High voltage generator

Claim 2

In a high voltage generator in which ionizer means charges a charge transport fluid and wherein electrode means collects the charge from said charged fluid for generating the high voltage, the improvement which comprises: housing means defining a passageway for guiding said charge transport fluid from said ionizer means to said electrode means, at least one wall of said passageway being fabricated from relatively conductive, electrically insulating material having an electrical resistance sufficiently low to effectively remove excess charges deposited on its surface from the transport fluid and at the same time sufficiently high as not to remove more than a fraction of the electrical current delivered to the high voltage electrode; and conductive means in electrical contact with at least a portion of said wall opposite said passageway, said conductive means being adapted to remove said excess charges through said material.

Claim 3

A high voltage generator according to claim 1, in which said material is taken from the group consisting of paper phenolic, linen phenolic and carbon-filled epoxy.

Claim 4

A high voltage generator in accordance with claim 1 in which said material also has an electric resistivity in the range of 10-10 to 10-12 ohm centimeters.

Claim 5

A high voltage generator in accordance with claim 1 in which: pairs of ionizer means and collector means are arranged in seriatim; one of said passageways is provided between said ionizer means and said collector means of each said pair, said housing means being constructed with a partition to provide said passageways adjacent to each other and arranged to guide said fluid in generally parallel paths; and said housing means and said partition being constructed to taper the wall of each of said passageway so that the volume per unit length enclosed by each said passageway increases in the direction of fluid flow.

Claim 6

A high voltage generator in accordance with claim 1 in which at least a portion of said partition providing said adjacent passageways is fabricated from a slightly electrically conductive material having an electric resistivity in the range of 10-10 to 10-12 ohm centimeters so that charges of opposite sign collected on opposite sides of said partition are neutralized to preclude the buildup of a high potential on the walls of said passageway.

Claim 7

A high voltage genErator operating under the principle that an insulating fluid passing through a generally parallel, electric field produced by a with sections element will assume a charge of a given sign, which comprises: conduit means having passageways for guiding said fluid along multiple flow paths wherein said flow paths are generally parallel, said conduit means being provided with sections interconnecting said flow paths, each of said sections having an entrance port and an exit port; ionizer means for producing ions of said given sign in said fluid in a first of said flow paths; means for pumping said insulating fluid through said passageways and said sections; conductive means received in each of said sections, said conductive means having a given surface area exposed to said fluid for collecting said ions from said fluid; output electrode means received in each of said sections, said electrode means being electrically insulated from said conductive means, said electrode means having a sharp element and a small surface area exposed to the fluid relative to said given surface area so that said output electrode means collects fewer ions from said fluid than said conductive means, said output electrode means assuming a charge that is substantially less than the charge on said conductive means; and a plate electrode electrically connected to each of said conductive means, each said plate electrode having an opening therein adjacent to said sharp edge of one of said output electrode means for inducing an electric field between said sharp element and said plate electrode and for directing the flow of said fluid through said field to produce ions in said fluid having a sign opposite to said given sign.

Claim 8

A high voltage genErator operating under the principle that an insulating fluid passing through a generally parallel, electric field produced by a with sections element will assume a charge of a given sign, which comprises: conduit means having passageways for guiding said fluid along multiple flow paths wherein said flow paths are generally parallel, said conduit means being provided with sections interconnecting said flow paths, each of said sections having an entrance port and an exit port; ionizer means for producing ions of said given sign in said fluid in a first of said flow paths; means for pumping said insulating fluid through said passageways and said sections; conductive means received in each of said sections, said conductive means having a given surface area exposed to said fluid for collecting said ions from said fluid; output electrode means received in each of said sections, said electrode means being electrically insulated from said conductive means, said electrode means having a sharp element and a small surface area exposed to the fluid relative to said given surface area so that said output electrode means collects fewer ions from said fluid than said conductive means, said output electrode means assuming a charge that is substantially less than the charge on said conductive means; and a plate electrode electrically connected to each of said conductive means, each said plate electrode having an opening therein adjacent to said sharp edge of one of said output electrode means for inducing an electric field between said sharp element and said plate electrode and for directing the flow of said fluid through said field to produce ions in said fluid having a sign opposite to said given sign.

