JP2000294156A - Power source for traveling wave tube - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent deterioration in operation characteristics caused by gas released from an electrode by a metal material within a tube in a traveling wave tube operation to maintain good operation by applying voltage of a heater power source for a heater electrode to a getter dedicated heater electrode through a switch to reactivate a getter, and absorbing the gas within the tube. SOLUTION: A helix power source 1 and an anode power source 2 supply the specified voltage to a helix electrode 8 and an anode electrode 9 of a traveling wave tube 14 respectively. A heater/collector power source 3 supplies necessary operation voltage to a collector electrode 10 and a heater electrode 12. A power source control circuit 4 controls an input power source inputted to a supply power source terminal 6 and each power source according to the load variation of the traveling wave tube 14. A heater control circuit 5 controls a switch 7, to which voltage of the heater power source outputted from the heater/collector power source 3 is supplied, to switch to the heater electrode 12 or the getter dedicated heater electrode 13 of the traveling wave tube 14.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a power supply device, and more particularly to a power supply for a microwave tube such as a traveling wave tube.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a phase velocity of an electromagnetic wave and an electron flow velocity are made equal to approach each other, an interaction occurs and kinetic energy of electrons is converted into energy of the electromagnetic wave. A device utilizing this phenomenon is called a traveling wave tube, and is used as a broadband amplifier. A spiral or other slow-wave circuit is provided to make the phase velocity of the electromagnetic wave approximately equal to the electron flow velocity. A device in which the traveling directions of an electron flow and an electromagnetic wave are reversed is called a backward-wave tube, and is used as a microwave oscillator. Here, the traveling wave tube means a microwave tube including both of them.

A conventional example of such a traveling wave tube (microwave tube) is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 4-63541, entitled "Microwave tube". In this publication, in a microwave tube incorporating a non-evaporable getter having a heater for heating inside a getter material, a power supply terminal or a power supply line of the heater of the getter is provided outside the outer case of the microwave tube. It is a prepared microwave tube.

[0004]

If the traveling wave tube is left for a long time without using it, the degree of vacuum in the tube is reduced. The reason is that the gas (mainly hydrogen gas) generated from the metal material in the tube fills the tube because the getter inside the traveling wave tube is not activated.

As another problem, a power supply facility for supplying power to the heater electrode dedicated to the getter of the traveling wave tube is required separately. The reason is that, in the above-described prior art, a separate power supply is separately provided in order to apply a voltage to the getter-specific heater electrode of the traveling wave tube with the getter-specific heater electrode for reactivating the getter inside the traveling wave tube. It is necessary to prepare it, and it is necessary to remove the traveling-wave tube from the apparatus once, which makes the workability poor.

As another problem, the operation of supplying power to the heater electrode dedicated to the getter and reactivating the getter is a manual operation, which is troublesome. The reason for this is that it is necessary for a human to make a decision to reactivate the getter from the increase in the operating time of the traveling wave tube and the increase in the helix (spiral electrode) current.

An object of the present invention is to reduce the operating characteristics of a traveling wave tube due to a gas emitted from an electrode made of a metal material in the tube during operation of the traveling wave tube by reactivating a getter inside the traveling wave tube. To provide a traveling wave tube device or a traveling wave tube power supply capable of absorbing gas and maintaining good operation.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a traveling wave tube power supply according to the present invention employs the following characteristic configuration.

(1) In a traveling wave tube power supply having a helical electrode, an anode electrode, a collector electrode, a cathode electrode, a heater electrode, and a getter-dedicated electrode, the heater power for the heater electrode is switched to a dedicated heater when necessary through a switch. A traveling-wave tube power supply that is applied to the heater electrode to reactivate the getter.

(2) The traveling-wave tube power supply according to (1), wherein the switching control of the changeover switch is performed by a heater control circuit.

(3) The traveling wave tube power supply according to (2), wherein the heater control circuit operates based on a preset value of a current of the helix electrode of the traveling wave tube.

(4) The traveling wave tube power supply according to the above (2), wherein the heater control circuit has a built-in timer and operates according to the idle period of the traveling wave tube.

