The present invention relates to a getter pump and preferably to non- evaporable getter pump.

Non-evaporable getter pumps comprise a getter material in order to absorb gas particles or gas molecules in order to create a vacuum. The absorbed gas is accumulating at the surface of the getter material and inactivating the surface of the getter material reducing the pump operation or the pump performance. Thus, it is necessary from time to time to regenerate the getter material by heating up the getter material. In order to heat up the getter material an electric heater is connected to the getter material. The electric heater is in common getter pumps directly connected to a power supply or a mains adapter providing a low DC Voltage of about 10 to 20V. By the electric heater the absorbed gas particles are evaporated and removed by another getter pump thereby regenerating the getter material. Usually, regenerating temperatures are above 200 °C or above 400°C and depend on the specific getter material.

However, the power supply is an additional equipment which is expensive and can be the source of failure.

Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a getter pump which is simplified.

The object of the present invention is solved by the getter pump according to claim 1 .

In an aspect of the present invention a getter pump is provided preferably built as a getter pump. More specifically the getter pump might be built as a non- evaporable getter pump. The getter pump comprises a getter material in order to absorb or adsorb a gas, gas particles or gas molecules which then do not contribute to the pressure inside a vacuum apparatus or vessel, thereby reducing the pressure inside the vacuum apparatus or vessel and creating a vacuum. Further, a heating element is connected to the getter material in order to regenerate the getter material either by evaporating the absorbed/adsorbed gas or defusing the absorbed/adsorbed gas into the volume of the getter material. The present invention is not limited by the specific pumping effect nor a specific regeneration process as long as performed by heating up the used getter material. Therein, the heating element is either directly attached to the getter material or placed in close proximity to the getter material such that heat produced by the heating element is transferred to the getter material. Therein, the heating element is built as an electric heating element and the heating element is directly connectable to the mains or public power grid. Since the electric heating element can be directly connected to the mains no additional power supply or mains adapter is necessary anymore simplifying the vacuum pump and the components as well as reducing the costs for the vacuum pump. In the following the terms mains and public/electric power grid are used interchangeably for the public available electric grid used to deliver electric energy from a source to households, buildings and factories. Therein, access to the mains are enabled by usually standardized mains sockets in connection with corresponding plugs.

Preferably, the heating element is supplied with more than 110V or more and preferably with 220V or more. In particular, the heating element is supplied with a voltage of 110V, typically with a voltage between 220V to 250 V. Thus, the electric heating element can be directly connected to the mains and can be operated with substantially higher voltage than common heating elements of comparable getter pumps. Using a larger voltage U of above 110 V allows for lower currents I to activate/regenerate the NEG pump with the same power P, according to P = U* I . A lower current will allow for supplying cables (16) with a much smaller cross section. This way the supplying cable length is not restricted to standard values of below 10 meters, but can be easily extended without the need for very thick cables to account for large currents. In addition, smaller currents allow for smaller electrical vacuum feedthroughs. Preferably, the heating element is supplied with an AC Voltage. Contrary to common heating elements operated with a DC Voltage, the heating element of the present invention can be operated with an AC voltage and thus directly connected to the mains without providing a power supply or mains adapter.

Preferably, the heating element is directly connected to a standard plug to be connected to the mains and preferably to a standard socket electrically connected to the mains or public power grid. Thus, the getter pump can be connected to any standard power plug in order to regenerate the getter material. It is not necessary to provide any specific connector thus increasing the versatility of the getter pump.

Preferably, the heating element is supplied with the voltage of the mains or public power grid, thereby reducing the number of components necessary in order to operate the getter pump and decreasing the costs of the getter pump.

Preferably, no voltage converting element is connected to the heating element and in particular disposed between the heating element and the connection to the mains, i.e. the standard plug. In particular, no voltage converter, inductive/ capacitive converter or transformer employed for transferring the voltage of the mains to any lower voltage as commonly used in heating elements of the prior art.

Preferably, no rectifier is connected to the heating element and in particular disposed between the heating element the connection to the mains, i.e. the standard plug, in order to convert the AC Voltage of the mains or public power grid to a DC Voltage as commonly used by heating elements of the prior art.

Preferably, a timer is disposed between the mains connection and the heating element. Thus, by the timer, either on the basis of an absolute time span or an operation time of the getter pump, regeneration might be initiated by the timer. Preferably, a dimmer is disposed between the mains connector and the heating element in order to adjust the supply voltage for the electric heating element for example to use the same getter pump with different mains voltages such as present in different countries.

Although vacuum pumps and in particular getter pumps such as non-evaporable getter pump are known for long-time, regenerating of the getter material of the getter pump is commonly performed by a low DC Voltage usually below 20 V. Thus, a voltage converter and rectifier is usually used in order to convert the voltage of the mains to the necessary supply voltage of the heating element. By the present invention it was surprisingly found that, despite the long existing need for simplifying the heating element of such vacuum pumps, the voltage of the mains can be directly used in order supply the electric heating element of such getter pumps.

The present invention is described in more detail with reference to the accompanied figure.

The figure shows a getter pump according to the present invention.

The getter pump 10 is built as a getter pump and more preferably built as a non-evaporable getter pump comprising a getter material 12 in order to absorb or adsorb gas, gas particles or gas molecules. Therein, the getter material 12 is connected to an electric heater 14. The electric 14 can be directly attached to the getter material 12 or placed in close proximity to the getter material 12 in order to sufficiently transfer heat produced by the electrical heater 14 to the getter material. By the heat of the electric heater 14 absorbed/ adsorbed gas is evaporated or defused into the volume of the getter material 12. In both cases, the getter material 12 is regenerated and enabled to further pump gas or gas molecules for certain time until the next generation becomes necessary. For operation the getter pump might be integral part of a vacuum apparatus (not shown) or connected to a vacuum apparatus by a flange 11 as exemplified in the figure.

Preferably, the heating element 14 is built as heating wire or resistive heating element or heating coil.

The heating element 14 is connected to a connection cable or power cable 16 that comprises a standard plug 18 connectable to a standard mains socket 20 which directly connects the heating element 14 to the mains 21 or public power grid. Therein, the public power grid 21 provides an AC voltage of a standardized voltage usually between 110V and 230V. Via the socket 20 and the plug 18 the heating element 14 is directly connected to the mains 21 and thus operated with the voltage provided by the mains. No rectifier is disposed between the mains 21 and the heating element 14 in order to convert the AC voltage of the main 21 to a DC Voltage. Also, no voltage converter is arranged between the mains 21 and the electric heating element 14 in order to convert the voltage. Thus, the necessity to implement and use a power supply as an additional component of the getter pump 10 is avoided and the heating element 14 can be directly operated with the voltage provided by the mains 21 thereby reducing the complexity of the getter pump as well as the costs.

Although getter pump such as non-evaporable getter pump are long known, the prior art always implements an additional power supply and uses low DC voltages usually below 20V for operating the heating element. However, due to the present invention is became feasible to avoid the additional power supply and use the mains for operating the heating element without disadvantage.