JP2013148076A - Vacuum pump system for saving energy of a plurality of vacuum devices - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To constitute a vacuum pump system for reducing the amount of electric power when operating a plurality of vacuum devices.
SOLUTION: A plurality of primary side vacuum pumps are installed in parallel on a lower floor surface of a frame body, and each intake port of the primary side vacuum pump is connected to a primary side header provided at a lower part of the first stage of the frame body. Multiple secondary vacuum pumps are installed in parallel at the top of the first stage, each exhaust port of the secondary side vacuum pump is connected to the primary side header, and each suction port of the secondary side vacuum pump is provided at the bottom of the second stage Connected to the secondary header, multiple tertiary vacuum pumps were installed in parallel on the upper second stage of the frame, and each exhaust port of the tertiary vacuum pump was connected to the secondary header. Are connected to a tertiary header provided at the lower part of the third stage, a plurality of vacuum devices are connected to each header according to the required degree of vacuum, and a vacuum pressure sensor is provided in each header. The central control unit starts and stops all vacuum pumps according to the detected vacuum pressure. The vacuum pump system that controls the operation is configured.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a vacuum pump system for reducing the amount of electric power when operating a plurality of vacuum devices, particularly a vacuum packaging machine, so-called energy saving.

  JP 2001-244160 A   JP 2005-290558 A   JP-A-4-103767   JP 2005-180279 A   JP 2008-175145 A   JP 2004-68637 A   JP 2009-114984 A

  Conventionally, when a system is formed by using a plurality of vacuum pumps, it is common to use a frame. FIG. 5 shows a system disclosed in Patent Document 1, in which four sets of a primary-side vacuum pump and a secondary-side vacuum pump are installed in a two-stage frame.

  In multiple multi-stage vacuum pump systems, if multiple primary-side vacuum pumps are installed in parallel in the first stage and multiple secondary-side vacuum pumps are installed in parallel in the second stage, a collecting pipe is used for each stage. It is common to link them together. Examples of the primary collecting pipe are A in FIG. 6 shown in Patent Document 2 and 10b in FIG. 7 shown in Patent Document 3. An example of the secondary collecting pipe is B in FIG. 6 shown in Patent Document 2 and 10b in FIG. 8 shown in Patent Document 3. An example of the tertiary collecting pipe is C in FIG.

  Differences between the above patent document and the present invention will be described. Patent Document 3 is different from the present invention in main problems. FIG. 7 of Patent Document 3 attempts to cope with the pressure drop in the furnace core tube by using only a plurality of primary side vacuum pumps, whereas the present invention uses a plurality of primary side and secondary side vacuum pumps. In FIG. 8 of Patent Document 3, two primary-side vacuum pumps and two secondary-side vacuum pumps are directly connected to each other and connected in parallel by secondary-side collecting pipes. A pump and a plurality of secondary-side vacuum pumps are connected in parallel to a large-volume cylindrical primary header, and a plurality of secondary-side vacuums are connected to a large-capacity cylindrical header instead of the secondary-side collecting pipe. The pumps are connected in parallel.

  Patent Document 4 also differs from the present invention in main issues. FIG. 9 of Patent Document 4 attempts to cope with the failure by using only a plurality of tertiary side vacuum pumps, whereas the present invention uses a plurality of primary side, secondary side, and tertiary side vacuum pumps. As for the control means of the vacuum pump of Patent Document 4, each vacuum pump is controlled based on an instruction from the 10 control unit of the vacuum chamber in FIG. On the other hand, in the present invention, a vacuum pressure sensor is provided in each header of the primary side header, the secondary side header, and the tertiary side header to control all the vacuum pumps and valves connected to each header by a centralized control device. doing.

  Patent Document 1 also differs from the present invention in main issues. FIG. 5 of Patent Document 1 does not connect a plurality of primary-side vacuum pumps and a plurality of secondary-side vacuum pumps with collecting pipes, but the present invention provides a plurality of primary-side vacuum pumps and a plurality of secondary-side vacuum pumps. Are connected by a large-capacity columnar header instead of a collecting pipe.

  Patent Document 2 also differs from the present invention in main issues. In Patent Document 2, the primary side vacuum pump is provided with a buffer unit in EB1 in FIG. 6 for the purpose of shortening the evacuation time in thin film production by sputtering, and the first lock chamber and EK1 are evacuated. The EB2 in FIG. 6 is also provided with a buffer unit in the collecting pipe of the vacuum pump, and the second lock chamber EK2 is exhausted at a high speed. On the other hand, the present invention is provided with a large-capacity columnar header in order to cope with rapid pressure increase instead of the collecting pipe, and each includes a plurality of primary side vacuum pumps, a plurality of secondary side vacuum pumps, and a plurality of tertiarys. A side vacuum pump is connected, and a plurality of vacuum devices are connected to the primary side, secondary side, and tertiary side headers according to the required vacuum pressure, and exhausted. The present invention does not address high-speed exhaust. According to the present invention, when the exhaust amount is further insufficient due to leakage of piping or the like, the spare pumps connected to the primary side header, the secondary side header, and the tertiary side header are operated and exhausted.

  Regarding the control means of Patent Document 2, it seems that the vacuum pumps are controlled by providing vacuum pressure sensors in the first and second introduction chambers-EK1 and EK2 and the buffer units EB1 and EB2 in FIG. In contrast, in the present invention, a vacuum pressure sensor is provided to control all vacuum pumps so as to maintain a constant vacuum pressure in the headers of the primary side header, the secondary side header, and the tertiary side header. The problem of Patent Document 2 is high-speed exhaust of the introduction chamber, and the problem of the present invention is to supply a stable vacuum pressure to each vacuum apparatus. Here is the difference in operation of the vacuum pressure sensor.

  A system similar to the present invention is shown in FIG. Patent Document 5 relates to a vacuum pump unit that exhausts the inside of a processing chamber for processing a liquid crystal substrate that is increasing in size, and is for coping with an increase in the amount of exhaust. The present invention relates to a vacuum pump system for reducing the amount of electric power when operating a plurality of vacuum apparatuses, particularly a vacuum packaging machine, so-called energy saving, and both have different problems.

  In Patent Document 5, as a vacuum pump unit having a large displacement in the background art, as shown in FIG. 11, “a booster pump 201 as a front stage pump and a main pump 202 as a rear stage pump are framed. 203, the vacuum pump unit 200 is configured, and a plurality of (four in the figure) vacuum pump units 200 are installed as shown in FIG. (See paragraph number 0002). Patent Document 5 is based on the premise that “a single booster pump 201 as a front-stage pump and a single main pump 202 as a rear-stage pump are mounted on a frame 203 and a vacuum pump unit 200” (see paragraph 0002). It is disclosed as if one booster pump and one main pump can only be used in a vacuum device as a set, and the cost increases accordingly, and the vacuum pump unit must be replaced in the event of a failure. Technology and its issues. As disclosed in Patent Document 5, the performance of a vacuum pump unit can be changed by changing the combination of the number of main pumps and booster pumps (see paragraph 0005). It is. Patent Document 2 has already been registered, but a configuration as shown in FIG. 6 of Patent Document 2, FIG. 8 of Patent Document 3, and FIG. 9 of Patent Document 4 is also possible.

  Although patent document 5 makes it the concrete subject to use one booster pump and one main pump as a set, this invention uses the one vacuum pump which can be pressure-reduced from atmospheric pressure per vacuum apparatus. There are specific challenges.

  Both the present invention and Patent Document 5 use a frame. Conventionally, when a system is formed by using a plurality of vacuum pumps, it is common to use a frame. However, in the present invention, not only the vacuum pump is installed on the frame, but also a large-capacity columnar header is installed together.

  Both the present invention and Patent Document 5 are composed of a plurality of primary side vacuum pumps and secondary side vacuum pumps. This is also known as a conventional general configuration as shown in FIG.

