U.S. patent application number 11/884896 was filed with the patent office on 2008-10-23 for holweck vacuum pump.
Invention is credited to Ralf Adamietz, Roland Blumenthal, Heinz Englander, Dirk Kalisch.
Application Number | 20080260518 11/884896 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 36216200 |
Filed Date | 2008-10-23 |
United States Patent
Application |
20080260518 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Blumenthal; Roland ; et
al. |
October 23, 2008 |
Holweck Vacuum Pump
Abstract
A Holweck vacuum pump includes a pump rotor (16) having a
rotating tube (24), a respective pump stator (12,14) comprising a
helical thread groove (21,23) on the radial inside and outside of
said rotor tube (24), and an inlet-side rotor blade disk (28)
provided with a supporting ring (30) which supports said rotor tube
(24). The blades (18) of said blade disk include rotor-side
shoulders (40) which support the supporting ring (30).
Inventors: |
Blumenthal; Roland;
(Erftstadt, DE) ; Adamietz; Ralf; (Wermelskirchen,
DE) ; Kalisch; Dirk; (Koln, DE) ; Englander;
Heinz; (Linnich, DE) |
Correspondence
Address: |
FAY SHARPE LLP
1100 SUPERIOR AVENUE, SEVENTH FLOOR
CLEVELAND
OH
44114
US
|
Family ID: |
36216200 |
Appl. No.: |
11/884896 |
Filed: |
January 20, 2006 |
PCT Filed: |
January 20, 2006 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/EP06/50325 |
371 Date: |
June 4, 2008 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
415/90 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F04D 29/023 20130101;
F05D 2300/603 20130101; F04D 19/044 20130101; F05D 2300/43
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
415/90 |
International
Class: |
F04D 19/04 20060101
F04D019/04 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Feb 25, 2005 |
DE |
10 2005 008 643.8 |
Claims
1. A Holweck vacuum pump comprising a pump rotor having a rotating
tube and an inlet-side rotor blade disk provided with a supporting
ring which supports said rotor tube, a respective pump stator
arranged radially inside and outside said rotor tube and provided
with a helical thread groove, and blades of said blade disk
defining rotor-side shoulders which support said supporting
ring.
2. The Holweck vacuum pump according to claim 1, wherein the
supporting ring does not axially extend into a non-stepped region
of the blades.
3. The Holweck vacuum pump according to claim 2, wherein the rotor
tube covers an overall axial length of the supporting ring.
4. The Holweck vacuum pump according to claim 1, wherein the blades
of the blade disk also define inlet-side shoulders which support a
backing ring.
5. The Holweck vacuum pump according to claim 1, wherein an axial
length of the blades respectively radially decreases from the
shoulder towards the inside.
6. The Holweck vacuum pump according to claim 1, wherein the rotor
tube is made from a fiber-reinforced material.
7. The Holweck vacuum pump according to claim 1, wherein the stator
includes thread grooves which radially taper from the inlet towards
the outlet.
8. The Holweck vacuum pump according to claim 1, wherein the rotor
tube is made of carbon fiber-reinforced plastic material.
9. A Holweck vacuum pump comprising: a stator including an inner
helical thread and an outer helical thread; a rotor including a
blade disc having a plurality of blades, the blades defining
shoulders; a supporting ring mounted to the blade shoulders; and a
rotor tube supported by the supporting ring and extending between
the inner helical threads and the outer helical threads of the
stator.
10. The Holweck pump according to claim 9 wherein the blades
further define inlet-side shoulders and further including: a
backing ring supported by the inlet-side shoulders.
Description
[0001] The invention relates to a Holweck vacuum pump comprising a
pump rotor and a rotating tube.
[0002] From WO 2004/055375 A1 a two-pass Holweck vacuum pump is
known which comprises a pump stator radially inside and outside the
rotor tube, said pump stator being respectively defined by a
helical thread groove. For improving the pumping properties, a
rotor blade disk is provided on the inlet side, said rotor blade
disk comprising a supporting ring which supports the rotor tube.
