Hughes Aircraft Company

Hughes Electronics Corporation

Elmer E Reed, Jr

Arthur E Manoly

Stephen L Hart

A coupled cavity traveling tube employs a number of adjacent stacked annular magnetic coils (52a-52l) of insulated copper tape mounted on a housing (40) that contains an electron beam path (22) surrounded by a coupled cavity circuit (42,44). An electron beam that is focused by the annular magnetic coils is projected by an electron gun (10) at one end of the traveling wave tube to a collector (26) at the other end of the electron beam path. RF input and output ports (48,50) are coupled to opposite ends of the coupled cavity circuit, with the entire assembly mounted in an outermost device housing (12,28,36) that is sealed to and around the externally projecting RF input and output ports by a pair of sealing rings (60,62) that circumscribe coils (52b,52c,52l) at opposite ends of the traveling wave tube. Hot melt plastic (58a-58i) is injected into spaces between adjacent ones of the annular coils to firmly position the stack of coils against shock and vibration. Expandable support elements (80,82) are positioned in intercoil spaces that are inaccessible because of the sealing rings. The expandable support elements respond to flowing cooling oil by expanding to resiliently urge the coils that they contact in axial directions, thereby exerting axially directed resilient compressive forces on the entire stack of coils to stabilize their position and resist shock and vibration to which the traveling wave tube may be subjected.

Traveling wave tube with expanding resilient support elements

An electrical interconnection assembly is disclosed for use with high voltage devices such as traveling-wave tubes. The assembly includes an electrically insulating housing having a plurality of recesses formed in its outer and inner surfaces. Leads from the high voltage device can be connected directly to respective conductive pins mounted in recesses in the housing inner surface, and electrical conductors from a power supply can be connected directly to respective conductive pins mounted in recesses in the outer surface of the housing and which are electrically connected to respective conductive pins on the inner surface. Protruding staggered gripping elements on the housing outer surface and on a removable cover plate for the housing minimize the possibility of separation of electrical conductors from the conductive pins.

Electrical interconnection assembly

A high-power coaxial cable is disclosed comprising an inner conductor, an outer conductor coaxially disposed about and spaced from the inner conductor, and insulating fittings disposed between the inner and outer conductors near opposite ends of the cable to maintain a desired spacing between the inner and outer conductors. The insulating fitting at one end of the cable has a plurality of longitudinal holes therethrough to reduce the dielectric constant and the impedance of the fitting. The fitting is formed in two like sections joined at right angles to one another along a substantially 45.degree. interface, thereby defining a short 90.degree. turn for the inner conductor near the end of the cable. The fitting sections are retained in position by a surrounding mounting block, the opposite ends of which respectively receive a conductive sleeve and an end of the outer coaxial conductor in press-fit relationship.

Growing community of inventors

Palos Verdes Peninsula, CA, United States of America

Elmer E Reed, Jr