(5) The heater control circuit includes a memory, stores the arrival of the heater power supply timing to the heater electrode dedicated to the getter, and switches the changeover switch at the next power-on to reactivate the getter. (2), (3) or (4).

(6) The traveling-wave tube power supply according to any one of (1) to (5), wherein a relay is used as the changeover switch.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of a traveling wave tube power supply according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a preferred embodiment of a traveling wave tube power supply according to the present invention. This traveling wave tube power supply 15
Supplies the power required by each electrode of the traveling wave tube 14. That is, the traveling wave tube 14 includes the helix (spiral) electrode 8, the anode electrode 9, the collector electrode 10, the cathode electrode 11, the heater electrode 12, and the heater electrode 13 dedicated to the getter.
Having. The getter-specific heater electrode 13 is a traveling wave tube 14.
This is a heating electrode for heating and reactivating the getter provided therein when necessary.

The traveling wave tube power supply 15 has a supply power input terminal 6, a helix power supply 1, an anode power supply 2, a heater / collector power supply 3, a power supply control circuit 4, a heater control circuit 5, and a changeover switch 7.

The helix power supply 1 supplies a helix electrode voltage, for example, a ground reference voltage, to the helix electrode 8 of the traveling wave tube 14. The anode power supply 2 supplies an operating voltage to the anode electrode 9 of the traveling wave tube 14. The heater / collector power supply 3 supplies a necessary operating voltage to the collector electrode 10 and the heater electrode 12 with reference to the cathode electrode 11 of the traveling wave tube 14. The power supply control circuit 4 controls the helical power supply 1, the anode power supply 2, and the heater / collector power supply 3 based on input power supplied to (supplied to) the power supply terminal 6 and load fluctuation of the traveling wave tube 14. The heater control circuit 5 controls the switch 7 to which the heater power output from the heater / collector power supply 3 is supplied, and performs switch switching control for switching to the heater electrode 12 of the traveling wave tube 14 or the getter dedicated heater electrode 13. Do.

In the traveling wave tube power supply 15, a helix power supply 1, an anode power supply 2, a heater / collector power supply 3
Since the power supply control circuit 4 and the power supply control circuit 4 may have a conventional configuration, a detailed description of the power supplies 1 to 3 and the power supply control circuit 4 will be omitted.

Next, the operation of the traveling wave tube power supply 15 of FIG. 1, particularly the operation of the heater control circuit 5 and the changeover switch 7, will be mainly described. The reason is that the addition of the heater control circuit 5 and the changeover switch 7 is a feature of the traveling wave tube power supply 15 of the present invention. Under the normal operation state of the traveling wave tube 14, a predetermined power is input to the power supply input terminal 6 of the traveling wave tube power supply 15, and the helix power supply 1, the anode power supply 2 and the heater / collector power supply 3 are connected to the traveling wave tube 14. The helix electrode 8, the anode electrode 9, the collector electrode 10, the cathode electrode 11, and the heater electrode 12 generate and supply a power supply voltage required. At this time, the heater control circuit 5
Connects the movable contact 7a of the changeover switch 7 which is, for example, a relay (relay) to the upper fixed contact 7b side in FIG. 1 (a position opposite to the position shown in FIG. 1). With this configuration, a predetermined power supply voltage is supplied to each of the electrodes 8 to 12 of the traveling wave tube 14 so that the electrodes operate properly.

However, as described above, when the non-operating period of the traveling wave tube 14 is long, the gas, mainly hydrogen gas, contained therein from the metal material constituting each of the electrodes 8 to 12 of the traveling wave tube 14 is removed. 14, the degree of vacuum is reduced, and its operating characteristics are degraded. Therefore, the heater control circuit 5 preferably has an internal timer, integrates the inoperative period of the traveling wave tube 14, and switches the changeover switch 7 when a pre-programmed time is reached. That is, the movable contact 7a is connected to the other fixed contact 7c (the side shown in FIG. 1). As a result, the heater power supply from the heater / collector power supply 3 is switched from the heater electrode 12 of the traveling wave tube 14 to the getter dedicated heater electrode 13, and the getter is heated and reactivated. Thereby, the degree of vacuum inside the traveling wave tube 14 is increased again, and the operating characteristics of the traveling wave tube 14 are improved.

