JP2006057547A - Power supply device for turbo molecular pump - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a power supply device for a turbo molecular pump easily adaptable for the control of a pump body using a new pump control program. <P>SOLUTION: The program to be processed by a CPU 10 consists of a model dependent program (a pump control program) and a loader program mutually independent. The model dependent program is a program for controlling an exciting amplifier 11 and an inverter 12. The loader program is a program for rewriting the model dependent program stored in a nonvolatile memory 13 with the model dependent program transmitted via a communication port 17 from a PC. It is set into a rewriting mode by a LCD/switch 15 to rewrite the model dependent program. The power supply device 2, if the same, is adaptable for various pump bodies 1 with the rewriting of the model dependent program. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a power supply device that drives and controls a pump body of a turbo molecular pump.

  The turbo molecular pump is composed of a pump main body, a power supply device, and a cable connecting them, and generally has various models depending on the pumping speed of the pump main body. A power supply device that drives and controls the pump body is provided with a power source and a motor drive control unit, and in the case of a magnetic bearing type turbo molecule, further includes a magnetic bearing drive control unit.

  The basic configuration of the pump main body, that is, the motor that rotationally drives the rotor provided with the rotor blades and the magnetic bearing that magnetically levitates the rotor are often the same regardless of the model. For this reason, with regard to the power supply device, hardware is common and control programs are often different for each model, and various techniques for sharing the power supply device have been proposed.

  For example, a technique is known in which a plurality of control programs for each model are stored in a nonvolatile memory in the power supply device, and the control program is selected and used according to the model of the connected pump body (for example, Patent Document 1).

  A configuration has also been proposed in which the control parameters stored on the power supply device side are stored in a storage unit provided on the pump body side (see, for example, Patent Document 2). In this case, when the pump main body and the power supply device are connected, a control parameter is transmitted from the pump main body side to the power supply device, and the power supply device drives and controls the pump main body using the transmitted control parameter.

JP 2003-148383 A JP-A-10-103285

  However, in the first example described above, a new model turbomolecular pump developed after the power supply is supplied cannot be handled because the control program is not stored in the memory of the power supply. Further, when there are a large number of models, there arises a problem that control programs for all models cannot be stored in a memory with a limited capacity.

  On the other hand, in the case of the second example, since the control is performed according to the control parameter stored on the pump body side, the power supply apparatus can correspond to various pump bodies. However, in the case of a turbo molecular pump, the function may be upgraded or changed later depending on the pump usage environment or the like. Such function upgrade is performed by changing the control program including the control parameter, but the control parameter stored in the pump body supplied before the function upgrade is an old control parameter before the function upgrade. It cannot be used in the required environment.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a rewritable memory storing a pump control program that varies depending on the model and use status of the pump body, a loader program for rewriting the pump control program, and drive control of the pump body by the pump control program. A selection means for selecting an operation mode in which is executed and a rewrite mode in which a rewrite operation of the pump control program stored in the memory by the loader program is executed, an input unit for inputting the pump control program from an external device, In the rewriting mode, the apparatus has a rewriting means for reading a pump control program from an external device via an input unit based on a loader program and rewriting the pump control program stored in the memory with the read pump control program. Turbo molecular Up of the power supply.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the turbomolecular pump power supply device according to the first aspect of the present invention, a general-purpose communication port that can be used for monitoring the pump operation status is provided, and the communication port is also used as an input means. It is a thing.
According to a third aspect of the invention, in the turbomolecular pump power supply device according to the first aspect, the external device is a recording medium storing a pump control program, and the input unit reads the pump control program from the recording medium. Reading means to perform.

  According to the present invention, by rewriting the pump control program stored in the memory with the read pump control program, it is possible to easily cope with the control of the pump body by the new pump control program.

  Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a magnetic bearing type turbo molecular pump according to an embodiment of the present invention. The turbo molecular pump includes a pump body 1, a power supply device 2, and a cable 3 connecting them. The rotor 4 provided in the pump body 1 is supported in a non-contact manner by an electromagnet 5 and is driven to rotate by a motor 6. The flying position of the rotor 4 is detected by a displacement sensor 7 (for example, a non-contact type magnetic sensor), and the rotational speed is detected by a rotational speed sensor 8.

