ION PLASMA DISINTEGRATOR

• US 20180036740A1
• Filed: 08/08/2016
• Published: 02/08/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 08/08/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bradley Nelson
• Original Assignee: Bradley Nelson
• Inventors: Nelson, Bradley
• Granted Patent: US 10,675,633 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B02C 19/18 Use of auxiliary physical effects, e.g. ultrasonics, irradiation, for disintegrating
• CPC Class Codes: B02C 2019/183 Crushing by discharge of high electrical energy
• CPC Class Codes: B09B 3/40 involving thermal treatment, e.g. evaporation processes using mineral binders involving a melting or softening step B09B3/29; involving radiation B09B3/50
• CPC Class Codes: F23G 2202/701 Electrical fields
• CPC Class Codes: F23G 2204/201 Plasma
• CPC Class Codes: F23G 5/085 High-temperature heating means, e.g. plasma, for partly melting the waste
• CPC Class Codes: H05H 1/50 and using applied magnetic fields, e.g. for focusing or rotating the arc

Abstract

An electronic device incorporating a high voltage power supply connected to a pair of metal plates spaced to maintain a continuous high current arc of electricity creating an Ion Plasma discharge for the purpose of vaporizing documents placed between the plates. Magnetic containment coils around the outside of the metal plates are phase synchronized to the magnetic field created by the Ion Plasma arc to maintain the position of the arc between the plates and to direct the position of the arc in a predetermined pattern to search for any material between the plates that has not been disintegrated.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a) an exterior sheet metal case with intake and exhaust vent openings;

b) a hinged glass front door with two locking handles and safety switches;

c) a front circuit board with Start, Stop, Test, and Reset switches, Power and Filter tri color LED status lights and a ground fault interrupter module;

d) an exhaust fan;

e) a replaceable combination fiberglass and carbon filter air filter;

f) a pair of discharge plates with ignition leads connected wirers, connectors and high voltage mounting insulators;

g) four magnetic containment coils of wire with connectors;

h) a sheet metal combustion chamber with vent openings and metal clips;

i) an exhaust chamber;

j) a thermally activated switch;

k) a high voltage transformer assembly with connectors;

