Claims
- 1. The improvement in a spark gap switch having a first and a second hollow cylindrical electrode with means for connecting the said electrodes into an electrical circuit, with the said electrodes positioned in axial alignment with the electrode faces of the electrodes in spaced apart relationship providing an annular axial gap therebetween and with an air chamber enclosure connected to an air flow source surrounding the said gap and providing a flow of air through the said gap, the improvement in the said spark gap switch comprising:
- a. the said annular axial gap between the said electrode faces being formed to comprise an annular DeLaval nozzle with the converging side of the nozzle adjacent the said air chamber and the expansion side of the nozzle exhausting into the said hollows of the said electrodes;
- b. means for limiting the discharge region of the said gap to the expansion region of the said annular DeLaval nozzle; and
- c. means for providing a supersonic flow of air through the said expansion region of the said gap.
- 2. The improvement as claimed in claim 1 wherein the said means for limiting the discharge region of the gap to the expansion region of the said nozzle is an insulating ring positioned in each of the faces of the said electrodes in which the said converging region of the said nozzle is formed.
- 3. The improvement as claimed in claim 2 wherein the total of the cross section hollow areas of the said first and second hollow electrodes is greater than the throat area of the said annular DeLaval nozzle.
RIGHTS OF THE GOVERNMENT
The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the U.S. for all governmental purposes without the payment of any royalty.
Non-Patent Literature Citations (1)
Entry |
"High Power Spark Gap Switch Development", published by the Air Force Aero Propulsion Laboratory, Air Force Systems Command, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base as technical report AFAPL-TR-75-41. |