Low Pressure Cold Trap Process And Apparatus Patents (Class 62/55.5)
  • Patent number: 12140130
    Abstract: A cryopump comprising: a pump inlet, a two stage refrigerator; a first stage array thermally coupled to a first stage of said two stage refrigerator; and a cryopanel structure coupled to a second stage of said two stage refrigerator is disclosed. The cryopanel structure comprises at least three flat panels. The first stage array is mounted between the pump inlet and the cryopanel structure, and comprises a plurality of slats, the plurality of slats each being mounted such that a side of each of the plurality of slats closest to the cryopanel structure is substantially aligned and offset longitudinally with respect to a corresponding one of said at least three flat panels.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 12, 2024
    Assignee: Edwards Vacuum LLC
    Inventor: Gerald Szarek
  • Patent number: 12104584
    Abstract: A cryopump includes a cryocooler; a cryopanel cooled by the cryocooler; a cryopump container supporting the cryocooler and accommodating the cryopanel; a temperature sensor that measures a temperature of the cryopanel and outputs a measured temperature signal indicating the temperature; a pressure sensor that measures an internal pressure of the cryopump container and outputs a measured pressure signal indicating the internal pressure; a pressure rise rate comparator that compares a pressure rise rate of the cryopump container with a first pressure rise rate threshold; and a cryocooler controller that controls the cryocooler to lower the temperature of the cryopanel. The pressure rise rate comparator compares the pressure rise rate of the cryopump container with a second pressure rise rate threshold. The second pressure region is lower than the first pressure region. The second pressure rise rate threshold is smaller than the first pressure rise rate threshold.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 4, 2021
    Date of Patent: October 1, 2024
    Assignee: SUMITOMO HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventor: Kakeru Takahashi
  • Patent number: 12060873
    Abstract: A cryopump includes a cryopump container, a pressure sensor that measures a pressure in the cryopump container and generates time-series pressure data indicating the measured pressure, a vent valve that is provided on the cryopump container, is electrically operable to open and close, and is capable of being mechanically opened by a differential pressure between inside and outside the cryopump container, and a controller that, during cryopump regeneration, detects stabilization of the measured pressure based on the time-series pressure data from the pressure sensor and controls the vent valve to open upon detection of the stabilization of the measured pressure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 13, 2024
    Assignee: SUMITOMO HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventor: Kakeru Takahashi
  • Patent number: 12049882
    Abstract: A cryopump with a pump inlet; a two stage refrigerator; a first stage array arranged thermally coupled to a first stage of the two stage refrigerator; and a cryopanel structure coupled to a second stage of the two stage refrigerator. Surfaces of the cryopanel structure have portions that are coated portion with an adsorbent material and other portions that are not coated with the adsorbent material.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 6, 2021
    Date of Patent: July 30, 2024
    Assignee: Edwards Vacuum LLC
    Inventor: Gerald Szarek
  • Patent number: 12031682
    Abstract: A cryogenic cooling system includes a gas circulation source; a cryocooler including a cryocooler stage that cools the cooling gas; an object-to-be-cooled gas flow path; a gas supply line that supplies a cooling gas from the gas circulation source via the cryocooler stage to the object-to-be-cooled gas flow path; a gas recovery line that recovers the cooling gas from the object-to-be-cooled gas flow path to the gas circulation source; at least one temperature sensor installed at a measurement location away from the object-to-be-cooled gas flow path along the gas supply line and/or a measurement location installed away from the object-to-be-cooled gas flow path along the gas recovery line; and a gas flow rate control unit that controls the gas circulation source to adjust a flow rate of the cooling gas flowing through the object-to-be-cooled gas flow path in accordance with a measured temperature at at least one measurement location.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 23, 2020
    Date of Patent: July 9, 2024
    Assignee: SUMITOMO HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Yuta Ebara, Takaaki Morie, Jyun Yoshida
  • Patent number: 12007152
    Abstract: There is provided a starting method for a cryocooler, the cryocooler including a compressor, a cold head, a high pressure line, and a low pressure line, the method including increasing a volume of the high pressure line when the cold head is at a room temperature, cooling the cold head from the room temperature to a cryogenic temperature while controlling an operation frequency of the compressor based on a pressure of the high pressure line or a differential pressure between the high pressure line and the low pressure line, after the volume of the high pressure line has been increased, decreasing the volume of the high pressure line after the cold head has been cooled to the cryogenic temperature, and maintaining the cold head at the cryogenic temperature after the volume of the high pressure line has been decreased.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 9, 2021