The axial length of the supporting ring is larger than that of the
blades of the blade disk such that the supporting ring penetrates
the blades, i.e. radially separates the blades into two sections. A
portion of the supporting ring axially extends from the plane of
the rotor blade. At the cantilevered portion of the supporting ring
the rotor tube is fastened by being fitted to the outside of the
supporting ring, for example. All forces acting between the
supporting ring and the rotor tube are directly transmitted to the
blades of the blade disk. Tests have revealed that in particular
the radial and tangential forces produced by the centrifugal forces
exert a considerable mechanical stress on the blades and in
particular the supporting ring, and reduce their service life.
[0003] It is an object of the invention to provide a two-pass
Holweck vacuum pump with an improved service life of the blade
disk.
[0004] According to the invention, this object is achieved through
the features of claim 1.
[0005] In the Holweck vacuum pump according to the invention, the
blades of the blade disk comprise rotor-side proximal shoulders
which support the supporting ring. The supporting ring no longer
axially projects beyond the blades but is radially inwardly
supported by a corresponding stepped shoulder defined in the
blades. The blades thus have a larger axial length radially inside
the supporting ring than radially outside the supporting ring. The
shoulders of the blades are configured such that the supporting
ring bears on the radial outside of the stepped shoulder. Thus the
supporting ring is supported essentially over its overall axial
length by the blades of the blade disk. The blade structure
supporting the supporting ring is considerably strengthened such
that the forces acting between the blades and the supporting ring
result in lower local peak stresses acting on the blades. The rotor
tube is pushed from radially outside onto the portion of the
supporting ring supported by the blades. The rotor tube, which is
preferably made from a lightweight material highly resistant to
tensile strength, embraces the supporting ring such that the rotor
tube is supported to withstand the high centrifugal forces
occurring at the high rotational speed of several 10,000 rpm. This
allows the tangential forces generated in the supporting ring to be
kept at such a low level that the supporting ring is capable of
withstanding correspondingly high rotational speeds.
[0006] Preferably, the supporting ring does not axially extend into
the non-stepped region of the blades. The axial length of the
supporting ring approximately corresponds to the axial length of
the axial steps of the blades. The major portion of the blades is
not penetrated by the supporting ring over their overall radial
length. Thus it is ensured that forces acting between the rotor
tube and the supporting ring are directly applied to the blades
only in the region of the blade shoulders, but not to the overall
axial length of the blades. The limitation of the axial extension
of the supporting ring to the axial length of the shoulder ensures
that the overall axial length of the supporting ring is supported
on the outside by the rotor tube to withstand high centrifugal
forces.
[0007] According to a preferred embodiment, the blades of the blade
disk comprise intake-side (distal) stepped shoulders which support
a backing ring. The stepped shoulders supporting the backing ring
are thus axially arranged opposite the stepped shoulders of the
blades supporting the supporting ring, while the axially
intermediate region does not comprise any step and supporting ring.
When the rotor tube is clamped to the outside of the supporting
ring, a corresponding backing ring can compensate for a non-uniform
stress exerted on the blades by the clamped rotor tube. In this
manner, the backing ring improves the symmetry of the forces
applied to the blades.
[0008] Preferably, the axial length of the blades radially
decreases from the shoulder towards the inside. The contour of the
adjacent inner pump stator is correspondingly adapted to this. The
axial length of the blades radially decreasing towards the inside
allows the inner geometry to be kept at as optimum a level as
possible in terms of flow when the blades are sufficiently rigid.
This allows higher intakes capacities to be realized.
[0009] According to a preferred embodiment, the rotor tube is made
from a fiber-reinforced material. In particular non-metallic
materials are suitable, for example a carbon fiber-reinforced
plastic material. Fiber-reinforced non-metallic materials are
relatively lightweight while offering a high mechanical rigidity,
in particular a high tensile strength. The rotor tube made from a
fiber-reinforced material can thus be rotated at high rotational
speeds without its diameter increasing to a considerable extent.
