Vacuum pumping

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12129841-B2
Application number	US-202017428918-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 20, 2020
Priority date	Feb 20, 2019
Publication date	Oct 29, 2024
Grant date	Oct 29, 2024

Abstract

A vacuum pumping apparatus may include: a common pumping line having a plurality of pumping line inlets and a pumping line outlet, each pumping line inlet being configured to couple with an outlet of an associated plurality of vacuum processing chambers; at least one primary vacuum pump in fluid communication with the pumping line outlet to pump gas from each vacuum processing chamber; and control logic operable to control operation of the primary vacuum pump in response to an indication of an operating state of the plurality of vacuum processing chambers. In this way, the performance of the primary vacuum pump can be adjusted to match the load provided by the processing chambers and when there is an excess capacity, the performance of the primary vacuum pumps can be reduced, which can lead to significant energy savings and reduce wear on the pump.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A vacuum pumping apparatus comprising:
a common pumping line having a plurality of pumping line inlets and a pumping line outlet, each pumping line inlet being configured to be coupled with an outlet of an associated vacuum processing chamber of a plurality of vacuum processing chambers;
at least one primary vacuum pump in a fluid communication with the pumping line outlet to pump a process gas from each vacuum processing chamber; and
a control logic operable to control an operation of the at least one primary vacuum pump and a downstream abatement apparatus in response to an indication of an operating state of the plurality of vacuum processing chambers, wherein the control logic is operable to vary an amount of diluent gas supplied to the at least one primary vacuum pump based on the indication of the operating state of the plurality of vacuum processing chambers.

2. The vacuum pumping apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the control logic is operable to vary an operating speed of the at least one primary vacuum pump in response to the indication of the operating state of the plurality of vacuum processing chambers.

3. The vacuum pumping apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the control logic is operable to vary an operating speed to match a gas pumping rate of the at least one primary vacuum pump to an indicated gas flow rate from the plurality of vacuum processing chambers.

4. The vacuum pumping apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one primary vacuum pump comprises a plurality of primary vacuum pumps, and wherein the control logic is operable to deactivate the at least one of the plurality of primary vacuum pumps in response to the indication of the operating state of the plurality of vacuum processing chambers.

5. The-vacuum pumping apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the-control logic is operable to vary an amount of energy supplied to the downstream abatement apparatus in response to the indication of the operating state of the plurality of vacuum processing chambers.

6. The vacuum pumping apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the indication of the operating state indicates a process gas flow rate through the plurality of vacuum processing chambers.

7. The vacuum pumping apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the indication of the operating state is provided by at least one of a pressure sensor or a flow control valve coupled with a respective pumping line inlet of the plurality of pumping line inlets.

8. The vacuum pumping apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising secondary vacuum pumps coupled between the plurality of pumping line inlets and the plurality of vacuum pumping chambers and the indication of the operating state is provided by one of a power consumption and speed of the secondary vacuum pumps.

9. A vacuum pumping apparatus comprising:
a common pumping line having a plurality of pumping line inlets and a pumping line outlet, each pumping line inlet being configured to be coupled with an outlet of an associated vacuum processing chamber of a plurality of vacuum processing chambers;
at least one primary vacuum pump in a fluid communication with the pumping line outlet to pump a gas from each vacuum processing chamber; and
a control logic operable to control an operation of the at least one primary vacuum pump in response to an indication of an operating state of the plurality of vacuum processing chambers, a manifold operable to selectively couple each vacuum processing chamber with the common pumping line and the at least one further common pumping line, and
wherein the indication of the operating state of the plurality of vacuum processing chambers provides an indication of a configuration of the manifold.

10. A method comprising:
coupling a plurality of pumping line inlets of a common pumping line with an associated outlet of a vacuum processing chamber of a plurality of vacuum processing chambers;
coupling a pumping line outlet of the common pumping line with at least one primary vacuum pump to pump a process gas from each vacuum processing chamber;
and controlling an operation of the at least one primary vacuum pump and a downstream abatement apparatus in response to an indication of an operating state of the plurality of vacuum processing chambers, wherein controlling the operation of the at least one primary vacuum pump comprises varying an amount of diluent gas supplied to the at least one primary vacuum pump based on the indication of the operating state of the plurality of vacuum processing chambers.

Assignees

• Edwards Ltd

Inventors

• Shelley Gerald Robin
• Stammers Peter George
• Roberts Brian Stuart Blakeley

Classifications

• F04D27/0261

  by varying driving speed · CPC title

• F04D27/004

  by varying driving speed · CPC title

• F04D19/04

  specially adapted to the production of a high vacuum, e.g. molecular pumps · CPC title

• F04D17/168

  Pumps specially adapted to produce a vacuum · CPC title

• F04D15/0027 Primary

  Varying behaviour or the very pump (F04D15/0055 and F04D29/46 take precedence) · CPC title