    Date of Patent: June 11, 2024
    Assignee: SUMITOMO HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventor: Shuji Oyama
  • Patent number: 11965624
    Abstract: Apparatus for compressing cryogenic fluid in at least one compression stage comprising at least one piston and at least one sleeve delimiting at least one compression chamber, a shaft that is able to move in translation along a longitudinal axis (A), the shaft being connected to the piston(s) or sleeve(s) and being able to move with an alternating movement in two opposite directions to ensure phases of compression and intake of fluid into the at least one compression chamber by moving the at least one piston and the at least one sleeve in a relative manner, characterized in that the shaft comprises a portion of reduced cross section in the longitudinal direction (A), said portion of reduced cross section separating two adjacent parts of the shaft, the shaft also comprising at least one linking element made of material that is less thermally conductive than the constituent material of the shaft, in particular a composite material, said at least one linking element having two ends connected respectively to the
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 23, 2024
    Assignee: L'Air Liquide, Societe Anonyme Pour l'Etude Et l'Exploitation des Procedes Georges Claude
    Inventors: Guillaume Petitpas, Cyril Benistand-Hector
  • Patent number: 11920576
    Abstract: A cryopump includes an accommodation space for a condensed layer of gas, a first-stage cryopanel having an inner surface of the first-stage cryopanel disposed so as to surround the accommodation space, and a second-stage cryopanel disposed so as to be surrounded by the inner surface of the first-stage cryopanel together with the accommodation space. A first-stage heat load is incident on the inner surface of the first-stage cryopanel from outside the cryopump through an intake port, and the gas enters the accommodation space from outside the cryopump. The first-stage cryopanel is cooled to a temperature higher than a condensation temperature of the gas, the second-stage cryopanel is cooled to a temperature of the condensation temperature or less, and the condensed layer is deposited. The cryopump monitors the amount of condensed gas in the accommodation space based on a change in the first-stage heat load.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 2021
    Date of Patent: March 5, 2024
    Assignee: SUMITOMO HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventor: Takahiro Yatsu
  • Patent number: 11885321
    Abstract: A cryopump includes a cryopanel disposed in a cryopump housing and including a non-combustible adsorbent, a heater heating the non-combustible adsorbent and the cryopanel, a purge valve connecting the cryopump housing to a purge gas source, a rough valve connecting the cryopump housing to a rough pump, a sensor that generates a measurement signal indicating a temperature of the non-combustible adsorbent or an internal pressure of the cryopump housing, and a controller that controls at least one of the heater, the purge valve, and the rough valve based on the measurement signal so as to execute either a sublimation regeneration sequence for sublimating water from the non-combustible adsorbent by exposing the non-combustible adsorbent to a vacuum atmosphere or a dehydration sequence for dehydrating the non-combustible adsorbent by exposing the non-combustible adsorbent to a dry atmosphere at room temperature or a temperature higher than the room temperature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 27, 2022
    Date of Patent: January 30, 2024
    Assignee: SUMITOMO HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Takahiro Yatsu, Toshiyuki Kimura
  • Patent number: 11852126
    Abstract: A cryopump system includes a plurality of cryopumps, each cryopump including a rough valve connecting the cryopump to a common rough pump and a pressure sensor measuring a pressure in the cryopump, and a controller that controls, for each cryopump, the rough valve based on a measured pressure from the pressure sensor such that the cryopump is decompressed to a first reference pressure by the common rough pump and thereafter a vacuum is maintained in the cryopump, and the cryopump is further decompressed to a second reference pressure lower than the first reference pressure by the common rough pump. The controller is configured to, based on the measured pressure from the pressure sensor of a first cryopump, open the rough valve of a second cryopump such that the second cryopump is decompressed to the first reference pressure while the vacuum is maintained in the first cryopump.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2021
    Date of Patent: December 26, 2023
    Assignee: SUMITOMO HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventors: Shuhei Gotanda, Kakeru Takahashi
  • Patent number: 11830701
    Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for evacuating a chamber 101. The evacuation system comprises a cooler 320 coupled with the chamber and a controller 350. The controller is configured to determine whether a property of the cooler or the chamber satisfies one or more conditions. Based on the determination that the property satisfies the one or more conditions, the controller is configured to isolate the cooler from the chamber or control the temperature of the cooler to increase at one or more rates. The controller is further configured to control one or more pumps 330,340 to pump the chamber to a base pressure value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 8, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2023
    Assignee: ASML Netherlands B.V.
