Multi-stage vacuum pump and a method of differentially pumping multiple vacuum chambers

Abstract

A multi-stage positive displacement vacuum pump and a method of differentially pumping multiple vacuum chambers using such a pump is disclosed. The pump comprises a housing for housing at least one rotor mounted for rotation on a corresponding at least one shaft and for pumping gas through the multiple stages for output through an exhaust. The housing comprises a first inlet configured to admit gas to an inlet stage of said vacuum pump, and a further inlet configured to admit gas to an intermediate stage of said vacuum pump. The pump is configured such that gas admitted through each of the first and further inlets is pumped together as a combined gas flow by at least one stage of said vacuum pump downstream of said intermediate stage.

Claims

1. A multi-stage positive displacement vacuum pump comprising a plurality of inlets, the vacuum pump comprising: a housing for housing at least one rotor mounted for rotation on a corresponding at least one shaft and for pumping gas through the multiple stages of the pump for output through an exhaust; the housing comprising the plurality of inlets, the plurality of inlets comprising: a first inlet configured to admit gas to an inlet stage of the vacuum pump; and a further inlet configured to admit gas to an intermediate stage of said vacuum pump; and a diversion channel for diverting gas flow from a pump stage on a first inlet side of the intermediate stage to a pump stage on an exhaust side of the intermediate stage, wherein the pump is configured such that gas admitted through each of the first and further inlets is pumped together as a combined gas flow by at least one stage of the vacuum pump downstream of the intermediate stage; and the vacuum pump is configured to differentially pump multiple chambers, the first inlet being configured to connect to a lower vacuum chamber and the intermediate inlet being configured to act as a backing pump for a vacuum pump pumping a higher vacuum chamber.

2. The multi-stage positive displacement vacuum pump according to claim 1, wherein the intermediate stage comprises an outlet for diverting flow pumped by the intermediate stage towards a pump stage on a first inlet side of the intermediate stage.

3. The multi-stage positive displacement vacuum pump according to claim 1, wherein the multi-stage positive displacement vacuum pump comprises one of a multiple stage Roots pump, a multiple stage claw pump or a multiple stage screw pump.

4. The multi-stage positive displacement vacuum pump according to claim 1, further comprising twin rotors mounted to rotate on twin shafts.

5. The multi-stage positive displacement vacuum pump according to claim 1, the multi-stage positive displacement vacuum pump comprising four or more stages arranged consecutively along the at least one shaft from said inlet stage, through a plurality of intermediate stages to an exhaust stage.

6. The multi-stage positive displacement vacuum pump according to claim 1, wherein the intermediate stage comprises one of a stage adjacent to the inlet stage or adjacent but one to the inlet stage.

7. The multi-stage positive displacement vacuum pump according to claim 1, wherein the multi-stage positive displacement vacuum pump is configured to pump at a higher gas flow rate through the first inlet than through the intermediate inlet.

8. The multi-stage positive displacement vacuum pump according to claim 7, wherein the multi-stage positive displacement pump is configured to pump a gas flow rate through the first inlet that is over ten times higher than a gas flow rate through the intermediate inlet.

9. The multi-stage positive displacement vacuum pump according to claim 8, wherein the vacuum pump is configured to pump a gas flow rate through the first inlet of between 5 and 10 slm.

10. The multi-stage positive displacement vacuum pump according to claim 7, wherein the vacuum pump is configured to provide a vacuum at the first inlet of between 3 and 5 mbar and at the intermediate inlet at a pressure suitable for backing a secondary pump.

11. The multi-stage positive displacement vacuum pump according to claim 10, wherein the pressure provided at the intermediate inlet is between 0.8 and 10 mbar.

12. The multi-stage positive displacement vacuum pump according to claim 10, wherein the pressure provided at the intermediate inlet is between 0.8 and 2.5 mbar.

13. A method of differentially pumping multiple vacuum chambers in a vacuum system, the method comprising: connecting the first inlet of the multi-stage positive displacement vacuum pump according to claim 7 to a lower vacuum chamber; and connecting the intermediate inlet to an exhaust of a high vacuum pump pumping a higher vacuum chamber.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the vacuum system comprises a mass spectrometry system where pressure is reduced in stages through consecutive vacuum chambers, the vacuum chambers being connected via a restriction to control flow between the vacuum chambers.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described further, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(2) FIG. 1 schematically shows a multi-stage positive displacement pump according to the prior art.

(3) FIG. 2 schematically shows a multi-stage positive displacement pump according to a first embodiment.

