Patent ID: 7145762

Claim:
An electronic disabling device for disabling a target comprising: a. first and second electrodes that establish first and second spaced apart points in or near the target wherein a gap exists between at least one of the electrodes and the target; and b. a high voltage power supply comprising an output circuit for switching into and operating in a first output circuit configuration to generate a first higher voltage output across the first and second electrodes during a first time interval to ionize air within the gap and to enable a current across the gap and for subsequently switching into and operating in a second output circuit configuration to generate a second lower voltage output across the first and second electrodes during a second time interval to maintain the current through the target thereby producing involuntary muscle contractions that disable the target; c. wherein the first output circuit configuration comprises: (1) a first energy storage capacitor having a first voltage across the first energy storage capacitor; (2) a voltage multiplier coupled between the first energy storage capacitor and the gap for providing a multiplied voltage across the gap higher than the first voltage; and (3) a first switch operated after the first voltage reaches a first magnitude and operated to release energy from the first energy storage capacitor to generate the first higher voltage output through the voltage multiplier to ionize air in the gap; and d. wherein the second output circuit configuration comprises: (1) a second energy storage capacitor; and (2) a second switch operated after operation of the first switch and operated to release energy from the second energy storage capacitor to generate the second lower voltage output not multiplied by the voltage multiplier to maintain the current through the target.