Power supply device, microwave tube device, power supply method, and recording medium

Abstract

To suppress the amount of time required for starting the microwave tube when the voltage of the fed power decreases, while avoiding an increase in the size of the power storage unit, the power supply device includes: a power supply unit that supplies power fed from a power source to the microwave tube, the microwave tube being provided with a cathode, a heater for heating the cathode, an anode, and a collector; a power storage unit that stores the fed power, and supplies stored power to the microwave tube if the voltage of the fed power decreases, the stored power being power obtained by power storage; and a power supply switching unit that stops supplying the stored power to the anode, without stopping supplying the stored power to the heater, if the voltage of the fed power decreases.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a device for amplifying microwaves. Background Technology

[0002] A microwave tube (also known as a "microwave tube" or "traveling wave tube") is a device that amplifies input microwaves. For example, Patent Document 1 (PTL1) discloses a microwave amplification device that includes a helical traveling wave tube, which is a type of microwave tube.

[0003] In microwave amplification equipment, output abnormalities can occur when power supply is interrupted due to a drop in supply voltage, a momentary interruption, or other reasons. Therefore, microwave amplification equipment stores the power supplied from the power source through a mechanism (hereinafter referred to as a "power storage unit") for storing the power (charge) of capacitors, secondary batteries, etc., and thus, even when the supply voltage drops or stops (hereinafter referred to as "drop"), insufficient supply voltage can be prevented for a certain period of time.

[0004] [List of Citations]

[0005] [Patent Literature]

[0006] [PTL1]WO 2018 / 151253 A Summary of the Invention

[0007] [Technical Issues]

[0008] However, even in the case of the power storage unit described in the provided background section, when the supply voltage from the power source decreases for a prolonged period, the stored power (charge) is consumed, and therefore, the supply voltage from the power storage unit decreases. When the voltage drop occurs rapidly, not only does the microwave output become abnormal or stop, but the temperature of the heater (see PTL1) used to heat the cathode contained within the microwave tube also decreases due to the reduced power supplied to the heater. Once the heater temperature decreases, it takes time to recover to the desired temperature because the heater has a specific heat capacity. Therefore, even if the supply voltage from the power source is subsequently restored, it takes time to restore the heater temperature, and therefore, it also takes time until the cathode can normally emit electrons.

[0009] To alleviate this problem, providing power storage units with greater power storage capacity is effective, but this requires larger secondary batteries and larger capacitors.

[0010] The object of the present invention is to provide a power supply device, etc., which can suppress the time required for microwave tube startup when the supply voltage from the power source decreases, without increasing the size of the power storage unit.

[0011] [Solution to the problem]

[0012] According to the present invention, a power supply device is provided, comprising: a power supply unit for feeding supplied power from a power source to a microwave tube, the microwave tube including a cathode, a heater for heating the cathode, an anode, and a collector; a power storage unit for storing the supplied power and supplying stored power as stored power to the microwave tube when the voltage of the supplied power decreases; and a power supply switching unit for stopping the supply of stored power to the anode without stopping the supply of stored power to the heater when the voltage of the supplied power decreases.

[0013] [Beneficial effects of the present invention]

[0014] The power supply device of the present invention can suppress the time required for microwave tube startup when the supply voltage from the power source decreases, without increasing the size of the power storage unit. Attached Figure Description

[0015] [ Figure 1 ] Figure 1 This is a conceptual diagram illustrating a configuration example of a microwave tube device according to this example embodiment.

[0016] [ Figure 2 ] Figure 2 This is a conceptual diagram illustrating a configuration example of a power supply device according to this example embodiment.

[0017] [ Figure 3 ] Figure 3 This is a block diagram illustrating a minimum configuration of a power supply device according to an example embodiment. Detailed Implementation

[0018] The microwave tube device of this example embodiment monitors the voltage of the power storage unit and stops supplying power to the anode when a voltage drop is observed. Therefore, since the electron flow from the cathode to the collector in the microwave tube stops, power consumption is greatly suppressed. Consequently, when the supply voltage from the power source decreases, the time it takes for the voltage supplied from the power storage unit to the heater heating the cathode to remain near a set value increases, and thus, the temperature drop of the heater is suppressed. Therefore, the power supply device of this example embodiment shortens the time required to recover when the supply voltage from the power source is insufficient.

[0019] Figure 1 This is a conceptual diagram showing the configuration of a microwave tube device 400, which is an example of a microwave tube device in this exemplary embodiment. Figure 2 It shows Figure 1 A conceptual diagram illustrating the configuration example of the power supply device 100. The microwave tube device 400 includes the power supply device 100 and the microwave tube 300.

