Systems, methods, and apparatus for preventing electromigration between plasma gun electrodes
AssigneeGeneral Electric Company
InventorsJohn Kenneth Hooker, Hardik Upadhyay, Gitika Tantuwaya
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A circuit protection device includes a plasma gun configured to generate a plasma plume, at least one capacitor configured to store electrical energy, and a trigger circuit communicatively coupled to the plasma gun and the capacitor. The trigger circuit is configured to transmit a first signal to the capacitor to cause the capacitor to transmit a first portion of the electrical energy to the plasma gun. The trigger circuit is also configured to transmit a second signal to the plasma gun to cause the plasma gun to generate the plasma plume using the first portion of the electrical energy.
Claims20
A circuit protection device comprising:
- a plasma gun configured to generate a plasma plume;
- at least one capacitor configured to store electrical energy;
- and
- a trigger circuit communicatively coupled to said plasma gun and to said at least one capacitor, said trigger circuit configured to:
- generate a first signal to cause said at least one capacitor to transmit a first portion of the electrical energy to said plasma gun;
- and
- generate a second signal to cause said plasma gun to generate the plasma plume using the first portion of the electrical energy.
A controller for use with a circuit protection device having a plasma gun, said controller comprising:
- a plurality of capacitors comprising:
- a plurality of first capacitors configured to provide a first portion of electrical energy to the plasma gun;
- and
- a second capacitor configured to provide a second portion of the electrical energy to cause a pulse to be transmitted to the plasma gun to cause the plasma gun to create a plasma plume;
- and
- a trigger circuit communicatively coupled to said plurality of capacitors and configured to:
- receive a detection signal indicative of a fault;
- cause said plurality of first capacitors to transmit the first portion of the electrical energy to the plasma gun;
- and
- cause said second capacitor to provide the second portion of the electrical energy to cause the pulse to be transmitted to the plasma gun.
A method for triggering generation of a plasma plume by a circuit protection device having a plasma gun, at least one first capacitor, and at least one second capacitor, said method comprising:
- receiving a detection signal indicative of a fault;
- generating a first signal to cause the at least one first capacitor to transmit stored electrical energy to the plasma gun;
- and
- generating a second signal to cause the plasma gun to generate the plasma plume using the electrical energy.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.