PATENT CLAIM ANALYSIS

Application Number: 15881773
Application Type: Utility
Filing Date: 2018-01
Publication Date: 2019-08
Patent Classification: ["310", "306000"]

Abstract:
There is a need to produce electric power by means that provide low pollution and high efficiency. Thermionic energy conversion (TEC) systems enable the direct conversion of energy from thermal to electric, based on the emission of electrons from a heated cathode, Diamond is an ideal material for the cathode because of its high temperature mechanical stability, its ability to be created with low resistivity, and its strong tendency to emit electrons. The efficiency of current TEC systems is not practical, as above approximately 700° C. the current produced decreases. The presence of hydrogen at the electron-emitting surface is required to enhance thermionic emission. The present invention provides a resupply of hydrogen to the emitting surface by diffusion of hydrogen through the diamond cathode, and enables efficient operation of TEC systems at temperatures well above the current limit; practical systems for direct conversion of heat to electricity are thus enabled,

Claim (Index 1):
A Thermionic Energy Conversion system comprising\n a. a substantially electrically and thermally conductive anode with a means for extraction of heat therefrom, b. a cathode of substantially diamond with means for providing heat to said cathode, c. means for containing and controlling the environment between the cathode and anode within a vessel, said vessel controlled in extent of vacuum, residual gas composition and gas concentration, and said vessel substantially containing the electron-emitting surface of said cathode, and not containing at least one other surface of said cathode, d. a means for providing hydrogen or a hydrogen containing compound to be continuously or intermittently resupplied to a surface of said cathode that is not the electron-emitting surface, proximate to the anode; e. means for electrically connecting said anode and said cathode to opposite terminals of an electrical load external to said vessel.

Metadata:
- Claim Count in Document: 3.0
- Percentile: 86.0
- Lexical Diversity: 1.72632
- Patent Class: 310.0
- Transitional Phrase Type: open
- Component Type: 1
- Foreign Priority: False
- Related Applications: ['15804118', '10917309', '11734400', '11304064', '11157179']

Analysis Scores:
- 35 USC 101 Eligibility (BERT): 0.8607914440100526
- 35 USC 102 Novelty (BERT): 0.4953663907937145
- Combined Prediction Score: 0.8242489386884188
- Mean Citation Score: 211.17719
- Max Citation Score: 266.0683
- Similarity Product: 191.8595284726144

Labels:
- Claim Label 101: 1
- Claim Label 102: 1
- Claim Label 103: 0
- Claim Label 112: 1
- Combined Label: 1
- Label 101 Adjusted: 1

Dataset: test