Abstract: A drive mechanism for driving a rotary signalling switch of a high voltage electrical apparatus, in particular a disconnector or a grounding switch, the mechanism connecting the rotary shaft of the signalling switch to a rotary actuator shaft of an actuator mechanism for actuating the contacts of the apparatus so that the contacts of the signalling switch are opened or closed when the contacts of the apparatus are opened or closed, the actuator shaft being displaced at an angular velocity .omega..sub.ht during an operation to open or close the contacts of the apparatus. The drive mechanism constitutes a positive action mechanism connected between said drive shaft and said rotary shaft, and includes drive device for driving the rotary shaft of the signalling switch at the beginning and at the end of an operation at a velocity .omega..sub.cs greater than .omega..sub.ht.

Abstract: A grounded metal enclosure circuit-breaker comprises, for each pole, a metal enclosure having two insulative bushings. The enclosure and the bushings are adapted to be filled with insulative gas. The enclosure contains first and second metal supports and a set of fixed contacts and a set of mobile contacts respectively supported by the first and second metal supports. The bushings each comprise a metal conductor surrounded by an insulative covering, each of the first and second metal supports having fixed to it a metal part having an annular portion surmounted by a deformable conical portion. The metal part has an axial bore in which the bushing conductor is inserted. A ring having a conical interior surface complementary to that of the conical portion is screwed onto the annular portion.

Abstract: A method of eliminating a disturbing component from a periodic signal. The method includes the steps performing at least two measurements on the signal at two distinct instants, calculating the parameters of the disturbing component on the basis of the measurements, and subtracting the disturbing component from the signal. The invention is applicable to making an electronic capacitor voltage transformer comprising a capacitor divider constituted by a high tension capacitor and a low tension capacitor. The transformer includes a microprocessor programmed to perform the above method on the signal from the low tension capacitor.

Abstract: The invention relates to an acquisition path for acquiring a voltage pulse, and to a system and a method making use of said path, the path comprises:a path input for a pulse signal;a module for determining the polarity and for limiting acquisition of the input signal;a control module for controlling acquisition and for storing the polarized peak value of the input signal;a detect-and-hold module for detecting the polarized peak value of the signal being acquired, and for holding it; andselection means for selecting the rating of the signal being acquired;according to the invention the selection module for selecting the rating of the signal being acquired comprises a plurality of measurement ranges all of which are connected at their upstream ends to the path input, and all of which are connected at their downstream ends to automatic selection means for automatically selecting the optimum measurement range for the signal being acquired.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a high-voltage circuit-breaker including a casing that is filled with a dielectric gas and that contains a first arcing contact and a second arcing contact, which arcing contacts are mounted to move in opposite directions from an open position to a closed position and vice versa, the first contact being secured by means of a ring to a tube mounted to slide in a support portion electrically connected to a terminal. Said ring is made of an insulating material, the first contact is extended by a rod that is in alignment with the contact, which rod is disposed on the side of the first contact that is further from the second contact, and is connected to a resistance, and said rod carries a switching member organized to connect said rod directly to said support portion during closure.

Abstract: A medium-voltage substation includes at least two insulative material chambers each provided with at least one opening for the gas-tight passage of a set of three-phase busbars. Each chamber contains a three-position three-phase switch for connecting the busbars to first gas-tight electrical feed-throughs and for connecting the first feed-throughs to second gas-tight feed-throughs connected to ground. The first feed-throughs of at least one chamber are each electrically connected to a single-phase cable. The first feed-throughs of each chamber are electrically connected either to a fuse or to a pole of a circuit-breaker disposed in an insulative material compartment.

Abstract: A method and a system for determining the density of an insulating gas in electrical apparatus in the vicinity of parts carrying electrical current, the method comprising the following steps:a) a reference temperature is measured outside the apparatus and in the vicinity thereof;b) the current passing through the apparatus is measured, and the temperature rise of the gas above the reference temperature is determined on the basis of gas temperature rise values as a function of current values and of various reference temperatures, said temperature rise values having been previously determined by testing or by a mathematical model;c) the gas temperature is computed by adding the reference temperature and the temperature rise;d) the gas pressure inside the apparatus is measured; ande) the density .rho. of the gas is computed on the basis of equations of state of the gas .rho.=F(T,P) which equations are tabulated data.

Abstract: A joint with a boss for fitting to an assembly compartment for assembling together two adjacent lengths of a long-distance gas-insulated three-phase cable, the joint including a boss containing the seats of an externally-controllable valve whose drive combinations make it possible to establish communication independently either between the inside volumes of adjacent lengths, or the outside of the cable with the inside volumes of both adjacent lengths, or the outside of the cable with the inside volumes of one only of the lengths.

Abstract: A circuit-breaker having two interrupting chambers per pole, the chambers being disposed in a T or V configuration at the end of a column provided at its base with a control system for operating a drive rod, each chamber containing a moving assembly connected via a linkage to the drive rod, and main contacts and arcing contacts, wherein each chamber contains a semi-moving assembly including main contacts and arcing contacts co-operating respectively with the main contacts and the arcing contacts of the moving assembly, the semi-moving assembly in each of the chambers including a mechanism for moving it at a velocity of equal magnitude and of opposite direction to the velocity of the moving assembly with which it co-operates.

Abstract: A circuit for automatically monitoring equipment, including a plurality of transducers for measuring operating parameters and providing data to a multiprocessor system comprising stations interconnected by a local network and constituting a distributed database, the system being capable of interchanging data with a higher level including a computer with a bridge connected to said network, wherein said bridge is a "terminal" microcontroller interchanging data with the stations via first messages corresponding to requests issued by the terminal and received by all of the stations in determined memory zones referred to as "first dedicated zones", and second messages corresponding to response from the interrogated stations and received by said terminal in determined memory zones, referred to as "second dedicated zones".

