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:
Sep. 07, 2004
Filed:
Jul. 22, 2002
John F. Stickelmaier, Manhattan Beach, CA (US);
The Boeing Company, Chicago, IL (US);
Abstract
The invention discloses a method and device for clearing an ion thruster grid of contaminants. A typical method includes applying a power supply to a grid to clear contaminants, monitoring an energy applied to the grid of the applied power supply and suspending application of the power supply to the grid after the monitored energy substantially reaches a predetermined value. A typical device includes a controller for applying a power supply to a grid to clear the grid of contaminants and a timer for monitoring an energy applied to the grid of the applied power supply and suspending application of the power supply to the grid after the monitored energy substantially reaches a predetermined value.