetic bearing is reduced, thereby reducing the overall height of the vacuum pump.

Provided are a vacuum pump, a magnetic bearing device, and a rotor that suppress swinging and vibration of a rotor. A vacuum pump includes, in the following order in the exhaust direction of a gas, the center of gravity of a rotor, an active radial bearing that supports the rotor in the radial direction in a non-contact manner by using a magnetic force, and a passive radial bearing that supports the rotor in the radial direction in a non-contact manner using a magnetic force.