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:
Jul. 26, 1988
Filed:
Jun. 10, 1983
Ka-Ngo Leung, Hercules, CA (US);
Philip A Pincosy, Oakland, CA (US);
Kenneth W Ehlers, Alamo, CA (US);
Abstract
Electrons are copiously emitted by a device comprising a loop-shaped filament made of lanthanum hexaboride. The filament is directly heated by an electrical current produced along the filament by a power supply connected to the terminal legs of the filament. To produce a filament, a diamond saw or the like is used to cut a slice from a bar made of lanthanum hexaboride. The diamond saw is then used to cut the slice into the shape of a loop which may be generally rectangular, U-shaped, hairpin-shaped, zigzag-shaped, or generally circular. The filaments provide high electron emission at a relatively low operating temperature, such as 1600.degree. C. To achieve uniform heating, the filament is formed with a cross section which is tapered between the opposite ends of the filament to compensate for non-uniform current distribution along the filament due to the emission of electrons from the filament.