The Boeing Company

Mcdonnell Douglas Corporation

University of Missouri

Alpha-omega Power Technologies, Ltd. Co.

Alpha-omega Power Technologies

Glenn A Anderson

Randy Dale Curry

William Ray Cravey

Kenneth Fox McDonald

Craig S Messmer

Richard Sears

James D Linerode

Method and apparatus for switching high power at high repetition rates. The apparatus is preferably a switch utilizing a pressurized flowing dielectric. The pressurized dielectric suppresses growth of dielectric breakdown byproducts, such as large bubbles and breakdown contamination, enabling lower dielectric flow rates to remove the byproducts. In addition to the advantage of lower flow rates, and thus smaller and lighter pumping means, the switch can switch high energies (up to megajoules) at fast repetition rates, up to thousands of pulses per second. The switch is preferably triggered to reduce jitter. The switch can also be used to remove water from oil.

High power liquid dielectric switch

Method and apparatus for switching high power at high repetition rates. The apparatus is preferably a switch utilizing a pressurized flowing dielectric. The pressurized dielectric suppresses growth of dielectric breakdown byproducts, such as large bubbles and breakdown contamination, enabling lower dielectric flow rates to remove the byproducts. In addition to the advantage of lower flow rates, and thus smaller and lighter pumping means, the switch can switch high energies (up to megajoules) at fast repetition rates, up to thousands of pulses per second.

A system and method for controllably positioning a hydraulic actuator which is operably connected to a control surface includes at least one main control valve for controlling the hydraulic pressure supplied to the actuator in response to a control signal indicative of a predetermined actuator position and at least one parallel control valve for supplying additional hydraulic pressure to the actuator in response to an error signal indicative of the difference between the position of the actuator and the predetermined actuator position to thereby correct for any differences indicated by the error signal. By correcting for any differences indicated by the error signal, the errors in positioning the control surface can be decreased and the stiffness of the control surface can be increased. The control system also includes a sensor for monitoring the position of the actuator and a controller for generating the error signal in response to the difference between the position of the actuator and the predetermined actuator position. However, the at least one main control valve is independent of the sensor and the error signal such that the hydraulic pressure controllably supplied to the actuator by the at least one main control valve in response to the control signal is independent of the error signal. Thus, the stiffness of the control surface can by enhanced by the control system even though the size and weight of the at least one main control valve and the flow requirements of the hydraulic system are significantly reduced.

Method and apparatus for controllably positioning a hydraulic actuator

There is provided by this invention a method and an apparatus for cooling a heat load that is operable in zero gravity conditions and while in any orientation due to the design of the apparatus. The apparatus' components are also selected so as to comprise a lightweight refrigeration system. The apparatus utilizes direct contact between two fluids, a liquid coolant and a refrigerant, with widely different vapor pressures so that one fluid, the coolant, always remains a liquid in the system. The two fluids may be totally or partially soluble in one another or they may be totally insoluble in one another with the degree of solubility affecting the system's efficiency, but not its reliable operation. The refrigerant, which boils and condenses during the refrigeration cycle, is mixed with the coolant and condensed prior to the portion of the system's cycle in which the heat is rejected to a heat sink and is subsequently separated from the coolant. Furthermore, the coolant in the system, which absorbs heat from the load and subsequently mixes with the refrigerant, remains a liquid throughout the system's cycle so as to provide lubrication for the system's components without the use of an additional refrigerant oil.

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St. Charles, MO, United States of America

Glenn A Anderson