The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Aug. 15, 2000
Filed:
Mar. 31, 1997
Robert E Davenport, San Jose, CA (US);
Applied Materials, Inc., Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
The present invention provides a vacuum chamber that reduces the amount of time required to draw a vacuum after replacing consumables or performing routine maintenance by preserving the vacuum in a portion of the chamber. More particularly, the chamber isolates a frequently replaced consumable or component in a first portion of the chamber so that only the first portion of the chamber is exposed to the surrounding environment and the volume of gas or air that must be re-evacuated is reduced. A gate valve is provided to form a seal with a valve seat that is either formed into the chamber wall or provided by a valve body. Once the second portion is sealed, a lid to the first portion may be opened for access.