    Inventor: Fangfu Li
  • Patent number: 11828521
    Abstract: A cryopump includes: a cryocooler which includes a high-temperature cooling stage and a low-temperature cooling stage; a radiation shield which surrounds the low-temperature cooling stage, extends in an axial direction, and is thermally coupled to the high-temperature cooling stage; a plurality of adsorption cryopanels which are disposed between a cryopump intake port and the low-temperature cooling stage in the axial direction and are thermally coupled to the low-temperature cooling stage; and a condensation cryopanel which is disposed between the radiation shield and the plurality of adsorption cryopanels in a radial direction, is thermally coupled to the low-temperature cooling stage, and has a tubular shape extending in the axial direction and being open at both ends.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 2, 2020
    Date of Patent: November 28, 2023
    Assignee: SUMITOMO HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventor: Shuhei Gotanda
  • Patent number: 11761696
    Abstract: A cryocooler includes a motion conversion mechanism that converts rotating motion output by a motor into linear reciprocating motion of a displacer and includes a first component and a second component slidably connected to each other, a measuring instrument that is connected to the motor to output time-series data indicating power consumption of the motor or a current flowing through the motor, and a processing unit that detects abrasion of a sliding surface between a first component and a second component of the motion conversion mechanism on the basis of section data including an intake start timing or an exhaust start timing in the time-series data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 2022
    Date of Patent: September 19, 2023
    Assignee: SUMITOMO HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventor: Takaaki Morie
  • Patent number: 11732703
    Abstract: There is provided a cryopump including a cryocooler, a cryopanel that is cooled by the cryocooler, a cryopump container that includes a container body, which accommodates the cryopanel, and a cryocooler accommodating tube of which one end is coupled to the container body and the other end is fixed to the cryocooler and into which the cryocooler is inserted, a vent valve for exhausting a fluid from the cryopump container, a first exhaust passage that includes a first exhaust port provided in the container body, is disposed outside the cryopump container, and connects the first exhaust port to the vent valve, and a second exhaust passage that includes a second exhaust port provided in the cryocooler accommodating tube, connects the second exhaust port to the vent valve, and merges with the first exhaust passage between the first exhaust port and the vent valve.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 30, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2023
    Assignee: SUMITOMO HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventor: Takahiro Yatsu
  • Patent number: 11619215
    Abstract: Provided is a cryopump including a cryopump vacuum chamber, a cryocooler, a first flange fixed to the cryopump vacuum chamber, a second flange fixed to the cryocooler and airtightly connected to the first flange, and an annular laminated vibration isolation body in which a first annular vibration isolation material, a first annular support member, an intermediate annular vibration isolation material, a second annular support member, and a second annular vibration isolation material are disposed in this order from the first flange toward the second flange. The second annular support member and the first annular support member are fixed to the first flange and the second flange, respectively, such that the first flange and the second annular support member are vibration-isolated from the second flange and the first annular support member.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 1, 2021
    Date of Patent: April 4, 2023
    Assignee: SUMITOMO HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventor: Takahiro Nakanishi
  • Patent number: 11578707
    Abstract: A method for using a shape memory alloy (SMA) with a non-evaporable getter (NEG) employed in a vacuum device is disclosed. The method comprises coupling a NEG component to a SMA component to form an NEG/SMA assembly pair; heating the NEG/SMA assembly pair to activate the NEG component; and packaging the activated NEG component with the SMA component to form an NEG/SMA package having a gas tight seal. The method further comprises installing the NEG/SMA package in the vacuum device; and heating the installed NEG/SMA package such that the SMA component is actuated to expose the activated NEG component to a vacuum chamber in the vacuum device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 28, 2022
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2023
    Assignee: Honeywell International Inc.
