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:
Jun. 13, 1989
Filed:
Dec. 11, 1987
Applicant:
Inventor:
John R Beattie, Westlake Village, CA (US);
Assignee:
Hughes Aircraft Company, Los Angeles, CA (US);
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
F02C / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
60202 ; 60204 ; 31511181 ;
Abstract
An ion propulsion system is disclosed. The invention includes a ionizing system for ionizing a gaseous propellant within a chamber to produce a plasma. The ionizing system includes a cathode 14 to provide a source of electrons and anodes 11 and 13 to accelerate the electrons to velocitites sufficient to ionize the gaseous propellant. The invention further includes an ion extraction system 20 for expelling an ion beam from the plasma. A particularly novel aspect of the invention is the provision of a control system 45 and 46 for modulating the current of the ion beam by modulating the current through the anode 11 and 13.