The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 12, 2026
Filed:
Sep. 30, 2025
Ut-battelle, Llc, Oak Ridge, TN (US);
Larry R. Baylor, Oak Ridge, TN (US);
Steven J. Meitner, Oak Ridge, TN (US);
William D. Mcginnis, Oak Ridge, TN (US);
UT-BATTELLE, LLC, Oak Ridge, TN (US);
Abstract
A tritium-compatible pellet gas gun for a deuterium-tritium (D-T) pellet fueling apparatus is provided. In one aspect, the tritium-compatible pellet gas gun includes a pellet sizer assembly that provides in situ adjustment of pellet length during injector operation. The pellet sizer assembly includes a guillotine slide that is actuated by a pusher tube, the guillotine slide being operable to restrict the orifice of the extruder nozzle to reduce pellet length with fine resolution. The tritium-compatible pellet gas gun also includes dual flexible metal bellows seals that maintain hermetic separation between the D-T fuel region, a guard vacuum, and the ambient environment, while still permitting linear motion. This configuration allows the pellet length to be reduced by up to 50% without venting or warming the D-T pellet fueling apparatus.