Integrated Vacuum Pumping Line for Stable Spectrometer Gas Flow
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional mass spectrometers face issues with gas flow instability and geometric restrictions due to the use of bulky and movable vacuum pumping arrangements, which affect the evacuation of low-pressure regions.
Innovation Solution
The integration of a conduit within the vacuum housing as an integral part of the spectrometer, extending from the vacuum chamber to the vacuum pump, minimizes gas-flow instabilities and allows for a more compact design by eliminating the need for external tubing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Weight of moving object
If a conventional bellows tube is used to connect the vacuum pump to the vacuum chamber, then the vacuum pump can be positioned remotely from the vacuum chamber, but gas-flow instabilities occur in the vacuum chamber
Solution Approach 1:
The conduit is merged with the vacuum housing structure, forming an integral rigid connection between the vacuum chamber and vacuum pump. This eliminates the separate flexible bellows tube and its associated gas-flow instabilities, while maintaining the ability to position the vacuum pump remotely through the integrated housing design.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of using a flexible movable connection (bellows tube) to allow remote positioning, the invention uses a rigid integrated conduit within the housing. The flexibility is achieved through the overall housing design rather than through the connection itself, inverting the conventional approach of using flexibility at the connection point.
2Ease of operation
If a conventional bellows tube is used to connect the vacuum pump to the vacuum chamber, then remote positioning is possible, but the spectrometer geometry is restricted
Solution Approach 1:
The conduit is merged with the vacuum housing structure, eliminating the need for separate external tubing. This integration removes geometric restrictions on the spectrometer design while maintaining vacuum pump accessibility, as the conduit is formed as part of the housing geometry itself.
Solution Approach 2:
The conduit extends within the wall of the vacuum housing, utilizing the three-dimensional space of the housing structure. This allows the vacuum pump to be positioned at various locations without restricting the overall spectrometer geometry, as the conduit adapts to the housing's internal dimensions.
3Ease of manufacture
If external tubing is used to connect the vacuum pump to the vacuum chamber, then the vacuum pump can be positioned externally, but gas-flow instabilities and geometric restrictions occur
Solution Approach 1:
The conduit is merged with the vacuum housing as an integral structure, eliminating separate external tubing components. This integration ensures evacuation process stability by providing a rigid, fixed connection, while maintaining ease of manufacture through the unified housing design that can be fabricated as a single piece or pre-assembled unit.
4Reliability
If a rigid conduit integrated into the vacuum housing is used, then gas-flow stability is improved, but the vacuum pump must be positioned within the housing geometry
Solution Approach 1:
The conduit extends within the wall of the vacuum housing, utilizing the third dimension of the housing structure. This allows the vacuum pump to be positioned at various locations along the housing's length, width, or depth, maintaining positioning versatility while ensuring gas-flow stability through the rigid integrated connection.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution stabilizes gas flow and enhances the packaging flexibility of the spectrometer by providing a rigid conduit that maintains a stable evacuation process while reducing geometric constraints.
Implementation Method 1
a first vacuum pump connected to said first vacuum chamber by a conduit; wherein at least a part of the conduit extends along the vacuum housing within a wall of the vacuum housing
Data Source
AI summary
There is provided a mass and/or mobility spectrometer (200) comprising: a vacuum housing (210) having a first vacuum chamber (212) therein; and a first vacuum pump connected to said first vacuum chamber (212) by a conduit (216); wherein at least a part of the conduit (216) extends along the vacuum housing (210) within a wall of the vacuum housing (210).