The energizing (or heating) time of the getter-dedicated heater electrode 13 is set to a predetermined time necessary for the getter to absorb the gas discharged into the traveling wave tube 14.

As is well known to those skilled in the art, traveling wave tube 1
When the residual gas exists in the electrode 4, the frequency of the electron flow from the cathode electrode heated by the heater electrode 12 colliding with the residual gas increases, whereby the current is ionized and the helical current increases. Therefore, the heater control circuit 5 can monitor the helical current, detect that the helical current exceeds a preset value, and control the switch 7.

However, it is not preferable for the heater control circuit 5 to suddenly switch the changeover switch 7 during the normal operation of the traveling wave tube 14 in either the timer or the helix current detection described above. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a memory (a non-volatile memory or the like) in the heater control circuit 5 and apply a heater voltage to the heater electrode 13 dedicated to the getter by the above-described timer or helix current detection to reactivate the getter. I remember that. After that, at the time of power-on for operating the traveling wave tube 14, the changeover switch 7 is switched to the getter-dedicated heater electrode 13 for a predetermined time to reactivate the getter, and then returned to the heater electrode 12 to return to the normal operation state. Is preferred.

The construction and operation of the preferred embodiment of the traveling wave tube power supply according to the present invention have been described above in detail. However, the present invention should not be limited to only such specific embodiments, and those skilled in the art can easily understand that various modifications can be made.

[0026]

As will be understood from the above description, the traveling wave tube power supply of the present invention has various remarkable effects as described below.

First, no special power supply for supplying power to the heater electrode dedicated to the getter of the traveling wave tube is required. The reason is that the heater power supply for the heater electrode of the traveling wave tube is used as it is for heating the getter-dedicated heater electrode / reactivating the getter.

Next, it is possible to eliminate the variation in the reactivation timing of the getter caused by the use state of the traveling wave tube. The reason is that by providing a timer in the heater control circuit or by providing a helix current detection circuit,
This is because the getter can be reactivated at an appropriate timing set in advance.

Further, the configuration is simple and no manual operation is required. The reason is that the heater power for the heater electrode of the traveling wave tube can be automatically switched to the heater electrode dedicated to the getter via the changeover switch, and the getter can be reactivated.

Furthermore, getter reactivation is not performed during normal operation of the traveling wave tube, and does not interfere with normal operation. According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, when the traveling wave tube is in a state where the getter needs to be reactivated, the getter is automatically reactivated when the power is turned on. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a preferred embodiment of a traveling wave tube power supply according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 Heater / Collector Power Supply 5 Heater Control Circuit 7 Changeover Switch 8 Helix Electrode 9 Anode Electrode 10 Collector Electrode 11 Cathode Electrode 12 Heater Electrode 13 Getter Dedicated Heater Electrode 14 Traveling Wave Tube 15 Traveling Wave Tube Power Supply

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A traveling wave tube power supply having a helix electrode, an anode electrode, a collector electrode, a cathode electrode, a heater electrode, and a getter-dedicated electrode, wherein the heater power for the heater electrode is switched via a selector switch when necessary. A power supply for a traveling-wave tube, which is applied to an electrode to reactivate a getter. 2. The traveling wave tube power supply according to claim 1, wherein the switching control of the changeover switch is performed by a heater control circuit. 3. The traveling wave tube power supply according to claim 2, wherein the heater control circuit operates based on a preset value of a current of the helix electrode of the traveling wave tube. 4. The heater control circuit has a built-in timer.
The traveling wave tube power supply according to claim 2, wherein the power supply operates according to a pause period of the traveling wave tube. 5. The heater control circuit includes a memory, stores the arrival of heater power supply timing to the heater electrode dedicated to the getter, and switches the changeover switch at the next power-on to re-activate the getter. 5. The traveling wave tube power supply according to claim 2, wherein the power supply is used. 6. A traveling-wave tube power supply according to claim 1, wherein a relay is used as said changeover switch.