US Patent Issued to Space Charge on April 14 for "Device and method for high power-density thermionic energy conversion" (California Inventors)

ALEXANDRIA, Va., April 15 -- United States Patent no. 12,603,266, issued on April 14, was assigned to Space Charge LLC (Aspen, Colo.).

"Device and method for high power-density thermionic energy conversion" was invented by John B. Read (San Diego) and Daniel C. Sweeney (San Diego).

According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "Thermionic generators are described herein that include a variety of features that allow the devices to efficiently and effectively convert large amounts of thermal energy directly to electrical energy, such as in the form of currents and/or voltages. For example, the thermionic generators can be used to generate an electron beam from a thermionic emission device, and focus or shape the...