  According to the present invention and Patent Document 5, in a plurality of multistage vacuum pump systems each using a frame, a plurality of primary side vacuum pumps are installed in parallel in the lower stage, and a plurality of secondary sides are installed in the upper stage. A vacuum pump is installed in parallel, and each stage is connected using a collecting pipe. This is also generally performed conventionally, and examples of the primary collecting pipe are A in FIG. 6 shown in Patent Document 2 and 10b in FIG. 7 shown in Patent Document 3, and the secondary collecting pipe is shown in FIG. An example is B in FIG. 6 shown in Patent Document 2 and 10b in FIG. 8 shown in Patent Document 3, and an example of the tertiary collecting pipe is C in FIG. Although there is no particular description in the claims of Patent Document 5, the collective intake pipe 21 of the secondary vacuum pump is thicker than the relay collective pipe 22 of the primary vacuum pump as seen in FIG. This is to obtain a high vacuum exhaust amount for exhausting a large-capacity processing chamber for processing a large substrate. On the other hand, the present invention is provided with a large-capacity columnar header instead of the collecting pipe, which is installed at the lower part of each step frame body, and is provided with a plurality of primary side vacuum pumps and a plurality of secondary side vacuum pumps, respectively. A plurality of vacuum devices are connected to the primary side, secondary side, and tertiary side headers according to the required vacuum pressure and exhausted. Each header of the present invention does not have a problem of obtaining a high vacuum exhaust amount.

  In patent document 5, there are only 21a1 connection parts of a vacuum device and a vacuum pump system. On the other hand, in the present invention, each of the plurality of vacuum devices is connected to each vacuum device by providing connection portions on the primary side, secondary side, and tertiary side headers corresponding to the used vacuum pressure regions.

  In Patent Document 5, there is a description of a back pressure sensor, but there is no direct or indirect description of where a vacuum pressure sensor as a criterion for determination of vacuum pressure control is installed. In Patent Document 5, the warning and driving operation of the vacuum pump unit are controlled by a central control device using a warning signal and an alarm signal. In contrast, in the present invention, vacuum pressure sensors are provided in the headers of the primary side header, the secondary side header, and the tertiary side header, and all vacuum pumps are controlled by the centralized control device.

  Furthermore, the present invention is provided with a spare pump connected to each of the primary side header, the secondary side header, and the tertiary side header in case a shortage of leakage occurs in the vacuum apparatus and its piping. In Patent Document 5, there is no spare pump.

  Patent document 5 assumes that it becomes easy to change the combination number of a main pump and a booster pump, and to change the performance of a vacuum pump unit. It is easy to change the performance of the present invention as well. However, the object of performance change in Patent Document 5 is that one of the suction ports 21a1 is attached to the secondary collecting pipe, so that one vacuum device or one integrated vacuum device is regarded as one. It is the exhaust speed in the high speed range and the displacement of large volume. In contrast, the present invention includes a plurality of headers having different vacuum pressure regions that can be connected to a plurality of vacuum devices, and a stable exhaust speed while selecting a plurality of vacuum pressure regions required by each of the plurality of vacuum devices. A change in displacement can be obtained, and a plurality of vacuum devices can cope with a change from one to a few depending on the operation thereof, and the range of performance changes becomes much wider.

  Patent Document 5 states that “one or two booster pumps can continue to function as a vacuum pump unit even if a failure occurs, and only the failed pump needs to be replaced” (see paragraph 0008). Disclose. However, the present invention is provided with a spare pump on each of a plurality of primary sides, secondary sides, and tertiary sides, and not only a vacuum failure accident due to leakage of piping or the like, but also a secondary side vacuum pump as well as a primary side or a tertiary side. Even when the side vacuum pump fails, it is possible to cope with the failure while maintaining the performance of the vacuum pump system.

  Patent Document 5 states that “a centralized control device that can control a plurality of booster pumps and main pumps in a centralized manner” (refer to claim 7) “a plurality of booster pumps and main pumps that are collectively controlled. It is disclosed that the control device is provided (see claim 8). The centralized control device is also provided with Patent Document 4 and Patent Document 7, and it is generally more common to install in a vacuum pump system. What is important is how it is operated. Patent Document 5 states that “the booster pump and the main pump are operated while checking the status of each part of the utility water and the pump, such as cooling water and nitrogen gas, with the control panel, and the warning signal and the alarm signal. A two-stage alarm is output ”(see claim 6), and each pump is controlled and protected. On the other hand, the centralized control device of the present invention keeps the inside of each header constant in order to supply a stable vacuum pressure to each of the plurality of vacuum devices according to a signal detected by a vacuum pressure sensor installed in each header consisting of three stages. Each vacuum pump is controlled to maintain a vacuum pressure of

The above is a vacuum system similar to the present invention. Next, there are Patent Documents 6 and 7 regarding vacuum systems that save power consumption.
As shown in FIG. 13, Patent Document 6 states that “by controlling the exhaust means while measuring the degree of vacuum on the intake side, it is possible to reduce the power consumption of the exhaust means while suppressing a decrease in the degree of vacuum in the exhaust pipe. A "saving" processing device is disclosed (see paragraph 0020).

  As shown in FIG. 14, Patent Document 7 describes a “vacuum pump device in which an intake port and an exhaust port are spatially connected to each other, and a plurality of exhaust speeds different from each other between the intake port and the exhaust port. The pumps are arranged in parallel, and the drive of the plurality of pumps is controlled so that pumping is performed using a pump whose exhaust speed is lower as the apparatus load is lower ”(paragraph number 0007). A vacuum pump device that significantly reduces power consumption under relatively high conditions is disclosed "(see paragraph 0006).

  Conventionally, when vacuum work is performed with a vacuum device, one vacuum pump can be depressurized from atmospheric pressure, or one vacuum pump that can be depressurized from atmospheric pressure is combined with one or two mechanical booster pumps. It is common to do. During the vacuum device operation, the vacuum pump is continuously operated in order to shorten the rise time of the device and reduce the failure of the vacuum pump. The vacuum pump is operating in an idling state except during vacuum exhaust in the operation cycle of the vacuum device. Here, useless power consumption occurs.

With respect to Patent Document 6, Patent Document 7 is cited therein, and according to the conventional device described in “Patent Document 6”, the motor itself is for a relatively large pump. Even if it is driven to rotate, the power consumption is relatively large compared to a relatively small motor for a pump ”(see paragraph 0005).
Patent Document 6 basically considers saving of power consumption on the premise that the idling state of the vacuum pump remains during the vacuum apparatus operation. On the other hand, the present invention aims to reduce power consumption by eliminating the vacuum pump eye's drilling state itself during vacuum apparatus work, and the effect is remarkably different.

The invention of Patent Document 7 requires a plurality of vacuum pumps in one vacuum device. Especially when a large number of vacuum devices are required, the number of vacuum pumps is several times that number. In this case, even if the installation cost and maintenance cost of the vacuum pump device increase and the power consumption can be reduced, the cost increases accordingly.
On the other hand, the present invention comprises a combination of a mechanical booster pump and a vacuum pump that can depressurize from atmospheric pressure when using a plurality of vacuum devices, and further reduces the number of vacuum pumps and further reduces power consumption. A pump system was used.

  The present invention is to solve such a problem when a plurality of vacuum apparatuses, particularly vacuum packaging machines, are operated, and the vacuum pressures of a plurality of headers are selectively selected in a region where the vacuum pressure is relatively low. The main object is to provide a vacuum pump system that can control and drastically reduce power consumption.

  In order to solve the above problem, according to the vacuum pump system of the present invention, a plurality of tertiary vacuum pumps and a plurality of secondary sides are sequentially arranged from the vacuum device side in order to evacuate a plurality of vacuum devices. In the vacuum pump system provided with the vacuum pump and the three-stage vacuum pump of the primary side vacuum pump capable of depressurizing from a plurality of atmospheres, the all vacuum device connected to the lower part of the first stage of the frame composed of three stages A cylindrical primary header having a volume of displacement capable of coexisting with simultaneous vacuum evacuation is provided.

  And a primary side vacuum pump capable of depressurizing from the plurality of atmospheres is installed in parallel on the lower floor surface of the primary side header, and each intake port of the plurality of primary side vacuum pumps is connected to the primary side header, A cylindrical secondary header having a volume of exhaustion capable of coping with simultaneous vacuum exhausting of all the vacuum devices to be connected is provided at the lower part of the second stage.

  The plurality of secondary-side vacuum pumps are installed in parallel on the upper first stage of the frame body, and the exhaust ports of the plurality of secondary-side vacuum pumps are connected to the primary-side header, and the plurality of secondary-side vacuum pumps A cylindrical tertiary side having a volume of displacement capable of coping with simultaneous vacuum exhaustion of all the vacuum devices connected to the secondary side header of each suction port of the vacuum pump and the third stage lower part of the frame body Provide a header.