  On the other hand, the power supply device 2 is provided with a turbo molecular pump drive unit 9 and a CPU 10 that controls the turbo molecular pump drive unit 9. The turbo molecular pump drive unit 9 is provided with an excitation amplifier 11 that supplies an excitation current to the electromagnet 5 and an inverter 12 that drives the motor 6. Signals from the displacement sensor 7 and the rotation speed sensor 8 are input to the CPU 10, and the CPU 10 controls the excitation amplifier 11 and the inverter 12 of the turbo molecular pump drive unit 9 based on these signals.

  A non-volatile memory 13, a volatile memory 14, an LCD / switch 15 and a communication port 17 are connected to the CPU 10. The nonvolatile memory 13 is a memory in which stored data can be electrically rewritten, and stores a program processed by the CPU 10 in the present embodiment. Programs processed by the CPU 10 include a loader program and a model-dependent program (pump control program) that are independent from each other, and are stored separately. On the other hand, the volatile memory 14 is a memory provided for temporarily storing data. The LCD / switch 15 is an input / output unit provided for a user interface. The LCD / switch 15 is provided with an LCD display device for displaying a pump status, a switch for inputting a power on / off instruction and a rewrite mode instruction to be described later, and the like. Yes.

  AC power is input to the power supply device 2 from an external primary power supply (not shown), and the AC power is converted into DC power by an AC / DC converter (not shown). The communication port 17 is conventionally provided for exchanging information with an external device. In this embodiment, the communication port 17 is connected to a PC (personal computer) and receives a model-dependent program for rewriting from the PC.

  The model-dependent program in the present embodiment is a control program for driving and controlling the excitation amplifier 11 and the inverter 12, and includes various control parameters. For example, control parameters related to bearing control include proportional gain, integral gain, and differential gain for PID control, and parameters for notch filters and low-pass filters for levitation stability. In addition, there are a rated rotational speed at the time of rotor rotation related to inverter control, parameters for overload and overcurrent related to a protection function, and the like. Further, the parameter control meter may be changed or the sequence may be changed depending on the pump usage conditions.

  FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the rewriting operation of the model-dependent program in the present embodiment, and shows processing executed in the CPU 10 of the power supply device 2. When the power is turned on while pressing the rewrite mode switch provided on the LCD / switch 15, the process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 2 is started.

  In step S1, a loader program for program rewrite processing is activated. Note that the processing from step S1 to step S7 in FIG. 3 represents processing by the loader program, and step S8 represents processing by the model-dependent program. In step S2, it is determined whether or not the rewrite mode switch has been operated. If it is determined that it has been operated, the process proceeds to step S3, and if it is determined that it has not been operated, the process proceeds to step S7.

  First, the case of the rewrite mode will be described. When the rewrite mode switch is operated, the process proceeds from step S2 to step S3 to display the program rewrite mode state on the LCD display portion of the LCD / switch 15. Step S4 is a step of determining whether or not a model-dependent program is received from the PC, and waits for the model-dependent program to be received.

  If the model-dependent program is received from the PC, the process proceeds to step S5, where the model-dependent program stored in the nonvolatile memory 13 is rewritten with the received model-dependent program. The received model-dependent program is temporarily stored in the volatile memory 14, and then the model-dependent program stored in the nonvolatile memory 13 is rewritten with the model-dependent program stored in the volatile memory 14.

  When the rewriting is completed, it is checked in step S6 whether the rewriting has been normally performed, the result is displayed on the LCD display unit of the LCD / switch 15, and the series of rewriting processes is completed. For example, the type-dependent program type after rewriting is displayed together with the rewriting completion display on the LCD display unit.

  When the rewriting is completed, the power is turned off, and the connection between the communication port 17 and the PC is disconnected. When the power is turned on again, the process proceeds in the order of step S1, step S2, step S7, step S8 in FIG. 2, and the pump operation is started by the rewritten new model-dependent program.

  On the other hand, if the rewrite mode switch is not operated and the process proceeds from step S3 to step S7, the process of the loader program is terminated in step S7 and the process jumps to the model-dependent program. In step S8, the model-dependent program is activated to start control of the turbo molecular pump. That is, the rotor 4 is magnetically levitated and rotational driving is started. Note that after rewriting is completed, jumping to pump control by a model-dependent program may be performed.

