Patents by Inventor Alan Millner

Alan Millner has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 8641978
    Abstract: A transformer-less power supply is provided for ozone generation. The power supply advantageously reduces costs and increases reliability of ozone generators. The power supply provides a first AC voltage from a power source to a resonant circuit and the resonant circuit provides a second AC voltage to the ozone generating unit, the second AC voltage being greater than the first AC voltage. A controller for the power supply that adapts to the resonance of the circuit to provide control with a wide tolerance for the high Q circuit component values of the circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 20, 2012
    Date of Patent: February 4, 2014
    Assignee: MKS Instruments, Inc.
    Inventors: Igor Elkin, Alan Millner, Ken Tran, Madhuwanti Joshi
  • Publication number: 20130156648
    Abstract: A transformer-less power supply is provided for ozone generation. The power supply advantageously reduces costs and increases reliability of ozone generators. The power supply provides a first AC voltage from a power source to a resonant circuit and the resonant circuit provides a second AC voltage to the ozone generating unit, the second AC voltage being greater than the first AC voltage. A controller for the power supply that adapts to the resonance of the circuit to provide control with a wide tolerance for the high Q circuit component values of the circuit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 20, 2012
    Publication date: June 20, 2013
    Applicant: MKS Instruments, Inc.
    Inventors: Igor Elkin, Alan Millner, Ken Tran, Madhuwanti Joshi
  • Patent number: 8226900
    Abstract: A transformer-less power supply is provided for ozone generation. The power supply advantageously reduces costs and increases reliability of ozone generators. The power supply provides a first AC voltage from a power source to a resonant circuit and the resonant circuit provides a second AC voltage to the ozone generating unit, the second AC voltage being greater than the first AC voltage. A controller for the power supply that adapts to the resonance of the circuit to provide control with a wide tolerance for the high Q circuit component values of the circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 14, 2006
    Date of Patent: July 24, 2012
    Assignee: MKS Instruments, Inc.
    Inventors: Igor Elkin, Alan Millner, Ken Tran, Madhuwanti Joshi
  • Patent number: 7353771
    Abstract: According to a first aspect, a power supply and a method of providing power for igniting a plasma in a reactive gas generator is provided that includes (i) coupling a series resonant circuit that comprises a resonant inductor and a resonant capacitor between a switching power source and a transformer, the transformer having a transformer primary and a plasma secondary; (ii) providing a substantially resonant AC voltage from the resonant capacitor across the transformer primary, thereby inducing a substantially resonant current within the transformer primary to generate the plasma secondary; and (iii) upon generation of the plasma secondary, the resonant inductor limiting current flowing to the switching power supply. According to another aspect, bipolar high voltage ignition electrodes can be used in conjunction with inductive energy coupling to aid in plasma ignition.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 7, 2005
    Date of Patent: April 8, 2008
    Assignee: MKS Instruments, Inc.
    Inventors: Alan Millner, Thomas Alexander, Ilya Bystryak, Ken Tran, Madhuwanti Joshi
  • Publication number: 20070108040
    Abstract: A transformer-less power supply is provided for ozone generation. The power supply advantageously reduces costs and increases reliability of ozone generators. The power supply provides a first AC voltage from a power source to a resonant circuit and the resonant circuit provides a second AC voltage to the ozone generating unit, the second AC voltage being greater than the first AC voltage. A controller for the power supply that adapts to the resonance of the circuit to provide control with a wide tolerance for the high Q circuit component values of the circuit.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 14, 2006
    Publication date: May 17, 2007
    Applicant: MKS Instruments, Inc.
    Inventors: Igor Elkin, Alan Millner, Ken Tran, Madhuwanti Joshi
  • Publication number: 20070103092
    Abstract: According to a first aspect, a power supply and a method of providing power for igniting a plasma in a reactive gas generator is provided that includes (i) coupling a series resonant circuit that comprises a resonant inductor and a resonant capacitor between a switching power source and a transformer, the transformer having a transformer primary and a plasma secondary; (ii) providing a substantially resonant AC voltage from the resonant capacitor across the transformer primary, thereby inducing a substantially resonant current within the transformer primary to generate the plasma secondary; and (iii) upon generation of the plasma secondary, the resonant inductor limiting current flowing to the switching power supply. According to another aspect, bipolar high voltage ignition electrodes can be used in conjunction with inductive energy coupling to aid in plasma ignition.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 7, 2005
    Publication date: May 10, 2007
    Inventors: Alan Millner, Thomas Alexander, Ilya Bystryak, Ken Tran, Madhuwanti Joshi
  • Publication number: 20050219875
    Abstract: A control circuit for a switching power supply reacts to an over current condition in the switching power supply to bring its operating point to a safe condition. The control circuit senses both the direction and the magnitude of the load current in the switching power supply, and then uses this sensed information to control the active power switches in the switching power supply. In an over current condition, the switches are controlled to actively drive the load current toward zero, even if the sensed information is delayed or heavily filtered, or the switch signals from the control circuit are delayed in reaching the switches. The resulting operation of the switching power supply is more resistant to abnormal load conditions and is maintained in the presence of transient short circuits or arcs. The switching power supply hardware is also better protected.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 9, 2005
    Publication date: October 6, 2005
    Applicant: MKS Instruments, Inc.
    Inventors: Alan Millner, Ilya Bystryak
  • Patent number: 5428522
    Abstract: A four quadrant unipolar pulse width modulated (PWM) power conversion circuit for supplying a desired current to an inductive load uses an H-bridge circuit topology with an upper and lower pair of switching elements including a diode in parallel with each of the switching elements to provide a current path from the load to the power source when its respective switching element is non-conductive. A control algorithm generates switching element control signals to cause the instantaneous voltage across the load to alternate between a single polarity voltage and zero for a portion of the output load waveform to cause the average value of the load current to correspond generally with the desired average load current.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 17, 1992
    Date of Patent: June 27, 1995
    Assignee: Kaman Electromagnetics Corporation
    Inventors: Alan Millner, Peter P. Mongeau, Zaher Daboussi