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US 9,741,480 B2Granted
Mechanical superconducting switch
AssigneeSiemens Healthcare GmbH
InventorsM'Hamed Lakrimi, Adrian Mark Thomas
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A mechanically operating superconducting switch has two superconducting wires, a respective end of each superconducting wire being embedded in a respective block of superconducting material. A mechanical arrangement is provided for driving respective contact surfaces of the blocks into physical contact with each other, and for separating those services.
Claims15
A mechanically operating superconducting switch comprising:
- first and second superconducting wires;
- first and second blocks each of superconducting material;
- an end of said first superconducting wire being cast in said first block of superconducting material and an end of said second superconducting wire being cast in said second block of superconducting material;
- each of said first and second blocks comprising a contact surface and the respective contact surfaces of said first and second blocks comprising complementary protrusions and recesses;
- and
- a mechanical rotary actuator connected to one of said first and second blocks, that closes said switch by rotating said one of said first and second blocks in a first rotary direction in order to drive the respective complementary protrusions and recesses of the respective contact surfaces into physical contact with each other, and that thereafter opens said switch by rotating said one of said first and second blocks in a second rotary direction, opposite to said first rotary direction, in order to separate the respective complementary protrusions and recesses of the respective contact surfaces.
3 more elements
A superconducting magnet structure comprising:
- a mechanically operating superconducting switch;
- a plurality of coils of superconducting wire electrically connected in series, housed within a cryostat arranged to cool the coils, and wherein first and second superconducting wires from respective electrical ends of the coils are connected to said mechanically operating superconducting switch;
- and
- said mechanically operating superconducting switch comprising first and second blocks of superconducting material with an end of said first wire cast in said first block and an end of said second wire cast in said second block, each of said first and second blocks comprising a contact surface and the respective contact surfaces of said first and second blocks comprising complementary protrusions and recesses, and a mechanical rotary actuator connected to one of said first and second blocks that closes said switch by rotating said one of said first and second blocks in a first rotary direction in order to drive the respective complementary protrusions and recesses of the respective contact surfaces into physical contact with each other, and that thereafter opens said switch by rotating said one of said first and second blocks in a second rotary direction, opposite to said first rotary direction in order to separate the respective complementary protrusions and recesses of the respective contact surfaces.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.