Abstract: A medium-voltage or high-voltage circuit-breaker including, in a casing filled with a dielectric gas, an interrupting chamber in which metal plates are disposed for splitting up an electric arc into a multitude of smaller or "elementary" arcs under the action of a magnetic field, the circuit-breaker including a helical insulating ramp winding around a central generator line, the ramp being disposed on the inside peripheral portion of the chamber and around a conductive electrode, and the metal plates being disposed along the ramp, around and at a distance from the conductive electrode.

Abstract: A device for measuring circuit breaker wear by integrating the square of the current to be interrupted, said circuit breaker including a control that is actuated by a trip coil. The device includes a timing delay circuit that is actuated by a signal corresponding to a change in the driven or non-drive state of the trip coil, the timing delay circuit causing integration to begin after time has elapsed that is equal to the mechanical delay of the circuit breaker, which mechanical delay is a previously-measured data item. The device further includes a circuit that delivers a signal proportional to the current carried by the circuit breaker, a circuit that squares the signal, and that applies said square to the integrator, said integration being performed for a given length of time that is longer than the maximum arcing time of the circuit breaker, which maximum arcing time is likewise a previously measured data item, the result of the integration being applied to a summing circuit.

Abstract: A circuit-breaker including two arcing contacts that co-operate with each other, at least one of which is part of a moving contact assembly that is secured to a drive member and that is constituted by a first tube carrying the moving arcing contact at its end, and by a second tube that is coaxial with the first tube so as to define firstly an expansion chamber on one side of an annular wall, and secondly a compression chamber on the other side of the annular wall, the compression chamber being closed by a piston. A compression device is provided for compressing the gas in the compression chamber during a first portion of the displacement of the moving contact assembly, and a pressure-reducing device is provided for reducing the pressure of the gas in the compression chamber during a second portion of the same displacement of the moving contact assembly.

Abstract: A gas-insulated single-phase cable for long-distance transport of electricity under high tension, the cable including a cylindrical steel case filled with nitrogen under a pressure of at least 10 hectopascals, an aluminum- or copper-based metal conductor held axially inside the steel case by closed insulating cones, and an aluminum case disposed at a short distance from the steel case and constituting a magnetic screen protecting the steel case from the magnetic field generated by the current carried by the conductor. The steel case is separated from the aluminum case by rings of plastics material or of filled polymer, such as polytetrafluoroethylene. Each rings is placed in a groove in a metal collar, with two adjacent portions of the aluminum case being welded to the collar.

Abstract: A gas-insulated high-tension three-phase electricity line which includes a cylindrical steel case and three conductors disposed parallel to the axis of the case, and a magnetic screen constituted by a cylindrical aluminum case placed inside the steel case and very close thereto. The conductors are held by a plurality of sets of three insulating arms secured to one another, the conductors being free to slide through openings formed in the arms, the aluminum case being separated from the steel case by strips of plastics material or of filled polymer having a low coefficient of friction.

Abstract: A pressurized gas insulated screened line comprises a plurality of sections, two adjacent sections being separated by a junction enabling demounting of a section and each section comprising at least one conductive bar held in place in a cylindrical enclosure. Each section is equipped with at least one optical fiber running from one end to the other of the section and disposed inside the enclosure. A control arrangement connected to the fiber is accommodated inside the enclosure. The optical fibers of N adjacent sections forming a module are connected to each other. One end of the N interconnected optical fibers is connected to a control station.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a puffer-type circuit-breaker including two arcing contacts that cooperate with each other, at least one of which is part of a moving contact assembly constituted by a first tube and a second tube that is coaxial with the first tube so as to define a blast chamber on one side of a first annular wall interconnecting the first tube and the second tube, and a compression chamber on the other side of said annular wall, which compression chamber is closed by a semi-moving piston.

Abstract: A device for supplying a power supply voltage to an electronic circuit, in particular to an electronic circuit associated with a current sensor for measuring the electrical current in a high-tension line, comprises a current transformer having a primary circuit and a secondary circuit, a rectifier bridge shunting the secondary circuit and output terminals of the rectifier bridge, a first capacitor in parallel with a first resistor across which said power supply voltage is obtained, and a first switch disposed between the output terminals of the rectifier bridge. It includes between the output terminals of the rectifier bridge a branch comprising in series a second capacitor, a second switch and a second resistor. The first switch is controlled by a first threshold detector shunting the second capacitor. The second switch is controlled by a second threshold detector shunting the first capacitor.

Abstract: A three-phase metal-clad electricity line insulated by gas under pressure, the line including a plurality of lengths each constituted by modules that are assembled together end-to-end, each length being sealed relative to the outside and relative to adjacent lengths, two adjacent lengths being separated by a sliding junction enabling a length to be disassembled without losing gas from the adjacent length, the line being wherein the insulating gas is nitrogen under a pressure of a few tens of hectopascals, and preferably in the range 10 hectopascals to 15 hectopascals.

Abstract: Linear control apparatus for a circuit-breaker, the apparatus including a slidably-mounted tubular arm actuated by a solenoid, and a "disengagement" first slide which presses against the tubular arm, the first slide being subjected to a first spring assembly. The control end of the drive rod is coupled to the tubular arm via at least one projecting portion passing through a respective longitudinal slot provided along the tubular arm. The control apparatus includes an "engagement" second slide to which the drive rod is fixed via its projecting portion, the engagement second slide being subjected to an "engagement" second spring assembly which displaces it from the circuit-breaker disengaged position to the circuit-breaker engaged position under the action of second control means.