  3 and 4 are diagrams showing a modification of the present embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the turbo molecular pump, and the same components as those in FIG. Below, a different part is demonstrated. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the model-dependent program is taken into the power supply device from the PC connected to the communication port 17, but in the modification shown in FIG. 3, a memory card interface 20 is provided instead of the communication port 17. When the model-dependent program in the nonvolatile memory 13 is rewritten, the memory card 21 in which the model-dependent program is recorded is attached to the memory card interface 20.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the rewriting operation of the model-dependent program in the modification, and the same reference numerals are assigned to the same processing steps as those in the flowchart of FIG. If the loader program is activated in step S1, it is determined in step S12 whether or not the memory card 21 is attached to the memory card interface 20.

  If the memory card 21 is loaded, the process proceeds from step S12 to step S3, and the program display mode state is displayed on the LCD display part of the LCD / switch 15. In step S14, a model-dependent program is read from the memory card 21, and in step S5, the following is processed. When the process of step S6 is completed, the power is turned off and the memory card 21 is removed.

As described above, in the power supply device 2 of the present embodiment, the model-dependent program is read from the PC connected to the communication port 17 or the memory card 21 attached to the memory card interface 20, and the nonvolatile memory of the power supply device 2 is read. The model-dependent program stored in 13 can be rewritten. Therefore, the following effects can be achieved.
(A) Even with the same hardware configuration, the model-dependent program stored in the nonvolatile memory 13 can correspond to the pump body 1 of each model. Therefore, at the time of manufacture, the model-dependent program may be set immediately before shipment, and it is not necessary to prepare the stock of the power supply device 2 for all models. Therefore, the number of inventory can be reduced and inventory management becomes easy.
(B) In the field where the turbo molecular pump is used, since the model of the power supply device can be easily changed, the types of power supply devices prepared as a backup at the time of failure can be reduced. Therefore, when the turbo molecular pump fails, the downtime of the attached semiconductor manufacturing apparatus or the like can be shortened.
(C) The model-dependent program can be easily updated in the field. For example, when changing a parameter or a sequence for adapting to the usage environment, it is only necessary to install the memory card 21 provided by the pump manufacturer without removing the pump body 1 or the control device 2 from the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus or the like. Changes can be made. On the other hand, in the configuration in which the control parameters are stored on the pump body side described in the prior art, since the control parameters and the pump body correspond one-to-one, the model-dependent program update version is released after shipment. Can not cope.

  In the above-described embodiment, the CPU has been described as an example of the arithmetic device that processes the control program. However, the present invention can be applied to all microprocessors such as a DSP. Further, the rewritable nonvolatile memory and the volatile memory 14 are provided independently of the CPU 10, but these may be built in the CPU 10. In addition, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment as long as the characteristics of the present invention are not impaired.

  In the correspondence between the embodiment described above and the elements of the claims, the model-dependent program is the pump control program, the CPU 10 is the selecting means and the rewriting means, the communication port 17 and the memory card interface 20 are the input unit, and the memory The card interface 20 constitutes a reading unit, and the memory card 21 constitutes a recording medium.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a figure which shows one Embodiment of a power supply device to this invention, and is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of a magnetic bearing type turbo molecular pump. It is a flowchart explaining the rewriting operation | movement of a model dependence program. It is a block diagram which shows a modification. It is a flowchart explaining the rewriting operation | movement in the modification shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Pump main body 2 Power supply device 9 Turbo molecular pump drive part 10 CPU
11 Excitation Amplifier 12 Inverter 13 Nonvolatile Memory 14 Volatile Memory 15 LCD / Switch 17 Communication Port 20 Memory Card Interface 21 Memory Card

Claims (3)

A rewritable memory for storing a pump control program that varies depending on the model and usage of the pump body, and a loader program for rewriting the pump control program,
Selection means for selecting an operation mode in which drive control of the pump body is executed by the pump control program, and a rewrite mode in which a rewrite operation of the pump control program stored in the memory is executed by the loader program;
An input unit to which a pump control program is input from an external device;
Rewriting means for reading a pump control program from the external device via the input unit based on the loader program and rewriting the pump control program stored in the memory with the read pump control program in the rewriting mode. A power supply device for a turbo molecular pump, comprising: In the turbomolecular pump power supply device according to claim 1,
A turbo molecular pump power supply device comprising a general-purpose communication port that can be used for a pump operation status monitor or the like, and the communication port is also used as the input means. In the turbomolecular pump power supply device according to claim 1,
The external device is a recording medium in which the pump control program is stored, and the input unit is a reading means for reading the pump control program from the recording medium. .

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