[0020] For example, the same microwave tube disclosed in PTL1, Figure 1 The microwave tube 300 includes a collector, a heater, a cathode, an anode, and a helical tube (not shown). Here, the heater is used to heat the cathode so that electrons are emitted from the cathode included in the electron gun of the microwave tube.

[0021] Power supply device 100 is a device for supplying power to microwave tube 300. Power supply device 100 supplies a predetermined DC voltage to each of the collector terminal, heater / cathode terminal, anode terminal, and spiral terminal. These terminals are for supplying voltage to each of the collector, heater, cathode, anode, and spiral of microwave tube 300. Here, as in the case of PTL1, it is assumed that the voltage supply terminal to the heater and to the cathode is shared.

[0022] like Figure 2 As shown, the power supply equipment 100 includes DC conversion circuits 102, 111 and 112, rectifier element 106, inverters 104, 107 and 108, coil 105, transformers 109 and 110, resistors 113 and 114, power storage unit 103, control unit 121, and connection switching unit 122.

[0023] The power supply device 100 supplies power to the microwave tube 300 via power supplied from the power source 101. The power source 101 is, for example, a general AC power supply of 50Hz or 60Hz. The AC voltage input from the power source 101 is converted to DC voltage by a DC conversion circuit 102 and supplied to the power storage unit 103 and subsequent stages (on the right). The DC conversion circuit 102 is a general circuit including, for example, diodes and capacitors. The power storage unit 103 includes capacitors and a secondary battery and stores electrical energy using DC voltage. An inverter 104, a coil 105, and a rectifier element 106 are inserted to adjust the DC voltage.

[0024] The DC voltage supplied to subsequent stages is converted to AC voltage by inverters 107 and 108. The frequency of the AC voltage is, for example, about 10 kHz to 100 kHz. Each AC voltage is boosted to a predetermined voltage by transformers 109 and 110, and then converted to DC by DC conversion circuits 111 and 112. DC conversion circuits 111 and 112 are general circuits including, for example, diodes and capacitors.

[0025] The spiral terminal of the spiral tube connected to microwave tube 300 is connected to ground.

[0026] Control unit 121 monitors the voltage V between terminals A and B. ABWhen the voltage exceeds the threshold Vth, the control unit 121 sends a signal to the connection switching unit 122 to connect the two terminals included in the connection switching unit 122. Simultaneously, when the voltage falls below the threshold Vth, the control unit 121 sends a signal to the connection switching unit 122 to release the connection. For example, even if the power storage capacity of the power storage unit 103 begins to become insufficient, the threshold Vth is set to a value within the allowable range.

[0027] The connection switching unit 122 is, for example, a mechanical switch or a semiconductor switch. A semiconductor switch may include a multi-stage field-effect transistor. The connection switching unit 122 performs actions to connect terminal C to the anode terminal and disconnect terminal C from the anode terminal based on signals sent from the control unit 121.

[0028] As mentioned above, when the voltage V AB When the voltage is equal to or greater than the threshold Vth, a set DC voltage is applied to both the collector terminal and the heater / cathode terminal, and a DC voltage associated with resistors 113 and 114 is supplied to the anode. The resistance value of resistor 113 can be set to a very small value or zero. Simultaneously, the voltages applied to the collector terminal and the heater / cathode terminal are, for example, -9kV and 15kV.

[0029] Meanwhile, assuming voltage V AB Below the threshold Vth. In this case, it is assumed that the connection from the anode terminal to terminal C is not released. In this situation, power is consumed by the electron flow from the cathode to the collector, the power storage capacity of the power storage unit 103 decreases rapidly, and the supply voltage to the heater / cathode terminal drops rapidly. Therefore, the heater temperature drops significantly. As described in the Technical Problems section, once the temperature drops drastically, it takes time to restore the heater temperature to the set temperature. This means that the time required to restore the microwave tube to operation becomes longer.

[0030] However, in the power supply equipment 100, when the voltage V AB When the voltage is initially insufficient, the control unit 121 disconnects the anode terminal from the terminal C via the connection switching unit 122, and simultaneously the voltage V... AB The voltage remains within permissible limits. Therefore, the electron flow in the microwave tube ceases. In this situation, applying a high voltage to the microwave tube body does not generate an electron flow, and therefore consumes almost no power. Power is consumed in the heater, control system, and cooling system throughout the microwave tube device, but these are minor. Therefore, by disconnecting the anode terminals using the switching unit 122, power consumption is reduced by approximately 80% to 90% compared to the rated power.