    Inventors: John Downs, Mahdi Mohajeri, Bahram Jadidian
  • Patent number: 11489231
    Abstract: Embodiments of the present application provide a battery, a power consumption device, a method and a device for producing the battery. The battery includes: a battery cell, including a pressure relief mechanism, wherein the pressure relief mechanism is disposed on a first wall of the battery cell; a thermal management component, wherein a first surface of the thermal management component is attached to the first wall, and the thermal management component is provided with a pressure relief hole opposite to the pressure relief mechanism; and a baffle configured to cover a part of the pressure relief hole, so that when the pressure relief mechanism is actuated, a discharge direction of the emissions entering the pressure relief hole is changed. The battery, the power consumption device, the method and the device for producing the battery provided in the embodiments of the present application can enhance safety of batteries.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 2021
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2022
    Assignee: CONTEMPORARY AMPEREX TECHNOLOGY CO., LIMITED
    Inventors: Xianda Li, Xiaobo Chen, Yao Li, Lu Hu, Jinru Yue, Piaopiao Yang, Mingguang Gu
  • Patent number: 11425841
    Abstract: Devices, systems, methods, and computer-implemented methods to facilitate employing thermalizing materials in an enclosure for quantum computing devices are provided. According to an embodiment, a system can comprise a quantum computing device and an enclosure having the quantum computing device disposed within the enclosure. The system can further comprise a thermalizing material disposed within the enclosure, with the thermalizing material being adapted to thermally link a cryogenic device to the quantum computing device.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 5, 2019
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2022
    Assignee: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Sean Hart, Daniela Florentina Bogorin, Nicholas Torleiv Bronn, Patryk Gumann, Salvatore Bernardo Olivadese
  • Patent number: 11280340
    Abstract: A vacuum pump, vacuum pump arrangement and method are disclosed. The vacuum pump includes at least one rotor; and a stator, an inlet for receiving gas during operation; and an exhaust for exhausting the gas. The vacuum pump includes a shaft extending through a centre of said pump and comprising a plate mounted on an end of the shaft towards the inlet. The vacuum pump includes control circuitry configured to control an axial position of the plate, a change in axial position of the plate providing a change in inlet conductance of gas to the vacuum pump. The plate is mounted such that it extends beyond the inlet in at least some axial positions of the rotor such that the plate is not on the same side of the inlet as the stator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 8, 2019
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2022
    Assignee: Edwards Limited
    Inventors: Ian David Stones, Christopher Mark Bailey
  • Patent number: 11047374
    Abstract: A cryopump includes a cryopump flange for attachment to the flange on a gate valve, and an annular baffle that axially extends toward the gate valve from the cryopump flange such that the annular baffle forms an annular orifice in association with a valve plate component of the gate valve. The annular orifice may be defined between an upper surface of the annular baffle and the valve plate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 14, 2018
    Date of Patent: June 29, 2021
    Assignee: SUMITOMO HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventor: Ken Oikawa
  • Patent number: 11043388
    Abstract: The present disclosure provides a semiconductor fabrication apparatus. The semiconductor apparatus includes a processing chamber; a substrate stage provided in the processing chamber and being configured to secure and rotate a semiconductor wafer; a gas injector configured to inject a chemical to the processing chamber; a window attached to the gas injector; and an adjustable fastening device coupled with the gas injector and the window.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 26, 2019
    Date of Patent: June 22, 2021
    Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.
    Inventors: Yung-Shun Hsu, Ching-Yu Chang, Chiao-Kai Chang, Wai Hong Cheah, Chien-Fang Lin
  • Patent number: 10943761
    Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for evacuating a chamber 101. The evacuation system comprises a cooler 320 coupled with the chamber and a controller 350. The controller is configured to determine whether a property of the cooler or the chamber satisfies one or more conditions. Based on the determination that the property satisfies the one or more conditions, the controller is configured to isolate the cooler from the chamber or control the temperature of the cooler to increase at one or more rates. The controller is further configured to control one or more pumps 330,340 to pump the chamber to a base pressure value.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 2, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 9, 2021
    Assignee: ASML Netherlands B.V.
    Inventor: Fangfu Li
  • Patent number: 10794536
    Abstract: A method for generating an insulating vacuum in a container is provided. The method includes evacuating air from a space between double walls of the container for a first predetermined time period. The method also includes after the first predetermined time period, if a vacuum level within the space has not reached a first predetermined vacuum level, purging the space by supplying a gas into the space and subsequently evacuating the air from the space for a period of time equal to the first predetermined time period. The method also includes repeating the evacuating and purging until the vacuum level within the space reaches the first predetermined vacuum level. The method also includes when the vacuum level within the space reaches the first predetermined vacuum level, evacuating the air from the space for a second predetermined time period.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 30, 2017
    Date of Patent: October 6, 2020
    Assignee: CRYOGENIC FUELS INC.
    Inventor: Roy E. Adkins
  • Patent number: 10760562
    Abstract: A cryopump includes a refrigerator with at least first and second stages. A radiation shield surrounds the second stage and is in thermal contact with the first stage. The radiation shield includes a drain hole to permit cryogenic fluid to traverse through the drain hole during regeneration. The cryopump also includes a primary pumping surface supporting adsorbent in thermal contact with the second stage. The second stage array assembly includes a primary condensing surface, protected surfaces having adsorbent, and non-primary condensing surfaces. A baffle is disposed over the drain hole. The baffle redirects gas from an annular space disposed between the radiation shield and the vacuum vessel that attempts to traverse through the drain hole to prevent the gas from condensing on a non-primary condensing surface. The baffle directs gas to condense on the primary condensing surface.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 15, 2008
    Date of Patent: September 1, 2020
    Assignee: Edwards Vacuum LLC
    Inventors: Allen J. Bartlett, Michael A. Driscoll, Michael J. Eacobacci, Jr., William L. Johnson, Robert P. Sullivan, Sergei Syssoev, Mark A. Stira, John J. Casello
  • Patent number: 10677499
    Abstract: A multi-stage closed-cycle cryogenic refrigeration system is disclosed. The system includes an adsorption refrigerator having a multi-chambered pump unit that can be flexibly configured in the context of the cryogenic refrigeration system resulting in a more efficient design that has a smaller overall size than prior systems and other advantages.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 2, 2017
    Date of Patent: June 9, 2020
    Assignee: Photon Spot, Inc.