  The plurality of tertiary side vacuum pumps are installed in parallel on the upper second stage of the frame body, and the exhaust ports of the plurality of tertiary side vacuum pumps are connected to the secondary side header, and the plurality of tertiary side vacuum pumps The plurality of vacuum devices are connected to any one of the primary side header, the secondary side header, and the tertiary side header according to the required degree of vacuum of each vacuum device. It is the vacuum pump system characterized by connecting.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the vacuum pump system according to the first aspect, a vacuum pressure sensor is provided in the primary side header, the secondary side header, and the tertiary side header, and the vacuum pressure sensor The start and stop operations of the plurality of primary side vacuum pumps, the plurality of secondary side vacuum pumps, and the plurality of tertiary side vacuum pumps, and the headers and the plurality of vacuum pumps, depending on the vacuum pressure detected by And a centralized control device for individually controlling the opening and closing operations of the valves connected to the valves and the headers and the plurality of vacuum devices collectively.

  The present invention described in claim 3 is the vacuum pump system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the plurality of primary side vacuum pumps, the plurality of secondary side vacuum pumps, and the plurality of tertiary side vacuum pumps. Each is provided with a spare pump.

  A fourth aspect of the present invention is the vacuum pump system according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the vacuum pump system includes a plurality of stages.

  In the present invention according to claim 5, the frame body is added, and a columnar header having the same diameter is newly connected to each columnar header to extend the frame, and a new columnar header is added to the extended columnar header. Each vacuum pump and vacuum device are connected to form a system that can be expanded at any time.

The first effect of the present invention is to reduce power consumption when operating a plurality of vacuum apparatuses, so-called energy saving. In the conventional example, a vacuum pump capable of reducing the pressure from 11 atmospheric pressures to 11 vacuum devices was required. On the other hand, in FIG. 3 of the embodiment by the vacuum pump system constituted by two stages of the present invention, among the primary side vacuum pumps that can be depressurized from the atmospheric pressure, P3 is a spare unit, and therefore the primary side vacuum pump that can depressurize from the atmospheric pressure. Only two units can be operated, and since the secondary vacuum pump P7 is a spare unit, only three secondary vacuum pumps are required. The secondary side vacuum pump mainly uses a mechanical booster pump, and the motor can be reduced to 1/3 of the power consumption of the vacuum pump motor of the same displacement that can be depressurized from the atmosphere. Compared to using 11 vacuum pumps that can depressurize from the atmosphere, the power consumption is first greatly reduced.
Each header of the vacuum pump system of the present invention is necessary and sufficient if it holds and maintains an exhaust amount corresponding to the exhaust of a plurality of vacuum devices, and the number of components of each vacuum pump can be reduced. The reduction of the primary side, secondary side, and tertiary side vacuum pumps is realized by the vacuum pump system of the present invention, and the effect is great.

  The system of the present invention is characterized in that a mechanical booster pump is used for the secondary side vacuum pump and the tertiary side vacuum pump. When a primary side vacuum pump that can depressurize the mechanical booster pump from atmospheric pressure, that is, an oil rotary pump or a water ring pump, is used in series as an auxiliary pump, a large capacity exhaust speed can be obtained even with low motor power consumption, and it is good over a wide pressure range Exhaust characteristics are demonstrated. However, in the present invention, a plurality of primary booster pumps are installed in parallel, and a plurality of mechanical booster pumps are installed in parallel as secondary vacuum pumps on the upper side, which are simply connected to a relay collecting pipe and a collecting intake pipe. It does not only perform unit control.

  The present invention includes a plurality of secondary-side vacuum pumps including a large-volume cylindrical primary-side header between a plurality of primary-side vacuum pumps and a plurality of secondary-side vacuum pumps according to the displacement of a plurality of vacuum devices. And a plurality of tertiary vacuum pumps with a large volume cylindrical secondary header, and a plurality of tertiary vacuum pumps with a large volume cylindrical tertiary header. A plurality of primary side vacuum pumps, a plurality of secondary side vacuum pumps, and a plurality of tertiary side vacuum pumps are connected in parallel to the upper, middle, and lower primary side, secondary side, and tertiary side headers, respectively. The present invention is provided with a vacuum pressure sensor in the header, and provides an operation method in an optimal vacuum pressure state for each vacuum device while checking the status of the vacuum pressure in the header, and by taking advantage of the above characteristics of the mechanical booster pump, Start and stop are automatically controlled while balancing according to the required amount of vacuum exhaust for the number of vacuum devices.

  In a specific example of a vacuum packaging machine, when a plurality of conventional vacuum packaging machines are used, each packaging machine has one vacuum pump that can depressurize from atmospheric pressure, or one vacuum pump that can depressurize from atmospheric pressure and one mechanical booster pump. Work was done by combining two or two units. During the vacuum packaging operation, the vacuum pump is continuously operated in order to shorten the rise time of the apparatus and reduce the failure of the vacuum pump. The vacuum pump is operated in an idling state except during vacuum evacuation in the vacuum packaging cycle. Here, useless power consumption occurs.

  According to the present invention, the exhaust port of each vacuum device is connected to the primary side to the tertiary side header. Each vacuum device is evacuated from the header only during evacuation. The pressure of each header increased by the vacuum exhaust of each vacuum device is detected by the vacuum pressure sensor of each header, and the pressure signal is transmitted to the central control device. When the vacuum pressure of each header becomes higher than the set pressure, the central control unit automatically starts either the primary side or tertiary side vacuum pump, opens the valve connecting each vacuum pump and each header, and opens each header. The inside is maintained in an optimum vacuum pressure region. When the vacuum pressure of each header becomes lower than the set pressure, the centralized control device that has received the pressure signal detected by the vacuum pressure sensor in each header is selected from the vacuum pumps that are running after a certain period of time. Close the vacuum pump and the valve connected to each header. The selected vacuum pump is automatically controlled to stop.

  Each header according to the present invention has a volume that can cope with a change in vacuum pressure assuming that all the vacuum devices are evacuated simultaneously. Therefore, even in the case of simultaneous evacuation of a plurality of vacuum devices, each header of the present invention has a large volume that can cope with this, so that there is no severe fluctuation in the vacuum pressure region in each header. Thus, each header according to the present invention always maintains the best relatively low vacuum pressure region. In general, it is known that in a vacuum pump, the load of a motor for rotating the rotor is relatively high at a high vacuum pressure and relatively low at a low vacuum pressure. Here too, there is a reason that power consumption can be reduced.

  In the present invention, any one of the plurality of vacuum devices is always evacuated from each header, and the centralized control device always starts and stops each vacuum pump and opens and closes each valve so that a constant vacuum pressure is maintained in each header. Control to reach. That is, there is no useless idling state of the vacuum pump as described above in the system of the present invention. This is the reason why power consumption can be greatly reduced. Therefore, according to the system of the present invention, while supplying the necessary vacuum pressure and exhaust amount to each vacuum device, each header always reduces the power consumption while maintaining a stable vacuum pressure. According to the present invention together with the energy saving effect, the amount of power consumption can be reduced to an amount exceeding the conventional 80%.

  A second effect of the present invention is that a vacuum region required by each vacuum apparatus can be selected. In the present invention, a primary side vacuum pump capable of reducing pressure from a plurality of atmospheres and a secondary and tertiary mechanical booster pumps are connected in parallel to form a three-stage header up to the tertiary side. Accordingly, the secondary header has a lower vacuum pressure than the primary header, and the tertiary header has a lower vacuum pressure than the secondary header. Each vacuum device can select a vacuum region corresponding to each use pressure region from these three headers. Some vacuum apparatuses are operated by arbitrarily selecting a plurality of these three headers. Furthermore, the present invention can be provided with a plurality of different headers in the vacuum pressure region, allowing a wider selection.

As a third effect of the present invention, it is possible to cope with problems such as a vacuum apparatus. In the present invention, a spare pump is prepared for each of a plurality of primary side vacuum pumps, secondary side vacuum pumps, and tertiary side vacuum pumps. When there is a leak in the vacuum device and the piping between the vacuum device and the header of the present invention, the vacuum pressure sensor in the header according to the present invention detects an increase in pressure, and the centralized control device also activates the spare pump to activate the vacuum. Recover pressure.
The centralized control device automatically controls the stop of the failed vacuum pump at the same time as the standby pump automatically when the vacuum pump fails. The vacuum pump system of the present invention makes it possible to repair a broken vacuum pump without stagnation of the work of the vacuum apparatus.