l) a main circuit board controlling the activation of the LED status lights, exhaust fan, high voltage transformer assembly, magnetic containment coils of wire and safety devices.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said exterior sheet metal case with intake and exhaust vent openings provides a framework for the mounting of the internal components and front access for inserting documents between the pair of discharge plates via the hinged glass door.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said hinged glass front door with two locking handles and safety switches provides a visual means for the operator to determine documents inserted have been completely vaporized and via the safety switches provide status information confirming that the glass door is locked before turning on the high voltage transformer assembly.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said front circuit board with Start, Stop, Test, and Reset switches, Power and Filter tri color LED status lights and a ground fault interrupter module provides the means for the operator to turn On and Off the device and test and reset the ground fault interrupter module, with power provided by the main circuit board, the Power LED status light will be Red in standby mode, Green when the device is ON in operation or when turned Off because of a fault flash Yellow if the air filter is not installed or air is entering from other than the intake vents and flash Red if any of the safety switches are open, the Filter LED status light will be Off in standby mode, Green when the device is ON in operation, flash Yellow when the filter needs to be replaced soon or when turned Off because of a fault flash Yellow if the filter is not installed or air is entering from other than the intake vents and flash Red if any of the safety switches are open.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said exhaust fan, receiving power and control from the main circuit board, provides the air circulation to cool electronic components, prevent smoke from clouding the glass door, pulls air thru the combustion chamber, the exhaust chamber and air filter before exiting the apparatus.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said replaceable combination fiberglass and carbon air filter where the fiberglass section of the filter removes smoke particles and the carbon section removes odors and chemicals produced by the combustion process.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said pair of discharge plates with ignition leads connected wirers, connectors and high voltage mounting insulators comprise the area in which documents to be disintegrated are placed, when the high voltage transformer assembly, controlled by the main circuit board, provides power to the discharge plates via the connected wirers and connectors where the Ion Plasma arc ignites at the ignition leads travels up the ignition leads by the heat generated and is then moved between the discharge plates by the magnetic containment coils of wire and upon contact with said documents first burns and then vaporizes the remaining ash, the high voltage insulators isolate the discharge plates from the grounded combustion chamber and exterior sheet metal case.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said four magnetic containment coils of wire with connectors contain and direct the position of the Ion Plasma arc by repelling the magnetic field created by the arc, with power and control provided by the main circuit board each of the four magnetic coils of wire wound with fire resistant insulation are individually driven by a phase locked pre-programmed pattern to magnetically push the arc over most of the area of the discharge plates, a minimum magnetic field is maintained on the four coils of wire to contain the arc within the borders of the plates and a higher minimum field is maintained on the rear magnetic containment coil of wire to compensate for the air flow that is directed from the front to rear of the plates by the exhaust fan.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said sheet metal combustion chamber with vent openings and metal clips securing the four magnetic containment coils of wire, isolates the heat generated in the combustion process by using the exhaust fan to pull cool air in from a slot at the bottom of the front of the combustion chamber, preventing smoke from clouding the glass door and venting the smoke and heat thru an opening at the right rear of the combustion chamber.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said exhaust chamber housing the air filter, exhaust fan and thermally activated switch receives the hot air from the combustion chamber via an opening at the left rear of the exhaust chamber where it is cooled with a baffle in the center of the exhaust chamber and mixed with cooler air drawn in from a slot at the top left of the exhaust chamber that draws cool air in over the top of the combustion chamber to prevent the top of the external sheet metal case from overheating, the air filter contained within this chamber has a removable door at the bottom of the chamber for replacement access and is sealed against the exhaust fan where four pie shaped openings allow the cleaned air to exit the device.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said thermally activated switch is normally closed and mounted the left side of the exhaust chamber and secured from the right side of the combustion chamber and if overheated will open turning power off to the high voltage transformer assembly while maintaining power to the exhaust fan for a set period to cool down the internal components.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said high voltage transformer assembly with connectors, controlled by a relay on the main circuit board, provides the high voltage power to the pair of discharge plates producing the Ion Plasma arc and also provides the phase reference via a feedback coil to the main circuit board locking the phase of the magnetic containment coils of wire to the Ion Plasma arc.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said main circuit board activated by the Start and Stop switches, controls the Power and Filter LED status lights, exhaust fan, high voltage transformer assembly, magnetic containment coils of wire, thermally activated and safety switches, comprises:

a) a power transformer;

b) a bridge rectifier containing four diodes charging a positive filter capacitor;

c) a bridge rectifier containing four diodes charging a negative filter capacitor;

d) a 24 Volt positive voltage regulator charging a positive filter capacitor;

e) a 5 Volt positive voltage regulator charging a positive filter capacitor;

f) a 24 Volt negative voltage regulator charging a negative filter capacitor;

g) an integrated circuit field programmable gate array;

h) a 1 MHz crystal to provide a clock for the integrated circuits;

i) an 8 bit analog to digital converter integrated circuit;

j) four 8 bit digital to analog converter integrated circuits;

k) four integrated circuit amplifiers to power the magnetic containment coils of wire;

l) a solid state air flow sensor;

m) a first under-voltage detector integrated circuit;

n) a second under-voltage detector integrated circuit;

o) an over-voltage detector integrated circuit;

p) a first power relay with field effect transistor to turn on and off the Fan;

q) a second power relay with field effect transistor to turn on and off the high voltage transformer assembly;

r) a resistor capacitor network 90 degree phase delay circuit;

s) two 3 pin connectors for 110 Volt power and high voltage transformer assembly power;

t) an 8 pin connector for Power and Filter LED status, safety switches, and Start, Stop switches;

u) four 2 pin connectors for the magnetic containment coils of wire;

v) three 2 pin connectors for the thermally activated switch, exhaust fan and feedback coil of wire.

14. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said power transformer receiving 110 VAC power via a 3 pin connector provides power to two bridge rectifiers with positive and negative filter capacitors, the negative filter capacitor connected to the 24 Volt negative voltage regulator charging a negative filter capacitor and the positive filter capacitor connected to the 24 Volt positive voltage regulator charging a positive filter capacitor, connected to the positive and negative power inputs of the four integrated circuit amplifiers to power the magnetic containment coils of wire and the positive 24 volt positive filter capacitor also connected to the 5 Volt positive voltage regulator charging a positive filter capacitor providing power to all of the remaining components on the main circuit board.

15. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said integrated circuit field programmable gate array with a 1 MHz crystal clock is activated by the Start switch via the 8 pin connector to sequentially, verify the thermally activated switch via a 2 pin connector is closed, verify the safety switches via the 8 pin connector are closed, turn on the exhaust fan via the first power relay with a field effect transistor and a 2 pin connector, verify the solid state air flow sensor is within tolerance via the first and second under-voltage detector integrated circuits and over-voltage detector integrated circuit, receive phase delayed sine wave data from the 8 bit analog to digital converter integrated circuit via a 2 pin connector and the resistor capacitor network 90 degree phase delay circuit, send individually amplitude controlled 90 degree phase delayed data to the magnetic containment coils of wire via the four 8 bit digital to analog converter integrated circuits, four integrated circuit amplifiers and four 2 pin connectors, turn on the high voltage transformer assembly via the second power relay with a field effect transistor and a 3 pin connector, change the colors of the LED status lights for operating mode via the 8 pin connector, operate for 2 minutes or if a fault is detected or the Stop switch is activated via the 8 pin connector then, turn power off to high voltage transformer assembly, turn power off to the magnetic containment coils of wire, operate the exhaust fan for 30 seconds and then turn it off and change the colors of the LED status lights for standby mode.

16. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said solid state air flow sensor connected to the first under-voltage detector integrated circuits further detects reduced air flow when the air filter needs to be replaced soon providing a warning to the LED status lights but allowing the apparatus to continue to operate until the second under-voltage detector integrated circuits detects further reduced air flow, providing a different warning to the LED status lights, turning power off to the high voltage transformer assembly and the over-voltage detector integrated circuit detects removal of the air filter, providing a fault warning to the LED status lights and not allowing the high voltage transformer assembly to be turned on.

17. An apparatus for vaporizing documents by use of an Ion Plasma arc comprising an exterior case, an access door to insert documents between a pair of discharge plates connected to a high voltage source, a combustion chamber, magnetic containment coils of wire, an electronic circuit to control the functional operation and an exhaust fan.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 further comprising discharge plate ignition leads to initiate the Ion Plasma arc and wherein said electronic circuit will execute pre-programmed control of the magnetic containment coils of wire to move by repelling the magnetic field generated by the Ion Plasma arc the Ion Plasma arc in a pattern covering the area of the discharge plates.

19. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein said electronic circuit will detect faults in the closure of said access door and airflow from said exhaust fan preventing the apparatus from operating.

20. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein said exhaust fan is coupled to a combination fiberglass and charcoal air filter to remove smoke and odors before exiting the exterior case.

21. An apparatus for vaporizing documents by use of an Ion Plasma arc comprising an exterior case, an access door to insert documents between a pair of discharge plates connected to a high voltage source, a combustion chamber, an electronic circuit to control the functional operation and an exhaust fan.

22. The apparatus of claim 21 wherein said pair of discharge plates connected to the high voltage source contains the Ion Plasma arc and are insulated from the combustion chamber and exterior case.

23. The apparatus of claim 21 wherein said combustion chamber isolates the heat and smoke produced by the vaporization process with the exhaust fan.

24. The apparatus of claim 21 wherein said electronic circuit controls the activation of the high voltage source and exhaust fan.

25. The apparatus of claim 21 wherein said access door further incorporates safety switches connected to the electronic circuit to protect operators from the high voltage source.

26. The apparatus of claim 21 wherein said exhaust fan is further coupled to an air filter to remove smoke and odors before exiting the exterior case.