Mechanical vacuum feedthrough using gas lubricated guiding elements

Aerostatic gas-bearing elements are widely used to achieve high motion accuracy. With appropriate sealing and exhaustion systems, these elements can be used to transfer high-precise movements into a vacuum environment. Within this paper, a gas bushing with porous flow restrictor is used for the transmission of a mechanical movement into a vacuum chamber. Design and theoretical layout of the necessary sealing and evacuation system are shown. Experimental results prove the feasibility to transmit mechanical movement from normal atmosphere to high vacuum environment (10hoch-2 Pa) with two-stage exhaust system.