  A fourth effect of the present invention is that the vacuum pump used in the system of the present invention can obtain long durability. That is, the life is prolonged. In the system of the present invention, gas such as air exhausted from the vacuum apparatus causes a pressure balance in each header having a pre-calculated volume, so that each vacuum pump of the system of the present invention has an atmospheric pressure directly from each vacuum apparatus. The gas is not aspirated. That is, each header according to the present invention always maintains a constant and relatively low vacuum pressure region. As long as each vacuum pump connected to the header continues to operate in this region, there is no sudden load fluctuation of the vacuum pump. If there is no sudden load fluctuation, damage to each member constituting the vacuum pump is reduced. In addition, the present invention provides a reserve pump. This spare pump does not mean a specific vacuum pump. The purpose is to prepare a vacuum pump that can be arbitrarily stopped by assembling a rotation without stopping the work of the vacuum device. The paused vacuum pump can be maintained by exchanging oil. This provides longer durability for the vacuum pump used in the system of the present invention.

  As a fifth effect of the present invention, since the header of the present invention is cylindrical, it is easy to create the header. Extend the frame by connecting a new cylindrical header of the same diameter to any one of the primary to tertiary headers according to the required vacuum pressure area. It is also possible to easily expand the vacuum pump system as needed by connecting each newly required vacuum pump and vacuum device. The number of vacuum equipment can be increased to quickly respond to the increased production system for vacuum equipment work.

  It is a front view which shows the structural example of the vacuum pump system of Claim 1 which concerns on this invention.   It is a front view showing an example of composition of a vacuum pump system of Claims 1, 2, and 3 concerning the present invention.   It is a front view which shows the structural example which implemented the vacuum pump system of Claim 4 which concerns on this invention in 2 steps | paragraphs.   It is a vacuum degree measurement data in the secondary side header at the time of implementing this invention vacuum pump system.   JP, 2001-244160, A It is a figure showing the example of composition of the conventional vacuum pump unit.   It is a figure which shows the structural example of the conventional vacuum pump unit.   It is a figure which shows the structural example of the conventional vacuum pump unit.   It is a figure which shows the structural example of the conventional vacuum pump unit.   It is a figure which shows the structural example of the conventional vacuum pump unit.   [Patent Document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2008-175145 FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a conventional vacuum pump unit.   It is a figure which shows the structural example of the conventional vacuum pump unit quoted by Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2008-175145.   It is a figure which shows the structural example of the conventional vacuum pump unit quoted by Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2008-175145.   It is a figure which shows the structural example of the conventional vacuum pump unit.   It is a figure which shows the structural example of the conventional vacuum pump unit.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a front view showing a configuration example of claim 1 of the system of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing claims 1 to 3 of the system of the present invention.
In the present invention, a frame body 1 shown in FIG. 1 is installed. The frame is suitable for configuring the system.

  A feature of the present invention is to provide a large volume cylindrical header in three stages. The volume of each header in the three stages is determined by the exhaust amount that can cope with the pressure change, assuming that all the vacuum devices using each header are evacuated at the same time. In the present invention, the primary header 5 is installed in the lower part of the first stage of the frame body FIG. 1, the secondary header 14 is installed in the lower part of the second stage, and the tertiary header 30 is installed in the lower part of the third stage.

  Further, in the present invention, each primary pump, secondary pump, and tertiary pump that depressurizes each header is assumed to be evacuated by all the vacuum devices at the same time. The number is constructed taking into account quantity and energy efficiency.

  In the present invention, a plurality of primary side vacuum pumps P1, P2, and P3 are installed in parallel on the lower floor surface of the first stage of the frame body FIG. These primary-side vacuum pumps are oil rotary pumps, water-sealed pumps, screw-type pumps and the like that can be depressurized from the atmosphere.

  In the present invention, the primary side vacuum pumps P1, P2, and P3 of FIG. Then, a plurality of secondary side vacuum pumps P4, P5, P6, and P7 are installed in parallel on the first stage upper portion of the frame 1. The secondary side vacuum pump is preferably a mechanical booster pump. The mechanical booster pump exhibits good exhaust characteristics over a large exhaust speed and a wide pressure range when an oil rotary pump, a water ring pump, and a screw pump that can be depressurized from the atmosphere are used as auxiliary pumps.

  In the present invention, each exhaust port of the secondary side vacuum pump 6, 7, 8, 9 in FIG. 2 is connected to the primary side header 5, and each intake port 10, 11, 12, 13 of the secondary side vacuum pump is connected Connect to side header 14. A plurality of tertiary side vacuum pumps P8, P9 are installed in parallel on the upper second stage of the frame, and the exhaust ports 33, 34 of the tertiary side vacuum pump are connected to the secondary side header 14, Each intake port 35, 36 is connected to the tertiary header 30. The tertiary side vacuum pump is preferably a mechanical booster pump as well as the secondary side vacuum pump.

  A plurality of vacuum devices S 1 and S 2 in FIG. 2 are connected to 15 and 16 of the primary header 5. The vacuum device S3 is connected to the primary side header 5 18 and the secondary side header 14 21. The plurality of vacuum devices S4, S5, S6 are connected only to 22, 23, 24 of the secondary header 14. The vacuum device S <b> 7 is connected to the primary header 5 17 and the tertiary header 30 26. The plurality of vacuum devices S8 and S9 are connected only to 27 and 28 of the tertiary header 30. The vacuum device S10 is connected to 25 of the secondary header 14 and 29 of the tertiary header 30. The vacuum pressure is lower in the secondary header 14 than in the primary header 5 and lower in the tertiary header 30 than in the secondary header 14. Thus, according to the present invention, each vacuum device can select a vacuum region corresponding to each operating pressure region from the three headers having different pressure regions. Any number of these three headers can be selected and operated.

  The present invention can constitute a vacuum pump system including a plurality of stages of headers. FIG. 3 shows an example in which claim 4 is a two-stage type and the vacuum apparatus is implemented by a vacuum packaging machine.

  The present invention provides the primary side header 5 in FIG. 2, the secondary side header 14 and the tertiary side header 30 with the vacuum pressure sensors 19, 20, and 31 depending on the vacuum pressure detected by the vacuum pressure sensor. Start / stop operation of the vacuum pump, the plurality of secondary side vacuum pumps and the plurality of tertiary side vacuum pumps, and the opening / closing operations of the valves connected to the headers and the vacuum pumps and the valves connected to the headers and the vacuum devices. A centralized control device 32 that performs individual control collectively is provided.

  H3 and H4 in FIG. 3 are vacuum packaging machines incorporating a mechanical booster pump. H1 and H2 in FIG. 3 are vacuum packaging machines that do not incorporate a mechanical booster pump. As described above, the system according to the present invention can be applied to either a vacuum packaging machine incorporating a mechanical booster pump or a vacuum packaging machine not incorporating a mechanical booster pump.

  However, a vacuum device incorporating a mechanical booster pump is widely used, but even in such a vacuum device, if the pump is removed and incorporated in the system of the present invention like the vacuum devices S8 and S9 in FIG. The devices S8 and S9 consume less power than when the pump was built in while maintaining the same performance as before the pump was removed. The removed pumps can be used in the system of the present invention at P8 and P9 in FIG. Furthermore, depending on the number of vacuum devices from which the pump is removed, there will be a mechanical booster pump that becomes unnecessary. Thus, according to the present invention, the number of vacuum pumps can be reduced.

  In the present invention, P3, P7, and P9 of FIG. 2 are provided as spare pumps in a plurality of primary side vacuum pumps, secondary side vacuum pumps, and tertiary side vacuum pumps, respectively. When there is a defect such as leakage in the vacuum device and the piping between the vacuum device and the header of the present invention, the vacuum pressure sensors 19, 20, 31 in the header according to the present invention detect the pressure increase and The centralized control device that has received the start-up of the spare pump opens the valve connected to the header to deal with this lack of vacuum pressure. In addition, when an abnormality occurs in each vacuum pump, the central control device that has received the abnormality signal of the vacuum pump closes the valve connecting the vacuum pump and the header and operates the vacuum pump in which the abnormality has occurred. Stop. At the same time, the spare pump is started, and then the valve connected to the spare pump and header is opened to cope with the vacuum pressure shortage of the header due to the abnormal stop of the vacuum pump. This spare pump does not mean a specific vacuum pump. This means that a vacuum pump that can be arbitrarily stopped by combining rotations is prepared. The paused vacuum pump can be maintained by exchanging oil. In addition, when the vacuum pump fails, it is possible to overhaul the work of the vacuum apparatus without stagnation.

  The present invention extends a frame by connecting a new cylindrical header of the same diameter to an arbitrary header among primary side to tertiary side headers according to a required vacuum pressure region by adding a frame, and extending the cylinder The vacuum pump system can be expanded at any time by connecting each newly required vacuum pump and vacuum device to the header of the shape.

  The vacuum pump control method of the system of the present invention will be described in detail on the assumption that not all vacuum devices are always operated. First, when a vacuum device operation start signal is input to the central control device 32 in FIG. 2 at least one of the vacuum devices to be used, the vacuum pump system is automatically activated.

  Centralized control device 32 in FIG. 2 indicates that each primary side vacuum pump is in response to a signal corresponding to the vacuum pressure detected by each vacuum pressure sensor 19, 20, 31 in the primary side header 5, secondary side header 14, and tertiary side header 30. Then, one of the secondary side vacuum pump and the tertiary side vacuum pump is sequentially selected and activated as necessary, and the valve connecting the vacuum pump and the header is opened. Each primary side vacuum pump, secondary side vacuum pump, and tertiary side vacuum pump exhausts the inside of the primary side header 5, the secondary side header 14, and the tertiary side header 30. The vacuum pressure signals detected by the vacuum pressure sensors 19, 20 and 31 installed in the headers are transmitted to the central control device 32. The state in which the vacuum pressure of each header is lower than the prescribed value continues and the central control device 32 opens the valve 37 installed between the vacuum device and the header that is outputting the vacuum pump operation request signal after a lapse of a certain time. At the same time, a vacuum preparation completion signal is sent to the vacuum device. Here, the vacuum system according to the present invention completes the preparation for the vacuum apparatus operation.

  Each vacuum apparatus S1 to S10 in FIG. 2 is evacuated from the headers 5, 14, and 30 only at the time of evacuation by starting operation. And the total pumping capacity of the vacuum system in operation per unit time by the vacuum pumping of each vacuum system continues to exceed the total pumping capacity of the vacuum pump connected to each header, and the vacuum pressure in each header is below the specified value. If it is insufficient, the increased pressure is detected by the vacuum pressure sensors 19, 20, 31 in each header. The detected signal is sent to the centralized control device 32, and the centralized control device 32 individually starts and controls one of the stopped primary side to tertiary side vacuum pumps, and then connects the vacuum pump and the header. Open each valve to restore the header to the best vacuum pressure region.

And when the total displacement of the vacuum device in operation per unit time continues to be lower than the total displacement of the vacuum pump connected to each header, and the vacuum pressure in each header recovers beyond the specified value, The recovered vacuum pressure is detected by the vacuum pressure sensors 19, 20, and 31 in the headers 5, 14, and 30, and the detected signals are sent to the central control device 32, and the central control device 32 is activated. Alternatively, a valve connecting the header and the same number or plural vacuum pumps of the same order as that of the activated vacuum pump is closed, and the vacuum pump is individually and automatically controlled to stop.
The vacuum pump system according to the present invention constantly performs this series of operations.

  A problem in the system of the present invention is whether or not evacuation is not incomplete when all the vacuum devices connected to the vacuum system are simultaneously evacuated. The volume of each header of the system of the present invention is determined so that a sudden pressure change can be absorbed even when the total exhaust amount of the vacuum pump being operated is exceeded, assuming that all the vacuum devices are evacuated simultaneously. . Each primary side pump, secondary side pump, and tertiary side pump that depressurizes each header also assumes the case where all the vacuum devices are evacuated at the same time, and considers the displacement that can cope with the pressure change in each header. That number makes up. Therefore, even in the case of simultaneous evacuation of a plurality of vacuum devices, each header of the present invention has a volume that can cope with this, so that there is no severe variation in the vacuum pressure region in each header. Thus, each header according to the present invention always maintains a stable and best relatively low vacuum pressure region.

  Assuming that all the vacuum devices are evacuated simultaneously, there is a concern that the number of components of each vacuum pump may increase. As described above, it is considered necessary and sufficient for each header and vacuum pump of the vacuum pump system of the present invention to maintain and maintain an exhaust amount corresponding to the simultaneous exhaust of a plurality of vacuum devices. As a result, the present invention can reduce the number of components of each vacuum pump connected to each header, which first greatly reduces power consumption.

  FIG. 4 realized the system of the present invention with the configuration of FIG. 3 including a primary side vacuum pump and a primary side header and a secondary side vacuum pump and a secondary side header, and actually operated a vacuum packaging machine as a vacuum device. It is the vacuum degree measurement data in the secondary side header at the time. However, the number of operating vacuum packaging machines at this time is 11, the number of operating primary vacuum pumps is 2, and the number of operating secondary vacuum pumps is 3.

  From morning 7:20 to 8:09 shown in 38 of FIG. 4 is a preparation stage for confirming the performance of the vacuum packaging machine in the start-up operation, and the vacuum packaging machine is intermittently adjusted without production operation. From 11:50 to 12:59 noon shown in 39 of FIG. 4, the valve between each header and each vacuum packaging machine is closed in conjunction with the stoppage of the vacuum packaging machine during the lunch break. After that, the valves between each header and each vacuum pump are closed to stop all vacuum pumps. The vacuum pressure in the header is a constant vacuum pressure of 1 hPa or less, and 39 in FIG. 4 is represented by a horizontal line. The vacuum packaging machine can start production operations in a short time by opening each header valve after starting each vacuum pump at the same time as restarting operation from the afternoon.

On the other hand, from 8:09 to 11:48 in the morning and from 12:59 to 16:00 in the morning in FIG. 4 are the production operating hours of the vacuum packaging machine. In this time zone, the vacuum pressure line in FIG. 4 does not have a portion represented by a horizontal line, and the line representing the vacuum pressure on the graph in FIG. 4 always moves up and down with a constant width. That is, the system of the present invention controls the operation of each vacuum pump so that the header pressure is always maintained within a certain range during operation of the vacuum packaging machine. When the vacuum pressure exceeds 16 hPa in these time zones, the simultaneous suction of the vacuum packaging machine is particularly large, and when the vacuum pressure is less than 6 hPa, the simultaneous suction of the vacuum packaging machine is low.
Thus, according to the system of the present invention, there is no useless idling state in which the vacuum pump is operated during non-evacuation during the vacuum packaging operation. Therefore, according to the system of the present invention, not only various effects as described above, but also a reduction in power consumption exceeding 80 percent is brought about.

  Among the operations using a plurality of vacuum devices, there are a time evacuation and a time irregular evacuation of each vacuum device. As described above, the system of the present invention performs start / stop control to eliminate waste of the idling state of each vacuum pump so that it can cope with the vacuum exhaust of each vacuum device in any case during vacuum device work, and the vacuum pressure in each header Is stabilized within a certain range.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the technical idea described in the claims and the specification and drawings. Is possible.

  As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, in any case, the exhaust speed and / or capacity of each of the plurality of pumps included in the vacuum pump system can be set arbitrarily.

The present invention can be used for a vacuum apparatus using any vacuum pump. The type, application, size, performance, etc. of the air intake source device to be evacuated are not questioned.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 System frame 2-4 Primary side vacuum pump inlet port 5 Primary side header 6-9 Secondary side vacuum pump exhaust port 10-13 Secondary side vacuum pump inlet port 14 Secondary side header 15-18 Vacuum apparatus and primary side Header connection 19 Pressure sensor in the primary header
20 Pressure sensor in the secondary header
21-25 Connection part 26-29 between vacuum device and secondary header 30 Connection part 30 between vacuum device and tertiary header Tertiary header 31 Pressure sensor in tertiary header
32 Central control device 33.34 Tertiary side vacuum pump exhaust port 35.36 Tertiary side vacuum pump air inlet 37 Pneumatic operation valve 38 From 7:20 to 8:09 in the morning Vacuum packaging machine adjustment operation 39 Noon 11:50 to 12:59 All vacuum packaging machines and all vacuum pumps stop P1-P3 Primary vacuum pump P4-P7 Secondary vacuum pump P8. P9 Tertiary vacuum pump H1. H2. H. Vacuum packaging machine without vacuum pump H3. Vacuum packaging machine S1-S10 with vacuum pump equipped with H4 vacuum pump

Differences between the above patent document and the present invention will be described. Patent Document 3 is different from the present invention in main problems. FIG. 7 of Patent Document 3 attempts to cope with the pressure drop in the furnace core tube by using only a plurality of primary side vacuum pumps, whereas the present invention uses a plurality of primary side and secondary side vacuum pumps. In FIG. 8 of Patent Document 3, two primary-side vacuum pumps and two secondary-side vacuum pumps are directly connected to each other and connected in parallel by secondary-side collecting pipes. a pump and a plurality of secondary vacuum pump connected in parallel to the primary side header of the cylindrical large volume, two more on the secondary side header of the cylindrical large volume instead further secondary collecting pipe of the The secondary vacuum pump is connected in parallel.