    Inventors: Vikas Anant, Brian Siu-Fung Ma
  • Patent number: 10583908
    Abstract: A sea water cooling system including a first fluid cooling loop coupled to a first side of a heat exchanger and to a thermal load, a second fluid cooling loop coupled to a second side of the heat exchanger and including a pump for circulating fluid through the second fluid cooling loop, and a controller operatively connected to the pump, wherein the controller is configured to monitor an actual temperature in the first fluid cooling loop and to adjust a speed of the pump based on the monitored temperature to achieve a predetermined temperature in the first fluid cooling loop. The system may be selectively operable in one of a plurality of operating modes, wherein in a first operating mode the pump operates based entirely on cooling demands of the thermal load, and in a second operating mode the pump operates to maintain a fluid pressure above a predefined pressure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 5, 2018
    Date of Patent: March 10, 2020
    Assignee: CIRCOR PUMPS NORTH AMERICA, LLC
    Inventors: Dan Yin, Stefan Werner, Christian Martin, Martin Hoffmann, David McKinstry
  • Patent number: 10550830
    Abstract: A cryopump includes a second cryopanel unit which is thermally connected to a second cooling stage of a cryocooler, a radiation shield which includes a shield main opening, a shield side opening, and a shield bottom opening, and a cryopump housing having a housing bottom portion which faces the shield bottom opening. A dimension of the shield bottom opening is larger than a distance from the second cryopanel unit to the housing bottom portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 5, 2017
    Date of Patent: February 4, 2020
    Assignee: SUMITOMO HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventor: Kakeru Takahashi
  • Patent number: 10520561
    Abstract: A system for hyperpolarizing a substance is provided. The system includes a cryostat, a polarizer, and a shuttle. The cryostat is operative to generate radicals within the substance by exposing the substance to electromagnetic radiation. The polarizer is operative to hyperpolarize the substance via the radicals, and to quench the radicals within the substance by adjusting a temperature of the substance after the substance has been hyperpolarized. The shuttle is operative to transport the substance while maintaining hyperpolarization of the substance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 2017
    Date of Patent: December 31, 2019
    Assignees: GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, MEMORIAL SLOAN KETTERING CANCER CENTER
    Inventors: Arnaud Comment, Albert P. Chen, Kayvan Rahimi Keshari
  • Patent number: 10456706
    Abstract: A cryopump includes a cryopump including: a refrigerator; a first cryopanel including a radiation shield; and a second cryopanel enclosed by the first cryopanel and cooled to a lower temperature than that of the first cryopanel. The radiation shield includes an attaching pedestal located lateral to the second cryopanel for attachment of the refrigerator to the radiation shield, and a shield portion adjacent to the attaching pedestal and enclosing the second cryopanel. A lateral gap is formed between the second cryopanel and the attaching pedestal. A gap part continuing into the lateral gap is formed between the second cryopanel and the shield portion. The second cryopanel is shaped and/or located such that the lateral gap is comparable in width to the gap part.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 11, 2014
    Date of Patent: October 29, 2019
    Assignee: SUMITOMO HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventor: Ken Oikawa
  • Patent number: 10100821
    Abstract: A cold trap includes a cold panel, a cryocooler which cools the cold panel, a stage temperature control unit which determines a control input to the cryocooler to cool a cooling stage of the cryocooler to a target temperature, an input heat estimation unit which estimates an increase of input heat into the cold panel based on the control input to the cryocooler determined by the stage temperature control unit, and a target temperature adjustment unit which adjusts a target temperature based on the increase of the input heat estimated by the input heat estimation unit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 16, 2015
    Date of Patent: October 16, 2018
    Assignee: SUMITOMO HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventor: Takahiro Yatsu
  • Patent number: 10030640
    Abstract: A cryopump includes a first cryopanel including a radiation shield and a plate member across a shield opening and a second cryopanel enclosed by the first cryopanel and cooled to a lower temperature than that of the first cryopanel. The plate member includes a plate main portion and a plate peripheral portion adapted to attach the plate main portion to the radiation shield. The plate main portion includes a gas passing region having a multitude of pores through which gases pass to be condensed on the second cryopanel and a gas shielding region formed at a different position in the plate main portion from that of the gas passing region.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2014
    Date of Patent: July 24, 2018
