US4805180A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Discharge tube apparatus
Assignee: Teledyne UK Ltd
•
Filing: 1986-06-04
•
Granted: 1989-02-14
•
Expires: 2006-06-04
Abstract
Abstract Discharge tube apparatus includes an outer containing vessel and a structure comprising for example five metal cylinders located co-axially within it. Each of the metal cylinders includes projecting spacers on its outer surface which serve to space it from adjacent ones. Such a structure is thermally insulating and may be arranged to enable a large temperature difference to be maintained between the interior of the discharge tube and the outer containing vessel. In other embodiments, a plurality of structures are included disposed along the axis of the tube. Also, dispenser segments for dispensing part of the active medium of a metal vapor laser may be included and arranged to shield vulnerable surfaces in the tube from direct exposure to the discharge.
Inventors
- 👤 Arthur Maitland
- 👤 Hugh Menown
- 👤 Christopher V. Neale
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-08 13:57
CPC Classifications
H; H01; H01J; H01J61/00; H01J61/84; H01J61/90; H01S; H01S3/00; H01S3/02; H01S3/03; H01S3/031
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 32
Claim 1
Independent Claim
124 words
A discharge tube apparatus, comprising: a hollow structure including a plurality of metal cylinders coaxially disposed about one another, an innermost one of said cylinders having an innermost surface surrounding a hollow cavity, an outermost one of said cylinders having an outermost surface; means for producing a discharge in said cavity which contacts said innermost surface, said means for producing a discharge including means for increasing the temperature in said cavity; and a plurality of mutually spaced apart spacer members having gaps therebetween, disposed between said cylinders so as to space said cylinders apart such that when said means for increasing the temperature has increased the temperature in said cavity, a desired temperature gradient between said innermost surface and said outermost surface is obtained.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
124 words
A discharge tube apparatus, comprising: a hollow structure including a plurality of metal cylinders coaxially disposed about one another, an innermost one of said cylinders having an innermost surface surrounding a hollow cavity, an outermost one of said cylinders having an outermost surface; means for producing a discharge in said cavity which contacts said innermost surface, said means for producing a discharge including means for increasing the temperature in said cavity; and a plurality of mutually spaced apart spacer members having gaps therebetween, disposed between said cylinders so as to space said cylinders apart such that when said means for increasing the temperature has increased the temperature in said cavity, a desired temperature gradient between said innermost surface and said outermost surface is obtained.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
17 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, and wherein said spacer members are integral with said metal cylinders.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
12 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, and wherein said spacers are dimples.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
24 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, and wherein a surface of at least one of said metal cylinder is covered with thermally insulating material.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
21 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 and wherein the outer surface of each cylinder is covered with said thermally insulating material.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
24 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, and including a metallic member connecting one cylinder with another cylinder whereby relative movement between them is restricted.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
20 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 6 and wherein said metallic member is arranged through apertures in cylinders which it connects.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
32 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein said plurality of cylinders includes more than two cylinders, the metallic member connecting a pair of said cylinders having respectively facing inner and outer surfaces.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
16 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 and wherein said metal cylinders are formed of refractory metal.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
25 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, having a longitudinal axis and comprising a plurality of said structures distributed along the direction of the longitudinal axis.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
33 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 10 further comprising a spacer formed of electrically insulating material, wherein an adjacent pair of said structures is spaced apart by said spacer formed of electrically insulating material.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
28 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 11 and wherein a cylinder included in one of said structures in interleaved with cylinders included in an adjacent one of said structures.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
36 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 12 and wherein a cylinder included in one of said structures is spaced from a cylinder included in an adjacent one of said cylinders by a spacer of electrically insulating material.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
41 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 10 and including a first group of said structures distributed along the direction of the longitudinal axis and a second group of structures radially inward of and electrically isolated from the structures of the first group.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
36 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 14 and wherein an adjacent pair of the structures of the first group are spaced apart by an electrically insulating spacer and a structure of the second group overlaps the spacer.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
47 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 15, further comprising metal spacers on an outer surface of the structure of the second group overlapping the insulating spacer, and wherein the structure of the second group overlapping the insulating spacer is substantially fixed relative to it by said metal spacers.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
17 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 and including an outer tube within which said structure is located.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
33 words