According to the present invention and Patent Document 5, in a plurality of multistage vacuum pump systems each using a frame, a plurality of primary side vacuum pumps are installed in parallel in the lower stage, and a plurality of secondary sides are installed in the upper stage. A vacuum pump is installed in parallel, and each stage is connected using a collecting pipe. This is also generally performed conventionally, and examples of the primary collecting pipe are A in FIG. 6 shown in Patent Document 2 and 10b in FIG. 7 shown in Patent Document 3, and the secondary collecting pipe is shown in FIG. An example is B in FIG. 6 shown in Patent Document 2 and 10b in FIG. 8 shown in Patent Document 3, and an example of the tertiary collecting pipe is C in FIG. Although there is no particular description in the claims of Patent Document 5, the collective intake pipe 21 of the secondary vacuum pump is thicker than the relay collective pipe 22 of the primary vacuum pump as seen in FIG. This is to obtain a high vacuum exhaust amount for exhausting a large-capacity processing chamber for processing a large substrate. On the other hand, the present invention is provided with a large-capacity columnar header instead of the collecting pipe, and is installed at the lower part of each step frame, respectively, and a plurality of primary side vacuum pumps, a plurality of secondary side vacuum pumps , Connected to a plurality of tertiary side vacuum pumps , a plurality of vacuum devices are connected to the primary side, secondary side, and tertiary side headers according to the required vacuum pressure, and exhausted. Each header of the present invention does not have a problem of obtaining a high vacuum exhaust amount.

Patent Document 5 states that “one or two booster pumps can continue to function as a vacuum pump unit even if a failure occurs, and only the failed pump needs to be replaced” (see paragraph 0008). Disclose. However, the present invention is provided with spare pumps on each of the primary side, secondary side, and tertiary side, and not only a vacuum failure accident due to leakage of piping etc., but also the primary side and tertiary Even when the side vacuum pump fails, it is possible to cope with the failure while maintaining the performance of the vacuum pump system.

With respect to Patent Document 6, Patent Document 7 is cited therein, and according to the conventional device described in “Patent Document 6”, the motor itself is for a relatively large pump. Even if it is driven to rotate, the power consumption is relatively large compared to a relatively small motor for a pump ”(see paragraph 0005).
Patent Document 6 basically considers saving of power consumption on the premise that the idling state of the vacuum pump remains during the vacuum apparatus operation. Whereas the present invention, with the aim to reduce power consumption by eliminating the idling state itself in the vacuum pump in a vacuum device working, the effect is there is much difference.

The present invention is to solve such a problem when operating a plurality of vacuum apparatuses, particularly vacuum packaging machines, and selectively selects the vacuum pressure in a plurality of headers in a region where the vacuum pressure is relatively low. controlled to be a main object of the present invention to provide a vacuum pumping system sharply reduce power consumption.

Then the primary vacuum pump can be depressurized from the plurality of air beneath the floor of the primary header is placed in parallel, connect each inlet of the plurality of primary vacuum pump to the primary side header, the frame A column-shaped secondary header having a volume of a displacement capable of coping with simultaneous evacuation of all the vacuum devices connected is provided at the lower part of the second stage.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the vacuum pump system according to the first aspect, a vacuum pressure sensor is provided in the primary side header, the secondary side header, and the tertiary side header, and the vacuum pressure sensor There depending on vacuum pressure sensed, the plurality of primary side of the vacuum pump and the plurality of secondary vacuum pump and said plurality of tertiary-side vacuum pump starts and stops operation and the in each header and each of the plurality of vacuum pumps It is characterized by comprising a centralized control device that individually controls the connected valves and the opening and closing operations of the valves connected to the headers and the vacuum devices individually.

The present invention includes a large volume cylindrical primary header between a plurality of primary side vacuum pumps and a plurality of secondary side vacuum pumps, and between the plurality of secondary side vacuum pumps and the plurality of tertiary side vacuum pumps. A large-capacity cylindrical secondary header is provided, and a large-capacity cylindrical tertiary header is provided above a plurality of tertiary vacuum pumps. Depending on the required degree of vacuum of a plurality of vacuum devices, the primary side to the tertiary to connect to either - side header. A plurality of primary side vacuum pumps, a plurality of secondary side vacuum pumps, and a plurality of tertiary side vacuum pumps are connected in parallel to the upper, middle, and lower primary side, secondary side, and tertiary side headers, respectively. The present invention is a vacuum pressure sensor is placed in the header, resulted in operating method at an optimum vacuum pressure condition for each of the vacuum apparatus while checking the status of the header vacuum pressure, by taking advantage of the above characteristics of the mechanical booster pump The start / stop is automatically controlled while maintaining a balance according to the required vacuum displacement of the number of vacuum devices.

According to the present invention, the exhaust port of each vacuum device is connected to the primary side to the tertiary side header. Each vacuum device is evacuated from the header only during evacuation. The pressure in the headers boosted by the vacuum evacuation of the vacuum apparatus is detected by the vacuum pressure sensor in each header, the pressure signal is transmitted to the central control unit. When the vacuum pressure of each header becomes higher than the set pressure, the central control unit automatically starts either the primary side or tertiary side vacuum pump, opens the valve connecting each vacuum pump and each header, and opens each header. The inside is led to the optimum vacuum pressure region and maintained. When the vacuum pressure in each header becomes lower than the set pressure, the centralized control unit that has received the pressure signal detected by the vacuum pressure sensor in each header selects from the vacuum pumps that are activated after a certain period of time. Close the vacuum pump and the valve connected to each header. The selected vacuum pump is automatically controlled to stop.

In the present invention, any one of the plurality of vacuum devices is evacuated from each header, and even when not evacuated, the central control device always starts and stops each vacuum pump and opens and closes each valve. It is controlled to reach a certain vacuum pressure. That is, there is no useless idling state of the vacuum pump as described above in the system of the present invention. This is the reason why power consumption can be greatly reduced. Thus, while supplying vacuum pressure and the exhaust amount required for each vacuum apparatus according to the present invention system, the header is always possible to reduce the steady power consumption while maintaining a vacuum pressure, said power According to the present invention, together with the energy saving effect, the amount of power consumption can be reduced to an amount exceeding the conventional 80%.

A fourth effect of the present invention is that the vacuum pump used in the system of the present invention can obtain long durability. That is, the life is prolonged. In the system of the present invention, gas such as air exhausted from the vacuum apparatus causes a pressure balance in each header having a pre-calculated volume, so that each vacuum pump of the system of the present invention has an atmospheric pressure directly from each vacuum apparatus. The gas is not aspirated. That is, each header according to the present invention always maintains a constant and relatively low vacuum pressure region. As long as each vacuum pump connected to the header continues to operate in this region, there is no sudden load fluctuation of the vacuum pump. If there is no sudden load fluctuation, damage to each member constituting the vacuum pump is reduced. In addition, the present invention provides a reserve pump. This spare pump does not mean a specific vacuum pump. Is that providing a vacuum pump halting optionally formed a Teishon - without Russia stopping the working of the vacuum apparatus. The paused vacuum pump can be maintained by exchanging oil. This provides longer durability for the vacuum pump used in the system of the present invention.

As a fifth effect of the present invention, the header of the present invention from where a cylindrical, work-made header is easy. Extend the frame by connecting a new cylindrical header of the same diameter to any one of the primary to tertiary headers according to the required vacuum pressure area. It is also possible to easily expand the vacuum pump system as needed by connecting each newly required vacuum pump and vacuum device. The number of vacuum equipment can be increased to quickly respond to the increased production system for vacuum equipment work.

