Turbomolecular pump

Abstract

A turbomolecular pump ( 10 ) includes a rotor ( 12 ) connected to a drive shaft ( 10 ). The rotor ( 12 ) has multiple rotor vanes ( 16 ). The rotor ( 12 ) is surrounded by stator rings ( 26 ) with one stator ring ( 26 ) is provided for each rotor vane ( 16 ). In order to enable radial expansion of the rotor vanes during operation, the stator rings ( 26 ) have annular grooves ( 32 ).

1 . A turbomolecular pump, comprising:
 a rotor arranged on a drive shaft and having a plurality of rotor vanes, and   a stator element surrounding the rotor,   wherein   said stator element comprises at least one surrounding annular groove assigned to a respective one of the rotor vanes, said annular groove being arranged in a vane plane of the assigned rotor vane to allow for radial expansion of the rotor vane during operation.   
     
     
         2 . The turbomolecular pump according to  claim 1 , wherein said at least one rotor vane comprises an annular projection extending radially in the direction towards the annular groove. 
     
     
         3 . The turbomolecular pump according to  claim 1 , wherein a plurality of rotor vanes, particularly at least two rotor vanes, have at least one annular groove assigned to them. 
     
     
         4 . The turbomolecular pump according to  claim 1 , wherein the stator element is formed by a housing in such a manner that said at least one annular groove is provided on the inner side of the housing facing towards the rotor. 
     
     
         5 . The turbomolecular pump according to  claim 1 , wherein the stator element comprises a plurality of stator rings arranged behind each other in the axial direction, said at least one annular groove being provided in one of the stator rings. 
     
     
         6 . The turbomolecular pump according to  claim 5 , wherein each stator ring is connected to a stator disk arranged between two adjacent rotor vanes. 
     
     
         7 . The turbomolecular pump according to  claim 5 , wherein one stator ring is provided per rotor vane, each stator ring defining an annular groove. 
     
     
         8 . The turbomolecular pump according to  claim 5 , wherein in a mounting condition, an inner diameter of the stator rings is larger than an outer diameter of the rotor vanes by a width of a mounting gap. 
     
     
         9 . A turbomolecular pump comprising:
 a stator housing;   a rotor shaft rotatably disposed in the stator housing;   a plurality of rotor vanes mounted to the rotor shaft and extending radially outward therefrom along a rotor plane to a rotor tip;   a plurality of stator rings disposed between the rotor planes, each stator ring carrying an array of stator vanes extending radially inward and defining a circumferential groove in the rotor plane configured to receive a corresponding rotor tip.