US 11,719,231 B2
Method for operating a vacuum pump system
Matthias Nahrwold, Cologne (DE); Michael Pajonk, Hürth (DE); Dirk Schiller, Hürth (DE); Daniel Reinhard, Cologne (DE); and Sebastian Walzel, Unna (DE)
Assigned to LEYBOLD GMBH, Cologne (DE)
Appl. No. 16/463,602
Filed by Leybold GmbH, Cologne (DE)
PCT Filed Nov. 10, 2017, PCT No. PCT/EP2017/078852
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date May 23, 2019,
PCT Pub. No. WO2018/099710, PCT Pub. Date Jun. 7, 2018.
Claims priority of application No. 10 2016 223782.9 (DE), filed on Nov. 30, 2016.
Prior Publication US 2021/0381499 A1, Dec. 9, 2021
Int. Cl. F04B 37/14 (2006.01); F04B 35/04 (2006.01); F04B 49/06 (2006.01); F04B 49/20 (2006.01); F04C 25/02 (2006.01); F04C 28/08 (2006.01); F04C 28/24 (2006.01)
CPC F04B 37/14 (2013.01) [F04B 35/04 (2013.01); F04B 49/065 (2013.01); F04B 49/20 (2013.01); F04C 25/02 (2013.01); F04C 28/08 (2013.01); F04C 28/24 (2013.01); F04B 2201/021 (2013.01); F04B 2201/0601 (2013.01); F04B 2201/0604 (2013.01); F04B 2203/0201 (2013.01); F04B 2203/0209 (2013.01); F04B 2203/0211 (2013.01)] 6 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for operating a vacuum pump system for evacuating a chamber connected to a processing chamber,
wherein said vacuum pump system comprises vacuum pump equipment including at least one vacuum pump, a valve device arranged between said vacuum pump equipment and said chamber, and a controller, wherein the method comprises:
determining at least one cyclically occurring operating parameter of said vacuum pump system via said controller, and
reducing temporally a rotational speed of the at least one vacuum pump of said vacuum pump equipment before said valve device is opened via said controller,
wherein a cycle length is determined by said controller as a period of time between two identical changes of the at least one cyclically occurring operating parameter, such that said controller is self-learning so as to automatically determine, even in the case of changing processes, a new cycle length,
wherein, on a basis of the at least one cyclically occurring operating parameter, a load duration is determined during which the chamber is evacuated to a predetermined vacuum,
wherein, at a point in time after the load duration and before an end of the cycle length, the rotational speed of the at least one vacuum pump is reduced via said controller, and the rotational speed remains reduced for a remaining cycle length, and
wherein between the load duration and the point in time after the load duration, the rotational speed of the at least one vacuum pump of said vacuum pump equipment is not reduced.