Centralized control device 32 in FIG. 2 indicates that each primary side vacuum pump is in response to a signal corresponding to the vacuum pressure detected by each vacuum pressure sensor 19, 20, 31 in the primary side header 5, secondary side header 14, and tertiary side header 30. Then, one of the secondary side vacuum pump and the tertiary side vacuum pump is sequentially selected and activated as necessary, and the valve connecting the vacuum pump and the header is opened. Each primary side vacuum pump, secondary side vacuum pump, and tertiary side vacuum pump exhausts the inside of the primary side header 5, the secondary side header 14, and the tertiary side header 30. The vacuum pressure signals detected by the vacuum pressure sensors 19, 20 and 31 installed in the headers are transmitted to the central control device 32. The state in which the vacuum pressure in each header continues to be lower than the prescribed value and after a certain time has elapsed, the centralized control device 32 controls the valve 37 installed between the vacuum device that is outputting the vacuum pump operation request signal and the header. Simultaneously with the opening, a vacuum preparation completion signal is sent to the vacuum apparatus. Here, the vacuum pump system according to the present invention completes preparation for operation of the vacuum apparatus.

Each vacuum apparatus S1 to S10 in FIG. 2 is evacuated from the headers 5, 14, and 30 only at the time of evacuation by starting operation. And the total pumping capacity of the vacuum system in operation per unit time by the vacuum pumping of each vacuum system continues to exceed the total pumping capacity of the vacuum pump connected to each header, and the vacuum pressure in each header is below the specified value. If it is insufficient, the increased pressure is detected by the vacuum pressure sensors 19, 20, 31 in each header. The detected signal is sent to the centralized control device 32, and the centralized control device 32 individually starts and controls one of the stopped primary side to tertiary side vacuum pumps, and then connects the vacuum pump and the header. Open the valve to restore the best vacuum pressure region in each header.

A problem in the system of the present invention is whether or not evacuation is not incomplete when all the vacuum devices connected to the vacuum pump system are evacuated simultaneously. The volume of each header of the system of the present invention is determined so that a sudden pressure change can be absorbed even when the total exhaust amount of the vacuum pump being operated is exceeded, assuming that all the vacuum devices are evacuated simultaneously. . Also each primary vacuum pump for reducing the pressure in the respective header, the secondary-side vacuum pump, also tertiary side vacuum pump on the assumption that at the same time evacuated the entire vacuum apparatus emissions that can correspond to a pressure change in the respective header The number is composed taking into account. Therefore, even in the case of simultaneous evacuation of a plurality of vacuum devices, each header of the present invention has a volume that can cope with this, so that there is no severe variation in the vacuum pressure region in each header. Thus the header according to the present invention always maintains a stable best relatively low vacuum pressure region.

From morning 7:20 to 8:09 shown in 38 of FIG. 4 is a preparation stage for confirming the performance of the vacuum packaging machine in the start-up operation, and the vacuum packaging machine is intermittently adjusted without production operation. From 11:50 to 12:59 noon shown in 39 of FIG. 4, the valve between each header and each vacuum packaging machine is closed in conjunction with the stoppage of the vacuum packaging machine during the lunch break. After that, the valves between each header and each vacuum pump are closed to stop all vacuum pumps. The vacuum pressure in the header reaches a reachable range in preparation for production from the afternoon and is a constant vacuum pressure of 1 hPa or less, and 39 in FIG. 4 is represented by a horizontal line. The vacuum packaging machine can start production operations in a short time by opening each header valve after starting each vacuum pump at the same time as restarting operation from the afternoon.

On the other hand, from 8:09 to 11:48 in the morning and from 12:59 to 16:00 in the morning in FIG. 4 are the production operating hours of the vacuum packaging machine. This part of the graph of FIG. 4 proves two things.
First, in this time zone, the vacuum pressure line in FIG. 4 does not have a portion represented by a horizontal line, and the line representing the vacuum pressure on the graph in FIG. 4 always moves up and down with a constant width. That is, in the vacuum pump system of the present invention , any one of the plurality of vacuum packaging machines is evacuated from each header while the vacuum packaging machine is in operation, and the central control device always starts and stops each vacuum pump even when the evacuation is not performed. The operation of each vacuum pump is controlled so as to always maintain the pressure in the header within a certain range by opening and closing each valve . This proves that according to the vacuum pump system of the present invention , there is no useless idling state during non-evacuation which is operated by a conventional vacuum pump during vacuum packaging operation . In the present invention, each vacuum pump does not directly evacuate each vacuum packaging machine as in the prior art, but each header exhausted by each vacuum pump evacuates each vacuum packaging machine. Each header connected to each controlled vacuum pump of the present invention provides a lean so-called cushioning effect.
If it dares to add, even in the vacuum pump system of the present invention, it is possible to intentionally create a useless idling state. That is, during operation of the vacuum packaging machine, the operation of each vacuum pump is made to exhaust excessively from the required exhaust amount of each vacuum packaging machine, and the vacuum pressure in the header of the present invention is led to the reach area and continued. If it is represented by a line on the graph, it will cause a horizontal line of 1 hPa or less to be drawn just like the lunch break time zone 39 on the graph of FIG. However, in the time zone 39 in FIG. 4, the vacuum pressure is lowered to prepare for production from the afternoon, and it is not a wasteful idling state. There is no horizontal line of 1 hPa or less as shown by 39 in the graph of FIG. 4 in this time zone, which is the production operation time zone of the vacuum packaging machine of FIG. The vacuum pump system of the present invention controls each vacuum pump so that this does not appear.
Secondly, when the vacuum pressure falls below 6 hPa in these time zones, it is when the simultaneous exhaust of the vacuum packaging machine is low. The time when the vacuum pressure exceeds 16 hPa is particularly when the vacuum evacuation of the vacuum packaging machine is large, and each vacuum packaging machine simultaneously evacuated at this time continues normal operation. This proves that: The vacuum pump system of the present invention is configured and functions with the degree of vacuum of each header and the number of operating vacuum pumps corresponding to the exhaust amount even in the case of simultaneous exhaust of a plurality of vacuum packaging machines. The number of vacuum packaging machines showing the graph of FIG. 4 is eleven. Conventionally, 11 vacuum pumps were required in this case. However, in the vacuum pump system of the present invention, the number of the primary side vacuum pumps is two, and the number of secondary side vacuum pumps is three. Thus, if the vacuum pump system of the present invention is used, the number of vacuum pumps more than that is not necessary, and the total number of vacuum pumps can be reduced.
Thus, 80 Pas with various effects of the I by the vacuum pumping system of the two is the present invention more - and cod also a reduction in power consumption exceeding cents.

Among the operations using a plurality of vacuum devices, there are a time evacuation and a time irregular evacuation of each vacuum device. As described above, the vacuum pump system according to the present invention reduces the number of vacuum pumps and wastes the idling state of each vacuum pump so that the vacuum pumps can be evacuated in any case during vacuum device work. The start / stop control was eliminated, and the vacuum pressure in each header was maintained within a certain range, and the work of the vacuum device was stabilized, realizing energy savings in power consumption .

In order to solve the above problem, according to the vacuum pump system of the present invention, a plurality of tertiary vacuum pumps and a plurality of secondary sides are sequentially arranged from the vacuum device side in order to evacuate a plurality of vacuum devices. In a vacuum pump system provided with a vacuum pump and a three-stage vacuum pump that can depressurize from a plurality of atmospheres , the exhaust is directly and indirectly exhausted to the lower part of the first stage of the three-stage frame. The above-mentioned vacuum device is provided with a cylindrical primary header having a volume of displacement that can correspond to the simultaneous evacuation of FIG. 1 S1-S10 .

And a primary side vacuum pump capable of depressurizing from the plurality of atmospheres is installed in parallel on the lower floor surface of the primary side header, each intake port of the plurality of primary side vacuum pumps is connected to the primary side header, and the frame body second stage lower in the direct and indirect exhaust to the vacuum device Figure 1 S3-S10 simultaneously evacuated provided secondary side header cylindrical with the volume of emissions that can be enabled.

