Process
fluid supply device comprising a
feed pump (6) arranged in a feed channel (503, 501), wherein the process
fluid supply device uses the
feed pump (6) to
discharge a process fluid supplied from a process fluid source to a process target via a
discharge part (51), wherein the
feed pump (6) includes: an elastic hose (62) which serves as part of the feed channel (503, 501); a guide element (61) extending in an axial direction of the hose (62) to support an outer surface of the hose (62); a pinch element (65) that is movable along the axial direction of the hose (62), wherein the hose (62) is compressed between the pinch element (65) and the guide element (61), thereby conveying the process fluid; and a movement mechanism (64, 67) that moves the pinch element (65) from a first axis position of the hose (62), at which the pinch element (65) begins to compress the hose (62), to a second axis position of the hose (62), at which the pinch element (65) leaves the hose (62) in the direction of the
discharge part (51) after the process fluid has been supplied, wherein the pinch element (65) and the movement mechanism (64, 67) are arranged such that only a compressed part, which is compressed between the pinch element (65) and the guide element (61), is formed between the first axis position and the second axis position of the hose (62), and this compressed part moves along the axis direction of the hose (62) during the dispensing of a
dose of process fluid towards the ejection part (51), the process
fluid supply device further comprises: a shut-off valve (V4) which is located in the feed channel (503) at a position closer to the process fluid source than to the hose (62), so that it allows either blocking or feeding of the process fluid to the feed pump (6); a filter (52) arranged in the feed channel (501) at a position closer to the discharge part (51) than to the hose (62); and a
control unit (200) configured to output a
control signal for controlling the movement mechanism (64, 67) and the shut-off valve (V4) such that: the pinch element (65) compresses the hose (62), with a portion of the feed channel (503) between the shut-off valve (V4) and the hose (62) being filled with the process fluid;The pinch element (65), which compresses the hose (62), then moves towards a downstream side of the hose (62) while the shut-off valve (V4) is closed, thereby depressurizing the portion of the feed channel (503) between the shut-off valve (V4) and the hose (62) and degassing the process fluid located in that portion of the feed channel (503) between the shut-off valve (V4) and the hose (62) filled with the process fluid, utilizing the elasticity of the flexible hose (62) which causes the flexible hose (62) to return to its original shape; then the shut-off valve (V4) is opened to allow the degassed process fluid to flow into the hose (62);and then the squeezing element (65) again compresses the hose (62) and moves towards a downstream side of the hose (62) to feed the process fluid into the filter (52) so that the degassed process fluid is filtered.;