    Assignee: SUMITOMO HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventor: Ken Oikawa
  • Patent number: 10005033
    Abstract: Disclosed is a mass selective fluid bandpass filter. This filter provides for selecting gas molecules of a specific mass from a gas sample containing molecules of two or more mass species. This provides for a low power, low cost apparatus for producing 3He from terrestrial sources of helium gas by selective enrichment. This invention further discloses a portable, field deployable means of 3He/4He ratio determination employing one or more of the effects consisting of: statistical linear regression plots of heat ramps, variable emission currents within a quadruple mass spectrometer, use of a quadrupole mass spectrometer in concert with ultrahigh vacuum maintained by non-evaporable getter pumps, and/or construction of vacuum housing structures from non-steel or non-stainless steel alloys, and or non metallic materials selected from a group consisting of: aluminum, titanium, ceramics, or glass. This provides a compact, sensitive field deployable unit with low power consumption.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 29, 2016
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2018
    Assignees: Pacific Environment Technologies, LLC
    Inventors: Gary Michael McMurtry, James Robert DeLuze
  • Patent number: 9926920
    Abstract: A cryopump includes a top cryopanel that partitions a shield cavity into a shield cavity upper portion and a shield cavity lower portion. A radiation shield includes a shield main slit that communicates a shield outside gap into the shield cavity lower portion. The radiation shield may include a shield auxiliary slit that is formed at a different position from that of the shield main slit in an axial direction of the cryopump and that communicates the shield outside gap into the shield cavity lower portion. The shield auxiliary slit may be formed between the top cryopanel and the shield main slit in the axial direction.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2016
    Date of Patent: March 27, 2018
    Assignee: SUMITOMO HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventor: Ken Oikawa
  • Patent number: 9791425
    Abstract: A filed portable analyzer capable of performing both the sampling and analytical procedures required by U.S. EPA Method 25 utilizing a small volume injection of sample onto a cryotrap cooled by a Stirling linear drive charged with helium to replace the field sampling condensate trap. The cryotrap is followed by the specified sorbent column/traps to ensure precise compatibility with prior reported compliance test results. The analytical system utilizes an oxidation catalyst and reduction catalyst to remove the potential for differing response factors on the FID from different compounds.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 14, 2012
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2017
    Inventor: Wayne Allen Stollings
  • Patent number: 9789420
    Abstract: A cold trap includes a duct, which is for connecting a volume to be evacuated to a vacuum pump, and a cold panel surrounded by the duct. The duct includes an inlet flange at an evacuation target side and an outlet flange at a vacuum pump side. The outlet flange is arranged at a distance from the inlet flange in the extending direction of the duct. The inlet flange has an outer diameter larger than an outer diameter of the outlet flange.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 23, 2013
    Date of Patent: October 17, 2017
    Assignee: SUMITOMO HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventor: Ken Oikawa
  • Patent number: 9737828
    Abstract: A cryopump includes a low-temperature cryopanel, a high-temperature cryopanel provided outside the low-temperature cryopanel, and a housing provided outside the high-temperature cryopanel. The high-temperature cryopanel includes an extension panel extending outward. The housing includes an inlet flange surrounding the extension panel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 1, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 22, 2017
    Assignee: SUMITOMO HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD.
    Inventor: Ken Oikawa
  • Patent number: 9719880
    Abstract: A method for testing the tightness of a housing involves providing a pressure sensor in a housing, sealing the housing, and detecting a pressure level in the housing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 12, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 1, 2017
    Assignee: Tesat-Spacecom GmbH & Co. KG
    Inventors: Willibald Konrath, Reinhold Schmitt, Klaus Scholl, Haiko Schmelcher
  • Patent number: 9440165
    Abstract: A method for regenerating a cryopump includes stopping a pressure sensor for the cryopump, starting to heat a cryogenic surface for adsorbing gas molecules, starting the rough evacuation of the cryopump while the pressure sensor is stopped, and terminating the rough evacuation while the pressure sensor is stopped. This method may include activating the pressure sensor after the rough evacuation has been terminated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 1, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 13, 2016
    Assignee: Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd.
