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US 2014/0109549 A1Published application
Thruster grid clear circuits and methods to clear thruster grids
AssigneeThe Boeing Company
InventorsJohn F. Stickelmaier, Philip D. Nguyen
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Abstract
Thruster grid clear circuits and methods to clear thruster grids are disclosed. An example apparatus includes a low voltage grid clear circuit to apply first energy to a grid at a first voltage, and a high voltage grid clear circuit to detect a failure of the applied energy to clear a short circuit condition of the grid and to apply second energy to the grid at a second voltage higher than the first voltage.
Claims20
An apparatus, comprising:
- a low voltage grid clear circuit to apply first energy to a grid at a first voltage;
- and
- a high voltage grid clear circuit to apply second energy to the grid at a second voltage higher than the first voltage.
A method, comprising:
- detecting a first grid clear process comprising application of a first voltage to a grid;
- and
- applying a second grid clear process having a second voltage higher than the first voltage to the grid.
An ion propulsion system, comprising:
- a first thruster grid;
- a second thruster grid coupled to a reference voltage;
- a low voltage grid clear circuit to clear a short circuit condition between the first and second thruster grids by applying first energy at a first voltage;
- and
- a high voltage grid clear circuit to detect a failure of the first energy to clear the short circuit condition and to apply second energy to the grid at a second voltage higher than the first voltage in response to the detection.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.