VIBRATION DAMPER FOR VACUUM PUMP

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vibration damper for a vacuum pump, in particular, a turbomolecular vacuum pump, which can achieve a high damping coefficient due to absence of metal-to-metal contact and in which a vacuum chamber can be electrically insulated from a valve chamber.SOLUTION: In the vibration dampers 101;201;301;401;501, a vacuum tightness function and a vibration damping function are both performed by the same component, in particular, by one or more toroidal rings 216, 131;326;426;526;531;541 made of an elastic material (preferably, elastomer). The elastic rings is turned into a compressed second state while the vacuum pump is operating and the damper is under vacuum conditions from a static first condition while the vacuum pump is not operating and the damper is at atmospheric pressure. In the compressed second state, the elastic rings, due to the applied compression force, are deformed together with the vacuum pump, in a manner to avoid metal-to-metal contact between the vacuum pump and a vacuum chamber to which the pump is connected through the damper.