초록 ▼

The switch is usable for switching currents of 40 kiloamperes at 250 kilovolts to produce current pulses a few nanoseconds in duration at kilohertz rates. In a preferred embodiment, the switch includes three independently-triggerable spark gaps which are fired in a desired predetermined sequence; fo

The switch is usable for switching currents of 40 kiloamperes at 250 kilovolts to produce current pulses a few nanoseconds in duration at kilohertz rates. In a preferred embodiment, the switch includes three independently-triggerable spark gaps which are fired in a desired predetermined sequence; for example, cyclically. The three spark gaps are cooled by parallel streams of fluid, which is supplied to the switch under pressure. Because the firing rate of each individual spark gap is limited by the time required for the fluid to sweep the ions produced by firing out of the spark gap, a threefold increase in firing rate is achieved by the preferred embodiment. In another aspect of the invention, a high-performance low-induction coaxial spark gap switch employs a hollow trigger electrode which has a hole in its wall so that the fluid can flow along both its inner and outer surfaces to cool and clean them.

대표청구항 ▼

A multiple-gap spark gap switch, comprising: a first chamber having an inlet port for admitting a fluid; a second chamber having an outlet port to permit egress of the fluid; a first electrode partitioning said first chamber from said second chamber and having more than one separate passages extendi

A multiple-gap spark gap switch, comprising: a first chamber having an inlet port for admitting a fluid; a second chamber having an outlet port to permit egress of the fluid; a first electrode partitioning said first chamber from said second chamber and having more than one separate passages extending through it, said first chamber communicating with said second chamber through the passages in said first electrode; trigger electrodes each associated with one of the passages in said first electrode, each having a hollow cylindrical portion extending from within said first chamber into and concentric with the passage with which it is associated, that part of each hollow cylindrical portion lying within said first chamber having an opening to permit fluid to pass inside said hollow cylindrical portion from said first chamber to said passage; and, a set of second electrodes each associated with one of said trigger electrodes, each extending from within said second chamber into the trigger electrode with which it is associated and concentric with that trigger electrode, said set of second electrodes all being electrically interconnected; whereby, fluid supplied to said first chamber through said inlet port flows through said passage on both the insides and outsides of the hollow cylindrical portions of said trigger electrode and into said second chamber, from which the fluid is discharged through said outlet port.