    Inventor: Kakeru Takahashi
  • Patent number: 9423386
    Abstract: A method for detecting a chemical species includes providing in a vessel an acidic sample containing an ionic chemical species to be measured where a substrate of the species to be formed is ionizable by radiant energy provided by a photoionization detector in detector system and a headspace above the acidic sample, adding a preselected reducing agent to the aqueous sample and forming an ionizable chemical gas species in the aqueous sample where the ionizable chemical gas species evolves out of the aqueous sample and into the headspace forming a gas sample, moving the gas sample containing the ionizable chemical gas species from the headspace of the vessel out of the vessel and through a precolumn, and moving the gas sample containing the ionizable chemical gas species from the precolumn into one of (1) a detector system or (2) an oxygen-retaining column before the detector system.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 28, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 23, 2016
    Inventor: John N. Driscoll
  • Patent number: 9415325
    Abstract: A cryopump includes: a first panel to be cooled by a first stage of a refrigerator; a second panel to be cooled by a second stage of the refrigerator; a panel temperature sensor provided with the first panel and/or the second panel; a stage temperature sensor provided with the first stage and/or the second stage; and a control unit that controls vacuum pumping based on the temperature measured by the stage temperature sensor. The control unit controls regeneration including a heating process of a cryopanel, and uses the temperature measured by the panel temperature sensor exclusively in the regeneration. The control unit completes the heating process based on the temperature measured by the panel temperature sensor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 20, 2013
    Date of Patent: August 16, 2016
    Assignee: Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd.
    Inventor: Tsutomu Fukuda
  • Patent number: 9336990
    Abstract: A semiconductor process pump configured to mitigate losses in pump speed during operation. The semiconductor process pump may include a housing having an inlet port for receiving gas molecules therethrough, wherein a forward-most terminus of the inlet port defines an inlet face, one or more working surfaces disposed within the housing, and a mounting flange disposed on an exterior of the housing for facilitating attachment of the pump to a gas enclosure, wherein a forward-most terminus of the mounting flange defines a flange face. The flange face may be offset from the inlet face rearwardly along the housing by a distance d. Thus, when the semiconductor process pump is mounted to a wall of a gas enclosure, the housing may extend into the wall and the inlet face may be disposed within or immediately adjacent the interior of the gas enclosure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 29, 2013
    Date of Patent: May 10, 2016
    Assignee: Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates, Inc.
    Inventor: Steven C. Borichevsky
  • Patent number: 9266039
    Abstract: A cryopump system includes a cryopump having a first cooling stage and a second cooling stage connected to the first cooling stage, the second cooling stage including a gas adsorber having a hydrogen adsorbing capacity of at least about 2 standard liters. The thermal storage capacity of the second cooling stage is sufficient to enable control of hydrogen pressure within the cryopump to satisfy ignition safety limits and limits on hydrogen flow rate in an exhaust line to be within limits of an abatement system to be coupled to the cryopump, upon warming of the second cooling stage during regeneration of up to a fully loaded cryopump.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 23, 2011
    Date of Patent: February 23, 2016
    Assignee: Brooks Automation, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael J. Eacobacci, Jr., Allen J. Bartlett, John J. Casello, Jeffrey A. Wells
  • Patent number: 9266038
    Abstract: A cryopump has a simple-to-manufacture frontal baffle plate with improved gas distribution and has a large-area second-stage array plate to capture Type II gases. The cryopump has a first-stage frontal baffle plate having orifices and flaps bent from and attached to the orifices. The cryopump has a second-stage top plate that is larger in area than cooling baffles of the second stage array.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 8, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 23, 2016
    Assignee: Brooks Automation, Inc.
    Inventors: Sergei Syssoev, Allen J. Bartlett, John J. Casello, Jeffrey A. Wells, Michael J. Eacobacci, Jr.
  • Patent number: 9194387
    Abstract: A refrigeration device of an embodiment includes: a heat-insulating vacuum chamber; a refrigerator cryogenic unit that is provided in the heat-insulating vacuum chamber and is cooled to a lower temperature than 195 K; a catalytic electrode that is provided in the heat-insulating vacuum chamber and contains a transition metal at least in part of a surface thereof; a power supply that applies a voltage to the catalytic electrode; and a heating unit that is provided in the heat-insulating vacuum chamber and heats the catalytic electrode. In this refrigeration device, the catalytic electrode is insulated from the heat-insulating vacuum chamber and the heating unit, and the heating unit is insulated from the heat-insulating vacuum chamber and the catalytic electrode.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 15, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 24, 2015
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Toshiba
    Inventors: Kohei Nakayama, Mutsuki Yamazaki, Hiroyuki Kayano
  • Patent number: 9186601
    Abstract: A means of rapidly melting a large quantity of type II cryogen in a cryopump that is configured to contain the liquid in the warm cryopanel with the inlet to the cryopump facing up or sideways, and venting the liquid and gas in a controlled way. Rapid melting is preferably accomplished by flowing a purge gas that will condense on the cryodeposit. By not allowing the liquid to drain onto the vacuum housing the evaporation rate is limited and the maximum pressure in the cryopump can be controlled by the purge gas flow rate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 17, 2015
    Assignee: SUMITOMO (SHI) CRYOGENICS OF AMERICA INC.