The plurality of secondary-side vacuum pumps are installed in parallel on the upper first stage of the frame body, and the exhaust ports of the plurality of secondary-side vacuum pumps are connected to the primary-side header, and the plurality of secondary-side vacuum pumps The vacuum device that connects each intake port of the vacuum pump to the secondary header and exhausts the vacuum directly to the lower third stage of the frame body . The volume of the exhaust amount that can correspond to the simultaneous vacuum exhaust of FIG. 1 S7-S10 A cylindrical tertiary header is provided.

The plurality of tertiary side vacuum pumps are installed in parallel on the upper second stage of the frame body, and the exhaust ports of the plurality of tertiary side vacuum pumps are connected to the secondary side header, and the plurality of tertiary side vacuum pumps And the vacuum device in FIG. 1 S1-S10 according to the required vacuum degree of each vacuum device, among the primary side header, the secondary side header, and the tertiary side header. It is the vacuum pump system characterized by connecting to either.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the vacuum pump system according to the first aspect, a vacuum pressure sensor is provided in the primary side header, the secondary side header, and the tertiary side header, and the vacuum pressure sensor Depending on the vacuum pressure detected by the first and second primary vacuum pumps, the plurality of secondary side vacuum pumps, and the plurality of tertiary side vacuum pumps, and the respective headers and the plurality of vacuum pumps. Connected valves and the respective headers and the vacuum device A centralized control device for individually controlling the opening and closing operations of the valves connected to FIGS. 2S1 to S10 is provided.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the vacuum pump system according to the first to third aspects, the primary side header, the primary side vacuum pump capable of depressurizing from the plurality of atmospheres, and the secondary side header, The secondary side of the plurality of secondary side vacuum pumps or the primary side header--the primary side vacuum pump and the secondary side header capable of depressurizing from the plurality of atmospheres--the plurality of secondary side vacuum pumps and the tertiary side It is characterized by making it the vacuum pump system comprised by the 4 steps | paragraphs of a header-. The said some tertiary side vacuum pump and a quaternary side header- . And this invention can also be set as a multistage vacuum pump system according to a use.

The first effect of the present invention is to reduce power consumption when operating a plurality of vacuum apparatuses, so-called energy saving. In the conventional example, a vacuum pump capable of reducing the pressure from 11 atmospheric pressures to 11 vacuum devices was required. On the other hand, in FIG. 3 of the embodiment by the vacuum pump system constituted by two stages of the present invention, among the primary side vacuum pumps that can be depressurized from the atmospheric pressure, P3 is a spare unit, and therefore the primary side vacuum pump that can depressurize from the atmospheric pressure. Only two units can be operated, and since the secondary vacuum pump P7 is a spare unit, only three secondary vacuum pumps are required. The secondary side vacuum pump mainly uses a mechanical booster pump, and the motor can be reduced to 1/3 of the power consumption of the vacuum pump motor of the same displacement that can be depressurized from the atmosphere. Compared to using 11 vacuum pumps that can depressurize from the atmosphere, the power consumption is first greatly reduced.
Each header of the vacuum pump system of the present invention is necessary and sufficient if it holds and maintains an exhaust amount corresponding to the exhaust of a plurality of vacuum devices, and the number of components of each vacuum pump can be reduced. The reduction of the primary side, secondary side, and tertiary side vacuum pumps is realized by the vacuum pump system of the present invention, and the effect is great.

Each header according to the present invention has a volume that can cope with a change in vacuum pressure assuming that all the vacuum devices exhausted directly and indirectly by each header are simultaneously evacuated. Therefore, even in the case of simultaneous evacuation of a plurality of vacuum devices, each header of the present invention has a large volume that can cope with this, so that there is no severe fluctuation in the vacuum pressure region in each header. Thus, each header according to the present invention always maintains the best relatively low vacuum pressure region. In general, it is known that in a vacuum pump, the load of a motor for rotating the rotor is relatively high at a high vacuum pressure and relatively low at a low vacuum pressure. There is also a reason that power consumption can be reduced here.

A feature of the present invention is to provide a large volume cylindrical header in three stages. The volume of each header of the three stages, each header is determined by assuming emissions that can correspond to a pressure change when evacuating directly and indirectly exhausted to the entire vacuum apparatus simultaneously. In the present invention, the primary header 5 is installed in the lower part of the first stage of the frame body FIG. 1, the secondary header 14 is installed in the lower part of the second stage, and the tertiary header 30 is installed in the lower part of the third stage.

In the present invention, the primary pump for depressurizing the respective header, the secondary pump, the tertiary-side pump also assumed that each header is evacuated directly and indirectly exhausted to the entire vacuum apparatus simultaneously the The number is configured in consideration of the displacement and energy efficiency that can cope with the pressure change in each header.

The present invention can constitute a vacuum pump system including two or more stages of headers. FIG. 3 shows the two -stage vacuum pump system according to claim 4, and the vacuum apparatus is an example implemented in a vacuum packaging machine.

A problem in the system of the present invention is whether or not evacuation is not incomplete when all the vacuum devices connected to the vacuum pump system are evacuated simultaneously. The volume of each header of the system of the present invention assumes a rapid pressure even when the total vacuum device in operation is exceeded, assuming that all the vacuum devices exhausted directly and indirectly by each header are simultaneously evacuated. It is determined so that changes can be absorbed. Each primary side vacuum pump, secondary side vacuum pump, and tertiary side vacuum pump that depressurizes the inside of each header also assumes the case where all the vacuum devices that each header exhaust directly and indirectly are evacuated simultaneously. The number is configured in consideration of the displacement that can cope with the pressure change in the header. Therefore, even in the case of simultaneous evacuation of a plurality of vacuum devices, each header of the present invention has a volume that can cope with this, so that there is no severe variation in the vacuum pressure region in each header. Thus, in each header according to the present invention, a stable and best relatively low vacuum pressure region is always maintained.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the technical idea described in the claims and the specification and drawings. Expansion is possible.

Claims (5)

In order to evacuate a plurality of vacuum devices, a plurality of tertiary vacuum pumps, a plurality of secondary vacuum pumps, and a primary vacuum pump capable of depressurizing from a plurality of atmospheres in order from the vacuum device side were provided. In vacuum pump system,
A columnar primary header having a volume of exhaustion capable of coping with simultaneous vacuum exhaust of all the vacuum devices connected to the first stage lower part of a three-stage frame is provided, and the primary header A primary-side vacuum pump capable of depressurizing from the plurality of atmospheres is installed in parallel on the lower floor surface of each of the plurality of primary-side vacuum pumps, and each inlet port of the plurality of primary-side vacuum pumps is connected to the primary-side header. A cylindrical secondary side header having a volume of exhaustion capable of coping with simultaneous vacuum exhausting of all the vacuum devices connected to the lower part is provided at the lower part, and the plurality of secondary side vacuum pumps are provided above the first stage of the frame body Are connected in parallel, each exhaust port of the plurality of secondary side vacuum pumps is connected to the primary side header, and each intake port of the plurality of secondary side vacuum pumps is connected to the secondary side header. The true true of all the vacuum devices connected to the lower part of the third stage of the frame A cylindrical tertiary header having a volume of displacement capable of accommodating exhaust is provided, and the plurality of tertiary vacuum pumps are installed in parallel above the second stage of the frame, and the plurality of tertiary vacuum pumps Each exhaust port is connected to the secondary side header, each intake port of the plurality of tertiary side vacuum pumps is connected to the tertiary side header, and the plurality of vacuum devices are adapted to the required degree of vacuum of each vacuum device. The vacuum pump system is connected to any one of the primary header, the secondary header, and the tertiary header.   A vacuum pressure sensor is provided in the primary side header, the secondary side header, and the tertiary side header, and the plurality of primary side vacuum pumps and the plurality of secondary units are provided in accordance with the vacuum pressure detected by the vacuum pressure sensor. Start-stop operation of the side vacuum pump and the plurality of tertiary side vacuum pumps, valves connected to the headers and the vacuum pumps, and valves connected to the headers and the vacuum devices The vacuum pump system according to claim 1, further comprising a centralized control device that individually controls the opening and closing operations of the two.   The spare pump is prepared in each of the plurality of primary side vacuum pumps, the plurality of secondary side vacuum pumps, and the plurality of tertiary side vacuum pumps, respectively. Vacuum pump system.   The vacuum pump system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the vacuum pump system includes a plurality of stages.   The frame is added, and each columnar header is newly connected to a columnar header of the same diameter and extended, and each new vacuum pump and vacuum device is connected to the columnar header extended. The vacuum pump system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the system is connected and can be expanded at any time.

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