(4) FIG. 3 schematically shows a positive displacement vacuum pump according to a second embodiment.

(5) FIG. 4 schematically shows a positive displacement vacuum pump according to a third embodiment.

(6) FIG. 5 shows a prior art multi-stage pump and the same pump adapted to form a multi-stage vacuum pump according to an embodiment.

(7) FIG. 6 shows multiple vacuum chambers of a mass spectrometer that is suitable for pumping by a vacuum pump according to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(8) Before discussing the embodiments in any more detail, first an overview will be provided.

(9) A multi-stage positive-displacement vacuum pump such as a Roots pump can be configured with multiple inlets providing access to different stages of the pump. In this way what is effectively multiple pumps is provided within one pump housing.

(10) These multiple inlets can be connected to different chambers and provide differential pumping of these chambers, such that pumping to different vacuums are provided by each inlet.

(11) Such a pump may be provided by reconfiguring a conventional multi-stage pump to add an inlet to an intermediate stage and in some embodiments, to provide a diversion channel to divert the flow from the inlet stage around the intermediate stage. In this way what was previously a single pump with multiple stages is reconfigured to be effectively two pumps each with all or a subset of the stages of the original pump. The later stages towards the exhaust end are shared between the two pumps, while where there is a diversion channel, the earlier stages are specific to one of the two pumps.

(12) FIG. 1 schematically shows a seven stage vacuum pump according to the prior art. As can be seen the stages of the vacuum pump progressively decrease in size as the pressure within the pump increases. The gas input inlet 10 is pumped through subsequent stages to exhaust 30 and is input at inlet 10 at a relatively low pressure and is output at exhaust 30 at atmospheric pressure. This pump may be a Roots or claw pump.

(13) FIG. 2 shows a similar seven stage vacuum pump according to an embodiment. This pump has a first inlet 10 connected to inlet stage 12 and an additional inlet 20 that provides access to an intermediate stage 22 of the pump. There are a further 5 stages, 32, 42, 52, 62 and 72 of the pump and an exhaust 30.

(14) In this embodiment, gas from inlet 10 does not flow from the inlet stage 12 to the subsequent stage 22 as it does in the prior art pump, but is rather diverted along a diversion channel to the next but one stage 32. The stage 22 that the first gas flow is diverted around has an intermediate inlet 20 which receives a second gas flow. The diversion channel provides some isolation between inlet 20 and inlet 10 and allows the pressure at inlet 20 to not be so directly affected by the pressure of the gas output from the inlet stage 12 of the pump. Gas received at inlet 20 is compressed at the intermediate stage 22 and is sent on to the subsequent stage 32 where it combines with the gas input at inlet 10 and compressed by stage 12. The combined gas flow is then pumped through the pump to the exhaust 30. In this way, differential pumping via inlets 10 and 20 can be provided by a single pump.

(15) In effect the single seven stage pump acts as two six stage pumps. One of the six stage pumps, pumps gas from inlet 10 via inlet stage 12 through stages 32, 42, 52, 62 and 72 to exhaust 30. The other six stage pump, pumps gas from inlet 20 via intermediate stage 22, through stages 32, 42, 52, 62, 72 to exhaust 30. Thus, in this embodiment stages, 32, 42, 52, 62 and 72 are shared stages that pump the gas input from both inlets, while input stage 12 pumps gas exclusively input from inlet 10 and intermediate stage 22 pumps gas exclusively input from gas inlet 20.

(16) FIG. 3 shows an alternative embodiment where the intermediate stage 22 does not output to the subsequent stage 32 in the conventional way, but has a diversion channel such that the flow is diverted back to the inlet stage 12 where it mixes with gas from inlet 10. A further diversion channel then diverts the gas flow output from this stage 12 around the stage 22 of the intermediate inlet to the subsequent stage 32. In this way, the pressure of the gas input at inlet 20 can be higher than that input at gas inlet 10. Furthermore, the larger size of stage 12 compared to stage 22 makes the pump suitable for pumping a higher flow rate from inlet 10 and a lower flow rate from inlet 20. In this way, the pump is adapted to effectively differentially pump a higher flow rate, lower vacuum gas flow via inlet 10 and a higher vacuum, lower flow rate gas via inlet 20. This makes it particularly suitable for certain multiple chamber vacuum systems such as those used in mass spectrometers. In effect a seven stage pump with inlet 20 and exhaust 30 and a six stage pump with inlet 10 and exhaust 30 are provided.

