Hughes Aircraft Company

David S Levinson

James D Thompson

Louis W Hendrick

Robert Morgen

A mechanism (100) for fixing the relative position of two members including a first member (104) having a first coefficient of thermal expansion and a second member (102) positioned adjacent to the first member and having a second coefficient of thermal expansion. The first member (104) is adapted to receive thermal energy. The first and second members are mounted for relative motion therebetween at a first temperature and are in contact at a relative fixed position at a second temperature. In a specific embodiment, a microwave control valve (100) for use in a waveguide is disclosed and includes a housing (104) having a first coefficient of thermal expansion and a first plurality of housing waveguide openings (130). A rotor (102) is positioned within the housing and has a second coefficient of thermal expansion and a plurality of rotor waveguide openings (132). The housing (104) is adapted to receive RF energy. An actuator (106) is provided to rotate the rotor for aligning at least two of the rotor waveguide openings (132) with at least two of the housing waveguide openings (130) for directing the RF energy through the valve. The housing and the rotor are mounted for relative motion therebetween at a first temperature and are in contact at a relative fixed position at a second temperature. Thus, the invention provides a control valve (100) for use in high power microwave systems, which eliminates a rotor-housing clearance gap (105) after RF energy is applied for increasing the average power handling capability.

High power waveguide switch and method

A system for supporting a dielectric resonator in a circular waveguide. A dielectric resonator is held in its optimum position using support posts or rods. The support rods are made from a suitable dielectric material, and slip fitted in holes provided at 90.degree. intervals around the periphery of the dielectric resonator. The support rods are affixed to the waveguie, by gluing or being screwed in place. The support rods are slip fitted such that they are allowed to expand, due to temperature, without causing stress on the dielectric resonator, thus the dielectric resonator is held in position without being affixed to its supporting structure. This is an inexpensive and simple solution to a complex problem. The support system is self-centering and free from all stress. The support system utilizes a minimum amount of supporting material which permits realization of the best unloaded Q.

Dielectric resonator support system for a waveguide

Circularly polarized radiation is tapped off from an input waveguide through a input iris into an entry cavity, where it is resolved into two orthogonal linearly polarized components. These respectively proceed along two discrete paths to an exit cavity. In each path six independently tunable resonances--traversed by both direct and bridge couplings--provides enough degrees of freedom for quasi-elliptic filter functions. In the exit cavity the resultants from the two paths are combined to resynthesize circularly-polarized radiation, which traverses another iris to the output waveguide. In one layout, four resonant tri-mode cavities form a rectangular array--with entry and exit cavities at diagonally opposite corners and intermediate cavities for the two discrete paths in the two remaining corners. In another layout, six dual-mode cavities form a three-dimensional array: entry and exit cavities stacked one above the other, and two intermediate two-cavity stacks for the two discrete paths adjacent the entry/exit stack.

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Woodland Hills, CA, United States of America

David S Levinson