This fact is of great importance to the realization of small gaps
between rotor and stator. Further, the high tensile strength
ensures that the rotor tube is also capable of supporting the
backing ring against destructive tangential forces.
[0010] Preferably, the threads of the thread grooves, that is their
thread bottoms, radially taper from the inlet towards the outlet.
Thus the depth and the cross section of the thread groove decrease
from the inlet towards the outlet. Therefore the inlet cross
section of the two Holweck stages or passes is relatively large
such that the intake capacity of the Holweck stage is enhanced.
[0011] Two embodiments of the invention will now be described in
greater detail with reference to the drawings in which:
[0012] FIG. 1 shows a longitudinal section of a Holweck vacuum pump
comprising a blade disk provided with a supporting ring, and
[0013] FIG. 2 shows a longitudinal section of a Holweck vacuum pump
comprising a blade disk provided with a supporting ring and a
backing ring.
[0014] FIGS. 1 and 2 show a Holweck vacuum pump 10,50 comprising
two parallel Holweck pump stages 12,14. On the inlet side the two
Holweck vacuum pumps 10,50 comprise a respective rotor blade disk
28,28' having a respective plurality of blades 18,58.
[0015] The two Holweck pump stages 12,14 are essentially defined by
a radially outer pump stator 20, a radially inner pump stator 22
and a rotating rotor tube 24 arranged between the two stators
20,22. Both the inner and the outer pump stator 20,22 comprise a
helical thread groove 21,23 whose respective groove bottom radially
tapers from the outlet.
[0016] The pump rotor 16 essentially comprises a shaft 26 supported
by roller bearings and/or magnetic bearings, a hub 27, the blades
18, a supporting ring 30 and the rotor tube 24. The pump rotor 56
of the vacuum pump 50 shown in FIG. 2 further comprises a second
backing ring 60. The hub 27, the blades 18 and the supporting ring
30 and possibly the supporting ring 60 are formed in one piece and
are made from aluminum, but may also be manufactured as individual
components and then be assembled. In particular the supporting ring
60 may be manufactured as a separate component and then be attached
to the blades 58. The rotor tube 24 is made from a fiber-reinforced
material, for example a carbon fiber-reinforced plastic
material.
[0017] On the rotor side the blades 18,58 comprise a stepped
shoulder 40 which supports the supporting ring 30. The axial
shoulder length approximately equals the axial length of the
supporting ring 30. In the direction of the pump inlet the
supporting ring 30 does not axially extend into the blade 18 such
that the radial spaces between the blades 18 outside the shoulders
40 are radially continuous. The supporting ring 30 is circular
cylindrical and supports the rotor tube 24 which is clamped or
pressed to the supporting ring 30.
[0018] The axial length of the blades 18 radially decreases from
the shoulder 40 towards the inside. However, the axial length of
the blades 18 near the hub exceeds the axial length of the blades
18 radially outside the shoulders 40 and/or the supporting ring
30.
[0019] In the Holweck vacuum pump 50 of FIG. 2 the blades 58
comprise a second shoulder 62 on the inlet side, which supports the
backing ring 60. In the inlet-side region, too, the axial length of
the blades 58 continuously decreases towards the hub 27.
[0020] By providing a shoulder 40 at the blades 18, the supporting
ring 30 is supported in the best manner possible in the region in
which it supports the rotor tube 24. Since this allows the
supporting ring 30 not to penetrate the blades 18 in the inlet-side
region, the application of forces transmitted between the rotor
tube 24, the supporting ring 30 and the shoulders 40 is
considerably reduced. Further, the generation of tangential forces
in the supporting ring 30 is considerably reduced since the rotor
tube 24 radially supports the supporting ring 30 over its overall
axial length against the centrifugal forces.
* * * * *