[0031] Therefore, by disconnecting the anode terminal using the switching unit 122, the discharge from the power storage unit 103 and the resulting decrease in the supply voltage from the power storage unit 103 can be significantly suppressed. Consequently, the state of supplying the heater / cathode terminal with the desired DC voltage or a DC voltage close to (slightly below) the desired DC voltage is maintained for a longer period. In this case, when the voltage V... AB When the temperature is restored to the threshold Vth or higher, the time required to restore the operation of the microwave tube can be significantly reduced.

[0032] Here, when the power storage capacity of the power storage unit 103 decreases significantly and the supply voltage to the collector terminal and the heating / cathode terminal decreases significantly, a relatively long time, on the order of milliseconds, is required to restore the supply voltage to these terminals. This is because the voltage supplied to these terminals is as high as -9kV and 15kV, as described above. When the voltage V AB When the voltage is initially insufficient, the control unit 121 stops supplying high power to the anode, and at the same time, the voltage V... AB It remains within permissible limits. Therefore, the discharge from the power storage unit 103 and the resulting decrease in the supply voltage from the power storage unit 103 due to the discharge can be greatly suppressed. Consequently, the state of supplying the collector terminal and the heater / cathode terminal with the desired DC voltage or a DC voltage close to (slightly below) the desired DC voltage is maintained for a longer period. In this case, from the perspective of supplying high voltage to these terminals, the time required to restore the operation of the microwave tube can be shortened.

[0033] The voltage supplied to the anode terminal can be set to a value much smaller than the voltage supplied to the collector terminal and the heater / cathode terminal, and can be set to zero or close to zero as described above. In this case, the switching time required is essentially equal to the switching speed of the connecting switching unit 122 (1 millisecond or less).

[0034] As voltage V AB One reason for the decrease is that the instantaneous interruption time of power supply 101 is typically between 10ms and 100ms. Therefore, when the switching speed of the connection switching unit 122 is equal to or less than 10ms, it is assumed that when the voltage V... AB When the current is equal to or less than the threshold Vth, the current supply to the anode terminal can be stopped. Even a mechanical switch can achieve a switching speed of about 10ms. Therefore, it is believed that the above-described effect of the power supply device of the example embodiment exists to some extent not only when the field-effect transistor is used as the connection switching unit 122 as described above, but also when a mechanical switch is used.

[0035] The control unit 121 may include a computer. In this case, for example, a program stored in the computer's storage unit causes the computer's central processing unit to perform processes that switch the connection switching unit 122 to the anode terminal and release it.

[0036] In the example above, the voltage supplied to the cathode and heater is shared. However, the voltage does not necessarily have to be shared, and separate voltages can be supplied to the cathode and heater from the power supply equipment.

[0037] The voltage monitoring location of control unit 121 is not limited to Figure 2 Between terminals A and B, and for example, it can also be assumed that the voltage monitoring location is between terminals D and E or between terminals F and G.

[0038] <Beneficial Effects>

[0039] In the power supply device according to this example embodiment, when the supply voltage from the power storage unit to the microwave tube device decreases, the anode terminal is disconnected from the terminals of the power supply system. Therefore, the power supplied from the power storage unit to the microwave tube device is greatly reduced, and the decrease in voltage supplied from the power storage unit to the heater is mitigated. Consequently, the heater temperature is maintained at or near the desired level for a longer period. As described in the technical problems section, when the heater temperature decreases significantly, the heater has a specific heat capacity and therefore requires time to recover its temperature. Therefore, even if the supply voltage subsequently recovers, time is required to restore the heater temperature, and thus, time is required for the microwave tube to operate normally. This problem is resolved or mitigated when the heater temperature is maintained at or near the desired level for a longer period. Therefore, the power supply device of this example embodiment can suppress the time required for microwave tube startup when the supply voltage from the power source decreases without increasing the size of the power storage unit.

[0040] Figure 3 This is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a power supply device 100x, which is a minimum configuration of the power supply device in an example embodiment. The power supply device 100x includes a power supply unit 100ax, a power storage unit 103x, and a power supply switching unit 122x. The power supply unit 100ax feeds supplied power from a power source to a microwave tube, which includes a cathode, a heater for heating the cathode, an anode, and a collector. The power storage unit 103x stores the supplied power and supplies stored power to the microwave tube as stored power when the voltage of the supplied power decreases. When the voltage of the supplied power decreases, the power supply switching unit 122x stops supplying stored power to the anode but does not stop supplying stored power to the heater.

