Granted Patent B2

US 12,278,478 · App. 17/998,572 · Granted Apr 15, 2025

Inventors: Tyler R. Wills (Danvers, MA); William H. Park (Marblehead, MA)

Assignee: Neutron Therapeutics LLC

H02H7/003H05H5/04H05H5/06H05H2242/22

Abstract

Claims (38)

1. An over-voltage protection system for an accelerator comprising:

a plurality of DC power supplies configured to provide a plurality of voltage levels up to a desired voltage level; and

an acceleration tube electrically connected to the plurality of DC power supplies and configured to accelerate a charged particle, the acceleration tube comprising a plurality of stages, each stage comprising:

a plurality of electrodes, wherein one electrode of the plurality of electrodes is electrically coupled to a voltage level of the plurality of voltage levels; and

a plurality of varistors configured to discharge energy in response to an overvoltage event;

wherein the plurality of electrodes and the plurality of varistors are electrically coupled to each other and arranged in an alternating fashion;

wherein each stage comprises a plurality of insulators, each insulator being arranged in parallel with a varistor.

2. The over-voltage protection system of claim 1 , wherein each stage comprises a plurality of water resistors, each water resistor being arranged in parallel with a varistor and an insulator.

3. The over-voltage protection system of claim 1 , wherein each varistor is connected between an output of a power supply and a relative ground of the power supply.

4. The over-voltage protection system of claim 1 , wherein each varistor is a metal oxide varistor.

5. The over-voltage protection system of claim 1 , wherein each varistor comprises a varistor assembly, the varistor assembly comprising a linear stack of varistor elements.

6. The over-voltage protection system of claim 5 , wherein each varistor element is disk-shaped.

7. The over-voltage protection system of claim 1 , wherein each DC power supply of the plurality of DC power supplies is connected in parallel with a varistor.

8. The over-voltage protection system of claim 1 , wherein each DC power supply of the plurality of DC power supplies comprises a Cockcroft-Walton multiplier.

9. The over-voltage protection system of claim 1 , wherein each DC power supply of the plurality of DC power supplies is connected in series.

10. The over-voltage protection system of claim 1 , wherein each varistor comprises a threshold voltage, wherein each varistor is configured to, in response to a voltage across the varistor surpassing the threshold voltage, limit current from reaching a DC power supply.

11. The over-voltage protection system of claim 10 , wherein limiting current from reaching the DC power supply comprises discharging energy stored in at least one capacitor within the plurality of DC power supplies.

12. A protection system for an accelerator comprising:

a plurality of DC power supplies configured to provide a plurality of voltage levels up to a desired voltage level;

a plurality of varistors, wherein each varistor of the plurality of varistors is connected in parallel with a DC power supply; and

an acceleration tube electrically connected to the plurality of DC power supplies and configured to accelerate a charged particle, the acceleration tube comprising a plurality of stages, each stage comprising:

a plurality of electrodes, wherein one electrode of the plurality of electrodes is electrically coupled to a voltage level of the plurality of voltage levels;

a plurality of insulators; and

a plurality of water resistors configured to discharge energy in response to an overvoltage event and grade voltage across the plurality of insulators;

wherein the plurality of insulators and the plurality of water resistors are electrically in parallel.

13. The protection system of claim 12 , wherein each varistor comprises a varistor assembly, the varistor assembly comprising a linear stack of varistor elements.

14. The protection system of claim 12 , wherein each DC power supply comprises a Cockcroft-Walton multiplier.

15. The protection system of claim 12 , wherein each varistor comprises a threshold voltage, wherein each varistor is configured to, in response to a voltage across the varistor surpassing the threshold voltage, discharge energy stored in at least one capacitor within the plurality of DC power supplies.

16. A method for protecting components of an accelerator comprising:

providing, via a plurality of DC power supplies, a plurality of voltage levels up to a desired voltage level;

accelerating, via an acceleration tube electrically connected to the plurality of DC power supplies, one or more charged particles, wherein the acceleration tube comprises a plurality of stages, each stage comprising:

a plurality of electrodes, wherein one electrode of the plurality of electrodes is electrically coupled to a voltage level of the plurality of voltage levels; and

a plurality of varistors configured to discharge energy in response to an overvoltage event;

wherein the plurality of electrodes and the plurality of varistors are electrically coupled to each other and arranged in an alternating fashion;

wherein each stage comprises a plurality of insulators, wherein each insulator is arranged in parallel with a varistor; and

discharging, via the plurality of varistors, energy stored in at least one capacitor within the plurality of DC power supplies.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein discharging energy stored in at least one capacitor within the plurality of DC power supplies occurs in response to an overvoltage event.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein each varistor comprises a varistor assembly, the varistor assembly comprising a linear stack of varistor elements.

Assignments (2)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (29)