(17) FIG. 4 schematically shows an alternative embodiment where the intermediate inlet 20 is provided in a later intermediate stage 32 of the multiple stage vacuum pump and combines with the gas pumped from the first inlet 10 at this intermediate stage 32. Such an arrangement would provide effective pumping where the gas flow at the intermediate inlet 20 is significantly lower than the gas flow at the first inlet 10.

(18) FIG. 5 schematically shows a multi-stage Roots pump of the prior art and the same pump adapted to form a multiple inlet multi-stage Roots pump according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 2. In particular, the port for gas flow between the inlet stage 12 and the second stage 22 of the prior art pump is blocked and a diversion channel or bypass duct is provided to the subsequent stage 32. Additionally, a port 20 is provided as an the intermediate inlet to the second stage 22. Adapting a pump in this way allows a conventional multi-stage positive displacement pump, such as a Roots, claw or screw pump to be adapted to provide a multiple inlet pump providing differential pumping at the multiple inlets.

(19) In alternative embodiments, the pump may be designed with amended stage sizes to operate as a multi-stage positive displacement pump with multiple inlets. In this regard, admitting gas to an intermediate inlet and pumping a combined gas flow through some of the stages, will increase the loading on the pump where the combined pumping occurs. This may be acceptable in a conventionally sized pump where the gas flow rate admitted at the intermediate inlet is significantly smaller than that admitted at the first inlet. In such a case, a simple adaptation of a conventional pump can be made to provide the differential pumping functionality as shown in FIG. 5. If, however, a gas flow rate at the intermediate inlet that is more comparable to the gas flow rate at the main inlet is to be supported, then it may be that an adapted pump with increased stage sizes for the combined flow is required.

(20) FIG. 6 shows a multiple vacuum chamber system to which pumps according to an embodiment may be attached to provide effective differential pumping of the different vacuum chambers. In this case, the system is a mass spectrometry system and the chambers each have orifices of a fixed size to control the flow rate into each of them. The primary inlet chamber 84 comprises an inlet orifice 80 and is held at a first vacuum and is pumped by a pump according to an embodiment via inlet 10, while the higher vacuum chamber 86 which is connected to the primary inlet chamber 84 via internal orifice 82 is pumped by a turbo pump which is backed by a pump according to an embodiment via intermediate inlet 20. The gas flow rate Q1 pumped from the primary chamber is significantly higher than that Q2 pumped from the higher vacuum chamber.

(21) Thus, a pump according to an embodiment is attached at inlet 10 to the primary pumping line and the backing pumping line is attached to inlet 20. In some embodiments, the primary pumping line has a flow rate Q1 of 9 slm while the backing line has a significantly smaller flow rate Q2 of 0.5 slm. In this example, the volume of the two chambers is the order of ½ litre and the pressure in the primary inlet chamber is 4 mbar while the pressure required for backing the turbo pump is 2 mbar.

(22) Thus, in this system where differential pumping is required and the flow rate from one chamber is significantly lower than the flow rate from the other, a single multi-stage positive displacement pump can effectively provide this differential pumping. In this regard, although the significantly lower flow rate is at a higher vacuum, and thus, it might seem that a multiple stage positive displacement pump with decreasing pump stages might not be suitable, this can be addressed by the use of diversion channels, which allow the higher vacuum, lower flow rate gas flow to be input to a smaller stage, and the lower vacuum, higher gas flow rate gas flow to be diverted around this stage. This provides improved independent control of the pressure of the two input stages.

(23) It should be noted that although embodiments of these pumps are particularly effective at providing differential pumping of multiple vacuum chambers in a consecutively increasing vacuum system, they may also be used to provide differential pumping of other systems. Furthermore, although systems with only an inlet port and one intermediate port have been shown, further systems with additional intermediate ports may be provided. In such a case, it may be advantageous to have an increased number of stages.

(24) Although in the embodiment shown the pump is a seven stage pump, a pump of four or more stages could operate with an additional intermediate inlet, and the number of stages selected will depend on the pumping requirements.

(25) In embodiments, the pumps are used most effectively on gas flows that are limited by the system being pumped. This enables a large gas load during pump down to be avoided and running conditions to be provided that have a fairly constant gas load. Such conditions allow a positive displacement pump with one or more intermediate ports to function effectively and provide differential pumping of two or more chambers. Systems such as mass spectrometry systems have such characteristics and are conventionally pumped by multiple vacuum pumps. Being able to provide a reduced number of pumps to provide effective pumping of such systems is advantageous.

(26) Although illustrative embodiments of the disclosure have been disclosed in detail herein, with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is understood that the disclosure is not limited to the precise embodiment and that various changes and modifications can be effected therein by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.