[0041] When the supply voltage decreases, the power supply device 100x stops supplying stored power to the anode. Therefore, the power supply device 100x significantly suppresses power consumption in the microwave tube device, including the microwave tube. Consequently, the rate of decrease in the stored power of the power storage unit 103x when the supply voltage decreases is suppressed. The power supply device 100x does not stop supplying stored power to the heater. Therefore, the heater is not cooled, or its cooling rate is suppressed. Thus, the power supply device 100x can suppress the time required for microwave tube startup when the supply voltage from the power source decreases without increasing the size of the power storage unit.

[0042] Therefore, the power supply device 100x has the effects described in the [Beneficial Effects of the Invention] section by means of the above configuration.

[0043] Although exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above exemplary embodiments, and further modifications, substitutions, and adjustments can be made without departing from the basic technical concept of the present invention. For example, the configuration of elements shown in the accompanying drawings is for the purpose of aiding understanding of the present invention and is not limited to the configuration shown in the accompanying drawings.

[0044] The above example embodiments may be described in part or in whole as the following supplementary description, but are not limited to the following supplementary description.

[0045] (Supplementary Note 1)

[0046] A power supply device, comprising:

[0047] The power supply unit feeds power from the power source to the microwave tube, which includes a cathode, a heater for heating the cathode, an anode, and a collector.

[0048] A power storage unit stores supplied power, and when the voltage of the supplied power decreases, supplies stored power to the microwave tube as stored power; and

[0049] The power supply switching unit stops supplying stored power to the anode when the voltage of the supplied power decreases, but does not stop supplying stored power to the heater.

[0050] (Supplementary Note 2)

[0051] According to the power supply equipment described in Supplementary Explanation 1, wherein,

[0052] When the voltage of the stored power falls below a threshold, the power supply switching unit stops supplying stored power to the anode.

[0053] (Supplementary Explanation 3)

[0054] According to the power supply equipment described in Supplementary Explanation 2, wherein,

[0055] When the voltage of the power supplied from the power storage unit exceeds a threshold, the power supply switching unit supplies stored power to the anode.

[0056] (Supplementary Note 4)

[0057] According to the power supply equipment described in Supplementary Explanation 2 or 3, wherein,

[0058] The power supply switching unit includes:

[0059] The connection switching unit switches between connecting to and disconnecting the anode via a control signal.

[0060] The control unit sends a control signal to the connection switching unit to trigger a release when the voltage of the power supplied from the power storage unit is lower than a threshold.

[0061] (Supplementary Note 5)

[0062] According to the power supply equipment described in Supplementary Explanation 4, wherein...

[0063] When the voltage of the power supplied from the power storage unit exceeds a threshold, the control unit sends a control signal to the connection switching unit to initiate a connection.

[0064] (Supplementary Note 6)

[0065] According to any one of the supplementary descriptions 1 to 5, the power supply equipment, wherein,

[0066] The absolute value of the voltage supplied to the anode is significantly smaller than the absolute value of the voltage supplied to the collector, the absolute value of the voltage supplied to the cathode, and any one of the absolute values ​​of the voltage supplied to the collector.

[0067] (Supplementary Note 7)

[0068] According to any one of Supplementary Explanations 1 to 6, the power supply equipment wherein,

[0069] The voltage supplied to the anode is 0 or close to 0.

[0070] (Supplementary Note 8)

[0071] The power supply equipment according to any one of Supplementary Explanations 1 to 7,

[0072] The voltage supplied to the cathode is shared with the voltage supplied to the heater.

[0073] (Supplementary Note 9)

[0074] A microwave tube device includes: a power supply device according to any one of Supplementary Descriptions 1 to 8; and a microwave tube.

[0075] (Supplementary Note 10)

[0076] A power supply method performed by a power supply device, the power supply device comprising:

[0077] The power supply unit feeds power from a power source to the microwave tube, which includes a cathode, a heater for heating the cathode, an anode, and a collector.

[0078] A power storage unit stores supplied power, and when the voltage of the supplied power decreases, supplies stored power to the microwave tube as stored power. The power supply method includes:

[0079] When the voltage of the power supply decreases, the supply of stored power to the anode is stopped, but the supply of stored power to the heater is not stopped.

[0080] (Supplementary Note 11)

[0081] A power supply procedure included in a power supply device, the power supply device comprising:

[0082] The power supply unit feeds power from a power source to the microwave tube, which includes a cathode, a heater for heating the cathode, an anode, and a collector.

[0083] The power storage unit stores the supplied power, and when the voltage of the supplied power decreases, it supplies the stored power to the microwave tube as stored power.

[0084] The power supply program causes the computer to perform the following processes:

[0085] When the voltage of the power supply decreases, the supply of stored power to the anode is stopped, but the supply of stored power to the heater is not stopped.