Claim 9

A high voltage generator which comprises: conduit means having a passageway therein for defining a flow path wherein adjacent first and second sections of said passageway are generally parallel; means for pumping an insulating fluid through said conduit means; ionizer means received in a first of said sections for producing ions having a given sign in said fluid flowing through said first section; means interposed between said first section and said second section of said passageway for collecting said ions from said fluid, said collecting means including a flat electrode having a slot therein for directing said fluid into said second section; and a high voltage output electrode having a first sharp element positioned adjacent to said slot, said output electrode being effective to collect fewer ions than said collecting means so that an electric field is impressed across said flat electrode and said output electrode to produce ions of a sign opposite to said given sign in said fluid entering said second section.

Claim 10

A high voltage generator which comprises: conduit means having a passageway therein for defining a flow path wherein adjacent first and second sections of said passageway are generally parallel; means for pumping an insulating fluid through said conduit means; ionizer means received in a first of said sections for producing ions having a given sign in said fluid flowing through said first section; means interposed between said first section and said second section of said passageway for collecting said ions from said fluid, said collecting means including a flat electrode having a slot therein for directing said fluid into said second section; and a high voltage output electrode having a first sharp element positioned adjacent to said slot, said output electrode being effective to collect fewer ions than said collecting means so that an electric field is impressed across said flat electrode and said output electrode to produce ions of a sign opposite to said given sign in said fluid entering said second section.

Claim 11

A high voltage generator according to claim 7, wherein: said fluid flows in opposite directions in said adjacent first and second sections; and at least one wall of said first and second sections is tapered to provide a cross section area in each passageway which increases in the direction of fluid flow, said taper of said sections being effective to maintain in said passageway a relatively constant ion content per unit length of said passageway.

Claim 12

A high voltage generator in accordance with claim 7, wherein: said passageway is tortious for forming a plurality of each of said first and second sections; second means are mounted between successive ones of said second and first sections for collecting said opposite polarity ions from each of said second sections, said second means including a second flat electrode having a second slot therein for directing said fluid into the next successive first section; a first emitter electrode having a second sharp element is mounted adjacent to said second slot, said first emitter electrode being effective to collect fewer ions than said second collector means so that an electric field is impressed across said flat electrode and said first emitter elecTrode to produce ions of said given sign in said fluid entering said next successive first section; said ionizer means includes a power supply, a second emitter electrode having a third sharp element and being electrically connected to said first emitter electrode, and a third flat electrode having a slot therein adjacent to said third sharp element, said third flat electrode being electrically connected to said second collecting means; and switch means for selectively connecting said power supply to said third flat electrode to initiate ionization of said fluid, said switch means being open subsequent to the initial operation of said apparatus to permit operation of said generator independently of said power supply.

Claim 13

A high voltage generator in accordance with claim 7, which further comprises a pair of high voltage generators in accordance with claim 8, the high voltage output electrodes of said pair of generators being connected in parallel to provide high output current characteristics.

Claim 14

A high voltage generator in accordance with claim 7, which further comprises a pair of high voltage generators in accordance with claim 8, the high voltage output electrodes of said pair of generators being connected in series to provide higher voltage output characteristics.

