ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 19 -- United States Patent no. 12,228,951, issued on Feb. 18, was assigned to Edwards Japan Ltd. (Yachiyo, Japan).
"Vacuum exhaust system" was invented by Manabu Nonaka (Yachiyo, Japan).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A vacuum exhaust system is provided which can reduce a size of a pump or a valve, and can thin the pipe diameter, and can perform highly efficient exhaust making the best use of exhaust characteristics of the pump from high vacuum to the large flow region. The process gas used in a vacuum chamber passes through a regulating valve, and reaches a first branch pipe. The passage on the side indicated with A in the drawing of the first branch pipe is connected wit...