US 2016/0109239 A1Published application

Floating current mirror for rlg discharge control

AssigneeHoneywell International Inc.

InventorJohn F. Ackerman

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Abstract

A ring laser gyroscope (RLG) assembly comprises an RLG block comprising: a first anode; a second anode; a cathode; and a cavity. The RLG assembly further comprises a current supply circuit coupled to the RLG block. The current supply circuit comprises a high voltage power supply to provide a high voltage signal; a first current path coupled between the high voltage power supply and the first anode to provide a first current to the first anode; and a second current path coupled between the high voltage power supply and the second anode to provide a second current to the second anode. The second current path is configured to mirror the first current such that the second current approximately matches the first current. Each component in the second current path is configured to operate based on power derived only from the high voltage signal.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A ring laser gyroscope (RLG) assembly comprising:

an RLG block comprising:
a first anode;
a second anode;
a cathode;
and
a cavity having a plurality of legs, the cavity being filled with a gas, wherein the gas produces a stimulated emission when a current is induced across at least a portion of the gas;
the RLG assembly further comprising a current supply circuit coupled to the RLG block to provide the current to the RLG block, wherein the current supply circuit comprises:
a high voltage power supply to provide a high voltage signal;
a first current path coupled between the high voltage power supply and the first anode to provide a first current to the first anode based on the high voltage signal;
and
a second current path coupled between the high voltage power supply and the second anode to provide a second current to the second anode based on the high voltage signal, the second current path configured to mirror the first current such that the second current approximately matches the first current;
wherein each component in the second current path is configured to operate based on power derived only from the high voltage signal used to provide current to the first and second anodes of the RLG block.

9 more elements

A current supply circuit for a ring laser gyroscope (RLG) assembly, the current supply circuit comprising:

a high voltage power supply to provide a high voltage signal;
a first current path coupled between the high voltage power supply and a first anode of an RLG block in the RLG assembly to provide a first current based on the high voltage signal to the first anode;
and
a second current path coupled between the high voltage power supply and a second anode of the RLG block to provide a second current based on the high voltage signal to the second anode, the second current path configured to mirror the first current such that the second current approximately matches the first current;
wherein each component in the second current path is configured to operate based on power derived only from the high voltage signal used to provide current to the first and second anodes of the RLG block.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.