Channeling vacuum process systems, comprises feeding air in a lock chamber of the vacuum process system until pressure is equally large within and outside of the lock chamber, and opening the lock chamber to atmosphere

摘要

The method comprises feeding air in a lock chamber of a vacuum process system until the pressure is equally large within and outside of the lock chamber, where air admitted in the lock chamber has a lower water content with respect to the ambient air, opening the lock chamber to the atmosphere, introducing a substrate along a transportation path through an aperture in the lock chamber, where the substrate is passed into the vacuum chamber, and again feeding air into the lock chamber even after reaching the pressure prevailing outside the lock chamber and after opening the lock chamber. The method comprises feeding air in a lock chamber of a vacuum process system until the pressure is equally large within and outside of the lock chamber, where air admitted in the lock chamber has a lower water content with respect to the ambient air, opening the lock chamber to the atmosphere, introducing a substrate along a transportation path through an aperture in the lock chamber, where the substrate is passed into the vacuum chamber, again feeding air into the lock chamber even after reaching the pressure prevailing outside the lock chamber and after opening the lock chamber, where air has a lower water content relative to the ambient air, and discharging air from the lock chamber from the time of reaching the atmospheric pressure in the lock chamber. The volume flow of the fed air is reduced after reaching the atmospheric pressure. Air is fed in partial volume flows at two locations along the transportation path of the substrate and air is omitted in the partial volume flows at two locations along the transportation path of the substrate. The partial volumetric flow decreases in the transportation path of the substrate. A sum of all partial volumetric flows of fed air is larger than the sum of all partial volumetric flows of omitted air.