[0086] Here, the "microwave tube" in the supplementary explanation refers to, for example... Figure 1 The microwave tube 300 in the example. The "power supply unit" is, for example... Figure 2 The power supply equipment 100 includes the anode terminal, collector terminal, and heater / cathode terminal. The "power storage unit" is, for example... Figure 2 The power storage unit 103 in the middle. The "power switching unit" is, for example... Figure 2 The combination of control unit 121 and connection switching unit 122.

[0087] "Power supply equipment" is, for example Figure 2 The power supply equipment 100 in the middle. The "connection switching unit" is, for example... Figure 2 The connection switching unit 122 in the middle. "Control unit" is, for example... Figure 2 Control unit 121. "Microwave tube device" is, for example... Figure 1 Microwave tube equipment 400.

[0088] "Computer" is, for example Figure 2 The computer is included in the control unit 121. The "power supply program" is, for example, to make... Figure 2 The control unit 121 includes a computer-executed program.

[0089] The invention has been specifically shown and described with reference to the exemplary embodiments described above as illustrative examples. However, the invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiments described above. That is, those skilled in the art will understand that various aspects can be applied without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the claims.

[0090] This application is based on and claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2020-093062, filed on May 28, 2020, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0091] [List of reference numerals]

[0092] 100, 100x power supply equipment

[0093] 100ax power supply unit

[0094] 101 Power Supply

[0095] 102, 111, 112 DC-DC converter circuits

[0096] 103, 103X power storage unit

[0097] 104, 107, 108 inverters

[0098] 105 coil

[0099] 106 Rectifier Components

[0100] Transformers 109 and 110

[0101] Resistors 113 and 114

[0102] 121 Control Unit

[0103] 122 Connection Switching Unit

[0104] 122x Power Supply Switching Unit

[0105] 300 microwave tube

[0106] 400 Microwave tube equipment.

Claims

1. A power supply device, comprising: A power supply device is configured to feed power from a power source to a microwave tube, the microwave tube including a cathode, a heater for heating the cathode, an anode, and a collector; A power storage device is configured to store the supplied power and, when the voltage of the supplied power decreases, supply stored power as stored power to the microwave tube; as well as The power supply switching device is configured to stop supplying the stored power to the anode when the voltage of the supplied power decreases, but not to stop supplying the stored power to the heater.

2. The power supply equipment according to claim 1, wherein, When the voltage of the stored power is lower than a threshold, the power supply switching device stops supplying the stored power to the anode.

3. The power supply equipment according to claim 2, wherein, When the voltage of the supplied power from the power storage device exceeds the threshold, the power supply switching device supplies the stored power to the anode.

4. The power supply equipment according to claim 2 or 3, wherein, The power supply switching device includes: A connection switching device is configured to switch between connecting to and releasing the anode via a control signal, and The control device is configured to send a control signal to the connection switching device to cause the release when the voltage of the supplied power from the power storage device is lower than the threshold.

5. The power supply equipment according to claim 4, wherein, When the voltage of the supplied power from the power storage device exceeds the threshold, the control device sends the control signal to the connection switching device to initiate the connection.

6. The power supply equipment according to claim 1 or 2, wherein, The absolute value of the voltage supplied to the anode is significantly less than the absolute value of the voltage supplied to the collector, the absolute value of the voltage supplied to the cathode, and the absolute value of the voltage supplied to the heater.

7. The power supply equipment according to claim 1 or 2, wherein, The voltage supplied to the anode is 0 or close to 0.

8. A microwave tube device, comprising: The power supply equipment according to claim 1 or 2; And microwave tubes.

9. A power supply method performed by a power supply device, the power supply device comprising: A power supply device is configured to feed power from a power source to a microwave tube, the microwave tube including a cathode, a heater for heating the cathode, an anode, and a collector. A power storage device is configured to store the supplied power and, when the voltage of the supplied power decreases, supply stored power as the stored power to the microwave tube, the power supply method comprising: When the voltage of the supplied power decreases, the supply of the stored power to the anode is stopped, but the supply of the stored power to the heater is not stopped.

10. A recording medium included in a power supply device, the power supply device comprising: A power supply device is configured to feed power from a power source to a microwave tube, the microwave tube including a cathode, a heater for heating the cathode, an anode, and a collector. A power storage device is configured to store the supplied power and, when the voltage of the supplied power decreases, supply stored power as the stored power to the microwave tube. The recording medium records a power supply program that causes the computer to perform the following processes: When the voltage of the supplied power decreases, the supply of the stored power to the anode is stopped, but the supply of the stored power to the heater is not stopped.

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