An apparatus as in claim 1, wherein said cylinders include at least one intermediate cylinder having a gap therein, said at least one intermediate cylinder being disposed between said innermost and outermost cylinders.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
101 words
A discharge tube apparatus, comprising: a plurality of successively adjacent hollow low thermal conductivity structures disposed along a longitudinal axis, each structure including a plurality of radially spaced metal cylinders coaxially disposed about one another, an innermost one of said cylinders having an innermost surface surrounding a hollow cavity, at least one of the cylinders of each structure being interleaved with the cylinders of another one of the structures adjacent thereto; means for holding said cylinders in radially spaced apart relation; and means for producing a discharge in the cavities of the respective structures which contacts the respective innermost surfaces thereof.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
101 words
A discharge tube apparatus, comprising: a plurality of successively adjacent hollow low thermal conductivity structures disposed along a longitudinal axis, each structure including a plurality of radially spaced metal cylinders coaxially disposed about one another, an innermost one of said cylinders having an innermost surface surrounding a hollow cavity, at least one of the cylinders of each structure being interleaved with the cylinders of another one of the structures adjacent thereto; means for holding said cylinders in radially spaced apart relation; and means for producing a discharge in the cavities of the respective structures which contacts the respective innermost surfaces thereof.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
49 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 19, further comprising an electrically insulating spacer and wherein one of the cylinders included in one of said structures 95 interleaved with one of the cylinders included in an adjacent one of the structures and is spaced from it by said electrically insulating spacer.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
33 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 20 and wherein one of the cylinders has metal projections on a surface thereof and is substantially fixed relative to the electrically insulating spacer by said metal projections.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
25 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 20, further comprising a cylinder shielding a surface of the spacer from direct exposure to a discharge within the cavity.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
28 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 21 and wherein the cylinder shielding the insulative spacer has an end substantially parallel to said surface of said one of the cylinders.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
31 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 and including a dispenser segment in said cavity for dispensing a substance in said cavity which forms at least part of a laser active medium.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
27 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 24, further comprising an electrically insulating surface radially inward of said outermost surface and wherein said segment shields said electrically insulating surface.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
20 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 24 and including two adjacent dispenser segments overlapping and being electrically isolated from one another.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
30 words
Apparatus as claimed in claim 26 and wherein one of the adjacent dispenser segments includes a projecting portion and the other includes an indentation in which the projecting portion lies.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
54 words
An apparatus as in claim 19, wherein said means for producing a discharge includes means for increasing the temperature in said cavities, said structures including means for producing a desired temperature gradient between said innermost surface and said outermost surface when said means for increasing the temperature has increased the temperature in said cavities.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
152 words
A laser discharge tube apparatus, comprising: a hollow structure including a plurality of metal cylinders coaxially disposed about one another, an innermost one of said cylinders having an innermost surface surrounding a hollow cavity, an outermost one of said cylinders having an outermost surface; means, including a metal vapor laser active medium in said cavity, for producing a discharge at a very high temperature in said cavity which contacts said innermost surface, said means for producing a discharge including means for increasing the temperature in said cavity; and a plurality of mutually spaced apart spacer members having gaps therebetween, disposed between said cylinders so as to space said cylinders apart such that when said means for increasing the temperature has increased the temperature in said cavity a desired temperature gradient between said innermost surface and said outermost surface is obtained, whereby the apparatus is operable without a flowthrough of a buffer gas.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
152 words
A laser discharge tube apparatus, comprising: a hollow structure including a plurality of metal cylinders coaxially disposed about one another, an innermost one of said cylinders having an innermost surface surrounding a hollow cavity, an outermost one of said cylinders having an outermost surface; means, including a metal vapor laser active medium in said cavity, for producing a discharge at a very high temperature in said cavity which contacts said innermost surface, said means for producing a discharge including means for increasing the temperature in said cavity; and a plurality of mutually spaced apart spacer members having gaps therebetween, disposed between said cylinders so as to space said cylinders apart such that when said means for increasing the temperature has increased the temperature in said cavity a desired temperature gradient between said innermost surface and said outermost surface is obtained, whereby the apparatus is operable without a flowthrough of a buffer gas.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
GB1152734A
Cited
US3626319A
Cited
GB1338147A
Cited
GB1336667A
Cited
US3851272A
Cited
GB1454912A
Cited
US3813571A
Cited
US3814974A
Cited
GB2037478A
Cited
GB2037065A
Cited
EP0169058A2
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1992-02-14 | 1992-08-15 | 1993-02-14 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1996-02-14 | 1996-08-15 | 1997-02-14 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2000-02-14 | 2000-08-15 | 2001-02-14 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |