US 12,119,760 B1
High-power electrostatic machines
Louis Beryl Kratchman, Tampa, FL (US); James A. Bickford, Winchester, MA (US); Kasey Russell, Cambridge, MA (US); and Paul A. Ward, Dedham, MA (US)
Assigned to The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc., Cambridge, MA (US)
Filed by The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Inc., Cambridge, MA (US)
Filed on Oct. 16, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/503,300.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/092,667, filed on Oct. 16, 2020.
Int. Cl. G01M 7/02 (2006.01); H02N 1/00 (2006.01); H02P 31/00 (2006.01)
CPC H02N 1/002 (2013.01) [H02P 31/00 (2013.01)] 8 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A control circuit for an electrostatic machine, the control circuit comprising:
a current source or sink;
an inductor;
a switching network coupled between the current source or sink and the electrostatic machine, and between the inductor and the electrostatic machine; and
a controller configured to automatically cause the switching network to:
connect the current source or sink to the electrostatic machine each half-cycle of a periodically alternating polarity of the electrostatic machine;
at each polarity alternation of the electrostatic machine, isolate the electrostatic machine from the current source or sink for a first period of time; and
at each polarity alternation, connect the inductor to the electrostatic machine for a second period of time while the electrostatic machine is isolated from the current source or sink, and then disconnect the inductor from the electrostatic machine.