PATENT CLAIM ANALYSIS

Application Number: 15901763
Application Type: Utility
Filing Date: 2018-02
Publication Date: 2018-08
Patent Classification: ["315", "111410"]

Abstract:
A miniature Hall current plasma source apparatus having magnetic shielding of the walls from ionized plasma, an integrated discharge channel and gas distributor, an instant-start hollow cathode mounted to the plasma source, and an externally mounted keeper, is described. The apparatus offers advantages over existing other Hall current plasma sources having similar power levels, including: lower mass, longer lifetime, lower part count including fewer power supplies, and the ability to be continuously adjustable to lower average power levels using pulsed operation and adjustment of the pulse duty cycle. The Hall current plasma source can provide propulsion for small spacecraft that either do not have sufficient power to accommodate a propulsion system or do not have available volume to incorporate the larger propulsion systems currently available. The present low-power Hall current plasma source can be used to provide energetic ions to assist the deposition of thin films in plasma processing applications.

Claim (Index 12):
The Hall current plasma source of  claim 7 , wherein said hollow cathode discharge apparatus comprises:\n a base member having an outside surface and an inside surface; a low-work function material or cathode instant start material; an electrical insulator positioned between the inside surface of said base member and said low-work function material; a keeper having a hole therethrough; second electrically insulating material covering at least a portion of the outer surface of said keeper; and a cover member having an inlet therethrough for permitting the second chosen gas to flow, forming a chamber with said base member, and having an opening therein facing said low-work function material, said second electrical insulator, said low-work function material, and at least a portion of said keeper positioned in said chamber; wherein the second chosen gas is flowed around said low-work function material and between said low-work function material and said keeper, and through the hole in said keeper to the outside of said chamber.

Metadata:
- Claim Count in Document: 50.0
- Percentile: 88.0
- Lexical Diversity: 1.64646
- Patent Class: 315.0
- Transitional Phrase Type: none
- Component Type: 0
- Foreign Priority: False
- Related Applications: ['15424385', '14263970', '12202252', '15091433', '13768788']

Analysis Scores:
- 35 USC 101 Eligibility (BERT): 0.706374773880617
- 35 USC 102 Novelty (BERT): 0.5927382446650659
- Combined Prediction Score: 0.6950111209590619
- Mean Citation Score: 263.185926
- Max Citation Score: 480.3551
- Similarity Product: 455.1745610558569

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

Dataset: test