    Inventor: Ralph Longsworth
  • Patent number: 9174144
    Abstract: Faster cool down time is achieved in a low profile cryopump by having heat transferred directly from the inlet louver to the first stage heat station through one or more tapered thermal busses, and by obviating the need of a thermal shield over the second stage cylinder of the expander by having second stage cryopanels that form a nested tent like structure, at least one of which, extends over the cylinder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: November 3, 2015
    Assignee: SUMITOMO (SHI) CRYOGENICS OF AMERICA INC
    Inventor: Ralph Longsworth
  • Patent number: 9117563
    Abstract: In a disclosed embodiment, an ultra-cold-matter (UCM) system includes a source cell nested within a hermetically-sealed ultra-high-vacuum (UHV) enclosure. Source particles, e.g., strontium atoms, can be generated within the source cell by heating a non-vapor-phase source material. The source cell is thermally isolated, e.g., by UHV, from the enclosure. Accordingly, heat is retained in the source cell, reducing the amount of heat that must be generated in the source cell to generate the vapor-phase source particles. Particles can exit the source cell to an UHV ultra-cold region where the source particles can be cooled to produce ultra-cold particles thermally isolated from the heat within the source cell.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 25, 2015
    Assignee: Cold Quanta, Inc.
    Inventors: Steven Michael Hughes, Janet Duggan, Dana Z. Anderson
  • Patent number: 9097207
    Abstract: The power recovery system includes: a Stirling engine; and a vaporization device that stores a liquid therein in such a manner that the liquid is kept in contact with an upper portion of a cylinder and vaporizes the liquid by supplying the cold heat of the liquid to the upper portion of the cylinder. The vaporization device includes a liquid container which stores the liquid therein in such a manner that the liquid is kept in contact with the upper portion of the cylinder, and an outer container embracing the liquid container and defining a space portion around the liquid container. The space portion communicates with the liquid container and an exhaust vent. Gas vaporized in the liquid container passes between the liquid container and an outer wall surface of a heat insulating material during passage thereof from the liquid container to the exhaust vent through the space portion.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 27, 2011
    Date of Patent: August 4, 2015
    Assignees: Kobe Steel, Ltd., Chubu Electric Power Company, Incorporated
    Inventors: Kazuo Takahashi, Ryota Kokenawa, Norio Oiwa, Akira Ishikawa
  • Patent number: 9065144
    Abstract: One example includes a battery case sealed to retain electrolyte, an electrode disposed in the battery case, the electrode comprising a framework defining open areas disposed along three axes (“3D framework”) formed of fluorinated carbon including elements that each include a conductive core at least partially surrounded by an electrochemically active portion, wherein a plurality conductive cores form an electrically conductive network, a conductor electrically coupled to the electrode in electrical communication with the conductive network and sealingly extending through the battery case to a terminal disposed on an exterior of the battery case, a further electrode disposed in the battery case, a separator disposed between the electrode and the further electrode and a further terminal disposed on the exterior of the battery case and in electrical communication with the further electrode, with the terminal and the further terminal electrically isolated from one another.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 9, 2011
    Date of Patent: June 23, 2015
    Assignee: Cardiac Pacemakers, Inc.
    Inventors: Francis Wang, Joseph E. Sunstrom
  • Patent number: RE45937
    Abstract: A portable moisture trap for use with a vacuum pump includes: a housing; a cooling chamber positioned at least partially within the housing including a first inlet port and a second outlet port; a lid that sealably attaches to a top portion of the cooling chamber to seal the cooling chamber; a heat sink residing under the cooling chamber; a thermoelectric device having an upper cooling side and a lower heat generating side residing between the cooling chamber and the heat sink; a fan oriented to blow air upwardly toward the heat sink; and a baffle extending downwardly in the cooling chamber from a location proximate the lid to a location proximate an inner bottom surface of the cooling chamber, with the baffle configured to define a physical barrier to urge air received through the first port to flow down toward the inner bottom surface of the cooling chamber before exiting through the second port, to thereby remove moisture from air traveling through the cooling chamber in response to a vacuum pump in fluid
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 31, 2015
    Date of Patent: March 22, 2016
    Assignee: InstroTek, Inc.
    Inventors: Peter D. Muse, Johnny Gordon Williams, Jr., Ali Regimand, Lawrence H. James