Claim 15

A high voltage generator which comprises: housing means defining a passageway for insulating fluid, said passageway comprising a series of counterflow units, each counterflow unit comprising a first diverging channel for conducting said fluid in a first direction and a second diverging channel generally parallel to said first channel for conducting said fluid in a second direction opposite to said first direction; means for pumping said fluid through said passageway; a first electrically conductive insert which includes; a first flat electrode section having a first slot therein to permit passage of said fluid from said pumping means into said first channel of a first of said units and a first generally U-shaped section having one end thereof open for receiving said fluid from each said second channel of said units and having a second flat electrode at the other end thereof, said second flat electrode section having a second slot therein to permit the flow of fluid into the first channel of the next successive counterflow unit, and a plurality of electrically interconnected emitter electrodes having a sharp edges thereon, one of said electrodes being mounted adjacent to said slot of each said second flat electrodes, said emitter electrodes being electrically insulated from said first insert; a high voltage power supply; switch means for selectively connecting said power supply to said first insert to produce in said fluid ions of a given sign; a second electrically conductive insert which includes; a second generally U-shaped section for each of said units, each said second section having an opening at one end for receiving said fluid from said first channels of said units; a third flat electrode closing the other end of each of said second U-shaped sections, each said third flat electrode having a third slot therein to permit the flow of fluid into said second channels of each of said units; and a high voltage output electrode for each of said third flat electrodes, each output electrode being electrically insulated from said first and second inserts, each of said output electrodes having a sharp element thereon mounted adjacent to one of said third slots of said third flat electrodes; the area of said second section in contact with said fluid having said given sign being substantially greater than the area of said output electrodes in contact with said corresponding fluid so that an electric field is produced across said output electrodes and said third flat electrodes to produce ions in said fluid in said second channels of a sign opposite to said given sign; the area of said first U-shaped section in contact with said fluid having said sign opposite to said given sign being substantially greater than the area of said emitter electrode so that upon disconnection of said power supply from said emitter electrodes an electrical field is produced across said emitter electrodes and said second flat electrode sections to produce ions of said given sign in said fluid in said first channels of said units.

Claim 16

A high voltage generator which comprises: housing means defining a passageway for insulating fluid, said passageway comprising a series of counterflow units, each counterflow unit comprising a first diverging channel for conducting said fluid in a first direction and a second diverging channel generally parallel to said first channel for conducting said fluid in a second direction opposite to said first direction; means for pumping said fluid through said passageway; a first electrically conductive insert which includes; a first flat electrode section having a first slot therein to permit passage of said fluid from said pumping means into said first channel of a first of said units and a first generally U-shaped section having one end thereof open for receiving said fluid from each said second channel of said units and having a second flat electrode at the other end thereof, said second flat electrode section having a second slot therein to permit the flow of fluid into the first channel of the next successive counterflow unit, and a plurality of electrically interconnected emitter electrodes having a sharp edges thereon, one of said electrodes being mounted adjacent to said slot of each said second flat electrodes, said emitter electrodes being electrically insulated from said first insert; a high voltage power supply; switch means for selectively connecting said power supply to said first insert to produce in said fluid ions of a given sign; a second electrically conductive insert which includes; a second generally U-shaped section for each of said units, each said second section having an opening at one end for receiving said fluid from said first channels of said units; a third flat electrode closing the other end of each of said second U-shaped sections, each said third flat electrode having a third slot therein to permit the flow of fluid into said second channels of each of said units; and a high voltage output electrode for each of said third flat electrodes, each output electrode being electrically insulated from said first and second inserts, each of said output electrodes having a sharp element thereon mounted adjacent to one of said third slots of said third flat electrodes; the area of said second section in contact with said fluid having said given sign being substantially greater than the area of said output electrodes in contact with said corresponding fluid so that an electric field is produced across said output electrodes and said third flat electrodes to produce ions in said fluid in said second channels of a sign opposite to said given sign; the area of said first U-shaped section in contact with said fluid having said sign opposite to said given sign being substantially greater than the area of said emitter electrode so that upon disconnection of said power supply from said emitter electrodes an electrical field is produced across said emitter electrodes and said second flat electrode sections to produce ions of said given sign in said fluid in said first channels of said units.

Claim 17

A high voltage generator according to claim 12, in which: each of said first diverging channels is provided with an entrance port which conforms to said first slot and an exit port which conforms to said open end of said first U-shaped section; and said flat electrodes being mounted substantially perpendicular to said direction of fluid flow through said respective first and second channels.