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US 10,580,610 B2Granted
Cold cathode switching device and converter
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsTimothy John Sommerer, Joseph Darryl Michael, David John Smith, Sergey Joseph Zalubovsky
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A cold-cathode switching device is presented. The cold-cathode switching device includes a housing defining a chamber; an ionizable gas disposed in the chamber; and a plurality of electrodes disposed in the chamber. The plurality of electrodes includes a cathode and an anode defining a discharge gap, and wherein at least one of the cathode and anode comprises a material that is liquid at an operating temperature of the cathode or the anode.
Claims15
A cold-cathode switching device, comprising:
- a housing defining a chamber;
- an ionizable gas disposed in the chamber during all phases of operation of the cold-cathode switching device, the ionizable gas comprising helium, deuterium, or a combination thereof, the ionizable gas having a pressure in a range from about 10 milliTorr to about 10 Torr;
- and
- a plurality of electrodes disposed in the chamber, wherein the plurality of electrodes comprise a cathode and an anode defining a discharge gap,
- wherein the cathode comprises a material that is initially solid, but transitions to a liquid at an operating temperature of the cathode, and is also substantially non-volatile at the operating temperature of the cathode.
2 more elements
A power converter, comprising:
- an
- input section;
- an output section;
- and
- at least one cold-cathode switching device electrically coupled between the input section and the output section, wherein the cold-cathode switching device is configured to convert an alternating current to direct current, or direct current to alternating current, and wherein the cold-cathode switching device comprises:
- a housing defining a chamber;
- an ionizable gas disposed in the chamber during all phases of operation of the cold-cathode switching device, the ionizable gas comprising helium, deuterium, or a combination thereof, the ionizable gas having a pressure in a range from about 10 milliTorr to about 10 Torr;
- and
- a plurality of electrodes disposed in the chamber, wherein the plurality of electrodes comprise a cathode and an anode defining a discharge gap,
- wherein the cathode comprises a material that is initially solid, but transitions to a liquid at an operating temperature of the cathode, and is also substantially non-volatile at the operating temperature of the cathode.
7 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.